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Chapter Text

“Wei Wuxian! Why didn’t you say you were attacked?!”

It’s around two weeks later that Jin Ling is jolted out of his train of thoughts by a loud voice he immediately recognises and when he looks up, yes, he sees Jiang Wanyin pointing an accusatory finger at Wei Wuxian as he makes his way angrily towards him.

“Jiang Cheng, how many times have I told you to not scream? We have a child here!” Wei Wuxian, as expected, tries to push the main issue away by bringing something else, though Jin Ling can see the surprise his appearance causes.

“Answer to me,” Jiang Wanyin snaps again, teeth grinding together as he glares at the other. “Why the fuck didn’t you say you were attacked?”

“What would I get from doing so?” Wei Wuxian replies, this time with a snort, twirling his flute in his hand. “It happened, they won’t return, that’s the end of it.”

Now, Jin Ling doesn’t know Wei Wuxian as well as he knows Jiang Cheng, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t understand both and, right now, he can clearly see the boulder of emotions threatening to crush both.

Jiang Cheng is staring at the other as if he is about to jump and strangle him until he drops that facade of not caring about anything that happens to him while Wei Wuxian is starting to look uncomfortable and close to turn around and walk away to escape from the intense gaze. 

Even looking at them makes him feel frustrated.

“The end of it?” Jiang Cheng asks in disbelief. “How can you just freaking shrug it off like that?”

“I’m not shrugging it off, I just don’t want to think about it,” he says with a slightly more annoyed tone, his eyes glancing at Jin Ling who can’t even look away or hide he is openly staring. “If they come back, I will kick them back to their lands, they can’t even get close.”

That twists Jin Ling’s insides, something warm spreading on his chest upon hearing the protective tone he’s using even when he doesn’t know who Jin Ling is in reality. To think he managed to leave a mark in his life without having to reveal the I’m your nephew card feels like one of his biggest accomplishments. 

Jiang Cheng follows his gaze and Jin Ling feels like turning around and finding a place to hide because his jiujiu is looking at him without knowing who he is… It is weird, to put it simply. The Jiang Cheng he knows is not that different from this one thanks to his cultivation level, his sharp features and burning dark eyes are still there, but the lack of recognition and fondness he usually masks with annoyance he is so used to seeing on them is painful. 

“Who the hell is that?” he asks, eyes moving away from Jin Ling to look at his other three friends as if noticing him has made him notice the other three aren’t someone he recognises. “Who the hell are they?”

“A quartet of nice kids,” Wei Wuxian replies easily, a grin stretching on his features when he glances at them. “There are two Lans that should have been in the Cloud Recesses.”

The leader’s reaction is something normal within his range of reactions; he stares at Jingyi and Sizhui, more specifically at their forehead ribbons, with confusion and disbelief, for a moment looking as if he believes they are lying and aren’t really part of the Gusu Lan sect before the cloud motif comes to slap him in the face. The reaction on its own is already yet another thing that leaves Jin Ling feeling close to pulling his hair out in despair, but then Jiang Cheng’s eyes come back to him and he forgets about it.

“So what? You now have disciples?” he asks, looking away from Jin Ling, thank goodness.

“They’re not my disciples,” Wei Wuxian replies immediately, shaking his head with determination. “They are just living here because they have nowhere else to go and they are helping around.”

Jiang Cheng’s expression once more fills with millions of emotions he is incapable of processing or handling in the right way, so what comes out is anger. “You can’t brush off an attack where people got hurt as if it was nothing.”

“Listen, he got shot with a freaking arrow when I was merely talking to them,” Wei Wuxian hisses, pointing once more at Jin Ling. “If you think I will just let them come and hurt the ones with me and do nothing, then there isn’t anything we need to talk about.”

“Wei Wuxian, stop being an idiot!”

Jin Ling’s skin crawls when he realises their communication problem had always been a thing and wasn’t only caused by the thirteen years of separation they went through. Jiang Cheng doesn’t mean he wants Wei Wuxian to let those people come in an attack the one he cares for while doing anything and the reason for his visit isn’t to yell at him about that but because he cares.

Wei Wuxian gave Jiang Cheng his core because he cares for him and his mistake was only not revealing the truth sooner. After the incident at the Guanyin Temple and Jin Ling realised those two decided to keep so many things inside of them instead of talking, he took it upon himself to make them less stupid and tried everything he could to get them together so they could talk… with no success .

“You two are so dumb!” he yells before he can even think what he wanted to do. “Why do you have to complicate things even more?!”

Because for him, that’s exactly what happened.

“Who the hell do you think you are?!” Jiang Cheng snaps at him and even though Jin Ling is used to his explosive behaviour, he has to admit it’s scary to be on this side when the other doesn’t know who he is. “What the hell are you talking about?!”

“Just listen to each other, it’s not that hard!”

It is hard, he knows, but even after thirteen years where his jiujiu stored the resentment inside of him and let it ferment so it hurt more when it finally came out, he ended up realising he still cared for his brother. He gave him back his Chenqing and allowed him to go away to live his life happily with the man he loved because he could no longer hate him and because he understood the whole issue was much deeper than what it seemed to be when it happened. Wei Wuxian in return apologised for what he did and tried to push down the pain and guilt that now ate his brother from the inside, deciding to stay away from him because that, in his head, was the best solution.

“You don’t know anything,” Jiang Cheng spits and Jin Ling can see the ring sparkling purple as if he’s close to whipping him with Zidian. “Don’t talk about something you know shit about.”

“You two are too obvious,” he stays and well, that will probably cost him to be whipped for the first time but will be worth it. “Just— Just talk, you will avoid so many problems!”

Unlike Sizhui who could stay calm and collected while beating a bit of sense into his two fathers, Jin Ling can’t really hold back the anger and tears that fill his eyes. He saw his jiujiu suffering while growing up, dealing in the worst way possible with the emotions he was incapable of processing, saw him dragging down innocent people whose only mistake was reminding him of the person he thought was the source of his hatred and then he saw him suffering and regretting half of his life choices when the truth of his Golden Core was revealed. It only became worse when he saw the man having so many things left inside of him after the other left.  

“You brat—”

“I don’t care!” he yells again, turning around to leave. “Stop being dumb.”

If there’s a way to avoid all of that, if there is something he can do, then he will do it.

“Jin Ling, are you alright?” After refusing to go back to the cave to eat or even get close to anyone after what happened and after Jiang Cheng left, Jin Ling is not surprised to hear Sizhui’s worried voice. “Senior Wei says he will drag you back if you don’t eat something.”

“Let him try, then,” he replies without a single ounce of humour. “I’m not hungry.”

In the corner of his eye, he sees Sizhui nodding lightly before taking a seat at his side, leaving a plate with food next to him. “What you said, I’m sure it helped.”

“They are so stupid,” he mutters instead, crossing his arms over his chest. “You don’t get it.”

“It’s possible,” he says with a nod, face calm. “But I know it’s a delicate situation and I believe even the smallest thing could help change it.”

Jin Ling wants to think like that, wants to believe being so straightforward is what they need to reconsider what is happening and do something that helps them to not live with so many regrets in the future, but he can’t be sure. He understands his jiujiu has to take care of his clan after it was almost destroyed and to take in the Wen remnants will endanger everything again. He understands Wei Wuxian's way of protecting the ones he loves is by sacrificing himself and pushing them away. 

He understands both sides and that’s probably what makes it worse.

“I wish I could say that them sitting down to talk will solve things, but I don’t know, I can’t tell,” he trails off, closing his eyes. “I just… I just hate to see them keeping everything inside and acting like that when it’s clear they care for each other.”

“I can understand how you feel,” Sizhui sighs, shaking his head softly. “Understanding Hanguang-Jun’s pain when Senior Wei reappeared and then seeing both going through all of that once he was back was painful. I want to think solving something at this time will bring a different outcome, but we have no way of knowing.”

“They are both so young… they shouldn’t be alone.”

“When Cousin Ning told me about what happened during this time I… resented my own clan, resented Zewu-Jun, Grandmaster Lan and all the other elders because I couldn’t believe they allowed this to happen,” he admits and Jin Ling has to say he’s surprised to hear someone like him saying all of this. “But what good do I get for judging them? They did good and bad things, who am I to judge? I wasn’t here, well, at least wasn’t in any of their positions and don’t know how I would have reacted. I wish they would have done something and I have the feeling the ones in our present live with regrets, too, so maybe we can help with that.” 

“What will happen to us if we change things?”

He pretty much regrets asking this right before doing it because he had enough with what he was experiencing to now have this and SIzhui’s expression just adds to it. He’s so dumb.

“I don’t really know, but whatever it is… it can’t be too bad it isn’t worth trying.”

“I hate that you're always so optimistic.”

°°°

“I don’t really know why I never agreed with my father’s way of thinking.”

Jingyi stops trying to tug the thread little Sihzui had looped around the branches in an effort to build his butterfly park when he hears Zizhen. “Never?”

“Well, I guess I kind of followed all his ideas when I was a kid, but at one point I couldn’t agree anymore,” he continues, playing with the piece of thread in his hands. “Jin Guangshan wasn’t my favourite, Mother used to say he always drooled all over the place for every single woman and when Jin Guangyao came, I don’t know, I just didn’t like how Father saw him as this immaculate figure who couldn’t do anything wrong.”

Jingyi didn’t grow up having much contact with politics and all those formalities because he wasn’t anyone important. Unlike his other two friends who will become leaders of their clan at one point and his other friend who already is one, he was just an orphan member of the direct bloodline that somehow found his best friend in the adoptive son of one of the Twin Jades. He knew about Lan Xichen’s close relationship with Jin Guangyao and bits and pieces of what their discussion involved because Sizhui sometimes talked about it, but aside from that, nothing that deep or important.

It changed, of course, when Sizhui and he befriended both Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen and it only became worse when Wei Wuxian came and all of this unfolded.

“He looked like a nice, genuine person, Jin Guangyao I mean, but it ended up being a lie,” he replies, sighing. “I wouldn’t really blame your father for believing in him and thinking following him was the best thing to do.”

“It’s not just that, though,” he says, gesturing with his hands to everything around them. “It’s this and Senior Wei… when I was told he reappeared I was terrified of finding him, I was sure I was going to die and become a fierce corpse at his service and what happened? He saved us, he took us out of that city alive and then kept us from being slaughtered by those corpses.”

“If you were surprised, what do you think we thought when we realised the person Hanguang-Jun grieved all this time was him?” he laughs, but his entertainment is short-lived. “When we first brought him to the Cloud Recesses he behaved so shamelessly we thought he was getting kicked out in record time, but Hanguang-Jun never said anything, he allowed him to do as he pleased so Sizhui and I deduced there was something more… never knew it was that much.”

“My father called me crazy when I said we could be more independent,” Zizhen continues and it is weird to see such a serious expression when he’s usually carrying those heart and sensitive eyes everywhere. “We’re a minor sect,” he starts with a voice that sounds a lot like the one he remembers from Sect Leader Ouyang. “We depend on them, we can’t do many things by ourselves.”

Again, it’s nothing Jingyi can relate to because he’s part of one of the main ones and is not a politician, but he’s intrigued to hear more of what he is saying because Zizhen rarely talks about it. “I will dare to assume you are not fond of the idea.”

“No, I’m not, we have capable cultivators but not big numbers, that doesn’t mean anything,” he says with yet another tired sigh. “After Senior Wei and Hanguang-Jun saved us from Yi City, I tried to convince my father to talk about what happened around this time and talk about Wei Wuxian, but I got turned down immediately.”

“As much as I hate it, I can't really blame them,” Jingyi shrugs, returning his eyes to the mess of thread he wants to untangle. “They know what they did and I’m not sure they are entirely happy about it, but they probably believed they were never facing it again... too bad Senior Wei can’t stay dead.”

“The worst part is that none of us would have found out about this if Senior Wei stayed dead,” he says, scrunching his nose. “My father scolded me for days for spending time with the Yiling Patriarch and not avenging the death of our cultivators, I tried to reason with him and say he wasn’t evil but… then we were kidnapped and almost murdered by those corpses and that didn’t help my case.”

“You were brave, back then, I’m sure no one was expecting you to challenge your own father,” Jingyi chuckles, remembering the expression of disbelief on everyone as Zizhen publicly refused to do what he was told.

“I’m proud I stood by Senior Wei’s and Hanguang-Jun’s side, but man if it cost me days of hearing Sect Leader Yao and others calling me an undisciplined brat,” A small pained noise leaves his lips, forcing Jingyi to abandon his task again and rest his hand on his shoulder. “They even dared to imply I wasn’t reliable enough, I’m surprised they didn’t say I wasn’t good to be the leader… or maybe they did but didn’t hear them.”

“I remember Grandmaster Lan looking at us as if he wanted us to make handstands in the middle of Lotus Pier,” Jingyi sighs. “But I know they still cared for us and just refused to understand things weren’t as they were taught. They went through many things and the rules they had worked well until then, the change was unwelcomed.”

“I know my father loves me, I never doubted it, but I’m sure I will question the life out of him when we get back,” he says before stopping and adding, “if we go back, of course.”

“And if we go back to our present,” There’s a faint shiver running down his spine but does his best to ignore it. “There are so many people that will have to listen to me.”

Zizhen laughs softly and takes a deep breath of the slightly stuffy air the Burial Mounds has, his eyes looking around before looking back at the village where Jin Ling and Sizhui are helping to replace a rotten plank that came loose from the roof of a house. 

“I… don’t want to think about it because I know it isn’t fair for Jin Ling, but,” he stops, looking back at Jingyi. “The Jins did so much damage.”

“They did, but our clans didn’t do much to diminish it.”

“Well, they always say new generations are the ones in charge of the future,” Zizhen nods, returning to the tree. “Seems we took it literally, so let’s do it.”

Jingyi couldn’t have asked for better friends in this life.

°°°

Sizhui knows something happened the moment he sees Wei Wuxian walking towards the cave while Wen Ning walks away to get lost among the houses to the right. Wei Wuxian glances around and that confirms something indeed happened.

“They are acting weird,” Jingyi mutters at his side, brown eyes staring at the man who doesn’t seem to notice them as he walks inside the cave. “Think it’s something bad?”

“For the first time in a while, I doubt it,” Sizhui dares to say, setting down the basket at his side. “Let’s go inside and see what’s going on.”

When they enter, they find Wei Wuxian behaving as normally as he would behave any other day. He’s having his food with little Sizhui at his side and talking to the Wen remnants that bring out something to talk about every now and then, everything is normal… safe from the intense stare Wen Qing is directing at the man in question. Zizhen seems to have also noticed it but since Jin Ling is more focused on twirling around the contents of his bowl, which has become his usual position after what happened with Jiang Wanyin, he tries to hide it and continue eating. It is until he notices Sizhui and Jingyi that he excuses himself from the table and rushes to them.

“Did something happen?” he asks quietly, glancing back to Jin Ling who raised his head when he moved but decided to look back down to not raise any more suspicions. “Maiden Wen is staring at Senior Wei as if she knew he did something.”

“We don’t know, Wen Ning went to a house instead of here and he is acting completely normally,” Jingyi shrugs, glancing around. “I’m sure we will find out, let’s just wait.”

So they just sit around and briefly explain to Jin Ling what is going on to keep him in sync. The leader nods and stares between Wei Wuxian and Wen Qing for some time before deciding to go back to his conflictive thoughts and let things continue its course so things naturally happen, but that’s not the case.

People finish eating and soon start to excuse themselves to their houses, little Sizhui is called by Wen Ning and he along with Wen Qing leave. Sizhui considers leaving with them to see what is going on, but Wei Wuxian’s slightly slurred tone thanks to the fruit liquor he had forces the four of them to stay and assure the man won’t get hurt or does something dumb.

“My Shijie is beautiful,” But he mutters right when they are helping him to lie down on the straw mat and Sizhui feels Jin Ling going rigid at his side.

“Jin Ling—” he says but the boy leaves before he could say anything else.

Lan Sizhui does not remember his parents and being an orphan has never been something that bothered him. Ever since he lost his parents he always had someone who was quick to fill in the spot left by them. Shortly after they died, his grandmother took it upon herself to protect and raise the little baby along with his other uncles and once they arrived at the Burial Mounds, Wei Wuxian added himself as a parental figure. When the fever burnt most of his memories, he didn’t have to suffer much because Lan Wangji was quick to fill in the spot he couldn’t remember who had before. 

Jin Ling, on the other side, was the complete opposite.

Jiang Wanyin and even Jin Guangyao gave their nephew a good life, according to Jin Ling himself they were loving in their own way and had done their utmost so he was happy, but while they tried to keep him happy and strong, the rest of the cultivation world seemed keen on reminding him he was still an orphan. 

From Jin Chan mocking him for the team he and Fairy made to random disciples reminding him he didn’t have a mother to raise him well and having sadistic pleasure in laughing about it. As if it wasn’t enough, leaders from minor sects often made comments about Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning sadistically murdering his parents during conferences that Jin Ling constantly overheard. 

Jin Ling was sometimes described as the orphaned heir to the Lanling Jin sect so he can only imagine what he feels when his parents are mentioned.

“He needs some time,” Zizhen says, pained eyes glancing to where the other disappeared. “Let’s give him space.”

So they do, they finish making sure Wei Wuxian is resting and sleeping without the risk of rolling off and finish cleaning the tables and other things left before retiring. Jin Ling is already curled up with his back facing them, arms hugging his Suihua despite having it concealed under the charm.

It’s clear he doesn’t want to talk, so they don’t.

Two days later it becomes noticeable that whatever happened that day affected Wei Wuxian much more than what they initially thought. He looks depressed most of the time and it’s not like he was happy or overly enthusiastic about everything, but he acted more like the Wei Wuxian they know instead of this one. 

The four of them want to ask what’s wrong, but they are not sure how, so there’s that.

“I need you four to help me reinforce some guards. It's been a while since someone came and I have the feeling they will come,” Looking away from their small house, they find Wei Wuxian talking without really looking at them. “Follow me.”

They decide to do as they are told without saying anything, the dark path that leads to this place already mapped on their memories despite the lack of illumination around. Wei Wuxian takes them to one of the most narrow and secluded entrances the Burial Mounds has and that few people would even dare to get close to. This guardis simpler in nature because of it, weaker than the one in the main entrance, placed mostly to keep the spirits from leaving or new ones entering with only minimal protection to keep cultivators and other human forms from going in. 

“Senior Wei, is everything alright?” Zizhen is who dares to ask while Sizhui focuses on reinforcing the ward. “I have noticed there’s something bothering you.”

“Ah, Zizhen, you’re too sensitive, really,” he chuckles, shaking his head. “But I’m fine, just tired.”

“Senior Wei—”

“You should return to your families,” he says after mere seconds of silence, his change coming up as a complete surprise. “Go back to your clans, you have done more than enough.”

“We already said we won’t go back,” Jin Ling replies. “We know what we are doing.”

“You clearly don’t,” Wei Wuxian snaps back. “Walking out of your clans just like that, leaving family and everything behind because you think demonic cultivation is interesting or just because you want to be rebels. Well, you should know by now I’m not teaching you anything, so go back.”

“Nonsense, we don’t think like that,” Jingyi says immediately. “We already said we came to help.”

“No, you said you came here because you had nowhere else to go and because you wanted to learn, now I tell you it’s nonsense. You have a home and just need to beg for forgiveness and take in whatever punishment they believe you deserve so they take you back.”

“Three of us are orphans, Senior Wei,” Sizhui manages to say. “Zizhen is better with us than back home. We did not come here because we were rebellious.”

“Still, you weren’t raised by animals, you had a family so go back to them,” Wei Wuxian’s face says hearing the term orphan affects him, but he is quick to push it away.

“Stop with the nonsense, we know what we are doing,” Jin Ling argues again, now irritated by what he’s hearing. “We’re here, we’re not going back, end of the story.”

“See? You claim to be adults and not kids yet still think like this,” Wei Wuxian now sounds angry and that’s what Sizhui needs to have an idea of what’s happening. “You don’t understand what you cause to others, think it’s easy to just walk away and live happily? Well no, it’s not and I won’t be an accomplice in what you cause, so go.”

“We won’t,” Sizhui says in automatic, panic bubbling up his chest.

“You’re no longer welcomed here.”

“I know you miss your own family, Senior Wei,” he says next, taking a step forward. “And I’m sure they miss you, too, but I promise things can get better between all of you, so please do not push us away.”

Wei Wuxian seems to be falling apart, the thinnest piece of thread wrapped hastily around him that kept him whole is breaking. He doesn’t cry, but his eyes are rimmed red and his adam apple bobs up and down as he tries to swallow the urge to do it. “You still have many things to learn.”

“Maybe, so what?” Jin Ling also takes a step forward, eyes glaring at him. “Does that mean we’re idiots? We’re twenty-five, not six so stop treating us like that.”

“You don’t understand how things are between Jiang Cheng and I or between me and anyone else,” Jin Ling tenses at being reminded of what happened that day. “There is no redemption path for me and I am fine with it, I don’t regret anything I have done for these people, but think if you want the same for yourselves.”

“We do,” Sizhu replies with a slightly shaky voice. “We are doing things right, we don’t regret what we are doing either.”

And it is possible he managed to say this with way more conviction than what he initially thought because Wei Wuxian looks even worse. He shakes his head while muttering something they can’t understand due to the shrieking spirits around.

“My Shijie is getting married,” he whispers brokenly, clutching his dizi as tightly as he can. “Jiang Cheng brought her to show me her wedding robes and I— The least I ever wanted was hurting her.”

“Things can change,” Jingyi says and SIzhui is surprised to hear just how vulnerable he sounds. “So just stop pushing the ones close away from you.”

“The four of you are crazy,” he breathes out as he shakes his head and turns around to leave.

They are not sure what they achieved with this, really, Wei Wuxian can be so unpredictable he can take this in the best way possible or can take it as the confirmation needed to kick them out of the Burial Mounds. They don’t know, but in the meantime, they just finish reinforcing the guard before going back to the village.

Wei Wuxian is nowhere to be found.

°°°

By the sixth month, something happens.

It hasn’t been Jin Ling’s best months if he’s honest, and while he’s not doing as bad as Wei Wuxian seemed to be doing, he was still doing badly. He not only deals with questions of what is happening in their present and what their disappearance caused, but he also wants to do something else with the problem of today. He somehow wants to get his jiujiu to listen and sit down with his other freaking uncle to understand just how far and bad this can go if they continue walking down the same path, but being incapable of doing so just frustrated him further.

He has no idea what to do.

That aside, six months later Wen Qing comes back from Yiling with a subtle smile that either means she knows something good is coming or an interaction with her family has brought to her a kind of joy she wasn’t sure they could still feel.

Jin Ling and the other three decide to follow her because curiosity is a strong adversary and they just want to make sure everything is fine. She notices it but doesn’t seem to mind and merely walks to Wei Wuxian who is pitifully staring at one of his many modified talismans.

“This is for you,” she says, placing her bag on the table without caring she’s blocking his view of the talisman. “It has your name on it.”

From her bag, she extracts a letter with Wei Wuxian’s name written in the best and most neat calligraphy Jin Ling has ever seen in his life. The parchment is lightly tinted in blue, but it’s the cloud motif in the corner of it is that gives away it comes from Gusu.

Wei Wuxian takes it but eyes it with distrust as if he is considering this will explode and burst out in flames once he opens it. Eventually, he breaks the seal and opens it to start reading the equally neat and beautifully written words inside, eyes taking in every single until one in specific makes him gasp softly.

“They’re inviting me to my nephew’s one month anniversary?”

Jin Ling’s blood runs cold and he feels someone’s hand holding his arm above his elbow, probably Sizhui.

“Now you have no more excuses to go see your sister and brother,” Wen Qing says, probably unaware of what is going on with Jin Ling. “Hanguang-Jun wouldn’t lie about it.”

“Of course he wouldn’t,” Wei Wuxian says with a smile they are sure no one has seen in months. “You four are invited, too, Lan Zhan remembered you!”

Now, Jin Ling is oddly calm about the prospect of seeing himself as a baby, unlike Sizhui who almost passes out when his small self clung to his leg. A baby him is normal after everything that has happened, but what terrifies him is, again, his parents.

There was a time where Jin Ling prayed and hoped with everything his heart got to regain a memory or even a small glimpse of how his parents looked or how their voice sounded. He knew he was too young and too unaware of the world surrounding him when they died to do so, but he hoped so ardently he sometimes lost himself in that thought. Now he has the chance of seeing it with his own eyes,  but he’s terrified.

He is not sure he will be capable of letting go.

Just like Sizhui, he had nothing to do with everything that happened and shouldn’t have paid for the wrongdoings. He craved the love of his parents, wanted to get home and be received by a warm smile and comforting words. His jiujiu often mentioned how superior her mother’s soup was and how no one was capable of replicating it while Jin Guangyao praised his swordsmanship and skills with a bow by saying he had inherited it from Jin Zixuan, the majestic and capable cultivator.

As if it wasn’t enough, Jin Ling knows what happened during this visit.

“It’s in two days, I need to start working on what to give to him,” Wei Wuxian, unaware as well of what is happening with Jin Ling, says, pushing himself off the table and walking to another table filled with things. “You better think about what you are giving to him, I don’t want you four to arrive empty-handed.”

“We will come up with something, don’t worry.”

Jin Ling doesn’t register when he’s tugged out of the cave nor registers anything that isn’t Wei Wuxian looking so lively and happy while rummaging through his things to get a gift for his nephew.  It’s been so long since the man looked enthusiastic about something so being the reason is dizzying. His chest is hurting, his head is spinning and his heart has moved up to beat right in his ears.

“We can’t let him go,” he whispers, not really paying attention if someone outside of his group of friends is around to hear what he’s saying. “H-He can’t go!”

He doesn’t like crying, years of bullying taught him that doing so is a sign of weakness a leader should never show, but there are times where it is impossible to hold it back. When he faced Wen Ning for the first time and he got overwhelmed by everything, the idea of letting go of the only thing he had from his parents was too much and he had cried, then the whole mess the Guanyin Temple caused proved to also be more than what he could handle and he did it again. During this time he almost cried again while facing his jiujiu and while he’s not proud of this, he is sure he can’t really do anything about it.

“What?” Jingyi demands, crouching down along with the others after Jin Ling has been shoved to sit on a rock. “He hasn’t been that excited in months!”

“The Qiongqi path— My father died there, Jin Zixun is going to ambush him,” he says, struggling to not scream at the top of his lungs. “W-We can’t let him go, it will ruin everything else we have done.”

From what he understood, the death of his father is what unchained the vast majority of events that ended up destroying so many lives. In Jin Guangyao’s own words, he never planned for both Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun to die at that time, but Wei Wuxian’s actions ended up being something he used to his own advantage. 

“But we can’t just say no,” Zizhen says, anxiously glancing around while Sizhui rubs Jin Ling’s back to help him calm down. “And we can’t attack him or do something, we would be gone in seconds.”

Jin Ling is well aware of it and it just makes things hurt even more. His stupid uncle is excited to meet him because he loves his family, has pushed away his own depression and sadness just because he was invited. He doesn’t even seem to stop and consider if this is dangerous or if it has a hidden motive… no, it isn’t fair to even think the option hasn’t crossed his mind. He knows it can be a trap, knows there is a chance he won’t even get to see his family before being attacked, but he doesn’t care. Reuniting with them, meeting him and getting back that small sense of familiarity is worth the risk.

 His heart is breaking.

“We’re going, we can help!” Jingyi says, trying to gain his attention. “We won’t let it happen.”

“What can we do against Wen Ning?” he demands, reaching to grip Jingyi’s arms. “How can we avoid it?”

While it is possible many details about his father’s death are exaggerated or made worse by the ill-intentioned way the winners used to talk about Wei Wuxian, the fact that he died at the hands of Wen Ning is undeniable and even when they are four, there is nothing he can do against him. Wen Ning, despite his heart made of gold, is the strongest fierce corpse the cultivation world has ever seen and whatever happened that led to his father’s death, they are sure they can’t stop him.

“I… we will find something.”

“I can’t let my father die again,” he says brokenly, pressing his hands to his face. “I can’t let this happen.”

Yes, he hates crying, but there’s nothing he can do as the sobs are torn from his throat and his whole body shakes uncontrollably as he realises he’s condemned to see his own father die and that everything he tried to do was for nothing.

The two days fly by in the blink of an eye. Wei Wuxian spends all the time inside the cave crafting heavens know what, refusing to let anyone inside who isn’t Wen Ning who decides to take it upon himself to keep him fed and, well, alive.

Sizhui, Jingyi and Zizhen do their best to keep him from fully giving up on everything they have been working on, but there are days where Jin Ling feels they are failing. He feels bad and guilty for doing this to them, obviously, but the dreaded day is closing up on him and the constant reminder of not being capable of doing anything is taking a quick toll on his body.

Whatever it is, they stand at the entrance of the Burial Mounds waiting for Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning to start their way to Lanling. They decided to buy a nice and beautiful incense burner as a group gift instead of struggling to get one each and Sizhui is carrying it inside a wooden and fine box that hopefully won’t make the rest of Jins scoff and discard the gift before it can reach his parents.

“Jin Ling, it will be fine,” Zizhen tries for what feels like the millionth time, bumping him with his shoulder. “We are here, and that has to change something.”

“Yes, instead of two corpses we will have six.”

And it’s cruel, hell if it is, but that’s the only outcome his brain has been capable of creating. He knows Jin Zixuan will ambush and say something to Wei Wuxian that will make him lose control and the moment they step in and try to stop the former human, they will get killed with a swift movement.

Yes, he hates himself.

Zizhen looks ready to object and argue with that, but Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning come into view at that moment and so, he shifts his attention.

“Glad to see you’re all punctual and glad to see you didn’t forget to get something,” the man says with a smile that again, no one has seen in months.

“What did you get for him, Senior Wei?” Sizhui asks, sending Jin Ling a small look he dismisses with a shrug.

“A one-of-a-kind charm,” he says happily, extending his palm to reveal a small box. “No spirit or evil being will be capable of getting close to him, it’s the strongest and only one exists in the world.”

Jin Ling wonders why he never even saw it. Maybe it was destroyed, maybe his jiujiu or Jin Guangyao got rid of it because it had too many memories or maybe it was left to rot on the path after the corpses were taken away. Whatever it is, such a powerful charm could have protected him from the horrific events his life was filled with.

“We just need to get a tassel and will be the best,” he hums and with that, they start walking.

The group walk behind the other two and from there they see Wei Wuxian showing off his charm to Wen Ning and the hilarious way he warns him about not touching it and the damage it will do to him if he doesn’t listen. 

“Jin Ling, it won’t happen,” Sizhui whispers, shaking him out of his stupor and making him realise they have stopped to buy the tassel. “We won’t let your father die.”

“Please stop, Sizhui,” he pleads. “I know you don’t have bad intentions or anything, but I’m tired of getting high expectations to then crash against the wall of reality.”

“So you’re just giving up?” he asks, eyes flickering with a glint of mild anger. “Don’t care about everything else we have done?”

“I never said that,” he snaps, glaring at the other with an anger that isn’t really directed at him. “I will try, but I know I can’t do much, my father will die and I’m willing to die with him.”

He’s well aware it sounds horrible and the worst considering just how little they know about time travelling and the effects it will have in their future, but what else is he supposed to do? If he dies here it is possible he will also be dead in the future and even though he hates to think his friends will have to go back and explain to his jiujiu , Wei Wuxian, his own clan and the rest of the world that he died, it’s the only way.

“Well, I won’t let you die,” Sizhui states, fingers tightening their hold on the box containing the incense burner. “If you want to go that way, then so be it.” 

“Sizhui—”

“Hurry up, kids, we need to get there,” Wei Wuxian cuts in before Jin Ling can say anything else and his eyes linger on the two of them as if considering if he should ask or something else before deciding to go against it. “No fighting now, save it for when we come back.”

“Don’t call me by my name when we’re there,” Jin Ling says after swallowing hard around the lump in his throat.

“I thought you say you walked out in good terms with them—”

“Just don’t call me Jin Ling,” he cuts the slightly older man sharply, eyes hardening before they lose that momentum and his gaze becomes more pleading. “Please.”

Unlike Sizhui, he can’t hide behind the Rulan because of how specific it is and even when he’s more than sure they won’t even reach Lanling, he wants them to know this.

“Alright, you will go back to being kid ,” Wei Wuxian says, too excited and in a good mood to question him further. “Let’s go.”

And they walk and walk, taking in the differences their world has compared to this one and Jin Ling, in specific, does his best to not die before his time comes… but they eventually reach the Qiongqi path and Wei Wuxian’s words describe everything better than anyone else.

“It is too quiet.”

It is, of course, but this silence is broken when an arrow flies through the air and Wen Ning is quick to pull Wei Wuxian out of danger. Before Jin Ling knows it, several cultivators have appeared at the upper part of the path, bows ready to fire again as soon as they are told to. At the very front, he recognises his typical golden robes dressing a frowning man with little-to-none notable features due to the conceited and arrogant expression that pulls at his features despite his frown.

So it is him, Jin Zixun.

Jin Zixun frowns and flickers his sleeves back in an overly exaggerated manner as he eyes with disdain the four of them, as if them being there is ruining his plan. “I see you can’t even follow the simplest of instructions; you were told to come alone and not with your army.”

“It seems you don’t even know how to read,” Wei Wuxian counters. “They were invited, too, so try again next time.”

“What is wrong with you attacking people like that?!” Jingyi demands as he points an accusatory finger at the man, anxiousness taking over his features. “We were just walking!”

“It’s none of your business,” Jin Zixun sneers, his burning eyes moving back to Wei Wuxian. “Can’t expect anything from someone who follows a coward who goes around cursing people.”

“Cursing people?” Wei Wuxian asks. “I have never cursed anyone, why would I?”

Jin Zixun suddenly tugs open the front of his robes, revealing his chest marred with holes all over his skin that are both ugly and disgusting. Jin Ling’s breath hitches. 

“You did this!” he accuses, “you cowardly cursed me instead of fighting me.”

“Why would I curse you?” Wei Wuxian looks slightly surprised to see the Hundred holes curse, but does his best to not add anything about it. “I don’t even remember who you are.”

As it is common for many members of his own clan, Jin Ling sees the man feels way more insulted by not being worth remembering rather than the curse itself. “Remove it!”

“I didn’t do it,” Wei Wuxian repeats calmly.

“Stop lying!”

“Wei Wuxian has no marks, he didn’t cast it!” he yells, feeling his body trembling as his brain struggles to find out what to do.

“What would you know? Filthy traitor!” Jin Zixun yells back when he seems to take in the vermillion mark on his forehead. “He cursed me and he better remove it!”

“Why would I curse you with such a low curse if I could kill you in a worse way?”

That, of course, it’s the worst Wei Wuxian could have said. Jin Zixun pulls back his robes to cover his chest, unsheaths his sword and points it at them. “Then you will die.”

Things become a mess after that. Wei Wuxian tries to summon corpses but it’s told all of them have been previously removed, which says this was perfectly planned by Jin Zixun and heavens know who else. Wei Wuxian seems to hesitate for just a second before raising his flute again and resorting to using Wen Ning to fight. 

That’s Jin Ling’s cue to move.

Without asking or waiting for his friends, he’s quick to jump up and start fighting the cultivators who were getting ready to shoot again. Maybe if he knocks them out before Wen Ning loses control he can lessen the impact of what happened here. In no time Jingyi and Zizhen are with him doing their best to incapacitate the cultivators without causing any major damage while Sizhui stays near Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixun who have moved closer.

“A curse like that one would leave the caster with marks product of backslash,” He hears Sizhui saying and a quick glance lets him see the other standing between Jin Zixun and Wei Wuxian despite the latter’s insistence on pulling the kid behind him. “He has nothing!”

But Jin Zixun is not interested in listening nor cares about the truth because the hatred he feels for the other is mind-consuming. He spits hurtful words at him, makes fun of his naiveness at thinking he could come to Lanling and spend time with his family after everything he had done and laughs about just how lonely he is after his family gave up on him. Jin Ling even forgets to pay attention to his battle which causes a sharp sword to catch him on his arm before Jingyi is quick to block the rest of the attacks.

Jin Ling hates Jin Zixun even when he doesn’t even know him outside of this incident. He hates he is hurting his uncle after he was so happy and enthusiastic about meeting his nephew and the implications he’s making about his jiujiu ’s way of ruling the Yungmeng Jiang Sect, he hates him, hates so many people so fucking much it hurts.

“Stop right now!”

The whole battlefield freezes when a figure lands in front of Wei Wuxian and Sizhui to block Jin Zixun’s way. The golden robes seem to flutter gracefully when he lands and the vibrant and handsome features sweep over everyone around before returning his eyes two the ones at his sides, Jin Ling is, once more, left frozen on his spot despite the blood running down his arm.

“Zixun, what is the meaning of this?” the men asks, demands in fact, voice strong but controlled in a way that seems to be natural for a leader.

And it’s not Suihua being held by long fingers nor the intricate and expensive-looking headpiece the man is wearing that tells Jin Ling this man is Jin Zixuan, his father, no, something deep inside him screams with violence and tries to launch itself from his chest to the man to hold and never let go.

“He is a coward,” Jin Zixun claims, his previously confident posture and mocking words gone in the presence of his cousin. “He cursed me! I will die if he doesn’t remove it.”

Jin Zixuan looks surprised to see the marks on the man’s chest, but his expression hardens just a second later. “But an ambush? On A-Ling’s one month celebration?!”

Jin Ling makes a pained noise that makes both Jingyi and Zizhen move closer, one of them holding his bleeding arm. A-Ling … so that’s how his name sounded in his voice. Jin Ling wishes he could continue listening for the rest of his life. 

Of course, it isn’t like that.

Wei Wuxian doesn’t believe Jin Zixuan knew anything about this whole issue and isn’t shy to admit it. The resentful energy swarms around, pressing against everyone around as the man continues glaring at the other two and defending himself from Jin Zixun’s accusations. The worst, however, comes when Jin Zixuan suggests they go to Lanling so he can defend his case and prove he has nothing to do with the curse so everyone leaves him. Wen Ning’s movements become erratic and that’s all Jin Ling needs.

Pushing the other two away, he takes out the signal firework and lets it fly and hopefully alert someone while he is still in this mad race against someone stronger that has no control over what he does at this moment. Now, it’s a highly shameless movement and will probably bring consequences if it works, but he uses all his strength to tackle Jin Zixuan to the floor right when Wen Ning’s hand extends towards him.

There’s a collective gasp but Jin Ling can’t move for what feels like hours. One of his father’s arm came in automatic to rest on his shoulder while the other tried to shield himself from the fall; he looks confused and disoriented but even with that, Jin Ling wishes he would have had the chance of seeing him every time he learnt something new or made a discovery his innocent five-years-old brain found out for the first time.

“I-I’m sorry,” he whispers, hastily pushing himself off him and the floor, feeling Sihzui’s hands helping him up. “I-I just, sorry.”

Jin Zixun is next to his cousin in seconds and that helps Jin Ling to snap out of it and take in a bit more of the situation. His reaction shook Wei Wuxian out of the dangerous spiral of hatred and resentment consuming him and is now staring with wide eyes at what’s in front of him, Wen Ning is also standing there and when he sees the chunk of hair he managed to rip from Jin Ling’s head, he let’s go of it as if it burned him and takes a step back, his wide and terrified eyes staring at him.

He wants to stay awake, make sure what he just did really avoided the worst, but the adrenaline is abandoning his trembling body and it’s getting harder to focus his eyes on something and just when he wants to cry in despair, he sees Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen appearing in front of his father.

With that, he’s gone.

°°°

Lan Sizhui is the kind of person who believes everyone deserves to be treated with at least respect, that despite their bad personality or even crimes, it wasn’t he who should do something about it and that they will be eventually be judged by the pertinent authorities.

Jin Zixun became his exception.

The more the man talked and did his best to put down his father, the more Sizhui felt like forgetting about the rules he was raised with to turn Jin Zixun into the first human being Sizhui has ever punched. He has such a horrible personality he’s not surprised someone decided to curse and condemn him to a horrible death. That aside, he knows his death played a part in Wei Wuxian’s downfall and he wasn’t lying to Jin Ling when he said he was willing to give his life as well just to make sure it doesn’t happen. 

As he hugs Jin Ling’s unconscious form to his chest, he feels his heart is about to explode.

Jiang Wanyin and Lan Xichen look alarmed and Lan Xichen in specific pales when he seems to realise some of his disciples are there, knocked out or holding onto bleeding wounds. The man’s amber eyes harden and that has his disciples hastily moving to get in line and wait nearby and listen to Jiang Wanyin who is demanding an explanation.

“He attacked me, completely unprovoked!” Jin Zixun claims, still holding Jin Zixuan who seems to still be struggling to make sense of what happened and why he ended up on the floor. “And then his demon tried to kill Zixuan.”

The eyes of the two newcomers fall on Wei Wuxian, but Sizhui can see and tell his father is too disconnected from the world to even defend himself, so, adjusting Jin Ling in his arms, he speaks, “That is not true.”

Lan Xichen and Jiang Wanyin seem a bit surprised to see them there and the first shows concern at the unconscious figure in his arms, but the furious eyes and yell from Jin Zixun keep him from saying something about it. “What did you say?!”

“We were invited to the one-month celebration, we weren’t doing anything and he, along with all the other cultivators, appeared,” he continues, doing his best to straighten his back to keep the intense stare. “It was they who shot the first arrow, them who started it.”

“Who is going to believe someone like you?” he spits and Sizhui can’t really say anything about it.

He’s indeed nothing more than an orphan in this world and this personality he has created is nothing more than a random cultivator who deserted his own clan. As if it wasn’t enough, he sided with Wei Wuxian, the demon creator of demonic cultivation, the enemy of the whole cultivation world. That doesn’t mean he will shut up.

“Who believes me or not does not fall on me,” he continues, swallowing the lump in his throat. “I am describing what happened, I can’t do anything else.”

“And unless this is the receiving committee, they have no reason to be here,” Jingyi and Zizhen arrive at that moment and Jingyi, as always, is quick to support his friend.

“You disrespectful brats—” 

“Zixun, stop,” Jin Zixuan says, voice slightly weaker but still firm. “You admitted to me you ambushed them.”

Jin Zixun wasn’t expecting that, so what else can he do? It is obvious the man has his cousin in high esteem and tries his best to only give him his best side and ambushing someone is low, more so if the person came thinking it is them who invited them in peaceful terms.

“Zixuan, you know he cursed me,” he tries, making Jiang Wanyin and Lan Xichen frown and once more glance at Wei Wuxian. “Should I just let him go and die after a while?”

“Wei Wuxian,” Jin Zixuan says instead of replying to the other, taking a step towards him but sending Wen Ning a careful look. “Please come to Lanling. A-Li is still waiting for you to meet our son and I want this to be solved.”

“I’m not stupid,” Wei Wuxian replies after shaking his head and forcing himself to once more understand the world. “You have shown your true intentions, and now even they are hurt.”

“I give you my word I had no idea he planned this, I was informed by A-Yao and that’s why I came,” At his side, Lan Xichen tenses, Sizhui’s heart hurts. “I will have someone treat them, all of them.”

Who they call Yiling Patriarch doesn’t want to, of course, he doubts everything and everyone because, despite the suspicions about the whole thing being a trap, he had hoped and prayed with every single cell in his body that he could see his siblings and meet his nephew. He had hoped for things to be fine, but now the only thing he has is Jin Ling, Zizhen and Jingyi being hurt and Wen Ning almost killing Jin Zixuan because of his momentary loss of control.

“Wei Wuxian, think,” Jiang Wanyin intervenes, reaching to seize his arm despite the threat Wen Ning standing there represents. “You’re telling the truth, then prove it to them.”

It sounds more like a statement and the disdainful look he sends Jin Zixun is key in saying he, for the first time, is siding with his brother without thinking much about the consequences. Sizhui wonders if Jin Ling’s words that day had something to do with it or if he would have reacted the same if this scenario happened without their intervention.

“Fine,” he finally says, doing his best to stop looking so lost and hurt. “But treat them first.”

Lan Xichen is who moves closer to take Jin Ling from his arms and despite staring at their forehead ribbons for a bit longer, he doesn’t say anything nor shows distrust towards them. He smiles with the smile Sizhui missed during the whole time the man decided to spend in seclusion and missed more when he came out but with one that had lines of caution and distrust product of being betrayed. 

Jiang Wanyin is who walks with Wei Wuxian and, begrudgingly, Wen Ning, throwing quick glances around the path as if he’s expecting yet another trap ready to blow up on their faces. Lastly, Jin Zixuan looks at his cousin with a hard and commanding look that leaves the other with no other choice than to start walking without a word, the heir’s eyes linger for a couple of seconds on Jin Ling before he walks away.

Lanling is pretty much the same Sizhui and everyone else knew from visiting Jin Ling, the ostentatious buildings and decorations shone brightly under the sunlight and the lines of guards barely react as they walk inside. 

Lan Xichen takes Jin Ling to the healing pavilion and Zizhen offers himself to go with him and check on Jin Ling so the leader can tend to his matters. Jingyi sprained his wrist but didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to leave Sizhui alone and although guilty, he is glad.

“Wei Ying!” Sizhui has to stop when Lan Wangji hurriedly walks towards the man in question, hand coming to hold his arm with the same firm but delicate hold he remembers seeing so many times in the future. 

“Ah, Lan Zhan, don’t look so scared, I’m not hurt,” Wei Wuxian replies with a small sigh. “I had a surprise committee.”

Lan Wangji’s golden eyes snap to Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun who stopped to say something to a servant, the impassive golden burning with such anger Wei Wuxian didn’t hesitate in capturing his wrist as a way to hold him back. 

“No killing, Lan Wangji,” he says with a strained laugh, as if the display of emotions and maybe even affection is too much for him. “Inviting them was the best, so thank you for doing so.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes move to meet Sizhui’s ones and even when they don’t know each other that much in this time, he feels the soft expression often bathing that golden gaze he is so familiar with being there, too. “You seemed close.”

“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian nods, glancing at them with an expression Sizhui isn’t capable of deciphering. “They are good kids.”

Lan Wangji adds himself to the whole thing and no one seems to oppose it. Jin Zixuan explains to his father, Jin Guangshan, everything Jin Zixun told him and can’t stress enough how displeased and angered he is with him doing it when his son is celebrating a month of life. Sizhui’s heart aches as he thinks just how many things Jin Ling missed for what happened and he prays and hopes this will help and won’t make things worse.

To Jin Zixuan’s rage, Jin Guangshan admits to knowing about Jin Zixun’s plan of ambushing Wei Wuxian but not about the day he would do it. He tries to excuse everything behind a mask of worry for his nephew’s well-being instead of the plan to get rid of Wei Wuxian that it was. 

Hearing this, Wei Wuxian can’t keep himself back any longer and pulls open his own robes to show his torso devoid of any other mark aside from a scar with the form of the Wen motif. His eyes flicker red and the resentment seems to burn fiercely because of the humiliating act he’s been forced to do to prove his innocence, but Lan Wangji steps in to shield the man from those judgemental eyes and the resentment deflates.

“It proves nothing,” Jin Zixun hisses, still adamant on his own version. “He invented those wicked tricks, he could cast a curse without suffering anything.”

“Bullshit!” Jingyi snaps and Sizhui is surprised to realise he failed to notice just how angry his best friend was this whole time. “Curses are curses, you have to pay a price for casting them!”

“Why do you keep thinking you have any say in this?!”

“Because you almost killed me, idiot!”

Sizhui does his best to hold back any reaction he can have at hearing him, but he notices Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji look fairly entertained by the idea of an old disciple behaving like this.

“I should be more worried about finding whoever cursed you,” Jiang Wanyin says. “Wei Wuxian had nothing to do with it, he came for Jin Ling.”

“He almost killed you, Zixuan.”

Sizhui’s stomach falls and his eyes immediately snap back to Wen Ning who stayed close by the entrance with hostile-looking guards surrounding him. Upon hearing this, he too looks up because he knows of what he did and the look on his eyes when he realised he hurt Jin Ling after almost killing the Jin heir is painful. For someone incapable of crying or experiencing emotions as they are, his distress is clear.

“I apologise,” he says, barely loud enough for them to hear. “Please do not take it on Young Master Wei.”

“I lost control, yes,” Wei Wuxian cuts in before something else can be said. “But what was I supposed to do? Stand there and allow them to hurt someone else? These kids shouldn’t be paying for our nonsense.”

“Until I find who is behind Zixun’s curse and take care of the issues here, I don’t find it fair to judge his actions,” Jin Zixuan says, keeping his arms resting behind his back. “He’s here for A-Li and A-Ling.”

And what else can be said? Jin Zixuan, from Sizhui’s understanding, is the only legitimate son Jin Guangshan ever had and the privileges given to his son were immeasurable. Right now, the man is angry and hurt by the secrets kept from him and the fact they almost ruin his son’s celebration, he caught them and it’s better to stay low and probably find a way to solve the complex mess Sizhui knows is underneath.

“I swear, I want to punch everyone,” Jingyi mumbles while the healer waps his wrist in a bandage. “They are so— I swear!”

“You got your chance to set them straight, Jingyi,” Sizhui chuckles softly after finishing cleaning Jin Ling’s face from the dirt. “You should have seen him, Zizhen.”

“I would pay to see him talking like that in front of Sect Leader Lan,” Zizhen hums, shaking his head. “I’m glad it’s okay now.”

Sizhui smiles and nods with a small sigh. This, definitely, feels bigger than anything they have done and after thinking they were going to die trying to change the outcome, this is more than ideal.

“Lan Sizhui,” Sizhui can’t help but jump when he hears that voice talking directly to him, forcing him to clumsily push himself off the floor to face Lan Wangji.

“Hanguang-Jun,” he says, giving him a proper bow and prompting Zizhen to do the same while Jingyi can only bow his head to not disturb the healer. “How can I help you?”

Lan Wangji’s golden eyes look away from him to thank the others with a courteous nod, Sizhui can notice there is something else and it doesn’t take him long to realise what he needs. With a small smile, he glances at his friends before stepping out of the pavilion with Lan Wangji at his side.

“I would like to thank you for once more standing up for Wei Ying,” he says, now looking calmer at being only the two of them.

“Hanguang-Jun, there is no need to thank me,” he smiles, feeling something funny inside his chest at talking so comfortably with the man who adopted him in his own present. “I’m glad I can help both.”

“I apologise for doubting you.”

“Hanguang-Jun, please don’t,” he says with a tone that sounds more like a whine. “It was unexpected and… weird, so I understand. I can see you care for Senior Wei.”

“I do,” he replies with no hesitation and a small nod.

“I’m sure he knows,” Sizhui smiles. “Please, don’t allow him to think otherwise.”

Because he knows Wei Wuxian can doubt and fear and spiral down control until Lan Wangji steps in and reassures him he is there to catch him and won’t ever leave him alone.

“Please let me know how your friend is doing,” Lan Wangji replies with a softer tone and another almost imperceptible nod.

“I will, thank you, Hanguang-Jun.”

Heavens, please let his parents be happy.

°°°

When Jin Ling wakes up he’s received by the most painful headache he has ever experienced in his whole life. It makes him groan and bring his hands to cover his head. “Fuck.”

“This confirms you’re okay,” Jingyi’s voice reaches his ears while he’s still rubbing his face, making him groan again. “Now you just have to apologise for scaring us.”

“Shut up,” he mumbles, letting his eyes flutter open from between his fingers and cursing when the bright gold seems to burn his eyes. “I hate it.”

“Jin Ling, how do you feel?” Sizhui’s calm voice is better, more comforting.

“Like shit,” he mumbles but forces himself to keep his eyes open and understand what the hell is going on. “What happened?”

“You fainted after saving him,” Zizhen’s voice is slightly more doubtful, as if scared to mess it up. “We’re in Lanling.”

Headache or not, Jin Ling is quick to push himself to sit up and look around in despair, his brain demanding him to see all the people he cares for. Sizhui is there, unharmed, Jingyi has his left hand bandaged and Zizhen has just a small cut on his cheek, but aside from them, there’s no one else.

“Hey, wait!”

He doesn’t listen, of course, he’s jolting out of the pavilion and running around the familiar place that even now is still his house. Some guards glance at him, but none of them seems particularly interested in him as long as he doesn’t head for important rooms. 

He has no clear idea where he is going, though, he’s merely following that screaming part inside of him that asks him to see Jin Zixuan, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng. He only knows he stops when he reaches one of the main halls and stops before rushing inside at the sounds of voices he recognises and one he doesn’t.

“A-Xian, he is one month, of course he is small,” a female voice whispers, voice so soft it is like a direct caress to the heart.

“Nonsense!” Wei Wuxian claims. “He needs to eat more of your delicious soup, Shijie, he needs to grow strong.”

“He can’t even have solids now,” Jiang Cheng’ snorts next. “You can’t be that dumb.”

“You two, behave now, A-Ling is trying to sleep.”

Just like tackling Jin Zixuan to the floor was a shameful act, spying is even worse, but he can’t help it. Pressing his back to the door, he peeks inside the room to see Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng leaning over a crib adorned with gold and expensive-looking cushions while the female voice is absent. His jiujiu has his usual scowl while Wei Wuxian has his usual smile, but when the later leans to whisper something in the other’s ear, his jiujiu rolls his eyes with a faint, entertained smile.

He has no connection to his one-month-old self that peacefully lies on the crib, but he feels...loved. It warms his heart to see this, to see the look of adoration in both and the way how they seem to be freer to express that brotherly love they couldn’t seem to share at the Burial Mounds. It’s also bittersweet, knowing in his future none of this happened and instead had someone coming to inform his mother Jin Zixuan has been murdered.

“I’m glad to see you are awake,” Jin Zixuan’s voice is almost enough to send Jin Ling to the floor, heart beating like crazy in his chest as he looks to the front to find the man standing there with a faint smile. “I apologise for scaring you, wasn’t my intention.”

Jin Ling forces the blush that took over his face down as he straightens his back and nods, casting his eyes down since he is incapable of looking at him in the eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“You continue apologising, but you saved me back there,” he says and Jin Ling feels as if he’s reaching into his chest to squeeze his heart. “I thank you for doing it.”

“I didn’t… I— Wei Wuxian didn’t mean it, he was just angry and… yes,” he says, finding his own blabbering the most ridiculous thing in the world.

“I know,” The man, however, nods with a heavy sigh. “I do not blame him for this, I think I have more urgent and pressing matters to attend.”

“Yes… be fair,” he whispers, not having the heart to expose his uncle, Jin Guangyao, because he’s not sure how far he is here nor how true his statement would be now that this has changed. “So many things can change.”

He sees Jin Zixuan nod before opening his mouth as if he’s about to say something, but the same female voice sounds behind him and Jin Ling once more feels weak.

“Zixuan, is this the young man you talked to me about?”

“He is,” Jin Zixuan replies with a smile, his eyes filling with genuine love and affection at who is behind Jin Ling. “Young man, she’s my wife, Jiang Yanli.”

Both his jiujiu and Wei Wuxian talked about Jiang Yanli as a beautiful person both physically and her values on the inside and Jin Ling himself always imagined her as the definition of perfection. Seen her makes him feel stupid because she’s more than perfect.

Jiang Yanli has sweet and kind features, pale and fair skin and long black hair styled into a simple but beautiful headpiece. Right now she’s wearing golden robes that lack the white peony motif but that is a clear indication of the clan she is now part of by her marriage. Her eyes are soft as she looks at Jin Ling, a gracious smile taking all the will Jin Ling has to walk away from them.

“Hello, Maiden Jiang,” he whispers after seconds of awkward silence. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

She chuckles softly and her voice is melodious, ideal for comforting Jin Ling after a nightmare or to even scold him softly for doing something wrong. “Young cultivators are so proper already.”

“Congratulations on his one-month celebration,” he says after feeling like an idiot for staring at them. “We had an incense burner… but I’m sure it broke.”

“You don’t have to worry about it,” Jiang Yanli shakes her head with her same beautiful smile. “I have to thank you for being there and helping as much as you did.”

“Don’t thank me, please,” Now he feels guilty for being so pessimistic about it in the beginning. “I just tried.”

“You deserve that recognition,” she says in a tone that makes him believe sounds like a mother scolding her child which is even more fatal for him. “Your efforts should be recognised and always valued.”

How many times did he wish to hear that? To have the reassurance he is doing right and is not the weakling some said he was for not having a mother to raise him well, to be reassured his use of Fairy wasn’t wrong and was instead a good example of a good team… but he’s getting to hear it, now, maybe they don’t know he is his son, but they’re still praising him for what he does and valuing him for what he is.

“You’re a capable cultivator and it’s unfortunate you felt your own clan has failed you,” Jin Zixuan says. “I want things to change after what happened today, so the doors are open for you if you wish to come back.”

Jin Ling let’s out a shuddering breath as he nods and gives him a proper salute. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad A-Xian has such reliable friends,” Jiang Yanli says, Jin Ling’s heart stutters. “Thank you, young man.”

He doesn’t want to let go, he wants this to last for much longer, to sit with them and talk about everything he has done in his twenty-five years of life, wants to have their arms holding him while he cries and lets out the pain consuming him. He wants to…

“Thank you,” he says with a small smile. “I will check on my friends.”

He wants this, he truly does, but he also knows his jiujiu is waiting for him and despite the pain, suffering and all the bad things his life has hit him with, he will always have his jiujiu , his stupid uncle Wei and his friends.

His little self in here will have his parents, but he has his family, too.

°°°

It takes them a couple of days to go back to the Burial Mounds, partially because Wei Wuxian doesn’t want to leave his nephew and partially because they still have things to declare for the investigation. Once they do, though, things are surprisingly promising.

Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian don’t part as enemies, Lan Wangji promises with his eyes to always protect the man they know he loves and even Lan Xichen seems to be a bit warier towards the Jins, including his own sworn brother. It’s painful to see for Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui, but they hope this will spare the leader from the pain.

“There is something I don’t understand entirely,” Wei Wuxian says while they are busy cleaning things after everyone ate and only the four of them along with Wen Qing, Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian are left inside. “It has to be with you four.”

“What is it, Senior Wei?” Zizhen asks, sounding confused and slightly hesitant about the whole thing.

“You’re not who you say you are.”

It is like being thrown into the Cold Springs before the brain has the chance of fully waking up and Jingyi even drops one of the plates he was holding. The four turn to look at him and even the two Wen siblings stare at the other, the woman looking more worried than angry.

“I always found it weird to have four young cultivators from big clans coming here to learn,” he continues without really looking at them. “I was expecting problems and our possible downfall, and while I am glad that didn’t happen, recent events remind me again that something doesn’t quite fit with you.”

“Who do you think we are?” Jin Ling demands, crossing his arms protectively over his chest. “Think we will attack?”

“No, of course I don’t,” Wei Wuxian chuckles, shaking his head. “I actually forgot about it because you are great kids who proved to be helpful and nice. You have done more in months than others haven’t in years. I came to value each one of you as Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Ouyang Zizhen and Jin Ling, so now I would like to know the truth.”

It is heart-warming and wonderful to hear they managed to gain his trust and make a change without having to reveal their real identities, but it’s still unnerving to know the time has come to face the reality.

“Well, we really didn’t lie,” Sizhui starts, awkwardly shifting his height. “We—”

“I am Jin Ling,” the leader says, hands balling up into tight fists that tremble slightly at his sides. “Courtesy name, Rulan.”

Wei Wuxian’s, Wen Ning’s and Wen Qing’s eyes go wide, as if the words are too hard to process, which is completely acceptable because the only person in the world to be called Jin Ling and Jin Rulan is reduced to only one and this person is, in fact, one-month-old, not twenty-five.

“And I am Lan Yuan,” Sizhui whispers after a moment of silence where he struggles to steady his voice. “Formerly, Wen Yuan.”

“Wait, do you mean—”

“Yes, he’s your nephew,” Jingyi says, tilting his head in Jin Ling’s direction before tilting it to Sizhui’s. “And he’s your… son?”

It’s possible there were better ways to explain this without shocking them so much, but maybe it was pointless to do so after everything that has happened. Furthermore, what’s the point of coming up with excuses? They have been here for way more time than they initially expected to be.

“I don’t—” Wei Wuxian starts but stops, frowning as he struggles to make sense of what he’s hearing. “How could you come here? Where do you come from?”

“It is our future and it was by accident,” Zizhen sighs, shaking his head. “We were at the Cloud Recesses and messed up with one of your experiments, we ended here and we don’t really know how it happened.”

“Why would I be in the Cloud Recesses— No, wait, I don’t want to know anything of what will happen,” he says, shaking his head as his face seems to heat up.

“Well, things have already changed,” Jingyi mutters, looking at the floor. “Something huge was avoided.”

Wei Wuxian looks as if he’s ready to ask what he means, but realisation dawns on him before they can explain. The man takes a step back in horror and his wide and dark eyes fall on Jin Ling. “Jin Zixuan died because you weren’t there to push him away.”

Jin Ling has no strength to reply, but his reaction of looking away and hugging himself more protectively is the confirmation.

It shakes Wei Wuxian to the core and he has to take several steps down to sit on one of the tables. He looks paler and his chest rises and falls rapidly in a clear sign of anxiousness and fear. Sizhui’s heart falls to the floor.

“A-Ling,” he says and it takes Jin Ling several seconds to look up, eyes slightly red at the unwanted tears. “You said you were an orphan, does that mean— My God, I’m so sorry.”

“Shut up!” Jin Ling cries, digging his fingers on his own arms. “It won’t happen here, so don’t fuck it up! And not everything is bad, I have my jiujiu and friends and eventually you, so shut up.”

As expected, it takes Wei Wuxian a long time to come to terms with the idea of killing Jin Zixuan by accident and doing something that ended with his sister’s life, too, but Jin Ling’s passive-aggressive way of comforting him brings a small smile to his face. “I now understand why you remind me of Jiang Cheng so much.”

“Of course, he’s the best,” Jin Ling huffs and Wei Wuxian can’t help but chuckle.

“But wait, you need to go back to your place,” he says, pushing himself off the table with an alarmed expression. “You have been here for so long, that could be a problem.”

“Yeah, but we have no idea how this even worked, so there’s that,” Jingyi snorts, scrunching his nose. “That’s what we meant with needing to learn from you, not everything else.”

“Well, you could have said that since the beginning!” he exclaims, tapping his Chenqing against his hand before frowning. “Though I’m not sure I would have believed it and none of this would have happened.”

“We didn’t do everything, Senior Wei,” Sizhui hurries to say. “Hanguang-Jun, Sect Leader Jiang and even Senior Jin had to do a lot with it, too. We could say many things but if no one is willing to listen, it would be pointless.”

“Look at you, A-Yuan, a real Lan.”

Sizhui’s face turns red.

“Whatever it is, we will find a way to send you four back.”

Going back to their lives was the initial idea, the reason why they came to the Burial Mounds in hopes of finding and learning from Wei Wuxian something that helped them to travel back to their place, so the idea of going back to it leaves them feeling giddy and fuzzy on the inside.

That night they realise that the weight and stress of what could happen in this time have lifted enough to let them feel the anxiousness of what is happening in their own future. 

Jin Ling believes someone has taken advantage of his disappearance to take over his clan just like they wanted to do it when he was still there and his jiujiu is not only having to deal with it but his absence, too. After Jin Guangyao was gone, Jin Ling came to the soul-crushing realisation that Jiang Cheng was the only blood family member he had left and taking his position as a leader meant leaving him alone. Sure it was true he divided his life between Lotus Pier and Lanling and Jin Guangyao was always the nicer uncle, but despite Jiang Cheng’s threats and constant demands of pushing himself to the limit, he never hurt him, never betrayed him and most importantly, never lied to him. Jin Ling could never leave him.

Sizhui on his side is worried about Wei Wuxian’s personality that will make him put all the blame on his shoulders, he can even imagine the man apologising to Lan Wangji and everyone in Gusu and Yunmeng for doing this, heavens, maybe he will even go for Sect Leader Ouyang to say what happened to his son and why it is his fault. Lan Wangji will surely have to struggle with comforting his husband and not lose his own mind because he worries about his disciples, he has always been a strong man, but he’s still human and Sizhui hates to think he is the one to blame. He also left Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren and their worry make him feel worse... if that’s even possible.

But as it was with many other things in the past, worrying without doing anything only makes them lose hours of sleep and wake up feeling miserable, so they decide to compensate it by hurrying to help and finish what they normally do earlier so they can help Wei Wuxian with his investigation. Zizhen remembers some of the things written on the array and Jingyi remembers the positions, Jin Ling mentions the ingredients he remembers and Sizhui mentions Wei Wuxian had mentioned it was supposed to revise some memories instead of straight-up being transported to another time.

“When you go back, make sure to kick me for messing something with something like this.”

To be honest, they can’t disagree.

“You have the face of your mother, young one.”

Sizhui is in the middle of scribbling one of the figures he remembers seeing in one talisman when the gentle and soft voice makes him look up abruptly, finding his grandmother standing there, leaning over the wall slightly. 

“Ah, grandma, please sit down,” he hurries to say, standing up and helping her to move but stopping when she shakes her head. “I, well…”

“Your cousins told me,” she says softly. “And I have to admit I was glad to hear it, ever since you arrived, I kept to myself just how much you reminded me of my daughter, with so many things in this world, I was worried.”

“I apologise for not revealing it sooner,” he whispers, feeling his cheeks heating up as if he’s a child being caught lying. “We wanted to help and we had the idea that revealing our identity could complicate things.”

“I can perfectly understand, you haven’t changed,” she laughs and it feels so comforting to hear it from someone he knows has been with him ever since he was a baby. “Still worrying so much for the ones around you.”

“I was taught well,” he says, the memories he recovered from her reminding him just how wonderful she was.

“My last wish was for you to be safe, to become the strong and capable man I knew you were going to become,” she continues, resting her palm against his cheek, Sizhui stops breathing. “A fine cultivator, a natural leader.”

Sizhui remembers that time at the Burial Mounds when they were outnumbered by the fierce corpses while the rest of the leaders escaped, he remembers the blood corpses who emerged from the blood pond and the female figure who did just the same she is doing right now. For the Sizhui of that time, it had been confusing as he couldn’t remember his past, but later on, she thanked her grandmother and wished he could thank her properly. So he does so, he leans on her hand and lets the warmness of her hand, of her living body, wash over him as it did when he was still a kid.

“Thank you for everything, granny,” he whispers, doing his best to keep the tears from spilling. “I’m sure you will now have the life you deserved since the beginning.”

“Silly boy,” she laughs, endeared, though her eyes are shining brightly due to the tears. “You don’t have to worry about me, I am proud of seeing you become this fine man. I hope the little one I still take to bed every night will follow in your same steps.”

Sizhui doesn’t have the heart to say what had to happen for him to become Lan Wangji’s adoptive son, can’t even imagine saying how everything ended for them and Wei Wuxian, they don’t need to know, he hopes it will be different. “I’m sure it will be even better.”

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji always seem to find the way back to each other in the end, so he hopes he can be part of it along with his family.

°°°

“I will need you to focus on what you remember of your time,” Wei Wuxian explains as he walks around the array they just put together. “Don’t think about what you've changed here nor how it will affect the future, think only about your life, what you know.”

“What if we affected our time and it no longer exists?” Jin Ling asks, masking his anxiousness with his normal mood swings. 

Wei Wuxian sighs and crosses his arms, staring at the array instead of them before saying, “It can happen, yes, and honestly, I can’t say what will happen to you.”

“I have the feeling two of us can’t exist for a long time,” Jingyi mumbles, glancing at the other three.

“Best case scenario, we become part of their consciousness or even take their place?” Zizhen and his optimism suggest. “Or we just disappear, who knows.”

“It will be fine,” SIzhui tries, shaking his head to get rid of his own pessimism. “Whatever the outcome is, we did well, so it will be alright.”

“Yeah, we did well,” Jin Ling nods, remembering what happened with his parents and the relationship between his two uncles. “Fuck it, we should just do it.”

“I don’t want to know what happened in your future nor what happened to me in specific, I would just like to thank you for treating A-Ning as he deserves,” Wen Qing says, walking closer to them with a small, grateful smile. “It is comforting to know that despite everything, young ones are accepting.”

Wen Ning looks embarrassed in the way only he seems capable of doing and he struggles to say something as he makes panicked and awkward movements to come closer. “Yes— I thank you for trusting in me.”

“Thank you for taking care of me,” Sizhui whispers, skin-crawling until he can no longer hold himself back and ends up throwing himself to hug both. “Cousin Qing, cousin Ning, thank you.”

It takes both a couple of seconds to respond, but once they do, Sizhui feels the arms pressing more against his back. He wants Wen Qing to live and he prays they manage to do that.

“Thank you for healing my injury… and for helping my jiujiu and Wei Wuxian with the whole core thing,” Jin Ling mutters without looking at them. “I’m glad someone so capable was who did it and assured me that way it went well.”

It doesn’t seem to surprise Wei Wuxian much that Jin Ling and the rest know about the core transfer, though, he seems to get anxious at the idea of the revelation. Jin Ling can only hope he will stop being an idiot and will tell his jiujiu about it instead of keeping it a secret until someone else reveals it.

“There’s no need,” Wen Qing nods, looking entertained and sending Wei Wuxian a look of I told you . “I wish for you to have a safe trip.”

“Why are they leaving?!” Sizhui looks away from his flustered friend when he hears his little self to find him running towards them. “Don’t go!”

Sizhui decides to crouch down in front of him and rest his hands on his shoulders, ignoring the oddness of the act as he smiles. “We need to go, so you have to take care of Granny Wen, all your uncles, cousin Qing, cousin Ning and Xian-gege, okay?”

The way he tears up and his lower lip wobbles is so familiar Sizhui feels slightly embarrassed to remember he did that with Lan Xichen when he revealed he couldn’t see Lan Wangji for a while. Though, not as embarrassing as doing it to Lan Qiren.

“A-Yuan, you're a strong one and I can trust you with protecting everyone,” Jingyi says at his side, catching his attention. “So be strong, because we all know you are.”

“Okay…'' little Sizhui whispers as he nods and rubs his face with his hands. “But visit us!”

“It will be alright, A-Yuan,” the old woman who has entered behind the kid, says. “Come on, it’s time to eat.”

Sizhui smiles and leans once more into the woman’s touch when she reaches to caress his cheek one last time. His eyes stay on her as she takes the kid’s hand and starts to walk away.

“I see you didn’t stop being a child who cries for everything,” Wei Wuxian’s teasing voice makes him look back towards them and whine as he cleans his face. “A crying Lan, I have seen everything.”

“Senior Wei, I—”

“I don’t know what happened nor why you ended up there, but I can tell Lan Zhan had a lot to do with it, right?” he asks, Sizhui nods lightly. “To be raised by the Hanguang-Jun, you deserved that and more, A-Yuan.”

Sizhui suddenly feels the intense desire and desperation to hold his father, the one who teases him for everything, the one who knows he is his A-Yuan and threatens to plant him on the floor again despite his age, he wants his father. “Thank you, Senior Wei, please promise me you will be happy.”

“I have learnt a lot with you four, so I will try my best,” he says with a faint chuckle. “So don’t worry about us, live your life happily.”

Of course, they can’t tell if their future still exists, but Sizhui promises he will.

“So you, A-Ling,” Once he moved away from Sizhui, Wei Wuxian smiles when he sees the leader still looking at the floor. “I’m glad to see someone took such good care of Jiang Cheng.”

“He took care of me,” Jin Ling says, eyes flickering up to the man before going back down. “You take care of him, it’s obvious you care for each other, so don’t be idiots.”

Wei Wuxian laughs at remembering the boy’s words when Jiang Cheng came, now all of this makes much more sense. “I promise I will try to do something, but can’t do much with his personality.”

“Please, you two are the same.”

“Be happy, A-Ling, promise me you will also do your best.”

And it seems to be too much for him because Jin Ling, despite not being a big fan of physical contact, hugs the man in front of him and aggressively demands him to be happy as well and to not mess up everything they worked so hard on. Wei Wuxian nods with an entertained smile he uses to hide the rest of the tumultuous emotions overwhelming him but laughs when Jin Ling pushes him away and returns to his sulking posture.

“I don’t have anything against Sect Leader Ouyang, but I can say I’m not his favourite,” Zizhen looks away from Jin Ling when Wei Wuxian stands in front of him. “Knowing this, I’m happy you are surrounding yourself with good people.”

Zizhen smiles, looking all giddy and happy for being complimented by someone he admires. “He is my father, but I, well, we don’t agree on some things.”

“Then I’m happier,” Wei Wuxian hums, patting his shoulder. “You’re a capable cultivator with the right amount of romanticism, maybe you should write a book.”

“Maybe I’ll try with poems!” he announces happily, before shoving his excitement back down. “But thank you, Senior Wei, means a lot.”

“When I studied at the Cloud Recesses, I hated how many boring people who lived there were,” Jingyi huffs when he hears the man, foot tapping against the floor. “It would have been wonderful to have you there, it would have been so fun.”

“I respect the rules!” Jingyi complains, though, he seems to realise what he just did is not something the other would relate to being a Lan. “You’re a committed rule-breaker.”

“Because it is fun!” Wei Wuxian laughs, shaking his head. “Of course you’re a great Lan and a great, capable and loyal friend for A-Yuan, so thank you for that.”

“I’m glad Sizhui is my friend,” he huffs before sighing. “You better don’t make Hanguang-Jun suffer or I’ll come back to kick you!”

It’s obvious Wei Wuxian doesn’t get the extent of Jingyi’s words and how it is related to his relationship with Lan Wangji. Although obvious they care for each other much more than they admit, the things pressing against both are big and need a lot of work to get over them. After what happened, though, they are sure it will be changing

“Fine, fine,” Wei Wuxian says, stepping back and glancing back at the array. “Now, you have to power it up by yourselves, none of us should even interact with it once active.”

They nod and despite their trembling hands and still tear-stained faces, they focus on directing their spiritual energy to activate the array and all the talismans they drew and prepared under Wei Wuxian’s cautious eye. It activates, as expected, but aside from that, there is nothing that says what will happen once they step inside.

“Thank you for everything, kids.”

It’s terrifying, of course, but each one does their best to think about that life they want to go back to and the people they miss so dearly. There’s a blinding flash of light that makes them shiver lightly, close their eyes and hold onto each other a bit tighter, but then it is gone and with it, their consciousness.

°°°

Sizhui comes up to the world of consciousness but refuses to open his eyes for what feels like hours. He’s aware of the hands of his friends squeezing the life out of his arms and the fact he is lying down on something hard and uncomfortable with another something digging on his back, but aside from that, he doesn’t register anything else.

“Has anybody opened his eyes?” ZIzhen asks at his right.

“I don’t think so,” Jingyi replies at his left. “But we haven’t heard Senior Wei cursing or something, so maybe it’s good.”

“We should just open them,” Jin Ling hisses, but Sizhui has the feeling he’s not doing it first.

“You go first.”

“The fuck, you do it.”

And as it happened when they first appeared in Yiling, it is Sizhui who ends up opening his eyes first and finds they are somewhere among trees and with the night already covering everything. They are not at the cave and there is no one around, which could be good, but there is nothing else that helps him. “Well, we’re not at the cave.”

At his side, Zizhen finally let’s go of his arm and sits up, eyes looking around before looking back down at them. “But where are we?”

“I don’t really know.”

Jingyi and Jin Ling eventually sit up and stand up to then help Sizhui to do the same with apologetic smiles after they seem to notice they strangled his arms. Once up, they spent far too long just looking around instead of moving, but they are scared. 

What if they ended up at yet another point of the story? What if they have to face another reality that isn’t theirs? They are glad they have helped and hopefully improved the world for everyone by keeping the worst thing from happening, but it was an exhausting and painful experience they’re not keen on going through it again. 

But in the end, they know they have to move and face the reality at one point, so they start walking through the trees and try to find something that tells them where they are and what they can be expecting until Sizhui stops and says, “We’re in the Cloud Recesses.”

Jingyi follows his gaze to then look at different points with dizzying speed, his dark eyes widening after a moment. “We’re in the back mountain!”

“Why would we be here?” Jin Ling asks.

“Maybe it just sent us back to the nearest place where we disappeared,” Zizhen suggests, staring at the trees as if he could determine how old they are by looking at them.

“Well, one way to find out.”

The Cloud Recesses didn’t really change much during the years, Lan Xichen even taught Sizhui how meticulous they were in rebuilding it after it was burned by Wen Xu many years ago, so they can’t really say if they are in their time or the past. When they reach the main entrance, the guards have already retired, so yet another thing they can’t use to finally put an end to their misery.

At least their jade tokens work and let them in.

“I just wanted to thank we, you know, stayed together during the whole thing,” Zizhen says, stopping before they can reach the main area. “I wouldn’t have been capable of doing all of that alone… and I learnt a lot.”

“We make a good team, right?” Sizhui smiles softly, looking at his friends. “We don’t only work well for night hunts.”

“Well, obviously,” Jin Ling adds with a small snort. “But I… yes, I’m glad I went through it with all of you.”

“Why are we getting emotional?” Jingyi whines, flailing his arms.

“I think to get ready for the worst-case scenario?”

“Oh how much I hate everyone.”

Sizhui laughs softly, though, he can’t shake off the feeling of insecurity of what they are going to find.

“We all learnt a lot.”

They did and with it comes a lot of things they are eager to change, too.

“If we find Grandmaster Lan and we’re not in our time, I don’t even want to think about what he will do,” Jingyi whines, adjusting his forehead ribbon even though it is already in a good position.

“He will either lecture us or would call for someone to apprehend us immediately.”

Sizhui agrees with that, actually, he knows Lan Qiren won’t take that lightly to see two unfamiliar faces wearing forehead ribbons with the cloud motif sewn. Lan Qiren will surely know there are no distant relatives who walked away from the clan but still held their rules so close to the heart and after that goodbye, he has no strength to deal with it.

Not that he needs to.

“Wait— Sizhui?!” 

And just like that, he hears it. The voice of Wei Wuxian, the one he heard making a scandal at Mo manor as he pretended to be the lunatic Mo Xuanyu, the one who guided them when they all went out in a night hunt, the one who teased the life out of him with praises about his techniques and his shameless disobedience against Lan Qiren’s wishes of not seeing Wen Ning again.

Wei Wuxian, the one they know, runs towards where they are standing despite the rules explicitly saying running is forbidden, behind him a flash of white following close. “My God, you brats where were you?!”

Sizhui wants to reply, really, wants to stop being this mute statue incapable of human speech while Wei Wuxian’s hands hastily check on his body for injuries and frowns at the clothes he’s wearing before moving on to check on the others, leaving Lan Wangji to do a more throughout search with his concerned golden eyes.

“A-die…” he finally whispers brokenly and before Lan Wangji can understand, he fists the front of his robes to pull himself closer and starts crying against his chest. “I’m so sorry.”

He’s sure everyone else is staring at them but he doesn’t care when Lan Wangji’s hand come to rest on his back and the other pats the top of his head in a way that reminds SIzhui of the nights were he woke up from a nightmare and the man was there to comfort him. “Sizhui.”

“I’m sorry,” Sizhui repeats again, refusing to let go, not even when he hears Jingyi stuttering in an attempt of saying something.

“We’re sorry, Senior Wei,” Jingyi says. “We messed up with your array and ended up somewhere, but we didn’t mean to disappear for months.”

“Months?” Wei Wuxian’s voice now sounds a bit closer to him and Sizhui seeks his presence, letting go of Lan Wangji’s robe with one hand to tug the other man closer. “You were gone for weeks, only, but what do you mean somewhere?”

“Weeks?!” Jin Ling says in disbelief, his voice too sounding strained and hurt. “We were gone for months!”

“No, you disappeared three weeks ago, not even a month,” Wei Wuxian debates, one of his arms coming to card his fingers through Sizhui’s hair. “But fine, you will explain tomorrow, seems you went through a lot, rest.”

“No, I can’t rest,” Jin Ling says again and Sizhui raises his head just enough to look at the other who is moving back and unsheathing his sword, flicking his wrist to get rid of the concealing charm to reveal Suihua in all his glory. “I need to see my jiujiu. ”

Under other circumstances, Lan Wangji or Wei Wuxian would be fast enough to hold the boy before he can even plant his feet on the blade, but because of Sizhui’s grip, they can’t react fast enough and Jin Ling’s figure disappears into the darkness of the night.

“Ah, this kid!” Wei Wuxian exclaims, frustrated between peeling Sizhui’s iron grip on his robes off to run behind the other boy or stay and comfort his kid who is crying as if someone has died. “I need to—”

“Let him be, baba,” he whispers with a voice rough due to his crying, the name he only uses when he’s alone with them needing to go out right now. “He needs to see Sect Leader Jiang.”

It’s clear they don’t understand and each thing is frustrating them further, but Sizhui’s brain doesn’t have the strength to care. He needs this, needs his fathers, needs the reassurance that this is real and not a dream he’s having while sleeping in that small house at the Burial Mounds.

“Fine, Jingyi, Zizhen go rest, we will take care of A-Yuan.”

Jingyi rests his hand on his back and Zizhen squeezes his arm softly before Sizhui hears them walking away and sees them disappearing into the path that leads to the guest houses. He has stopped crying, but his hold is unyielding, the presence of his two fathers being everything he needs in this world.

“Come on, A-Yuan, let go of your die to go back home,” Wei Wuxian says softly, his bony hand holding Sizhui’s trembling one to coax him into letting go. “We’re here, we’re not leaving you.”

Sizhui realises he feels like a child and he doesn’t even care, he wants to feel safe, comforted, he doesn’t want to carry the anxiousness being a twenty-six years old man brings with it. After some more convincing he lets go of Wei Wuxian’s robes and then of Lan Wangji’s ones, his eyes are stinging and feel all puffy, but he doesn’t have much time to think about it as they both guide him back to the Jingshi.

The sandalwood is comforting and soothing, it smells like home.

Fresh clothes of his own are brought in no time and Sizhui is quick to change into them just because he missed this feeling and because he wants to go back to his parents. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are sitting on the bed that used to be Sizhui’s when he was a kid, a spot left between them he’s quick to fill. Lan Wangji goes back to rubbing circles on his back while Wei Wuxian settles to hold his hand and rub his thumb on the back of it, the eyes of both are concerned but none tries to force him into talking and that’s what Sizhui needs.

“You two suffered so much,” he sniffles after several minutes of comforting silence. “Baba thought he was alone and A-die couldn’t help!”

“Did you have a nightmare?” Wei Wuxian asks, though, he doesn’t sound that confident. “I’m not alone, look at us! I’m still married to this fine man and have a wonderful child, none of it is real.”

“It was real and it happened before baba died.”

Both hands stop and Sizhui whines at the loss. “A-Yuan, what do you mean?”

“We travelled back in time,” he admits, sniffling again as he closes his eyes and tries to make himself smaller. “At the time baba and the rest of my family lived there.”

“My God, you child,” Wei Wuxian’s voice breaks and he’s pulling Sizhui into his arms in a matter of seconds, trembling hands hugging him tightly. “I’m so sorry A-Yuan, I never imagined it would… it would do that, it must have been horrible!”

“We changed things,” he says, not wanting to confirm that yes, it was horrible but not for the same reasons the other surely believe it is.

“What did you change?” This time it is Lan Wangji who asks and SIzhui, not wanting to let go, just turns his head to look at him.

“I hope many things,” he whispers because even with everything they did, he doesn’t have a list of what changed, they didn’t get to see what was different. “I hope we managed to give them a better life, no… we gave them a better life.”

It seems to be enough for both to understand what he means and after just a second, Lan Wangji leans in to hug the two of them, leaving Sizhui between feeling comforted and loved, just like he wanted. “I am proud of you, A-Yuan.”

Yes, maybe living with his family would have been great, but this Sizhui wouldn’t change this for anything.

°°°

Flying all the way to Lotus Pier from Gusu in the middle of the night probably is one of the craziest and stupidest things Jin Ling has ever done in his whole life, but he can’t even get mad at himself. His heart is beating loudly in his chest and what he just lived is replying over and over again inside his brain leaving him only with the burning desire of needing to do this.

The cold air seems to slap him in the face as he flies, but he’s incapable of focusing on warming himself without feeling he will stop worrying about keeping himself in the air and will fall to a highly ridiculous and shameful death. So he ignores it and hopes he won’t catch a cold.

“Jiujiu!” The disciples at Lotus Pier are kind of used to Jin Ling behaving in many different ways, hell, they were there as he grew up, but after what happened and considering both his age and position, maybe they weren’t expecting him to enter running calling for their leader at the top of his lungs. “ Jiujiu come here!”

Furthermore, it is the middle of the night, so yeah.

“Jin Ling?” Right when he’s about to go into yet another screaming fit, a confused voice comes from one of the halls and Jin Ling almost snaps his neck for turning so fast. “You stupid kid, where the fuck have you been?”

It’s possible he wanted to say more, but whatever it was is lost when Jin Ling catches the man in a bone-crushing hug.

“Why did you let yourself suffer so much?” he demands, burying his face in his chest. “Why was everyone such huge idiots?”

“A-Ling, you’re making no goddamn sense,” They both suck at physical contact, hugs and all of that been a thing of when Jin Ling was still a kid, but the combination of everything seems to be enough for Jiang Cheng to awkwardly wrap his arms around his trembling body. “I have been so fucking worried.”

“I know,” he cries, “I know how much you love me and your stupid brother.”

“What—”

“I won’t let you two continue being idiots!” he says, pulling back to glare at him with his puffy and red eyes. “You two made mistakes, yes, so what? He is alive again, you learnt something new and you should work on it!”

“Jin Ling—”

“You have a second chance, why aren’t you doing something with it?!”

 When they were there he saw how impossible the whole relationship between those two seemed to be, but in the end, Jiang Cheng stood up for Wei Wuxian and parted ways with a more promising future. Here, Jin Ling knows JIang Cheng no longer hates Wei Wuxian with the same passion that drove him into torturing those demonic cultivators nor blames him, at least not fully, for all the disgrace that filled his world. The two came to believe being away from each other is the best, but Jin Ling knows that is far from being the right answer. 

If Wei Wuxian told Jiang Cheng about his core, if Jiang Cheng sat down and explained why he couldn’t help and why it was so hard to sympathise with the Wen, if the two of them just sat down and listened to each other then this whole problem could have been solved instead of going from a miscommunication problem to a full tragedy.

“Jin Ling, I have told you many times,” he says, resting his hands on his shoulders but not really pushing him back. “Wei Wuxian has a life of his own and I have mine.”

“Maybe it was like that, but not anymore!” he shakes his head. “Mom loved both, so honour her memory by trying to be friends again.”

Jiang Cheng goes rigid in his embrace and his wide eyes stare at Jin Ling as if he’s incapable of understanding what he is hearing. After all, Jin Ling rarely mentions her mother in a way that makes it seem he can remember something she told him.

“A-Ling…”

“I saw it, I talked to them, and I now know what I am supposed to do,” he states, pulling back to try to clean the tears from his face. “I won’t let you two continue being idiots, I won’t let my stupid clan hurt more innocent people.”

It sounds crazy, the youngest sect leader in the cultivation world having dreams of change and a better world that needs radical changes in order to happen, but he doesn’t care. He’s not alone, he has his friends and family and they will make things better.

“I will never understand what goes inside your head,” Jiang Cheng mutters with a slightly breathy tone, hand reaching to hold his arm. “Come, brat, you need to change whatever you’re wearing and eat.”

Jin Ling decides to follow and stop confusing his jiujiu with even more words that make no sense, but he can’t keep himself from clinging to his arm, remembering when he was still a kid who hid behind his jiujiu all the time.

“I love you, jiujiu ,” he whispers and he hates he can’t tell if he has said it as much as the man deserves it to hear. “Thank you for everything.”

Jiang Cheng makes a noise in the back of his throat, but Jin Ling is sure he will survive.

They all went through this, but the junior quartet has a lot of work to do.