Chapter Text
A flame talisman flickered above Jiang Wanyin and Lan Wangji, casting light on the sorry state of the hut they were situated in. Holes riddled the rotting wood walls where their contorted shadows danced upon, while the ground was scattered with dried leaves and soil. A foul rotting smell permeated throughout the hut, and Jiang Wanyin wrinkled his nose.
He looked to Lan Wangji who sat beside him, who remained entirely unaffected by the state of dilapidation surrounding them. Legs crossed and back straight, he remained poised and elegant like he always was. Somehow, that infuriated Jiang Wanyin further.
Both of them had attempted to speak to Wei Wuxian after everyone had left the pier, but he had not reacted in any way. With no other choice, both of them wanted to bring Wei Wuxian back to their own respective sects, only to the firm disagreement by the other party. Unsurprising.
Just as Jiang Wanyin was ready to settle it with a duel, Lan Wangji had suggested, why not ask Wei Ying where he would like to go?
Fortunately, both of them had found this shack in the woods close to the pier before the sun had completely set, with Lan Wangji carrying Wei Wuxian in his arms the entire way and Jiang Wanyin secretly and grudgingly acknowledging that that was some impressive arm strength.
When they entered the hut, Lan Wangji had placed Wei Wuxian gently on the grass outside and cleared a small surface of the ground of any leaves. Only after that, did he place Wei Wuxian on it with his back leaning against the wall and began to remove his ropes.
Jiang Wanyin's half-spoken protest had shriveled off at the sight of Lan Wangji rubbing Wei Wuxian's unbound arms and back as if a corpse could suffer from tense muscles or poor blood circulation.
Now, Lan Wangji took out his guqin and placed it upon his lap. "Let us begin," he said, plucking a few notes.
Jiang Wanyin looked at Wei Wuxian in hopes he would be able to catch a reaction from him, only to cast his eyes away to the dirt ground. The sickly white of his skin and the prominent veins crawling on it were bad enough, but what Jiang Wanyin found entirely unbearable was the dull empty look in his eyes.
His heart thudded against his chest, panic rising to his throat with each note Lan Wangji played. He was certain Wei Wuxian would not want to return to Cloud Recesses, considering the number of times he had explicitly rejected Lan Wangji when he was alive. But then he had attempted to stab Wei Wuxian that day in Nightless City, even if his aim, which had always been precise, had been off. His fists on his knees clenched tight. Another thought passed his mind, what was he going to do about Wei Wuxian if he decided to go with him?
He was broken out of his conflicting thoughts as three notes sounded on its own on Lan Wangji's guqin. Wei Wuxian's face remained expressionless.
Jiang Wanyin turned towards him. "What did he say?"
"I only asked for his name," came the calm reply.
Jiang Wanyin snapped at him, his frustration rising, "what kind of useless question is that?"
Lan Wangi's face remained blank. "I needed to confirm that I was speaking to Wei Ying's spirit," he said.
Jiang Wanyin clammed his lips shut and looked away. How he hated it whenever Lan Wangji looked at him like he was an idiot.
Lan Wangji continued playing. This time, there were four notes. "I asked him if he knew who we were and he spoke our names," Lan Wangji explained. Jiang Wanyin thought he saw a shadow of a smile flicker on Lan Wangji's face, but it vanished so quickly he thought he must have imagined it.
Lan Wangji played another bout on his guqin, but this time the answer was short: only one note.
"I asked if he would like to return to Cloud Recesses or Lotus Pier," Lan Wangji paused, "he said none."
Both of them remained silent for a long time. Jiang Wanyin could hear the sizzle of the flame talisman above them, the slight pattering of feet coming from the dark corners of the shack that the light from the talisman could not reach that sounded suspiciously like rats, and the rustling of leaves in the wind outside interjected by the croaking of the toads.
"Ask him where he would like to go then," Jiang Wanyin heard himself say.
Lan Wangji nodded and plucked the strings again. Four notes answered them.
"I do not know," Lan Wangji said.
Jiang Wanyin frowned. "You don't know what he said?"
Suddenly, Lan Wangji looked so sad in the faint light that Jiang Wanyin thought he must definitely be imagining it this time. "Wei Ying said, 'I do not know'."
Jiang Wanyin coughed awkwardly, "I see."
Lan Wangji's slender fingers paused on the strings for a long moment before he began to play more notes. A grunt could be heard as Wei Wuxian frowned and tensed as if caught in a struggle.
Jiang Wanyin shouted at Lan Wangji, "what did you do to him?!"
Lan Wangji did not reply him. His eyes were fixed on Wei Wuxian while his fingers shook in their place on the guqin.
"Hanguang-jun!" Jiang Wanyin said.
Lan Wangji turned to him, looking just as lost and fearful as Jiang Wanyin. It was the first time he had seen a corpse react like this to his Inquiry. "I only asked what Wei Ying wanted," he said, eyes blown wide. He looked just like a child who did not understand why he had been scolded.
"Then why is he shaking like that?" Jiang Wanyin pressed on.
Lan Wangji did not answer, his eyes returning Wei Wuxian. Jiang Wanyin snarled. He placed a hand on Lan Wangji's shoulder and forcefully turned him towards him. He raised his fist. "I swear to god Lan Wangji, if you-"
Suddenly, two notes sounded, clear and crisp in the air.
Both of them stopped moving.
"Freedom," Lan Wangji breathed out.
Lan Wangji looked at Wei Ying. Under his Inquiry, no spirit can lie or avoid answering. He realized that was why Wei Ying had struggled earlier, because he did not want them to know his honest answer. Another realization, this time painful, followed suit.
Wei Ying's entire life had always been bound to someone. He was indebted to the Jiang family for taking him in, then indebted to the Wen siblings and their family when he had saved Jiang Wanyin during the Lotus Pier massacre. Wei Ying had spent his entire life repaying his debts.
Even in death, he could not find peace. He was used by Jin Guangshan to carry out his own scheme, carried out by Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang. Even Nie Huaisang's plan involved using Wei Wuxian as bait to lure Jiang Wanyin and him in his goal to expose Jin Guangyao's crimes. How different were he and Jiang Wanyin who wanted Wei Ying for their own purposes?
They had given him the illusion of choice, to decide between two of their sects by assuming he had wanted to return to their respective sects, and in extension, to them. Blinded by their own intentions, they had not stopped to consider if that was what Wei Ying really wanted. If Wei Ying accepted any of the choices they force upon him, the only one who would continue to suffer would be him. And the one thing Lan Wangji was most certain about, was that Wei Ying had suffered too much, more than anyone deserved to bear.
Even now, even after all he had suffered and continued to suffer, Wei Ying had not wanted to offend both of them with his answer. He had only spoken to prevent them from getting into a fight. And that, was what had pushed Wei Ying step by step towards his own death and why Lan Wangji had fallen in love with him: Wei Ying cared too much for the people he loved.
What could he or Jiang Wanyin possibly provide him with if he decided to go with any of them? It was impossible to make a corpse sentient when it had already been raised unsuccessfully, and Lan Wangji and Jiang Wanyin, who had no experience in demonic cultivation made it even more so. What quality of life could they give him as an insentient corpse subjected to their whims? Keep him locked up in a room forever? What if Xue Yang who ran scot-free came back to control him?
A chilling realization came to his mind: even when everyone Wei Ying used to know had passed away, he would remain an insentient corpse forever.
It was selfish, Lan Wangji realized now, to keep him here, where his spirit would never be able to reincarnate as it remained shackled to this body, with Lan Wangji and Jiang Wanyin serving as additional fetters. It would be a life worse than death.
His fingers clenched tight on the strings of his guqin. Blood began to drip down from his fingertips to stain the white of the strings before falling onto the black wood of his guqin. He knew what he had to do, as ironic as it was.
He had not been able to save Wei Ying that day, to prevent all that had happened that culminated in his death. Even if Wei Ying did not blame him, he blamed himself. But at least this time, Lan Wangji thought, he can do it right by him. Even if it meant doing what he had desperately attempted to prevent those years ago.
Wei Ying deserved to be free. Even if it was from him. Even if he knew what losing Wei Ying a second time and this time by his own hands, would do to him.
If Lan Wangji could not return him the freedom he should have had, at the very least he could give him the freedom he wanted now, and the freedom he would have in his next life.
Slowly, gravely, Lan Wangji stood up. He had never felt so heavy in his entire life.
He unsheathed his sword. He thought he heard Jiang Wanyin shout, but it mattered little to him.
He caught Wei Ying's eyes and thought he saw relief in them.
As bichen made its way into soft flesh, Lan Wangji whispered a fervent prayer in his heart. May Wei Ying be able to live free in his next life.
愿魏婴不再受世人所牵。