Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

O.

“Cloud Recesses has been burnt down!”

“What?! Are you saying that for real?!”

“Aiy, don’t you know, Brother? The news’ been spreading like wildfire these days. They say, not only has Cloud Recesses been completely razed to the ground, the Gusu Lan are left without a single survivor. Young and old, they were all completely slaughtered by the Wen Sect! How merciless the Wen are…”

“It’s not surprising, with how much bolder their actions have been of late. The times that are coming are going to be hard. Eh, Brother, you said that not a single Lan survived?”

“That’s right! Even the Jade of Gusu Lan couldn’t beat Wen Chao! And Lan Qiren ah, let’s not even talk about him. That scholar, he was defeated in the midst of getting that useless Sect Head of theirs.”

“Hm? But that doesn’t seem to be right? From what I know of, didn’t the Lan Sect Head have another son? If I remember clearly, Lan… Lan Wangji, that’s his name! Whatever happened to him?!”

“Lan Wangji?” The man let out a snort, fanning himself flippantly. “You can also forget about him. The Lan’s second son is a kid of mere twelve locked up daily in his mother’s pavilion. Like father, like son. What can a mere brat do against the hundreds of cultivators Wen Chao marched into Cloud Recesses? Cry? Like that would do him some good!” The man snickered.

“You’re not wrong about that.” His companion snorted. “To save a child from an army of that size, it’d take more than a single ma—mh?! Hey! Are you alright?!”

The man who had been speaking jumped up, extending a hand over to his friend fearfully. The gossiper, who had fancied himself as a man up to date with the news, stretched his hands up to his neck, choking and spurting spit with every motion. His body writhed. He fell off his seat as if tormented by it, mouth still parted and eyes rolling up.

“W-What’s happening?! S-Someone, go get the healer!”

Murmurs arose from the crowd, indiscernible from each other. One youth dashed away with a shaken yelped “Yes!”. In the midst of this chaos, nobody even notices a young man stepping away with firm, clicking steps. That young man had incredibly fine features under his straw hat. With an arm enveloped by long sleeves, he shallowly raised the hat and murmured, with a trace of a mocking smile.

“To laugh at my son like that… even half-deaf, this Yifu* won’t let you off!”

I.

Things begin like this:

In a battlefield where saintly white and heavenly shades of blues used to litter the place, the clanking of metal and shrieks of cultivators as they’re slashed took their place.

Lan Wangji was panting harshly as he defended the last place remaining in Cloud Recesses. The inch-thick layer of blood squelched beneath their feet with every step they took. Every glance at the befallen Lan’s faces and the undignified jeering of the Wens only made his heart clench with anger. Lan Wangji panted through gritted teeth as his sword once more defended him from another slash. However, alas, the boy of a mere twelve could not stand against a man’s strength for so long. He was tossed to the ground in the next strike, cheek pressed into the mud.

“You see?! This is what happens to all who defy me! That’s why you Lan Sect should have given in to us since the beginning! Meaningless battles only make your deaths more painful!” Gloated Wen Chao, who brandished his sword with pride.

“…” Lan Wangji gritted his teeth and reached out for his sword. “-Umpfh!”

The steps coming up to him pressed down on his hand. He would have yelled in pain should it not be incredibly undignified, especially for a Lan.

“Heh.” Wen Chao grinned, feeling triumphant. But alas, that didn’t last under the gold of the incredibly pale eyes that glared up at him. “Huh? What’s that look for, Lan Wangji? Do you even recognize who I am?”

Lan Wangji took a shuddering breath.

“…No.”

An immediate ‘thunk’ was heard as his head was sunken into the blood, the grinding of feet accompanied by more infuriated stomps.

“I am Wen Chao, the second son of Wen Ruohan, the one everyone is comparing you to! I’m the superior! Your superior! The one who has your life in his hands – alongside all those other measely bugs we’ve captured! You! Take great care of what you speak to me! Unless—” Wen Chao mustered a smirk amidst his panting fit. “—you don’t care about what happens to your family?”

Lan Wangji’s breath trembled more, eyes averting in distress.

The sight of him, so uncharacteristically desperate, encouraged Wen Chao’s mocking laughter.

And yet, that was shortly interrupted by a cultivator who flew down to them with a face full of panic.

“Wen Young Lord! Wen Young Lord! T-There’s trouble at the frontlines!”

“What? What is it?” Wen Chao demanded.

“T-That is—” Suddenly, the cultivator gasped. Face draining of all colour, his knees went wobbly, eyes wide and haunted as he lifted a shaking finger at a figure standing behind Wen Chao. “Y-Y-You – You are—” He sounded close to tears. His teeth clattered. As if what he saw was incredibly distressing.

Wen Chao heard a voice he’d never thought he’d hear again speak, so close to his ears he felt the warmth of his breath.

“It’s me. What about it?”

“You—arhh—hahh—”

Sudden pain exploded from his throat. Wen Chao spurted blood out on the terrified young cultivator’s face, gurgling on his own life liquid with drooping eyes numbed from the agonizing pain. He hung limpid, still alive, still looking down at the cold steel that protruded from his own throat. Darkness flashed in his vision. The red that had painted the fields suddenly seemed less like Wen Sect’s playground and more like death. In his last moments, Wen Chao felt indescribable fear lurch in his heart at the presence behind him.

“Y-ou—” Wen Chao gurgled.

His body was tossed aside with an uncaring flomp.

Only a stunned silence was left behind, the Wen Sect speechless at the actions of supposedly one of their own.

In that silence, Lan Wangji breathed harshly and saw doubles of the boots that march towards him. He heard, rather than saw, the shifting of thick layers of those grey and dark hues. In the silence that returned when the clicking of dark boots against splashing blood stopped before his face, that unfamiliar figure knelt down in the blood and allowed the red to soak into his clothes. A single hand reached out with its fingertips curled, knuckles extending as if to caress his face.

Lan Wangji’s voice trembled out, powerless.

“Don’t…touch. You…are…”

There was a pause. A low voice replied gently.

“I’m your Dad! Who else am I?”

“Don’t…joke…” about such things.

“I’m not joking.” The cultivator nimbly reached out and picked Lan Wangji up into his arms.

A sharp pang of pain jolted up his crushed fingers, wrenching an unwilling hiss from Lan Wangji.

Pausing at the hurt sound, the cultivator continued with emboldened hands, carefully rearranging Lan Wangji to lay on his lap, face up.

“You… What are you doing—”

Two long sleeves bat his face, silencing his words, and stayed there.

“Protecting you. What else?” That voice replied matter-of-factly.

It’s then that crisp shrill notes punctuated the still air, the sound undeniably that of a flute.

From the cradle of the man’s lap, Lan Wangji heard—

“Stop him… Stop him!” The shrill voice of the messenger.

“You – I don’t know who you are, but how could you—”

“Spare the small talk. Eliminate him!”

“W-Wait! W-What’s that?”

“What—”

“T-That!”

“N-no. I can’t move my body. Something-! Something’s stopping me! I—”

“X-Xian Tao…? N-No, but you…! I clearly saw you die just now—”

“The corpses! The corpses are moving!”

“N-No… This can’t be happening…”

“Kill him! Stop them from coming!”

“I-It’s impossible! The walking corpses are protecting him!”

The clanking of metal gradually died out.

–Lan Wangji’s breath shuddered in distress at the sounds he was hearing. He raised shaky hands to the arms that were pressed over his eyes, evidently shielding him away from this scene of carnage.

“You…”

His whisper did not even make it to the other’s ears over the sound of the flute.

Lan Wangji shivered at the knowledge of whose arms he was in – a demonic cultivator. He did not know whether he wanted to see this. Did not know if he wanted it confirmed for him, who this man he’s indebted to is. All of these conflicted feelings materialized in the form of shallow breaths. It was all he could do throughout.

The last scream died out into pained moan.

The last note punctuated the air stiffly and wavered into nothingness.

Lan Wangji roughly shoved at the hands blocking his eyes.

The demonic cultivator paused.

“You don’t have to look at this.” His voice was gentle.

“Even so.”

Lan Wangji took a moment to regain his sight. And when he did… a sharp inhale and eyes closed faintly, were all he could muster to the carnage.

Behind him, the demonic cultivator remained a constant warmth, hand hovering ready to support if necessary.

Lan Wangji turned, and his breath was immediately stolen once again by the sight of that young face, possibly just six or seven years older than himself.

The demonic cultivator peered down at him, grey eyes calmly intrigued but not intrusive.

Lan Wangji could not resist asking.

“…The others?”

He figured this man must know, given he broached through the front gates.

The young man paused, lips parted wordlessly. He closed his eyes shut and shook his head.

Lan Wangji’s heart plummeted though he had already prepared himself for disappointment.

“I see.” Lan Wangji squeezed his eyes shut. Grief assaulted the heart of the twelve-year-old. Young was the boy, even with the Sect’s strict regulations. The demonic cultivator wordlessly looked on, unsurprised, at the beads of water Lan Wangji pretended were not falling down his face. “…I see.” He sniffled. And wiped his face with a sleeve.

“You know of the Lan Sect tradition.” Lan Wangji stated thereafter to the man.

Recalling that commentary of ‘Dad’, it became undeniable that this young man had an inkling of Lan Sect’s tradition. It was the one beyond three thousand rules that stated: if one were to save a Lan’s life, he or she would be owed a favour of a lifetime and they would be adopted into the family as a show of gratitude. Though rarely practiced these days, the tradition was first created by Lan An to encourage disciples to place gratitude where they should be, whilst showing the support of the clan. (Though there was no longer any clan.)

Ignoring the ache in his heart, Lan Wangji rested his gaze upon the unwavering man sombrely.

“I will call you Yifu.”

It’s the least he could do, after having his life saved by this benefactor.

Unbeknownst to him, the young man’s fists trembled hidden behind the folds of his clothing. Melancholic eyes rested upon the boy, lips lifting up into a helpless curve.

“Don’t I get to decide whether I agree to such a thing?”

Lan Wangji pinched his lips shut petulantly.

“No? Not at all?” The young man let out a snorted chortle despite himself. He quirked his lips at Lan Wangji. “Alright. Then here’s your first task as my son, Xiao Lan*. Let’s get out of here quickly. This place stinks of blood, and I hate it.” He wrinkled his nose.

“Okay.” Lan Wangji shallowly dipped his head.

“…You’re not going to complain that I’m making you leave home too fast?”

“No.” Lan Wangji’s eyes fluttered.

“Liar.” His Yifu swatted him on the head. His lips curved up in a smile, small but genuine. “Let’s take a bath before we get out of here. It’ll be some time before the Wen dogs can send reinforcements.”

II.

“Where are we going?”

Dressed in the drabs of the commoners, pockets filled with his few valuables, Lan Wangji softly asked his Yifu with dimly glowing eyes.

“Jiangling*.” Wei Wuxian uncaringly tossed out, extending a hand to pull him up onto the horse. Lan Wangji paused. “Hm? What’s wrong? Do you have to look at me this way? You’re hurting your Yifu’s feelings, Lan Zhan.” A hand was pressed to his chest, feigning hurt.

Lan Wangji could not be more unbothered.

“You were the head disciple of Jiang Sect.”

Wei Wuxian evened out his face, peering down at him blankly.

“…Do you not hate them?”

Lan Wangji’s words came like a whisper brought by the wind.

“Hate?” Wei Wuxian echoed. He tilted his head, examining Lan Wangji’s expression carefully. “You mean because of what the rumours say? That I, Wei Wuxian, the Head Disciple of Yunmeng Jiang, was turned over to the Wen dogs so that they would have the benefits of being the first Sect to ally itself with the Wen dogs?” The smug smirk which has been growing on his face could not be any bigger. “Do you really believe that, Lan Zhan?”

“…” Lan Wangji was speechless at this reaction to what he thought a sensitive matter.

“From the looks of it, it seems you really do.” Wei Wuxian shook his head almost amusedly, feigning pity. His attitude now differed uncharacteristically from his earlier grimness. “Come on up. If you’ve got anything to say, say it when you’re on the horse. Little Apple won’t bite, I promise.”

He patted the horse mockingly on its ears. It brayed at him.

“…Alright.”

With a soft exhale, Lan Wangji allowed himself to be pulled up.

Seated atop the single horse that Wei Wuxian had prepared, Lan Wangji felt incredibly embarrassed. Not only did he already know how to ride a horse, he has never been one for physical contact. Hence, being this close to his Yifu, with warmth sinking through their clothes, made the tips of his ears burn red. Nevertheless, oblivious to the extent of his discomfort, Wei Wuxian this brazen-faced young man drawled.

“Now, before I begin, there are some things you’ve got to know about the people involved in this event. For one, Jiang Cheng is an obnoxious fool with speaking problems. He’s always stuttering and stammering about. Really annoying, that one. He is a real horn dog for girls too. For another, Jiang Yanli, my shijie - she is the most beautiful woman on earth inside out. It’s only a great pity Jiang Cheng and I have already made a pact to exterminate all suitors, Jin Zixuan being the first on our blacklist. Ah, and he is—”

“…” Lan Wangji, listening to this, felt really incredulous.

After listening to Wei Wuxian prattle on more and more about that so-and-so shidi of his and that  very obvious caricature of Madam Yu and even that girl down the district, Lan Wangji really could not stand it anymore.

“Enough.” He lowly forced out. The twelve-year-old could not resist rubbing his face with a hand.

“Hmph.” Wei Wuxian’s features were not visible from here. However, his tone carried a hint of cheeky amusement, taunting, “Have I answered your question?”

“You have not.”

Instead, Lan Wangji got a better understanding of what kind of man his Yifu is now.

When night has fallen and they found a suitable area to sleep, Lan Wangji settled down with his traveller’s sack behind him and aimed a concerned glance at the still seated, not-sleeping man.

Feeling the weight of his stare, Wei Wuxian popped open an eye and smiled, waving a gentle hand at him.

“Don’t be scared. Nothing will happen, okay? Under your Yifu’s loving watch, no creepy-crawlies will come and assault you on your first night out!” Wei Wuxian chuckled.

“Who was concerned with that.” Lan Wangji aimed him a frosty look.

He was the fool for caring about him!

Nevertheless, minutes into lying down stiffly, Lan Wangji could not sleep with the flashes of blood and flesh startling into the back of his eyes. It was strange. His body was nicely exhausted after fleeing his home. He had scrubbed himself clean of all grub and blood. And yet… there was no denying the numbing fear that he still felt, as if he’d wake up to find that this was all a dream. …Or was he more afraid to wake up to a forest littered with leaves, his family all well and truly gone from this world forever?

The sound of dried leaves being crushed drifted up to him.

Gentle soft hands pawed at his back and then shoulders.

“Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan.” That deep voice gently called out.

Fingers pressed up against the region below his eyes, wiping away over brimming heat. Tears he hadn’t realized were trailing out stained his cheeks.

“Lan Zhan. It’ll be okay. Don’t cry.”

For some reason, those words only made his shoulders shake more as he buried his face in his Yifu’s chest. Lan Wangji took a deep breath that broke – and muffled the first sob he had since forever into Wei Wuxian’s clothes. The twelve-year-old’s sword-calloused hands reached up and clung to the first warmth he had in a while. Suddenly, the loss of never being able to feel his family’s warmth again seemed devastating.

Gentle fingers sought out the back of his head. Wei Wuxian brushed down his head.

His words come hushed in the cold night. Lan Wangji shuddered and dug his fingers in tightly, as if scrambling to get closer to his warmth.

“It’ll be okay. Your Yifu will be here to protect you.”

Lan Wangji woke up to sticky tear-stained cheeks, and an equally sticky Yifu draped around him.

Wei Wuxian groaned in his sleep when Lan Wangji moved a limb away. He clung on harder, the action now overbearing despite its comfort the night before.

“…”

Lan Wangji didn’t find the serenity in his face so bad, nor the way that red ribbon had come undone in the midst of his sleep. His Yifu, whose false cheer only seemed to hide the depth of his incomprehensible pain, looked softer, younger, without the pretence and the weight of his burdens. Now, in comparison to him…

Lan Wangji gnawed his own lip, indescribable humiliation welling up on the inside for how he’d lost his composure the night before. Oddly enough, that was also accompanied by a weird feeling of closeness that he felt now with this brazen-faced Yifu of his. It felt like an unwanted kitten curling up against him, the way it both endeared and irritated him.

“Hey! Do you see anyone there?!” A distant voice shouted.

“No! Not yet!”

Lan Wangji stiffened, eyes widening.

He hastily shook the shoulder of his Yifu, alarmed.

“mmh… five more minutes—”

“There are people.” Lan Wangji murmured lowly to his Yifu.

Wei Wuxian sat up, awake in an instance. Surveying the area, the grey eyes of the demonic cultivator when off battlefield narrowed.

“When I blasted my way into Cloud Recesses, I ordered the corpses to kill all Wen dogs and leave those who weren’t. When we were leaving…” Wei Wuxian met his gaze.

“…No one was alive.” Lan Wangji finished. If there was any, he would have found them at the shelter within Cloud Recesses, which he had checked.

“Reinforcements from Wen Sect take at least two days on flying swords. Unless…” Wei Wuxian’s gaze sharpened. “…Their forces were split from the beginning.”

Lan Wangji’s blood ran cold. Wei Wuxian smiled bitterly.

“Either Wen Sect Leader has really little confidence in Wen Chao’s problem-solving abilities, or he sorely overestimated Lan Sect’s strength. Either way, this works against us.”

He grabs the sword he had left in the scattered bushes by their side during their sleep.

“What are you going to do?” Lan Wangji narrowed his eyes.

He had thought that sword to be decorative, for all its uselessness in battle and Wei Wuxian’s preference for horseback.

“We’re running. What else?” Wei Wuxian lifted a brow.

“You can handle a cultivating sword?”

“Of course. And I’m actually quite good at it too!”

With a soft snort, Wei Wuxian pressed Lan Wangji snugly to his front, hovering the sword up from ground level.

“Do you have everything you need?” Wei Wuxian asked solemnly.

At Lan Wangji’s nod, he smacked ‘Little Apple’s bum hard and watched it race in the opposite direction.

Only when the horse is truly gone then did Wei Wuxian turn back and tighten his arms around him.

“Let’s go.”

The rest of the journey to Jiangling was covered by sword.

III.

The journey to Jiangling was tough. Flying uphill but below the canopy of trees to prevent being spotted, even for Lan Wangji’s brother, it would have been a difficult task.

Wei Wuxian was surprisingly just as good with his flying skills as he said. After hours of travelling this way and channelling much of his spiritual energy, the demonic cultivator finally wheezed and cursed out in a whisper under his breath.

“—Damn it to death…”

The sword dropped abruptly with a clatter.

Lan Wangji made a sound of surprise, barely regaining his balance on wet earthy soil courtesy of his experience flying with his brother.

Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, lurched away from the back of the sword with a wide step and tossed himself into the closest supportive surface. Harsh hacking coughs tore through him, that previously powerful back crumpling as one pale hand curled into a fist against the bark of the tree.

“*coughcough* I sure am a lucky guy—” His attempt at a laugh was interfered by more ragged coughs. “—for the effects to run out at this specific moment – Qing-Jie*, aren’t you too reliable?” He laughed mockingly to himself.

“…” Lan Wangji, faced with this scene, did not know what to do.

At the first speckle of blood he saw tainting the other’s fingertips, the boy of mere twelve went paler than the white of the Lan Sect colours.

Blood…?

“…Yifu.”

A trembling hand stretched out his bamboo bottle for the man to take.

Wei Wuxian bumped into him unintentionally.

“Ah? …Oh, Lan Zhan. Sorry to trouble you, but…could you go get a bottle of water for me from the lake? Your Yifu *cough* will be fine in a moment. It’s just – a little old illness coming back to revisit me every now and then. It’s nothing.”

There was a trace of a forced smile in his tone. Wei Wuxian did not move his large sleeves away from where it obscured his face, still leaning against the bark of the tree. As if…he was oblivious to Lan Wangji’s very clear view of his reddened fingertips just now.

Lan Wangji’s breath hitched. He shoved the bottle more insistently through those long obscuring sleeves.

“It’s here.” Lan Wangji’s voice cracked. “Water bottle.”

“I’m not lying, I’m really okay. Don’t worry so much about me. Go fetch us some water, ‘kay?”

“It’s here.” Lan Wangji repeated.

And – he stopped.

Wei Wuxian’s answer just now was as if he had neither heard nor saw Lan Wangji. Merely going off based off what he felt, and how he thought Lan Wangji would react…

A sudden impossibility hit Lan Wangji in the face.

His breath trembling at the thought of it, Lan Wangji lowered his head urgently to cast a better look at the other’s obscured face.

“Yifu… You… Do you hear me?”

Wei Wuxian answered, as if to taunt him to go away.

“How cute. Are you afraid to go elsewhere without your Yifu? I’ll be there with you in a moment. Don’t worry, Lan Zhan.”

Listening to his words, Lan Wangji stumbled back in shock.

“…Can’t hear.”

Can’t hear him. Can’t see him, for that matter. Since when has his Yifu been in such a state without him knowing?

A couple hours ago, he had thought it was strange that the demonic cultivator was investing more spiritual energy in beating away the tiny leaves fluttering in front of them. Could it be… at that point, Wei Wuxian had already lost his vision and was merely searching a safe path ahead of them?

“Yifu, you…” Lan Wangji clenched his hand, eyes stinging with hurt.

Without a doubt, for Wei Wuxian to have taken such a gesture, it must be because he already knew the normal cultivation would hurt his body like this. Lan Wangji understood, too, that there were cases where the body was not suited for normal cultivation. However, for his recently hailed Yifu to keep his condition from him, that was just…………incredibly… distressing.

Inhaling shakily, Lan Wangji extended a hand and captured the much larger hand in his.

“Yifu.” Lan Wangji squeezed, ignoring the blood. “Can you hear me?”

“…Lan Zhan?” Wei Wuxian quickly widened grey eyes, wrenching back his arm. “Hold on, Lan Zhan. That hand is—”

Lan Wangji pushed his bottle against the man’s front. The leaves crumpled beneath his feet as he tugged at the sleeve of Wei Wuxian’s other hand, coaxing it into his hold.

Lan Wangji steeled his quivering heart as he turned the man’s palm over.

‘I understand.’ Blood followed the lines of his finger. ‘Give directions.’

For a couple moments, Wei Wuxian looked as if he did not comprehend the meaning of Lan Wangji’s calligraphy. However, slowly, that steely, terse, but lost look shifted into one of fondness. He gazed in Lan Wangji’s direction hollowly. Lan Wangji briefly wondered if he could even see him. Wei Wuxian parted his lips—

“I really wasn’t kidding when I said all I needed was some water.” Wei Wuxian chuckled.

Lan Wangji flushed. He pressed the bottle rougher into the man’s chest again.

“Hm? This is?” Wei Wuxian’s inquisitive look melted into one of quiet appreciation. He gradually sat down. “Thank you, Lan Zhan. Then, I’ll be drinking your precious Gusu Lan water carefully—”

Lan Wangji saw him retract a sachet of herbs from his inner clothes, all prepared to upend it over his mouth. A hand reached out and grabbed the young man’s hand before he could do so.

“What are you doing?”

Wei Wuxian blinked.

Lan Wangji quietly exhaled through his nose and repeated his question on his guardian’s palm.

“Eating medicine.” Wei Wuxian answered honestly.

‘Not brewing?’

“Ah. This medicine isn’t as inefficient as that. My medical practitioner knows me better than that. Afterall, I’m a patient that could make the best of medics cry on a good day! It’s just… when taken dry, its taste is quite questionable.”

Wei Wuxian made a face. Given the mostly dignified state of his expressions ever since they’ve met, this look both endeared him to the young Lan Wangji and irritated him with its immaturity. Wei Wuxian’s lips curled up slowly.

“What? Don’t tell me… Did this Yifu worry you too much again, Wangji?” He teased.

Lan Wangji emotionlessly ripped the sachet out of his hand, emptying it down the bottle.

He covered, shook, and shoved it back in the other’s hands.

‘Drink.’

Wei Wuxian’s face fell and he did so. Lan Wangji took the time he was making sour faces at the taste to haul the young man’s sword towards them.

“Now that my thirst has been quenched, I’m feeling rather hungry.” Wei Wuxian smirked. “When’s lunch, Xiao Lan?”

‘Killing is forbidden in Cloud Recesses.’

Lan Wangji’s hand faltered the moment those two words fell off his fingertips.

“It can’t be helped. If this old man has to settle for some stray mushrooms, I’ll be happy to do so! After all, my beloved yizi* wouldn’t possibly use me as a rat for testing poison now, will you?” Wei Wuxian smiled, every bit the pampered visage of an old man laying back. “So, will there be carrots? Or lotus roots? And meat?”

Lan Wangji’s lips thinned.

‘Did you hear what I just said?’ – really, he longed so much to write that down in this hand.

Wei Wuxian’s slurred chuckles came before he could.

“Okay, okay! I was just joking with you. There’s no need to cook me a meal or anything. This old geezer’s two senses should be returning after a nap or two. So, just do me a favour, don’t wander around too much, and look over me in the mean time?”

“…”

Lan Wangji hesitated. He began quietly.

‘This is not a normal adverse reaction to cultivation.’

He pulled his finger away the moment he was finished.

“Indeed, it isn’t.” Wei Wuxian slumped in his perch, laying a hand over his eyes. His manner of treating his illness was casual, as if another fact of life he already resigned to deal with. “If there’s a magic potion that can instantly curb all cultivation issues for even one day, the world would be sorely different after all. What this fetching young man just took? That was a temporary treatment for a poison. The poison seems to worsen every time the golden core is used, but… the medicine stops its spread for three days.”

“…”

One moment an old man and the next a young sapling, it seems like this man really can’t decide what to be.

“It used to be just once every five days, but… really, how troublesome it is, this failing body of mine.” Wei Wuxian twisted to a move comfortable position.

‘Demonic cultivation helps?’ Lan Wangji asked seriously.

“At the very least, it doesn’t seem to worsen this frail body. Lan Old Geezer would say it worsens my temperament though. I can’t disagree.” Wei Wuxian snorted, quietly chuckling to himself. He soon fell silent. “Really. Don’t go anywhere. My head hurts so I’m going to sleep, but… don’t let yourself get bullied in the meantime.” His breath evened out.

‘Understood.’

Lan Wangji wrote, even though he knew the young man was already beyond reach.

Wei Wuxian’s breaths come silent, his brows furrowed in his sleep.

Lan Wangji looked over this man as he contemplated how much he really knew about him.

He crouched down, keeping the sword close to his chest. The boy of twelve summers guarded his Yifu with narrowed eyes.

IV.

The medical house stands tall in the centre of Jiangling where it was erected. Though manned by the Wen Sect and standing obtrusively over the single and double-floored buildings of Jiangling, every day life seemed to proceed at an uninterrupted pace in this part of Yunmeng. Whilst part of Lan Wangji wanted to reason it was because of its healthy distance from Qishan, the other part can’t help but notice the lack of the ill or the injured.

Everyone was smiling, tending to their everyday lives.

“Don’t stare too long at them.” Wei Wuxian smiled lazily around a blade of leaf, pulling his straw hat low over his eyes. “And don’t walk in that high-class manner of yours, young master. Otherwise, we’re really going to have to go with the ‘young master incognito, servant assisting’ trope.”

“…” Lan Wangji faltered with an opened mouth for a couple moments.

Then, he attempted to walk more casually, feeling painfully awkward.

Wei Wuxian let out a low but gentle ‘haha’.

“That’s it. That’s exactly how you should imitate a baby duckling! Come on, follow after mommy duck – ouch.” Wei Wuxian deadpanned under his well-timed kick.

“…Stop.”

Lan Wangji self-consciously pulled his straw hat low over the pink tips of his ears.

With a quiet smile, Wei Wuxian extended a hand to him.

“What is this for?”

“To take your hand, what else?”

Wei Wuxian snorted.

“If we’re playing the roles of a travelling pair of parent and son, we might as well. …Not to mention, would you really be content to get lost in this sea of Yunmeng dialect?” Wei Wuxian silently shifted his eyes to the marketplace, where ‘fierce’ negotiations were ongoing between square-chinned customers and storeowners. Spying the sweet-tongued Gusu dweller, he smiled in a self-satisfied manner. “Well, I’m perfectly fine with searching for you later but…”

Lan Wangji took his hand, pale-faced.

Wei Wuxian chuckled and led him through the crowd.

In truth, the place where Wei Wuxian intended to visit was not the medical centre, but a shed not too far from it. Standing at a humble height, neither close nor far away from the medical centre, this shed gave off the impression of just another ordinary house in the town. Wei Wuxian had clarified, earlier, that his ‘friend’ was the official put in charge of this town. All in all, it was incredibly misleading.

“Hello?”

Wei Wuxian stuck his head through the door.

“‘Hello’? What ‘hello’? Is that the lukewarm greeting you’re giving your benefactor after a year?”

Lan Wangji peeked around Wei Wuxian’s back, and he stiffened.

Standing in the centre of the shed, hands perched on her hip, was a beautiful woman of some years above Wei Wuxian. She was clad in the red and white colours of Wen Sect, hair light, eyes sharp. At the sight of those familiar curls in design, even when he resisted, Lan Wangji could not help but take a step back, knees barely kept sturdy by sheer will. Pale eyes shifted to the sheathe of Wei Wuxian’s Suibian. Trembling fingers throb incessantly by his side. His breathing grew heavy.

“You’ve kept me waiting for quite some time, you bastard.” Grouched another man. “Do you know how hard I had to break my hand just so I could get out of their watch for long enough?”

The weight of a hand dropped upon the crown of his head, warm but sturdy.

Lan Wangji looked up.

“But it’d have been easy if you just told them your ailment. Afterall, Jiang Cheng, you’re afflicted with stupidity all around the year.” Wei Wuxian mocked.

“Are you sure you aren’t talking about yourself.” The man popped a vein.

“Enough.” Finally, the Wen woman gritted out.

She sent a pointed look over to the barely shielded Lan Wangji at Wei Wuxian’s back. This look brought back uncountable memories for the twelve-year-old who had only recently lost his home, at the hands of both men and women alike. Lan Wangji balled his hands into fists by his sides, mentally reciting the three thousand rules of Gusu to keep from lashing out.

The man made a questioning sound, examining Lan Wangji’s soft features closely.

“…You are—!” He gasped.

Wei Wuxian single-handedly blocked both parties’ view of each other in one movement by turning around to pull Lan Wangji into a one-armed hug. His long sleeve obscured his sight like a curtain, protective but firm.

“Wen Qing, Wen Ning,” His voice was stern. “We’ve just came straight from Gusu. If you could do something about those clothes—”

“Don’t need to say anymore. We’re changing out of these robes. This Sect’s getting to be more and more of a disgrace.” The woman shook her head in disgust before stepping out of the way.

The quiet, mousey-looking man at the side seemed to hold no complains, dipping his head lowly.

“T-Then, if you’ll excuse us for a bit.”

The sound of a door closing reached their ears.

Lan Wangji felt rather sorry for chasing the obviously well-intending people out of the room, yet, he could not help his gritted teeth in the middle of that meeting. Slowly, Lan Wangji exhaled shallowly, relaxing his jaw in favour of blankly searching their surroundings for ambushes. Wei Wuxian sympathetically reached down to pull away his straw hat, smoothing down his locks.

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen, alright? If any of them bully you, I’ll whoop their asses till they’re swollen red!”

This coming from Wei Wuxian, who defeated hundreds of the Wens, coaxed some tension away from his shoulders despite its crudeness.

Still, Lan Wangji leaned his forehead closer to the young man’s front, feeling unsteady on his feet. Every breath came slightly easier, with his Yifu shielding him away from the world.

“You…”

Wei Wuxian finally turned around to face the indignant stare of his adopted brother.

“You…really are looking for death.”

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes in disbelief.

“Not only is once not enough, but you’re doing this twice? How many times are you going to put yourself out there for another Sect? Are you really that much of a sucker for pain?” He hissed incredulously.

Wei Wuxian really was shameless.

“Yes.” He answered curtly. “I am just that much of a sucker for pain.”

“You really—” Jiang Cheng heaved a sigh that spoke volumes of his exasperation.

Lan Wangji felt equally pained by his words. The days up ahead sure seem to be a tedious ordeal keeping one (1) Yifu out of trouble.

“Alright. Whatever. Who’s going to give a damn about this matter anyways? Get your ass over here, you scumbag. We’ve practically reached our twilight years waiting to see each other.” Jiang Cheng finally broke out into a reluctant smile.

Wei Wuxian cracked a small smile, walking forward to smack the side of his arm against his brother’s.

“Don’t exaggerate! It’s only since Wen Chao and the Xuanwu cave, wasn’t it?” Wei Wuxian’s eyes darkened briefly at the thought of their tormentor. It’s quick to lighten again. “How’s Shijie?”

“Same old.” Jiang Cheng shrugged, nearly rolling his eyes. “Her engagement with Jin Zixuan’s been broken off. That fool’s only now realizing what a great woman he had tied down to him all this time. You should see his face every time he comes crawling back to our doors! Ah, and she sends her regards. It’s only too bad the pork rib lotus root soup she sent has already been digested by the Wen siblings and me!” He mocked.

“Tch! Don’t rub it in.” Wei Wuxian went sour. “You don’t know what I suffered out there in the woods.”

This pair of siblings talked and laughed. It made Lan Wangji miss his own older brother terribly, yet at the same time, some part of him felt content to blend in with the surroundings after days of exceeding his speech quota. Lan Wangji settled beside Wei Wuxian at the dining table that clearly meant for a family of four. He quietly listened to these young men’s conversation.

“How are Jiang Sect Head and Madam Yu doing after my ‘death’?” Wei Wuxian’s tone remained amicable. He even teased. “…Did they cry?”

“You wish! You know how they are. Those two haven’t changed in the least – not since you were poisoned.” Jiang Cheng shifted his gaze to Lan Wangji briefly, going sombre. “You already know this, but ever since Wen Qing passed the news of your death, Father has been making efforts to garner support for a rebellion.” His eyes glistened like a million sapphires. “With the fall of Gusu Lan, no doubt there would be more infuriated by the Wen dogs to take action. But… it’s not enough. Still hardly enough to repay the loss those mongrels dealt us.” Jiang Cheng scowled, deeper than a cavern.

Lan Wangji was cut deeply by the look of anguish in his gaze. …It closely echoed his.

But at the same time, confusion stirred faintly at the back of his head.

…Rebellion?

Wei Wuxian reached up and jerked on the young man’s hair crown. Jiang Cheng hissed, caught off guard. He glared at Lan Wangji’s Yifu.

“Stop talking like that. I’m not dead anymore, am I?” Wei Wuxian scoffed.

“Right. You’re only now a demonic cultivator. Congratulations. You’re forever a stain on our Sect history.”

“Hey.”

Jiang Cheng’s feral grin gave way for a bark of laughter that was far too harsh. Wei Wuxian flashed a dagger-filled smile too, lopsided in a similarly brash manner. Lan Wangji was entranced by the manner in which they communicated.

Obviously, the rumours he has heard of Yunmeng Jiang and Wei Wuxian were questionable at best. The two young men’s shoulders gradually relaxed as time slipped passed.

A rap against the door was accompanied by the reappearance of the pair of Wens from before, their appearance made approachable by the dim colour of their robes.

“We’re back. What did we miss?”

“Nothing much. Just this guy and his usual stupidity.”

Seeing Wen Qing about to accept the answer, Wei Wuxian spoke up.

“What was that about me? I didn’t. I’m innocent. Don’t lie!”

“Taking in a child and saying it’s nothing?” Wen Qing quirked a brow at Lan Wangji.

“What’s actually something to you? You tell me!” Jiang Cheng looked pointedly at the demonic cultivator’s dark robes.

Wei Wuxian took a long breath, sighing mockingly heavy, as if he carried the weight of a million.

“There’s a lot, actually.”

Lan Wangji caught him peering at him out of the corner of his eyes. This look his Yifu held was one that was of such melancholy, such regret, it unnerved Lan Wangji terribly, bringing to mind questions of ‘what hapepned’, ‘did I do something wrong’, ‘why are you looking at me that way’.

None of these words arrived at Lan Wangji’s mouth.

“Jiang Cheng. Wen Qing. Wen Ning.”

Wei Wuxian’s voice was quiet in the house of the Wens.

“Gusu Lan Sect has fallen.”

And that. That, hurt to listen to, even though Lan Wangji already had three days of sleeping on dried leaves to come to terms with it. The surrounding strangers’ sharp inhales of shock and bitterly pursued lips did not help. For a moment, Lan Wangji wondered why, before he recalled – news must not have crossed the region into Yunmeng yet.

The Jiang Sect Heir’s breath came particularly painful.

“Is…that so. That bastard Wen Chao just took his troops along with him one night before anyone could stop him. Back then, I sent a warning letter for Lan Old Geezer hoping it’d reach him in time. But… I see. I had a feeling things would turn out like this.” This young man squeezed his eyes shut in self-loathing, hands clenched taut over his lap.

Lan Wangji was overwhelmed by the sudden realization that Yunmeng Jiang had been helping out his Sect in this manner.

“No.”

Wei Wuxian’s voice interrupted everyone’s thoughts.

He sat tall and still amongst them, quiet as a ghost.

“Lan Old Geezer did receive that letter. I was there, in fact, when it happened.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes widened.

Wei Wuxian, seeing this out of the corner of his eye, can’t help but smile wryly.

“It’s just about time too. I couldn’t explain it back at Gusu for fear that others would hear, but… Now that we’re here, I owe you some explanations, Lan Zhan.”

He dropped a hand onto the top of Lan Wangji’s straw hat, shifting his contemplative gaze.

“But before that, I suppose it’d be better to go back to the start of everything. Everything begun at the annual hunt Wen Sect saw fit to demand the rest of us to join. That was where I first earned the ire of almighty great Young Master, Wen Chao—”

Wei Wuxian snorted at his own words.

V.

The story that was told to Lan Wangji was as follows:

A young, blinded and deafened Wei Wuxian, whose condition wasn’t as bad back then, answered the Wens’ summons with his trusty companion Jiang Cheng by his side. One chasing the wild ghosts about and grabbing at them with his bare hands, the other shooting down what the first could not catch, this fearsome collaboration between these two earned them the title of ‘Twin Heros of Jiang’ that year. But more importantly, these two had a key meeting during that particular interaction with the Wen Sect.

That was with Wen Ning, the mousey-looking man who was as demure-looking as a flower.

“I never really thought about it.” Wei Wuxian looked up, intrigued at the other young man. “With Wen Ruohan as mad as he was back then… At the end of the hunt, why did you call me out for my condition? Did you do it to rub his loss into his face? Good going!”

“N-No, that wasn’t my intention at all!” Wen Ning stammered. He slunk back, expression honest. “At that time, I was just a naïve fool, thinking how it would be good for Wen Sect to establish healthy ties with strong cultivators. In retrospect,” His eyes became shadowed. “I should have expected the repercussions that came with doing this right before Wen Ruohan’s eyes. …Not that I’d ever regret extending my hand out to a patient in need.”

His back straightened. He appeared to stand taller. Eyes shone with resolve.

Seeing pride take over Wen Qing’s previously irritated expression, Lan Wangji could not bear to look anymore. He directed his gaze away.

“It was then, that Wen Ning called out to me to travel to the Wens’ Medical Pavilion so they could study the poison I was afflicted with.” Wei Wuxian continued. He smirked.

Wen Qing, the head medic at the time despite her young age, was immediately enraptured with the rare poison he was afflicted with. It got to the extent where despite the Sect Head’s repeated warnings, the medic would dress her brother up to be her replacement and sneak out into Lotus Pier just to sieve through multiple packages of medicine, instructing Jiang Yanli on the careful use of each. Having been devastated at her martial brother’s condition, Jiang Yanli was more than enthused on following these instructions to the letter.

That period was truly a dark time for Wei Wuxian. He was, according to him, force-fed herbs that tasted worst than the shrubs he plucked off Burial Moulds to fill a shrivelling tummy. Even worse, he was a blind and deaf man rendered incapable of escape. The most Wei Wuxian could do was to desperately improve his motor skills daily, so as to flee his shijie’s beguilingly gentle touch. Even Wen Qing was suitably impressed by what she heard. Eventually, the medic and the relative set up a routine where Jiang Cheng would fly over to the Wen’s Medical Pavilion every three months and return with the herbs on hand. The relationship between the Jiang and Wen gradually improved in that way.

But alas, peaceful times did not last.

The Wen Sect grew to be more audacious. They crippled Yunmeng Jiang when their Sect Head was away. They summoned the best cultivators from the other Sects, to ‘train’ in name, but truly, to hold as hostages, and the fool Wen Chao was in over his head enough to reckon he was capable of taking on the Xuanwu Cave without the swords of these disciples.

The end result was just as one could imagine: the Wens fled. The blind and the deafened Wei Wuxian, who astounded everyone with his lack of disability, once more offended and aroused the suspicions of the bastard Wen Chao. Others escaped with the brave deeds of the Twin Heros of Jiang. Some died, some survived in the aftermath of the Wens’ attack during their escape. Jiang Cheng dragged a foot behind him the whole way to Gusu Lan, as Wei Wuxian was trapped in the cave with Lan Xichen.

Lan Wangji had heard of this tale from his brother, not long after he had visited Lan Wangji’s pavilion with wounds bandaged, and a bruised face filled with mourning. He remembered how this tale had went.

“Xiong-zhang*…”

The twelve-year-old’s voice drew the attention of all occupants in the room at once.

“Xiong-zhang…wanted to apologize to you.”

It had fled Lan Wangji before. But now he remembered.

Lan Wangji peered up at this man before him with too-pale eyes widened in dawning realization.

“For making you sacrifice yourself for his sake, when you were on the verge of returning to pluck lotus pods.” Lan Wanji did not truly understand this phrasing.

However, Lan Xichen had reddened eyes when he said it, which was what drew Lan Wangji to ask in the first place. That day, he had touched his brother’s face for the first in a long time with tiny hands, listened, feeling numbed, feeling that his world was shaken, as he watched tears trail down Lan Xichen’s face silently. His Brother’s normally-serene voice had quaked tremendously with the effort of holding himself together. He had apologized over and over again, to that ‘sworn brother’ who was now gone.

“For making you soft with sentimentality, with his stories about home… Xiong-zhang repented.”

He dropped his head to the resounding silence of the room. One could even hear a pin drop.

Wei Wuxian looked as if he was struggling with himself, finding words to carefully express himself.

“I do not blame him.” Finally, he said.

“…” Lan Wangji was speechless, unable to find the words to answer him, because they both knew the one who needed to hear those words was already long gone.

A bitter feeling settled over the air.

Jiang Cheng let out a heavy sigh, waving his hand.

“Continue.”

And so, Wei Wuxian did.

That was where their stories began to diverge, paths separating.

Jiang Cheng returned to Yunmeng Jiang, empty-handed, not even Sandu* there to show for his loss. Wei Wuxian, in the meantime, was held captive and tortured in the Nightless City. His blindness and deafness were taken advantage of, making the pain of his injuries worse off. Wen Ruohan was also no fool. Hearing his son’s suspicions about his family, Wen Ning was frequently brought in to treat Wei Wuxian, following with which such torture resumed, often right before his eyes. The soft-hearted Wen Ning naturally could not stand for such treatment. He dared to extend his aid to his patient one night, in lieu of a soft whisper, but was rejected and thanked by a smiling Wei Wuxian, who knew this to be a trap intended for this pair of siblings.

Nobody was surprised when Wei Wuxian was eventually dragged off by Wen Chao to be kicked down into Burial Moulds after repeated failures to extract information.

Upon returning, proud was the fool who gloated and boasted highly of his own deeds, not realizing he only sounded pitiful to the disciples who saw him to be bullying a cripple. Upon hearing his deeds, Wen Qing really could not bear it anymore.

Knowing Wen Ruohan was keeping a careful eye on her, she had sent another sympathetic member of her branch clan to the distant Yunmeng Jiang with a letter bearing this news. That was: that Wei Wuxian had fallen, and her branch of the Clan will stand with Yunmeng Jiang through any difficulties they have in the future. In the same letter, not a single weakness of Wen Sect was left out. Not even Wen Chao’s plans to taunt Yunmeng Jiang with the loss of their precious ‘blind and deaf cripple’ and made an example out of them was left buried. It was only by their long correspondence with Wen Qing that had Yunmeng Jiang believed the letter delivered by this ‘Wen dog’. They took appropriate actions immediately.

When Wen Chao arrived, with his mistress hanging off his arm, Yunmeng Jiang was prepared for talks of being a subjugate Sect and readily agreed. They knew, that with the loss of one top disciple, the disarmament of another, and their recent losses, they could not defeat the Wen. And even if they could somehow handle Wen Chao, who is to say that the next wave wouldn’t be greater?

Thus, in a manner that was truly befitting of Jiang Fengmian’s temperament, the Jiang snuck into the Wen’s numbers and firmly begun to establish themselves as an unshakeable pillar. The rumours, naturally, was spread by them. The truth was only known to a few upper-echelon members of the clans. But what does it matter so long as the majority of the Wen clan believe they’re on their side? It only makes them that much easier to manipulate.

“That said, you guys really are insensitive.” Wei Wuxian rubbed his chin, a mischievous smirk directed at his adopted brother. “When I woke up and crawled my way out of Burial Moulds, imagine my shock when the first thing I heard was that my family has sided with my killers! How unpleasant.”

“You’re the one who’s unpleasant.” Jiang Cheng eyed him irritably. “One moment, you’re dead, and another, you’re not. Can’t you just find a peaceful way of dying out of my sight?”

“If you’ve missed me then you should just say it! No need to hide it behind those hurtful words of yours.”

“The heavens would fall the day you’re hurt by one of my words.”

Lan Wangji watched them, finally feeling the pieces fall together.

With a teasing smirk at Jiang Cheng’s irritated twitch, Wei Wuxian continued his side of the story.

“After leaving Burial Moulds, I couldn’t return to Yunmeng Jiang since I didn’t know what happened to it. So, I could only go back to the one other place wiling to shelter me from the Wen dogs – the Gusu Lan Sect.”

Wei Wuxian’s smile was tinted with nostalgia before pain took over.

“Lan Old Geezer and Lan Big Brother… really took care of me in the time I spent there, trying to recover from that nasty stab Wen Chao gave me.” He rubbed his front subconsciously. “Lan Old Geezer made a naggy mom, of course, but they kept me under wraps like I was their dirty little secret. They even sent letters to Jiang Cheng and Qing-jie to keep in contact with them and all. Really! It felt like I was a family treasure whilst at Gusu!”

Wei Wuxian snickered clamorously, looking ready to fall out of the edge of his seat.

“I’m not treating you that way when you return.” A vein had long since popped on the back of Jiang Cheng’s hand.

“Sucks to be you. Because I already have Lan Zhan, this reliable Yizi to take care of me.” Wei Wuxian demurred. “Who’s returning?”

“Living an easy life leaching off a brat. Do you have no shame?” Jiang Cheng gritted out.

“Back then, at Cloud Recesses. …Were you there?” Lan Wangji finally asked.

Heads swivelled to him. Despite the confusion in the others’ eyes, Wei Wuxian’s face was full of understanding. His smile was bitter, yet he gently clarified.

“No. I was on my way to returning to Jiangling. It’s just that I haven’t managed to take fifty li* out of Cloud Recesses when I spotted them heading for your place.”

Fifty li… And the time it took for him to show up at this place.

Suddenly, Lan Wangji realized that moment when his Yifu coughed up blood wasn’t due to just a couple few hours of using his golden core. This man… despite his repeated reassurances that everything would be okay, just how much had he been grieving when he failed to reach Cloud Recesses in time?

A moment from when they were checking for survivors flashed before his eyes. Wei Wuxian had taken one look at the front of the gates and his breath hitched, his face morphing with pain.

“Wangji. Don’t. Don’t look.” Wei Wuxian tried to turn his gaze away.

But Lan Wangji hadn’t listened.

There was no way his brother could have fallen. Brother, who had sworn to become strong enough to take their father’s place. Brother, who led the first line of defence. Brother, who—

One look at that person, head limp pinned against the gates of Cloud Recesses by a sword, long locks of ebony curtaining his face but undeniably, undeniably his brother, with those familiar clothes and headband and sword, stabbed, bloodied, with belly ripped open – and Lan Wangji abruptly turned his head away and clapped a hand hard over his mouth. He gritted his teeth, coughing and choking as he swallowed back down the bile even as it burnt his throat, obstinately fighting a war to get a handle of his emotions even as Wei Wuxian gingerly patted his back—

“Let it out. It’ll be fine. Don’t hold it back. You’ll feel better that way.”

Wei Wuxian’s voice came with a tight squeeze over his shoulders.

Lan Wangji had knocked him away, face dark as he swallowed down the ball of grief in his throat.

“Don’t touch me.”

Wei Wuxian hadn’t touched him again after that, not until he needed to pull him up onto the horse.

In retrospect, Lan Wangji wondered if Wei Wuxian saw it as him blaming the man.

He sorely hoped he didn’t. Yet on the inside, the weight slowly increased at Wei Wuxian’s silence to his words. Frustration built up. Why doesn’t his Yifu ever speak up to defend himself?!