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Chapter Text

All cultivators dedicated to their cultivation will face Heavenly Tribulations on their journey to attain immortality, great uncle Qiren once told Mingyue and his sister. Heavenly Tribulations in great uncle’s stories were grand battles against demons, resentful spirits, or cultivators who had strayed from the righteous path, so it was those kinds of tribulations that often became Mingyue’s reference for his day-dreaming themes. 

As he grew with his dearest sister, and later with the twin demon he called didi and meimei…. Not for the first time, Lan Mingyue wondered whether his Heavenly Tribulation was starting the day he was blessed to be the eldest of such troublesome siblings. ( The younger set of twins, his didi and meimei, has shown signs they are to be a set of hellions, what with A-Feng has started hanging around in the forge and laboratory - much to Uncle Wuxian joy and everyone’s horror - and his sweet meimei A-Xue showing talent in handling and directing little ones in classes… and in doing her biddings ).

… Maybe if he just closed his eyes, he could will himself back - away - from what feels like the start of another sequence of problems in his life. This time by the courtesy of his Uncle Wuxian and twin sister. 

Eyes closed, with no intention to rise from his laying on the ground position, Mingyue could hear Yingyue making increasingly distressed squeals as she took account of their surroundings. This means his guess that they are not where they were supposed to be is quite possibly true. Which is alarming because the array Uncle Wuxian and Yingyue tested should not bring them to another place . 

It should just bring the burnt cauldron of congee Uncle Wuxian and Yingyue made, to a state of perfectly edible congee or any other state when the congee should still be edible. Notice that the subject the array should affect is the congee, not two human beings. 

Is he panicking? Does his family have a history of panic attacks? It sure feels like he’s going to have one right now. Because no matter how hard he tries, Mingyue cannot shake the feelings of wrong, the air doesn’t smell right, and the land doesn’t feel right! Ai Heavens, he is starting to feel light-headed. 

A nudge on his shoulder brought Mingyue out of his effort to dissociate himself from this horrible reality. He swats that offending shoulder-nudging foot.

“ Ge , get up!” Yingyue pulled at his arm trying to bring him up. He’s so tired, Heavens have mercy… “Come on! I don’t think the array worked as it should be.” 

That’s it, she said it out loud. She had harshly brought reality crashing down on both of them. Mingyue opened his eyes, looking dead-eyed at his beloved sister. “You think so? Thank you for confirming my suspicion. Now please let this Ge rest here until you figure out how to solve this problem.”

“Song -ge I’m being serious!” Oh, and I’m not? “Look, my house is gone ! The lining of the trees is closer than it should be!”  Yingyue pointed out while still holding on to Mingyue’s limp form from his arm. 

Groaning, Mingyue reluctantly got back on his feet and looked around, confirming Yingyue’s distressed observation. The lining of the trees is not only closer, but the trees themselves are also denser and the grass that grows here is sure to have never been trimmed. No signs of his sister's secluded private residence with its little pond and pavilion. 

No signs of rambunctious Uncle Wuxian anywhere either. 

Ai , this is distressing. 

Take a deep calming breath in four counts. Mama’s voice came to his mind. Hold it in seven counts…. Then exhale in eight counts. Slowly A-Song. Relax your muscles as you exhale. 

He has to be calm and sharp now. No time for panicking when Yingyue is still looking around the clearing with wild eyes and slowly starting to hyperventilate.

“Aiya A-Hua, come match your breathing with me,” Holding her shoulders gently to be used as an anchor, Mingyue made sure his younger twin held eye contact with him. “Slowly, like Mama teaches us… come on.” 

As Yingyue’s breathing slows to a normal pace, Mingyue gather what information they have about their situation. Given the absence of Yingyue’s dwelling, it is clear that they are not at the location of Uncle Wuxian’s array testing site, which was in Yingyue’s front yard. So the array transports them to other locations. Strange though, because this is Yingyue’s clearing unless Cloud Recesses has an identical cliff side and rock formations as the one in this area. Gone also the protective barrier around this site that their Baba placed… which brings Mingyue to another, even less savoury, conclusion. The array transports them to another time. 

“Well, forgive this Ge for his crass language, but Uncle Wuxian and you fucked up , I think.”

=

When looking back to this moment later, Mingyue was quite impressed with how quickly he and Yingyue processed their stress and made something of a next-step plan. That they have somehow moved through time is agreed by both of them. The next questions naturally are: did they move forward or backwards, and how long has passed between this present time and their original time? 

“Should we alert the clan to our situation?” Yingyue wondered aloud. She’s been walking around the clearing for some time now, needing to be in motion as was her wont when she’s occupied with her thoughts. “I’m quite sure we moved backwards in time, however far back in time we are. There were no signs of human disturbance in this area. No remains of building foundations or any development. And this area was untouched until shugong placed a land marker the day we were born to mark the area of our future house…” Yingyue stopped, kicking a stone lodged into the soil. The chunk, chunk, chunk sounds every impact made is distracting. “...nor marker here, so I did not think we even exist in this present time. Then... no, it will be alarming to the Clan to find two people claiming to be part of the Clan and part of the main family, without any identification other than the main families’ ribbons and tokens.” The stone dislodged, it flew and hit the earth with a final, sad chunk . She sighed heavily and finally stopped moving. 

Mingyue runs his hands along the fabric of his robe. The robe is more elaborate than what he usually wears daily, the cool silk it was made creates a soothing feeling when touched. Mama insisted that morning that he should take more care of his appearance for the day as the Sect’s Heir, because of the visiting Sect Leaders He and Yang. After Baba has done parading him, Mingyue fled the meeting of Sect Leaders to find his twin conducting experiments with Uncle Wuxian. 

“Then you proposed that we…. What? Sneak around to gather information about the present time?” He gestured to his side, a silent request so his sister would take a seat next to him and stop her distracting movement… to no avail. She has started pacing around again. “You think we can sneak around a clan of cultivators? I’m not rejecting your suggestion. What you said is true and wise. Mama also did not outright tell Baba of her origin even when she became his senior aide.” 

That their Mama hailed from somewhere not from any land they knew about is known to both of them, what with the strange objects Mama kept (on that one chest in her and Baba’s bedroom. The one that little Mingyue and Yingyue - then A-Song and A-Hua - are not permitted to open without Mama’s supervision because some of the items are ‘delicate and irreplaceable’. It became a favourite game of theirs for some time, a competition on who can touch the chest without getting caught. Mama moved the hiding place of the chest around the room making it even more challenging for the twins.) and the bedtime stories no one ever heard before (One of these stories caused a ruckus once in the creche as one little Lan Jie was found by the supervisor of the creche kissing frogs. Lan Jie calmly explained that she was trying to figure out which frog is a heavenly prince under a curse. Lan Jie thankfully didn’t hold any grudges against the twins for telling her such a preposterous tale). But both Mama and Baba never really told them about their past. What they know about the Sunshot Campaign - the time they met - they only heard from the teachers as a part of their history lessons and snippets from others in their parents’ generations.

The tale of how their parents came to know, and love, each other mainly came from - strangely - Uncle Wuxian. Of course, because the source is Uncle Wuxian the stories came unprompted and sporadic. That Mama hailed not from this time came to Mingyue and Yingyue knowledge when they overheard Uncle Wuxian drilling Mama on this special device from the future that she used to store foods for a long time using freezing temperatures all the time. Yingyue wrote down the snippets of information and made it her mission to validate and arrange them chronologically. An ongoing mission that will remain ongoing for a long time it seems, because their main sources are suspiciously avoidant in clarifying the details. 

If Mama is that cautious about revealing her origin, then Mingyue supposes it is wise to follow her path. 

“If we are to sneak around, we need a plan, or at least specific destinations.”

Yingyue tilted her head, thinking. “We can check certain areas to have a better grasp of the time we are in now. There’s no record of a bunny enclosure in Cloud Recesses until Uncle Wangji made one near the Jingshi.” She raised a finger, then a second and a third. “Then there’s grandfather’s seclusion house and grandmother’s cottage. Both areas can give us sufficient clues to plan our next move.”

Yingyue’s plan is certainly safer than his instinct just to find the current version of their parents ( if they were here ) and beg for their help. “We are to dodge the night patrol, then. We are nearing dinner time right now I guess, and the patrol should start by the time we are halfway to either location.” Rubbing his hand, and praying to any Heavenly Beings watching them right now, Mingyue took a determined step towards the path leading to the ( supposed to be ) residential area. “Come then, let’s not dawdle.” 

=

The path leading to the family's main residential area is still there. Not in the form of proper stone steps that were built when Yingyue chose this cliff on the east side of the mountain as the location of her dwelling, so there were instances of both of them almost slipping on the dirt path. ( “It would certainly be faster if we slid down this path!” He joked, attempting to ease the tension. The answering giggles from Yingyue were slightly hysterical that Mingyue refrain from edging his sister towards a Qi deviation).  

By the time they reach the path towards their late grandmother’s cottage, the bell tolls signalling the end of dinnertime and the Lan sect to prepare for bedtime. They hasten their steps upwards, not wanting to attract the patrol’s attention with their light-coloured robes fluttering around in the dark. 

They arrived at the clearing housing an empty cottage. Both of them cannot sense a presence inside the cottage, but still, to be sure, Yingyue steps onto the porch and knocks on the door. 

“The cottage is here, but no grandmother.” Mingyue sighed. “So Baba and Uncle Wangji should be around here somewhere.”

Yingyue opened the cottage door, examining the room inside. “This place has been neglected for some time,” Yingyue added, noticing the thick layer of dust everywhere. “There’s nothing here that can give us a clue. Let’s go to grandfather’s place.”

They took a shortcut through the dense trees and a small stream between the clearings of their grandparents’ dwellings. The dirt path connecting the two clearings is known only to the Lan Family and select serves. It was used to help deliver food to both dwellings easily, but more or less abandoned after the passing of both dwellings’ occupants. Mingyue and Yingyue found out about the path after Shugong frantically looked for them during one of the twins’ grand adventures ( they were supposed to be playing in the bunny meadow, but little Yingyue got bored and went to a higher place to look for the dragon…. In short, Mingyue wanted it to be known that he followed his sister to the higher clearing to protect her. ).

Letting Yingyue walk at the front while he watched the path behind and the sky above. Nearing the edge of the clearing, the babbling stream continues onto the backyard of their grandfather’s seclusion house. The streams originated from the highest Waterhead on the mountain, making the stream here the clearest and feeding directly to the male cold spring. Mingyue always thought it was such a shame that such melancholic locations were the first places the water met as they flow, but immediately in his head a voice suspiciously sounding like both shugong and Uncle Wangji reminded him to not entertain nonsensical thoughts . 

“Grandfather died during the burning by the Wens right?” Yingyue asked not far ahead as she seemed to have already reached the edge of the clearing. Before Mingyue could answer her, she shakily added, “ Ge , I think we moved more than ten years into the past.”

Finally reaching his sister, Mingyue could see a simple house surrounded by trees. 

As Sect’s Heir, Mingyue has been training to quickly adapt to turns of events and divergences from the original plan. To ensure the action plan produces the best outcome, one should address all the relevant evidence and withhold subjective opinions ( response rather than react ). 

Here are his observations: One is the existence of this seclusion house. Two, the house is occupied by someone, judging from the faint candlelight from the window.

= 

Response rather than react. Tension in the abdominal area and difficulty breathing are the most common signs of emotional distress. 

This is not the time to be distressed! Come on Yingyue, think!

“Regroup.” Her brother said, slightly choked. He cleared his throat, took her arm, and led them back toward grandmother’s cottage. “Let’s regroup. To the cottage. It’s empty, we can rest there and make another plan.”

What retorts she had died when she spotted a faint light at the end of the dirt path. She pulled Mingyue back. 

“Back, back! Someone’s heading here!” 

The both of them tried to not run and not make a sound at the same time. Tearing silently as they possibly could through the clearing, looking around frantically for a place to hide because the lantern light is following them! 

Mingyue groaned in frustration ( and Yingyue, by instinct, kicked him in warning, which made him whimper in pain. Sorry Ge.) , and pulled her behind the slightly unkempt bushes adorning the back porch and the side of the building. 

With both of them crouching as low as possible, it was quite a hassle for both of them to be able to take a peek from the side of the building. Being the closest to the edge, Mingyue took upon the task. 

From where she is crouching, Yingyue can see the glow of the lantern closing in, holding, then getting fainter, slowly showing the holder of the lantern moving to the front porch of the house. 

As the glow of light went from the back of the house, Mingyue turned back to Yingyue. His face paled as he mouthed, “ Shugong ”, to her. 

Again, before she could give a response, they heard a slight knock on the house’s door. 

“This is shufu , Xichen, do not be alarmed. I came to check on the area.” 

Shock. Horror. The twins looked back at each other. Their father is the occupant of this house. The house where their grandfather was supposed to be in seclusion and burned to his death. What? What?

A moment, then another, wearier, voice answered. “Is there a problem, shufu ?” A light, but oddly weary chuckle follows. “It seems everyone is determined to make sure my seclusion is not secluded .” 

A scoff from shugong . “If Wangji and Wei Wuxian’s visit displeased you, I can ban them from disturbing you from now on.”

“No, I don’t mean that…” An even wearier sigh. “There’s no need, shufu . I suppose everything is in order?” 

The old Lan teacher hummed. “Hm… a false alarm it seems. I will ask the night patrol to report as they finish their round. Goodnight Xichen.” 

They heard their father wish shugong a restful night as the elder teacher leaves the clearing through the proper path that should lead him back to the inner clan residence. The twins wait with bated breath until shugong ’s steps grew fainter before slowly standing up. 

“That was close,” Mingyue whispered. “Come, let’s go back to the cottage.”

They keep their steps light while making their way to the side path. 

Alas, they are not even fifteen yet - junior disciples just entering the nascent soul stage, trying to run away from a cultivator far beyond their level in cultivation. It must be by chance and pure luck they managed to move around undetected by anyone until now. Eventually, they should know their luck will run out. 

A sword glare hit the ground in front of Mingyue, who yelped and jumped back hitting Yingyue. They tumbled to the ground like jesters they must look like to the other cultivator.

“Here are our intruders. I suppose I must commend your success in hiding from an Elder and  groups of senior disciples patrol.” A man’s voice remarked dryly. 

Yingyue rolled around, pushing Mingyue’s form from on top of her, to face the Lan Sect leader, Lan Xichen walking leisurely towards them. 

Strange how this man wears their father’s face but still looked like a stranger because Yingyue has never seen Baba’s face so cold and closed off. Instinct urged her to draw her sword to defend herself. Yingyue held back because, their father or not, this Lan Xichen is still Lan Xichen, therefore , a family . Her head reels with the amount of information and emotional processing it undergoes in such a short moment.

This is her worst-case scenario come true.

Lan Xichen ( Her mind still screaming ‘Not Baba! Not Baba! ) is close enough now that he could touch Mingyue ( Her brother put himself in front of her while obviously shaking from head to toe. ) with the tip of his sword should he hold Shuoyue out, but he stopped. 

Actually, he froze. That was when Yingyue realize there was a flash of light from the moonlight reflecting on the silver cloud medallion on Mingyue’s ribbon. The outer-clan disciples all wear plain white ribbons as a sign of their adherence to Lan’s principle of regulating oneself, while the inner-clan disciples - all of whom are part of the Lan family - wear cloud-patterned white ribbons. Only the immediate family of the sect leader wear ribbons with medallions. 

Did she think it would be their advantage if they were identified as part of the main family? Never. If she knew the Lan way of thinking ( which she knew very well, especially with most of the Elders ) is that the initial reaction would be confusion and distrusts, which would lead to anger, and then to an act of hostile interrogation. 

At least Shuoyue is nowhere to be seen. But Lan Xichen’s glare did harden. “Please remain calm, I will not harm you both,  but I must ask you two to come with me.”

Chapter Text

When Lan Xichen asked them to come with him, Yingyue imagined they would be brought into the holding cell and in the morning, to the Meeting Hall of the Lan Clan’s Elders to be interrogated and judged. She has seen it done only once to a senior inner-clan disciple who had been caught badmouthing Mama. Yingyue was made to observe as all fifty or so remaining active Elders did their duty to determine the appropriate disciplinary sentences according to the Lan principles and rules before finally, Baba as Clan Leader will be the one delivering the final sentence. Never in her life had Yingyue imagined there will come a day she and her brother will be the ones seated at the guilty party place.

Instead, they both were led into the elegantly sparse receiving room of the seclusion house. Yingyue imagined they look a sorry state as they took a seat in front of Lan- zongzhu, what with dirt streaks on Mingyue’s wan face and robes, she must not look any better than her brother. As they entered the house, Yingyue noted the used tableware placed just outside the door to be taken back to the kitchen. It must be nearing the end of xu shi . 

Lan- zongzhu did not say anything, obviously waiting for them to introduce themselves first as courtesy dictates. Mingyue, her poor brother, took in a deep breath and bowed to the older man. 

“Forgive us for the intrusion, Lan- zongzhu . This one is called Lan Song, courtesy name Mingyue.” He said. “This is my twin sister Lan Hua, courtesy name Yingyue. We…” Mingyue glanced at her, for how they even started explaining this whole situation. “... we have found ourselves in a predicament, but we wandered around without any ill intentions. We uh…. Need to check on some places here to determine our situation.” 

Can she face-palmed now? It will be uncourteous, but they did get caught sneaking around private properties, which was very uncourteous. But that kind of explanation will make even the most accommodating of their teachers frown. Before Lan Xichen could give a response, Yingyue interjected. 

“Begging Lan- zongzhu ’s forgiveness. Our vague explanation was not meant to insult zongzhu ’s willingness to hear our case. It is our fear that the truth of the situation might be hard to be believed by zongzhu… or anyone really. However, should Lan- zongzhu gives us the chance, you have our word that we will tell only the truth to zongzhu. ” She paused, glancing through her eyelashes to see the emotion on Lan Xichen’s face. If this Lan Xichen shared a small amount of similarity to Baba, then Yingyue hoped to all the Heavens that they shared an appreciation for honesty. 

Beside her, Mingyue has willed himself to show a placid face while wringing his hands under the table. 

At first, Lan- zongzhu does not say anything, merely watching them with minimal change in his expression. Then he let out a gusty exhale, so sudden that Yingyue startled out of her fidgeting with her robe. 

“ Xiao-gongzi , xiao-guniang , I also would like to apologize for… appearing intimidating. While I appreciate your attempt on being honest, I hope you also understand the coarse action I took so far is born out of my concern for the clan’s safety.” He gestured at our forehead ribbons. “Here you are, wearing ornaments meant specifically for the closest of my kin by blood, yet I have never known or seen you before…” 

A bell tolls from the lower ground, signing the arrival of hai shi . The twins immediately move in knee-jerk reactions to stand up and prepare for bedtime before they catch themselves. At their reactions, Lan Xichen lowers his head, hiding his smile by clearing his throat.

“... and yet this might not be the right time for us to talk. Come,” He rises, and the twins rise with him. “... this house is not meant for many occupants. I must ask both of you to sleep in the spare room here.” He showed them the room near the back of the house where spare pieces of furniture and linens are being stored. “You may clean yourself before you go to sleep, but a bath may have to wait for tomorrow.”

Mingyue bowed to Lan- zongzhu , followed by Yingyue. “This is more than enough zongzhu . We thank you for your kindness, and hope zongzhu have a restful night.” 

“I almost called him Baba.” Mingyue whispered in the dark. 

After they cleaned up as best as they could and rolled out the spare bed, Lan Xichen enter the spare room again to give them sets of clean robes. He apologized that Yingyue had to wait until morning for a set of female disciple robes. Yingyue answered simultaneously with Mingyue.

“This one is thankful for Lan- zongzhu ’s kindness-” “Thank you Ba- very much for your kindness!”

A messy save, Ge. The following awkward silence certainly doesn’t help. Yingyue busies herself folding and refolding the spare blanket, before realizing the blanket is supposed to be opened to be used to sleep. 

“... he’s not like Baba,” Yingyue answered. “He’s nothing like Baba.” 

It’s an unkind thing to say. ( The sect’s rules came to mind: Do not judge others . Do not speak ill of others behind their back ). No slander is said in the short answer, but her brother understood her meaning.

But here is a Lan Xichen who is not their Baba. Even she can’t help the instinctive rush of relief every time she saw that face because there was never a time that everything wasn’t better when Baba is around. She had to keep yelling at herself to be reminded that that is not Baba!

Mingyue gets her though, this uncomfortable emotional combination that made her want to hit and kick everything but also lie down and cry. It is hard to hide from the one that has been with you from the day you arrived in this world. 

No matter that Mingyue has been training to mask his fidgeting and his anxious thoughts from others, Yingyue's eyes will be locked on the first signs of extra sheens of sweat on his palms and how his smile became tremulous. Conversely, Mingyue will make sure he was near her (or delegate the task to their siblings when he’s unable to), on days when it takes too much of her energy just to drag herself out of bed at mao shi and when she was so exhausted from reigning hurtful words coming out from her mouth.  

Mingyue, behind a high pile of extra linens between them, sighed. “It isn’t fair to resent him for not being Baba.” A rustle. “But, I think I understand. You know when you came up with the plan to check around earlier, I really couldn’t think of anything other than running around trying to find Mama or Baba or Uncle Wuxian and be done with this mess.” He chuckled. 

Laying with her back facing the linen pile, Yingyue can only hear Mingyue sigh heavily. “So… this Lan Xichen is not our Baba. I don’t think he’s even anyone’s father at this point, not with him in seclusion like this.” A brief pause. “Do you think… the things that happened to grandfather…  also happen to him?”

“No, I don’t think so.” She may distrust this version of their Baba, but Yingyue knows in her bones that no way in any version of any world a Lan Xichen will separate children from their parents, not to mention his own flesh and blood. Or… “Shugong did mention Uncle Wangji and Uncle Wuxian as his most common visitors. If he did have his own family, would they not be his visitors?” It’s weird to think of a Lan Xichen without a Lan An as his wife. Yingyue tried to not think about the possibility of… no Mama? Another Madame Lan ? 

“So Baba - sorry, Lan-zongzhu - is possibly not married and in seclusion, but Uncle Wangji and Wuxian are at least together, because why would Wei Wuxian visit Lan-zongzhu in seclusion if he’s not involved with Lan Sect? Grandmother has passed away for some time from the state of the cottage…” Mingyue hummed thoughtfully.  “This doesn’t make any sense if we use the happenings of our world as the standard. What if… Hua’er, what if we are not moving back in time, but to another version of reality?” 

Yingyue felt her nape go cold. The possibility passed on her mind from the start, but to move through another reality, to a road not taken by the version of people in their own world? Moving back in time was the guess that she held because it was the intention of the array Uncle Wuxian and she made. What was the design for the talisman again? Surely it will be a start if she could present the design to this world’s Wei Wuxian.

Realizing she hasn’t responded to her brother, she tries to put her voice at ease. “It is a possibility. Anything is a possibility at this point, with what little we know. For small steps, our priority is to gain the sect’s trust, so we can access the resources here to build the array again.”

“You’re right. So the next step is facing Lan- zongzhu tomorrow, at the very least… if he doesn’t bring the whole Elders…” Mingyue gulped audibly. “... I hate facing the elders.”

Yingyue chuckled tiredly, patting Mingyue’s arm from over the linens. “I am grateful every day that the Lan clan has the ever-responsible Mingyue- ge as its heir. I pray for your long and healthy life Ge .” 

No matter what happens tomorrow, at least they have each other. 

Yingyue does feel slightly better when she wakes up as yin shi almost ends and the sun begins to rise. It was not the best rest she had but it will do. As she wash her face, the sight of the filthy robes caught Yingyue’s eyes. She doesn’t know what kind of challenge the day would bring, but it will certainly involve one or several elders of the clan. 

Yingyue grew up watching how Mama took special care of her appearance on occasions she had to present particularly controversial plans to the Elder ( A case for example, The day Mama helped Uncle Wuxian present an appeal for the formalization of artificer branch of study to the Elder. Mama bedecked herself in a new robe with intricate laces and cloud patterns sewn with silver thread, her dagger ‘Mercy’ snugly fitted on her hips. She even wore rouge. Baba tripped on the Dining Hall door frame when he caught sight of her ) . The presentation, Mama explained, does not start with your material, but with the entrance you give to your audience. 

It will be unseemly for Yingyue and Mingyue to appear dishevelled in front of the Elders, nor it would help them get their sympathies.  

A quick browse around the room ( Silently, because Mingyue needs all the rest he can get to face the day ) get her everything she needs to clean the robes. She used the zaojiao powder someone stored in the room they slept on, clearly put on stock for the sect leader's use. Lan- zongzhu would not mind her using his supply, she thinks. Not when zaojiao trees grow abundant in their region. 

Using the powder and a small basin of talisman-heated water, Yingyue gently soaked and scrub off the dirt from her and Mingyue’s outer robe, especially taking care of the cloud-patterned laces that adorned Mingyue’s more elaborate robe. It is part of his tenth name day celebration gift from Uncle Wangji, which makes Mingyue only wear this particular piece on special occasions for fear of damaging the delicate material with his neverending nervous rubbing. A ridiculous plan if he were to preserve the garment because one , he will outgrow the robe in less than three years and, two , wearing them on special occasions - usually occasions where a great deal of heir-flaunting session happens - only make him more nervous and thus, more rubbing which results in, guess what, more damage on the robe. 

Dirt sufficiently removed, she looked around the backyard to find a place to hang the robes dry. On second thought … This world Gusu is, at Yingyue’s best guess, entering the cold part of dew month. It would take an entire day of sun to dry the robes. Oh well, the drying talisman it will be then .

It is by the railings of the backyard’s platform where this world’s Lan Xichen found Yingyue, trying to carefully copy the design for the quick-drying talisman her Uncle Wuxian has taught on the talisman paper. She stopped her scribbling and bowed in welcome of him. 

If from the night’s candlelight Yingyue had noted the tiredness on her not-Baba’s face, the morning light make clearer the differences between the not-Baba Lan Xichen to her Baba. The most prominent is his bearing. This Lan Xichen while still cutting a striking figure, did not carry the steadiness and sureness as her Baba. Instead, there’s an air of melancholy hanging around even when he stands still. The darkened skin under his eyes only Yingyue saw on her Baba during the preparations for important conferences or after precarious night hunts. This Lan Xichen also seems shorter than her Baba, but maybe it comes back to the way he carries himself.

Her family reminds her to take better care of her words, that her words shoot to kill when she is in ill temper. So she holds back from clicking her tongue and commented on this Lan Xichen’s wrongness .

As criticizing thoughts run commentaries in her head, not-Baba walked to her. He had performed his morning cleaning rituals early, she observed his clean face, adorned hair, and a new set of thick white gowns paired with a simple light-blue outer robe he wore. He kneeled slowly on the platform, looking slightly down at her and looking for a way to open a conversation it seems because they look at each other in silence for several awkward seconds. 

“I haven’t been a good host it seems Lan- guniang . Please if you and your brother have clothes in need of cleaning, I can arrange for them to be laundered with mine.” 

“Sect Leader has given us more help than to be expected, thanking Sect Leader for his further hospitality.”  She gestured to the talisman paper she works on, carefully avoiding eye contact with the older man. “I merely doing my best cleaning these robes before the dirt settled and smeared the fabric.”

There’s an odd look in Lan- zongzhu ’s eyes as he touched the damp fabrics. “You did well guniang . Homemaking skills are often underrated, but I think it is crucial to have them no matter your background.” 

If this is her Baba, Yingyue will surely roll her eyes at such an obvious comment and for the inside joke he absolutely hinted. ( Baba cannot wash clothes . Can’t, not won’t. Mama taught him how to, side by side with little Yingyue and Mingyue but Baba either not rubbing hard enough or rubbing too hard until the fabric was ruined. Mama said it was an example of Heaven being fair that even Zewu-jun has something he cannot do. ). 

But because this is not her Baba, Yingyue only blinked slowly in response. 

Mingyue saved her from another awkward silence with him entering the sitting room. The Lan heir in another world approaches the pair, then bowed respectfully to Lan- zongzhu and inquires politely about the older man’s rest. Yingyue continues working on her talisman, while they both move to the sitting area overlooking the backyard. 

“I have left a set of disciple clothes in front of your room for xiao-guniang and xiao-gongzi . I am glad it fits Lan- gongzhi well.” Lan- zongzhu noted Mingyue’s change of clothes with a smile. Yingyue tries to hasten the talisman-making process so Mingyue will not be left with Lan- zongzhu for long. The sect leader then raised his voice a bit to address Yingyue. 

“Lan- guniang , should you have finished with your talisman, there’s a bath ready to be used by you now.” 

She took a peek over the raised platform to the sitting room where Lan- zongzhu and Mingyue- ge sit across from each other.  Mingyue, wide-eyed, nodded silently to her, signalling her to go ahead and quickly clean herself. His hair, she realized, was slightly damp. 

Talismans finished, she stuck them to the robes hung on the platform railing, before approaching the pair. “Yingyue and Mingyue thank Lan- zongzhu again for your generosity. I will now take my leave to clean myself.” She said before hastily excusing herself for a much-needed bath. 

Sitting across Lan- zongzhu , Mingyue noted the little smile he holds on to even after Yingyue left them for their tea. The blend is the same as what Baba preferred to drink as Gusu entered the colder months, something floral with a hint of ginger. Looking at the smiling Lan- zongzhu now made it easy to pretend that it is just a usual morning when Mingyue visits the Hanshi early to greet his parents. What an odd feeling. He missed his home so much but it doesn’t feel like he was far from home either. 

Not even midday and what an emotional turmoil he felt! 

When Mingyue woke up at early mao shi , the well-rested feeling he felt turned into panic as he felt his hand touch an empty space where Yingyue should be. He bolted from the bed and look around the room wildly. As wakefulness catches up with him, he noted that the soiled robes are gone and – looking through the small window overlooking the backyard – there she is washing and drying the robes. Mingyue’s legs immediately felt like jelly, he flopped back to the bed roll. Truly if this situation goes on much later, Mingyue’s heart will expire.  

No time for dawdling, he needs to be ready for whatever kind of situations the Heavens deem fit to throw on to them for the day. He found the promised change of clothes in front of the door ( Just how early this Lan - zongzhu woke up? ) and went to the provided tub to clean himself. 

If Lan- zongzhu is already up and about, he must have found his sister by now. He hoped - as he scrubbed his face furiously - that Yingyue’s temper did not get a hold of her mouth. His sister expresses her fear and sadness by being cold and ill-tempered. She’s working on it, but the fact that she has been struggling with her melancholy and with this whole situation happening… she is undoubtedly worn out emotionally. Mingyue thinks back to her snappish response last night ,a result of her turning to anger ( again ) after a barrage of sadness-dissapointment-confusion-fear . 

Is it sad that her emotional state actually stabilizes Mingyue from outright panicking? Because taking care of his sister is the one thing that he knows how to do to the dot. It’s good to know that at least he can do this one thing in this theatrical drama his life has become. 

Oh, of course, the other thing he knows to do is find a version of Uncle Wuxian. Shugong … Lan Qiren… did mention a Wei Wuxian too last night…

“Ah, I’m starting to see a similarity.”

Mingyue’s gaze, which has wandered unconsciously to the trees in the backyard, snapped back to Lan- zongzhu . His smile has widened, no doubt at the expense of Mingyue’s idle minds. Aiya did he miss something Lan- zongzhu said?

“Forgive me for my uncouthness Lan- zongzhu. This one has been distracted by his many thoughts since this morning.” He bowed his head and straightened his back, willing himself to focus on his elder. “Did this foolish one miss something Lan- zongzhu said?”

“ Xiao-gongzi, be at ease. I understand. It is to be expected that you have a lot to in your mind… and I think my less than welcoming manner last night did not help ease you both at all.” He reached and take a sip of his tea slowly. The way Lan- zongzhu holds his eyes on him from the cup rear looked eerily similar to Yingyue as she tends to do the same when in conversations. 

“As your sister has promised, I expect honest explanations from both of you regarding your circumstances. Normally I prefer to have such heavy conversations done after all parties have their breakfast, but in order to help you face the rest of the clan I will need to hear your side of the story first.” Lan- zongzhu pushed a plate of sweet cakes accompanying the tea. “I suggest you eat these cakes first as we wait for Lan- xiao - guniang to come back… and also for my guests to arrive, who will help me judge the situation fairly. We shall have our food by wu shi .”

Mingyue gulped nervously. Is this Lan- zongzhu joking? How is Mingyue supposed to be at ease when he’s going to be interrogated not only by Lan- zongzhu but with others? Well, of course, it is only logical to do so. Even Mingyue and Yingyue had anticipated this turn of events. Knowing and actually doing and facing reality is very different it seems. 

Sulking a bit, he gives his thanks in a low voice ( definitely not murmuring, as it is impolite to do so ). The cake tasted like wood shavings in his mouth. Now he kind of gets how Yingyue felt about the man last night… and maybe still feels if her hidden glare towards Lan- zongzhu earlier is any indication. 

Mingyue holds himself from moving too fast in welcoming his sister back, now dresses in the standard female Lan disciple’s white clothing. Her cloud-patterned medallion gleamed in the sunlight. She, he noted as his relief turned into a slowly raising wave of panic slowly, adorned her hair with a particular white jade hairpin. 

“What in blazes are you doing?!” Mingyue mouthed and glared in disbelief, safe from Lan-zongzhu's piercing gaze with his back turned to the older man. Yingyue glared back at him before taking a seat beside Mingyue. A mimicry of their seating the night before. 

That hairpin was an heirloom that belonged to their late grandmother, given to Yingyue by Baba himself as his eldest daughter. 

Lan- zongzhu may look nonchalant, but his eyes are locked on the hairpin… or on Yingyue in general. Maybe it was only Mingyue's overly active mind trying to find connections and clues where in actuality there weren’t. Yingyue is not yet fifteen and a hairpin was not a common hair ornament worn by junior disciples. Whatever thoughts ran through the Sect Leader’s mind, Lan- zongzhu did not make any inquiries to his sister. They all sipped their tea in tense silence.

Chapter Text

At this point, Mingyue might as well get used to the weird feeling of holding himself back from acting too familiar with familiar people ( his family! ) in this world ( reality? Dimension? world? ). 

Not half an hour after Yingyue joined Mingyue and Lan- zongzhu , Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji came. Only the two of them instead of fifty-ish elders with differing ideologies and agenda, Mingyue thanked the Heavens for their mercy. 

Lan- zongzhu welcomed both men on the front porch and stayed there conversing with them in a low tone for a while ( so low that Mingyue and Yingyue cannot hear them clearly, while the entrance of the house is not that far from the seating room ). When the three men finally entered the seating room, it was Lan Qiren who gave the most reaction surprisingly. The venerated teacher stopped and stared at Yingyue for a few seconds before collecting himself and taking the seat on the left of Lan- zongzhu , who sit in the middle. 

Mingyue and Yingyue performed their bow together after the men are seated. The performance of this small formal ritual helps Mingyue give some distance to these people who bore resemblances with those close and dear to him. Because back in his world, it is only on very important and very formal occasions that the twins perform formal bows to shugong and their uncles. As tradition dictates, Mingyue prepared to introduce themselves but Lan- zongzhu cuts him. 

“ Shufu, Wangji, thank you for volunteering in helping with this… particular situation we are facing. We have here Lan Song, courtesy name Mingyue, and Lan Hua, courtesy name Yingyue. Both of them… arrived last night and accidentally tripped on the protective array we placed on the Gentian House, the one that alerted you, shufu. ” The old Lan teacher's already guarded stare advanced to his special frosty stare. Never ever Lan Mingyue has been the recipient party of the infamous stare and will not like a repeated experience, thank you. “I requested them to stay for the night, and xiao-gongzi and xiao-guniang here have promised to tell us the truth of their… predicament.” 

On the corner of his eyes, under the table, Yingyue’s hand formed a tight clutch despite her composed face. He hoped his face is also in a similar state. The ball is in their court now, silent prayers sent to their ancestors and all heavenly beings watching over them. 

Mingyue has imagined no less than twenty different scenarios for their interrogation before sleep claimed him last night; he can do this. 

“Lan-zongzhu, Lan-xiansheng, Lan-er-gongzi, we are thankful for your willingness to hear our side of the story, and that our act of discourtesy has been answered instead with your generous hospitality. This one is Lan Mingyue and my twin sister Lan Yingyue. We are, at least where we came from, the firstborn children of Lan Xichen and our mother Lan An, thus our head ribbons. I swear it-” Mingyue quickly added as Lan Qiren looked ready to cut him off, “- I swear on our parents’ names and the honour of our ancestors that I speak the truth, as we both have promised Lan-zongzhu last night.”

Dramatic much. Eugh . But, eh, we Lans are secretly a dramatic bunch. 

“We are aware that this situation is difficult to be believed by the clan leaders and elders. We too, questioned the reality of it. It was why we were wandering around the Cloud Recesses trying to find information and clues on when exactly my brother and I have been displaced, before approaching any figure of authority in our clan.” Yingyue continues on to Mingyue’s relief. 

“But as we analyze what we have gathered, our guess is not only we are displaced in time… but also in other, hm… reality. We understand the decision we have taken last night was not the wisest course of action. We are very sorry and will cooperate with your inquiries of our situation.”

Silence fell. Shugong … Lan Qiren’s face has turned into a rather alarming shade of red and Lan- zongzhu ’s pale with shock. An understandable reaction when you’re facing two teenagers claiming to be your twin children in another world. Out of the three Lan leaders, only Lan Wangji’s reaction is somewhat composed. He regarded them, his gaze inscrutable.

“... Are you alright?” Lan Wangji finally asked. 

The question is thoughtful. Mingyue, even Yingyue from the habitual tilt of her head and the tightened of her fists, never anticipated it was thrown at them in any one of his interrogation scenarios. It was a very un-Lan-like question to be asked to intruders, which is embarrassing, come to think of it, for a sect that held high decorums and good manners. The question it seems also surprised Lan- zongzhu and Lan Qiren, who turns to look at him questioningly. 

“... Lan- er - gongzi is kind to inquire about our health. My sister and I suffer no harm in our displacement.” Mingyue answered. Not the answer Lan Wangji wanted, because he shook his head and repeated his question.

“No. To be in an unfamiliar situation with no immediate source of comfort will bring distress. Are you alright ?” 

Ah, oh! Yes, Uncle Wangji, please help us please, please, please. Mingyue really wants to tackle this Lan Wangji into a hug, except not even his Uncle Wangji is comfortable with being hugged. This Lan Wangji will very likely slam him to the wall if he so much as makes a hugging gesture. 

“We are… adjusting, Lan- er - gongzi. Thank you.” Yingyue answered. “Ah, if it’s acceptable to zongzhu , xiansheng , and er-gongzi , my brother and I shall tell you how we came to arrive at this… reality.” Yingyue nodded at him, a sign for him to go back to their explanation. 

He and Yingyue completed each other’s stories with the Lan leaders' assent. 

A short one really, about how the experiment on arrays conducted by Yingyue and Uncle Wuxian was just one of the many activities they did under the sanction of Lan Sect’s artificer division, and there had been a research attempt on time manipulation array before to speed up the growth of plants, which become the basis of the uncle-niece pair’s recent experiment on the burnt congee. Mingyue only happens to be there to escape further probing questions from visiting sect leaders.

As Yingyue continue with her recounting, Mingyue observed the faces in front of them.

Curious how Lan- zongzhu and Lan- xiansheng are more expressive than Lan Wangji in their reaction to his and Yingyue's truly fantastical story ( Yingyue as the main narrator because, again, Mingyue is a reluctant participant in this happening ) goes on. Then again, if Mingyue spent much of his time with the likes of Wei Wuxian and travels all over the land as the Lan Wangji of this world supposedly also did, there will be not much that get him all worked up.

Lan- zongzhu … Lan- zongzhu should really stop this creepy intense staring aimed at his sister. ( Because he does not trust them? Really, if he and Yingyue made up the whole story does he think they will choose to claim to be the children of the sect leader himself? ). Yingyue may raise her head and look straight at their audience but Mingyue is willing to bet every taels and coin he currently had that she is actually staring at the cloud-patterned divider behind Lan- xiansheng to avoid the staring eyes. 

“So, this… reality-displacement situation,” Lan Qiren said it like the unfamiliar term is a particularly bitter candy he had to chew, “... is a result of dangerous experiments conducted by Wei Wuxian and a Lan junior disciple, the daughter of Lan Sect Leader even! How come the Lan Sect gives permission to an outsider to conduct such activity under its name?!”

“Um, pardon this foolish student, Lan- xiansheng , but by an outsider you mean…?” Mingyue carefully inquired.

Lan Qiren’s face returns to its shade of red again. “ Wei Wuxian ! What has your Lan Sect come to be to permit such reckless person and activities regularly done?” 

Stealing a glance at her sister, the confusion and alert shown on her face must mirror his own. “Ah, but the Wei Wuxian in our world is no outsider, as he is the husband of our Uncle Wangji and so, a part of the Lan family.”

In another circumstance, preferably not when Mingyue and Yingyue is the direct subject of ire for the elder teacher, it will be truly fascinating watching the changing complexions of Lan Qiren’s face in such a short interval of time; red-white-maroon , as he went livid, and then pale white with shock again after hearing Mingyue’s timid statement. Lan Qiren made a choked sound and turn to his younger nephew.

“ Wangji! You…! How? When?! Who let them- ” Lan Qiren protested. Lan Wangji was torn between looking astounded, delighted, and affronted. 

“As far as we know, the marriage was observed by both Lan and Jiang Clan. The ceremony did happen years before our birth.” 

Do not take delight in others’ misfortune . Oh, but it is quite a relief to shift the focus on someone not them . Thousands of apologies to Uncle Wuxian and Uncle Wangji, may they be blessed with a long, happy life. Yingyue pinches his arm under the table. Did he smile unknowingly? 

As if sensing an incoming crisis, Lan- zongzhu cleared his throat to gather the attention once more. 

“That Lan- gongzi and Lan- guniang are children of Lan- zongzhu … my children, in their world-” Lan- zongzhu gulped and took a deep fortifying breath, “-should be proof enough that there are major differences between our worlds. From your explanation, I think Wei Wuxian's role as this array's creator is a piece of key information. Perhaps our Wei Wuxian would be able to recreate, or create , one that could bring you back to your world.” Then, to his brother. “Wangji, would you help contact Wei- gongzi to pay us a visit?” 

Lan Wangji nodded in confirmation and went to the other room in search of writing equipment. 

“Wait, Uncle… I mean… Wei- gongzi is not here? Why would he not be here?” Mingyue can only pat Yingyue’s hand that gripping tightly on his sleeve, hoping to alleviate the distress clearly in her voice and to do something other than addressing the mounting dread he feels. “Is he not… a part of the Lan family here?” 

From behind Lan Qiren ( whose face has turned red again. Truly fascinating because their shugong has never been this expressive ), the twin jades shared an uncomfortable look.

“As I said, our world has its differences, and I’m looking forward to learning about yours as much as you about ours… one of these differences is the Wei- gongzi here is still very much unattached by means of marriage and sect affiliation.” Lan- zongzhu confirmed.

Mingyue gulped. “... So Wei Wuxian is not married to Lan- er - gongzi … and what you said before Lan- zongzhu , you’re also not married?” ( No wife waiting for you outside of this seclusion house? May we see your wife Lan-zongzhu? She may be a version of our Mama that came from the future. She may have insights on what we were supposed to do. She may hug us and tell us everything is going to be alright ).

Lan- zongzhu shook his head in confirmation. “At first I thought you are children of my distant cousins at least. Still kins by blood for we share similar features and… temperament.” At this, he huffed a quiet laugh. 

Mingyue sure did not share whatever humour he found in this situation.

Would that means Mama did not exist also? It is weird thinking Mama is not together with Baba. But if Mama did not exist here… just how many happenings of their world can be relied on as reference in this world? Then again, here is  a Wei Wuxian that is not a husband to Lan Wangji, which is as weird as Mama not being married to Baba ( Not Baba! ). What’s next? 

There is the numbing cold feeling creeping up from his upper arm to his nape that is so familiar. This is so not the time for being anxious. Mingyue closed his eyes and try to regulate his breathing against the slowly constricting feeling around his chest. 

“ Ge , here,” Yingyue gently lays her hand on a spot between his shoulder. The warm feeling from her palm an anchor to focus himself. Mingyue focused on the passage of air going in and out of him, and the grounding feeling of his sister's hand on his back. 

The room fell into silence, interspersed with sounds of Yingyue’s gentle murmurs closest to his ear guiding his breathing, of writing brush (Lan- er - gongzi ’s) against the paper, of low conversations between the Lan leaders… the sunlight has reached their seating area through the open porch. It must be near or entering lunchtime.

Confident in his self-control once again, Mingyue opened his eyes slowly. He purposely avoids looking in the general direction of Lan- zongzhu even though Mingyue is aware of his staring since his breakdown episode.  

“There is more that we could tell of our world to honourable leaders here, and we promise to cooperate to clarify the situation. However, is there any particular information right now that honourable leaders need answers of from us?” 

The Lan leaders must have heard what Mingyue perceived as the beginning of exhaustion from his sister’s voice. Lan- zongzhu and Lan- xiansheng immediately relaxed their posture. 

“We did not doubt the truth of your brother and your story, xiao-guniang , no matter how fantastical it sounds.” Lan Qiren huffed, his hand twirling the nearly empty cup of tea in front of him before looking sharply at Yingyue. “ Xiao-guniang and xiao-gongzi have shown great fortitude and preparation for this discussion, I should point out. Evidence that you have received a high-quality education. And do not think that I am not aware of your choice of accessory, xiao-guniang . If I am not sure of my keeping of the family heirloom, I would have condemned you as a thief. Surely it is in your intention, as you wear the late Madame Lan’s hairpin, that it would be recognised by one of us here, and thus become proof of your statement.”

Yingyue only tilted her head and lowered her gaze in deference to Lan Qiren’s observation. The old Lan teacher huffed in exasperation. “Truly, even your mannerism bear resemblance to little Wangji!” 

Lan- zongzhu gives a small laugh at this. Lan Wangji, Mingyue observed in the corner of his eyes, act like he did not hear anything his uncle said, focusing on his letter. 

“Lan- gongzi and Lan- guniang have done well. I thank you for your patience in enduring our questions and for being honest. We will have a break and eat our lunch before planning for our next move.” Lan- zongzhu raised and walked to the front of the house. “I shall call for someone to bring the food here. Shufu , Wangji, I expect you would like yours to be eaten here also?”

Both Lans made a sound of assent. Lan Wangji, however, paused from his letter-making to face his brother. 

“ Xiongzhang , helping Lan Mingyue and Lan Yingyue will require your full attention.” 

Lan- zongzhu paused and held his brother’s gaze. Mingyue, head still reeling, observed the brothers having a silent conversation. 

( So like their Baba and Uncle Wangji. A man of not many words, their uncle is. Only Baba and Uncle Wuxian seem to be able to get the full meaning of what Uncle Wangji did not say ).

“... I will do my best as the Sect Leader in helping our family.” He said shortly. And that seems a good answer because Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji looked so relieved hearing it. 

Yingyue could feel Mingyue- ge ’s posture slowly relaxed from being so tense for the entire morning. Good, because Yingyue herself isn’t sure she’s in a good enough condition to support her brother if he were to have another breakdown. 

Waiting for their food to come, the Lan leaders fill the time with basic ‘get-to-know-you’ questions, now that they have seemingly established that the twins are a part of the family , to be trusted and protected. Mingyue- ge answered most of the questions. 

( “A pair of twins in the span of four years! How fortunate!” Lan-xiansheng exclaimed while giving Lan-zongzhu a pointed stare. Lan-zongzhu looked elated and distressed at the same time. It won’t be a surprise if the elder teacher would start sending for matchmakers soon. Mingyue-ge, never one to let a chance to brag about his family, recounts the many virtues of his siblings and oh how unfortunate it is that Lan-xiansheng cannot meet their precious little brother and sister who are so very adorable and coddled by their shugong. ) 

Yingyue leaves them to it and meditates to sort out everything they have learned so far. 

How far ahead they have gone back in time is still unclear, but certainly not that far because Lan- zongzhu , Lan- xiansheng , and Lan- er - gongzi are not that older than their counterparts in the twins’ world. Wei Wuxian of this world is not only unmarried and not a part of any cultivation sect but also not in the good favour of the Lan sect, as evidenced by Lan- xiansheng ’s reaction to the mere idea of Wei Wuxian having anything to do with the Lans. 

Although… such excessive reactions could mean there is a possibility, no matter how small, of Wei Wuxian getting attached to the Lan Sect. ( Flashes of irritation on Lan Wangji’s face every time his uncle criticized Wei Wuxian indicate something going on between the two gongzis… at least on the side of Lan Wangji ).

Next in note: no currently alive Madame Lan, means no children from Lan- zongzhu . No Mama. Yingyue had to disengage with her emotion as this bit of information was confirmed in their conversation earlier. She had hoped that a version of Mama would be able to help make sense of this predicament since she seems to have knowledge and experience about not being a part of this world, but alas… 

Discourses and theories on time manipulation often posit that time moves linearly. Due to the high risk in experiments on this subject, applications are still limited in the area of spells, talismans, and artefacts made to help in night hunts, with time-slowing talismans and fast-travelling spells being the most popular to be used ( but still in heavy supervisions on their usages ). The success of the talisman and spell was used to prove that time is like a fabric, able to be ‘stitched’ closer or stretched in certain parts. 

Time travel though, going back or forward in time, still remains a mystery because almost no one is brave enough to face the consequence of the experimentation on it. Almost. It took  three years of lobbying by artificers of Lan and Jiang sects combined to get the sects’ permission to experiment. Only after a long list of conditions for experimentation were established, one of them being ‘not involving living beings as the subject’, was signed that they are able to do tryouts. 

And so… the cauldron of burnt congee was the experiment subject. 

A small part of Yingyue is elated. This situation can be a start of a new research branch back in their world. They have been so focused on manipulating time movements that they overlooked the possibility of it branching, like trees or roots. Every decision taken or not taken, every circumstance that happened or not, creates new time pathways or branches. 

Questions barrage her mind then; as you move from one pathway to the other, how much your original pathway is affected by your travel? Should the time flows be different, faster or slower,  from one pathway to another? Will the pathway be erased as you move away from it?

Heavens what if they have no world to come back to? Surely it cannot be, for such immense form of energy that is an entire world to just disappear …

“A-Hua ,” Mingyue- ge bumped his shoulder to hers. Blinking back from her rumination, the Lan brothers appear to be at the front door receiving what should be their breakfast-lunch. Yingyue hastily rolled up her sleeves to help Mingyue and Lan- xiansheng clear up the table. Soon the sounds of conversations from the front door move closer to the sitting room, and Lan- zongzhu returned to the room first.

“I hope shufu, gongzi, and guniang did not mind with additions to our table. Sizhui and Jingyi will be joining us. Please if you move a bit closer there Lan-gongzi.” Lan-zongzhu made several aborted touching gestures towards them before awkwardly patting Mingyue-ge’s shoulder to shift his seating a bit closer to Yingyue, making more room on the table. 

( He did that too during Mingyue-ge’s breakdown, arms reaching across the table to offer comforts but hesitant, not wanting to… scare these children claimed to be his? Yingyue almost hoped he did act on it if only to help her brother. Both Baba and Minghyue-ge are very physical in their showing of affection ).

“Wangji is summarizing the situation to them. This is actually good I think, we will have Sizhui and Jingyi to help you settle down for the time with other disciples-”

A loud ‘ What?!’ from outside, and a swift smacking sound following it interrupted Lan- zongzhu .

“... as I said… Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi are senior disciples, with Sizhui being the first disciple of our clan-”

“Wait, wait, wait, Lan Sizhui? What…” Flabbergasted, Mingyue looked back and forth between Lan- zongzhu and her. “Sizhui-xiong? Why is he a Lan? Is he married into the clan?”

“Ah, another difference between our world. Unfortunately, we cannot answer gongzi ’s question right now without disclosing confidential pieces of information.” Lan- zongzhu exchanged meaningful glances with his uncles. 

Just then, Lan Wangji returns with two very familiar faces tailing behind him, both carrying trays of food.

One of them is Lan Jingyi alright. The Lan Jingyi she knows is loud, boisterous even compared to his non-Lan peers, and loyal to a fault. Even with his minimal interaction with female disciples, Lan Jingyi is a known figure among the female juniors. The extroverted disciple quickly become a part of the disciple contingent who was frequently sent to do joint-night hunts with disciples from other clans, and so gained his fair share of experience and influence. Yingyue herself only actively worked with him for a year with her ‘interning’ with Uncle Wuxian.

Now standing beside him is someone she never imagined will meet in this already strange world. ( Mingyue-ge frantic tugging at her sleeve is not helping at all. What, he thinks she’s blind? )

This Lan Sizhui is as captivating as her Shizui-xiong. No, more than that because Yingyue has never let herself imagine Shizui-xiong as a Lan , with a head ribbon and all. ( If she were to imagine a fantasy future, it is Yingyue that dressed like the Wens, exchanging her cloud embroideries with flame patterns ). Thank heavens her imagination is not that wild because how can she uphold decorum while having this, a poised Lan Sizhui with that gentle smile and in Lan’s white and blue, mental image?

Nope, not looking. Please don’t blush. 

Ah, this is going to be a long day. 

Someone tug on her hair hard, it’s a good thing Yingyue managed to swallow down the yelp on the tip of her tongue. Hand ready for a reprimanding smack, Yingyue faced a seated Mingyue- ge with that smug smile on his face, staring knowingly at her. 

Does she miss a cue or something? No, it’s just that she’s still standing, looking dumbly at the room entrance while everyone is already in the process of sitting down around the table. ( Is that a smile you try to hide, Lan-zongzhu? Why, it’s a good thing that you’re not her baba because your arm would be smarting because of her smack right now if you are ).

Inner peace . Yingyue, calm and graceful, returned to her seating place beside her brother. 

There’s a change in the seating position it seems. As the head of the family, Lan- zongzhu should be seated at the head of the table. Instead, it is Lan- xiansheng that took the seat while the sect leader seated himself on the left side of his uncle and across Yingyue. Damn it. 

Sitting next to Lan- zongzhu are Lan Sizhui and Jingyi. Not even a hard pinch from her could erase Mingyue- ge ’s obnoxious smirk. 

This is going to be a long day.

Chapter Text

Lunch was surprisingly not awkward. It was quiet as Lan’s mealtimes always do, but charged with tension so thick Yingyue had difficulties tasting the already lightly seasoned food. Lingering stares and sighs denoted the busy minds of the lunch participants, the sect rules of ‘ No talking while eating ’ the only flimsy dam holding the rush of questions everyone has on the tip of their tongue. 

Especially restless was Lan- zongzhu , who was even more horrible in hiding his curiosity than Lan Jingyi. (Or is it because Yingyue is especially sensitive to it, what with him sitting right in front of her? )  

At least Yingyue only caught Lan Jingyi staring several times, which was quite amusing because every time they made eye contact the senior disciple’s cheeks would flush. 

It was unnerving when the attention came from Lan- zongzhu , though not the type that made her skin crawl ( Because it’s scary how easily she can pretend that this is just her Baba looking for a way to tease her ). The sect leader’s eyes would snap into focus on every single movement her brother and she made. Oh he did it subtly, hidden glances on their person, following their selection of food. This is another mark of the differences between Baba and Lan- zongzhu . No way her Baba would show that kind of lack of self-control with people he barely knew. 

A quick peek at the corner of her eyes showed how Mingyue- ge faced this scrutiny in his practised way as the sect heir. That is, ignoring them. ( “Well what can I do then, bite and snarl at them? It’s not like running away and hiding is an option for me. Better to bore them to death by not doing anything.” He once explained to her ). 

( Is her focused observation of Lan-zongzhu a way to distract herself from the one distracting person in the room? For all the glances she throws back to Lan-zongzhu, did her eyes not shift slightly to the tranquil figure of Lan Sizhui beside him? It’s easier to criticise another person for a fault you found in yourself.

Something for her to chew on later, the reason behind these constant criticising thoughts towards the one who shares her father’s face but not his fate. What was it that Mama reminded her constantly? The things you hate show more about yourself. )  

Now that the table has been cleared, it’s time to plan ahead.

Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi, as senior disciples, are to guide them in their daily living as long as they stay in this world. They still have no idea of the length since the one expert in arrays, talismans, and conducting out-of-the-box experiments in this jianghu is still in an unknown location. Lan Sizhui assures them that he has made sure the Ghost General ( Who? ) will do his best to deliver the sensitive letter to Wei Wuxian. 

The Lan leaders assured that both of them are welcome ( Insisted by them, to be accurate. It’s not like they both have anywhere else to be ) to stay and continue with their studies as much as they could during it. 

“However, there are some adjustments that Lan- guniang and Lan- gongzi have to undertake, whether you are to join the classes and mingle with other disciples or not.” Lan Qiren ominously. “It is known in this… world , that Lan Sizhui, as the son of Lan Wangji,” her head whipped towards Mingyue- ge so fast her neck cricked, their stunned expression mirroring the other. “-is the heir to the sect leader, now that Wangji has renounced his right to succession. I’m afraid for the time of your stay, the both of you have to exchange your head ribbons for the ones meant for family.” Lan Qiren ended his explanation with a slightly regretful tone. 

“Your true circumstances will be explained only to select members of clan elders, and to the rest of the clan you shall be introduced as kins to the Lan main family… visiting for sometime after being raised outside the clan.”

“I am to be your guardian during your stay,” Lan- zongzhu continued Lan- xiansheng ’s explanation, sounding oddly perked up. “Anything you need or want, please communicate it with me. We would also require you to meet us at least every other day to reconvene.”

Yingyue did not mind. The request makes sense. All of them. There is much they need to figure out with the help of the elders. She just doesn’t know how much head-reeling information reveals she could stand every time they meet though. ( She thought they’d reached the point of bizarre twist of life by meeting an unmarried, emotionally constipated, Lan Xichen. Oh boy, the Yingyue from this morning would never imagine what the rest of the day had for them. )

For example, Lan Sizhui as the heir of the Lan sect, the son of Lan Wangji, is troubling . ( A tree grows its branches as time goes, where does the branching start for the separation of their world branch to this one?) Running on the assumption that everyone is still the child of their parents, this Sizhui must be adopted by Lan Wangji. There must be something, something … an idea of what kind of circumstances led Wen Yuan to become Lan Yuan. 

The Wen Sect - now reduced to only a group of five hundred-ish Wen family members from the Dafan village and its surrounding areas, what were left from smaller sects originally operating under Wen Sect, and Wen civilian workers - can barely be called a sect . Correction, The Wens cannot formally call themselves a sect ever again. It is only because of Madame Wen Qing’s renowned reputation as a physician and the result of mostly fair post-war crime judgement that the rest of the Wens carried on as a clan, specialized in healing cultivation. 

To let close kin of the Wen Clan leader be adopted to another great sect… 

Something happened around the time of the war in this world, that is the best guess Yingyue could make with her reeling mind. Why was this important again? Because if something (or several things) happens during the war, then they can expect many more different outcomes from it. 

( And what does that mean to them? Anomalies such as this ‘journey between worlds’ did not happen without any reason. Why them? Why now? )  

Thoughts buzzed around in Yingyue’s head like bees, she did not even react when Shizui- xiong ’s fingers touched hers when he handed her the cloud-patterned ribbon. 

“We are thankful for your help, honourable leaders.” Mingyue deftly untied his ribbon and replaced it with the new ribbon, still applying his proven strategy of distancing oneself from emotions. Yingyue followed after her older brother, fighting against the feeling of wrongness at the absence of the cool medallion that should be on her forehead. 

“We also look forward to Sizhui- xiong and Jingyi- xiong guidance. It is heartening to be advised by both of our seniors, not unlike our original life. Though it is a novelty to be able to meet Sizhui- xiong every day in this world. ” 

Ugh , that is by far the most awkward information fishing her brother had done. Most of the fishes in the room seem to notice the bait but none but one give the desired reaction. Then again there is that one fish that is easy to be baited.

“Now what do you mean by that? Sizhui is Lan Sect’s da-shixiong , you should have met him every day for your training! Or do you think you are too important as the sect leader’s son to learn under him?” Jingyi- xiong protested loudly despite Sizhui- xiong ’s attempt to shut his friend up. 

Still the loyal Jingyi-xiong they knew then. 

“Oh, no Jingyi- xiong , we also very much respect Shizui- xiong back in our world. He is quite a popular and respected disciple amongst us junior disciples.” And here goes the reeling of the fish. “It’s just… as Madame Wen’s treasured disciple, our Sizhui- xiong did not have that much time to visit Gusu and the Lan Sect except for several times every year and during each of the guest lecture sessions.” 

Whatever reaction Yingyue expected from them, it was not to this level of shock. Startled, confused, of course. But not this ‘paled face and silence’ type. Dread chills her nape slowly, it felt like ants walking under the skin of her torso and arm.

“... I take it that this is what zongzhu meant by ‘confidential information’, yes?” Mingyue- ge awkwardly stated. 

Definitely, something happened during the war and to the Wens of this world. Madame Wen, aside from her peerless talent in healing, is also notoriously protective of her family. 

Taking a fortifying breath, Yingyue made sure she made eye contact with the three elders in front of him ( Her seniors were busy looking down and nudging at each other ) before clarifying her suspicion, “Something happened to the Wens in this world. Wen Shizui may not be the direct successor to the Wen Clan but he’s a beloved nephew to Madame Wen. Unless something drastic happened to them, that left no clan member to raise him, I doubt Shizui- xiong ’s family would let him be raised by others.” 

She meant to ask the leaders in front of her for clarification, but their continuous silence made her afraid of the truth they would get. 

( Their silence is an answer enough, is it not? Her mind still trying to conjure the many possible answers, but truth is singular while lies are many words. The most simple answer she already knew, perched on the tip of her tongue only waiting for the right moment to be let out. It was wartime, such fertile soil for seeds of human’s most despicable aspects to grow. And the Lans, for all their righteousness, are still human. )

The unease she felt mirrored in Mingyue- ge ’s stare and hushed tones. “There still few hundred Wens, our Wens, survived after the war. You cannot mean all of them are… in this world…” He looked beseechingly at the rest of the Lans in the room. “Surely not all of them?” 

Lan- xiansheng let out a gusty exhale, shaking his head. Lan- zongzhu ’s mood seems to take a dip again, preferring to look wanly at his tea. On the corner of the table, beside Mingyue- ge , finally, Lan Wangji is the one who responds to them.

“The Wen Sect’s aggressions and the war efforts have taken a lot on the sects, even long after the war has passed. In our grief and turmoil, we unknowingly let nefarious plots and injustice be carried out to undeserving people. The truth of this plot has finally come to light only recently, and we are still reconciling with it.” 

That is… such a vague version of ‘The war traumatized us so much that innocent people got hurt because we lack the emotional capacity to be objective and just, and certain rotten characters made use of it for their own benefit. Buuut we just found that out recently so you kind of poking a still raw and bleeding wound right there miss.’

Whatever ‘the truth’ is, it must have landed a great blow to the leaders of Lan Sect, for them to let Lan Wangji be their spokesperson like this.

A wry chuckle came from Lan- zongzhu , startling them even in its low tone. “The more stories about your home world you told, the more I see how it was shaped by outcomes of better judgements made by the people - us - in that world.” His hand twirling the teacup, a learned restless habit from his uncle? “It gladdens me that gongzi and guniang are living in a much kinder world than ours here.”

A swift but gentle reprimand of “ Xichen!”, “Uncle!”, and “Xiongzhang! ” came from all three kin of Lan- zongzhu . To Yingyue, the sect leader’s response carries enough materials to generate answers to several of her other questions. 

This Lan Xichen feels the failings that happened in this world are connected to his error in judgements. Baba also has this inclination to self-flagellate but then Baba has Mama and his children quickly interfere with his poisonous thoughts. This Lan Xichen also must have gone through some very distressing situations for him to be in such a delicate state of mind that requires long seclusion. 

Looking longer at this version of her Baba hurting hurts her heart, she diverts herself to the sight of her and Mingyue’s robes, still hanging on the railings. They should have been dry for some time. She can feel a headache building up.

“We do not mean our answers to be perceived as a judgement of what has happened in this world. It is unfair to judge harshly and quickly something that we have no experience in facing.” Mingyue addressed the Lans in the room but to Lan- zongzhu in particular. “Our apologies to honourable leaders. It is just… these pieces of information keep coming up and each one is no less surprising than the last one…” 

If anything, Mingyue- ge ’s explanation only added guilt to Lan- zongzhu ’s cocktail of negative emotions. Before they both start a round of apologizing contests, Lan Sizhui, bless him, intervenes with, “I think our shidi and shimei has shown remarkable conduct in such trying situation as this. Shidi and shimei ’s reaction is of course understandable, and also shared by everyone here I think.

“I also think it is better to continue our discussion in a better state of mind. A lot has been revealed and needs to be reflected on. Uncle, I suggest Jingyi and I take our shidi and shimei here to their rooms to rest.”

“Sizhui’s suggestion is sensible.” Lan- xiansheng is quick with his agreement, completely ignoring the doleful look Lan- zongzhu gives to everyone. “There are affairs that need to be prepared for your taking back the duties of the sect leader. Have your rest while you can Xichen, Wangji and I will be back before dinner time for our discussion.” 

Even Lan- zongzhu can’t win when being ganged up by his family. Yingyue is glad, it is clear this Lan Xichen need every help his social support can provide while facing… whatever crisis he’s facing currently. 

Yingyue’s head hurts like it’s about to split open. Must be all the tension she felt today. The nausea did not entirely go away after their late lunch so this is definitely the result of her mind turmoil. Ugh. 

What would Mingyue give for a break from these recurring anxiety-and-shock-inducing revelations? In times like this, he felt like taking a dip into the cold spring and letting the water carry his body down, down, down from the mountain to Biling Lake. Yingyue, whom he observed massaging her temple several times as they prepared for their departure, is also in a similar condition to him. Likely she’s having a bout of headaches. 

Following the suggestion of Lan Sizhui ( Whose composure starting to become a subject of his envy ), Mingyue and Yingyue are led from Lan- zongzhu ’s seclusion house to their provided rooms. They depart after Lan- zongzhu ’s hasty reminder to ‘reconvene’ at chen shi in Hanshi. 

His sister is so overcome in holding her composure despite her pain that she misses the zongzhu ’s heavy stare at their retreating figures. A good thing because with her short temper, Lan- zongzhu doing anything can be a trigger for ‘Yingyue-explotion’ and Mingyue definitely did not have the energy to quell her ire. 

Their shixiong must have a general insight into his sister’s distress, for they mainly engage Mingyue in their conversation. From the moderate amount of disciples and teachers roaming and hanging about the inner clan residences, Mingyue suspects it is nearing the time of class ending and preparation for dinner. He tries to not look too conspicuous by mimicking the calm in Sizhui- xiong ’s gait. Jingyi- xiong ’s questions also helped in distracting him from the stares. 

( “You do look like Lan-zongzhu in general… like when you’re doing that composed expression.” Jingyi-xiong gestured to the area of his face. “Funny, huh, because I get this Zewu-jun’s vibe with you but I get the Hanguang-jun vibe with Yingyue-shimei… no, wait, scratch that. Shimei’s vibe is more of Lan-xiansheng when he’s grading assignments…” Mingyue hopes Jingyi-xiong will stop sharing his observation because Yingyue is already glaring dagger at him. )

All in all, their shixiong are oddly quick in their reception of Mingyue and Yingyue, and their bizarre world-hopping adventure. Deciding to take the risk of ruining the pleasant attitude, Mingyue asked the one question that had been disturbing him since their arrival.

“Pardon this shidi for his ignorance, but this one noticed Lan- zongzhu is… not in a good condition. Has something happened to him, shixiong ?” 

The two senior disciples did not stop their walking but noticeably tensed in their posture. They exchange a meaningful glance before addressing Mingyue’s question. 

“Ah, Hanguang-jun has hinted of a certain situation that happened recently,” Shizui- xiong did not continue his answer until they took a turn that led them, if the layout of Cloud Recesses is the same as their home, towards the junior sect disciple’s residences, “it may be not my story to tell-” 

Jingyi- xiong loud protest cuts him off. 

“ Pah! Literally, everyone has known several versions of the Guanyin Temple incident by now. If shidi and shimei are really the children of Lan- zongzhu in another world,” Beside him Yingyue hissed indignantly, clearly offended by the lying allegation. Jingyi- xiong gulped at the threatening sound, “, hear me out. If I heard hearsay involving my loved ones, then I would prefer to hear it from the closest person to the truth. Sizhui, I say let them hear it first from you. Heavens know Zewu-jun is still dodging the topic even with the elders.”

At his friend’s rant, Sizhui- xiong closed his eyes and shook his head. “I was not there, and neither were you Jingyi. But I can say this, it was revealed that Zewu-jun’s closest person, his sworn brother actually, was the one behind those nefarious plans Hanguang-jun talked about. Zewu-jun, I think, blamed himself for the tragedies that have occurred because of his sworn brother’s actions.” 

Yingyue hummed knowingly beside him. Of course, his clever sister would have guessed it first, that Sizhui- xiong ’s explanation was merely a confirmation of her guess. She after all spent most of their ‘interrogation’ time in observation. Such is the role division they have made since they’re old enough to learn to strategize; he is the centrepiece of the show while she is the eyes in the shadow.  

Sizhui- xiong then regarded the twins curiously. “Did shimei and shidi understand who I am talking about?”

Ooh, that’s so smart of their shixiong , to suspect the difference of their world extends even to this point. “No, this shidi suspect we are not talking about Nie- zongzhu with how uptight he is about the moral code.”

A startled gasp came from Jingyi- xiong , he then walked backwards to face Mingyue properly. “Nie- zongzhu , as in Nie Mingjue, Chifeng-zun, is the only sworn brother your Lan- zongzhu has? Truly?” 

“Jingyi- xiong keep questioning us of the truth. If my brother and I were to lie about our situation, or intended to hide the truth, shouldn’t you think we would tell an easier tale to be digested by everyone?” Yingyue snapped. Again, Mingyue can only soothe her by rubbing her arms and giving their shixiong an apologizing stare. 

Jingyi- xiong of course is easier to provoke than Sizhui- xiong . “Hey calm down little miss! I’m just asking for confirmation. Are you always this prickly? You will get along splendidly with young mistress Jin!” Then to Mingyue, he again asked, “Truly shidi ? Does the name Jin Guangyao or Lianfang-zun mean anything to you?”

Can please someone take notes on every goddamn information that comes from this short conversation. Yingyue, always in sync with him, tilted her head and blinked slowly. 

Oh, she already has. They will have a long conversation tonight.

“This shidi never heard of anyone of that name. Have you?” Yingyue shakes her head. “No, you haven’t also. No, we haven’t.”

Jingyi- xiong continues his stride forward faced with an awed Oooh . 

They reached the junior disciple dormitory, the female side of the dorm. Mingyue belatedly realizes something about their rooming arrangement. 

All Lan junior disciples had to live in the dormitory room, no matter if they were outer disciples or part of the Lan family. Mingyue and Yingyue also lived in the junior dorm but only until their twelfth birthday and not to their fifteen as others do. They get their own house - Yingyue’s up on the east side of the mountain and his, a sensible cottage on an untouched plot of land, near the Hanshi - to accommodate their needs.

( “Because ‘nepotism’ that’s why.” Yingyue said once upon a time, while calmly adding a plan for a small pavilion on her allotted plot of land building plan. She then regarded Mingyue’s guilty downturned eyes. “Oh wipe that expression, Song-ge. We can make sure the sect gets something out of these privileges of ours. See here, I will only take this side of the land and make a hall here for… meditation? Sword flying lesson? I’ll figure it out later, but that side is for our sect’s use.” Mingyue ended up building a greenhouse for horticultural experimentation in the backyard of his cottage.)

… anyway it is not that they have to stay in the junior disciple dorm that is the problem. It is that the junior dorm was divided into female and male dorms. Having conversations with his sister will not be as easy as he thought. 

A familiar female senior disciple is waiting in front of the housing compound. Mingyue can feel his sister tense up as she comes to the same realization as him. 

“Here we are! Yingyue- shimei should follow Xiong Xiaolian, Xiong- shijie , who is responsible for the discipline of female junior disciples.” Sizhui- xiong then turns to the shijie , “Many thanks for shijie ’s readiness to help my cousin on her stay on such short notice. We will return in the morning for her.”

And with that, Mingyue reluctantly follows their shixiong to the male junior dormitory. He watched Yingyue being guided gently into the compound by Xiong- shijie, their head bent close in conversation. 

“ Shidi should not worry much. Xiong Xiaolian is a gentle soul despite her role as the female disciplinary head. Yingyue- shimei is in good hands.” Shizui- xiong assured him.

Jingyi- xiong chimed in. “Right, right! Xiong- shijie used to be in charge of Lan Nursery before being reassigned to the female juniors because our shijie who used to be in charge there… well… I was told she perished in the Sunshot Campaign.”

Mingyue wondered if the perished shijie was Lan Peizhi, who is still very much alive in his world. Another realization is that Xiong Xiaolian must be related to Xiong Ling, one of the Lan teachers appointed to evaluate Lan's teaching curriculum. So much has changed in this world, even to the smallest and easy to miss out on things like this. 

Mingyue really needs to talk with Yingyue. 

“I hope she will settle fast,” Mingyue rubbed his hands to calm his racing thoughts. “My sister is prone to headaches lately, and this tense situation did not help. Times like this she’s not very, ah… ” He hoped his seniors understood what he meant. 

Sizhui- xiong gave him an empathetic smile while Jingyi- xiong scoffed, muttering something about young mistress Jin, whoever that is. “We have a friend with a similar disposition as Yingyue- shimei . I was told Hanguang-jun was also like that in his junior years. Don’t worry, we will take her attitude with a grain of salt.” 

To Mingyue’s bemusement, they arrived at a nondescript house, part of the inner clan residence area but near enough to the male junior dorms. At his askance look, Sizhui- xiong hurriedly explained. 

“ Shidi is initially going to stay in a room at the junior dorm as your sister does… but Jingyi and I have a spare room in our lodging and we thought it would help having familiar faces around during your stay.” 

( All the better to keep an eye on you. Said a hissing Yingyue-sounding voice in his mind. But not everything in this world is always after your neck, does it? Mingyue wondered how Baba has managed to balance his compassion and guard at the same time.)

Even with distrust still in his mind, Mingyue cupped his hand and bowed in thanks. “This shidi is bothering his shixiong once again. Thanking shixiong for their hospitality.” 

Lan Sizhui and Jingyi waved away his gratitude, letting him enter their abode. It’s common for several unmarried senior disciples to share a house. This Lan Sizhui is the sect heir though, was him not being the son of Lan- zongzhu not grant him the right to own his own dwelling? 

Anyway, it is a nice house. Larger and more furnished than the standard houses in Cloud Recesses. Even with Mingyue as an addition, they still have one spare bedroom. They must have collected their food from the sect’s kitchen, looking at the absence of cooking appliances around. 

Apparently, it was decided that they would have their dinner in this house instead of the communal eating hall. Jingyi- xiong left for the kitchen after a pointed “Don’t start anything before I come back, you hear me?!” to his friend, and Mingyue politely excused himself to his room. To change his clothes, and promptly look around for a way to sneak out. Of course, he found nothing, and there was no way he could take the front door with two senior disciples under the same roof, one of them being the freaking head disciple. 

Heavens, what a mess. They had to find a way to meet up regularly during the day then. This might be their seniors and elders' way to make sure no plan is being made by the twins without them knowing of it. 

The two seniors must have caught his gloomy mood during their silent dinner, because every time Jingyi- xiong opened his mouth to say something, Sizhui- xiong distracted him with nudges and added more food to his bowl. He should thank him in the morning because Mingyue did not have any energy left to maintain his guard through another round of questioning. 

Sizhui- xiong pulled him aside before his and Jingyi’s patrol. 

“I hope Mingyue- shidi understand that we are really trying to help you and Yingyue- shimei .” Sizhui- xiong explained as he helped Mingyue cover his bed with a new sheet. Ai shixiong , with a sincere smile like that, how can one hold up his guard? “This senior understand keeping you away from each other like this is unkind, but we are doing this to help keeping up with the story we are telling everyone else to protect you.”

“This shidi understand, shixiong .” Because what else can Mingyue say, really? Of course this Lan Sizhui would say that. It doesn’t matter how much truth his assurance truly had because the senior’s first and foremost priority is the sect’s safety and welfare. Although the Lan leaders have called them family , even Mingyue without Yingyue’s paranoia still can’t shake the feeling that they are still deemed outsiders to them, if not outrightly trespassers. 

Mingyue went to bed with a heavy head and a heavy heart. It isn’t a surprise that his sleep is fitful.

Chapter Text

“You look like hell.” 

Mingyue made a show of looking up and down at his sister, who was clearly going through a rough night and morning from the shadow under her eyes and the pale pallor of her face. The rapidly cooling air of dew month gently sways her usually immaculate braids and the long strand of medallion-less head ribbon. 

Jingyi- xiong caught him rubbing his ribbon, on where the medallion was supposed to reside ever since Mingyue could remember. His shixiong , in an unusual turn of events, opted to chat his friend’s ear off about some juniors’ punishments while they waited for Yingyue. 

Anyway… 

“You’re no fresh daisy yourself.” He scoffed as Yingyue joined their group, making their way to the Hanshi. “Did you even sleep?”

Yingyue raised her chin, smoothing down the loose strands of her hair and tucked them into the braid. “Enough to function.” She patted her qiankun sleeve. “I’ve prepared notes for our discussion this morning. I’ll show you later.” She quickly ended her explanation when she noticed Lan Sizhui and Jingyi stealing glances from ahead of them. 

“... and the headache?”

Yingyue deliberated for several breaths of time. “It comes and goes, but I’m good this morning. It was almost unbearable yesterday evening. Like bees trapped inside my head buzzing around. Do you also feel… no, you don’t.” She deduced it herself from Mingyue’s lack of agreement. “Good. One of us should stay clear-minded.”

They did not encounter many people on their path to the Hanshi; it is after all the time where morning meals are taken in the communal eating hall. Their shixiong only need to warn off several disciples of their questioning stares, but there are more than the usual Cloud Recesses breakfast-going crowd hanging around. The news of Cloud Recesses’ mysterious guests must have been spread the night before. 

Or it is not because of them . 

Because Lan- zongzhu apparently has no qualms in announcing his end of seclusion, by leading several disciples carrying what supposedly their breakfasts. And he was all gentle smiles, a contrasting sight to the concerned-looking Lan- xiansheng trailing behind the entourage. Lan- zongzhu , upon spotting them, nodded in greetings to their little group while they hurriedly gave bows and stuttered their greetings. Might Mingyue add how Lan- zongzhu completely ignores the gaggle of disciples and some elders ( Are those Elders Niu and Boqin, standing austerely in the courtyard? Blazing hells they’re bad news… if they’re still the same old stick-in-the-mud type they are in another world) watching from the side . 

“Zewu-jun sure act fast! I wonder if him taking the sect leader’s duties again means Hanguang-jun will be helping with more night hunts!” Jingyi- xiong ’s steps are more bounce now than his energetic pace before. It’s oddly reassuring how some things remain the same between their worlds, like Lan Jingyi as a fanatic follower of Hanguang-jun.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Yingyue’s eyes ruefully followed this strange version of their Baba. “I don’t think what I have on my notes will make that chipper mood stay longer than until lunchtime. At most.”

Breakfast is weird. Maybe because it still throws Mingyue off to see so many familiar yet unfamiliar things in this world. Take the Hanshi for example. Walking inside Lan- zongzhu ’s dwelling, it’s comforting to see every furniture adorning the receiving room is in the same place as the ones in his parents’ Hanshi, yet it broke his heart to realize the differences in seconds after he stepped in ( That coat rack is the same one as the one back at home, but instead of holding two pieces of Mama’s robes, there’s only one neatly folded and hanged robe of Lan-zongzhu. The calligraphy that hung next to the eastern window is also the same, but lacks the slight tear from one of A-Feng's rowdy play-fighting ). 

That, and maybe it’s also because Mingyue is running with whatever energy he managed to get with three hours of restless sleep. In addition, maybe it’s because everyone except Lan- zongzhu ( who is quite determined to shoulder the duty of being the positive energy diffuser this morning ) already has their minds on what comes after breakfast. 

And maybe it was also the food, because even though Lan meals consist of simple, bland dishes, this much barks and roots really have no business being put in a breakfast meal. ( Even Yingyue stared mutinously at the barks in her soup for some time, long enough that Lan-xiansheng threw warning glances at her ).

…On second thought, this may be a show of support from Lan- zongzhu ’s family to him - eating medicinal foods together to ease him back after his seclusion. 

Whatever . If he tried hard enough, he could recall the taste of Mama’s favourite soup, the one with shredded dried seaweeds on it. Are these dongcai? Why is it so thick… fuck, it’s cloves. Bleargh!  

At least watching his careful navigation of eating Lan’s treacherous medicinal soup lifted his sister’s mood. Across from him, Yingyue might bleed her lips with all that biting to hold her laugh. 

It felt like he was finally fully alert for the first time that day as the table was cleared up and the tea was being prepared to accompany their talking.

Lan Qiren cleared his throat, putting on what Baba called ‘ Shugong’s working ’ face ( “Look at his face, in no time now he will clear his throat,” They are observing shugong’s class from the courtyard. Baba covered A-Song and A-Hua’s mouths to hide their giggles when shugong did just that, “-and from now on until the class is finished, shugong can’t smile or laugh or play with you. A-Song and A-Hua are good little baobei, aren’t they? So they shouldn’t bother shugong.” Then they have to scurry off because shugong is glaring dagger at them from the front of the class) . 

Only after Lan Sizhui finished pouring teas to everyone in the room, that the elder teacher start. 

“I will start with the result of my meeting with our elders and seniors. Last evening, as I announced Lan Xichen’s end of seclusion and subsequent return as sect leader, I also made an introduction of Lan- gongzi and Lan- guniang as kin to the main family who will be staying and studying with us until further notice from their ‘guardian’. A weak tale and prone to further prodding questions, but I managed to put it to rest by vaguely warning them to not question guniang and gongzi, for you have just gone through a… ehem… traumatic situation.”

Not a lie. Mingyue has never been constantly on edge in a prolonged time like this. 

Also, this is the first time he gets to see shugong bullying the elders into accepting his absurd story! 

Did he just call him shugong ? No, not shugong damn it Mingyue, focus!

“Now that Lan Xichen has once again taken up the position of sect leader, I will return to my role as senior teacher and take over my previous classes.” Lan Jingyi closed his eyes and shook his head ruefully. 

“And as the Lan clan’s senior teacher, with sect leader’s permission, this teacher will now hold a proper assessment of your knowledge and plan out how we can continue your education during your stay. Will it be acceptable, sect leader?”

“I have no problem with that. Of course, I will be observing this session as their guardian.”

At this, Lan Qiren switched back to being ‘Uncle Qiren’ to Lan- zongzhu . “Xichen, you have your many duties to attend to, as I’m sure you have seen from the state of your office desk.”

“And one of my duties is as a guardian to Lan Mingyue and Lan Yingyue, helping with their adaptation to this sect. Don’t you agree with me?” Lan- zongzhu swiftly replied, looking perfectly unbothered as he sipped on his tea.

From beside him, Yingyue very much does not agree with the zongzhu and is ready to voice it out. But Mingyue is an experienced older brother so his hand is also quick to cover her mouth. He is also very experienced in ignoring death glares from his siblings. 

Lan- xiansheng must think arguing with his nephew is not a worthy cause to waste his energy on. “Fine then. Stay. But I remind you there’s a pile of missives as high as a chi waiting for your reply.” 

“I need to be briefed by Wangji before involving myself with any official external communications, and my meeting with him will be after lunch.” Lan- zongzhu looked entirely too pleased for someone who would be stuck with boring assessments, boring missives, and boring meetings. “Jingyi, if you would be so kind, could you check on my brother’s whereabouts and confirm our meeting time with him?”

Jingyi- xiong looked almost heartbroken at the possibility of not being able to watch the assessment ( Losing the opportunity to gain new gossip materials? ), and it took Shizui- xiong pushing his shoulder several times to get him moving. 

Yingyue took advantage of the momentary silence as the nosy senior disciple left the Hanshi.

“If this disciple may interrupt, Lan- zongzhu , Lan- xiansheng , and da-shixiong , this one would like to share something before our assessment.” At Lan- xiansheng ’s assent, Yingyue pulled out her notes from her sleeves. Even Mingyue’s eyebrows rose at the amount of paper she pulled out.

When earlier Yingyue said she made notes, Mingyue naively assumed she meant just on her usual note-taking book. He should have known her sister never holds back when she’s on the roll. She pulled out her notebook, a pile of papers with scribbles on it, and two bound scrolls of paper. 

No wonder she looked dishevelled this morning. 

“From our conversation yesterday, this one recognized the need for a clear understanding of differences between our world, more so because we will need to uphold the same story of mine and my brother’s background.” She opened the first bounded scrolls, revealing a long timeline with additional notes on other papers for certain events. 

Well, to be more accurate this is Mama’s way of making a timeline with a format made to efficiently present informations and thus save more papers, so the other Lans’ confused stares are to be understood. After arranging the additional notes near their respective points of events, Yingyue pointed to the earliest marked events on the line as they huddled around the long scroll.

“I started with the time the Sunshot Campaign started, that is with the burning of our Cloud Recesses, and then the attack on Yunmeng Jiang Sect. I confirmed with Xiong Xiaolian- shijie last night that the burning also happened here, but not so about the attack on Yunmeng Jiang because in this world what happened was an almost massacre. I cannot ask for more details from Xiong- shijie for fear of making her suspicious and disturbing more of her time, but I can safely assume this is the start of all the differences between our worlds.” Sitting closer beside Yingyue, Mingyue felt her sister exhilarated trembling he could feel from where their shoulder touched.

Yingyue continued on with the description of the Sunshot Campaign of their world, an almost repetition of their history class. Even without touching the details of each battle, they already encountered another difference. 

“The opposing sides in our world are the Wens against all the other great sects and their allied sects.” Lan Sizhui pointed out in the notes. “Here you wrote that the Jins and Wens were allied. Is that why your war went longer than ours?” 

Mingyue answered him instead because his sister opted to immediately add the information to her notes ( Even her compact writing brush brought out amazed looks in their little audience. Seriously… ). 

“Yes, the opposing sides are too balanced, and we were told an enemy spy was planted inside the Lan side. For some time, the Sunshot alliance was struggling against our enemy. Were it not for the dismantling of the intelligence operations and the discovery of the puppet lure flags by Uncle Wuxian, our Sunshot Campaign would have ended differently.”

“We were also helped by our intelligence operation, ah…” Sizhui- xiong shot a nervous glance at his uncle. “Oh, and also because of Xian- ge - I mean, Wei Wuxian's control over the puppets.” 

“ Control ? With what? The flag lures the fierce corpses not control them.” 

“With, um…,” Now Shizui- xiong looked worryingly at Lan- xiansheng . “Well, the Wei Wuxian of our world is infamous as the founder of Demonic Cultivation. That is… he found a way to control fierce corpses using resentment energy.”

“Wei Wuxian does not have demonic heritage, and he is using resentment energy; why is it called ‘Demonic Cultivation’?” Yingyue argues, hands still swiftly adding bits of information on the paper. She groaned in frustration. “I have so many questions! Shixiong said we had intel on the Wens; who was it? Was it someone from the Jins? Oh, and was there a notable mapmaker on either side of the war?”

Though Lan Sizhui looks ready to answer the barrages of questions, it is not so with Lan- xiansheng . 

“Enough! This kind of discussion will take too much of our limited time this morning, and I did not see the benefit of knowing these pieces of information on your knowledge assessments or on holding onto your background story. This conversation will be postponed to some other times!” Lan- xiansheng gestured for the scroll to be set aside. Other times , Mingyue would scoff if he was not so nervous, as if that time would come if you had any say on it . 

Yingyue, bless her sister's ferocious soul, is ready to debate Lan- xiansheng ’s command. Mingyue quickly diffuses the situation before something catastrophic happens. 

“This disciple understands Honorable Teacher Lan’s concern and will comply with it. We shall prepare a better presentation on the differences we find and will present our findings to Lan- xiansheng and Lan- zongzhu . Yingyue and I do this is also to help find the possible reasons for our displacement, which we suspect can be learned by first understanding the events of this world, is that not so sister?” Please say yes, this poor brother is only guessing here. 

Yingyue, despite still having that fierce look in her eyes, thankfully yielded with a nod. She must have also realized the stupidity of provoking one’s few allies in this Lan Sect. “Of course! Forgive this foolish student for her tactlessness, honourable teacher. If Lan- xiansheng is more interested in something related to our education…” 

Yingyue then opened the other bound scroll, shorter but contained something much more elaborate and complex. 

Mingyue and Lan Sizhui try to make more room for the new scroll by attempting to roll up the timeline scroll. Lan- zongzhu prevented their attempt and merely pulled said scroll and notes closer to his side. Thank Heavens Yingyue’s focus has shifted to the array design and Lan- xiansheng , and not to Lan- zongzhu ’s obvious interest in her other notes.

“This is the array that my Uncle Wuxian and I made, the one that we experimented on. And here is the talisman used as the ‘hit mark’, so to speak. This talisman then directs the spells on the array design to the object to be affected by them.” Besides the scroll, Yingyue produced a design of the marking talisman Mingyue last saw placed on the burnt congee cauldron.

Appeased that his command was obeyed without any debate, Lan- xiansheng returned to his composed self and carefully observed the design. For some time, his fingers followed the intricate layers of spells. The teacher hummed in amazement. “I am not an expert on spell-creation and talismanic art, but I recognize this array consists of at least two layers of spells. Am I correct?”  

“Three, actually. For now, at least. This spell on the outer ring specified the area and object of impact. The main spell is placed at the design core, commanding the reversal of time flow. Uncle Wuxian and I then ‘wrapped’ the main spell with an additional one that functions as… hm, how do I explain it… the additional spell is made to fulfil the caster’s intent for the object. That is, for the burnt congee to return to the state of unburnt. Uncle Wuxian and I meditate for a whole day to maintain our focus.”

“I have seen arrays formed with two spells at most. To form more than two in an array and manage to ensure they work in harmony… at such a young age too. Shimei is truly a prodigy!” Lan Sizhui exclaimed enthusiastically. His eyes are still locked on the design though. A shame really, he missed the way a blush burst out on Yingyue’s cheeks to her ears. Mingyue bites his lips to hide his smirk. His sister’s headaches must have really lessened with how affected again she is by this version of her crush’s admiration. 

Yingyue, cheeks still red, scoffed. “But they didn’t work as intended, did they?” 

Humming thoughtfully, Lan- xiansheng ’s fingers traced the interweaving spells. “This will need a great quantity of energy to be activated. Greater, I think, than even teleportation array.”

“Yes, yes, Lan- xiansheng is correct! We spent half of the three months of this experiment preparing to preserve qi in energy orbs! That is, we transfer and condense energy inside metal or wooden orbs, to be extracted later when we need it. Oh, we should commission several of them for preparation! Thank Heavens Mingyue- ge is also familiar with the designs.” 

While letting Lan- xiansheng, Lan- zongzhu , and Lan Shizui deliberate on the note papers and scrolls, Yingyue shot him a knowing glance. Huh? Did he miss something? He traced back everything his sister did in this session before he realized…. 

In the area of cultivation knowledge, it is obvious that their world is already way ahead in advancement. There is little to no chance anyone in this Lan Sect can give valuable input without Uncle Wuxian to help with the creative, out-of-the-box thinking needed for this experiment, in such a short time too. Therefore, Yingyue putting too much effort into exhibiting something she knows their audience will understand so little of makes no sense.

No. His sister has intended this ‘show and tell’ session to give proof of their competence to Lan- xiansheng and deter him from assigning and wasting their time on classes they already completed back in their world. Time, that is better spent with, say… perusing and using the library to coordinate and strategize their way back home. 

( Mingyue also has the same intention to dodge being assigned to classes, but Yingyue will wring him halfway to death if she finds out the plan he has in mind to achieve it. That is, by roping Lan-zongzhu to their side. It will be easy, with how the zongzhu seems to snatch on every chance to get close to them. Mingyue only needs to find a way to present the idea and prevent Yingyue from biting the man’s head off.) 

(A note to self: Have a heart-to-heart with Yingyue about her antagonistic view on the zongzhu ). 

“Not just commissioning and preparing the appropriate apparatus, we also need to do further readings on relevant theories and writings.” Mingyue made a show of giving his sister a concerned look before addressing the two Lan leaders and the first disciple. “There are many preparations to be done, and also so much information of our world that we need to compile and share with you. My sister and I are still lacking in many areas of study, but we have completed our primary and secondary level classes and have just entered classes of specialized fields of knowledge. Might this disciple suggest… whatever the leaders and our senior decided for us, the continuation of our education and assigned duties should align with our main objective of preparing for the array construction.”

Mingyue could hear Yingyue’s breathing evened out, eyes blinking slowly. Good, he did good. Phew!

Before Lan- xiansheng can give his share of thought though, Lan- zongzhu unexpectedly speaks up. 

“I agree with Lan Mingyue’s suggestion.” The sect leader, still perusing the scrolls and notes while addressing the room. “Lan Yingyue and Lan Mingyue have shown their prodigiousness from these works and their education record. I think assigning them to regular classes will be a waste of time, shufu . Time that is better invested in something all of us can gain something from.” 

Was it really that easy to reel in Lan- zongzhu to their side? Really? No, nothing so advantageous as getting to the sect leader’s good side should be gained this easily. Unless there is something else in this seemingly good fortune…

Lan- xiansheng looked exasperatedly at his nephew. “I have not even started my assessment of their knowledge, zongzhu . One can excel in something while lacking in others, and the purpose of this assessment is to identify the most suitable lesson plan for these two Lan disciples . Even if it is proven that Lan- gongzi and Lan- guniang here have exceeded the need for regular classes, we need to know what kind of education we can provide that is appropriate for their level.”

“I understand shufu ,” Lan- zongzhu appeasingly, “The assessment, of course, still needs to be conducted. It is just that Lan Mingyue’s suggestion has got me thinking of possible assignments for them, if shufu care to hear it?” 

Aaand there it is . Mingyue held back a sigh. Though Lan- zongzhu is not his father, a product of a different life experience, they apparently share some similar tells. Lan- zongzhu has this shine in his eyes and the little curl on the corner of his lips is so achingly familiar to Mingyue. His Baba wears the same expression when he knows he’s going to win an argument.

Lan- xiansheng closed his eyes, exasperated, and let out a gusty breath. “... and what are zongzhu ’s suggestions for their assignments?”

“Lan Yingyue has shown great talent in talismanic art, it is obvious that she should be tutored by our elders specialised in that area. I would also like Lan Yingyue to peruse some of our tomes and scrolls about cultivation theories and provide suggestions for improvement on them.” Not letting his uncle and nephew have time to interrupt him, the sect leader quickly continues.

“Lan Mingyue, as the heir to his Lan Sect, should also continue his education on leadership preparation. Aside from helping Lan Yingyue with her assignments - as I’m sure Lan- gongzi also has much to contribute to our library of knowledge  - I would like him to be our Sizhui’s shadow in carrying out his duties as first disciple and heir, as Sizhui is also currently undergoing the same process of sect heir’s preparation.”

Would you look at that, I’m right after all. Mingyue didn’t know if everyone in the room got it, but he sure as hell caught the intention behind the zongzhu ’s suggested assignments. 

Assigning Mingyue as Lan Sizhui’s shadow means Mingyue will also spend much of his time assisting the zongzhu with his work. That is after all what Mingyue has started doing for the past few years with his Baba. Assigning Mingyue to help update this Lan sect’s library will give Lan- zongzhu an excuse to also meet, and maybe even spend time, with Yingyue. 

Not that he minds it, of course. That is, spending time with Lan-zongzhu. If anything, he’s curious to get to know the man who technically is his father… well, he obviously hasn’t done the technical part that will make him become Mingyue’s Baba. But, if ‘Lan Huan, courtesy name Xichen’ is and will always be Lan Mingyue and Lan Yingyue’s father then… this Lan Xichen and every other Lan Xichen in every existing world are his father, yes? Anyway, Mingyue has no problem treating Lan-zongzhu with the same respect - and maybe even affection - as his Baba.

As sudden as the insight came into his mind, doubt followed and crept in. What a vain creature you are. What makes you think you’re so likeable to guarantee Lan-zongzhu’s attention and care for you when all this time it has been your sister making much effort in taking care that everything goes well for the both of you? Useless boy, see how all this time being the sect leader’s son is the only thing people know you for-

“Really Xichen? You are suggesting these two ‘junior rouge disciples’, raised outside the sect, will have something worth adding to our sect teaching?” Lan Qiren asked dryly, to which Lan- zongzhu only replied with an unelegant shrugging. Contrary to his nonchalant gesture, Lan- zongzhu ’s next words are meant to cut. 

“I think the Lan Sect have learned to not let prejudice rule us, and let us pass a chance to gain precious knowledge just because the source is deemed unworthy by our standard.”

By Lan Sizhui’s sharp breath, this kind of behaviour must be unusual for his uncle. For Mingyue and Yingyue, while it did not happen very often, their Baba is not below throwing veiled threats and stern words in discussions. He has to, as a war hero thrown into chaos at such a young age, and later as the chief cultivator leading the post-war recovery efforts. 

The nephew and uncle pair glared at each other, both sitting straight and tense. The air is charged only slightly with tension and more with… something else. Lan Sizhui, while nervously throwing worried glances at his kin, caught Mingyue’s eye and gave a weak reassuring smile. 

Lan- xiansheng is the first to relent, turning his sight around the room, and noting how nervous his young disciples are. 

“... Lan- zongzhu will help me make a convincing argument to the elders and seniors.” He said shortly, ignoring his nephew’s demure winning smile.

The teacher faced Mingyue and Yingyue squarely. 

“Now, this teacher shall give questions to Lan Mingyue and Lan Yingyue. Both of you shall give me answers individually. No completing each other sentences. Do the best that you can.” Lan- xiansheng gestured with his hand to Lan Sizhui, who scrambled to obtain a clean sheet of paper and brush to take notes on the assessment. 

Lan- zongzhu , already securing his agenda, placed himself to the side and behind Lan- xiansheng . The zongzhu settled himself to observe the proceeding with keen eyes. 

Chapter Text

They both passed the assessment. Every answer is as per the sect’s textbooks to the dot, presenting them as morally upright young cultivators living up to Lan’s righteous and traditional standards. Not the type of disciples that will cause problems and have wild ideas. No Sir. 

And of course, as the seasoned teacher he is, Lan Qiren did not buy it. Yingyue can tell their shugong of this world is distrustful of her and Mingyue’s by-the-book answers, the incongruity of them compared to the evidence of the twins’ education presented so far ( Spells and talismans tampering, unorthodox research and experimentation… need she list more? ) and their wild ( By this world’s Lan standard ) and definitely not that traditional upbringing.  

Not that the old teacher can do anything about it, not when he doesn’t have any proof. What’s he going to do, admonish them for answering everything precisely as his teaching?

So they passed the assessment. Again, Lan- xiansheng praised their performance and the quality of their education and acknowledged the merit of the zongzhu ’s propositions earlier. ( With much grumbling under his breath.)

Highly suspicious propositions. Reeks of the man’s scheme to spend more time with his son from another world. What is up with that anyway? Yingyue gets the sentimentality of it, but from the bigger point of view isn’t the zongzhu risking his still delicate position with the sect’s elders, just newly out from seclusion he is, by making such a questionable decision? ( Isn’t he risking his already fragile emotional state by getting close to them? What’s the point of getting close to people who will leave his life as soon as possible? )

Speaking of sentimentality, her brother better not entertain the idea of getting chummy with the zongzhu. Already he’s going to be glued all day to the big fishes of this Lan Sect, as if they needed more scrutiny from others at this point. 

“You better prepare a sound explanation on why a young rogue cultivator, an almost nobody except for your Lan blood, suddenly trailed on the Sect Leader’s heir everywhere.” She hissed snidely. Yingyue pulled her brother’s sleeve to slow his pace, creating a respectful distance from Lan Sizhui. After the assessment commenced, Lan- xiansheng sent them to help the senior disciple fetch lunch meals from the kitchen, seeing that Lan Jingyi hasn’t back yet from his errand ( Did Lan Wangji intentionally hide from the senior disciple? Lan-er-gongzi is a creature of habit, it should not take this long to track him ). 

“This situation will make good fodder for gossip. Tongues will wag, even Lan tongues.” Yingyue chooses to ignore the creeping annoyance at the slight tilt of Lan Sizhui’s head, to better listen to them. No matter how adorable it makes him look. 

Her brother huffed, affronted. “You wound me. Do you think I’m a sentimental fool following the whims of my feelings? Wow, you really have no confidence in your gege .” Even though he said it lightly, the way he hissed the last sentence betrays a little bit of what he thought of Yingyue’s view of him. 

Ducking her head a bit, feeling contrite, she softened her tone. “It’s not like that. You know I don’t mean it that way.” 

A group of junior disciples bowed and stopped to converse with Lan Sizhui. Yingyue used the opportunity to widen the distance between them and the senior, and lowered her voice even more, “Getting more attention is the last thing we need, and you definitely will garner it in the future. Why didn’t you debate his suggestion early on? This is worse than having to go through the regular classes again!”

An eyebrow raised, Mingyue crosses his arms. “And you think debating and talking the zongzhu out of his already made-up mind is not suspicious of us? I don’t clearly understand your disapproval of Lan- zongzhu , sister. We will talk about this later, mind you. But, hear me out.” He raises his hand to stop Yingyue from interrupting. 

“No matter how fragile looking or despondent he looked, he is still Lan- zongzhu , Zewu-jun. One of the prominent figures in the cultivation world. The face of the righteous Lan Sect. Setting aside all sentimentality like you love to remind me to do, he’s our best shot at getting away with whatever shenanigans we are going to wound up in the future. And don’t tell me there will be no shenanigans. We are going to work with a Wei Wuxian later, working on a spell nobody ever thought of actually creating before. There will be a protest at minimum from the elders. You get me?” 

“I get you, I do. But still…” Yingyue sighs dejectedly, hands wringing in frustration. She may be stubborn but she’s not a fool who doesn’t know when to back down when she’s out of any logical explanation. How can she even explain just how wrong it feels for her to look at Lan-zongzhu’s face? (How her stomach just dropped when the realization of ‘Not Baba’ slammed into her mind again and again?) 

Ever in tune with her emotions, Mingyue bumped his shoulder to hers. “You said before that we should get into the good side of the clan to ease our plan of going back. How is getting close with heads of the clan not congruent with that objective?”

Yingyue was saved from further confronting the truth of her biased view by their almost forgotten shixiong . 

“Sizhui! Hey, wait up!” Jingyi- xiong power-walked his way to them, making a quite intimidating sight apparently to the junior disciples around Lan Sizhui, who quickly bowed and left the first disciple to greet his friend. “ Shidi, shimei, are you done with your tests? How was it? What did I miss? Have you shown your notes yet?” The senior disciple barrages them with questions even before reaching his friend's side.

“ Shixiong should not have eavesdropped on this junior and her brother’s conversation this morning.” Yingyue pointed out. 

“Ha! It’s not eavesdropping if I can hear you without any effort, shimei . It’s called overhearing . And you patting your sleeves all morning did not help.” Jingyi retorted while walking backwards now to make sure Yingyue could see his annoying face. Yingyue hoped Lan Sizhui would let his friend slip on the steps any time now. “Keep glaring like that, and I’ll begin to suspect you have Jiang blood in you. So similar to prickly young mistress Jin, like his Uncle too!”

Mingyue- ge , who did not share her vexation with their nosy senior, chose to pry on something else he said, politely. “Who is this Jin- guniang you keep mentioning, Jingyi- xiong ? Might she be someone we also know of back home?” 

To their bewilderment, Jingyi- xiong barked a laugh before covering his mouth in fear of being heard while Sizhui- xiong snorted . “Oh Heavens, Sizhui, you must remind me to tell this to young mistress Jin!” Jingyi- xiong slapped Lan Sizhui’s arm while still wheezing from his laughter. 

Sizhui- xiong answered mirthfully, “It is Jingyi’s affectionate nickname for our friend Jin Rulan. Ah, if Xian- ge- um, that is… Wei- qianbei of your world is married to Hanguang-jun, then Jin Rulan is your cousin by marriage!” 

Jin Rulan… A-Ling? Yingyue looks at her seniors in puzzlement. “Why is he ‘Young Mistress Jin’?”

“Because he is, you know… prickly, fussy, arrogant, and, well-” Jingyi- xiong gestured his hands in the general direction of Yingyue. She huffed in disbelief at what the senior implied. Why, the nerve of this boy!

Beside her, Mingyue let out a sound of protest. “Our A-Ling is not like that. Well, he is not that eloquent in expressing himself, but he’s a sweet boy at heart.” Mingyue- ge paused, then at her raised brow he hastily added. “Yingyue is also not like that! Not prickly, I mean. Not intentionally… It’s the headaches, yes? And the shock! Heh heh…” His hands awkwardly pat Yingyue’s shoulder like she’s a beloved but crabby horse. 

Yingyue huffed again, still annoyed but this new piece of information distracted her. “A-Ling is alright if you’re patient enough to wait for his blusters to pass first. He’ll get to his point after you give him some time.” 

Though only their cousin by marriage, Yingyue and Mingyue spent more time with A-Ling than cousins-in-law normally would have. All thanks to Uncle Wuxian and Jiang- zongzhu being the go-to babysitters for their sister, the young Jin- furen . Yingyue and Mingyue are already familiar with Suibian’s speed at an early age, with how often Uncle Wuxian takes them and A-Ling ( on a whim, most of the time, just because he’s bored ) to the Koi Tower or Lotus Pier to play. 

Alas, they’ve grown apart gradually as they get older. Or at least it happens to Yingyue. Mingyue- ge still gets to gather and meet with scions of the cultivation sects, including A-Ling. From the few times they met and the stories from Mingyue, A-Ling is still the same awkward, foot-in-the-mouth boy in his teenage years as he was when he was a child.

“He’s not used to being around his peers. Maybe it’s because of him being the sole heir of the Jins. Being put on a pedestal can make one feel isolated.” Yingyue paused, then added. “Perhaps that’s why our Jin- zongzhu is lenient with Uncle Wuxian and Jiang- zongzhu ’s antics. He also grew up as an only child and heir.”

Bait thrown, Yingyue watched how the two seniors exchanged a meaningful glance at that piece of information. They then become surprisingly quiet for the rest of their walk. No words were exchanged ( not even barbs and pointed words from Jingyi-xiong) as they reached the kitchen and collected their meals. ( Yingyue hides herself slightly behind Mingyue-ge. Most of the cooks and helpers were new faces to her, except for the supervisor whose piercing eye watched Mingyue and Yingyue’s every move. The same elderly woman in their world, Old Cook Guo, used to slip hard candies to the twins’ whenever they visited the kitchen).

As they walked back to the Hanshi, Sizhui- xiong asked them carefully, keeping his expression neutral. “This sect leader Jin shimei talked about, is shimei referring to Jin Jixuan?” 

Heh, what? “Of course. As the only legitimate heir to the Jin sect, sect leader Jin Zixuan took over the leadership after Jin Guangshan’s demise.” A controversial demise but that is another bait to throw for another time, let’s not be hasty. And also don’t speak ill of the dead and all that. 

Mingyue- ge , her beloved brother, catches where she means to lead this questioning, and takes over the wheel. “Was it different here also, shixiong ? Is there another Jin who takes over the sect leadership here?” 

Shizui- xiong answered the questions, while Jingyi- xiong awkwardly pretended not to be very uncomfortable. “Ah, about that… There was a tragedy that led to Jin Zixuan’s passing before the gongzi stepped into leadership. But his son Jin Rulan has only recently taken over the leadership! Shidi and shimei may meet him this time of the year if his schedule is still as he told us in his last letter.” 

Yingyue’s head whipped so fast, exchanging a shocked look with Mingyue- ge . Her brother is quick with his follow-up question, “ Before he even stepped into leadership, meaning his father Jin Guangshan was still in charge then. Shixiong , is Jin Guangshan still alive in this world?” If he does then Yingyue would voluntarily be in seclusion than be in the visual range of the old lecher.

Lan Sizhui looked conflicted, not unlike how he was the night before. Yingyue imagined he would nervously fidget and shuffle around, but being the perfect Lan he is all he does is stare resolutely ahead of the path. 

It was Jingyi- xiong who nudged him into speaking. “Get on with it, Sizhui. It doesn’t make sense that they have no idea about the Jins’ mess if we are to present them as our cousins. Even the commoners know a thing or two about it.” Lan Jingyi encourages his friend. “I don’t think anyone in charge has any concrete plan about telling them anything at all.” He added snidely. 

The senior paused, weighing on his friend’s reasoning, and finally nodded in agreement. 

“ Shidi and shimei must remember then, that this is a one-sided recounting of a… complex situation.” Only after she and her brother nodded in deference to the shixiong ’s request, he started his recounting.

Yingyue supposes it is something to be grateful for that this Cloud Recesses is identical in its general layout to Yingyue’s own home, that she can trust her feet to guide her to the Hanshi without needing to be present in mind. There is a creeping feeling of disconnection slowly encompassing her as Yingyue listens to the da-shixiong’s retelling of the tragedy that befell the Jins, starting from the role of a spy called Meng Yao and his rise in power as Jin Guangyao. Names of people, some she only knows of and many very dear to her, come up and are given tragic roles for them to play. 

That is exactly what this feels like for her; like hearing a tale but someone swapped the characters with people she recognizes instead of some heroes and villains. 

Lan Jingyi called all this ‘the Jin’s mess’, to Yingyue this is more like the cultivation world’s mess. Out of a crocodile’s mouth into a tiger’s mouth . The war once seemed to her to be the climax of greed left unchecked for decades and it was righted by upholding justice through the great sect’s cooperation. This world’s war was the first chapter towards collective moral decrepitude.     

( Yingyue struggled to temper the boiling anger she felt as Lan Sizhui recounted the sect’s abhorrent treatment of the one they hailed as the hero of the war, the willful blindness they practised as they gradually became those whom they opposed in the first place. How they let someone who is like the tyrant they deposed to lead them. )

They were halfway to the Hanshi when Lan Sizhui started telling the story ( history ), and now they are nearing the Hanshi as the senior concludes it with the death of Jin Guangyao just a year before, so Yingyue knew it was a very summarised version of the real situation. 

Yingyue was rendered speechless, her mind still struggled to connect the people in Lan Sizhui’s story with those she knew. Mingyue- ge… well, she can see the slight sheen of sweat on his hands and hear his shallowing breaths. 

No wonder everyone opts to carefully sidestep and tiptoe around the topic when it comes to talking about what has happened. What a mess. Bless the zongzhu of their world for having the gut to choose the harder road for a better future. 

Silence fell on their little group. A deep breath to cleanse her weary head is in order, so that is what she does. Already Yingyue can feel the telltale tingling on her scalp, portending another round of headaches. 

“The Lan sect’s decisions throughout shixiong ’s account, they, er…” Mingyue- ge paused in search of an appropriate word, “... this one did not think they reflect our precepts and ideals.” 

Jingyi- xiong sighed dejectedly, “ Shidi isn’t wrong. The first time I learned the chronicle of the conflict, I used to try and put myself in the leaders’ shoes during that chaotic time to understand the choices they made. But they still felt wrong, so I settled with the fact they really just… leaders who chose bad decisions.” 

Bad doesn’t even cover it. Yingyue wants so very badly to let that snide comment out. But what for? It already happened and now Lan-zongzhu’s voluntary seclusion and dejected state made sense and is an apt monument for the consequence of the series of cultivation world’s bad decisions. 

Mingyue- ge frowned and huffed uneasily. “That we did not even know about this Jin Guangyao person until now worries me. He’s supposed to be an influential cultivator, to be able to rise in power, from an illegitimate son of Jin- zongzhu , to a sworn brother to two zongzhu of great clans, then orchestrating a power grab in the Jin sect…. Why on earth was there no trace of this Jin Guangyao in our world?”

“Yingyue-shimei has made a comprehensive note of her world’s events. From what I gathered from them, I agree with shimei that the divergence of our worlds’ occurrences happened during the start of the conflict period. Understandably, the rise and fall of key players during that time will result in our different situations.” Sizhui-xiong added. 

Rolling the information like a dice in her mind’s eye, something struck her. All this time they have only highlighted the differences of their world, when perhaps they should also address the similarities. Yingyue frowned slightly, fingers absently tapping on the meal tray she carried. Her mind draws up the timeline they have created so far. 

So far it is safe to assume everyone is still the child of their respective parents. In both worlds, the Sunshot Alliance won the war. 

How did they win the war? The alliance movement became entangled in both worlds with a prominent espionage operation. The alliance of the twins’ world achieved victory because the operation was dismantled, whereas in this world they won because the operation worked. 

Mama became Baba’s aide after her predecessor turned out to be an enemy spy, feeding the alliance movement to the Jins. In this world where Mama’s presence hasn’t been known yet ( Not dead. Not dead. Yingyue chants in her head ) and the Jins are with the alliance, an illegitimate son of Jin Guangshan rose to power after a successful infiltration operation.  

Ah, so it must be like that. Or it could be what happened is this:

Mama, who is from the far future, must have used her foreknowledge to counsel the Alliance through the war, resulting in a better, less bloody, outcome. For example, by getting rid of a mole amidst them, among other things. Hence the absence of Meng Yao back in their world.

“The mole that infiltrates our Sunshot Alliance is someone from the Jins.” Yingyue pointed out loud. They are not far from the Hanshi now; the house is just after the right turn from the branching path ahead of them. 

“Mama helped root our Meng Yao out early on the campaign.”

Nobody reacted for some time until Mingyue- ge helped deliver the connecting information to their shixiong . “Our parents met during the war as she became Lan- zongzhu ’s aide. Her predecessor was the spy who was rooted out by the Sunshot alliance. This could be our Meng Yao.” At Yingyue’s nod as a confirmation, he continued, “That’s also why my sister asked whether Shizui- xiong knew a prominent mapmaker during the conflict. Mother is also a cartographer helping the alliance map the war zone accurately, giving them an advantage against the larger combined forces of Jin and Wen.” 

A version of their Mama was supposed to be here already. After all, Uncle Wuxian had met her as a humble courier sometime during the war, definitely after the formation of the Sunshot Alliance. If she hadn't appeared in this world at that similar time, she might still be around somewhere now.

“I don’t know what happened to the Meng Yao of our world. He could be dead, he could be alive somewhere. But I believe his absence there has a connection with how our mother got involved with the cultivation world’s affairs, and thus her absence here is also linked with Meng Yao’s further entanglement with the cultivation world.” Yingyue surmised to the group. 

“I wish we could find her here,” Mingyue said quietly.

Yingyue doesn’t have the heart to speak of other possibilities of Mama’s fate out loud. She’s sure Mingyue knows of them too. Saying them out loud, even to think of them… no, it’s better to cling to this little bit of hope. 

( Not dead. The whole of her refuses to even think about the possibility of death being Mama’s fate in this world. )

As if sensing their uneasiness, Shizui- xiong takes up a gentler tone. “We have some journals of the cultivators involved in the battles and several chronicles of the time of the campaign. Shimei will be spending much time in the library for zongzhu ’s assignment and re-building the array, it should be easy for you to access the resources during your time there.” The senior smiled excitedly, “we can even join you as our chores are done for the day. There are quite a lot of things to research on; it will be better if we tackle this together!”

Mingyue looked properly content with this proposition, his jitters lessened as they approached the Hanshi. Yingyue almost hates herself for still harbouring uneasiness with the seniors’ future involvement in their research. Her brother already has a lot on his plate and will have even more in the upcoming days. If Yingyue cannot be with him as much as she wants to, at least she won’t add anything to his worries. 

“Hanguang- jun , I have been looking for you everywhere !” Jingyi- xiong almost whined as he spotted the man sitting beside Lan- zongzhu , looking as calm as you please. Lan- zongzhu doesn’t even bother to hide his amusement. 

“I have only just arrived.” Lan Wangji responded. The man did not give any reaction to Jingyi- xiong flabbergasted expression, only shuffled to make some room for their little group. 

Mingyue noted that the table had been set for their lunch, and Lan- xiansheng was nowhere to be seen. Noting his sweeping glance, Lan- zongzhu swiftly explained, “Lan- xiansheng believes the sooner we can secure your schedule and tutors, the better. He is meeting with available masters and elders who will guide you.” 

Well, if Lan- xiansheng is half as quick and efficient as Mingyue’s shugong in setting up a lesson plan, he and his sister should be handed their schedule and assignment by tomorrow noon at the latest. 

At least they will not be saddled with lessons they have finished back home. 

As they went to sit around the table, Shizui- xiong chose to sit beside Lan Wangji and Jingyi- xiong beside him, leaving the seat next to Lan- zongzhu vacant. Informal as this meal time is, the significance of the seats on the right and left of a leader is hard to ignore. If an outsider sees their seating arrangement, it can be concluded that Lan- zongzhu and Lan- er - gongzi are the authorities of this group and whoever sits immediately beside them is their most trusted. 

A cursory glance towards his sister ( She glowered back at him ) secured who is between them is to sit next to Lan- zongzhu . Anyway, it is probably better that Mingyue take that seat, now that he can see his sister’s timeline scroll poorly hidden under a pile of scrolls between Lan- zongzhu and Lan- er - gongzi from where he sat. Mingyue subtly arranges himself such that Yingyue’s view of that particular corner is obstructed. 

The meal is much more filling than their breakfast, and more like the meals they regularly shared privately with family. That is, it has more taste than the usual Lan food: what fresh greens they have left with mushrooms, braised and lightly seasoned with soy sauce, stir-fried tofu and bamboo shoots, there are even plates of steamed carps ( again, very lightly seasoned ). While seafood and freshwater catches are not a rare sight on their table back home, this is the first animal protein dish Mingyue has seen in this Cloud Recesses.

Following after the Twin Jades had taken bits of food to their bowl, Mingyue went for the carp dish and placed pieces of it on Yingyue’s bowl, making sure to include piles of gingers seasoning the fish. Yingyue starts rubbing on her temple again, the ginger’s spicy flavour may help reduce her nausea. 

“Hanguang- jun , might this Sizhui inquire as to where you were gone to?” Sizhui inquired as he piled bits of food on his bowl. Oh so not only the animal-based foods allowed out, talking is alright too when elders aren’t around? Mingyue gleefully observed these little deviances. 

“En. Was meeting Wen Qionglin.” The man took his time to arrange his next bite of food just so before carrying on, “Wei Ying will arrive in three days, at the earliest.”