Archive of Our Own

I. Playground

"But I want to be the Yiling Patriarch!"

The high-pitched voice almost made Wei Wuxian choke on his apple. He followed the source, which was easy since others had joined in. A cacophony of an argument that was harder to swallow than his snack.

"No, I'm going to be the Yiling Patriarch!"

"Not fair! You've been him three times now! It's somebody else's turn now!"

"It's my uncle's flute!"

"You don't know how to play it! Come on, I made talismans!"

Wei Wuxian sneaked into the plaza where a group of perhaps a dozen of kids gathered, the oldest ones around ten or eleven years old. It was not unusual to see common children playing to be cultivators. Quite the contrary; he had noticed in their travels that the Sunshot Campaign remained a popular game. But the fact these were vehemently fighting over who would get to play as himself was new.

He bit his fruit before approaching the group of rascals, with a casual expression. His boots made noise on the stone floor so he wouldn't spook them.

"You guys seriously want to be Wei Ying, of all people?" he chimed, his mouth full.

"Yeah!" they all cried at once in an endearing chorus.

"He's the coolest cultivator, why wouldn't we?"

He swallowed apple, staying low despite the silly declaration. Him? The coolest? Sure, he was rather cool and powerful but that was a hot take that no adult cultivator —beyond the guy grading papers at home— would support. Not even himself, after all the terrible things that he had done and would never discuss with these cute little ones.

"Cool? Not scary? Haven't your parents told you stories about the evil Patriarch? If you don't make your bed, he will take you away or something?"

"Gege, do you really believe that? We're all big boys and girls here, we know that's just so we don't cause trouble."

"The Patriarch must be too busy doing cool things with his corpse friends to know if some brat is naughty in this faraway village, right?"

"Besides, it sounds like fun if that were true... Better than helping my mom with the shop..."

Wei Wuxian cracked up. At least some were smart enough to see through those boogieman tales. "Yeah, he's still human and not a demon," he added.

"Exactly, yep!" one of the kids agreed, the one with the talismans. "He'd need a network of ghost spies to check on every kid in China. Can he even afford so many resources of his army for such a dumb thing?"

"...Where the hell did you learn all those fancy words?"

"Our dad's a captain," said a tomboy girl who looked like him.

"Oh. Anyway, not everyone can be the coolest person. There are still a lot of cultivators in the Sunshot Campaign to choose from. Who's going to be the rest?"

"We're not playing Sunshot," said the boy with the flute, twirling it. "We're playing Burial Mounds!"

"...Ah?"

"We're all corpses, gege," a chubby boy said. "That's why Wei Wuxian is so important, 'cuz he leads the good corpses against the evil corpses that eat people. We play both sides."

"I'm the evil ghoul queen," said the tomboy sister.

That was certainly different.

"So... Wei Wuxian is a good guy in your games?"

"Yeah, he's the hero! He's cool and strong and can raise the dead to help villagers."

"And there are good corpses and bad corpses."

"Yup, yup!" A second girl elaborated more. "They're still dead and gross which is awesome, but they follow the Patriarch so they're good. Like the Ghost General, who killed a lot of people but the Patriarch changed him with the power of friendship."

Wei Wuxian was speechless.

"...I see," he finally nodded.

"He's our favorite!"

"Don't you think he's the coolest cultivator, gege?" the flute guy asked.

That felt like a potentially narcissistic question.

"He's really cool and adults are wrong about him, I agree with you there. And I do like fierce corpses and demonic cultivation. But... he's not the coolest to me, to be honest."

"Who's your favorite, then?"

"Hanguang-Jun!" Wei Ying said earnestly without thinking.

He found blank, tilting faces staring at him.

"Oh come on, you've never heard of him?" he huffed in annoyance. "What do they teach children these days? And you call yourself fans of Wei Wuxian without knowing about Lan Wangji?"

"Who's that? Is he another demonic cultivator?"

"No! But he's the strongest and most handsome cultivator in the world." All eyes were on him as he started to gush about his husband. "He could lift all of us at the same time with his arms. He's an excellent swordsman, with a very smooth and deadly technique. He's also good with a bow. And the most interesting part about his cultivation is his black guqin, Wangji, which can attack, protect, soothe, and communicate with the spirits. And he's so good he goes often where the chaos is to help anyone in need. He's great. More than great!!"

The children processed the description.

"Has he killed any cool monsters?" the flute boy asked.

"Actually, yeah. The Tortoise of Slaughter. As large as a small island, had a long snake neck, smelled putrid, and ate people. Pretty big, pretty gross, pretty ugly. You guys would probably love it."

He heard appreciative noises from the audience.

"But can he beat Wei Wuxian?" the tomboy asked.

"Can he?" Wei Wuxian laughed. "When they were young and Wei Ying was in his prime, they were evenly matched whenever they dueled with swords. But today, since he was reborn into a weaker body and Hanguang-Jun kept cultivating, he defeats the Yiling Patriarch everyday."

"Are they rivals, then?" asked the talisman guy.

"Pft, quite the contrary! They adore each other!"

"But you said they fight everyday."

"They just, uh... have friendly spars. They're cultivation partners." Only the oldest of the girls seemed to scrunch her face in thought, so he figured they didn't know the meaning. He wasn't going to specify, that wasn't a talk for children to get from a stranger. "They travel together and go to night hunts to help everyone. Hanguang-Jun uses his guqin and his sword, while the Patriarch summons the dead with his flute and uses talismans."

"Ah, I get it!" the chubby boy cried. "Hanguang-Jun is his sidekick!"

"NO!" Wei Wuxian groaned. "I said they're partners and that he's stronger, didn't I?" If anything, he thought, lately he was the one who was Lan Zhan's sidekick. Not like he minded that much, though. He bit into the apple again.

"Okay," the flute boy said, "I call dibs on Hanguang-Jun."

"You just want to be the strongest guy, don't you?" Wei Wuxian chuckled.

"Oh, can I finally be Wei Wuxian then?" the talisman boy tightened his fists.

"Let others be Wei Wuxian next time, though!" another boy said.

"Sure! But I call dibs today." The child rummaged and took out some papers from his sleeves.

"Can I see those?" Wei Wuxian peeked. The boy passed him a slip. There were red ink strokes over the surface and it was absolute gibberish that meant nothing. "Good form, Laozu-didi," he nodded. "You'll beat a lot of evil walking corpses and mean cultivators with those arrays."

"Thanks," the kid beamed. "Say, gege, that black thing on your sash is a flute?"

Oh, shit.

"Actually, yes."

"Can we please borrow it to play? A-Song's not going to let me hold his uncle's flute."

"Only if you let me be the Yiling Patriarch," he teased and took out his tongue.

"Nope, my turn. But you can be in my army of good corpses. You can be... um... the Ghost Colonel!"

"Colonel? Wait, it's a literal army of the dead?"

"I'll be Wen Ning and he's the Ghost General!" said an extremely cheerful kid with freckles. "That means I'll be your superior officer, okay? Let's kick some butts!"

"Works for me, sir," Wei Wuxian said as he saluted the boy. He thought that attitude and smile were incredibly out of character for Wen Ning, but he bit his tongue. Not to mention that rigor mortis makes it hard for fierce corpses to move the muscles of their faces that way, but who was him to stop their imagination? Well, okay, he was the authority and pretty much their idol, but why ruining pure fun?

"So about that flute?" said talisman boy, now known as the Yiling Patriarch.

"I can't give it to you, Laozu-didi. You see," he walked around, hands behind his back, "this is a black flute just like Chenqing. If we play regular bamboo flutes, we'll be fine. If we play normal songs on black flutes, that's also okay. But if you play a black flute while thinking about resentful creatures while you are pretending to be the founder of demonic cultivation, what if the corpses nearby get confused, think you're the real guy, and you summon something we can't handle? Can we contain a real corpse?"

The children paled. Even if they clearly loved monsters, they didn't want the danger that came with it. To be honest, none of them would be able to summon anything without knowing how to. Wei Wuxian just didn't want them to scratch his flute or drool in it. A-Yuan had been bad enough on his poor instrument.

"Yeah, no, keep it," they said in defeat.

"I have a spare that I can give to my master. It sounds a bit off key, but it should be safe."

"Nice!! You're kind of cool, Colonel-gege."

"It's as a thanks," he winked at the kids as he handed over his emergency flute.

"Thanks for what?" asked the former Patriarch, now Hanguang-didi.

For thinking I'm a good person, he thought.

"For making this gege laugh. Now let's night hunt together already."

II. Unwelcome to the Black Parade

Su Mei finished her congee in a hurry and left the house, ignoring her mother's nagging about her black robes and the creepy decorations in her bedroom. The old woman just didn't understand. That was who the girl was, the inner reflection of her chaos and turmoil. True beauty was in the darkness.

Hopefully her mom wouldn't try to throw her books and art away again. Her dad had defended her and allowed to keep them by saying it was just a phase —ridiculous, she was already a young lady! The horror stories were all she had to escape from that dull reality. They didn't understand the appeal of the macabre and the tragic.

She walked around the marketplace, searching for any of her friends or a new novel to read. But among the chattering and the crowd, she heard a clear masculine voice above everyone, saying the familiar name:

"Wei Ying!"

And her knees almost dropped when she heard a reply by another man.

"Lan Zhan! I'm here, I'm here!"

No. Way. Oh. My. Gods.

Not thinking twice, Su Mei looked around. She saw only one figure in black and red —it had to be dark robes, as if the Patriarch would wear any other colors!— and an enormous guy in mourning white with a forehead ribbon walking towards it.

That was them! Right in her city!

She made a run for it, pushing one elderly gentleman and a housewife out of the way. There was not a moment to lose or she'd lose him among the masses.

Him! The Yiling Patriarch! The baddest and dreamiest man who ever lived!

Ever since she heard he had returned to life, taking an offered body in a fatal blood ritual, she had fantasied about meeting her idol. She had read so much about him, she considered herself an expert on the subject. She had attempted to make paintings and poems of his vision of him, but her hands could never match the eerie beauty of the slender figure under the full moon and on top of a mountain; long mane as black as the wings of the crows on his shoulders, a deranged cold smile in lips and eyes as red as fresh blood, pale long fingers caressing the legendary dark flute that could raise the damned and make them do his bidding.

So hot. So cool.

The men had stopped near a stall and she could take a better look of them. Wei Wuxian had his back on her, but that allowed her to get her mind and heart ready. Of course, that god of death in her mind was at least physically long gone. She knew all the variations of the story well, and that his true ending had been ripped apart or devoured by his own corpse servants. That was utterly horrible and fascinating, but it also meant that he wouldn't look like that anymore. She couldn't expect him to look like the man of her dreams anymore, if he ever looked like that. That demonic cultivator could be even ugly, too. She had to prepare her heart.

Su Mei had no time, however. They were turning around! They were going to leave and she'd lose her chance, if she didn't act quickly! And thus, she shook her head and called:

"Y-Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian! Please!"

All heads turned to her, but what she saw took her breath away.

The guy, to be fair, was not the attractive dark demonic god she imagined at all.

Oh, but he wasn't ugly either! Quite the opposite, in fact. Those two with their eyes on her were the prettiest men she had seen and she would see in her entire life! So tall! So pale! Their eyelashes were longer than her pretty neighbor, Miss Sun Qing's. They were so handsome and elegant that they made Zheng-xiong, the good-looking boy the entire street had a crush on, seem like a little goblin. She had heard cultivators were in another league, and they were absolutely correct.

She could even forgive that face for not being even close to her dreamy king of the mountain. He had a less sharp jaw, softer eyebrows, rounder eyes, and less nose. He was tying up perfectly good feathery black hair in a ponytail, which was a crime. But he was still impressive, and so was the one next to him.

"Yes?" he finally replied, and he went from tired and alert to perplexed as Su Mei had gone silent and suffering from a wide-open jaw. "Did you need something? If you're looking for vengeance for something I did, I can't help you there."

He didn't deny it! She even saw Chenqing tucked inside his red sash! Oh gods, it was Chenqing! He was the real deal, the real Patriarch, the real—

"If you excuse us," the guy she had heard was called Lan Wangji said and put an arm around Wei Wuxian to turn around again. No! She had to speak!

"I-I'm a huge admirer!" she finally managed to say. Oh no, bad start.

"Oh. Okay?" Wei Wuxian stared at her. She really should have put her corpse-like makeup on to impress him. She didn't look as dark and cool that day as she could have. At least she could have painted her lips dark red.

"I, um, love reading about dark creatures and horror legends and demonic cultivation stories," she explained. "Yours were my favorite. So... I wanted to ask you something..."

"...Sure?" he smiled. That was not the kind of smile you would imagine on the Patriarch.

"Please take me as your disciple!" she kowtowed.

"No," he said immediately, his smile gone. He looked even... sad.

"I promise I'm a fast learner and I will make myself useful! You won't regret it! I'd even settle as your minion or servant, honestly. And I won't get in the way of you two," she added while turning to Lan Wangji, whose cold glare was more akin to the Patriarch in her imagination, except with more judgment than bloodlust. "My admiration is in a kindred souls sort of way."

And even if she had started to like boys, she honestly wouldn't know what to do with an adult man interested in her, even if he were an otherworldly beauty of a cultivator. So it was sort of true. She wouldn't intrude between a guy who could send dark creatures to destroy her in several creative ways and her lover. She liked death but as a concept and far away from herself.

"Still a no, sorry," Wei Wuxian answered. The silly grin was back. "But you can join us around the place if you want! It should be fun."

"Fun," she repeated. The marketplace, fun. Was he planning to wreck havoc on the stands with his ghouls? She decided to stick around.

"So what's your name?" he asked as the three walked. She realized she hadn't introduced herself yet, and blushed from embarrassment.

"...I'm Su Mei. Courtesy name is Wumu." A courtesy name she had given herself to be cooler, but it was still a courtesy name.

"Written with the characters for raven and wood?"

"Yes. Together Wumu, ebony."

"...That's kind of cool." Kind of cool. Yes! The Yiling Patriarch thought her name was kind of cool! "How old are you, A-Mei?" She frowned. That was underwhelming, if he was going to be calling her like the rest of the people who knew her.

"Please use Wumu. And I turned 14 this year."

"A big girl, then!"

"I'm a woman!"

"My nephew is barely a year older than you and he's a brat. How about family? Are they still alive?"

"Well, my grandparents are dead but my parents and big brother are annoyingly alive."

"That's good." Then he had the audacity to tussle her hair, as if she were a puppy or kitty. "Are you trying to escape from them, with this apprenticeship you want to take?"

"No!" she batted the hand away with her own, forgetting it was her idol and she was disrespecting him. "My mom's annoying but I love her. I would go back home and say goodbye to them, maybe visit them on weekends or whenever we're not doing dark deeds."

"Dark deeds?" Wei Wuxian chuckled. "I'm still not taking you, you know. Hey mister, three tanghulu!"

"But why not?!" Su Mei stomped with one foot, but still accepting the candy from the shopkeeper. It was one of her favorite snacks, in fact. "Just because I'm young and a girl and I have a loving family?"

He and Lan Wangji took their own sticks. "Not for that, although you having a home certainly doesn't help your case. Youth is not a problem; cultivators start to train much earlier. When I was your age, I was already an ace with the sword and bow. I was 17 when I coined my demonic cultivation." Wei Ying bit a little ball into his mouth. "I just don't want disciples."

"But your demonic cultivation will be lost forever if you..."

"Some of those things should get lost for good. The really useful parts are easy to imitate. Cultivators everywhere are using my compass and my spirit-attraction flags. That sort of stuff won't be lost to time."

"I don't get it..."

"It's easy, really. They could get into the wrong hands, or into good hands that might get out of control." He raised his hand so Su Mei wouldn't interrupt. "Yes, yes, you're different and you'll be in control. I'm just saying, I was in control until I wasn't. A-Mei, may I ask you something important?"

"Oh, go ahead." She looked at him expectantly. After all that serious talk, it had to be something deep and thought-provoking about her own character or the futility to tame the human condition.

"You're from this city, right? Take me to the best wine they have. All that candy made me thirsty." And then he dared to wink without any shame.

She took them to a stand a few feet away.

"There it is. What's the important question?"

"Huh? I already asked. Hi, excuse me? Three jars of your best wine, please!"

Su Mei was starting to get a headache. She let them make the transaction while she calmed herself down. This Yiling Patriarch... he didn't act scary, he was all cheerful grins, he was buying food and drinks, he rejected his most dangerous dark crafts. What the hell happened to him?! Or was he always like this, an annoying little shit? Or did the ritual messed his head?

She made the mistake to look again. The guy was drinking straight from a jar without putting his lips on the rim. Liquid flowed down his chin and neck. Gross. What the hell, who drinks like this? Her big brother, definitely. Her uncle when he's extremely drunk, probably. The worst part was that he was making it look attractive by virtue of being him. How infuriating. She couldn't look away even if it was disgusting.

"Want a sip, A-Mei, sorry, Su Wumu? Just a bit, though. I won't tell your parents, haha."

"Um, no thanks," she said with a voice as sharp as a knife.

"More for me!" he shrugged and chugged the rest. And Lan Wangji stood there and did nothing to stop this mad display. He even passed a sack of money! Was this serious adult man under a dark love spell cast by Wei Wuxian like some people speculated? Because well, having a romance with this sloppy foolish manchild should be a pain in the butt, right?

She sighed and started to walk away. She was already out of the marketplace when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, where are you going?" She turned and glared at the concerned face. "What's wrong? Was it the wine? Sheesh, kiddo, you're as bad as Lan Zhan was when he was young. Anyway, sorry for offending you."

"It's not the stupid wine," her voice cracked. "Are you even the real Yiling Patriarch? I'm starting to think you're not."

"What, because I'm not sulking and wanting to murder everyone?" He scratched his nose. "We cultivators are people, not a character in a book or an idle gossip. What's wrong or right is for everyone to judge. Sorry if that's disappointing and if I don't meet those expectations you had. And even if my old self did evil things... people change, people regret, people learn. I know better now, so I can't burden anyone with these double-edge techniques. I just want to enjoy this second life?"

She sulked in silence and tried to digest it.

"Are you telling me the person I admire didn't exist?"

"How should I know?" Wei Wuxian shrugged. "I never met him, I don't know those stories. And I don't particularly care if you get to meet me enough for you to decide if he did. Most times, the me in people's heads is an illusion and they won't let go. Pieces of it are real? Oh, certainly. Other mes in people's heads who weren't absolute cruel demons, like Lan Zhan's or my shijie's? Same thing can be said, there are pieces of me there.

"Anyway... There are probably pieces of me in your Patriarch, but no more. Sorry, kid."

Su Mei felt like her world was shattering. Reality was a bitch.

"I don't understand," she whined. "Does that make you a villain or not?"

"Does it matter? I thought I was a hero when I was young, before I lost control of my demonic cultivation, so make of that what you will."

"Wei Ying is often misunderstood," Lan Wangji said, having just caught up with them. "Men cannot be judged without the full picture. Wei Ying's deeds were honorable and he was not someone who'd hurt others by unscrupulous means."

"So he's righteous to you?" Su Mei crossed her arms. "I just figured you liked bad boys, Hanguang-Jun."

"..." Lan Wangji blinked, and his ears seemed pinker. Wei Wuxian laughed loudly.

"Oh, he does!" Wei Wuxian put his arm around the man's white-clad shoulders and patted his wide chest with his free hand. "He definitely does! And I'm the baddest boy according to his sect's endless rules. Hey young miss, do you think this beautiful, noble man is a paragon of goodness? He breaks rules sometimes and does questionable, shameless things too, you know."

"One who stands straight doesn't fear a crooked shadow." Lan Wangji held Wei Wuxian by the waist.

"Heh. I don't care if she judges me or if she's disappointed." He moved his hand to the top of Su Mei's head. Once again she was reminded of her brother, and even her dad. Except much taller. "I just want her to understand that demonic cultivation is tricky and she should be careful."

The girl frowned and moved away from his grasp. "Don't you mean 'evil'? Shouldn't you try to dissuade me from learning anything at all, if you're such a good person and you think it sucks now?"

"No? I don't think it's evil or that it sucks. I still use it, you know! A blade's not bad, it's the people who use it who do the bad things. Regular cultivators can be terrible people, too. Moderation, you know? Besides, I inspired so many folks into the dark path that I can't babysit anyone."

Su Mei felt slightly better. Okay, so he wasn't a cheerful fool who renounced to everything dark. He was just... complicated. Maybe redeemed himself or something. Much to think about.

"Well, time to go. Nice to meet you!"

She snapped from her own thoughts as she saw the men turn their backs on her and keep on walking towards the outskirts of the city. She immediately grabbed the closest thing —Wei Wuxian's ponytail— with the hand that wasn't holding the tanghulu, and pulled him back.

"Ow!"

"Wait, I have so many questions! Not about becoming your apprentice, but... I don't know, general questions."

"First of all," Wei Wuxian put his hands on his hips," ask nicely. We're still your seniors. Are all teenage girls from your generation as rude as you?"

The three sat on a bench while Su Mei and Lan Wangji finished their candy and Wei Wuxian sipped the rest of the wine, this time slowly and making lip contact with the jar like a civilized gentleman.

"Shoot," he said.

"How old were you when you died?"

"Mmm, I'm not sure. I lost track of time a little. I think around 22. Is that right, Lan Zhan?"

"Yes..."

She felt ice in her stomach. She knew he was young, but not that young.

"Your sword's name. No book I've read ever records it."

"Suibian."

"Oh, come on! It does matter to me!"

"Suibian!"

"Pretty please? Tell me?"

Wei Wuxian guffawed. "I already told you, it's Suibian. That's its name."

"...Are you fricking kidding me?"

"Nope. I had so many names that I couldn't decide, then I said 'whatever' and it stuck to the sword's spirit."

Gaping, she looked at Lan Wangji for a confirmation. In the very serious face, a little roll of his light-colored eyes told her that this was true and indeed what he dealt with daily. Wei Wuxian was cackling again.

"Oh good, this reaction never gets old! That name was worth it."

Fantastic. She finally had obscure facts about the Yiling Patriarch from the source himself, and they were so dumb that no one was going to believe her. She sighed.

"Anyway... Speaking of weapons. If cultivation is just the means, then why don't you use both old and demonic cultivation at the same time? Since they're both blades and all."

He stopped laughing.

"You see, this body's cultivation levels are rather weak. I can unsheathe Suibian but not use it. So I'm more or less still relying on demonic cultivation."

"Then get stronger," she shrugged. "You've built a golden core in your past life, right? Then do it again, you know how to! Do the same training you guys do until you can! If fancy sect kids at my age can do it, a grown-ass man who's a revolutionary genius sure can, right?"

"I-I..." Wei Ying looked as though he had been punched in the stomach.

"Why don't you cultivate again and get good?"

"Why... Damn, why are youngsters so brutally honest?"

"We do cultivate everyday," Lan Wangji intervened.

"Lan Zhan, no. She'll want to know what we do and I don't need this conversation right now."

"Well, whatever you do is not enough," Su Mei continued. "You're pretty much normal now. Hurry up and form a core before you get old and die all wrinkled, while your boyfriend looks gorgeous and people will think he's your son."

Wei Wuxian buried his head into his palms and curled into his own lap.

"Ruthless... She's ruthless...! Why didn't I let her leave?!"

"I just say it for your own good, Master Wei." She didn't want that pretty face to grow old, in reality. Also, the girl was petty and she was still feeling resentful about her hero (or more like her villain) being such a childish imp with a vague morality and a bright smile to swoon over.

"...You're absolutely right," he murmured. "I can't have Lan Zhan and Sizhui lose me again."

"I'm here. I shall help," Lan Wangji took Wei Wuxian's hands and kissed his knuckles. That made him snap back into reality.

"I know," he beamed and this was different to his ordinary smiles. "I'm so lucky to have you as my husband."

The two men stared at each other with an intensity and a passion that left Su Mei breathless and face full of blush. If asked, she wasn't sure which one of them she envied the most. Hell, Lan Wangji wasn't her type at all but now she understood the 'ranked number two in hottest cultivator list' hype.

"Um, okay. Glad I helped? Let's not make out in public, alright?"

"I'll probably curse you when I get dragged into the GusuLan sect strict training routines, you know," Wei Wuxian teased her.

"Ooh! Real curse or just bad words?"

"Bad words."

"Baww..." she sulked. "Speaking of which, before you leave can you show me your demonic cultivation? Pretty please?"

"What, here and now?" One of Wei Wuxian's eyebrows shot up. "It's not a party trick, you know."

"As far as I know, you two could still be fakers. You haven't really demonstrated you are the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian."

"What? Here I am, being so sincere and you still doubt it?" He puffed. "I can't just summon resentful creatures into a city. Are you an idiot?"

"Can't you control them? That's what the stories say. Oh well, I guess you can't."

"Of course I can, who do you take me for?" He got up, but as he was going to grab the flute he stopped on his tracks. "Oh, you almost got me there. Nice try but I have nothing to prove to you. I'm not going to cause a possible panic in the middle of a city to satisfy a brat."

"Not even Wen Ning? Actually, what happened to him? I heard he heard Chenqing and came back from the dead. Er, again."

"...Wen Ning is fine and he might hear me from Gusu, but trust me. You don't want to meet him."

"Is he so feral and bloodthirsty?"

"The opposite," he laughed. "If you find me disappointing, you'll end up crying when you see how he's like. Besides, he might suffer from anxiety from meeting you. Last time I took him to a city, he was bullied by little boys."

What the hell? Was that a joke or was he serious?

"Ugh, fine, nothing here and no Ghost General. Let's go out, then. Take me to a night hunt and I'll see you in action."

"That's much better! Two adult men taking a non-cultivator fourteen year-old girl to a dangerous place! People were already convinced I was a pervert who kidnapped maidens, so let's give them reasons to think I really did those things."

He was right. She got so caught up she almost fell into a trap of stranger danger.

"So I assume those rumors about rapes and orgies in Yiling are false?"

"Where did you learn those words?" He made a gesture to whisper in Su Mei's ear: "Don't tell others, but I died a virgin."

"..."

"..."

"...And are you guys still virgins or...?"

"No!" he yelled and almost left her deaf. "You're a horrible child, Ebony. I don't want to answer your questions anymore."

Su Mei kicked a stone on the ground. Then she had an idea.

"Ah! Hanguang-Jun, may I ask the rest of the questions to you instead?" Her face was innocent, but the smirk on her face was mischievous.

"Mn."

"Hey! You play dirty!"

"Shut it, Wei-Laozu. Okay, have you ever practiced demonic cultivation yourself?"

"No. However, I have used compasses and spirit attraction flags."

"Did this guy put a love spell on you?"

"No."

"I can't even do those!" Wei Wuxian complained. "I'm just naturally charming and he fell for me."

She wanted to make a remark but the bastard truly was charming.

"What was his hairdo like when he was the Yiling Patriarch? And his clothes?"

"Half ponytail, simple red ribbon. He dressed in dark long robes with red motives."

She approved of that look. The hair was much cooler like that than in a ponytail or bun.

"Did he look spooky when he was the Yiling Patriarch?"

"When he was upset, yes. People feared him."

"Did he look hot?"

"...He needed more sleep and food. Demonic cultivation took a toll on his health."

"...Mmkay. But did he look hot?"

"...Very much so."

"Are you guys done?" Wei Wuxian was balancing an empty jar on his index and middle fingers. "I get philosophical questions and you give Lan Zhan the shallow biased ones."

"I guess," she sighed.

"Okay, then. Pay attention." Wei Wuxian got up, put the jar on the bench, look in all directions, and took the black flute from his sash. He played a shilling short melody that gave Su Mei goosebumps. He looked rather beautiful and mysterious. Then, a skeleton arm sprung out of the earth and broke the stones that formed the road. Its fingers moved back and forth in a friendly greeting.

The girl let out a little excited yell.

"I'm not going farther than that. Of course, just one little arm doesn't prove I'm the Yiling Patriarch but—"

"That's so, so awesome...!" she interrupted without taking her eyes off the corpse. "Real demonic cultivation!"

"We should go now. That was... well, not fun but interesting at least." The skeleton retreated to its place of slumber, and she looked at them with sadness. "Nice meeting you, Su Wumu."

She bowed with reverence. "No, it was my pleasure. Thank you for indulging me."

"Oh, now it's your pleasure?" His smile was dazzling and victorious.

"Well, you are really annoying too. But... this Yiling Patriarch isn't all that bad." She couldn't deny that he was an interesting person.

"Same to you. A teenager hasn't given me this amount of grief ever since the last time my nephew threw his dog at me. So you're still my admirer?"

"Maybe... Sucks that I can't brag of knowing you without making me sound like a liar and you like a loser. I'll still admire your fictional version more, though."

"Fair enough. Bye, kid!"

"Cultivate more!"

He raised a hand without looking back, in indication that he had heard her.

Su Mei went back home with a story to write on her secret diary, and a haunting image to paint: a pretty man playing a dark song on his flute and a dead arm reaching from the soil.

III. Romantic portraits

"The Yiling Patriarch! Five coins for one, ten coins for three! Get protection from evil and luck in love!"

The voice of the charlatan in a fake cultivation uniform boomed across the street. It seemed like it was going to be an uneventful morning for him until he heard footsteps and a clicking sound.

"Tsk. You're still at it, Mister Know-It-All of Qinghe?"

He turned around and grimaced. He recognized the person in front of him even though they had only met once, the previous year. The man was a young master in black and red robes. He had been his patron and had helped him, but the charlatan remembered that he was weird, asked strange questions, was ungrateful, and nitpicked his merchandise and knowledge as though he had seen through the scam. It was a chore to deal with, so he bore a forced smile and hoped he'd leave soon.

"Ah, it's you, young master. May I interest you in some makeup?"

"Not today. We're just passing by after a night hunt."

Ah, yes. The guy didn't carry a sword with him, but he was friends with a cultivator from GusuLan and had argued with familiarity with some spoiled LanlingJin disciple. The weirdo definitely had a connection with cultivators, and wouldn't be too strange to be one as well.

"Do you need some interesting stories?"

"Well, do you have any that's not about the castle?"

"No... It's been quite peaceful lately."

"Then what good is it to offer? Honestly! Your face is undisturbed."

The charlatan groaned, but quickly recovered.

"Speaking of faces, may I interest you in Yiling Patriarch charms? Ten coins for three!"

The man in black sighed.

"Again? Haven't you given me enough of those awful things?"

"They're new ones! Your looks might be good, but considering your rude attitude you might be in need of them if you want to be lucky in love."

"Huh? You're not making any sense, merchant."

"Excuse me..." a high-pitched, soft voice interrupted them. It was a girl, not even of age yet. Her cheeks were flushed pink. "May I have one of the Yiling Patriarch love charms?"

"Of course, young miss!" The charlatan beamed. It's five coins for one, but for five more you can get three! A bargain! You could get a dark protection one as well."

"Ah, I can only afford one..."

While the transaction completed, the young master had grabbed one of the sheets of paper to examine. Once the maiden had left, he poked at the charlatan's shoulder.

"Hey, what's with that? They're love charms now and they're a hit? And more importantly, he's handsome now! I see you took my advice and draw him better, not bad! Still doesn't look like him, but this is acceptable."

"Don't flatter yourself," the merchant fumed. "Wei Ying has to be handsome now since the popular opinion has changed. This is what sells now."

"Popular opinion changed...? How exactly? Isn't he still considered evil?"

For someone who considered himself an expert on the Yiling Patriarch, that man sure was clueless. The charlatan was going to enjoy this.

"You don't know? Allow me to enlighten you with my knowledge, young master."

"Okay, go ahead," the customer smirked.

"You should have at least heard that the Yiling Patriarch has returned from death, right? He somehow used his dark magic to come back in another body."

"That's not correct; he didn't use his powers to come back but was brought back by someone else."

"Um. Well! It doesn't matter how! It seems he helped vanquishing Jin Guangyao, the previous Chief Cultivator and Sect Leader of the Jin, who by the way had done terrible deeds such as murdering his father, his wife, his son, and even our esteemed Chifeng-Zun. And thus, while his sins and dark cultivation are terrible, Wei Ying seems to be on his way to redeem himself."

"But what's with the benevolent portraits?"

"I'm getting to it! Turns out that Wei Ying ended up walking another unusual path... the Cut-Sleeve Path. And latest gossips are reporting that he is in a relationship with another man. But not just another man!" The charlatan pointed with his index finger upwards. "He managed to bag a peerless beauty: the renowned second master of the Lan Clan, Hanguang-Jun!"

"Ah, it's about that?" The young master had a strange expression on his face.

"For us— for them common folks, the subject is fascinating! Much speculation has taken place. Some say they eloped and even got married, can you believe that? Others have mentioned that those two did not get along before, which makes them turn into lovers more interesting. What is the truth? Did the Yiling Patriarch taint young master Lan and seduce him into his wanton ways? Or was it the other way around? Was Hanguang-Jun's purity of spirit what saved Wei Ying from his darkness and made him change his ways?

"Regardless of what version folks believe in, a lot of ladies and even some gentlemen find the story quite romantic. That love story will soon become a classic at this rate, they love it! And since people want a love like theirs, with these charms you can pray for the Yiling Patriarch's blessings for yourself."

"........." For once, the nitpicky customer was speechless. The smug smirk returned, but it was tender. "Don't they really have anything bad to say?"

"I mean, some do find it creepy. It's still two men. I think it's a fun kind of scandalous and that the one who got seduced was the second master Lan. What about you, young master? Which one do you think it's correct?"

"Those options are too narrow!" he complained. "Hasn't anyone seen an evident third option?"

"Which is what?"

The man put his hands behind his head, with a casual air.

"They both seduced each other! Hahaha! But none made the other change radically. They just... fell in love, just like anyone else. And luckily, after much pining, the other felt the same way."

The charlatan blinked.

"Young master is sure a romantic. Which is why you need these! So you can find yourself a love like Wei Ying's! He will bestow you with—"

The man cackled.

"Oh man, are you aware that Wei Wuxian isn't dead anymore? He's not a dark spirit or a god you can pray to, but a regular man like you and me. The most he can do is maybe offer some advice if you ask, but they'd probably be pretty bad."

"Shhhhh! Stop dismantling my business, you asshole!" The charlatan growled.

"Fine, fine, let me help your sham. Do you have brushes and ink at hand?"

"What for?" the charlatan hesitated.

"I'll make you an accurate portrait of the Yiling Patriarch, guaranteed to make you sell better. Do you want him in his original flavor or with his new look?"

"Whatever, do what you want. You're paying for the ink and paper you're spending."

About an hour had passed and several drawings covered the ground around the man. Every now and then, he'd show the merchant his most recent masterpiece. In his favor, he was a good artist and the portraits were better than the charlatan's. Still, the insistence was strange. In one of the drawings, the one he called new flavor, the guy had the gall to give the Yiling Patriarch his own face and hairstyle and played dumb when criticized ("ooh, you think that looks like me?") Then he declared that Wei Wuxian should be sold with a Lan Wangji and started to draw men with forehead ribbons.

What a bothersome man. But he had already given him coins for the ink at least.

Then he suddenly stopped and got up, dusting his trousers and waving at the crowd like a maniac.

"Lan Zhan! I'm here!"

It was that handsome man in white that had accompany the young master that one time. His outfit and ribbon was still definitely GusuLan, the charlatan recalled.

"Wei Ying," he said.

"Indeed, the Yiling Patriarch!" the charlatan leaned forward. "Are you interested in these portraits, young master?"

"Back off, back off!" the young master shooed him. "Does this look like the face of someone who needs help in that area?"

The Gusu cultivator pretended as if the merchant didn't exist, and looked at the other man.

"You took too long."

"Did I? So sorry for making you worry. Time flies when you're helping out."

The man in white stared at the portraits, both the ones the charlatan held and the ones on the ground.

"I made those. The accurate ones, at least. Want one, Er-gege? I can draw you some, just like the old days. Would you like that?"

"Mn. I will treasure it."

"Look, I even added a flower to your hair in yours! Remember?"

The charlatan frowned. The half done portrait of Hanguang-Jun... it looked eerily like that man. This was a Lan clan member, judging by the cloud pattern, and not a regular Lan sect cultivator. Lan Zhan... What was Hanguang-Jun's birth name again?

Half of the Yiling Patriarch portraits... looked like the man in black. The ones he called original flavor had him playing a flute. The Yiling Patriarch had that powerful phantom flute. This man... The charlatan lowered his sight and saw... a black flute peeking from his waist.

Oh no. Oh no no no no no no no.

Ice and dread filled his stomach. He threw himself to the ground, shaking. He was a dead man.

"M-Mercy! Please do not kill me, sir!"

"Oh!" He heard the voice above him. "Finally figured it out?" A sigh. "I'm not going to hurt you for this, get up. People are staring at us."

Still trembling, the charlatan sat on his heels. There was mirth in the goddamn Yiling Patriarch's eyes, but no killing intent.

"Anyway, let's leave it at that. Now you see why we don't need your portraits, right?"

Looking back, that was the stupidest thing. He even gave a good stack of Patriarch portraits to the Patriarch himself, back then.

"My... My apologies for making you ugly, sir!"

"That's what I wanted to hear! In any case, my husband was waiting for me, and it's time to bestow some love prayers if you know what I mean, so I don't really want to stay here listening to you. Sell my drawings! I signed them and all." He lowered his voice. "And no, they don't have protections imbued, but add a fake sigil in a corner and aim for rich suckers with no spiritual powers. That should make enough money for you to live well for a while."

"..."

"Bye, then! Stop scamming innocent people with my name!"

Then the Yiling Patriarch had the audacity to wink.

And Hanguang-Jun had the audacity to put his hand on the Yiling Patriarch's ass while they walked away. Double seduction, was it then?

The charlatan slowly and carefully reached for the papers with almost reverence. He decided not to mess with cultivators ever again and find a less dangerous business. Once he sold the self-portraits, that is.

IV. Lunch invitation

"Hello, excuse me," Wei Wuxian waved and smiled at the two girls that had come out of the forest, baskets in their hands. "Is this the right road to—?"

"Hanguang-Jun?" the eldest of the two gasped and interrupted. The little one stared at the man behind him in realization.

Wei Wuxian was speechless. So that was the power of the presence of Lan Wangji. Suddenly he had been rudely ignored, and it hurt a little. Understandable, but it hurt a little.

"I'm sorry," the eldest said as she saluted. She was somewhere in her teens while the youngest should be six or seven at most. "I'm sure you won't remember us, but you were here five years ago and helped the village out. Our family in particular is so grateful, even if you don't—"

"I do remember," said Lan Wangji. "Your father."

The girl sucked her breath in, then nodded.

"Yes. Say, are you in a hurry? It's almost lunch time, and my mom will be so upset if she doesn't get to see you and thank you properly this time. It's the least we can do for you!"

"I don't want to intrude. If unannounced, would it be enough food?"

"Haha, you're so thoughtful! We're doing well and today's meal always leaves a lot of leftovers. It's no bother at all!"

"Can I tag along, too?" Wei Wuxian pointed at himself and grinned. The eldest blushed, as if she had seen him for the first time.

"Y-Yup! I'm sure mom won't mind!"

"Very well, then," Lan Wangji nodded and let himself be guided towards a little house with a plot in the front. The little girl took his hand and balanced her basket of mushrooms and roots with her free hand, and Wei Wuxian's heart felt rather full by the cute sight.

Lan Zhan's doubts were unfounded. As soon as the eldest one yelled, the mother was more than delighted and dragged the cultivator by his lapels. She was around the two men's age, but since she was a normal person she only seemed a few years older: a regular healthy-looking woman in her early or mid thirties with meat in her bones and a contagious smile. Something in her demeanor made Wei Wuxian think of home.

"Hey, madam. Is it alright if I invite myself in?"

"Of course, I made plenty of food! Any friend of Hanguang-Jun is our friend! What's your name, again?"

"...Mo Xuanyu." Lan Wangji had already figured out his identity weeks ago, but to most of the world Wei Wuxian was still dead. Sometimes he would forget he was taking another person's identity and life.

They sat on the table and while the woman served, she explained the story of how her late husband had raised from his grave and how Hanguang-Jun had put him to sleep peacefully again. The case was nothing out of the ordinary for someone like the pair, but to this common family it had been a heartbreaking experience. Funny how that worked.

The meal had two courses: a mild but nutritious vegetable soup and gong bao chicken. Lan Wangji went for the soup, while Wei Wuxian flocked to the spicy dish like a fly to honey. The strong chili gave the stir-fried meat a great flavor that a connoisseur like him appreciated a lot. Between the marinated vegetables and nuts, he found lotus seeds and sliced lotus root. Then he understood why he liked it that much.

"Hey! This is Yunmeng-style gong bao!"

"It sure is!" The mother grinned. "This one was born and raised in Lotus Pier!"

Wei Wuxian's smile almost reached his ears. "I was also raised in Lotus Pier!" he said in the Yunmeng dialect. The woman immediately switched to it, leaving Lan Wangji accidentally out. He just turned to the youngest daughter, who had a lot of interesting topics she wanted to share with Hanguang-Jun such as their favorite types of roots and flowers.

"You know, you did feel like you had Yunmeng energy! I was from the Southern docks. You, where did you live?"

"Ah, well... I was a YunmengJiang disciple so I lived in the sect headquarters."

The woman passed a recipient with red powder to Wei Wuxian. "You're not wearing purple and you're using past tense tho."

"I got kicked out years ago. I guess I'm a rogue now." He shook the red powder generously on the chicken.

"Honestly?" She put a hand on his shoulder. "You're better off. The sect hasn't been the same in ages. The town hasn't progressed much either, ever since it's just young master Jiang. That's why my hubby and I left to Lanling territory. My older sister still lives there since she married a cultivator and her boy will join the sect next year, but the rest of my family just left."

Suddenly the chicken tasted more bitter than spicy, despite the obscenely extra spice.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's not like it's your fault," she laughed. "The late young lady Jiang, then madam Jin, took care of a lot of the port-related and diplomatic business. The young masters were the warriors and she fought for the rest. Once she married into another family, things were going to change anyway."

Wei Wuxian had no idea that was how it worked. He knew his Shijie had responsibilities, but not much beyond. Luckily, the mother ("call me Zhenzhu! we're Yunmeng siblings now, Xuanyu-xiong!") had a lot of good things to reminiscence about. She talked about her parents' stand in the docks, now her sister's, and he remembered the delicious food they sold in it. It turned out that he was one of the regulars and had seen both sisters before.

They continued to talk about the times she had talked to Yanli, other market stands, food, the city landmarks, recurrent ships and customers for the piers, and so on. Lan Wangji didn't seem to mind much, unable to move since the girl had set camp on his lap. The eldest daughter, bored by her mother's nostalgia, picked up the dishes and pans.

"And in public banquets at the sects," continued Zhenzhu, "they would play this folk song about frogs on lotus leaves, do you remember it? That tune haunts me and I keep humming it when I do house chores. Do you reckon, Xuanyu-xiong?" She then proceeded to whistle the song at parts and sing lyrics at others.

"I think I know," said Wei Wuxian, grabbing his bamboo flute. He played the melody as he remembered it. Since Lan Wangji had fixed his instrument, he was able to play it perfectly and give it justice. The family of three and the other man glanced at him in a trance, mesmerized by both him and the cheerful party music. Zhenzhu sang at times what she could recall. By the time he finished the three verses of the song, he received a big applause from everyone but the little one, who had fallen asleep on Lan Wangji's lap.

"That was pretty good!" Zhenzhu beamed. "As expected from Hanguang-Jun's friend. You were almost as good playing it as young master Wei, and that's saying something!"

Well, she wasn't wrong.

"I'm still a bit rusty, in fact. Once I practice more, I'll be as good as him or even better!" Well, he wasn't wrong either. "Did you understand that, Lan Zhan? We've got to tell Jingyi that someone appreciates my music."

"Mn."

"Oh, poor young master Wei," Zhenzhu sighed. "What a tragedy."

Suddenly the dark spots on the table looked rather interesting.

"Mom, are you going on about Wei Wuxian again?" the eldest daughter rolled her eyes as she brought a tray with teapot and a set of teacups. Then she turned to the man. "She had a crush on that guy, you see."

That drew the attention of both cultivators.

"Linlin! I told you, everyone in Lotus Pier had somewhat of a crush on young master Wei," she rebutted. She placed a hand on her own cheek. "He was so charming and handsome. Once you saw his smile, you were doomed. He called my sister cute once and she was raving about it for a month."

Was it Wei Ying's imagination, or did Lan Wangji seem annoyed about the topic? Too bad, because Wei Wuxian's chest felt prideful.

"No way he was that hot, mom," the daughter waved her hand.

"Well, we have someone from Yunmeng today. Xuanyu-xiong, wasn't he the most handsome boy in town?"

"Absolutely," he replied with no sense of shame and without missing a beat. "He wasn't number four in the young cultivator rankings for his talents alone. Only the Twin Jades of Lan were more splendid."

"As far as we Lotus Pier girls were concerned, he should've been number one!" She then remember that Number Two was also in the room, and looked at Lan Wangji apologetically. "Ah, no offense, Hanguang-Jun. It's a subjective opinion."

"None taken."

Of course, Wei Wuxian took the chance to tease the man.

"He doesn't care about those banal things. Oh! That's right, Zhenzhu-jie... Here we have someone who knew Wei Wuxian as well. Hanguang-Jun, give us your opinion: wasn't he handsome?"

"........."

Oh, come on! Wei Ying thought. I call you handsome all the damn time. I just called you handsome, even! You could return the favor, even if it's just to save my face!

"Lan Zhan? Lan Zhaaaaaan?" he pouted.

After a few seconds of indecision and hot red ears like the chili in the chicken, he finally replied.

"The most handsome," he said softly, avoiding Wei Wuxian's stare. Which was fortunate, since the one who was complimented was left a flustering mess. He hadn't expected to react like this. He hadn't expected his heart to beat this fast. Oh, this was bad. Linlin was glancing back and forth at the two embarrassed men.

"See, my child?" a female voice reached his state of trance. "Even men knew he was hot. And a cool cultivator to boot, the pride and lotus blossom of our town."

Just like that, the butterflies in his stomach dissolved. He watched the steam coming out of his tea.

"But..." Wei Wuxian hesitated. "You still think that, even if he brought misfortune to everyone? After he turned into a demonic cultivator?"

"Oh, don't tell me you also fell for that mentality that cultivators have about him." She frowned. "I'm not saying this because I liked him when I was a teenager, okay? He was genuinely a good man who cared too much about people, and even if he lost his way I doubt he could turn into that demon. He was only violent and scary when he needed to be, and the rest of the time he was a mischievous sweetheart with a big grin! Maybe too arrogant at times, but he had reasons to have that flaw and he was so young back then. That's the guy we saw daily. We weren't scared of him, not even when he changed and brought ghouls and spirits to town.

"I don't know if those stories are true. That's what other important cultivators say, but how can we normal folks know if they're true? Maybe they were jealous of Yunmeng, I dunno. But I think there's more to this story than what we know, because nothing makes much sense. He adored his shijie just like us. He was loyal to his shidi and sect leader, young master Jiang. Something happened, and I want to believe in him. My sister feels the same. Probably most of the old Yunmeng market stands do, too.

"Even if he's a villain to the world, we can't help but still liking him, you know? Young lady Jiang would have forgiven him, we think, and so will we.

"Isn't he your former shixiong, Xuanyu-xiong? You should give him a break!"

Wei Wuxian was rendered speechless, his voice gaping in a search for words. His heart felt heavy and painful. He had no idea that there were people who believed in him with that intensity, even after he forsook the comfort of Lotus Pier to help the Wens with claws and fangs and shadows. That not everyone believed in his reputation of an evil man, that there were those —besides Lan Zhan and Wen Ning— who could recall the sort of person he was with something like nostalgia and fondness.

That he was still a sunny Yunmeng boy to some and not the Yiling Patriarch.

He was deeply touched.

"Mom, you're doing it again." Linlin pulled at her mother's sleeve.

"I'm really sorry!" the woman hurried to say, after she stopped huffing. "I got so worked up and ruined the mood. It's just that every time I see someone talking shit about young master Wei, I get upset. I've almost thrown hands with my brother-in-law a couple of times over this."

The mental image of this cheerful, round-faced lady trying to punch a cultivator in purple robes was quite striking.

"No... It's alright." Wei Wuxian gave her a sad smile. "You might have a point. Maybe I should forgive him."

After all, this was a new life and he had already decided to move forward. Never forget, sure, but slowly forgiving himself should be something to work towards. He raised his eyes and found Lan Wangji giving him what seemed to be a soft look in his light eyes. That filled his heart with even more tenderness, on top of what Zhenzhu had given him.

"She's still embarrassing," the girl pouted as she put a blanket on her sister, who was using Hanguang-Jun's lap as her personal pillow and had miraculously fallen asleep like a log.

"It could've been worse," the mom insisted. "I'm restraining myself because I'm in the presence of gentlemen."

"Wait, this is restraining?" Wei Wuxian chuckled. "You just gave us a full speech! What could you be holding in?" He expected a full conspiracy theory and wanted to hear it. He counted on his new friend to lack a filter like most Yunmeng people, and she delivered... but not in the way they expected.

"You know, the sort of thing I reminisce with my sis a lot. As in lady talk? I imagine you two good sirs don't want me to ramble about his perfect face or the way his hair fell on his back or—"

"Mom, stop!!"

"—or his round butt."

Several things happened at the same time. Lan Wangji choke on the tea in his mouth, his ears burning once more. The little daughter woke up with a start and tried to slap his back to stop his coughing. The eldest daughter's forehead hit the table with a thud and the teapot clinked softly. Wei Wuxian couldn't contain his laughter and was rolling on the floor. Zhenzhu even looked satisfied at the chaos she had created.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji left the cozy house with a box of gong bao leftovers; Zhenzhu insisted and said she didn't mind as it would go to a fellow spicy food lover. She didn't need to say it twice before it was taken out of her hands, a wide smile and enthusiastic thanks as her reward. Lan Wangji bowed to the family and gave little Fenfen a final pat on her head.

Black boots were bouncy on his heels, almost dancing on the dusty road. Another pair of boots stepped decidedly yet gracefully, a miracle that they remained pure white despite the dirt that Wei Wuxian kicked up.

Wei Wuxian hummed the song he had played on the flute. He couldn't stop smiling.

"Ah, I'm in such a good mood! They were so nice to invite us over. This lunch was delightful! Best food I've had since I came back to life..." No, that wasn't right. It was the best food he'd had since he left to rescue Wen Ning.

"You didn't tell her," Lan Wangji said.

"Of course I didn't. Would she even believe me?" He snorted. "In case she did, if I told her afterwards she'd be so embarrassed. If I told her beforehand, she'd act more formal and I wouldn't had heard those compliments and that sermon."

"Will you pay heed to it?"

"I... I think so. I'll try at least. What do you think?"

Lan Wangji looked at Wei Wuxian in the eye.

"She lacks the full picture. But I understand and agree with most of what she said about you."

That meant a lot to Wei Wuxian. His heart was beating fast again. Nervous, he let his mouth run off again.

"Including the part about my handsomeness and my butt?"

Without changing his expression or moving his lips, Lan Wangji turned at the road and quickened his walking pace, ignoring Wei Wuxian's stupid question and leaving him behind.

"Aiyo, Lan Zhan! Don't run away, wait for me!"

V. Representation

"H-Hanguang-Jun, excuse me?"

Lan Wangji turned around towards the person who had called him. He found a cultivator around his late teens or early twenties who wore the uniform of the BalingOuyang sect. The young man's demeanor was nervous and fretting under the serious eyes that stared at him. It wasn't an unusual sight; plenty of people felt intimidated by his presence, and after years he had gotten used to it.

"Speak, please," he urged him as gently as he could.

"Ah... May we talk in private, please? It's a delicate conversation."

Next to Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian looked up as well with curiosity.

"Go ahead, Lan Zhan. I'll go back to the banquet hall and find wine."

"Ah, wait! I also wanted to speak to Senior Wei. I just meant... um, this isn't a conversation for a hallway."

"I see," Lan Wangji nodded. The three men ended up jumping to the rooftop of the farthest building from where the conference took place. Even if the premises were filled with cultivators, he casted a deafening spell in a small radius so no ears other than theirs were privy.

"So what did you want to say?" Wei Wuxian asked as he sat on the tiles, his right leg hanging in the air while leaning on the left one. Lan Wangji stayed up, standing upright between the other two.

The boy from Ouyang didn't dare to sit. He gulped and took a big breath. This first phrase took a lot of emotional effort from him.

"You see... I'm... I'm a cut-sleeve. I like men."

Hmmmm. Interesting.

"So that's what it is?" Wei Wuxian smiled, the kind reserved to the moment before he's about to say something ridiculous to rile someone up. "Just in case, we're not interested in a threesome."

The boy's face went through three different colors.

"N-no, no! That's not it! I would never... Please listen to what I have to say!"

"Go ahead," Lan Wangji encouraged again. Whatever it was, it seemed important. "Does anyone else know this?"

"Just a couple of friends who are also... different from the norm. My little cousin figured me out. But my parents and the sect leader don't."

And yet, he had chosen to trust in them with this secret.

"We won't tell others," he assured him.

"I figured. I appreciate it."

The boy glanced at the almost full moon in the sky. While he gathered his courage, the faint sounds of the banquet —porcelain and conversations and music— reached their ears.

"Hanguang-Jun, I wanted to ask something. Did you two... go through a hard time when you were young for being cut-sleeves? Did you ever think... there was something wrong with you?"

Lan Wangji gave it some thought to the question while Wei Ying answered.

"Not really, but that's because I didn't realize I was into men at the time. I mean, looking back now I see that I did crush on Lan Zhan, but it wasn't until I came back to life that I truly fell for him. So I guess my cut-sleeve crisis was much later than that, and I wondered if it was because of this body."

"Was it?"

"Nah. That was all me. It was more surprising than scary to me."

"Oh."

As Lan Wangji opened his mouth, he received their undivided attention.

"...Yes. At first I abhorred it and tried to fight it. I thought that incomprehensible infatuation were a burden and a distraction."

"I was the distraction," Wei Ying added. He was using a joking tone, but Lan Wangji knew that he understood how serious it was.

"I found it impossible to explain myself. There were misunderstandings. The GusuLan elders were disappointed in me. I never thought..."

He stared at Wei Ying, ever so beautiful under the moonlight.

"I did not hope or expect my feelings would be returned."

"How could you stand it?" the boy asked.

"I just did what I considered was right. And loved regardless."

The young man nodded and counted the stars in the sky for a while.

"Hanguang-Jun, what I wanted to say was... Thank you."

"No need. I did nothing."

"No, just for existing. Let me explain." The young man looked at him. "Ever since I discovered this about me, I've felt miserable. I thought I was a monster, a freak, a pervert. People making jokes or terrible comments about cut-sleeves just made it worse. I pretended to laugh, but I felt scared. Deeply ashamed.

"But then one day, my little cousin told me that Hanguang-Jun was in a relationship with a man. Hanguang-Jun! The most moral, strongest, most elegant man in the cultivation world, and he was like me! That was huge. Suddenly I didn't feel like a monster anymore. Because if I were one, so would Lan Wangji, and he was the opposite of that. I was good. I was capable of being loved and capable of loving myself.

"And then! You got married!" The lad's eyes sparkled with tears. "You two got a happy ending. Your family let you bring him into your sect. And you don't even give a f— sorry, you don't care about what others think. I'm sure my words won't change a thing. But to us, the cultivators who are the same? This is huge, Hanguang-Jun. This gives us so much hope. Maybe our crush will like us back. Maybe we can marry one day. Maybe our family might accept us. Happy endings, we can try to reach! It's... so important! You truly are a light bearer for us, an inspiration."

Lan Wangji didn't know what to say. It's true that he didn't care about anyone's opinions, but this young man was overwhelming him. Because there was a time when he cared and where he was scared, and the haunting thoughts about Wei Ying made him feel like he was breaking the entire Virtue section of Righteousness. He could relate those sentiments to the similar ones this kid had, to a certain degree. He had never expected a happy ending or had met someone like him, but he understood a likely relief when he realized that Wei Ying was perfectly able to truly love a man, and to even return his feelings.

He had been alone with his feelings until then.

These young people —and even the people who were older than him, he supposed— didn't have to be. They knew others existed. They knew it wasn't impossible. And the heavens could attest that his story was something improbable and unique and precious. Some mornings, when he'd see Wei Ying sleeping with him and lying on his chest, he still could not believe his luck. And some of the others who loved differently could be lucky or find their own luck, too.

He wondered if he would have been bolder if his generation had cut-sleeve seniors like him and Wei Ying were to the junior disciples. It mattered not. That was a role he didn't expect to take, but if that could ease somebody else's pain and make non-cut-sleeves learn to be tolerant of others... that was more than fine.

Unable to explain this, unable to truly process this admiration, he still bowed to the Ouyang disciple.

"It's nothing," he said with his robes almost shining in the dark night. "I'm glad for you and I'm honored."

"It's a big responsibility!" Wei Wuxian got up. "It seems you're carrying the entirety of the group of cut-sleeve cultivators on your shoulders, Er-gege. You're their role model now! But you, kid, don't measure yourself to this guy for the definition of a perfect cut-sleeve. That's just not practical and will leave us all flawed mortals out."

"A-Ah, well..."

"Take Hanguang-Jun as a role model for a human being, and then as a cut-sleeve!" Wei Wuxian winked at the boy.

"Oh, for sure!" the boy hurried to say. "But Senior Wei, don't count yourself out. You're also a role model."

"Wait, me? Have you forgotten who I am? I'm the definition of a bad influence."

"Tough luck! Everyone has their eyes on you. And don't put yourself down, because you're a symbol that even if we fu— er, screw up and make mistakes and have to abandon our families, we can still deserve a happy ending and a new family."

"You guys clearly need better symbols."

Lan Wangji briefly wondered if demonic cultivation was going to be a metaphor for homosexuality for this generation. But mostly, he was relishing on his husband's faltered face as he was informed he was also lumped into the hope and dreams of them. He would never get tired of that expression.

"Also, Senior Wei? I have to thank you as well."

"Why? Did I make you feel less of a monster too?"

The BalingOuyang disciple shook his head. "You've saved my cousin and shidi twice now. Once in Yi City and the other in the Burial Mounds when he was kidnapped. He's Zizhen, the sect leader's son."

Wei Ying grinned. "Ah, you're Zizhen's cousin? Of course we remember him! Your shidi is a great kid, I'm really fond of him."

"He's always talking about you, Senior Wei. Even when you were Senior Mo. He admires you a lot. And by telling me his stories, I ended up admiring you as well. The fact you married Hanguang-Jun just sealed my opinion of you being a good person, and I decided that I'd gladly defend you if people piled on you again."

"Ah.. Oh... Okay?" Wei Wuxian was at a loss for words, a rare occurrence that Lan Wangji enjoyed every time it happened. He looked so cute when he was shocked, after all.

"Anyway, I won't distract you two more. Sect Leader Ouyang might yell at me if he sees me slacking off or talking to you, even if you're guests."

Lan Wangji disliked sect leader Ouyang. Like Wei Ying had said, it was a a blessing that his son was a brave, honest young man unlike his father. Ouyang also disliked and criticized Wei Ying, which factored highly in this disdain.

"Go, go!" Wei Wuxian shooed him.

"Go at your pace. You're fighting well," Lan Wangji told the youth as he put a hand over his shoulder. He wasn't sure if that conveyed his thoughts well or if it was adequate advice, but Zizhen's cousin's eyes were shiny and awed. That seemed enough.

Before jumping off the roof, the boy hesitated.

"Um, I have a question... We wonder which one of you—" He stopped when he stared at Lan Wangji, regret all over his face. "Ah, forget I said anything! Good-bye!"

They saw him hop down while Wei Wuxian yelled.

"Hey, wait!" The boy turned around. "I like to receive and Lan Zhan likes to give. Is that it?"

"Wei Ying!" Lan Wangji felt his ears heat up.

The disciple gasped but it was clearly what he wanted to ask. After the shock, he guffawed.

"Thank you, Senior Wei!! That's what I thought! Hahaha, I won the bet!"

Lan Wangji didn't know how to feel about the fact that there were bets about their sex life. It was one of the things that are forbidden in the Cloud Reccesses, at least the ones involving money, so he didn't even know how those even work.

"I'm a role model for the youth now?" Wei Wuxian sighed.

Wei Ying was so clueless for someone so clever, but that was as endearing as it was exasperating. He clearly hadn't noticed the way the junior disciples flocked around him.

"Mn. An amazing one," Lan Wangji kissed his forehead.