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rayan12sworld · 5 months

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💖💙Run Off The World

By:Sapphire_Roses

Summary:

Thirteen years after the disappearance of the Wen Remnants, twelve years after the official defection of Lan Wangji from the Gusu Lan sect, and ten years after the establishment of the Yiling Wei sect, the Cultivation world seeks the help of a man they have forsaken after the Battle of The Nightless City.

What they expect to find is a land of monsters and ghosts, led by man who is torn apart and worn out by his heretic ways, and the once-esteemed Hanguang-Jun in chains and tears.

What they do find is a thriving sect consisting of living, beaming people, a very smug and very happy Wei Wuxian, and a terribly content and – although as perfectly peerless as ususal – very jaded Lan Wangji.

Chapter:42/?

Words:242,828

Status:ongoing

Author:@rosesapphire2323

In here we have yiling laozu , wei ying in this fanfic he really is badass and intelligent, dramatic, cool ....ect.

We have hanguang-Jun, that's even more badass and he is so dramatic 😂😂

:Jiang Wanyin can bet everything they have in Lotus Pier's treasury that Lan Wangji has gone through the extra fucking Li just to be dramatic"😂

He is very shameless too like this quote

"You fell asleep after the third time." Lan Wangji says brazenly.

He is even more intelligent

(So Lan Wangji wrapped the very sign of a Lan's devotion around Wei Wuxian's arm under his clothes, gambling on– no, manipulating his sentimentality to make him return and take him back, when he's clearly been planning to clear Lan Wangji of all accusations and leave him behind, by giving an awfully long speech and putting up an act.) See?

~~~~

It almost makes Jiang Wanyin jealous. "Why are you so obsessed with Second Young Master Lan anyway?" Jiang Wanyin asked, bored out of his mind, on a sunny afternoon in Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian was obviously not working on his lessons. Granted, he didn't need to. But he could at least pretend, for Jiang Wanyin's sake. Instead, he was drawing something, white sleeves tied up so that he wouldn't dirty the pristine robe with black ink after he got in trouble for it last time. "Lan Zhan?" Wei Wuxian asked, like he needed to clarify who they were talking about. As if his 'Lan Zhan' and 'Second Young Master Lan' were two different people. "Who the fuck else?" Jiang Wanyin growled. "I don't get it. The guy obviously hates you." Wei Wuxian hummed. "I don't care if Lan Zhan hates me." What? Wei Wuxian, not caring if people hated him? The boy lived and breathed being well-liked! What made Lan Wangji's obvious distaste so different? Jiang Wanyin raised a brow. "Then why? He's obviously not your friend, so...?" "It's all relatively simple, really." Wei Wuxian stopped drawing, and held the paper up to examine it. Bright sunlight shot through the paper, enough to reveal the markings of the ink. He has drawn a magnolia tree. He put the paper down, smiling softly. "He's like... my equal." Jiang Wanyin paused. Equal. He grit his teeth. All his life, he tried to be Wei Wuxian's equal, running after him with all he had, and then all of a sudden, Lan Wangji barged in with his stoney face and cold words, and became Wei Wuxian's equal.

"That's nonsense." He tried to keep his voice even. "You two are nothing alike."

Wei Wuxian shrugged, picking up his brush again. Adding details to the drawing. "He's just..." He stopped, and tried again. "Sure, he's a stick in the mud and a stickler for rules, but he's good. He matches pace with me. He annoys me and I annoy him back. He frowns at me and it's so fun to see his cold expression break with anger. I love laughing when it pisses him off. He enjoys annoying me, too, I guess. He's extra stiff with me. Makes shattering that mask of his just so much sweeter."

Then, he chuckled. Jiang Wanyin watched with dawning horror as his brother's face grew fond, brush flying across the paper. "You should see him when he gets angry enough to draw his sword, though."

Wei Wuxian looked up, eyes gleaming with a mixture of mischief and joy. "That's when he truly comes alive. It makes me want to fight with him forever."

What delicate choice of words, Jiang Wanyin thinks. 'Fight with him'.

Be it against him or beside him, you want him all the same ~~~~~

We have other characters like Jiang yanli and

Originally characters ,they have amazing personalities

You guys will see Yiling laozu in chapter 37,he is very dangerous,

("Lan Xichen," Wei Wuxian addresses, and the unfamiliarity of it is much more startling than the disrespect it ought to deliver.

"I know you are fully aware of what I am capable of." Wei Wuxian says, tone stern, staring unflinchingly into Lan Xichen's eyes. "Yet I'm not sure if you know how far I am willing to go. Which is why I will tell you." Lan Xichen holds his breath. He is certain he doesn't imagine the slight flash of red in Wei Wuxian's sunlit irises.

"When I speak of my death, I don't speak of it lightly." Wei Wuxian says. "My deathbed is my birthplace, Lan Xichen. Death doesn't scare me. It won't consume me, not anymore, not after those months. My death is my mercy. Do you know why?"

Lan Xichen says nothing. Wei Wuxian doesn't seem to require him to speak. "I would level this entire sect to the ground." Wei Wuxian speaks, low and careful, as if ensuring Lan Xichen hears every word clearly.

"I could start, right now, and no living nor dead creature will be able to stop me. It would barely take me until nightfall. I would uproot every tree, overturn every body of water, bring down this mountain upon itself." Then, he tilts his head, and Lan Xichen uses every single last piece of his strength to hold himself back from drawing his sword. His mind screams at him, Run run run! But he can't. He's frozen in place, rooted on the spot.

"If I wanted to, I could make every single last one of your dead claw their way out of grave. I already know where your very well-hidden ancestral graveyard is." His eyelids flutter in a mockery of a blink over crimson eyes.

Only then does Lan Xichen realize that he hadn't blinked since they made eye-contact.

"I could turn your Wall of Discipline into ash with a snap of my fingers. I know the Wen tried, and failed. But I assure you, I am not the Wen." Lan Xichen barely holds back the words, the ones he only now realizes their truth.

No, you're more dangerous than the Wen.

"If I willed it, Gusu Lan would be no more come sunset." Wei Wuxian says casually, as though he speaks of the weather over tea, and not of the destruction of Lan Xichen's home. "None of your elders, disciples, Grandmaster Lan, or even you would be able to stop me. If you garnered all the knowledge inside your library, weaponized every spiritual artifact, or called upon the Heavens themselves, you would not be able to stop me." Lan Xichen finds that he does not doubt they could not. Four sects, maybe. Maybe. But one? One sect does not stand a chance against the full power of the Yiling Patriarch. "And I would do it," Wei Wuxian says, sounding less and less human, the more he speaks. It is as though his voice is echoed in the space between every bamboo tree. Lan Xichen barely feels the light of the sun, anymore. It is as though the black of the shadows have spread, like ink upon paper, clouding the sky. "I would, because twelve years ago, I woke in the middle of the night, half paralyzed and half out of my mind, with Lan Zhan bleeding out to death by the wards of Burial Mounds. If it weren't for his survival that demanded my attention, I would've levelled the mountains of Gusu that very night." Lan Xichen thinks back, to the storm, the rain. To Wangji's soaked body, to his trembling hands. He had thought the storm and downpour that flooded Gusu and lasted days to be ominous sign of Wangji's departure. Now he knows they escaped a much worse curse by a hair's breadth. "If you imagine that the weight of my regret and rage wouldn't be enough to turn this land over," Wei Wuxian goes on, voice level, pale face cold. "I suggest you thoroughly reconsider. I watched my Zhiji prone upon a bed for years. Every night, he takes the last of his robes off, and I see thirty-three scars on his back. He doesn't hide them, because he isn't ashamed, and I look at them, because I am." Lan Xichen lets himself exhale shakily.

He doesn't know how he musters up the bravery to speak. "Wangji's decisions–" The whispering air around him tightens so abruptly that he snaps his mouth shut. He's frozen. His limbs are cold, and stiff. He doesn't dare breathe in the condemning silence that follows. He waits, staring into Wei Wuxian's bloody eyes. He hadn't blinked, not even once, he thinks hysterically. "Lan Zhan's decisions are his," Wei Wuxian eventually says, calmly. "Is that what you were going to say?"

Lan Xichen swallows.

He doesn't nod.

His muscles won't move.

His bones are stuck.

He prefers shouting to this deathly calm. "Lan Xichen. I do not care if I was persecuted, or whipped to death, or left out to bleed as a spectacle until I died." Wei Wuxian shrugs, and Lan Xichen notices with mounting horror that it's the first time he has seen his shoulders move since this conversation began.

His shoulders were not moving.

His shoulders were not moving in the motion of breathing.

Lan Xichen's mind slowly reels out of his control.)

See it isn't even all of them, I think I like chapter 37 the most😭

A few characters :

Our mastermind have a tigress

"A-Xue." Nie Huaisang waves his fan in goodbye as he heads for his chamber's doors. "If someone comes for my fans, brushes, or wine, eat them. If they come for the sect documents, let them take it all."

He could always do with less paperwork. Saying that the documents were stolen will most likely not result in Nie Fenghuo cutting him in clean halves with her sabre.

Baofengxue growls softly in reprimand, as Nie Huaisang closes the doors behind him.

Even his own tiger is judgemental of him. Truly, the world is a cruel place.

#wangxian #wangxian recommendations #mdzs #mxtx mdzs #wangxian fanfic #ao3 recs #the untamed #mdzs fanfic rec #mdzs fanart #mo dao zu shi #run off the world #wangxian fic rec

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kachawo · 1 year

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YilingWei Sect AU: Head Disciple

Click here for previous YilingWei Sect posts.

___

Meet Mo Xuanyu, YilingWei’s beloved and trusty Head disciple.

Him and his mother, Mo Fan, left the family village at a young age, with only the clothes on their back and a pouch of coins. Originally, they planned to travel north from Gusu, where Lanling stood, but an unfortunate encounter with bandits lead them to run into the forests, injured and bloodied.

Wei Wuxian founds them at the border of Jiangling, starved and close to death, and decided to bring them to Yiling, where he helped them build a home and start a new life. Mo Fan thrived with her surroundings, people appreciated and supported her. She taught the children of Yiling to write and read, and later would be a teacher in the BM when the sect is still fresh and new.

While Mo Xuanyu, who showed skill in leadership and the ability to teach just like his mother, was appointed to be the first ever Head Disciple of the YilingWei. (He’s not the first ever disciple, tho.)

He wielded a fan as if it were a dagger, moved liked the wind with a deadly sword, and was adept in all studies of talisman and arrays. Wei Wuxian couldn’t be more proud.

Mo Xuanyu specializes is talisman and rituals, and is the first one to master “Espy”

When Xue Yang comes along, they oddly get along very well. If Mo Xuanyu has WWX’s looks, then Xue Yang has his insanity. Mxy has learned the arts of keeping him in a tight leash.

He’s very good with children, that’s one of the reasons why he’s HD, but also he’s often had the responsibility of entertaining a-Yuan when he was a child, along with other youngs kids WWX picked up from the streets. They all call him “Yu-gege.” A-Yuan though, calls him “Pretty-gege.” And Mxy denied crying the first time.

Idk what signature color to give him! Frankly speaking, the disciples all wear black, gray, and red, the only difference in color are their swords. I always saw Mxy as the red and black guy, just the same as WWX! So it was hard to think of anything else.

I thought of gold because technically he was a Jin, but then his sword would look like Suibian. Then I just started fucking around to find out and thought orange looked pretty actually.

___

Bonus!

The acupuncture needle was crafted by Wen Qing as a preventive measure in case someone was attacked by resentful energy. The needle was made specifically to purge energy out of the body, when inserted into the right junctions and meridans, it can force the resentment out of the body and into the needle itself. (And can be purged in the same needle as well.)

It’s made with black quartz, which in this au, is a great medium for yin energy.

Also, the white markings on the inside of the bow (the circles) are indicators of symbol.

4 marks for the sect leader, 3 marks for the chiefs, and 2 marks for the senior disciples. Though really, it’s not that important, just an aesthetic choice.

Wwx has his in his belt but never wears it, he doesn’t like the idea of being identified by your status. He sees everyone equally and as family and doesn’t see the need to flaunt it.

It makes him feel a bit detached from the others, and he doesn’t like that feeling.

___

Hehe, thanks for reading! I think I’ll continue with these YilingWei Sect ideas. I wanna know if you guys want to know more about this AU!

#mdzs #mdzs au #wwx #wei wuxian #yilingwei sect #yilingweisect au #yilingwei sect au ideas #mxy #mo xuanyu #head disciple mo xuanyu #sect leader wei wuxian

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mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess · 9 months

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In their name

Warnings: angst, murder, violence, mental distress and Lan Sizhui being dark and twisted

This is the leftover ficlet from my Xue Yang era that I finally decided to get done.

Enjoy <3

What is your name, young man?

He does not know. Who is he? What should the world call him? What is the string of sounds they should use to get his attention?

Who am I?

He used to know, he used to be so sure of it. He used to know who he was, who he wanted to become, where he came from.

And then it was taken away from him, all of it, the security in himself and his life ripped from right under him.

It was cold when they died, an unforgiving winter. They should have taken it as a foreboding omen, the way that day had been so unexplainably warm and sunny, in the heart of the harshest winter in decades.

They did not.

Why would they? Why would anyone?

They died... nobody really knows how. It’s a mystery still, but there is no point trying to uncover it. Not really. Not like it would change anything.

They’re gone and that’s it.

Why hang onto the past?

They died protecting him. This is the truth. They died because he was weak, because he was their child.

Was?

And they sent him away for help so he wouldn’t watch them die.

They protected him and loved him and left him.

And now he doesn’t know who he is.

A murderer? A failure? A lost cause?

Demonic cultivation – the actual demonic kind – is a lot easier to manage when you’re angry enough not to care who you’re killing in the process. And it makes for an interesting mix if you use the ghost path with it.

It’s more comfortable than orthodox cultivation – or maybe he’s just not entirely okay with using it to kill.

After all, Hanguang-Jun had instilled into him the fact that he should only use his power, his sword, for good.

It was an ambush.

People still had a bone to pick with the terrible Yiling Laozu, or however they called him – him, A-Yuan’s baba, was not that, he was good, kind and a convenient scapegoat – and they wanted him dead. Again. He died already, and yet, it was not enough. It was not enough that they attacked him, that they killed everybody, that they left a little, innocent community in ruins and threw the bodies of its inhabitants like they were trash.

It was not enough that, despite this, Wei Wuxian saved them all 13 years later.

The Moling Su sect had not disappeared, then. Even though their leader had died, they only went into hiding to deal with the power vacuum, and returned, quietly, to their business, much more modest than they used to be.

The head disciple, now become sect leader, had planned it all. The fake letter about a fierce ghost terrorizing a small nameless village hidden in the mountains, the victims all children, the crying villagers asking for help.

A trap.

They waited.

They used demonic cultivation too, the actual demonic kind. The kind that eats at the spiritual energy of everything around, the kind that thrives off resentment of both the living and the dead.

Uncle Ning went first.

Then A-Die.

Then Baba.

Then there was nobody left.

Nobody but... A-Yuan? Wen Yuan? Wei Yuan? Lan Yuan? Lan Sizhui?

Whoever he may be, he’s the only one left.

A grave was dug, joining the Lan ancestors’ resting place in a beautiful plot of land near the Cloud Recesses. Flowers grow there all the time, it is a place of quiet and reflection, peace and missing.

They put baba and a-die in the same grave. It was their dying wish. Otherwise they would have been able to unclench their hands where they held them together as they died. Nobody could.

There was nothing left of uncle Ning to bury.

And then A-Yuan had to leave.

How could he stay in his house when he had no home anymore?

He couldn’t... do anything anymore, agonizing in bed for days, crying himself in and out of nightmares, pushing everybody away so harshly that they wouldn’t dare come near him again.

He had initially thought about killing himself.

What use was there for him now? His parents died because of him, he couldn’t even so much as watch out for himself and stay out of trouble.

How could he even pretend he could ever be a cultivator again? Had he ever been one?

But he realized, one evening as he thought over his suicide note, that it wasn’t him that killed his parents. It was those Moling Su disciples and their wretched techniques. They are the ones that took baba and a-die away.

They are the ones that should be dead long before A-Yuan is.

He will die too, he knows he will, he has to, wants to – but he cannot allow them to live before that.

Justice must be delivered in kind. A-Die taught him that.

And so, A-Yuan fled the Cloud Recesses to deliver it.

He took Bichen and Chenqing with him – not to use them, how could he ever? – but just so he could have his parents know their deaths would be avenged and they could rest in peace.

A-Yuan lived in the Burial Mounds for three years. He only left to gather knowledge – on how to kill better, hurt more, experiment.

There is a way to cultivate resentful energy into a core.

There is a way to become immortal without the ridiculous pretense of righteousness.

(There is nothing righteous in this wretched world. Not anymore).

There is a way to extract resentment from the living, corrupt their souls, torture them without even a drop of blood leaving their bodies.

There is a way to do anything.

The stories of the Yiling Patriarch, of the blood thirsty Xue Yang, even the terrible Wen Ruohan...

Sizhui would be putting them all to shame.

He would become the cultivation world’s worst nightmare, he would show them they have known nothing of the horrors that they deserved bestowed upon them.

He would avenge his parents and all that he lost once their lives ended.

And then he would die at peace with it all.

There is no way to know who from the Moling Su sect actually attacked Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian and Lan Sizhui that night.

They had their faces covered and their swords fogged over, it was night and they wore black clothing.

It was impossible to tell who was who.

That is why Sizhui killed them all.

And he enjoyed every second of it.

At first, he wanted to just let his ghosts and corpses do the work for him – after all, he never quite liked getting his hands dirty.

But it was too tempting not to draw his sword, now teeming with resentful energy, its spirit long dead, and join in to the massacre, cutting down into every single living person he could find.

He made it a point to slowly rip at the sect leader’s golden core until it broke inside of him, pulling his qi out of him like string just so he could enjoy his screams. He didn’t know what was louder, his laughter or the man’s cries – but he dragged it out as long as he could, watching life drain out of him like the flame of a dying candle.

He would make sure nobody was left.

“Baba, A-Die, are you seeing this? Are you proud of me now?” he asked as he twirled Chenqing in one hand, gripping the hilt of Bichen in the other, walking along the estate of the Moling Su sect, corpses littering the winding pathways. “I am strong now. Nobody can ever defeat me, I could destroy the whole world if I wanted. If you wanted.”

He waves a hand to send resentful energy into a corner where frightened figures try to hide, and does not seem to mind the young voices that scream out.

“They took you away from me, from the world... so I have done the same. Why should this wretched lot live if you do not?”

The screaming is slowly starting to die out around him. “It won’t be long now. They’ll all be dead by morning. I won’t leave until I’m sure there are no survivors left. And perhaps I'll even seek out the rest of their allies, their partnerships... destroy those too. None of these people should get to be alive if my parents don’t.”

The sound of a muffled cry draws his attention towards a shoddy house towards the exit. He opens the door (resentful energy rips it off its hinges) and walks in to find an old lady holding a toddler in her arms, eyes wide and tearful as she attempts to shield him.

SIzhui crouches down over them, and pats the boy’s head with a smile, warm and friendly. “What’s your name?”

“A-A-Yuan...”

“What a coincidence, that’s my name too. You’re hiding here with your granny?”

The boy nods, burrowing further in the old woman’s chest as he does.

“I hid with my granny like this too. Back then, they took us all to a terrible place, a working camp. They made granny do such hard work... she almost died. But she always held me and loved me and cared for me regardless of that. And every time I went to bed, she would tell me a story.”

Sizhui looks over at the granny, the same easy demeanor about him. “it’s late, the little one should be sleeping. Go put him to bed and tell him a story.”

The woman stares, incredulous, but does not question him. She has seen what he has done to their home and knows her turn is next, as is her grandson's.

She picks the boy up and walks into an adjacent room, Sizhui in tow. The place is modest, but clean. There are some toys, one of them a doll the boy holds tightly as granny tucks him into bed.

She sighs, and then, as she caresses his face, begins telling him a story about a brave prince who fought a great monster, saving the frightened kingdom...

There are two droplets falling down Sizhui’s face. He does not notice them, not until they blur his vision and fall hot over his cheeks.

The resentment inside him swirls in distress.

He stands up, and waves a hand so the candle light goes out.

The old woman joins her little boy’s side into bed and closes her eyes. She knows she will be dying now, and she wants it to be next to her little one.

Nothing ever comes.

Sizhui storms out of the little house, of the estate, of the village, careless of being seen, of what he's leaving behind.

He returns to the place where his parents died and he died with them.

For the first time in over twenty years, there is a song.

And a question

Who am I?

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #lsz #writing attempts

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seneca-milestone17 · 2 years

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waiting for spring to come

Crossposted on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30816404

The news is out before anyone could even put a stop to it.

“Great news! Wen Ruohan and his sons have been killed!”

It sends out ripples of discussion among the populace. All over, people could be heard whispering about the sudden (and joyful) news the day had brought them. After all, it’s no secret as to how tyrannical and vicious the Wen sect leader and his progeny had been among the cultivation world and their subjects.

“Good news indeed!” an old man cheers with a raise of his cup. “Who did the bastard in?”

“The Yiling Patriarch – Wei Wuxian!”

A brief moment of silence descends among the people before a cultivator lets out a sigh.

“So he finally did it.”

“Wen Ruohan, that bastard, he really poked the sleeping dragon awake.”

“For being the leader of such a great sect, he actually did something so…”

Stupid is the one word that could be attributed to the once great Wen Ruohan that very moment.

Not handsome.

Not even powerful.

But stupid.

And nobody would dare contest otherwise.

“Hm? But what about the Wen clan? Are they finished?”

“The Yiling Patriarch only killed the Sect Leader but nobody was willing to step up to lead the Sect so they just dissolved it.”

“Probably for the best that way.”

Another brief moment of silence. This time, thoughtful and contemplative.

“Ah, but I heard that the Patriarch took only the elderly, the children and the healers. The rest were scattered in the winds.”

“Just the civilians? Is the Patriarch thinking of giving them refuge?”

“Most likely.”

“Still. The Wen sect had gone too far this time.”

“You think there will be war?”

“I hope not!”

“I heard that the other Great Sects are visiting the Burial Mounds with gifts to appease the Patriarch.”

One could be heard making a noise of approval at that.

“Very good, very good! Better than angering the Yiling Patriarch.”

After all…

Nobody has ever gone against an Immortal and lived.

If one were to describe the Yiling Burial Mounds in less than five words, the first thing that would come to mind is resentful energy.

And that is true. For a place that had borne witness to countless bloodbaths over the centuries, the Yiling Burial Mounds is the only place in the world where resentful energy flowed naturally like water would in streams and rivers.

Thus, it would make sense for such a dangerous place to be uninhabited as well.

But not if you were the Yiling Patriarch.

Jiang Cheng has never thought he would get an opportunity to meet an Immortal in his lifetime, much less step foot on their mountain, but the matter with the Yiling Patriarch is that he defies all definition of the norm and seemingly possessed the talent of making the impossible become possible. This includes making the uninhabitable livable, destroy a powerful Sect Leader and his progeny in one fell swoop as well as performing the unthinkable and succeeding.

Not for the first time does Jiang Cheng think that if the Yiling Patriarch were a disciple of Yunmeng Jiang, he would have thrived there.

Now that same Immortal is sitting before Jiang Cheng and his entourage. Dressed in robes blacker than the night sky and eyes gleaming crimson, his sharp features make for an intimidating figure.

(Handsome too, a part of Jiang Cheng’s mind whispers though he squashes that easily.)

“So let me get this straight. Sect Leaders Jiang, Jin, Lan and Nie have come to this Patriarch’s mountain in order to…?”

“To foster good relations with the honorable Yiling Patriarch.”

Lan Xichen finishes smoothly from where he is seated, genial smile in place. The crown that signifies his position as Sect Leader of Gusu Lan is snug on his head as though it belongs there despite having only received it a few months prior.

The Patriarch raises an eyebrow.

“So you say but aren’t you all basically trying to curry favor so that I won’t destroy your Sects like I did with Wen Ruohan?”

The air becomes heavy at his words. Charged.

He’s not wrong but to have it so blatantly pointed out feels like he’s calling them out on something. As though he’s seen something he shouldn’t have and now they need to do something about it.

Jiang Cheng’s used to subtlety. Words covered in sweet flattery of hypocrites looking for something to gain from the Head of Yungmeng Jiang, his only reprieve being A-Jie and even then, it’s like walking on thin ice on most days due to their parents. Having his intentions spoken out loud and so easily read by the other party is like losing his footing.

He’s sure the same can be said for the other Sect Leaders gathered in this audience hall.

The Patriarch shakes his head at the tenseness of their expressions like a parent over his children.

“Such baseless worries you all have,” he smirks. “If it makes you all feel better, I hereby swear that I shall not repeat what I have done to Wen Ruohan to the rest of the Sects anytime soon.”

Not unless warranted.

It’s a statement that should make them feel better. And it does; if not for the warnings hidden underneath, Jiang Cheng would have taken those words at face value and relaxed.

“Pardon this one’s curiosity but what exactly did Wen Ruohan do to incite the Patriarch’s wrath?”

Like that certain fool with the family name Yao over there with no filter in his mind at all!!!

“Hm? Ah, that…”

The Patriarch’s red eyes narrow as though recalling an unpleasant memory. Lighted by the green flames flickering in the throne room, he becomes all the more menacing.

“Wen Ruohan. He encouraged that brat, Wen Chao, to harass and destroy the livelihood of the people in Yiling despite my warnings. Then he had the nerve to enter the Burial Mounds without even paying proper respect to this Patriarch. Naturally, this Patriarch took it as an offense to his person.”

And what came next, Jiang Cheng and the others know quite well.

Wen Chao’s body had been chopped up in seventeen pieces before being fed off to Fierce Corpses, his screams reportedly heard sounding like a strangled dog’s. Wen Xu had his organs removed one by one while slowly losing each of his five senses. And then Wen Ruohan himself became a human stick; his arms and legs removed before being forced to watch as his family jewels were cut off, roasted and then fed to the dogs before being killed himself.

All of the cultivators present could only shiver as they remembered the Patriarch’s retributions to the Wens.

Not that they didn’t deserve it but still.

“Do unto others as they would you. Repay kindness with kindness, hostility with hostility. Immortality isn’t something to be gained just by meditating and reciting the sutras daily after all.”

The Patriarch’s red eyes glimmer ominously in the darkness. It reminds them further that while the Yiling Patriarch is a gracious host and a generous Immortal, he is still a cultivator practicing the unorthodox.

The only one of his kind.

The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

When the orthodox sects had all been escorted out of the audience hall and the doors closed with a resounding thud, the lauded and revered Yiling Patriarch could only stay seated there.

And Wei Wuxian, staring at the closed doors across him, recalls the straight of the backs of the Sect Leaders as they left his domain, the tenseness of their shoulders, and sighs.

“How did this happen again…?”

It starts, as it always does, in the area of Yiling.

It starts, however differently, in the Burial Mounds, where a little boy no older than four to five years is shaking his fist at the heavens and roaring curses in a different language.

“Damn it, isn’t this a bit too much! Couldn’t you have given me some sort of cheat code or even a little helping hand?! Like, hello~ I’m not an OP isekai character so GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!”

BREAK

Break…

…eak…

The boy wheezes, listening to his own furious yells echoing throughout the vast expanse of the Burial Mounds.

“Ah, shit. Getting angry like this makes me feel so stupid!”

Sighing, he goes over to a smooth plane of rock where it reflects however poorly his own visage.

Chubby cheeks, wild long black hair and silver mercurial eyes. Just the sight of it is enough to make the boy twitch and groan out loud.

“Making me reincarnate as Wei Wuxian…what kind of joke is this?”

He knows what this is. He’s read several novels of the same genre to not know his own situation, has seen every type and the various spins it can take, more than enough knowledge to call himself a connoisseur over the subject.

But to think he would end up becoming a victim of it as well…!

“There wasn’t even Truck-kun passing by when it happened! All I did was take a short nap after rewatching the Season 3 trailer!!”

That’s right.

While his body’s identity may be called Wei Ying, courtesy name Wuxian, the future Yiling Patriarch, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation and boogieman of the cultivation world, his soul is that of a poor weaboo college student.

The boy sits down cross-legged on the ground with his arms crossed and brows furrowed.

“Okay, let’s recap over what I remember. I was watching the series from Seasons One to Two since I didn’t want to study. And since I felt that I still had time, I thought why not watch the trailer for Season 3 before going to sleep? And then poof! I wake up in an inn with some old man yelling at me.”

That had been a fright. Imagine having some much-needed sleep and the next thing you know, someone is yelling in Chinese at you, dressed in some traditional clothing.

What’s the best thing to do other than panic, grab the bags next you and then high-tail it out of there in a frenzy of disorientation?

Seeing his own reflection is what led to the earlier shouting.

“But the main problems are…”

A vein pops on the boy’s forehead as he looks at the sky and yells once more.

“YOU SHITTY BASTARDS! You didn’t give me the internal translator!! It’s bad enough you had me reincarnate (??) as Wei Wuxian but then you failed to give me the internal translator too?!?! I’m a freaking foreign GDC fan! Get it? It means I’M NOT CHINESE!!!! I demand a refund, damnit, A REFUND!!!!!”

That’s right. Aside from his current situation he is also lacking the ability to instantly understand this world’s language.

He understood it immediately when he gave thought to it. Isekai novels would usually give the main character the ability to instantly understand that world’s language and yet in his case, he didn’t have that. What came to his mind when listening to the people speaking were Chinese and not the language he had grown used to.

Which, given his plight, isn’t good at all.

“I’ll just keep quiet and learn on my own if that’s the case!”

The boy huffs, cheeks puffed up like mochi as he moves on to the next agenda.

“What to do from now on.”

He knows that Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren are dead now. Wei Wuxian’s status as an orphan is part of what defined him as a character as well as an individual and given the way he had been able to easily leave the inn, that means they haven’t returned in a day or some more.

“That leaves me with three options.”

First would be to follow the original plot and stay in Yiling until Jiang Fengmian finds him and brings him to Lotus Pier. Tempting, but he’s read more than his fair share of character studies and meta about the Jiang family’s situation. The thought of being near Yu ZiYuan 24/7 is enough to make him grimace.

…Yeah, no. Being near her would make his blood pressure rise for nothing, and that would only hasten his death flags.

“Definitely never gonna happen. Option one is out.”

Option two would be to become a rogue cultivator and travel the world far and wide, a free spirit. It’s something come from the imagination of fanfic authors exploring the various what-if scenarios within the GDC fandom. And while the thought of travelling is certainly enticing, without the ability to communicate, he’s as good as mute.

“That leaves option three.”

Option three. Truth be told, it’s the most far-fetched and dangerous among his three choices. It can even be called his craziest, but the thought of it becoming a possibility leaves him itching to want to try it out.

An action that can be done by him because it’s the only thing he has.

“Let’s become a Demonic Cultivator and make the Burial Mounds livable.”

Wei Wuxian is well-known as the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. Inventing the demonic path is his fate; nobody can deny that. Not when it’s his most notable achievement. The Yiling Burial Mounds becoming his headquarters (and eventual grave) only added to the poetic artistry. It’s merely a testament to his genius on just how much he had contributed to the cultivation world despite them hating his guts.

So why not start early?

If he’s lucky, he might even form a demonic core and become an Immortal.

The boy scoffs at his own thought.

“Yeah right. And I’ll marry Lan Wangji.”

As expected, it’s hilarious, even for him.

Four years later, word reaches the ears of every cultivator willing to listen.

After several centuries since the Ascension of Baoshan Sanren, a new cultivator has Ascended.

Some say he’s been around for hundreds of years, slinking into the shadows of history not unlike Baoshan Sanren.

Others argue that he’s older. An ancient being from the times of the Heavenly Officials, having entered seclusion long ago and only Ascended now.

Nobody dares mention where said cultivator, this new Immortal, resides nor of what path he cultivates on.

Here’s the truth of the matter: he does not want to become Wei Wuxian.

It’s not out of spite or hatred. He could never hate someone so steadfast and honest to their beliefs as Wei Wuxian. But the crux lies as to what his end entailed, written down and decided upon by the author herself.

He doesn’t want to die.

He doesn’t want to suffer.

And he’s not Wei Ying.

Wei Ying was a bright person. A genius far ahead of his generation and his time, heavily misunderstood and scorned by the world that thrived on the class system instead of the usual meritocracy you would have seen in Chinese cultivation novels. His values and beliefs stemming from his selflessness and kind heart that could bring color and life to even the most stubborn of people.

He’s not like that.

He can’t try to be like Wei Ying, and he won’t even try.

Lan Zhan is destined to be with Wei Ying. The novels had decided that. It was a fate that ran deeper than anything in this world. A mark of soulmates destined to be together for all eternity – Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s staple.

But Wei Ying’s not here and he can’t replace Wei Ying.

This whole thing sucks.

But what else can he do other than learn to live with the hand he’s been dealt with?

In the Yiling Burial Mounds, Xiao Xingchen finds a boy with gleaming red eyes and a body that’s filled to the brim with resentful energy and makes a life-changing choice.

He thinks it’s fate when he hears the names of the boy’s parents and even more when he sees the impossible right in front of him.

A blood-red orb, pulsating with so much resentful energy, it’s as if the Burial Mounds had come to them. Xiao Xingchen thinks he hears the sounds of wailing and screaming, the feeling of fury, of betrayal and so much hate, but then the orb is returned to its owner and it's as if nothing happened.

He wonders what happened, for Cangse's son to reach immortality in such a way.

He wonders how the boy can remain sane in the face of such carnage and insanity.

Baoshan Sanren gives him the name Wuxian, which is “to have no envy”, her eyes sharp and all-knowing.

The newly-named Wuxian looks resigned as he bows his head and thanks her for the name.

Ah, Xiao Xingchen thinks as he watches the exchange. I see.

Physical strength is not enough to become an Immortal, his Master had once said. You must have an unyielding will, the spirit to know what it means to be part of the Heavens and yet be a child of the Earth, to overcome adversity yet still fix your gaze up to the Heavens.

If such was the case then instead of the Heavens, Wuxian had fixed his gaze upon the Earth and reaped what came of it.

Not because he wanted to, but because he had to survive.

“Have you decided on a name?”

Baoshan Sanren looks at him with the unending patience of an elder. In his hands is a familiar jian, one that he’s seen many times in pictures and illustrations found online, and the name rolls out before he could even stop it.

“Suibian.”

Xiao Xingchen coughs beside him. There’s the tell-tale sign of his lips quirking says everything left unsaid.

Elder Sanren simply nods and looks nonplussed.

“A name that fits its owner well,” she says without a hint of malice in them. Her eyes crinkle subtly as she continues. “May this sword guide your path through the trials and tribulations the heavens may rain down upon you.”

It’s been six years since he’s been in this world. Two years since Xiao Xingchen found him in the Burial Mounds to bring him before his master. In those two years, he’s been trying to learn the language as much as he can, but sometimes it all just feels too complicated.

But this time, he feels instead of hears the words…and understands.

He’s not normal. He didn’t become like this the same way she and those before her had done. He’s known this before, knows this in how the resentment energy curls within him like it’s part of his bloodstream. How his very small golden core is being embraced by that same energy similar to one would use a blanket and a heater in cold days.

He’s not normal, will never be normal, and that’s fine.

Because he chose to be this way.

“Thank you for everything,” he says with the deepest and most respectful bow he can muster.

He’s not going to die a painful death.

Nobody is going to suffer for things he didn’t do.

The seeds he’s planted have all started to grow into fruition.

It’s time to start harvesting.

Several months later, words begins to spread of the Immortal living within the Yiling Burial Mounds.

Of the corpses that have become guards around the eerie mountain.

Of the evil spirits and fierce corpses ravaging the livelihoods of the common people being destroyed or even subdued by said Immortal.

And then somewhere, the whispers of the Immortal’s title begins to take root in the minds of the people.

They call him the Yiling Patriarch.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #mdzs fic #gdc fic #waiting for spring to come-verse #SI-OC! as Wei Wuxian #yiling patriarch!WWX #cross posted on ao3

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vrishchikawrites · 3 years

Note

You know what would be cathartic?

JC getting the ass whooping he deserves.

I can't get over how he gets zero repercussions for the massacre of the Wen remnants as well as torturing and murdering who knows how many people for 13/16 years... Etc. Sure after Guanyin temple we get a spark of hope that he might at least mend his ways, but then in the extras he's back to his old ways so 🤷

The only post canon I accept for him is that he finally manages to cross one line too many and someone just beats the shit out of him and wipes the floor with his mug (preferably WN or LSZ because those two are such good boys and they deserve a little violence as a treat but LWJ and WWX could get to let out some steam as well) meanwhile the rest of the cultivation world watches on like "yup he had it coming"

(this is way, way post canon but I had a vision in my head. I hope it works)

Age has done nothing to temper Jiang Wanyin's personality. He's still entirely too quick to anger, always a hair's breadth away from violence. Lan Xichen finds it distasteful but he's a Sect Leader and must maintain proper relationship with his peers.

His amiable masks strains, just a little, when his youngest nephew is pushed back by the fury of Jiang Wanyin's blade.

It was supposed to be a lesson but Xichen knows Jiang Wanyin's true motives.

Lan Zhenxing is Wangji and Wuxian's youngest child, adopted when he was discarded at the gates of Cloud Recesses as a little baby. He may as well be Wei Wuxian's natural-born son, given how much he resembles him in personality.

His uncle is very displeased but Wangji is not-so-secretly enamored. Nothing pleases him more than finding traces of his husband in their son.

The quality that Wangji adores, Jiang Wanyin detests.

Xichen has always wondered why Jiang Wanyin is so determined to remain bitter. It hurts no one but himself. Wuxian has moved on, it isn't in his brother-in-law's nature to linger in the past. Xichen has witnessed his blissful happiness first hand and is forever grateful it turned out this way.

There's no reason why Jiang Wanyin couldn't follow the same path; build his family, nurture new ties, and take the path of peace.

Now, as he watches Jiang-zongzhu pressure his little nephew, his 14-year-old baby Lan, he can't help but feel angry.

It is supposed to be a lesson, a way to correct the child's sword grip, a way to help him become lighter on his feet.

Xichen had permitted it, nudging his intimidated nephew gently.

It was a mistake.

His little nephew's face is white and eyes are wide. He is visibly terrified and there's no parent in the crowd unbothered by it. He sees several cultivators step forward with disapproving frowns. There are a few who even dare to call Jiang Wanyin's name, asking him to slow down.

The Cultivation world is very familiar with the man's temper but this is the first time they see his capacity for ruthlessness so starkly.

"Jiang Cheng," Xichen turns around to see Wei Wuxian walk forward and breathes a sigh of relief. Wangji is nowhere to be found but he assumes he's still engaged in writing a report of their most recent Nighthunt.

The differences between Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian couldn't be more stark.

Wuxian has a genial air and a youthful face. He barely looks like a father of three children, two of them already adults. Diligence and innate brilliance have allowed him to reach new heights of cultivation.

In terms of power, no one but Wangji is his match.

Jiang Wanyin, in contrast, has the look of a bitter, worn-down man. Xichen has always found it fascinating.

In Wei Wuxian, that Golden Core had thrived and shone with the brilliance of the Sun. In Jiang Wanyin, it has lost all of its lustre. It remains powerful, but nowhere near as potent as it should be.

Twenty three years ago, Wei Wuxian had gotten a weak body and a weak core. He build it up again and now he stands tall, strong, and practically glowing with the might of his spiritual prowess.

It is perhaps the person, not the core itself, that determines a cultivator's power.

Wei Wuxian steps between a furious Jiang Wanyin and his son, running a gentle hand over the boy's head to reassure him, "Go keep your A'die company, a-Xing. He's stuck with paperwork and would love a distraction."

All traces of fear have already left Zhenxing's face and he is back to his good-humored self. He bows to his father and Jiang-zongzhu cheerfully and walks away.

Wei Wuxian stares down at Jiang Wanyin with no trace of kindness on his face. The gentle father is gone, this is the Wei Wuxian his brother has carefully brought out with years of love and unceasing devotion.

Confident, self-assured, and absolutely unwilling to be anyone's victim.

"If you're angry, take it out on someone who can actually beat some sense into you, Jiang Cheng."

"Wei Wuxian!"

"Jiang Wanyin," His brother-in-law echoes mockingly, "Did you think you could harass my son and I would just let it go?"

"He's a weak if he needs your protection, even now." Jiang Wanyin says and Wuxian's expression turns frosty.

He unsheathes Suibian, "It seems like you need a sound thrashing."

Xichen coughs to conceal his laugh as Jiang Wanyin scowls furiously and rushes at Wuxian.

It is a short match. Sandu races forward and Wuxian spins out of its way, Suibian singing through the air as he cuts a shallow slash across Jiang Wanyin's chest.

The sight of blood silences everyone.

Wei Wuxian doesn't falter. It would seem everyone has forgotten just how ruthless the Yiling Laozu can really be when provoked. Wuxian presses Jiang Wanyin like the Sect Leader had pressed Lan Zhenxing. He becomes a swift, merciless, overwhelming force that has Jiang Wanyin scrambling backwards to avoid the more deadly strikes.

All the while, Wei Wuxian is calm, his lips quirked and clothes unruffled. He spins in a flurry of rich black silks and brings Suibian down with such force, Jiang Wanyin loses control of Sandu.

The sword clatters to the ground and Jiang Wanyin looks up at Wei Wuxian with fury and embarrassment.

"My son is weak, huh?"

One must wonder, Xichen thinks absently, how a man with every advantage in his corner manages to squander his potential so completely.

Jiang Wanyin is of noble birth, handsome in appearance, and posses a golden core that had immense potential.

And yet.

Xichen shakes his head as other cultivators nod in approval of Wei Wuxian, murmuring among themselves.

Apparently, no earthly advantages can overcome the faults of one's character.

"The good and righteous are always strong," His uncle says with grim satisfaction and Xichen looks at him in surprise, "Even if their bodies are weak." He thinks back on the young Wei-gongzi, back from the dead in a weak body. "The wicked and resentful are always weak." Lan Qiren starts walking away, following Wei Wuxian out of the training field, "Regardless of the power they hold."

Xichen looks back at Jiang Wanyin, who is stalking away with humiliation written on his face, ignoring the disapproving frowns aimed at his back.

What a pity.

#short prompts #wei wuixan #lan xichen #anti jiang cheng #post canon

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stiltonbasket · 3 years

Note

Wait wait so when WWX came back to life in the soulmate au he thought LWJ was dead???

Yep, he did. Wangxian actually moved in together shortly after the Yiling Date, and Lan Wangji went to LXC and stated that he was going to marry WWX and wouldn’t let this chance at love slip by when he’d already lost his soulmate. As a result, Gusu Lan sponsored everything the Wens needed to survive and thrive in the Burial Mounds, so Wangxian had a very happy year together in Yiling and formally adopted A-Yuan by the time Jin Ling was born.

When JZX agreed to invite Wei Wuxian to the full moon celebration, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji set out together with Wen Ning, and LXC caught up with them on the way because he hadn’t seen his little bro in more than a month. Jin Zixun wasn’t expecting to see the twin Jades with WWX on Qiongqi Dao, and then one of his men shot LXC instead of Wei Wuxian--and JGY’s whole plan was for no one to make it out alive except for WWX and make it very clear that JZX dying was WWX’s fault, so Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji showing up really complicated things. In the end, Su She played the Song of Turmoil and got Wen Ning to take the Lan bros out with severe but non-fatal wounds in the hope that the Lan and Nie sects would join the revenge mob too.

This, however, did not address the issue of the Jin arrowhead that was extracted from Lan Xichen’s body when a healer finally got to him, because NMJ took one glance at it and went feral. He ordered his own clan to ignore anything from Jin Guangshan and then went all “Look Lans, Baxia is thorsty rn so if any of you take one step out of the Cloud Recesses to do the bidding of someone who might have just ordered a hit on your sect leader, you will be introduced to my saber. Just try me, I DARE y’all.”

The Lan sect as a whole was very confused, very worried about Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji, and not about to cross the man who chopped Wen Xu into literal pieces because he put LXC in danger, so they just sat tight and waited for news until a doctor announced that LXC and LWJ would both make it. Eventually, only the Jins and the Jiang clan ended up at the Nightless City, and Wei Wuxian immediately decided that the only reason anyone would miss out on the chance to kill him was because they were mourning the Twin Jades, so he just...didn’t even try to survive, thinking that he’d killed the love of his life.

And then JYL arrived, and things went south, pretty fast.

But skipping ahead to sixteen years later:

Lan Jingyi, 14 years old: on god Sizhui-ge we gotta get Shufu here this is nuts

Lan Sizhui: I’ll call for Hanguang-jun! ^^

The local madman: Lan Zhan’s alive???? *immediately bursts into tears*

Jingyi had a very puzzling day. Thankfully, fried chicken always makes things better...

#asks #wangxian #the untamed #mo dao zu shi #soulmate au

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franniebanana · 3 years

Text

CQL Rewatch - Ep 19

Wow, Wei Wuxian looks so rough here. He’s spent some time under the knife (with no anesthetic), and then after that, he has just been waiting around for Jiang Cheng. It’s been seven days since Jiang Cheng went up that mountain. And of course Wei Wuxian is worried about him. What if something happened on his way down the mountain? What if he’d been captured or killed by the Wens? All the while, he’s basically defenseless here in Yiling (iirc). He’s sweating profusely, clutching at his middle—it’s possible he’s even suffering from an infection due to the transfer surgery. Seriously, the poor guy!

I love the visuals here: all these cloaked figures just filling this tea house, and not another soul in there other than the waiters. It’s both comical and heartbreaking the way that Wei Wuxian tries to immediately nope out of there, because he knows it’s a trap right away. Even with his Golden Core, I don’t know if he could have escaped them all—there were too many Wens, including the Core-Melting Hand. This part always really gets to me, because it truly is the first death of Wei Wuxian. It’s the death of who he once was: that smart, quirky, rascal of a youth, who made a very honest oath that essentially guided him to this point.

No joke, the first time I watched this, I was like, “Is that Lotus Pier? How tf did he get there?! How much did they change the story?!” And then a few seconds later, I realized this was a super sad dream/vision that Jiang Cheng was having and I channeled all my anger into sadness. This part is also super depressing. He has this vision of this happy family: his mother laughing, his father kissing his hand, just the picture of love. But it’s so far from what he had growing up, and you just realize that his greatest desire was really to have that happy family. But his parents are dead, he’s lost just about everyone at Lotus Pier—it’s so heartbreaking.

God, he just looks so broken! I’m sad now.

So even though I know the cost of Jiang Cheng’s happiness is Wei Wuxian giving up his own Golden Core, I still feel so happy here, seeing Jiang Cheng feeling like himself again. It’s because Wei Wuxian knows Jiang Cheng’s heart truly that he could offer up his own future so that Jiang Cheng could have a better one. I also just love this shot of Jiang Cheng kowtowing to the Immortal One, thanking her for healing him, and the camera pans past him, showcasing the beautiful scenery again. And then he walks down the mountain path with such a spring in his step! I love it!

I love that Wei Wuxian is still able to use his mind and play to their weaknesses. Wang Lingjao is extremely superstitious and fearful of the supernatural, and just the idea that he could haunt them scares the shit out of her. It’s just very cool to me that with all the abuse he endures, he still maintains a clear head and is able to fight back with his wit. This is yet another reason why I get annoyed when I see Wei Wuxian characterized as an idiot or someone who isn’t very smart. He proves his wit in just about every scene, so I don’t know why he gets this reputation in fanon. I feel like it’s derived from some overused yaoi/shojo trope where the “girl” has to be less smart than the “guy.” I don’t know how many things I’ve watched and read with a scatterbrained (but not charming) female lead—it’s overused.

This is so cool, because Wei Wuxian is scared out of his mind—he’s terrified of being left to die in the Burial Mounds. He’s heard all the stories: people don’t return, their souls get torn apart, etc. But what is cool is that he turns everything around and makes this place his source of power. He’s the man who conquered the Burial Mounds. It’s very satisfying to see that. FYI, I’m not going to talk about how he falls for like 20 minutes.

But I do think it’s really cool how the dark spirits catch him (and that’s all I’ll say).

This part still gives me major chills: you hear so many people calling out Wei Wuxian’s name, and then a “Wei Ying” breaks through. My breath always catches in my throat the first time I hear it. And then you hear it again, and the other voices have faded away before you hear it a third time. And that all feels nice until the screaming starts, which is hard to listen to, let alone hard to watch Wei Wuxian go through the mental turmoil.

Lan Wangji is back, bitches! He’s got a new title, a new headdress, and he’s hotter than ever. Jokes aside, though, this entrance is beyond epic. Other than that tiny glimpse of him in the last episode, it’s been ages since we’ve seen him, and it’s so satisfying that we get this great entrance, walking up this enormous staircase. Obviously by this point, I’m ecstatic to see him (it’s been way too long). Everything about this scene is great, from his entrance, to the way he uses his guqin as a spiritual tool, to the way he and Jiang Cheng are now a team. I don’t think there’s an awful lot of comradery there, but they have a common goal: find Wei Wuxian.

So we’re not really used to seeing a ton of emotion from Lan Wangji. Even when he’s annoyed, he doesn’t tend to show it. But, man, he is pissed here. Because of the magic of fiction, he’s probably heard the Wens’ conversation as he was walking up the stairs, so he heard them mocking Wei Wuxian (and the Yunmeng Jiang Sect), and he is not happy about it. He even uses the Chord Assassination Technique right off the bat against at least two of the Wen soldiers. Lan Wangji means business, and he’s not leaving until he gets what he wants.

The other great thing is that he doesn’t even need to come up all the way. He defeats them at a distance, while he’s still on the stairs. And the power and respect he commands is so great that they all know him by his face.

What Wen Chao does here is so relatable. His girlfriend is freaking out, having nightmares, convinced Wei Wuxian is going to turn into a ferocious ghost and haunt them until they lose their minds, and he, of course, rationalizes: they’ve sent so many people to the Burial Mounds and none of them have ever come back. In other words, “You’re being ridiculous.” But when he turns away from her, you can see the fear in his own eyes. When something spooky happens, my first step is always to rationalize—there’s a logical explanation for most things, right? And it always makes you feel better to rationalize it to someone else, but when you’re alone and thinking, your mind starts to wonder, your imagination starts to go wild. It’s easy to psyche yourself up in the dark and quiet of the night.

There’s this really gorgeous cello version of “Wuji” playing during this scene—it’s so beautiful, so moving, hitting me right in the feels. The look on Lan Wangji’s face when Jiang Cheng is telling him about how he and Wei Wuxian were supposed to meet in Yiling, how he thought Wei Wuxian had abandoned him to meet up with Lan Wangji in Lanling—he looks so defeated there. Defeated despite taking down the Qishan Indoctrination Bureau. Defeated because he hasn’t found who he’s been searching for. And then he holds Suibian so tenderly and lovingly—I’m emotional, okay?

It’s really cute and heartwarming to see Jin Zixuan starting to fall for Jiang Yanli. We’ve known for quite some time how Yanli feels for him, so it’s quite satisfying to see his walls come down as he starts to care more and more about her. He becomes protective of her. When she gasps at the hanging head at the gates of Qinghe, his instinct is to hold her—of course, he stops himself, but it’s very obvious that he wants to comfort her physically (and not in a dirty way, get your minds out of the gutter).

I love the dichotomy here: on one end, you have Jin Zixuan asking Lan Wangji where Wei Wuxian is, while you have Jiang Yanli echoing that on the other end with Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng can’t answer—he’s crying, trembling, emotionally responding to his sister without speaking. And Lan Wangji can’t speak either. His lips part, but no words come out. Again, you get this great sense of defeat from him—he’s completely at a loss, but he can’t or chooses not to show those emotions.

It’s also interesting how they kind of clipped the reunion between the Yunmeng Jiang siblings in favor of showing the conversation between Jin Zixuan and Lan Wangji. In my opinion, it’s to remind us of the reunion that isn’t happening right now—the one that should have been—the one between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. And why isn’t it happening? The conversation reminds us that he’s still missing. I don’t doubt the importance of the Yunmeng Jiang siblings in this story—they are obviously instrumental to the plot and to Wei Wuxian—but it’s choices like this where the writers/scene directors remind us that the relationship to focus on is the one between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji, and not Jiang Cheng, holds onto Suibian, the only remaining item that is most spiritually connected to Wei Wuxian. Isn’t that interesting?

“A-Cheng, you’ve grown up. As your sister, there’s nothing I can do but worry about you.” Such a wise line—such a sad line. This really brings out how powerless she feels in the lives of her brothers. She’s a bystander, she has no influence. All she can do is watch and worry, and nothing either of them says or does will change that. It’s something we as parents and caretakers and guardians at some point have to admit: we can’t control our children’s lives, we can’t control those we take care of. Once they reach a point in their lives, it’s them who has to make their own decisions. They must thrive on their own, they must fail on their own. And all we can do is watch and worry and hope for the best. God, Yanli breaks my heart.

Me in bed when I watch a scary movie any time of the day.

She does crazy so well, though.

Other episodes: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |

#cql #the untamed #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wangxian #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #jin zixuan #wen chao #wang lingjiao #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #cql rewatch #ep19

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aurora077 · 3 years

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Intervention

Summary: Lan Xichen’s seclusion had gone on long enough, in Jiang Cheng’s opinion. It was time for an intervention. Fem!JC

Author's Note: This work is set in jiucengta ‘s haunting legacies au (https://archiveofourown.org/series/1716682)which I suggest you check out. Jiang Cheng is female and was married to Wei Wuxian before shit hit the fan. The relationships are not explicitly stated here, it's very background. I just had this idea and wanted to get it out there. I may or may not do another fic very similar to this one but not set in an AU, just post-canon instead.

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Two years had gone by since the fateful Guanyin Temple incident that rocked the cultivation world. Two years (a little more really) since Jiang Cheng’s erstwhile husband had returned from the dead. Two years (a little less actually but who’s counting) since she lost her widowed status and gained an extra love to boot somewhere in the middle. And two years since Sect Leader Lan had gone into seclusion, punishing himself for his blindness and mourning the loss of both his sworn brothers.

Normally Jiang Cheng would not stick her nose in other sects’ business. But Gusu Lan had become more than just another sect to her; it was important to those she loved and so, it was also important to her. And even if things hadn’t turned out the way they did in her personal life, Lan Xichen is someone she would have wanted to help anyway. During the thirteen years her husband had been dead he had been one of the few to show any open support for her.

She would never forget that fateful discussion conference-- the one where she’d been dubbed Wife of the Yiling Demon after she rebuffed Jin Guangshan’s attempt to pressure her into marriage (brokered by him no less-- undoubtedly trying to get her to wed one of his own relatives...control over the Jiang could only work in his favour). Loudmouthed Sect Leader Yao would have turned things even uglier for her had it not been for Lan Xichen’s timely intervention on her behalf. His steady support had helped her in more ways than one over the years despite the fact that they were not ever particularly close. With Gusu Lan seemingly in her corner, the voices that would (and initially, did) loudly decry a young female Sect Leader were forced to whisper instead.

That was why she found herself sitting opposite the man, sipping on a cup of tea as he gazed inquisitively at her.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he greeted, sounding weary, voice containing only a trace of his former warmth, “What brings you here? As you know I am still in seclusion, technically, I should not be having visitors. Is there something urgent that you need my help with?”

“Yes,” she said, and continued bluntly as was her way, “I’m here to convince you to leave it.”

His eyes widened slightly. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

It spoke to the measure of self control the Lan’s had that he didn’t simply kick her out of the hanshi.

“I beg your pardon but I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

She cleared her throat and tried to measure her words more carefully; she didn’t want to be asked to leave before she had made her arguments and she tried to remember that this Lan Xichen had been hurt too deeply to retain his former magnanimity.

“You may not know it Lan Xichen, but outside these walls you are sorely missed.”

His lips twitched, as if he wanted to smile but couldn’t quite make it.

“I’m aware my family may miss me, Sect Leader Jiang, but I had no idea that you harbored such strong feelings towards me that you now miss my presence.”

She sputtered slightly, not expecting him to joke about it when he looked like he could keel over if she spoke too loudly. “I…” her face turned red, “That wasn’t what…”

Taking pity on her he waved her protests away, voice becoming more solemn, “Why don’t you tell me why you think I should leave my seclusion. You of all people should understand why I need to do this. It was your family hurt the most by my ignorance.”

She drew in a breath to steady herself, “Did you hold me responsible when Wei Wuxian did all the crap that he did?”

“That’s different, he was manipulated,” he frowned.

“Nobody knew that until recently Zewu-Jun. And manipulation or not he still made choices that led to a lot of harm. So I ask you again, was I to blame? Should I not have been able to stop my husband? Is it not, therefore also my fault? Maybe I should join you in seclusion since his demonic cultivation was partly because he gave me his core and had no options left.”

He looked pained, “I have never blamed you for his choices. You couldn’t help what you didn’t know. None of us knew he didn’t have a core.”

“And none of us knew Jin Guangyao was a megalomaniac either. So how can you be blamed for his choices? If you are to shoulder the blame then so should all the rest of us.”

“The rest of you weren’t his sworn brothers!” he almost shouted.

“Mingjue knew. He warned me not to trust him so many times. I dismissed him. I thought he was paranoid and misjudging A-Yao like so many others. If he could see it, why didn’t I? I wronged Da-ge in the worst way because I thought I knew better than him,” His breathing was coming out ragged, “I thought A-Yao was the one who knew me best. Who I knew best.”

It spoke to his state of mind that he even let all of that out in front of her.

“Sect Leader Jiang, the man I considered my closest companion is the man most hated by the cultivation world and reviled as a monster. How do you think I must look in comparison? I am sure there are those out there wondering if I had known and if I even helped him with all of his plans. There are people who will speculate as to the bounds of our relationship. If I did not go into seclusion they would say I had no shame, look what his sworn brother did and he’s out and about like normal. Then there are those who look at my decision to seclude myself as an indicator of guilt and may accuse me of complicity. Or they will look at my mourning and see someone who mourns a monster and who does that? Why mourn a monster? Sect Leader Yao even openly criticised your young nephew for crying at the coffin of his uncle who also helped raise him. A parentless child who saw one of his only remaining close family members die brutally after being exposed as a serious criminal, who even threatened him with bodily harm, could not grieve him without censure. What of a grown man, and a Sect Leader at that!”

“With all due respect, so what?”

“E..excuse me?” Lan Xichen was torn between being confused and insulted.

“You heard me. So. What?” she started, “So what if they think these things? Does that make it true? If Sect Leader Yao thinks that you’re an incestuous troll would that make it true? If Sect Leader Ouyang says ‘hey did you know that Sect Leader Lan likes to visit brothels in secret’ would that make it true? Just because people think something does not make it a reality. Your sect certainly does not believe you are responsible for the actions of Jin Guangyao and would stand by you if anyone insinuates otherwise. You have your brother and your uncle who love you and are worried about you. Your sect has thrived under your leadership and undoubtedly they all miss you too.”

That Lan Jingyi kid couldn’t shut up about how much he missed Zewu-Jun. And she knew Lan Zhan missed his brother and lamented that he could not do more for him. He and Lan Qiren were working themselves ragged trying to pick up the pieces. He’d hardly had time to come back to Lotus Pier and she and Wei Ying missed him dearly. They’d had to make up so many ‘official’ reasons to find themselves in the Cloud Recesses so that they could spend some time together. So yes on the one hand it would be good for them if Zewu-Jun were to leave seclusion but she wasn’t simply doing it for that reason. It was because if anyone could understand what Zewu-Jun was going through, it would be her. And she didn’t think that seclusion was going to help anything. All it would do is make him ruminate on his mistakes over and over again until he likely went mad himself.

“You said that the man you considered your closest companion turned out to be a monster. Gee, I wonder what that feels like? You said that people will wonder if you helped him with his plans, oh gee, I wonder what that feels like?” Zewu-Jun had the grace to look abashed at that.

She continued, softer, “You said people will talk about what kind of person mourns a monster. But you’re not mourning a monster, are you? When A-Ling cried over his coffin, did you blame him for it? Did you think ‘why is this child mourning when he should celebrate the end of the one who fractured his family?’ like Sect Leader Yao did?” Zewu-Jun shook his head but didn’t say anything, letting her continue.

“A-Ling was mourning the loss of the uncle he knew. And you are mourning the loss of the companion he had been to you. The world will only ever view him as a monster because the world never knew him. But you did. Maybe you didn’t know everything about him, but not everything about him was fake. I hate Jin Guangyao, I will not pretend otherwise. But I was there, Zewu-Jun. I was there, and I could see that he truly did care for you and value you. Not everything he showed you would have been fake. You of all people probably got more sincerity out of him than anyone else. And so you, of all people, have a right to mourn the man he was, the same way A-Ling still mourns the loss of the man who gifted a lonely child a dog. Not everything had an ulterior motive. Even monsters can love can’t they? Even monsters had people who loved them. I would know. So if you need to mourn him… then just mourn him.

Who gives a damn what people will say about it? People will always talk, Zewu-Jun. It doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do, people will believe what they want to believe. So why let their opinions force you into repenting for something you didn’t even do? Let them think what they want to think. It is not a crime to be deceived. We all were. Why take the world on your shoulders when you don’t actually have to? And again, with all due respect Sect Leader Lan, if I, a family-less, alliance-less woman whose husband was the most reviled personage in the jianghu, who suffered the scorn of the cultivation world for over a decade, could raise my nephew on my own and build my sect back from literal ashes into one of the strongest and most respected once again, then you, who have a strong sect and people who love you, who believe in you and will support you no matter what… you can manage to live too.”

“Sect Leader Jiang…” Zewu-Jun was at a loss for words. What could he say? It only sounded selfish and petty to claim that he suffered more than she did, because he truly didn’t. She was right after all. Sect Leader Jiang was a remarkable woman. Life had not been kind to her. And...her words struck something within him. He felt ashamed. He hadn’t even thought about what it was like for her before this. He’d never offered her any support, but here she was trying to get him to live his life again without guilt. She, whose family most assuredly suffered because of his inaction, was here telling him to let it go, to not take responsibility. But how could he do that so easily?

“How did you do it? Sect Leader Jiang...” his voice cracked, “Can you ever forgive me, for the harm that my inaction caused you and your family?” Maybe if he heard it from her, maybe he could begin to forgive himself.

She sighed. “On my part, there is nothing to forgive Zewu-Jun. And so I can’t grant you forgiveness because you haven’t done me any wrong. But there are a few people who do deserve an apology from you. And your seclusion is a self-imposed punishment that you feel you deserve but at the end of the day, it does not actually do anything tangible when it comes to making amends to those who have been hurt.”

He was silent for a moment, stunned by her words. He hadn’t considered that his seclusion might have been causing others even more harm than he’d already done to them. Sect Leader Jiang was wise (she would disagree...she’d just learned from bitter experience in her opinion). He felt like he’d done her a great disservice all of these years, by not making an effort to reach out to her.

“Please, tell me. I.. I confess I no longer trust my judgement. I thought I knew A-Yao. I thought I was a good judge of character. I no longer know how to tell what is up from down. All I know is that I was so, so wrong about A-Yao. If you say that I have not harmed you then I am glad. I would hate to be the cause of more pain. You said that I am not responsible for A-Yao’s actions, and though it isn’t easy to believe that just yet, if there are those who I have truly wronged then please...please tell me. I still don’t know if I am ready to leave seclusion, if I even know how to, but I need to atone for my actions.”

Jiang Cheng nodded, “That’s the right attitude at least. So to start with I’d say you need to have a chat with Huaisang.”

His eyes widened, “I… I don’t know if that’s such a good idea, Sect Leader Jiang.” His face darkened slightly. He wasn’t pleased with Huaisang at the moment. It felt like he never even knew him.

“And why not? Out of everyone, it’s Huaisang that you unintentionally hurt. And I don’t mean because of not listening to Nie Mingjue. His death was not your fault.” He was about to protest but she cut him off. “It wasn’t. I told you, stop taking responsibility for what isn’t your fault and own up to what is.”

He sighed heavily, “If it’s not about Da-ge then how did I wrong Huaisang?”

“Well for one, you’re still his Er-ge. Yet you seem to have forgotten that in lieu of what happened in the temple. Huaisang… has lost everyone. He may have been acting like a shady shit for the past however many years but… do you know what it’s like to be the last one of your family, Zewu-Jun? To have nobody beside you except subordinates?” He inhaled sharply. “I.. I hadn’t thought of that,” he said mournfully. How much did he just not consider? What kind of a person was he that he resented Huaisang for his deceit but yet did not consider for one moment that Huaisang may have done those things because he thought he was all alone and could not come to him for help? What kind of brother was he that his little brother could not confide in him? He should have been there for Huaisang, instead he had thought so highly of Jin Guangyao, even dismissing da-ge’s claims, that Huaisang had not dared to approach him with his suspicions.

Sect Leader Jiang was being very understanding however, “Zewu-Jun, I know you’re not pleased with Huaisang. I know there are many things that he’s done that are not right. I know there’s a possibility that he lied and forced your hand at the end. Believe me, I know the feeling...more than anyone, I know what it feels like to be deceived by someone you love...to kill someone you love. I know what it feels like when everyone praises you for it. Like you did such a great thing and you should be happy and celebrating with everyone else, except you can’t because your heart has shattered…has been ripped to shreds.

As someone who once loved a so-called monster...as someone who as good as killed that person with their own hands, I understand better than anyone what you’re going through. What Huaisang did was cruel, even though I’m glad Jin Guangyao is dead. It was cruel to have you be the one to end him. Huaisang likely knew that Jin Guangyao valued you. He knew it would be the worst end for him to be killed by your hand. I can’t speak for Huaisang, but I don’t believe he did it to hurt you, even though that’s inevitably what happened anyway. He did it to hurt Jin Guangyao. But even though it was not kind of him to have you be the arbiter of justice, he still deserves to have his Er-ge in his life.

She paused remembering the pain of losing her husband and sister all in one night.

She didn't have to imagine how Huaisang would have felt at losing the last member of his family at the hands of someone he cared about.“You and I aren’t the only ones who were deceived by someone we loved. Huaisang loved Jin Guangyao too, didn’t he? He loved and trusted him. When Nie Mingjue was getting worse, didn’t Huaisang trust and rely on both you and Jin Guangyao? It wasn’t a front. You were both dear to him. He loved him. He loved him and was betrayed by him in the worst way. And then yes, he orchestrated a whole convoluted plan to have him exposed and killed.

But you and I can both attest that justice, and even revenge, doesn’t stop the pain does it? Huaisang avenged his brother, but he lost another in the process, the same way you did. Don’t let him lose you too. You said you wronged Nie Mingjue by not listening to him. I think you’d wrong him even more if you left his little brother alone, without anyone to call family. You don’t have to forgive Huaisang right away, or at all if you don’t want to, but eventually you should at least try and reconcile with him. You’re his big brother... the only one left. And you know, Huaisang would have had the realisation that he was fooled by Jin Guangyao all on his own. But you don’t have to be alone.

Huaisang and you share the experience of being blinded by him. It would be much easier to talk to someone who has gone through the same things, no? Huaisang is there. And I am here. You don’t have to endure this on your own. We may not be very close Zewu-Jun, but we can understand each other, not so? So I’m here if you need someone to confide in. And Huaisang...Huaisang must be waiting too. For his Er-ge. You both owe each other apologies.”

By the time she was done speaking there were tears rolling down his face. She didn’t think it was quite appropriate given their positions, (though she was sort of his secret sister-in-law so really, he counted as family) but she moved over to his side and embraced him. If he was surprised he didn’t show it, only moving to cling to her more tightly and sob with a ferocity that had her a bit surprised. She wondered if this was the first time since the temple that he’d allowed himself to fully grieve what he had lost, without the guilt of letting his sworn brother die, killing the other one, and feeling bad for mourning for someone who he should hate.

Everyone praised him for killing Jin Guangyao however, it was something he didn’t want to be praised for. But what could he say? That he hated the fact that he killed him? He was right about one thing, if he ever said something like that people would most assuredly say he was complicit and probably want to implicate him. Jiang Cheng of all people knew how hard it was to listen to people praising you for a deed you were not proud of. And so she was the only person who would understand. The only person who would, who could, acknowledge the hurt it would have caused him to do what he did, especially if he was tricked into it.

His feelings about Huaisang would be complicated, but it wasn’t too late to reconcile as long as they were both alive.

She rubbed his back consolingly and just let him cry. It must have been no more than 15 minutes, but it felt much longer, before his tears slowed. When his sobs petered out he tried to compose himself. She let go of him and he embarrassedly turned away, sipping his tea. He cleared his throat, “I’m sorry Sect Leader Jiang, that was unbecoming of me.”

“Don’t mention it,” she waved off. She was there to help after all.

“I will give your words due consideration. It was remiss of me to forget that I was not the only one affected by A-Yao’s schemes. I truly regret not thinking of how Huaisang would have felt when he first found out. You are right. I have done my little brother a disservice,” he said, voice croaky from his bout of sobbing.

“You said that there were people I needed to apologise to. Who else have I wronged?” he continued. His respect and admiration for Sect Leader Jiang had grown exponentially since the start of this visit. He would take her words under advisement if he could.

“Oh Zewu-Jun,” she sighed, “What you’re doing with this seclusion, doesn’t it remind you of someone? Because it sure reminds your uncle.”

Zewu-Jun looked as if she had slapped him.

“Nobody would begrudge you needing time to grieve and to come to terms with what happened, it is human nature. It’s understandable. We were all blindsided. And I understand the wish to seclude yourself because I wish I could have as well, though I didn’t have the luxury,” she said, not unkindly but it made him wince anyway, “But it’s been too long. A few months would be okay, though grief will last longer than that, but more than that is just being unfair to others. You are the Sect Leader. Your uncle has already had to watch his brother shirk his duties and seclude himself from the world for the rest of his life.

Your uncle has had to pick up the slack. He raised you and your brother like a father would, while taking care of sect matters. None of those things were his responsibility yet he did it. And now… now he has to go through it all over again. Master Lan is elderly though and he cannot keep up with all of the duties required of an elder, teacher and now Sect Leader once more. And so that leads me to the last person that you have wronged.

Lan Zhan is Chief Cultivator now, did you know? His duties are myriad and yet he has to come back here and help Master Lan run the sect. It pains Master Lan to see history repeating itself. A younger brother once again has to take the reins from his older brother and he does it without complaint, because he loves you. But it is unfair to A-Zhan. He can’t live his own life because he’s too busy living yours. He’s barely managing to keep up with both sets of duties, but he’s doing it for you. It has been two years, Zewu-Jun. He worries so much about you, as does your uncle. It pains them to see you this way. And so Sect Leader Lan,” she pointedly used his rank, “I beg of you to consider leaving your seclusion. You have people who love you waiting for you. Your family needs you.”

His eyes were glittering once more, but no tears were shed this time. He swallowed thickly. The past few months it had seemed as if he was living in a fog. He’d barely managed to keep his routine up, it was only through decades of strict routine that he’d gotten himself off the bed and eaten his food and meditated everyday on his shortcomings. But it seemed that while he was doing that he’d missed quite a few. Because she was right wasn’t she? He hid himself away like a coward and didn’t even think about how it would affect Wangji and Uncle. He hadn’t even considered how hurt his uncle would feel to see him go down the same route as his father.

Her words were like a splash of cold water. It seemed to wake him up; it got him out of the daze he was in. If this woman before him could raise a child and a sect from the ashes all alone after going through more tragedy than a hundred people in one lifetime would...he could get himself in gear and do what he had to do. He felt ashamed in front of her. She was right that she didn’t have the luxury to seclude herself. But he did. He did, and he took advantage of the support system that he had to take time for himself. More time than he should have.

She said it was understandable, and maybe it was, but she was also right that it should not have been going on for this long. He had no desire to be Qingheng-Jun the second. But if she hadn’t come here today… if she hadn’t said all that she had said… He would not have even thought of those things. He was too busy thinking of himself. It was likely that he would have stayed for years in his seclusion, just ruminating on what went wrong and what he could have changed. It was all too easy to get caught up in could-have-beens.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” he said, devastated at the thought of his uncle, the man who raised him when he didn’t have to, who did his best to prevent them from turning out like their father, thinking that he had failed when it was Lan Xichen who failed, “I’ve heard you loud and clear. But…”

“But?”

“But I don’t know if I even know how to go about being Sect Leader anymore. I feel like the decisions I make would be questionable now. How can I trust that I will do what’s best for the sect? I have already failed in so many ways. Now I have failed Wangji and Uncle too.”

“What did I tell you? You’re not alone Zewu-Jun. You don’t have to leave seclusion immediately. You don’t even have to start doing everything right away. Ease back into it. Your family will be there to help you. I’m offering to help you. If you need to talk about things that you can’t with them, you can write to me. Master Qiren should not have to be taking on these responsibilities any longer and A-Zhan needs to have time to breathe...his own position is challenging enough. Besides you haven’t failed, you’ve just had some setbacks is all. Failure would be wallowing in self-pity forever and leaving everyone else to do your duties indefinitely,” she looked at him pointedly. He got the hint.

“Okay Sect Leader Jiang. I shall take you up on that then. But I do have a question if you’ll indulge me,” he said.

“Shoot.”

“I mean no offense at all, in fact I’m actually extremely grateful for your concern, but I am curious….why do you even care? You didn’t have to do any of this. I’m well aware that you have your own duties and worries. Why bother about mine?”

She smiled for the first time since she walked into the Hanshi. He was struck by it. It had been a long time since he’d seen her smile... truly smile. In fact, the last time he’d seen a smile as bright as that on her face was probably right here in the Cloud Recesses when she was a student.

“You may not remember it, Zewu-Jun, but there was a time Jin Guangshan sought to marry me off. It was your words of support for me, against that awful Sect Leader Yao, that saved my skin, though they still called me Wife of the Yiling Demon after that. But at least I was only his wife. I will be eternally grateful to you for that. It was thanks to your words that nobody else tried to make me marry. I was able to focus on my sect in relative peace. It was a kindness that I have never been able to repay until now, though you shouldn’t think that it is only because of repayment.”

She got up and dusted off her clothes perfunctorily.

“I shall take my leave now, Zewu-Jun.”

“Please, call me Xichen,” he said, thinking that after all of the things that were said that day, she might as well.

“Well then, Xichen you may call me Wanyin. Thank you for hearing me out and please forgive me for barging in unexpectedly. I have intruded upon your hospitality long enough.”

“It is no matter,” he said, and for the first time in a long while he was able to manage a weak smile, “I was honored by your company. If you did not give me so much to think about, I would offer you some more tea.”

She laughed, “Thank you Xichen, but I will be missed soon anyway. I do not need to cause an uproar in Cloud Recesses if they can’t find a Sect Leader. Plus the scandal that would happen if someone other than A-Zhan or A-Yuan finds me in here will not be pleasant.”

“A-Zhan?” he raised an eyebrow, “Is there something I should know about, Wanyin?”

She snorted and threw him a cheeky smirk, “If you want to find out you’ll have to come to Lotus Pier.” And with that she saw herself out, leaving nothing but the scent of lotuses behind her.

Huh. Well then. How curious. He’d thought that Wangji had gone off with Wei Wuxian, who he’d been in love with since he met him. How did Sect Leader Jiang factor into this? As far as he knew they didn’t even particularly like each other. It seemed like he missed quite a lot while he was in seclusion. Was his little brother in a love triangle? It would explain why Wanyin said that he shouldn’t only think of her visit as repayment to him. It wasn’t the purest motivation but huh maybe he would leave seclusion after all. His brother might need support in more ways than one. Sect Leader Lan leaving seclusion because he was too invested in his brother’s love life was a hilarious thought, and for the first time in two years, he chuckled mirthfully to himself. Maybe he would be okay after all.

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merakilyy · 4 years

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Inconceivable

By no means does Lan Qiren like Wei Wuxian. Of course not. But yelling at Wei Wuxian is a pastime for him to enjoy alone and it is a grievous insult for Sect Leader Yao to take that joy away from him.

Aka: how Lan Qiren, of all people, ended up defending Wei Wuxian in front of everyone.

Tags: Wangxian, post-canon, canon compliant, fluffy humour

(On AO3) Word count: about 3100

~~~

These days, Lan Qiren has mostly retired from the day to day business of running a sect. For all his nephews’ past errors in judgement, they have been raised well and are leading a thriving Gusu. With the future of the Sect secure, Lan Qiren now spends his days terrorizing the junior disciples, having meditative teas with the Gusu Lan elders, and avoiding Wei Wuxian at all costs.

It is a fine way to live.

Avoiding Wei Wuxian is not difficult. He is wherever the noise is. Minor explosions in the Jingshi have become commonplace as Wei Wuxian tests new talismans and invents new tools for night hunting and releasing resentful spirits.

Yet for all his faults, of which there are a great many, Lan Qiren finds it increasingly difficult to retain his burning hatred of Wei Wuxian when he is just so useful.

Beyond his capacity to churn out invention after invention, Wei Wuxian is an excellent instructor both in class and on nighthunts in the field. Lan Qiren has noticed how the junior disciples assigned to Wei Wuxian’s lectures are able to successfully perform more advanced maneuvers beyond their expected cultivation level. Their essays are of a higher level and clearly demonstrate a deeper understanding of theories of spiritual cultivation. Certainly, this advanced standard was expected of Lan Sizhui but Lan Qiren found this improvement in each of the junior disciples. Even Lan Jingyi had become a good student.

Wei Wuxian could even make Lan Jingyi sit still for longer than fifteen minutes.

Faced with such facts, even Lan Qiren has to set aside his burning dislike of Wei Wuxian and admit that Wei Wuxian is one of the most valuable members of the Gusu Lan Sect.

Also, Wei Wuxian makes Wangji the happiest Lan Qiren has ever seen him. And Lan Qiren has learned his lesson when it comes to questioning Wangji’s devotion.

So, as long as Wei Wuxian continues to make Wangji happy, Lan Qiren will continue to tolerate his existence. Only for Wangji, of course.

There are many days where Lan Qiren longs for the days before Wei Wuxian returned. He longs for the days when the aura of Cloud Recesses was serene and sedate. He misses the tranquility of the past. He has requested that Wangji at least limit Wei Wuxian’s experimentation to the back mountains where they will not disturb the others. But his younger nephew is ridiculously infatuated with Wei Wuxian and cannot deny the man anything so the noise remains.

It makes Lan Qiren’s blood boil but Wei Wuxian is just so incredibly useful.

Lan Qiren knows that Jiang Wanyin would like Wei Wuxian to return to Yunmeng, even if only for part of the year, and that Jin Rulan would like Wei Wuxian to join him in Lanling to help him clean up the mess left behind by Jin Guangyao but Wei Wuxian is a member of Gusu Lan now. He has officially married into Gusu Lan and even has his own forehead ribbon (that Wangji wears after their ribbons were exchanged as per Gusu marriage ritual) and Lan Qiren isn’t letting Wei Wuxian go anywhere. Because he is useful. No other reasons.

Definitely not because Wei Wuxian’s specific brand of chaos is growing on him.

Rarely does Lan Qiren attend discussion conferences now. Even if many cultivators still look up to him, his presence is no longer necessary. Cloud Recesses has produced many respectable cultivators who represent Gusu Lan with honour. Many of the cultivators from other Sects have also been taught by Lan Qiren; he does not need to present to instill fear into others.

Yet, as Cloud Recesses was hosting this year’s Roundtable Discussion, Lan Qiren found himself curious as to what changes had been made since the last discussion he participated in when Jin Guangyao was still the Chief Cultivator.

And, since Wei Wuxian had single handedly organized this entire conference, Lan Qiren may have been just the slightest bit curious as to how it would turn out.

Regardless of his reasoning, Lan Qiren was well within his rights to participate in the discussion despite the apprehensive look Wangji gave him when he requested a seat.

As Lan Qiren settles at his table, he watches his nephews as they welcome each Sect into Cloud Recesses’ main reception hall. His nephews are the embodiment of decorum and Lan Qiren feels a subtle pride at watching his nephews masterfully carry out their duties. Still, he pretends he doesn’t see how Wangji glares as they greet Sect Leader Jiang or how Xichen tenses when Sect Leader Nie arrives. The young Sect Leader Jin complains about having to leave his dog behind but a single look from Wangji silences the boy mid sentence. More amicably, Xichen gently reminds Sect Leader Jin that “pets are forbidden in Cloud Recesses.”

In the background, he sees Wei Wuxian running around with Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui quickly walking after him, making last minute adjustments and throwing purifying talismans around the room. Wei Wuxian floats around the room in his white Gusu Lan robes, Wangji’s original forehead ribbon tied snugly in his hair. Most of the time Wei Wuxian wears his plain black and red robes and Lan Qiren has learned to accept that. Begrudgingly. But, Wangji was adamant that Wei Wuxian attend intersect meetings as an official representative of Gusu Lan and therefore he must dress the part.

Wei Wuxian’s red hair ribbon is wrapped around Wangji’s wrist, under his sleeve, and Lan Qiren chooses to pretend he never sees the flashes of red silk when Wangji moves his arms.

Lan Qiren watches as Wei Wuxian pauses by a table and bends over to pick up the cup. Wei Wuxian frowns as if the cup has offended him and hands it to Lan Sizhui. Wei Wuxian says something Lan Qiren can’t hear but he sees Lan Sizhui nod once before taking the cup away. Sizhui returns shortly afterwards with a new cup which he passes to Wei Wuxian. After studying the cup and nodding approvingly, Wei Wuxian sets the cup back down on the table and continues fluttering around the room.

For all his bluster as a guest disciple, and as the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian had always been a hard worker.

(He pretends he doesn’t see Wei Wuxian leave a peony tied to a little note on Wangji’s desk at the front of the hall.)

The conference itself is largely uneventful. They proceed point by point through the agenda without any major hiccups until Sect Leader Jin pushes forward his proposal. What Sect Leader Jin wants is for each Sect to encourage their junior disciples to participate in night hunts in small border villages to vanquish low level spirits and minor monsters. This will bolster the training of the youth and give them more practical experience, Jin Rulan argues, as well as help impoverished communities who cannot afford a senior cultivator.

It is a good idea, Lan Qiren has to admit.

“Preposterous!” Sect Leader Yao interjects rather rudely. It is clear he views Jin Ling as a weakness to be exploited for the benefit of his own Sect, even though it should be equally clear that Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian would never allow that to happen. “This will only encourage more penniless children to train as cultivators.”

“So!?” Sect Leader Jin fires back. Lan Qiren’s brows furrow at Jin Rulan’s insolence. How unfortunate that Jin Rulan became Sect Leader before he could come to Cloud Recesses as a guest disciple. “Then we have more people who can release resentful spirits.”

“This child,” Sect Leader Yao shakes his finger at Sect Leader Jin, as if disciplining a misbehaving child. Jiang Wanyin’s ever-present frown deepens. The hand that brandishes Zidian is clenched in a fist though Jiang Wanyin says nothing. Despite his youth, Sect Leader Jin can hold his own. “He really has no manners! If only his parents survived to teach him better.”

Suddenly Lan Qiren is reminded why he no longer takes part in these conferences.

Beside him, Lan Qiren sees how Wei Wuxian’s previously respectable posture wilts. Instinctively, Lan Qiren wants to snap at Wei Wuxian to sit properly but he also notices how Wangji’s focus has shifted away from Sect Leader Yao and Sect Leader Jin. Instead, Wangji is watching Wei Wuxian, brow subtly furrowed with worry.

“Sect Leader Yao,” a high ranking member of Lanling Jin speaks out, “watch your words! Our Sect Leader has done you no insult!”

“You misunderstand,” Sect Leader Yao shakes his head disparagingly, as if it is tiresome to have to explain himself. “I do not blame young Jin Rulan for the unfortunate death of his late parents. If only Wei Wuxian had not killed Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli,” Sect Leader Yao pauses to sigh dramatically. Lan Qiren can feel the beginnings of a migraine. “I always said that Jiang Fengmian was too soft, that the son of a servant could never amount to anything worthwhile.”

Lan Qiren sees Wangji’s eyes harden almost imperceptibly. He sees how Wei Wuxian winces, how his entire body tenses. Behind them, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi share concerned glances.

To Lan Qiren’s surprise, it is Jiang Wanyin who speaks in defense of Wei Wuxian. “Sect Leader Yao, I will thank you not to disparage the name of my late father and martial brother. Yunmeng Jiang exists today only on account of Wei Wuxian’s extraordinary sacrifices. Despite his practices, Wei Wuxian walks a noble path and it has been established that Su Minshan was responsible for the incident at Qiongqi Path.”

Wei Wuxian looks as surprised as Lan Qiren feels. A cursory glance around the room shows that they aren’t alone in their shock.

Sect Leader Yao sneers. “As if someone who plays with wicked tricks and desecrates the dead could ever be righteous. Surely one who willfully performs such heinous acts cannot be compared to true virtuous cultivators as myself.”

“Sneering for no reason is forbidden.” Lan Qiren calmly recites the rule from the Wall of Discipline. Although Gusu Lan has always been lenient towards transgressions of their tenets by visiting sects during meetings, Lan Qiren is well within his rights to remind Sect Leader Yao that they are in Cloud Recesses, that he is disrespecting Gusu Lan’s practices, and that he is being discourteous to the Chief Cultivator’s spouse.

Lan Qiren continues listing the rules violated by Sect Leader Yao. “Do not praise yourself and slander others. Do not take advantage of your position to oppress others. Do not insult others. Do not make assumptions about others.” He pauses momentarily, well aware that the entire room is stunned. Even before he stepped back from intersect diplomacy, Lan Qiren had taken the standard Gusu Lan approach of playing the silent observer and mediating conflicts. Looking directly at Sect Leader Yao, Lan Qiren finishes with, “Be respectful of others.”

He is received with silence. Unbothered, Lan Qiren pours himself a cup of tea with the tea set he watched Wei Wuxian painstakingly set up and personally prepare earlier that morning. Taking a sip, he notes that Wei Wuxian has -- annoyingly -- chosen an excellent brew and has even thought to use a talisman to keep the tea shimmering at just the right temperature.

It is difficult to despise someone who is just so competent.

As Lan Qiren is pouring himself a second cup of tea, one of Sect Leader Yao’s underlings pipes up. “You defend an immoral adherent of the heretical path! Wei Wuxian is a scourge amongst us! He is no cultivator, only the son of a servant who has turned his back on righteousness!”

“Enough,” Lan Qiren says firmly. He is not loud, but his words reverberate around the room.

Everyone is openly staring at him now, even his nephews. Especially his nephews. Xichen looks like he is convinced Lan Qiren is going through a qi derivation. Wangji’s expression flickers between concern and incredulity as his eyes bounce between his husband and his uncle. Lan Qiren pointedly refuses to look beside him to see Wei Wuxian’s expression.

Even Lan Qiren has to admit that he is surprised at himself. Not for speaking out -- Gusu Lan has never condoned insulting one’s character over personal grievances. Even at the height of his hatred for Wei Wuxian, Lan Qiren could understand that Wei Wuxian made decisions that he deemed to be righteous even if his methods were reprehensible. But, Lan Qiren was surprised to find himself speaking out in defense of Wei Wuxian.

Hearing Lan Jingyi’s loud whispers to Lan Sizhui behind him, Lan Qiren makes a mental note to assign more handstands.

With everyone stunned speechless at the turn of events, Lan Qiren continues, “Wei Wuxian is an invaluable member of Gusu Lan. We cannot stand by and allow such a grievous insult to go unacknowledged.”

Lan Qiren takes another sip of his tea. Still excellent, still at the optimal temperature. How infuriating, that Wei Wuxian has become the only one to serve passable tea at these conferences.

Someone from Baling Ouyang whom Lan Qiren does not recognize looks like he wants to voice his disagreements. Lan Qiren simply allows his gaze to bore into the Baling cultivator until the man looks away, ashamed.

“An insult to the Chief Cultivator’s spouse is an affront to Gusu Lan,” Lan Qiren says with finality, slowly turning his head as he speaks to ensure everyone understands the weight behind his words. “We will not stand by and condone such disparagement.”

He ignores the wet sniffle that comes from Wei Wuxian.

Behind him, Lan Jingyi’s whispers grow even louder. Lan Qiren hears Lan SIzhui trying to shush Lan Jingyi in vain. More handstands, he thinks. Perhaps some lines.

Jiang Wanyin gives Wei Wuxian an accusatory glare, as if Wei Wuxian replaced the real Lan Qiren with a doppelganger and was holding the real Lan Qiren hostage in the back mountains.

Wangji simply looks down at the scrolls on his desk with a pleased smile gracing his lips.

No one is in any rush to fill in the silence that has overwhelmed the hall. Sect Leader Yao looks adequately chastened for his denigrating remarks toward Wei Wuxian. Lan Qiren suspects everyone else is too scared to speak now.

Good , he thinks. Silence begets reflection.

In the end, it is Xichen who redirects the discussion to the matter at hand. “I am in agreement with Sect Leader Jin,“ Xichen says. “We cannot ignore the likelihood that it is the very insular nature of our community that contributed to Jin Guangyao’s actions. I cannot and do not forgive him for murdering a sworn brother but his circumstances were always regrettable. We turned our back on him before he ever turned his back on us. With the increased need for cultivators, we may consider opening cultivational training to average families.”

Subtly, Xichen also adds, “We cannot condone personal attack for one’s parentage.”

The discussion continues without any further incidents and Lan Qiren does not speak again. After Xichen’s speech, he does spy Lan Sizhui passing a handkerchief to Wei Wuxian from the corner of his eye but Lan Qiren resolutely refuses to look at Wei Wuxian.

Once the day’s meeting comes to an end, Wei Wuxian jumps to his feet and bounds directly to Wangji. Outrageous, Lan Qiren thinks without any real heat.

Just as Lan Qiren rises to his own feet, Wei Wuxian bounces back to speak to him. Wangji follows closely behind, a pleased expression on his face. They come to a stop just before Lan Qiren and bow. After they rise, Lan Qiren notices Wangji’s hand resting tenderly, protectively, on Wei Wuxian’s waist.

“Old Man Lan, I didn’t know you cared!” Wei Wuxian chirps brightly. Instinctively, Lan Qiren can feel his blood pressure rising from such an informal address. But, he has long since realized that Wei Wuxian has mastered balancing on the line between propriety and impropriety to infuriate without causing genuine outrage.

“I do not.” Lan Qiren folds his arms in his sleeves, looking every bit the respectable Elder he is. “An insult to the Chief Cultivator’s spouse is an affront to Gusu Lan,” he repeats his words from earlier. “It is unacceptable.”

Wangji frowns. “Insults to Wei Ying are common.” Wangji looks content enough to have his husband back in his arms, but there is a dangerous glint in his eyes as though he is prepared to skewer every cultivator who looks at Wei Ying without the utmost respect with Bichen.

Glancing over at Wangji and Wei Wuxian, Lan Qiren thinks they are standing too close. It is improper to display such outward demonstrations of affection.

But Lan Qiren doesn’t say anything.

“I mean, it’s not entirely undeserved,” Wei Wuxian says softly to Wangji. Lan Qiren is almost disgusted by how much love they radiate simply by existing in the presence of the other.

Wangji’s frown deepens as his arm tightens around Wei Wuxian. He turns to look directly at Wei Wuxian’s face and Wei Wuxian looks up in return. Wei Wuxian’s hand comes to cover Wangji’s hand where it rests on his waist.

By the way Wei Wuxian and Wangji are wordlessly gazing at each other with minute changes in their expressions, Lan Qiren can tell they are having a completely separate conversation silently.

Lan Qiren clears his throat pointedly, reminding Wangji and Wei Wuxian of his presence. “Wei Ying has atoned,” Wangji says, verbalizing their conversation even though he is still looking at Wei Wuxian.

“It’s an occupational risk.” Wei Wuxian looks away from Wangji as his gaze drops. His smile is not sad, exactly, but it is very subdued and Lan Qiren realizes that he does not enjoy seeing such melancholy on Wei Wuxian’s face. (Only because that somber look is mirrored on Wangji’s face and Wei Wuxian’s sole purpose in Cloud Recesses to make Wangji happy. Definitely not because Lan Qiren cares about Wei Wuxian in any way, shape or form.)

Huffing impatiently, Lan Qiren waves a disapproving finger in Wei Wuxian’s face. “You are a member of Gusu Lan. Do not shame us by allowing your detractors to address you with such offense.”

“And you,” Lan Qiren continues, shifting his ire to Wangji, “do not leave your spouse to protect himself. I taught you myself that diplomacy requires the presentation of a united front.”

With one last unimpressed look at Wei Wuxian and Wangji, Lan Qiren swept his arms behind his back and strode out of the meeting hall.

As he walked away, Lan Qiren decided he was growing too soft in his old age.

He’d have to remedy that softness by assigning Lan Jingyi some lines to complete during his handstands.

~~~

Just so we are very clear, I do not condone Lan Qiren’s view that Wei Wuxian is /letting/ others walk all over him. But, I do think that is the most in character approach Lan Qiren would have towards encouraging Wei Wuxian given his affinity for the tough love approach.

#mdzs #wangxian #lan wangji #wei wuxian #the untamed #the untamed 陈情令 #cql #cql fic #mdzs fic #wangxian fic #lan qiren #My writing

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avauntus · 3 years

Text

2020 favs: (short) fic recs

I am stealing this idea from @macgyver-sheriff, who has no clue who I am, but whose post I saw go across my dash. Thank you! 👋

Would you like some recs for the holiday season? - I too would like to share love for my favorite things I read that were written this year! <3

I’m going to do this in two parts - the short fics (10k or less, generally one-shot), and another post for the long or series fics I loved this year (it’s 2020, I figure we can use too much of a good thing?)

( @staidwaters - I’m ‘disqualifying’ your works because I’m biased, sorry! Look away! Unless you want recs!)

"Congratulations, Get Rich" (9,238 words) by Attila (The Untamed - modern AU)

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, which means Wei Wuxian has to get all of his bad decisions out of the way tonight.

Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng, Mianmian are all so screamingly perfect as modern versions of themselves in this, and it is KNOCK DOWN HILLARIOUS. Wei Wuxian is just a screaming queer disaster (affectionate) - as he should be.

Excerpt:

After a long beat, Lan Xichen sinks gracelessly into the chair Lan Wangji had been sitting in earlier. “I just want to be absolutely clear,” he says delicately, “that you are currently under the impression that my brother has no romantic feelings for you. That is what you’re saying to me right now, yes?”

“Yes?” Wei Wuxian says, feeling desperately confused. “Obviously? Why?”

“Because at least one of you is very stupid, and I’m trying to figure out who,” Lan Xichen tells him, sounding distracted. It’s the rudest thing Wei Wuxian has ever heard him say, and his mouth drops open slightly.

“caved to the careless” (6,708 words) by ilgaksu (The Untamed/MDZS - Song Lan/Xiao Xingchen)

Love is a choice you make - like this, and this, and this.

Have you ever read a writer whose work is so distinctly itself that you can feel yourself slipping in time even as you keep going? That’s not very articulate, but it’s the best way I can describe everything of ilgaksu’s I’ve read. Their fics are the same emotional register as having the breath knocked out of you after a fall. This was the first one I read, and I think it ends well-- with what Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen find along the path-- but it’s still heavy. Discussions of canon-compliant character death and grief/mourning here.

Excerpt:

He pauses. Until this very moment, he was unsure who to ask for. He has heard the rumours of the Yiling Patriarch’s ongoing residence here, about Zewu-jun’s seclusion: he’s dead, but even the dead are not free from gossip. But he remembers a courtyard, nearly two decades ago, and the weight of eyes some might have called angry in their intensity. He remembers those same eyes, and how for the wear of the intervening years, they had kept the same essence: longing, yearning, a kind of small unspoken grief.

Song Lan had a dream once. A dream of a sect, bound not by blood, but by a shared belief in the right path. So many things are only an inheritance: shame is one of them.

Love is a choice. Love is a choice, and you choose until you can’t.

“I am here,” he decides, carving the words into the dirt, every stroke of every character resolute, “To meet with Hanguang-jun. Please show this one the way to go.”

“Green River Running” (8,169 words) by @rain-hat (Love in the Moonlight - post-canon AU)

5+1: Kim Byeong-yeon returns to the land of the living.

I skimmed through Love in the Moonlight during my quarantine summer (distinguishable from my “quarantine spring” or “quarantine fall” only by fireworks), and immediately upon finishing, thought: “Psht, they killed off their best character.” And then, something happened that never happens -- I went on ao3 and found the exact thing I was looking for, written far better than I could have imagined. Kim Byeong-yeon is such a quiet yet powerfully subversive presence and the progression here is so masterfully done. This is true of all of rainhat’s work’s I’ve read, but this is a fine example-- I really treasure the warm humanism of them.

Excerpt:

People needed helping hands even more than they needed sympathetic ears, though. Over the last year, Hong Gyeong-rae and Byeong-yeon had built houses and planted crops side by side; negotiating with moneylenders here, helping small-folk secure their stores against bandits there. There was nothing courtly about Byeong-yeon’s capacity for labour, or his expectation of reward. Wherever he went, he worked from dawn to dusk, ate the food he was given, and slept under a roof if he was offered one.

It suited him, Hong Gyeong-rae thought, even though there was something outlandish about his gentle speech and palace manners in the midst of it all. But to behave in any other way would be untrue to his upbringing; nor was he the sort of man to whom it would occur to try. And after all, most people liked to be treated with courtesy; it did not come across as mockery from this solemn, severely dressed young man, who seemed to find no task too big or too small. Hong Gyeong-rae had seen him argue tax law with local councillors and stand up to highwaymen armed with nothing but a knife and staff. But he watched cooking pots for women who had to run to the fields to tide over the day’s labour, too; he wrote letters for them, and tolerated their fractious children and spoon-fed their bedridden elders, if that was what was called for.

“The Veritable Records of King Taejo: Year 2, Entry 208“ (9,857 words) by @sadviper (My Country: the New Age - Nam Seon-ho & Hwang Sung-rok slice-of-life)

Hwang Sung-rok eats his way to the bottom of a real estate scam, and Seon-ho and Yeon help (a little).

No one is out here doing it like SadViper. This is technically part of a series, but they can all be read separately. I did not realize I needed to see more of Nam Seon-ho in all his “type-A government official glory” until Viper started sketching him out for us, and as a bonus, we get to see Yeon, and Sung-rok as the world’s surliest caretaker (but don’t call him that). I have an authorial fallacy where I always think stories have to have some grand “plot” -- a “Maltese Falcon” to pull the reader along-- the genius of Viper’s work is she shows us exactly how interesting and important the day-by-day tiny choices and connections we make are, with an impeccable background of historical research to ground you in the setting.

Excerpt:

Nam Seon-ho was his master now. He was a strange one. He was a traitor, for helping the escaped Liaodong soldiers, but not, because he managed to wiggle his way back into Yi Seong-gye’s favor and was now a sixth-ranked inspector with the privilege of having personal audiences with the King. He was temperamental and belligerent from being the son of a slave mother and a lifetime subject of Lord Nam’s fantastic parenting philosophy. He was afflicted with perpetual guilt. And he was also one of the hardest working and most desperate people Sung-rok had ever known.

It was a terrible combination. He was not merely a disaster waiting to happen, but a disaster perambulating on two legs at the edge of a chasm. If Sung-rok intended to stay in service for long, he needed to find a way to cool down some of Seon-ho’s intensity, even though admittedly, it was what drew him to Seon-ho in the first place.

Thoughts like these plagued Sung-rok for a while. It was one thing to know a person; it was quite another thing to try to change them.

“Orison” (4,975 words) by @gravelghosts (aeli_kindara) (Supernatural 15x18 coda)

Cas says, I love you.

So! This rips my heart out, every time. All the times Dean imagines himself together with Cas...and then he imagines himself, if not happy, then thriving.

Jack: “What is the point...if everyone I care about is going to leave?”

Castiel: “The point is that they were here at all and you got to know them, you... When they're gone, it will hurt, but that hurt will remind you of how much you loved them.”

Excerpt:

The thing Dean tries to do is: listen.

Happiness isn’t in the having. It’s in just — being. It’s in just saying it, Cas tells him, and Dean’s whole heart is screaming, No, but he shuts his mouth. He listens. He listens like his life fucking depends on it, which it does, in more ways than one.

“Sky Full of Song” (6,632 words) by @drivingsideways (Supernatural, finale 15x20 fix-it, Dean/Cas)

Or: The One in which Cas ghosted Dean.

Look. Look. If Cas(tiel) can yank Dean Winchester out of Hell, celestial-scream at him not once but twice, burn out a woman’s eyes like an utter clown before thinking “Huh, an Earthly vessel, guess that’s not just bullshit, then,” and when they finally work it out, Dean greets them with a knife to the chest and THEN they’ll spend twelve years misunderstanding each other and bickering, you had better believe these two are going to be disasters even in Heaven. Drivingsideways gives us all of that dynamic, with the found family of Jack and Mary as facilitators, and the happy resolution, which of course includes a true form “roughly the size of your Chrysler Building.” <3

Excerpt:

The thing is, Castiel doesn’t want Dean to feel obligated.

Dean has a streak of self-sacrifice that's as wide as the Caspian Sea, and Castiel doesn't want to be any more of a chore or obligation than they have been to Dean for all the long years of their—brotherhood.

Castiel had shocked Dean, to the core of him, with their confession, and Castiel had seen the swirling confusion, the fear, the panic, the shit what do I say, what do I do—how do I stop him—

So, no, Castiel would not be paying a visit anytime soon.

Of course, if Dean evinced an interest in meeting them, then Castiel would not stay away.

Castiel isn't that cruel.

(They have, on occasion, been exactly that cruel, but they are trying to outgrow it.)

Dean is still their friend.

Dean knows how to reach them, if he wants to.

(see? disasters. haha)

“The Rough” (3,267 words) by anactoria (Supernatural, finale -15x20- ‘fix-it’)

Heaven can absolutely fucking wait.

Rec’ed for the concept more than the style (this is dialogue-heavy, as a lot of 15x20 fix-its tend towards), but I *love* this course-correction: After kicking around Heaven, Dean and Cas return to Earth to take their place as urban legends among the hunter community. Just for a while.

Excerpt:

But it isn’t life. That’s the thing. It’s awesome, but it isn’t life; life’s a hard, painful, infuriating mess, and Dean only got halfway through his own, and he feels cheated. For all he held it together for Sammy at the end, for all he tried to take Cas’s big moment-of-happiness speech on board, he feels cheated.

There’s supposed to be peace at the end. When you’re done.

Dean wasn’t done.

#other's fic #fic recs #2020: a year!#spn #my country: new age #the untamed #love in the moonlight

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drwcn · 4 years

Note

I really do think mianmian and lwj deserve to be like, close friends. from their meeting in the show it doesn’t seem like they ever saw each other after jinlintai and i have no idea when they would’ve gotten the chance, but just afterwards, you know?

yes, I think they definitely deserve to be friends! One of things I always found troubling about these novel based xianxia dramas is the lack of sustainable friendship beyond the main romance line. I guess in order to create angst and emotional investment for the audiences, a lot of times, friendship get sidelined or destroyed when characters die or betray each other. As well, most non-romance relationships that we see lasting to the end of the story are family relations and sometimes servitude (aka a lackey that hangs on until the end). Real friendships where both parties are roughly on equal footing and station rarely last in these epic adventure dramas. You couldn’t even say Wen Ning is Wei Wuxian’s friend of equal station, not when Wen Ning doesn’t call Wei Wuxian by his name, just “young master”. Perhaps this is to isolate the main character, who knows. Even so, friendship between men is portrayed more frequently than friendship between women, or men and women.

So with your prompt, it inspired me to write a little something Luo Qingyang centric, ft our Hanguang-jun and juniors.

~~~

Lanling Jin’s entourage stood by the gates of Cloud Recesses, patiently waiting for their admission. What seemed like a life time ago, Luo Qingyang had been on these same steps with Jin Zixuan. She’d been a girl then, barely bloomed, barely grown. Life had been simple, and she had thought she knew what the future would hold.

So much had come to pass, yet these grand arches, white granite stone pulsing with spiritual aura, never seemed to age.

She glanced down at her Jin Clan robes, the pale yellow and white, embroidered with peonies and a strip of blue accentuating the lapel edge. She never thought she’d wear these colours again. Her mother had been a Jin, first cousin of Jin Guangshan. Once upon time, she’d been proud to be one of them, to be part of a powerful and wealthy clan. Then the war came and went, like the debriding of a wound upon their world that revealed the flesh underneath had caseated to the bone. She’d been so disillusioned, so aggrieved by her elders and disappointed by her peers.

Even Zixuan.

He had been a good man, her cousin. But he wasn’t strong of heart nor clever of mind. She was sorry to know he had died, but she wasn’t surprised. If he could not see the game his father had been playing, then there had never been any hope for him.

Luo Qingyang glanced towards the youth in front of her just slightly to the right. From the view of his back, she could almost picture his father, standing there with Suihua in his clutch, a proud son of the house of Jin. Time seemed to fluctuate, the eighteen years between then and now barely a drop in the ocean. If she breathed deeply enough and closed her eyes, she could almost be Mianmian again, could almost see Zixuan again.

This was the first time Jin Ling had come to Cloud Recesses without his jiujiu. The boy was rightfully nervous, but this push towards independence was necessary. Sooner or later, baby bird had to learn how to fly. Like his father, Jin Rulan had a kind nature, even if he was awful at expressing his feelings. He was young, but the burden on his shoulders were heavy. For the mess that was the Jin Clan post Jin Guangyao's demise to fall into Jin Ling's lap was the best and worst case scenario. If he hadn’t risen to occasion, the subsidiary sects - vultures circling a carcass- would’ve torn Lanling apart.

Perhaps that was why Luo Qingyang had agreed to return to her mother clan.

Wei Wuxian had arrived at her doorsteps one day some months after the incident at Guanyin Temple. Even on the outskirts of Yiling where she had lived, she had received news of what had happened. Wei Wuxian explained he’d been travelling, but between his subtle hints and unsubtle nudges, she had understood his intentions.

Jin Ling had no one to help him man the helm. Jiang Cheng could only do so much without the other sects accusing him of overreaching into businesses beyond Yunmeng’s jurisdiction. Jin Ling was Jinlintai’s heir, not Lotus Pier’s, a fact that most people had slowly forgotten over the last decade. Childless, Jiang Cheng’s seat would one day go to his prime disciple, but not to his nephew.

“Lan Zhan had written a decree for you, in case you encounter trouble going back. It’s a lot to ask for, I know. You’ve got such a lovely home here. But...you are needed, Mianmian, if you could forgive them.”

Forgive them? Luo Qingyang sighed. What’s there to forgive? She had left of her own volition, married well, and had a wonderful family. Her husband grumbled a bit about moving to the big city, but in the end he followed her back to her clan, just like he did to her night hunts. Her husband had been a merchant once, and she had no doubt he would thrive in Lanling. So far, she had not been proven wrong.

“I am Jin Rulan’s biao’gu*. He is as much your nephew as he is mine. Tell His Excellency that I will return to Jinlintai shortly. He can be assured Sect Leader Jin will not be alone.”

Lan Sizhui, Gusu Lan’s Head Disciple greeted them at the gates with a deep bow. Like his de-facto cousin, Sizhui had grown taller and more mature.

“Welcome, Jin-zongzhu, Luo-zhangshi*, and honored guests. Cloud Recesses thank you for your patience. Please, come with me.”

He gave Jin Ling a private smile, and the latter perked up immediately. “Lan-gongzi, you’re too kind. It’s been some time since we last spoke. I trust His Excellency is of good health and spirit?”

“Hanguang-jun is very well, thank you Jin-zongzhu.” In a lower tone, Sizhui commented. “I would’ve visited Lotus Pier with Wei-qianbei last harvest, but I was sent to Qinghe for sect business.”

Boys playing at being men.

Luo Qingyang hid a smile, slowing down her steps to give the youngsters some privacy from the party that followed them.

Such innocence. How lovely it was. The boys she’d known were forced to grow up amidst fire and chaos, and did so in such brutal, unimaginable ways. So many had died, and those who had lived would never get to experience their ‘what-could’ve-been’s.

After, when the official businesses were settled and the disciples were dismissed, Luo Qingyang and Lan Wangji sat together in a quiet pavilion. Sizhui and A-Ling were some distances away down the lang, standing a reasonable distance apart and conversing politely. Though, it was more than obvious that they were itching to shed their gentlemanly exterior and scurry off to whatever shenanigans boys their age got up to when their guardians weren't looking.

Lou Qingyang observed the man sitting across from her and found some irony in the fact that they were strangely similar. Though talented in cultivation, Lan Wangji was not the type she would’ve imagined being Chief Cultivator, and certainly she herself could’ve never imagined that one day she would be chief of staff of Lanling Jin.

Life dealt them both a funny set of cards and all they could do was keep playing.

“I know Wei Ying had delivered my message, but I want to thank you properly in person, Luo-zhangshi, for agreeing to come back. Those early days after Jin Guangyao’s death was...precariously to say the least. The situation at Jinlintai is much better now thanks to your efforts.”

“Hanguang-jun, we’ve known each other for a long time. Your husband has a scar on his chest from saving me from a Wen branding iron, and my daughter has received lucky money from the both of you. I think you can call me Miamian, if you’re comfortable with that.” She smiled, taking a sip of her tea. The scent of jasmine was calming after such a long, arduous morning.

Lan Wangji nodded, turning to his own cup. “We used to be classmates, now we are colleagues. Perhaps you are right. Formality in private is unnecessary.”

“As for coming back, it is my duty. Jin Ling is bright and kind. With the right guidance, Lanling Jin Sect will recover. I knew him, Jin Guangyao. He was... nice to me, most of the time anyways. Whether that niceness had any truth behind it, I don’t know, but even then he’d been so unreadable. I only wish I’d seen through it all sooner. So you see, there is no need for thanks, Wangji-xiong. We Jins have done enough wrong against your family. Pray, how is Zewu-jun?”

“Brother is still in seclusion, but he is no danger to himself. He is better now. Time heals all wounds. Though...”

Though knowing Lan Xichen, knowing what Lans were like when faced with tragic love, Lan Wangji wasn’t sure what his brother’s future would hold.

Luo Qingyang nodded, understanding. Suddenly, their tranquility was interrupted by a disciple rounding the corner, footsteps heavy and voice decidedly too loud.

“Sizhui, did you meet up with Young Mis -”

Lan Jingyi’s holler aborted immediately when he saw who was sitting in the pavilion. “Erm... Hanguang-jun, Luo-zhangshi...” Smiling sheepishly, he bowed.

“Sizhui.” Lan Wangji gave his son a pointed look, which the youth instantly understood.

“Ah, Jin-zongzhu. Perhaps you would like for Jingyi and myself to you show around? Cloud Recesses’ scenery is really one of a kind this time of year.”

“Yes, yes!" Jin Ling leaped to his feet from where he was sitting on the bench. He paused, casting a cautious glance towards his aunt, before clearing his throat and continuing in his most ‘adult’ voice. “Yes, I would like that. Lan-gongzi, Jingyi-xiong, if you wouldn't mind leading the way.”

Luo Qingyang and Lan Wangji focused their attention back to their tea cups, both turning a blind eye to the way Sizhui and Rulan all but ran to join up with Lan Jingyi.

They were out of sight in a heartbeat.

“Do you know who they remind me of?” Luo Qingyang tilted her head as a sense of deja-vu washed over her.

“Mn?”

“Wei-gongzi, Nie-zongzhu, and Jiang-zongzhu, during our guest disciple days.”

Our long summer.

“Mn.”

“Remember when they got drunk on Emperor’s Smile? They really were audacious even then.” Luo Qingyang reminisced with a fond chuckle.

“Yes. Uncle was furious.” The corner of Lan Wangji’s lips tilted upwards.

Was that amusement she detected?!

Mianman blinked, suddenly realizing, “Oh but you were amongst them too, if I recall correctly.” She gave him a sly smile. “The girls said you were discovered in a drunken coma in Wei-gongzi’s room the next morning. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

Oh the scandal! “How did they rope you into it?”

“I was willing,” confessed the venerated Hanguang-jun without so much as a blush. The shameless scoundrel!

Luo Qingyang laughed, the sound ringing like a clear bell that cut through Cloud Recesses’ tranquility.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore; he’s your husband now. For the record, we all saw it coming.”

Lan Wangji raised a quizzical brow. “Oh? I did not think it was obvious.”

“Well, not to the male disciples perhaps, but the female disciples, we all knew.” Luo Qingyang took a deep breath and sighed. “Sometimes I miss those days. Simpler times.”

“Mn.”

“My daughter has started cultivation lessons with the other children at Jinlintai. Someday she may visit here as guest disciple, as I once was. I hope her future will be a better one.”

She met his gaze steadily, and the understanding in between had no need for further words.

Lan Wangji smiled.

“That is my wish as well.”

biao’gu 表姑 = a type of aunt, a distant female cousin of one’s parent that’s in the same generation as them.

zhang’shi 长史= an antiquated government position that’s akin to Secretary General.

#cql #the untamed #luo qingyang #lan wangji #corie replies #i love ouyang zizhen #he's just not in this one #don't worry they're all friends #cql ficlet #corie fics

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grapefruitsketches · 3 years

Text

Hear Me (Please)

For fytheuntamed’s Untamed Fall Fest Day 26: Remains

Rated T, 979 Words. 3 Years Post-Nightless City (CQL verse), POV Lan Wangji, Grief/Mourning

Also available on AO3

He arrived at dusk. Too late to start looking, really. Three years too late, his mind supplied bitterly.

He sighed. On some level, he knew that he should have stopped to rest in the last town. Stayed the night. Come in the morning.

But he was so close… What if the one night made a difference?

That didn’t make any sense. He knew it didn’t make any sense. After three years, with not a mention, not a whisper that he was here, how could one short night possibly make a difference?

But still. Once he’d crossed the border into Qishan, his heart had tightened, beat more quickly. He couldn’t have slept if he had tried.

Now he stood, looking down the cliff, the fire red glow of what had once been called Nightless City was all the light that greeted him. Though did he… had he felt an echo? Could he have seen?

A smiling face. Exhausted. Resigned. Falling away. Down… down…

He closed his eyes, breath catching. He summoned his guqin and sat. Played. Hoped.

“Wei Ying. Please. If you are there…” he paused.

In three years, he’d had plenty of time to think over what he should have said. Shouldn’t have said. Done. Not done.

But now, faced with even the prospect of reaching out to him, of saying something that could draw him close, but might push him away… What could he say, that he had not already said?

Come back? Come with me? The words had not worked before, not back then, when Lan Wangji could reach out, could hold on.

When he hadn’t. Couldn’t. And now all he had was the words. Words that had never been enough.

He played a few more chords. Simplistic, straightforward. Meaningless.

He sighed and stood, sweeping his guqin away again.

Maybe he just hadn’t found the right words. Or the right spot? Or maybe he’s truly–

That voice was quieted quickly.

He looked over the cliff, to the place he knew had been searched, thoroughly, all those years ago but…

But the Burial Mounds had been presumed empty too. And Wangji had still found a-Yuan there.

It was completely dark now. But this would not stop Wangji. He could not wait another night. Another night, maybe two, and a-Yuan might not have made it. He couldn’t risk it.

If you had searched the cliff base first, instead of fleeing to the Burial Mounds, what might you have found then?

Would a-Yuan have survived if he had looked for Wei Ying first? Maybe he would have. If he had known it would be to search here or the Burial Mounds, never both, would he have chosen different?

Would you have left a-Yuan?

He shook the thought away. He would keep moving. Keep searching. Why had he gone to the Burial Mounds anyway?

Because if he had survived, that’s where he would be… Because if he was gone, you didn’t want to see him, broken. And now you’ll never see him at all. Because the Burial Mounds were where you didn’t look for him last time, let him suffer for three months, failed to save him…

But that was just it. Wei Ying had been gone before.

But he had come back. He always came back.

For his brother. For his sister. For him, a small part of him dared to hope.

So why hadn’t Wei Ying come back for the child?

Lan Wangji swallowed as he worked his way around, down the cliffside, refusing to put together the truth of that statement, but making the connection in his refusal regardless. The path had eroded without the Wens there to maintain it. Just the kind of difficult to reach place that Wei Ying often found himself in.

He would keep looking, as long as it took.

He sat at the base of the cliff. The place where the Yiling Patriarch had fallen taking top priority when it came to cleansing even with all the war torn places still desperate for help.

But it still felt musty. Like a town abandoned after a haunting not prestigious or lucrative enough to attract the attention of a major sect.

Lan Wangji thought of the Burial Mounds. How full of life of peace it had been, how Wei Ying had, alone, survived there, then thrived.

He thought of a-Yuan, whose smiling face would not be gracing the Cloud Recesses if not for Wei Ying. He thought of his own demands, that Wei Ying return with him to the Cloud Recesses. That he stop whatever it was that he was doing, when it was so clear that all he wanted was to be left alone.

What if Wei Ying didn’t want to come back? To see him again?

But what if that was only because Lan Wangji had been too forceful? Had not shown Wei Ying that he still had someone who believed in him, even then?

He knew what he would play. Would play here, would return to the unprotected Burial Mounds to play, would approach Yunmeng. Or the Unclean Realm. Or the Xuanwu cavern. Or Dafan Mountain. Or wherever else he needed to try. To be sure he was heard, even if…

Wei Ying. There’s no need to reply, I only ask that you hear me. I’m sorry. I believe you. I will never forget.

But somewhere he knew that whether the failure to respond was by choice or genuine absence, the result was still the same.

This thought lay deep though. Muffled. So he repeated the phrases. Over and over, until the sky brightened, the sun having climbed high enough to peak into the deep, narrow chasm where Lan Wangji played.

The evidence of how late he was all around him – not a bone, not a skeleton in sight. And with each chord, each pause, it was only silence that greeted him.

#untamed fall fest #lan wangji #wangxian #cql #the untamed #my writing

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multsicorn · 4 years

Text

Wei Wuxian makes families everywhere he goes.

[this got... long]

The first one, of course, is kind of cheating. In Yunmeng Jiang, he’s taken in as a kid. Jiang Cheng is made to share his bedroom with him. And yet, though they were raised as siblings, Jiang Cheng, Jiang Yanli, and Wei Wuxian really did have to choose each other - and being ‘as siblings’ was also a choice. Jiang Fengmian wanted it, set them up for it, (... sibling favoritism and all, lol), but Yu Ziyuan continually scolded her children for treating ‘the son of a servant’ as a beloved brother. Both parents set Jiang Yanli and especially Jiang Cheng in competition against Wei Wuxian... and all three kids responded by choosing each others’ sides, by trying to take care of each other, by becoming closer than ever.

The second one is in the Burial Mounds. I’ve gone on a bit about that ;). ‘Sometimes a family is two mad scientists and a zombie who owe each other a series of mutually escalating life-debts’? And also several dozen more war refugees, from elderly down to children, don’t forget that. It is very incredibly unfortunate if one’s obligations to one’s new family conflict with one’s obligations to one’s earlier (but still present! not former!) other family - but, I mean, if you bring someone back from the dead with the asterisk that you can control them, whether you want to or not; if you’re co-running a village with someone... you’re some sort of family.

(What I always want, personally, is pretty much everyone else important to Wei Wuxian, and also therefore to the story, to ally themselves with and roll right up to the Burial Mounds, in ones or twos or with a whole crowd of followers.)

(My favorite sect really is Yiling Wei, huh. Of course it is.)

And then, the third one, of course, is in the Cloud Recesses. Eventually. resurrection, and only under the auspices of Lan Wangji’s most murderously protective glares. But also with Lan Xichen, who has always been kind and welcoming and encouraging to Wei Wuxian, who’s all fucked up about all kinds of things and still values his baby brother’s happiness. With Lan Qiren, who’s disapproved of him for years.... like Yu Ziyuan hadn’t? Wei Wuxian is chill and older and can deal with disapproval, and, anyway, I have faith that Lan Qiren can change.

With Lan Sizhui!!! Returned from the radish patch, all unlooked for!!! Man, there’s just something that moves me so much about someone who has all sorts of other obligations choosing to take on looking after a young child, too, because someone has to and who else is there, and, yes, becoming that child’s parent. And so I will read Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji as Sizhui’s dads, no matter that it’s arguable vis-a-vis canon. But I’m not usually even into the pairings I ship having children together - I mean, I’m not necessarily against it? but I’m not invested, I don’t care - ‘they have a son’ was used to try to sell me on this canon back in last winter, and I really don’t care - but the narrative with Sizhui is just. So wonderful. To me.

(and that got away from me a bit, lol.) But I was going to say! In the Cloud Recesses, with the most loving and devoted and protective husband in the whole damn world, with an approving brother-in-law and a disapproving uncle-in-law, with an adopted kid who turns out to already have been his own, and a whole contingent of young Lan disciples that Wei Wuxian has already pretty much picked up as his very own students/trainees just by virtue of them encountering a dangerous situation or three together. He thrives as a teacher, and he deserves the whole multi-clan duckling assemblage, but Lan Jingyi and his unnamed peers are a pretty big component of that.

Anyway, the point is: family’s additive. Let him have ALL the families.

The other point is: Wei Wuxian makes a home wherever he goes. He’s never had one home (and that’s it). His parents were wanderers, Yunmeng wasn’t his first home. Cloud Recesses... might not be his last? But he’s adaptable, more so than the lotuses he will grow wherever he can. He doesn’t need to be in one specific place. And he shapes a place by being there.

And the third point is: ... Wei Wuxian, throughout his teen and adult lives, latches onto everyone. Anyone in need of his protection, or help... but as a kid? Jiang Fengmian may have brought him to live in Lotus Pier, but it’s Jiang Yanli who brought him back from running into the woods, who insisted you belong here. (And insisted the same thing to bb!Jiang Cheng, while we’re at it.) Anything he knows about making other people his? Wei Wuxian learned from his shijie.

And the fourth point: ... (you thought we were done with points? But I have more family things to talk about, so there!) Is that, of course, that Wei Wuxian’s an orphan. So maybe he’s always looking for more family. But he perks up hopefully and/or wistfully not just when hearing about his mother, but when anyone mentions his mother’s teacher. Baoshen Sanren, who lives on the mountain. There’s something there, but he could never find it... but when he meets Xiao Xingchen, one of her other disciples, he makes something of that connection. Though they only travel together briefly (and then, later, of course, Xiao Xingchen dies).

So family can mean so very many different kinds of things. A small nuclear family, too, small because the parents have left their homes behind; a lineage of teachers and disciples. It doesn’t even have to stay in one place.

... I do think Wei Wuxian would like staying in one place, I think it would suit his domestic instincts well. And any place he stays is not gonna have everyone he loves in it, most of the biggest shots of the cultivation world! are his family. Beware every reunion. But I also think he’s good at being happy, and making a place where he fits, everywhere that he goes.

#wei wuxian #the untamed #we could live by the foot of the mountain

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wangxiangiftexchange · 3 years

Text

Winter Solstice Gift for alightbuthappypen

Here it is, my first hurt/comfort fic for this fandom! I really hope you like it, @alightbuthappypen!

Read On AO3

*****

hold me tight or don't

Lan Wangji was amazed.

There was no better way to put it. Of course he had heard that the feared Yiling Patriarch had made himself at home in the Burial Mounds, this dreadful place that reeked of death and was swarmed by crows and corpses. He had known that Wei Ying would not have an easy life after the scene at Qiongqi Path, but... the Burial Mounds? That anyone would survive, let alone live in this place, had been impossible to Lan Wangji's mind. Then he had come to Yiling and, of course, how could it be different, Wei Ying had crossed his path. With a child in tow. A child.

Although Lan Wangji had not thought Wei Ying very responsible when they had first met, his opinion on him had changed drastically over time. Wei Ying possessed a strong sense of what was wrong and what was right, a strong sense of justice; he played by his own rules and cared little for what the sect leaders said and did. And so he had led the remaining Wens away from the prison camp and into the Burial Mounds. But that he should have taken a child to this horrid place... the reasoning behind this was beyond Lan Wangji.

Of course that was before he had seen the Burial Mounds, or rather what Wei Ying and the Wens had made of it. The Lan children had grown up with warnings and tales of the Burial Mounds, with them always being described as the most hostile place in the world where no living thing could survive for longer than a day.

Which led him to where he stood now. Fear had been clouding his mind ever since Wei Ying had left him in the rain. He feared for Wei Ying, primarily, for his safety and health. But it appeared that his fears were entirely unreasonable: after they had passed through the woods made up by skeletons of trees and crossed the barriers Wei Ying had set up, Lan Wangji had found himself in a place like a small village. The caves in the jagged, black rocks had been made into what resembled houses pretty well. T, there were crops growing that Lan Wangji could not quite identify but, shockingly, they seemed to be thriving in the poisoned soil.

And the shocking occurrences for the day were not overm Of course, he had heard that the Yiling Patriarch had created a fierce corpse from Wen Ning, but that he had returned his conscience was unlike anything the cultivation world had ever thought possible. Wei Ying's new life seemed to be a success, if you left aside the fact that he was shunned by almost every sect of the cultivation world. And despite this heavy fate it stung Lan Wangji that he could no longer be part of Wei Ying's life. The very Wei Ying that made his way through the village after leaving Wen Ning with his sister, certain that the fierce corpse would not lose control once again. Lan Wangji had passed the child, A-Yuan, to the old woman that seemed to be his primary caretaker and was now following Wei Ying into the largest cave that he had obviously made his own.

The black stone towered high above them and darkness swallowed up the sparse daylight the deeper they went into the cave. Lan Wangji shuddered unwillingly as he saw the pool that looked like fresh blood. Shadows seemed to be floating on its surface, swaying, vanishing, returning. His fear for Wei Ying was back, this time even stronger than before. Had he really given himself fully to demonic cultivation now? It was likely, and it ate Lan Wangji up from the inside.

"And proudly we present... the Blood Pool," Wei Ying said, gesturing towards the red water. Despite the heavy feeling in his heart, Lan Wangji had to suppress a smirk.

"You really named the pool that looks like blood Blood Pool," he said.

"Ridiculous."

He had called Wei Ying ridiculous so many times, and maybe this time was a desperate try to return to the feeling that had dominated over him back in the days when Wei Ying was a student at Cloud Recesses. The feeling that was, as he realized bitterly, irrevocably gone now. Because Wei Ying's face, instead of a mischievous twinkle in his eyes and an outraged expression, only wore endless tiredness.

It felt as though there was nothing to say between them, and what should have been said threatened to remain unsaid.

"Why?" was the first thing Lan Wangji whispered. He had not intended for his voice to crack, but it did, and somehow it was ironic that the only person around whom he could lay down his stoic cover was the one responsible for his breaking. For a moment, Wei Ying was silent, and Lan Wangji feared that he had not understood what he was talking about. But then he spoke, and his voice had shed the usual joyfulness to make room for the heartbreaking, tired emptiness that had defeated the spark in his eyes as well.

"Don't you see there was no other way?"

"There is always another way," Lan Wangji replied. He had caught himself, yet still there was the slightest hint of a tremble in his voice.

"Not for me," Wei Ying said and shook his head.

"Wen Ning and Wen Qing saved my life. Saved my bro- Jiang Cheng's life. How could I leave them to die by the hands of that damned Jin sect? There was nothing else I could have done."

"There would have been a way," Lan Wangji repeated stubbornly.

"There is nothing that cannot be resolved by reason."

"A prime example for that being Wen Ruohan," Wei Ying said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Reason brought us very far in the Sunshot Campaign. It will bring us just as far with Jin Guangshan."

"Are you comparing Jin Guangshan to Wen Ruohan?" Lan Wangi asked with disbelief.

Wei Ying shrugged.

"They're all the same," he said.

"I see that now. They are so fixed on their own profit and their own revenge that they are blinded by it. There is no way to reason with them."

It was not that Lan Wangji did not understand his point. On the contrary, he understood it very well, at least concerning Jin Guangshan. The man was not a very kindhearted one, that was for sure. But that was not his point at this very second. All he wanted to reach by trying to convince Wei Ying to return to the middle of the cultivation world was to have him back by his side. It was selfish, he knew, it was against the rules of the Lan sect, but he had never craved anything as badly as Wei Ying these past months. All he wanted was his lips on his lips again, his skin on his skin, his tight embraces and the way Lan Wangji could watch him sleep for hours because he never woke up before nine. He loved Wei Ying so much that it hurt.

"You could at least have taken me with you," he whispered, trying to avoid the cracking of his voice.

"You would never have come here," Wei Ying replied sadly, gesturing around the cave.

"All of this... this is not your world. You are the Second Jade. You belong with your sect, in the cultivation world. You cannot be an outcast."

"You are my world," Lan Wangji said simply as he stepped towards Wei Ying and grasped his hand. Wei Ying's eyes widened slightly. "There is nothing I would not give up for you."

Wei Ying breathed in with his eyes closed and shook his head, not meeting Lan Wangji's eyes.

"I cannot demand this from you. I cannot demand you stay here with me. It would be too much to ask. It would take you away from the outside world. I simply... cannot."

Lan Wangji's gaze softened as he lifted Wei Ying's chin with his free hand. His eyes were dull now, and the hint of a glow that Lan Wangji saw was only a picture etched into his memory, nothing real anymore.

"I would do anything to resolve this," he said, but Wei Ying only shook his head again.

"There is nothing to resolve. This is it now. We cannot change what is already done."

"But we can change the course of the future," Lan Wangji insisted.

He wanted to yell at Wei Ying. To scream "I love you" and "Don't leave me here". But all he could do was remain calm, caressing Wei Ying's cheek with his thumb and holding his hand. That night in the rain he had been certain that he would never see Wei Ying again. All the things he had said had seemed too final, too harsh to allow any future between them. But this perception of his had already changed, so why could nothing else be changed?

"It will come to that at last," Wei Ying said, looking away from him again.

"You know it. One day I will have to fight them finally. And I would... I would prefer it be you who strikes the final blow."

"I could not," Lan Wangji said quietly.

"You would do anything to resolve this," Wei Ying quoted.

"Maybe this is the only way."

Lan Wangji wanted to reply something, anything, but all he could do was shake his head.

"Yes," Wei Ying said, "eventually it will come to this. There is no denying it. I am a thorn in the eye of the 'righteous' sect leaders. These barriers will not be able to protect us forever. All I can do is lengthen our lives as much as possible. Give them some more time. Not let them die in mistreatment in a prison camp. That is the least I owe them."

"And what about us?" Lan Wangji asked. It slipped from his tongue just like that, the selfish thought put into words, the defiance of his sect from his own mouth.

Wei Ying's hard gaze softened considerably as a tear formed in the corner of his eye.

"I never wanted it to come to this," he said.

"But there was nothing else for me to do. I wish I could turn back the time and prevent the loss - prevent all that happened. I wish nothing more than that. But the past is the past, and it must be laid to rest in favour of the present."

Lan Wangji said no more. His heart ached so terribly that he thought it would burst in his chest. All the hopes he had had were long shattered. O, of course, the Sunshot Campaign had changedf all of them and Wei Ying the most of all, y. Yet, until today, something inside him had harboured the hope that there might be a new start for them, no matter how or where. Something that belonged to them only.

He did not want to live in a world where there was no Wei Ying. And that was what made him say the words he said next.

"If it comes to a fight between us," he brought out over the lump in his throat, "I shall not fight back. I will stand by your side, or on no side at all."

And with that, he walked away.

---

The fight came.

Lan Wangji stood by his words.

For thirteen years he waited, with all the words left unsaid burning in his chest and gnawing at his heart.

A-Yuan, Lan Sizhui, was all he had left of Wei Ying. He loved the boy not only for that, but he clung onto him so desperately because of it.

Nearly every night he played Inquiry, looking up to the stars and wishing upon them that Wei Ying would one day return.

His remains were never found.

And so, Lan Wangji's spark of hope remained.

Until the day he heard his own song, the one that, apart from Lan Sizhui, only Wei Ying could know of.

And he knew.

---

Wei Wuxian's eyes fluttered. Open, closed, open, closed. He felt weak and drained of all energy, his limbs ached dully and something pounded in his head. But he felt something.

Feeling was not something he was accustomed to anymore. After thirteen years of floating through the depths beyond the known world, weightless, lifeless, after thirteen years of numbness without questioning it, he was back in the very known world. This awakening was, admittedly, more enjoyable than his first one in the body of Mo Xuanyu, for instead of a brutal cousin and his entourage he was greeted by the sounds of peace.

There was a rustling in the trees, distant birdsong dripped honey-sweet from the leaves. And there was something else... soft music, very close to his ear, not coming from the pristine white ceiling he was currently looking at but from the center of the room he seemed to be in the corner of.

He turned his head and his breath stopped.

Lan Zhan's eyes were closed as he played the guqin with skilled fingers, not needing to look in order to play the strings perfectly. The song he was playing was mildly familiar to Wei Wuxian's ears. I, it might have been a traditional Gusu melody that he knew from his youth. But with Lan Zhan playing it, it was more gentle and beautiful than anything he had ever heard before.

Wei Wuxian did not say a single word, but Lan Zhan opened his eyes and ceased his playing. The look in his golden eyes was endlessly soft. They mirrored everything Wei Wuxian wished he had said in that cave, the last time they had spoken to each other without an audience of hundreds in a fight. Yet he also beheld in them the pain that he must have felt after Wei Wuxian had abandoned him.

There had been no other way.

"Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said. There was the slightest hint of a tremble in his voice.

"Lan Zhan," he replied, removing the covers from his body.

As quickly as the Lan rules allowed it, Lan Zhan came to Wei Ying and sat down at his bedside, putting one hand on Wei Ying's.

"Stay," he said.

"Rest."

"Lan Zhan..."

"Mn?"

"I'm sorry."

Wei Ying tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling. There was a lump in his throat already, waiting to drive tears into his eyes. But he did not wish for this moment, this conversation to end before it had even begun.

There was too much long overdue to be said.

"Wei Ying..." Lan Zhan said, and Wei Wuxian felt the tender sensation of Lan Zhan's thumb brushing over the back of his hand. It made him shiver. He had never wanted anything more.

"Do... do you really think there would have been another way?" Wei Wuxian asked, head still laid back. He did not know what answer he expected.

"Perhaps," Lan Zhan said quietly.

"But it is too late to speculate about this now."

Finally Wei Wuxian dared to look into Lan Zhan's eyes again.

"Thirteen years..." he muttered.

"Thirteen years," Lan Zhan confirmed. The caress of his hand ceased, and he felt how Lan Zhan's body stiffened.

"I could not save you," he said, deep regret and pain audible in his voice.

"There was no way you could have saved me, Lan Zhan."

"Why did you return?"

"Does it matter?" Wei Wuxian sighed. His limbs felt as heavy as his heart in this second. He ached for Lan Zhan's touch, as it had been under the moonlight of Cloud Recesses in a time long gone, before he had turned away from the cultivation world and hurt no one more than Lan Zhan.

"It does not," he answered his own question, simultaneously with Lan Zhan.

"All that matters is that you are here now," Lan Zhan added. Wei Wuxian looked at him. He could not tell what his eyes might have been saying in that moment. There was too much inside of him to form a coherent thought, let alone observe himself.

"Lan Zhan..." he muttered. His hand sought out Lan Zhan's between the white covers; when they found it he rested his own hand atop it, just as Lan Zhan had done before.

"You... forgive me?"

"There is nothing to forgive, Wei Ying," Lan Zhan said. His words were spoken with such tenderness and love that Wei Ying swallowed down tears.

"Maybe... maybe you were right. Maybe there really was no other way."

"Lan Zhan..."

All Wei Ying could say was his name. It seemed that his lips were unable to form any words besides it. The entire time in the Burial Mounds, after Lan Zhan had gone, he had tossed and turned and barely slept, kept awake by thoughts of him.

"And what about us?" he had asked back then.

In these nights, Wei Ying had questioned everything he had ever done.

He did not regret meeting Lan Zhan. What he regretted was not staying by his side. Sometimes in these nights, his selfish side wanted to take Lan Zhan from the cultivation world, to be with him until the end inevitably came.

The end had come.

He had seen the pain in Lan Zhan's eyes as he had fallen.

"What about us now?" he asked, his voice shaking.

"I will not force you to stay if you don't want to, Wei Ying."

Instead of a reply, Wei Wuxian sat up and closed his eyes, shaking his head in the softest way possible. His hands wandered up Lan Zhan's arms, his own arms wrapped around Lan Zhan's middle as he pulled him close and buried his head against his shoulder. "Wei Ying," he heard Lan Zhan say, and felt his chin resting atop his head. He listened to Lan Zhan's breathing, steady in the beginning but increasingly shaky. It took him a while to realize that Lan Zhan was crying.

Lan Zhan was crying.

He had not ever seen him cry before, and it made him want to cry, too. Instead he freed his head from Lan Zhan's shoulder and kissed his lips.

At first, Lan Zhan stiffened, his hand gripping Wei Wuxian's arm tightly. Then he relaxed and melted into the kiss, hands gliding down Wei Wuxian's arms to rest on his hips. They closed around the curve of his middle and grasped his body as tight as it was possible without hurting him, as though he never wanted to let go again.

When Wei Wuxian pulled away, there was a single tear rolling over Lan Zhan's cheek, which Wei Wuxian wiped away with a brush of his thumb. Lan Zhan gave him a tiny smile, tiny yet saying more than words ever could. His eyes regarded Wei Wuxian with so much love that he sank back onto the bed and covered his face with his hands.

There it was again, the careless smile of his youth, that he had lost as he had become the Yiling Patriarch. He had caused so much pain and was far from having atoned for it all. But all that mattered in the moment was Lan Zhan: Lan Zhan's hands that still rested on his body, only a thin, white underrobe separating them from his bare skin. Lan Zhan's eyes, golden like sunlit pools, elegant and poised yet raw and emotional, with an expression that only Wei Wuxian could read. Lan Zhan's lips, parting to say his name in a way that would have made him weak in his knees had he been standing.

In this moment it became clear to Wei Wuxian that Lan Zhan had not lied when he had told him that he was his world. And there was another thing he realized, something that he had not wanted to admit to himself in the lonely vastness of the Burial Mounds, where he had not wanted Lan Zhan to dwell, ever; where the walls closed in around him and crushed his body and soul.

Lan Zhan was his world, too.

Wei Wuxian made a motion to sit back up, but Lan Zhan's hands on his chest gently pushed him back onto the bed.

"Wei Ying," he said.

"Rest."

Bending down to kiss him again, Lan Zhan closed his hand around Wei Wuxian's and squeezed it reassuringly. Wei Wuxian felt tiredness threatening to overcome him, and he refused it, not wanting this moment to ever end. For the first time since he could think, he felt truly at peace. His journey was far from over. But as the soft tunes of Wangxian filled the room, he drifted away from reality, losing himself in the sound and the ghost of Lan Zhan's lips still on his.

#alightbuthappypen #wangxiansolstice20 #*fic20 #*gifts20

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