Chapter Text
Lan Xichen arrived early in the morning. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng waited outside of the teahouse they took residence in the night before. Jiang Cheng tried to calm down his brother, who was basically vibrating out off his skin with anxiety. Wei Wuxian twirled his flute between his fingers, a nervous habit he had picked up during his time in the burial mounds. “Xichen!” yelled Wei Wuxian suddenly, flailing his arms around to show where they were standing. A few seconds later, a sword landed beside them.
“Zewu-Jun.” Jiang Cheng bowed quickly. Lan Xichen gave him a soft smile before turning his attention to his brother-in-law. “So, tell me the information you’ve got.”
After explaining their encounter with the witch the night before, they slowly started walking, following the white string that Wei Wuxian was now able to see thanks to the oly lady’s magic. “So, my brother truly is your soulmate?” Wei Wuxian grinned, his eyes sparking with joy. “Yes. But, I don’t think we really needed a witch to confirm that. I always knew that there was no other person in this world who would be as perfect for me as Lan Zhan is.”
Lan Xichen nodded. “I always knew you had a special connection. Since the first day that you stepped foot into cloud recesses. Wangji may have been cold to you, but for some reason his walls cracked really quickly when it came to you. I think part of it is thanks to you being stubborn, but on the other side Wangji must’ve felt something then, something that told him that he could trust you.” Wei Wuxian looked at his feet, kicking away a little stone on the forest floor.
“He’s perfect. Most of the time I still can’t believe he actually loves me.”
Lan Xichen reached forward, squeezing Wei Wuxians shoulder in reassurance. “He does, Young Master Wei. You don’t even know how much sometimes. I actually hated you, for a while. The day you fell off the cliff at nevernight. Wangji, he, he didn’t even seem alive for a while after the incident. And when he was punished, he was too deep in mourning to even use his spiritual power to heal his wounds. Often I had the horrible thought, that he would just waste away. His reason to keep going was only A-yuan, so I did my best to help this little child that he brought with him from the burial mounds. Yuan was really sick with fever, but thankfully we were able to help him quickly.”
“I understand that you hated me. Believe me, after I was returned to life I didn’t even think of going back to Lan Zhan. I felt like I had already caused him enough pain. But in the end, I selfishly just couldn’t stay away.”
Lan Xichen crooked his head a bit, his soft black hair falling over his shoulder. Wei Wuxian could only see how much he looked like his brother from this angle. “It was good that you returned to him. In these 16 years, he never once stopped looking for you. He played his guqin for you, every day and every night. He hoped that maybe one day, you would answer him.”
Wei Wuxian could feel the guilty that he held in his heart for all these years resurface again. Jiang Cheng gently nudged his brother side, offering him a stiff smile.
“Come on, concentrate on our journey. We’ll bring your husband home today.”
There was blood dripping from his nose. Lan Zhan had one of the rare moments where he was conscious. The taste of metal filled his mouth and Lan Zhan gagged. He was hungry, his stomach cramping painfully.
He could hear the door open, footsteps approaching him. The stranger with cat eyes, again. He took Lan Zhans chin and forced him to look up.
“Oh, so you’re awake. Time for a new dosage then.” he spun the syringe in his fingers. “Did you know? I heard some rumors. A cultivator in a black robe, Sect Leader Jiang and Zewu-Jun are looking for you everywhere. But, they won’t find you Lan Zhan.” cooed the stranger. Lan Zhan growled at the usage of the nickname that his husband gave him. The stranger laughed again before ramming the syringe back into Lan Zhans neck vein. The darkness surrounded him again.
“Goodnight, Hanguang-Jun. You probably won’t wake up again anyways.”
They were deep into the forest when it happened. A sharp pain suddenly ran through Wei Wuxians body, piercing straight into his heart. He could see the string that lead him to Lan Zhan fade to a dark grey. Wei Wuxian crumpled to the floor, a scream ripping out his throat. He clutched his chest, right where his hurting heart lay. Jiang Cheng sat down beside him, shaking his brother to gain his attention.
“Wei Wuxian! What’s wrong!” Wei Wuxian was crying by now, his heart stumbling in his chest as a picture of Lan Zhan appeared before his eyes. His husband was still chained to the floor, his lips slowly turning blue, his eyes closed. He was still breathing, if only weak.
“LAN ZHAN!” Lan Xichen jumped at the sound of pure agony coming from his brother-in-law. Jiang Cheng turned his brother onto his back, pulling open the black robes. Wei Wuxians chest was glowing. His heart was glowing. Jiang Cheng gasped and stared at Lan Xichen, who had an utterly confused expression in his eyes.
“What is this?” Lan Xichen asked, kneeling beside Wei Wuxian. “The witch. She said Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-Jun’s souls are linked. I think something is happening to your brother, Zewu-Jun. And it’s not something pretty.”
Wei Wuxian slowly came back to himself, his breathing heavy. The tears have stopped as he sat up with his brothers help. “We have to hurry!” he said through gritted teeth, pushing himself to stand. As they hurried onward, Lan Xichen asked again. “What happened?” Wei Wuxian took a deep breath in. “Lan Zhan’s dying and if we don’t hurry neither of us will be able to see him every again.”
Night had fallen when Wei Wuxian suddenly stopped. He turned around, looking for something in the pitch-black between the trees. “The string ends here, but where is Lan Zhan?” he whispered. Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen looked around as well, both of them coming up with nothing.
“Did the witch lie to us?” asked Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxians eyes widened in horror. His breathing quickened, black spots dancing in front of his eyes. “No, no, this can’t be true.” he sank to the floor, all fight leaving his body. Lan Xichen passed him some of his spiritual energy to calm him down from his panic attack. Wei Wuxian started crying again, until suddenly Jiang Cheng let out a surprised shout.
“Can you see this?” he heaved Wei Wuxian up, pointing at something that flimmered in the distance. “A ward.” said Lan Xichen in surprise. “So that’s why nobody knew where they were! They put up a ward to hide themselves.”
Wei Wuxian picked up his flute, a satanic grin appearing on his face. Jiang Cheng saw his brothers eyes turn blood-red with fury. Lan Xichen picked up his sword, Jiang Cheng following his movements.
“Let’s go.”
It wasn’t a long fight. Wei Wuxian was unstoppable. Clouds of resentful energy swirled around him, while he played a haunting tune on his flute. Every guard that wasn’t brutally suffocated by Wei Wuxians resentful energy was cut down within seconds by either Lan Xichen or Jiang Cheng.
Wei Wuxian slowly stepped to one of the guards who was crawling on the floor. A kick made him turn around. “Where is my husband?” Wei Wuxian growled, a threatening tone to his voice. The guard trembled in fear. That was, until a cloud of resentful energy pushed Wei Wuxian away. The cloud was red, not black, meaning it wasn’t Wei Wuxians.
“Jiang Cheng! Lan Xichen! There’s another demonic cultivator! Watch out!” he yelled a warning before another red cloud attacked him. Wei Wuxian dodged it quickly, rolling down to the ground, his eyes frantically searching for the other cultivator. The other attacked again, this time, Wei Wuxian wasn’t fast enough to escape the attack, getting pinned down to the hard ground again while the resentful energy traveled through his body, making his muscles cramp before leaving again.
“Wei Wuxian!” screamed Jiang Chengs worried voice from somewhere. “I’m okay! Look for Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian yelled back, turning to focus on the other cultivator who now left his hiding place to face Wei Wuxian face on.
“What’s your name?” asked Wei Wuxian, his flute ready on his lips. The other rolled his eyes, his own flute in his hands. “Liu Binyun.” Wei Wuxian walked around Binyun in circles, his eyes never leaving the other boy.
“What have you done to Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian said. Binyun laughed, holding his stomach and wiping tears from his eyes. “Your husband should be dead by now.” and Wei Wuxian saw red. Binyun was dead within seconds, blood pouring from every opening of his face. Jiang Cheng held onto Wei Wuxians arm, trying to pull him back into reality. Lan Xichen passed some spiritual energy to his brother-in-law once again, overpowering the resentful energy inside him.
“I’m okay, let’s find him. I can see the string connecting me to him again.”
They followed Wei Wuxian through the house of the clan, down to the basement. Candles flickered in dark corners, making Wei Wuxian feel as if his own shadow was chasing him. He had to ask Lan Zhan to play cleansing from him once they returned to cloud recesses later. “Lan Zhan!” he yelled once they made it downstairs. A thick metal door was in their way, but Wei Wuxian blasted it open with his talisman as if it was nothing.
There he was. Curled up in a corner. Wei Wuxian fell to his knees beside his husband, relief flooding every inch of his body. He held Lan Zhans head up, placing it on his lap while Jiang Cheng cut him free from the chains holding him down. Lan Xichen softly stroked his brothers head, transferring spiritual energy into him.
“Lan Zhan, wake up, I’m here.” whispered Wei Wuxian in a loving tone, leaning down to press a soft kiss to his forehead. Lan Zhan stirred, but he kept his eyes closed. Lan Xichen frowned, a worried look on his face.
“He was poisoned, something is corrupting his core.” Wei Wuxian felt his heart freeze for a moment. Lan Xichen gave him a calm smile. “Don’t worry, he will be fine. Just a bit of my spiritual energy and his golden core will take of the rest.”
“Wei Ying”, came a hushed mumble from Lan Zhan, who blindly reached for his husband, longing clear in his voice. Wei Wuxian had a teary smile on his tired face, holding onto the other. “I’m here darling, I found you.” he answered, kissing Lan Zhans palm before blacking out.
He opened his eyes back in the jingshi, his husband safely tucked into bed with him, curled into his side while his warm breaths stroked over his exposed collarbone. Sizuhi was sitting on their bedside, his head placed on his arm. Wei Wuxian reached out and patted his sons head. “Mhm, dad?” Sizuhi blinked awake, looking up at his parent with sleepy eyes. “Hey.” said Wei Wuxian in a calm, loving voice.
“Dad!” Sizuhi jumped up, into bed and his dads awaiting arms. Wei Wuxian hugged his son as close as possible, an exhausted chuckle escaping him. “I told you, I’ll bring your father back.” Lan Zhan began to move, his eyes slowly opening. He reached his hand out without a word, placing his palm on Sizuhis face.
Their son cried out in relief, holding onto his parents until he was sandwiched between their bodies, a strong and comforting feeling of safety. Lan Zhan looked over at his husband. Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to say something, but immediately started to cry. A panicked look crossed Lan Zhans face. He slipped out off bed, walked around it and sat down beside Wei Wuxian. “Wei Ying.” Wei Wuxian pulled his husband down, clutching his head to his chest. Lan Zhan hummed softly.
“It’s okay, I’m here. You saved me. The healers took care of me when we arrived. You slept for three days. Your brother and mine have already told me what happened. I’m so glad you’re okay.” he whispered against Wei Wuxians chest.
Lan Zhan lifted his head, enjoying the feeling of Wei Wuxians hands on his face, pulling him towards his face. “Just kiss me.” pleaded Wei Wuxian. A longing look passed through Lan Zhans golden eyes before he nodded. He leaned forward, barely brushing his lips against his husbands before Wei Wuxian pressed closer, kissing him until both of them breathed each other in.
“All of us are safe.” Lan Zhan said after they stopped kissing, pulling Wei Wuxian into his lap, while Sizuhi tugged himself into his parents sides who layed their arms around him.
“All of us are safe.” echoed Wei Wuxian, his forehead against Lan Zhans.
And that is how they stayed, Wei Wuxians little family, huddled together, safe and sound.