Chapter Text
Lan Xichen was falling.
Everything was happening too fast as he couldn’t seem to comprehend what was happening. The faster that he was sinking into the darkness, panic started setting in and he gritted his teeth, trying to pull out his sword, but he was completely disoriented. Even if he was falling, he still couldn’t see a thing in front of him. The light that he saw in the distance fizzled out. It almost felt like an illusion, a trick.
A trap.
Someone was trying to trick him and it worked. Lan Xichen felt stupid for falling for it in the dire need of escaping this cursed land. He didn’t even stop to think that it could’ve been a ploy to get him in trouble, hissing out as he couldn’t seem to get his limbs to listen to him. Even if it felt like he was falling for minutes, it was… too fast.
Everything was happening too fast and too slow at the same time, Lan Xichen’s heart hammering against his ribcage. Not only did the darkness get deeper, but the temperature around him was dropping. The deeper that he fell, the air became thick and cold. It was freezing, Lan Xichen gritting his teeth as he couldn’t comprehend what was happening to him, closing his eyes as he was waiting for impact.
Soon, very soon.
Lan Xichen should’ve been embarrassed and he was. If anyone found out how he died, he was going to be a laughing stock for the clan and his sect. The sect leader Lan going out in such a pathetic way. Lan Xichen had wondered what his death was going to look like, but he didn’t imagine it being like this. Perhaps, if he was lucky, no one was going to be able to find his body that way…
Yes, that was all that he could wish at that point, biting into his lower lip as he was filled with the sudden sense of calmness. Lan Xichen wasn’t thinking clearly, his mind was all jumbled up and he just wanted everything to end, consumed by the darkness around him. The dark, demonic powers were getting to him and for a split moment he was actually happy that this was all ending.
What was there worth fighting for, anyway?
Lan Xichen was embracing himself for an impact when he suddenly felt something. A pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves around his waist and his eyes snapped open, gritting his teeth as he looked around.
Nothing.
Darkness.
Lan Xichen didn’t see anything, but there was something holding him, trying to pull him up. He didn’t know what the thing was, gritting his teeth and he grabbed his sword. That time around, his arm listened to him, but it was already too late. Something or someone knocked the sword out of his hand and Lan Xichen shook his head. He tried calling his sword, but then he realised something.
Lan Xichen was reaching the bottom underneath him.
Yet, instead of slamming against the ground beneath him, nothing happened. Lan Xichen had reached the floor, something planting him against the floor gently and Lan Xichen’s eyes widened when he saw rocks suddenly falling down upon him, a dark figure appearing on top of him, shielding him from the large rocks that were fearing to fall on him and crush him, causing his demise. Lan Xichen gulped, unable to move and he glanced up again, the dark figure above him slowly gaining a shape and he shuddered because he could recognise…
“You fool,” hissed the dark figure above him and Lan Xichen recognised the voice right away. No other than sect leader Jiang. Jiang Wanyin was there, above him, shielding him from the falling rocks, hissing out in pain as the rocks were falling onto his back, but never hitting Lan Xichen, who was completely and utterly speechless beneath Jiang Cheng.
Wait, what was happening?!
Jiang Cheng was there as a shield?! He was trying to protect Lan Xichen?! What for?!
As if that wasn’t confusing enough – there was another question that was slowly starting to form in Lan Xichen’s mind. Who was the one who saved him from the fall?! Before, Lan Xichen thought that it was Jiang Cheng the one who was chasing him – he was convinced that it was other than him, trying to make him return back to Yunmeng, but…
… another trick?!
Lan Xichen was tempted to believe that it was yet another of Jiang Cheng’s sick mind games, but then he looked up at him and he could tell that Jiang Cheng was angry. The anger in his eyes was real and Lan Xichen looked away, swallowing thickly as a particularly large rock fell onto Jiang Cheng’s back. The latter was fine, hissing out in pain, but Lan Xichen could see little drops of blood running down the corner of Jiang Cheng’s lips.
“ Move, ” growled Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Wanyin was not in a good mood. He didn’t really plan the day to start out like this. Lan Xichen decided to run away, which was annoying, but that wasn’t something that Jiang Cheng could really prevent him from doing. Because he knew that Lan Xichen was going to be back – sooner than later. Truly, once he had gotten the taste of Lan Xichen; he wasn’t going to allow him to leave him. Even if Lan Xichen would be miles away from Yunmeng, it was already too late.
Jiang Cheng had already done what he had been wanting to do all this time – he had gotten Lan Xichen hooked. He knew that even if Lan Xichen was running away from him so desperately, he was going to return to his side eventually. They all did and he didn’t really try stopping Lan Xichen from leaving. In fact, he was having quite a good time watching Lan Xichen struggling to leave the land.
Much like it was hard to enter the land, it was even more difficult to run away – it was just a safety precaution that Jiang Cheng put there. If there were any people foolish enough to dare and enter his land, somehow survive the trip there, then… Well, they wouldn’t make it back. It was truly a perfect way to keep his people safe, but Jiang Cheng knew that Lan Xichen wasn’t like the others.
And he was right.
Though it was fun watching Lan Xichen run around, trying to find a way out and fight the countless corpses on his way back, he truly thought that sect leader Lan was smarter than this. You see, Jiang Cheng had a trap set out there. However, only the truly foolish people managed to fall for it. It was a trick, a last resort to make sure that people wouldn’t be able to leave Yunmeng once they entered it.
It would lead people to believe they were nearing their freedom, but all in all – it was just a bottomless pit, which Jiang Cheng filled with as many horrors that he could’ve imagined. While not many were able to survive the fall, he still needed to make sure. Just in case there were some lucky bastards that were able to survive the drop, then… There were other horrors waiting for them down there. And there was no way out from there either.
The pit was filled with many, many unfortunate souls that happened to lose their lives. Jiang Cheng could feel their energy. It was quite thrilling, feeding off of their fear and vengeance. But, to see Lan Xichen of all people falling down there, it was just… Jiang Cheng truly couldn’t believe it, gritting his teeth as he shoved Lan Xichen out of the way, rolling onto his side and he took a deep breath.
Lan Xichen quickly scooped himself up onto his legs, his vision slowly clearing up. The fog wasn’t as thick down there and he narrowed his eyes as he glanced at Jiang Cheng, who was slowly picking himself off the ground, Lan Xichen’s eyes wide when he saw more rocks falling down onto Jiang Cheng and his body then moved on its own.
Lan Xichen didn’t even know what possessed him to do what he did next, but he grabbed his sword and jumped in front of Jiang Cheng, slashing all of those falling rocks, turning them into dust. Jiang Cheng saved him before, so it only felt nice to return the favour.
It was stupid – Jiang Cheng was immortal, falling rocks were nothing, yet he still jumped in front of him. Lan Xichen was breathing fast and uneven, still not really comprehending what was happening. Jiang Cheng appeared out of nowhere, which was suspicious as hell, but at least… Jiang Cheng did save him, right?!
“You-” stammered Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng snapped his fingers, the rocks suddenly disappearing. Jiang Cheng shook his head as he marched towards Lan Xichen and shoved him backwards, shaking with anger.
Oh, Jiang Wanyin was angry, he was fuming with anger.
“How fucking stupid are you?!” growled Jiang Cheng. “Couldn’t you see that it was a trap?!” asked Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen glanced down, feeling stupid because now that he had finally stopped to think, it made sense – yes, of course it was a prank. It would’ve been too easy to find a way out that easily after all the initial struggle. Still, he was desperate to run before, so he…
Lan Xichen chose to ignore those words – he didn’t want to get into a fight, swallowing thickly and he shook his head.
“Are… Are you alright?” asked Lan Xichen instead and stepped closer to Jiang Cheng, who was out of breath, but not because he was in pain – it was the anger. Jiang Cheng was shaking with anger and Lan Xichen narrowed his eyes.
“Yeah,” said Jiang Cheng and rolled his eyes. “Again I’m immortal of the two of us, so I really am not the one you should be worried about,” he said and shook his head. “Ah, it’ll be a pain in the neck for us to make it out from here,” said Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen paled. All of the colour suddenly drained from his face and he gulped.
“What do you mean?” whispered Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng glanced at him.
“Well – we’re trapped here, basically,” said Jiang Cheng. “It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult,” he said. Lan Xichen chewed on his lower lip, having second doubts.
Jiang Wanyin couldn’t break out from there with his demonic powers? That was suspicious and he chewed on his lower lip, stepping closer to Jiang Wanyin, looking around as the fog started clearing up even more, shuddering as a disgusting smell started filling his nostrils, placing an arm over his mouth and nose, stepping back and he gritted his teeth.
“Can’t you use your powers to pull us back up?” asked Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng was now laughing because all of this was hilarious, really.
You see, even if it was Jiang Cheng who was behind the idea of the bottomless pit, it was Wei Wuxian who made it happen. Jiang Cheng asked his brother for help as he knew that he was way stronger. Of course, Jiang Cheng was strong, much like his sister – but, their powers still paled in comparison to Wei Wuxian. Jiang Cheng wanted the bottomless pit to be impenetrable and Wei Wuxian made that happen. Sect leader Jiang had never thought that this might’ve happened one day - that he would be the one to be trapped down there.
Why would that happen?!
In the centuries that he had been alive, he had never gotten trapped down there. It would be stupid of him to get trapped down there, but now… Jiang Cheng was angry, angrily kicking a skull that was next to him, gritting his teeth and Lan Xichen quickly shook his head. Oh, that wasn’t a wise idea – to disturb the dead. Then again, Jiang Cheng was…
“Use my powers to pull us back,” whined Jiang Cheng, completely losing his cool. “No, I cannot do that. Do you wanna know why? ” hissed Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen only stared back at him in complete silence. “Because this Bottomless pit is the perfect and final trap of Yunmeng. I was the one who set it up, as a final resort to keep the intruders from ever escaping,” he said and made a little pause. “Of course, only the ones with the least amount of intelligence managed to fall for it, but,” he said and gritted his teeth.
“Ah, so you are the one who is behind this awful-”
“Shut up,” said Jiang Cheng, raising his voice and Lan Xichen was pushed back by an invisible force, stumbling over his feet. Oh , he had angered Jiang Wanyin – it’s been a while since he had seen him purely angry . “I borrowed Wei Wuxian’s powers to put the seal around it, so it’s not as easy for me to break out from here,” he said and Lan Xichen glanced down. “So, don’t even try to pin that on me,” said Jiang Cheng. “It’s not my fault that you were stupid enough to fall for-”
“You know what-”
“It’s your fault, all of it!” grumbled Jiang Cheng, getting angrier by each passing second, his Zidian reacting to his anger as Lan Xichen could see sparks of electricity forming under Jiang Wanyin’s hand. “Even after I saved your pathetic little life, you still dare to complain!” he said and glanced at Lan Xichen, who was now silent, but he could see wheels slowly turning in his head.
Lan Xichen bit his lip and looked away – if all of that was true then Jiang Cheng really was trapped down there with him… Lan Xichen was the one at fault. Jiang Cheng didn’t have to save his life, but if Lan Xichen happened to say that out loud, the other one would’ve probably turned him to dust, so he decided to keep that comment to himself. Besides, Lan Xichen still had his manners. If someone saved your life, that meant that you had to show them gratitude.
Jiang Wanyin had already saved his life two times.
Lan Xichen gulped as he felt his body heating up. This was rather awkward on his end and he glanced down as he couldn’t bear to look at Jiang Wanyin’s face anymore. It made him remember the things he didn’t want to be reminded of, so he turned around and scanned the area.
“I’m sure there’s a way out,” commented Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes.
“I said it was possible, no?” asked Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen quietly nodded.
“I,” started Lan Xichen and then he made a little pause, bowing his head down. “I apologise,” he said without looking at the other one. Jiang Cheng knitted his eyebrows together. “All of this is my fault.”
“Yes,” said Jiang Cheng.
“I’ll find a way out,” said Lan Xichen and started walking, Jiang Wanyin slowly following him, lazily yawning as he was again intrigued.
“On your own?”
“Yes,” said Lan Xichen and placed his hands together, bowing down to the sect leader Jiang. “To make it up to you and to express my gratitude for saving my life. For the second time already,” said Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng pursed his lips together, not liking this at all. He didn’t like it when Lan Xichen got so formal and he slowly walked closer to him.
“You don’t even know where you’re going,” commented Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen let out a tired sigh as he stopped in his tracks. Jiang Wanyin had a point, so he stopped walking and he turned around. “A-Huan,” said Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen pursed his lips together, but didn’t make a comment about it. “If you know what’s best for you, listen to me… Just this once,” said Jiang Cheng, feeling drained.
Wei Wuxain truly managed to do an amazing job – this was the perfect trap. It had an impact even on someone like Jiang Cheng. His brother was trying to warn him at the time, but at the time Jiang Cheng didn’t have a worry on his mind. Again, he never planned to get stuck down there. Since the place was having an impact on his magic, Jiang Wanyin found out that he was healing much slower than usual.
Jiang Wanyin’s back hurt like hell, he could feel his robes sticking to his skin – the wet feeling was probably blood. Jiang Cheng tried to ignore it the very best way he knew how to, slowly walking past Lan Xichen and that was when the other one noticed it as well – the blood seeping through the layers of robes.
Lan Xichen quickly grabbed onto Jiang Cheng’s hand and turned him around, making sure the other one stopped in his tracks and he pulled him closer.
“Your back-”
“I’ll be fine,” hissed Jiang Cheng. He really didn’t like showing his weak side in front of other people. Especially not in front of a mere mortal. “It’s the magic down here – I’m healing slower than usually, but it'll be fine.”
“Again, it’s my fault-”
“Mn,” said Jiang Cheng. “It is. So, it’s time you start treating me better, A-Huan,” he said on purpose. Jiang Wanyin was joking and he expected Lan Xichen to start complaining, but the latter only bowed his head down. The guilt was slowly starting to creep in and he closed his eyes. Jiang Cheng leaned closer, surprised that there were no complaints, no nothing. Only silence.
“Forgive me.”
“I was joking-”
“You’re hurt because of me,” said Lan Xichen and shook his head. “As the leader of Lan sect, I’m prepared to accept the consequences-”
“I’m not going to listen to you if you’ll continue speaking like that,” complained Jiang Cheng. “Just a few days ago, your tongue was in my mouth and now you’re-” started Jiang Cheng, Lan Xichen looking traumatised when he mentioned that. Jiang Cheng snickered.
“Don’t mention that!” said Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng shrugged.
“You kissed me first, not the other way around,” said Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen was trying to search for a good excuse.
“You made me-”
“How do you reckon I did that?!”
“Your eyes-”
“Ah!” said Jiang Cheng. “So, you like my eyes?”
“I don’t,” grumbled Lan Xichen and started walking away. Jiang Cheng smiled and then he hissed out in pain on purpose. Lan Xichen quickly turned around and hurried over to his side. “Are you okay?”
“Mn… help me sit down,” said Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen nodded in silence, helping Jiang Cheng over to the tree, slowly sitting down with him.
Jiang Cheng grinned – this could come in handy.
However, first he needed to find a way out from there!