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Chapter Text

To say Lan Sizhui is having a terrible day is one of those understatements that comes so close to a lie that he feels like he should be doing handstands just for thinking it.

Oh it started well enough with his arrival at Mo Manor along with the other juniors assigned to protect Mo village but the sun had barely started to set before everything had gone horribly wrong. First there had been a strange flare of demonic energy from just beyond the outskirts of Mo village and then as soon as he and the other juniors had gone to investigate it they had been surrounded by walking corpses all of which spat and bled gray powder which knocked them all woozy, and then the men had come. They were dressed in gray robes and had masks of shadow over their eyes and they had bound all of the juniors hands with immortal binding cables and carried them away. After that the gray powder seemed to have claimed them because Lan Sizhui had little memory of what came next except for a vague sense of being carried and dropped to a dirt floor, and now here he is, waking up on the ground with a pounding in his head and terror in his heart.

As Lan Sizhui scrambles into a sitting position he hears his fellow juniors beginning to stir all around him in a quiet mixture of pained grunts and hisses, angry curses, and in a few cases, what he’s pretty sure are tears. Lan Suizhui really /really/ can’t blame anyone for crying under circumstances like these, not when he pushes himself up into a sitting position, and even less as he takes his first good look around them. They’re in a cell, large and bare and, judging by the dirt walls, probably underground, and at the back of the cell a slumped corpse is chained against the wall.

“What the fuck…” Jingyi mutters from his left and Lan Sizhui is just about to turn and check on him when a wordless cry of fear, louder than the others, catches his attention instead and Lan Sizhui turns in time see that they apparently weren’t the only ones abducted. Mo Xuanyu must have followed the juniors out of Mo village, it’s the only explanation that makes sense for why he’s now standing shuddering in the middle of them. As Lan Sizhui watches Mo Xuanyu swings around, stares at the bars, then backs away from them so quickly that he doesn’t seem to notice the corpse against the back wall of the cell. His shoulders slam against it, and he gasps, jerking back, before dropping to the floor beside it and huddling against it burying his head against the corpse’s lank hair as though it can protect him from the rest of his reality.

‘Poor man must be terrified.’ Lan Sizhui thinks and starts toward him weaving between the other Lan juniors still pulling themselves to their feet.

“Mo Gongzi, please, come away from there.” He extends a hand to the man but Mo Xuanyu flinches back, clinging even harder to the corpse’s dead arm.

“Won’t! Can’t! Shan’t!”

“Mo Gongzi I know it’s scary but still...”

“Leave him, Sizhui!” By the bars Jingyi is up on his feet as well, peering out into the tunnel beyond. “I think I hear someone coming.”

Lan Sizhui stiffens instantly and turns away, back in the direction of the bars. Around him the other Lan juniors are also struggling to their feet, their shoulders tensing and eyes flickering nervously at Jingyi’s words.

“What do you think they’re going to do to us?” Lan Xuan asks, a slight tremor in his young voice.

“Maybe they want us for ransom?” Lan Ben asks, eyes restless as he pulls at the bindings around his wrists, futilely trying to free himself.

“Maybe…” Lan Sizhui murmurs, his eyes scanning the cell yet again, searching desperately for something anything that he can use as a weapon. He’s the senior disciple here. It’s his job to protect the others, his job to keep them safe, but how is he supposed to do that now?? His sword gone, his power bound, his signal flair rendered useless by the lack of windows.

‘Father… Father what would you do??’ Lan Sizhui finds himself desperately thinking but the only answer he gets is the tramp of booted feet coming closer and closer accompanied by muffled shouting. A few moments later the oncoming group rounds a corner and Lan Sizhui sees the same group of gray clad men who captured them, this time with two additions. One is a small man dressed all in black with a knife casually held in his hand and an unpleasant smile on his lips. The other… The other is a boy around Lan Sizhui ‘s own age dressed in all yellow and with a piece of fabric tied across his face to muffle his protests.

Lan Sizhui’s eyes widen as they recognize the shadow men’s latest victim as Jin Rulan, but before he can decide what to make of the other boy’s capture the door of the cell is being unlocked and pulled opened. Jingyi tenses beside him as though considering making a break for it and Suzhui hastily grabs him with both of his bound hands, pulling him back and holding on to keep him from doing something that will end with his best friend impaled on the shadow men’s swords.

The two shadow men dragging Jin Rulan toss him to the floor of the cell and he immediately sits up, spitting and furious and drags the gag from his mouth with his own bound hands.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing!? Do you know who I am!? Just you wait till my uncles hear about this!!”

“Oh I’m sure they’ll be just heart broken.” The man in black steps forward into the doorway of the cell and one of the shadow men steps forward to place a stool behind him so that he can settle, grinning, onto it. “Unfortunately if you want them to find out anything you’re going to need a tongue for talking or fingers for writing, and well…” The man flips his knife casually from one hand to the other, “You won’t be leaving here with either one.”

At those words a ripple of gasps and a few whimpers of fear echo through the cell and Lan Sizhui hurries to Jin Rulan’s side. He’s only met the other boy a couple of times when he accompanied Zewu-Jun to discussion conferences and he’s never particularly liked him but right now that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that this man who has them all prisoner is threatening him and so Lan Sizhui is going to do his best to protect him. It’s what his father would do. Right now Lan Sizhui really /really/ needs to focus on doing what his father would do because if he doesn’t he’s going to have to admit to himself that he’s just as terrified as everyone else.

Doing his best to keep his thoughts of Hanguang-Jun wedged firmly at the front of his mind Lan Sizhui clears his throat and, as politely as he can, asks “Gongzi, would you consider just holding us for ransom instead? I assure you that both the Jin Clan and the Lan Clan would be happy to pay.”

“Oh would they?” the man in black laughs and it isn’t a nice sound. “Well, even if they would I’m not doing this just for the money. I’ve got experiments I’m working on and you are all going to help me out.”

“How the fuck does cutting off my fingers and tongue help with anything!?” Jin Rulan seems to have found his voice again and he’s glaring at the man in black with a fury to rival Sect Leader Jiang.

“Oh it won’t,” the man in black tosses his knife back to his other hand and Lan Sizhui notices as he does so that he’s missing a finger. “But it will be fun and I’m going to kill you all anyway so it shouldn’t matter that much one way or the other.”

“K-kill us?” Lan Xuan whimpers, his voice perilously close to tears and several other murmurs follow his. For his own part Lan Sizhui’s breath is coming so fast that he feels like he might choke on it. There’s no way out, no way to call for help, no one even knows to look for them let alone where they are, they are unarmed and bound in immortal binding cables and their opponents have swords. There’s no way out. There’s no way out. There’s really…

“Get a move on already.” One of the shadow men snaps. “You aren’t being paid to take all day.”

“Alright alright.” The man in black rolls his eyes. “In that case.” He flips his knife around again until it’s pointing at Jin Rulan, “I’ll start with him.”

At once to of the shadow masked men lunge forward and grab Jin Rulan, one by each arm and dragged him forward, forcing him to his knees.

“Jin Rulan!” Jingyi shouts and lunges forward but another one of the shadow men knocks him to the floor.

“Let him go!” Lan Sizhui shouts as well, trying to dodge around the other shadow men and go to Jin Rulan’s aid but one of them just trips him, sending him stumbling forward. He feels the sting of knees meeting stone even as he catches himself awkwardly on his bound hands. Beyond the wall of shadow men Jin Rulan is struggling with everything he has but Lan Sizhui can see with horror that it’s not going to do him any good. The two shadow men who have him are bigger and stronger and they don’t have immortal binding cables hampering their cultivation. The man in black leans forward, knife in his hand and a horrible smile on his lips and…

The sound of clapping cuts through the cell.

It’s such an incongruous noise that, Lan Sizhui, in the process of staggering back to his feet, turns instinctively in its direction. He’s not the only one either. Everyone else in the cell also seems to be turning to look, even the man in black who has paused with his knife just brushing Jin Rulan’s lips.

At the back of the cave, hands raised in applause and smiling as though he has no sense at all for the seriousness of the moment, stands Mo Xuanyu.

“Why are you clapping? Am I putting on a good show?” The man in black asks, his eyes fixing on Mo Xuanyu with amused curiosity.

“You are, you really are.” Mo Xuanyu begins weaving his way through Lan disciples toward the front of the cell, voice utterly carefree and utterly mad and, Lan Sizhui feels a horrible sinking feeling in his stomach. He might not know Mo Xuanyu very well and the man might be strange and he might be mad but he hasn’t done anything bad that Lan Sizhui knows about, certainly he hasn’t done anything to deserve whatever this horrible man is going to do to him for the crime of drawing his attention. “It’s a good plan, it really is!”

“What the fuck are you doing here!?” Jin Rulan hisses at Mo Xuanyu, eyes darting between him and the man with the knife, breath still coming in pants made so ragged by fear that Lan Sizhui can see the rise and fall of his chest even from this distance.

“Yes what are you doing here?” The man in black asks. “You don’t look like a Lan.”

One of the shadow masked men leans forward and mutters something in the man in black’s ear. “One of Jin Guangshan’s bastards? Really? Oh that’s just too good. So tell me Mo Xuanyu, what is it about my plan that you like so much?”

“The juniors were a nice thought. Very clever.”

“Oh really?” The man in black leans forward, resting the elbow of his knife hand on his knee and his chin on his palm. His eyes are growing more interested by the moment. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well if you’re going to restore the Yin Tiger Tally, or re-create it, whichever, you’re going to need some pretty powerful blood sacrifices right? Wiping out a few low-level cultivators isn’t going to get you what you need but if you start killing members of the major sects you’re going to start drawing real attention pretty fast and your boss in the Jin sect probably wouldn’t like that. But if you take out a bunch of juniors well then even if they’re powerful young cultivators with lots of potential, as long as you leave enough false trails, people will believe that they just had an unfortunate night hunting accident and won’t investigate farther. I mean they’re still so inexperienced right?”

Lan Sizhui stares at Mo Xuanyu, heart stuttering and mouth falling open. Where did he get all that from? Re-create the Yin Tiger Tally? And to suggest this man has something to do with the Jin Sect…

“They did say he’s mad…” Jingyi mutters beside him.

Before Lan Sizhui can formulate a reply the man in black speaks again. His eyes are narrowed now, roving over Mo Xuanyu with new interest. “What makes you think this has anything to do with the Jins or the Yin Tiger Tally?”

Mo Xuanyu shrugs, throwing his arms out in a wide carefree gesture. “Oh it’s obvious, so obvious.”

“Is it?” The man in black leans toward him a little more.

Mo Xuanyu nods and steps even closer until he’s standing beside Jin Rulan, still held down and furious on his knees. “It is, it is, it really is, but do you really want to hear about all that or do you want to hear about the flaw in the plan?”

The man in black eyes him speculatively. “I thought you said you liked my plan.”

“Oh I do, I do, it’s a very good plan. There’s just one little problem with it.”

“What’s that?”

The corners of Mo Xuanyu’s lips curve up in an almost feral smile even as all the mad humor falls from his voice. “I am not Mo Xuanyu.”

And then, before anyone has time to process those words the man who is not Mo Xuanyu puts his fingers to his lips and whistles.

Instantly there’s a horrible rending noise from behind them and then Lan Sizhui feels himself slammed sideways. He stumbles, regains his balance, looks around wildly, and freezes. It’s not hard to tell what knocked into him, not when the corpse previously chained against the cells back wall is now in the process of slamming one of the shadow men who was holding Jin Rulan through the bars, the chains still dangling from its wrists swinging out to catch other shadow men in the throat and face. The man in black is fast on the uptake it seems because he manages to drop his knife and draw his sword just in time to ward off the blow meant to crush his skull. He jumps back, eyes wide and wild, shoving one of the shadow men into death’s path in his place.

“What the fuck!?” The shadow masked man who told the man in black to hurry up earlier, snaps, his own sword drawn and desperately warding off the chains of the furious corpse as they swing in his direction. “I thought you said he was dormant! I thought you said you could control him!”

“You mean with these?” Not Mo Xuanyu asks, tossing a couple of long black nails contemptuously in the direction of the desperately fighting men. His voice is nothing like it was before, now it’s all sharp edges and cold fury and Lan Sizhui feels tension run all through him as he registers that the man really is telling the truth, that this really is /not/ Mo Xuanyu. “You really shouldn’t have given me enough time to find them but even if I hadn’t I doubt a brute force solution like this would have had the power to wrench him away from me.”

At that the man in black lets out a hysterical cackle of laughter, jumping back to get farther out of range. “Forgive me, I did not know that the master had returned!”

“Master!?” the shadow man demands, head turning toward the man in black for a moment before being forced to refocus on not having his skull bashed in like his companions. “What the fuck are you talking about!?”

For his own part Lan Sizhui would also very much like an answer to that. He’s never seen the sort of brutal violence that the fierce corpse is unleashing on these cultivators before, never seen anything, fierce corpse or otherwise, with the power to slaughter so many cultivators in mere moments, so even if it’s clear that the man who isn’t Mo Xuanyu is saving them all from a certain and horrible death, Lan Sizhui would still very much like to know who he is and whether, when this is all over, he’s really going to let them just walk away.

The man in black laughs again, jumping farther out of range. “Only one way to wrench a fierce corpse away from the Yin Tiger Tally!”

“What’s that!?” the shadow masked man grunts out even as he barely manages to block a blow that probably would have splintered his ribs.

“If someone just as strong had it first!”

“But that’s Wen Ning!” The shadow man shouts back. “The one who had him first is-” the man’s voice cuts off abruptly as he whips his head around to stare at not Mo Xuanyu, eyes going suddenly wide with horror. “The master… the /grand/ master.” The words leave his lips in a harsh gasp of understanding and in that moment of distraction the hand of the fierce corpse, of Wen Ning, of the Ghost General, closes around his throat. There is a soft cracking noise and then he crumples, dead, just like the rest of his men, just like all who oppose the ghost general and… And his master.

Lan Sizhui barely notices that the man in black has disappeared. He’s too busy staring at the man who is definitely not Mo Xuanyu, the man who only had to whistle once to stand before a heap of crumpled bodies, the man who can only be one of the most deadly foes the cultivation world has ever known, the Grand Master of Demonic Cultivation, Wei Wuxian.

“Wei Wuxian!” The voice which breaks the sudden silence belongs to Jin Rulan. He stares at the demonic cultivator with eyes wide and wild, his entire body shaking. “You are Wei Wuxian!?”

Only when the other boy raises it does Lan Sizhui realize that Jin Rulan’s bound hands are now wrapped around the man in black’s discarded knife.

Then everything happens at once.

Wei Wuxian turns toward Jin Rulan, and, seeming to sense the danger to his master, the Ghost General also turns and throws himself at Jin Rulan. Lan Sizhui has a split second to see Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen in horror and then Lan Sizhui is lunging for Jin Rulan, trying to knock him out of the way.

He isn’t fast enough.

But Wei Wuxian is.

He throws himself on Jin Rulan, shielding the boy with his own body.

Wen Ning’s fist stops barely a hair’s breath before it would’ve punched through his master’s back and Lan Sizhui stumbles to a stop, breath catching in relief. …But no, something is still wrong, something has to be, because Jin Rulan and Wei Wuxian are both perfectly still.

Then Lan Sizhui sees the blood fall to splatter across the cell floor and he realizes that, in order to protect Jin Rulan, Wei Wuxian has thrown himself onto the boys knife.

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian is the first one to move. A shuddering gasp escapes his lips and then he pulls back slightly, the arms wrapped around Jin Rulan relaxing a little so that he can look properly at his face.

“You’re alright? You’re really alright.” His voice is a hoarse rasp. Jin Rulan doesn’t reply. He just stares at Wei Wuxian, eyes wide as saucers, lips slightly parted. Wei Wuxian doesn’t seem to need an answer though. He just stares at Jin Rulan, lips curving upwards a little in the flicker of a smile. “Good. That’s goods.”

Then he stumbles backward, hands dropping to press against his abdomen as he pulls himself off of Jin Rulan’s knife, his back colliding with the chest of the ghosts general. There’s a clatter as the knife falls from Jin Rulan’s fingers to the floor and Wei Wuxian sways on his feet then drops to his knees, one hand pressed to the wound the other catching against the floor for support.

“Fuck, how weak is this body?” The words leave his mouth in a hiss, half pain half frustration and suddenly Lan Sizhui remembers that he has legs and a body of his own and what is he doing just standing here watching?

Wrenching himself out of his horrified trance Lan Sizhui hurries forward only to be brought up short by hands latching onto his arm.

“Sizhui be careful! That’s the Yiling Patriarch!” Jingyi hisses, his eyes every bit as wide as Jin Rulan’s.

“I know, but he saved our lives and he’ll bleed out if we don’t do something.” Gently he pulls away from his best friend and takes the final steps forward, past the frozen ghost general, to drop to his knees at the Yiling Patriarch’s side.

“Senior errr Patriarch?” Lan Sizhui stumbles over his words, not sure of the respectful address for a legendary nightmare. “May I see the wound?

Wei Wuxian looks up at him, expression pained, and nods. He tries to straighten up to give Lan Sizhui a better view but sways, hissing in pain and ends up doubling forward again. “This body… talk about weak. When Jiang Cheng stabbed me I just stuffed my guts back in and went shopping.”

Lan Sizhui reaches out instinctively to help support the patriarch then hesitates, memories of every horror story he’s ever heard about the man before him overlapping with the image of his feral smile as his ghost general tour the shadow masked men apart.

“M-may I touch you?” Lan Sizhui isn’t surprised to hear the way his own voice shakes as he asks the question.

Wei Wuxian glances up at him again, eyes focusing briefly on Lan Sizhui’s face then moving upward to his forehead ribbon. “A Lan huh? Yeah go ahead, I don’t bite.”

Heart pounding and still half expecting to have his hands ripped off Lan Sizhui nods and reaches out, grasping the patriarch by the shoulder between his two, still bound, hands. When nothing happens Lan Sizhui lets out a shaky breath and gently helps to guide Wei Wuxian down to lie on his back. The patriarch’s hand is pressed tightly to the wound just below his rib cage but blood still seeps out from around his fingers, staining the robes dark around it and Lan Sizhui knows that if he doesn’t do something soon the man really will die.

Abruptly he feels fabric being shoved into his hands and he glances over to see that Jingyi has come to kneel beside him. His eyes, where they rest on the patriarch, are filled with suspicion but he’s managed to rip off a piece of one of the dead shadow masked men’s robes and is offering it to Lan Sizhui. With a quick nod of thanks Lan Sizhui takes it and presses it to the wound, repositioning Wei Wuxian’s hand over it to hold the fabric in place. Then he looks up to see an entire cells-worth of wide eyes staring back at him. Suddenly the realization that, as head disciple, figuring out how to handle the situation is his responsibility, washes over him all over again and he feels his heart starter in his chest. He takes a shuddering breath, thoughts again going to his father, trying to focus again on what he would do.

Lan Sizhui clears his throat. “We need to get him help or he’s going to die.”

Stillness and silence greet his words. Beside him Jingyi lets out a huff and pushes himself back to his feet.

“You heard him, come on we need to get moving. Besides that creepy guy with the missing finger got away. Do you really want to be here when he comes back?”

/That/ breaks the rest out of their shock and suddenly the other Lan disciples are hurrying forward toward the entrance of the cell, their exit now blocked only by a pile of corpses.

Lan Sizhui turns back to Wei Wuxian. The patriarch doesn’t appear able to move on his own and Lan Sizhui contemplates the difficulty of trying to lift him with his hands still bound for a moment before raising his head again.

“Jingyi, Lan Ben, Lan Tian, come help me lift him?” There’s a moments hesitation and then the juniors he called for come to his side. “Jingyi, take his other shoulder, we can try to carry him that way and then Lan Ben and Lan Tian, you can pick up his legs to keep them from dragging?”

There’s more hesitation, Jingyi giving him a skeptical look and the other two juniors shooting terrified looks at the now semi conscious patriarch but in the end the do as Lan Sizhui asked and the four manage to lift Wei Wuxian between them. His body, the body that should belong to Mo Xuanyu, is small and not especially heavy but the limited range of motion the disciples have with their hands bound make things difficult and so he’s glad to have the extra help.

Once they have Wei Wuxian secure between them Lan Sizhui raises his head to see the rest of the Lan disciples waiting for them on the far side of the mound of corpses while in the cell the only ones remaining are the Ghost General and Jin Rulan, both standing frozen, exactly where they were when Wei Wuxian threw himself onto the knife. Lan Sizhui isn’t sure what to make of the Ghost General. A lifetime of horror stories tell him that he should be terrified of the man and yet there’s something about his face which stirs something deep in Lan Sizhui, a sort of instinctive warmth that he can’t possibly explain or justify. Still Wen Ning isn’t moving and Lan Sizhui doesn’t even know if he can without his master’s command so his eyes turn instead to Jin Rulan. Jin Rulan also isn’t moving, hasn’t moved at all since the knife clattered from his fingers. He’s still just staring at Wei Wuxian, shock written across his every feature.

“Jin Gongzi, we need to go.”

No response.

Jingyi let’s out a huff of frustration. “Oy, young mistress Jin, this guy is heavy so hurry up!”

That seems to get through to Jin Rulan who starts, shoulders jerking back slightly, and then his eyes narrow, focusing down on Wei Wuxian.

“What are you doing? That’s the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian! Why are you helping him!?”

Jingyi glares back at him. “Did you miss the part where he saved all our lives? Especially your life?”

“That’s…” Jin Rulan starts then stutters to a halt shaking his head. “But he’s the Yiling Patriarch! He killed my parents! Why would he…”

“That is a good question but we don’t have time for it right now.” Lan Sizhui speaks as gently as he can. “We need to get to safety before that man brings reinforcements back, alright?”

Grudgingly Jin Rulan nods. His face is still twisted with emotion but when Lan Sizhui and the others begin carrying Wei Wuxian out of the cell he does follow.

Beyond the cell an underground corridor twists away to their left. There are a couple doors on either side of it and Lan Ben hesitates beside the first one they come to.

“Shouldn’t we have a look? See if we can find our swords?”

Lan Sizhui shakes his head. “When the masked men came in earlier it sounded like they came directly down the corridor so that’s probably where the exit is. We don’t know how big this place is and if we start looking around for our swords we might run out of time.”

Reluctantly Lan Ben nods and the group continues on. As they reach the bend in the corridor there’s a clanking noise from behind them and Lan Sizhui stiffens, glancing back to see the ghost general following silently after their group, chains still dragging from his wrists and ankles.

“Sizhui…” Jingyi hisses, eyes fixed on the oncoming form.

“I see him.” Lan Sizhui lets out a shaky breath. “As long as he’s just following I think it’s alright. He probably is just trying to stay near his master.”

Jingyi nods shakily and they continue on, carrying the Yiling Patriarch around that bend and the next until a narrow wooden door stands before them. One of the other juniors puts his shoulder against it and shoves and then just like that they are outside, emerging from what appears to be the side of a hill out onto a dirt path where the night wind rushes against their cheeks and the forest scents of trees and grass and flowers greet their nostrils and Lan Sizhui wants to cry with the calm normalcy of it all.

He doesn’t though. He can’t. Not when he is the one in charge, not when he needs to be strong for the others who all stand around the doorway shaking slightly as they breathe in the comforts of the night.

Lan Sizhui takes a shaking breath and collects himself. “We should get a little bit away from the door.”

The others nod and they carry Wei Wuxian a few more steps down the path and off of it into a little clearing to its left before lowering him to the ground.

“Patriarch? Patriarch, are you still awake?” Lan Sizhui drops to his knees beside him.

The patriarch makes an indistinct noise of acknowledgment. He sounds barely conscious and Lan Sizhui’s heart flutters with worry. He knows what the man before him is, knows him as the monster, the demon, the nightmare of the cultivation world, has now seen with his own eyes that the stories of his power are no exaggeration, and yet…

And yet.

And yet it’s just as he told Jingyi and as Jingyi told Jin Rulan, the patriarch saved each and every one of them from a horrible death and, far from harming any of them, he threw himself into the path of danger, allowing himself to be mortally wounded in order to protect Jin Rulan. That… that isn’t the act of a monster, and Lan Sizhui can’t currently reconcile the selfless kindness of that act with the stories of the vicious man who perpetrated the Nightless City massacre but what he knows right now is that he can’t allow Wei Wuxian to die a second time if there is anything he can do to prevent it.

“Jingyi, help keep pressure on the wound?”

Jingyi shoots Wei Wuxian a wary look but then he nods and leans over the bleeding man, pressing his bound hands over the patriarchs.

With a relieved breath Lan Sizhui sits back and scrambles to his feet. Reaching into his sleeve with his hands still bound is difficult but eventually he manages to shake what he’s after out onto the ground. He snatches it up then straightens and pulls the cord at the bottom, igniting the signal flare to burst in sparks high above them.

As he watches its light shine out against the night sky, marking their location. Lan Sizhui prays that he hasn’t made a terrible mistake and revealed their location to the fingerless man or to any other reinforcements the men who took them might have. This is a risk and he knows it, he does, but they need help, they need help so /so/ badly and his father was night hunting near Mo manor and Lan Sizhui isn’t sure how far away from there the shadow masked men brought them, but hopefully it wasn’t so far that the signal flare will no longer be visible.

Hopefully Hanguang-Jun will see it.

Hopefully he will come.

Chapter Text

The wait for help is tense and nearly silent. Lan Sizhui has the other juniors look for rocks and large sticks in the underbrush, anything they can use as makeshift weapons though he fears that, with their hands and spiritual abilities still bound, the preparation won’t do them any good. Once they’ve gathered what they can they cluster near the center of the clearing where the Yiling Patriarch lies, his breaths coming in shaking gasps. Lan Sizhui, kneeling beside him and keeping pressure over the wound, isn’t sure if the man is conscious or not. Near the patriarch’s head the Ghost General stands sentinel, his ominous shadow looming over them all, and, on the far edge of the clearing, stands Jin Rulan, eyes fixed on the ghost general and hatred written clear across his face. Beside Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi stands, a large rock in his hand and his eyes flickering from the Yiling Patriarch to the ghost general to Jin Rulan and back again, as though unsure which one is the greatest threat.

It’s unnerving to see him like this, fully serious in a way he basically never is. Lan Sizhui wishes that his friend would speak, would break the tension and unreality of the night with his usual loud chatter, but he does not and neither does Lan Sizhui. The more noise they make the more likely they are to draw unwanted attention and while the flare might have given away their location there is no need to compound the issue by drawing the attention of anyone who might not have seen it, and so they wait in silence.

At last, after what feels like a small and horrible eternity, moonlight glints off a figure flying high above them. For an instant fear seizes Lan Sizhui’s heart but then he recognizes the flowing white of Lan robes and he sways on the spot, relief washing over him.

Jingyi must recognize the man above them at the same moment because he breaks from his uncharacteristic stillness to jump up and down waving wildly, “Hanguang-Jun!”

Instantly it’s like a spell has broken, all of the other Lan disciples dropping their makeshift weapons to waive their bound hands in the air, shouting “Huaguang-Jun!” “Huanuang-Jun!” over and over in shear relief.

A moment later Lan Wangji leaps lightly from Bichen to stand before them, eyes narrowing in a way that speaks, to Lan Sizhui at least, of his father’s alarm. His eyes sweep across their little group, studying their bound hands, their blood spattered robes, the wounded man on the ground, and then freezing on Wen Ning. “What happened?”

“We were kidnapped!” Jingyi tells him before Lan Sizhui has a chance to speak.

“By who?” As he speaks Lan Wangji doesn’t take his eyes from the ghost general.

“We don’t know. Cultivators in these gray shadow masks and this one guy without a finger said that he was going to kill us all for his experiments or something!”

Lan Wangji’s hand goes to Bichen’s hilt. “And then?”

“We were rescued.” Lan Sizhui says it before Jingyi can start going into too many details about that rescue. It’s not like he plans to keep their rescuers identity a secret, that would be far too much of a betrayal of his father to even consider it, but he can at least hopefully say it in a way that emphasizes the fact that Wei Wuxian saved them, rather than the brutal way in which he did it.

“By Wen Qionglin?” Lan Wangji asks and Lan Sizhui starts. Partly because he’d forgotten that the ghost general even had a courtesy name and partly because it sounds like his father is implying that the ghost general can do something like that under his own initiative. Wen Ning might be the most powerful fierce corpse to ever exist but he’s still, well, a corpse.

“No, I mean yes, I mean sort of?” Lan Sizhui’s eyes flick down to the man lying beneath his hands who he’s pretty sure is at least somewhat aware of his surroundings, judging purely by the way he stiffened when Lan Wangji started speaking.

“Who is this?” Lan Wangji steps toward Sizhui’s side, eyes roving over the man’s bloody robes as he reaches into a sleeve for one of the Lan healing pills he always keeps there. Lan Sizhui winces inwardly but squares his shoulders, knowing that the time has come.

“The body belongs to a man called Mo Xuanyu but the person inside it is… It’s the Yiling Patriarch.”

Lan Wangji freezes, body going entirely still in a way that Lan Sizhui has never seen before, the bottle of healing pills slipping from between his fingers to clatter against the ground. Lan Wangji doesn’t even seem to notice, eyes fixed on Lan Sizhui with a burning intensity of the sort he didn’t even know is always calm father was capable of.

“Are you sure?” When he speaks it’s in a hoarse rasp that Lan Sizhui barely recognizes as his father’s voice.

Stomach flipping with unease Lan Sizhui nods. “I am. One of the men who kidnapped us said that it had to be him. He said that the only one who could have wrenched Wen Ning away from his control was the one who made him a fierce corpse in the first place.”

Lan Wangji seems to sway on the spot and then he’s dropping to the ground at Lan Sizhui’s side hand fumbling, actually fumbling, in the dirt for the fallen pill bottle.

“Wei Ying…”

“Hi Lan Zhan.” The voice which leaves the Yiling Patriarch’s lips is weak with pain and blood loss. He sounds as though he’s trying for cheerful and failing pretty miserably. “It’s been a while… Don’t think you have to…worry about me...sticking around this time though...”

“Wei Ying!”

Lan Wangji’s hands close around the bottle and he jerks the cap from it, dropping a pill into his hand even as his eyes move to Sizhui. “How badly is he hurt?”

In answer Lan Sizhui removes his hands to show his father the still bleeding stomach wound.

Lan Wangji takes a sharp breath and then he’s lunging forward, grabbing the back of Wei Wuxian’s head with one hand and tilting it up so that he can press the pill into his mouth with the other.

“Lan Zhan, what…” Wei Wuxian’s voice trails away into a splutter as the pill is shoved unceremoniously down his throat. He coughs a couple of times and then his eyes flicker open to fix hazily on Lan Wangji. “Was that… medicine?” a soft sigh. “Lan Zhan, you never…struck me as the cruel sort… bur I suppose… for me… even you would make an exception.”

Lan Wangji sucks in a shuddering breath. “...Wei Ying?”

“Just not the Jins, alright? Even if you won’t...Just let me die naturally...Execute me yourself or give me to...whoever you want to...execute or imprison...just not the Jins?”

“Wei Ying…” Lan Wangji’s voice sounds thick in a way that Lan Sizhui has never heard it before, almost as though he’s on the verge of tears, and that… that’s not possible… that’s… “I will not. I will take you back to cloud recesses.”

“Ah. Of course...” Wei Wuxian’s eyes flutter shut again as though he’s too weak to keep them open, his face relaxing into something that looks less like peace than it does resignation.

Lan Wangji stares at him for a long moment then gently lowers his head back to the ground and rises to his feet.

“Who stabbed him?”

All Lan Sizhui’s life he has heard members of other sects whisper about how cold and terrifying Hanguang-Jun is and he has always denied it but now, for the first time, Lan Sizhui hears it for himself. Gone is the uncharacteristic emotion that marked his father’s voice just moments before, now when he speaks his voice is cold with an entire winter’s worth of frost, the air seeming to chill from just its sound alone.

“I did!” All heads whip in the direction of Jin Rulan who stares defiantly back at them, body shaking and hands curled into fists at his sides. “Why shouldn’t I!? Why are you trying to help him anyway!? That’s the Yiling Patriarch! That’s Wei Wuxian! Why shouldn’t I kill him!?”

Lan Wangji advances on him with cold fury in his eyes, his hand dropping to Bichen’s hilt, clutching it so tightly that his knuckles go white.

“Don’t!”

Lan Wangji jerks to a sudden stop and Lan Sizhui’s eyes drop to see that, not only are Wei Wuxian’s eyes open again but he’s actually pushed himself a little way off of the ground so that his hand can catch Lan Wangji by the ankle.

“Don’t hurt him! Lan Zhan, don’t! Please! It wasn’t his fault! He…” Wei Wuxian’s words cut off into paint coughing as he collapses back to the ground, curling inward to press his own hands to the wound.

“Wei Ying!” In an instant Lan Wangji is kneeling back beside the Yiling Patriarch, hands reaching for him just as Wei Wuxian’s body goes limp. “Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji’s hand scrabble at the other man’s throat in what is clearly panic before he stills, a soft breath leaving him in what can only be relief. He stays like that for a moment, just kneeling on the ground without any care for how the dirt will stain his white robes, cradling the unconscious Yiling Patriarch’s head in his arms.

Lan Sizhui stares, utterly speechless. He hasn’t seen his father act like, well, /any/, of this before. It makes no sense. It makes absolutely no sense. Lan Sizhui doesn’t honestly believe that his father would /actually/ have seriously hurt Jin Rulan but with the way he was looking at him he really can’t blame the Yiling Patriarch for thinking he would. ...But why? Everyone knows that Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch were bitter enemies, even Wei Wuxian’s own words seem to confirm it, so why the uncharacteristic fury? Why the uncharacteristic. Well, everything?? The emotions he’s never heard before in his father’s voice, the way he cradles Wei Wuxian’s head, and ‘Lan Zhan’ ‘Wei Ying’…?

Lan Sizhui is jerked from his bewildered thoughts by the sight of Lan Wangji stripping off his outermost robe and folding it into a makeshift pillow before lowering Wei Wuxian’s head gently onto it. Then he stands and gestures for Lan Sizhui to do the same. When he does Lan Wangji draws Bichen and slices cleanly through the immortal binding cables around his wrists then his father turns and gestures again, this time for the rest of the juniors to come forward so that he can do the same for them. They move hesitantly to his side, looking a bit like sleepwalkers, eyes wide and fixed on Lan Wangji. Even Jingyi looks like he’s in shock and Lan Sizhui can hardly blame him, not when he feels exactly the same way himself.

When it comes to be Jin Rulan’s turn he flinches back, clearly terrified of Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji’s hand flashes out and Jin Rulan freezes with what must be the Lan paralyzing spell. Then Lan Wangji slices through the boy’s bonds, eyes lingering coldly on him for a moment before he turns away, gaze returning to Lan Sizhui.

“Where are your swords?”

Hand shaking slightly Lan Sizhui points back down the path in the direction of the underground prison. “The men who abducted us took them. I think they must be in there but we didn’t dare stay to look.”

Lan Wangji gives one sharp nod and turns away, striding in the direction Lan Sizhui indicated.

There’s a long stunned silence after he’s gone. It is eventually broken by Jingyi who points after him with a shaking hand and asks, “What the fuck was that!?”

Lan Sizhui shakes his head, utterly mystified.

“I thought he hated Wei Wuxian...” Lan Mu says.

“He does!” Lan Ben snaps at him.

“I don’t know…” Lan Tian looks thoughtful.

Jingyi nods. “Yeah, if he hates him so much and why’d he nearly gut the young mistress over stabbing him?”

“But it’s the Yiling Patriarch!” Someone protests, “how could he not hate him?”

“Besides,” someone else puts in, “Didn’t the patriarch say imprisonment or execution?”

Lan Sizhui frowns at that. It’s true, Wei Wuxian did say those things but the look in his father’s eyes and the new strange note in his voice didn’t sound at all like that was what Lan Wangji was thinking. If anything it sounded like… Well, Lan Sizhui isn’t exactly sure what, but not that.

“Quiet.” Jingyi hisses suddenly, “I think I hear him coming back.”

Sure enough a few moments later Lan Wangji reappears around the bend, arms filled with swords and his face blank in a way that even Lan Sizhui can’t read. He wordlessly hands each junior their sword back then releases the binding spell on Jin Rulan before dropping the final blade into his arms. He gives the Jin heir one final hard stare before turning away and bending to lift Wei Wuxian gently in his arms. He gives the ghost general a single thoughtful glance before disregarding him as well and stepping up onto Bichen, the unconscious body of the Yiling Patriarch cradled against his chest.

“We are returning to Gusu.”

Chapter Text

When they touch down back in the Cloud Recesses the Lan disciples on guard duty come walking quickly toward them, presumably to chastise the group of juniors for breaking the rules by reentering Cloud Recesses after curfew but Lan Wangji gives them one frosty look and they step back, bowing their heads. Not giving them a second glance he turns back to the juniors.

“None of you are to tell anyone what has happened tonight. If you are asked say that those are my instructions. Understood?”

There’s an unusual edge to Lan Wangji’s voice and all the juniors bow their heads quickly.

“Yes Hanguang-Jun.”

“Good, then go to your beds. Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, stay.”

As the others bow their heads and turn away Lan Sizhui hurries forward, Lan Jingyi at his side.

“Hanguang-Jun?”

“Go to the pavilion of healing and retrieve salve, bandages, and clean water. Then wake my brother, tell him what has happened, and accompany him to me. I will be at the gentian cottage.”

With that he turns and strides off, the Yiling Patriarch still in his arms, clutched tight against his chest.

Lan Sizhui stairs after him for a moment then turns decisively in the direction of the pavilion of healing, grabbing Jingyi’s arm and pulling him along before his friend can think to start asking questions. Sure enough no sooner do they start walking then Jingyi starts talking.

“What the hell was that about!?” He keeps his exclamation low, barely above a whisper, but Lan Sizhui still here’s the way his voice cracks around it with just how unsettled Jingyi is. Lan Sizhui can relate. He’s never seen his father like well any of that and the change in him, combined with being abducted and almost killed and then saved by the Yiling Patriarch of all people has Lan Sizhui feeling like he’s barely holding it together. Normally his father is the one he would go to when searching for solid ground but tonight he is very /very/ glad that Hanguang-Jun told them to get Lan Xichen. He needs his clan leader to restore stability to his world before it crumbles apart altogether.

“Sizhui??”

“I don’t know…” He shakes his head. “I really don’t know.”

“You sound likes clan leader Nie.”

Lan Sizhui winces. “Okay but I really don’t know any more than you do.”

Jingyi blows out a huff of breath. “I know I know but…” He throws up his hands in frustration. “First we get kidnapped then a weird creepy guy wants to kill us all and then Wei Wuxian comes back from the dead and rescues us then he throws himself on a knife to save a guy whose parents he killed and then when Hanguang-Jun shows up he keeps saying the Yiling Patriarch’s name over and over again and nearly guts the Jin Clan heir for stabbing him!”

They’ve reached the pavilion of healing by this point and Jingyi’s voice is beginning to rise with a near hysterical note. Lan Sizhui bites his lip. Honestly he feels nearly as hysterical as Jingyi sounds.

“I think there has to be more to the story.” Lan Sizhui says it slowly, feeling out the words as he speaks them, his hands busy gathering the supplies his father asked for, supplies no doubt meant to treat Wei Wuxian.

“What story?” Jingyi glances over at him from where he’s ladling water from the basin into a small bucket.

“Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch. It can’t be as simple as everyone thinks. They must have been enemies in the end because that’s the only way that Wei Wuxian’s words make sense but Hanguang-Jun didn’t sound like he was talking to an enemy.”

“What? Do you think they were friends before the war or something?”

Lan Sizhui frowns a little. “It’s possible…”

“And then the Yiling Patriarch was corrupted by his dark arts and that’s what tore them apart.” Jingyi continues excitedly. “Maybe even though he condemned the man he became Hanguang-Jun was still grieving for the friend he lost to evil and when he realized it was him today he was so shocked that for a moment he forgot about all the evil things the patriarch did and just remembered his friend!”

“Maybe...” Lan Sizhui says again but he isn’t too sure.

“Say Sizhui, what did Hanguang-Jun tell you about the Yiling patriarch growing up anyway?”

Lan Sizhui tucks the last of the supplies into a bag and straightens up. “Nothing. Never mentioned him.”

“That fits then!” Jingyi drops the ladle back into the basin. “He stood against the patriarch because it was the right thing to do but it was still too painful for him to talk about.”

Lan Sizhui thinks about that for a moment, remembering with a shudder of unease the uncharacteristic emotion in his father’s voice. “I think you’re right about it being too painful but I’m not sure about the rest of it. If the Yiling Patriarch was really such an evil person then why would he have thrown himself on the knife to save Jin Rulan and if he isn’t and they were friends then why would Hanguang-Jun have turned against him?”

Jingyi’s shoulders deflate at that and he lets out a frustrated huff. “Hell, I hadn’t thought about that but you’re right. Okay I take it all back. It makes no sense.”

Lan Sizhui nods and the two fall into morose silence as they wind their way down the path that leads to the Clan Leader’s rooms. It’s silence broken abruptly when Jingyi let’s out a sudden exclamation. “Wait!”

Quickly Lan Sizhui makes a shushing noise, glancing around hoping fervently that they haven’t woken anyone up.

Jingyi’s eyes widen and he lowers his voice, continuing in a hissing whisper. “What’s the ‘gentian cottage’ anyway!? I’ve never heard of it have you!?”

Wordlessly Lan Sizhui shakes his head.

Jingyi lets out a huff. “Well, hopefully Zewu-Jun will understand what’s going on because I sure don’t!”

With that he stomps off down the path and Lan Sizhui follows quickly, also fervently praying that Zewu-Jun will have the answers.

When they reach the clan leaders rooms they hesitate for a moment, exchanging glances, and then Jingyi takes a breath and raps on the door. When no answer comes he does it again and then again. It feels incredibly disrespectful and forbidden but what else can they do? They have to wake him up somehow and going into the Clan Leader’s home without permission would be even worse.

After the third round of knocking there’s the sound of hurried footsteps coming toward the door and then it’s pushed open to reveal Lan Xichen, dressed in only his inner robes and blinking sleepily down at them in confusion.

“Lan Sizhui? Lan Jingyi? Is something wrong? Weren’t the two of you out on a night hunt?”

“We were but something happened and Hanguang-Jun told us to fetch you.” Lan Sizhui tells him.

“Wangji did?” Lan Xichen’s tone sharpens as much as his tone ever does, the blearyness quickly disappearing from his eyes. “Why? What has happened?”

“We got kidnapped by these cultivators in shadow masks,” Jingyi tells him quickly. “And they were going to kill us only then this man who was with us, Mo Xuanyu, got possessed and rescued us only then he got stabbed trying to save Jin Rulan and then we escaped and Sizhui set off the signal flare and Huaguang-Jun came and found us.”

Lan Xichen blinks rapidly a few times, taking it all in. “Kidnapped?”

Lan Sizhui swallows. “Um, Zewu-Jun, I don’t think that’s actually the important part right now.”

Lan Xichen’s eyes narrow slightly. “Then what is?”

“The person who saved us, the one who possessed Mo Xuanyu, it’s the Yiling Patriarch.”

“Oh…” Lan Xichen lets out a long breath.

“And that’s not all,” Jingyi chimes in again. “Zewu-Jun, Huanguang-Jun is acting really strange about him.”

“I’m sure he is.” Lan Xichen says it like he completely understands the situation. Well that makes one of them. “Where are Wangji and Wei Gongzi now?”

“The Gentian Cottage.”

“Ah, of course. This way then.”

With that he steps past the two juniors and begins walking quickly down the path. Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi exchange mystified glances then follow.

***

The cottage, tucked away in a wooded corner of the back hills, is one that Lan Sizhui has never seen before but Lan Xichen clearly knows it for he leads them right to it. When he pushes open the door and steps inside they find themselves in a neatly appointed cottage, a screen dividing the sleeping area from the rest of the main room. On the far side of the screen Wei Wuxian lies on the bed, Lan Wangji kneeling on the floor beside him. The Patriarch’s robes are gone, revealing not only the wound from Jin Rulan’s knife but also four nasty looking slashes to the man’s arm that Lan Sizhui can’t account for. Lan Wangji has removed his own outer robe again and is holding it pressed to Wei Wuxian’s abdomen. It’s obvious at a glance that the Yiling patriarch isn’t bleeding anywhere near as badly as he was before Lan Wangji gave him medicine but Lan Sizhui’s father appears to be taking no chances.

At the sound of their entry Lan Wangji’s head whips around, one hand moving to Bichen’s hilt before dropping away again as they come into view.

“Brother.” he inclines his head to Lan Xichen.

“Wangji…” Lan Xichen takes a deep breath then asks, “Are you sure it’s him?”

“Mm.”

Lan Xichen closes his eyes briefly then opens them again. “Does anyone know that he is here?”

“Jin Rulan.”

“I see…” Another deep breath. “If he goes to A-Yao I may be able to ask him to keep this quiet but considering their history I think he is more likely to go directly to clan leader Jiang.”

“Mm.”

“Wangji…”

Lan Wangji’s eyes narrow, his voice hardening. “Brother.”

Lan Xichen raises his hands placatingly. “If we could keep him here secretly that would be one thing but if clan leader Jiang storms into the cloud recesses shouting about this the elders will find out and they will demand that he is imprisoned or removed. What will you tell them?”

Lan Wangji’s eyes flash. “The same thing I told the last 33.”

Lan Xichen winces. “Wangji…”

“If they demand he leave then I will go with him.”

The brothers eyes lock in some silent quarrel and Lan Sizhui stares at Lan Wangji with wide disbelieving eyes. Did his father seriously just imply that he would leave the cloud recesses rather than leave the Yiling Patriarch’s side? And if so then for how long? It’s possible of course that he just means until Wei Wuxian has recovered enough to take care of himself but between the set line of his jaw and the anxiety in Lan Xichen’s gaze Lan Sizhui has a horrible feeling that that isn’t what he means, that he is honestly threatening to leave forever. Would he really do that? And if he does then what will Sizhui do? Will he stay behind with his clan and in his home or would he go into exile with his father? Would the cloud recesses even be home without his father in it?

Lan SizhuiIs pulled from his spiraling thoughts by the sight of Zewu-Jun bowing his head, his shoulders slumping. “Alright, Wangji, tell me what happened so that I can prepare to greet clan leader Jiang.”

“Sect Leader Su is dead.”

“What!?” The word bursts from Jingyi’s mouth and both brothers turned toward the juniors as though only just now remembering that they are there.

“Sect Leader Su?” Lan Sizhui asks, eyes wide and fixed on his father.

“When I went to retrieve your swords I checked the bodies of your abductors. He was one of them.”

Lan Sizhui jerks back at that, eyes widening further.

“Wait seriously!?” Jingyi’s eyes are just as wide. “One of the guys who was going to help murder us was Sect Leader Su!?”

Lan Wangji nods.

“That’s…” Lan Sizhui sways on the spot. He knew of course about the enmity between the Su Sect and the Lan Clan, but this is… this is…

Lan Xichen’s eyes narrow. “Do we have any idea of his motive?”

“The Patriarch said it had something to do with fixing or re-creating the Yin Tiger Tally.”

Both twin jades stiffen at that and turn in unison to look at Jingyi.

“Restore the Yin Tiger Tally.” Zewu-Jun frowns. “Why would the Su Sect want to do that?”

Lan Sizhui taps his fingers together thoughtfully. “I’m not sure they did. They were working with someone, a man with a missing finger seemed to be in charge of whatever experiment it was.”

“Which finger?” Lan Xichan asks.

“His right pinky.”

Lan Xichen’s frown grows deeper at that. “That sounds like Xue Yang. I will definitely have to speak to A-Yao about this. If he has escaped them A-Yao needs to know.”

Lan Sizhui feels his stomach twist and lurch and suddenly he wishes desperately that he could keep the rest of the Yiling Patriarch’s suspicions to himself but he knows it would be a betrayal to do so and so he clears his throat and says, “I don’t think Sect Leader Su was working for Xue Yang.”

“Why not?” Lan Xichen asks.

“Because he told Xue Yang that he wasn’t ‘getting paid to take all day’.”

“I see.” Lan Xichen’s expression turns considering. “Then did either of them say anything about who they were working for?”

Lan Sizhui takes a shaky breath and shakes his head. “They didn’t but Wei Gongzi did. He said they were working for the Jin Clan.”

Lan Xichen starts at that, eyes widening in shock. “Why would he say that?”

“I don’t know.” Lan Sizhui says quickly. “He didn’t have a chance to explain.”

“I see…” Lan Xichen turns to look down at Wei Wuxian’s unconscious body, his gaze turning cold.

Lan Wangji stiffens at that, shifting as though to put himself between Wei Wuxian and his brother. “I’m sure Wei Ying has a good reason.”

“Well then.” Lan Xichen smiles. It’s a perfectly pleasant expression and something about it makes Lan Sizhui want to back away slowly. “I look forward to hearing it when he wakes.”

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian wakes slowly. At first he is only aware of feeling warm and of the softness of the mattress beneath his back and of the slight pain in his stomach and in his arm. Then the strangeness of the fact that he is waking up at all catches his attention and as soon as he tries to probe that thought memory returns. For a few moments he just lies still, listening, but he hears nothing, no footsteps, no voices, nothing. Either he is alone or if he isn’t then whoever is with him is being quiet about it. Considering that he has, in all likelihood, ended up in Lan custody, quiet is hardly out of the question.

With this in mind Wei Wuxian lets his eyes open the smallest fraction he can manage. Above him the ceiling is wooden and well-made and simple and of a style he recognizes. Yes, he’s definitely in the cloud recesses. Flicking his eyes to the side reveals a figure robed in white and Wei Wuxian quickly lets his eyes fall shut again. So he is being watched by a quiet Lan then, wonderful, well he would prefer to learn as much as he can before engaging them. With that thought in mind he begins slowly rotating his right wrist, testing to see if it is bound. To his surprise it is not. To his even greater surprise similar tests with the other wrist and both ankles reveal the same result. Have they really not secured him at all? Talk about underestimating him. Maybe he really will manage to escape.

“Wei Ying?”

Or not.

“Are you awake?”

Wei Wuxian lets out a soft sigh, his eyes opening again, fully this time, as he gives up on pretending.

“Lan Zhan.”

Lan Wangji is seated beside him, looking down at him with something that might just be worry. Wei Wuxian’s eyes flicker around them, taking in what looks to be the inside of a cottage, then returning to Lan Wangji who’s hand twitches as though to reach for him, or, more likely, to reach for a weapon, before he asks, “How do you feel?”

“Fine.” Wei Wuxian shrugs lightly, then blows out a breath because really there’s no point in beating around the bush. “So, what’s it going to be?”

“...Wei Ying?” There’s a note of confusion in his voice now and it sends irritation flickering across Wei Wuxian’s skin.

“Beheading? Hanging? Drawing and quartering? Being Skinned? Burned alive?”

“Wei Ying…” Now Lan Wangji’s voice is filled with shock, so much shock and fact that it actually shows clear across his features.

The look only aggravates him more. If Lan Wangji has grown cruel enough that he refused to allow Wei Wuxian to simply die a natural death from his wound than the least he can do is not look so shocked and appalled by the reality of the situation he’s landed Wei Wuxian in.

It’s not that he wanted to die of course, it’s only that, from the moment that would-be demonic cultivator with a missing finger put his knife to the lips of shijie’s son Wei Wuxian had resigned himself to this being a very short life. He had not of course ever intended to allow the man to start slaughtering Lan juniors but he had hoped to get them out of that situation without actually needing to give away his identity. The moment he had realized that was /Jin Ling/ the bastard was threatening though… Yeah that was the end of this life.

Now Wei Wuxian glares up at Lan Wangji. “Well, Lan Zhan? Which one is it? How am I going to…” His words cut off in a hiss as he tries to push himself into a sitting position and a jolt of pain goes through his stomach. He doubles over, hands flying to the injury.

Instantly strong hands catch him by his shoulders and gently lower him back to the bed.

“No one will hurt you.” Lan Wangji’s voice sounds pained. Right, of course, the Lans and there endless rules. Wasn’t one of them ‘no killing within Cloud Recesses’ or something like that?

“Imprisonment then?” Wei Wuxian’s voice comes out weaker now, less angry and more resigned.

“Wei Ying,” In contrast Lan Wangji’s voice still sounds every bit as pained. “You are not a prisoner.”

“Really?” Wei Wuxian arches a skeptical eyebrow at him. “So if I were to get up and walk out that door you would just let me go?”

“Mm.”

Wei Wuxian narrows his eyes. “Really? You would let me leave cloud recesses? Just like that? Without doing anything to stop me?”

Lan Wangji hesitates for a moment and Wei Wuxian feels a spark of triumph at forcing Lan Wangji to admit the reality of the situation but then the other man speaks and what he says is, “I would go with you.”

...Okay that hadn’t been exactly what he was expecting. Wei Wuxian narrows his eyes. “Why? To keep guarding me?”

“To protect you.”

“Protect me!?” The words draw a surprise burst of laughter from Wei Wuxian only to turn to a gasp as pain lances through his stomach yet again.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji bends over him, clearly checking his bandages to see if he’s bled through them. After a moment his shoulders relax slightly and he says, “You should not move about so much.”

Wei Wuxian stares at him disbelievingly, utterly unable to wrap his mind around all this.

“Lan Zhan, this seems like it might be news to you but your clan wants me dead. Your uncle led an army against me. He hates me. Your whole clan hates me. You hate me.”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji’s head jerks up at that, eyes widen and a bit wild. “How can you think… After what I said…”

“What you said?” Wei Wuxian stares at him, utterly thrown. He’s never /ever/ heard Lan Wangji stumble over his words like this before.

“After Nightless City.”

Wei Wuxian freezes, his blood running cold and the heart that is newly his feeling as though it has fallen still. Nightless City… Nightless City… Nightless… Images rise behind his eyes and he swallows abruptly, curling his hands into fists and digging the nails into his palms as he forces them back.

“After Nightless City?” He takes a shaky breath, a new fear washing suddenly over him. “Lan Zhan, did I do something to you after Nightless City? I was out of my mind back then and I don’t remember much, so if I did something, if I hurt you, you’re going to have to tell me.”

Lan Wangji freezes, staring down at him with wide eyes, then, slowly, he asks, “You do not remember?”

Trepidation growing in his heart Wei Wuxian shakes his head.

“Ah…” Lan Wangji closes his eyes briefly, then he opens them again and takes Wei Wuxian’s hand, gently but firmly uncurling the fingers until they lie flat against the other man’s palm.

“Lan Zhan?”

“You did not do anything.”

“Then what are you talking about?”

Lan Wangji lets out a soft breath. “It is unimportant.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes narrow. “Are you sure about that? Because it sounded pretty important.”

“It is not.” Lan Wangji squeezes his hand lightly, actually squeezes his hand, Lan Wangji, /the/ touch adverse second jade of Lan actually squeezes his hand. “What matters is that I will not allow you to be hurt.”

Wei Wuxian stares at him, for once rendered utterly speechless. Lan Wangji won’t allow him to be hurt? Him? The Yiling Patriarch so hated by the sects that they allied and rose up against him? Him? The Grand Master of Demonic Cultivation? A cultivation path Lan Wangji has always hated him for practicing? What the hell? What has gotten into him? It’s only been 13 years, not 13 lifetimes, so what the actual hell?

Nor is this the only instance of Lan Wangji acting strange. There had been that moment last night, or what he assumes was last night, when Lan Wangji advanced on Jin Ling… Looking back on it now Wei Wuxian is pretty sure he must have been more affected by blood loss than he had guessed, delirious or delusional or something, but in the moment he really had been convinced that Lan Wangji was about to hurt Jin Ling for stabbing him and that’s… That can’t be right. It doesn’t make any sense.

...But then neither does Lan Wangji saying that he won’t allow Wei Wuxian to be hurt so what the actual hell is going on?

“There is something wrong with your arm.” Lan Wangji’s voice pulls Wei Wuxian from his thoughts.

“Hm?” He glances distractedly at the arm in question, his left, wrapped in bandages that are just starting to show the telltale darkening that proves that they will soon be bled through. “Oh, that.”

Well, whether or not Lan Wangji wants him dead, this is still destined to be a short life.

“Wei Ying?”

Wei Wuxian smiles and if it’s a bit weak there’s nothing he can really do about that. “Lan Zhan, did you think I was possessing this body?”

There’s a flicker of confusion behind Lan Wangji’s eyes. “You are not?”

“Nope,” Wei Wuxian shakes his head, voice picking up a bit of his old carefree tone. “Believe it or not this was all Mo Xuanyu’s idea. There’s this ritual where you can sacrifice your soul to summon an evil spirit to possess your body and take revenge on whoever made you want to sacrifice your soul to begin with. The cuts are reminders of the revenge Mo Xuanyu wants me to take for him. They won’t heal until I carry out my end of the bargain.”

“What happens if you do?” Lan Wangji seems frozen in place, his voice heavy with a weight Wei Wuxian doesn’t understand.

“What happens?” He shrugs slightly. “Nothing. Once the revenge tasks are done the wounds close up and the body’s mine for keeps.”

Lan Wangji lets out a soft breath. “What are the revenge tasks?”

Wei Wuxian shrugs again, eyes beginning to wonder the room, taking a more detailed inventory of their surroundings. “No idea. Normally the person casting this is supposed to state those as part of the summoning but I guess poor little Mo Xuanyu only got his hands on a partial copy of the ritual or something so he didn’t leave any clear instructions.”

“What happens if you cannot carry out his wishes?”

“Oh that.” Wei Wuxian’s tone is as casual as ever as he says, “The bleeding gets worse until I bleed out then I die again and my soul gets torn apart.”

A sharp intake of breath from above him has Wei Wuxian’s eyes snapping back to Lan Wangji in time to see the undisguised horror in the other man’s gaze. “Wei Ying!”

“What? I told you I wasn’t going to be sticking around.”

Lan Wangji opens his mouth to reply but before he can there’s a wrapping on the door, followed quickly by it sliding open.

“Hanguang-Jun!” “Hanguang-Jun!” Too little Lans who Wei Wuxian recognizes as Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi bob their heads in greeting at the doorway of wherever this is.

“What is it?” Lan Wangji asks, his voice rough and a little sharper than usual. It must sound as strange to the juniors as it does to Wei Wuxian because they both start in surprise and then their eyes both flicker in Wei Wuxian’s direction as though wondering if he is what’s wrong with their Hanguang-Jun.

‘No’ Wei Wuxian thinks, ‘it’s not me. Lan Zhan’s gotten weird all on his own.’

After a moment it’s Lan Sizhui who replies. “Hanguang-Jun, Zewu-Jun sent us to find you with this note.”

He holds out a folded piece of paper to Lan Wangji who takes it with a nod of thanks then scans it, eyes narrowing.

“What happened?” His voice is sharper now, but not with anger, with alarm.

“It’s Clan Leader Jiang!” It’s Lan Jingyi who answers, voice a little loud with something that might be alarm and might be excitement. “He’s here and he’s not being quiet about it either!”

“I see.” Lan Wangji’s eyes narrow further. He places the now unfolded paper down beside him then quickly begins sliding spare bandages and bottles of what appear to be medicinal salves into his sleeves.

Leaning forward curiously Wei Wuxian manages to make out the two words written in Lan Xichen’s characteristically faultless calligraphy.

‘They know.’

Chapter Text

Once again Lan Sizhui is not having a good day.

It started later than usual when he woke to find the sun already risen and the dormitory deserted except for himself, a still sleeping Jingyi, and Lan Xuan who told him that Zewu-Jun had said that after the previous night they were allowed to sleep late but that after they wpke and ate they should come to speak with him. Torn between gratitude for the extra rest and trepidation about well everything Lan Sizhui had waited another incense time for Jingyi to wake and then the two of them had eaten quickly before making their way to Zewu-Jun’s rooms.

Lan Xichen had invited them in to his study and Lan Sizhui had expected to either hear something about his father or the Yiling Patriarch or, more likely, to be asked more questions about the previous night, but instead Lan Xichen gave them one of his warm smiles and said, “I believe Clan Leader Jiang may be visiting us today. If he does I would like you two to attend the meeting.”

Startled both juniors had nodded.

“Very good.” Lan Xichen gave them another smile, a smile that would have set most people at ease, but Lan Sizhui had known Zewu-Jun for his entire life and there was something about the look in the clan leader’s eyes that made him uneasy. “During the meeting I might need to have you take a message to my brother. He is still at the cottage from last night. If I need you to deliver something to him please do it quickly and without stopping to chat along the way.”

Again both boys nodded, the trepidation in Lan Sizhui’s heart only growing. Lan Xichen’s tone might be light and calm but he was getting the impression that the clan leader’s feelings were anything but.

“Alright, in that case, until then why don’t you…”

He was interrupted at that point by a tap at the door. “Clan Leader.” The disciple on the other side sounded distinctly harried and Lan Xichen’s shoulders stiffened as he called out, “Yes, what is it?”

“Clan Leader Jiang is at the gates and is demanding to speak with you.”

“Ah. Please show him in.” Then lowering his voice back to a normal speaking level Lan Xichen turned back to the two juniors and added, “it seems we are just in time.”

***

As it turned out Clan Leader Jiang was less demanding to speak to Lan Xichen and more demanding to yell at him.

“Where is he!?” Jiang Wanyin snapped the instant he stepped in the office.

Lan Xichen smiled pleasantly back and gestured him to a cushion. “Clan Leader Jiang, welcome.” Lan Xichen reached for the tea tray on a nearby table and began pouring a cup for his uninvited guest.

“Clan Leader Lan.” Jiang Wanyin gave a sharp nod of greeting and settled grudgingly onto the proffered cushion, some of the volume leaving his voice but the tension remaining, “Where is he?”

“Where is who?” Lan Xichen smiled and placed the tea in front of the other clan leader who ignored it.

Clan Leader Jiang gritted his teeth. “The Yiling Patriarch.”

Lan Xichen tilted his head to the side as though in surprise. “Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

Jiang Wanyin glared at him. “He is /supposed/ to be but he /is/ not.”

“Oh really?” Lan Xichen took a sip of his own tea and Lan Sizhui couldn’t help but admire just how cleverly he was avoiding breaking the rule against lying.

Jiang Wanyin seemed decidedly less impressed, bringing his fist slamming down on the table hard enough to make his teacup jostle and a little bit of tea spill out over the top. “You know perfectly well! Your own brother took him into custody last night!”

“Did he?” Lan Xichen smiled blandly back at Jiang Wanyin. “Are you sure?”

“My nephew was there!”

“Was he?” Lan Xichen placed his own cup of tea back down on the table. “Forgive me for saying so Clan Leader Jiang but when it comes to the Yiling Patriarch you have rather a reputation do you not? Can you really be sure that the man your nephew saw my brother with really was Wei Wuxian?”

Lan Sizhui’s eyes widened as he absorbed not only the words but the veiled threat behind them. ‘if you go telling this story to anyone else I will use your history to discredit you.’

Jiang Wanyin jumped to his feet, his hands curled into fists, flickers of purple lightning crackling over the ring on his left hand.

“Clan Leader Lan, you know damn well who you have! Now are you going to hand him over to me or not!?”

Before Lan Xichen could reply the door to the Clan Leader’s office opened to reveal Lan Qiren who glared briefly at the two juniors before his glare fixed on Clan Leader Jiang. “What is the meaning of all the shouting?”

Lan Xichen opened his mouth but Jiang Wanyin got there first, “Elder Lan, how long has your Lan Clan been conspiring with the Yiling Patriarch!?”

Lan Qiren drew up, bristling with fury. “How dare you!? What do you mean by that!?”

“What do I mean? What do you mean by sheltering him!?”

Lan Qiren’s eyes narrowed. “Sheltering him? What nonsense is this?”

Jiang Wanyin’s fists clenched and unclenched at his sides. “Not nonsense. Your Hanguang-Jun took him into custody last night. My nephew was there and heard him say that he was taking Wei Wuxian back to Gusu. Jin Ling also said that Hanguang-Jun was acting strangely friendly toward him and nearly struck him for stabbing Wei Wuxian.”

Lan Qiren went still at that, his eyes narrowing and Lan Sizhui felt a strange sinking sensation in his stomach. “Wangji did that?”

“This is the first I’ve been told about it.” Lan Xichen stepped smoothly in. “And it is definitely something we should discuss in further detail, in private I think.” He turned his gaze meaningfully on the two juniors. “Here is the note you boys were waiting for now please return to your errands.”

Calmly he held out a folded piece of paper and Lan Sizhui took it before he and Lan Jingyi hastily retreated from the room. Once outside they exchanged panicked looks before turning on their heels. Jingyi looked as though he was about to begin running for the gentian cottage but Lan Sizhui grabbed his arm, forcing him to slow.

“Sizhui!”

“We can’t.” Lan Sizhui kept his voice low. “Zewu-Jun is counting on us to get Hanguang-Jun that message. If we run we’ll attract attention.”

Lan Sizhui didn’t entirely understand why that would be bad, didn’t entirely understand why his clan leader and his father seemed to be conspiring to keep a secret from the entire rest of their clan, especially when Zewu-Jun didn’t seem to approve of that secret either, especially when that secret was the Yiling Patriarch, but there was no doubt in his mind that that’s exactly what they were doing and somehow he was sure that if they were caught the consequences would be deadly.

***

Now Lan Sizhui stands in the gentian cottage and watches with wide eyes and a racing heart as his father slides medical supplies into his sleeves.

“Lan Zhan? What does the note mean?” Wei Wuxian is leaning over the side of the bed, peering at it and Lan Sizhui starts at the sound of the man addressing his father so familiarly. No one has /ever/ spoken to Hanguang-Jun like that in Lan Sizhui’s entire life, not even Lan Wangji’s brother or uncle. Yes he had heard him speak that way the previous night but that had been in a haze of pain and in the midst of fear and panic and the shock of reunion and this…This is in daylight. This is casual and automatic, as though this is really just how the Yiling Patriarch speaks to Hanguang-Jun.

“Other members of the clan are aware of your presence here.” Lan Wangji speaks without pausing in his movements.

Wei Wuxian’s eyes narrow. “I take it I was supposed to be a secret.”

“Mm.”

“So what happens now?”

“If my uncle or the elders here of this they will guess where I have taken you. We must be gone before they arrive.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen and his aren’t the only ones. At the word gone Lan Sizhui feels his breath stick in his throat and he exchanges shocked looks with Jingyi.

“Lan Zhan, What do you mean by ‘we’?”

“I mean we.” Lan Wangji stands and steps toward Wei Wuxian.

“Hanguang-Jun.” The title bursts from Lan Sizhui’s throat before he can stop it.

Lan Wangji pauses long enough to glance over his shoulder at the juniors. “You two should go now.”

“Father…” The word is out of his mouth before Lan Sizhui can call it back. Ever since he was old enough to move into the dormitory he has never used the word except when they were in private, hasn’t used it at all in years, and yet now, with the panic rising up to choke him, it slips from between his lips, shaky and desperate and begging for some of the reassurance that Hanguang-Jun has represented for his entire life.

For a moment Lan Wangji stills, probably every bit as shocked to hear the word as Lan Sizhui is at saying it, then he turns defaced the two juniors and when he speaks again his voice is gentle. “It is better if no one knows that you were here so you should return to your duties.” He reaches out and places a hand on Lan Sizhui’s shoulder, squeezing lightly a rare physical sign of affection which sends a warm ache through Lan Sizhui’s heart. “Thank you both for your help.”

Then his hand drops and he stepped back turning away again.

“You’re really leaving?” Jingyi calls after him, his voice a squawk. Lan Sizhui is glad that Jingyi asked. He himself is having trouble speaking around the sudden lump in his throat He blinks rapidly, trying to dispel the wetness at the corners of his eyes.

“Mm.” Lan Wangji leans forward and scoops Wei Wuxian into his arms.

The Yiling Patriarch gives a squawk of protest. “Lan Zhan!? What the- What are you doing!? What’s going on!?”

“I told you. We have to go.”

“I get that they want me gone but why are you coming with me!?”

Lan Wangji makes no reply, just turns and heads for the door.

“Lan Zhan!? Hey don’t ignore me! Why are you carrying me anyway!?” Wei Wuxian’s cheeks are starting to turn pink. Lan Wangji continues to ignore him.

Lan Sizhui exchanges a look with Lan Jingyi and even though neither of them speak he knows instantly that his best friend is thinking exactly the same thing that he is. In unison they step forward until they’re between Lan Wangji and the door.

Lan Wangji halts and stares impassively at them.

“We’re coming with you.” Lan Jingyi blurts out.

Lan Wangji shakes his head. “It is safer if you do not.”

Jingyi takes a half step forward, “What if you need to exchange messages with, Zewu-Jun though? Or what if something happens and you need backup?”

Lan Wangji simply looks at him.

“Please.” Lan Sizhui steps up beside his friend. “We will help however we can and follow any orders you give us.”

Hanguang-Jun hesitates for a moment and at last he says only, “We do not have time to argue.”

Jingyi’s eyes widen. “Wait, does that mean...?”

Lan Sizhui grabs his arm and quickly pulls him away from the door, bowing his head as he does so. “Thank you, Hanguang-Jun.”

Lan Wangji only glances at them before stepping briskly out the door and away from the cottage, the cultivation world’s most dangerous enemy still in his arms.

Lan Sizhui exchanges another look with Lan Jingyi before the to hurry after him.

They move quickly and quietly, angling their way through a patch of forest which leads them out onto the back hills. There they mount their swords and descend at speed, leaving the cloud recesses behind them. As they go Lan Sizhui can’t help casting glances at the man now held securely in his father’s arms.

Wei Wuxian saved them from their abductors, he threw himself onto that knife rather than let Jin Rulan be hurt, and so Lan Sizhui had cared for his wounds and had started to wonder if the Yiling Patriarch might not be entirely evil after all. Yet there’s a difference between tending to his wounds and fleeing at his side. Lan Sizhui trusts his father’s judgment absolutely, he does, he really does, and if his father thinks Wei Wuxian is worth protecting then he is. Even so he’s spent his whole life listening to tales of the Yiling Patriarch, of his evil and of the carnage he’s caused and now he’s seen that carnage with his own eyes it’s hard to forget and so even as Lan Sizhui helps the cultivation world’s number one enemy to flee from the cloud recesses he isn’t sure if he’s going along to help his father protect Wei Wuxian or to protect his father /from/ Wei Wuxian.

Chapter Text

Their entire escape from cloud recesses Wei Wuxian alternates between staring at Lan Wangji and staring at Lan Sizhui. Lan Wangji’s son. Apparently. Where the fuck did Lan Wangji get a son? Is Lan Wangji married??? The thought sends a weird feeling through Wei Wuxian. While Wei Wuxian was dead Lan Wangji got married and had a son?? No. No that doesn’t make any sense. Lan Sizhui is definitely a couple years older than Jin Ling so he was definitely born before Wei Wuxian’s death. Wait does that mean that Lan Wangji got married and had a kid and just didn’t tell Wei Wuxian? That’s… That’s…

The last time they saw each other properly, Nightless City definitely doesn’t count, was that day in Yiling. Wei Wuxian asked Lan Wangji for the news didn’t he? Yes he did and Lan Wangji told him about Jiang Yanli’s upcoming marriage. Why hadn’t he mentioned his own? Wei Wuxian’s mind roves over the day for clues and alights on the absolutely panicked look on Lan Wangji’s usually impassive face as A-Yuan clung to him and cried. The memory of A-Yuan sends pain twisting through his chest but he pushes it aside, focusing on the important part of memory. Lan Wangji’s absolutely hilarious face. That was the look of a man who had never been anywhere near a child before, definitely not the look of one who had one of his own at home. But if he didn’t then…

Purely for his own amusement Wei Wuxian contemplates the idea of a woman Lan Wangji had carried on a dalliance with confronting him with a toddler on her hip. The idea is so absurd that it’s all he can do to keep from bursting out laughing. No, absolutely not, Lan Sizhui is definitely adopted.

No wife then. Wei Wuxian isn’t sure why that pleases him, but it does.

Probably, he thinks, it’s because he can’t take one more strange new side to Lan Wangji, what he’s seen since he woke up is already more than enough, because honestly what the hell??? Wei Wuxian truly has no idea what’s going on. Lan Wangji should be imprisoning him in the cloud recesses just like he always wanted to and instead he’s …defying his clans elders and helping Wei Wuxian escape??

What. The. Fuck.

Wei Wuxian wants to demand answers but he’s no fool. For whatever reason Lan Wangji really does seem to be helping him escape and Wei Wuxian isn’t going to mess that up by talking and giving them away at least not until they are well clear of cloud recesses. As they fly down the mountain though, Wei Wuxian feels his eyelids growing heavy again, Mo Xuanyu’s healing body demanding its due, and despite the weirdness of it there’s something strangely comfortable about being held tight in Lan Wangji’s arms and… Before he knows it Wei Wuxian is asleep.

***

He wakes to the feel of being placed on something hard and opens his eyes to find himself in a cave, something soft pillowing his head. He blinks a couple of times and glances around to see the two juniors staring at him with wide eyes and Lan Wangji now without his outer robe, pulling a bottle out of one of his sleeves.

“Wei Ying, it is time for your next dose.” Lan Wangji takes a pill from the bottle and holds it out to Wei Wuxian who automatically takes and swallows it. The healing pills of the Lan Clan are well-known for their power and if Lan Wangji wants him dead there are much more efficient ways than poison.

As soon as he swallows the pill Wei Wuxian can feel his strength starting to return. He makes to sit up but Lan Wangji puts a hand on his shoulder, gently but firmly pushing him back down. “The pill will be more effective if you rest while it takes effect.”

Grudgingly Wei Wuxian allows himself to be pushed back down, eyes fixing intently on Lan Wangji.

“Is that why we stopped here? So that I could take that pill and rest?”

“Mm.”

“First helping me escape from your family then nursing me back to health, better be careful Lan Zhan or I’ll start to think you like me.”

Lan Wangji says nothing only looks away.

“Ready to tell me yet why you’re doing all of this?”

Still no answer.

“Lan Zhan.”

“I will go set a warding array. Do not get up.”

And just like that Lan Wangji leaves the cave.

Wei Wuxian blows out a breath. “Fine.” He turns his attention on the two juniors watching him warily from the other side of the cave. “It’s Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi right?”

They both nod cautiously.

Wei Wuxian gives them his most charming smile. “So do one of you two boys want to tell me why your Hanguang-Jun decided to go behind his elders backs and spirit me away from the cloud recesses?”

The boys exchange nervous glances and after a moment it’s Lan Sizhui who answers.

“We were actually hoping you could tell us that.”

“Then I’m going to have to disappoint you because I don’t have a clue.”

“Were you and Hanguang-Jun once friends?” Lan Jingyi asks. “Like a long time ago I mean, back before you…” He stops talking suddenly, possibly because Lan Sizhui just stepped on his foot.

Wei Wuxian arches an eyebrow at him. “Before I became a demonic cultivator and committed all sorts of horrific crimes?”

Lan Jingyi flushes pink but nods.

“Sorry.” Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “Even back then Lan Zhan didn’t really like me much. I was always breaking the rules and teasing him and getting on his nerves. I even got him into trouble once.”

“Oh.” Lan Jingyi looks a bit deflated.

“Wei-Gongzi err Patriarch? Senior Patriarch?” Lan Sizhui stumbles over his words and comes to a stop, blushing as well.

Wei Wuxian laughs. “Oh dear, that’s quite the number of names I’ve acquired, but senior Wei is fine.”

Still blushing a bit Lan Sizhui nods. “Senior Wei, forgive me for asking but if you two were never close then why do you and Hanguang-Jun call each other by your personal names?”

“Oh that.” Wei Wuxian waves it off with an airy hand. “It’s just a habit from when we were kids. Neither of us really care about that sort of thing anyway.”

“Still…” Lan Sizhui frowns, clearly unconvinced, “I’ve never heard anyone else referred to him like that not even Shifu or Zewu-Jun.”

Wei Wuxian blinks in surprise. He’s never thought about it before but now that Lan Sizhui says it he realizes that it’s the truth. He thinks about it for a moment then shrugs it off. “That’s probably just because of how formal everything in cloud recesses is. I bet Elder Lan would spit blood before he spoke so casually to anyone.”

The juniors seem to be considering that reply but before they can answer Lan Wangji returns. He gives the two boys one of his inscrutable looks which has them both shifting awkwardly before he returns his eyes to Wei Wuxian.

“Wei Ying, are you well enough to answer some questions?

Wei Wuxian smiles teasingly back. “You know me Lan Zhan, I’m always ready to talk.”

Lan Wangji eyes him for a moment then nods and seats himself on the edge of the same slab Wei Wuxian is laying on. As though taking that as a sign the two juniors settled themselves on the boulders, their eyes once again fixed on Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian smiles up at Lan Wangji, “So, Lan Zhan, what do you want to know?”

“I am told you said that the Jin Clan was responsible for your abduction and that they were trying to re-create the Yin Tiger Tally. Would you explain?”

“Oh that.” Wei Wuxian stretches out a bit on his slab, getting more comfortable. The feel of it beneath his back reminds him of the ledge he slept on in his demon subduing cave and the whole feel is making him a bit nostalgic. “As soon as I saw Wen Ning it was pretty obvious. I mean the Jin clan were the ones who said he had been reduced to ash so if he’s still around then of course the Jin Clan are behind it.”

“What about the Yin Tiger Tally?” It’s Lan Jingyi who asks the question, his eyes wide.

“That was pretty obvious too. I had my suspicions after seeing Wen Ning and then when that guy with the missing finger started talking about killing us for his experiments I knew I had to be right.. I mean Isn’t it weird that they would put us in the same cell as Wen Ning? They were clearly experimenting on him, trying to get him under their control so why toss us in there with him when we had nothing to do with that? The only way that made sense is if there was some connection and the only connection I could think of was me. If they were trying to complete some sort of experiment using some of my old notes or something it makes sense to keep all of the experiments to re-create the Yiling Patriarch’s work in the same hidden place, and if they were trying to re-create something of mine there’s only one thing it could be. None of my writings called for the sacrifice of a whole bunch of powerful cultivators but if you are trying to fix or re-create the Yin Tiger Tally that’s exactly what you would need to do. Also Jin Quangshan was always obsessed with the Yin Tiger Tally so it was hardly a difficult guess.

At that the three Lan cultivators exchange looks.

“What?”

“Jin Guangshan is dead.” Lan Wangji tells him.

“What?” Wei Wuxian blinks in surprise. And then because he can’t help himself, “How did he die?”

“Cursed on a nighthunt.” Lan Wangji tells him. “It was fast acting. The Jin physicians did not have time to find a cure.”

“Really? When did Jin Quangshan even go on nighthunts?”

Something like amusement flickers in Lan Wangji’s eyes. “Rarely.”

“So Jin Guangyao is clan leader now?”

“Mm.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes narrow thoughtfully. “I haven’t spent much time with Lianfang-Zun. I wonder what he’s planning.”

“Mm.”

Lan Wangji considers for a few moments then turns to the juniors who are watching with wide worried eyes.

“I do not believe the two of you have been gone long enough for anyone to suspect that you accompanied us. Lan Jingyi, please return to cloud recesses and tell my brother what Wei Ying has shared.”

Lan Jingyi bows his head. “Yes Hanguang-Jun.” Then, straightening up, “But you will be here when I get back right? You won’t leave without me?”

“Mm.”

Lan Jingyi grins. “Then I’ll be back soon.”

After he leaves Wei Wuxian tucks his arms behind his head and looks speculatively up at Lan Wangji.

“So, Lan Zhan, what’s the plan? Now that you’ve abducted me where are we going?”

Lan Wangji gazes back at him, eyes flicking to the place where spots of blood are once again leaking through the bandages around his left arm. Some emotion Wei Wuxian can’t name flickers in their depths.

“Mo Manor.”

Chapter Text

After Jingyi leaves Hanguang-Jun insists that Wei Wuxian sleep some more. The Yiling Patriarch grumbles about it but his grumbling trails off when Hanguang-Jun begins playing the guqin and he quickly falls asleep after that leaving Lan Sizhui as his father’s soul audience. It’s a song he hasn’t heard before and he listens quietly as Hanguang-Jun plays through it twice before shifting into melodies to assist with healing. Jingyi returns a little afternoon with the news that the elders seemed to be in a quiet buzz but that he doesn’t have any details. As for Lan Xichen, Jingyi tells them that he only thanked him for the message and told him to tell Lan Wangji to be careful but didn’t say anything about the content of his message. Wei Wuxian wakes soon after that and that’s when Hanguang-Jun explains to all three of them about Xue Yang.

“Well that’s one more strike against the Jins.” It’s Wei Wuxian who says it once Hanguang-Jun finishes and Lan Sizhui feels unease prickling across his skin as he nods in unhappy agreement. Between the ghost general, Xue Yang, and the latter’s failure to deny being connected to the Jin Clan, there seems to be no chance that it could be anyone else.

“So now what?” Wei Wuxian cocks his head at Hanguang-Jun. He’s sitting up now, eyes more alert than they have been since Jin Rulan stabbed him. “Still want to go to Mo Manor first?”

Lan Wangji nods.

“Why Mo Manor?” Jingyi looks curiously between the two adults. “You’re not planning to give Mo Xuanyu his body back are you?”

Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch exchange looks and Lan Sizhui is struck by the strangeness of watching it, watching them, the way they look at each other as though there on the same page, a sort of reflexive familiarity which makes sense with neither the stories Lan Sizhui has grown up hearing about their relationship nor with Wei Wuxian’s own description of it.

“Nope, not planning to give it back.” Wei Wuxian tells them cheerfully. “Can’t actually, even if I wanted to.”

Jingyi gives him a skeptical look but Lan Wangji speaks before he can start an argument with the most dangerous man in the cultivation world.

“Wei Ying is not possessing Mo Xuanyu.”

Startled, Lan Sizhui turns to look at his father.

“But that’s definitely Mo Xuanyu.” Jingyi protests. “His aunt recognized him.”

“Mm.”

Lan Sizhui considers this for a moment. “Did something happen to Mo-Gongzi?”

“Mm.” Lan Wangji gives him an approving nod and Lan Sizhui feels himself warming with his father’s silent praise.

Jingyi’s browse furrow in thought. “Did something happen when they captured us?”

“Good guess but no.” Wei Wuxian rolled his shoulders seemingly testing his body’s recovery. “You never actually met Mo Xuanyu.”

Lan Sizhui starts at that, remembering the madman who caused a scene in the Mo family’s main hall and who stole one of Jingyi’s spirit lore flags. Jingyi must be remembering that too because he squawks in indignation. “That was you?”

Wei Wuxian grins. “That was me. Nice job on the flags by the way. Shane you never got to use them.”

Lan Sizhui’s eyes widen. “Were you checking our work?”

Wei Wuxian nods. “Of course. I couldn’t let an entire group of little Lan juniors blow themselves up with my invention could I?”

“But why pretend to be Mo Xuanyu at all?” Jingyi demands. “If you didn’t want anyone to know it wasn’t him and you aren’t possessing him then what are you doing in there?”

“Not sure.” Wei Wuxian gives Jingyi an unrepentant shrug. “I can tell you it was Mo Xuanyu’s idea though.”

“It was?” Lan Sizhui blinks in confusion.

“Yep. Mo Xuanyu’s family were pretty awful to him so he performed a nasty little demonic ritual to give his body over to an evil spirit to take revenge for him. Naturally I was the most evil thing he could think of.”

Lan Wangji makes a disapproving noise and Wei Wuxian starts, looking over at him. “Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji doesn’t reply, turning toward the two juniors instead. “Beyond desiring some sort of revenge Mo Xuanyu did not make his final wishes clear so we are going to Mo Manor to uncover them.”

Lan Sizhui digests this silently. When Wei Wuxian was first identified the idea that the Yiling Patriarch would possess another’s body had seemed natural to him. Now though he finds that the revelation of the true situation feels like it fits even better, one more example of how nothing about Wei Wuxian matches with what he was led to believe.

“Why though?” Wei Wuxian tilts his head to the side, considering Lan Wangji. “Shouldn’t you be more concerned about whatever Xue Yang and Jing Guangyao are up to? Why are you so interested in investigating the Mo family anyway?”

Lan Wangji gives him a very pointed look. “You know why.”

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “No, I know why /I/ want to finish things there not why you do.”

Lan Wangji says nothing.

Wei Wuxian drums his fingers impatiently on the side of the slab he’s sitting on. “Come on, Lan Zhan. You can’t keep avoiding the question forever.”

“Think for yourself.”

Wei Wuxian huffs out a breath. “Fine Hanguang-Jun, keep your secrets for now but I’ll get them out of you eventually just you wait.”

Lan Wangji says nothing too that but something amused and perhaps even fond flickers in his father’s eyes. Lan Sizhui doubts that either Wei Wuxian or Lan Jingyi can see it but he is Lan Wangji’s son and he knows his expressions well. ‘No’ he decides, ‘their relationship is nothing like the stories.’

“So what are we doing when we get to Mo Manor?” Jingyi asks.

Wei Wuxian tilts his head to the side, considering. “I think it’s best to go back to pretending to be Mo Xuanyu. Spending time around his family should be the easiest way for me to figure out what he wanted me to do. Lan Zhan, how about you pretend you found me wandering or something and are returning me that way you can ask some of the outsider questions I can’t and then after you leave I can see what things are like there without guests around.”

Lan Wangji doesn’t replied but his lips purse with displeasure.

“What?” Wei Wuxian eyes him with amusement. “Don’t like it? Too much pretending for you? You don’t actually have to lie you know. You can just say you found me and let them fill in the rest with whatever they want.”

“It is not that.”

“Then what? Don’t like leaving me alone? Afraid I’m going to run off when your back is turned.”

“Mm.”

Wei Wuxian arches an eyebrow at him.

“Didn’t you say I was free to go?”

“I said I would protect you.”

Lan Sizhui starts at that. His father had said /what/!?

“I…” Wei Wuxian seems as thrown as Lan Sizhui because he flushes a bit, looking briefly at a loss for words before quickly regaining his teasing tone. “Lan Zhan really? What’s gotten into you? You know better than anyone that I don’t need protecting.”

Lan Wangji does not reply but the look in his eyes clearly says that he disagrees.

Wei Wuxian laughs at that, actually laughs, a show of familiarity that Lan Sizhui is not used to seeing /anyone/ aim toward his father so to see it now from the Yiling Patriarch it’s…

“Come on, Lan Zhan, do you have a better plan?”

Grudgingly Lan Wangji shakes his head.

“Alright then my plan it is.”

Lan Wangji lets out a discontented sigh but he does not argue further.

The four of them wait in the cave until the sun begins to set and then Lan Wangji sends Lan Sizhui into Gusu to buy food. Once he’s returned and they have eaten they set off for Mo Manor. This time Wei Wuxian is well enough to stand next to Lan Wangji on Bichen, one of Lan Wangji’s arms wrapped tightly around him to keep him on the sword. Wei Wuxian, who left cloud recesses in only his pants and bandages, is wrapped in Lan Wangji’s outer robe and compared to the sight of Lan Wangji carrying Wei Wuxian in his arms, Lan Sizhui honestly isn’t sure which one is stranger.

Ones it becomes late enough that Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi are getting too tired to fly safely they find another cave and sleep the rest of the night. The next morning Hanguang-Jun reinforces the warding arrays he set up the night before then heads into a nearby town to buy robes for Wei Wuxian and other things they might need since the previous evening they hadn’t wanted Lan Sizhui to risk taking the time to buy anything beyond what they absolutely needed while they were still so close to cloud recesses.

The fact that they are truly on the run from his clan’s own elders is beginning to settle over Lan Sizhui and it has him uneasy and jumpy enough that when Wei Wuxian announces that he’s going out to get a drink from a nearby stream Lan Sizhui stands up to go with him, unwilling to let him go out alone.

Seeing this Wei Wuxian arches an eyebrow at him. “What? Afraid I’ll fall in and drown?”

“Afraid you’ll run off.” Jingyi corrects, getting up to stand at Lan Sizhui’s side.

“Run off?” Wei Wuxian chuckles and gestures at his bandaged abdomen. Lan Sizhui notices as he does so that, despite having changed it before they went to sleep the night before, he’s starting to bleed through the bandage on his arm again. “Do you really think I can run anywhere right now?”

Jingyi flushes at that. “Still, you shouldn’t wander off on your own.”

Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “Did Lan Zhan put you up to this? I’ll be fine I promise I just want a drink.”

“What if you run into trouble?” Lan Sizhui asks, the unease sparking through him too loudly to not ask.

Wei Wuxian gives him an amused look. “You little Lans, you’re adorable you know that? Do you really think /I/ need protecting?”

Lan Sizhui flushes, suddenly remembering exactly who he’s talking to and how ridiculous it sounds to suggest that the Yiling Patriarch might need his protection.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t wait for a reply just waves them off and heads out of the cave leaving the two juniors to drop back down onto their boulders.

“He isn’t at all like I expected.” Jingyi says and Lan Sizhui nods in complete agreement. He still isn’t sure what to make of Wei Wuxian just that he’s nothing like the stories.

Not long after that Hanguang-Jun returns with his hands filled with parcels and freezes in the mouth of the cave, eyes fixed on the slab where Wei Wuxian isn’t.

“Where is he?”

Lan Sizhui flushes, feeling unaccountably awkward, like he’s let his father down just by letting Wei Wuxian out of his sight.

“He said he was going out to get a drink at the stream.”

“Mm.” Lan Wangji puts down his parcels, turns decisively on his heel, and strides back out again. The juniors exchange quick glances and then follow.

As soon as they approach the stream Lan Sizhui hears Wei Wuxian’s voice drifting to them on the wind, the words indistinct but the speaker recognizable and he lets out a breath of relief. Wei Wuxian hasn’t vanished or runoff or done anything else that would leave Lan Wangji disappointed that Lan Sizhui didn’t keep a closer eye on him.

...But who is he talking to?

The three round the corner of a rocky crag into a clearing and freeze. Yes, Wei Wuxian is they are alright, and beside him is the ghost general. The Yiling Patriarch whips around when he hears them coming only to relax at the sight of them.

“Checking up on me, Lan Zhan?”

Lan Wangji doesn’t answer, his eyes fixed on Wen Ning. After a long tense moment he inclines his head. “Wen-Gongzi.”

Lan Sizhui turns to glance at his father and confusion only to jerked back around as the ghost general inclines his head in return.

“Lan-Gongzi.”

The voice is soft and light, strangely incongruous coming from the mouth of the hulking ghost general and Lan Sizhui stares at him in disbelief because any voice would be incongruous, any voice at all, because… because Wen Ning is dead??

“He talks!?” Jingyi stares at both Wei Wuxian and the ghost general, eyes wide with incredulity.

“Of course he talks.” Wei Wuxian slings a casual arm around Wen Ning and beside them Lan Wangji stiffens. “Why wouldn’t he talk?”

“Because he’s dead!?” Jingyi points an accusing finger at Wei Wuxian. “You did that! You made him talk!”

Wei Wuxian laughs. “Lan Zhan what are your juniors being taught about me? Did you really never properly tell them about Wen Ning?”

“Mm.”

“Hanguang-Jun?” Lan Sizhui looks uncertainly up at his father.

“Wen Ning isn’t some puppet under my control.” Wei Wuxian speaks before Lan Wangji can. “He’s his own person like anyone else, he’s just a bit dead.” Then, turning to Wen Ning. “Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi seem to be startled by everything I do. Aren’t they adorable?”

Wen Ning bows his head again. “It’s n-nice to meet you.”

For a long moment both boys just stare in disbelief and then Lan Sizhui suddenly remembers his manners and hastily bows back, kicking Jingyi in the ankle to get him to do the same,

“Wen-Gongzi.” As he rises he notices Wen Ning’s eyes lingering on him and it should be an uncomfortable feeling but somehow it isn’t.

“How though?” Jingyi stairs first at Wen Ning and then at Wei Wuxian. “How does that even work?”

Wei Wuxian shrugs. “I had Wen Ning’s body so I just sort of stuffed his soul back into it and…” He gestures at Wen Ning as proof of how that worked out. “Honestly I’m surprised your Hanguang-Jun didn’t tell you. He knew all about it.”

“He did?” Jingyi asks, eyes flicking to Lan Wangji before returning to Wei Wuxian.

“Yep! He was there in the burial mounds with me the day Wen Ning woke up.”

Lan Sizhui spins to look at his father. “You were?”

“Mm.”

“What were you doing there?” Jingyi asks eagerly.

“Wei Ying and I were returning from lunch.”

Whatever answer he was expecting it wasn’t that. Lan Sizhui just stares at his father, he can’t help it. All these rumors, all the stories about the hatred between Hanguang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch and meanwhile they were having lunch!?

“Lunch!?” Jingyi splutters, clearly every bit as thrown as Lan Sizhui.

Lan Wangji ignores him, turning to Wei Wuxian instead. “We should leave.”

“Right right.” Wei Wuxian says agreeably then turns back to Wen Ning. “Lan Zhan and I have some stuff to do at Mo manor so we’ll be away for a little bit. Can you keep an eye on the juniors? Make sure they don’t get into too much trouble?”

Wen Ning nods. “S-sure.”

“Thanks!”

Once again Lan Sizhui is rendered completely speechless. While Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-Jun are gone there going to be watched over by the ghost general!?

Before either Lan Sizhui or Lan Jingyi can find their words again Lan Wangji crosses to Wei Wuxian and grabs his left hand, raising it to peer at the bandage on his left wrist.

“You are bleeding through it again.”

Wei Wuxian glances down at it and shrugs. “Just starting to, yeah. Don’t worry about it Lan Zhan. This bandage will still be good for a bit.”

“It is too lose.”

“Huh? Oh yeah you’re probably right it’s loose enough I could definitely tighten it a bit without cutting off circulation. It was tighter earlier but it keeps slipping a bit.”

“You need something to hold it or it will loosen again.”

“What sort of something?”

Lan Wangji says nothing but he reaches up with his free hand and, to Lan Sizhui’s utter shock, pulls his forehead ribbon from its place and begins wrapping it around Wei Wuxian’s wrist.

“Lan Zhan!?” Wei Wuxian stares at him, wide-eyed but Lan Wangji ignores him, wrapping the ribbon a few more times before tying it off with a neat knot.

“There.”

“There!? What do you mean there!? Lan Zhan, you really didn’t have to do that. I could’ve just found a scrap or something to tie it with. I know how important that ribbon is to you. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to it.”

“Then bring it back to me safely.” Is all Lan Wangji says.

“Lan Zhan-!”

Lan Wangji turns and begins walking back toward the cave. “Come, you need to eat and put on your new robes.”

Wei Wuxian’s mouth works soundlessly for a moment before he hurries after Lan Wangji leaving the two juniors to stare in utter shock at their retreating backs. Lan Sizhui’s mind is a whirling mess of impossible thoughts that he can’t possibly put into words, the sight of his father’s forehead ribbon on Wei Wuxian’s wrist robbing all speech from him as it wars with everything he knew or thought he knew about both the Yiling Patriarch and Hanguang-Jun. It’s impossible, utterly impossible, and yet… and yet if he knows anything about his father, and Lan Sizhui is starting to think that he maybe doesn’t, it’s that he would never casually violate the sanctity of the Lan forehead ribbons and Wei Wuxian is right, they could have found anything to wrap around his arm, there is no reason it had to be the ribbon, and that means… that means…

An absolutely impossible thought manages to twist its way to coherence within the whirling windstorm that is Lan Sizhui’s mind.

Are his father and the Yiling Patriarch …married!?

Chapter Text

The truth is Wei Wuxian is pretty damn sure he knows exactly what Mo Xuanyu wants from him. He already experimented with humiliating Madam Mo when the Lan juniors first arrived and that did nothing and while it’s possible he just wanted her beaten up or something, Wei Wuxian very much doubts it. The act of giving up one’s life, of paying for revenge with one’s very soul is an extreme one, it only makes sense that the revenge sought is just as extreme. Yes, Wei Wuxian knows what Mo Xuanyu wants the only question left is who. Four slashes seem to indicate four targets, Madam Mo and her son obviously but Wei Wuxian isn’t sure about the identity of the other two. The servant who jeered at Mo Xuanyu when bringing him his food is definitely a possibility but Wei Wuxian needs to spend more time in Mo Manor to make sure and he still doesn’t know who the fourth is.

That’s part of the reason he told Lan Wangji he wants to spend time there pretending to be Mo Xuanyu in order to investigate, but only part. The rest of it is well… Wei Wuxian doesn’t want Lan Wangji to see. It silly, he knows it. Lan Wangji is perfectly well aware of who and what Wei Wuxian is. He’s seen what Wei Wuxian did on the battlefield, what he did to Wen Chao, what he did at Nightless City, he knows /exactly/ what Wei Wuxian is capable of and yet… and yet Lan Wangji has been so… so… Nice? Kind? Something to Wei Wuxian over the last day and a half, caring for his injuries, buying him new robes and talisman paper and spicy food, even helping him escape from his own clan and bringing him to Mo Manor to help him take care of Mo Xuanyu’s final wish. He even talked about wanting to protect Wei Wuxian it’s… It’s…

Wei Wuxian isn’t sure what to make of it honestly. It’s strange and impossible and completely out of character and Wei Wuxian… Wei Wuxian likes it. He does. He really does. It feels like… like what the teenage him always secretly wanted their relationship to be like, like in the 13 years he’s been dead Lan Wangji’s memories of everything he can’t stand about Wei Wuxian have faded and Wei Wuxian… Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to bring those memories back, doesn’t want to break this… whatever it is that’s between them.

The thing is that, whatever the stories say about him, Wei Wuxian isn’t callous a murderer. He doesn’t go around killing random innocent people in cold blood, but the thing is that the inhabitants of Mo Manor /aren’t/ innocent. Wei Wuxian knows that down to the very bones of the body he now wears, the body that was once Mo Xuanyu’s, Mo Xuanyu who his aunt and cousin drove to his death just as surely as if they’d held the knife themselves. What Wei Wuxian needs to do in Mo Manor isn’t cold-blooded murder it’s justice for the dead, just as letting Wen Ning tear apart the overseers who killed him was justice for the dead, and so Wei Wuxian /will/ go through with this, some silly part of him just doesn’t want Lan Wangji to see.

***

By the time they approach the doors of Mo Manor a crowd has already begun to gather. Wei Wuxian isn’t surprised. It isn’t every day that a beautiful cultivator in flowing white robes lands his sword in their central courtyard after all, nor is it every day that their lady’s mad nephew is returned clinging to said cultivator; for Wei Wuxian is clinging, desperately so, his arms tight around Lan Wangji and his head buried in the other man’s shoulder. It makes sense that Mo Xuanyu might be scared of riding on a sword and that he might be even more scared and upset at the idea of being returned to his awful family, and if that gives Wei Wuxian an excuse to cling all over Lan Wangji… Well Wei Wuxian is going to enjoy every moment he can get of it.

When Lan Wangji steps down off of Bichen, pulling Wei Wuxian with him Wei Wuxian digs his heels into the dirt of the courtyard and shakes his head violently, arms still tight around Lan Wangji.

“Won’t! Can’t! Shan’t!”

Lan Wangji ignores his antics and simply starts walking toward the main hall forcing Wei Wuxian to be dragged along in his wake if he doesn’t want to let go, and he emphatically doesn’t.

“Hanguang-Jun, come on, there’s no need for this. We don’t need to be here really we don’t! Come on! I don’t want to go back here, alright? Why don’t I just stay with you? I could stay with you always, think of how nice that would be! I could be yours forever!”

Lan Wangji’s shoulders jerk slightly and Wei Wuxian wonders if he’s gone too far and Lan Wangji is about to shake him off but before anything can happen the doors of the main hall fly open and out steps Madam Mo, her husband at her side. Her eyes widen at the sight in front of her before quickly narrowing in fury.

“You!” She snaps at Wei Wuxian, “Get off of him right now! How dare you shame your family like this!”

“Nope Nope!” Wei Wuxian makes a show of plastering himself against Lan Wangji. “Hanguang-Jun is just my type so I’m going to stay with him now! We are going to travel the world together and I’ll go wherever he goes!”

Madam Mo’s eyes nearly pop out of her head with fury while in his arms Lan Wangji has gone completely still and it’s all Wei Wuxian can do to keep from bursting out laughing, really this is turning out to be too fun.

Hands clenched tightly with rage Madam Mo bows to Lan Wangji. “Forgive us, lord cultivator, my nephew is quite mad you see.” Then straightening she turns toward where some of the servants are clustered nearby and snaps “A-Tong, deal with him!”

At once the servant, A-Tong, starts forward and grabs Wei Wuxian by the upper arm, trying to drag him off of Lan Wangji. He is strong and Mo Xuanyu is not and the constant blood loss has made him even weaker so when he jerks on Wei Wuxian’s arm, Wei Wuxian actually feels himself losing his hold on Lan Wangji so he lets go, allowing his momentum to carry him backward into a surprised A-Tong who curses as the back of Wie Wuxian’s head collides with his chin. Wei Wuxian uses the moment to wriggle out of A-Tong’s grip and dances away, openly laughing.

“Why you!” A-Tong grabs for him and Wei Wuxian darts around to Lan Wangji’s other side, wrapping himself around the cultivator’s arm.

Glaring A-Tong makes to lunge for him again but Lan Wangji raises a hand. “It is fine. Leave him.”

Instantly A-Tong stumbles to a halt and bows. “Yes my lord.”

Madam Mo, who has been watching the proceedings with obvious rage growing in her eyes takes a moment to visibly restrain herself before turning her smile back on Lan Wangji.

“Would the lord cultivator do us the honor of joining us inside for some tea?”

Lan Wangji inclines his head “Thank you.”

With that the whole group makes their way into the main hall, Wei Wuxian still grinning broadly and clinging to Lan Wangji’s arm. Inside Wei Wuxian sinks onto the cushion just beside him and leans in close, all but cuddling up against him. He just can’t help himself and why should he? When else is he going to get the chance to cuddle up with the famously touch adverse second jade of Lan. Besides he’s staying in character right?

As the tea is being served Madam Mo once again turns her smile on Lan Wangji.

“Why lord cultivator to whatever do we owe the pleasure. Have you come all this way just to return my nephew?”

Lan Wangji nods. “To bring him home and to check on the situation with the walking corpses.”

“I was hoping that was why you came. I would never speak ill of such a great cultivation clan as the Lan of Gusu clan but we were all very shocked when your juniors vanished without assisting us.

“I apologize. Something occurred that called them away without warning. I will remain in the area to assess the situation and, if necessary, I will handle the walking corpses myself.”

“Thank you, that is very gracious.” Madam Mo bows her head and beside her her husband silently does so as well. “That is exactly what I would expect from a great cultivator like Hanguang-Jun. We are honored by your assistance. As for your juniors I thought it must be something like that after all, why else would they leave without warning? Besides the other lord cultivator said that it must be something of the sort.”

“The other lord cultivator?” Lan Wangji’s eyes narrow slightly as he asks the question. Wei Wuxian highly doubts that anyone else in the room would even be able to see it but, pressed against Lan Wangji’s side as he is, Wei Wuxian can feel his sudden tension.

“Why yes.” Madam Mo’s smile widens and Wei Wuxian can tell that she dropped that comment on purpose, hoping for a chance to brag about whatever powerful visitor she recently received. “The chief cultivator himself came to visit us just yesterday. He said that he was passing through the area and had heard of the high reputation of our village so he was hoping to stop and take tea with us.” Her smile grows wider until she’s fairly beaming. “Not only were we honored by his presence but when I told him how I have always known my son has the potential to be a cultivator he agreed with me and invited my dear Ziyuan to leave with him that very night! What a great honor!

Madam Mo concludes her story with her voice ringing with triumph, clearly expecting to be congratulated on her family’s good fortune but Wei Wuxian barely notices, his whole body stiff with the shock and creeping horror of her words. Beside him Lan Wangji has gone very still and Wei Wuxian is sure that they have both come to the same conclusion.

They are to late.

Regardless of whether Jin Ling or Lan Xichen decided to tell Jin Guangyao about Wei Wuxian’s return, Xue Yang was the very first person to recognize him and Xue Yang works for the Jins. He must’ve gone straight to Jin Guangyao and, more than that, the late Sect Leader Su told Xue Yang whose body Wei Wuxian is wearing. Xue Yang is a demonic cultivator and has clearly studied Wei Wuxian’s work extensively and Jin Guangyao… They have no way of knowing what Jin Guangyao knows. Between the two of them one of them must have known about the sort of ritual Mo Xuanyu used, one of them must’ve put together the possibility that that’s how Wei Wuxian ended up in Mo Xuanyu body and after that… After that Jin Guangyao had come straight to Mo Manor to investigate. When he found the place untouched he must have guessed that Mo Xuanyu’s revenge had been interrupted by the kidnapping and that Wei Wuxian would have to return to fulfill it. He might not have known exactly what revenge or on whom but it would not have been hard for him to guess that Mo Xuanyu’s brash and bullying cousin was one of the targets and after that…

After that Jin Guangyao had simply removed him, spiriting him out of reach and, in that single move, he had doomed Wei Wuxian to death.

Chapter Text

The rest of the conversation passes without much in the way of useful information. Mostly Madam Mo just chatters on and on about the honor of the chief cultivator’s visit and about what a success her son is sure to be. It’s fortunate really that she is so interested in bragging because Lan Wangji has become even less talkative than usual, sitting in tense expressionless silence while Madam Mo carries the entire conversation herself. When, at the end of another long-winded monologue, Madam Mo tells Lan Wangji that the family will be eating dinner soon and asks if he’ll do them the honor of staying, Wei Wuxian decides enough is enough and let’s go of Lan Wangji, turning away from him, crossing his arms, and letting out a huff.

“Why would we want him to stay? Haven’t you had enough of him already? He’s so boring. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to be around him for long.”

Originally Wei Wuxian shad planned to cling onto him and beg him not to go, purely for the fun of watching both Madam Mo and Lan Wangji’s reactions, but now, with this news of what Jin Guangyao has done, time is a limited commodity and he needs to handle things with the Mo family quickly which means that he needs Lan Wangji gone.

At his words Lan Wangji stiffens beside him and Madam Mo draws herself up, eyes sparkling with outrage.

“How dare you speak to a guest like that! And to think he’s been so magnanimous as to tolerate your behavior too! You bring shame to our ancestors!”

Lan Wangji gets abruptly to his feet and Madam Mo’s tone changes, instantly becoming all flattering conciliation. “Why lord cultivator please don’t take his words to heart. We would truly be honored by your presence.”

Lan Wangji inclines his head to her. “Thank you for your invitation but I must go.”

He turns to look at Wei Wuxian, expression unreadable as it passes over him, gaze lingering for a moment on the place where his four head ribbon is hidden under Wei Wuxian’s sleeve, and then he turns away. Quickly Madam Mo gets to her feet and hurries after him saying things about the honor of his visit and welcoming him to return at any time. At the door of the hall she stops, no doubt watching as Lan Wangji mounts Bichen and departs, then she turns back around and advances on Wei Wuxian.

“YOU! You disgrace! You abomination! You bastard son of a whore! How dare you bring shame on us! How dare you openly insult a guest! A cultivator! After all I’ve done for you all these years! Feeding you! Clothing you! You!” She spins to point at the servants clustered off to one side of the hall, “beat him! Beat him until he can’t walk! That will teach him to dishonor his family!”

The servants she gestured at all start toward Wei Wuxian but he has been expecting this and he jumps easily out of their reach, kicking over the table to trip them up before darting off behind a pillar and pulling from beneath his robes a crude bamboo flute, made the previous night by borrowing Jingyi’s sword while the boy was asleep. Now he puts it to his lips and begins to play but he only gets through a handful of notes before the servants are upon him and he’s forced to stuff it back into his robes and jump away again, twisting and ducking through the hands grabbing at him. One of the servants gets close enough to grab him and Wei Wuxian grabs the man’s wrist, fingers jabbing a pressure point before twisting and throwing the man to the ground in front of the legs of another, causing the second man to stumble and fall cursing onto the first.

Laughing Wei Wuxian trips A-Tong just for good measure and then jumps away again, ducking and weaving his way through the hall, and all the while he scans every face, trying to determine who else Mo Xuanyu has marked for death. He sees the servants scrambling after him, A-Tong, furious, in their lead, sees a few serving women with wide eyes clustered in a corner, sees Madam Mo shaking with fury, sees her husband standing silent at her shoulder…

Another man lunges for Wei Wuxian and he darts back then throws himself to the side and… Pain, pain shooting through his stomach, pain sudden enough that he stumbles, body hunching forward and hands coming up in an instinctive movement. He has only just enough time to process that the wound Jin Ling dealt him must have reopened before the servants are on him A-Tong in their lead. They shove him to the ground, their boots colliding with his back his shoulders his chest his stomach the side of his jaw. Instinctively he curls in on himself, arms moving to protect his head. The men laugh and continued kicking him, clearly happy to revenge themselves on him for the humiliation of the chase, and behind them he sees Madam Mo smiling with cruel satisfaction and her husband standing silently at her side, still just watching.

An especially heavy kick to his newly reopened wound draws an involuntary cry of pain from Wei Wuxian and the laughter grows.

“That will teach you!” A-Tong glares down at him then he spits on Wei Wuxian, the glob of wetness landing on his cheek. “Stupid lunatic!” He kicks Wei Wuxian in the stomach again causing another involuntary hiss of pain to leave his lips. “How many times do I need to teach you a lesson before you learn!”

Another kick, this time to Wei Wuxian’s chest, and Wei Wuxian lunges, grabbing on to A-Tong’s leg with both hands before he can pull it back.

“Hey what!?” A-Tong shouts and tries to jerk his leg back but Wei Wuxian holds on, letting himself be dragged closer to A-Tong’s body then throwing himself up it to grab the knife from A-Tong’s waistband and jam it into the man’s stomach.

A-Tong screams and stumbles back, the other servants freezing, shocked by this sudden turn of events. Wei Wuxian ignores them, eyes fixing on Madam Mo. “Mo Xuanyu was your nephew. Your family.” He pulls himself shakily to his feet and wipes at his mouth, tasting blood from where one of the blows split his lip. “This is how you treated him!?”

“What are you talking about!? You’re mad!” Madam Mo shouts and her voice seems to break the spell on the other servants. Two of them rushed to A-Tong’s side, catching him as he falls to his knees gurgling for breath. Another one lunges at Wei Wuxian, face twisted in fury. Wei Wuxian grabs his arm, pressing the same pressure point is earlier and dropping the man easily to the ground.

“Maybe I am but I’m not him. You abused him and drove him over the edge until he decided that getting revenge on you was more important than being alive!”

“Enough of this! Seize him!” Madam Mo’s shout echoes around the hall but before anyone can act on it there’s a commotion from the courtyard behind them followed by the door crashing open.

“What the!?” Madam Mo spins around then stumbles back in horror as ungainly figures shuffle their way into the hall.

The walking corpses of Mo village. The ones that the Lan juniors didn’t have a chance to deal with on that first night. Wei Wuxian hadn’t had long to play his flute before but for such low-level corpses he didn’t need long. As it is they are so weak that if he had called them without the medium of the flute they probably would have been so cowed by him that they wouldn’t have been able to obey but he did play his flute and now they are here and they are able to answer his need.

As Madam Mo continues to stumble backward, eyes bulging, mouth working in wordless terror, as the rest of the servants turn and flee for their lives and A-Tong breathes his final shuddering breath, Wei Wuxian draws out his flute and begins to play again. ‘Just her’ he commands the corpses ‘no one else.’

“You!” Madam Mo at last finds her voice again and she spins toward him, beginning to run. “This is all you’re doing isn’t it! You demon child! I knew I should have strangled you in your cradle! You and your worthless bitch of a mother! You…” She is almost upon him when her shoe catches on an uneven board and she stumbles. A moment later the walking corpses are upon her, biting and tearing and her blood splatters across Wei Wuxian’s robes and face as she screams and collapses beneath them.

“You should have treated him better.” He tells the dying woman, then he turns away, catching sight of the figure he’s looking for stumbling down the steps out into the courtyard. Flute in hand Wei Wuxian follows.

The sun has mostly set by the time he steps out of the now bloody hall. Maybe that’s why Wei Wuxian’s eyes catch on the flicker of white high above him, standing out against the darkening sky. Instinctively his eyes follow it and there, on the rooftop, looking down at the scene below…

‘Ah,’ Wei Wuxian thinks to himself with a strangely painful sort of resignation, ‘so Lan Zhan is going to see me like this again after all.’

He turns his eyes away to fix them instead on the man now backing away from him with wide terrified eyes. Madam Mo’s husband.

“You always watched didn’t you?” Wei Wuxian asks the question as he advances on the trembling man. “You watched everything she did to him, everything they all did to him, and you never lifted a finger to help him did you?”

“I…” Madam Mo’s husband is shaking so badly that he can barely get the words out. “I couldn’t! I couldn’t go against her! You know what she’s like! I couldn’t…”

Wei Wuxian hesitates. He is pretty sure he’s right in his guess that this man is the fourth, that Mo Xuanyu saw him watching and never helping and swore to be avenged on him as well and yet… and yet what could he have done really? Between the two of them Madam Mo was the one with the power, the one with the authority. Is there really anything he could have done to stop her?

There’s a light thud of boots meeting stone and then Lan Wangji is there, standing between Wei Wuxian and Madam Mo’s husband. His eyes rake over Wei Wuxian, over the flute in his hands and the blood splattered across his robes and across his cheek before coming to rest on his split lip and the bruise already blooming on the side of his jaw, then, slowly, he turns to face Madam Mo’s husband.

“You just watched?

“I couldn’t! I couldn’t do anything else!” The man is babbling now, his entire body quivering with terror. “Please lord cultivator! You have to believe me! You have to protect me! That man is a monster! He…”

Whatever else he was planning to say Wei Wuxian will never know because at that moment Lan Wangji draws Bichen and, without hesitation, drives the sword through the man’s heart.

Chapter Text

At first all Wei Wuxian can do is stare, eyes wide and lips parted, as Lan Wangji pulls Bichen back, as blood splatters out across the cobblestones, as Madam Mo’s husband crumples to the ground, already dead. Only when Lan Wangji returns Bichen to its sheath does Wei Wuxian finally find his voice.

“Lan Zhan, you…” Okay so just because he has his voice doesn’t mean he actually has words because… because… what the fuck? Honestly, what the fuck. Lan Zhan just killed for him. That’s… Wei Wuxian’s heart is racing in a way he can’t quite explain. Alright sure he seen Lan Wangji kill before, many times. It was a war. None of their hands are clean, not even those of the righteous Hanguang-Jun, Wei Wuxian knows that, but still… There’s a difference between killing on the battlefield and killing an unarmed civilian begging for help and mercy. A part of Wei Wuxian wants to laugh. So much for being worried about what Lan Wangji would think if he saw him. What the fuck has happened in the last 13 years??

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji steps toward him, eyes raking over Wei Wuxian’s body. “You are hurt.”

Wei Wuxian can feel his heart rate increasing as Lan Wangji steps toward him, feel his breath catching a little, and he isn’t sure why but his first instinct is to distract from it so he shrugs, feigning a nonchalance he definitely doesn’t feel. “I’m fine, Lan Zhan, really. It’s just some bruises. I’ve had worse you know.”

Lan Wangji’s gaze sharpens into a glare. “Wei Ying!”

“What? Come on, Lan Zhan, you don’t need to make a big deal out of…” Wei Wuxian tries to take a step forward and sways on the spot. Instantly Lan Wangji is at his side, hands on his waist and shoulder, holding him up.

“What happened?”

Wei Wuxian winces, the pain in his abdomen an odd counterpoint to the strange heat that seems to be emanating from the places where Lan Wangji is touching him. It’s… it’s…

‘Wei Wuxian get a grip!’

“The wound from Jin Ling reopened.”

“Ah.” A heartbeat of silence then “Are you done here?”

In answer Wei Wuxian shoves his flute back into his sash then pushes his left sleeve up and unties Lan Wangji’s forehead ribbon from around the bandage there before pulling that too back to reveal the arm beneath, the arm and its single remaining cut. Wei Wuxian glances at it then nods. “Yeah, I’m done.”

Lan Wangji nods as well and then he abruptly scoops Wei Wuxian up into his arms.

Wei Wuxian lets out a startled squawk of protest. “What- Lan Zhan!? What are you doing!?”

“You said you are done.”

Wei Wuxian glares up at him. “Yeah but that doesn’t mean you need to pick me up.”

Lan Wangji ignores him and instead leaps lightly up onto Bichen, Wei Wuxian still held tight in his arms.

“Lan Zhannn stop ignoring me. What is it with you and carrying me all the time anyway??”

“You carried me once.” Lan Wangji tells him as Bichen begins to climb.

“Did I?” For a moment Wei Wuxian loses the thread of the conversation, his eyes fixed on Mo Manor disappearing below him as Lan Wangji bares him safely away.

“You did.”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head, trying to clear it. “When?”

“Remember for yourself.”

Wei Wuxian glares at him, then does as he is told and tries to think back, and, after a few moments, it comes to him. Running desperate from the Xuanwu of slaughter, Lan Wangji bleeding and barely conscious draped across his back.

“Is that what this is about?”

“Is what?”

“This.” Wei Wuxian gestures vaguely to the two of them. “This. You helping me. Are you trying to pay me back for back then?”

Lan Wangji says nothing and in the growing darkness it’s hard for Wei Wuxian to make out the details of his expression but he gets the feeling that Lan Wangji is glaring again.

Wei Wuxian shifts in his arms. “Well, Lan Zhan, is it?”

“Think for yourself.”

Wei Wuxian lets out an annoyed huff.

“Would you stop saying that? I /am/ thinking and nothing you’re doing makes any sense.”

Silence.

Again.

Wei Wuxian lets out a frustrated breath and glances down, eyes catching on the forehead ribbon still curled between his fingers.

“Say Lan Zhan, do you want me to tie this back on for you?”

A long moment of silence and then “Mm.” The noise is quiet enough that Wei Wuxian isn’t sure he heard correctly so he glances up to check and even through the dimming light is pretty sure he sees pink tinting Lan Wangji’s ears. He stares at it thoughtfully for a moment. Interesting…

“Lan Zhan~, are you really sure it’s alright? I bet there’s some Lan rule about forehead ribbon propriety. I bet me doing it is inappropriate somehow.”

Lan Wangji says nothing.

Wei Wuxian leans in, mouth brushing against one of those blushing ears as he speaks softly into it. “Come on, Lan-er gege, tell me what rule I’m breaking.”

“Wei Ying!” Bichen wobbles in the air and Lan Wangji’s arms tighten convulsively around Wei Wuxian, accidentally pressing against one of his newly forming bruises and causing Wei Wuxian to let out a hiss of pain.

“Wei Ying, are you alright?”

“I’m fine I’m fine.” Wei Wuxian shifts, resettling himself in Lan Wangji’s arms. “Don’t worry Lan Zhan, I’ve learned my lesson, no more teasing you while we’re flying.”

There is silence for a little while after that and then abruptly Lan Wangji says, “You are not breaking any rule.”

“What really?” Wei Wuxian tilts his head curiously to the side. “I thought for sure there had to be tons of rules about the forehead ribbon.”

“There are but you assisting me would not break them.”

“Really…?” Wei Wuxian draws the word out, considering it. He’s missing something here, he’s sure of it. He eyes Lan Wangji speculatively but the other man says nothing more, only lowers Bichen into a nearby clearing outside the mouth of what turns out to be a very small cave. Inside Lan Wangji places Wei Wuxian on a boulder and then silently begins undoing Wei Wuxian’s sash and removing his outer robe.

Something about it causes Wei Wuxian’s heart to begin to race again and he feels color climbing into his cheeks. He’s hit with the urge to nock Lan Wangji’s hands away but another part of him doesn’t want to and honestly why should he? What has gotten into him? Lan Wangji is clearly just trying to take care of his injuries just like he’s been doing this whole time. It’s not as though Lan Wangji is… is…

Giving himself another mental slap Wei Wuxian helps Lan Wangji get him out of his robes and then they’re off and the other man is frowning at Wei Wuxian’s injuries. “You were beaten.” The anger in Lan Wangji’s voice is palpable enough to send a shudder down Wei Wuxian’s spine.

Once again his first instinct is to ignore it, shrugging it off with and nonchalant wave of his hand. “Yeah, this stupid stab wound slowed me down so I couldn’t dodge properly. It’s all fine now though.”

Lan Wangji says nothing in reply but his brows drawn together in a way that suggests to Wei Wuxian that no, everything is not fine. Wei Wuxian watches as Lan Wangji begins pulling bandages and medicine from his sleeves and sets to work on Wei Wuxian’s body, cleaning and applying salve and bandages, his hands sure in their movements and surprisingly gentle. The whole thing sends a tremor through Wei Wuxian, down past the new skin and meat and bones to the very core of him.

Lan Zhan…

Lan Zhan wants him to live.

There is no other explanation for all of this. Lan Wangji carrying him back to the Cloud Recesses, hiding him, treating his wounds, helping him escape, fleeing with him, bringing him to Mo Manor, even killing Madam Mo’s husband for him. It all…

Lan Zhan wants him to live.

No, more than that, Lan Zhan wants to keep him alive, really wants it, enough to risk himself over it.

That’s…

It has been a very long time since someone other than Wen Ning has wanted him to live.

For it to be Lan Wangji….

Wei Wuxian still doesn’t understand /why/ Lan Wangji wants him to live, can’t possibly fathom a reason for him to care this much about someone he has spent so many years hating, but even if he can’t figure it out there’s just no other explanation. Lan Wangji, Lan Zhan, Hanguang-Jun wants him to live.

That’s…

Wei Wuxian swallows and hastily begins talking, anything to ward off the sudden tightness in his throat.

“So, Lan Zhan, what’s our next move?”

“Mo Ziyuan.” Lan Wangji says it instantly without even looking up from the place where he’s wrapping a bandage around Wei Wuxian’s abdomen.

Wei Wuxian isn’t surprised. If Lan Wangji really does want to keep him alive then Mo Ziyuan is the obvious next step. The question is just… “Koi Tower or Jingaungyao’s secret underground experiment dungeon.”

Lan Wangji hums in agreement and begin spreading salve on a bruise forming on Wei Wuxian’s chest. The area is ticklish and Wei Wuxian jolts before sitting still, his face flushing a bit. Really what has gotten into him? The way he’s hyper aware of Lan Wangji’s every touch. It’s… Is being a cut sleeve contagious or something? Wei Wuxian bites down on his lip and forces himself to refocus on the question at hand.

“The experiment dungeon. Koi tower would be a good place for Jin Guangyao to set a trap for me but it’ll be harder for him to hide Mo Ziyuan there since someone like Mo Ziyuan is going to talk and brag about all the promises Jin Guangyao made him and that would just make Jin Guangyao look bad. Even if Jin Guangyao locks him up somewhere there’s still the risk that they’d run into someone when Jin Guangyao first brings him in plus keeping him alive means feeding him regularly and Koi tower is full of eyes. It’ll be easier just to hide him in the experiment dungeon and besides he knows I know where that is and he’s probably doing all this so he can lure me out and kill me before I find a way to expose him for what he’s doing with the Yin Tiger Tally.”

Lan Wangji nods. “I agree.”

“Well then,” Wei Wuxian grins at Lan Wangji. “Let’s go walk into Jin Guangyao’s trap.”

Chapter Text

After Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-Jun walk away, all Lan Sizhui can do is stare after them in shock, completely unable to form words. The Yilling Patriarch and his father are… They are…

“What the hell!?” Jingyi’s outburst jerks Lan Sizhui out of his tumbling thoughts and he turns to see his friend pointing an accusatory finger in the direction the two adults have just disappeared. “What the actual hell!? What was that!?” He turns to stare at Lan Sizhui. “Sizhui what was that!?”

“I don’t…” Lan Sizhui swallows and shakes his head, struggling to find coherence, his heart beating a to a rythem that sounds to him awfully like ‘married’ ‘married’ ‘married.’

Abruptly Lan Sizhui turns to the ghost general who stands still and silent behind them and bows his head politely. “Wen-Gongzi, can I ask you a question?”

The ghost general starts slightly as though surprised to be remembered, then nods. “S-sure.”

Lan Sizhui takes a shaky breath then forces himself to just blurt it out. “Are Honguang-Jun and Senior Wei married?”

Beside him Lan Jingyi lets out a startled squawk but Lan Sizhui ignores him, focusing entirely on Wen Ning.

For his part the ghost general seams nearly as taken aback by the question as Jinyi, His expression doesn’t change much but his shoulders jerk and his eyes seem to widen a bit. “Married?” He stares at Lan Sizhui for a moment then shakes his head. “Not that I know of. Why do you ask?”

“Because the only people permitted to touch a Lan forehead ribbon are a parent or a child or a spouse.”

“O-oh…” Wen Ning goes quiet again for a moment then slowly. “After seeing them together and hearing the way they s-spoke to each other the day that Wei-Gongzi brought Lan-er-gogzi to the b-burial mounds I thought that they m-must be close but I do not believe that they are married.”

“Then what are they!?” Jingyi turns away, throwing up his hands in exasperation. “Hanguang-Jun just gave the Yiling Patriarch his forehead ribbon! Just gave it to him! Just like that! I don’t get it I don’t get it!”

Lan Sizhui lets out a shaky breath. “I don’t get it either.” He stares in the direction his father and Wei Wuxian have gone, trying to decide whether the ghost general’s words make things less or more confusing.

“T-that isn’t the first time Wei-gongzi touched Lan-er-gongzi’s forehead ribbon though.”

“What!?” Both Lan Sizhui and Jingyi spin back around to face the ghost general.

At being the sudden center of attention again Wen Ning blinks sheepishly then explains. “T-there was an archery tournament before the war. Wei-gongzi t-told Lan-er-gongzi that his forehead ribbon was crooked and grabbed it to fix it. It ended up coming off in his hand. Lan-er-gongzi looked q-quite upset.”

“That’s…” Jingyi appears at a loss for words and Sizhui feels pretty much the same. He’s not sure what to make of this anecdote about his father’a past with the Yiling Patriarch. Does this mean they were friends? Enemies? Does it make them more likely to be married or less?

“Sizhui…”

“I know.” Maybe it’s the lack of sleep the last too nights, maybe it’s everything that’s happen, but suddenly Lan Sizhui feels utterly exhausted. “Let’s go back to the cave.”

***

They spend the afternoon resting in the cave, the ghost general a quiet and surprisingly unassuming sentinel nearby. Around sunset Lan Sizhui sees his entire body go tense but after a few moments the ghost general relaxes again so Lan Sizhui doesn’t comment on it. Not long after he catches Wen Ning watching him with strangely intent focus. Jingyi seems to notice it too for after a little bit he shifts closer to where Sizhui has been sitting meditating and murmurs in his ear, “he keeps just staring at you.”

Lan Sizhui nods slightly to show that he too has noticed.

“Think he’s going to attack us?”

Lan Sizhui thinks about that for a moment then shakes his head. This is the ghost general they’re talking about, he knows that, he does, but even so he somehow gets the feeling that Wen Ning isn’t dangerous...at least not to them.

After another moment he climbs to his feet and approaches the subject of their exchange.

“Wen-gongzi.” He bows politely “Can I ask you something?”

Wen Ning nods. “W-what would you like to know?”

“Would you mind telling me why it is you have been watching me?”

“You remind me of someone.”

Lan Sizhui blinks, taken aback by both the straightforward answer and the prompt, almost eager way it is delivered. “I do?”

Wen Ning nods. “A cousin of mine. You look a lot like him.”

That’s… Lan Sizhui isn’t sure what to make of that answer. Said by someone else it would have sounded like an attempt to curry favor but Wen Ning sounds so earnest and honest it’s hard to doubt him and besides, why would /the/ Ghost General need to curry favor with anyone?

Possibly trying to save him from needing to come up with an answer Jingyi scrambles to his feet and comes to stand besides Lan Sizhui.

“I also have a question.”

Wen Ning turns to look at him. “Y-yes?”

“Why have you been standing by the cave mouth all afternoon? Is it because Senior Wei told you to look after us because we’re capable of looking after ourselves you know.”

Wen Ning’s dead lips don’t appear capable of shifting into a smile but the corners twitch a little as though he’s trying. “I’m sure you a-are but still Wei-gongzi asked me too and besides I do not mind.”

Jingyi tilts his head to the side. “But aren’t you tired? You’ve been standing all afternoon. If someone’s going to keep watch we can at least trade off.”

The corner of Wen Ning’s mouth twitches slightly again and now Lan Sizhui is /sure/ he’s trying to smile. “That is very kind but I do not a-actually get tired. I am, as Wei-gongzi said, a bit dead.”

“Oh.” Jingyi flushes pink in embarrassment. “Right.”

There’s a moment of awkward silence after that, broken when the ghost general suddenly stiffens, shoulders going rigid and eyes going hazy.

Instantly the two juniors tense.

“Wen-gongzi?” Lan Sizhui takes a cautious step toward Wen Ning.

“Wei-gongzi is calling me.” There’s a slightly dazed sound in his voice.

Lan Sizhui’s heart beats faster. “Did something happen!?”

Wen Ning blinks and when he opens his eyes they are clear once more. “N-no, I don’t think so. It wasn’t an urgent call.”

“Ah.” Lan Sizhui relaxes again.

“Call? What call? Why couldn’t we hear it?” Jingyi is staring speculatively at the ghost general.

“His flute. W-when he plays I can always h-hear him.”

Abruptly Lan Sizhui remembers the way Wen Ning went suddenly tense not long before the conversation started. “This isn’t the first time he’s played his flute tonight is it?”

Wen Ning shakes his head. “That t-time he kept the call weak so that I would know it was only for the walking corpses nearby, n-not for me.”

Walking corpses nearby? Oh right. Abruptly Lan Sizhui remembers the reason he and the others had been called to Mo village in the first place. Was that really only the day before yesterday?

Jingyi tilts his head to the side. “How come you can always hear him?”

“Wei-gongzi brought me to life. O-of course I can hear him.” Wen Ning says it like it makes all the sense in the world and maybe it does, but it’s also incredibly unsettling. It makes Wei Wuxian sound like some sort of god and, considering what he did with? To? For? Wen Ning maybe he is. The thought sends an unsettled shudder down Lan Sizhui’s spine.

A god of death who may or may not be married to Lan Sizhui’s father and who is definitely with him right now.

“We should go.”

Wen Ning nods, seemingly unbothered by Lan Sizhui’s sudden urgency. Jingyi casts him a look but Lan Sizhui ignores it, focusing on gathering their things up as quickly as he can and following Wen Ning out into the evening

When the arrives where his father and the Yiling Patriarch are now hiding and the first thing Lan Sizhui sees is Wei Wuxian, hair disheveled and once again stripped of his robes, re-tying Lan Wangji’s forehead ribbon for him, Lan Sizhui abruptly wishes that he hadn’t been in quite so much of a hurry.

Chapter Text

They decide to approached the Jin’s experiment dungeon on foot. Flying might be faster but it also makes them far easier to spot. At first Lan Wangji is dubious about the plan, pointing out that Wei Wuxian is hardly in any condition to walk that far. Wei Wuxian tries to tell Lan Wangji that he’s walked farther in worse condition but for some reason that just makes Lan Wangji look vaguely pained so Wei Wuxian tells him about the donkey he remembers seeing hanging around Mo Xuanyu’s shack and so, in the morning, the five of them go to retrieve it. The donkey turns out to be incredibly stubborn, even by donkey standards, but after Lan Wangji pulls an apple out of his sleeve she finally consents to go in the right direction and they set off.

At first Wei Wuxian rides beside Lan Wangji, chattering to him about whatever random thing comes to mind; the quality of the food they ate that morning, the rebellious behavior of the donkey, the way the little Lan juniors keep giving them strange looks. The entire time he watches Lan Wangji closely, looking for the signs of irritation that he remembers all too well from their teen years. He finds none of them. In fact Lan Wangji...appears to be listening?? Actually listening, at least enough to offer a nod or an “Mm” or even an occasional comment in all the right places to encourage Wei Wuxian to keep talking. It’s strange and disorienting and after a few incense time Wei Wuxian has had enough.

As they pass by a stream Wei Wuxian turns to Lan Wangji. “Lan Zhannn, I’m thirsty, don’t we have anything to drink?”

Even after everything he has seen of this new version of Lan Wangji over the last couple of days Wei Wuxian still half expects him to be irritated by Wei Wuxian’s whining but he just reaches silently into his sleeve and pulls out a water bottle. Wei Wuxian drink slowly enough that the stream is nearly out of sight behind them before he finishes it and frowns. “Well that’s all of that and I’m still thirsty. Say, Lan Zhan, there was a stream just behind us. Why don’t I go back and fill this up then catch up with you.”

In answer Lan Wangji reaches up and takes the bottle back from Wei Wuxian. “I will go back. You remain with the group.”

“Afraid I’ll run off if someone is in keeping an eye on me?” Wei Wuxian gives him a cheeky grin and Lan Wangji responds with an unimpressed look, suggesting to Wei Wuxian that Lan Wangji is perfectly well aware that this outcome was Wei Wuxian’s goal the entire time. Well whatever, Lan Wangji is still stepping away for a moment and that’s all that really matters.

As soon as he turns back for the stream Wei Wuxian falls back to ride beside the two juniors who have been walking in the middle of the group while Wen Ning brings up the rear.

“Alright, question time.”

The juniors eye him suspiciously.

“Senior Wei?” Lan Sizhui still sounds polite at least.

“Tell me about your forehead ribbons.”

Both juniors start at the question and Lan Sizhui opens his mouth to answer but Lan Jingyi beats him to it. “Hold on, if we answer your question then will you answer one of ours?”

Cheeky kid. Wei Wuxian likes him. He puts on a mock frown. “Making demands? Is that any way to talk to your senior?”

Lan Sizhui bows his head. “Please Senior Wei, would you mind answering some things for us?”

Everything in Lan Sizhui’s voice and body language is perfectly scrupulously correct, almost a little bit too correct. Wei Wuxian chuckles. He likes this kid too. He has the impulse to tease the kids more but Lan Wangji will be back soon and he really does want answers.

“Alright, alright but my question first though.”

Lan Sizhui nods. “What do you want to know?”

“Your Hanguang-Jun said that there are rules about who can do things with your forehead ribbons but that I’m not breaking any by tying his so I want to know what rules I’m not breaking and why I’m not breaking them.”

Lan Jingyi makes a strange choking noise and Lan Sizhui just stares at him for a moment, his cheeks going oddly pink, before he hastily clears his throat. “That’s… I mean, senior Wei, you have to understand, the rule around our forehead ribbons is…”

From nearby a dog barks and then it barks again and then it barks again and Wei Wuxian is suddenly not listening. His entire body goes rigid and the donkey who he’s started to refer to as ‘little apple’ shifts her weight in unease as Wei Wuxian begins shaking on her back.

“Senior Wei? Are you alright?”

Wei Wuxian barely hears Lan Sizhui over the sound of the dog barking as it comes closer, closer, closer, and then there it is! A large black dog with bright eyes and sharp fangs racing right for him. Wei Wuxian watches in terrified horror as it reaches them and then jumps up, actually putting its paws on Little Apple and then it’s mouth is near his leg and that’s enough! In a paroxysm of terror Wei Wuxian throws himself backward off of the other side of the donkey, landing in the dirt and scrambling desperately to get to his feet before the monster can come for him.

“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian isn’t even fully aware of crying out until Lan Wangji is there, standing in front of him and helping to pull him to his feet.

“Wei Ying? What’s wrong?”

“The… The…” Wei Wuxian points a shaking finger towards the dog and Lan Wangji turns to face it, leaving Wei Wuxian to huddle clinging against his back.

“Wei-gongzi?” Wen Ning is beside them now, sounding worried, and Wei Wuxian wants to reassure him, he does, but with the monster that close he can’t even think.

“Wei Wuxian! I found you!” The shout cuts through the dog’s horrible panting and through the haze of his fear Wei Wuxian vaguely recognizes Jin Ling standing on a nearby slope and pointing his sword accusingly in Wei Wuxian’s direction.

“Is this your dog?” Lan Wangji asks the question coolly and Jin Ling’s gaze refocuses on him, shoulders jerking in something that might be defensiveness and might be fear.

“Yeah, she is, what about it?”

“Make her stay back.” Huddled behind Lan Wangji as he is Wei Wuxian can’t make out his expression but whatever Jin Ling sees in Lan Wangji’s usually impassive face must scare him because he gulps and then turns his eyes quickly on the monster menacing Lan Wangji.

“Fairy, heel!”

The dog, Fairy apparently, and wow if Wei Wuxian ever needed proof that Jin Ling is Jiang Cheng’s nephew here it is, wags her tail once then turns and trots over to sit beside her master. Immediately Jin Ling steps in front of her as though to protect her from Lan Wangji’s disapproval which also has the added benefit of putting her almost entirely out of Wei Wuxian’s sight. Wei Wuxian lets out a shaky breath, his hands relaxing from where they had been clenched in Lan Wangji’s robes and he is finally able to refocus on the much less alarming sight of Jiang Yanli’s son brandishing Jin Zixuan’s sword at him.

“Wei-gongzi, are you all right?”

Wei Wuxian gives Wen Ning a slightly shaky slightly distracted smile. “Fine fine, don’t worry about me.” He turns his eyes back to Jin Ling. “So what are you doing here?”

“What does it look like I’m doing here!?” Jin Ling snaps back. “Fairy tracked you down! Now I’m here to get revenge!” Jin Ling’s hands are shaking a little on the hilt of his sword and there’s a slight tremor in his voice.

Wei Wuxian pokes more fully out from behind Lan Wangji in time to see the other man’s eyes narrow. “Lower your sword.”

“Why!?” Jin Ling snaps back. His entire body is shaking now and his voice sounds close to tears. “Why is the Lan Clan protecting him!? Why are you acting like he isn’t an evil demonic cultivator!? Why…” His eyes flick to Wei Wuxian. “Why did you murder my parents and then save me!?”

Wei Wuxian takes a shaky breath. For a moment behind his eyelids he once again sees Wen Ning lunging at Jin Ling, once again feels the primal terror of that moment, the echo of Jin Zixuan’s death.

“It’s a long story, A-Ling.”

“You don’t get to call me that! You don’t get to act like we’re family!” Jin Ling’s voice is shrill with anger and he really is crying now. “Just because you saved my life doesn’t change what you did to my parents! It doesn’t make it right!”

Wei Wuxian looks directly back at him, a sad smile curving the corners of his lips, and for once all of the teasing and mockery is gone from his voice as he says, “I know, and I’m sorry.”

“WHY!?” Jin Ling shouts the word back at him, his whole body is now shaking so badly that the sword wavers in his hand. “Why are you sorry!? Why are you saying that!? You didn’t care! You left the Jiang sect! You hated my father! You… Your evil! You’re the Yiling Patriarch!. You’re a demonic cultivator! You don’t care how many people you hurt! You… You…” Suihua clatters to the ground and Jin Ling drops to his knees beside it, hands bracing in the dirt as his shoulders shake with sobs.

At Lan Wangji’s side Wei Wuxian stands motionless, face pale as the robes of the man beside him, mind blank with a ringing emptiness that seems to drown the entire world so completely that when Fairy moves forward to nuzzle at her master Wei Wuxian doesn’t even flinch.

After a long drawn out moment where the only sound is Jin Ling’s sobs, Lan Sizhui steps hesitantly forward to stand beside the crying Jin heir and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Jin-gongzi, I know it’s a lot to take in but I don’t think all the stories they told us about him are really true. I think there might be more to it.”

“How would you know!?” Jin Ling looks up, irate and teary-eyed and glaring at Lan Sizhui but he doesn’t shrug the other boy’s hand away.

“I don’t really,” Lan Sizhui tells him gently, “but if he were really the way all the stories say then he wouldn’t have saved us and Hanguang-Jun wouldn’t be protecting him.”

“Maybe he’s done something to your Hanguang-Jun, have you thought of that!?”

“He has not.” Lan Wangji’s voice is quiet but firm. “I protect Wei Ying because I wish to.”

Wei Wuxian’s breath catches in his throat, Lan Wangji’s voice pulling him from the spiral of numbness that was consuming him.

“Lan Zhan…”

“Then there’s something wrong with you!” Jin Ling snaps then cringes back as though only just realizing who he’s shouting at.

Lan Jingyi storms forward, eyes flashing with righteous indignation. “How dare you speak to Hanguang-Jun like that!? Don’t the Jin clan know any respect! Apologize right now!”

“Apologize!?” Jin Ling’s tears have dried up now and he kneels upright, glaring at Lan Jingyi. “Why should I apologize!? You’re the one traveling with the Yiling Patriarch you’re the one who should apologize!”

Lan Jingyi glares back but before he can say anything Wei Wuxian claps his hands, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Alright alright that’s enough of that. We’re in a hurry so we really do need to get going.”

Jin Ling turns his glare on Wei Wuxian. “Going!? Going where!? You think I’m just going to let you go!?”

“Going to see what your evil clan leader is up to.” Lan Jingyi tells him caustically.

Jin Ling clambers to his feet, finally shrugging off Lan Sizhui’s hand as he whirls on Lan Jingyi. “My uncle isn’t evil! Those crazy cultivators who kidnapped us weren’t working for him! That was one of Wei Wuxian’s lies!”

“They didn’t deny it though.” Lan Sizhui points out gently.

“So what if they didn’t!? They were probably trying to mess with us!” Jin Ling turns his glare on Lan Sizhui too.

“Enough enough.” Wei Wuxian waves a hand dismissively. “Maybe I’m wrong and maybe I’m not but either way you’re going to come with us to find out since if we leave you wandering around on your own you might just end up getting kidnapped again.”

“Come with you!?” Jin Ling’s eyes nearly pop with indignation. “What makes you think I’m just going to willingly come with you!?”

Wei Wuxian locks eyes with Lan Wangji for a moment then offers Jin Ling his most sunny smile. “Who said anything about willing?”

“W-what!?” Jin Ling takes a stumbling step backward but it’s too late. In a flash of movement Lan Wangji is at the boys side, his fingers darting out to tap acne points which freeze Jin Ling in place then he pulls several lengths of bandaging out of his sleeve and uses them to bind Jin Ling’s wrists securely together in front of him before tapping the boy again to release him from his paralysis.

Instantly Jin Ling begins to struggle against his restraints, trying to break free. “What the!? Let me go!”

Lan Wangji gives him a quelling look and he stopped struggling, shoulders hunching up as though to protect himself.

“You know, those aren’t immortal binding cable so if he struggles hard enough he probably can break free.” Wei Wuxian points out helpfully.

Lan Wangji nods then turns and throws the lose end of the bandage roll to Lan Jingyi. “keep an eye on him.”

“Yes Hanguang-Jun.” Lan Jingyi looks positively thrilled by his assignment while Jin Ling splutters in obvious indignation.

“Sorry about this, Jin-gongzi, but Senior Wei is right, it really isn’t wise for you to be wandering around on your own right now.” Lan Sizhui, clearly a born diplomat, gives Jin Ling an apologetic smile and picks up Suihua, re-sheathing it at Jin Ling’s waist.

“I’m not alone! I have Fairy!” Jin Ling snap.

At the sound of her name Fairy wags her tail and steps forward to lean against her master, mouth open and tongue hanging out in a way that shows off way too many of her teeth. Instinctively Wei Wuxian flinches back until he’s hidden behind Wen Ning, his heart rate rising again and a moment later Lan Wangji is back at his side, narrowed eyes fixing on Jin Ling.

“You will send the dog away.”

Jin Ling looks as though he would very much like to argue but something in Lan Wangji’s expression seems to stop him and he glances away quickly, “alright fine.” He kneels down beside Fairy, using his bound hands to give her a pat.

“Go back to the inn Fairy.”

The dog leans up and, to Wei Wuxian’s horror, gives the boy’s face a lick before she turns and trots back down the side path she came from, tail high behind her.

Jin Ling scrambles back to his feet, face a disgruntled pout. “You know when she comes back without me they’re going to come looking for me.”

“A time limit, how fun.” Wei Wuxian gives Jin Ling one of his most cheerful smiles. He can feel the wet warmth around his left wrist that means it’s time to change that bandage again, can feel himself starting to become lightheaded with the blood loss. At this point one more time limit is not likely to make a difference.

Chapter Text

They reach the secret Jin experiment dungeon without issues. Jin Ling pouts and glares the entire way but otherwise makes no trouble and the Lan juniors continue giving Wei Wuxian strange looks but they been doing that this whole time and by this point he just finds it amusing. The door of the dungeon stands open just how they left it when they escaped three days earlier and there are no obvious signs of anyone coming or going since then.

Wei Wuxian tosses a grin at Lan Wangji. “Either it’s abandoned or it’s a trap.”

“Mm.” Lan Wangji tightens his hand around Bichen and together they head inside.

The first interesting thing they find is the cell where Wen Ning and the juniors had been kept which now holds the corpses of the men Wen Ning killed when they escaped. Jin Ling makes a gagging noise and Lan Jingyi looks quickly away, face twisted with obvious nausea. Lan Sizhui however just peers calmly through the bars. Apparently the smell of corpses just starting to rot doesn’t seem to bother him. ‘Good kid’ Wei Wuxian thinks as he pushes open the door of the cell.

“What are you doing!?” Lan Jingyi demands.

“Investigating. Someone clearly took the trouble of dragging these bodies fully into the cell which means they’re doing something with them, probably experimenting.” He flashes a smile at Lan Jingyi. “I want to know what they’re up to.”

Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi both give him looks of disgust but he ignores them, moving instead to kneel beside the nearest body. He begins running his hands across the dead man’s scalp, searching to see if this man too has been equipped with the black nails he found in Wen Ning.

“Where do you suppose these cultivators came from anyway?” he glances back at Jin Ling. “Are they Jin Clan?”

Jin Ling gives a sniff of disgust. “Definitely not!”

“They are from the Su Sect.”

Surprised, Wei Wuxian turns to look at Lan Wangji. “The Su Sect? Haven’t heard of it.”

“It is new.” Lan Wangji tells him, lips thinning in what can only be disapproval. “Its founder, Su She, used to be a member of the Lan Clan.”

“Su She?” Wei Wuxian thinks for a moment then shrugs. “Never heard of him.”

Lan Wangji’s lips thin further. “He shot you. In the Xuanwu cave.”

Wei Wuxian blinks, thinking back. Now that Lan Wangji mentions it Wei Wuxian does vaguely remember pulling an arrow out of his arm.

“Oh, huh. So he founded his own Sect?”

Lan Wangji nods. “With Jin Guangyao’s backing.” He inclines his head toward a nearby corpse. “That is him.”

“Interesting.” Wei Wuxian turns his attention to the body of Sect Leader Su. He checks for nails and when he doesn’t find them in the man’s head he runs his hands across his neck and shoulders and then pulls open the front of his robes.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jin Ling demands. Wei Wuxian barely hears him, his ears suddenly ringing, his body going rigid with tension as his vision contracts until the entire world narrows to Su She’s chest. Su She’s chest, pockmarked with divots and holes.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji must have noticed Wei Wuxian’s sudden tension because his voice comes from behind Wei Wuxian, tight with sudden worry.

“It was him.” Wei Wuxian’s voice comes in a hoarse rasp he barely recognizes, his shoulders beginning to shake with fury. “Lan Zhan, it was him.”

“What was him?” Lan Wangji moves to stand beside Wei Wuxian then freezes as he takes in exactly what Wei Wuxian saw.

“What was him!?” Jin Ling demands, pushing forward, and Lan Jingyi, clearly also curious, doesn’t stop him. Lan Sizhui and Wen Ning join them, all moving forward to stare down at what had so shocked Wei Wuxian.

“Wait is that…” Lan Jingyi is the first to speak, pointing down at the body of Sect Leader Su.

“That’s the thousand sores and hundred holes.” Lan Sizhui’s eyes are wide, voice filled with shock.

“The rebound.” Lan Wangji says it grimly, his hand so tight around Bichen’s hilt that his knuckles are turning white.

“The rebound!?” Jin Ling all but shouts the words, his voice cracking over them. “Are you telling me it was him!? He’s the one who cursed Jin Zixun!?”

“Yeah.” Wei Wuxian’s voice is tight with rage. “He’s the one. He did it. And he works for Jin Guangyao.”

“If not for the Qiongqi path ambush Jin Guangyao would not have become heir.” Lan Wangji’s voice is cold with a fury Wei Wuxian as rarely heard there.

“No!” Jin Ling shakes his head wildly. “You’re wrong about him! My uncle didn’t do this! He would never!”

He turns on his heel abruptly and runs from the cell, dragging Lan Jingyi in his wake.

“Hey wait up!” Lan Jingyi shouts and rushes to keep up with him.

“Gongzi…” Wen Ning says it quietly and Wei Wuxian finally raises his head from the ruin of Su She’s chest to meet the eyes of his old friend, the horror of their shared memories flickering in his troubled gaze.

They lock eyes for a long moment and then Wei Wuxian takes a shuddering breath and forces himself to push away from the sect leader’s body and back to his feet. Instantly Lan Wangji is there, taking his upper arm, helping him to rise. He probably should be annoyed by the implication that he can’t get up on his own but, thanks to the blood loss, there’s a slight spinning in his head every time he goes from sitting to standing now and he finds himself grateful for the support and the warmth of Lan Wangji’s hand.

“Thanks Lan Zhan.” He takes another shaky breath, forcing the anger away. “We had better go after the kids before they run into a trap.”

“Mm.”

With that the four turn and follow after the two juniors. There’s a flight of steps around the next corner and they find Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi at the top of them glaring at each other and clearly in the middle of a heated argument. Beyond them the floor of the hallway is covered so thickly in dust that it’s impossible to see the ground and along the hallway there are a series of wooden doors with barred window set in the tops that look promisingly like prison cells.

Wei Wuxian claps his hands, “Alright enough. We’re here looking for Mo Ziyuan. We’re going to need to check each of these cells to see if he is in them.”

Lan Jingyi turns to look at him, startled enough to forget his fight with Jin Ling. “Mo Ziyuan? The Mo heir we met at Mo Manor? But he can’t be in there. Look at the dust. We met him only a few days ago and clearly no one’s been through here in mouths probably years.”

“Hum.” Wei Wuxian, bends down and picks up a little bit of the white dust. He looks at it closely, sniffs it, then brings it to his mouth and licks a little bit off of his fingers.

Lan Jingyi makes a sound of disgust but Wei Wuxian ignores him, shaking his head. “This isn’t normal dust. It’s bone dust.”

“Bone dust!?” Lan Jingyi stares at him wide-eyed.

Jin Ling snorts derisively. “How would you even know what bone dust tastes like?”

Wei Wuxian gives him a cheery smile. “The first time I was tossed and the burial mounds I didn’t exactly have a chance to pack a lunch you know.”

Lan Sizhui’s eyes widen in horror and both Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi instantly look like they’re going to be sick. Behind him Wei Wuxian here’s Lan Wangji’s breath catch sharply and he looks back to see the other man looking pained.

Wei Wuxian shrugs it off and kneels down again, examining the floor more carefully. Below the layer of bone dust there is a thin layer of hardpacked dirt and beneath that what appears to be an ordinary stone floor.

“Hum.” Wei Wuxian taps his fingers against the unearthed stone. “This is pretty clever. I bet either Jin Guangyao or Xue Yang have found a way to use the yin tiger tally to quickly reconstitute these bones into hands so that as soon as they decide to spring the trap the floor will grab us and keep us in place for them. I bet that’s not the only trap in the floor either. Right here the dirt is packed over solid stone and the dirt layer itself is too thin to hide anything in but that’s probably not the case throughout the hallway. I’m guessing that somewhere along here the dirt is actually covering an entire pit of bodies or something like that.”

He glances back up in time to see Lan Sizhui shuddering. “Can you take control of them, Senior Wei?”

Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “You heard Xue Yang. The only way I can wrench a corpse away from the Yin Tiger Tally is if I get to it first. I bet there isn’t a single corpse within a lee of this place that I could command. Except Wen Ning obviously.”

He scrambles back to his feet, swaying slightly as he does so, and once again Lan Wangji supports him, one hand on his upper arm the other on his back.

He gives Lan Wangji a smile of thanks and dusts himself off. “I think the best were going to be able to do is kick the bone dust out of the way before we step anywhere and then be very careful to put our feet down slowly and really feel what we’re standing on to make sure it still stone.”

“Mm.” Lan Wangji nods in agreement. “Stay together.”

The two Lan juniors nod in unison. “Yes, Hanguang-Jun.”

Like that they begin moving down the hallway, kicking up white puffs of dust as they clear the ground to the best of their ability before stepping on it. Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Lan Sizhui end up taking the left side of the hallway while Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling take the right, Wen Ning trailing behind them and ignoring the furious glares Jin Ling keeps shooting in his direction.

The first cell Wei Wuxian peers into is empty. As is the second. He’s about to check the third when he hears a shriek from the other side of the hall.

“Grandfather!?”

Wei Wuxian whips around to see Jin Ling staring into one of the cells on his side of the hallway, gripping one of the bars so tightly with his bound hands that his knuckles are turning white.

“What!?” Lan Jingyi crowds in close next to him, trying to peer in as well.

“That’s my grandfather! My grandfather is in there!” Jin Ling’s shoulders are shaking now as he stares wildly into the cell.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji exchange momentary looks of shock and then he spins to face Wen Ning. “Wen Ning, can you get the door open?”

“Wei-gongzi.” Wen Ning dips his head then hurries to the two juniors. Whatever he’s seen in the cell appears to have shocked Jin Ling so much that he doesn’t even object to Wen Ning’s approach. Wen Ning for his part doesn’t hesitate. He simply slams his fist into the door, punching right through the lock so that the mechanism hangs broken beside the newly made hole and the door swings inward spilling Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling into the cell beyond.

Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji, and Lan Sizhui hurry to follow them and what they see inside the cell stops all three in their tracks. Just inside stands Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi similarly frozen. Staring back at them with wide eyes and shaking shoulders is an emaciated man with sunken eyes and matted gray hair and beard. At first Wei Wuxian is sure that he has never seen the man before but then the man straightens up on his knees and turns his head from side to side taking them in and some of the light from the hallway illuminates the side of his jaw and the color of his eyes, eyes the same color as Jin Zixuan’s, as Jin Ling’s, and suddenly Wei Wuxian realizes that Jin Ling wasn’t wrong. The filthy starving man before him is…

“Jin Guangshan.”

The man’s head swivels toward him, eyes confused and wary. “W-who…” His voice is a dry and shaking rasp, nothing like the arrogant confidence that Wei Wuxian remembers. His eyes shift blearily over Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning and Lan Sizhui before widening as it settles on Lan Wangji. “H-Hanguang-Jun!? Hanguang-Jun you have to help me! That bastard Jin Guangyao! He…” His voice trails away and his eyes widen further as they find Jin Ling. “Zixuan! Zixuan you’re alive!? Did that son of a whore lock you up too!?”

“W-what!?” Jin Ling, takes a half step back, his own eyes widening.

“Zixuan!” Jin Guangshan lunges forward, and grabs Jin Ling around the legs, clinging to him with all of his feeble waisted strength. “You must help me! Help your father!”

“I’m Jin Rulan! Rulan not Zixuan!” Jin Ling shouts but Jin Guangshan ignores him, clinging tighter and beginning to babble about filial piety and making Jin Guangyao pay.

Wei Wuxian turns to Lan Wangji, “How long ago did Jin Guangshan supposedly die?”

“Five years.”

“Hm. So he’s been here the whole time?” Wei Wuxian eyes the emaciated man thoughtfully. “When you think about it, it really wouldn’t be that hard. Lure Jin Guangshan out on a night hunt somehow, make sure something goes wrong, and then if Jin Guangyao bribed or blackmailed the doctor, well he’s the heir and it’s not like there are any other children who would be entitled to see the body. The only issue would be Madam Jin so I’m guessing she’s dead too?”

Lan Wangji nods. “Two months before Jin Guangshan.”

The corner of Wei Wuxian’s mouth quirks upward. “Let me guess, another mysterious accident?”

To his surprise Lan Wangji shakes his head. “Actually it was quite public. She was killed by Nie Mingjue.”

“What!?” Wei Wuxian whips around to stare at him incredulously.

“Qi deviation.” Lan Wangji explains, his lips thinning into a line of regret. “It was quite bad. He killed several people including Madam Jin before dying himself.”

Wei Wuxian lets out a huff of breath. “So Nie Mingjue’s dead too? Huh. Any chance Jin Guangyao was behind that too? I don’t know a way to induce qi deviation but Madam Jin’s death sounds like it was pretty convenient for him. It could just be convenient timing but after Jin Zixun and Jin Guangshan I’m starting to think there’s no limit to what he’s been behind.”

“Mm.” Lan Wangji’s brows draw together in thought.

Wei Wuxian shrugs off the matter for later consideration and turns his attention back to Jin Guangshan, still desperately clinging to Jin Ling’s legs.

“I can understand how he pulled it off and I can understand getting his father out of the way if he was getting impatient to inherit but why keep him alive like this for all these years?”

Lan Wangji shakes his head. “I do not know but whatever the reason it has waited five years. It can wait a little longer.” He drops his gaze pointedly to Wei Wuxian’s left wrist. “We should continue on.”

“Right right.” He gives Lan Wangji a quick smile then turns to Wen Ning. “Wen Ning, can you stay here and keep an eye on them?”

Wen Ning inclines his head. “S-sure.”

“Thanks.”

Wei Wuxian pauses for a moment to watch with twitching lips as an utterly flabbergasted Jin Ling tries to pry Jin Guangshan off of him while Lan Jingyi stands beside him clearly not sure whether he should be laughing or helping.

When he turns back he finds that Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui are already moving down the hallway again, white puffs of dust floating into the air as they kick it out of the way with every step they take. Wei Wuxian hesitates for a moment, watching the clouds of dust. Something about it, or rather the floor as a whole, bothering him. He’s still pretty sure that he’s correct about the purpose of the bone dust but as for the hardpacked dirt… He bites his lip, thinking. Originally he thought it was to hide the places where the stones had been pulled out of the floor to be replaced by pockets filled with corpses but they haven’t found anything like that. It’s possible they simply haven’t gone far enough down the hallway yet but it’s also possible the point of the dirt is something else entirely. But what though? There isn’t enough of it to hide corpse pieces or anything else inside of it. The layer is really only thick enough to obscure the floor. Obscure…

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen. “La-”

Lan Sizhui’s foot comes down and blue light burst all around him and Lan Wangji as the array drawn onto the stone and concealed beneath the dirt activates beneath him. Then he and Lan Wangji are crumpling, falling forward, collapsing to the ground.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian rushes forward, heart pounding wildly, and skids to a stop in a puff of bone dust at the edge of the array. Even with panic suddenly spiking in his chest he knows better than to enter it. Instead he drops to his knees beside it and reaches out, grabbing Lan Wangji’s wrist and feeling frantically for a pulse. There, beneath his fingers, a heartbeat then another. It’s fast, too fast, as though Lan Wangji is reflecting his own panic back at him, but it’s strong and right now that’s what matters.

“Senior Wei! What happened!?” Lan Jingyi pokes his head out of Jin Guangshan’s cell, eyes widening in horror at the sight of his friend and mentor‘s collapsed bodies. “Sizhui! Hanguang-Jun!”

“What’s going on out there!?” That voice is Jin Ling’s.

“Wen Ning, keep them in the cell!” Wei Wuxian snaps. He doesn’t have time for their questions and he can’t have them rushing around when he doesn’t know if this was the only trap.

Instantly Wen Ning is standing in the doorway of Jin Guangshan’s cell, physically blocking the boys inside.

Wei Wuxian turns his attention back to the array. He needs to think. He needs to focus. He needs to deactivate the array. Then he can get Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui out so he can figure out what it did to them. Quickly Wei Wuxian digs his fingers into the layer of dirt in front of him, clawing at it until he reveals the strokes of the array drawn beneath. Blood is the easiest way to disrupt an array and Wei Wuxian has no knife but he doesn’t need one. He is already bleeding. With shaking hands he shoves back his left sleeve and tears the bandage from his wrist, letting blood from his remaining gash splatter down onto the array. There’s a soft hissing noise and then the array goes dark. Instantly Wei Wuxian is on his feet, ignoring the slight swimming in his head from the speed of the movement. He’s about to lunge for Lan Wangji when there’s the sound of many heavy footfalls on the steps behind him.

Wei Wuxian whips around and there, coming up the steps are the corpses of sect leader Su and his men. Ordinary fierce corpses struggle with steps but something seems to have been done to these because they manage them easily enough, filling the hallway behind him. Wei Wuxian is about to motion for Wen Ning to deal with them when more footsteps echo from around the corner just ahead of him and then still more fierce corpses flood the hallway from that end, and, in their lead, is the unmistakable form of Jin Guangyao.

At a gesture from the chief cultivator all of the corpses come to a halt and Jin Guangyao gives Wei Wuxian a formal bow. “Yiling Patriarch.”

Wei Wuxian straightens, his smile sharpening into a knife’s edge of an expression. “Lianfang-Zun. To what do I owe the honor?”

“You are the one who came to visit me.” Jin Guangyao’s tone is mild and he smiles benignly at Wei Wuxian. It was only right I prepare a proper greeting.”

“Proper greeting, huh?” Wei Wuxian draws the bamboo flute from his belt and twirls it between his fingers. “Mind telling me what your ‘greeting’ is doing to Lan Zhan?”

“Ah, that.” Jin Guangyao purses his lips. “Er-ge came to me most concerned. He confronted me with several insidious rumors and it took quite a lot of work to set his mind at rest. When I finally convinced him that they were baseless he confided in me that you had returned and that Hanguang-Jun had fled with you and he was most concerned for his brother’s safety.”

Wei Wuxian lets out a laugh of pure anger. “I see so your dear friend comes to you worried for his brother and you do this?”

A flicker of emotion crosses Jin Guangyao’s face, there and gone in an instant. It might be remorse but if it is it doesn’t last, vanishing back into Jin Guangyao’s politely smiling mask.

“I admit I do not wish to pain Er-ge this way but it can’t be helped. On your own it doesn’t matter what you tell the cultivation world, after all you’re the Yiling Patriarch, who would ever believe you? Hanguang-Jun though, Hanguang-Jun’s reputation is above reproach so naturally I had to remove him.”

“Oh really?” Wei Wuxian’s eyes flash with fury. “What exactly is your array doing to him?”

Jin Guangyao shakes his head in feigned regret. “A sad story that, the great Hanguang-Jun captured by the Yiling Patriarch and tortured into madness.”

Wei Wuxian’s fingers tighten around his flute until his knuckles go white and when he speaks his voice is filled with all the threatening darkness of the burial mounds. “Explain.”

Jin Guangyao smiles benignly back. “Right now your Hanguang-Jun and his junior are reliving the worst moments of their lives over and over again and they will continue to do so until they are driven utterly insane.”

Chapter Text

Lan Wangji is being tortured.

That is Wei Wuxian’s first coherent thought and the horror and the fury of it hit him at the same moment, a twinned blow so hard that he sways on his feet, fingers tightening convulsively around the bamboo flute. It’s all he can do not to race to Lan Wangji and throw himself to the floor at his side. It’s all he can do not to put the flute his lips and play the most violent bone shattering mind breaking song he can think of, using it to call on Wen Ning to help him enact such revenge on Jin Guangyao that it would make Wen Chao’s death look like a mercy.

He wants to.

He wants to.

He wants to but he can’t.

He knows it and he sure Jin Guangyao must know it too or he wouldn’t dare to get this close.

The fierce corpses surrounding Jin Guangyao and blocking off both ends of the hallway are more in numbers than merely the late Sect Leader Su and his men but even so Wei Wuxian doesn’t doubt for a moment that Wen Ning is the match of all of them. No, that isn’t the problem, the problem is defense. Wen Ning could easily tear a path through the surrounding corpses but while he’s busy doing that there’s nothing to stop Jin Guangyao from putting a sword to Lan Wangji’s or Lan Sizhui’s throat. In fact Wei Wuxian is pretty sure the only reason he hasn’t done so already is because he knows stepping that close will make him too easy a target for the ghost general. By leaving the two completely helpless Lan cultivators in the no man’s land between them while himself staying surrounded by his undead soldiers he maintains the advantage.

And what an advantage it is. Does he know? Wei Wuxian wonders frantically. Does he know about the… whatever it is, warmth or...something that Wei Wuxian has come to feel toward Lan Wangji in the few days of his resurrection? Does he know what an effective hostage he has taken? Does he…

Wei Wuxian gives his head a furious mental shake. This isn’t the time for that. Right now he needs to stay focused, figure out how he’s going to protect Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui, get them out of this. He needs to come up with a plan. He needs to figure out how to convey that plan to Wen Ning without Jin Guangyao realizing and he needs to do all of that while keeping the chief cultivator thoroughly distracted.

Fortunately there is nothing that Wei Wuxian has ever excelled at more than running his mouth.

“Really, Lianfang-Zun, your sworn brother comes to you worried about his brother and this is what you do? What did Lan Xichen ever do to you anyway?”

There is a flicker of what might be a wince behind Jin Guangyao’s eyes, there and gone in a single moment and then replaced by a sorrowful smile. “I don’t bear Er-ge any ill will and I don’t take any delight in this either you know. It’s only that you have left me no choice.”

Wei Wuxian laughs at that, harsh and furious. “I’ve left you with no choice? Then what do you call what you’ve done to me? Why are you so obsessed with me anyway?”

Jin Guangyao gives him a politely puzzled blink. “Obsessed with you? I’m afraid not. Forgive me for the rudeness of saying so but I don’t actually care about you at all one way or the other.”

“Oh really?” Wei Wuxian arch as an eyebrow at him, “Then what was abducting Mo Ziyuan about? And what about all this?” He throws his arms wide, indicating the entire secret experiment dungeon. “Why work so hard to imitate me then? Hell, why frame me for cursing Jin Zixun, because don’t tell me that wasn’t you. I barely even fucking /knew/ Jin Zixun. Why the hell would he think I cared enough about him to curse him unless someone planted the idea in his head?”

“Ah that.” Jin Guangyao’s smile doesn’t waver and he doesn’t even try to deny it. “As I said, that was not about you.”

“Oh really? This sounds like it’s going to be good.” Wei Wuxian tucks his hands behind his back in a mock listening post, taking the opportunity to slide the fingers of his right hand up his left arm as he does so. “Go on, explain how framing me wasn’t actually about me.”

Jin Guangyao looks calmly back at him. “You think rather highly yourself don’t you?”

“I do? What about you? Pulling the strings behind other people’s lives like that. Well go on then, tell me what Jin Zixun did to make you curse him because if it wasn’t about me then it must’ve been about him.”

“But I did not curse, Jin Zixun,” Jin Guangyao tells him mildly, “Su Minshan did that.”

“And I’m sure it was all his own idea,” the mocking disbelief is thick in Wei Wuxian’s voice. “Just like I’m sure it was all Jin Zixun’s idea to ambush me.”

“No, that was my suggestion.” Again Jin Guangyao’s smile doesn’t waver. “Jin Zixun did many things to make people hate him. Is it any wonder that those things caught up with him in the end?”

“What about Jin Zixuan then!?” Wei Wuxian snaps the question and now his voice is filled not with mockery but with fury. “You set that up too didn’t you? Don’t tell me you didn’t! What did Jin Zixuan ever do to you!?”

“Ah, that.” Jin Guangyao’s lips thin down into a line. “Jin Zixuan. My father’s precious legitimate son. A man almost as arrogant as you are. Maybe he would have been happier thinking his death was about how much we both hated him instead of being about his father’s choices and your inability to control yourself.”

Wei Wuxian’s shoulders jerk slightly at the barb but he’s reproached himself with that and worse every day since the man’s death and he doesn’t let it distract him either from what his fingers are doing or from the opening Jin Guangyao has just provided.

“About your father, care to tell me why he’s still alive?”

Jin Guangyao’s eyes narrow. “Why would I tell you that? This conversation has gone on long enough don’t you think?”

“Has it?” Wei Wuxian tilts his head to the side, his tone coldly mocking. “Because I still haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Figured out what?”

Wei Wuxian smiles at him and it isn’t even slightly warm. “Whether I need to kill you or whether we’re on the same side.”

Instantly Jin Guangyao’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “Really? After everything you have just said to me do you really expect me to believe that you and I can come to an agreement?”

“If you don’t think so then you’re forgetting someone.” Wei Wuxian’s eyes lock with Jin Guangyao’s. He knows that the chief cultivator doesn’t trust a word that’s coming out of his mouth, knows that he’s looking for the lies, but that’s fine, because not everything Wei Wuxian says is going to be a lie.

“Who would that be?”

“Wen Qing.” Her name leaves Wei Wuxian’s lips on a wave of fury and regret that isn’t even slightly feigned. Behind him he hears the creaking of the floor as Wen Ning shifts suddenly at the sound of his sister’s name and in front of him Jin Guangyao’s lips thin into a line that might be surprise and might be consideration.

“Explain.”

“What? Isn’t it obvious?” Wei Wuxian snaps the words. “I thought you knew about me, Jin Guangyao, I thought you knew what I did in Nightless City, what I did to Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu after they slaughtered Lotus Pier! Don’t you think I want revenge!? You set me up to kill Jin Zixun? Fine whatever, Jin Zixun was a piece of garbage and his men killed Wen Ning. The world’s better off without him! As for the rest of it I killed Jin Zixuan. It was my fault, my lack of control. I own that and I’ll regret that to the end of my life no matter how many times I’m brought back, but Wen Qing!?” Wei Wuxian takes a shaking breath and for once lets the bitter anger he feels about her death rise up to code his tongue. “Wen Qing wasn’t even there! She never laid a finger on him! I don’t think she ever even killed anyone! She was at Doctor for fuck sake! But your father still blamed her for Jin Zixuan! Wen Qing betrayed Wen Rohan to save me and Jiang Cheng! She risked her own life to do it! Without the Jiang Clan and without /me/ the Sunshot campaign would’ve been lost! Wen Qing is the entire reason Jiang Cheng and I were there! The entire reason we won the fucking war! And Jin Guangshan isn’t stupid enough not to know that! But he still made her responsible for Jin Zixuan’s death! Still killed her for a crime he was fully aware she had nothing to do with! So if whatever you’re doing is to make Jin Guangshan suffer then yeah maybe we are on the same side!”

A ringing silence follows Wei Wuxian’s words, broken only by the slight shifting of Jin Guangyao’s undead army and Wei Wuxian’s own harsh breath. He can feel his shoulders shaking slightly, feel his hands shaking behind his back, feel where he’s clenched his fists so tightly that his nails are digging sharp lines into his palms. For a moment his vision is red and then for a moment it is dark, dark with the darkness of the demon quelling cave as he lay and stared up at the ceiling utterly unable to move, Wen Qing’s paralyzing needles keeping him bound and helpless as she and her brother walked to their deaths. For a moment none of it is a lie at all.

Then Wei Wuxian lets out another shaking breath and blinks the memories away. As his vision clears it catches on something white at the corner of his eye. Lan Wangji’s sleeve. Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji still trapped in whatever nightmarish torture Jin Guangyao and the demons of his own mind have teamed up to create for him. Lan Wangji, who, with every passing moment, is being drawn deeper into madness.

Wei Wuxian’s eyes return to Jin Guangyao’s to find the other man studying him. His gaze is still suspicious but there’s something different about the quality of it now, more speculative, more considering.

“You do have reason to hate him don’t you…But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re interested in coming to an agreement with me.”

Wei Wuxian shrugs. “Why shouldn’t it?”

Jin Guangyao’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Even if we set the past aside you killed many of the people who work for me then broke back in here. Why would I trust that you would be willing to work with me now?”

Wei Wuxian lets out a mocking laugh. “Now who’s the arrogant one? You think all that was about you? I killed Su She and his people because they were going to kill me. I broke in here so Mo Xuanyu’s unfulfilled revenge curse won’t rip my soul apart. Sure I’m pissed at you for using me to kill Jin Zixun but if you give me Mo Ziyuan and lift the curse from Lan Zhan and Lan Sizhui, then yeah, we can come to an agreement /if/ you hate your father is much as I think you do.”

There’s a long moment of silence in which their eyes lock and then Jin Guangyao’s expression seems to relax slightly. “My father is the one who was obsessed with you, or rather, with your power. Did you know that?”

Wei Wuxian snorts. “I figured it out, yeah.”

“After you died he became obsessed with re-creating the yin tiger tally. He even went against the other sects to spare Xue Yang in order to help him do it, or rather to help me do it. He would never have dirtied his own hands of course, and why should he when he had me to do all his dirty work for him?”

“And you objected?”

“No. I did everything he asked of me. Everything, no matter how demeaning or how cruel.”

Wei Wuxian cocks his head to the side. “So what changed?”

The false serenity falls from Jin Guangyao’s eyes, leaving them cold and hard as a winter frozen lake. “The process to re-create the Yin Tiger Tally was not an easy one and we had many failures along the way. One night after a failure I overheard him talking to Xue Yang about how useless I was but how he should never have expected better from ‘the son of a whore.’ He said that when he met my mother he found her ‘pretensions’ at intelligence and education ‘cute’ and ‘amusing’ but that he ‘should have known any child of hers wouldn’t be of much use in the end’, after all ‘if her mind was really that good then why would she have had to make a living with her body?’” Jin Guangyao doesn’t shout the words, doesn’t even raise his voice slightly, but every single syllable is spoken with a precision cold enough to match the look in his eyes.

“So you decided to prove him wrong?”

“Exactly.” Jin Guangyao gives Wei Wuxian a smile no warmer than his gaze. “I have no interest in wars or massacres or any of the other things demonic cultivators do. I have no actual interest in the Yin Tiger Tally at all, but even so I will perfect it so that I can show it to my father. Only after he sees what I have achieved will this ‘son of a whore’ use the device he sought to tear him apart more slowly and painfully than any torture I ever devised for Wen Rohan.”

“Well then.” Wei Wuxian’s smile is sharp and cold with its own sort of frost. “Let me help with that when the time comes, give me Mo Ziyuan, and undo the curse on the Lans and we have a deal.”

Jin Guangyao tilts his head to the side, expression going opaque again as he eyes Wei Wuxian for a long moment and then he nods.

“I think we can come to an arrangement after all. Why don’t you come and sit with me in my office and we can discuss exactly how this relationship is going to work for us.”

“What about the Lans?”

“Once you tell your ghost general to stand down I’ll wake the junior as a sign of good faith. Hanguang-Jun will have to wait until after we’ve come to a proper agreement I’m afraid but I wouldn’t worry too much. His golden core is quite strong. I’m sure he will be fine.”

Jin Guangyao’s pleasant smile is back and nothing in his tone or manner gives any hint he’s lying still that doesn’t stop Wei Wuxian for knowing the words for the deception they are. Jin Guangyao will /never/ allow Lan Wangji to wake, at least not until his mind is fully broken, Wei Wuxian has known that from the beginning. If there is one thing Jin Guangyao has told the truth about so far it’s that this isn’t about Wei Wuxian, no part of it ever was, not even abducting Mo Ziyuan, not really. As soon as Jin Guangyao revealed what that infernal array curse is doing to Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian had known. Sure grabbing Mo Ziyuan had been a great way to speedily kill off an unwanted wildcard but that was only a side benefit to catching Jin Guangyao’s true intended target.

Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji who returned to cloud recesses with tales of Jin experiments that had almost caused the deaths of Jin Ling and fully a dozen Lan Juniors. Lan Wangji who is upright and noble and whose reputation is so far beyond reproach that Jin Guangyao must have known that he could never be blackmailed or bribed and that if he spoke the cultivation world would listen. Wei Wuxian still isn’t sure why Jin Guangyao was so sure that Lan Wangji would follow Wei Wuxian back to this place but he clearly did know and that is enough.

Behind him in the doorway of Jin Guangshan’s cell, Wen Ning shifts restlessly from foot to foot.

Wei Wuxian smiles back at Jin Guangyao. “Alright. Wen Ning, stand down.”

Wen Ning does not stand down.

Wen Ning lunges.

He throws himself through the intervening space with a speed so fast that Jin Guangyao only just has time for his eyes to widen and for his reflexes to have him swaying back behind the nearest fierce corpse before the ghost general reaches his goal. But Wen Ning isn’t aiming for him. Instead he skids to a stop beside the two unconscious Lan cultivators, throws one over each shoulder, and takes off back the way he came, Wei Wuxian hot on his heels and Jin Guangyao’s corpse army just behind him. Wei Wuxian throws himself over the threshold of Jin Guangshan’s cell and an instant later a dead hand lashes out to grab him only to jerk back, its owner letting out a wordless cry as it finds itself unable to move through the space between them. Behind it other corpses reach the doorway, crashing against it as though onto an invisible wall and let out their own shrieks before scrabbling frantically at the nothingness barring their way.

Wei Wuxian looks down at Lan Jingyi and a now unbound Jin Ling both pale and shaking and kneeling on the floor on either side of the doorway. “Good job you two.”

His eyes move from their faces to the cuts on their arms and the barrier array drawn in blood now blocking the opening of the cell and gives an approving nod. They’re still juniors and they were still working in haste but the blood will help the array last at least a bit longer. As his eyes moved back up the doorframe he sees the place where Wen Ning scratched Wei Wuxian’s own message into it for the juniors to see.

‘Juniors barrier doorway. Signal when ready.’

It was all the message he could fit onto the back of his left arm and hand but Wei Wuxian had known that for Wen Ning it would be enough. In the end they had gotten lucky twice, first because Wen Ning blocking the doorway meant that Jin Guangyao had no idea the juniors were there, and second because Wei Wuxian had had something to write his message with. And if that something was Wei Wuxian’s own blood, still flowing freely from the wound in his arm that Jin Guangyao himself had abducted Mo Ziyuan to keep open? Well then that was his mistake.

Wei Wuxian’s eyes return to the barrier and the army of fierce corpses now throwing themselves against it. No, it will not last for long, but then it was never intended to.

“Wen Ning! Get us through that wall!”

Wen Ning nods then puts Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui down and throws himself at the far wall of the cell. His shoulder strikes against it once, twice, three times, four, five, and on the sixth blow of Wen Ning’s undead strength a part of the wall caves and crumbles, revealing the now open side of the hill and a glimpse of sky.

“Go!” Wei Wuxian shouts as Wen Ning scoops up the two unconscious Lan cultivators again and then all six of them are pouring out of the gap in the hill and into the evening beyond.

Chapter Text

They run.

Wen Ning in the lead carrying the two unconscious Lan cultivators like they way nothing, then Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling, and then behind them, stumbling through brush and bracken and barely managing to keep his legs moving, comes Wei Wuxian. Mo Xuanyu spent most of the last few years locked in a shack, leaving his body woefully lacking when it comes to muscle, and that was before he spent the better part of four days bleeding out. Lan Wangji’s obsessive attempts to bandage and rebandage Wei Wuxian’s arm and Mo Xuanyu’s small underdeveloped core have both done everything they can to keep him upright and his own anger may have granted him the mental clarity to get through his encounter with Jin Guangyao but Wei Wuxian reckons he’s probably got about half a day left.

If that.

He’s not a doctor. He can’t be sure. Though one thing he is fairly sure of, the way his fingertips and his toes and the tip of his nose have all started going cold isn’t a good sign.

He’s going to die.

He’s going to die again.

He’s going to die again and his soul is going to be ripped apart into a whole lot of little pieces.

And that would all be something he could cope with, probably, if it weren’t for the part where him dying now means leaving Lan Sizhui and Lan Wangji trapped forever in some horrible torture nightmare custom designed to drive them insane.

Fuck that!

He needs to think of a way to break them out of it. He doesn’t have time for research or classic curse analysis methods. It’s going to need to be something fast and dirty. Something like…

Wei Wuxian stumbles over a particularly rude tree root and falls forward only to be kept upright by a hand grabbing his arm. Confused he sways and looks up to see Jin Ling beside him, glaring at him. The boy has blood drying on his arms from where he cut himself to draw the array and tear tracks on his cheeks and the look he’s giving Wei Wuxian is furious and distraught all at once.

“What’s wrong with you!?” He demands “Why are you so slow anyway!?”

Up ahead Lan Jingyi and Wen Ning have also paused and looked back but Jin Ling must have already turned back to check on Wei Wuxian before he tripped.

The thought makes Wei Wuxian smile.

“Just a bit of blood loss.”

“Blood loss.” Jin Ling’s eyes narrow. “Blood loss from what?.”

Straightening, Wei Wuxian flips back his left sleeve to show the cut which he hasn’t yet had a chance to re-bandage.

“What’s that from?” Lan Jingyi takes a step back toward them, craning his head for a better look.

“Let’s just say that this means of resurrection comes with a few drawbacks.”

“Gongzi?” Wen Ning’s eyes on him are worried and he knows that even if his cheerful tone is enough to convince the two boys it’s nothing to worry about, his old friend knows him too well for that.

“Let’s just say it won’t be a problem for another half day or so.”

“Why?” Lan Jingyi demands. “What happens in half a day?”

“Let’s worry about that in half a day shall we?”

Wei Wuxian gives the boy his most cheerful smile.

“No!” Jin Ling’s shout is enough to have all three heads whipping in his direction. “No more secrets! No more fucking secrets! Tell me what’s going on!” There are tears in the boy’s eyes again. Honestly after everything he overheard Jin Guangyao say, it’s probably a miracle he’s kept it together for as long as he has.

“Alright alright,” Wei Wuxian holds up his hands placatingly, “I’ll tell you, but first,” Wei Wuxian points past Wen Ning to where the trees appear to thin out. “That looks like a clearing. Let’s get in there and then I’ll tell you exactly what I’ve got planned?”

Jin Ling gives him a deeply distrustful look but then he wipes his eyes and nods. “You better.”

“I will.”

The four of them troop their way into the clearing and Wei Wuxian gestures for Wen Ning to lay Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui on the ground at its center.

Lan Jingyi frowns at that. “Should we really be stopping here? We haven’t come that far yet. What if Jin Guangyao catches up?”

“He probably will at some point.” Wei Wuxian tells him cheerfully.

Lan Jingyi’s eyes narrow. “Then why are we stopping!? Just because the young mistress wants answers doesn’t mean I want to get eaten by walking corpses so he can get them.”

At that Jin Ling whips around to glare at Lan Jingyi and Wei Wuxian steps quickly between them, holding up his hands to prevent a shouting match they definitely don’t have time for.

“No no, you got’ve it wrong, I don’t mean he’ll catch up if we stop, I mean he’ll catch up no matter what. As long as we’re on foot there’s no way were going to stay ahead of him forever and even if you and Jin Ling took Lan Zhan and Lan Sizhui on your swords and left me and Wen Ning behind to fend for ourselves I don’t think either of you are strong enough yet to make it all the way back to either Lotus Pier or Cloud Recesses carrying Lan Zhan. Besides all the time it takes you to get back they’ll both still be under that curse and who knows how long they can stay under without their minds being permanently damaged.”

Lan Jingyi’s eyes go wide with horror and Jin Ling turns his glare on Wei Wuxian. “So what’s the plan then,” he demands, “You said you had a plan.”

“I do.” Wei Wuxian smiles back at his nephew. “I’m going to wake them up and you’re going to help me.”

“You can do that!?” Lan Jingyi’s expression goes from fear to eagerness in an instant.

“Help you how,” Jin Ling asks, his tone still laced with suspicion.

“With that.” Wei Wuxian points down at the Jiang clarity bell hanging at Jin Ling’s waist.

“What?” Both boys give the bell uncomprehending look.

“You think it can break the curse?” Jin Ling asks.

Wei Wuxian shakes his head. “Unlikely. I doubt Jin Guangyao would overlook such an obvious cure when he designed it.”

“Then?”

“Gongzi,” Wei Wuxian looks away from the voice to see that Wen Ning’s worried gaze now has an edge of knowing in it. “Be careful.”

“I will. I will. Stand guard while I do it alright?”

Wen Ning nods and Wei Wuxian turns back to the two juniors. “The way the curse works, they’re reliving their worst memories over and over but it only has power over them because they think what they’re going through is real. If they realize they’re just stuck in a dream the curse should lose its hold on their minds and when that happens it should be easy to wake them up. I think I can use a version of empathy to get inside whatever dream realms they’re trapped in and if I can do that I should be able to find a way to disrupt the dreams the inside.”

Lan Jingyi stares at him with wide eyes. “But I thought empathy only worked on the dead. They’re not dead right?”

“No, they’re not dead,” Wei Wuxian reassures him, “But think of your Lan clan’s inquiry. You don’t always use it on the dead. Sometimes when people are on the edge of death they still respond to it because all it really requires is that the soul has started to disconnect from the body. Being stuck in a dream realm separate from reality is its own kind of disconnected state. It should work.”

Lan Jingyi casts an anxious glance at the body of his unconscious friend then nods. “Alright, what you want us to do?”

“Put a warding array all around this clearing. No more blood though, that was clever but if you bleed enough to circle all of us you’ll be too lightheaded to fight if you need to.”

Lan Jingyi nods and turns away, drawing his sword and beginning to use it to scratch symbols into the ground.

“So you want me to anchor you?” Jin Ling asks.

Wei Wuxian nods. “Yeah. I don’t know how long this will take and if Jin Guangyao and his corpses show up you’ll need to pull me out of it. Can you do it?”

Jin Ling glares at him, fresh tear tracks still obvious on his cheeks. “Of course!”

“Great.” Wei Wuxian turns away from him and settles himself on the grass between the two unconscious Lans. His gaze goes first to Lan Wangji, eyes closed and face far too pale, but then he forces himself to look away. One of the few things Jin Guangyao didn’t lie about: With his much stronger core Lan Wangji will be able to hold out /far/ longer than Lan Sizhui.

“Hey.” Jin Ling speak suddenly from about him. “You never explained that cut or what happens in half a day.”

“Oh that.” Wei Wuxian smiles up at the boy. “I’ll tell you about it when I wake up.”

Then before Jin Ling can protest Wei Wuxian closes his fingers around Lan Sizhui’s wrist and everything goes black.

***

Wei Wuxian wakes in the burial mounds. He knows it, knows it before he even opens his eyes, knows the exact ashy dead flavor of the air, the too dry ground broken up by bits of bone beneath his back. He has woken just like this in the burial mounds so many times that for a moment it doesn’t even seem strange to him, and then reality and what he’s doing catch up with him and his eyes snap open because what?

He is in the burial mounds. His eyes tell him the same thing that every other sense has been telling him. He is in the burial mounds. He is in the burial mounds and the air is thicker than usual, thick with ash as though the whole place is surrounded by fires. The air is hazy with smoke and through it figures move, running figures and walking figures, figures carrying makeshift weapons or shoving talismans onto huts and gnarled trees or…

Wei Wuxian feels himself go still, utterly still, even his heart seems to have stopped in his chest, or if it hasn’t, it very shortly will, because he has lived this day before.

This is the day he dies.

He recognizes it, the taste of the air from the fires lit by the allied sects as they lay siege to the burial mounds, the Wen remnants, trying to ready themselves to fight as best they can even though they already know it’s hopeless. And him… He’s here somewhere too, perhaps taking A-Yuan to the tree or speaking his last words to Granny or maybe he’s already up at the cave, standing in the middle of the protection array meant to contain the backlash when he destroys the Yin Tiger Tally, determined that, if nothing else Jin Gangshan will never get his filthy hands on it.

But what is he doing here?

The thought has him moving again, scrambling to his feet and staring around himself as horror settles into his gut. Has he misjudged? Has he underestimated Jin Guangyao? Instead of entering Sizhui’s dream realm has he been trapped in one of his own? Is he now just as trapped as Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui?

...No. No that doesn’t make sense. He isn’t reliving this memory, not really. He’s here but, he glances down at himself to confirm, yep, still Mo Xuanyu’s body, Mo Xuanyu’s body and no sense that this is real. He knows he’s in a dream realm, that all this happened 13 years ago, and as much as it might hurt just to revisit this day, if he’s trapped only within the bounds of his own memories well… He died before any of the others did so it’s not even as though he has the memory of their death to be tormented with. Watching his own death from the outside might not exactly be fun but there are far worse memories the curse can show him.

Nightless City.

Qiongqi Path.

The slaughter of Lotus Pier.

Hell even his first, involuntary, arrival in the burial mounds or Wen Qing extracting his core or his days as a child on the streets being chased by dogs.

So why is he here?

Why…

If he isn’t himself under the curse then presumably his attempt with empathy worked and he is within Lan Sizhui’s dream realm, but why would Lan Sizhui…

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen, his breath stutters in his chest, and suddenly he knows.

He knows.

This is a memory.

Someone else’s memory.

The memory of a boy in his late teens.

A boy who would’ve been around three when this happened.

A boy adopted by Lan Wangji.

And there is only one boy who would have this day in his nightmares.

A boy who Wei Wuxian hid inside a hollow tree.

A boy who Lan Wangji met once.

A boy who he must have remembered.

Must have looked for.

Must have saved.

Wei Wuxian puts a hand over his mouth, stifling the shaking breath that leaves his lips.

“A-Yuan.” He whispers the name onto the skin of his palm.

Until now he’s tried not to think about the child, tried not to remember the laughing little boy who must long since have become nothing more than ash and bone dust.

But now…

Now…

‘Lan Zhan.’ He thinks to himself. ‘You really are too good. You saved him. You saved him and you adopted him and you gave him the safety of your name and you…’ Images of Lan Sizhui flicker behind Wei Wuxian’s eyes. Lan Sizhui trying to protect Jin Ling when they were first captured. Lan Sizhui putting aside his fear of the Yiling Patriarch to go to Wei Wuxian’s side and try to help him after he was stabbed. Lan Sizhui telling Lan Wangji that he’s coming with him, running away from cloud recesses with them. ‘Lan Zhan, you raised him so well.’

Wei Wuxian wipes at his eyes, choking back the sudden emotion rising in his chest, and then he turned on his heel, because now he knows exactly where to go.

Chapter Text

Lan Sizhui wakes in a dark world filled with cries and the stench of blood.

Where is he? What’s happening??

He tries to move and finds his body strangely small and disobedient. His senses are a little incoherent too as though not quite able to adjust to whatever body he’s found himself in. There are arms around him, that much he knows. He manages to raise his head, look up and see the old woman carrying him. He’s never seen her before but at the sight of her he feels …something stir deep inside him. Longing and warmth and safety all rolled into one, a set of emotions he’s only ever associated with his father so to feel them now for this strange old woman…

Who is she?

Where is he??

The old woman is walking and Lan Sizhui tries to look around, to take in the environment, but before he can glimpse much more than dirt and mud and the side of a rocky cliff the old woman stumbles over something and she knocks into someone. Lan Sizhui feels the disorientation and jolting as she tries to right herself and then he sees her eyes widen in horror.

“I’m sorry, so sorry.”

“Watch it old woman!” The man who she stumbled into snaps at her and Lan Sizhui turns his head in time to glimpse the yellow of Jin robes before he’s raising his hand and Lan Sizhui knows he means to strike the old woman and horror and anger grip him because how can he raise his hand to a grandmother who tripped? He wants to grab the man’s arm, wants to step between them, wants to place his sword at the Jin cultivator’s throat but Lan Sizhui is stuck in this tiny unresponsive body and he can do no more than widen his eyes as the blow falls, knocking the old woman sprawling, her body curled tight around Lan Sizhui’s to protect him even as she falls. He tries to cry out as he feels the impact are through her but all that leaves his mouth is a babel of nonsense.

What is this?

What’s happening?

Where is he?

The Jin cultivator raises afoot as though to kick the old woman and Lan Sizhui stares up at him through the dimness with everything he has because if he can do nothing else he is going to memorize this man’s face, and once he’s gotten out of whatever here is he will tell Hanguang-Jun about this and they will find the man and hold him accountable.

Then suddenly someone else’s there, a young man in ragged robes throwing himself between the Jin cultivator and the old woman, his arms spread wide.

“Stop. D-don’t hurt her.”

Lan Sizhui’s eyes widen and a wave of relief washes over him because he recognizes that voice. It’s the ghost general. The ghost general is here. Everything will be alright. It’s a bizarre thought, backwards and upside down, but it rings true in Lan Sizhui’s heart.

The Jin Cultivator freezes when Wen Ning steps in front of him and Lan Sizhui waits for his eyes to widen in panic, waits for him to stumble backward as he realizes who is before him...but it doesn’t happen.

Instead the man’s eyes narrow in angry speculation. “Oh really? Think you’re so tough, huh? Think you can tell me what to do, Wen dog?”

“I. N-no…” Wen Ning shakes his head quickly, his words coming out in a nervous stammer. “Only d-don’t hurt her.”

Jin Cultivator’s expression turns contemptuous and this is wrong, all wrong. Doesn’t he know that that’s Wen Ning?? He must, why else would he call him a Wen dog??

“Really?” the cultivator takes a step to the side, as though to simply bypass Wen Ning. “And what can you do about it?”

“I…” Wen Ning hesitates, actually hesitates and this is wrong, all wrong, why isn’t he doing anything? Why isn’t he stopping this? Lan Sizhui tries to cry out but again all that comes from his lips is a nonsense battle. Around him he can feel the old woman’s whole body shaking with fear as she folds herself tighter around Lan Sizhui like she’s trying to shield him.

What…

The Jin cultivator strides toward them again, cruelty in his eyes.

“S-stop.” Wen Ning tells him but the man just shoots a contemptuous smirk in the ghost general’s direction then raises his foot.

“I said stop!” Suddenly Wen Ning is there again, slamming into the cultivator and sending him stumbling to the ground. Then he turns and extends a hand down to the old woman. “He-here, granny. Let me help you up.”

The old woman takes his hand gratefully, letting him pull her to her feet and for a moment relief fills Lan Sizhui, the world righting itself around him, but then the Jin cultivator is also scrambling to his feet, murder in his eyes and Lan Sizhui realizes that Wen Ning did not hit him nearly as hard as he hit the shadow masked men on the day they met and… and that’s when he gets his first good look at Wen Ning’s face.

Wen Ning’s face which bears no deathlike pallor, no black veins, no anything to suggest that he is anything other than an ordinary living man…

Lan Sizhui stares and stares and is still trying to make sense of what he is seeing when the Jin cultivator moves toward Wen Ning, when half a dozen other Jin cultivators appear to join him, when they surround Wen Ning, an old man grabbing the old woman’s arm and pulling her back out of their way as they advance on the loan and very mortal Wen cultivator.

And suddenly Lan Sizhui knows, he knows as they encircle him, as they raise their whips and their clubs, as they crowd around him, driving him backward knocking him to the ground, kicking and beating him. This is the death of Wen Ning. Somehow. Impossibly, Lan Sizhui has been sent back in time. This must be Qiongqi Path and the people huddled in rags around him must be the Wen remnants in this… this is the moment that Wen Ning dies.

For protecting an old woman and the baby Lan Sizhui is inhabiting.

This is…

Wen Ning screams in pain and Lan Sizhui wants to scream too but he can’t seem to. He’s too paralyzed in fear and horror and some awful feeling turning deep in his stomach as he watches a good kind man being beaten to death before his eyes and there’s nothing he can /do/, there’s nothing, there’s nothing…

The world goes black

***

Lan Sizhui is walking. That’s the first thing he notices when the world comes back. He’s still shaking and panting from what he just saw but he’s also walking down a path made of dark dry earth. The air smells like smoke and ash and something else he knows instinctively is corpse rot and what is happening? Where is he now? Where’s Wen Ning? What…

“Come on, A-Yuan, we need to hurry.”

Lan Sizhui’s head snaps up to see the old woman from before, granny Wen Ning had called her, walking beside him, holding his hand, her eyes filled grief and fear and Lan Sizhui tries to ask her what’s happening but the words won’t come out, his mouth refusing to move.

“A-Yuan!” The shout comes from nearby, a voice Lan Sizhui knows and doesn’t know and then there’s a man rushing up to them. He is wild haired and gaunt, his figure hunger thin with dark circles under his eyes. He looks halfway to a corpse and yet somehow instinctively Lan Sizhui doesn’t fear him. Somehow instinctively Lan Sizhui knows him… knows him… “Xian-gege.”

The name comes to his lips all on its own and this time… this time his lips move, forming the name in the voice of a small child.

“Yes, go with Xian-gege now, A-Yuan, He will look after you.” Granny Wen tells him and Lan Sizhui spins back around to face her, sudden terror spiking in his heart because Ning-gege and Qing-ji said the same things and they didn’t come back and… and…

...What? Ning-gege? Qing-ji?...Who?

Lan Sizhui shakes his head frantically. “No. Stay with granny. Xian-gege, we need to stay with granny!”

The words leave his mouth all on their own like someone else is speaking them and yet he feels the emotion behind them as his own, the desperation, the terror, the tears welling in his eyes…

“A-Yuan, be good now alright?” Granny Wen’s voice is gently tiding and she leans forward, wrapping her arms around him and bending down to place a quick kiss on his forehead. “Now you do what your Xian-gege tells you, you understand?”

“The wards won’t hold much longer.” Xian-gege speaks over his head to granny Wen and the old woman nods grimly.

“We will be ready.”

Xian-gege pauses for a moment as though he wants to say something but in the end he only nods and then he’s scooping Lan Sizhui away from her up into his arms and running down the path in the direction of a clump of old dead looking trees.

“Now you heard granny. You have to do exactly what Xian-gege says, right?”

There’s a forced lightness to the man’s voice and Lan Sizhui nods, his heart pounding with wild barely understood fear.

“Alright.” Xian-gege stops in front of one of the trees and kneels down until there on a level with the hollow in its trunk. “Now I’m going to plant you in this tree and I’m going to need you to stay here? Do you understand?”

Lan Sizhui nods warily. “Is it a game?” He knows it isn’t, knows from the fear in the air all around him, but he asks anyway because he needs to see this as a game. It’s the only way to make sense of it all.

“Yep, it’s a game, a very important game.” Xian-gege tells him with a forced smile. “To win you need to stay in the tree and stay quiet. Don’t come out no matter what. No matter what you smell no matter what you hear. Don’t come out.” The false cheer falls from Xian-gege’s voice as he speaks, tone turning terrifyingly urgent. “Cose your eyes and cover your ears and pretend you’re just a little radish seedling in the earth and whatever you do don’t make a sound and don’t come out, do you understand?”

Shaking Lan Sizhui nods. He knows about quiet, knows about the need for it, the need to not draw attention, remembers it in a hazy distorted way from the day Wen Ning…

“Good.” Xian-gege leans down and presses a quick kiss to the top of Lan Sizhui’s head. Then he’s lifting him into the hollow tree and then he’s gone and Lan Sizhui is alone in the darkness of the tree.

He’s alone.

He’s alone.

He’s alone.

He’s…

There are noises outside, terrible noises, and he’s alone and he’s huddled in the darkness with his arms wrapped tight around himself and...

He pants for breath, shaking and terrified and bewildered all at once.

What is happening to him??

Where is he??

What is this??

What…

“Lan Sizhui?” The call cuts through the dazed spiral of his thoughts with all the salvation bringing clarity of his father’s guqin cords and Lan Sizhui starts upright at the sound of his name, his courtesy name, and that voice, he knows it…

“S-Senior Wei?” This time his voice obeys him, only shaking a bit as he calls tentatively back. Xian-gege told him to be quiet but if Wei Wuxian has found him then…

The name hits Lan Sizhui like a blow. Xian-gege… Wuxian… Wei Wuxian…The wild eyed corpse man in the black robes. Xian-gege. Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian in his original body. Wei Wuxian taking him from an old woman… from Granny Wen… placing him in a tree to keep him safe.

The tree.

The tree.

He remembers the tree.

Remembers the darkness.

Remembers how he curled in close around himself, trying to be good, be silent, ignore the screams, ignore the hunger and the dryness in his throat. Be good. Stay. Stay. Stay…

“Sizhui!” Suddenly Wei Wuxian is there in front of him, the Wei Wuxian who Lan Sizhui knows, and there are tears in his eyes but he’s grinning and he’s scooping Lan Sizhui out of the tree. “There you are!”

“Senior Wei!” Lan Sizhui’s voice cracks on the name and then, without meaning to his little child’s body is leaning into Wei Wuxian, his head burying itself against the Yiling Patriarch’s neck as his body shakes with silent tears of relief and confusion.

“Hey, Sizhui, A-Yuan, what’s all this?”

At the sound of his child’s name on Wei Wuxian’s lips Lan Sizhui sucks in a choking breath. “You… it was you. You put me in the tree didn’t you? I don’t understand. W-what’s happening…?”

“There there.” Wei Wuxian rubs soothingly at his back. “It’s just a little curse. Trap you in your worst memories, that sort of thing.”

“W-what?” At that Lan Sizhui raises his head to stare up at Wei Wuxian with wide eyes. “These are my...my memories?”

Wei Wuxian frowns. “Aren’t they?”

Numbly Lan Sizhui shakes his head. “I don’t know. I don’t remember anything from when I was this young. I had a fever just after father adopted me and it hurt my memory somehow? I don’t know… I just know I don’t remember anything from before that.”

“Ah.” Wei Wuxian lets out a soft breath. “That would be all the resentful energy. With me dead and the wards gone there was nothing to keep it away from you. It probably messed with your head pretty badly.”

“I...You…What…” Lan Sizhui stares up at him, his mind swimming, fragments of things that have come back to him during whatever this is mixing with things he’s seen around him. Granny Wen carrying him at Qiongqi Path. The death of Wen Ning. His own instinctive confused grief for ‘Wen-gege’ and ‘Qing-ji’...Wen Ning and Wen Qing? And then Wei Wuxian tucking him into a tree. He… He… He’s in a market clinging to Wei Wuxian’s leg as Wei Wuxian barters with a vegetable seller. He’s sitting at a makeshift dining table, the taste of horribly spicy congee burning his lips until he cries… He’s buried up to his neck in a radish patch as the Yiling Patriarch lounges laughing beside him and tells him that this way he’ll grow big and strong...He…

“Xian-gege…” The name leaves his mouth in a rattling startled gasp and Wei Wuxian chuckles.

“Yeah, that’s right, I was your Xian-gege. Are you remembering now, little radish?”

Shakily Lan Sizhui nods. He can feel tears in his eyes and his mind is still spinning but… “I’m… I’m a Wen?”

Wei Wuxian nods. “Yep. Little Wen Yuan, the terror of the burial mounds.”

The burial mounds. That’s… That’s where they are, because this is where he grew up those first few years, here raised by Granny and Qing-ji and by the Ghost General and by...by the Yiling Patriarch. He is a child of the Wen and a child of the Yiling Patriarch. That’s… He’s…

“How did I come to be a Lan?”

“Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian smiles fondly. “He really is too good. You remember I told you the two of us had lunch together once? Well you were there too and so Lan Zhan knew about you and he must’ve gone looking for you after the siege.”

“Oh…” Lan Sizhui lets out a shuddering breath. His mind is still a whirling chaos but starting to distill down, starting to take shape, a new shape, a new way of looking at a world that is so vastly different than what he thought it was, a world where Jin cultivators beat defenseless old women and the Yiling Patriarch spends his afternoons entertaining a child.

It’s…

It’s different, oh so different, and yet, and yet Lan Sizhui remembers the events of the last few days, the flight from the cloud recesses, Jin Guangyao’s treacherous schemes, Wei Wuxian laughing as he teases Hanguang-Jun, Wen Ning’s gentle kindness, and he thinks, maybe the world has not changed so much after all.

He takes a deep breath and pulls back to look properly at Wei Wuxian. “Senior Wei, you said this was a curse?”

“Yep. Jin Guangyao cooked up something quite nasty for you and Lan Zhan. He trapped you both in dream realms made of your worst memories. That’s how you got here.”

“Oh.” Lan Sizhui nods. “How do we get out?”

“Ah that.” Wei Wuxian smiles at him. “Well now that you’ve realized it’s just a dream the curse should be getting pretty weak. I got in here using a variation of empathy and with the curse this weak, if I end the empathy session I should be able to pull you out with me. Ready?”

Lan Sizhui nods and he feels Wei Wuxian’s arms tighten around him, and, for a moment so brief that he might have imagined it, he feels soft lips pressed to his forehead, and then everything goes black.

***

This time when Lan Sizhui wakes it’s in his own body. He’s lying on the grass, the twilight sky above him half blocked out by an overhanging tree, and when he pushes himself into a sitting position he realizes that Wei Wuxian is beside him, his hand tight around Lan Sizhui’s wrist and beyond him…

“Father!” Lan Sizhui’s eyes widen in horror at the sight of Lan Wangji unconscious on the grass, body sprawled in a way he would never if he were awake or even sleeping. “Senior Wei! What’s wrong with him!? What happened!?”

Wei Wuxian lets go of Lan Sizhui’s wrist and turns to look at Lan Wangji. “Cursed, just like you.”

“Oh…” Right, of course. Wei Wuxian said that, but hearing it in passing is one thing and seeing his father like this… that’s another.

“Sizhui!” Suddenly Jingyi is bounding to his side, eyes wide with delight. “Sizhui, you’re awake!”

“Yeah.” Lan Sizhui smiles shakily up at his friend. “I guess I am.”

“Yes yes he’s awake, now back to the warding array with you. I can see it’s not done.”

Wei Wuxian’s words bring Jingyi up short and he starts then tosses a quick bow in Wei Wuxian’s direction. “Sorry senior Wei.” Then he’s turning away and darting back toward the array he was clearly in the middle of outlining.

“Well? Are you going to try Hanguang-Jun next or what?” The voice comes from just behind him and Lan Sizhui tilts his head back to see Jin Ling standing there, fingers gripping so tightly around his Jiang clarity bell that the knuckles of gone white. “We’re running out of time.”

“Right right.” Wei Wuxian lies back down on the grass and Lan Sizhui lets his eyes wander beyond him for only a moment to let his heart delight in the sight of Wen Ning, dead and yet no longer dead, his Ning-gege, his uncle, standing guard nearby. Then he returns his gaze to Wei Wuxian.

“Senior Wei, will you be able to pull Hanguang-Jun out the same way you pulled me out?”

Wei Wuxian tilts his head back and forth. “Sort of. Disconnecting him from his dream realm so that I can pull him out with me is the end goal but I think he’s going to be a lot harder than you were. Because of your amnesia you weren’t ever really fully connected to the dream realm in the first place. You were seeing your memories but you were still doing it as the current you and that meant it was easy for you to see and recognize me. Lan Zhan… Unless he also has some convenient amnesia, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.”

“But you think you can help him anyway?”

Wei Wuxian smiles up at him. “Of course. There’s no way am giving up on Lan Zhan, not now and not ever.”

The words send a strange wave of emotion through Lan Sizhui. They are so obviously fond, so full of caring for his father, and Lan Sizhui remembers the forehead ribbon and the conversation they never got to have and he wonders again at the relationship between these two… these two… his two parents?

The thought is a strange one but this isn’t the time to examine it anymore then this is the time to ask any of the questions buzzing through his mind and so instead he just smiles back.

“Good luck, Senior Wei.”

“Thanks, A-Yuan” Wei Wuxian gives him another quick smile, and then he wraps his hand around Lan Wangji’s wrist and his body goes limp.

Lan Sizhui sucks in a breath, heartbeat kicking up at the sight. Even now his father is trapped in a nightmare of his worst memories. Lan Sizhui, who was disconnected from it all, found it bad enough, so there is no telling what his father is now going through. Senior Wei said that it would be harder to break, said that Lan Wangji would be much deeper in, and looking at their limp bodies, Lan Sizhui can’t help the way the fear rises.

And yet…

And yet sitting here looking at them isn’t going to help either. He needs to find out what’s happening and there’s clearly an array to draw as well. He can do that. He’s no longer the small and helpless child who could do nothing while the people he loved were hurt over and over again. Now he is a cultivator, able to stand up for what’s right, able to help people, just like his father does …Just like both of his fathers do.

Lan Sizhui takes a shaky breath and pushes himself to his feet. Yes, he’ll go help Jingyi with the wards and, as for his father, Lan Sizhui will have faith in Wei Wuxian.

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian opens his eyes into a white world. Snow coats everything around him, the ground, the trees, the picturesque little cottage, and the boy dressed in Lan white who kneels, still and silent, before it’s closed door.

“Lan Zhan?”

The boy doesn’t move, doesn’t even twitch. Wei Wuxian isn’t entirely surprised. Like he told Lan Sizhui, his amnesia meant that he was never truly trapped within the curse to begin with. He experienced the memories of the curse true but he was never absorbed within them, still looking at things through his own eyes, still aware of himself as himself. Lan Wangji though… Lan Wangji is within the curse, truly within it, his reality only that of the memory in which he is trapped.

Wei Wuxian steps around to stand in front of the kneeling boy and yes it is Lan Wangji, his adorable child’s face oddly blank in a way that makes Wei Wuxian’s stomach twist uncomfortably. This scene in the forest might seem peaceful, almost idyllic, but to Lan Wangji it is the stuff of torture and nightmares. Why is he here alone in the snow? Why does he kneel in front of the closed door?

Wei Wuxian shakes his questions away and waves a hand experimentally before little Lan Wangji’s eyes. Nothing, not even the slightest flicker of a response. He tries to pinch the boy’s cheek but his fingers go right through Lan Wangji as though he isn’t even there.

Yes, this is definitely going to be harder than it was with A-Yuan.

Wei Wuxian begins to pace the clearing, noticing as he does so that while his boots feel as though they are sinking into the snow, when he raises his feet again they leave behind no prints.

He isn’t here, not really, and that’s the problem. He used a modified version of empathy to gain access to Lan Wangji’s dream realm but empathy was designed for observation, not for conversation. He begins thinking through a few ways he could alter empathy further than quickly discards the lot. Empathy is a form of demonic cultivation, cultivation which draws its power from the resentment of the dead, and no one here is dead.

...Though that doesn’t mean there isn’t resentment. These are supposed to be Lan Wangji’s worst memories after all. That must induce plenty of its own resentment right? If he can manipulate the resentment of the dead then what of the resentment of the dreaming living. He’s never heard of someone manipulating the resentment of the living but why not...

Wei Wuxian freezes in place, his shoulders jerking back as though from a blow.

No.

No, absolutely not.

Because he’s wrong.

He does know of one case, one time, one time when the resentment of a living person was manipulated and on that day he was not the master but the puppet.

The Yin Tiger Tally had poured its dark power into him, amplifying his own anger, his own resentment, and then… And then all Nightless City had bled for it.

No, he will not risk doing that to Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian takes a shaky breath and begins to walk again, circling the still and silent boy as he tries to find another way to manifest more deeply into this reality, but if he can’t use demonic cultivation then…

Oh.

Wei Wuxian’s hand moves to rest on his lower dantian. His core. He has one again. Weak and underdeveloped and entirely consumed with keeping him alive but there nonetheless. A source of power he can call upon. If he can only channel enough of its power into his voice and touch he should be able to make Lan Wangji perceive him. It should work…though not instantly. Right now his core is entirely drained, all of its power spent on keeping him from bleeding out. Well he can fix that. He takes a breath, concentrates, and redirects its energy so that it is no longer fighting Mo Xuanyu’s curse or attempting to heal any of his wounds. He’ll bleed out faster this way but there’s nothing to be done about that. The important thing is that, before he does, he will have the power to save Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian reaches out and ruffles the hair of the little Lan Wangji in front of him. His hand goes through the boys head but it’s the thought that counts. Besides, he’ll be able to get through to him soon. It’s just a matter of time now, of waiting long enough for the power in his core to regenerate enough for him to use it to brute force his way into being audible within the dream realm. Until then all he has to do is wait, and really this isn’t such a bad place to wait, here in the beautiful little clearing with the cottage and the snow and…

The world goes black.

***

“Wei Ying!” The cry is anguished, rough and raw as though pulled from a throat already tattered by screaming.

Wei Wuxian whips around, his eyes widening as the taste of ash and death hits his tongue. He’s back in the burial mounds, but this is the burial mounds as he has never seen them. The charred remains of huts and fields surround him, their destruction so new that smoke still drifts lazily from their ruin. Debris is everywhere, stone and bone and wood all thrown haphazardly together, and through the ruin…

“Lan Zhan!”

Wei Wuxian sees him first as a shadowy figure, the details of him lost to haze and smoke.

“Wei Ying!” The cry comes again, just as rough, just as anguished, and this is… this is wrong.

Lan Wangji doesn’t yell, he doesn’t cry out like that, not even in the midst of war, not ever, he certainly doesn’t cry Wei Wuxian’s name like that, like he’s… Like his heart is…

Lan Wangji stumbles closer and all other thoughts flee Wei Wuxian’s mind because yes, Lan Wangji /is/ stumbling, staggering, barely managing to keep his feet. Bichen is in his hand but he’s using it, not as a weapon, but as a walking stick, leaning on it to keep himself upright as he drags his body one step and then another and then another.

“Wei Ying!”

“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan! What happened to you!?”

Wei Wuxian races to Lan Wangji’s side, grabbing for the other man’s arm but again his fingers pass right through.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji turns away from him, eyes wide and frantic as they scan the debris all around them, and Wei Wuxian sucks in a horrified breath because he’s just gotten his first look at Lan Wangji’s back.

Lan Wangji’s back…

Lan Wangji is dressed in his usual white robes and that means the blood that has soaked through them is perfectly visible.

All of it.

Every bloody line.

They stripe their way across Lan Wangji’s back, some light and some darker depending on how badly they’ve bled through the material, a crisscrossing pattern of red, standing out stark against the white of the surrounding robes.

“Lan Zhan…” This time Wei Wuxian’s own voice shakes as it leaves his lips.

“Wei Ying!”

What is this? What the hell is all this?? Why is Lan Wangji staggering through the remains of the burial mounds calling for him as though the world will end if he doesn’t receive an answer? Weren’t they enemies? Didn’t Lan Wangji disapprove of his cultivation? Disapprove of him? Dislike him? Hate him? Why is he… and his back. What happened to his back? Who did this? Who dared? Who… how…

The world goes black.

***

Brisk mountain air and the scents of winter. He’s in a courtyard of the cloud recesses and beyond it he catches a glimpse of scaffolding, the rebuilding process well underway. Wei Wuxian stares at it, his heart still pounding wildly even as he takes in a shaky breath of cold Gusu air.

A grunt of pain from behind him.

Wei Wuxian spins around and then his eyes widen and for a moment he can’t understand what he’s seeing.

Lan Wangji…

Lan Wangji kneels in the center of the courtyard, hands balled into fists on his knees, his teeth gritted and entire body shaking, and behind him… Behind him stands a Lan elder all in white and in his hand…

In his hand as a whip.

A discipline whip.

Even as Wei Wuxian watches, frozen in horror and disbelief, the elder raises the whip again and springs it slashing down across Lan Wangji’s back, dragging another grunt of pain from between those gritted teeth as fabric and flesh split, leaving another horrible line of blood to bloom in their wake.

“No! Stop!” Before he knows it Wei Wuxian is moving, lunging forward, throwing himself over Lan Wangji’s back, trying to shield him with his own body.

The whip falls.

Instinctively Wei Wuxian’s shoulders tense but he feels nothing, the whip passing right through him to carve another line of agony into Lan Wangji’s back.

Another grunt of pain, this time closer to a cry.’

“Lan Zhan!”

Wei Wuxian raises his head and turns furious eyes on the elder who wields the whip. Even if this is only a memory, even if he cannot stop this, Wei Wuxian /will/ remember who did this and he /will/ make them pay.

...But the elder’s face is a blur.

Looking around Wei Wuxian realizes that other figures in Lan White stand watching, and every one of their faces is a blur.

As though Lan Wangji cannot remember them.

Every memory he’s stepped into so far has been perfectly clear, even the memories concealed behind the wall of A-Yuan’s amnesia, and yet here now this blurring… How much distress must Lan Wangji be in for his mind to have so completely disregarded the faces around him that they would become a blur.

Another crack of the whip.

Another gasp of pain from Lan Wangji.

He collapses forward, hands slipping from his knees until he is on all fours, palms braced against the dirt, and still the whip falls.

Wei Wuxian is shaking, his breath coming too fast. He wants to shield Lan Wangji with his own body, wants to rip the whip from the elder’s hand, wants to rip the elder himself into so many pieces that his blood he remains will be scattered across all of cloud recesses, wants….

But he can do nothing.

Nothing.

This is a dream.

A memory.

This already happened.

It happened.

Why did it happene??

Why…

What could prompt something like this??

What could Lan Wangji, Hanguang-Jun, the perfect second jade of Lan, have possibly done to receive punishment like this??

Behind him Lan Wangji cries out again and Wei Wuxian cries out with him, he can’t help it. To have to watch this… watch and do nothing…

“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan!” He can hear his own voice shaking, cracking...

The world goes black.

***

The room is dark. The floorboards smooth where Wei Wuxian’s palms rest against them. He’s kneeling, his whole body shaking with what he just saw, breath coming in ragged gasps that feel a bit too much like sobs.

He stays like that, on his knees panting and shaking, the image of the whip cutting through Lan Wangji’s back burning behind his eyes, until the sound of a door opening jars him back to reality. Quickly he sits back and looks up, taking in his surroundings. The room is simply furnished, definitely in the Lan style, and on the bed… on the bed Lan Wangji lies on his stomach, unmoving, his back swathed in bandages, the blood already beginning to leak through the fabric.

The sound of footsteps.

Wei Wuxian twists around and there, in the doorway, is Lan Xichen. By the light of the room’s single candle Wei Wuxian can see the anguish on the sect leader’s face.

“Wangji.”

Silence from the bed.

“Wangji...”A shaky breath. “There is something I have to tell you.”

More silence.

Lan Xichen seems to hesitate as though struggling for words. Wei Wuxian has never seen the always composed, always well spoken, first jade of Lan struggle for speech like this and the sight fills him with a whole new trepidation.

“It’s…” Another shaky breath. “Uncle and the others have returned.”

This time the reaction from the bed is instantaneous. Lan Wangji’s shoulders tense and even though it must hurt he pushes himself up onto his elbows so that he can turn to stare at his brother with wide haunted eyes.

“Wei Ying…” Lan Wangji’s voice cracks on Wei Wuxian’s name as though from disuse, but even so the desperation is clear in every syllable.

Slowly Lan Xichen shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Wangji. Uncle said that he must have attempted to destroy the yin tiger tally and it caused some sort of backlash with his cultivation… he did not survive.”

“No!” The cry is barely recognizable as a word, the voice barely recognizable as Lan Wangji’s, because Lan Wangji doesn’t sound like that, shouldn’t sound like that, not ever, not… He sounds… He sounds as though his heart is breaking, as though he is breaking, and that’s not… he shouldn’t… he can’t…

Wei Wuxian stumbles backward until his back collides with the wall. He shakes his head again and again, trying to deny, trying to understand.

This isn’t… this doesn’t make sense… they weren’t… he wasn’t… Lan Zhan… Lan Zhan /hated/ him!

Right?

Right??

He always…

He never…

Even as the Lan Wangji before him staggers to his feet, pushing away Lan Xichen’s hands as the sect leader tries to support him back into bed, images flash behind Wei Wuxian’s eyes.

Lan Wangji stumbling through the burial mounds calling for him like the world is ending.

Lan Wangji turning on Jin Ling with fury in his eyes when the boy admitted to stabbing Wei Wuixan.

The anguish on Lan Wangji’s face when Wei Wuxian asked him how he was to be executed.

Lan Wangji stabbing Madam Mo’s husband, lifting Wei Wuxian in his arms, tending to his wounds over and over again.

Lan Wangji…

Lan Zhan…

Lan Zhan…

“Why!?” The cry is ripped from Wei Wuxian’s throat.

Why…

Why would he…

Why…

The world goes black.

***

Wei Wuxian sways as the wall he was leaning against vanishes and the next thing he knows he’s standing on a familiar dusty road, a road which leads to the burial mounds, and there they are, before him, rising in fog and stone, and just before them, seated on a bolder by the mouth of a small cave….

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen because...it’s him? Thin and gaunt, blood spattered and covered in cuts, eyes widened wild, but him, unmistakably him, and that’s not… that’s not possible, because Wei Wuxian doesn’t remember this. He doesn’t remember sitting on that rock, he doesn’t remember being in that cave, and he certainly… he certainly doesn’t remember Lan Wangji kneeling before him… holding his hand… looking up at him with despairing eyes.

“Get Lost.”

The sound of Wei Wuxian’s own voice cuts through the air like a knife.

“Wei Ying please…” In contrast Lan Wangji’s voice is gentle, aching and pained, but gentle, oh so gentle.

“Get lost.”

“Please, let me stay with you. Let me help you.”

“Get lost.”

“I understand that you do not trust me but please believe that I want to help you.”

“Get Lost.”

“I…” A shaking breath, an uncharacteristic hesitation, and then, “Wei Ying, I am in love with you.” A pause. “I do not tell you this because I expect you to return my feelings, only so that you know that my wish to help is genuine.”

“Get lost.”

Lan Wangji’s shoulders tense but he does not pull back, and when he speaks again, his tone, though slightly shakier, is no less gentle.

“Wei Ying please, let me help. Let me stay at your side.”

“Get lost.”

Another shaking breath.

Wei Wuxian feels as though his heart has stopped, as though time itself has stopped, Lan Wangji’s words echoing through him and out until they seem to reverberate through the entire world.

‘I am in love with you.’

‘Let me help.’

‘Let me stay at your side.’

‘I am in love with you.’

‘I am in love with you.’

‘I…’

Wei Wuxian is so lost in those words that he only notices the approaching cultivators when they are all around him. Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren and 30 some others all dressed in Lan white. Lan Wangji seems to become aware of them then as well because in an instant he’s on his feet, sword drawn, standing before Wei Wuxian.

“Wangji, what is this?” Lan Qiren’s voice is sharp with fury.

“Wangji, please.” In contrast Lan Xichen’s voice shakes with barely concealed panic, and Wei Wuxian notices then that both he and Lan Qiren are already injured.

Lan Wangji says nothing and he does not lower Bichen.

Lan Qiren’s brows narrowed dangerously. “Step away from him.”

Lan Wangji doesn’t move.

Lan Xichen takes a cautious step forward, hands raised in sign of truce. “Wangji, I know how you feel about him but after what he did at Nightless City, everyone he killed…”

“Members of your own sect, Wangji.” Lan Qiren’s voice is harsh where Lan Xichen’s is soft. “Have you no loyalty left?”

Lan Wangji’s shoulders stiffen but still he says nothing.

“Fine then, so be it.” Lan Qiren raises his sword and lunges, not for Lan Wangji, but for Wei Wuxian.

Instantly Lan Wangji is between them, knocking his uncle’s blade away. Lan Qiren’s previous injuries clearly get the better of him because he stumbles back but one of the other Lan disciples seems to take this as his queue because he too lunges forward, trying to use the moment to slip past Lan Wangji and cut down Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji is faster though and when Bichen arcs out this time it doesn’t merely knock the disciple back. No, instead he falls bleeding to the ground and another Lan disciple lunges forward to take his place only for Bichen to take the man in the throat and then… And then three more are on Lan Wangji but he is faster and unlike his opponents, Lan Wangji is fighting to kill.

They fall and the rest lunged forward, all trying to get past Lan Wangji, get to Wei Wuxian, and so Lan Wangji turns his blade on the members of his own sect and he kills he and kills he and kills…

The world goes black

***

They’re back in the quiet dark of Lan Wangji’s room and Wei Wuxian slides down the wall to land on the floor, body shaking far more than it did when he was last here because… because…

‘I am in love with you.’

And all that Lan blood, the blood of his own sect, spilled out across the ground to keep Wei Wuxian safe, and he doesn’t remember… Doesn’t remember any of it!

As if from far away he hears the echo of his own voice swimming up from the depths of his memory.

‘Lan Zhan, this seems like it might be news to you but your clan wants me dead. Your uncle led an army against me. He hates me. Your whole clan hates me. You hate me.’

‘Wei Ying! How can you think… After what I said…’

‘What you said?’

‘After Nightless City.’

So this is what he meant. A soft peel of hysterical laughter climbs up his throat and falls from his lips. This. And Lan Wangji called it unimportant.

Unimportant!

He understands now, understands the discipline whip, the bloody lines carved into Lan Wangji’s back.

Lan Wangji stood with him the Yiling Patriarch after Nightless City, after everything Wei Wuxian did, everyone Wei Wuxian killed, and Lan Wangji… Lan Wangji turned on his own sect to protect him.

Because…

Because…

‘I am in love with you.’

In love.

There it is.

The answer to the question Wei Wuxian has been asking since he first opened his eyes in the cloud recesses and learned that he was not a prisoner. The answer to why Lan Wangji has stood by him. The answer to why he brought Wei Wuxian to Mo Manor, why he killed Madam Mo’s husband, why…

In love.

Is that…

Is that what this is?

Is that… all this… what he’s been feeling for Lan Wangji…is it...it is isn’t it? It’s...He’s…

A soft groan of pain draws him from his thoughts and his head jerks up as he finally becomes fully aware of his surroundings, aware of Lan Wangji laying once again sprawled out in bed on his stomach, back wrapped in bloodied bandages. His face is twisted in pain but his eyes are strangely vacant and suddenly Wei Wuxian can’t bear this anymore, can’t bear seeing him like this, seeing Lan Wangji’s pain over and over and over and so much of it because of him, so much of it because…

‘I am in love with you.’

“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian’s own voice shakes as the name falls from his lips.

Nothing happens, not a twitch, not a stir.

Wei Wuxian takes a shuddering breath and tries to gather himself, gather the power of his core. Has it been long enough? He doesn’t know, but he has to try, he has to.

“Lan Zhan!”

This time the reaction is instantaneous. Lan Wangji stiffens, his gaze moving in Wei Wuxian’s direction and then passed him.

“Who’s there?” Lan Wangji’s voice is hoarse with disuse and Wei Wuxian wonders just how many days Lan Wangji has spent like this, alone and lost to the pain and grief.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan,” for a moment Wei Wuxian is so relieved at having been heard that the name is all he can say. “Lan Zhan, I’m here. It’s me. It’s Wei Wuxian.”

“Liar!” Lan Wangji snaps the word and now for the first time some of the horrible emptiness fades from his eyes, to be replaced by fury. He tries to push himself out of the bed and lets out a gasping cry of pain, then collapses back.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian darts forward and tries to catch him as he collapses but Lan Wangji’s shoulder passes right through his outstretched hands, Wei Wuxian’s body still not fully part of this reality.

“Do not!” Lan Wangji snaps, and in his anger he again struggles upright, teeth gritted against the pain. “Do not address me that way! Do not pretend to be him!”

“Lan Zhan, please! I’m in another body, that’s why I sound different, but it’s me! I swear! Stop trying to get up! You’re hurting yourself!”

Lan Wangji ignores him, body shaking in pain and fury, he tries again to drag himself out of bed, gains his feet, staggers one step and then to and then falls right through Wei Wuxian’s reaching arms to collapse to the floor with a horrible thought and gasp of pain.

“Lan Zhan…”

Again Lan Wangji struggles to rise, teeth gritted and eyes blazing and Wei Wuxian has to get him to stop before he hurts himself more, he has to!

Frantically he pulls the bamboo flute from his sash, puts it to his lips, and begins to play the first calming tune that comes to mind. It’s not a spiritual song but even so he tries to channel what little spiritual power he has through it, trying to calm, to ease, and...

Lan Wangji goes still.

It isn’t the gradual stillness of relaxation or sleep that he intended, no this is a sudden stillness, instantly complete and unnerving in its transformation. Wei Wuxian plays only a few more notes and then he too stills, trepidation making his heart beat wildly as he watches Lan Wangji, wondering what’s wrong, wondering what…

“Wei Ying…” Lan Wangji speaks his name into the silence of the room, his voice suddenly hoarse and shaking with a sound that is shockingly like tears.

“Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian’s voice is tentative now, not sure what’s happening, not sure of this sudden transformation.

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji says his name again, his whole body going slack all at once, and yes those really are tears in his voice, Wei Wuxian can see it now, see the way his shoulders shake with them.

“Lan Zhan…” Wei Wuxian’s voice softens and he dropped to his knees at Lan Wangji’s side, reaching out instinctively as though to put a hand on the other man’s shoulder, and then his eyes widen because there beneath his palm is skin, warm and bare and Lan Wangji starts at the touch in a way that leaves Wei Wuxian sure that he can feel it too.

...But of course. As soon as Wei Wuxian thinks about it, it makes perfect sense. This is /Lan Wangji’s/ dream realm after all. Of course his belief in Wei Wuxian’s reality would make Wei Wuxian more real here.

“Wei Ying…” Lan Wangji says his name again, more softly this time, voice still thick with tears.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, don’t cry. I’m here now, alright?” Yet even as he says it Wei Wuxian can hear his own voice shaking with the beginnings of tears, the emotions of everything he has just witnessed crashing over him in an endless wave.

“Wei Ying, I’m sorry…”

Wei Wuxian takes a shuddering breath and wipes furiously at his eyes with the back of the hand not currently resting on Lan Wangji’s shoulder. “Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?”

“I wasn’t there. I wasn’t able to protect you.”

Wei Wuxian sucks in another shaking breath. “Lan Zhan, don’t be silly. You did protect me. You did so much for me. Went against your sect…”

“Wasn’t enough.” Lan Wangji grits the words out and he sounds so stubborn that Wei Wuxian has to bite back the irrational urge to laugh.

“It was though, it was more than enough, but either way it doesn’t matter now. Lan Zhan, listen to me, this isn’t what you think it is.”

At that Lan Wangji raises his head a little. He still doesn’t seem to be able to see Wei Wuxian and his brows knit slightly in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“You think you’re talking to my ghost right? Well you’re not. Right now we’re actually both inside of a cursed dream realm made out of your worst memories.”

Lan Wangji is quiet for a moment, digesting this, and then his expression softens again, not in returning peace, but in resigned sorrow. “You are not real.”

“No no, I’m real, I’m real.” Wei Wuxian tells him hastily. “I’m just not a ghost anymore.”

Lan Wangji’s browse draw down slightly again. “Not a ghost?”

“No, I’m... there was this cultivator called Mo Xuanyu, and well it’s a long story and it doesn’t really matter right now but the important point is that he ended up dying and leaving me his body.”

Several moments of silence and then, slowly, as though not daring to hope. “… you are alive?”

“Yeah, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian rubs his thumb in a gentle circle over Lan Wangji’s shoulder. “I’m alive.”

Lan Wangji lets out a sharp punched out breath, his body relaxing all at once, head dropping back down to the floor.

“Lan Zhan…” Wei Wuxian says his name softly, wonderingly. He’s never seen Lan Wangji like this, so open, so emotional, and even as he hates all the pain that has brought the other man here he can’t help marveling at it, at the way Lan Wangji, always so touch averse seems to lean into his touch, as though he…

“Wei Ying, why can’t I see you?”

“Because this dream realm was made to trap you. I managed to force my way inside but I’m not fully real here and I don’t think I will be until you start to remember.”

“Remember?”

“I was dead for 13 years. Not long after I came back you found me and we’ve traveled together and we learned that Jin Guangyao is trying to re-create the Yin Tiger Tally. He couldn’t risk you telling the rest of the cultivation world so he cursed you and trapped you in your worst memories in order to drive you mad so that he could discredit you.”

A long moment of silence as Lan Wangji processes this and then, at last, “We’ve been traveling together?”

“Yeah.” It comes out shaky, half tears and half laughter, all that about Jin Guangyao and the Yin Tiger Tally, and Lan Wangji’s first question is about him… about them… because he…

Even now.

Even after...

‘Get lost.’

“Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji raises his head again, trying to look up in the general direction of Wei Wuxian’s voice, his shoulders tensing in pain at the movement, and suddenly Wei Wuxian can’t take this anymore.

“Lan Zhan, listen, there’s something I have to tell you.” As he speaks Wei Wuxian puts his hands on Lan Wangji’s shoulders and helps to guide him up into a sitting position, leaving one hand on his shoulder and moving the other to his side to help support him.

“What’s wrong?” Lan Wangji’s body is all tension now, eyes continuing to scan the darkness of the room for Wei Wuxian, brows drawing together in worry.

“What I said to you, that day, after Nightless City.” Lan Wangji stiffens instantly, starting to pull away, and Wei Wuxian tightens his grip and keeps talking, faster now, needing to get this out before the other man can misunderstand him. “Lan Zhan, I only know about it because of your memories, because of this curse. I was out of my mind back then. I don’t know why I said that to you except that I’m sure I didn’t know it was you or what you were saying. I… I would never have…” He takes a shaking breath, gathers himself, then plunges onward. “Lan Zhan, I like you so much, no, more than that, I love you, I’m not sure how long I’ve loved you, but I know I do, I love you. I’m in love with you. I want you. I fancy you. I can’t leave you. I whatever you. Lan Zhan, I do, I really do.”

In his grasp Lan Wangji is shaking, his eyes wide and lips parted, silent tears beginning to flow down his cheeks again.

“Wei Ying…” The name leaves his lips in a shuddering gasp and then he shakes his head slightly. “Dreaming. I’m dreaming.”

“You’re not, I promise you’re not.” Wei Wuxian’s heart is pounding wildly. “The rest of it’s a dream but I’m real, Lan Zhan, I’m real and I’m in love with you.” And with that he leans in and presses his mouth to Lan Wangji’s.

There’s a moment when Lan Wangji startles against him, his surprised breath soft against Wei Wuxian’s lips, and then Lan Wangji’s mouth is moving against his, kissing back, desperately, frantically, all teeth and tongue and a need Wei Wuxian feels like he could drown in. And he finds that he wants that, as Lan Wangji’s arms come around him and pull him close, as Lan Wangji kisses him deeper, deeper, as though trying to devour him, Wei Wuxian finds that he wants this, wants to be held and touched and devoured, wants everything, anything, as long as it’s Lan Wangji.

When they at last break apart both of them are panting and Wei Wuxian’s lips are sore from the way Lan Wangji was biting at them and he doesn’t care, wants more, wants…

“Wei Ying…”

Lan Wangji’s eyes are wide and staring in disbelief and wonder…staring /at/ him…

Wei Wuxian feels his own eyes widen as well. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan can you see me?”

Lan Wangji nods slowly, eyes never leaving Wei Wuxian as though determined to drink him in.

“I am starting to remember. Some things are still vague but…” His voice trails away and he takes a shuddering breath. “Wei Ying, did you mean it?”

“Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian’s voice is still shaking but with laughter this time. “Yes, I-”

There’s the ringing of a bell, sharp and clear, and just like that Wei Wuxian is back laying on the grass and even before he opens his eyes he can feel the cool bite of a blade pressed against his throat.

Chapter Text

‘Lan Zhan!’

It’s Wei Wuxian’s first thought, even before he opens his eyes, even before he sees who’s holding him at sword point. Was it enough? Did Lan Zhan come out with him? Is he still trapped in the dream realm? In that horrifying hell of a nightmare, bleeding and breaking for Wei Wuxian over and over and over again?’

“Jiang Wanyin!” Every syllable of the name is packed with the sort of cold that freezes men to death and Wei Wuxian is so relieved at the sound of Lan Wangji’s voice that it takes him a moment to make sense of what the other man is actually saying.

When he does Wei Wuxian’s eyes snap open and sure enough, there above him, eyes narrowed in anger, stands Jiang Cheng. In his left hand he holds a Jiang clarity bell and in his right is Sandu, its tip pressed to Wei Wuxian’s throat. Behind him, in various shades of looking helpless or unsure what to do stand the two Lan juniors and Wen Ning while Jin Ling has his arms crossed and is glaring at his uncle.

“Remove your blade.” On Wei Wuxian’s other side Lan Wangji is in the process of pushing himself up off the ground, eyes fixed on Jiang Cheng with such fury that it’s a wonder that he hasn’t burned to ash on the spot.

“Hanguang-Jun.” Jiang Cheng’s voice is tight with anger and even as he speaks his eyes never leave Wei Wuxian. “Why is it that the Lan Clan is so interested in protecting the Yiling Patriarch?”

“Remove your blade.” Lan Wangji says it again. He’s on his feet now, hand tight around Bichen’s hilt.

“Why should I?” Jiang Cheng snaps at him. “Why shouldn’t I kill him? Why are you protecting him? Is the great Hanguang-Jun secretly a student of the demonic path?”

“Jiang Cheng, stop insulting him.”

Jiang Cheng’s hand tightens convulsively around Sandu’s hilt. “13 years and that’s the first thing you say to me!?”

“You’ve got your sword at my throat what do you expect me to say?” Wei Wuxian snipes back automatically.

“Sect Leader Jiang.” Lan Sizhui takes a hesitant step forward, hands raised. “Please, the situation is more complicated than you think.”

Jiang Cheng ignores him. “Wei Wuxian, you are coming back with me to Lotus Pier where you will be sentenced for your crimes.” He taps Sandu against the side of Wei Wuxian’s neck. “Come on, get up, we’re going.”

“You are not taking him.” Lan Wangji’s eyes are blazing and his knuckles are white around Bichen’s hilt and Wei Wuxian knows the only thing stopping him from going for Jiang Cheng is the blade at Wei Wuxian’s throat.

“Hanguang-Jun!” Jiang Cheng finally snaps his head around to look at him. “Are you trying to start a war with the Jiang Clan!?”

“Sect Leader, please.” Lan Sizhui tries to interject again.”

“If that’s what it takes.” Lan Wangji draws Bichen in a single fluid movement.

“You don’t understand, the Jin Clan are the ones who are starting a war!” Lan Jingyi tries to cut in.

“Very well.” Jiang Cheng lets go of his clarity bell and Zidian crackles to life in his now free hand. “If the grate Hanguang-Jun wants to throw away his honor for the Yiling Patriarch then…”

“Jiujiu stop it!” Jin Ling’s voice cuts through the clearing and Jiang Cheng jerks his head around to face him.

“Stop!? What do you mean stop!? You’re the one they kidnapped!”

“Jiujiu…” Jin Ling tries to cut in but Jiang Cheng just talks over him.

“You sent Fairy back to me alone because you were kidnapped for the second time this week and for the second time this week it has to do with him and you’re telling me to stop!? I don’t know what’s gotten into you but shut up before I break your legs!”

“Jin Guangyao was behind the hundred holes curse on Jin Zixun!”

Jin Ling shouts the words and Jiang Cheng jerks as though he’s been struck, his eyes widening. The sudden movement causes Sandu to twitch in his bhand and Wei Wuxian feels a slight pain in his neck followed by the warm wet trickle of blood. Lan Wangji growls in fury but Jiang Cheng ignores him, attention focused entirely on his nephew.

“What did you say?” His tone is dangerous, every line of his body rigid with tension.

Jin Ling stares back at him, arms crossed, his own posture tight as a drawn bowstring, and after the day he is had it’s no wonder the kid is about to snap. “I said Jin Guangyao was behind the hundred holes curse on Jin Zixun. He got Sect Leader Su to do it for him and he set the whole thing up to get Senior Wei to accidently kill my father. He’s also the one who kidnapped us the first time and it was his accomplice, Xue Yang, who was going to cut out my tongue. They were going to kill us so that Jin Guangyao could use us to re-create the Yin Tiger Tally!”

“What the FUCK!” Jiang Cheng rounds back on Wei Wuxian. “What sort of nonsense have you been filling his mind with!? Isn’t everything you’ve done to him bad enough without messing with his head too!?”

Wei Wuxian feel something tighten in his chest and for a moment he finds himself without the words to reply.

That doesn’t appear to be a problem anyone else is having however since Lan Wangji’s growl of “Jiang Wanyin” leaves his mouth at the same time as Lan Sizhui’s, “Sect Leader Jiang that’s not…” and Lan Jingyi’s “But it’s all true!”

“He isn’t messing with my head!!” Jin Ling shouts the words and again he renders the rest of the clearing silent. The boy is shaking now, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and damn but he’s been through a lot. “I was there! I saw the marks on Sect Leader Su’s chest! I heard Jin Guangyao admit to everything!! Jin Guangyao wanted my father and Jin Zixun out of the way so that he could be Sect heir! He set everything up to get them killed! He faked my grandfather’s death and locked him up to get revenge on him to! I saw him! I saw Jin Guangshan! He’s alive! Only we weren’t supposed to get away and now Jin Guangyao knows we know everything and he’s chasing after us with a whole bunch of fierce corpses and he’s probably really close now and Senior Wei save my life so stop threatening him and help us!!”

Jiang Cheng stairs, eyes wide, mouth gaping. He opens and closes it a couple of times, clearly trying to find words, and at last he manages to get out, “saved your life!?”

“I lied. I didn’t stab him.” Jin Ling says instantly. “I was going to but then I was attacked and Senior Wei threw himself on the knife to protect me with his own body!”

Jiang Cheng sucks in a shaking breath and his hand too begins to shake, causing Sandu’s blade to shift against Wei Wuxian’s throat.

“Jiang Wanyin, lower your blade.” Lan Wangji takes a step closer and Jiang Cheng turns to face him, wide-eyed and still clearly reeling. Before he can say anything however there is a growling noise from the direction of the tree line and Wei Wuxian’s had jerks in that direction, heart suddenly thundering in fear.

There by the edge of the trees, where Wei Wuxian hadn’t noticed her and all the chaos, stands Fairy. She’s on her feet and her hackles are raised and her head is up and she is growling.

/Growling./

A soft squeak of fear escapes Wei Wuxian’s throat and he begins frantically trying to scramble backward through the grass. He barely notices Jiang Cheng whipping his head around in the dogs direction or Lan Wangji lunging forward until he has used Jiang Cheng’s distraction to knock the blade away from Wei Wuxian’s throat and then he’s at Wei Wuxian’s side, kneeling in the grass beside him, hands braced one on either side of Wei Wuxian’s head, body blocking Fairy from Wei Wuxian’s view, and eyes filled with panic.

“Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian lets out a shaky breath. “The dog…”

“I will not let her touch you.” The words were a vow and at the sound of them Wei Wuxian let out a soft sigh, something in him uncoiling.

Lan Wangji skimms one hand over his throat and the fresh lines of blood there, fingers butterfly gentle against his skin. Then suddenly Lan Wangji freezes, his eyes going wide, that look of horror and despair returning to them and Wei Wuxian follows his gaze to see…

‘Ah. That.’

“Wei Ying, what happened?” The horror is in Lan Wangji’s voice to and Wei Wuxian can’t have that, he can’t, so he smiles up at Lan Wangji, making his voice light and careless.

“Don’t worry about it, Lan Zhan, I’m fine.” He flips his left hand palm upward in a casual shrugging gesture that probably does very little to distract from the pool of blood surrounding his left arm.

“Wei Ying!” This time it leaves his mouth in a rasp that is part anger and part fear.

Lan Wangji scrambles in his sleeves, coming out with what must be the last of the bandages. He binds Wei Wuxian’s left arm quickly but it’s not enough, the blood already beginning to seep through the cloth. Without hesitating Lan Wangji rips the ribbon from his forehead and once again binds that on top of the bandaging.

“Lan Zhan, wait. I’m bleeding a lot. It will stain.”

“Let it.” The look Lan Wangji gives him is furious and burning and desperate and Wei Wuxian is reminded suddenly of the Lan Wangji who stood before Wei Wuxian in the mouth of the cave and cut down members of his own clan.

Wei Wuxian shuts his mouth.

Above him he hears Jiang Cheng demanding, “What the fuck is with those two!?”

And Jin Ling answering, “Lan Jingyi says they’re married.”

“THE HELL!?”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen and he is about to demands to know what Jin Ling is talking about but before he can Fairy growls again and Wei Wuxian starts, his shoulders stiffening as a wave of terror rushes through him.

“Fairy, what’s wrong?” Jin Ling asks the question, starting toward her.

“Wei-gongzi.” Wen Ning speaks for the first time. “They’re coming.”

Wei Wuxian lets out a shaky breath. “Thought so.” Honestly he’s surprised it took them this long, and that it did probably means that Jin Guangyao went for reinforcements before coming after them.

“Who is coming?” Jiang Cheng demands. “What the fuck is going on here!?”

“It’s like I said!” Jin Ling snaps impatiently. “We’re being hunted by Jin Guangyao!”

Wei Wuxian can hear them now, shuffling steps of dozens, maybe even hundreds, of walking corpses making their way through the trees.

Lan Wangji stands then holds out a hand to help Wei Wuxian rise. He takes it which turns out to be a good thing as Wei Wuxian sways as he gets to his feet, the world briefly whiting out in a way that probably has something to do with all the blood loss.

“Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian raises his head to smile reassuringly up at Lan Wangji from where he’s now leaning against the other man’s chest. When had that happened? He reluctantly pushes himself away to stand properly upright.

“Don’t worry, Lan Zhan, I’m fine. Really.”

For a moment Lan Wangji looks as though he’s about to argue but then all he says is. “Stay beside me.”

Wei Wuxian’s smile grows. “Yeah, I can do that.” After all it’s the only place he wants to be.

Lan Wangji draws Bichen and gestures to the two Lan juniors who draw their own swords, and fall back to stand, shoulders tense, beside the two of them. Wen Ning steps forward in front of the group. Jiang Cheng grabs Jin Ling’s arm, shoving the boy roughly behind him and Fairy comes to press herself against her master side, causing Wei Wuxian to tense and lean more into Lan Wangji. Jiang Cheng shoots a look at them and opens his mouth as though about to speak but before he can voice a singsong comes from the tree line.

“Found you~” Emerging from the trees, surrounded by an entire army of fierce corpses, is Xue Yang.

“Who the fuck is that!?” Jiang Cheng demands.

“That’s the guy who tried to cut out Jin Ling’s tongue.” Wei Wuxian tells him.

“Bastard!” Zidian sparks with reflected fury. “I’ll break his face.”

“That’s not very nice, Sect Leader Jiang.” A mad smile curls the corners of Xue Yang’s lips. “I didn’t expect to find you here actually but I brought enough friends that it won’t be a problem.” With that he raises his left hand to show within it a medallion swirling in black smoke. The Yin Tiger Tally. “It’s not complete yet but it should still be more than enough.”

With that he raises at high and the fierce corpses around him move, lunging forward to crash against the barrier surrounding the clearing, throwing themselves against it over and over again.

“Thar barrier isn’t going to hold for long.” Jiang Cheng’s voice is tight with tension.

“Hanguang-Jun? Senior Wei?” Lan Sizhui looks over at them with worried eyes.

“It will be alright.” Lan Wangji tells him firmly.

“Yeah no need to worry,” Wei Wuxian smiles reassuringly at him. “We just need to get the Yin Tiger Tally away from him that’s all.” He turns his head to look up at Lan Wangji. “No need to wait for the barrier to fail.”

“Mn.” Lan Wangji agrees then he’s lunging forward through the barrier, Bichen flashing as it cuts down fierce corpse after fierce corpse. At his side protected by the flash of that blinding blade Wei Wuxian begins throwing talisman after talisman into the horde before them causing each fierce corpse they strike to scream and collapse. There’s a rush of motion beside them and then Wen Ning is there, his chains whipping around him as he slams a fierce corpse into the nearest tree.

“Stay back!” The shout comes from Wei Wuxian’s left and he sees Jiang Cheng shoving Jin Ling bodily back through the barrier before Zidian flashes out to cut down the fierce corpses beginning to crowd toward him as well.

Xue Yang laughs, high and manic, the sound of it echoing out across the battle. “You want to come out and play, very well.” He lunges forward, sword lashing toward Lan Wangji’s unprotected side. Lan Wangji spins and meets the blow with the crash of blade on blade and Xue Yang laughs again before darting backward so that Lan Wangji’s next blow finds itself met only by another fierce corpse. Xue Yang darts in again and Lan Wangji raises his blade to meet it…

A spot of yellow in the corner of Wei Wuxian’s periphery. A flash of steel.

Wei Wuxian grabs Lan Wangji by the back of the robes and yanks. Lan Wangji stumbles backward and the knife only skimms against his throat.

“Jin Guangyao!” He’s there, thoroughly surrounded by fierce corpses, and he’s raising another throwing knife.

Another crash of blade on blade. Xue Yang is back, taking full advantage of the moment to press the attack and even as he does Jin Guangyao throws again, this time aiming for Wei Wuxian.

Lan Wangji’s eyes widen and he lunges to the side, Xue Yang’s blade sliding off of Bichen to cut deep into Lan Wangji’s shoulder, even as Lan Wangji polls Wei Wuxian clear of the knife’s path.

“Lan Zhan!” Undead arms grab for Lan Wangji and at the same moment Xue Yang’s sword comes flashing down toward his throat.

Lan Wangji wrenches his arm away from the fierce corpses grabbing him, raises his blade to meet Xue Yang and…Xue Yang falters, his eyes widening as someone crashes into him from the side.

It takes a moment for Wei Wuxian to realize who it is and when he does his eyes too widen for the man currently wrestling at Xue Yang’s arm is none other than Jin Guangshan.

“Give it to me!” Jin Guangshan is shouting, his voice hoarse recked rasp. “Give me the Yin Tiger Tally!”

“Get off me old man!” Xue Yang snaps viciously and tries to shake Jin Guangshan off but the former head of the Jin Sect cling stubbornly on.

“Lan Zhan!”

Lan Wangji doesn’t waste a moment. He lunges for Xue Yang, ducking under the man’s distracted guard to slice the left arm from him. Xue Yang screams and staggers forward, sword raised but Lan Wangji is faster and his blade pierces the other man’s throat.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t bother watching Xue Yang’s death. Instead he lunges forward but the sudden movement makes his head spin with blood loss and his fingers fumble and Jin Guangshan is closer. The Yin Tiger Tally drops from Xue Yang’s severed hand, bounces once on the ground, and then Jin Guangshan has it and he’s stumbling backward, a line of fierce corpses forming between him and Wei Wuxian.

“Finally! It’s mine! I’ll get revenge on that bastard whore’s son! I’ll take back my position! I’ill have everything restored to me! I’ll…”

“I don’t think so.” Suddenly Jin Guangyao is at his father’s side and, without the slightest hesitation, he plunges a sword into Jin Guangshan’s stomach.

Jin Guangshan screams, doubling over then crumpling to the ground. Dispassionately Jin Guangyao pulls the blade from his father’s stomach, causing Jin Guangshan to convulse and cry out again. Jin Guangyao leans forward and scoops up the Yin Tiger Tally before stepping past his father’s body. He does not strike again, does nothing to end the suffering of what will be a long slow and horrifically painful death.

Wei Wuxian thinks of Wen Qing and feels a grim satisfaction spark in his chest.

“It’s too bad about Xue Yang. He really was quite useful.”

“You!” Jiang Cheng spits. There’s a gash in his arm and blood splattered across his cheek and Zidian sparks furiously in his hand. “You really are behind this!”

“I am.” Jin Guangyao gives Jiang Cheng a small, almost apologetic, smile. “I did not expect to find you here, Sect Leader Jiang, but I’m afraid it won’t change much.”

Wei Wuxian tenses. Jin Guangshan would not have been much of a threat, not really, not when his body was so weak from years of captivity, not when Wei Wuxian highly doubts that he had any idea how to actually control the Yin Tiger Tally.

Jin Guangyao though… Jin Guangyao is clever and cunning, he doesn’t take unnecessary risks or feel the need to engage in duels and Wei Wuxian is sure that he knows /exactly/ how to use the Yin Tiger Tally.

“Stop this!” Jin Ling shouts, furious tears burning in his eyes. “Just stop this!”

“Sorry, A-Ling, I never meant for you to find out this way but what’s done is done. I don’t want this but it seems I won’t be able to make an exception for you. Honestly I don’t want to hurt any of you but you’ve left me with no choice so now I’m going to have to kill you all.”

He raises the Yin Tiger Tally. It begins to glow, dark and ominous and...

“No you don’t!”

The words come from behind Jin Guangyao just as his eyes widen and the tip of a blade emerges from his stomach.

Chapter Text

Nie Huaisang slips through the secret door and pushes it slowly closed behind himself, careful not to let it make a sound. His palms are sweating and his heart is racing. This isn’t the sort of thing he normally does, but he would entrust this to no one else.

He has to do this. He has to see this through. And for his brother’s sake, he will.

The day that da-ge died he’d been close, been begging him to calm down. He’d gotten stabbed in the leg for it but that hadn’t mattered. All that had mattered was da-ge, da-ge and…

The music.

Jin Guangyao’s music.

The music and the look in his eyes.

Calm, so calm, and then… Something. Something else. Something dark and cruel and smugly pleased.

Just a flash, just a moment, but Nie Huaisang had seen it, and then he’d known. He’d /known/.

He didn’t have proof, and, when, after his funeral, Nie Mingjue’s body had vanished, he hadn’t had any proof of who was behind that either, but still he had known.

The rage that took him at the realization is like nothing he has ever felt before, a fire white hot and all-consuming, burning through each and every memory of the san-ge who he had loved, the san-ge who had supported and defended him against da-ge’s increasingly irascible and cruel temper, a temper stoked and controlled by san-ge himself as his playing twisted Nie Mingjue’s mind until nothing but his saber’s cursed fury remained in him and all that was left for him was a horrible death.

San-ge, Jin Guangyao, had done that to him, and so Jin Guangyao must pay. It was a simple as that, he had taken what mattered most to Nie Huaishang so Nie Huaisang would take, not only what mattered most to Jin Gaungyao, but everything else along with it.

His first step had been to delve into Jin Guangyao’s secrets, every rumor, every whisper, even the vaguest of threats wasn’t to fine enough for him to follow. That was how he had discovered, among many other things, the rebound curse on Sect Leader Su’s chest and the incestuous connection between Jin Guangyao and his wife. What interested Nie Huaisang most however were rumors about Xue Yang. Xue Yang was the reason that Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue had ultimately fallen out, the reason that Nie Mingjue had to die, and so the trail leading to Jin Guangyao’s destruction must begin with him. It only took a handful of bribes to ascertain that Xue Yang was no longer in the dungeon of Koi Tower but neither was he anywhere else. So Nie Huaisang’s search had begun, the search that ultimately brought him to a nine fingered man drinking in a tavern. Jin Guangyao was too careful to ever be tailed but Xue Yang, when drunk, was not so guarded, and the Nie clan disciple who had found him for Nie Huaisang had ultimately managed to track the man back here, to this secret place beneath the hill, and so here Nie Huaisang is, following the path of Jin Guangyao’s death.

He already has a pretty good idea of what sort of place this will turn out to be, what sort of things are being done here, after all why ally with a demonic cultivator if not to experiment with demonic cultivation. Still he needs more than a general guess, needs to know, to understand every little thing, and so he slips, shoulders tense and ears pricked, through the hallways of the place. Nie Huaisang knows that he is no fighter, knows that if he is caught then he is probably finished, but for a plan that relies on stealth, to bring bodyguards would have been too much of a risk. Still, whatever he has led the rest of the cultivation world to think about him, he is no fool. He does have a contingency plan. A group of his most trusted Nie cultivators are hidden in the forest nearby and with them is a letter explaining everything about Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang. If he does not return within two incense time half of them are to come for him while the other half are to take the letter directly to Sect Leader Jiang. Er-ge will never believe in Jin Guangyao’s guilt until the day Nie Huaisang can force Jin Guangyao to reveal his true self before his most beloved friend. It will happen, Nie Huaisang has sworn it, has sworn to make Jin Guangyao destroy the relationship he values most with his own two hands, but until then Er-ge is not a safe ally. Jiang Wanyin however, his all-consuming hatred of demonic cultivators is the perfect weapon to utilize against Xue Yang, and so, if he is backed into a corner, it is that which Nie Huaisang will use to save himself.

Still, he would rather not need saving at all, would rather not be discovered here, would rather not give Jin Guangyao any chance to recognize where his true danger lies until the moment Nie Huaisang is ready to end him. So Nie Huaisang is quick and quiet and careful as he slips his way through the place, exploring each and every room. He finds the giant experiment cell where Wen Qionglin’s body lies and the smaller prison cells upstairs where Jin Guangshan has been secreted, still alive. Then he finds the office, filled with its experiment notes and its hidden treasures and, on the shelf behind a curtain…

Nie Huaisang lets out a shuddering gasp, emotion rising in his throat.

Da-ge’s head, da-ge’s severed head.

He wants to sob. He wants to scream. He wants to tear the room apart, tear the world apart, tear Jin Guangyao apart. His shoulders are shaking, his hands balled into fists so tight that his nails score lines into his palms.

He can’t scream. He can’t sob. He can’t be loud. He can’t tear the room apart. He can’t even take his brother’s head from this horrible place, not without revealing that an intruder has been here. He can’t. He can’t. He can’t. He…

After a while the shaking slows, the tremors in his breath ease, and he’s able to uncoil one hand to wipe the silent tears from his eyes. Abruptly he kneels, bowing and offering prayers just as he would at his brother’s tablet. Afterward he rises and, with shaking fingers, he closes the curtain, shutting his brother’s head away once more. Then heartsick and furious Nie Huaisang turns again to the task of Jin Guangyao’s destruction.

His first step is the desk and the bookshelves and all the experiment documents upon them. It doesn’t take him long to figure out what Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang are trying to do. It doesn’t take him long to find the place where they have run into a snag. They need powerful murdered cultivators, lots of them, in order to generate the sort of resentment they need. Xue Yang is all for wiping out minor sects while Jin Guangyao worries that the power of those cultivators might produce inferior results. Through their arguments on the page Nie Huaisang fills and the shape of the problem and then, fingers tapping against the wood of the desk and mine sharpened by rage, the shape of the solution.

Juniors.

Juniors from a prominent sect.

He knows where Xue Yang drinks now. He can wander in, disguised, and drop a few words to plant the idea, yes that will be easy enough, but what then? How to get him caught in the act? How to do it in a way that brings down Jin Guangyao and how to do it in a way that eliminates a powerful demonic cultivator like Xue Yang?

...A powerful demonic cultivator…

The idea begins to form in Nie Huaisang’s mind.

He has the body of a brother, torn to pieces and, if the arm he has recovered is any indication, seething with resentful energy, that needs to be found and dealt with. He has a chief cultivator who brought about the death of Jin Zixuan, and in so doing destroyed the life and happiness of Jiang Yanli, to be destroyed. He has a replacement Yin Tiger Tally and a powerful demonic cultivator, a wannabe Wei Wuxian, to be disposed of.

And who could be better for the job than the real thing?

Nie Huaisang scoops up one of the books he searched earlier and flips back through it, searching for a certain ritual he found on his first perusal. But who to use as the sacrifice? He considers for a moment. This place isn’t too far from Mo Manor and Mo Xuanyu… Yes, after how his family has treated him, he should be agreeable. Nie Huaisang will simply have to lure enough walking corpses into the area to make sure a group of juniors are sent out. But who?

To be appealing to Xue Yang they’ll have to be from a major sect. They can’t be Nie, not while he wants to keep all traces of his fingerprints off of this. Xue Yang is probably unscrupulous enough to be fine with picking off a few Jin juniors, but if he knows the new plan is juniors and dispatches an entire group in that direction, Jin Guangyao will probably order Xue Yang to leave them alone. Jiang juniors are all too likely to share their sect leader’s violent impulses toward Wei Wuxian which could cause problems. That means it will have to be the Lan. Perfect. That will be easy enough, all Nie Huaisang will have to do is drop a few words in Er-ge’s ear about how he’s heard troubling rumors about walking corpses near this one village but he couldn’t possibly take it on, not when he so overwhelmed with everything else and what ever is he to do?

Yes, a few words to Lan Xichen, to Xue Yang, to Mo Xuanyu, and a few lure flags to produce the walking corpses and that should set Jin Guangyao’s destruction in motion. Still he’d like to put in place some extra assurance to make sure Wei Wuxian feels the need to get involved.

He had better make sure that Jin Rulan is one of the juniors captured, after all, Nie Huaisang thinks as his eyes return to the curtain now concealing his brother’s severed head, there is nothing one won’t do for the sake of family.

Chapter Text

Jin Guangyao staggers but only for a moment. The wound must be agonizing but even from his distance Wei Wuxian can see that it isn’t an expert stroke, a fatal wound for a normal civilian sure, but not necessarily for a cultivator. Jin Guangyao takes another staggering step forward, wrenching himself off of the blade, and even as he does he turns, drawing his own sword and lashing out at the figure behind him. The man who stumbles away from his blow is fine built and dressed in dark green robes and to his shock Wei Wuxian recognizes Nie Huaisang. Behind Nie Huaisang, frozen and so pale he might as well be made of the Jade that they call him, stands Lan Xichen.

“Huaisang!?” Jin Guangyao’s eyes widen. Even he seems shocked.

Nie Huaisang’s shoulders are squared resolutely, his eyes sharp with fury in a way that Wei Wuxian has never seen them before, and though he is pale, his hands, where they grip the saber dripping with Jin Guangyao’s blood, do not shake.

“San-ge, did you really think I didn’t know you killed my brother?”

Jin Guangyao sways on his feet, shock clear in every feature, and then he lunges for Nie Huaisang. The Nie Sect Leader staggers back, only just managing to block the blow and it’s clear in that moment that no matter how much else has changed with him, Nie Huaisang still isn’t any good with a sword. Wei Wuxian lunges forward trying to go to his aid, Lan Wangji at his side but the wall of fierce corpses between them bars their way. Jin Guangyao strikes again at Nie Huaisang, and this time he knocks the blade from the Nie sect leader’s hand, sending it spinning to the earth. Nie Huaisang’s eyes widen in fear and he stumbles back yet even as he does so Wei Wuxian thinks he catches the slightest flicker in his expression so that, just for a second, it looks almost like triumph.

Jin Guangyao swings his blade toward Nie Huaisang’s unprotected throat and at last Lan Xichen moves, lunging forward and pushing Nie Huaisang out of the way to bury his blade in Jin Guangyao’s chest. This time the strike is not unskilled. This time, even for a cultivator, the blow is mortal.

“Er-ge...” Jin Guangyao’s eyes widen and he lets out a shuddering gasp, the Yin Tiger Tally falling to the ground as he raises both hands to clutch at the blade embedded in his chest.

“You killed da-ge?” Lan Xichen’s voice is shaking in a way that Wei Wuxian has never heard it before and in shock he realizes that there are tears pouring silently down the Lan Sect Leader’s cheeks. “You killed him? You abducted the juniors? You were going to kill Wangji?”

Jin Guangyao takes another breath, loud and shuddering as though they are getting harder for him. “I had to, don’t you see that? I had to… But you, Er-ge, I would never have hurt you, never have harmed you, never born you any ill will.” He staggers forward, pushing himself more onto the blade as he reaches for Lan Xichen, though in longing or in anger Wei Wuxian cannot tell. Beside him Lan Wangji stiffens, clearly readying himself to go to his brother’s aid.

Lan Xichen’s eyes widen farther and he shakes his head again and again as though trying to shake away the evidence of his own ears. “You killed da-ge, you were going to kill Wangji, how could that not have hurt me?”

“Er-ge…”

“No.” The tears fall more thickly from Lan Xichen’s eyes now and he shakes his head yet again, a new sharpness to his words. “No.”

He jerks back, Shuoyue pulling free of Jin Guangyao’s chest. The chief cultivator sways on the spot then collapses to his knees at Lan Xichen’s feet. Something in his eyes and posture changes then, something hard and flinty setting in even among the blood loss and pain.

“Fine then.”

He lunges scrabbling across the ground, reaching for where he dropped the Yin Tiger Tally.

Lan Wangji lunges. He shoves past fierce corpses and just as Jin Guangyao’s fingers close over the Yin Tiger Tally, bichen bites down into the back of the chief cultivators neck. Just like that Jin Guangyao falls forward, his body twitching once, and then he is still.

The two jades of Lan stare at each other, Lan Wangji with shoulders fury stiff and features resolute, Lan Xichen pale and shaking, the tracks of silent tears still shining on his cheeks.

“Wangji…” Lan Xichen’s voice is hoarse and as shaky as the rest of him.

“Brother.”

Wei Wuxian thinks privately that they should be embracing like most siblings would but they are Lans so they only look at each other.

Around them the remaining fierce corpses have staggered into stillness, the loss of the Yin Tiger Tally’s commands briefly leaving them too confused to do anything but stand there. It won’t last though, Wei Wuxian knows, and he’s clearly not the only one to have that thought because at that moment Sandu flashes out, lopping off the heads of two of the nearest corpses as Jiang Cheng takes advantage of their confusion to thin their numbers. Wei Wuxian pulls more talismans from his sleeve and steps forward to help him only for the world to spin and dip as he sways on the spot.

“Senior Wei!” Suddenly Lan Sizhui is at his side, hands on his upper arm holding him upright.

Lan Wangji’s head snaps around, eyes widening, and then he’s at Wei Wuxian’s side, firm hands gripping Wei Wuxian’s other shoulder. “Wei Ying!”

“It’s nothing, nothing. I’m fine, really. It’s just the blood loss.”

“Blood loss?” Lan Sizhui echoes in growing alarm.

Lan Wangji’s eyes narrow. “Sizhui, please take care of my brother.” Then, before Lan Sizhui has time to nod or Wei Wuxian has time to protest, Lan Wangji is lifting him into his arms, stepping up onto bichen, and bearing him away.

***

The flight back to Jin Guangyao’s secret experiment dungeon is a short silent one. Some part of Wei Wuxian’s mind tries to turn over everything that has just happened, trying to slot the pieces of Nie Huaisang and Lan Xichen Into the already existing puzzle, but his thoughts are hazy and fragmented and Lan Wangji’s arms are warm and solid around him and so he sinks into them, letting his eyes fall closed and simply basking in their warmth.

The warmth of the arms of the man he loves.

The man who loves him back.

***

When they touch down outside the experiment dungeon Lan Wangji doesn’t put Wei Wuxian down and for once Wei Wuxian doesn’t protest. He just thinks about the bloody lashes carved into Lan Wangji’s back and the empty broken look in his eyes and allows himself to be held.

Only when they reach the place where the now broken nightmare array was hidden does Lan Wangji finally put him down, lowering him gently back to his feet with hands that linger against Wei Wuxian’s arms and back. Wei Wuxian allows himself a moment to lean into that touch before he sets to work scanning the surrounding walls and ceiling for any other traps. Not finding anything he at last steps forward to peer through the bars of the cell door directly behind the broken array that had trapped Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui. Inside the cell is a single man in fine but bedraggled robes, sitting hunched over on a bed of straw. Wei Wuxian draws back after a glance and turns to Lan Wangji.

“It’s him.”

Lan Wangji nods, clearly every bit as unsurprised as Wei Wuxian himself. After all where else would the bate be besides right behind the trap. In two quick steps Lan Wangji approaches the door and places his palm against it, sending a bolt of spiritual energy through the lock. With a crack it gives way in the door swings open and as it does Mo Ziyuan straightens abruptly, head jerking up.

“What…” He starts and then his eyes find Wei Wuxian. “You!” Mo Ziyuan shouts it with all the outrage of someone who has finally found someone to blame for everything that has gone wrong in his life. “I should have known this had something to do with you!” He scrambles to his feet, using the wall behind him for support, eyes still locked on Wei Wuxian. “You spread more of those filthy lies about me didn’t you? You turned the chief cultivator against me!” He pushes himself away from the wall and flings himself bodily at Wei Wuxian. “You ungrateful little brat! After all my family has done for you! I’ll teach you…”

His words cut off in a spluttering gasp, eyes bugging wide and fingers dropping just before the tips can brush Wei Wuxian’s robes. He looks down and Wei Wuxian looks down, united for a moment in staring at the gleaming silver blade now securely lodged in Mo Ziyuan’s chest. Then the blade pulls back, leaving Mo Ziyuan to crumple to the ground and leaving Wei Wuxian to turn to stare at Lan Wangji instead. Lan Wangji who is calmly sheathing bichen like killing for Wei Wuxian is the most natural thing in the world, Lan Wangji who has now killed two members of the Mo family for him, who has killed members of his own Lan Sect for him, Lan Wangji… Lan Zhan…

Wei Wuxian takes a shuddering breath, his heart starting to race even as other emotions clime their way up his throat, briefly choking him.

Uncharacteristically it’s Lan Wangji who speaks first. “Wei Ying, your arm?”

Wei Wuxian rolls up the sleeve of his left arm and they both gaze down at it together, gaze down at the place where dried blood now coats only unbroken skin.

Wei Wuxian looks back up at Lan Wangji and grins. “It’s gone. I guess this means you’re stuck with me.”

Lan Wangji lets out a shaky breath and briefly closes his eyes. Then he opens them again and inclines his head in the direction they came from. “We should go. Jin Guangyao may have left more traps.”

“Yeah, he probably did.” Wei Wuxian agrees and starts back in the direction they came from only to sway a little on his feet as his body reminds him that, just because he is no longer bleeding doesn’t mean that its forgiven him for all the blood loss thus far.

His body. His now, not Mo Xuanyu’s, not anymore. It’s his now. His body and his life and now he gets to keep it.

Lan Wangji steps up beside him, wrapping an arm around Wei Wuxian’s back, to support him, to keep him close, and like that they walk out of the dungeon.

Together.

***

When they emerge back into the moonlight Jiang Cheng is waiting for them. He’s standing with his back against a tree, arms crossed, Zidian sparking agitated lay on his finger, and when he hears their footsteps his head snaps up, eyes instantly locking onto Wei Wuxian’s.

“Wei Wuxian!”

“Jiang Cheng.”

Jiang Cheng glares at him for a moment then abruptly he asks, “Is what Jin Ling said true, about Jin Guangyao using you to kill Jin Zixun and Jin Zixuan?”

“Yeah it’s true.” Wei Wuxian tries to say it lightly as though his own mind isn’t still twisting into pained knocks over it.

“But you still lost control! You still killed Jin Zixuan! Your fierce corpse still attacked shijie!”

Wei Wuxian flinches back, his shoulders tensing as the false humor crumbles from his voice to be replaced by an ache that may never truly heal. “I know.”

Instantly Lan Wangji’s arm tightens around Wei Wuxian’s waist as he glares at Jiang Cheng. “Watch your words.”

“Why!?” Jiang Cheng whips his head around to turn his furious glare on Lan Wangji. “What business is this of the Lan Clan anyway? What are you even doing here with him!?”

Lan Wangji’s eyes narrow dangerously. “I am here to assist Wei Ying.”

“Why!?” Jiang Cheng demands again, angry eyes returning to Wei Wuxian. “What the fuck is it with the two of you suddenly anyway!? Why did A-Ling say you’re married!?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Wei Wuxian smirks and leans into Lan Wangji, all but nuzzling up against him, using the provocative teasing of the gesture to hide the fact that he too has no idea what Jin Ling was talking about. Married...to Lan Wangji? Just the idea has his heart beating faster. Out of the corner of his eye Wei Wuxian sees Lan Wangji’s ears turning pink. Interesting…

“No I fucking wouldn’t I...What the fuck!?” Jiang Cheng shakes his head and then shakes it again. “You know what? No, I’m not doing this. I’m just here to deliver a message from Nie Huaisang and then I’ll leave you to whatever the hell this is.”

Instantly Wei Wuxian’s eyes narrow with interest. “Nie Huaisang?” He still doesn’t know how the Nie Sect leader slots into this but based purely on the words he said to Jin Guangyao he’s clearly far more involved than anyone guessed.

“What message?”

Jiang Cheng shifts restlessly. “He says he’s summoning the other sect leaders to explore Jin Guangyao’s workshop so you should probably make yourself scarce but not to go too far because after it’s over he’d like you to help him out with something.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes narrow further. “With what?”

“I don’t fucking know!” Jiang Cheng throws up his hands. “That’s all he said and then he told me where this place is and asked me to come find you. How does he even know that you’re you!?”

“I don’t know.” Wei Wuxian says it slowly, considering.

Jiang Cheng snorts. “Whatever. I delivered the message so I’m going back to Jin Ling now.” He pushes himself away from the tree and turns away. “If Nie Huaisang is planning to summon the other sect leaders then you should do what he says and fuck off.”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen and he takes a half step forward, hearing in those words all the things Jiang Cheng isn’t saying. He isn’t saying ‘I’m going to arrest you.’ He isn’t saying ‘I’m going to tell them who you are so that they’ll come after you.’ He isn’t saying ‘I’m going to make sure you never get to see Jin Ling again.’ if anything what he’s saying is ‘I’ll keep your secret.’

“Jiang Cheng…”

Jiang Cheng’s shoulders stiffen but he doesn’t turn, only steps up onto Sandu and flies away.

***
When Jiang Cheng is out of sight above the tree line Wei Wuxian turns back to Lan Wangji to find the other man already watching him, a strange taught look in his eyes that leaves Wei Wuxian feeling like there are sparks prickling over his skin.

“Lan Zhan? Why do the juniors think we’re married?”

Lan Wangji takes a shaky breath, ears turning pink again and eyes flicking downward to Wei Wuxian’s now bare left wrist. “The Lan forehead ribbon has rules.”

“Yeah you said that already.” Wei Wuxian tilts his head to the side, trying to get a better look at Lan Wangji’s expression but the other man refuses to meet his eyes. “And you said I wasn’t breaking any by touching it.”

“Mn.” There’s no doubt about it, Lan Wangji’s ears are definitely red now.

Wei Wuxian stares for a moment and then it clicks and he begins to laugh. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan wait, is there some rule that says that only a spouse can touch your ribbon? Is that it?”

“Or a child or parent.” Lan Wangji says it stiff and grudging, as though the words are being dragged out of him, and Wei Wuxian laughs again. He can’t help it. Suddenly he feels so light, like he’s going to float away, and for once it has nothing to do with the blood loss. Lan Wangji… Lan Wangji wants him, loves him, wants to marry him, not just in some twisted nightmare, not just in the past, not just as some lingering attachment to a boyhood crush, but here, now. He already knew it really, knew the moment everything slotted into place within the dream realm, but there’s knowing and then there’s hearing it said out loud, hearing it spoken, its…

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, I thought lying was forbidden. You told me that I wasn’t breaking the rules touching your ribbon but we aren’t actually married, unless, Lan Zan did you somehow sneakily managed to marry me without me knowing?”

“Wei Ying…” Lan Wangji’s ears are burning but he still won’t meet Wei Wuxian’s eyes.

“Did you?” Wei Wuxian leans in and pokes at his chest.

Lan Wangji’s head snaps up and there something in his gaze, burning yes but also desperate and unsure, that steals laughter from Wei Wuxian’s lips. “Did you mean it?”

“What?” The question leaves Wei Wuxian’s mouth on a startled breath.

“Did you mean it?” Lan Wangji asks again, voice rough and as desperate as his gaze. “Did you mean what you said in the dream realm?”

Wei Wuxian’s eyes widen. “You think I didn’t mean it?”

Lan Wangji swallows and Wei Wuxian can see just from the rise and fall of his chest how fast he is breathing, can see it, just like he can easily see the emotion on Lan Wangji’s face because for once it is written there clearly for anyone to see, or perhaps just for Wei Wuxian to see.

“We were trapped in a nightmare. You had to say what you needed to in order to get me out…” Lan Wangji’s voice falters after that, actually falters, and it’s so strange on him, this uncertainty. Wei Wuxian hates it. He wants to wash it away and make sure it never comes back. He reaches up and gently cups Lan Wangji’s face in his hands.

“Lan Zhan, I didn’t say all that just to get you out of the dream realm. I said it because it’s true. Lan Zhan, I love you. I fancy you. I want you. I want to night hunt with you every day and sleep with you every night. I don’t ever want to be without you again. I can’t leave you. It has to be you, no one else but you, alright? I...” Wei Wuxian takes a shuddering breath, memories of everything he saw in the dream realm flickering through his mind. Lan Wangji’s bandaged back, the crack of a whip, the flash of a blade, the empty desperation in Lan Wangji’s eyes, and the blood, in every memory the blood. “I’m sorry Lan Zhan, sorry I put you through all that, sorry it took me so long to see, so long to realize, but I do. I see now. I know now. I know I’m in love with you and I know I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you because I really really do love you.”

By the time Wie Wuxian finishes talking Lan Wangji is shaking beneath his touch, eyes wide and face gone pale with shock.

“Wei Ying…” His name leaves Lan Wangji’s lips in a shaky gasping breath.

“Lan Zhan, I love you.” Wei Wuxian says it again because now that he’s started saying it he can’t seem to stop.

“Love you…” Lan Wangji whispers the words back at him, q soft echo beneath the moonlight “Want you. Can’t leave you. It has to be you. Only you.” His hands move to Wei Wuxian’s waist, tentative at first and then so tight that Wei Wuxian will probably have bruises in the morning. He’s still shaking and with a shock Wei Wuxian suddenly sees the glint of tears in his eyes.

“Lan Zhan…”

Lan Wangji kisses him. Last time, when Wei Wuxian initiated the kiss within the dream realm, Lan Wangji hesitated for a moment as though not sure whether or not to believe in what was happening. This time there is no such hesitation. Lan Wangji’s lips on his are hungry hot and desperate and Wei Wuxian finds himself melting into them so fast that his head spins. Lan Wangji takes full advantage of the moment to turn them and push Wei Wuxian up against the dungeon door, pinning him there with his hands on the full weight of his body as he continues biting and licking his way into Wei Wuxian’s mouth in a way that leaves him weak kneed and gasping. His hands move to grip at Lan Wangji’s shoulders, desperate for some stability in the rising tide of desire threatening to pull him under, and fuck, but he wants to be pulled under. Who knew kissing could feel this good?? This right?? This…

A sense memory washes over him, hands pinning him against the wood of a tree, the breath stolen from his lips, the scent of sandalwood…

Wei Wuxian gasps, jerking back out of the kiss. “Lan Zhan, it was you!?”

Lan Wangji stares at him, hungry and panting and obviously confused in a way that Wei Wuxian has never seen him and the sight draws the mirth back to Wei Wuxian’s lips so he’s laughing when he says, “That day at Phoenix Mountain. You kissed me! That was you!”

“Mn.” Lan Wangji looks away, ears turning pink again. “I apologize. It was wrong.”

Wei Wuxian just laughs again, he can’t help it. “Lan Zhan, you really did that? You saw me standing blindfolded against a tree and you wanted me so badly that you just couldn’t help yourself? Is that it?”

“Mn.” Lan Wangji nods, eyes still fixed firmly on the ground.

Wei Wuxian beams. “Wow, Lan Zhan, for you to break that many rules just to have me, you must really have wanted me so badly. How does it feel to know that you have me now? How does it feel to know that every kiss I’ve ever had belongs to you?”

At that Lan Wangji’s head finally snaps up and when their eyes meet again Lan Wangji’s gaze is burning. “Every?”

“Yep.” Wei Wuxian curls his arms more securely around Lan Wangji’s neck. “Every single one.”

“But you said…” Lan Wangji’s voice trails away, confusion evident in his eyes.

“What did I say?” Wei Wuxian blinks a couple of times, trying to remember, then, slowly, it comes back to him, and he laughs. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan. You should know better than to listen to me by now. Did you really think I was so experienced?”

“You had not...?” Lan Wangji asks the question warily as though feeling out the words.

Wei Wuxian shakes his head, still grinning at Lan Wangji. “Hadn’t, haven’t, not with anyone but you.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes widen and then he’s kissing Wei Wuxian again, all tongue and teeth and desperate hunger and Wei Wuxian is drowning in it, drowning and he wants to drown, wants to sink and sink into this and never come up for air. He clutches at Lan Wangji’s back, fingers digging in desperately against his robes, and is rewarded by Lan Wangji pushing him back even harder against the door, body fully pressed to Wei Wuxian’s own.

Lan Wangji is hard. The realization sends sparks tingling down Wei Wuxian’s spine. Just from touching him, just from kissing him, Lan Wangji is hard. The feel of him pressing into Wei Wuxian’s hip is enough to have him noticing his own arousal, the way his pants feel suddenly far too tight, the way his whole body aches with the desperate need, the need for Lan Wangji.

Without thinking about it Wei Wuxian leans into that need, grinding himself against Lan Wangji’s thigh.

Lan Wangji gasps, breaking the kiss to stare at Wei Wuxian with eyes going wide and wild. The heat of that gaze sends a shudder down Wei Wuxian’s spine, setting him alight, and Wei Wuxian wants to burn. He tightens his arms around Lan Wangji, leaning in and deliberately rubbing himself against Lan Wangji’s thigh as he murmurs against the other man’s ear, “If you wanted me so badly back then, what are you going to do with me now that I’m all yours?”

Lan Wangji sucks in a gasping breath and then he’s shoving Wei Wuxian backward hard against the wood of the dungeon door, his hands dropping from Wei Wuxian’s hips to his thighs, using them to lift Wei Wuxian bodily off the ground. Wei Wuxian lets out a startled breath of laughter, legs scrambling to wrap around Lan Wangji’s waist.

“Lan Zhan, you- ah~” The laughter turns to a gasp as Lan Wangji bites down hard on the side of Wei Wuxian’s neck. “Lan Zhan! What-” Lan Wangji bites down again just as hard and Wei Wuxian digs his fingers into Lan Wangji’s back, frantically trying to keep his balance as he grinds forward against Lan Wangji and is caught between waves of pain and pleasure. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan...ah...so rough with your Wei Ying… Lan Zhan that hurts… Fuck… ah… too much too much… don’t stop…”

In answer Lan Wangji shifts Wei Wuxian in his arms, getting one hand free and sliding it between them then pushing their pants out of the way before taking them both in hand. Wei Wuxian gasps, his eyes widening as he feels Lan Wangji’s cock press up against his own. They’re both dripping pre-cum but other than that there’s nothing to aid in the slide so the feel of it is rough, painful even. Wei Wuxian loves it. He moans, loud and unrestrained, not caring that there out in the open or how far the sound might travel, not caring about anything except the feel of Lan Wangji’s body pressed against his own, Lan Wangji’s cock sliding against his as Lan Wangji’s beautiful sword callused hand pumps them both together. It’s the best thing Wei Wuxian has ever felt and he lets his head fall back against the dungeon door, neck arching instinctively into Lan Wangji’s every lick and bite as wave after wave of all-consuming pleasure washes over him.

“Lan Zhan… Lan-er-gege...My Lan-er-gege...Fuck… So good...so good to me...want you...so badly...love you...Lan Zhan I love you…”

Lan Wangji’s hand stutters at those words and then he growls “Wei Ying…” and he’s coming, the hot jet of his release flowing out over Wei Wuxian’s skin and the feel of it, of Lan Wangji coming with Wei Wuxian’s name on his lips, it’s too much for him. He crashes over the edge, pleasure rushing through him as he moans Lan Wangji’s name and his vision whites out briefly with the rush of it.

When he comes back to himself Wei Wuxian is hanging, limp and shaking in Lan Wangji’s arms and Lan Wangji is kissing him gently, his cheeks, his jaw the tip of his nose. It’s so cute, so soft, that it does something strange and warm to Wei Wuxian’s insides even as it makes him giggle a little, his eyes fluttering open.

“Lan Zhan…”

“Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji kisses him again, on the lips this time, and when he pulls back there is a softness in his gaze that Wei Wuxian has never seen there before. It makes his heart flutter in his chest makes him want to kiss Lan Wangji again, so he does, leaning in to press another kiss to those too perfect lips, long and lingering and perfect. For a moment Wei Wuxian feels the kiss deepening, feels turning hungry once more, but then Lan Wangji pulls back abruptly, breaking it off before the heat has a chance to build.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian blinks up at him, confused.

Lan Wangji’s ears have turned red again and once again he is no longer meeting Wei Wuxian’s eyes. “You lost a lot of blood, and Nie Huaisang says it is not safe for you here.”

“What?” Wei Wuxian stares at him for a moment, and then his words slot into place and Wei Wuxian bursts out laughing. “Lan Zhan, Lan-er-gege, are you telling me that you were planning to take me somewhere safe and wait a few days before ravishing me, only when I said I’m yours you got so carried away you lost control again?”

“Mn…” Lan Wangji’s ears are flaming now and there’s a distinctly abashed sound to his ‘mn.’

Wei Wuxian keeps laughing, leaning into Lan Wangji’s warmth and burying his head against the man’s neck.

“Alright, Lan Zhan, take me away with you. Kidnap me and take me anywhere you like.” He leans in and kisses one of those burning ears. “Anywhere you take me, I’ll be yours.”

***

Much later that night Wei Wuxian lies naked in the bed of an inn, wrapped in the naked body of the man he now calls husband. Wei Wuxian is drenched in sweat and sore in places that he had no idea could be sore and eyes are trying to close but he fights to keep them open, keep them trained on the unusually soft and open face of the man running gentle fingers through his hair.

The man.

His husband.

Hanguang-Jun.

Lan Wangji.

Lan Zhan.

His Lan Zhan.

His.

Now and always.

“Lan Zhan, it’s long past your bedtime. You should sleep.”

“So should you.”

Lan Wangji’s fingers never pause in their stroking of Wei Wuxian’s scalp and he leans, cat like, into the touch.

“Lan Zhan, my Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian reaches up to cup the side of his cheek, thumb stroking gently just below his eye. “Tonight wasn’t a dream you know? I’ll still be here in the morning.”

Lan Wangji sucks in a sudden shaking breath. “Wei Ying…”

“It’s real, Lan Zhan. It’s all real. I’m here, Lan Zhan, and I love you.”

“I love you too.” Lan Wangji says it softly, his whole body relaxing. He ducks his head down to press a tender kiss to Wei Wuxian’s lips and runs a hand down Wei Wuxian’s arm to stroke over the place where his forehead ribbon is once again bound securely around Wei Wuxian’s left wrist, this time covering nothing more than unblemished skin.

A promise that, when tomorrow comes, they will both still be there and that they will greet it together.