#i’m just- when he cries to wen qing and asks what to do it’s made me realize | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

robininthelabyrinth · 3 years

Note

A-Yuan wasn’t the only child among the Wen Remnants, just the youngest.

Children's Day - ao3

Lan Wangji carefully scooped up the boy out of his hiding place, tucked beneath a pile of stones, sick with fever and fast asleep.

It was a good hiding place. If Lan Wangji hadn’t played Inquiry and demanded to know if there were any living beings around in this cursed place of death, he would never have found the small child.

He remembered him – this was little A-Yuan, who Wei Wuxian had taken down into town to play, the one Lan Wangji had bought all those toys for in his confusion, the one who called him rich-gege. Barely more than two years old, having never known anything but war.

He was all that was left, now. There was nothing else left in the battlefield.

No one else left.

Lan Wangji closed his eyes in pain.

I’ll care for him for you, he promised Wei Wuxian’s ghost, wherever it might be now. Now that you cannot.

I’ll take him back to Gusu to raise as my own – wishing you were by my side.

-Earlier-

“Sect Leader!” one of his aides cried out when he staggered back into camp. “What – who’s that?”

Jiang Cheng looked down at the girl in his arms. She was – four, maybe? Five? He had no idea.

She looked a bit like Wen Qing.

“I found her hiding in the corner of the battlefield when she made a noise,” he said hoarsely. “The Wen sect remnants…by the time I got there, they were almost all dead already, all her family. She’s – she’s young. It didn’t seem right.”

Wei Wuxian always liked children, he thought vaguely to himself as he looked down at her. It wasn’t so much of a surprise that he would keep one there…in fact, if he thought back to that horrible meeting they’d had that one time he’d come to the Burial Mounds to try to talk to Wei Wuxian, he thought he remembered there being a small child there. This must be her.

She was bigger than he remembered, but that was what happened with small children, wasn’t it?

“Her surname is Wen?”

“No,” Jiang Cheng snapped automatically, and his aide took a step back from his vehemence. “The Wen sect is dead, you understand? All of them. The cultivation world refused to allow them to live, that much is obvious enough. Her surname…”

He looked down at her.

I failed Wei Wuxian, he thought grimly. I won’t fail his legacy.

“Her surname will be Jiang.”

-Earlier-

“We found this child hiding in the Demon Subduing Cave,” one of the guards reported, looking nervous. “Lianfeng-zun – what do we do with them?”

Jin Guangyao frowned down at the child, judging the child’s age to be about five or six – maybe seven, considering the likelihood of malnutrition at the Burial Mounds. If they were any younger, he would’ve said that the child ought to just execute them as useless; any older, and he would’ve had no choice but to declare them an enemy combatant, and thereby order them executed.

At this age, though…they were still young enough to be taught to forget their current surname, and to learn new loyalties, and yet old enough to perhaps remember a little of what they had learned, living as they had for a few years with the inventor of demonic cultivation.

Jin Guangyao glanced at the papers in his hands, full of barely legible scribbles, laying out powerful new spells and interesting ideas. They would help Xue Yang with his work – but not as much as a helper would, and naturally they’d just brutally executed all the other ‘helpers’ that might have been available.

Not exactly Jin Guangyao’s personal preference, but he wasn’t the one leading the Jin sect army.

Still, his father, who had been the one leading, had retired to his tent, and now Jin Guangyao was the one with the power, left to be in charge of mopping up. That, in turn, gave him a little more leeway, which meant he could implement his own thoughts, rather than badly thought out instructions.

“Put the child in my tent,” he said, and smiled. “The poor thing must have gotten lost and entered the battlefield – after we arrived. You understand?”

The guard saluted deeply. “Lianfeng-zun is kind and beneficent,” he said, and his expression was worshipful. “I will tell the others that the child is from some distant Jin branch.”

Jin Guangyao hadn’t intended for him to do that, but – well, he couldn’t exactly refute it now, could he, and anyway there were worse things to happen. Everyone would know that he had kindly taken in some orphaned child of war, which would be good for his reputation.

He smiled and nodded, and thought of the future.

-Earlier-

“Well, shit,” Nie Mingjue said, staring at the trio of children: nine or ten years old, he thought, maybe a little older, two girls and a boy. They stared back at him, wide-eyed and terrified – they were very clearly trying to sneak off the Burial Mounds down the back way.

Nie Mingjue rubbed his face, glad that he’d insisted on doing the forward scout work before the attack tomorrow morning himself rather than let it go to someone else. He hadn’t wanted to come to this blasted place in the first place, being that he still wasn’t sure exactly what had gone down with Wei Wuxian, who’d been a good man once. But good Nie cultivators had died at Lanling City at Wen Ning’s hands, the Jin sect claiming that that brutal attack was at Wei Wuxian’s instigation, and at the Nightless City at Wei Wuxian’s hands directly, and he didn’t have any evidence to exculpate the man, either; he had no grounds to look the families of those Nie cultivators in the eye and tell them not to pursue vengeance against the man who had slaughtered their brothers and fathers and sons, sisters and mothers and daughters, like they meant nothing.

They deserved vengeance.

Just as he had, for his father.

But at the same time…

“You’re all surnamed Wen, I take it?” he asked, and they slowly nodded. “Dafan Wen?”

Another nod.

“Wrong answer,” he said, making a snap decision. This wasn’t like his father at all, not really; he had wanted to kill Wen Ruohan, who had done the deed himself, while these children clearly hadn’t done anything. “Swear to me here and now that you won’t seek revenge for your sect or family, and you can be surnamed Nie instead.”

They looked at each other.

“Your family didn’t send you to run away because they wanted you to take revenge,” he said. It was a guess, but he could tell from the way their shoulders sagged that he was right. “They wanted you to live. Well?”

They swore.

He took them home.

-Earlier-

She tripped and fell flat on her face.

“Hey, girl!”

She looked up, eyes wide with terror – she hadn’t expected to be caught so soon – but the cultivator in front of her didn’t strike her down. He was a young man, just a few years older than her, and he looked nice, kneeling to help her up.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Did you get lost?”

Lost? From where would she get lost, exactly?

Despite that, she nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Here isn’t a good place, though – we’re going to have a battle tomorrow…can you tell me where you’re from?” He frowned. “Or – can’t you speak?”

An idea suddenly came to mind, and she shook her head, lifting up her hands to mime signs like the ones she’d seen Lady Wen and her brother use sometimes when they needed to talk without disturbing others.

“Doesn’t talk,” he murmured to himself. “Clothing of white, ripped all to ribbons –”

She’d torn out any trace of the red sun. White was a common color, but she was old enough to know that she couldn’t let anyone know she was surnamed Wen.

“Oh, I’ve read about this before! Are you a bird yao that’s cultivated to humanity?”

What?

She’d been thinking of trying to pass as a traumatized war veteran, but she was only fourteen, after all; it wasn’t very believable. Of course, it was a lot more believable that bird yao – who would leap to that conclusion?

“My surname is Ouyang,” the man said, smiling brightly at her. “You should come back with me – I can teach you to speak, and we can give you a name…how about ‘Luo’ as a surname? That has to do with birds. Or we could surname you Bai, instead, since your clothing is white! Or maybe -”

She smiled helplessly at his nonsense. What a silly, cheerful man! Maybe she’d overestimated his age, he couldn’t be more than two or three years older, at most, and his brain was clearly not in the right place, filled up to the brim with romantic stories and adventure tales instead of facts.

It was a nice change, actually.

She accepted his hand as she stood.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

-Earlier-

Lan Wangji had returned home and submitted to a dreadful punishment. The elders he had injured on Wei Wuxian’s behalf were either in treatment or recovering.

As for the rest that had been at the Nightless City…

Many were dead.

Lan Qiren landed in the Burial Mounds, lips pressed tightly together.

He knew he was taking a risk in coming here to Wei Wuxian’s lair – no matter what Lan Wangji thought, whatever good points he’d had in the past, the man was now little better than a mad dog. He’d caused the death of three thousand people just the day before, three thousand innocents that hadn’t had anything to do with anything; why would he hesitate to attack his old teacher?

There was already talk of a siege – Jiang Cheng himself had promised to lead it, to wipe off the stain on the Jiang sect’s record, and the Jin sect had been right behind him. Even Nie Mingjue had been dragged in against his will, suborned by his sect members’ need for vengeance. As for the Lan Sect…Lan Xichen had looked so stricken by the thought that Lan Qiren had volunteered for the grim duty, despite Lan Qiren having never been much of a fighter and even less of a general. He intended to take only the smallest possible contingent, and to limit their work as much as possible to cleansing the dead rather than killing those who remained there – that much, at least, he could do for his nephew.

Either way, though, no matter his powers, Wei Wuxian would not live out the week.

If Lan Qiren desired vengeance, he need only wait.

And yet, here he was.

Alone, practically unarmed – and here nonetheless.

An old woman came out from the cave and squinted at him.

“It’s over,” she said sadly. “Isn’t it?”

Lan Qiren looked at her. One of the Wen remnants that Wei Wuxian had surrounded himself with, he assumed; the ones he’d given up his comfortable life for, claiming he was only acting as a righteous man ought. Perhaps he even had thought he was, back then.

Perhaps he really had been, back then.

“Yes,” Lan Qiren said, and cleared his throat. “After what he did at the Nightless City – the verdict is unquestionably death. But the rest of you…there are armies coming, and armies are not known for their leniency, especially not on passerby with the wrong surname. But they’re not here yet. There’s still time to flee – if you go now, you could take on a new surname and find some quiet place to live on.”

Lan Wangji had said they were civilians. Civilian life was to be prioritized above all else.

Lan Qiren was only doing what he must.

Despite his well-meant warnings, however, the old lady shook her head.

“There’s nowhere to go, and we won’t give up our surname,” she said, polite but stubborn to the last. “But thank you for taking the time to come here to tell us.”

“Wangji said that there were children here,” Lan Qiren insisted, ignoring her refusal. “If you won’t flee with them, at least send those that are old enough out on their own, and hide the younger ones. Tell them to forget their surnames – most people won’t rampantly murder children, so there’s a chance they’ll make it through, and live. Can you deny them that, just for pride?”

That gave the old woman pause.

“We’ll do what we can,” she said, and then eyed him. “How good are you at medicine?”

Lan Qiren frowned. “I can’t provide care –”

“She’s already dead. Come help anyway.”

The woman in question was not already dead, but dying – she was in her late teens, seventeen or eighteen at most, and she was in labor. From the glassiness of her eyes, the redness of her cheeks, and the threadiness of her pulse, it was clear that infection had long ago set in. It was not an exaggeration to say she was dead, little better than a corpse.

She was little more than a child.

“I don’t want her to die alone,” the old woman said. “But if you stay with her, I can use the time to try to take care of the rest. You’re not wrong, I suppose – the children, at least, deserve a chance to live on, even if it means leaving our surname behind.”

Lan Qiren looked down at the woman, unconscious already and unlikely to ever wake, and yet still whimpering. “And her child?”

The old woman looked surprised. “Can a child born like this still live?”

Lan Qiren had almost no medical training beyond the most superficial basics that were the necessity for any battlefield or night-hunt, with one sole exception: he had supervised the births of both his nephews by himself with little aid – his brother’s wife hadn’t wanted anyone else to be present, possibly in an attempt to prematurely enter her grave, possibly just out of spite. He had studied very hard in the days leading up to those births, and knew far more on the subject than most men did.

“It’s possible,” he said. “Unlikely, but – possible.”

He hesitated for a long moment.

“I can take the baby,” he finally said. “Pass him off as some war-orphan child of distant Lan cousins, sent to me on account of their deaths. I could raise him, or else give him to my cousin to raise; he’s got a large enough family that no one would question it.”

“Why would you do that?”

Lan Qiren looked at the woman who was dying, little more than a child herself. “Because of the children I can’t help.”

The old woman was quiet for a little while.

“Very well,” she said, and leaned forward to whisper the name the young woman had thought about for her child into his ear. “That works with Lan as a surname, wouldn’t it? That’s not bad.”

“Not bad at all,” Lan Qiren agreed, and rolled up his sleeves, settling down beside the girl. “Not bad at all.”

#mdzs #lan wangji #jiang cheng #jin guangyao #nie mingjue #lan qiren #original characters #my fic #my fics #children's day #some untamed elements

369 notes · View notes

darkandstormyart · 3 years

Text

Xicheng fic recs

(figured i might make a list of my own)

(to be expanded as i dig out more treasure/remember stuff)

in no particular order:

Deep as the Yearning Night by FreckledStarKnight

“At first, it was pure chance. The second time was accidental. And the third time? Well, they say the third time’s the charm, after all. Lan Xichen discovers that Jiang Wanyin sings beautifully and is immediately enamored by it. His pursuit of Jiang Wanyin’s secret talent leads to a discovery and a series of events that he did not anticipate at all. Not that he’s complaining, of course. He got what he came for and more. Or, how two sect leaders get together through the song called love. CQL-verse.“

post-seclusion lxc

trying to get jc to sing

bonus lxc & jin ling feels i hadn’t considered before

cute

Always use protection by hesselives

“In which Lan Wangji attempts to hire a new bodyguard for his older brother, a well-known traveling exorcist. Jiang Wanyin doesn’t even make his carefully considered list of Top Ten Candidates, and yet here he is.

Lots of wandering in the countryside, distant yelling, and mildly inconvenient spirits.”

bodyguard au

honestly just really intersting worldbuilding

Rewrite the stars by Arashii

“Five great kingdoms have been fighting for years and when the kingdom of Yunmeng is destroyed, the Crown Prince Jiang Cheng vanishes.In Gusu, Lan Xichen makes an offer impossible for Jiang Cheng to refuse. His life or revenge? There’s only one option and Jiang Cheng swears loyalty to the man he hated the most his whole life, the Crown Prince of Gusu, Lan Xichen himself.Written for XiChengFest2020 - Day 4“

ROYALTY AU ROYALTY AU

enemies to lovers!

flashbacks! i love flashbacks so much ohmygod

No paths are bound by Arashii

“In seclusion, Lan Huan has the support of a ghost no one has seen since the massacre of Yunmeng Jiang. His feelings start changing with the often visits and conversations they share. Before Lan Huan can confess though, he ascends, leaving everything and everyone behind him.

Two hundred years later, back to the Human Realm and without powers, the Martial God Zewu-Jun has a mission to uphold. His Heavenly Calamity started. The clues are little and the support comes in the most unexpected form, the current Ghost King: Sandu Shengshou. Now they need to stick together to contain a menace that is slowly growing.“

TGCF AU TGCF AU

ghost king jiang cheng come on

doesn’t follow tgcf plot, just the setup so no spoilers

jiang cheng gets the dogs and the xichen he deserves

once upon a dream by cafedeolla

“Xicheng soulmate AU

An au where your dreams are small snippets of your soulmate’s day. They’d show small things like buying coffee, reading a book, or hanging out with people from their perspective.

The problem was that people always have expectations and Jiang Cheng knows he always falls short of them. Time and time again.“

soulmate au, but being soulmates is more a problem than a solution

misunderstandingssss all over the place

now with a squel (in progress?)

Lan Furen series by jagaimocchi

“Jiang Cheng leaves Lotus Pier before the Wen Internment Camp and before the destruction of his home. When he meets Lan Xichen on the run from the Wens after the burning of Cloud Recesses, his plan to live a peaceful life away from cultivation sects is quickly derailed. Now, free to make his own choices, he cannot find it in himself to leave the other man's side.

With love, patience and time, Jiang Cheng finds his own happiness and peace with his past.“

have you ever wanted a fic where jiang cheng peaces out from home in search for a better life, bc he’s Had Enough??? jags got you covered

adorable xicheng

good uncle-dad-figure Lan Qiren

ongoing <3

Just around the riverbend by JungleJelly

“One day.

Jiang Cheng just wanted one day of peace and quiet, away from home, away from his responsibilities, away from his idiot brother and his nutcases of a mother and father. Just a few hours alone — him and a boat and nothing else.

Clearly, that was too much to ask for.”

now with a new story in the series which is adorable too!!!

mermaid!lxc need i say more?

Bad ideas (where they lead) by JungleJelly

“Jiang Cheng is a busy man. Fortunately, he is also a huge pushover when it comes to his sister, so when she recommends that he start doing yoga, he agrees pretty easily.Featuring Lan Xichen in yoga pants, Jiang Cheng’s inability to handle a crush, and, perhaps most importantly, a big fluffy dog.“

done for 2020 MXTX MiniBang

yoga instructor Lan Xichen

Jiang Cheng is: struggling with a crush on the yoga guy from youtube & very angry about that

If there’s a price for rotten judgement by TheWanderingHeart

“All Jiang Cheng wants to do is, well... his job, really. Other than that? Keep the city safe, keep his nephew alive, keep his sanity intact (if possible).

So when his brother calls with unexpected news, he knows all of that is about to fly out of the window.

***

[Every instinct is telling him don’t ask, you don’t want to know. By this point, Nie HuaiSang has scooted closer to listen. Jiang Cheng takes a steadying breath and pulls out his antacids. “What did you do?”]”

superhero au, come on

jc just trying to do his job in peace

(he can’t)

i love it so much oh my god *sobs*

The Form of Boneless Ice by TheWanderingHeart

“Mythical beasts have long ago been driven to extinction by the gentry — hunted for sport, but more importantly for their magical cores. Since then, there remains only one creature that has never been caught. The Jiang’s retreated a long time ago. Abandoning land altogether, they sought safety where the humans could not reach.It all comes to a head though, purely by chance. (Or is it by fate that a spontaneous decision allows for them to meet? If fate were a rock!) Jiang Cheng suddenly finds his whole life balanced on the head of a pin — on the flimsy promise of a human boy. In his opinion, things cannot possibly get worse!(But then they do when the Wens decide it’s finally time to search for the elusive merpeople, and suddenly nowhere is safe.)“

there she goes again, with another beautiful xicheng story full of awwww and mythology

actually one of the first xicheng fics i read

i chose it because there were mermaids

painfully accurate takes on Jiang family dynamics

kids! lots of kids!

Let me Slytherin to Your Heart by TheWanderingHeart

“Jiang Cheng never thought he'd return to Hogwarts, but in hindsight, he probably should have known that someday he would.With his nephew about to start school, he reluctantly takes his good friend's bad parenting? career? advice and ends up tumbling head-first back into the madness that he hoped he'd left behind... and rediscovering some feelings he thought he'd left behind too.“

Harry Potter au!

just really fecking cute

lots of snakes

[I am not going to link all of Jo’s fics, though I probably could, just my 3 favourites. UOSB is there by default]

Talent Hunt Crew Finds Angry Guy Shouting On College Campus, Recruits Him For Vocal Projection Abilities by oh_fudgecakes

“Jiang Cheng, resident Angry Guy and heir to a conglomerate empire, has never been the apple of his father’s eye. Quashed under the shadow of his brilliant brother, the music prodigy Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng sees his chance to turn things around when he is recruited by the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt. One problem: he can’t sing to save his goddamn life.As he struggles to develop his nascent singing abilities, Jiang Cheng finds himself sucked into the whirlwind drama of reality TV, helped along by his adoring siblings, his irritable vocal coach Wen Qing, and strangely enough, the unfairly attractive host of the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt, Lan Xichen. Somewhere in the glare of the stage lights and an unexpected first love, Jiang Cheng stumbles upon the thing he was searching for all along: the courage to dream — and to attempt the impossible.“

done for 2019 MXTX Big Bang

uuuuuuuuuuh i might have cried maybe

heartwarming? painful at times? lots of family love?

slowburn xicheng being lovely

The Provenence of Hope series by velithya

“A chance meeting on a night hunt sets a course of events into motion that will change everything. Featuring Xicheng getting together, recovery for Lan Xichen, healing for Jiang Cheng, and always, always, hope.“

got everything. feels. hope. love. ~~healing~~

A Small Measure of Peace by Sandstone112

“With his brother in seclusion, Lan Xichen finds himself in temporary custody of his nephew with little to no expertise in the child-raising department. Uncertain and alone, Zewu-Jun is willing to do everything to be the person Yuan needs—even if it means inviting Sandu Shengshou to a playdate.“

a loooot of adorable family times with jc and lxc taking care of their nephews

good grandpa lqr!

canon but fixed and less painful

🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋if you wish to avoid scurvy:🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋

Some day I’m gonna make you mine series by locketofyourhair

xicheng getting together through the years

friends with benefits but the real benefits are the friends we made along the way

Take me over (take me tonight) by velithya

jiang cheng has a tattoo and lan xichen doesn’t stand a chance

i'd be the sweet feeling of release (mankind now dreams of) by piyo13

two bros, chilling in a cave, no feet apart because they don’t want to lose their cultivation powers what are you gonna do

haven’t read yet and shame on me, but AM GONNA:

Upon Our Silver Bridge by TheWanderingHeart obviously

““When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long.” ― Hakim Sanai

Lan Xichen's sorrows have caught the attention of something. Unlike the adventures and foes they have faced before, there is no obvious enemy here to defeat. If this is the same thing they thought had taken Nie Mingjue's life, then he believes it is fated for him to die as well. Nothing can stop the black fire when it wants to burn.Jiang Cheng is sure his part in this is over. Wei Wuxian is back, his grand adventure concluded, and he'd never been at the centre of it anyway. So what does it matter what happens to him in the end? Slowly, he will come to realise that there will always be a battle to fight, a story to tell, a choice to make, and there is no such thing as an end to anything.“

it was difficult to do things in 2020 and few i regret not doing more than not reading uosb yet :’(

i will tho

Emergency Help Wanted by piyo13

“EMERGENCY HELP WANTED I lied when I got my job. I told them I had a kid so I could leave early from work to pick him up from daycare, take him to doctor's appointments, and occasionally miss a day when he's sick. Long story short, I'm in too deep. I didn't think it through. Looking to rent a kid for bring your child to work day. Must be a boy ages four to six, longish dark hair, likes soccer. Must also be artistic as the macaroni noodle paintings I made seem a little advanced for his age. Also, I will pay extra for someone willing to play the role of husband when dropping him off. He's a prosecuting attorney who often brings his work home. Message me for further details. Serious inquiries only.“

Running Our Hands Through Embers by MarvelousMar

“If asked, Jiang Cheng would compare falling in love with Lan Xichen to a moth inevitably drawn to a flame.It burned.***In which Jiang Cheng discovers that even death can't help him escape from his trauma, so he embarks on a quest to save the people he loves, fix what he can, make the love of his life fall for him, and maybe, somewhere along the way, do a little bit of healing.”

The Beginner’s Guide to Moving On by InvincibleMel

gone from ao3, but i think there’s a link with a pdf going around

#xicheng #fic rec #Jiang Cheng #lan xichen #mdzs #the untamed #the grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mo dao zu shi

535 notes · View notes

silverflame2724 · 2 years

Text

“Lan Zhan….don’t look like that……”

Lan Wangji shook his head, trembling and holding Wei Ying close. How could it have gone so wrong? He didn’t— He didn’t mean for this to happen! Why…..why?

……….

Lan Wangji’s energy was drained. Fighting off the corpses at Nightless City, resisting the power of the Seal, and then fleeing from the place with Wei Ying had severely drained him already. He just needed to rest for a while and then he’d drop Wei Ying off again.

Wei Ying had said nothing all this time and Lan Wangji worried that Wei Ying was gone for good. Seeing his sister die in front of him must have been the final blow.

Lan Wangji knew that they were at fault. That the cultivation world was fault for pushing Wei Ying for so long and so far that he cared not for their lives when he lost control of the Seal.

And while he mourned the loss of the Lans that perished at Nightless City, he could not blame Wei Ying for their deaths. They had attacked first after all, and Wei Ying retaliated as was his right.

But still, seeing him this way…..the bright boy who brought color into his life, made Lan Wangji pour his feelings out to him. He knew he might not be heard. But he wanted to convey it nonetheless. Even if it was far too late to do so.

Wei Ying seemed to have a reaction, whispering ‘get lost’ to him absentmindedly. Over and over and over again. Still Lan Wangji persevered, pouring out years of love and longing, hoping to get through to him, hoping to bring some reaction from him. Whether that be anger or disgust or…something else.

But the blank look in his eyes did not change.

And then, his uncle arrived, demanding Lan Wangji to turn Wei Ying over so that they might finally kill him. And Lan Wangji would not obey.

He knew the consequences of his actions would be severe. But still, he wouldn’t allow Wei Ying to die. Not just yet.

Lan Wangji unsheathed Bichen, prepared to fight to protect Wei Ying. He should have paid more attention. He shouldn’t have taken his gaze away from Wei Ying.

Because…..now…..Wei Ying, who had gotten up at some point in time, had darted forward in front of his elders, and allowed Bichen to pierce him through.

“W-Wei Ying….” Lan Wangji started. He wanted to cry. “W-Why…..”

Wei Ying coughed up blood. “I told you….to ‘get lost,’ Lan Zhan. I knew you would get in trouble for protecting me. Why didn’t you leave like you always did when you were mad at me?”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji cried. “How could you say that? I…..Towards you, I…..”

“Shh,” Wei Ying said. “I heard you loud and clear. *sigh* Lan Zhan, I need to die but,” He breathed. “I wanted to die on my own terms….by your hands.”

(Lan Xichen pushed the elders away, giving them space but Lan Wangji couldn’t be bothered to pay attention.)

“Why?”

“Because I….I just wanted it to be you. Lan Zhan, I don’t have long left. So listen to me.”

“The wound isn’t deep. Hang on for a moment. Please.”

Wei Ying sighed. “The wound is enough to kill me. I don’t have a core. If Wen Qing was still here, perhaps, but that isn’t the point.” He said nonchalantly.

Lan Wangji’s world collapsed in front of him. “What?”

“Lan Zhan, I don’t care what happens to me, but A’ Yuan. Please, take care of A’ Yuan. And my notes. I do not want them to fall into the wrong hands.”

“I—okay.” Lan Wangji fumbled. There was a lot of information to process and he wasn’t in the right mind to digest it. He was focused on pressing his hands into the wound Wei Ying was bleeding out of. Even though he knew it to be futile, he just need to do something to stop the bleeding. He didn’t ask the elders or his brother to help.

Lan Wangji knew that his brother, who stood by and accepted to siege Wei Ying despite knowing Lan Wangji’s feelings, would never help him.

Wei Ying breathed out slowly, “Thank you. And,” He put a hand to Lan Wangji’s face, brushing away the tears that had begun to pour down. “I’m sorry for doing this. In our next lives, I…..I wish we could……”

His hand feel down.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Wangji froze. “Wei Ying!?”

Wei Ying did not move.

________________________

To give a brief over view of what happened next:

Lan Wangji takes WWX’s body with him to the Burial Mounds and the Lans follow. They cannot breach the wards but LWJ is allowed through. He tells the Wens there what happened and they decide to do the smart thing and leave through a back alley. The Lans do not notice this. Before leaving, LWJ hands them a bunch of money that he usually keeps on his person for emergencies. Granny Wen also hands A’ Yuan to him, telling him to take care of the boy. A’ Yuan was luckily sleeping, so he did not see WWX’s body.

LWJ’s finds WWX’s notes and sword and pockets them. He agonizes for a while before cremating WWX’s body. He puts the ashes in a jar and gives it to the Wens. As much as he’d like to take WWX’s ashes with him, he knows that the Lan sect would trash the grave he’d inevitably make for WWX. He’d rather give the ashes to people who would cherish him.

The Wens thank him and leave. LWJ, with A’ Yuan, the Seal, WWX’s notes, Chengqing and Suibian, contemplates on leaving. But he decides to stay since A’ Yuan deserves a home. (However, if the Lans mistreat him, he’ll leave immediately.)

He exits the Burial Mounds with (visibly) only A’ Yuan and a warded box containing the Seal.

When the Lans ask if there was anything there, LWJ notes the greed in some of his elders eyes and answers truthfully, aside from the child, nothing. There was nothing left in the Mounds now, after all.

LWJ watches his elders speculate that A’ Yuan was a child WWX kidnapped and allows it to happen. It would not be good for A’ Yuan to be known as a Wen. He hands his brother the Seal and asks when they were going to destroy it.

His brother says soon and proceeds to never do it. They all return to the Cloud Recesses and while LWJ is NOT whipped, he is forced into seclusion for three years.

There were people that witnessed LWJ take WWX away, so the Lans announce that LWJ was the one to kill WWX. It was true, after all. Technically. And when the sects storm Burial Mounds, they find nothing.

And then the Jins, knowing that the Lans saw WWX last, ask for the Seal in a subtle way and LXC, the fool, blindly trusts JGY to take care of the Seal.

The next few years are a terror for everyone. The Jins become the new tyrants and use the Seal’s power to take over the cultivation world.

LWJ had long since hightailed it out of there, as soon as he saw LXC hand over the Seal to the Jins. JGY also recognized A’ Yuan as one of the Wens and a Jin servant “accidentally” heard about it and spread the info. LXC wasn’t going to protect A’ Yuan so LWJ fled with the boy.)

Eventually NHS gets WWX revived (and this is going to happen earlier) - NMJ is dead by this point - and WWX is hesitant to do anything but agrees that the Jins need to be removed. So after meeting up with a traveling LWJ and A’ Yuan, saves the cultivation world.

I wrote this all in a matter of twenty minutes. So if there’s any mistakes, I may come back to it later? Maybe???

42 notes · View notes

kurowrites · 3 years

Text

Five Times Lan Zhan (Kind Of) Proposed to Wei Ying

Find the earlier posts here.

---

V: The Fifth Time (Or, A Complete Failure)

“Ooookay,” Wei Ying said, nonplussed, when Lan Zhan suddenly appeared in front of him and proceeded to curl up in Wei Ying’s lap determinedly.

Wei Ying naturally opened his arms and held onto Lan Zhan so that he wouldn’t fall off the sofa, but he was also a multitasker, so he could glare at the people surrounding him at the same time.

“So, who got Lan Zhan drunk this time?” he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Wen Ning shifted nervously, but Wen Ning shifted nervously all the time, so that didn’t count. Wei Ying ignored him.

Mianmian, on the other hand, simply shrugged when Wei Ying trained his gaze on her.

“I think he confused the jello shots with dessert,” she said, far too nonchalantly for Wei Ying’s tastes.

“And you let him eat them?” he cried.

Mianmian rolled her eyes.

“I wasn’t watching what he was doing at all times. I’m not his custodian. That’s your job, really.”

“Oooh my god, Mianmian,” Wei Ying sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “I think I’m pretty close to getting murdered by Lan Huan in a dark alleyway or something. This can’t keep happening.”

“Maybe it would help if you had an actual conversation with your boytoy,” Mianmian suggested, looking like she didn’t really care either way. “I’ve got to say, things are getting pretty ridiculous by now. I saw what happened during Wen Qing’s birthday.”

“Excuse me?” Wei Ying cried. “Lan Zhan is not a boytoy!”

He ignored the part about Wen Qing’s birthday, because nothing had happened during Wen Qing’s birthday. No one had been there when Lan Zhan had promised him to get him a better bow than the one he’d already given him, so no one knew about that one. And know one knew that Wei Ying had kept that bow, even thought it had been a pain to get off.

Mianmian rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Boyfriend, husband, loverboy. Tell him to check in with you before he eats or drinks anything at parties.”

“He’s not a child, you know,” Wei Ying insisted, pouting. “He can take care of himself.”

Mianmian sent a distinctly judgemental look towards Lan Zhan, who was firmly snuggled into Wei Ying’s lap.

“I can see that.”

“Naysayers everywhere!” Wei Ying complained loudly and insistently, but if he were honest, he had already given up. Lan Zhan was clearly done for the night, and Wei Ying couldn’t keep sitting with him draped over his lap indefinitely.

He gently wriggled his legs to see what kind of reaction would come from Lan Zhan.

The response was a noise not unlike one a grouchy old cat would make. Clearly the noise of someone who didn’t want to be moved.

“Come on, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, trying to sound encouraging. “I’m going to take you home, you’ll feel much better then. Your bed is missing you.”

Lan Zhan made another noise that communicated his displeasure, but he partly removed himself from Wei Ying’s lap and blinked up at Wei Ying with tired eyes.

“Aw, those shots did a number on you, huh,” Wei Ying cooed. “C’mon, let’s get you home before you fall asleep here. That sofa is too dirty for you to sleep on.”

Wei Ying managed to get Lan Zhan to get off him and the sofa, and Lan Zhan ended up following him out of the room with only little encouragement. To make his point, Wei Ying made sure to stick his tongue out at Mianmian as a parting shot.

“Go take care of your loverboy!” Mianmian shouted after him, but it was hardly audible through the music of the party, so Wei Ying elected to ignore it.

He breathed a sigh of relief once they were out the door and on their way to Lan Zhan’s dorm.

“Hey, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said, taking hold of Lan Zhan’s arm to steer him into the right direction. “I think you need to be a little more careful. Getting drunk at these parties is certainly not doing you any favours.”

In all honestly, Wei Ying didn’t believe that Lan Zhan was enjoying these parties very much. He didn’t enjoy noise, he didn’t enjoy the chaos and the crush of unfamiliar people, and on top of that he would wake up with a hangover and no memory every time. Lan Zhan had told him once that he went to these parties because Wei Ying was there, but that alone couldn’t make up for the fact that Lan Zhan didn’t enjoy a single bit of the evening.

In addition, Wei Ying would stay over at Lan Zhan’s every time Lan Zhan got drunk, and Lan Zhan would feel obliged to provide Wei Ying with breakfast after staying over because he was a good host.

Wei Ying did generally enjoy the breakfasts (there was absolutely nothing to complain about the combination of Lan Zhan and tasty food), but delicious food was not a good enough reason to keep this thing going. Not when it came with Lan Zhan getting drunk. Wei Ying needed to put an end to it, he knew that. Especially before Lan Huan got involved.

“Okay,” Wei Ying said to himself as he steered Lan Zhan through the door of his room and to his bed. “This is the last time I’m doing this. No more getting drunk at parties from now on, Lan Zhan. Your wild days are over.”

He poured Lan Zhan onto the bed, and Lan Zhan looked up at him with tired eyes and a distinct pout on his lips.

“Hey little bunny,” Wei Ying said with a teasing smile, and poked his cute little nose. (He had to take his chances when they presented themselves. Poking a fully conscious Lan Zhan was unfathomable.) “What do you have to be pouty about?”

“I am a burden to Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said morosely.

“Aw, noooo,” Wei Ying cooed, poking Lan Zhan again, this time in his cheek. “I’m just worrying because it’s not like you to get drunk so often. And as funny as it is to see you get all drunk and snuggly, I think I prefer sober Lan Zhan.”

Drunk Lan Zhan didn’t seem to be satisfied with that answer, his pout still prominent on his face.

“Sleep,” Wei Ying cajoled him. “And then tomorrow, as much as I don’t want to, we can talk about it once you’re actually sober.”

Lan Zhan tried to sit up, probably to protest, but Wei Ying had already put the cover over him and tucked him in, so he only ended up wriggling a little.

“I wanted to give Wei Ying a present,” he pouted (again).

“It’s not my birthday, I don’t need any presents,” Wei Ying assured him. “Also, you already gave me a present. The bow, you remember? I still have it. But if you really want to give me a present, you can give it to me tomorrow, okay?”

He was pretty sure that Lan Zhan would have forgotten all about any presents by tomorrow anyway, so it was a safe promise to make.

“Hn,” Lan Zhan agreed, and finally settled into his blankets.

“So obedient!” Wei Ying exclaimed, laughing. “Night night, Lan Zhan.”

“Good night, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan murmured. “Will show you tomorrow.”

Wei Ying smiled down at Lan Zhan, and watched him fall asleep.

How many repetitions of the same scene did this make now? Wei Ying bringing Lan Zhan to bed and watching over him as he fell asleep?

At least this time, Lan Zhan hadn’t suggested he was planning to marry Wei Ying in order to get frisky with him. What would it need anyway for Lan Zhan to get frisky with anyone? It was difficult to imagine something like that. Lan Zhan was always so stoic, it was hard imagining him madly in love with anyone.

Wei Ying sat on the edge of the bed for a while, watching over Lan Zhan until he was sure that Lan Zhan was asleep. Then he snatched Lan Zhan’s little plush rabbit off the nightstand.

Wei Ying had given it to him as a joke, because it had reminded him of Lan Zhan for some reason, but Lan Zhan, far from throwing it away, seemed to treasure the little toy.

“Ah, little rabbit,” he sighed, squeezing the plushie gently. “What are we going to do about Lan Zhan? Your master is a bit of a wild child recently.”

The plush rabbit, predictably, only looked back at him with solemn black eyes.

“I’m a little worried about him,” Wei Ying confessed. “He seems to have a lot on his mind right now. And I’m just one lowly Wei Ying, I don’t really know what to do with him.”

Again, the plush rabbit was silent.

“I mean, he barely acknowledges that we’re friends, so I guess it’s not really my place to meddle.”

He laughed to himself.

“But Lan Zhan is so fun to meddle with, so I can’t help it.”

Wei Ying put the plush toy back and made himself a nest on the overly comfy light blue sofa in Lan Zhan’s dorm room (Lan Zhan had the money for a sofa in a dorm room, damn him). Before he wrapped himself in the blanket and fell asleep, he thought about Mianmian and the others who must still be at the party, but he felt zero impulse to return there. He could always go to another party, after all. And he was determined to talk to Lan Zhan tomorrow morning, as much as he didn’t want to have this discussion at all.

#kuro writes #the untamed #mdzs #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #five times AU

138 notes · View notes

stiltonbasket · 3 years

Note

Stilton, I was the anon who said that Wangxian getting together before Nightless City would make canon events extra heartbreaking and now I know just how 💔💔💔💔 the Qiongqi Dao ambush became 😭. For a less angsty prompt, something from Wangxian's happy year at the Burial Mounds with A-Yuan

(brief note: this verse is entirely prompt-based, so please send in more prompts/reblog for more updates!)

Cloud Recesses, Gusu Lan to Yiling City

(care of Master Xie Yanling, addressed to Lan Wangji)

Didi,

To address the problem you mentioned in your last letter, I think Wei-gongzi might have better luck with a Lan-made spirit-trapping pouch to cleanse your crops of resentment. Such mild resentful energy may not respond to Cleansing, and he mentioned that larger spirits keep answering whenever he uses Chenqing, so I think your only solution may be to pick out the resentment piece by piece. However, I know nothing about resentful cultivation, so you need not feel obliged to try it if Wei-gongzi does not agree, but I have enclosed a package of spirit-trapping pouches just in case. If you have no use for them, they can always be sold, or you can save them for night-hunts in the future.

Please inform Young Master Wei that a delivery of twelve white-jade figurines will be coming with the next trader, and he will recommend a jeweler in the next town whom you can sell them to. I regret to say that we still do not have enough silver to spare, but I have nearly half of my future bridewealth left, and there is no better use for it than to aid my brother and my future brother-in-law. Write to me at once if you need anything, and give my best to Xiao-Yuan!

All my love,

Xichen.

Lan Wangji finishes his brother’s letter with a soft smile on his face, taking out the silk spirit-trapping pouches to show to A-Yuan before putting them back into their box. He has not been back to the Cloud Recesses in over six months, though he warned no one of his departure before he left; he came to see Wei Ying and bring him news of his sister’s engagement, and then he ended up staying the night before Wei Ying asked him to live at his side, and be with him always.

It was never a choice, in the end. Lan Wangji would have chosen Wei Ying over his own fated zhiyin, even before his soulmate died on that horrible day in Heijian, so choosing Wei Ying over his sect and his family takes only a split second.

Together, the two of them have transformed the Burial Mounds into a home. Lan Wangji is no stranger to hard labor, and Wei Ying’s stubborn resolve could outstrip Shufu’s even at its weakest, so they went to work together and wrangled the resentment-ridden forest into a line of neat potato fields, chopping down the trees for firewood and long sections of log for houses. Not long after that, the Wens were all able to go to their own warm homes every night, and dine on large bowlfuls of rice and potatoes and turnips every day.

And what the Burial Mounds could not provide, they have ample money to pay for--because Lan Wangji sold his silver hairpiece in the village, and turned out all his emergency funds so that A-Yuan could keep his little stomach full of all the rich beef and vegetable stew a baby of two could want. During his last monthly check-up, Wen Qing was so pleased with his progress that she actually praised Wei Ying for it, and Wei Ying himself is growing strong and golden-skinned in the fields, so that he can wrestle with Lan Wangji in the evenings for A-Yuan’s entertainment and push the market wagon alone instead of relying on Wen Ning.

I am happier here than I ever was in the Cloud Recesses, Lan Wangji thinks, blushing like one of Sishu’s ripe tomatoes as Wei Ying breezes by with a shovel and kisses the top of his head. You have given me the world, my heart, and you said you had nothing to give!

“Oh?” Wei Ying teases, making Lan Wangji blush even harder at the realization that he said that last aloud. “When did I say I had nothing to give, hmm? Who was it that combed your hair and cooked spicy porridge for you last night?”

“It was you, my heart,” Lan Wangji acknowledges, folding his brother’s letter back into its envelope. “And if I were not a cultivator, I would have spent the morning having runs in the latrine.”

Wei Wuxian throws his head back and laughs. “But Lan Zhan, A-Yuan ate it too! And he was fine, wasn’t he?”

“I ate his share for him.”

Wei Ying pouts at this, and continues to pout until Lan Wangji kisses him a few times to make him smile. “What did Zewu-jun say?” he wonders, trying to catch his breath when Lan Wangji pulls away for a moment. “Is he well? What about Lan-xiansheng?”

“They must both be doing well, or Xiongzhang would have told me,” Lan Wangji assures him. “But he suggested the use of spirit-pouches to make the lotus seeds safe to eat. Shall we try it tomorrow?”

“Aiyah, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it!” Wei Ying cries, striking his fist with his palm. “We can’t get the traces of resentment in the crops to listen without holding everything else back, so we’ll have to clear the plots one at a time.”

Suddenly, he frowns and glances at Lan Wangji’s belt. “I don’t know if one pouch will be enough, though,” he mutters. “How old is yours, xingan? They have a ten-year lifetime, don’t they?”

“Three years, I think. But Brother sent a box of new ones, so we should have plenty to experiment with.”

“A-Yuan wants!” their son complains, plucking at Lan Wangji’s long skirts before reaching up for Wei Ying in a silent plea to be carried. “Give pouch, please?”

“You can have a pouch when you’re older,” Wei Ying tells him. “For now, A-Yuan should listen to Xian-gege and go take a nap. It’s too hot for little radishes to be out without a hat.”

Wen Yuan sulks all the way to the Demon-slaughtering cave, and then through the lullaby that Wei Ying hums to him, but he falls asleep without a fuss just as Lan Wangji gets up and puts away his qin.

“Lan Zhan?” his beloved asks, drawing a light blanket over A-Yuan’s shoulders. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hm?”

“You wrote A-Yuan’s lullaby, didn’t you?” Wei Ying is watching him through half-lidded eyes, whirling his dizi between his fingers, and Lan Wangji freezes in shame at the implication. “It’s a love song.”

It takes all the strength in his body to nod and keep fastening Wangji back into its case as if nothing were the matter. “En.”

“It’s a love song for me.”

His voice is rougher now, he thinks.

“Yes.”

“You sang it to me in the Xuanwu’s cave,” Wei Ying murmurs. “It was mine back then, too. But Lan Zhan, your soulmate--before the war, she must have still been--”

“My zhiyin was alive then,” Lan Wangji says heavily. “And I mourn them still. But the song was named Wangxian from the moment of its birth, and I wrote it not long after you left the Cloud Recesses. My betrayal will forever be the greatest shame of my life, but I chose you even then, and I do not regret it.”

Wei Ying begins to tremble. “What would you have done if you had the chance to meet her?”

“Loved you anyway,” he whispers. “What could I have done, if not that?”

It was you from the beginning, he wants to say. Wei Ying, it’s always been you.

It was Wei Ying when he tried to force his way past Lan Wangji at the gates of the Cloud Recesses, and Wei Ying when he put a volume of longyang into a book of Lan An’s poetry, and Wei Ying even when Lan Wangji’s soulbond was singing with his zhiyin’s happiness. For no matter how wrong it might have been, and how uncouth, and how much of a betrayal, Lan Wangji has never wanted another; and if he ever met his soulmate, he would never have been able to love her as he loves his chosen beloved.

Suddenly, he realizes that Wei Ying is crying, and then he buries his face in Lan Wangji’s neck and sobs.

“I thought it was only me,” he gasps. “All this time, I’ve been in mourning--but wearing this sash feels like a lie when I’m with you, and I didn’t dare take it off, but--”

“Then take it off,” Lan Wangji urges, with his own eyes full of tears. “None here will judge you, Wei Ying, least of all me!”

And then Wei Ying kisses him for what feels like hours, until the sun is low in the sky and Wen Ning comes calling after them for dinner--and then Lan Wangji takes Wei Ying in his arms and kisses him in return, for they are wholly each other’s now, and Lan Wangji will never leave him again until the end of their days.

#wangxian #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #soulmate au #mdzs fic #my fic

152 notes · View notes

the-untamed-obsession · 3 years

Note

Hai! I was wondering if you can do the juniors and wei wuxian + jiang cheng ( <-seperatly ) proposing to you for the Lan sizhui imagine its readers birthday and they propose with readers fave song on the spot and ofc reader accepts with a big kiss, for lan jingyi i really think he will propose in christmas its like readers favorite occasion,for jin ling i think in he will propose in maybe or maybe not koi tower, for zizhen i bet all in he will propose in valentines day, wei wuxian will probably propose in burial mounds, for jiang cheng ofc its lotus pier in new years hahaha! THOU SRSLY I CANT WITH UR LAST FIC OF THE JUNIORS WITH THE INSENCE ITS LIKE SO GOOD HAHA

I’m sorry this is so late!! I hope you like it💖 I actually messed up and had to restart BUT I think I’ve got what you requested💖 Happy reading!

Includes: Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling, Ouyang Zizhen

Proposals!

Wei Wuxian

Wei Wuxian’s been wanting to propose for a while, actually. You two have been together for about four years now- almost five- and he can’t help it.

He actually didn’t know how to propose or when. Of course, those are always the main concerns when it comes to proposing. Both Wen Ning and Wen Qing actually helped him out, as well as little Yuan. The plan was that you two would go on a fun date all day and then he’d propose at night under the full moon.

It actually goes very well. Although, earlier that day, he forgot where he placed the ring so he thought he lost it. He almost cried but Wen Qing actually found it and kept it safe to give it to him later. He was extremely thankful for it. He couldn’t imagine losing such a precious item.

You’re extremely happy! You couldn’t breathe when you heard his words, the words that asked you to be his forever. You jumped into his arms without even really waiting for him to finish his little speech.

“Ah… I.. guess I didn’t have to stress so much. N-no I’m not crying, I’m… yeah, I’m crying. I just love you so much.”

Jiang Cheng:

You’ve been with him for a little over six years, your relationship is extremely stable and it was time for you two to get married, honestly. Jiang Cheng had been thinking about it for almost two years now and finally decided to propose.

He wasn’t sure when the right time would be. Fortunately, New Years was right around the corner, so that’s when he settled on the date! He had everything ready and since he’d been planning everything for two years now, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

Everything goes according to plan, actually. He was really scared he’d mess it up. He was so nervous that you started to suspect him. Of course, you didn’t think he was going to propose, you thought he might’ve received a threat or something, given that he's the clan leader now.

You were both relieved and excited to receive the proposal. You were happy to know that it was nothing serious, but you were also elated to find out it was a proposal! An actual marriage proposal! You were so happy you started crying and tackled him to the floor. No, you didn’t move for like five minutes.

“Hey! Come on get off! We’re on the floor-... I love you so much. So don’t ever leave me, ok?”

Lan Sizhui:

You had been together for exactly five years and Sizhui had wanted to propose for the longest time. He’d actually fallen so much in love, he had started thinking about your wedding about a year into your relationship, but knew it was too early so waited it out. He planned to propose on your birthday!

He couldn’t think of anything. Every time he thought about proposing, he’d think about you two married and his mind would just blank. Both Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling helped set it up. All three spent almost a whole month planning it before Sizhui was finally able to go through with it.

It started well. Then went horrendously wrong. First thing, he lost the ring. Second, the party they’d set up for your birthday was almost ruined because you got called away by a friend for a small emergency. Jin Ling thought Fairy ate the cake and Lan Jingyi couldn’t find the presents. THANKFULLY, Lan Wangji was there to save the day. He knew where the cake was, he found the ring and presents, and employed Wei Wuxian to help solve your friend’s problem so you could both make it in time.

Although everyone wanted to see the proposal, Sizhui preferred to do it in private. So, he took you to a room where he started his little speech. You could barely let him finish before you tackled him to the floor. He was so happy he cried BUT WORRY NOT. Everyone was secretly watching so they saw it all happen. They won’t tell you two though. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian engraved the scene in their hearts as proud fathers!

“Y-you mean it? Really?! You’re… that means you’re all mine now, right? Good… because I can’t think of anyone else I’d want to spend the rest of my life with.

Lan Jingyi:

You two have been together for nearly six years now and it’s been something he’s wanted to do for almost three of them. He never thought he would see the day where he would be SO excited to propose, but here it is. He decided to do it on Christmas since it’s your favorite holiday!

He employed both Sizhui and Jin Ling to help, mainly for planning. All three of them were able to come up with a foolproof plan that would work no matter what! As long as you said yes… that is. So, ok, not completely foolproof.

It started terribly. There was a Christmas party and it was chaotic as hell there. Jingyi’s present was actually the thing… which he lost in the pile of presents that everyone had brought. He almost cried but don’t worry! Sizhui and Jin Ling were the best helpers, they didn’t stop until they found that little present box. They even managed to get you two some alone time where he sat you down and let you open the box.

You were elated. Tears slid down your cheeks as you shakily grabbed the ring in the box. You kept looking at Jingyi waiting for him to say it was a joke, but he never did. He took the ring and slid it onto your finger without saying anything. All you did was nod and hug him, sitting in his lap and crying for the next thirty minutes.

“Hush now, don’t cry too much. You’ll spend all your tears. Hey… you’re all mine now, ok? And I promise to keep you safe and happy for the rest of our lives. Now, smile for me.”

Jin Ling:

You had been together for almost four years now. Jin Ling didn’t think he’d seen the day so soon. Of course, he’d always been so madly in love with you, he knew it would happen SOME DAY. He just… never expected it to be here… right now.

Golly, he is TERRIFIED. He was so scared. Both Jingyi and Sizhui assured him everything would be ok and helped him plan it. Even though he claimed he didn’t need their help the entire time. He did though. He really did. The plan was for him to take you on a date and propose there, at the little special spot you two had.

Did it go well? Not really. No, not at all. Actually, he ended up being called away. Jiang Cheng needed him for something and as much as he didn’t want to go, his nerves made him leave. Both Sizhui and Jingyi panicked and tried to get him back. They managed to do so later at night and told you to meet him at Koi Tower. You said it was late and preferred to do it another time, but they insisted. So you went.

You were so happy you went. Turns out, Jin Ling just wanted to propose! He was so scared, you’d never seen him like that before so it kind of scared you too. Turns out, he was just proposing. You’d never been so happy and started saying yes before he even started his speech. Both Jingyi and Sizhui watched from a hidden place and will never stop talking about how shy and nervous Jin Ling was. He acts angry… but deep down, that’s his second most treasured memory. The first is marrying you, of course

“I-I wasn’t nervous! Why would I be nervous! This is easy business and I… I… ok… I was terrified. I’m glad you said yes, because I can’t imagine not spending my life with you. So you better not break my heart… and I won’t break yours. I swear.”

Ouyang Zizhen:

You’d been together for almost eight years now, the longest out of all your friends. Zizhen had wanted to propose almost four years prior, but always had this feeling you’d say no. It took a while for his friends to convince him otherwise and that’s when he started to finally plan when to propose. Valentine’s Day.

Sizhui, Jingyi, and Jin Ling all helped plan it all. The four of them came up with the perfect date idea for you two. All day, you would celebrate Valentine’s day. Then, you two would come home and Zizhen would give you the last present of the day… a ring and ask you to marry him.

Did it go well? Kind of. The date was so fun that you didn’t want to leave the festival that ran late at night. No matter what, you just wanted to stay. All four of them were terrified that you might be too late for him to propose ON Valentine’s Day. However, just at the last second, Jin Ling managed to get the ring and give it to Zizhen, who took you aside FIVE MINUTES BEFORE MIDNIGHT to finally propose.

You’d never been this happy. Tears streamed down your face as you listened to Zizhen’s rather rushed speech. He explained he wanted to do it ON Valentine’s Day and they were already late. You said yes right before midnight and failed to notice three men hiding behind bushes celebrating Zizhen’s victory.

“You really said yes… you really said yes! I’m the happiest man alive right now and I will be for the rest of our lives! Stay with me, forever. Stay with me and we can be happy together, no matter what happens. As long as I have you with me… I don’t need anything else.”

199 notes · View notes

canary3d-obsessed · 3 years

Text

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 17 second part

(Masterpost) (Previous Post) (Pinboard)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!!

Breaking Good

Wen Qing comes to visit Wen Ning in their backyard meth lab, and tells him that he fucked up a recipe, merely by taking a whiff of the concoction. She uses the approved "wave fumes toward self" way of smelling that you learn in high school science if you live in a country that believes in teaching science, which OP does not.

Wen Ning wants to know if they are going to have a feud, and she tells him there already is one. She tells explains to him that they're good Wens, not evil Wens, and that Jiang Cheng is fucked, and they should send the Jiangs away in the morning before Wen Chao comes around.

Wen Ning whines at her about all of this, shifting into little-brother persona and acting like he didn't just take down 40 of Wen Chao's soldiers in a single night. He does this same persona shifting in his later unlife, with Wei Wuxian. When there is trouble, he's extremely effective, and can even tail WWX and Lan Wangji without getting caught, but then he is hopeless when dealing with turnips or children.

Here, it seems like a version of Wei Wuxian's own little-brother persona, in which he pretends to be helpless so that his sister can take care of him.

#studyblr

Wei Wuxian comes into Wen Qing's head shop to ask her for medical books. He loves his brother so much he's volunteering for a research project. We've seen him be clever before; we've seen circumstantial evidence that he's a good student, but now we're going to see him actually buckling down and doing intellectual work.

Wen Qing thinks its hopeless and wants Wei Wuxian to get some rest. But he gives her puppydog eyes, so she sets him up in her library.

Wei Wuxian reads a huge pile of medical books and learns interesting things about the human body.

(more after the cut)

Hopefully he does not splotch ink all over them while he holds this wet brush directly over the page. Why does he even have a brush in his hand? Is he taking notes in the margin?

Wen Qing eventually tells him to take a break and go see Jiang Yanli.

Segmentation fault (core dumped)

Jiang Yanli is tending to Jiang Cheng, gently telling him to suck it up by citing their father, which is probably not the greatest idea.

Yanli's wearing dark blue with white and looks awesome. It's not Gusu Lan blue, but the blue and white is an interesting choice for the excruciating heart to heart they're about to have.

Wei Wuxian shows up looking terrible, or the Xiao Zhan version of terrible, i.e. handsome and a little scruffy. But also worn out, unhappy, and fragile.

Jiang Yanli wants him to rest, but he wants to find a way to repair Jiang Cheng's core, and his mind races, trying to think of where he can get books and who can help him. His thoughts instantly go to Cloud Recesses and Lan Wangji. His face lights up at the thought that Lan Wangji will help him, and he hops up, ready to dash off and find him.

The first time I watched this I was like, dude yes you’re in love, but you can’t just dash off to find Lan Wangji, not when there’s a war on. This time I was like, actually wow things would turn out a whole lot better if you got Lan Wangji to help you, instead of coming up with your own plan.

Mother Mother Can You Tell Me

Jiang Yanli tells him to slow his roll. He's pushing himself too hard and she's afraid he will collapse. Then Wei Wuxian comes out and says what's driving him: maybe all these disasters are his fault.

It's telling, I think, that he cites Madame Yu, not Jiang Cheng, in this moment, even though Jiang Cheng has blamed him much more thoroughly and consistently. He's talking about one mother figure, to another mother figure, and looking for absolution.

He super does not get what he's looking for.

Jiang Yanli slowly lets go of him and goes the fuck off. She asks, rhetorically, what he's to blame for, and then lists off all of the shit that's happened. She finishes up by saying, look at our situation; blaming won't help anything.

It's unclear, because language/translation, if her answer is "it doesn't matter who's to blame" I.E. "yes, it's your fault, but I'm letting it go" or if she is saying "how does blaming yourself help anything?" I.E. "it's not your fault, stop being a drama llama."

Her body language, though, seems pretty blameful - she lets go of him, yells at him, sits down and turns away from him. And his reaction is not one of shared grief, or of someone who is trying to get over himself; he's totally crushed, and he literally never unburdens himself to her again. Even when he asks her, much later, about love, he immediately backs out of the conversation.

There is no violence in this moment and her reaction is understandable, but this is kind of similar to that one time when his brother choked him in a beautiful field of grass, in order to make himself feel better.

Then she kind of relents and takes his hand, telling him that she needs him and reminding him that he promised that they will go back to Lotus Pier. I don't remember him promising this, but okay.

He puts his head on her lap and he cries, she cries, comatose Jiang Cheng cries; FUCK this episode.

Jiang Cheng manages to cry only one tear and does it on the side of his face that his siblings can't see because he's not going to give them the satisfaction of sharing this moment with him, I guess.

When Wei Wuxian puts his head on Jiang Yanli's lap, it's part of a ritual for them, that they both are comforted by; he does it again much later, after they return to Lotus Pier. But this ritual does not actually do anything to relieve his burdens. As a male adult, and the only Jiang Clan disciple with any abilities, it falls to him to save the clan, whatever it takes, and he is heavily aware of it.

Wen Qing comes along and sees the sweet part of this complicated Shijie-Shidi dynamic, and decides to help with Wei Wuxian's research project. When the trio had just lost their parents, gotten sick, been pursued by enemies, & had one of Yanli's little brothers horribly wounded, Wen Qing was like, eh, I'll do the doctor stuff but that's it. But lap-crying is another level.

Wen Qing: Nooo don't put your head on her knees I failed my saving throw

Group Project

Wen Qing goes and cleans up the mess in the library, putting everything in order and settling in to read systematically. Wen Qing probably has the prettiest bullet journal. (OP looks proudly at the 100 loose slips of paper and piles of random stuff on her own desk)

Wei Wuxian has shaved and rested and comes in with a tray of food for Wen Qing, and then goes to his table in the back to start working. He claims he made "porridge" for her and that she has to eat to gain strength, and she gives him an intrigued expression. This moment is just blatant het baiting.

In fact the food he brings her is clearly not porridge, which might just be a translation error, but also he totally can't cook, so it's not clear if he's joking and Yanli or Wen Ning made the food, or if this is just inedible.

The Things We Do For Love

Yanli is working in the meth lab and coughing a lot. Yanli's chronic illness is a sign of what's to come for Wei Wuxian, because strong cultivators don't get sick. Yet Yanli, as a physically vulnerable person, who has either a weak golden core, or none, is still intrinsically valuable. Her presence in this scene is a reminder that Jiang Cheng's life is not, actually, over; he just feels like it is.

While Yanli cooks the meth, Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing have a study montage that is the equivalent of a training montage, except without "Eye of the Tiger" on the soundtrack.

Jiang Cheng remains unconscious. Apparently if you stick nails in the top of someone's head, you make them sleep, and in the back of their head, you turn them into part of your zombie army. Fortunately Wen Qing's aim is good. Jiang Cheng is looking devastatingly handsome as usual the TV version of unwell, and has grown a perfect Dorito-chip of stubble on his chin to go with his new 'stache.

Eventually Wei Wuxian changes back into his non-vampire robe and he finds the answer in an old scroll book. The Ikea instruction picture shows arrows going from the guy on the left to the guy on the right. Clearly it's not a great procedure for the guy on the left.

Wei Wuxian's face shows us exactly how not great.

Like walking in the rain and the snow and there’s no place to go and you’re feeling like a part of you is dying

He goes outside and gazes up at the trees and the sky as he contemplates the sacrifice that circumstance is forcing on him. He's not even making a choice at this point; his choice was made the moment he found the procedure. But it's going to be a tremendous loss for him. He values sword cultivation at least as much as Jiang Cheng does; he even fell in love with a boy over crossed swords. So he sits and just kind of comes to terms with this new understanding of his future. (Big gifs here)

Wen Qing finds him sitting, stunned, on the porch. She doesn't know what's up so she just sits quietly with him until he's ready to tell her.

She doesn't love the plan.

Thunder, Th-th-thunder

Wen Ning is bringing food up when he sees them arguing, and he is startled by situationally appropriate thunder and lightning. Having recently watched The Lost Tomb Reboot I've come to expect thunder and lighting to appear on cue in any possible situation, so the fact that this mini-storm clears right up again doesn't bother me.

What About You?

Wen Ning dashes inside to see what Mom and Dad are fighting about. They're having a polite shouting match because Wen Qing refuses to yank out Wei Wuxian's core.

Wen Qing: I hate the idea of harming you Wei Wuxian: I don’t even understand that sentence

Wei Wuxian doesn’t, of course, feel that he is important in any way, and ignores her concerned and appalled expressions in favor of telling her to just do it anyway. Amazingly, this does not convince her.

OP’s 177cm-tall son keeps telling her this

Then Wei Wuxian plays the "you know Jiang Cheng" card, which...I guess she does? Maybe he was chatting her up more than we saw in Cloud Recesses? He hasn't given her the comb or anything yet. Wei Wuxian explains that Jiang Cheng cares about gain and loss, and cultivation is his life. If he can only be ordinary the rest of his life will be ruined.

Wen Qing asks the question that nobody ever asks him: What about you?

Wei Wuxian has literally nothing to say to that, possibly because the question is so new to him.

Wen Ning doesn't know what's going on but comes squarely in on team Wei, of course, and begs his sister to Do The Thing. How fucking horrified is Wen Ning going to be when he learns what The Thing is? What he is personally going to help do to his beloved friend? Yikes.

Wen Qing caves, warning them that the chance of success is only 50 percent. Wei Wuxian is happy to take those odds.

Lan Wangji, projecting his voice from Episode 46: fifty percent, are you fucking kidding me?

Soundtrack: 1. Mother Mother by Tracy Bonham 2. The Things We Do For Love by 10cc 3. Thunder by Imagine Dragons

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed gifs #wen qing #wen ning #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #my gifs #episode 17 #OMG this episode #god I miss lan wangji #warning: psychic pain

227 notes · View notes

aurora077 · 3 years

Text

Securing Sect Leader Jin Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Before securing Sect Leader Jin, you must first secure your shidi/shixiong. Part 2

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13926514/3/Securing-Sect-Leader-Jin

At some point, it had started raining. The sound on the rooftop would normally lull him back to sleep, but the only thing he could hear at the moment was--

I would have done anything for you to live …

Jiang Cheng sucked in a sharp breath.

The words pierced him like Wen Qing’s needles must have.

Wasn’t… wasn’t that his own thought when he’d led the Wens away from Wei Wuxian? It didn’t matter what happened to him, he’d just needed Wei Wuxian to live. He had fully expected to die that day. All he knew was that he wouldn’t.. couldn’t let them take Wei Wuxian. And now… now he couldn’t ever tell him about that. He wouldn’t.

Because it would break Wei Wuxian’s heart.

If he ever found out that he was the reason for Jiang Cheng being tortured and losing his core….

No.

Wei Wuxian would never know. Better to let him think he went back for his parents’ bodies to be filial. He wouldn’t blame himself then. And of all the things Jiang Cheng blamed him for and wanted him to acknowledge and apologise for… that was definitely not one of them.

Stupid he wanted to say. And did you ever think about what you would do afterwards? How would you have explained to me where your cultivation went? If you hadn’t been caught and thrown into the burial mounds, you would have had no demonic cultivation to fall back on. What would you have done then? He wanted to shake Wei Wuxian for his complete lack of thought about himself. It was always this way with him. Playing the hero for everyone, not caring about the consequences. Not caring about himself and what could happen to him.

But how could he? How could he when he did the same? How could he when they felt the same way?

He cradled the back of Wei Wuxian’s head for a second then pulled him away from where he was tucked into Jiang Cheng’s neck to make him face him. His eyes were red and swollen from all the crying, tears still sporadically making their way down his face.

Jiang Cheng exhaled tiredly, leaning his forehead against Wei Wuxian’s and closing his eyes tightly.

“You...” he said weakly. His own eyes were starting to well up.

“I know you’re angry with me,” Wei Wuxian mumbled wetly, “I don’t blame you.”

He wanted to hide his face again but Jiang Cheng’s hand was on his nape, keeping him right where he was.

“I’m not sorry for doing it,” he said in a fit of bravery, “It was the only way I found to help you. But I’m sorry that you didn’t hear about it from me. I just… I didn’t want to hurt you.” “A-Cheng,” he said brokenly, “I’m sorry I hurt you.” He felt Jiang Cheng’s hand tremble and he raised his own hands to cup his shidi’s cheeks, once again wiping tears from it.

His voice was soft and melancholic. “For all the times I hurt you. I’m sorry. It was the last thing I wanted to do. And if you had to find out about the core it should have been from me. It wasn’t Wen Ning’s place to say it. I should have told you myself.”

Jiang Cheng barely contained a whimper. He couldn’t open his eyes to meet Wei Wuxian’s or he would surely break down too. They’d never talked to each other like this before…they’d never even addressed each other so familiarly (both would rather say it to Yanli than to each other’s faces). But it felt necessary. It felt right. After everything they’d been through, didn’t they deserve to have someone to be familiar with? The only one he had left in the world was Jin Ling. And who did Wei Wuxian have? A displaced soul and a donkey? It felt wrong that Wei Wuxian, who’d been the life of every place he’d ever been to, should be left to travel the world all alone.

“A-Xian…” he whispered hoarsely.

At Wei Wuxian’s surprised intake of breath, he finally opened his eyes. Wei Wuxian’s eyes were blown wide and he looked amazed and astounded at the same time.

“A-Xian…” he slowly raised his hand to rest it on top of the one Wei Wuxian still had on his cheek.

“I’m sorry too.”

Wei Wuxian made a strangled noise.

“I should have done more. Something. Anything...” he started, but Wei Wuxian covered his mouth with his free hand and spoke before he could get annoyed.

“No,” Wei Wuxian shook his head, a stern look replacing the previous shock. Removing his hand before Jiang Cheng could pull a teenaged Wei Wuxian’s move of licking the offending limb, he continued, “I never wanted to drag the sect down with me. You couldn’t have done anything to help without ruining everything that you’d worked so hard to build up to that point. You know I’m right.” “A-Cheng, I gave up my core because I wanted to see you succeed. How could I drag the sect through the mud when you were just starting to be acknowledged? You might have been able to protect me but you couldn’t protect them. And I needed to protect them. I owed them for helping me. The sect was in a precarious position. You couldn’t have helped. It was true then and it’s even more so now that we know what the Jins were up to; even if I had gone home with you and abandoned them, it was only a matter of time before they’d have found some pretext to get to me or the sect for the seal anyway. You said...” he paused, sorrow lining his face again, “You said that I should accept that...that… you and shijie chose to… to jump… to p..protect me.” He still couldn’t quite get those words out fully.

“Well I chose to protect the sect in the only way I knew how. By not dragging you down with me. I’ve never blamed you for putting the sect first. It was your duty. I wanted you to do it. I pushed you away so you could focus on the sect.”

Jiang Cheng frowned. “Fine. I won’t apologise for that then. But I... You know I tried to protect you. But you said you didn’t need anyone to speak for you. And you wouldn’t leave them. Now I know why.”

He shifted his gaze to look at a point over Wei Wuxian’s shoulder rather than directly into his eyes. This was too much vulnerability for him already. “So regardless, I’m sorry. I wish I could have protected you.”

Wei Wuxian’s heart swelled with a light feeling. It felt like a weight he didn’t even know he was carrying was being lifted from his chest. He was indeed the one who wanted the Jiang Sect to denounce him so they wouldn’t get the backlash from his actions. He did tell Jiang Cheng he didn’t need him to protect him. But being free of the seal’s influence and in a relatively stable state of mind now…. He was happy that Jiang Cheng wanted to. That he’d tried.

“You said it wasn’t Wen Ning’s place to tell me and it wasn’t. But I needed to know. After the war I thought you didn’t care anymore. You were always drinking and playing around instead of being by my side for meetings or anything else. You idiot, why didn’t you come up with a better lie huh?” He actually grasped Wei Wuxian’s shoulders this time but didn’t quite manage to shake him. His reddened eyes watered and Wei Wuxian was about to apologise again but Jiang Cheng cut him off before he could, in a thin agonised voice. “You could have said that... Why didn’t you at least blame the Core-Melting Hand? It would have made sense. You could have said something...anything! You let me think you were fine and playing the fool. Of all people, don’t you think I would have understood what it was like without one?” His voice had gotten close to a whisper.

Wei Wuxian gave a mirthless laugh. “And if I had, wouldn’t you have wanted to take me back to Baoshan Sanren? And if I’d said it was one chance only to get it restored then wouldn’t you have felt terrible that you used it up? How could I say it to you without hurting you A-Cheng?”

“So what if I would have felt bad!? At least I would have known that you were hurt, you fool!” he burst out, “And when you wanted to pretend to defect, I wouldn’t have stabbed you like that! You always pretend everything is fine up until it very obviously isn’t. But by then it’s often too late to turn back. I didn’t believe Jin Guangshan’s blatant lies about all those supposedly innocent Jin cultivators you had Wen Ning kill in Jinlin Tai. It was fairly obvious after they ambushed you in the first place that it was a set-up. You wouldn’t have done anything like that without a reason.”

“But when A-Jie died... I blamed you. You said you could control the demonic cultivation and then you didn’t. You lost control and A-jie was dead, struck down first by one of your corpses and finished by someone who wanted revenge on you. I was so angry with you. Then some barmy old Sect Leader openly blamed you for A-Die and A-Niang and A-Jie’s deaths right next to that insufferable Sect Leader Yao who didn’t even care that the boy you killed had just murdered A-Jie. Let go of him my ass. If you hadn’t killed him I would have. But then you lost it totally and killed hundreds of people. And the mob looked to me; everyone expected me to go with Jin Guangshan to lead the charge. Who else was wronged by you more than the Jiang and Jin they asked?” his voice cracked, “What was I supposed to do? Tell me. What should I have done?”

And that more than anything reminded him of the last time he saw his friends. He hadn’t had any memory of reaching back to the Demon Slaughtering Cave after he accidentally killed his shijie’s husband… but he distinctly remembers the feeling of pure devastation when he came to himself. What am I supposed to do now? he had cried. And Wen Ning and Wen Qing had answered him by taking the initiative...they’d paralysed him and walked straight to their deaths.

What should I do?

He remembered the feeling well. The hopelessness. The hysteria.

He had gone on to Nightless City and there his shijie had died and the last shred of sanity he’d been clinging to at that point was gone... he had started a massacre because if it was a monster they wanted it was a monster they’d get.

He was so far gone he’d had no idea how he made it out of the battle unscathed (until Zewu-Jun clued him in).

What should I have done? Jiang Cheng was asking him. He knew what Jiang Cheng did do. Or partially at least. Jiang Cheng and the others had stormed into the Burial Mounds… Well he remembered nothing but the pain of being ripped apart. He couldn’t say who killed who though by the end all the Wens were dead, all he knew was that his shidi’s face was the last thing he saw before being engulfed by his own corpses. So what should Jiang Cheng have done other than to go after the man everyone thought responsible for Yunmeng Jiang’s problems? What should he have done as the last Jiang standing?

Nothing. There was nothing he could do but go along the path that destiny set for them. He had to keep his sect safe and avenge his sister. In his grief, what could he really have done? Because what Wei Wuxian did in his grief, he regretted bitterly till this day. And so did Jiang Cheng it seemed, whose tears were being freely shed and who was looking at him with an expression of desolation that pained him to see.

“There was nothing different you could do shidi. But it’s okay,”Wei Wuxian said, “I’ve never blamed you for it. It was my fault.”

“No! It wasn’t!”

“A-Xian. It wasn’t your fault. Not all of it. You certainly didn’t help matters but the blame can’t lie solely on your head. Didn’t you say you wouldn’t shoulder what you didn’t do? So why are you taking responsibility for everything again?”

Wei Wuxian couldn’t believe Jiang Cheng remembered what he’d said at the second siege. (Jiang Cheng would scoff at him if he knew... He was the one with the bad memory. When did Jiang Cheng ever forget things that Wei Wuxian said?)

Jiang Cheng had told him that it was difficult to save someone but there were a thousand ways to hurt them. In the end he was proven right wasn’t he? He wished he wasn’t but he was. Wei Wuxian had never listened to him (though now he understood why he didn’t in this instance). They’d all paid the price.

Jiang Cheng laughed, sounding just on the edge of hysterical, “The cultivation world is always looking for a scapegoat. It just happened to be you then. Now it’s Jin Guangyao… look how quick they were to turn against him. They’re waiting to pounce on anyone who steps out of line again.”

Well that was a conclusion he’d come to himself actually. He hadn’t liked how quick they were to believe the worst of a man they’d lauded up till that point. He had been the one to have to question why the women bothered to come forward only then. They’d been so quick to latch on to tales of Jin Guangyao’s degeneracy. The cultivation world was always just waiting for an opportunity to bring him down. Though Jiang Cheng had spent a long time questioning the women before bringing them to talk to the assembly, so at least his shidi hadn’t just taken their word for it. But then, Jiang Cheng would have been well aware of how insidious rumours were, especially with no proof. The rest of them didn’t care. They hadn’t been affected after all.

Wei Wuxian sighed, “Well, now that Nie Huaisang is Chief Cultivator we can only hope he’ll stop anything like that again before it gets too far. That man’s information network must be amazing.”

Jiang Cheng shook his head and said self-deprecatingly, “I never imagined that Nie Huaisang would be the one to figure out everything. I was so blind. And Jin Ling was in that man’s care for so long. He was close to him. Lianfang-Zun’s betrayal broke his heart.”

“Oh shidi, you couldn’t have known. How would you? He was an expert at manipulation. Even I would never have suspected Jin Guangyao of all of this if it wasn’t for Huaisang’s machinations.”

Jiang Cheng was silent for a moment, his eyes roaming over Wei Wuxian’s face. Wei Wuxian wondered what he was seeing.

“Was…” he raised his hand after a moment and tentatively touched Wei Wuxian’s face, “Do you think he planned for Mo Xuanyu to sacrifice his body to bring you back?” He was running a thumb over that unfamiliar face, knowing that the soul belonged to Wei Wuxian, but wondering about Mo Xuanyu, who had sacrificed his life for it to happen.

Wei Wuxian frowned slightly. “That I don’t know. I can only surmise that Mo Xuanyu found the ritual and planned to do it. Whether Huaisang pushed him into it or simply gave him advice... I can’t say for sure. But what I can say is that Huaisang knew he would do it. Because Nie Mingjue’s arm was let loose on the same night and made its way to Mo Manor. Regardless of whether he had a hand in it or not, he certainly made use of the opportunity.”

“I want to be mad at him,” Jiang Cheng said sadly, “He knew everything yet he let Jin Guangyao get away with it for years. He wanted to completely ruin his reputation rather than just getting rid of him. He let Jin Guangyao get away with many horrible things while plotting his revenge. But…”

“But?”

“But if it wasn’t for him and Mo Xuanyu… you’d probably never have come back,” he said, not meeting Wei Wuxian’s eyes.

“Sh..shidi,” he said, heart suddenly warm, “I thought you didn’t.. Weren’t you hunting demonic cultivators looking for me?”

“Of course I was looking for you, you idiot,” he rolled his eyes, “Do you know how many of them were using your name to do horrible things? And with the way you died, who wouldn’t expect your soul to be building resentment? How could you reincarnate if you were stuck here as a malignant spirit? Someone had to free your soul if it was in fact you.”

“Who else was going to care about releasing the Yiling Patriarch’s spirit? They would have eliminated* you on the spot! People tried to summon you, you know. Nobody could find a trace of your soul. They said… they said it was ripped apart and destroyed,” his voice wobbled slightly.

Wei Wuxian was struck dumb. Everyone said it was because Sandu Shengshou hated the Yiling Patriarch. And he himself believed it. But the first thing Jiang Cheng did when thinking he was possessing Mo Xuanyu was to hit him with Zidian, which would have expelled any malicious spirit. It.. Jiang Cheng was right. He’d been dead. Nobody expected to find him alive. They wouldn’t have been looking for him, they'd be looking for his ghost. And 13 years later only two** parties were still interested in finding his soul… demonic cultivators and Sandu Shengshou (and well apparently the Mo Xuanyu-Nie Huaisang duo but that was a different story…).

“A-Cheng.”

“What?”

“I… I died.”

Jiang Cheng gave him a look that said well yes, that’s been established.

But.. for the first time Wei Wuxian was actually letting that fact sink in.

He had died.

“You’re shaking!”

“A-Cheng.” He really was trembling.

“I was dead,” he looked shattered.

“I died.”

He didn’t cry but his throat seized up and he’d not managed to stifle a grief-stricken whimper.

And it was grief. Grief for the life he’d had and lost. For what could have been as opposed to what was. He hadn’t truly processed what had happened to him, not really. He’d acknowledged it in the vague way that one might simply repeat a fact but he hadn’t let himself feel it before.

For the first time that night, Jiang Cheng initiated an embrace. “I know,” he said somberly, holding Wei Wuxian’s shaking body close.

“Believe me, I know.”

The anguish in his voice had Wei Wuxian clinging tightly to him. Jiang Cheng hugged him just as hard. It was a comfort to them both. Things between them were so complicated, so tied up in knots that he hadn’t had a hope of untangling their relationship. So he hadn’t even tried. He’d resolved to just put everything behind him and move on and he advised Jiang Cheng to do the same. But moving on wasn’t an easy task when you had unresolved trauma. It was more like he was compartmentalising rather than actually healing.

Jiang Cheng just held him silently, making soothing motions on his back until he had sorted out his thoughts and stopped shaking. “You’re back now,” he said looking at Wei Wuxian intently, “Thanks to Nie Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu you have a second chance. And now at least you have a core again so you can cultivate. Jin Ling had said Mo Xuanyu was training in Jinlin Tai before getting kicked out, not so?”

He laughed somewhat shakily, “It’s a small meagre little thing. Mo Xuanyu really was pitiful. It’s certainly not enough to wield Suibian again, which I could do at fifteen.”

“It’s fine if it’s small as long as it’s there,” Jiang Cheng said softly, “It can be grown if you practice. Suibian is waiting for you.”

“Mm ChengCheng, have you been taking good care of my Suibian? Chenqing was shiny and so well tuned, Suibian will get jealous~” he joked.

He snorted and teased, “What do you mean yours? Wen Ning gave it to me, it's mine now. Of course I’ll take good care of it.”

“It wasn’t his! He can’t give it away!” Wei Wuxian pouted, “I’ll be having words with him when he gets back!”

Jiang Cheng’s expression shifted.

“Hey,” Wei Wuxian said softly, sensing the change in mood, “What’s wrong?”

Jiang Cheng just shook his head.

“Are you.. Are you upset because he went to Qishan?”

Jiang Cheng sighed and said nothing for a minute, but eventually said, “I can’t be upset with him for that. It’s his duty to his family after all.” “Then what’s wrong? Is it because of that night when he gave you Suibian? He never told me what he said to you...”

Jiang Cheng laughed bitterly, “Don’t worry about that. Other than telling me about the transfer, he didn’t say anything I didn’t hear before. Just that I should have known that I would never have been able to equal you. What’s new there? It isn’t anything my own parents didn’t imply. He was right, I should have known.”

Wei Wuxian’s face went dark. “No he wasn’t! Your parents weren’t right either. And anyway, I’m the one who doesn’t equal you now.” Wei Wuxian hadn’t known what exactly Wen Ning had said but if he had he would’ve definitely had something to say about it. He kept this secret so as not to hurt his shidi and Wen Ning ended up stabbing him where it hurt the most anyway. (Though he knew he had a big part to play in their falling out in the ancestral hall. But he’d have to apologise for that another day. They seemed to be making progress but with all those misunderstandings between them one night certainly wasn’t enough to resolve everything.)

All their life since he’d been at Lotus Pier they’d been compared, Madame Yu scolding Jiang Cheng to do better than him and Uncle Jiang just giving his patented disappointed-in-JC-why-can’t-you-be-like-wei-ying spiel. Jiang Cheng was never that much weaker than him anyway. He had his own strengths and merits. His personality was never the easiest but it didn’t mean that he couldn’t be just as good as Wei Ying in cultivation.

Things just came easier to Wei Wuxian, that’s all. He’d tried to make him see that there wasn’t only one way to be a Jiang but what could his words do in the face of a parent’s disapproval? He hated being the reason for Jiang Cheng to be criticised by his parents. And now he had to find out that his friend had gone and done the same thing they did to his shidi; he put Jiang Cheng down because of Wei Wuxian. The exact thing he feared when he thought of Jiang Cheng finding out, had happened...and it wasn't simply brought on by his shidi’s insecurities, it was thrown in his face. Suffice to say, Wei Wuxian was not pleased.

“Oh don’t look like that,” Jiang Cheng said upon seeing Wei Wuxian’s black expression, “You’ll give Mo Xuanyu’s face premature wrinkles; his core isn’t strong enough yet to prevent them.” Jiang Cheng poked at the furrow in between his brows causing him to pout again. “It happened a while ago, I’ve had time to accept it. It wasn’t his place but he did it in his attempt to protect you. Shouting at me was probably a bonus. He has to resent me after all. His family killed mine and then I co-led the siege that killed his. We both have reasons to dislike each other. He had an opportunity to let loose on me and he took it. We both just ignore each other for the most part now. He protected Jin Ling so I’ll let it be. Besides, I’m not surprised he got angry on your behalf and not his own. He always did admire you a lot.” He tried to say it nonchalantly but it was clear that he wasn’t unaffected.

Wei Wuxian sighed, “Fine, I’ll let it go. But if it isn’t that, then what’s bothering you? Don’t say it’s nothing, you got quiet earlier too when I told you about his trip.”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t meet his eyes. “I know what it’s like to be the last one standing,” he said finally, “To have to mourn your family alone.” If Wei Wuxian weren’t so close up in his space, he probably would not have heard him over the still pouring rain.

“To want to lay them to rest but not have a body left to bury,” he continued, as he shot a forlorn look at Wei Wuxian whose heart clenched painfully.

“You identify with him,” he whispered.

Jiang Cheng said nothing but his face reddened slightly.

“Shidi…”

“What?” he snapped, “I’m not heartless. The Wens are gone and though he’s dead he still lingers here. Without anyone. He’s stuck here, unable to enter the reincarnation cycle to be with them. What is he going to do after burying their ashes? Follow Jin Ling around forever or until he assuages his guilt?”

“He’s by himself. He’s the only one left. I know how it feels. If it wasn’t for A-Ling I don’t even know how I would have made it,” he admitted, “I may not particularly care for The Ghost General but he’s lost everything too, including his literal life. And after all this I just wonder if it wouldn’t be kinder to ask him if he’d like to be at rest. What does he have remaining to tie him here? I don’t for a moment doubt that in the future he will realise these things and it will hurt. He might stick around for your sake but loneliness can be a more potent poison than anything else.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t mean the words to be sharp but they cut him nonetheless. After all, they could apply to himself just as easily. His shidi must have seen something in his face because he softened.

“Don’t make that face. You still have places you can go. He can’t fit in so easily. I heard Master Lan punishes the Lan juniors for even associating with him. A-Ling seems to have forgiven him but he certainly can’t show up in Koi Tower even if A-Ling allows him. And if people knew he was frequenting Qishan what do you think they’d say? Maybe the mob will rise up again. He might seem fine now but it’s bound to wear a person down eventually.”

“I never thought I’d see the day that you were concerned for Wen Ning,” Wei Wuxian said wonderingly.

Jiang Cheng sputtered. “Who’s concerned? I’m just saying!”

“Mhm and this has nothing to do with you and Wen Ning spending time together behind those bushes eh?” he snickered.

Jiang Cheng’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “You!” He pounced on him, hooking his arm around Wei Wuxian’s neck and rubbing his knuckles on his head painfully.

“Ahh noo not the noogie!!” Wei Wuxian whined, “Mercy! 🙏 A-Cheeeng.”

“You want mercy but you can never control that mouth of yours,” Jiang Cheng said, letting him go after thoroughly messing up his hair.

Wei Wuxian rubbed his sore head and fixed his hair again, pretending to be insulted.

That just earned him a flick to the forehead and he pouted again.

But after a minute he became serious. “I’m not so different from Wen Ning now,” he admitted, “The whole world’s moved on without me. I don’t have a place here anymore, not really. And you’re not my shidi anymore are you?” He laughed without humor. “You’re Sect Leader Jiang now. I mean obviously you have been since after the war but… I wasn’t really ever there to see it was I?”

“No. You weren’t,” Jiang Cheng agreed solemnly. Wei Wuxian had been too busy drinking his pain away before he saved the remaining Wen cultivators. And then well, it snowballed from there until his death. And Jiang Cheng had had no choice but to grow without him. He wasn’t a naive little boy anymore. He understood now that his shixiong did not in fact have all the answers. That Wei Wuxian could not uphold all the promises he made as a youth. It hurt having to accept it. But he did accept it. He was an old man now, jaded by years of political struggles and grappling with his personal demons. He understood what it was like to be all alone in the world but to have to carry on anyway. And Wei Wuxian had been unceremoniously pulled back from the dead to carry out someone else’s revenge plot then tossed aside when it was complete. It was a little too cruel wasn’t it?

He cleared his throat, “You weren’t there to see it then, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be now.”

Wei Wuxian’s heart raced. Eyes widening he looked up at JC barely daring to hope.

“Jiang Cheng… are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Jiang Cheng grunted, “I’m saying do whatever you want. Go travel with your ugly donkey if that’s what suits you. But there’ll always be a place for you at Lotus Pier. ”

“Hey! No need to insult Lil Apple!” he feigned indignance.

“That’s what you took out of that?” Jiang Cheng said incredulously.

“Well…” fresh tears sprung to his eyes. He never thought he’d be welcome in Lotus Pier again.

“Ahh alright alright, stop that now, your eyeballs will fall out with all this crying,” Jiang Cheng said uncomfortably. His quota for vulnerability was reaching its limit.

Wei Wuxian laughed wetly and finally moved out of his space, propping himself up next to Jiang Cheng again and leaning on his shoulder.

“Jiang Cheng, thank you.”

“Shut up, what are you thanking me for? Just don’t be a stranger…”

“Okay,” he said timidly.

Things seemed to be settled between them, much better than it was before at least. And now he was less worried about Jiang Cheng’s reaction, though a sliver of doubt was still there, but he felt like it needed to be said. Because he was so proud of that little boy he rescued who managed to grow into a fine young adult. He couldn’t help but want to share. But also Jiang Cheng had, in his roundabout way, been concerned about Wen Ning’s own isolation even though he hated him (and Wei Wuxian was pretty sure even though they tolerated each other that it was for Jin Ling’s sake and not because any feelings changed.) So he steeled himself, hoping he was making the right decision.

“Jiang Cheng… Wen Ning he..” he paused.

“What about him? If you’re about to ask for him to come to Lotus Pier too, don’t. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for that.”

“No.,” he shook his head, “It’s just.. He didn’t go to make the memorial alone, you know…”

Jiang Cheng was surprised. “Who would go with him to do that?” It was a very personal journey. And most cultivators did not like going to Qishan if they could help it. And The Ghost General didn’t exactly have friends other than his erstwhile shixiong.

“Do you remember when you first came to talk to me in the Burial Mounds?”

“How could I forget?” he scowled.

He winced, yea okay he deserved that, that wasn’t a conversation that went well.

“Remember there was a baby that grabbed your leg?”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened and his face became downcast. “I.. I’d forgotten about the baby,” he admitted. He felt a twinge of regret. After raising Jin Ling, he’d learned to care more about children than he did before. “I’m sorry,” he said, “Truly I had not even considered the baby. He was the last thing on my mind that day. I’m sorry that he was lost as well. He was an innocent.” Personally, he wouldn’t kill children but he knew there were some people who wouldn’t give it a second thought. Like a certain Jin Guangyao who even killed his own baby to further his goals. And with a bitter taste in his mouth, he remembered Wang Lingjiao, who had it out for their innocent little shidi.

“That’s just it,” Wei Wuxian said, fiddling with his fingers nervously, “He wasn’t.”

“Don’t be stupid, what do you mean he wasn’t? What could a baby possibly have done?”

Wei Wuxian resisted the urge to facepalm. “I meant that he wasn’t lost…”

Jiang Cheng blinked.

“You managed to save him before you….?”

“No. I didn’t even know he was alive until after everything went down with Jin Guangyao...”

“Huh. Did Jin Guangyao save him? He kept the Ghost General around to use him but what use did he have for a Wen baby? Can’t have been that he felt bad...”

“It wasn’t Jin Guangyao. It was Lan Zhan,” he said.

“Lan Wangji? How did Lan Wangji save him? He wasn’t at the siege. I don’t know if you know but he went into seclusion and didn’t come out until three years had passed.”

“I know. But apparently he wanted to see the truth for himself so before he secluded himself he visited the Burial Mounds and just happened to find A-Yuan hidden in a tree with a strong fever. He saved him but A-Yuan lost his memories so he didn’t even know who he was. He remembers only bits and pieces now of living in the Burial Mounds, after he saw ChenQing. Wen Ning… well they reconnected and he went with him to bury their family together.”

Jiang Cheng was silent for a moment. “So the Lans took him in as their own. Lan Yuan is it?”

“Yes. But you may know him as Lan Sizhui,” Wei Wuxian added.

“Lan Sizhui?! The one that goes with A-Ling on all those night hunts?”

He nodded.

“Well no wonder The Ghost General hangs around them like a particularly large fly.”

Wei Wuxian felt brave enough to swat him. “You do too!”

Jiang Cheng elbowed him. “Don’t compare me to him!”

Didn’t you do that yourself earlier, he thought. But he backed down.

Jiang Cheng sighed. “I’m glad,” he said soberly.

“Lan Sizhui is an exemplary Lan disciple. Not like that noisy one who likes to backchat. You’d think he was the one who spent time with you.”

“Hey!”

“I suppose Lan Wangji was good for something.”

“Jiang Cheng!”

“Fine fine I’ll say nothing more about your precious Hanguang-Jun. I did wonder how come they’d been on this hunt without Lan Sizhui. He’s usually glued to the hip with the loud one.”

“Well...now you know.” Secretly he was really glad Jiang Cheng was taking this so well. He’d hoped but he didn’t know what to expect.

“Anyway, Lan Sizhui may have the Ghost General with him, but the rest of those brats don’t. If we want to follow A-Ling back to Jinlin Tai we’ll have to get some sleep.”

Wei Wuxian punctuated his agreement with a loud yawn as they settled back down to try and catch a wink of sleep. Morning would come very soon.

As he was starting to drift off, Jiang Cheng spoke again.

“Do you know the thing I blame you for the most right now, Wei Wuxian? It’s that out of all those people who you managed to kill in Nightless City, Sect Leader Yao remains alive and kicking… You had one job!”

He’d panicked at first but after that declaration he pouted, “But A-Cheeeng I couldn’t help it. He’s like a cockroach. Hard to kill and always underfoot making a nuisance of himself.”

Jiang Cheng snorted. “Sounds about right. Anyway, go to sleep. It’s late.”

“Yes, zongzhu. Whatever you say zongzhu.”

He earned himself another elbow, but he fell asleep with a smile.

-------------------------------

Notes:

*About wwx's spirit the methods would have been-- First, release the spirit from suffering. Second, suppress it. Third, eliminate it. For the initial approach, use the loving memory of his parents, wife, and children to comprehend his deepest desires and fulfill them. If this fails, move to suppression. But if the crimes are too great and his resentment too bitter to dissipate, eliminate him root and branch; his continued existence must not be permitted. -- MDZS Elegance IV

**LWJ playing inquiry for 13 years is fanon, not (novel) canon. Even if we’re going with this headcanon though, WWX has no idea that LWJ would have been looking for his soul.

26 notes · View notes

antebunny · 3 years

Text

Wei Wuxian, worst supervillain: part 2

Full series here.

“Wen Ning,” Wei Wuxian, with the urgency of a doomed man. “You gotta help me.”

“What’s the problem?” Wen Ning says immediately.

“Absolutely not,” Wen Qing says, without looking up from her book.

She’s sitting comfortably on the single couch in Wei Wuxian’s so-called villain lair. In reality, he couldn’t afford anywhere else, and the Burial Mounds are rent-free and neighborless. She still made Wei Wuxian buy the red couch, and it remains the only splash of color in the whole complex.

Wei Wuxian pauses, his palms still slammed down on the creaking table in the center of the room. Wen Ning continues mixing his tea. “Okay, first off,” he says, mortally offended, “you didn’t even know what I was going to say. And second, I wasn’t even asking you!”

“I’m answering for A-Ning,” Wen Qing says calmly.

“Wen Ning is a free man!” Wei Wuxian argues. “He can make his own decisions!”

“What do you need help with?” Wen Ning intervenes, dragging Wei Wuxian’s attention away from the argument.

“I’m not being taken seriously!” Wei Wuxian wails.

Wen Qing snorts. “Why would I?”

“I didn’t mean you,” Wei Wuxian says, once more mortally offended. “I mean the superheroes! They’re not taking me seriously as a villain! Last time I robbed the national bank, they just sent Lan Zhan, and we didn’t even fight!”

“Right,” Wen Qing says drily. “You just debated philosophy for two hours.”

“He had some interesting points,” Wei Wuxian mutters sulkily. “What was I supposed to do, just not debate him?”

“Yes,” says Wen Qing.

“I can’t just ignore Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian says belligerently. “Anyway, shouldn’t you be concerned? If the superheroes don’t take me seriously, how am I supposed to secure the safety of your family? If I just rescue them the government will never stop hunting them!”

Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “It’s not my fault you chose the stupidest way to go about it. Now both of your siblings are mad at you.”

Wei Wuxian opens his mouth to retort and then pauses. “Okay, but,” he tries, “it’s too late now! After last Friday–”

“There were easier ways to explain to Meng Yao where he got his psychic powers from,” Wen Qing notes, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Both Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning flush bright red.

“–the truth, Meng Yao,” the Yiling Patriarch said melodramatically, and his black coat billowed out behind him as he stalked towards Meng Yao.

The young man scrambled backwards over the rubble of the destroyed convenience store, his honey eyes wide with fear at the sight of the masked supervillain loomed over him. He was the communications director for the superheroes before all this happened, but during this fight Wei Wuxian had noticed his fledgling psychic powers and looked at the young man, who happened to look eerily similar to Jin Zixuan, and realized what was going on.

“They never told you what happened to your father,” Wei Wuxian continued, easily cornering Meng Yao.

Back in the Burial Mounds, Wen Ning leaned towards his computer like he could merge into the scene. His fingers flew across the keys, as he suddenly remembered some quote about a father that would be perfect for this situation. If only he could get to his list of villain phrases fast enough–

Wei Wuxian paused as the line flashed in front of his eyes, projected by his mask. Without registering the words, he read it out loud. “I am your father!”

Meng Yao stopped cowering.

The Yiling Patriarch stopped stalking dramatically. “Ah, fuck,” he said, his pointed finger drooping. “Wait–I meant–”

Two superheroes landed on the pile of rubble beside Meng Yao.

“Darth Vader, The Empire Strikes Back,” Hanguang-jun said confidently.

“How are you so fucking stupid,” Sandu Shengshou said, almost wonderingly. Bright purple lightning crackled around his fingertips.

“Shut up, I don’t know you!” The Yiling Patriarch cried. “I meant Jin Guangshan! I meant Jin Guangshan!”

“I think Zewu-jun’s handling it,” Wei Wuxian says evasively.

Wen Qing snorts. “Sure.”

“The point is they’re not taking me seriously!” Wei Wuxian insists. “Wen Ning, what can I do to make them take me seriously as a villain?”

“Do something only a villain would do,” Wen Ning suggests.

“Well obviously,” Wei Wuxian says. “But what?” He pulls out the chair across from Wen Ning and plonks himself down in it. They both ponder this question.

“Maybe you could kidnap a hero?” Wen Ning suggests.

Wei Wuxian brightens. “That’s a great idea! But who?”

“Oh my God,” Wen Qing mutters from her comfy seat on the couch.

“Not Jiang Cheng, he’d kill me,” Wei Wuxian muses. He props his chin up with one hand. “And I don’t want to kidnap someone who’d get actually scared…Lan Zhan! Perfect. I’ll kidnap their precious Hanguang-jun. Then they’ll have to take me seriously!”

"Kill me now," Wen Qing groans.

When Lan Wangji wakes up to see the Yiling Patriarch looming over him, he thinks he’s still dreaming for one embarrassing moment. He’s glad he recognizes his mistake, or he would’ve said or done something mortifying that he prefers not to think about.

“Good morning, Lan Zhan!” The Yiling Patriarch says, grinning evilly. “You are in the lair of the Yiling Patriarch.”

Lan Wangji sits up. He’s on a soft red couch, wrapped in at least three blankets. Other than that, the large room is rather sparse; the walls are plain stone, as is the floor, save for a threadbare rug on top of which a rickety old table sits, with four chairs of varying styles situated around it.

“How does it feel to know you’ve been kidnapped by your worst enemy?” The Yiling Patriarch says gleefully.

He leans closer, and Lan Wangji swallows, his throat dry. It seems that the Yiling Patriarch forgeos his high-collar black coat when he’s at home. He’s currently wearing a baggy black shirt and black ripped jeans, which means that when Lan Wangji looks up, he’s looking directly at his collarbone, then up at his jawline, and then at the bottom half of his face. As he leans in, his lips curve in a wicked smile, and no, Lan Wangji not thinking about his forearms, or those beautiful, slender hands–

“How does it feel knowing you’ve been rendered powerless?” The Yiling Patriarch continues. His silver eyes track the movement of Lan Wangji’s throat. “Are you uncomfortable?” He asks worriedly. “This place has no heating–you know, free rent, that’s how it is–and I didn’t have anywhere else to put you, but I thought I brought enough blankets. Do you want tea? I can make tea!”

And the Yiling Patriarch bustles off, throwing a “Be right back! Don’t go anywhere!” over his shoulder.

Lan Wangji pushes the blankets off. “I am quite comfortable,” he says to himself. Perhaps he could’ve said it earlier, but he wasn’t going to dissuade the Yiling Patriarch from making him tea.

The Yiling Patriarch returns with two cups of jasmine tea, and invites Lan Wangji to take a seat at his table.

“Sorry about the chairs, they’re kinda falling apart,” the Yiling Patriarch says. “I got them at a yard sale. Well, four different yard sales, so none of them match.”

“It is fine,” Lan Wangji says.

“Right, right.” The Yiling Patriarch clears his throat, and pushes one teacup towards Lan Wangji. “Anyway. I thought it was time I proved my worth as a villain, don’t you think?” He leans back in his chair. One of the chair legs squeaks.

“You could always retire,” Lan Wangji suggests.

The Yiling Patriarch’s casual smile drops. “Not until I’ve done what I set out to do,” he says seriously. He pulls up his villain smile again. “Though I’m sure you heroes must be eager for me to retire, hm?”

“I am worried one day you might be seriously injured,” Lan Wangji replies.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan,” the Yiling Patriarch says, shaking his head. “The tragedy is not to die, but to be wasted. I have so much–”

“Hannibal Lecter,” says Lan Wangji.

The Yiling Patriarch scowls at him. “Stop doing that. As I was saying, I have so much to do, and so little time on this earth. If I must turn to villany to accomplish my goals, then I will. You cannot debate me into giving up my pursuits.”

“Why must you turn to villainy?” Lan Wangji asks. He drinks his tea. It’s over boiled, but still the best tea he’s ever had.

“Because otherwise, nobody listens,” the Yiling Patriarch says. “You think I didn’t try the proper way first?”

“No doubt you tried,” says Lan Wangji. “Nevertheless: what are your goals? Why do you hide your face? Who are you protecting?”

The Yiling Patriarch slams his teacup down. “You want the truth?” He pauses. “You can’t handle the truth!”

Lan Wangji sips his tea. “Colonel Nathan Jessup, A Few Good Men.”

“Stop doing that!” The Yiling Patriarch cries. He stands up and shakes his finger very threateningly at Lan Wangji. “You seem to have forgotten that you have been kidnapped, Lan Zhan.”

“I have not,” Lan Wangji says. The location leaves something to be desired, but other than that he thinks it’s a very fine first date.

“Then–! Don’t forget who holds the power in this situation!”

“Mhm,” Lan Wangji agrees. He sips his tea again. “Thank you for the tea.”

“O-oh, of course,” the Yiling Patriarch says, thrown. He sits down again. “You seemed like a no sugar type of person.” He pauses. “I mean, if you want sugar, I have some in the pantry. I think. Unless we ran out.”

“No need,” Lan Wangji says. He is, in fact, a no-sugar type of person.

“That’s good,” the Yiling Patriarch says. He smiles at Lan Wangji, who almost smiles back, heart set aflutter by the gentle smile on the Yiling Patriarch’s face.

“What is your plan?” Lan Wangji asks.

“My plan?” The Yiling Patriarch echoes, thrown once more. “I mean, my villainous plan! Uh. The one that I have.”

“Is this all for your image?” Lan Wangji presses.

“Of course,” the Yiling Patriarch says immediately. “You know me. Vanity, definitely my favorite sin.”

“John Milton, The Devil’s Advocate.”

“Shut up! I can’t believe you memorized all these quotes,” the Yiling Patriarch bemoans. “Lan Zhan, you’re ruining all my fun.”

Lan Wangji sips his tea again. “I am quite capable of research.”

“I’ll say,” he mutters.

“It is not too late to turn back,” Lan Wangji says, trying for once to put the turmoil of emotion he feels into his tone. “We can still put old wounds behind us. I can help you.”

The Yiling Patriarch slumps against his table. “Can we?” He asks, subdued. “After all, our scars have the power to remind us that the past was real.”

“Hannibal Lecter again,” says Lan Wangji.

“Fuck you! Hannibal Lecter is a good villain!” The Yiling Patriarch swells belligerently.

“And you,” Lan Wangji says calmly, “are not a very convincing villain.”

“What do you mean?” The Yiling Patriarch demands. “I kidnapped a hero! Only villains do that!” He sweeps one arm across the situation, gesturing at the hot jasmine tea and the pile of blankets on the couch behind them, and at Lan Wangji, seated primly on the old wooden chair provided for him. “This is a kidnapping!”

“Hm,” Lan Wangji says.

“I am a supervillain!” The Yiling Patriarch insists. “There’s no coming back from that. I destroyed a skyscraper last week. I’ve cost the government too much money for them to ever forgive me. There’s no way for you to redeem me!”

“There is nothing to redeem,” Lan Wangji says sharply.

The Yiling Patriarch flinches. When he stops, his expression is scraped raw. “R-right,” he says shakily. “O-of course–”

“I meant there is nothing to redeem, because you are already good,” Lan Wangji says hurriedly, realizing the misinterpretation of his statement.

The Yiling Patriarch pauses, mouth half open. “Lan Zhan, there’s no way for you to know that,” he croaks. “You don’t even know my name.”

“I do,” Lan Wangji says quietly. “And I don’t need to.” He hesitates, then reaches for the Yiling Patriarch's hand. He grips it tight, and the Yiling Patriarch lets him. “You are good.”

The Yiling Patriarch draws in a shaky breath. “Wei Ying,” he blurts. “Courtesy Wuxian. That’s. My name.”

Lan Wangji can feel the corners of his lips curve into a smile. “Wei Ying,” he repeats. “Wei Ying, you are good.”

#antebunny's ficlets #my writing #writeblr #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wen qing #wen ning #mdzs #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #wangxian

94 notes · View notes

flautistsandpeonies · 3 years

Text

Reformation Part 4

Read the Previous Chapter [Here]

Word Length: 3,101

Summary: You have to succeed no matter what. If you don’t, the loss would be devastating.

The day after the next, the Lan Discussion hall was filled once again; however, this time, a ruckus was occurring in every corner of the room.

“This is outrageous!, “Sect Leader Wang cried, a sentiment echoed by many leaders within the hall, “We have to do something about that foul beast!”

After the hunting party returned, the Lan Sect went into lockdown; the guards tripled, all armed with banishment tools and blades freshly sharpened. Visiting disciples were told to lessen their departures from the Cloud Recesses as a safety measure. With the events of the other night, guards were placed around the Jingshi, and no one but sect leaders were allowed to see Wei WuXian in his worsened state.

“We are taking a-Xian home, “Jiang Fengmian stood toe to toe with Lan Qiren

“That is unnecessary, “Lan Qiren said tersely

“What’s necessary, “Jiang Fengmian replied, “is making sure that my head disciple is no longer in danger. That creature may come back for him.”

“Which is why he should stay here, “Lan QIren challenged, “How can you be sure it won’t attack as soon as you leave the Cloud Recesses?”

“It’s a being of the night is it not?, “Yu ZiYuan huffed, “It won’t come in the day; if we leave right now we’ll be safe in our home soon enough.”

“And is Wei WuXian safe in your home?, “Sect Leader He challenged, “How can we be sure that the Jiangs won’t cause him more harm?.”

Yu ZiYuan glared at the man, “Does He Zongzhu believe that we are more dangerous than some unknown creature?”

“Seeing as you are the cause of this whole situation, I can firmly say “yes”, “Sect Leader He returned her glare

The noise within the hall grew louder. Sect leaders were doing their best to hush their disciples, but the room was slowly descending into chaos.

A disciple in the back hollered, “None of this would’ve happened had you just controlled yourself, woman!”

“What was that!, “Madam Jin thundered while Yu ZiYuan grew purple at the accusation

“Say that again!, “Jiang WanYin challenged the hidden cultivator

The disciple was brave with their anonymity, “The Violet Spider is insane! Wei WuXian would’ve never been in Gusu if she hadn’t attacked him at the banquet! That creature would have never shown!”

Minor sect disciples nearly screamed in agreement. Yu ZiYuan looked ready to unfurl Zidian against the crowd while Madam Jin braced her palm against her blade.

Wen Ruohan slammed his hand down against his table; the action silenced many.

“That’s quite enough of that, “the man looked vaguely annoyed, “Squabbling like children will get us nowhere.”

The Wen disciples were the only ones other than the Lans not kicking up a fuss in the hall. Sitting diligently beside their sect leader, they could only differ to him and keep quiet unless spoken to.

“Wen Zongzhu, “Jiang Fengmian turned to him, “It’s best if we leave with a-Xian immediately. The creature seems to favor forests and mountains, our lake-fronts may deter it.”

“And will Jiang Zongzhu be able to keep Wei WuXian safe from the other beast after his life, “flicking a hand in ZiYuan’s direction, Ruohan was unaffected by her anger

“I won’t allow her to harm him anymore, “Fengmian replied, though no one believed him, “I can send my own hunting party after the creature.”

“And who will lead it, “Sect Leader Wang questioned, “Yourself? Your son? The last hunt had Nie Zongzhu and Gusu Lan’s Twin Jades, and the creature fought them easily. What hope do you have? What hope do any of us have?”

Sect Leader Wang’s words sent a wave of depression over the crowd. With the Cloud Recesses in lockdown, it was as if they were prey animals trapped in a pen, and the creature outside was a fox waiting to devour them.

“What will we do?!, “a minor sect disciple cried, “What if it tries to consume us all?!”

Jin GuangShan stood and walked towards his fellow sect leaders, “Perhaps, we could try using Wei WuXian again?”

“No, “Lan WangJi said with an icy air around him, “Another attempt only endangers Wei Ying.”

“Second Young Master Lan, “Jin GuangShan implored, “Let’s not be unreasonable. What else could we possibly do? Wait until the creature tries to break in?”

“Having Wei WuXian there in that state is too dangerous, “Lan XiChen said in his brother’s defense

“We need a solution, “GuangShan replied, “We can’t all stay here waiting for something to happen.”

“We will not risk him again, “Lan WangJi said tersely

“It may be necessary, “the Jin Sect Leader pressed, “For the moment, the creature seems to be focused on him. This may be our only chance to kill it.”

“You are all so very incompetent, “a chill went up in the air, Wen Ruohan tapped his hand against his chair impatiently as he interrupted the ensuing argument again

Unlike before, Wen Ruohan didn’t seem to find satisfaction in the other sects arguing. The man was slowly releasing his spiritual power throughout the room; some people found themselves falling to their knees from the pressure.

“Wen Zongzhu, “Lan XiChen was choosing his words carefully, “the Lan are very capable of attending to Wei WuXian’s needs.”

“Are you?, “the near-immortal replied, his tone neither pleasant nor placating, “That’s twice now a hunt by the Lans has injured him.”

“This creature is new to us all, “XiChen said as finely as he could, “Now that we know what it’s capable of, we can deal with it better.”

"Still, the Cloud Recesses is no safer than Lotus Pier with that creature around, “Jiang Fengmian spoke, “I don’t see why he has to stay here.”

“We cannot be blamed for..., “XiChen started but was stopped by Wen Ruohan raising his hand

“I will say this clearly..., “the Wen Sect Leader was out of patience, “The Jiangs have damaged a perfectly good disciple for no reason. The Lans took him in, only for him to be bewitched by some unknown creature.”

The pressure in the room got even stronger. More experienced cultivators grit their teeth, forcing themselves to stay upright.

“Who should care for him now? The Nie? The Jin? A minor sect? Will we cycle him through all of your healing pavilions before the year is out?, “Each question came with the cultivator’s ever-darkening tone

Everyone in the room flinched as Wen Ruohan slammed his hand down once more.

“Plan another hunt. A better hunt, “it wasn’t a suggestion, “If there’s no change after this next attempt, if he is damaged again, then I’ll be taking Wei WuXian back to Nightless City with me. I’m certain my Xu-er can hunt this creature while a-Qing watches over him.”

Wen Ruohan’s eyes were a deadly fire, “Are there any objections?”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the next couple of days, sect leaders met and prepared for the next hunt. Limited in what disciples they could send, they couldn’t be as choosy and particular as they normally would when vetting their disciples. Too scared that a courier would be eaten by the looming creature, they had to choose from what little reserves they had.

The Jiangs would send Jiang WanYin, heading all the disciples the Jiang clan brought to the discussion. The Lan would be sending their Twin Jades along with several senior disciples. The Nie would bring their sect leader along with the disciples he carried along. The Jin would send their heir, his cousin, and their retinue. The Wen were sending all the disciples Wen Ruohan brought with him. The minor sects were sending their strongest disciples they had with them at the time.

Everyone was both nervous and excited about the hunt. The idea of fighting an unknown creature no doubt gave them a lot of anxiety, but, on the other hand, the fame and glory that would come from defeating it was enough to solidify their resolve.

Back in the Jingshi, Lan WangJi sat in the guestroom, sharpening his sword and preparing for the hunt.

“Master.....”

To his right, Wei WuXian lay in bed, a disturbed look upon his unconscious face. Uneven breaths came out of his slightly open mouth.

“Calling me.....Master...is...”

Not pausing in taking care of his blade, each word from Wei WuXian’s mouth made WangJi press the wet stone down a little bit harder, the sparks flying high.

“WangJi, “looking up, Lan XiChen, Nie MingJue, and Nie Huaisang stood in the doorway

“Xiongzhang, “WangJi nodded in greeting, “Nie Zongzhu, Second Young Master Nie.”

MingJue nodded back, “Huaisang wanted to see him, so I called a break from our night-hunt planning. Apologies for intruding.”

“No need, “WangJi shook his head as Nie Huaisang stepped into the room and quickly went up to Wei WuXian

“He says it during the day now, “Huaisang sat down gently beside his friend

Placing his hand on Wei WuXian’s forehead, the enchanted man tried to shake him away.

“Master....”

Huaisang sighed and removed his hand, “Wei-Xiong, you have the worst luck”

“He’s still alive, that’s at least something, “Nie MingJue said, trying to console him

“Calling me.....Master...”

“The meeting?, “WangJi asked while flipping his blade over

“It’s more arguing than planning, “XiChen replied, “People aren’t as worried about the hunt as more as who has a claim to Young Master Wei after all this is over.”

“No one does, “Was WangJi’s succinct reply

“Calling me....calling....calling.....”

“True, but they’re all talking in possibilities. Everyone’s claiming Young Master Wei would be more comfortable with them than anywhere else, “XiChen spoke

“That’s for Wei Ying to decide, “giving a quick glance to the man, he said, “after he wakes.”

“Jiang Zongzhu still advocating to take him back to Lotus Pier, “Huaisang frowned, “I don’t trust Madam Yu around him, nor Jiang WanYin.”

“And Ruohan seems determined to take him to Nightless City, “MingJue added, crossing his arms

“He won’t have reason to after the hunt, “Lan WangJi’s stern tone matched the scrape of the wet-stone against Bichen

“WangJi?, “XiChen questioned, giving a look to his little brother

Lan WangJi’s eyes were alight with resolution as he set the wet stone on the floor.

“I will take off its head.”

...

“Calling me.....”

Standing in the middle of the clearing, Wei WuXian stood slouched, the moonlight shining down upon him. Glossy pink eyes seemed to be looking for something as he chanted on and on.

“Master.....”

Hiding in the trees, cultivators had swords, arrows, and talismans at the ready. It was only a matter of time before the creature appeared.

Their plans had changed dramatically from the last time, instead of trailing the enchanted man to the clearing, they simply brought him before his nightly wake and set up traps along the way.

“Calling me....Master...is...”

“Nothing is showing on the compass, “Jin ZiXun complained staring down at the cultivation tool

“Perhaps the compass doesn’t register it as a resentful being, “a Wen disciple thought aloud

“Then how will we track it?, “a minor disciple questioned, “This will be even harder if it escapes again.”

A ways away, Lan WangJi stood listening. Thinking back to the hunt that started this, his eyes narrowed in contemplation

“Calling me...., “Wei WuXian chanted on in the center of the clearing

The cool air blew about them as the night went on. Insects of the night, trilled on as they waited and waited.

“Calling....call-”

All of a sudden, Wei WuXian grew silent. The cultivators tensed, knowing what was coming.

"SCREEEEEAAAAAH!“

The sound was the same as last time, nightly creatures vacated their homes in fear as the monster drew ever closer.

The cultivators shifted into battle-ready positions and a large silhouette was seen arriving in the sky.

The beast slammed down on the ground, wings expanding for a second before retracting.

“It’s you, “Wei WuXian sighed dreamily at the monster

The beast disregarded Wei WuXian for a moment. Glaring at the trees, the cultivators realized it was looking for them to appear.

“Huh, “Nie MingJue grunted, narrowing his eyes, “It’s smarter than we thought.”

Wei WuXian started to walk to the monster, speaking again, “Master, I’m here.”

Narrowing its eyes, the beast finally looked to its prey. Spreading its arms, it invited Wei WuXian with a rumbling hum. Closing its eyes, it breathed deeply as it savoring the cultivator’s scent.

“Now!, MingJue ordered, “rushing out with his fellow Nie cultivators

Brandishing his blade, XiChen sent it straight at the unaware monster just as it was about to embrace Wei WuXian, piercing deep into its arm.

The beast howled, hand striking out to throw Wei WuXian far away. The enchanted cultivator gasped in shock as he landed in a nearby bush.

“SCREEEEEAAAAAH!, “the beast howled as its tongue darted out and claws elongated, shaking its head wildly

Cultivators charged from all angles, sword glares flashing out at the beast. The creature charged and swung, knocking back cultivator after the cultivator and even tearing into many of them; their blood coated its claws as the battle commenced.

Jiang WanYin quickly engaged the monster with Zidian. The electrified whip slashed against its broad wings, cutting deep. The beast tried to get at him, but he was quick on his feet, dodging the clawed nails as they danced.

“Tch, “throwing Sandu out, it pierced the monster’s wing, throwing it back

Several cultivators jumped backwards, drawing their arrows, and fired. Spiritual binding ropes were attached. Firing into the beast they began to run around trying to entrap it.

“SCREEEEEAAAAAH!, “Grabbing the ropes with its claws, the tore the ropes to pieces

Ripping his sword out of the beast’s arm, XiChen aimed for the other, striking down hard, blood covered his face as he hit a vein.

“Switch, “Nie MingJue called to him, jumping forward

Striking at its torso with his saber, a deep gash was left on its stomach. Clawing back, MingJue was thrown backwards and flipped to land on his feet.

Lan WangJi darted forward, slashing with his blade. Uncaring of the clawed hands coming for him, he pressed on the beast, his golden eyes blazing at they stared one another down.

Going for wounds already inflicted, he made sure to widen each and every gash, blood rushed out and covered his white robes.

“Second Young Master, “a disciple cried out as a claws hand came dangerously close to his face

Grasping its wrist, WangJi twisted it as hard as he could until he heard the bone snap. The beast hollered, snatching its hand away in pain.

Summoning as much spiritual power as he could into his sword, he brought his blade up high, jumping as he charged forward. The beasts neck was unprotected as he slashed down.

The beast’s eyes widened at the sword glare coming for it; it tried to slide away as fast as it could before-

"SCREEEEEAAAAAH!“

Dark red blood pooled on the ground, the creature’s clawed hand flew up to its wound; shaking its head, the thick dark red liquid flew all around.

Lan WangJi raised his blade to strike again, sword glare bright and powerful. Charging forward, he slashed again and again. The beast was disoriented and forced the back away bit by bit.

Rapidly taking out a tracking talisman, Lan WangJi rushed forward, throwing his sword, the blade pierced the monster’s arm. Thrusting his hand out, he quickly shoved the talisman into one of the beasts gaping wounds. Taking out another, he jammed it into an adjacent gash.

“RAAAAHHHHH!!, “The monster howled in agony

Twirling in place, WangJi kicked up, foot hitting the monster’s chin and making it bite its own tongue. Then, with a bone-shattering punch to its chest, the beast flew back.

The beast struggled to stand back up, blood gushed out of varying would on its body, yet they were slowly starting to heal.

"SCREEEEEAAAAAH!, “the monster howled at Lan WangJi, black and red eyes were searing in anger

WangJi stood his ground, raising Bichen once more for another assault.

The creature growled as it was surrounded, cultivators from all the sects ready to charge at it. It knew it was at a loss.

"SCREEEEEAAAAAH!, “rapidly flapping its damaged wings, dust and blood swirled into the air

“Dammit, no, “Jiang WanYin lashed out with his whip, attempting to hold it down

The beast was too quick! With a loud rush, the beast burst high into the air and out of Zidian’s reach. Screeching once again, the monster zoomed through the sky.

Taking out a compass, Jin ZiXun grinned in glee as the needle started to throb from the talismans from Lan WangJi’s attack

“After it!, “Jin ZiXuan ordered his fellow Jin, all of them mounting their blades and following after the fleeing beast

Following behind them, the clearing soon became empty of cultivators except for a few. Sheathing his blade, WangJi walked to the puddle of blood the monster left behind. A pointed ear lay discarded on the ground. Picking it up, Lan WangJi quickly stowed it away in his qiankun sleeve.

“Amazing, Second Young Master Lan, “a senior Lan disciple rushed over to him

Rushing over to the bushes on the edge of the clearing, Wei WuXian sat, still bewitched, in the bushes. Wide-eyed, his pink pupils were actually glistening with tears.

“Master....left, “he mumbled, “Master...calling....left....”

Gently taking the man by the arms, Wei WuXian didn’t fight him but continued to mumble.

“Master....calling me...., “he said, “Master....left?”

“WangJi, “Looking up, XiChen was high upon his blade, “Take Young Master Wei back. Show the ear the Wen Zongzhu so he doesn’t try and take him.”

“Xiongzhang , “WangJi wanted to protest

XiChen smiled, “He’s your priority. We have it now. Go.”

XiChen flew off, leaving no room for argument. Nodding at the senior disciple, WangJi let go of his blade and let it hover for a second before mounting it. Grabbing Wei WuXian by the waist, he held him tightly as the enchanted man slouched against him.

“We will return, “he said, “do not lose it.”

“Of course, “the disciple replied as WangJi rose high in the air and set off towards the Cloud Recesses

He had a sect leader to talk to.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The light of the afternoon sun shined through the windows of the Jingshi’s common room.

Lan WangJi sat at his table, flipping through a journal of songs. Title after title passed before pausing on the one he was looking for.

On the top of the page, in neat, what many would consider perfect, calligraphy was the piece’s name: WangXian.

Placing the journal in his lap, WangJi quickly summoned his guqin and sat it down on the table. Giving a cursory glance down at the piece, he began to play.

Lan WangJi’s nimble fingers, plucked at the silver strings of his WangJiQIn, a soft sound filling the bedroom. The melody was pleasant and pleasing to the ears; disciples walking past outside even stopped for a second before continuing on their way.

In the Jingshi’s guestroom, Wei WuXian lay peacefully. The sounds from the common room soon drifted in and filled that room as well.

Even in his unconscious state, Wei WuXian could still be affected by music. The man gave out a slight gasp as the music filled his ears. However, instead of fighting against the tune, the man actually relaxed even more, letting out a pleasant sigh.

In the common room, Lan WangJi continued on with his playing. Even when he got to the end of the song, he restarted, playing over and over again.

In the guestroom of the Jingshi, Wei WuXian smiled.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author’s Notes:

-I really tortured myself by having two fight scenes two chapters back to back lol

-This and the previous chapter were once one but I separated cause I felt that it flowed better

Read my Prompts and WIPs [Here]

21 notes · View notes

robininthelabyrinth · 4 years

Note

i keep thinking about all the yiling patriarch!jiang cheng aus out there and it got me curious: what wild canon divergences would have to happen for it to be jiang yanli who becomes the yiling matriarch? (she doesn’t use a flute, she just asks politely probably) and what would be the eventual fallout of that?

It was Wei Wuxian’s idea, of course.

Jiang Yanli’s big didi was brilliant and talented beyond measure, as reckless and impertinent in his thoughts as he was in every other way, just as her little didi was earnest and soft-hearted and dutiful, the outlines of the serious man he’d become when he grew up just barely visible underneath the baby fat that still lingered in his cheeks.

It was Wei Wuxian’s idea, but it was Jiang Cheng that made Jiang Yanli decide to use it.

Both of her brothers got invitations to sit in on important sect meetings, as senior disciple and presumptive heir; Wei Wuxian apparently made good contributions during the meetings and forgot about them immediately afterwards, while Jiang Cheng listened intently and then worried for days.

“The Wen sect is becoming more and more of a threat,” Jiang Cheng told her late at night when she was making him something to settle his upset stomach – he was like a little bird, with anxiety enough to put him off his seed. “Mother and Father are fighting over how much they need to react, since technically they haven’t come into Yunmeng…”

“Technically?”

“We never signed agreements with those clans, but we’ve been all but responsible for them anyway.” He put his head down on the table, sighing. “What happens if they come here?”

“A-Xian says they won’t dare.”

“He’s just repeating what Father says. I don’t know. Maybe they don’t dare now, but – what if they do, one day?”

Jiang Yanli took after her father in most aspects, but she was still her mother’s daughter: while she comforted Jiang Cheng and told him not to worry, filled him up with warm soup and hugged him until he smiled again, the thought lingered. What if, indeed. Her brothers would need to fight, of course. Her two babies raising up swords against human beings instead of evil creatures; her mother would use Zidian, of course, and her father had his sword, and she –

Jiang Yanli was not un-self-aware. She was an indifferent cultivator, with below-average skills at the sword – good enough to pass basic muster, but not much more than that. Her talismans were about the same, decent but not inspiring, and she could only produce an average number before she exhausted her spiritual energy. She had a golden core, but it was weak, just like she was weak.

She wouldn’t be able to defend her home. To defend her brothers.

And there was nothing she could do about it –

That was when she remembered Wei Wuxian’s silly little idea, the one that had gotten him in so much trouble at the Cloud Recesses, that he’d told her all about in great detail when he’d returned home: to use resentful energy the way they used spiritual energy.

(“– and then poor Nie Huaisang said it would be helpful to someone like him, who formed his core later; he doesn’t have much spiritual energy, so he gets tired easily, but if it’s not his energy he’s using, he wouldn’t be held back by the limits of his own cultivation –”)

Jiang Yanli pursed her lips in thought.

Wei Wuxian had only sketched out the basic idea, without going forward to think of ways to implement the idea – after all, it was all well and good to say you could find a way to channel tremendous external energy into something usable, but another thing entirely to actually do it. It would be as tricky as catching lightning from the sky and using it as a whip.

In other words, it was time to ask her mother for help.

To say that Yu Ziyuan disapproved would be an understatement, but Jiang Yanli knew her mother well: she waited until the initial rant was completed and then pointed out, quietly, that she didn’t have any other means with which to defend herself – and that would leave her at the non-existent mercy of the Wen sect.

Her mother froze. “…I could give you Zidian,” she finally said, but from the expression on her face, even she knew that that wouldn’t work: Zidian required both a strong golden core and a certain knack, a talent that Jiang Cheng had and Jiang Yanli lacked; there had never been any question between the two of them as to who would inherit Zidian. “Or we could buy more talismans –”

“And when the talismans we buy run out? I can’t replenish them myself. But if we try my way, I won’t have to rely on A-Xian or A-Cheng – a-niang, just think about how I’d feel if they got hurt trying to save me! And all because I don’t have a knack for cultivating!”

Her mother sighed. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll help you figure out how it could work in practice, rather than in theory. But it’s only for emergencies, you understand? What you’re suggesting comes very close to demonic cultivation – if you use human-generated resentful energy, it is demonic cultivation – and using that too much damages the body, affects the temperament.”

“Just for emergencies,” Jiang Yanli promised.

“And don’t tell A-Cheng or Wei Wuxian about it,” her mother insisted. “Can you imagine the trouble those two would get into with something like this?”

Jiang Yanli covered her mouth to try to keep from giggling. “A-Xian would probably restyle himself to match the aesthetic – wearing Demon Cultivating Robes, under Demon Cultivating Hair, that he left in a pile on the Demon Cultivating Bed –”

“From which he rested on the Pillow of Evil, no doubt,” her mother agreed, looking amused despite herself. “And your brother would end up trying to keep a small legion of fierce corpses as pets because he felt too bad about sending them back into the earth after having used them.”

“He’d give them names,” Jiang Yanli said, giggling harder. “Princess, or Buttercup –”

“And he’d hide them very badly in a closet or something, too. Do you remember the nest of juvenile fisher hawks that he hid in the armory? They nearly fell on my head –”

“Of course I remember. You nearly stepped on poor little Cloudpuff.”

“Don’t remind me!”

They had two years to work on it, their own little mother-daughter bonding time – the boys ran away in mock fright at the mere suggestion of girly stuff – and Jiang Yanli felt that she and her mother had never been closer. They could even, for the first time, go on night-hunts together, Jiang Yanli summoning corpses with a crook of her finger and a gentle hum while her mother cut them down with her sword or with Zidian.

It was so much fun that Jiang Yanli almost forgot why they’d started it in the first place.

And then, very suddenly, it all became real.

Jiang Yanli was at Meishan, visiting her grandmother, when the Wen sect attacked, but word spread quickly – the Lotus Pier ravaged, the sect leader and his wife both dead, their children missing…

“We have to hide you at once,” her grandmother said after they’d passed through the first flush of grief, her face still wet with tears. “They’ll be coming here next –”

“You will tell them that I am not here,” Jiang Yanli said, and stood up, wiping her own eyes. “Because I won’t be. I’m going back to the Lotus Pier.”

“A-Li! If you do that, they’ll catch you – have you heard what the Wen sect does to female cultivators –”

“Mother and Father are dead at their hands,” Jiang Yanli said. “They must be avenged.”

“Your brother will do that! That boy, Wei Wuxian, he will –”

“I will not let them bear that burden alone,” Jiang Yanli said. “Keep everyone here safe for me, okay?”

She made it back just in time to see Jiang Cheng, her little A-Cheng, the baby she held in her tiny arms less than a shichen after he’d been born, the one she clothed and fed and cared for all these years, being dragged into the main hall by Wen sect cultivators, his face pale with fear.

Wen Chao was sitting in her father’s chair, playing with the sect’s discipline whip. “I’ve always wondered if this thing was as bad as they say. Let’s try it out on him,” he ordered, grinning lazily. “And then Wen Zhuliu can melt his golden core, and we can try it again – to see if there’s any difference in using it on a cultivator and on a regular person.”

Jiang Cheng didn’t plead for mercy, not even as they forced him down to kneel, even as his shoulders shook under their hands – Jiang Yanli turned her face away, nodded at the young Wen cultivator that had snuck her in this far (Wen Ning, she thought his name was), and raised her hands to do what she had to do.

The Wen sect had been lazy in the immediate aftermath of their victory: they hadn’t bothered to either bury or burn the corpses of her Jiang sect cultivators, her shidi and shimei, her martial aunts and uncles; they’d only tossed them outside into a giant pit to be dealt with later.

They were going to regret that.

“Jiejie!” Jiang Cheng cried out when he saw her rushing over to his side: he was bleeding, and badly, from the marks of the whip, but Wen Zhuliu hadn’t had a chance to destroy his core yet, having been distracted by the sight of the Violet Spider risen up from the dead in defiance of all soul-calming rituals.

(Jiang Yanli knew her mother well enough to know that she would forgive the use of her corpse if it resulted in her ripping out Wen Zhuliu’s core with her bare hands, using the elongated nails of a fierce corpse, a fearsome red-clad ghost dressed in purple. They would put her to rest later in the same coffin as her husband.)

“It’s okay, A-Cheng,” Jiang Yanli said, petting his hair. “It’s okay – jiejie’s here. I’ll keep you safe.”

Wen Ning ended up being the little brother of Wen Qing, who he somehow managed to summon – the famous doctor lived up to her reputation and didn’t so much as blink at being escorted into the main room by fierce corpses in order to care for Jiang Cheng’s wounds. Jiang Yanli was pretty sure that she’d seen her deliberately stepping on Wen Chao’s corpse on her way in, too, so she wasn’t worried.

“No one can know that I was involved,” Wen Qing said, finishing up stitching together Jiang Cheng’s chest and resetting his collarbone. He was out cold, and there were medicines that would work as painkillers for when he woke up. “I have to keep my family safe, too.”

“You were never here, this never happened,” Jiang Yanli agreed. “If you ever decide that the Wen sect is a losing proposition, come to me and I’ll remember this favor.”

Wen Qing eyed some of the fierce corpses standing as guards. “I’ll remember that.”

There was some yelling outside, a familiar voice. Jiang Yanli tilted her head to the side and smiled. “That’ll be A-Xian. He can help sneak you out of our borders without anyone the wiser – no one knows the ins and out of the Lotus Pier better than he does.”

She went out and found Wen Ning trying to talk down a wild-eyed Wei Wuxian, who apparently was on familiar terms with him. Not really a surprise: Wei Wuxian was friendly with everybody.

“A-Xian!” she called.

“Shijie?! What are you doing here? Are you okay – are you safe – did you see Jiang Cheng –”

“It’s okay,” she said. “All the bad Wens are dead; Wen Ning and his sister – and their subordinates – are helping us. A-Cheng is injured, but he’ll heal.”

Wei Wuxian sat down abruptly, all the tension in his body replaced by a mixture of relief and the remnants of his despair. “I only went away for a moment to get some food,” he said, and put his head in his hands. “I only looked away for a moment…”

Jiang Yanli sat next to him and wrapped her arms around him. “You did your best, A-Xian. That’s all that can be asked of you.”

“But – Madame Yu said –”

Jiang Yanli could guess what her mother had probably said.

“Of course you need to take care of A-Cheng,” she said, and let him bury his head in her shoulder. “He’s your didi, isn’t he? Just like he’s mine, and you’re mine, too; it’s our responsibility as older siblings to take care of the younger ones. He’s going to need our help a lot more now that he has to be sect leader.”

Wei Wuxian sniffled. “I told him I’d support him when he became sect leader – that we’d be the twin heroes of Yunmeng, just like the twin jades of the Lan sect. I just didn’t think…not so soon! And now there’s barely any Jiang sect left!”

“My little heroes,” Jiang Yanli said, and kissed his forehead. “It’ll be okay. The Wen sect may have attacked the Lotus Pier, but there are plenty of Jiang sect cultivators who weren’t here – we have them, and we can recruit more.”

He nodded, then paused. “Uh, shijie – a question.”

“Yes?”

“The fierce corpses everywhere…”

“We’ll need to lay them to rest after we’re done,” Jiang Yanli said firmly. Her mother had insisted on that: demonic cultivation encouraged bad tendencies, sloppiness, and the only way to deal with that degradation of spirit was with discipline and righteousness. If possible, she should prefer non-human spirits; human corpses could be used, but only to the degree necessary, and then they had to be laid to rest with honor, as they deserved – furthermore, if at all possible, they should only be summoned from those that would have willingly given up their bodies to help the endeavor in question, rather than using tormenting their spirits by using them against their friends and family.

Somehow, Jiang Yanli didn’t think there would be a problem finding victims of the Wen sect to help.

“But how did you do it?” Wei Wuxian wanted to know. “They listen to you –”

“I’m manipulating their resentful energy,” she explained. “Based on the idea you initially had at the Cloud Recesses – what? Don’t look at me like that, didi; I did tell you I thought it was a good idea.”

“But demonic cultivation is bad for you! It affects the temperament, the body, the heart…”

“Mother used to say that my temperament could probably stand to be a bit worse,” Jiang Yanli said, feeling her eyes go hot as tears threatened. She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. “Don’t worry, didi. We came up with a bunch of rules to try to make it easier and less harmful to use…I’m not a sword cultivator like you and A-Cheng; it’s not my strength. But I can do this, and I won’t be helpless against the Wen sect.”

Wei Wuxian hugged her, clearly terrified by the thought. “Never mind what I said. It’s a good idea.”

Jiang Yanli smiled. “I know. You’ll help me come up with more ways to use it, right? You and A-Cheng – you always did come up with the craziest things when you were together, even more than you alone.”

“Of course!” There was the Wei Wuxian she knew and loved: forgetting pain – or at least, putting it aside – as soon as he had something concrete to work on. “How do you do it? Music? I’d been thinking of using musical manipulation –”

“Sometimes I hum? Mostly it’s just willpower – sometimes gestures, like saluting. It works better if the resentful spirits feel appreciated.”

Wei Wuxian blinked at her. “Appreciated?”

“Everyone likes to feel appreciated, A-Xian.”

“I suppose so,” he said, then shook his head. “Whatever you say is right, shijie.”

“Of course she’s right,” Jiang Cheng croaked from inside the room – he’d stumbled over to the door, and both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli immediately rushed over to help him back to his bed. “Jiejie’s always right…jiejie, what do we do next?”

“Don’t look at me!” she objected. “You’re sect leader; you decide. I’m just here to support you.”

Jiang Cheng nodded. “We have to fight back against the Wen sect,” he said. His voice was raspy with pain and the remnants of screaming: Wei Wuxian lifted a cup of tea to his lips at once. “The way the Nie sect is…the Lan sect, too; I think Father mentioned that Lan Wangji was doing a lot of travelling. Wei Wuxian, you got close to him when you were at the Xuanwu cave. Can you go find him? Tell him we need his help, and the help of any other sects he can help us recruit.”

Wei Wuxian nodded. “You sure you don’t need me here..?”

“There won’t be a ‘here’ if we don’t get people together, and fast – we killed one of Wen Ruohan’s sons. As soon as I’m better, I’m going to go find people for the Jiang sect, whether cultivators who weren’t here or new ones. And shijie…”

“What can I do?”

Jiang Cheng lifted his finger to point at the corpses, which he hadn’t even questioned. “We need more of those. A lot more of those. An army of them.”

Jiang Yanli frowned. “Where am I supposed to find an army worth of dead people? I was planning on picking up resentful souls of the Wen sect’s victims as we went, but that’ll be incremental, not an army…”

“Actually,” Wei Wuxian said. “I have an idea. Have you ever heard of the Burial Mounds in Yiling…?”

#mdzs #jiang yanli #madame yu #yu ziyuan #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #wen ning #wen qing #my fic #my fics #yes she just asks nicely #Anonymous

695 notes · View notes

tenacious-minds · 3 years

Text

“Hanguang-jun can’t stay.” Wei Wuxian says, again, mostly to himself, as he picks A-Yuan up to rest on his hip.

The kid is crying, now, as he cranes his neck to catch sight of Lan Wangji, still lingering on the path.

Wei Wuxian does not look back. He cannot, afraid, terribly, that if he does, he will never be able to look away again.

Lan Wangji, in the darkness of the burial mounds, is like the rising sun. Beautiful, and so, so warm. He is the coming of the new day, the thawing of the ice on Wei Wuxian’s fingers and cheeks from what feels like an eternity crouched on his single plank bridge in the dark. Light-bearing lord. Lan Wangji is the only light Wei Wuxian has seen in a long time.

“Gege,” A-Yuan starts, fingers clenching tighter in Wei Wuxian’s robes, but he stops on a sob, little voice cracking. “Gege.” he cries again, but this time he sounds like he’s begging, pleading, with Wei Wuxian to stop or with Lan Wangji to come back he isn’t sure.

Wei Wuxian slows his stride to a stop and pulls away far enough to see A-Yuan’s face, which is blotchy red and creased with dispair. He clucks his tongue, “Oh kiddo.”

He says, but he doesn’t know how to continue, doesn’t understand why he’s so devastated in the first place. Before today, A-Yuan had seen Lan Wangji exactly once, and from a distance great enough that Wei Wuxian is sure, nearly a year later, that he could not possibly remember. Wei Wuxian does not think, from what little he has learned of children, that this is the expected reaction for a three-year-old to have in this situation.

He thinks Granny would know if this is normal, but Wei Wuxian can’t make himself move for A-Yuan tears. He’s frozen in sympathy and terror, frozen in his own yawning grief in the absence of Lan Wangji’s warmth.

A-Yuan, after a moment of quietly attempting to stifle his sobs, appears to give up, and buries his head in Wei Wuxian’s shoulder, rubbing his face along the coarse fabric and, Wei Wuxian presumes, wiping his snot off there. For some reason, that little action, something he never would have done in his own childhood, breaks his heart.

“Aiya, A-Yuan. Come now. It’s gonna be okay.” but he sounds wrecked, even to himself, and A-Yuan just cries harder, shaking his head.

“Gege is sad,” he says, in that little boy voice, like he’s just intoned the greatest wisdom; like everything should make sense. “Xian-gege is sad,” he says again, and then, “Rich-gege made Xian-gege smile, and now Xian-gege is sad again and you’re both gonna leave.”

And, oh.

Oh.

He can’t- Of course, that’s what’s wrong. Of course, this sweet little kid is so upset because he’s worried about him. Worried that his Xian-gege is gonna go back to hiding in the dark cave where he’s not allowed to go.

He doesn’t realize he’s crying until he’s sitting on the ground, A-Yuan in his lap, tucked right up under his chin. He doesn’t even really remember sinking to the ground, just knows that he’s here now and that he’ll have to get himself under control if he wants to make it back to the village.

“It’ll be alright,” he says and thinks that maybe he’s talking to himself as much as he is A-Yuan. “I’ll be alright.”

He starts rocking them back and forth, slowly and rhythmically, until A-Yuan’s tears stop, and keeps going even after A-Yuan’s head droops heavy on his shoulder in sleep. He feels unsteady, but the warm weight of a child in his arms, in his lap, grounds him.

And then someone is lifting A-Yuan out of his arms and hauling him to his feet.

A-Qing, he thinks and doesn’t register that Wen Qing is never this warm, not this tall and solid against his side when she carries him back into demon-subdue cave after a night of calming resentful spirits. But Wen Qing is the only one who ever carries him home.

He wakes in a bed.

It is, decidedly, not his own, because it is not a slab of rock draped in blankets.

There is a hot, small weight pressed into his side, and he doesn’t need to open his eyes to know it is A-Yuan. Perhaps he snuck in late at night? But, no, Wei Wuxian has already established that this is not his cave. Or was he too distraught to be separated from him? He rememebers crying. He remembers gentle fingers prying A-Yuan sleepy grip from his robes, he remembers-

His eyes fly open.

Lan Wangji is kneeling next to the bed, head pillowed on his arms, and large hand clasping A-Yuan small one where its cradled against his sternum.

Something in his chest cramps at the sight. It hurts.

Wen Qing chooses that moment to clear her throat. Quietly. Which Wei Wuxian appreciates. He’s not sure he could handle it if Lan Wangji were to wake up right now.

“He’s been there all night.” She says, without looking up from the stack of papers balanced on her lap.

There's a small desk against the far wall, but she’s pulled the chair out so she can see them. This is her room, he realizes, and almost launches himself upright in the next moment when it occurs to him that that means this is her bed. He doesn’t, of course, becasue A-Yuan is sleeping, deep, even breathes ghost across his neck and the small, child like snores are adorable.

He also does not want to wake Lan Wangji, but that is neither here, nor there. A-Yuan is sleeping and that is excuse enough.

Wen Qing sounds amused when she says, “He insisted that you sleep in a bed when we showed him the cave after he carried you both back.”

“He WHAT,” Wei Wuxian yells, and then flinches and lowers his voice, reaching around to pet A-Yuan’s hair and the clasped hands of the two sleeping figures. He is not thinking about it.

“He what,” he whispers this time, twisting his face into a suitably exaggerated expression of outrage. “Wen Qing I'm so sorry, he shouldn’t have done that, kicking you out of your own bed.”

“Wei Ying, for god's sake. I offered it. You needed a good nights sleep. I do not begrudge you one night of comfort and warmth and a bed not steeping in the resentful energy of that damn pool.”

Wei Wuxian frowns at her, real this time. “Did you sleep?” he asks and flushes when her gaze softens in fondness. He hates it when she looks at him like that, hates it when she’s anything but exasperated at him. He hasn’t done anything to deserve her kindness or respect. Hasn’t done anything to deserve the soft expression she reserves only for three other people.

“Yes, Wei Ying. I slept. I borrowed A-Yuan’s bedroll from granny since he’s sleeping with you- do not even start. It was perfectly comfortable and very warm. You know very well his bedroll is the best one in the village.”

He doesn’t say anything, just turns his attention back towards A-Yuan, petting his hair. He looks so peaceful and soft in sleep, young in a way he isn’t when he’s awake. He’s lived through far too much for someone so young, and sometimes, when Wei Wuxian looks at him, he sees someone far older.

Wen Qing sighs, “I’ll go get you some breakfast.” And leaves.

The door clicks loudly when she closes it behind her, and Lan Wangji stirs, drawing his hand off Wei Wuxian’s chest first before opening his eyes.

He focuses back on A-Yuan, tucking his fingers out of the cold, brushing loose hair away from his face.

Lan Wangji remains silent for a long moment.

“Wei Ying,” he whispers, and Wei WuXian has to close his eyes.

He thought… He had thought that yesterday would be the last time he heard his name in that voice. He’d been prepared for it. But hearing it now was…

“Wei Ying.” He says again, and this time, it doesn’t sound like an opening, it doesn’t sound like anything. Just his name; a prayer, maybe.

He breaks.

“Lan Zhan.”

And then he’s crying, quiet, stiff, but hot; like a burning iron has been shoved through his eyes… through his heart.

Lan Zhan does not react, he simply exists beside him until Wei WuXian can breath again, and then he gently, gently, takes back the hand that Wei WuXian had pulled from his grasp.

#fic #fan fic #my writing #prompt #mdzs #wangxian #cql #the untamed #lan wangji #wen yuan #wen Qing #Wei WuXian

131 notes · View notes

veliseraptor · 4 years

Text

ius in bello

guess what I needed to do today while I was wrestling with brain weasels was write gratuitously angsty fic! based off this post by @winepresswrath because I love to suffer, I did write all of this in one day so like. who knows what’s happening

content warning: character death with no fix (but feel free to imagine one down the line! there probably is one!)

“He’s late,” Jiang Cheng growls. Jin Ling is crying, and a-jie bounces him gently in her arms and hushes him.

“It takes time to travel,” she says. “And you know a-Xian. He might’ve gotten distracted by something or other and set out late.”

Jiang Cheng scofffs. “Distracted. This isn’t like skipping class at the Cloud Recesses, he needs to take this seriously-”

“A-Cheng,” a-jie says, with that tone of not-quite-reproach that always shuts him up. She moves over toward him, still rocking Jin Ling, who at least has stopped crying. “It’ll be all right. He’ll be here.”

“He’d better,” Jiang Cheng mutters, hands locked behind his back. If Wei Wuxian abandons them now - disappoints a-jie-

He’ll march to the Burial Mounds and strangle him with Zidian himself.

The thought steals into his head - what if he ran into some kind of trouble on the road - and he dismisses it brutally. Wei Wuxian isn’t helpless.

“Where’s that husband of yours,” he says. A-jie gives him her most patient smile.

“A-Cheng, stop fussing.”

“I’m not fussing.”

A-jie shakes her head, but fondly, and adjusts Jin Ling so she can reach up and touch the side of Jiang Cheng’s face, the way she has since he was a child. Jiang Cheng blows out a breath and does not say this needs to work, this needs to work, a-jie, he needs to hand over the Yin Tiger Seal and come home, but what if he refuses-

He can’t. Surely not. Not after seeing a-Ling and a-jie. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine.

But he can’t quite quash the dread building in his stomach, throbbing like a second heartbeat.

Jiang Cheng hears rapid footsteps approaching and turns, a finally, took you long enough on his lips, but it isn’t Wei Wuxian. A Jin disciple he doesn’t recognize, face pale, bows to them both and then says, “Jiang-furen, would you come with me?”

Jiang Cheng tenses. “Why?” he asks bluntly, not caring if it is rude.

“Jin-furen wishes to speak with you,” the disciple says, but he stumbles over the words, and he is lying, Jiang Cheng is sure he is lying, but why. The second heartbeat thuds harder.

“What’s going on,” he demands, and then, because he just has a feeling, because it would be just like him to cause some kind of trouble, “did Wei Wuxian do something?”

Somehow the disciple goes paler. Jiang Cheng takes a sharp step forward, fists clenching. “Just tell me what-”

“A-Li,” says Jin Zixuan’s voice, and Jiang Cheng hasn’t ever heard his brother-in-law sound like that. His stomach plunges toward his heels and ricochets back up again. Jin Zixuan is striding quickly toward them, Suihua clenched in one fist.

There is blood on his robes.

A-jie gasps, her hold on Jin Ling tightening, and he starts to cry. “A-Xuan,” she says, voice sharp with alarm, and Jiang Cheng takes a lurching step forward, but he isn’t moving like he is hurt-

“A-Li,” Jin Zixuan says again, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know-”

“Jin-gongzi,” Jiang Cheng says. His voice sounds far away. “Didn’t know what? What happened?” On the tip of his tongue, where is Wei Wuxian, but he can’t speak it, doesn’t dare speak it.

Jin Zixuan’s eyes flicker toward him. “An ambush,” he says. “There was an ambush, in Qiongqi Path.”

The dread isn’t a heartbeat anymore. It is a void, swallowing his insides. A-jie’s mouth opens and she draws in a soft breath. Jin Ling cries louder. “An ambush,” she echoes faintly.

Jiang Cheng takes a slow breath in and says, “what ambush? Of who? Speak clearly,” and he is aware that he really shouldn’t be speaking to Jin Zixuan, Jin-zongzhu’s heir, like this, but at the moment he can’t care because what he really wants to do is grab the front of his robes and ask why isn’t Wei Wuxian here yet, Jin-gongzi, tell me-

Jin Zixuan turns toward him and says, “Wei Wuxian has been killed.”

He knew it was coming. Knew, maybe, since the disciple came in here to try to pull a-jie away. It still hits him like a blow to the chest that should send him flying across the room. Next to him, a-jie says, very faintly, “oh.”

Then shakes her head. “No,” she says. “No, it isn’t true. You’re mistaken.”

“A-Li…”

“I said no,” she says. She clutches Jin Ling like a lifeline, his crying rising to a desperate wail. “It’s not-” She turns to look at him, eyes wide and shining and desperate, and says, “a-Cheng-”

His voice seems stuck in his throat somewhere. His feet are rooted to the ground. Wei Wuxian has been killed.

It’s not right. It’s not true. Everyone thought so when he vanished for three months, nobody said it but they believed it, but he didn’t die then, the Burial Mounds couldn’t kill him so how could some ambush-

“Who,” he grates out, finally. “Who arranged to ambush Wei Wuxian on the way to his nephew’s hundred day celebration?”

Jin Zixuan hesitates. Jiang Cheng heaves a breath in and Zidian crackles. It isn’t an answer, that silence, but it is.

“A-Cheng,” a-jie says, voice faint. He turns toward her and she thrusts Jin Ling in his direction. He takes him automatically, though it always feels like he’s going to do something wrong and hurt him when he holds him, so small, so fragile. A-jie looks stricken, pale, and it calls back a memory of the three of them standing in the rain, a-jie asking with a trembling voice what happened.

Now as then, she sinks to the ground, and weeps; now as then, Jiang Cheng stands, numb and helpless, though now there is a baby in his arms.

Wei Wuxian has been killed.

He sees him walking away in Yiling, stride hitching when a-jie calls his name but not looking back. Did he say goodbye? He can’t remember.

There’s blood on Jin Zixuan’s robes.

He wonders whose.

Jiang Cheng drags the story out in bits and pieces in a private room. Jin Ling is with his nurse; a-jie didn’t want to let him go but she could barely stand. Jin Zixuan tries to send her away, but she just looks at him and even with her eyes red-rimmed and sobs still hitching her shoulders he looks away, giving up.

There isn’t much to say. Jin Zixuan heard that Jin Zixun had gone to Qiongqi Path with a contingent of fighters. He’d gone immediately and arrived in the middle of a fight: the Ghost General holding off a small army of warriors and Wei Wuxian squaring off with Jin Zixun, who insisted that Wei Wuxian had cursed him.

Two arrows from Jin bows took him in the chest.

Jin Zixun’s sword finished the job.

“His body,” Jiang Cheng says. His voice doesn’t sound like his own.

Jin Zixuan pauses, then says, “the Ghost General took it - took him away.”

Wen Ning, Jiang Cheng thinks, and then, Wen Qing, the most talented doctor in the world, maybe she can do something, maybe she is doing something, right now, maybe-

A-jie curls in on herself, clutching her dress, and starts crying afresh. Jiang Cheng sits down next to her and she folds against him, turning her face into his shoulder.

Did your father order this, Jiang Cheng wants to ask. Are you telling the truth, that you didn’t know, was this part of the plan all along, he was unreachable in the Burial Mounds so he had to be lured out and you used Jin Ling to do it, but all he can do is stare at Jin Zixuan, who stares back, looking lost. Like he wants to step forward and offer comfort but doesn’t know how.

“A-Xian,” a-jie says, and again, “a-Xian,” like she can call him back, the way she always could, when no one else could reach him Wei Wuxian still listened to his shijie.

Jiang Cheng realizes that he is crying.

“Go,” he says, and doesn’t care that his voice is harsh. “This is a Jiang Sect matter.” It’s rude. It’s undiplomatic. There is a marriage alliance between them. Jin Zixuan is the father of Jiang Cheng’s nephew.

But at the moment all he can think of are Jin arrows and Jin Zixun’s sword, and he is angry. He is so angry.

Jin Zixuan opens his mouth. He closes it. He leaves.

“A-Ling,” a-jie whispers. “He was going to...he never met a-Ling.” Jin Ling. Jin Rulan.

Jiang Cheng holds his sister and wonders absently who is going to tell Lan Wangji.

Jin Zixun comes swaggering back to Jinlintai bragging about how he defeated the Yiling Laozu. A-jie looks at him like she could kill him with her bare hands.

Jiang Cheng lets go of his cup before it shatters and says, “such a demonstration of bravery, to bring a small army to attack one man.”

Jin Zixun looks at him with perfect Jin disdain. “He had his dog, that Ghost General.”

Jiang Cheng’s jaw spasms. “Indeed. And there were no other ways to deal with this complaint of yours other than attempted murder?”

A mutter of voices behind him. Jiang Cheng looks at no one but Jin Zixun, whose eyes narrow, then relax.

“In the absence of a sect leader to petition for restitution,” he says, “what could I do but address the problem directly? Wei Wuxian made clear that he didn’t consider himself bound by the codes between sects, and that he answered to no one.” His eyebrows rise. “Isn’t that right, Jiang-zongzhu?”

He is now expelled from the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. From now on, the Yunmeng Jiang Sect and Wei Wuxian will cut all ties with each other.

Jiang Cheng says nothing. There is nothing he can say.

He warned Wei Wuxian, didn’t he? Warned him that he couldn’t protect him if he continued protecting the Wens. He cut him out of the sect to protect the sect, because Wei Wuxian told him to, and he listened, and told himself that Wei Wuxian could protect himself, that the Yiling Laozu wasn’t in need of assistance and had made clear he didn’t want it.

But when did Wei Wuxian ever ask for help? When did he ever ask for anything?

His brother died in Qiongqi Path, and there is nothing he can do, because he disowned him months ago.

He doesn’t even have a body to bury.

He and a-jie go together to Yiling.

Jiang Cheng tried to tell a-jie not to. Tried to tell her to stay behind. She pretended to listen, nodded, and then ignored him and continued packing food for the journey anyway.

The barrier is still there. Jiang Cheng starts to raise Zidian to break it, then realizes that if he does there’s no one to erect one again, and his anger over the fact that Wei Wuxian died for the people here wars with the understanding that if they die now then it will have been utterly in vain.

So he waits, standing with a-jie, who is very still and very quiet.

Someone does come eventually. It’s Wen Ning, and he looks at them on the other side of the barrier, and for a moment Jiang Cheng thinks he’ll walk away without saying anything. Instead he bows to them both. “Jiang-furen,” he says. “Jiang-zongzhu.”

Jiang Cheng swallows hard, past the lump in his throat. “Is,” he says, and then can’t.

Wen Ning’s mouth is set. His eyes are black. But he doesn’t look like a mad dog or a Ghost General.

“It’ll let you through,” he says, finally. “You can come up.”

A-jie sticks close by him, silent. Her eyes dart through the dead trees. She holds the basket she brought tighter. But she never hesitates.

The village looks the same as Jiang Cheng remembers it, or mostly. Men past their prime, the elderly, Half-starved remnants with nowhere to go, their only protector gone. Jiang Cheng thinks bleakly that they’ll be gone soon as well, unless someone interferes.

Someone. Coward.

Wary eyes follow them as they pass. A-jie does pause, for a moment, with a sharp little breath. Her lips press together. When she catches up she says, voice low, “you didn’t say it was like this. These people…”

Jiang Cheng says nothing, his eyes fixed on Wen Ning’s back, who is leading them toward the cave, Demon Subduing Cave, Wei Wuxian’s lair of a home. “Jiejie,” he calls.

Wen Qing emerges, holding herself straight and proud as ever even in clothes that have clearly been mended several times. She locks eyes with him, expressionless, and then looks at a-jie. Her face softens, very slightly.

“A-Ning,” she says, eyes moving back to Jiang Cheng. “Would you help Granny with a-Yuan?”

The look Wen Ning gives his sister plainly says that he knows he’s being sent away. Jiang Cheng’s fist flexes on Sandu but it feels more like a reflex than anything else. A-Yuan.

A-Yuan, why do you hug any leg you see? No, don’t put the hand you touched dirt with into your mouth.

His eyes sting.

“Jiejie,” Wen Ning says.

A-jie, abruptly, moves. She walks forward, one measured step at a time, and holds out her basket, chin lifted. “It isn’t much,” she says. “I would have brought more, if I’d realized your need, but at least it is something.”

Wen Qing’s eyebrows furrow and after a moment she takes the basket and lifts the lid. Jiang Cheng knows what is in it: soup, of course, but also fresh fruit, and some bao. Wen Qing lowers it again.

“We don’t need gifts,” she says, which is the stupidest thing Jiang Cheng thinks he’s ever heard.

A-jie’s mouth trembles slightly before it steadies. “It is a thank you,” she says. “For...for looking after a-Xian.”

Wen Qing’s eyes go to Jiang Cheng again, and then she turns to face a-jie and bows.

“Thank you,” she says. It pointedly does not seem to include him, and Jiang Cheng’s chest aches. But he doesn’t - can’t - say anything. A-jie bows back, matching the depth, and his chest aches worse.

Wen Qing and a-jie straighten at the same time, and look at each other, and Wen Qing seems to relax very slightly. “You want to see him,” she says. It isn’t a question.

A-jie nods, silent. Jiang Cheng manages a rough, “yes.” It’s the first word he’s spoken, he realizes, since crossing the barrier.

Wen Qing nods once and turns. “We weren’t certain if anyone would come,” she says. “So we held our own funeral.”

Jiang Cheng doesn’t know if the words are meant to cut, but they do. A-jie flinches and for a moment Jiang Cheng is furiously, white-hot angry with Wen Qing, but a-jie puts her hand on his arm and says, “thank you.”

Wen Qing glances toward her and after a moment says, “this was his home.”

No, Jiang Cheng wants to say, No, it wasn’t, Lotus Pier was home, it was always home.

In the absence of a sect leader to petition for restitution, what could I do but confront the problem directly?

Wei Wuxian’s memorial tablet is a rough and modest thing. Jiang Cheng stares at it, eyesight blurring.

It still doesn’t feel right. Doesn’t feel possible. There’s a trick, some, some sort of-

No. There isn’t. His brother - his brother - is gone.

You should have saved him, he wants to snarl at Wen Qing. Why couldn’t you save him, but he could as easily direct those words at himself.

He can’t stay. He stumbles out of the cave like he’s drunk, chest heaving, and crashes to his knees next to some sort of pond-

Lotuses, he realizes. It’s a lotus pond. A lotus pond in the Burial Mounds. Beautiful and green and familiar.

That’s the thing that breaks him, that has him sobbing on his knees in a dead landscape where Wei Wuxian managed to carve out life.

That’s over now, and it’s not coming back.

#a wild fic appeared #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #character death cw #woof this one is angsty #been a while since i went this hard on the angst without having a fix!#i guess i just like making jiang cheng big miserable #the untamed #the sad queer cultivators show #*points at text post* blame op it's not my fault

451 notes · View notes

taizi · 3 years

Text

the ship sways but the heart is steady

chapter three: build bridges with these arms

the untamed pairing: jiang cheng & wei ying, lan zhan/wei ying, jiang cheng/wen qing word count: 3794 summary: Wei Ying’s friends are at rock-bottom, and Wei Ying puts his life on hold to help them put theirs back together. To absolutely no one’s surprise except Wei Ying’s, his family goes with him. read on ao3

Jiang Cheng doesn’t remember dropping the phone, but he must have, because Wen Qing is holding it now and talking to A-Li in the sharp, rapid-fire way she speaks when she’s frightened. He doesn’t remember getting off the couch or leaving the room, but he’s pacing back and forth on the veranda, the warm glow of the porch light pushing away encroaching nightfall. And he doesn’t remember Wei Ying coming after him, but his brother is there, watching with wide, anxious eyes, his hands balled into fists in the front of his shirt.

“I don’t fucking believe it,” Jiang Cheng bites out, his heart beating so fast it’s painful. “I can’t believe she didn’t fucking—she didn’t fucking call? She couldn’t let us know that—that our sister—”

“Maybe she meant to,” Wei Ying says hoarsely. “Maybe she—forgot.”

“Our mother never forgot a single thing in her fucking life as long as she could hold it against us.” He’s so angry he feels brittle with it, as though moving too much or too fast would cause his body to break. “A-Li asked her to call us and she didn’t. A-Li wanted us there and we weren’t.”

His baby nephew was coming early, and his sister was having an emergency C-section, and his brother-in-law was pacing a waiting room by himself for hours waiting desperately for good news, and Jiang Cheng was just fucking around in a lake the whole time.

A-Li’s voice was so tired and shaky that Jiang Cheng knew, inherently, how bad it was.

She didn’t say it on the phone, of course she didn’t, but she didn’t need to. All of Jin Ling’s useless uncles have been reading every article about pregnancy and prenatal care that they could get their hands on from the moment A-Li told them she was expecting, and they each, to a man, could probably write a white paper on the risks of preterm labor.

Yanli could have died from complications. It wasn’t unheard of even now, in the twenty-first century. She could have bled too much, could have been gone, and Jiang Cheng wouldn’t have known until it was too late. He wouldn’t have been there to hold her.

Mother was supposed to call. She didn’t.

It’s like the sudden collapsing of some integral foundation. The weight-bearing limit was reached and the floor is crumbling beneath him and this building he’s lived in his whole life that he mistook for mortar and stone is actually some childish construction of paper and wax. This place he thought would withstand storm and fire and erosion is finally falling apart after so many years of careful repairs, so much frantic patchwork.

Mother hurt them over and over and over again, but she was still their mother. Family is just hard, Jiang Cheng had always thought. Family hurts. That’s just the way it is, it just costs you every day, and you’re always discovering how much farther you can push your threshold, how much more you can actually take.

Except... his siblings never hurt him. Never on purpose. He doesn’t look at A-Li or A-Ying and feel anything but fondness and exasperation and loyalty for them. He would do anything for them.

Wen Ning plainly adores his sister, and Wen Qing’s world revolves around her brother. None of their immediate relatives stepped in to help them after the fire, clearly screening their calls, none of them eager to sacrifice their time or money, but Granny has been almost a constant presence in their lives since they got here. She adopted all of them, no relation required.

Wei Ying came to the Jiangs when he was five, an emergency placement with the second family listed on his parents’ will, because his legal godfather was dealing with the death of his brother and sister-in-law, and the subsequent adoption of his young nephews. By the time Lan Qiren could be reached and came dashing to New York, it had been almost a week, and Wei Ying and A-Li and Jiang Cheng were all comfortably attached at the hip.

Rather than uproot his traumatized godson again, so soon after the initial upheaval of his young life, Lan Qiren reached an agreement with mother and father to let Wei Ying stay with them. He paid for all of Wei Ying’s expenses and then some. Jiang Cheng only knows because mother likes to complain about being short-changed when she’s drunk.

And then when his nephews were a little older, and he could step down from his role as director of a ridiculously prestigious music school, Uncle Qiren retired, and relocated his family from Suzhou to New York City. Wei Ying always had a second place to go home to if he needed one. His siblings were always welcome there, too. Uncle Qiren was strict and never let them get away with a goddamn thing, but he keeps all their pictures on his desk.

Family, Jiang Cheng finally realizes at twenty-three years old, isn’t supposed to hurt.

You’re supposed to be loved. You’re not supposed to have to buy it.

Wei Ying is crying in that awful, silent way he cries, as if he’s not sure he’s allowed to make a sound. Jiang Cheng storms over and drags him into a hug that’s probably too tight, and Wei Ying hugs him back just as hard, and for a moment that’s all there is.

Night is creeping in around them, inky and inexorable. They’re suspended in the warm orange porch light like a couple of sailors marooned at sea. Jiang Cheng holds onto his brother, and finally lets go of someone else.

It is silently agreed-upon that Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying need to see their sister. Wei Ying tries to apologize for leaving in the middle of retiling one of the bathrooms and Wen Qing gets properly angry with him for it.

“He’ll finish when he comes back,” Jiang Cheng promises, which ends up sounding more like a promise that they’re going to come back at all.

“The tiles in the bathroom are literally the least of my concerns,” Wen Qing snaps, and that sounds more like she’s saying she doesn’t need a promise, she knows they will.

They barely pack anything, they just sort of move around the house in anxious circles until the airport shuttle shows up, and then they shove on their shoes and grab blindly for bags and jackets.

Goodbyes are made on the veranda. After living together and rebuilding a home together, the embraces come easily. Jiang Cheng doesn’t even have a chance to feel self-conscious about any of it.

“The tickets should be in your email,” Lan Zhan says.

Wei Ying checks his phone and frowns. “You only got two?”

Lan Zhan says, “I will stay here.”

His eyes are dark and unreadable, but Wei Ying must see something in them that Jiang Cheng doesn’t. He drops his bag and shuffles forward and Lan Zhan puts his arms around him. He stands there like some ancient, immovable structure, like a load-bearing wall, like Wei Ying could bring absolutely anything to him and Lan Zhan would help him hold it.

“Give the bunnies a hundred kisses for me while I’m gone,” Wei Ying mumbles against Lan Zhan’s shoulder, muffled and wet in a telling way.

“A hundred kisses,” Lan Zhan agrees solemnly, and presses the first one into Wei Ying’s hair.

A-Yuan, holding Wen Ning’s hand, largely confused and a little troubled by the tense atmosphere, earnestly assures that he’ll take care of the bunnies. Wei Ying ruffles his hair playfully, and then finally seems ready to go.

“Try not to let the place fall apart without me,” Jiang Cheng says to Wen Qing.

“I’ll do my best,” she replies. She doesn’t reach out to him with her hands, but her eyes seem to.

Jiang Cheng can’t get her eyes out of his head.

Yanli is pale and tired and beautiful. She lifts her head as they come into her private hospital room, and then lifts her arms immediately, and Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying both run to her like they’re children again. She’s sobbing, trying to wrap her frail arms around them as hard as she can.

“I missed you so much,” she says. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

Jiang Cheng can’t think of how close they came to losing her or he’ll go insane. He just sits on the edge of the bed and holds both of his siblings and doesn’t make fun of Wei Ying for crying as much as Yanli.

Jin Zixuan comes in with a nurse and a bassinet at that point, and there are deep bruises under his eyes and his clothes are as unkempt as Jiang Cheng has ever seen them, but he’s smiling.

The nurse bustles around cheerfully, checking vitals and talking to A-Li about how well the results of some screening or another turned out, but Jiang Cheng can’t focus on anything except the tiny little swaddle of butter-yellow blankets that Jin Zixuan is lifting out of the bassinet.

“A-Ling, this is your Uncle Cheng,” Jin Zixuan says softly, passing the infant into Jiang Cheng’s arms. He doesn’t take his hands away until Jiang Cheng’s apparent panic must have faded, and then he’s suddenly sitting there holding his nephew.

Jin Ling is faintly purple, and his tiny limbs are all curled up like he still hasn’t realized he has room to stretch them out now, and his face is pinched in a moue of absolute distaste for the world in general.

“Oh my god,” Wei Ying says. He leans against Jiang Cheng’s shoulder, smoothing a finger against the soft mop of dark hair on Jin Ling’s head, and the tiny seashell curl of his ear, impossibly gentle. “What a weird-looking baby.”

“Shut up, you asshole,” Jiang Cheng snaps. Now he’s crying, too. “He’s perfect.”

Yanli is beaming at them, leaning into the arm that Jin Zixuan wraps around her shoulders, and asks about California. Wei Ying launches into animated chatter about all their projects and all their progress. Surrounded by them, some jangling, dislocated thing in Jiang Cheng’s chest finally begins to settle.

The day that A-Li and Ling-er are discharged from the hospital, Wei Ying and Jiang Cheng are skulking around the overpriced gift shop on the first floor. Lan Huan is with them, and Jiang Cheng is trying to talk him down from spending eighty dollars on a giant teddy bear, when he sees her.

His mother, making her way through the lobby toward them. Something cold and sharp replaces the warm golden core of him in an instant. He puts a hand on Lan Huan’s shoulder and says, “Keep my brother here.”

Lan Huan blinks. His eyes follow Jiang Cheng’s gaze, and his pleasant expression sours.

“Of course,” he says. “He can help me pick out a bear.”

“Jesus christ, with the bears,” Jiang Cheng mutters, and shoulders past him to get out of the gift shop, cutting his mother off outside the door.

“So you’re finally home,” she says by way of greeting. “Did you enjoy your vacation?”

“We’re not doing this here,” he mutters, hyper-aware of Wei Ying puttering around somewhere not even ten feet away. Turning on his heel, Jiang Cheng leads the way past the gift shop, away from the busy atrium and the receptionist’s desk, trusting his mother’s need to have the last word will compel her to follow.

He stops abruptly in an empty hallway somewhere between the billing and record departments and turns to face her.

“I didn’t come here today to play childish games,” mother says, sounding weary of him, of all things.

And it hurts, how much Jiang Cheng still loves her. How much he still wants to love her. His entire life is a series of attempts to trick her into feeling something for him, feeling anything for him. Trying to win her affection. Attempting the impossible.

“You didn’t call,” he says.

Yu Ziyuan scoffs. “You made it fairly clear that you weren’t interested in anything I had to say to you.”

“A-Li wanted you to call,” Jiang Cheng insists, the temper he inherited cresting inside him like a wave, or a wall of fire. “She could have—do you even care that she could have died? That she was scared? She wanted you to call us. And you just decided not to, to get back at us for disobeying you? I’m twenty-three years old! If I want to go to California to help my friends, I’ll go to fucking California!”

He’s never in his life raised his voice at her like this. A small, childish corner of his heart quails from the stunned anger on her face.

He clenches his fists to keep his hands from shaking.

“You stay the fuck away from us,” Jiang Cheng snarls. “All of us. I mean it. We’re done.”

Family, he thinks, isn’t supposed to hurt.

When he starts to step past her, mother grabs his arm hard enough that her long nails manage to pinch even through the sleeve of his denim jacket.

Knee-jerk, he rips himself away from her. He never forgets to flinch.

His mother stares at him like she’s never seen anything like him before, her hand hovering in the air between them. Jiang Cheng takes a step back, and then another.

He thinks of his sister’s precious life, his nephew’s, used as some sort of bargaining chip.

“We’re done,” he says. It comes out quieter than he meant for it to. It comes out sounding like he really, actually means it.

If something flickers in his mother’s expression, if her hand trembles, if she shifts towards him, he doesn’t see it. He’s already spinning around and heading back the way he came, not quite fast enough to call it fleeing. When Jiang Cheng rounds the corner, he runs headlong into someone who catches him by the shoulder before he can stumble.

Wei Ying’s gray eyes are wide and full of pain. Jiang Cheng doesn’t need to know how much he overheard to know that all that hurt is for Jiang Cheng’s sake, and A-Li’s, with hardly any left over for himself. Wei Ying never had to wonder if Yu Ziyuan loved him—he always knew she didn’t, no matter how much his siblings tried to convince him she did.

Jiang Cheng sinks forward against him, head falling against Wei Ying’s shoulder. He’s still trembling with anger, but now it feels more like grief.

Wei Ying hugs him, cheek pressed to Jiang Cheng’s hair, and after a moment he rocks them both from side-to-side.

“Come on, A-Cheng,” he says gently. “You’ll feel better once you see how much Lan Huan spent on Ling-er’s teddy bear.”

“Oh my god,” Jiang Cheng mutters. He already feels a little bit better.

They end up leaving a week later. A-Li promises to come visit the second the baby is cleared for travel, and kisses Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying both on the cheek. Jin Zixuan waves goodbye at them with Ling-er’s tiny hand.

Flying stand-by gets them home whole hours ahead of schedule, and they land in California at something like two in the morning. Neither of them want to wake up their friends, so they spend a small fortune on an Uber instead.

Predictably, Wei Ying’s eyelids start to droop the second the car pulls onto the highway. Jiang Cheng only nudges him awake when they enter city limits. As they pass the township sign, Jiang Cheng’s heart twists in his chest, like a dog perking up at the sound of a key in the front door. The Uber driver squints in confusion at the GPS screen, so Wei Ying leans up over the middle console to direct him down the proper county road.

They pull up in front of the villa and Jiang Cheng’s whole body sort of sighs in relief.

Wei Ying is beelining towards the front door before Jiang Cheng is even entirely out of the car, juggling bags to dig his keys out of his pocket. He’s got that look on his face of single-minded focus, a look that says he is going to get to his fiance in the next two minutes even if he has to break a window to do it.

“You’re so dumb,” Jiang Cheng says, and shoulders him aside to unlock the door.

“Your face is dumb,” Wei Ying retorts maturely. He kicks off his boots and drops his bags by the door, and then races for the stairs like it’s been thirteen years since he’s seen Lan Zhan instead of like thirteen days. “Night!” he whisper-shouts over his shoulder.

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes and locks the door behind him. He leans against the wall to tug the laces of his sneakers loose and tosses them toward the shoe rack. Shouldering Wei Ying’s bags with his own he deposits all of them inside the big French armoire that functions as an entry-way closet.

Reflexively, he checks in on the rabbits on his way through the living room. They’re fast asleep in their expansive two-story hutch that sprawls half the length of the wall. Muttering derisively about his brother’s taste in men, Jiang Cheng snags a blanket off the back of the sofa and steps through the narrow doorway into the den.

Wen Qing is fast asleep at her desk, face buried in her folded arms. She’s been doing this ever since she resumed her classes.

Shaking his head, Jiang Cheng leans over her laptop to save all her work, then closes it so it’ll have some battery life left in the morning. He drapes the blanket over her slumped shoulders carefully.

“I’m home,” he tells her quietly. She doesn’t wake up, but he didn’t mean for her to.

Wei Ying is greeted the next morning by a screech. A-Yuan flings himself away from the breakfast table to attach himself to Wei Ying’s leg.

“You’re back!”

“I’m back!” Wei Ying says, hauling the kid up into his arms. “And I brought you so many souvenirs from New York!”

There are mouth-shaped bruises on Wei Ying’s neck, because of course there are. Jiang Cheng prays to god for any shred of fucking patience and pointedly doesn’t look at him or Lan Zhan. How fucking dare they be like that right in front of his eggs.

When they’ve eaten, Granny says, “Everyone has a big surprise for you two. They hurried to get it done before you got home. A-Ning, go find your sister. Let’s show them.”

They’re shuffled outside, through the conservatory and down the back steps, and Jiang Cheng sees it a half-second before Wei Ying does. He grins, full and wide, and hears his brother gasp.

“You finished the dock!” Wei Ying yells. “It looks amazing!”

He goes running down the hill with Wen Ning and A-Yuan like a summer storm composed of loud, delighted noises and waving limbs. Lan Zhan follows slowly with Granny hanging onto his arm. Jiang Cheng watches after them, reaching into the corners of his chest for the pain that always comes hand-in-hand with moments of impossible joy like this, but he can’t seem to find it.

“The contractor said he would give us an estimate on a pavilion,” Wen Qing’s voice says from behind him.

Jiang Cheng turns to find her standing on the porch, leaning against the door, her hair still messy from sleep. She’s holding the blanket around her shoulders where he left it. Her eyes are reaching for him.

He’s braver than he was when he left.

“That’s a pretty permanent fixture,” Jiang Cheng says, heart beating wildly. “You sure you’re invested in something like that?”

She sighs in that way that means she’s laughing and comes down the steps to join the rest of her family by the water.

When the pavilion is finished, they have a wedding there.

It’s a small ceremony. The Lans are invited, of course, along with Jin Zixuan’s half-brother and a scattering of close friends, like Mianmian and Nie Huaisang. A-Yuan is the ring-bearer, and when he’s successfully delivered the rings to the grooms, he lifts his arms in a bid to be held.

Laughingly, Wei Ying scoops him up. His hair is loose and his eyes are bright, and Lan Zhan is looking at him the way he’s always looking at him, like he would follow him absolutely anywhere.

Just this once, Jiang Cheng will allow it.

The daylight is fading fast, and the night is going to be perfect and clear. Yanli and Wen Ning are spinning each other around in time to the music, totally out of step with everyone else and laughing brightly. Granny is taking a fussy A-Ling back up to the villa to put him to bed in the nursery that every single one of them spent way too much time and energy on, leaving Jin Zixuan free to nurse a glass of sparkling grape juice and stare judgmentally at his half-brother for flirting with Lan Huan. Jiang Cheng might join him for some judgmental staring, actually.

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are slow-dancing with a giggling A-Yuan held between them. The water rocks gently against the posts, crowded with the lily pads and lotus flowers that Jin Zixuan carefully maintains for A-Li. Wen Qing crosses the dock to Jiang Cheng, and her hand slips easily into his.

And none of it hurts. It isn’t supposed to.

Their house waited empty for a long, long time, but they’re all finally home.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #mdzs #yunmeng shuangjie #wangxian #jiang cheng #wei ying #wen qing #lan zhan #jiang yanli #my writing #mdzs fic #the ship sways

55 notes · View notes