Chapter Text
Jiang Cheng bolted awake, profusely sweating after a particularly bad dream.
Even after the destruction of his home, his mind was too occupied with rebuilding his sect, his body too tired from nearly daily battle, and the spiritual energy of his golden core warding off negative energies too well to have nightmares.
This was the first time he’d woken up feeling this frail and exhausted since that unspeakable night in Lotus Pier, when he had lost everything. He opened his eyes slowly, adjusting to the fact that he was indeed awake. The despair, the emptiness emanating from his chest, the slight sting of Zidian against his skin when he struggled next to Wei Wuxian… it was all a dream of the past.
The sect leader breathed deeply. His room had a relaxing smell, though he couldn't tell what exactly it was. After calming a bit, he was ashamed to have been done in by his imagination. It was the earliest lesson one learned as a cultivator. 'Don't fear your dreams'... Otherwise it would be easy for one to fall prey to a particularly devious spirit or creature during hunts.
Shortly he stopped breathing at all and hurriedly pressed his palm to his torso.
No.
He pinched himself sharply and clenched his robes, shaking.
Wen ZhuLiu is dead. The Core Melting Technique only belonged to him. Something restored by Baoshen Sanren would never just fade away like this.
He repeatedly pounded his fist against his stomach, tears springing to the corner of his eyes with the pain. He couldn’t see it, but nasty purple bruise was already starting to form, in addition to other aches, since his body didn’t have the capability to prevent injury. His hands felt wet.
There was no comforting warmth, no gushing spring of energy, no cleansing flow.
My golden core is gone.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t process. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t wake himself up.
Should I go to A-jie…? No, Wei Wuxian…?
He swung his feet off the bed, the darkness of his room seemed to deeper and more limitless than he remembered. He saw the faint light of a lantern from outside his door, and heard frantic footsteps. Someone was quietly swearing. “Shit, shit shit, shit, shit…”
Only one person would barge into the Jiang sect leader’s room at this time of night like a madman. Disrespectful, but good timing in these circumstances.
“W-Wei Wuxian, my… my co-“
For the second time that night his breath died in his throat.
When that person slipped through the doorframe, the light illuminated their face. It was his face, Jiang Cheng’s face, frowning back at him.
“Oh shit, you’re already awake,” whispered his voice. “A—ahh careful, I forgot I had that injury. You shouldn’t strain yourself too hard. I look like shit.”
“Who the fuck are you, what the fuck going on here?” Jiang Cheng shakily stood to his feet, ignoring the pain radiating from his center where a core should be. He reached for Sandu, which he always kept within reach of his bed when he slept, but his fingers only found a black flute that seemed to blend in the darkness. Papers with messily written words crinkled beneath his feet.
“…Chenqing? What is this doing in my room?"
The figure with his visage sighed, and put the lantern and a basin of water on the floor. “You’d better sit back down for this, before my body bleeds out.” The man pulled Sandu from its sheath at his hip, and held the polished blade in front of him like a mirror.
Jiang Cheng gasped, and snatched his sword back. It felt unnaturally heavy in his hand, but that hardly bothered him at this time. He was more concerned about the fact that his reflection looked like his brother— Wei Wuxian.
“I’m not sure what happened myself, but it looks like we may have switched bodies. But hey, at least you get to be more handsome. Maybe you’ll finally be popular with girls.” He felt uncomfortable hearing his own voice being so lighthearted, yet strained.
“‘May have’. I can’t believe you have the capacity to joke about this. What the fuck did you do to switch our bodies?! Fix this immediately!”
Then he remembered about the core. Did he lose his brother’s core? That wasn’t possible. His heartrate rose.
“Wait, Wei Wuxian… your core. It’s missing! What happened? Did Core Melting Hand have a successor? Did the Wens infiltrate? Should we go find Baoshen Sanren again? Why-”
“Calm down, Jiang Cheng! No, it doesn’t seem like anything sparked this. We just woke up like this.”
“Hmph. People don’t just wake in other people's bodies!”
Jiang Cheng lightly touched his reflection, Wei Wuxian’s face, with his fingertips. They left behind bloody prints on the sword, clashing against his pallid face. That face looked more haggard than he remembered too. He looked at his stomach that he had been pounding moments earlier. His robe was soaked in blood. The adrenaline from the fear of his missing core started to recede, and he felt the sharp ache of an injury.
He frowned as he gingerly touched his wound. “You didn’t tell me you had such a severe injury.”
“For my amazing self, it’s but a scratch. For anyone else though, this is definitely dangerous, and it’s not helping that you’re getting all worked up.” Wei Wuxian laughed, but he rummaged through some of the mess in the room and pulled out a qiankun pouch, in which were medicinal herbs and bandages. They were clearly for treating the deep wounds on his body and the pouch holding the herbs was nearly empty. “Take off those robes. Don’t be shy now, I’ve seen my body countless times haha.”
Wei Wuxian reached into the basin and dipped a clean cloth into the water, squeezing out the excess. He began to dab at the blood on Jiang Cheng’s— though more accurately Wei Wuxian’s— body.
“Why aren’t you more concerned, idiot? I just told you, I can’t feel your golden core at all. It’s not there. “
“You’re taking the body swap thing well. Getting comfortable?”
“Are you shitting me? Be serious! I’m asking you about something fucking important here! What the fuck is going on?!” He yelled, but curbed his anger back when he saw Wei Wuxian flinch.
“Okay okay… keep it down!” hissed Wei Wuxian. “I don’t really know much more than you. But don’t worry about my core. It’s still here, but it seems like our spiritual energy is being blocked. That’s why we can’t feel it, it’s been closed like the lid of a steaming pot. Have you ever had your qi blocked like this?” He dipped the cloth back in the basin and wrung it back out.
Jiang Cheng had never experienced it before. “No.”
“Well, this is what it feels like. Awful, huh? Hahaha… But our cores are fine, it’s just gonna feel weird until we figure out how to switch back. Hahaha.” He started wrapping the new bandage, trying to hide his nervousness behind a smile. His fake grin looked even more suspicious with Jiang Cheng’s face.
Jiang Cheng heard the quiver of Wei Wuxian's voice, and disliked that he was being this solemn. Although he knew his brother would be serious when things are important, in moments like this he would usually make jokes to curb Jiang Cheng's panic. Not that lately he's been his usual self. “What are you hiding from me? Just spill it.”
“…I think we’re… qi blocked because our souls are not that compatible with each other’s bodies… I read a little bit about golden core theories while Wen Qing was taking care of you.” He punched Jiang Cheng's arm, but it was just a light tap. “See? I’m the same. No strength, no spiritual energy. There’s no way we wouldn’t have noticed our cores disappearing.”
Jiang Cheng nodded slowly. So Wei Wuxian was concerned about the mention of that night. His worry was unnecessary.
Well, his brother didn’t sound wrong. He wanted it to be true. It had to be true. After all, Wen Zhuliu was dead, and the memory of how he felt his golden core drip away like sludge... well, he hadn’t felt it again. “This is more than awful, it’s fucking miserable. I’d rather have been the only one to have to feel what it’s like to have his core missing, but why do I have to go through this again?”
“Haha… yeah…” The cloth wrappings were pulled taut.
“Ow! That’s too tight!”
“Oops, sorry.” Wei Wuxian finished changing the dressing and scratched his head. His hair was made up in a loose bun, without the braids Jiang Cheng usually styled every morning. “Really, I don’t know what caused this but we need to be careful. Things are delicate right now too. It’s in our best interest to keep this under wraps.”
He agreed. This was a terrible time for both of them to be incapacitated. He and Jiang Yanli are still reestablishing the Yunmeng Jiang sect; it wouldn’t do at all for the sect leader and the Yiling Patriarch to be powerless right at the cusp of Wen Ruohan’s defeat.
And this happened in their joint headquarters, so who could he trust with the truth anyways outside of Wei Wuxian and Jiang Yanli? He felt like Lan Xichen, who was one of the people who first supported the rebirth of the Jiang Sect and helped rally cultivators to join the Sunshot Campaign would be reliable… but Lan Xichen seemed busy processing intel he got from a spy and making a plan. He needed to concentrate.
“The major sects are planning a big operation in a few weeks, based on some information the Gusu Lan sect has been informed of. Of course, I am expecting that we have roles to play on that day.” Jiang Cheng found Suibian carelessly thrown on the floor and picked it up. Wei Wuxian looked at him apprehensively. “Geez, take care of your own sword would you? Even if we can’t use our swords right now, don’t you dare be stupid and forget Sandu in my room. You’ll make me lose face. I’ll make sure I bring Suibian out, but I’m not going to clean it for you every night.”
“Fine, that’s fine.” Wei Wuxian sighed in relief. “I hope nobody picks a fight with us for a while, but in the meantime I’ll try to work on talismans that we can use to protect ourselves. If someone asks I’ll just say that I’m testing out new tools that the Yiling Patriarch is developing.”
But what to do, since neither of them had their cultivation? Talismans could never compare to a sword, Zidian, or even Chenqing. He sure as hell didn’t want to follow in Wei Wuxian’s footsteps in using demonic cultivation, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to even if this body was used to it. How would he lead the new disciples, or kill Wen dogs? What of his weapon Zidian, that he had to inherit early, or his title ‘Sandu Shengshou’? How could he keep Wei Wuxian alive if neither of them could fight?
Jiang Cheng felt uncomfortable. At first he had thought it was just that hole where he couldn’t feel Wei Wuxian’s core that was bothering him, but the cloying pressure of resentful energy was extremely unpleasant. It wasn't entirely unbearable. He could feel himself adjusting to fairly easily, since Wei Wuxian's body was actually quite used to it.
“You’re strong, so you can withstand resentful energy, but I don’t think you should try to control it.”
“What, are you saying that you don’t think I can do it?” He rubbed his arm, as if to make the creepy feeling would disappear. “But I agree with your judgement this time. Besides, there’s no way I’m using your dirty cultivation. I defend it in front of Lan Wangji and the others, and it’s great you’re killing Wen Dogs, but there is no way I’m doing it myself. I... can’t play the flute either.”
Wei Wuxian nodded understandingly. “Of course.” Then he paused. “Ah, Lan Wangji… and the other sect leaders for that matter. We’re going to have to fool them until we can figure this out. You think you can handle acting like me for a bit?”
“Who do you take me for? I know your annoying mug best in the world. Just know that every second that I pass in your body is another jar of alcohol you owe me.”
“Well, at least you’re moved from breaking legs to drinking wine. And you’re even starting to work on your terrible sense of humor! It’s funny that you think I’ll be able to buy you anything when we get back.”
They were too frazzled to discuss anything more than how to behave and what was on the schedule for the next day. It was in mutual agreement that for now they should avoid talking too much to Jiang Yanli before they had more information on what to do. They didn’t want to worry her, and she was already working herself to the bone although she didn’t have strong cultivation. Best case scenario, this would all go away within the next few days and no one would know except for her (after things were settled) and themselves.
As Wei Wuxian aptly put it, “Some things are better left unknown.”