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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

The never-ending screams and darkness were something that Wei Ying had been dealing with far before his death.  The death that he had hoped he would have finally had some peace from the screams.  The death he chose.  But death is not all it is chalked up to be, at least for demons like him.  It is nothing less than what he deserved for all the chaos he had caused in life, the deaths he caused.  The darkness he got used to, but the screams, he would fall into the burial mounds again anytime to avoid those.  The screams of Madam Yu, reminding him of his failures and worthlessness.  The scream of his Shijie when she took the sword that was meant for him, the gurgles of her last breaths.  Over, and over, and over again. But the worst, the worst was him.  In life, Wei Ying had yearned to hear him say his name. So much meaning could be heard in the different ways he would say it…Wei Ying.  So many times Wei Ying had thought and hoped that his name was said with so much love it was almost tangible, but those are not the versions of his name he heard him say in death.  For what felt like eternity he only heard him say his name in two ways…

“WEI WUXIAN!”

How he had said it when Wei Ying realized that there was no longer chance of love from the man that held his heart.

“WEI YIIIIIING!!!”

A cry of pure desperation and anguish.  With this one came the reminder of what it felt like to know he would never see his heart again.  Because, with this death, one that was chosen, reincarnation for a chance to be with his soulmate was not something that could ever happen again.  His soul, while not shattered, would be trapped as punishment.

v v v

“I, Mo XianLi, call forth the Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian!  I want revenge!  I want them to pay! A soul for a soul!   So it be done.”

And the screaming stopped.

In place was the tangy taste of iron, and the putrid smell of old blood.  The air was stale and suffocating, but there was also something that Wei Wuxian was beyond grateful to see.  Amidst the all too familiar darkness, were small beams of sunlight flitting through the cracks of boarded-up windows.  Light.  In an eternity of darkness, giving the smallest chance of hope.

Taking note of his surroundings, he noticed that he was laying on the cold floor of a small shack.  What once was probably a small servant quarters but now delipidated an condemned.  Few were the furnishings and even fewer that were not broken.  Strings of talismans danced in the draft from the windows and door.  The floor was uneven, made of stone and dirt, poking roughly into his side.  Moving his fingers caused him to scrunch his face in confusion.  Sticky.  He looked at the floor where his hands were resting only to find a puddle of blood.   He felt his arms tremble as he tried to quickly sit up from the floor, but as he did so, he could further make out the markings of an array.  The array was intricate, and judging from the puddle underneath him it was from the blood of his own body.  He blinked his eyes as his vision started to blur.

‘No wonder I’m so weak with losing all of this blood’ he thought.

He brought a blood-soaked arm closer to his face and pulled the sleeve back to find multiple deep cuts along his forearm.  Wei Wuxian groaned in realization as to how he came to be in this place.

‘Soul summoning sacrifice.  This person had to be hopelessly desperate.  How did they even find how to do this ritual?  They didn’t even tell me what they want me to do!’

He rubbed his face in frustration.

‘I’m on a time limit now and they didn’t even tell me what to fucking do!  Wait…wait.’

 Something wasn’t right.  He quickly pulled his hands from his face and looked at them.  They were bloody, expected.  They were small. They were dainty.  NO. Moving his now shaking hands to inspect the rest of this body, his new body, he first moved to his chest. Instead of the firmness of his pecs that he was so used to, he found soft mounds of flesh.

No.  Nope.  No, no, no, no.

Skipping the rest of his body, his hand flew down to where he hoped, he prayed that he would find something he held dear to his identity.  But, it wasn’t there.  There was no jade stem, and his world came crashing down.  In his first life, he had been very happy with his body as a male.  Even more so in the fact that he did not like women’s anatomy at all.  He was very happy being a man, liking men, liking one man in particular.  This is not how this is supposed to go!  The summoning ritual is supposed to bring the soul AND the body back!

“Fuck”

Wei Wuxian began to frantically look around the room for any papers, evidence, something (anything!) that would tell him what went wrong.  On a small table in the room, he found a journal with the array and instructions…but it was incomplete.  Whoever had copied it down didn’t finish it, and from the state of the handwriting the person was writing in a hurry. Were they interrupted when they were copying?  Obviously, they had to sneak to wherever they found it in the first place.  This is not some ritual you’d find in your everyday library!

He threw the book on the floor and collapsed down with it.

“FUCK”

‘Well, there’s nothing to be done about this part at least’ he sighed.  But what did this person want him to do?  The point of the ritual was to summon the evilest of beings to exact revenge in exchange for the caster.  A life for a life.  Part of the ritual was to tell who and how this was to be done. If the spirit did not complete the task within a certain time, the spirit’s soul would be shattered and their new life forfeit.

‘Considering an evil being is what is supposed to be summoned, I’m assuming the revenge must be to kill.  Who better than the Yiling Patriarch, right? Wrong. I’ve never killed outside of war. You’ve got the wrong person’ huffing he rubbed the side of his nose.  In his last life, he was a famous cultivator.  If the person who summoned him wasn’t going to give him the information he needed, then he would have to do what cultivators do best. Investigate.  Hopefully he could fulfill the ritual’s requirements by humiliating someone instead of killing, but he didn’t have high hopes for that.  He stood, using the small table to help support him.  He knew that he was weak from blood loss, but judging from the small stature of his new body he was also extremely malnourished.  He could feel the steady thrum of something he never thought that he would experience again however, a golden core.  He may be a man trapped in a woman’s body, but at least he was in a cultivator’s body!  He focused on the core, a little below average, but he could improve that with time. And for the first time since waking up, he smiled.  He could do this.  He had been through so much worse the first life, being a woman and determining who he was supposed to maybe kill was something he could figure out. 

He placed the journal into his sleeve that was not covered in blood and crept towards the door to listen. He could hear people talking and doing various activities in the distance, so it appeared the building he was in was somewhat removed from the main village compound.  However, he could hear some people coming closer.

“One of your duties soon will be to bring food to this room at the edge of the compound” a man said.  “You don’t even have to go in, just slide the tray through the hole at the bottom of the door, as you can see there.”

“Is this person a prisoner?  Why can’t we go in?” a woman asked.

“No, she isn’t a prisoner.  She’s just fucking crazy.  She came back from one of those big cultivation sects a couple of years ago and she had lost her mind.  She was just a servant before going off to that sect but apparently, she was the bastard child of some big cultivator.  I’d stay away from her if I were you.”

“I see” she replied, “how often do we bring her meals? Do we bring her anything else?”

“Ha just bring food when you feel like it.  I usually bring something every few days.  I heard cultivators don’t have to always eat so if you forget it’s no big deal.”

“Oh, I see.  That’s interesting, I didn’t know that!  Speaking of cultivators, did you see all those young men arrive this afternoon?” she asked excitedly.

The man gave a look of disgust.  “Yes I saw those ‘righteous’ cultivators.  They think they are so much better than us.  They act like they are gods among men.  They refused to even accept payment from us mere mortals” he sneered.  “But at least we won’t have to worry about the corpses after tonight.”

Their voices trailed away as they passed the room.  Wei Wuxian scoffed ‘Clearly today is one of those days you ‘forgot’ to bring food.  Asshole. Inedia isn’t something that is supposed to be used on a regular basis you fool.’

He shook his head and cracked the door open.  From the colorful leaves on the trees, he could tell that it was probably early fall.  While he used to like that time of year, it was a joke.  Fall only lasted a few weeks before winter set in, and after losing his core in his first life, the cold of winter was not something he looked forward to.   After seeing that nobody was around, he opened the door the rest of the way and began walking up the pathway.  He saw a maid coming around the corner with some clean bed sheets.  He went to greet her when her eyes widened in fear.  She dropped the laundry on the ground and ran off in the opposite direction.

“Well that was just rude” he said in a light raspy voice.  Clearly, he hadn’t had any water for a while if his voice was this dry.  Looking around he found a rain barrel at the edge of the path. He used the ladle that was on the side to drink some water.  Smacking his lips, he glanced at his reflection as he was hanging the ladle back up and jumped back in shock.

“What the fuck” he whispered and glanced at his reflection in the water again. The woman staring back at him looked hideous.  Her hair was a mess, falling out of it’s half-bun, and parts of it caked in blood.  Her face was crusty white in makeup that was cracking and parts falling off.  The kohl that lined her eyes was smudged creating black rings around her silver eyes. He went to rub his face with his hands and then he remembered all the blood that was on him before.  His dress robes were streaked in blood and dirt.  The fabrics were dulled and stiff as if they hadn’t been washed in sometime.

“No wonder she ran away.  I truly look like a mad woman”.  He grabbed one of the wooden buckets that was next to the barrel and dipped it into the water.  Squatting down, he began to wash his hands and face from all the grime.  There was nothing he could do about his clothes at the moment, and his hair was out of the question.  He couldn’t even do his hair properly as a man in his last life.  That was why he always chose to just pull it up in a ponytail.  He didn’t have a clue as to how to use the hair stick that was currently holding his hair the way it was.  He’d just have to leave it.  After cleaning himself the best he could he took another look at his reflection in the barrel.  He was pleased to find that his facial features looked nearly identical to how he had looked in his previous life…except a little more… feminine.  He even still had his little mole on his bottom lip!  There was some bruising on one of his cheeks but nothing too terrible.  This was a small victory in his opinion.  Not because he was vain and enjoyed his good looks as a man (but he was good looking if he had to say) but because of the relief that every time he saw his reflection, he would still be able to see himself and not a stranger.  If he was going to lose the rest of his body, at least he could still recognize himself.  Furrowing his brows, this could be a problem as well.  He was hated by the cultivation world at his death, it would probably not be good to be recognized if he wanted to stay alive after getting Mo Xianli’s revenge.  He’d just have to avoid that world for now.  Maybe he could hide away and farm potatoes after this was done.  Certainly NOT radishes.  People could just leave him in peace thank you very much.

He continued walking towards the main compound to do some more investigating.  See who he needed to maybe kill.  He saw a crowd of people gathered around one of the main buildings and decided to see what all the interest was about.  He quickly found that a positive thing about his new, small stature, was that it was easy to work his way through the crowd towards the large entrance without most people noticing.  Peaking around the edge of the entrance he saw a meeting hall filled with young cultivators in white and immediately his heart began to ache.

He was very familiar with this sect of cultivators.  The Lan sect of Gusu.  He was from this sect, but looking around he didn’t see the man among the group.  Everyone looked to be between 16 and 20.  Juniors.  It makes sense that there would only be juniors assigned to a simple case of corpses if what he had heard earlier was credible.  He was 23 when Wei Wuxian had died at the mere age of 21.  He had no clue how much time had passed since then.  He was filled with relief, but his heart still ached for the man whom he considered his soulmate.

“The Mo family extends its deepest gratitude to these esteemed young cultivators for lending their assistance to us today.  While our village does have cultivation skills among us, unfortunately she has entered seclusion.”  A woman dressed in peach and cream colors addressed the hall while performing, in Wei Wuxian’s opinion, a half-assed bow. 

A young man in white, stood from his table and addressed the woman in return. “Madam” he bowed “We are pleased to help you; it is our duty to assist where we are needed.  However, I wonder if there is something we could do to help your local cultivator as well?  Entering seclusion as a cultivator is normal, but we would usually leave it to help our people unless there was something preventing us from doing so.” 

From this distance, Wei Wuxian could tell that this particular young man was part of the main Lan family.  Everyone in the Lan sect wore a forehead ribbon to symbolize their restraint, but most people couldn’t recognize the small differences in design indicating the ranks within the sect.  Outer member’s ribbon would be plain white while an Inner sect member would be white with the lightest blue clouds embroidered on it.  However, this cultivator’s ribbon was not only embroidered, but held the metal cloud medallion in the center that signified a member of the main family.  One of the young heirs to the sect.  Wei Wuxian knew this because his love, his fuddy duddy, had this medallion on his ribbon.  That meant that this young man was the child of either the sect leader… or his love…his Lan Zhan.  While it hurt to think that his Lan Zhan had potentially married and had a child, he could also be Lan Zhan’s nephew.  Either way, he was important to Lan Zhan so he would watch him and make sure that he stayed safe while ridding this village of the corpses while he found a way to get Mo Xianli’s revenge.

“Oh no need no need” the woman waved off the young man’s concern.  “She lost her mind after returning a few years ago.  We have been taking care of her ever since!”

‘Yeah, right taking care of her!  Starving and abusing if the bruises on my face have anything to say about it!  Not to mention the fact that she sacrificed her eternal soul to bring revenge, you are doing everything but taking care of her!’

Wei Wuxian barged into the room pretending to sob while kneeling at the young man’s feet.

“Young master!  Young master!  I’m sorry I don’t have the strength to handle the corpses on my own! Please help me!”  he heaved glad the left-over water on his face added to the crying effect.  Madame Mo grabbed his cut arm and yanked him from the floor.

“Get up woman!  Have you no manners!” she screeched.

At the grimace of pain the young Lan saw on the woman’s face he grew more concerned.  If this woman was the cultivator the Madame was talking about, then this motion should not have caused her any pain.  Taking a closer look, he noticed the disheveled appearance of the woman and bruises on her face.

“Madame Mo, please let her go.  She appears to be injured.” He motioned for the woman to let go of the lady’s blood covered arm.

“Young master do not worry over her.  Since she returned, she will do anything to get attention put on her!  Fake injuries, dressing like a whore, you name it she’s done it!  I told you she’d gone mad.  A’Yuan come take Mo Xianli back to her chambers, now!”  The woman growled while her son, Mo ZiYuan, came towards them. One of the other Lan members noticed that it looked like Mo ZiYuan was going to grab the young lady by her hair to drag her away.  He dipped his finger into his teacup and used his spiritual energy to flick the droplet of tea at the man, knocking his arm away from the woman he was about to grab.  However, at the exact moment, the woman had quickly turned around, so it appeared that the woman had pushed the man away.

“Mo Xianli!  How dare you attack my son!”

“I didn’t!  I didn’t! He was coming for me did you see?!”  Wei Wuxian whined.  “I don’t even have the energy to push him away!  I haven’t eaten in days!  Why must you hit me and starve me?  What did I ever do to you?!”   Wei Wuxian turned and ran from the hall ‘sobbing’ his woes.  Once he cleared around the corner of the building he checked the cuts on his arm.  None of them had healed.  Clearly humiliating the family in front of a Major sect was not enough to satisfy the ritual.

‘Well shit, it looks like I am going to have to kill some people’ he thought.  Clearly the Madame was one of the people he was supposed to take revenge on based on how she treated him in the few moments she saw him.  Maybe he’d have to increase his “mad woman” persona and claim he finally cracked enough mentally to murder them.

“Young madam!” he heard one of the Lan disciples call out.  Looking towards the man he noticed that it was the one who had flicked the tea.  He was carrying what looked to be a medical kit.

“Stay away!  You tried to drown me in tea!” Wei Wuxian yelled as he ran away going back to his room.

The young man looked offended at his words.  “Drown you?!  It was a drop!  A drop! Clearly she is mad” he huffed as he made his way back to his fellow sect members.  When he returned to the building he handed the first aid kit back to the Lan heir.

“That was quick?” he inquired.

“SiZhui, I think that woman really is crazy!  Instead of letting me help her she told me I tried to drown her!”

“Regardless JingYi, I think she might need our help.  Maybe after we deal with the corpses we can see if she’d like to go to the Cloud Recesses.  Our mind healers may be able to help her heal.  We will keep an eye out for her until we finish here.”

v v v

Wei Wuxian had returned to the room he woke up in earlier.  If he was going to have to kill members of this family to satisfy the ritual, then he needed to make sure there was no evidence left that the ritual had occurred.  He didn’t want the Lan sect investigating and finding the remains of a soul sacrifice.  It literally screams “Yiling Patriarch has returned.”  It was based off demonic cultivation to which he was known for creating.  He began pulling down all the talismans that were hanging around the room and piled them at the center of the array.  The room was very bare most of the furniture was broken aside from the small table and a bed pallet in the corner of the room.  Everything had been pushed to the side to make room for the array since the room was so small.  He searched through the small pile of items on the bed hoping to find something useful.  Tins of old makeup, a comb with a few missing teeth, and a small bag with a long strap is about all he had found.  The makeup he would leave, he had no desire to look like he did when he woke up, and he didn’t know how to use it anyways.  But the comb he’d need later to sort out this rat’s nest on his head.  He took the comb and the journal from his sleeve and placed it into the small crossbody bag.  Moving the mattress to the side, he could smell the mold growing in the hay it was stuffed with.  No wonder this woman hated this family, even as a servant in the Jiang sect he had been afforded a proper bed and food.  As he was moving the mattress to the side something rolled out from underneath. 

 He picked up the long object and smirked.  It was a dizi, the color was a dull brown and had a long hairline crack down the middle, but it would still play.  He had originally mastered the dizi in his first life, because he’d hoped to join his fuddy duddy in the Lan clan, which specialized in musical cultivation.  But after losing his core that was a dream long gone.  But he used those skills to learn to control demonic cultivation, the control he needed to survive the burial mounds.  He placed the dizi into the bag, even though it stuck out at the top.  He didn’t have a belt to tuck it into currently.

He went back to the pile of talismans and other papers he had thrown into the array. Drawing some sigils in the air he sent the spell towards the papers and watched them incinerate. Most spells used talisman paper to be effective, but there were some basic ones that all cultivators needed the skill to use without using the paper. Being able to light a fire while on a night hunt was paramount.  He had thought about burning down the entire shack, but if he was going to play the “I’m crazy because they abused me” card to get away with killing them then he’d need proof of his living conditions.  He went back outside to the rain barrel and grabbed the bucket of water he had used to clean earlier.  After the fire had burnt away the talismans, he extinguished the fire with the water and used a cloth from the mattress to rub the water around to wipe away the blood from the array the best he could.  He didn’t need the blood to be gone, but the array needed to not be legible.   By the time he finished these tasks the sun was beginning to set.

Wei Wuxian threw the bag across his body and left the room heading back towards the main buildings of the village.  He had passed by an outdoor kitchen area where some women had been cutting vegetables.  After the ladies had left, he had hoped he’d be able to get some food, but the ladies hadn’t left any scraps behind.  He was able to find a small kitchen knife however, which could come in handy since he had not found a sword in the room earlier.   As he was nearing a courtyard at the west end of the village, he saw the Lan cultivators setting up something he found highly ironic.

‘Black wind flags?  The cultivation world villainizes me, but they can use my inventions after I’m dead and gone?  Even the ones I used demonic cultivation to create.  Hypocrites.  But these juniors probably don’t know that since they are too young to know who invented them.’

Wei Wuxian came to one of the corner flags that had already been placed and left behind and took it down.  Just because he doesn’t like them using his inventions, doesn’t mean he is going to let Lan Zhan’s son/nephew get hurt because someone drew them wrong.  The flags were decently drawn, not as good as his obviously, but good enough.

“Hey you!  Put that back!”  It was the same Lan that had tried to help him earlier.  The man tried to snatch the flag from Wei Wuxian’s hands, but he refused to let go.  Time to play the madwoman.

“No! It’s mine I want it!” he pulled back.

“It is dangerous you nut!  You could get hurt if you carry that around!”

“It’s pretty!  Don’t you think it makes my dress look nice!  I can add it here!”  he replied, holding the flag up to his breasts.

“Give it back you shameless woman!”  Lan Jingyi tried to grab the flag again.

“Ah!! You tried to touch my breast!”  Wei wuxian exclaimed smacking Lan Jingyi’s hand away.

“Lan Jingyi, leave it.”  Wei Wuxian’s attention was immediately brought to the man who was Lan Zhan’s potential son/nephew.

“But Sizhui! You know how dangerous it is!”

Lan Sizhui, such a beautiful name.  He bet Lan Zhan was the one who picked it out.  Now that the man had come closer and he wasn’t having to pretend to sob, he could pick out features in the young man’s face that looked so much like his Lan Zhan when he was younger.  His nose, his stern gaze, even the color of the eyes was similar.  Not the same light amber, but close.  But he was different as well.  While Lan Zhan always held a emotionless expression, this Lan Sizhui was more expressive.  Hopefully Lan Zhan hadn’t raised him in the same strict environment he grew up with.

“Young madam, Lan Jingyi is correct.  This flag is designed to attract evil spirits and it is not safe to keep on your person.  So, while it does look nice with your dress, it would be better to find something different don’t you think?” he asked gently.

Wei Wuxian was having difficulties holding back the burning of tears he felt at this moment.  His heart ached. “Take it then!”  He threw the flag at the face that reminded him so much of his love.  “I don’t want it!”  And he ran away.

v v v

“Jingyi, look at me.”  Lan Sizhui tugged on the other man’s sleeve.  Lan Jingyi was pouting and Sizhui thought it was adorable.  Lan Jingyi looked at him after a few more tugs on his sleeve.  “I know you meant well, but you have to remember to be respectful Jingyi.”

Lan Jingyi rolled his eyes.  If it were anyone else, he’d show more restraint, but Lan Sizhui was his best friend since they were small.  “I know, I know” he huffed.  “She is just so frustrating! She is so dramatic!”

Lan Sizhui gave a small smile, “She’s not the only one Jingyi.”  He picked up the flag and put it back on the pole.  All the while Lan Jingyi opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

“Let’s gather everyone and go through the plan again.”

v v v

Before the night hunt for the corpses had even started, things were going wrong.  Everyone had gathered in the meeting hall they were in earlier that afternoon.  Wei Wuxian had been drug into the hall and thrown on the floor in front of a corpse; accused of murdering the person.  One of the cuts on his arm had healed, but he knows he did not kill this person, Mo ZiYuan. How did this happen, how did this death count as him doing it?

The cultivators were shocked to see the young woman from earlier be brought in and roughly thrown to the floor.  It was clear that she was not being treated well in this village, but why?

“It was you!  You killed my baby!” Madam Mo yelled at the woman as the woman cowered and shielded herself.

“It wasn’t me!  How could it have been me!  He looks like a dried prune!  How does that even happen!?” the woman pleaded.

Lan Sizhui herded the madam to the side. “Madam Mo, it could not have been this young lady.  She is right, no human could kill a person to look this way” as he gestured to the shriveled corpse on the floor.  “This was clearly the doing of an evil spirit.”  The madam forcefully pushed Lan Sizhui away.  He tried to avoid tripping over the young lady on the floor, causing him to lose balance.  Thankfully Lan Jingyi was able to catch his arm to stabilize him.   “You were supposed to be getting rid of these evil things!  If you had done your job properly my baby wouldn’t be dead!” she yelled at him.

None of the Lans said anything in their defense as it was against their rules to talk badly about others.  But Wei Wuxian wasn’t a Lan.  He got up off the floor and stepped between the furious madam and Lan Sizhui. The madam was bigger than her, but Wei Wuxian was the Yiling -fucking -Patriarch.  And this woman was being disrespectful to Lan Zhan’s probably baby.  Hard no.

“You!” he hissed pointing his finger in her face. “Who do you think you are talking to? These cultivators come to help you.  They ask for nothing in return.  And this is how you talk to them?! Where are your manners you wretch?”  He moved closer to her, forcing her to take a step back. “You son looked to be at least 18!  He is grown!  He is not some child who didn’t know any better!”

He stooped down and started patting the man’s robes, pulling out a black cloth hidden in one of the lapels.  He threw it at her face.  “This is why your son is dead because he can’t keep his hands to himself!  They told you all to stay away from the courtyard, but clearly, he didn’t listen.  This flag is meant to attract evil!  No wonder you son was attracted to taking it because evil he was!”

The Madam was livid, being yelled at in her own home, in front of a group of Main sect disciples.  “A’Tong!” She shrieked, making some of the Lans in the room cringe.  “Remove her now!”  But nobody came as instructed.  “A’Tong! What are you waiting for?”  The man in question moved suddenly, arm stretched out as if he were going to strangle Mo Xianli. But Wei Wuxian noticed that his arm didn’t look like it should belong on the body it was attached to.  It was pale grey, deathly looking, and far too muscular in proportion to his body.  This had to be the source of the spirit. In a quick motion Wei Wuxian dodged behind Lan Jingyi, pushing the young man into the path of the hand.  In a flash of pale blue light, the arm was pushed away and separated from the man’s body. 

For a moment Lan Jingyi was furious that this woman would sacrifice him after standing up for them, but he quickly remembered the protection talismans that are sewn into the Lan sect robes. He realized that the way he was pulled in front of her put all his major body parts out of harm’s way and gave maximum exposure to the backs of his robes. He was beginning to question the claims of insanity of this woman.  Did she know?  Yes, she was supposedly a cultivator, but only those who are familiar with the Lan sect would know of these details about the uniforms.  The arm, now removed from the man’s body, had scurried out into the courtyard.

As everyone left to follow the arm, Wei Wuxian glanced at the cuts on his arm to find another was healed.  It appeared that the spirit was attracted by the Black Wind flag that he created, and therefore, in some convoluted way counted as him killing the person.  Well, if that was the way the ritual was going to interpret things he certainly wasn’t going to complain.  There were still two marks on his arm left to heal, but only one other person he could identify.  Obviously the first mark was for the son, who seemed to be the one to beat Mo Xianli and trash her rooms (and who knows what else).  The second mark for this A’Tong person, the man who oversaw the bringing of food to Mo Xianli.  One of the remaining marks was for the Madam, that vile woman.  Perhaps the last mark is for someone outside of this family.  Great.

He hurried outside only to find the disciples looking lost, searching under bushes, wandering aimlessly.  Lan Sizhui began to gather everyone to the center of the courtyard.

“Lan Boran, set the flair.  We need to call for help. Everyone, back inside quickly!” He commanded.  As everyone reentered the building, they began putting spirit repelling talismans on seemingly every surface of the walls. 

Wei Wuxian checked his arm again only to notice that there was only one mark remaining. Meaning that the Madam was already dead.

“Everyone hold out your arms!” he shouted.  He already knew where it would be, but according to others he shouldn’t.  “We need to make sure it didn’t get anybody while you were searching for it. It is likely that it is hiding on one of us since it seemed to vanish” he said.  He stepped off to the side, near the bodies, while the disciples were checking everyone.  Let them solve the mystery, but he will step in if needed.   While they had checked all the disciples in the room, they had failed to check any of the family members.  Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes.  The little Lans were so talented, if only they’d use their noggins to actually think sometimes. 

“What if the arm had come back into the building while you were searching for it?” he mentioned arching an eyebrow.  When the disciples realized what he meant, they turned to check the family that had remained in the building earlier, only for Madam Mo to start attacking indiscriminately.  A couple of the disciples threw enchanted ropes to try and contain her but went flying as she ripped the ropes from her body with inhuman strength. Seeing that there was so little room to fight Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi began to lead the spirit back out into the courtyard, drawing their swords along the way.  The boys were putting up a good fight but were tiring quickly.  Wei Wuxian decided that it was time he stepped in.  He could try to control the arm with his dizi as it was highly resentful, but he didn’t want to give his identity away.  But corpses…those were supposed to already be around.  He looked at the two corpses on the floor and clapped his hands twice.

“Get to work”

The corpses reanimated and stood waiting for further command.  “See the arm on the Madam?  Go get it.”

The corpses and the Madam began fighting while the disciples would get in a hit where they could.  Some of the disciples began attacking the corpses fighting against the madam and Wei Wuxian face palmed.

‘Can’t you see that those corpses are helping you?!  Why are you fighting them?!’

Clearly, he wasn’t going to be able to stand aside much longer or all these little Lans would become corpses themselves.  He removed the tattered dizi from his bag and stepped out into the courtyard.

Lan Sizhui hoped that Hanguang-jun would arrive soon, he did not know how much longer they could hold off this corpse arm.  It was highly ferocious, and he was not skilled enough to fight with his guqin yet.  He needed a chance to play Rest, Cleansing, something to give the others a chance to subdue it but he couldn’t catch a break.  Suddenly he shuddered to a stop, hearing a tune that only him and one other person knew.  But this was being played on a dizi, a tune he’d only heard during his childhood on the guqin to calm him when he was sick or to help him sleep.  His head snapped towards the sound of the dizi only to find Mo Xianli playing with a deep focus.  He started walking towards her.  He wanted to demand how she knew this song.  Make her stop playing it.  This song was for family.  Not her.  Before he could reach her, he heard the familiar attack of a guqin from the rooftops.  Relief, he was here, and everything would be okay.

“Hanguang-jun!”

“Baba!”

“Lan Zhan”

At that moment, Wei Wuxian caught two pairs of eyes snap to him while he realized two things.

That was Lan Zhan’s son.

And, they both had heard him.

Then everything went black.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

This was not how things were supposed to go.

This was the first solo night hunt that his Lan Sizhui was to be leading.  He was not supposed to be seeing the Lan distress signal illuminating the night sky.  Letting Sizhui go off on his own hunt was difficult enough, letting his last piece of Wei Ying out of his sight.  But Sizhui was 19 years old now and he had to let him go.  Lan Wangji had already been fighting wars at that age.

While racing to reach his son, Lan Wangji ran through all the possible tragedies that could have happened to cause someone to release the signal.  All the different ways his child could have been hurt or killed.  He already lost the man he loved; he could not lose his child too.  But, of all the things he imagined, hearing their song had not been one of them.  Seeing a woman that looked exactly like Wei Ying was not one of them either.  Hearing his birth name, a name that only one person besides his mother had ever called him, lit a fire in his heart that had long gone out.

“Lan Zhan”

Next to his precious son, stood his love.  A love he had thought long lost, dead in every meaning of the word.  He looked so different but so much the same.  There was a look of longing on the woman’s face that Lan Wangji felt pulling deep in his soul. However, the moment was brief, for his love collapsed into his son’s arms.

He quickly used the chord assassination of his guqin to subdue the arm and remaining corpses to keep his juniors from getting hurt.  Coming down from the roof he tossed Lan Jingyi a warded qiankun pouch.  “Contain the arm, quickly.”

He rushed to his son and knelt, carefully taking the woman into his arms. “Are you alright A’Yuan? What happened?” he asked in a choked voice.

“I’m alright Baba. There was a ferocious arm and it killed the main family here.  The corpses we were sent to find weren’t here” he said quickly.  Lan Sizhui looked around to make sure no one was near, “Baba, this woman played our song. I thought you said that only our family knew this song, me and you!  And how does she know your name?!” Sizhui whispered quickly to not be overheard by the others.

Lan Wangji looked down at the woman in his arms and gently ran a hand down her bruised cheek.  This was his Wei Ying.  There was no possible doubt.  He had only played that song for two people in his life: his love and their child.   How he was alive…and a woman; he would have to find out later.  From the looks of it, his Wei Ying needed to be tended to quickly.

Lan Sizhui watched his father cradle Mo Xianli in his arms like she was the most precious thing in his world.  He wasn’t even sure his father had heard his questions about how she knew their song.  He watched his father run a hand down her cheek as tears ran down his own.

“Wei Ying, I’m here.” He whispered.  Now that…that was a name that Lan Sizhui knew.  Knew from hearing his father yell it out in his nightmares.  Knew from the endless times of listening to his father play inquiry.  A name he knew was the reason his father only ever wore mourning white as long as he could remember. He had never asked his father about it before, afraid to bring his father more pain.  But now he had so many more questions to ask later.

Lan Wangji stood up hoisting the woman into a bridal carry.  “Lan Jingyi” he called.  “Please bring me the qiankun pouch.  Sizhui, have the disciples set everything in order and update the villagers.  Meet at the inn when you are finished.  I need to get…her…medical attention.”

The flight to the inn felt like an eternity and complete bliss at the same time.  After 16 years, he was holding his love in his arms.

As he entered the inn, there was only the owner’s wife in the lobby as all the patrons had gone to bed.

“Oh my, dear.  Is she okay?  Do you need anything?” the older lady asked.

“Mn. Bath and broth. Thank you.”  He quickly walked up the stairs to his room that he had rented earlier in the day while waiting for the juniors and laid him down on one of the beds in the room.  He observed the body in front of him with utmost care.  He didn’t want to invade his privacy, but checked as best he could for any potentially severe injuries.  There was a deep cut on his forearm, the bruises on his face and some on the arms.  His feet were all cut up from having no shoes, but he couldn’t find any other obvious wounds.  But, with the amount of blood on the clothing, he was sure that there had to be more.  He would have to wake Wei Ying up to help check further. 

There was a knock on the door and the owner’s wife and a younger man were bringing in buckets of hot water to fill the tub.  “I’ll bring the broth up in a moment Second Master Lan” she said as she poured the water into the tub.

“Mn.” He nodded. After the workers left, he turned back to Wei Ying and brushed some of the hair out of his face.

“Wei Ying. Wake up Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian heard a voice softly calling his name.  Calling it how he had missed hearing his name so much.  He slowly opened his eyes to the most beautiful sight.  His Lan Zhan.  Those amber eyes and pale skin, those soft lips.  Best. Dream. Ever.

“Lan Zhan.  I missed your face.” He managed before starting to drift off again.

“No don’t go back to sleep Wei Ying, I need to check your injuries.”

He opened his eyes again to see the slightest eyebrow furrow on his Lan Zhan.  He was still here?

“Mn I dreaming? You look so serious” he slurred.

Lan Wangji huffed.  “No, you aren’t dreaming.”

Wei Wuxian started to panic.  The last time he and Lan Zhan had seen each other they were not on good terms.  Lan Zhan had kept asking him to return to Gusu with him to serve punishment for his crimes.  He was going to be locked up.  He quickly sat up and scooted farther away from the man.

“Please, Lan Zhan, I’m sorry.  Please don’t be mad!  I can’t go to Gusu!  I didn’t steal this body I swear!  They did a soul summoning; I didn’t take it! I’ve already been punished enough.  I’ll leave you alone, I swear.  I’ll go far away.  I’ll go into hiding. Please I can’t handle being locked up!”

Lan Wangji was not expecting this reaction.  The fear in his Wei Ying’s eyes and quick breathing.  What was going on?  The last time they had seen each other before Wei Ying died, they had just confessed their love for each other and Lan Wangji had told him the meaning of the forehead ribbon; the meaning of what happened in the cold pond cave.

“Wei Ying, what is the last thing you remember from before?”

Wei Ying looked confused but calmed down as he thought.  “At Nightless City, you asked me to come back to Gusu.  That the demonic cultivation had changed me.  You wanted to punish me!”

‘Ah, that explains it.   He was so consumed with resentful energy at Nightless City he doesn’t remember what happened afterwards.  But if he wasn’t in his right mind when I confessed, did he really mean it when he told me he loved me in return?’   This thought caused his heart to ache at the possibility.

“Not for punishment Wei Ying.  For healing, for protection.”  He would keep his feelings to himself for now. Maybe he would remember over time.

Well, this was sure news to Wei Wuxian.  Healing?  Protection?  His Lan Zhan had been trying to take him back to Gusu for the last year or so of his life.  Had he misunderstood that whole time?

“You don’t hate me?”

The hope in his tone make Lan Wangji want to keen like a hurt puppy.  He knew is habitual lack of words caused some misunderstandings in their youth, but for Wei Ying to think he hated him?  He would have to do better.  He had gotten better over the years at speaking his thoughts after raising their A’Yuan, but only with him.  If he couldn’t get his words across to Wei Ying properly, then he’d have to make sure he showed him that he was cared for.

“Ridiculous.” He shook his head.  “I’ve never hated you, Wei Ying.”

There in that moment Wei Wuxian felt a weight lift off his heart.  This whole time he thought Lan Zhan had hated him after he turned to demonic cultivation.  And now he couldn’t help to smile, so big it was painful in all the best ways.  He still had his fuddy duddy.  His best friend.  His Lan Zhan.

“There is a bath ready.  You should clean up so we can bandage any injuries that need it.”  Lan Wangji held out a hand to help Wei Ying off the bed and led him behind the screen to the tub.  He pulled various soaps and oils from a qiankun pouch along with a pair of sleeping robes.

“Thank you, Lan Zhan.” He said quietly.

“Mn. I’ll go prepare some bandages for when you finish.”

Wei Ying was excited to be clean…but he realized that to do that he would have to become naked.  He felt perverted that he would be looking and touching a body that used to be someone else’s.  That his body was no longer even the same gender that it once was.  He didn’t realize that he had been staring at the tub long enough for Lan Zhan to notice that he hadn’t started bathing yet.

“Wei Ying?  Do you need my help?”

“No! NOpe. I’m good!” Wei Ying squawked out.  “I can do this” he said to himself.  Slowly he took down his hair and peeled of the clothing he was wearing, throwing everything to the outside of the screen as he took off each item.  Without looking at himself he sank down into the water until only his nose and eyes could be seen.  This was fine.  Everything was fine.  After a few moments Wei Ying let out a sigh, blowing bubbles in the water.  He sat up and took the soap and mentally prepared himself. 

‘It is your body now Wei Ying.  You can do this.  You are stuck with it so you might as well take care of it.’

He wet the soap and started with his arms.  He was careful to clean around the last cut that was on his arm and spent far too long trying to remove the blood and dirt from under his fingernails.  There were a few freckles here and there, bruises in the shapes of handprints on his arms.  He then moved to his feet which were covered in small cuts; ‘tiny feet…at least my toes are cute.’  He continued gently scrubbing the dried blood from his body, finally becoming soft from soaking in the hot water. 

“Ouch!” he hissed as he brushed the soap over his right thigh. Here he could see a long cut over the top of his thigh.  This was probably the cut where Mo Xianli had gotten much of the blood for the array.  He was sure there was probably another somewhere, but as his whole body hurt it could be anywhere.  He had tried to avoid cleaning any area that would be…well, new, and save it for last.  He took a deep breath and moved the soap bar to his chest.  He wasn’t ready to look yet so he closed his eyes.  His breasts, not something that he ever had experience with, were much softer than the pecs he had as a man. They easily filled his hands as he felt around his new body.  Not terrible.  At least they weren’t massive and maybe he could hide them. He continued to wash his abdomen where he found another wound on his side.  It wasn’t as deep, but it certainly stung after washing the crusted blood off.  Finally, the part he was dreading the most.  He had seen many spring books featuring women before Nie Huaisang figured out that he preferred a more…cutsleeve variety. Was there some proper way to clean this thing?  Outside?  Inside?  Soap?  Would something happen if he touched it like when he’d rub his manhood before?  Best to just do it quick.  He wished his Shijie or Qing jie were still around to help him out with this.  Women were so complicated!  Ok, he could do this.  Soap, check. Breathe, check………

Lan Wangji had always thought he was one of those people that just didn’t have attraction to anyone.  Then Wei Ying walked into his life when they were 15.  After falling head over heels in love with the boy he had decided that he was very firmly, a cutsleeve.  He still considered himself a cutsleeve after Wei Ying had died even though he was never attracted to another man in that time; Lans only love once after all.  But now, Lan Wangji knows that he is in fact, Wei Ying centric.  Only Wei Ying.  Because right now, Wei Ying is in a woman’s body, and naked, just on the other side of the privacy screen.  He is pretty sure, that if Wei Ying had come back as a radish…that he would be just as sexually frustrated as he is at this moment.  Clearly the change in body or gender does not the affect the amount of desire Lan Wangji has for this man.  If Wei Ying had remembered their confessions in that god forsaken cave, Lan Wangji would have already laid claim to that body and soul the second Wei Ying threw the clothes over the privacy screen to land at his feet.  Basically announcing ‘Hey!  The love of your life is naked right on the other side of this thin sheet of rice paper!’ Shameless. 

Wei Ying may not be ready for him yet, but Lan Wangji was going to woo him if it is the last thing he does.  But for now…he needed to meditate is problems away.

Lan Wangji came out of his meditation at the quiet call of his name.  This was concerning, because the only other person in the room with him was Wei Ying.  Wei Ying was never quiet.  He opened his eyes to see his Wei Ying peeking out from around the room divider.

“Wei Ying?”

“Ah, Lan Zhan” he said, rubbing his nose.  “I’m done bathing, but I need help with my hair.  I…I can’t wash it by myself.”

“Will help Wei Ying.”  Lan Wangji stood up and paused at the edge of the screen.  “Are you…decent?” he asked hesitantly.

“OH! Yes, yes.  I put on the robes you left out.”

Lan Wangji breathed a sigh of relief before walking around the partition only to lose his breath a moment after.  Wei Ying was standing there shyly in Lan Wangji’s sleeping robes.  His clothes.  When Wei Ying was in his original body this would have been just as a delight to see, but the clothes would have also been a close fit.  But now, in this new body, Wei Ying was consumed by them.  The bottom hem was trailing the ground like a dress train, and even though the robes were tied to their tightest size they were still barely hanging onto his body’s shoulders.  Wei Ying began to flap his arms.

“I like the sleeves! Normally I don’t like the big flowy sleeves like you wear, but for night clothes I think they’re fun!”

Lan Wangji let out the breath he was holding.  This cluelessly seductive little sprite was going to be the end of him.  “Sit on the stool with your back to the tub.  I’ll help you.”

Wei Ying did as he was told while keeping a curious gaze on Lan Zhan.  He watched as Lan Wangji turned away from him and began to remove his outermost robe so the sleeves would not get wet.  ‘Lans and their flowy sleeves, hah’ he thought.  He thought he saw a flash of red, but it was gone so quickly he thought it must have been his imagination.  Lans don’t wear anything besides whites and blues.  Lan Wangji picked up the towel that Wei Ying had used to dry off with and folded it before placing it on the side of the tub.

“Lean back and put your neck on this so your clothes do not get wet, Wei Ying.”

As Wei Ying did as he was instructed, Lan Wangji kneeled beside him and used a small bowl to begin pouring water onto Wei Ying’s hair.  Wei Ying began to relax as his Lan Zhan massaged strong fingers through his hair.

“Mmmmm, that’s nice Lan Zhan” he hummed after a while.  There was a commotion that caused him to open his eyes only to find Lan Wangji frantically trying to pick up the soap and oil bottles that he had knocked over.  “Everything okay over there Lan Zhan?”

“Mn. Close eyes, will rinse.”

Wei Ying did not see the glare Lan Wangji sent him since he had closed his eyes.

‘The death of me, I swear.’

The same thought crossed his mind later in the night when he had to bandage the cuts from the ritual.

v v v

Lan Wangji normally wouldn’t have ventured into the market unless there was official business.  However, he wanted to collect some items for his Wei Ying.  Wei Ying had just come back to life and had no belongings, and to Lan Wangji, that was unacceptable.  The previous night, they had discussed very little, but Wei Ying had agreed to stay with him long enough to solve the mystery behind the arm from Mo village.  This was a relief to Lan Wangji, but also caused a worry.  What if Wei Ying wanted to leave when it was solved?  That wouldn’t do.  This is why, Lan Wangji has begun operation WWY: Woo Wei Ying.  Due to all the discord in Wei Ying’s previous life, Lan Wangji did not get the chance to properly woo his love.  But now, even though Wei Ying was still despised, the world thought him dead.  Now was the perfect time.

He had a particularly difficult time picking out new clothes for his Wei Ying.  While he wanted to get robes in the black and red style that Wei Ying usually wore, he didn’t.  Wei Ying may now be in the body of a woman, but he looked every bit of the old Wei Ying…just significantly shorter.  The last thing they needed was for someone to recognize him.  He ended up picking a navy-blue outer layer with silver floral and crane embroidery.  The under layers of white fading to silver.  All of which were in women’s styles to fit his new body.  He could have custom robes made in Gusu if Wei Ying wanted something more masculine later.  He also picked a waimao with a navy veil to hide Wei Ying’s face.

As for shoes, Lan Wangji went with navy boots.  They were going to be traveling to find the source of the arm and he wanted Wei Ying to be able to walk around comfortable.  If this involved him having to carefully measure Wei Ying’s feet with the length of his hands while Wei Ying slept?  Well, nobody needed to know.

While clothes and shoes were the necessities, Lan Wangji didn’t stop there.  He found a white qiankun bag with white rabbits sewn on it.  From a distance it looked plain, but up close the detail was fine work.  This would be easier for Wei Ying to carry than the tatty old bag he had found at Mo Village.  Currently, Lan Wangji was shopping in the local music store hoping to find a replacement dizi from the one he was using on his reawakening.  That one was damaged and once belonged to someone else.  He wanted his Wei Ying to have the best.  Unfortunately, he found nothing to his liking dizi wise.  He did find a beautiful peach colored sash designed to hold a dizi and various other things such as the qiankun bag he had bought.   He went ahead and purchased it.  It would be useful even if Wei Ying didn’t have a better dizi yet.

It was nearing lunch time and he had one other stop to make before heading back to wake Wei Ying.  While Lan Wangji, as an heir to a great sect, had to ensure that his hair was always styled perfectly, he didn’t actually know how to style women’s hair.  Men and women were kept separately in the Cloud Recesses until a woman was married.  He knew that Wei Ying had worn his hair in a ponytail in his youth, and then a very simple half down style as the Yiling Patriarch.  But, for now, they had agreed that Wei Ying should pretend to be a woman to help hide his identity.  For this, Lan Wangji headed to a store that sold hair accessories.

“Madam” he inquired to the shop keeper.  “I need to learn the basics of how to style woman’s hair.”

“Ah! Are you looking to do your wife’s hair young master?  Newly married, are you?  So sweet!” the woman spoke brightly like his Wei Ying.

Thankfully she kept talking as she led him around the shop so he wouldn’t have to lie about being newly married.  It was easier than explaining how his previous male lover now inhabited a woman’s body after all.  She handed him a small bamboo basket to hold as they walked around the store, putting in various hair pins and decorations he thought looked nice.  She said she would show him some styles based on what accessories he wanted to use.

“Ribbons?”

She led him back towards the front of the store to where they had a large selection of ribbons of many colors hanging, swaying with the morning breeze. 

He absents mindedly rubbed his thumb along the red ribbon that had been tied around his wrist for the last 16 years, only taking it off to bathe so it wouldn’t wear out.  It had been the last material possession he had of his Wei Ying besides their son.  He didn’t want to give this one back to his love, it had been a constant comfort he wasn’t sure if he was ready to let go of yet.  What if something happens to his Wei Ying again?  While the ribbons were beautiful and of good quality he wanted more for Wei Ying.

“These are very nice madam, but do you have any that have embroidery?”

The lady shook her head. “No, young master, but if it doesn’t need to be too detailed, my daughter can embroider one for you while I teach you how to style the hair if you’d like.”

“Mn, thank you.”

He looked amongst the ribbons once more and picked one that closely matched the peach color of the sash he had bought earlier in the day.  He handed it to the woman.  “Bunnies.”

v v v

Lan Sizhui had been put in charge of looking after this Mo Xianli Wei Ying, whoever woman, while his Baba went out for shopping this morning.  Shopping!  His Baba does not shop!  He said she had nightmares all night and he didn’t want her to wake up alone while he was gone.  A reasonable request.  But, Lan Sizhui only expected to have breakfast with his Baba and then they would return to the Cloud Recesses. He was not expecting to be abandoned before breakfast to babysit.  He was not shocked that the lady of the inn, whilst dropping off food, to express her concerns to his Baba about having Lan Sizhui alone with the woman.  What shocked him was his father’s response of: “Mn.  Our son” before leaving.  Not only was his father voluntarily shopping, but now he was lying as well?!  Lan Sizhui had so many questions for his Baba.

v v v

Wei Wuxian had spent most of his first night back alive reliving the depths of whatever hell he was in when he had died.  But, every time, he was awoken by his Lan Zhan and comforted.  Eventually, exhaustion had won out and he managed to stay asleep for what seemed to be a long time considering how much sunlight was now filtering through out the room.  He saw his Lan Zhan sitting at the table setting out dishes of food and brewing tea.

“Wei Ying, come eat.”

“Is it lunch time already Lan Zhan?  I thought you Lans would have left at the crack of dawn.”

“Mn. Wei Ying needed rest.”  He responded as he started placing various foods into a bowl for Wei Ying.  “We will leave for Cloud Recesses after you eat.”

“Ok ok.  I hate to ask Lan Zhan, but do you think one of the smaller juniors might lend me some clothes?  I don’t have anything to wear, and your night robe is too big.”  Wei Ying asked as he began to eat.  He was so absorbed in inhaling the food that he missed the sour look on Lan Wanji’s face at the mention of wearing one of the juniors’ clothes.

“No need.” Lan Wangji replied stiffly while nodding to a pile of clothes sitting on the other bed in the room.

“Ah perfect!  Thank you Lan Zhan!” he chirped before they continued their meal in the Lan demanded silence.

“So Lan Sizhui?” Wei Ying inquired raising a brow and slowing his eating.

“Hmm”

‘So verbose Lan Zhan!  I guess I will need to pry a little bit more.’

“He called you Baba. He seems pretty old?”

Lan Wangji stared at Wei Ying with a blank face before responding.  “Mn.  He is 19.”

“Nineteen!?  How long was I gone Lan Zhan? When did you get married? Will you wife be mad you stayed in a room with another woman?!”  Wei Ying spit out after choking on his tea.

Lan Wangji set down his teacup.  “It has been 16 years.  I got married before the war.  Wei Ying is not a woman, he is just Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian was having a small difficulty breathing.  Dead for 16 years?  Cool, he can believe that.  The fact that his Lan Zhan had been married before the war and Wei Wuxian didn’t know?!  The fact that his Lan Zhan had a child with some woman while he was still alive. Horrible. He had been in love with a married man; A married man with a child.  He was such a terrible friend.

Lan Wangji watched his beloved work through his responses, and he hoped that his Wei Ying would connect the dots correctly.  His Wei Ying was a genius after all.  But, after seeing tears roll down Wei Ying’s cheeks, he was thinking maybe not.

“Your wife” sniff “is going to be so mad” sniff “Lan Zhan!”

Lan Wangji quickly moved over to where Wei Ying was sitting and wiped away the tears that were falling.

“I don’t have a wife, Wei Ying.  My spouse died 16 years ago” he told him gently, holding his face to make sure Wei Ying caught every word. “Lan Sizhui was our adopted child.” ‘Because two men can’t make babies Wei Ying!’ he internally eyerolled.

“How did I not know you got married and had a child Lan Zhan?!  Why didn’t you tell me when I was still alive!  I died the same year as your spouse!  I should have known!  I’m such a terrible friend.  Why did I never meet them?  I thought you said you never hated me?  Why didn’t you let me meet your family? This is not how things are supposed to go Lan Zhan!”  Wei Ying cried.

Lan Wangji dropped his hands in exasperation.

‘Maybe his Wei Ying, his HUSBAND, wasn’t a genius after all.’

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Lan Jingyi already hated this stupid animal.  Hanguang-jun had instructed him to buy a donkey this morning while Lan Sizhui watched the crazy lady.  Why it had to be a donkey instead of a horse he could care less.  All he cared about was getting the donkey to move and to shut up! Surely a horse would have been easier.

The donkey had been a suspiciously easy purchase. The little old couple seemed eager to be rid of the beast due to their “old age”.  Now, Jingyi knew why. He should have known something was up when the sellers shut the door in his face after he handed over the money. It took him nearly an incense time just to get the donkey off the property and on the road! After endless pulling, being pulled, and unwanted rest stops later, Jingyi had managed to get the onery donkey back to the inn in which Hanguang-jun and the crazy lady were staying. 

Lan Jingyi sighed in relief as he saw one of his sect sisters standing watch at the front of the inn. While the Cloud Recesses still segregated genders on the grounds; he was glad that Hanguang-jun had advocated for mixing the genders on night hunts, at least. He was a pretty good campfire cook if you asked him, but Lan Xilei’s century egg congee was to die for and the girl knew her way around a sword, that was for sure. He’d be glad to have her watch his back any day.

“Lan Xilei!” Jingyi called to the female disciple waiting outside the inn. “Let Hanguang-jun know that I got the donkey, yeah?”  The disciple gave Jingyi a quick nod as she left to hurry inside the inn. Relieved that he would no longer have to look after such a troublesome burden, Jingyi tied the lead rope of the beast to the wooden rail. 

“You are out of my hands soon, stupid donkey” he muttered. He leaned against the donkey as he waited for Hanguang-jun. Jingyi was pulled from his thoughts at a tug on his hair. “What are you doing” he exclaimed as he pulled the ends of his hair from the donkey’s mouth, slobber matting the ends “gross!”

Lan Jingyi was cleaning the last bits of donkey grossness out of his hair when he heard the sliding of a door and soft footsteps heading his way.  Looking to find Hanguang-jun nearby lifted a weight off his shoulders, a particular donkey sized weight.

 “Hanguang-jun!” Jingyi bowed, “I have procured the donkey as requested, but there was only this one available in the town.” He glared at the donkey as it tried to chew on the ends of his ribbon this time and he pushed its snout away.  “I’m afraid that it is rather stubborn. It took me a full sichen just to drag it across town! No wonder the previous owners practically gave it away.”

“Mn, no matter.” Hangang-jun replied as he gently pets the donkey’s mane, pulling random cuckburs from its hair.

“Why did we need to get a donkey?  Why not a horse or just fly on our swords?  We could all have taken turns carrying the craz- khem,” he cleared his throat “Lady Mo on our swords.” Jingyi inquired.  Stealing a quick glance at Hanguang-jun to see if he had caught onto his slip up, he could swear that Hanguang-jun was sporting a small smile.

‘Hell hath frozen over! The end of the world is nigh! Is Hanguang-jun smiling?”

“Lady Mo loves donkeys.  Had one when she was a child.”

Hanguag-jun’s reply could only have one response from Lan Jingyi: ‘What. The. Fuck.’

The sound of running footsteps jarred Lan Jingyi out of his thoughts before a dark blur came careening into the detested donkey.

“Lan ZhAAAAAN! It’s true?!  Is it mine?! One of the mini Lans told me that you brought me something!”  Lady Mo was rubbing her face into the mane of Jingyi’s furry nemesis; gradually making her way to its front giving it little kisses on the snout.  Lan Jingyi scrunched his nose. ‘Gross’ he thought.

“Mn, you like donkeys. For you.” 

Lady Mo was looking at Hanguang-jun like he hung the moon, a blinding smile on her face. “Lan Zhan, you are seriously the best fuddy-duddy EVER” she giggled as went back to rubbing her face all over the donkey’s snoot.

Offended Jingyi gasped “You can’t call Hanguang-jun a fuddy-duddy!  You must show him respect Lady Mo!”

“Lan Zhan! It’s a mini fuddy -duddy!” Lady Mo gasped, turning her attention to the Lan Jingyi.  “You are right little Lan!  Lan Zhan, Lan er gege, deserves all the respect!” she said while giving a wink at Lan Jingyi.

Lady Mo turned and gave a deep bow to Hanguang-jun and then raising three fingers up marking her promise. “This lowely one thanks Hanguang-jun for his generous gifts! I promise to treat the donkey well, not eat him.  Also, many thanks for the new clothes.” As she brought her hand down, her look turned sly, “even though you left me to dress myself!  I had to ask one of the inn keeper’s daughters to assist me!  How could you leave me stranded like that!”

“Shameless!” Lan Jingyi murmured as he quickly walked away. It was too early in the morning even by Lan standards to deal with this woman.

v v v

The group left out shortly after Wei Ying was introduced to his newest muse, the dreadful donkey. The donkey really was as stubborn as Lan Jingyi described, but to Wei Ying, the donkey was precious.  One of the few memories that he had of his parents was travelling together with his Mama, Baba, and their donkey Sour Plum. Sour Plum was almost as grumpy as his new donkey!  It was wonderful! The donkey’s refusal to move so Wei Ying wouldn’t have to walk was decidedly not wonderful. At least, until one of the Lan juniors dropped a sack of apples as they were trying to cram it into a qiankun pouch. As soon as the donkey caught sight of the juicy fruits rolling on the ground, he took off at lightning speed to obtain one. Realizing the advantage of this, Hanguang-jun placed some apples into his sleeves as the donkey watched before taking the lead of the animal.  This got them on the way with the newly dubbed “Little Apple” eagerly following the ever-stoic Hanguang-jun.

The trip to Gusu would normally take about a half a day by sword.  However, walking would take about two days, much to the chagrin of the juniors. But they dared not complain.  They were personally chosen to be students of the Hanguang-jun!  To become one of Hanguang-jun’s personal disciples was the dream of many juniors and a reality for very few. Some disciples didn’t want to join in Hanguang-jun’s group because it was mixed genders. Others wanted to join but were held back by parents who didn’t approve of the change in tradition. Being a disciple of Hanguang-jun was amazing…walking for two days with a chatty lady and a grumpy donkey was not.

The first day was quite uneventful.  Wei Ying was too tired still to cause much physical mischief. However, this did not mean that Wei Ying was too tired to verbally cause mischief.  He needs to get used to listening to his now higher pitched voice, right? He was just practicing!  Lan Jingyi was his favorite little Lan to harass.  He could get the boy so riled up!  Feisty little thing, that one. Wei Ying was pretty sure this was his spirit child. So far, Lan Jingyi was up to 250 copies of the rules when they get back to recesses.  Not as much as Wei Ying was able to earn in one go during his youth, but close! 

Hanguang-jun raised his fist in a motion signaling the group to stop and quiet. He listened for the sound of water he thought that he had heard before motioning for the group to head off the road. 

“We will camp here for the night. We can use the river for cooking and refill the water skeins” Lan SiZhui directed the group after sharing a silent conversation with his father.

Juniors broke up into smaller groups quickly.  Some putting up tents, others collecting firewood. Wei Ying was amazed by the efficiency of these juniors. “Lan Zhan! You’ve got them trained so well!” he praised.

“Mn.”

Wei Ying slowly slid down the side of the donkey, wincing as he landed. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan! I’ll start catching us some dinner, okay? This poor body of mine needs some protein, something more than vegetables you Lan like to eat.  Don’t worry, I’ll catch enough to share though.”

“Mn. Lan Xilei and Liu Bowen will accompany you. Will fill the skeins while you fish.”

The two disciples followed Lady Mo down to the river a short distance away. Liu Bowen cleared his throat before speaking, “Lady Mo, I’m afraid we do not have fishing gear to catch fish, but perhaps we can weave a trap if there are reeds nearby the water?”

Lady Mo gave the disciples a blinding smile. “Aiyah!  No need, no need!  Have you never caught fish with your hands before?” The disciples shook their heads before Lady Mo continued.  “Worry not my little minnows!  I’ll show you exactly how to do it!  You’ll never be hungry if you can catch your own food!”

Letting Wei Ying out of his sight was nerve wracking, but he wouldn’t be his father and keep his love trapped. He had been picking the best blankets from his qiankun pouch for his Wei Ying to sleep with when he heard frantic calls of his name. Worried that something had already happened to his Wei Ying he wasted no time in meeting the juniors he had sent off to assist.

“Hanguang-Jun!”

“You’ve got to stop her!” Lan Xilei demanded, slightly panicked. “It’s not right!”

“She-she-she” the young boy stuttered, unable to continue.  His eyes wide and frantically pointing in the direction of the river.

“Show me.” Lan Wangji urged as Liu Bowen let out a squeak of despair at the request.

“Lan Xilei” Liu Bowen pleaded. She nodded firmly and took a deep breath before leading Lan Wangji to the river.

Lan Wangji didn’t know what he was going to find.  At first, he thought that something terrible happened to his Wei Ying, but based off the junior’s reactions, it seems that it is more something Wei Ying did rather than had done to him. Knowing Wei Ying, this conclusion did not lessen his worries.

Lan Wangji had expected that perhaps Wei Ying had played a prank that had upset the juniors, or they did not agree with the methods he used when catching the fish.  While they do eat fish on occasion away from cloud recesses, it is usually in a restaurant where it comes already prepared.  So, he thought maybe they were upset about the way Wei Ying would have to kill and prepare the fish. He did NOT expect what he found.

Lan Xilei stopped just before the bend of the river and shielded her eyes while pointing “That way!”  Lan Wangji turned the corner and stopped in his tracks covering his eyes as well.

“Lady Mo” he called, knowing that Lan Xilei was close by. “What are you doing?!”

Wei Ying looked up as he heard his Lan Zhan call. Lan Zhan was at the edge of the water with his eyes covered with one hand, ears and neck turning a curious shade of red. “Lan Zhan!  Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong?! Wei Ying you are standing half naked in a river like a drowned rat!  Your white underclothes are now see-through!  I just got an eyeful of Wei Ying’s most personal parts, and he asks me ‘WhAt’S WrOnG LaN zHan?!’’

Wei Ying continued to watch Lan Zhan as he began taking off his outer robe with his eyes pinched shut. “Whooaaaa Lan Zhan, what are you doing?!”

“Have you looked at your self Lady Mo?” he hissed.

Wei Ying looked down at his clothes.  He had stripped down to his under robes and pulled up his trousers just like he normally would to fish, and the splashing of the fish had ensured that he got plenty wet. Pretty normal if you ask him! He expected what he would have normally seen in his last life, what he did not expect to see is a very clear picture of his now breasts showing through his soaked robes.  His pants were in no better of condition, he was essentially naked!

He quickly wrapped his arms around his chest as he whined “Lan Zhaaaaan! Help me! What am I supposed to do?!  You can see my BOOBS! This is not how this was supposed to go, Lan Zhan!”

‘You can see a lot more than that Wei Ying’ thought Lan Wangji as he held out his outer robe for Wei Ying to take.

“Please take it Lady Mo”

Wei Ying took the robe to cover himself. “This wouldn’t have happened if I was in a man’s body Lan Zhan!”

v v v

As the group rounded a corner of the mountains, the end of the stairs came into sight. Just as when Wei Ying attended the classes in the Cloud Recesses during his youth, the stone arch surrounding the entryway to the sect was guarded by two Lan disciples.  ‘Ha!  Try to deny me entry boys, I’ve got Hanguang-jun as my personal invitation this time!’ he thought.

As soon as the guards saw the party, they quickly sent a message off in the shape of a small cloud.  Wei Ying raised an eyebrow at Lan Zhan to explain why the Lans were using a knock-off of the Jin messenger butterfly. “They are alerting Zewu-jun of my return. All the sects prioritized a form of quick message after the war.”

While Wei Ying was itching to get his hands on this new talisman, he was instantly distracted by his Lan Zhan referring to his brother by his title rather than by his usual ‘Xiongxiang’.  As they were almost at the entry, he decided to let it slide for now.

Zewu-jun reached the gate at the same time as the group of juniors. Wei Ying wondered if he had been waiting nearby, or if he had broken the ‘no running’ rule.  He looked remarkably the same as he had the last time Wei Ying had seen him, complete with his trademark soft smile and not a hair out of place.  The juniors bowed to their sect leader as Lan Zhan helped him down from the newly dubbed “Little Apple”.  He was glad that Lan Zhan gave him this assistance as he was still terribly sore from the mistreatment that Mo Xianli had be subjected to.  And, he had his part to play as the demure damsel in distress!

“Ah, Wangji, didi.  I’m glad to see you back so much sooner than I had expected” Zewujun remarked as he cast a curious glance at the woman accompanying his brother.  Wei Ying as a woman, barely reached Lan Wangji’s shoulders, and while his face looked almost identical to the one of his past body, he wore a weimao. 

“And who is our guest that you have brought Wangji?”

Lan Wangji and his brother had become distant from each other after the death of Wei Ying.  Not for Lan Xichen’s lack of trying.  Lan Wangji just was not willing to forgive his brother.  His brother did not support him.  He believed his sworn brother over him.  So many innocents died because Lan Xichen was more concerned about keeping the peace than protecting innocents.  Lan Wangji no longer respected his brother.  He tolerated him as sect leader, even though he didn’t think that he was good at the position, but they were not close like most still thought them to be.

Wei Wuxian stepped forward, drawing the sect leader’s attention.

“This one is Mo Xianli, Sect Leader” Wei Ying said as he bowed more like a cultivator than a lady. 

Lan Xichen gave the woman a cursory glance, “Well met, Lady Mo” he said, giving her a small bow before turning back to his brother. “Wangji, what is the reason for Lady Mo to be visiting with us?  I assumed the matter at Mo Village was handled?”

Sizhui stepped next to Lan Wangji and bowed, “Zewujun, the night hunt in Mo Village was not what it was reported to be.  Instead of corpses, there was a highly resentful spirit.  We need the Mingshi to investigate further.”

Lan Xichen tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement and smiled gently at the boy.  “Thank you, Lan Sizhui, I look forward to reading all the details of the report later.  I know I can expect a very detailed experience report from you and your group mates as usual.”  He looked at Wangji, “however, I don’t believe we would have had to trouble lady Mo to travel all the way here?  But we are of course happy to provide accommodations to you lady Mo, until the situation is resolved.” 

Lan Wangji looked sternly at his older brother, “No need.  She will stay at the Jingshi.”

Gasps were heard from the juniors behind him as Lan Xichen’s eyes went wide for a spilt second before schooling his face.

“Wangji, we need to think about Lady Mo’s reputation!  We have plenty of other more acceptable spaces to accommodate her, no need for her to stay in the Jingshi.” His smile turning a bit more strained than usual.

Wangji’s stern look immediately turned into a cold glare.

“She is my wife, the Jingshi is the only acceptable place for her to stay.  Please step aside Sect leader, my wife needs rest.” Lan Wangji flicked his sleeve as he grabbed the lead to the donkey and offered his other arm to the lady, his supposed wife.  Ignoring the whispers and shocked faces of the juniors he led them both inside.

v v v

Wei Wuxian’s mind was reeling.  Married.  His Lan Zhan had been so confident in that statement. His Lan Zhan wouldn’t lie, but he was pretty sure they had not married on the way to Gusu…right? Definitely not.  He had questions when they got to the Jingshi.

Lan Wangji continued to lead his husband through the Cloud Recesses to the residential area of the inner clan members.  Tucked away into the woods was a small house surrounded by a bamboo fence. The fence had been woven as if to ensure there were no large gaps for small things to slip through.  As they opened the gate to the fence Wei Ying couldn’t help but double over laughing.  The house was surrounded by little bouncing balls of fluff.  Bunnies.  His Lan Zhan had a horde of bunnies!  Or was it an army of fluffles?

“Lan Zhaaaaaan!” he squealed in delight, “I thought pets were forbidden in the Cloud Recesses?!”

“Mn, are.”

Wei Ying noticed his Lan Zhan seemed to have run out of words from his interactions at the gate earlier.  He would need to elaborate.  “Then how has the great Hanguang-jun gotten away with hiding all of these precious bunny pets in his home?”

“Not pets.”

Wei Ying scoffed, “then what are they?  Your children?”

Lan Zhan raised a single eyebrow at Wei Ying.  “Emotional Support Bunnies.  Medicinal.”

Wei Ying let his jaw go slack.  Speechless.  Was that a smug look on his Lan Zhan’s face? Lan Wangji led Little Apple further into the yard and removed his lead, hanging it on a nearby tree before opening the door to the Jingshi. He invited his husband in with a gesture of his hand before moving to make tea. The Jingshi was clean and sported a minimalistic design. While it did not contain many personal effects, the craftmanship of the woodworking was highly detailed. Scrolling clouds and bamboo was worked into the door frames and various furniture pieces, clearly crafted to go together.

Wei Ying was still flabbergasted about the emotional support bunnies. When did his Lan Zhan start making jokes? Surely, he was joking, right? Emotional support bunnies would mean that Lan Zhan was sad.  Wei Ying rubbed his nose while he watched Lan Zhan solemnly brew tea for them. ‘Ah!  Of course, Lan Zhan was sad!  His wife died!  He had to raise their child alone.’  Wei Ying would be devastated if anything happened to Lan Zhan.

“Hey Lan Zhan?”  Lan Wangji looked at Wei Ying as he placed the tea pot back on the table.

“Mn?”

“Why did you tell Zewu-jun that we are married?  Isn’t that disrespectful to your wife?” he asked quietly, like someone could be listening in.

Lan Wangji paused in drinking his tea. “No.  Why would it be?”

“Well,” he hesitated, “because she died?  And now you are falsely claiming another as your spouse?”

Lan Wangji sighed and sat his cup down. “I do not lie, Wei Ying, you know that.”  He got up and procured a bowl of nuts, placing it in front of a contemplating Wei Ying.

“Wei Ying needs to eat more.”

Wei Ying absent mindedly began to eat the nuts. ‘He was married; he told me he was.  He has a child. Adopeted but still his child with his wife none-the-less.  But he said he did not lie when he said I was his wife to Zewujun.’

“Lan Zhan…”

“Mn?”

“Ok, so you don’t lie.” Lan Wangji gave him a nod in confirmation.  “You child is adopted.” Another nod. “You got married before the war to some woman that you never introduced me to.”

“Mn.”

“Mn? Mn? What does that mean Lan Zhan? Mn Yes? Mn No?” Wei Ying asked exasperated.

“Married before the war, but not to ‘some woman’ as you say”

“You married Mianmian didn’t you?!” Wei Ying shouted as he stood up on his knees, pointing accusingly at Lan Wangji.

Lan Wangji just wanted to bash his head into the table. ‘Why is he always bringing up Luo guniang?!’ he thought. Instead, he sent a judgmental look at his Wei Ying.

“Luo guniang still lives. And I did not marry a woman, Wei Ying.”  Lan Wangji reached for the tea to pour them each another cup.

“You…you…”

“Mn.”

“You are a cutsleeve?!  How did I not know of this Lan Zhan!  I can’t believe this.” Wei Ying was breathing heavily, burying his face in his now small hands.

“Mn.”

“You are back to MNing again!  What does that mean?!”

“Mn. Is this an issue?”

“What? No!  How could it be when I have been a cutsleeve my whole life!  I don’t know if I still am because, you know,” he gestured wildly to his whole body, “this!” Groaning into his hands ‘It’s not like I had a chance anyways due to my status as a son of a servant and demonic grandmaster extraordinaire but still!’

When Wei Ying finally raised his face, Lan Wangji was looking at him with a furrow between his eyes while running his forehead ribbon between his fingers.

“Wei Ying, what do you remember about the Lan ribbons?” he asked.

Wei Ying thought for a moment, running his thumbs over the rim of his teacup. “They are a reminder to always follow the rules with restraint?”

“And…?” Lan Zhan gently encouraged.

“Aiyah Lan Zhan, you know my memory is terrible!”

Lan Zhang sighed shaking his head a little in resignation. “They can only be touched by parents, children and spouses, Wei Ying.”

“But Lan Zhan!  I’ve touched your ribbon So. Many. Times.” He whispered out in shock as he covered his mouth as if to stop himself from talking.

“Mn.”

“Lan Zh-”

“And to tie one around one’s wrist is a traditional marriage rite of the Lan, followed by bowing to the ancestors.”

Wei Wuxian’s mouth was gaping like a koi fish, eyes wide as he put his thoughts together. “Cold… Cold cave!” he spouted eventually.

“Mn.  Married Wei Ying in the Cold Pond cave.”

This is not now things were supposed to go! He thought as his breathing became harsher.  Yes, he wanted to be married to Lan Zhan but duping him into marriage due to extenuating circumstances was not how he wanted it to happen!  What happened to Lan’s only loving once?  He took Lan Wangji’s chance at marrying for love away; how could he do such a thing?

A tear ran down Wei Ying’s nose “I took away your chance to marry for love Lan Zhan” he whispered defeated.

Panicking at Wei Ying’s response, Lan Wangji rushed to his Wei Ying’s side, wiping at the tears on his husband’s face. “No. No Wei Ying.  I got to marry my Zhiji. It is my regret that I did not tell you sooner.  I knew that you did not know what we had done, I was not going to hold you to the marriage, but I was greedy Wei Ying.” At Wei Ying’s look of confusion, Lan Wangji pulled more words determined to not let any further misconceptions occur.  “I-I was happy to be married to my Zhiji. I did not want the marriage to get dissolved, even if it was a marriage for just me.  I wouldn’t have stopped you if you desired to marry someone else, but to me you will always be my husband, Wei Ying.”

“You were going to be happy being a hidden husband while I go off and commit adultery and not even know Lan Zhan?  You deserve better than that!  How could you even think that was okay for you? You are my Zhiji too, Lan Zhan, and I will not have you be some side chick.”

Lan Wangji pulled Wei Ying into a bone crushing hug, whispering in his ear “Wei Ying wants to be married to me?”

“Who wouldn’t want to be married to you Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying laughed wetly as he wiped his tears and snot on Lan Wangji’s robes.

Lan Wangji let out a relieved sigh as he took in the fragrant smell of Wei Ying’s hair.  His husband was finally, finally on the same page.  They released each other from the hug but gently clasped hands instead.

Wei Ying was relieved to know that he hadn’t been crushing on a married man, but on his husband.  However, his Lan Zhan was a cutsleeve!  And while he may have been a man when Lan Wangji married him, he certainly was not in a man’s body now. He would happily honor the marriage between him and Lan Zhan, but it couldn’t be a true marriage anymore.  Not with him being a woman now and all.  The thought made his heart ache.  To be with the man you love but not actually get to be with him.  At least he still has him in his life, Lan Zhan wasn’t just going to leave. Even if his Lan Zhan wouldn’t be in love with his womanly form, they were still Zhiji, just the non-romantic variety he guessed.  Wei Ying tucked the hurt away to worry about another day.

“So, I’m the wife you were talking about?” Wei Ying asked teasingly.

“Wei Ying is Wei Ying. Husband or wife, doesn’t matter.”

Pleased, Wei Ying squeezed his Lan Zhan’s hand softly. “And that means Lan Sizhui is my son too?”

“Yes Mn.”

‘That snarky man, clarifying his Mn before I get to complain!  Who knew Lan Zhan could be like this!’

A quiet knock interrupted the conversation. Lan Wangji opened the door to find Lan Sizhui waiting.

“Hanguang-jun” he bowed, “Lan Xiansheng said that he has readied the Mingshi for the arm when you are ready.”

“Mn.  We will be there shortly.”  Lan Sizhui responded with his own “Mn” and left, quickly walking back towards a dark tower on the horizon.

“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan! Our son is just like you! Mns and mourning clothes!”  Lan Wangji closed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.  Apparently, the Lan version of rolling their eyes Wei Ying thinks.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Wei Wuxian adjusted his weimao as they left the Jingshi shortly after Lan Sizhui.  He was a good boy, and Wei Ying wasn’t about to keep his new son waiting! Also, the faster they figured out this arm, the faster he could get rid of the last curse mark.  Lan Zhan had seen the curse mark when he helped rebandage his wounds after the fishing fiasco, but Wei Ying sure wasn’t going to worry his Lan Zhan by letting him know that Wei Ying could feel the effects of the curse. The wound wouldn’t heal until the last intended victim fell. His energy and any new injuries would be slow to regenerate, even with this body having a golden core.  However, those were problems for later Wei Ying.  Right now, Wei Ying had an arm to interrogate.

As they neared the Mingshi, Wei Ying took in the sight of the grim building.  The Cloud Recesses was generally a picture of serenity. Peaceful in the demeanor of the disciples to the white and dark wood of the buildings, the lush plant life and trickling streams.  While the centerpiece of the Lan was their expansive library, the building that caught eyes was the Mingshi in the distance.  The building was the opposite of the general structure of Cloud Recesses; a tower of dark stone and wood; a large bell poised to ring as soon as an emergency occurs at the peak.  The multiple levels of roof curved to send unwanted spirits back to whence they came. The double doors at the entrance were black and filled with silver inlaid talismans. Near the stairs of the building, Lan Sizhui and Zewu-jun waited.

“Wangji, Lady Mo” Zewu-jun bowed his head slightly as they neared the entrance. “Uncle has prepared the usual team for the investigation. Lady Mo, I was not expecting you to accompany Wangji so soon after your travels.”

“I was going to assist my husband of course!” Lady Mo stated as she returned a bow. “I may have come from a small village, but I have learned a bit about cultivation.”

Zewu-jun gave Lan Wangji a questioning look. “I’m sure my brother would have told you that women are not permitted to work in the Mingshi due to women’s higher concentration of yin energy naturally residing in their bodies. It is a safety precaution for the women, of course.”

Wei Ying didn’t think that Zewu-jun would spout a bunch of bologna on purpose, but was he really that ignorant about how yin energy worked? If anything, the abundance of yin in a woman’s body would make her more resistant to the damages of yin energy!

“I really would like to help, Zewu-jun. I think—”

“It is a sect rule Lady Mo.” Lan Xichen interrupted. Wei Ying was pretty sure that was also against the sect rules!

“A’Xian” Lan Wangji called as he gently grabbed Wei Ying’s forearm. The endearment caused Wei Ying to stop his attempt at arguing rules with Zewu-jun.  Nobody had called him A’Xian since… “Sizhui oversees monitoring the doors if something goes wrong. You could spend this time with him?” Lan Wangji suggested gently.

Well, Wei Ying certainly wasn’t going to say no to learning more about his new son!  He would be just outside if he was truly needed.

“Very well, A’Zhan.”  There.  Let Lan Zhan think on that name before they talk later.

Wei Ying made his way up the stairs where Lan Sizhui was waiting by the doors. Lan Wangji and Zewu-jun had entered the Mingshi prior, to set up the final steps for the ritual. Wei Ying bowed to Lan Sizhui. “Good morning little Lan!”

Lan Sizhui greeted Lady Mo likewise.  He wasn’t sure if his father was serious when he stated that Lady Mo was his wife.  His father would not lie about something so important, but Sizhui had never been told of it, and his father would not have left him in the dark about it either.  So, Sizhui had no clue what was going on anymore. Regardless, it was clear that his father was besotted with Lady Mo, even though he had called her by a different name previously, so he was going to treat her with the utmost respect.  If she was important to his baba, she would be important to Sizhui.

Lan Sizhui was about to respond when his uncle stepped back out of the Mingshi.

“Lady Mo” Zewu-jun stated, “Would you care to join me for some tea? I would like to welcome you as my new sister-in-law.”

Sizhui thought that his uncle would have been helping with the arm, but he had barely entered the Mingshi before he returned. “Sect Leader, are you not staying to investigate the arm?” he asked.

Zewu-jun gave him an understanding smile. “Since the resentment is so strong with the object, I have suggested that I stay on the outside in the case of an emergency.  You know that the doors do not let anyone aside from the sect leader to enter in that case.”

Lan Sizhui nodded in understanding, that made sense.  The resentment must be very strong as Zewu-jun had never made this suggestion in previous circumstances.  Someone must be able to open the door if something goes wrong so they can provide medical treatment if possible.

Lan Sizhui was brought out of his thoughts as Lady Mo called over her shoulder to him “See you later son!”

He choked on his spit ‘what?!’

v v v

Lan Wangji had not spoken to his uncle in 16 years. They still worked together on spirit assignments and things to do with the clan. They still had family dinner every third day. He did not have to speak to do those things. While his uncle was not as adept at reading his expressions as his brother once was, he did not care.  He made his point. He was angry and that was not going to change.  His uncle knows and has made his peace with it.

 They silently began putting the final touches on the new array. The room had a permanent array that they used for standard resentful beings, but extra precautions are needed with something so resentful, such as the arm.  As protocol with something so dangerous, juniors were no longer permitted to assist in a summoning such as this one. Only elders and senior disciples. This was a change that he had made himself.  He would rather the irritating elders do something productive and worthwhile with their cultivation.  This way his precious juniors were protected.  Originally, the elders would never help with tasks in the sect, using their position to sit around meditating and sticking their noses where they don’t belong. After he lost his Wei Ying, Lan Wangji started implementing changes in the sect.  He wasn’t the sect leader, but by collecting signatures of the members of the Cloud recesses, he was able to pass many of his changes through.

He prepared his guqin as the other members took their spots around the arrays.  The inner array was carved into the stones of the Mingshi, designed to keep the object containing the spirit fixed to the floor.  This was vital after hearing his Sizhui’s description of how the arm had gone on a rampage through Mo village.  He nodded towards one of the elders, Lan Hongren, to place the qiankun pouch containing the arm into the center of the array. After doing so, Lan Hongren partially unsealed the pouch and activated the array. He moved away quickly and picked up his pipa, taking up his spot at the west cardinal direction for the ritual.

The second array was intended to contain any release of resentful energy that would be too great for the first array to hold. This array would be held by elders in the four ordinal directions. At Lan Wangji’s nod, they activated the array. A dome of light blue energy covered the arm and second array. Lan Wagji was situated at the South cardinal direction. His uncle took up the north on his guqin, and a senior disciple took the east on a xiao.

Upon the xiao player’s breath, the group began to play the song of summoning. This song was designed to bring the consciousness of a spirt to the forefront. If the spirit was cooperative, they could move into inquiry to try and get the spirits last wishes.

The arm had crawled its way out of the qiankun pouch after the first array had activated. As they began playing it tried desperately to escape its confines, shreading the qiankun bag in its fury at not being able to escape. Smoke so black it seemed to absorb all light began to seep from the arm.  Lan Wangji had never seen resentment so dark before, not even during the war. Soon enough, the first array was completely blotted out with the amount of energy coming from the arm.  The arm was no longer visible, but it’s frantic movements could still be heard. Everything holding as it should, Lan Wangji gave the cue to switch to clarity.

The spirit was far too gone in resentment to just switch straight to inquiry judging from the darkness filling the array. Clarity would allow the spirit to gain focus, calming the rage, hoping to make it coherent enough to communicate. One would expect the resentful energy to begin to lighten in shade, not begin to crack the protective walls of the first array.

Lan Wangji could see the look of confusion in his uncle’s and the other’s faces.  He agreed.  It was highly unusual for clarity to make something even more aggressive. The cracks in the first array gave way, resentment flooding like a tidal wave, striking the blue of the second barrier array. The elders holding the array began to sweat but they were able to hold. The resentment was violent.  Repeatedly lashing out and coiling back up like a snake poising for the next strike. The battering of the array so forceful that he could feel tremors below his feet.

Seeing movement in his peripheral, Lan Wangji glanced over at the elder holding the barrier at the southeast ordinal. The man had was still holding, but had crumpled down to his knees, blood flowing from his qikong (seven orifices). As if sensing a weakness, the resentment began to compress and coil before the elder, with in a moment it struck out at the barrier in the single spot. Resentment came flooding out of the broken barrier, snapping the elder’s neck. Lan Wangji immediately switched to the chord assassination strike, knocking the resentment away from him. The others tried to follow suit but were far less skilled at the technique having not fought in the war. The chaos of the strikes caused the resentment to break off in all directions, filling the Mingshi, and setting off the wards that would ring the bell.

v v v

Normally, Lan Xichen would personally see to any highly resentful artifacts as sect leader.  But he was confident that Wangji and his uncle would be able to handle this spirit as they have many others before.  He wanted to take this time to investigate Wangji’s supposed ‘wife’.  There was no way his brother just up and married.  The elders had been trying to force Wangji to marry for the last 16 years, but Wangji refused and continued to wear mourning robes.  If Wangji was still wearing his mourning robes this morning, how could he actually be married to this woman?  Surely it wasn’t because he wanted to be.

He led Lady Mo to the Hanshi, the sect leader’s residence, which was quite close to the Mingshi for safety reasons.  The Hanshi was much larger than a typical residence in the Cloud Recesses as it was meant to serve as the sect leader’s residence and workplace.  The living quarters were on the second floor, while the official business section spanned the first floor. There were multiple meeting rooms, an office, a room for more intimate dinners, and a tearoom. While the limited décor reflected the Lan principles, it was clearly a space for a sect leader of the gentry.

Lan Xichen elegantly took a seat at the low table, his robes settling perfectly around him. He gestured to the seat across from him for Lady Mo to sit. He watched her as she plopped down and sat her elbows on the table and propping her chin on her hands.  She was not very lady like, but perhaps that was due to her lower station. They sat in silence, nobody moving.

Letting out a small gasp in realization “ohh” Lady Mo began to prepare tea for the two of them with the supplies that were kept at the table. As she worked, clumsily like she had never made tea before, she spoke.

“Forgive me Zewu-jun, it has been quite some time since I have had to make tea for someone so esteemed such as yourself, some would say I should stay far away from making things for others to consume” she huffed a laugh. “What would you like to know brother-in-law?” she asked as she pushed a cup of tea to Zewu-jun.

“Ah” Zewu-jun accepted the tea, grimacing as he took the first sip. Lady Mo was truly bad at brewing tea. “I was hoping to talk to you about you and my brother.”

Lady Mo nodded a couple of times, the veil of her weimao swaying with the movement. “It probably seems quite sudden to you, doesn’t it?”

“Indeed, it does Lady Mo, my brother has refused the elder’s requests to marry many times over the last 16 years.  So, it was quite shocking for my brother to claim he had married so suddenly.”

“That would make sense. But, I am not surprised that he refused to marry for the last 16 years, as he was already married at that time! A’Zhan and I have been married since before the war Zewu-jun!”

Wei Ying was internally cackling at the bug eyed look on Zewu-jun’s face.  Lans usually held on strongly to their emotions, letting very few through to show on their facial features. But at this moment Zewu-jun’s facial expressions were running a gamut of various emotions.

Lan Xichen cleared his throat. “You and Wangji married before the war? How is that even possible? He never mentioned such a thing!” he exclaimed, his voice pitching slightly higher with each statement. Was everything he had thought about Wangji being in love with Wei Wuxian false?  There was no way!  Wangji had expressed concern in his youth that he might be attracted to men.  Lady Mo was NOT a man! Surely this is something Lady Mo has concocted.

“It is so Zewu-jun.  He kept our marriage a secret for so long! I thought surely you would have figured it out when he brought home our child!” He really should have talked with Lan Zhan about details like this!  He was just winging it and doing his best to uphold the Lan values of not lying, it was kind of fun to find ways to say the truth without actually saying the truth! Maybe he could do this Lan spouse thing. His Lan Zhan would be so proud of him.

“Wangji told me that he found the child in the Burial Mounds, with the Wen remnants.  I had assumed that Wangji adopted the child only after bringing him home and that the child was a Wen.” Lan Xichen had only let his brother keep the little boy he had brought home because Wangji had threatened to leave the sect for good if they did not let him have the child. He had kept demanding that the boy was his son and that he would not be separated from him like they had been from their mother.  Lan Xichen could not lose his precious brother, so he relented. The child was quite ill and barely 3 years old at that.

Wei Wuxian’s mind was reeling from that revelation. Lan Zhan had brought Lan Sizhui back from the burial mounds? There was only one child at the burial mounds and Wei Wuxian had spent 16 years in that dark limbo of screams mourning the child he was sure that he had lost. Was it truly his little A’Yuan? Hope was building in his chest to the point of bursting. Since this is what Lan Zhan had told his brother, Wei Wuxian was going to keep the story going then.

Lady Mo sniffed and slid a handkerchief under her veil to supposedly wipe off tears or her nose.  Lan Xichen was not sure if she was genuine in her grief, but he was a bit suspicious that she would not take off the weimao. He would leave it for now.

“During the war, the doctor Wen Qing and her brother hid me from the Wens” she said quietly. “Later, after the war, the Jins didn’t even bother to check if the people they captured for the labor camps were Wens. Our little one was in that camp, being looked after by Wen Qing’s family during the war. After watching him for so long, ensuring his survival, they were family to me after that. I stayed there with them, and it was thought that I died at the siege.” And that really was the case, wasn’t it? After living with the Wens in the burial mounds, he learned that many of them were not Wen by name. Some had married in; some people had just settled in the area or were visiting friends or looking for lost loved ones. So many civilians.

“Tell me Zewu-jun, do you consider the people of Caiyi to be Lans?”  Zewu-jun did not reply. He knew how that conversation would go so he turned the conversation back on Lady Mo.

“Tell me Lady Mo, why would Wangji leave his wife and child at the burial mounds? Why not bring them to Gusu so they could be safe?” he countered.

Wei Wuxian did not answer, because why would Lan Zhan leave a wife and child in the burial mounds?

“I’ll tell you what I think, Lady Mo.” Lan Xichen said cooly. “If Wangji really did marry you all those years ago and had a child with you, then I don’t think he did it because he loved you. As far as I know, Wangji has been in love with only one person. A person who rejected him time and again.  Wangji is a cutsleeve, Lady Mo. I believe that if he married you, then he did so for an heir as he would not have a child and not marry the mother. He probably left you at the burial mounds so he could have an excuse to visit Wei Wuxian. Or perhaps, the three of you had an understanding.”

Before Wei Wuxian could even begin to sort through all the virtrol that Lan Xichen had just spewed, the loud ringing of the Mingshi bell broke through the silence of Cloud Recesses.

v v v

‘This was not how things are supposed to go!’ thought Lan Sizhui as the covered his ears at the sudden frantic ringing of the Mingshi bell. The bell only rang in the direst of circumstances as a signal for healers to immediately drop what they are doing and run to the Mingshi. The ringing of the bell was the only exception to the ‘No running in Cloud Recesses’ rule.

Lan Sizhui got his bearings and began to run to the Hanshi where his uncle was with Lady Mo.  Only the sect leader’s jade token would be able to open the doors so they could retrieve the injured (or dead) and the backup team could attempt to control the situation.

“Uncle!” he called as he neared the Hanshi.  His Uncle and Lady Mo were already running his way.

“What happened?! What is going on?!” Lady Mo shrieked.

“Ming-Mingshi!” was all he had time to say before they were all running back towards the dark building in the distance.

When Lan Xichen got to the doors of the Mingshi, he frantically tried to fit his jade token into a place carved into the door. When nothing happened, he tried again.  And again.

“Why is it not working?! This is the only way to open the door!”

“Move!” Lady Mo pushed Zewu-jun out of the way. Quickly, she began drawing a complicated talisman in the air with bright red and black spiritual energy. When she finished, the talisman floated in the air for just a moment before she slammed it forward, both hands covered in energy as she planted them on the doors and released the energy in a pulse, activating the talisman. “OPEN!”

The doors opened just wide enough for her to squeeze her small body through the opening, knocking her weimao askew, but the veil still covering her face.

Before Sizhui or Lan Xicehn could follow, the doors slammed shut, the silver inlaid talismans glowing red before turning black as the surrounding door, as if the amount of energy in Lady Mo’s talisman burned the silver straight off the door.

v v v

Wei Wuxian was sure the situation was going to be bad if the reaction from the two Lans outside had any indication. As soon as he entered the room he was hit with flashbacks from when he was first thrown into the burial mounds.  The shear amount of resentment was so suffocating it was literally staggering. Straightening his weimao, he pushed forward through the dark miasma. He could hear the clear sound of a guqin alternating between playing rest and sending out chord assassination strikes. He headed toward the guqin, his feet slipping periodically the closer he got.  Looking down, he saw puddles of blood and dismembered body parts. His feet were slipping from the blood. He covered his mouth, feeling nauseous. He had seen so much carnage during the war, but his new body hadn’t.  Apparently is delicate woman body was easily nauseated at such a sight.

As he got closer to the array, the resentful energy was swirling like a hurricane. In the center, was Lan Wangji, a beacon of light and pure spiritual energy, the eye of the storm. The resentful energy was swirling around Lan Wangji, trying to crush the brightness with in him. At his Lan Zhan’s feet, Wei Wuxian saw Lan Qiren bleeding, but still whole.

'Hanging-jun indeed' Wei Wuxian thought to himself.

The music of the Lan clan was supposed to be a trump card when it came to clearing resentful energy. Yet, this spirit appeared to become more resentful for every note played. Wei Wuxian took out his flute, still the old, cracked thing he found in Mo Xianli’s bedroom, but it would do. He lifted the flute to his mouth, slipping it under his veil, and began to play. 

The tune was haunting, not beautiful like the Lan music. The music he played during the war to control the dead was discordant and harsh to the ears, but this was different.  The tune was chilling, threating at first, but then turning somber. Wei Wuxian learned during his time in the burial mounds that resentful energy was not to be controlled like spiritual energy. It was a force that didn’t want to be told what to do.  It was resentment, built from stories of those who had suffered but no one to listen. It needed empathy and understanding.  Suggestions, choices, not demands.

The energy began to leave Lan Wangi and swarm Wei Wuxian instead. Drawn to the new presence in the room, drawn to the lure of choice instead of the demands of the Lan music. In the song it heard the player’s thoughts of justice, the willingness to determine what happened to it.  It began to swirl faster around the new player, the weimao blowing off Wei Wuxian’s head. His hair, now freed, flowing madly around his head. The energy wanted desperately to tell him something but couldn’t.  The spirit wasn’t whole, and while a spirit didn’t need to be whole to communicate with Wei Wuxian, it needed to be mostly present.  The fact that it couldn’t, meant that this poor soul was in many parts. Wei Wuxian let his intentions known, the beat of his music turning rhythmic, speaking of justice.  He will work on finding the rest of the spirit’s body so it may communicate what it needs to with him.  He will seek justice.

Being assured, the energy began to quickly funnel back into the arm inside the array, clearing the room completely.

Bright sunlight showered the room as the Mingshi doors burst open.  Wei Wuxian could barely make out the flood of Lan whites rushing in the room as his world went dark once more.