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Chapter Text

It began as it always did with them — angry words and insults that soon escalated to the point of physical violence. Wei Wuxian hardly had a chance to interact with Jin Zixuan much in his life, but even the few instances he had encountered the Jin heir was more than enough. 

Their fight had taken place earlier that day, and Wei Wuxian decided that it had been well worth the consequences. Lan Qiren had informed him that he had sent word to Jiang Fengmian, and that the Jiang Sect Leader would come by to collect him the next day. Wei Wuxian couldn’t say that he would particularly miss this place, with its relentless rules and discipline. He felt a slight twinge when he thought of Lan Zhan, but quickly brushed it aside, reminding himself that the consequences were worth it for defending his Shijie’s honour.

Madam Yu would undoubtedly be furious though. Wei Wuxian could imagine the relentless punishments that would come his way the second he reached home. So it looked like he was exchanging one lot of punishments for another, only this time he wouldn’t get to tease Lan Wangji all day long.

‘Shijie is worth it,’ he reminded himself firmly.

He had snuck out that night, careful not to wake Jiang Cheng, who was already mad enough at him as it was, and was eager to make one last trip to Caiyi Town. If he was leaving for Yunmeng the next day, then he was going to drink as much Emperor’s Smile as he could before he left. The famous Gusu wine was truly like no other.

‘Not to the point of falling over drunk,’ he reminded himself, because perhaps reminding Lan Qiren that killing was prohibited in the Cloud Recesses would save him here, but Madam Yu would surely finish him off when he reached home.

Of course, it was just his luck that he wasn’t the only one roaming around late that night. He briefly wondered if Lan Wangji could be here somewhere, and remembered their first meeting on the rooftop all those months ago.

It would be nice to see Lan Wangji again, one last time, and get a nice, big reaction out of him. Lan Wangji was just so funny with his reactions.

It was just his luck that it wasn’t Lan Wangji who he bumped into when he rounded the corner, trying to be as quiet as possible as he neared the exit of the Disciple’s Quarters, but none other than the current bane of his existence.

Jin Zixuan looked like he was deep in thought, and his eyes widened in irritation when he caught sight of who he had bumped into. Wei Wuxian, of course, had no way of knowing that the Jin heir had spent the night tossing and turning in bed, unsettled by the events from earlier in the day. His argument with Wei Wuxian had brought all of his frustrations about his betrothal soaring to the surface, and all he could think about was the unyielding realisation that he was well and truly stuck with this.

Unable to sleep, he had climbed out of bed and decided to take a walk to try and clear his head. Now, face to face with Wei Wuxian, he was starting to sorely regret that decision.

Wei Wuxian was unaware of Jin Zixuan’s inner conflict, and if he had known, he probably would have punched him again. He remembered the way Jin Zixuan had spoken so rudely about his Shijie, and felt a spark of deep anger.

‘Calm down,’ he told himself. He didn’t regret defending his Jiang Yanli, but he didn’t deny that he had acted impulsively. As Jiang Cheng would tell him, he was the Jiang Sect’s head disciple. He couldn’t risk bringing shame and embarrassment upon their sect.

He took a deep breath and averted his gaze, moving to walk around Jin Zixuan; but in his haste to get away, he bumped shoulders with the other boy, sending him stumbling a few steps away.

“Do you mind?” Jin Zixuan asked, his voice tinged with irritation.

‘Don’t say anything, don’t say anything…’ 

“You deserve a lot worse for what you said about my Shijie.”

‘Goddammit.’

Jin Zixuan’s jaw clenched. “Are you still talking about that? What is your obsession with Maiden Jiang anyway?” 

“She’s my Shijie!” Wei Wuxian snapped, indignant. “And she’s wonderful, and kind, and thoughtful, and you should be thanking the Heavens that you’ll be marrying someone like her!”

Jin Zixuan snorted. “If you think she’s so wonderful, then I’d be more than happy to give her to you.” 

Wei Wuxian felt a pulse of rage, and darted forward, forgetting any notions of restraint. “How dare you,” he said, his voice low and angry. “You don’t even know her — ”

“Exactly! Why should I be stuck with some girl I don’t know? I don’t know her, I have no interest in getting to know someone like her — ”

“Someone like her?” Wei Wuxian felt himself moving forward almost subconsciously, and the next moment, Jin Zixuan was shoved up against the wall, Wei Wuxian’s arm pressed against his throat.

‘Madam Yu is going to whip all the flesh off your back for this,’ a small part of his mind whispered.

‘And Shijie is so, so worth that,’ the rest of it thought, and that was good enough for him.

Jin Zixuan caught his gaze, and said, cool and uncaringly, “Someone meek, plain, unremarkable — ”

Then Wei Wuxian’s fist was driving into his face yet again, and Jin Zixuan, prepared this time, moved his arm up sharply to block it off. And then, before either of them could make their mark, they were blown apart, slamming against the ground. They lay dazed and disoriented, wondering what had happened. Someone let out an angry cry and moved around them, and a nearby woman shot them a look of alarm.

Both Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan pulled themselves to their feet, looking around in dazed confusion. The darkened, deserted corridor of the Lan Sect’s disciples quarters somehow seemed to have vanished. Instead, they were standing in the middle of a street, with a few people still out and about despite the fact that it was obviously nighttime.

“What…” Wei Wuxian looked around, dazed. “What did you do?” 

“Me?” Jin Zixuan shot him a glare. “I didn’t do anything! You were the one who tried to punch me again!”

“Yes, because you insulted my Shijie again!”

“That — look forget about that for a moment!”

“How dare you — ”

“What are we doing here? How the hell did we get here?!” Jin Zixuan looked around, almost frantically. “We were in the Cloud Recesses. What is this place?” 

Wei Wuxian pushed aside the frustration he still felt, and focused on trying to figure out what had happened. As annoying as the Peacock was, this was the main issue here. He had no idea what had happened. The last thing he remembered was deciding that he would happily accept any punishment given to him if it meant he could break one or two bones in the Peacock’s face, and then he was here. None of this made any sense.

“This isn’t Caiyi Town,” Wei Wuxian noted. He had been there enough times by now that he knew how it looked. Still, even if this had been Caiyi Town, regardless of its proximity to the Cloud Recesses, that still wouldn’t explain how they had arrived here.

“I don’t know what’s happening,” Wei Wuxian said at last. Jin Zixuan let out a frustrated huff, but when Wei Wuxian glared at him, he didn’t say anything.

“We can figure this out later,” Jin Zixuan said. “We should make our way back to the Cloud Recesses now before anyone finds out we’re gone.” 

That would probably be a good idea, although Wei Wuxian didn’t feel like agreeing with the Peacock right now. There were a few holes in that oh-so brilliant plan though, like the fact that they had no idea where they were.

He was happy enough to point that out to Jin Zixuan, who shot him an irritated glare, and snapped, “Then you suggest something.”

“We should stay here for the night,” Wei Wuxian said, looking around. It looked safe enough. “It’s too late to fly back — ” And thank God he’d had enough foresight to bring his sword with him. A quick glance at Jin Zixuan showed that he had done the same, which was good, because Wei Wuxian definitely wouldn’t be carrying him back, “ — and we don’t know where we are. We don't even know if we’re in Gusu anymore. For all we know, it could take hours to get back to the Cloud Recesses.”

“Not in Gusu anymore,” Jin Zixuan repeated, incredulously. “What actually happened? I’ve never heard of anything that could just transport you to a completely different location like that.”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. His earlier anger had mostly drained out of him, the confusion from the current situation taking precedence. He still felt a sharp irritation whenever he glanced at Jin Zixuan, but it was easy enough to ignore and focus on what was happening right now. He could put up with the Peacock for one night. If he could put up with Lan Qiren’s classes for hours on end and try to look somewhat attentive while doing so, then he could deal with this. It wasn’t like he needed to be nice to him.

‘This is a great last night in Gusu,’ Wei Wuxian thought, somewhat mournfully. ‘I technically might not even be in Gusu right now, and I don’t even get any Emperor’s Smile.’

“Let’s find somewhere to stay,” Jin Zixuan said at last. “We’ll find out where we are in the morning, and then head back.” He hesitated. “Let’s not alert anyone to what has happened. We should be fine here until the morning, and…I doubt the Lans would be happy about this.”

No, Lan Qiren would probably find some way to punish him for this even though he was already expelled, and Wei Wuxian honestly wasn’t eager for word about this to get back to Madam Yu. She would already be angry enough with him, and he was fully aware that whenever she was mad at him, the rest of his family suffered the price as well. Jiang Cheng might be safe in the Cloud Recesses, but Shijie or Uncle Jiang shouldn’t have to deal with her wrath.

“Okay,” Wei Wuxian agreed. 

…

They found a nearby inn to stay in for the night.

Wei Wuxian insisted that they could just spend the night outside, but Jin Zixuan ignored him. Just this short encounter with Wei Wuxian was already exhausting him, and was reminding Jin Zixuan just why he disliked the Jiang Sect’s head disciple so much. Wei Wuxian just didn’t stop. He pushed, and stuck his nose in business that had nothing to do with him, and — 

Okay fine, maybe Jin Zixuan shouldn’t have said those things about Jiang Yanli. It wasn’t as if he had anything against the girl; he didn’t even know her well enough to do so. He had tried to hold his temper, but Wei Wuxian just wouldn’t stop, and the words just started pouring out. He wanted to make someone feel as angry, as frustrated as he felt.

He really needed to stop doing that. It wasn’t becoming of a future sect leader.

“Can we have two rooms?” Jin Zixuan asked the Inn Keeper once they were inside. 

Beside him, Wei Wuxian stiffened. 

Jin Zixuan turned to him. “What?”

“…I didn’t bring any money with me.” 

Jin Zixuan almost hadn’t either, and was lucky that his coin purse had still been in the pockets of his robes when he’d hastily put them on before his walk. 

“I’ll pay,” Jin Zixuan told him dismissively, because right now he just wanted to climb into bed, and get some sleep. He felt exhausted.

Wei Wuxian looked almost indignant. “I don’t need you to pay for me!”

Jin Zixuan’s head throbbed. “You just said you didn’t have any money.”

“Yes, well…I’ll sleep outside.”

“Wha — don’t be ridiculous! Just pay me back when we get back.”

The Inn Keeper looked between them, his eyes wide and nervous. 

Wei Wuxian scowled, clearly unhappy, but nodded his head. “Fine. But I’m paying you back the second we return.”

Jin Zixuan sighed and turned back to the Inn Keeper, who looked almost relieved when he handed the money to him. He didn’t understand what the big deal was. This was hardly an expensive establishment, and the fees for the room were mere pocket change, really. After everything had been settled, the man led them to where their rooms were.

“By the way, where are we?” Wei Wuxian asked the man, his voice casual.

“Yiling,” the man replied after a brief pause, shooting Wei Wuxian a bewildered glance.

Yiling? Jin Zixuan and Wei Wuxian exchanged wide-eyed glances. How on earth had they ended up in Yiling of of all places? It was hours away from Gusu. None of this made any sense. Jin Zixuan couldn’t remember anything that could have caused this to happen, or any reason for why this might be happening.

When he finally reached his room, he didn’t even bother to exchange anymore words with Wei Wuxian. Perhaps they should talk about this for a while, but he was tired. They could figure out how they had ended up here in the morning, after a good night’s sleep. Right now, everything felt far too foggy and far away in his mind, and he was having a hard time focusing. The thought of having to spend any more time with Wei Wuxian made his head throb.

No, definitely dealing with this in the morning.

He curled up in bed, and found it stiff and uncomfortable. This was far from the kind of place he would usually sleep in, but Wei Wuxian had dragged him towards the first inn they could find after realising that he wouldn’t be convincing Jin Zixuan to sleep outside, and Jin Zixuan had been too tired and irritated to argue much. 

He ignored the discomfort, and allowed his mind to drift off. He was on the edge of sleep now, and too exhausted to feel any of the frustration and confusion he’d felt earlier that day. He could handle all of it later, when morning came and brought a whole new set of problems.

…

They ended up staying for breakfast the next morning, because with the amount of time Wei Wuxian took to wake up, it was pointless even hoping that they could sneak back in without anyone realising. They might as well face the consequences with a full stomach.

“It would have been pointless anyway,” Wei Wuxian said, as the Inn Keeper’s wife laid out bowls of congee on the table. “The Lans make everyone wake up at five in the morning. We never would have made it back before that.”

Well, he did have a point. Jin Zixuan bit back a sigh, and decided that he would just take whatever punishment he received. He doubted they would expel the heir to the Lanling Jin Sect, but if they did, he certainly wasn’t going to shed any tears over leaving Gusu Lan behind. His father probably wouldn’t care either way, and his mother would undoubtedly be furious and disappointed…which would actually be very unpleasant to deal with.

Still, there wasn’t a lot he could do about it now.

“Are you from the Jin Sect, Young Masters?” the Inn Keeper’s wife asked, her eyes glued to Jin Zixuan’s gold robes.

“No,” Wei Wuxian said, too quickly for it not to be insulting. “Well, he is, but I’m part of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect.”

“Oh, they’re basically the same thing now, aren’t they?” she said. “Now that they’re tied through marriage…”

“I don’t think that’s how it works, dear,” her husband called out, sounding amused.

Jin Zixuan averted his gaze, and tried to stop himself from saying something rude. He couldn’t help but feel irritated though, when he had been doing such a good job at blocking out the whole mess from the day before. He had wasted far too much time worrying about something that he would never be able to change.

They weren’t even married yet. Were people really talking about this already?

The woman walked away, and Jin Zixuan returned to his meal, eating silently. The food was alright, simple but flavourful, and far better than the Lan Sect’s bland meals and medicinal herbs. Wei Wuxian remained quiet, content to shovel food into his mouth and ignore Jin Zixuan’s presence, and Jin Zixuan was happy with this.

The silence lasted for a while longer, until the next hint that something wasn’t quite right arrived. There were a few other people in the room, including a small group of men sitting nearby. They could hear the conversation, but ignored it for the most part.

The word ‘Wen’ triggered his attention, because after years of the Wen Sect looming dangerously on the horizon, it was hard not to pay attention they came up in conversation. Jin Zixuan soon found that what the group were saying made absolutely no sense.

“…I just don’t understand how his mind works. He obliterates almost the entire the Wen Sect, but then he saves a few of them, and takes them back to the Burial Mounds? Why?”

“To create an army to use against the other cultivators! Why else would he do it?” 

“Does he really need an army though? He has all of those corpses that he commands…”

“Yes, but…”

“What?” Wei Wuxian shot the group a bewildered glance, and then turned to Jin Zixuan. “What are they talking about?” 

Jin Zixuan shrugged, and turned back to the group. The smart thing to do would be to ignore the conversation, and focus on finishing his meals and leaving this place, but the conversation was too bizarre to turn away. How could anyone think that the Wen Sect had been ‘obliterated?’ It was ridiculous.

“They can't do much now,” one of the men said, as if aware of what he was thinking. “Most of the Wens gone…so it’s not like whoever is left can do much harm, right?”

“What do you mean?” Wei Wuxian asked, and the group immediately turned to them. Jin Zixuan bit back a sigh; of course Wei Wuxian couldn’t just leave it be. “Last I heard, the Wen Sect were doing just fine.”

(He was genuinely curious too, but he’d never admit it aloud). 

The expressions on the men’s faces could only be described as incredulous. 

“Have you been living under a rock,” one of them said slowly.

Jin Zixuan would have snorted if he wasn’t so damn confused himself.

“Of course not,” Wei Wuxian shot back. “But what you’re saying makes no sense. Nothing has happened to the Wen Sect. Isn’t that right?” Wei Wuxian turned to him, his eyebrow raised.

“Yes,” Jin Zixuan said. It wasn’t like Wei Wuxian was wrong; surely they would have heard something if these men were right, and the majority of the Wen Sect had been wiped out.

The men exchanged glances. One shook his head, murmuring in incredulous amusement, “These boys must have slept through the whole Sunshot Campaign.”

He and Wei Wuxian exchanged bewildered glances, and returned to their meals. Clearly the group had received the wrong information from somewhere. It wasn’t really their problem.

They finished their meals and made their way outside. Jin Zixuan was more than ready to make his way back to the Cloud Recesses (though he was less eager for the inevitable punishment that would be coming his way). This impromptu trip had been nothing but an annoyance from the start, and it didn’t help that he still didn’t understand how he had ended up here.

“Let’s go,” Wei Wuxian said, his hand moving to pull out his sword. “It should take us a few hours to get back, but — well, there’s really no chance of getting us not getting caught, but I’m already expelled, so…”

“Oh great,” Jin Zixuan said dryly, “so it’ll be just me getting punished for this. Good to know.”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Well, I doubt Madam Yu is going to let this go when I get home. And honestly her punishments are much worse than the Lan Sect’s.”

Jin Zixuan opened his mouth to answer, when something bumped into his leg. He glanced down and saw a small child pick himself off the ground, and look up at him with wide eyes.

“Sorry! A-Yuan is sorry!” the child cried, and then he was dashing off, his legs moving in the fast, unsteady steps of a toddler. 

“Rich-gege!” the child called out, his voice loud and joyful as he continued to run. “Rich-gege, you’re back!” The child threw himself forward, his arms latching onto a white clad leg. Jin Zixuan followed his gaze and bit back a groan when he immediately recognised robes that belonged to the Lan Sect.

“Do you think it’ll be someone who’d recognise us?” Jin Zixuan asked Wei Wuxian, because of course that would be just his luck, wouldn’t it? He briefly wondered if the Lans had sent someone after them, but quickly dismissed the idea.

“That,” Wei Wuxian said, “is the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Jin Zixuan turned to stare at him, incredulous. It was that movement that allowed him to catch sight of the man that was rushing past them, heading towards the child and the man from the Lan Sect.

“A-Yuan!” the man called out, crouching down beside the child. He was dressed in black robes, his hair loose and tumbling down his back, but it was his face that had caught Jin Zixuan’s attention. He stared at it, wondering if his mind was playing tricks on him.

No, that was definitely Wei Wuxian’s face he was seeing.

“A-Yuan, you shouldn’t run off,” the man — Wei Wuxian, whoever he was — scolded, although there didn’t seem to be any real heat in his tone. “I — ” And then he seems to realise that the child was clinging onto someone, and he peered up, wary at first until he caught sight of who it was. His face seemed to light up. “Lan Zhan! What are you doing back.”

“Oh my god,” Wei Wuxian — the one standing next to him, the real one, he supposed — said, his voice dazed. “What the hell is going on?”

“You’re seeing this, right?”

“That’s Lan Zhan.” 

“Wait — what? No, I was talking about you.” Lan Zhan? Was he talking about Lan Wangji? Come to think of it, the Lan did look a striking amount like the Second Jade of Lan. He didn’t know many people that had perfected looking like a brick wall.

“He looks exactly like Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian said. “Identical. Okay, maybe just a bit older but — there are too many similarities for that to be a brother, or some other relative.” 

“Yes, and what about you.” When Wei Wuxian stared at him blankly, Jin Zixuan felt his eye twitch. “Are you seriously not seeing the person standing next to him?” 

Wei Wuxian frowned and turned back to the figures standing a short distance away. The child was now curled up in ‘Wei Wuxian’s’ arms, who was holding him close like it was the most natural thing to do. 

Wei Wuxian, who had apparently somehow completely missed the copy of himself — because he had apparently been that focused on Lan Wangji of all people, whatever that was about — let out an incredulous noise. “What the hell?”

Yes, nothing about this situation made any sense. 

Chapter Text

When Wei Wuxian had woken up that morning, far from bright and early, and eager to get the hell away from the Peacock at the earliest convenience, he had imagined having a quick breakfast, and then making a fast retreat out of Yiling. Everything was already confusing enough, and he still didn’t understand how they had ended up here in the first place.

The idea that something had transported them to Yiling of all places was strange enough, but he was willing to accept that. The strange talk back at the inn about the Wen Sect apparently being eradicated? He was willing to accept that those men were clearly delusional.

He was fast running out of excuses for why he was suddenly faced with an older version of himself, and what looked like the most stunning man he had ever seen in his life. Apparently that man was apparently Lan Wangji.

And oh, Lan Wangji had grown up well over the years. Sure, he had already been a sight to behold, truly a peerless beauty like no other. But this Lan Wangji looked older, any of his previous baby fat having been shed in favour of strong features. He was taller, and his shoulders broad; very broad for that matter, in a way that made Wei Wuxian’s stomach flip in a strange way.

He was probably just jealous. It was clear that he hadn’t filed out nearly as much. And despite how ridiculous Wei Wuxian had always found those mourning robes of the Lan Sect, there was no denying that Lan Wangji filled them out spectacularly. 

Wei Wuxian would truly be honoured to be his friend, if Lan Wangji would just hurry up and accept his friendship.

“…I do not understand what is happening right now.”

Oh. The Peacock was talking.

“Hmm?”

“That,” Jin Zixuan said, gesturing at the older versions of him and Lan Wangji. “How is that possible?” 

“I know,” Wei Wuxian agreed, “how did he get so big?” His stomach did another strange flippy thing, and Wei Wuxian decided again that he must be jealous of Lan Wangji’s looks.

“Wait, what?” Jin Zixuan looked at him strangely.

“Lan Zhan!”

Jin Zixuan stared. “You — there’s an older version of yourself standing a few feet away. I've already said this. How are you not focusing on that?”

An older version of himself who looked almost malnourished. Now that Wei Wuxian had managed to tear his eyes away from Lan Wangji, he could see the sharp angles of his older self’s face, and the way his clothes seemed to hang off him. If Lan Wangji had grown, then Wei Wuxian had apparently shrunk over the years.

Seriously, what the hell? 

“I don’t know,” he said to Jin Zixuan, trying to get his thoughts in order. “I was trying not to focus on — me. It’s too weird.”

Jin Zixuan hummed in agreement. The two turned back to watch the other two. Amongst the throng of people, the older Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were oblivious to their presence. Wei Wuxian watched as the little child squirmed in his older self’s arms, and reached out to Lan Wangji.

“Rich-gege!” the child cried. “Rich-gege, carry me!”

“What, I’m not good enough for you, A-Yuan?” his older self asked, his voice light and teasing. “Should I let your Rich-gege bury you in the dirt from now on?”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said reproachfully.

“No burying!” the child - A-Yuan - said, shaking his head quickly. 

“So A-Yuan doesn’t want to grow big and tall?”

“A-Yuan wants to be big!”

“Well A-Yuan won’t be big if he doesn’t let his Xian-gege bury him with the rest of the radishes!”

A-Yuan let out happy peals of laughter, and even from here, they could see how bright his expression was. “A-Yuan isn’t a radish! A-Yuan is A-Yuan!”

Lan Wangji’s eyes were glued to his older self, and the child cradled in his older self’s arms, in a scene that seemed almost domestic in the most disorienting way. Wei Wuxian looked away and turned to Jin Zixuan, who looked bewildered as he watched the scene in front of him.

“That’s definitely me,” he said, because he knew himself. While there were obvious differences, he could recognise his own features in the other man; and more than just that, he could see his mannerisms, his voice, his laughter. This wasn’t just someone who looked like him, this was him.

He had also spent far too much time watching Lan Wangji in the silence of the library pavilion to not recognise that this was definitely him. No one else could perfect the unmoving block of jade act quite like him.

So now that was decided, there was the roaring question of, what the hell was going on right now? Apparently he was faced with older version of himself and Lan Wangji, and some strange child - and while that really wasn’t the main concern here, he would also appreciate knowing just who he was, because his older self was looking way too parental right now. 

The last thing he remembered was being in the corridor of the disciples quarters; and then, next thing he knew, he was here, in Yiling. Something had seemed off from the start, there were all sorts of things being mentioned that had definitely never happened…so, was this supposed to be the future? Had they been transported to the future somehow? 

When he voiced these thoughts aloud to Jin Zixuan, he seemed surprised, but didn’t argue either. The evidence was pretty compelling; while the other incidents were vague at best, there was no arguing with what was happening in front of them right now.

“So if that’s true,” Jin Zixuan said, “then what do we do? How do we get home?” 

Wei Wuxian had absolutely no idea. It would help if they knew how they had ended up here in the first place.

“Do we go back to the Cloud Recesses?” Jin Zixuan asked, a slight frown on his face. “That’s where all of this started in the first place.” 

Wei Wuxian grimaced slightly at that. Honestly, the last place he wanted to go to was that stuffy, rule-infested prison cell, but Jin Zixuan did have a point. Although, he couldn’t remember seeing anything out of place or strange the last time they had been there, apparently years in the past. No strange arrays, or talismans, or artefacts that could have brought them here.

He turned back to his older self and Lan Wangji, and saw that they had started to disappear amongst the throng of the crowd.

“They’re leaving!” Wei Wuxian said, his voice slightly panicked. “Do we…what do we do? Follow them?” 

Jin Zixuan hesitated, before nodding. Neither of them really knew what to do about this, but those two were the best clue they had so far. Maybe following them would give them a better idea about…well, Wei Wuxian didn’t really know what, but he also couldn’t think of anything else.

Also, there was a part of him — a very, very large part — that was just really curious about what was happening in the future. 

(Lan Wangji seemed to be able to stand being around his older self without snapping or storming away, which was an interesting development. Maybe they really were friends now).

“Okay, let’s go,” Wei Wuxian said, and quickened his pace forward. Jin Zixuan followed him, thankfully without argument; with everything that was happening, he didn’t think he could deal with the Peacock acting like his usual annoying self. Once they managed to push past the crowd of people, it took them a while to find the older duo, walking some distance ahead in the opposite direction.

Following them became a lot harder when they passed the crowded streets of the Yiling village, and entered a more secluded forest area. They used the trees to conceal themselves somewhat, but Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but feel absolutely ridiculous. They tried to stay as quiet as possible, both shooting each other glares when ever the other made too much noise.

A short while passed, and Wei Wuxian marvelled that they somehow still hadn’t been caught yet. He’d seen Lan Wangji pause at one point, but then his older self had glanced at him and gestured for him to come along, and that close call had been averted. 

“Lan Zhan,” his older self, who had mostly been quiet up until this point (and honestly, Wei Wuxian didn’t know how the man could be around Lan Wangji and not do whatever he could to demand his attention), “I still don’t understand what you were doing all the way here in Yiling.”

Lan Wangji didn’t say anything.

“No really, it’s quite a long trip from Gusu. What, did you come all the way here to keep an eye on me? I’m promise I’m not up to anything! Or…or did you come to see A-Yuan again?”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, which really didn’t answer any of those questions.

“A-Yuan! Look at this, your Rich-gege came all the way here to visit you!”

A-Yuan beamed. “Mm! And Xian-gege?”

“Eh? No, Lan Zhan isn’t — well, he’s here to see you, my little radish, not me.” 

“Wei Ying, I — ”

“Hmm?” His older self turned to Lan Wangji, a smile on his face. Even then, Wei Wuxian could see something strange in his expression. He couldn’t place his finger on exactly what it was, but there was just something not quite right about that smile, or the cheerful expression on his face. It all just looked a bit too forced, like he was trying too hard to seem like everything was okay.

Wei Wuxian felt something twist in his stomach.

“Xian-gege, can Rich-gege stay until tomorrow?” A-Yuan asked, his eyes wide and hopeful. It was apparent by now that ‘Rich-gege’ was supposed to be Lan Wangji, and ‘Xian-gege’ himself. At least that probably didn’t mean the child was his — thank god, he still looked far too young to be a parent, especially of a child of that age — but that still didn’t explain who he was.

Could he be Shijie or Jiang Cheng’s son?

Okay no, that was just as strange. He couldn’t imagine either of his siblings with children of their own — maybe Jiang Yanli, because she had always been maternal, even when she was just a child herself, but Jiang Cheng? 

Anyway, that child was way too cheerful to be his brother’s.

His older self let out a laugh that almost sounded rueful. “Oh no A-Yuan, Lan Zhan can’t — ”

“I cannot stay,” Lan Wangji said. A-Yuan's expression fell, and Wei Wuxian’s expression shuttered ever so slightly. A moment later that forced grin was back, and Wei Wuxian felt his chest twist strangely. 

This was strange, and unsettling, and he didn’t like any of it.

His older self opened his mouth to say something, but then Lan Wangji continued speaking. “I will come back soon.” 

A-Yuan's expression lit up, clearly delighted by the promise. His older self’s brow furrowed slightly. 

“Lan Zhan, don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said lightly.

“Will visit again soon,” Lan Wangji said firmly. 

Wei Wuxian was so focused on what was happening in front of him, desperate to figure out what was going on, that he didn’t even fully notice his surroundings until Jin Zixuan was tugging on his arm.

“Where are we?” Jin Zixuan asked, his voice low.

Wei Wuxian turned to him. “What? And keep your voice down!”

“This feels all wrong.”

He was right; something did seem off about this whole area. Wei Wuxian had been so focused on the pair in front of him, he almost hadn’t noticed the strange, cloying feeling of the air around him. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise, and couldn’t help but spare a glance behind him. 

There was nothing there. It didn’t settle him in the least.

“I don’t know,” he murmured to Jin Zixuan, feeling his heart race nervously. Something felt so wrong. “I — ”

His older self and Lan Wangji came to an abrupt stop. His older self shifted the child in his arms and turned around. There was a smile on his face that almost sent chills up his spine; a quick glance at Jin Zixuan showed that the other boy was just as unnerved.

What was wrong with the man?

“Alright, you can come out now."

Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan exchanged wide-eyed looks, unsure of what to do.

His older self let out an amused laugh. “What, you think we didn’t know you were following us? You’re looking at the Yiling Patriarch and the great Hanguang-Jun!” 

“The Yiling-what, and the what?” Wei Wuxian whispered frantically to Jin Zixuan, who looked just as lost. By now Lan Wangji had turned around, and was standing beside Wei Wuxian’s older self, looking tall and imposing, and as stoic as ever. It was his older self that Wei Wuxian was focused on though, because the man was creeping the hell out of him right now.

Apparently, at some point in the future, he had mastered the art of being unsettling. Wei Wuxian couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out why he would want to do that. He liked being the nice, friendly, approachable one! 

His older self let out a loud, amused sigh. “Alright then. I’ll give you until the count of three to come out, and otherwise I guess we’ll have to — ”

Wei Wuxian pushed Jin Zixuan forward, and Jin Zixuan pushed him, and then they both ended up tumbling forward onto the floor in a heap.

“ — Oh well that was quicker than I — what the actual hell?” 

Wei Wuxian blinked owlishly up at his older self, who was for some reason brandishing a flute almost frantically at them.

“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan, you’re seeing this, right?”

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said.

“Two Xian-geges?” A-Yuan asked, sounding confused.

“I hate you, Peacock,” Wei Wuxian said, shooting Jin Zixuan a sideways glare.

“Trust me, the sentiment is returned,” Jin Zixuan snapped.

Wei Wuxian spared another glance at his gawking older self, and Lan Wangji, who looked as unmoved as ever. Well, at least he might get some actual answers now. 

Chapter Text

A beat of silence passed, and then another. His older self continued to frantically wave that flute around as if it were some sort of weapon, Lan Wangji continued to stare at them as if they were the most uninteresting things ever, and the child, A-Yuan, looked like his birthday had come early. 

Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan climbed too their feet, their eyes glued to the older counterparts.

“What,” the older Wei Wuxian said, “is this?” 

“Time travel?” Wei Wuxian said weakly, because he wasn’t sure what else to say.

His older self stared at him for another moment, and then let out a loud laugh. “Time travel. Of course. Why not?” 

Wei Wuxian exchanged a glance with Jin Zixuan, unsure of what to do. The other boy shrugged, completely unhelpfully; honestly, he wasn’t being faced with an older version of himself, so Wei Wuxian couldn’t understand why he couldn’t be coming up with ways to deal with this situation.

“Lan Zhan, they time travelled,” his older self said, with amusement in his voice. “Of course they did, and they went and picked the best time to travel to!” 

“Who is that?” A-Yuan asked, looking at Wei Wuxian with wide eyes. “Xian-gege, why does he look like you?” 

“Because he is me, my little radish. Well, a different version of me.” 

A-Yuan looked bewildered. The older Wei Wuxian smiled indulgently, as if he hadn’t been looking like the creepiest thing since Madam Yu’s last temper tantrum only moments before. He poked his cheek, and the little child let out a happy squeal. 

Lan Wangji continued to watch them unblinkingly, and Wei Wuxian wondered what was going through his mind. Lan Wangji wasn’t glaring at him and calling him shameless like he usually did, so maybe that meant he had perfected his self restraint. He was probably seething on the inside. 

“Should we really be talking to you?” Jin Zixuan blurted out. “If you really are Wei Wuxian from the future…”

The older Wei Wuxian waved a hand dismissively. “I doubt it. As far as I’ve theorised, if time travel were possible, the event itself would simply cause another timeline to diverge. You’re here now aren’t you, and it looks like nothing has changed.” For a moment, Wei Wuxian thought he saw a flash of something strange cross his older self’s face, but it was gone in the next moment. He turned to Lan Wangji. “Lan Zhan, do you agree?” 

“Mn.” 

“And A-Yuan, what do you think?” 

“He’s seriously asking the toddler?” Jin Zixuan muttered. Wei Wuxian was just relieved that his older self apparently still had a sense of humour. Apparently some things still made sense.

“Mn!” A-Yuan said, in what Wei Wuxian was pretty sure was a poor imitation of Lan Wangji. His older self smiled and held him close, and Wei Wuxian once again wondered just who this child was.

“You aren’t going to question us at all?” Wei Wuxian blurted out. “Or — confirm our identities or anything?” 

His older self hummed in agreement. “Oh, I’ll question you. I need to find out how you got here in the first place, after all. But right now, I’m faced with a miniature version of myself, and a miniature version of the Peacock, and I can’t really think of any other reason for why that might be happening. Unless I’m hallucinating, of course.” 

“You are not hallucinating,” Lan Wangji said, and his older self smiled proudly.

“There! See, I can’t figure out any other reasons for why you might be here. And anyway, if I was hallucinating, why would I want the Peacock to be here? So really, I have no choice but to believe you.”

Jin Zixuan spluttered indignantly, and Wei Wuxian felt something settle inside him. Regardless of how strange his older self had been acting just moments before, he could recognise himself in the teasing smile he now wore. 

“I understand that completely,” Wei Wuxian said, because as much as his shock had gotten the better of him for a few moments, he was hardly going to let it stop him from speaking his mind (even if he was currently speaking to himself, and and the very grown up version of Lan Zhan). “Trust me, I don’t really want the Peacock here either.”

Jin Zixuan glared at him. “This is your fault!”

“…How exactly?” 

“You threw the first punch!”

“Yes, but we don’t really know how we got here, so…”

“Alright,” the older Wei Wuxian interjected, while Lan Wangji watched Wei Wuxian with an unreadable look in his eyes. It almost made him want to shift in his place restlessly. “You really should come with me now. If we’re going to talk about this, then we probably shouldn’t be doing it out here.” 

It occurred to Wei Wuxian that he really didn’t know why his older self was here. Perhaps there was a night hunt happening, but in that case, why was there a child here?

Wei Wuxian was once again aware of the strangeness in the air around him, and shifted uncomfortably. He glanced at Jin Zixuan, who looked slightly tense. 

This was ridiculous. This was him, apparently, so what was the worst that could happen? 

At the very least, he would get some answers if he followed him to wherever they were going.

“Alright,” he agreed. 

“Yes, alright,” Jin Zixuan said.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said, his voice reproachful. 

His older self huffed. “Lan Zhan, what else do you want me to do? I can’t really take them anywhere else!” 

Lan Wangji’s brow furrowed slightly, and for a moment, he almost looked like he wanted say something else. In the end, he simply inclined his head slightly, and remained silent. 

Wei Wuxian really didn’t understand any of it.

…

Apparently the place that his older self seemed so eager to take them to was the Burial Mounds. 

Suddenly, the unsettling feeling in the air made a lot of sense.

“Are you insane?!” Jin Zixuan snapped, taking a step backwards. “I am not going in there!” 

There were fierce corpses lining the entrance of the Burial Mounds, as menacing as ever, but unmoving. Wei Wuxian’s hand flew towards the Suibian’s hilt, readying himself to defend himself if necessary.

His older self whistled once, and the corpses immediately moved out of the way.

What? 

Wei Wuxian stared in shock. Beside him, Jin Zixuan’s mouth was agape, his eyes wide. The older Wei Wuxian turned to them, and let out a small laugh.

“What, you boys are afraid of a few corpses?”

“This — this is the Burial Mounds,” Jin Zixuan snapped. He seemed to be struggling to process what he had just seen, and Wei Wuxian didn’t blame him. That easy control of the fierce corpses, the way they had listened to his older self’s commands with such fluid ease…Wei Wuxian’s mind flew to his many theories about controlling resentful energy, and suddenly, he wasn’t sure what to think.

“I’m not going in there,” Jin Zixuan repeated. Wei Wuxian thought he sounded as uptight and snobby as ever, but there was a definite tremor in his voice. Wei Wuxian would have teased him if he wasn’t feeling so damn unsettled himself. “People don’t come out of that place alive.”

“He has a point,” Wei Wuxian said, and then grimaced. Agreeing with Jin Zixuan was not something he wanted to be doing, even though the other boy apparently had more sense than this other version of himself.

“You don’t want to come home with us?” A-Yuan asked, pouting. He had been set down on the floor, and seemed completely comfortable standing at the foot of a place that was straight out of a cultivator’s nightmare. 

“Home?” Wei Wuxian repeated incredulously. “This is your home?” 

“Yes!” 

“This is actually insane,” Jin Zixuan said, taking a step backwards. “Let’s just — let’s go back to the Cloud Recesses. That’s where this all started in the first place, and we’ll probably get our answers there.” 

Wei Wuxian’s older self let out a thoughtful hum. “I guess that’s fine. Lan Zhan can take you with him when he leaves — little me, you’re staying here though. Trust me, you do not want to go there.” 

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said. 

“Lan Zhan, don’t even start with that,” his older self’s voice shifted slightly, and Wei Wuxian could hear tension bleeding through. “You know that’d be a terrible idea.”

“Yeah, there are way too many rules there,” Wei Wuxian agreed. He eyed the Burial Mounds uncertainly; did he hate Gusu Lan enough to take the Burial Mounds over it?

His older self sighed. “Okay — just stand still for a moment. Don’t say anything. Do you feel the resentful energy around us?” 

“Obviously,” Jin Zixuan sniped.

“Yes, well, considering that we are standing outside of the Burial Mounds, you would expect a lot more of it. There is a reason that people stay the hell away from this place.”

Except for him, apparently. And A-Yuan, who seemed to be skipping around the corpses with an alarming amount of cheer, because apparently that was just something children did now. 

“There’s resentful energy here, of course there is, but it’s nothing like it used to be. I’m in control right now, okay? So neither of you need to be afraid of it.” 

In control of the Burial Mounds? Wei Wuxian couldn’t see how that was possible, but…there did seem to be a lot less resentful energy around for a place notorious for supposedly brimming with it. The fact that they were standing here now and having a casual conversation was proof of that.

“Okay,” he said at last. He turned to Jin Zixuan. “Are you going back to the Cloud Recesses?” He didn’t think they should split up, although the idea of prematurely getting rid of the Peacock did sound very appealing.
 
Jin Zixuan eyed the entrance of the Burial Mounds, and then turned to watch Lan Wangji with the same apprehension.

“No, I’m coming with you,” he said at last. 

A-Yuan let out a squeal of excitement and dashed into the notorious mass graveyard. Wei Wuxian followed him, thinking, ‘Nothing makes sense anymore.’ 

…

“So you have no idea what caused this?” 

Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan, seated in a cave that was apparently named the Demon Slaughtering Cave of all things, both shook their heads. No, they had absolutely no idea how they had ended up here. No, they very much did not want to be here. 

Lan Wangji, who had decided to stick around for whatever reason, had A-Yuan perched in his lap, and together, they looked almost like father and son.

Well, a very well dressed father, and a very poorly dressed son.

“No,” Jin Zixuan said. “We were at the Cloud Recesses and — the next thing we knew, we were here.” 

“And what were you doing?” 

“He tried to punch me,” Jin Zixuan said, pointing at him. 

“You insulted Shijie!”

Jin Zixuan glared. “Yes, because you wouldn’t stop pushing about matters than do not concern you.” 

“She’s my Shijie,” Wei Wuxian retorted, feeling his irritation spike. How was it possible that the Peacock made him just as furious every time this topic came up? “Of course it concerns me when you go around speaking badly of her!”

“You really shouldn’t talk badly about others,” his older self said, his lips twitching slightly in what might have been amusement. Wei Wuxian couldn’t understand how there could be anything funny about this situation. “You never know what might change in the future.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Jin Zixuan said, glaring.

“Yes, well, that’s not really important right now. So — Jin Zixuan was being awful, you rightfully punched him for insulting Shijie — ”

“Really?”

“ — and then you ended up here?”

“The second time,” Wei Wuxian told him. “We were walking in the disciple quarters and bumped into each other, and then…had another disagreement.”

Jin Zixuan twitched. “He tried to punch me again.”

The older Wei Wuxian’s brow furrowed slightly. “I don’t think I remember that happening…” Wei Wuxian could almost see the wheels turning in his head, as he tried to figure out what had happened.

“Did you see anything strange?” Lan Wangji asked, speaking for the first time since they had entered the cave. Wei Wuxian jumped slightly, still unused to the sight of the boy he usually liked to tease and chase after in the body of someone who was clearly not a boy anymore.

“No, nothing strange,” Wei Wuxian said quickly. “The corridor was completely empty, and I don’t remember seeing anything that could have potentially brought us here…”

The older Wei Wuxian rested his chin on his palm, and let out a small sigh. “Alright, that makes things a lot more complicated. I’ve theorised about time travel before, but I haven’t really looked into it much, and there aren’t any talismans or arrays that I can think of that would help…I would have to start from scratch, and that would probably take a lot of time. Unless I could maybe find some books to help, but…ahh, this is so annoying.” 

“I will see if there is anything in the library,” Lan Wangji said.

His older self blinked. “Ah, no, you don’t need to do that. That would mean you’d have to come back!”

“Yes."

“…Lan Zhan, you don’t actually need to come back, you know? I know A-Yuan wants…well, he’ll get over it.” He eyed the child uncertainly.

“I will return," Lan Wangji said, his voice firm.

His older self chewed his lip, looking uncomfortable. “Lan Zhan, is this even about the books or — or is this some way to keep an eye on me? Because you seem to be hanging around a lot lately.”

Lan Wangji said nothing, and his older self seemed to tense even further.

“You don’t need to keep track of me! I’m honestly trying to mind my own business here.” 

“Wei Ying — ”

“Look, I can figure this out on my own! Either way, I’m not letting you stop me!” 

“What the actual hell is going on now?” Jin Zixuan asked, his voice low. 

Wei Wuxian watched them, bewildered.

A-Yuan shifted in Lan Wangji’s arms, looking suddenly uncomfortable, as if he could sense the tension in there air. Lan Wangji said nothing further, and placed the child on the ground. 

“You’re leaving?” 

“…Mn.”

Lan Wangji left shortly after that, as Wei Wuxian’s older self watched him, an unreadable expression on his face. Wei Wuxian felt his stomach twist, and he thought, ‘Well, looks like our relationship hasn’t improved at all.’ 

If anything, it seemed even worse now. While Lan Wangji had seemed the one barely able to tolerate Wei Wuxian’s presence in the past, now his older self seemed to regard the other man with a similar level of hostility. It made him feel strange, and uncomfortable, and the sense that this just wasn’t right had never been so strong before. 

“Is Rich-gege coming back?” A-Yuan asked, tugging insistently on the older Wei Wuxian’s robes. His eyes were wide and hopeful. 

The older Wei Wuxian glanced down, and the conflicted expression on his face smoothed out, a smile replacing it almost instantly. “Ah, A-Yuan, we’ll have to wait and see. If…if he doesn’t come back, it’s probably because Rich-gege is very busy. He’s such an important person and…but A-Yuan has a lot of aunties and uncles here to play with him, doesn’t he?” 

Wei Wuxian let the confusion of that statement distract him from his current discomfort. 

…

His older self disappeared into the Demon Slaughtering Cave, using the excuse of needing time to theorise what could have possibly brought them here, and seeming unwilling to accept Wei Wuxian’s offers to help him.

“Just relax for a bit,” he said, smiling at them. “You’ve clearly had a long day.”

Wei Wuxian was pretty sure that he’d relax a lot more if he was away from the Peacock, but somehow his older self hadn’t figured that out.

Instead, they sat awkwardly in the middle of the Burial Mounds, trying not too focus too much on the fact that they were sitting in the most notorious, deadliest mass graveyard in history, and more on the fact that it clearly wasn’t just his psychotic older self, and the strange little child that he had somehow acquired, who were living here.

No, there were actual people who lived here too. Not too many, because that would be way too inconceivable to accept, but there was a small group comprised of mainly older people. He had no idea what any of them were doing here, he had no idea what he was doing here, and apparently he wasn’t going to be getting any answers anytime soon.

The people seemed nice enough, when they had stopped gawking at him, since apparently his older self hadn’t bothered to explain their presence before locking himself away in his cave. They did seem exceptionally wary around Jin Zixuan for whatever reason, a few of them doing double takes, or shooting alarmed glances when they first caught him sitting there. Wei Wuxian didn’t blame them, since he was pretty sure anyone would be wary of the Peacock’s presence upon first glance. 
However, they seemed torn between that alarm, and their genuine shock and confusion at seeing a younger Wei Wuxian. 

A-Yuan was apparently the only one willing to explain the situation to anyone. Being a toddler, his explanation wasn’t the best. “That’s Little Xian-gege!” he cried, pointing at him and beaming toothily. “And…Peacock-gege!”

Jin Zixuan blanched.

A woman who looked around his older self’s age, the only other young person here for miles it seemed, scowled and stood up straighter. “Don’t mind me, I’ll just go and have a little chat with him about the importance of communication.” 

The group watched him leave, with one of the men shaking his head and murmuring, “Ahh, poor Young Master Wei.”

After the group had more or less accepted that something very strange was going on they had left them in peace. Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure how much of that had to do with not wanting to crowd them, or with the frequent wary glances they continued to shoot Jin Zixuan. For some reason, they seemed more focused on the other boy’s golden Jin Sect robes, and less on Jin Zixuan himself.

Jin Zixuan shifted slightly, obviously uncomfortable with the scrutiny. 

For a while, he and Jin Zixuan sat side by side, staring at nothing in particular, not sure what they should be doing right now.

“This is crazy, right?” Jin Zixuan murmured. “We’re sitting in the middle of the Burial Mounds, and your older self apparently lives here.”

Yes, this situation was crazy, and apparently, so was he.

(Soon they would learn that a sentient fierce corpse also lived here. Apparently that was a thing that happened nowadays).

Chapter Text

Three days had passed since they'd landed themselves in this mess, and Jin Zixuan still didn’t understand most of what was going on.

They didn’t seem any to be closer to leaving this place, and Wei Wuxian’s older self — their supposed only way of getting home, since neither he nor Wei Ying seemed any closer to figuring things out themselves — hadn’t shown his face since that first day.

Jin Zixuan grimaced slightly. Calling that idiot Wei Ying, even if it was only in the privacy of his own mind, sent a wave of what he was pretty sure was revulsion through him each time. However, it was getting exhausting thinking of the older man as ‘Older Wei Wuxian’ every time he thought of him, and referring them both as Wei Wuxian was just confusing. So calling the younger one ‘Wei Ying’ and the older ‘Wei Wuxian’ would just have to do.

It wasn’t like Wei Wuxian would ever figure it out. He was more than happy to continue calling him Wei Wuxian, or idiot, or any other number of colourful nicknames out loud whenever he was actually required to talk to him.

Unfortunately, given their current predicament, that happened to be a lot. 

The group of Wens — and yes, it turned out they were Wens, yet another thing to add to the list of, ‘What the fuck is going on?' — still seemed to shoot him the occasional uncomfortable look, and kept their distance, even though they seemed far more approachable now that they understood why there were two Wei Wuxians hanging around. Jin Zixuan couldn’t understand why they seemed so uncomfortable around him, but then, what about this situation actually did make sense?

At least they seemed nice. If this were Koi Tower, and a whole group of people didn’t like you, then you would be getting a whole lot more than a few uncomfortable glances.

Regardless of them acting more approachable now than they did that first day, Jin Zixuan kept his distance. He had never thought of himself as unsociable, but here, surrounded by people he had never met before and feeling completely out of his element, it occurred to him how sheltered he really was. He was constantly surrounded by Jin disciples, who catered to his every need (mostly for their own benefit), and beyond that, what did he really know?

Wei Ying seemed to have none of these qualms. He skipped around everyone, chatting loudly and cheerfully, acting as if he didn’t have a care in the world. They definitely had a care in the world, because they were trapped in the future, in a mass graveyard, and their only hope of getting home was a man who was clearly a lunatic. Wei Wuxian had voluntarily moved into the Burial Mounds, and that said enough about his sanity.

If he was trapped in the Burial Mounds for the rest of his life, he was killing Wei Ying. He didn’t care if these Wens, who all seemed to adore Wei Ying, and dislike him in equal measure, decided to kill him in revenge straight after. He could deal with the fallout.

Neither Jin Zixuan nor Wei Ying had bothered to question the Wens about the future. The group, while amicable and mostly cheerful, all looked like they constantly had shadows on their faces, and looks in their eyes that spoke of something that Jin Zixuan didn’t think he had the right to question. Neither of them felt comfortable with asking them questions about the future.

Wei Ying would have had no qualms about pushing his older self for information, but Wei Wuxian had been holed up in his cave for days, and had refused to come out every time they had tried to convince him to. Eventually, they had both given up, deciding that the man would have to show his face sooner or later; he would have to eat at some point.

Jin Zixuan briefly thought about Wei Wuxian’s hollowed out cheeks, his thin frame, and bony hands, and wondered if the older man actually knew that.

Right now, Jin Zixuan sat around a small fire that had been lit by one of the Wens, waiting for dinner to be served. The other members of the group milled around, some chatting together in small groups, and others helping with dinner. 

These were probably the worst conditions Jin Zixuan had ever experienced in his life, and, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why Yunmeng Jiang's Head Disciple would want to move here. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that there had to be reasons for why Wei Wuxian had come here with a bunch of elderly Wens, but it didn’t seem like he would be getting that explanation anytime soon.

“Peacock-gege?”

Jin Zixuan glanced down, and resisted the urge to scowl at the nickname. A-Yuan, who was apparently a Wen child, and not the actual spawn of Wei Wuxian, blinked up at him curiously.

A-Yuan gave him a wide, toothy smile, that was admittedly pretty adorable. Jin Zixuan wasn’t great at dealing with kids, but only a monster could say no to that face. Hell, even Lan Wangji had been holding him the other day.

“What’s this colour?,” A-Yuan asked, tugging at his robes.

“Gold,” Jin Zixuan said.

A-Yuan cocked his head to the side. “I don’t like gold.”

Jin Zixuan shrugged. “Well, I guess it’s not my favourite colour either. I just have to wear a lot of it.” 

“What’s your favourite colour?” 

“I don’t know. Blue?”

“Ooh! I like…” A-Yuan paused, chewing his lip thoughtfully. “I like…red! Like what Xian-gege has in his hair! Oh, and pur - purple, like what the Angry-gege was wearing!”

Purple? Someone from Yunmeng Jiang then? 

Jin Zixuan’s gaze began to wander, as A-Yuan continued to chatter away at his side. He could see Wei Ying standing a distance away, talking cheerily with Wen Ning. They had been introduced to the sentiment fucking fierce corpse on their very first day here, and they had both been shocked and horrified at the sight of it. However, while Jin Zixuan was still pretty damn wary — completely understandable — Wei Ying had soon decided that it was the coolest thing ever. 

Apparently Wen Ning was yet another product of the insane mind of Wei Wuxian. Jin Zixuan suddenly understood why everyone was so confident that he would be able to help them get home.

He also wondered if he should be afraid for his life right now.

He briefly wondered if he should leave this place, go to Lanling, and explain to his family what had happened. Perhaps something in the Jin libraries would help him out. However…though he didn’t want to stick around, splitting up seemed like a terrible idea. And Wei Wuxian had seemed so insistent about Wei Ying staying here. 

“ — Peacock-gege?”

“Hmm?” Jin Zixuan glanced down at A-Yuan, who was now pouting up at him. 

“Were you ignoring me?” 

“No, of course not.” Shit, what were they talking about? “Purple is a very nice colour.” 

“Peacock-gege, we're not talking about that now! What’s your favourite food?” 

Jin Zixuan blinked. “Uh…I don’t know? I like sweet things, I guess.”

“Mn!” A-Yuan said, nodding his head quickly. “I like…I like…” He looked around, his nose scrunched slightly as he tried to think of what to say. “I like what Rich-gege bought me when we got lunch!” 

‘Rich-gege?’ The name sounded familiar, and it took Jin Zixuan a moment to realise it was what A-Yuan had been calling Lan Wangji. The realisation struck him with so much surprise — that the other day hadn’t been a fluke, and Lan Wangji had apparently been around here more than just that day — that he blurted out, “Wait, Lan Wangji?”

A-Yuan stared at him, uncomprehending.

“The…man from the other day,” Jin Zixuan said. “With the…white robes and the scary face.”

“…Angry-gege?” A-Yuan said hesitantly. 

“No, Lan Wangji.”

The kid actually looked bewildered, and Jin Zixuan realised that maybe a toddler wasn’t the best person to be trying to have an actual conversation with.

“Rich-gege,” he said a last, resigned. It didn’t really matter, he was fairly certain they were talking about the same person.

A-Yuan beamed. “Mn! Rich-gege!”

Jin Zixuan was scrambling for things to say, because while he had never considered himself bad with kids, he had never been around enough of them to really set a standard, when A-Yuan suddenly took off in the other direction. “Xian-gege!”

Jin Zixuan looked up, and saw their resident elusive lunatic being dragged towards the rest of the group by an irate Wen Qing. It was still strange to see the once proud doctor wearing threadbare robes, and looking like she hadn’t had a good meal in months. Jin Zixuan didn’t know Wen Qing personally, but he had seen her present with the Wen Sect during conferences, and knew of her reputation.

Wei Wuxian was trying to squirm out of her grip, letting out noises of protest.

“Shut up, you idiot,” Wen Qing snapped, and Jin Zixuan instantly decided that he liked her. “It’s been three days since you’ve had a proper meal, so you’re going to sit down, and eat something.”

“I have too much to do!” Wei Wuxian protested. “I need to figure out a way to get those two home, and that’s on top of everything I was already working on — ”

“Either you eat, or I’ll find some way to force it down your throat!”

“Wen Ning! Protect me from your crazy sister!”

Wen Ning shuffled slightly, and let out an awkward laugh. It was the most disconcerting thing ever, coming out of the mouth of a literal corpse, who’s facial muscles didn’t move at all. “Young Master Wei, you…Jiejie is right, you should eat…”

“But I’m not hungry.” 

Wen Qing’s expression darkened. “Do you think I wasn’t serious before? Eat, or I’ll make sure you do.”

One of the Wens, an older man who Jin Zixuan had heard A-Yuan call ‘Uncle Four’, let out an amused chuckle. “You better listen to her, Young Master Wei, she doesn’t tend to joke around.” 

Wei Wuxian pouted. “Fine. I guess I can eat something. But I really should go back to what I was doing…”

Wen Qing let out an irritated huff, and pushed him forward. He yelped, and stumbled towards the rest of the group, and probably would have fallen if Wen Ning hadn’t surged forward to catch him.

He shot Wen Ning a grateful smile, and then turned to Wei Ying, his grin widening. “Well, if it isn’t Little Me! Making yourself at home, I see?” 

Wei Ying shrugged. “As at home as you can be in the Burial Mounds.”

“Ahh, it grows on you,” Wei Wuxian said dismissively, as if that explained anything at all. His gaze wondered for a brief moment, coming to settle on Jin Zixuan. “Little Peacock, how have you been doing?”

Jin Zixuan twitched, shooting him an irritated scowl. Wei Wuxian tossed his head back and laughed. So clearly, he was still as annoying as ever.

Dinner was soon passed around, two of the older ladies helping to ladle out the servings of boiled turnips and small shares of meat. And that was apparently all they were getting. Jin Zixuan stared down at the measly serving, and even after three days of this treatment, he still couldn’t get used to it.

Jin Zixuan could see Wei Ying poking at his food, his brow furrowed slightly.

None of the others were complaining though, all tucking into their food as if this was a perfectly normal meal to have. The conversation started up, and soon everyone was talking, laughing, and joking with each other. They smiled warmly at each other, let out full belly laughs, and acted like their threadbare robes, meagre food and dismal surroundings didn’t matter in the slightest.

For the past few days, Jin Zixuan had mostly been zoning out during these shared meals, or trying to distance himself as much as possible due to how uncomfortable he had been feeling. Now, he found it strange how comfortable it did feel. One of the ladies turned to him and smiled, asking him how he was finding things. When Jin Zixuan admitted that this was probably the strangest thing he had ever experienced, she and another lady both nodded sympathetically, and told him that he could come and talk to them about it if he ever felt like he needed to. 

“If I was going to time travel, I wouldn’t choose to come here, that’s for sure,” Uncle Four exclaimed, chortling loudly. “I’d want to go somewhere really interesting, like…hmm, maybe centuries in the past, to learn from the founders of the cultivation sect’s themselves!”

“You’re not even a cultivator,” an elderly woman, who A-Yuan had cheerily referred to as Granny, said dryly.

“Well I’m not, but Young Master Jin, and Young Master Wei over there are! What do you say boys?” 

“Well, there’s nothing wrong with coming here!” Wei Ying said, smiling. “If I had never come here, I wouldn’t have thought it possible for anyone to live in the Burial Mounds.”

“Only you would be crazy enough to do that,” Jin Zixuan pointed out. Wei Ying scowled at him, Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes in amusement, not looking particularly bothered by the statement, and the rest of the Wens laughed.

It felt…kind of nice, to be honest. Jin Zixuan had never experienced this before. In his own home, things were always tense and hostile between his parents. Meals were usually spent with his mother glaring at his father, his father alternating between pretending that his mother wasn’t shooting him death stares, and ogling at the female servants bringing the food in, and both of them seemed to forget that Jin Zixuan was even there.

Gusu Lan wasn’t much better, with it’s stiff and overly restrictive atmosphere. And it wasn’t like he interacted much with the other disciples anyway. He was almost always surrounded by his own Sect Members, and they could be like vipers if you weren’t careful. 

These people were warm, and friendly, and laughed and joked like they actually wanted you to be here. And while they might have been uncomfortable around him at first, they didn’t seem to be acting like that now. Maybe Jin Zixuan had been so focused on that, that he hadn’t noticed when they had stopped being wary of him. These didn’t seem like the type of people who would let their anger get the better of them anyway. 

For the first time he could remember, Jin Zixuan was enjoying himself during a meal. And he just happened to be sitting in the Burial Mounds, eating with a group of Wens, a fierce corpse, and, worst of all, two Wei Wuxian’s.

Clearly he had lost his mind. Jin Zixuan almost couldn’t bring himself to care too much.

He glanced up from his food, already mostly finished with his small serving, and saw Wei Wuxian sliding the food off his plate and onto A-Yuan’s. His eyes caught Jin Zixuan’s as he was looking up, and Jin Zixuan wasn’t sure which of them looked away first.

…

They managed to corner Wei Wuxian sometime after dinner, and demanded to know what he was actually doing. 

“Calm down, I’m working on it,” Wei Wuxian said, which convinced neither him nor Wei Ying. “Since I have no idea what brought you here in the first place, I’m basically working from nothing here. So it might take sometime, but…don’t worry. Time travel is something I’ve considered in the past, and I have a few ideas.”

The man had returned consciousness to a fierce corpse. Perhaps Jin Zixuan really shouldn’t doubt him so much.

“What ideas?” Wei Ying pressed, excitement in his voice. “And — actually, forget that, tell us more about the future first. Why do you live in the Burial Mounds? Where are Shijie and Jiang Cheng, and Uncle Jiang, and — can you really control resentful energy? You tamed the Burial Mounds, and I honestly can’t figure out how you did it…”

Wei Ying seemed to move a mile at a minute. It made Jin Zixuan’s head hurt.

“I can’t tell you anything about the future,” Wei Wuxian said quickly. “Potential damage to the timeline, and all that.”

“You told us you didn’t think this would affect your timeline,” Jin Zixuan pointed out.

“Yeah!” Wei Ying agreed. “If this causes a divergence in our timelines, then who cares? Besides, us being here changes things anyway, so it isn’t that much of a big deal.”

Both Jin Zixuan and Wei Ying stared at him expectantly, and Wei Wuxian let out a huff, looking away.

“It’s nothing special,” Wei Wuxian said, in a voice that Jin Zixuan was pretty sure was supposed to be dismissive. It didn’t quite have that effect. “I…I did learn to harness resentful energy. It was necessary at the time.”

“Necessary?” Jin Zixuan repeated. “Why would you need to do that?” Why would anyone want to mess around with that stuff? The very thought of it was reviled in the cultivation world, and Jin Zixuan couldn't even imagine how much condemnation Wei Wuxian must have received from everyone else. Jin Zixuan certainly didn't feel comfortable with the knowledge of what the other man was capable of, and he couldn't comprehend why Wei Ying would be so eager to learn about it.

“I had my reasons.”

“Do you think you could explain how you do it?” Wei Ying asked, practically bouncing on his feet. “I have a few theories, but I really haven’t thought it out too much — ”

“It’s better if you don’t get involved with it,” Wei Wuxian interjected, cutting him off.

“You…you literally use it yourself.”

“Yes, because it’s necessary. You can use it, when it becomes necessary.” 

Wei Ying scowled slightly, almost petulantly. He looked like he wanted to argue, but then a thought seemed to occur to him, and he quickly said, “Where are Jiang Cheng and Shijie?” 

“Away from here,” Wei Wuxian replied, looking away. There was a strange expression on his face. “They…really wouldn’t like it here. It takes a certain type of person to live in this place.”

Well, Jin Zixuan agreed with that. It took a strange person to actually enjoy living amidst piles of corpses and shrouds of resentful energy, sleep in a cave, and eat turnips for almost every meal. 

“But they’re okay, aren’t they?” Wei Ying pressed. He looked tense and nervous, clearly worried for his family.

Wei Wuxian’s expression softened. “They’re fine,” he assured him. “Jiang Cheng’s fine, he’s…looking after the Jiang Sect. And Shijie’s married now! She even has a son of her own!”

“What?” Wei Ying’s eyes widened in shock and delight. “Shijie has a son?! Shijie’s married? Who did she marry?” 

“…Ahh…” Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened slightly, and he turned to stare at Jin Zixuan. There was an awkward pause, and Jin Zixuan averted his gaze. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew what that meant. He had expected this, known for as long as he could remember that he would be marrying Jiang Yanli one day, whether he liked it or not.

He really shouldn’t be surprised, or disappointed, that they were husband and wife in this timeline, or that they shared a son together. Wei Wuxian looked to be in his twenties, so Jin Zixuan’s older self was probably just a bit older than that. Of course his mother would have pushed for his wedding to happen by now.

“The Peacock married Shijie?” Wei Ying demanded, sounding angry. “Seriously?! She is way too good for him!”

Jin Zixuan stared at a spot on the floor for far too long, feeling too numb to really look away from it. He had married her. He had seriously married her.

It wasn’t even like he wanted to get married. There wasn’t any girl he was interested in, having a wife and children were the last things on his mind, but…he wanted the choice. Marriage was such a huge thing, and it could completely tear you apart if it went wrong — he had seen enough from his parents marriage, after all. He couldn’t imagine what a life with Jiang Yanli would be like. He had known her his whole life, but she had always been awkward, and plain, and the last thing he would ever choose for himself. He had known about her his whole life, and he doubted those feelings would be changing anytime soon.

And now, apparently, he was stuck with her. He had never truly believed that his parents would cancel the engagement, because his mother was far too invested for that to happen, but there had always been the smallest part of him that had hoped. Now, apparently, he couldn’t even do that.

“Shijie looked beautiful in her wedding outfit,” Wei Wuxian told Wei Ying, smiling almost wistfully. 

“And her son?”

“Jin Ling! Courtesy name Jin Rulan — do you know, Shijie asked me to pick that name? What do you think — “

Jin Ling. Jin Ling. That was his son, and the thought of it settled his turmoil slightly. A son, he had a son in the future, and maybe he had never really thought about having children before, only knew that it would happen as some distant possibility, but now he was being told that he had a son, a son with a name, and…

“Have you seen him?” he blurted out, unable to stop himself. “My…son. Have you met him before?”

Wei Wuxian seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then shook his head. “No. He was only just born, it hasn’t even been a whole month yet.”

A newborn baby then. He and Jiang Yanli would have been expected to have heirs straight away, so that meant they wouldn’t have been married for long.

He was married. No, he didn’t want to think about that. He had a son, a little baby, and it was a strange thought, but it wasn’t exactly unwelcome. He hoped he would be a better father than his own. 

“I can’t believe Shijie has a son,” Wei Ying murmured, shaking his head. “Ahh, everyone’s so old here! You’re so old! Maybe I should call you Wuxian-ge!”

Only Wei Wuxian would call himself that.

Wei Wuxian grinned teasingly. “You can call me Xian-gege like A-Yuan does if you like.”

“Ahh, Wuxian-ge, even I’m not shameless enough for that.”

“Fair enough. Hey Little Peacock,” Wei Wuxian turned to him, that same teasing smile on his face, “You’re welcome to call me Wuxian-ge too.”

“I would rather run myself through with my own sword,” Jin Zixuan said flatly.

Wei Wuxian tossed back his head and laughed.

Chapter Text

About a week had passed since they’d arrived here, and Wei Ying had grown more or less used to the Burial Mounds.

That thought should have been more concerning than it felt.

Of course he was concerned with getting home, but his older self had assured them that he was doing his best to find a way to help them. And if he knew himself, once he was determined to work something out, he wouldn’t stop until he had achieved it. Wei Wuxian did have an unfortunate habit of holing himself up in that cave of his, and Wen Qing had to continuously hassle him so he didn’t forget basic things like eating and sleeping. 

The Burial Mounds itself, once you got used to it, wasn’t terrible. Wei Ying had never seen it before arriving in the future, but he had heard enough stories to know that it wasn’t the type of place you wanted to end up in. Cultivators would sometimes wonder in, and then never be seen again — and the mountains of corpses that Wei Ying could still see littered around the periphery of the main area that everyone was living was a testament to that.

He was sure that his older self must have had something to do with the more liveable conditions of the Burial Mounds these days. The fact that they weren’t all dead from an excess of resentful energy was proof of that. Wei Ying just wished he knew why any of this was happening. Wei Wuxian had remained tight lipped about any knowledge of the future, other than a few scattered comments here and there about how Shijie and Jiang Cheng were doing.

(He still couldn’t believe that Shijie had a son). 

Wei Ying couldn’t understand why since it didn’t really matter if they knew things about the future. Wei Wuxian had stressed on a number of occasions that it was unlikely their arrival would have any affect on this timeline, and would most likely cause a separate timeline to diverge. 

If that was the case, then Wei Ying couldn’t understand why Wei Wuxian couldn’t give them something of substance. He wanted to know why they were all living in the Burial Mounds, and why he wasn’t still at Lotus Pier. He wanted to know how he had met the Wens, and why any of them had agreed to live in the Burial Mounds.

(He wanted to know why his older self always looked like he had a haunted look in his eyes, why his bones seemed to protrude and he seemed far too thin, why he had walked in on him crying in his sleep a few days prior).

Wei Wuxian told him nothing, simply smiling, patting him on the head, and cooing about how cute and inquisitive “Little Me” was. And Wei Ying would simply huff, and tell him it was mean to keep secrets, but never went much further than that; there was something very fragile about his older self, and it made him feel like he couldn't push too hard.

Wei Ying had never thought of himself as invincible, but he knew that he could withstand quite a bit. It was always something he took pride in. Faced with another version of himself, who seemed to always be on the edge of something that Wei Ying couldn’t quite identify, was honestly quite jarring.

If he didn’t find out about the future, if he didn’t find out what had led to that, then one day, would that be him?

The Wens were a kind and cheerful group, right down to the sentient fierce corpse who stuttered way too much, and after months of the stiff and overly formal atmosphere of Gusu, Wei Ying more than welcomed it. They reminded him of the vendors in the Yunmeng market, who’d always have a smile on their face, and a kind word when he passed by.

Right now, he stood a the small vegetable patch, helping them garden. Granny stood hunched over a small patch of radishes, and Wei Ying would have been concerned for her if Wen Ning wasn’t standing near by.

“Here, let me,” Wei Ying said, kneeling down beside her.

Granny snorted. “Young man, I am more than capable of watering a few vegetables.”

Jin Zixuan knelt down a few feet away, doing something with the dirt that was probably supposed to be his version of gardening. He looked very stupid while doing it, and Wei Ying couldn’t help the amused smirk that spread across his face.

Jin Zixuan glanced up and scowled.

“You’re both very good at this,” Granny said, since she was obviously too kind to tell them the truth. “Ahh — A-Ning, do you think you could pour a bit of water over there?”

Wen Ning complied, watering a small patch of vegetables a short distance away. All of the vegetables looked blackened and frankly unhealthy, but so far, they had all been edible. 

“What do we have here?” Wei Ying glanced up, and saw Wei Wuxian walking over. A giggling A-Yuan was perched in his arms. “You’re gardening? You should have told me, I would have helped. Look, I have the most important little radish here!”

He swung A-Yuan up higher, and the child let out a happy peal of laughter. “Not a radish, Xian-gege!”

“No? Then what’s my little A-Yuan then? A boy? Hmm, no I don’t think so.”

“Xian-gege, you’re silly.” 

“Well, we all know what we should do with little radishes,” Wei Wuxian said, kneeling down in the dirt.

“Young Master Wei, please use an empty spot,” Wen Ning pleaded.

“Wen Ning, what do you take me for?" Wei Wuxian said, snorting. "Of course I will, A-Yuan needs plenty of room to grow!”

Granny let out an amused sigh, and shook her head.

“What is he doing?” Jin Zixuan asked, confused.

“Xian-gege, no!” A-Yuan cried, squirming slightly.

“A-Yuan! Don’t you want to grow big and strong?” 

A-Yuan pouted.

Wei Ying watched, slightly incredulous, as Wei Wuxian dug a hole with his bare hands, and then proceeded to place A-Yuan inside it.

“Oh my god, he’s insane,” Jin Zixuan said incredulously.

“Wuxian-ge, really?” Wei Ying asked, in slight disbelief. Wei Wuxian shot him a cheeky smile, one that always made him relax slightly and think, ‘See, not everything has changed,’ and then continued to work.

“I’m gonna grow really big,” A-Yuan told them, his voice firm. “And then I’ll be bigger than Xian-gege, and I’ll bury him in the dirt!”

“I'll look forward to it, kiddo,” Wei Wuxian said, with mock-seriousness.

Jin Zixuan shook his head. “Absolutely insane.”

Wei Ying threw a wad of dirt in his direction.

…

“I still find it so strange that you all live in the Burial Mounds,” Wei Ying commented, as they finished up with the garden for the day.

Granny hummed softly, wiping the excess dirt off her hands on the bottom of her skirt. “Yes, but it’s become our home now. And it’s better than the alternative.”

“The alternative?” Jin Zixuan asked, his brow furrowed.

Granny stiffened slightly. “Oh nothing, I’m just thinking aloud. You boys should go and get cleaned up, lunch should be ready soon.”

Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan exchanged a glance, but didn’t say anything more. By now they were more than used to people constantly deflecting any talk of the future, and while it was frustrating, they’d become experts at brushing it off. 

A-Yuan was squirming in Wei Wuxian’s arms, as he placed him down on the damp earth. The child hurried over to Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan, a beaming smile on his face.

“Am I bigger?” he asked eagerly.

Jin Zixuan looked slightly disbelieving. Wei Ying was suddenly reminded that he was a father in this time, and felt a wave of sympathy for the kid. 

‘Say yes,’ Wei Wuxian mouthed, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Wei Ying couldn’t help but relax, an easy smile spreading across his face. In these moments, it was like the turmoil and confusion of the future could melt away somewhat, and they could all just be regular people, standing around and having a regular conversation. 

He leant down and ruffled A-Yuan’s hair. In the past week, he had soon come to realise that only a heartless monster could resist A-Yuan’s charms. He was the most adorable child that Wei Ying had ever seen, and he had spent a considerable amount of time on the streets, surrounded by children who specialised in looking adorable to get by.

“Definitely bigger,” he agreed, with mock seriousness. “I think if he keeps burying you, maybe another six, maybe seven times, you’ll be taller than me.”

“Really?” A-Yuan gasped, his eyes wide. “Xian-gege, Xian-gege, do it again! Do it again!” He hurried back to the older man, bouncing on his feet, his eyes wide.

Wei Wuxian laughed and leant down to swoop him into his arms. He seemed to really like doing that. “Weren’t you crying about it before? Ahh, but your Xian-gege is more than happy to help out, but — Little Xian-gege might be exaggerating just a little bit.”

A-Yuan blinked in confusion.

“Maybe a bit more than six or seven times, my little radish.”

“Eight times,” Wei Ying agreed.

Wei Wuxian shot him an exasperated glance, and Wei Ying laughed.

He shot Jin Zixuan a sideways glance, expecting the other boy to be rolling his eyes at them, as he usually did. Instead, Jin Zixuan looked oddly relaxed, an almost amused look in his eyes at he looked at the three of them.

They continued back to the main part of the Burial Mounds where everyone else was. Wen Qing shot them a disapproving look the moment she saw them, her eyes instantly zeroing in on A-Yuan’s dirt-stained robes.

“Again?” she said, with some incredulousness in her voice. “Wei Wuxian, how many times do I have to tell you, stop getting A-Yuan’s clothes dirty!”

“Wen Qing, we’re just playing,” Wei Wuxian protested, holding A-Yuan up, almost like a human shield.

“Yes,” Wei Ying agreed, “Wuxian-ge’s just trying to help A-Yuan grow taller.” 

“Exactly,” Wei Wuxian agreed. “I’m just doing a good deed.” 

“You’re washing his clothes then,” Wei Qing told him, although she looked more exasperated than annoyed. “A-Ning, don’t you dare do it for him again.”

“Yes Jiejie,” Wen Ning said quickly. 

…

The invitation for Jin Ling’s one month celebration arrived later that day.

Jin Zixuan sat quietly while Wei Wuxian excitedly discussed it with Wen Qing, his hands moving in rapid gestures. Clearly, he was absolutely taken with the idea of attending, and Jin Zixuan didn’t know why he seemed so surprised. Obviously Jiang Yanli would invite her adopted brother to her own son’s one month celebration, regardless of whether Jin Zixuan would want him there or not. 

He also didn’t know why Wen Qing looked so concerned, or why she was repeatedly asking Wei Wuxian if he was sure it was safe for him to go. What did she think, Jiang Yanli would butcher him with her cooking utensils the moment he arrived? 

(Both of them seemed to have forgotten that both Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan were still in the nearby vicinity, with Wei Ying sitting cross-legged on the ground, playing with A-Yuan).

“I’m definitely sure about this,” Wei Wuxian said firmly. “I trust Shijie, and I know she would never lie to me.”

“If you’re sure,” Wen Qing said, still sounding unconvinced. 

Again, Jin Zixuan had absolutely no idea why they were treating this like some covert mission. He also felt like he was spending way too much time questioning why Wei Wuxian was acting like a crazy person, when it should have been obvious that the man had quickly lost his mind over the years, but at least it gave him an opportunity to distract himself from the other uncomfortable facts.

Wei Wuxian was going to Jin Ling’s one month celebration. His son’s one month celebration. His son, with Jiang Yanli. His and Jiang Yanli’s son.

No matter how he phrased it, it still made him want to bury his head into his pillow and scream.

“ — and what gift do you think I should take? I’ll need to make something, obviously, I don’t really have enough money to buy anything…Wen Qing, do you think I should — ”

Jin Zixuan turned away, and began to walk in the other direction. 

“Peacock-gege’s going,” A-Yuan said.

“Oh, I barely noticed he was there,” Wei Ying said.

Jin Zixuan’s eye twitched. “If only I could say the same to you, but unfortunately, that’s impossible with your grating voice.”

“Do not start arguing again,” Wen Qing snapped, shooting both of them a glare. Jin Zixuan did stop, because Wen Qing could honestly be terrifying at times, and also kind of reminded him of his mother. That was enough incentive to listen to what she said.

He found a place to sit a few meters away, and sat down, staring morosely at the blank stretch of land in front of him. There really wasn’t much to see in the Burial Mounds, despite the obvious effort the Wens and Wei Wuxian had put into making this place slightly more habitable. Building  houses and gardens took time, and was slow work when you only had a small group of people to work with.

He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, staring at nothing in particular, his mind abuzz with far too many thoughts. Wei Wuxian found him sometime later, and Jin Zixuan couldn’t fathom why he had even come.

“Are you alright?” the older man asked.

‘Why do you care?’ Jin Zixuan thought. Out loud, he said, “Yes, I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Wei Wuxian said pointedly. “Look, I’m guessing this has something to do with what I was talking about before — ”

“It’s fine,” Jin Zixuan said quickly.

“Look, it’s really not what you think. You and Shijie — ”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jin Zixuan said again, firmly. He didn’t want to know about how he and Jiang Yanli had been forced to marry, or about how beautiful their wedding must have been. Of course it would be, his parents would have spared no expense in making sure it was perfect, and his mother and the wedding planners would have taken care of every detail. Jin Zixuan doubted he would have had a say in it at all. Maybe Jiang Yanli might have taken care of some of the details, or maybe she had simply stood there, as silent and unwilling as he would have been.

He didn’t want to know about the child he had with her, who would probably end up being the only child he would ever have with her; the expected male heir, who would satisfy the requirements of the sect, and would grow up with his parents sleeping in seperate rooms, living in seperate areas of his home, speaking only when required — 

“Alright,” Wei Wuxian agreed, and his voice was almost a welcome reprieve from his thoughts. “I won’t talk about it. But Little Peacock, really, if you have any questions, then you can just ask me.”

Jin Zixuan shrugged slightly. He doubted he would ask anything.

Wei Wuxian huffed. “Are you just going to keep sitting here? Because the scenery isn’t going to get anymore interesting.” 

Jin Zixuan scowled. “I’m thinking.” 

“Want me to keep you company while you think?”

“Wha — no! And what are you even doing here?” 

Wei Wuxian shrugged. “You’re a young, impressionable teenager under my charge. I’m trying to be a responsible adult here.” 

“I don’t think you’re capable of being a responsible adult,” Jin Zixuan pointed out. “You regularly bury a toddler in the dirt.”

“And that is totally acceptable parenting,” Wei Wuxian told him, matter of factly. “A-Yuan loves it.”

He was pretty sure A-Yuan just had an unhealthy obsession with growing taller, and that probably had everything to do with Wei Wuxian’s consistent jokes about it, but then, A-Yuan wasn’t his kid to raise.

He supposed he wasn’t technically Wei Wuxian’s either, but with the way the man carried him around, fed him, and looked after him, he might as well have been.

A few minutes passed, and Jin Zixuan realised that Wei Wuxian actually did have every intention of just staying here. His eye twitched, and he shot him an annoyed glance.

“Really? You’re not leaving? Don’t you have better things to do?” 

“I do have some work to get through,” Wei Wuxian agreed, thoughtfully. Jin Zixuan guessed that meant locking himself up in the Demon Slaughtering Cave for another day or two until Wen Qing dragged him out. “Granny will be disappointed if I just leave you here to mope around. She’s fond of you, for whatever reason.” 

Granny was ridiculously kind, and should probably be in a warm cottage somewhere, and not in a mass graveyard. One of these days, Jin Zixuan was going to find out what the hell was actually going on here, and where all these people had come from. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t like the answer.

“Fine,” he said, standing up. 

Wei Wuxian glanced at him, looking slightly thoughtful. “The offer still stands, you know,” he said. “If you don’t want to know anything, then I won’t tell you. I promise you, it’s not as bad as you think.”

“Will you tell me why you’re living in the Burial Mounds?” Jin Zixuan shot back.

Wei Wuxian let out a laugh, that didn’t sound nearly as airy as he probably intended it to be. “Ahh, no Little Peacock, that’s not how this works. I’ll answer questions about your future, but I’m still off limits.”

“Then no thanks,” Jin Zixuan said firmly. He didn’t need Wei Wuxian to tell him what he already knew.

Chapter Text

The day before Jin Ling’s celebration, Lan Wangji dropped by for another visit. 

Wei Ying still remembered the last visit, and the bitter words his older self had exchanged with Lan Wangji that day, and it made something clench in his stomach. He didn’t like the idea of being on bad terms with Lan Wangji. Sure, the other boy had never seemed to like him much, but it was another thing all together to watch himself be so cold in return. 

Wei Wuxian seemed fairly calm when he approached him this time, smiling and asking him if he had come all the way just to see him, a teasing note to his tone.

“Mn,” Lan Wangji said, which could have meant a lot of different things.

As Wei Wuxian gestured at Lan Wangji to follow him, and they went off chatting about god knows what — because honestly, Wei Ying couldn’t see Lan Wangji, with all his righteousness and obsession with the rules, ever agreeing with demonic cultivation, and his older self’s reaction to Lan Wangji the last time he had been here had proved that they were far from friends in this timeline.

“I wonder what he’s doing here,” Jin Zixuan mused, standing beside him. Wei Ying was almost horrified to admit that the thought didn’t immediately make him want to walk away, but after all the time they had spent here, he was more or less used to Jin Zixuan’s presence by now.

It was honestly a very uncomfortable thought.

“Who knows,” Wei Ying said. “Maybe Lan Zhan was just in the area.”

“And he decided to stop by and say hello? Why, it’s not even like you’re friends.” 

“Lan Zhan and I are friends!” Wei Ying retorted, even though the words didn’t really sound right. Okay, maybe Lan Wangji didn’t think of him as a friend, but Wei Ying definitely liked him. 

Wei Ying, still scowling, walked closer to where Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were standing. Once again, Wei Ying couldn’t help but be struck by how much Lan Wangji had grown. He could still see the boy that Wei Ying loved to tease, but he had changed over the years. Wei Ying couldn’t help but wonder what he would do if he tried to get a reaction out of him now.

“Lan Zhan, you came all the way over here?” Wei Wuxian was saying, sounding almost amused. “Why? To see what I was doing? I swear I’m not doing anything nefarious, and you can’t ask the children if you don’t believe me — look, they’re right over there, eavesdropping.”

He gestured at the two of them.

“We’re not eavesdropping!” Wei Ying protested. “I just…wanted to say hi to Lan Zhan. Hi Lan Zhan!” He waved, wide and enthusiastic, and he could have sworn he saw the hint of a smile on on the other man’s face. It was gone a second later, and he decided that it was probably just wishful thinking. 

Lan Wangji did move his chin slightly in a gesture of acknowledgement, which was more than what his Lan Zhan ever would have given him. Wei Ying felt his heart flutter.

“Lan Zhan, you didn’t answer my question,” Wei Wuxian said, slightly impatient. 

Lan Wangji was silent for a moment. “…Where is A-Yuan?” he asked at last.

Wei Wuxian blinked and hesitated. “Oh, you came for A-Yuan. Well…he’s playing with Wen Ning right now." His tone was a lot lighter than it had been previously. “I’m sure he’d be very happy to know that you’re here.” 

“Mn.”

Wei Wuxian stood still for a moment, and Lan Wangji watched him, unblinking. He let out a brief laugh, averting his gaze slightly. “I can take you to him now, if you like.” 

Lan Wangji nodded, once, and then the two of them were walking away, and leaving the two confused teenagers behind.

“Do you know what that reminds me of?” Jin Zixuan mused. “It’s like when two parents have divorced, and their child moves between two households.”

Wei Ying flushed. “What are you saying? Lan Zhan is just here to see A-Yuan, and it’s probably because A-Yuan is the cutest child in the world.” That went without saying — that child was absolutely adorable. Maybe Shijie’s child would be a contender for second place, if only he resembled his mother more than his father. “There’s nothing more to it than that.”

“Well of course I know that,” Jin Zixuan said, snorting. “I just meant that it reminds me of that.”

“Don’t be stupid.”

“You — ” 

“If either of you start arguing again, I’ll make you clear out the perimeter of the Burial Mounds,” Wen Qing snapped. He wasn’t sure when she had shown up.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Wei Ying said.

“There are mountains of corpses everywhere, other than the area that we live in, so if you’d like to shovel through all of those, be my guest.” 

Jin Zixuan blanched, and Wei Ying’s eyes widened. “Ahh, no, Qing-jie, you don’t need to do that” he said quickly, and tried to adopt the best doe eyes that he could. Granny and the Aunties here seemed to love it, but Wen Qing was never moved. He was sure her and Madam Yu would get along fantastically. 

Wen Qing huffed, and with one last warning look, proceeded to walk away,.

Honestly, in Wei Ying’s opinion, he and Jin Zixuan were arguing a whole lot less since coming here.

…

Lan Wangji stayed for lunch.

Wei Ying thought that would be a great way to test the man and see if he could still get a reaction out of him, but Wei Wuxian seemed to be around him from the moment they had sat down. Honestly, for someone who supposedly didn’t like Lan Wangji anymore, he sure didn’t seem to mind spending time with him.

Wei Wuxian was currently seated next to Lan Wangji, and whatever they were speaking about, Wei Ying could see an almost teasing smile on his older self’s lips. 

A-Yuan was perched next to them, beaming widely as he rambled on about something or another. Lan Wangji watched him, and Wei Ying might have even called the look on his face indulgent if it wasn’t impossible to interpret any of Lan Wangji’s expressions. 

Wei Ying wished they weren’t sitting so far away. He would really like to know what they were saying.

“You could at least try and be a bit more conspicuous,” Jin Zixuan muttered.

“Shut up Peacock. Mind your own business,” he shot back.

“Well, I would, if you weren’t being so damn obvious about it.”

Wei Ying huffed, and returned his attention to the trio sitting a short distance away. Honestly, it wasn’t his fault. If Wei Wuxian hadn’t made his apparent dislike for Lan Wangji so obvious, then Wei Ying wouldn’t be analysing their every move right now. He just needed to know why the two seemed to be on bad terms.

This was Lan Zhan. While he had always enjoyed teasing and annoying him — his reactions were just the best — he couldn’t imagine actually being mad at him. If Lan Wangji wanted to visit, then in Wei Ying’s opinion, he should be allowed to visit.

Although, just why the symbol of righteousness, purity and fuddy-duddys wanted to hang around a cursed mass graveyard was beyond him. 

A short time passed, and his older self didn’t look like he was going to have any sudden mood swings, so Wei Ying began to wonder if the other day had just been a fluke. When Wei Wuxian got up a few moments later, excused himself, and walked over to speak to Wen Ning and Wen Qing, Wei Ying took his chance.

“Oh my god, you’re going to talk to him,” Jin Zixuan said, because apparently he was now offering a running commentary on his life. Wei Ying supposed it did get pretty boring around here.

Wei Ying walked over, unable to hold back his eager grin. Lan Wangji glanced up before he was even a few feet away, because of course he had noticed him approaching — Lan Wangji was apparently even more of a remarkable cultivator than before.

“Lan Zhan, look at you,” Wei Ying said, a slight bounce in his step as he drew closer. He sat down in the spot that his older self had previously been occupying, and gave Lan Wangji a wide grin. “All big, and grown up. Why, it seems like just yesterday that I was showing you pornography in the library pavilion.”

He gave a surreptitious look around to make sure A-Yuan wasn’t nearby, but it looked like he had wondered off to where Granny was sitting.

Lan Wangji stood perfectly still, seemingly unbothered by his shameless statements. Wei Ying nearly pouted; no, the years could not have robbed him of Lan Wangji’s brilliant reactions.

“Do you remember that Lan Zhan?” he asked, wiggling closer.  “You were so angry that day! Personally, I think you liked it a little bit.” 

“Wei Ying.”

Wei Ying perked up. “Yes, Lan Zhan?”

“Eat your food.”

Wei Ying slumped down slightly. How could he not looked bothered at all? What had happened to his perfect little fuddy duddy over the years? 

“Lan Zhan, you’re so different!” he complained. “I remember how mad I used to make you all the time! You had the funniest reactions. What, you don’t find me annoying anymore?”

He could have sworn that he’d just seen a smile on Lan Wangji’s face. Maybe it was just the briefest quirk of a his lips, but that had definitely been a smile. A moment later, however, it was like nothing had ever happened, and Wei Wuxian had to try very hard to convince himself that he definitely wasn’t seeing things.

“Wei Ying is not annoying,” Lan Wangji said. 

Wei Ying stared. Wait, what?

“Uh, Lan Zhan, has everyone lost their minds in the future?” Wei Ying asked. Lan Wangji calmly took a bite of his lunch. “I mean it! Wuxian-ge can be weird and creepy sometimes, and you aren’t reacting to my teasing at all! Also, we’re all living in the Burial Mounds, so if that isn’t a sign of mass insanity, then I don’t know what is…Lan Zhan, are you smiling?” 

Oh God, Lan Zhan had definitely smiled that time. And Wei Ying’s heart definitely wasn’t beating way too fast right now. He blamed the future; it wasn’t fair that Lan Zhan looked so handsome and grown up. He was reacting weirdly right now because who wouldn’t be in awe of someone who looked like that?

“What are you doing?” Wei Wuxian asked, striding over, and looking almost exasperated. “Little Me, you couldn’t wait a minute before trying to annoy Lan Zhan?”

“It isn’t working, Wuxian-ge! I tried my best, but I think Lan Zhan might be broken! He smiled.” 

Wei Wuxian snorted. “Lies.”

“I’m not lying! Lan Zhan, tell him I’m not lying!”

Lan Wangji watched him calmly, and then took another bite of his meal.

Wei Wuxian snorted, and Wei Ying hunched in his seat, pouting. When Wei Wuxian shoved him out of the way to reclaim his seat next to Lan Wangji, Wei Ying made sure to shove back just as hard.

Wei Wuxian yelped, and all but toppled over on Lan Wangji’s lap. He shot him a glare, and rubbed his shoulder, muttering something about ungrateful teenagers. Wei Ying definitely thought he was being overly dramatic, since he hadn’t even pushed that hard.

…

Wei Ying should have known that things were going almost too well.

He was right about his older self having weird mood swings. Because somehow, not long after his nice chat with Lan Wangji (even with the disappointing lack of extreme reactions), things took a turn for the worst.

Wei Ying wasn’t even sure what Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had been talking about. He had been walking by, with Jin Zixuan walking a short distance away, when he'd seen the two of them. The expression on Wei Wuxian’s face was the same look of anger that he had regarded Lan Wangji with the other day.

He stood still and watched them, a feeling of dread curling in his gut.

“ — and I already told you no! When will you understand that?!”

“Wei Ying. Resentful energy…it damages the mind — ”

“Yes, and that’s none of your business! It’s my mind!”

“Wei Ying!”

“I will not go to Gusu! I know what you’re planning, and I will never endanger the people here. Lan Zhan, I think it’s better if you don’t come back if you can’t stop with this.”

Wei Ying could only stare in shock. A part of him felt like he should be intervening, but he couldn’t even bring himself to move. Lan Wangji almost seemed to be shaking, his fists clenched at his sides. For a moment, Wei Ying wondered if he would truly snap; and then, the next moment, he gave a sharp nod of his head, and that brief loss of composure seemed to be over.

Wei Wuxian seemed to slump, as if the all the air had been let out of him. He sounded tired as he spoke. “Lan Zhan, I…” He paused, and shook his head. “Did you want to say goodbye to A-Yuan before you leave?”

Lan Wangji hesitated. “Mn.”

Jin Zixuan shot him an incredulous glance, that Wei Ying supposed he was supposed to return. Instead, his eyes were glued to Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. When Lan Wangji finally did leave, they nodded to each other formally, as if they hadn’t been sharing lunch, and chatting lightly only a short while ago.

He walked over to Wei Wuxian, his mind still whirring.

“Why did you say that to Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying asked. In his opinion, his older self had been far too harsh, and he just couldn’t understand it. This was Lan Zhan, the boy who Wei Ying had tried so hard to befriend, and the thought of ever being so rude to him, of actually wanting him to leave, struck him with a deep sense of pain that he couldn’t even explain.

“He shouldn’t be here,” Wei Wuxian said, his voice still cold and wary. The explanation made Wei Ying bristle, and he leaned forward, glaring.

“Lan Zhan didn’t do anything to deserve that! Why did you have to be so rude to him?” 

From what he understood from that conversation, all Lan Wangji had asked was for him to visit Gusu. Wei Ying wasn’t a huge fan of the place, but he didn’t think it warranted that sort of reaction. 

Wei Wuxian’s head snapped towards him, and there was suddenly an almost wild look in his eye. “Why do you care?” the older man snapped. “He’s not your friend, he’s not anything to you.”

Wei Ying almost reared back. How could he say that? This was Lan Zhan, this — this — he couldn’t explain it, couldn’t put into words just why he had always been drawn to Lan Wangji, but the fact remained that the thought of treating him in such a way almost seemed like a personal insult.

Maybe Lan Wangji had never seen him as a friend, but Wei Ying had always seen him as a friend. And he didn’t make a habit of abandoning his friends.

“He is my friend,” he retorted. He could feel Jin Zixuan standing beside him, obviously restless and uncomfortable with the present argument, and couldn’t bring himself to care. The Peacock could leave if he really didn’t want to be here.

“He is not!” Wei Wuxian seemed to get more worked up by his younger counterpart’s protests. “He wants to punish me, imprison me  — he wants to punish everyone here too - ”

“What?” this time it was Jin Zixuan who cried out, while Wei Ying could only gape in shock.

Lan Wangji, no matter what his opinion of Wei Wuxian was, surely would never do that.

“What the hell is going on here?” Wei Ying demanded, the words coming out choked and shaky. “Just tell me, why — why are you here?! Why are all of these people here?!”

Wei Wuxian took a shuddering breath, his fists clenched at his side, and looked away. 

“Tell me! Why are you in the Burial Mounds? Why can’t you go to Lotus Pier?” 

“I can’t go to Lotus Pier!” Wei Wuxian yelled back, and Wei Ying could hear the raw emotion in his voice. “I — I have to stay here, I need to protect the Wens — ”

“No, you need to stop hanging around the Burial Mounds, and go home!”

“Wei Wuxian,” Jin Zixuan hissed.

“Shut up Peacock, this is none of your business! Wuxian-ge — whatever’s going on here…if the Wens are in danger, then you need to go and tell Uncle Jiang! He’ll help you!”

Wei Ying saw the flash of raw pain on Wei Wuxian’s face, even before anything else was said. Wei Wuxian reared back, his eyes wide, and Wei Ying felt dread curl in his gut.

“Uncle Jiang…” Wei Wuxian whispered, his eyes glossed over. “No, Uncle Jiang can’t help anyone. Not anymore.”

Wei Ying wasn’t a fool. Those words, that tone of voice, the look in Wei Wuxian’s eyes…

“What happened?” he choked, feeling his breathing pick up pace. “How did he die?!” 

Wei Wuxian remained silent.

“Please! Wuxian-ge!” He knew he sounded desperate, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He needed to know. If Uncle Jiang had died, then he needed to stop it. A moment later, another thought occurred to him, freezing him in his tracks. If Wei Wuxian was here, and not at Lotus Pier, then — 

“Where are Shijie and Jiang Cheng?” he demanded. “Are they alright?” 

Maybe Wei Wuxian had assured him that they were fine, had spun tales of Shijie and her newborn baby, but what if he had been lying this whole time? He hadn't told him about Uncle Jiang dying, and he still hadn't told him the reason why he was here. Suddenly, the days of pretending that none of this was bothering him came rushing forward, and he found that he wasn't able to ignore them any longer.

“Shijie and Jiang Cheng are fine.”

“And how do I know that?! You won’t even tell me anything, so how can I take your word for it?!”

“You should tell him,” Jin Zixuan said. 

Wei Wuxian laughed, the sound low and bitter. “Little Peacock, you can’t even handing knowing the truth about your marriage. Your telling me that you — either of you — could handle knowing what I know?”

Wei Ying stared at him in disbelief. What could be so terrible that his older self couldn’t even speak about it? 

What had driven him to living in the Burial Mounds with a small ragtag group of people, who all looked like they should be living comfortably somewhere else, and definitely not in one of the most dangerous places in the cultivation world?

He needed to know. Uncle Jiang was dead. His older self looked pale and broken, and no amount of ignoring or denying that fact could take away the reality in front of him. He needed to face this now, and stop postponing the inevitable.

He couldn’t go home without knowing the truth. If there was any way he could stop these things from happening, then he needed to know.

“Fine,” Wei Wuxian said, taking his silence as permission to proceed. “You want to know the truth? Alright, I’ll tell you.” He took a step forward, his eyes making contact with Wei Ying’s. “Yes, Uncle Jiang is dead. So is Madam Yu, so are all our Shidis, and the servants, and the cooks, and everyone at Lotus Pier.”

Wei Ying froze, his eyes widening in disbelief. He could hear Jin Zixuan let out a hiss of shock from beside him.

“The Wens destroyed all of it. They killed all of them, and there was a war, a dreadful war, where a lot of people died. We won, in the end, but the cost.” Wei Wuxian shook his head, a faraway look in his eyes.

“They’re all dead,” Wei Ying whispered, his voice shaking. Uncle Jiang, Madam Yu, everyone…the thought sent a heavy shudder through him, and he felt sick to his stomach. He couldn’t even imagine it. He had been home a few months ago, laughing with the other disciples, chatting with Uncle Jiang, tasting Shijie’s soup.

Shijie. Shijie was alive, his older self had said so. Shijie was married to the Peacock, and she had a baby of her own. Jiang Cheng was alive too; the leader of the Jiang Sect. That was true, wasn’t it? The thought that that could have been a lie, that his brother and sister could be dead with everyone else, was almost too much for him to bear.

“Did you lie about Jiang Cheng and Shijie?” he asked. He found that he couldn’t even meet his older self’s eyes, his entire form shaking.

“What?” 

“Jiang Cheng and Shijie! Are they really alive, or did you lie to me?” 

“They’re alive,” Wei Wuxian said firmly, and Wei Ying found that he believed him. There would be endless grief in his voice if their brother and sister had died as well. He could have never lied about that.

Wei Ying couldn’t focus on that for too long, his mind hurriedly flittering to the next thought. “Then why are you here? If everything’s gone, then you need to be home with them! You should be supporting Jiang Cheng!”

“I need to be here.”

“Why?!” 

“Because the Wens need me,” Wei Wuxian snapped. “Because I’m the only one willing to defend them, and without me, they would be slaughtered.” 

What? That didn’t make any sense. Maybe the Wens had been responsible for the war that Wei Wuxian was talking about — for killing his loved ones — but anyone could see that the people here weren’t dangerous. They were elderly and frail, and looked like they hadn’t lifted a sword in their life.

Wei Ying hadn’t realised that he’d spoken aloud until Wei Wuxian started speaking again.

“Do you think that matters to everyone else? These people — these innocent people — were in labour camps set up by the Jins. They were tortured, they were killed. A-Yuan was there! A little child, who had never done anything, locked away in a labour camp. His parents were killed in front of him. How is that justice?” 

Jin Zixuan was still as a statue beside him, his face chalky white. He seemed to be struggling to process what he was hearing. “What do you mean? There’s no way they would do that!”

“Of course they did! These people were beaten, tortured, because of their family name! It didn’t matter that they had never committed any crimes themselves, having the name Wen was enough to make them complicit!”

Jin Zixuan looked like he was going to be sick. Wei Ying couldn’t bring himself to focus too much on this, since he himself felt sick to his stomach right now. He couldn’t process any of this. All of this death, all of this tragedy, all whirring around in his head, and he just couldn’t make sense of any of it. 

“It’s all gone,” Wei Wuxian said, an almost flat note in his voice. It sounded hopeless, dead, Wei Ying noticed a while later, and he felt a swell of anger. “It’s my fault. The Wens attacked Lotus Pier because of me, because I got on Wen Chao’s bad side, and — and now it’s all gone.”

His head was throbbing. He took a step back, and then another, his head shaking almost unconsciously from side to side.

“You should have told me,” he said, his voice starting off as a whisper, and then rising. He was practically screaming by the end. “You should have told me, I can stop this, I can do something about this.”

All he could see in his mind was Lotus Pier crumbling, Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu lying dead — how had they died? Had it been painful, had they suffered? — his while future held nothing but dread and despair. 

And then there were other things that were still unanswered, like the resentful energy, and the Burial Mounds. His older self stood here, alone, separated from the rest of the cultivation world. The whole time he had been here, he hadn’t seen Shijie or Jiang Cheng even once. Wei Wuxian had spoken about Jiang Yanli’s wedding, but it now occurred to Wei Ying that he had never really detailed the ceremony, or anything that had happened that day. 

‘He never even went,’ he thought distantly. He probably hadn’t been invited, because if his older self was to be believed, he was the reason that the Wens had attacked Lotus Pier. Shijie and Jiang Cheng probably hated him. 

Lan Wangji hated him too. Wei Wuxian had said he wanted to punish and imprison him, and maybe he was right. Maybe that was why he was here, alone and slowly withering away, because it was the only place that would accept him now. 

“I’ll never fail them like you did,” Wei Ying snapped. Wei Wuxian stiffened slightly, and then lowered his head, almost as if he no longer had the power to keep it upright. The sight made something in Wei Ying clench, and then he was running away, unable to stay there any longer.

Perhaps Wei Wuxian was right in saying that he couldn’t handle the truth.

…

“I can’t believe it,” Jin Zixuan said, his voice still shaking. He had followed him after his confrontation with Wei Wuxian, and Wei Ying couldn’t find the energy to tell him to leave. Jin Zixuan seemed to be in a state of shock, and Wei Ying didn’t have it in him to deal with his emotions as well. “Why would they do something like that? These people are clearly innocent!”

Wei Ying shrugged. His mind was preoccupied, filled with images of familiar dead bodies, of Shijie and Jiang Cheng staring at him in hatred, or Lan Wangji coming to drag him away to a cold prison cell. 

“I don’t understand any of this. For this to happen, it would have had to be approved by the Sect Leader, and surely my father would never agree to anything like this.”

What could his older self have done to garner Wen Chao’s wrath? What had caused an attack so devastating that everyone in Lotus Pier had been killed? Did it have something to do with his use of resentful energy? Wei Ying had never thought too much about it since coming here, finding it more interesting that anything, but it was obviously something that other cultivators wouldn’t be happy with. Had that somehow drawn the ire of the Wen Sect?

“I wish we had never come here,” Jin Zixuan said, his voice coming out in panicked rushes. “This is all a mess. My Sect has been hurting innocent people, setting up labour camps, we’ve been stuck in the Burial Mounds and there doesn’t seem to be any solution to this, I’m married to a woman I never wanted — everything is a mess here — ”

And that was what finally brought Wei Ying out of his state of numb shock. He felt a sudden wave of anger, clouding every other thought, and he was almost grateful for it. He jerked forward, his fist reared back, and gave Jin Zixuan a solid punch to the jaw.

“What is wrong with you?!” he roared. “After everything, that is what you care about?!” The thought that Jin Zixuan was still sitting here and badmouthing his Shijie — his Shijie who had apparently lost everything, his Shijie who probably wanted nothing to do with him now…the thought infuriated him so much that it took effort not to throw another punch.

“Why shouldn’t I say what I’m thinking?!” Jin Zixuan snapped. “What, you don’t agree that this future is awful?!”

“Of course it is! My home is gone, and it’s apparently my fault! My brother and sister hate me!”

“The Wens are the ones who attacked the Jiang Sect,” Jin Zixuan retorted.

“Yes, because I apparently did something wrong!”

“My Sect has been forcing innocent people into labour camps!”

“Yes, and yet what you’re concerned about is marrying my Shijie!”

“Don’t you dare insinuate that I’m not concerned with what my Sect has been doing! I’m horrified! I would do anything to change that!” Jin Zixuan was yelling now, and Wei Ying didn’t know how no one else had tried to intervene yet. Surely the others would have heard them. “But I am upset about my apparent marriage, and I have been for days. I’m not going to pretend that I’m not.”

“Why?” This was something else he could cling to, something he could pour his ire and frustration into to distract him from the other awful truths, and he almost welcomed it. “What has my Shijie ever done to you?!”

“Maiden Jiang hasn’t done anything!” Jin Zixuan snapped, frustrated. “This isn’t about her! Don’t you understand that? This is about me, and the fact that I have never had a choice. This is about how, from the moment she was born, she became the person I would one day marry. Before I even knew who she was, other people were planning our future!”

Wei Ying stared at him, stunned.

“I never chose this for myself! My Mother and Madam Yu decided for us. Maybe your Shijie is alright with this, but all I ever wanted was a chance to decide my own future! Wei Wuxian, you never seem to have any reservations about speaking your mind, or doing what you want. Surely you of all people can understand that!”

Jin Zixuan stood still, his chest heaving, his fists clenched at his side. And Wei Ying…actually could understand that.

Shockingly, he could understand what the Peacock was trying to tell him.

He sat down on the ground, suddenly feeling very tired. Jin Zixuan joined him, quiet, with his gaze averted. 

“…I don’t know how to fix this,” Wei Ying whispered, after a brief moment of silence. “I don’t know how to stop everyone from dying.”

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to fix my sect,” Jin Zixuan said. “For them to do something like this…there is clearly something inherently wrong with them, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Wei Ying pulled his legs up to his chest, tightening his arms around them. His head throbbed, and he felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him. 

“I should probably speak to Wuxian-ge again,” he murmured. “Tomorrow, maybe.” He didn’t think he could handle this conversation now.

Jin Zixuan made a small noise of agreement. He was quiet now, staring off into the distance with an unreadable look on his face. The sight of him didn’t fill Wei Ying with as much annoyance as it usually did.

“You know,” Wei Ying said, his voice slightly hesitant, “Maybe things have changed. You could have developed feelings for Shijie.”

He expected Jin Zixuan to snap back in annoyance, but instead the other boy only let out a tired, almost amused huff. “I doubt I’m that lucky.”

“You never know! My Shijie is a very loveable person. And I’m sure if the two of you were in a miserable, loveless marriage, Wuxian-ge wouldn’t have been so enthusiastic when talking about it.”

Jin Zixuan shrugged. He didn’t look like he really believed it. “Maybe,” he said. After a momentary pause, he said, “And Wei Wuxian, I don’t think Maiden Jiang hates you.”

Wei Ying averted his gaze. He wasn’t sure he wanted to talk about this right now.

“I just wish I could know,” Jin Zixuan said, frustrated. “I wish I could go and talk to my older self, and ask him what he really thinks about his marriage — and maybe then, I could also tell him about what’s been happening within our Sect, because I can’t know about all of this, there’s just no way — “ 

It was then that the thought occurred to Wei Ying, and he sat forward, his eyes wide. “What if you could?” he said. “Tomorrow is your son’s one month celebration, right? Wuxian-ge is attending!”

The realisation also settled his turmoil slightly, because if Wei Wuxian was invited, then clearly his relationship with Jiang Yanli wasn’t completely ruined. 

“So, why don’t we go as well? He probably would say no if we asked to go along, but we could always sneak off after he leaves, and make sure to put some distance between us!” The more he talked, the more excited he got. This would be the perfect opportunity to leave the Burial Mounds, and finally speak to Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli. He had no doubt that Wei Wuxian wouldn’t be pleased about it, but what could he say or do once they were already there? He and Jin Zixuan could make sure to keep a low profile, and everything would be fine.

“Maybe we should,” Jin Zixuan agreed, quickly warming up to the idea. 

They headed off shortly after that, agreeing that they would both follow behind Wei Wuxian the next day on the way to Jin Ling’s one month celebration. They would both get their answers, one way or another.

Wei Ying couldn't see Wei Wuxian anywhere. He had probably disappeared into that cave of his, and Wei Ying could probably go and annoy him until he agreed to talk to him. However, he just couldn't muster the energy to do so. The conversation from earlier in the day had already left him feeling drained, and he didn't think he could handle much more of this.

He decided that he would have another talk with Wei Wuxian tomorrow, either before or after the celebration, depending on how much time he had.  There was still a lot of things that he needed to know, and as painful as those answers may be, he needed to know the truth.

If he had any hope of stopping this things from happening in his own timeline, then he needed to know everything. 

Chapter Text

By the time they woke up the following day, Wei Wuxian had already left for Lanling hours before. They had slept in, exhausted after the previous days revelations, and Wei Wuxian had apparently wanted to make an early start on his journey. There went any hope of following close behind, since Wei Wuxian had probably made considerable progress on his journey so far.

Jin Zixuan and Wei Ying were both more than ready to take off after him, but it was a little hard to do with a stern-faced Wen Qing staring them down, and demanding that they finish their breakfast. They both knew they couldn’t let any of the Wens find out about their plan. Wei Wuxian had stated on more than one occasion that he didn’t want them — well, Wei Ying, specifically — to leave the Burial Mounds.

And, well, after yesterday’s little insights, the two teenagers could finally understand why.

Jin Zixuan supposed that he could technically go if he really wanted to. Maybe Wen Qing wouldn’t see his logic, but Wei Wuxian hadn’t implicitly said that he couldn’t leave. 

He wouldn’t admit it aloud, but he just really didn’t want to go alone. His heart was already pounding at the thought of having to confront his older self about his marriage, and about the labour camps, and the thought of having to face a long journey alone, with that hanging on the horizon, honestly made him feel a little sick to his stomach.

Wei Ying was annoying, but Jin Zixuan did feel a bit better with him by his side. He wasn’t ready to face any of this alone. If that meant putting up with the person who had punched him more times in one year than anyone else had his entire life, then he would just have to deal with it.

“We need to leave soon,” Wei Wuxian murmured. Wen Qing, who was talking to Uncle Four, shot them another side-ways glance. Jin Zixuan wondered if she suspected something, although he didn’t know how she could. He didn’t think they had done anything to give themselves away.

“Maybe this is a good thing,” Jin Zixuan told him. He took a bite from his breakfast, and grimaced slightly. It was a bland, meagre meal like usual. He remembered that he still had a reasonable amount of coins left in his money purse; he would make sure to pass them on to Wei Wuxian when he saw him again. These people deserved some better food. 

He would also make sure that his older self took responsibility for what was happening here. He wouldn’t stop pestering him until he did. Hopefully he hadn’t changed so much that he wouldn’t do something to address the plight of the people here.

(Surely, he couldn’t already know).

“A good thing? How?”

“Well, we don’t want Wei Wuxian to know that we’re following him, so it’d be a good idea to put some distance between us,” Jin Zixuan said. “And I know the way to Lanling from Yiling, and besides, we probably wouldn’t want to arrive at the same time anyway.”

He knew enough about the entrance points and hidden passageways in his home to find a way to sneak in once they got there. With Wei Wuxian’s current reputation, it was probably better not to make things more complicated for him.

“Alright, fine,” Wei Ying agreed. He seemed a lot more agreeable ever since finding out that Jin Zixuan didn’t inherently dislike his sister.

He glanced back, and noticed that Wen Qing had wandered off. Most of the other Wens were milling around, but not really paying attention to either of them.

“We’ll finish off our breakfast, and then we can leave,” Wei Ying said. Jin Zixuan was pretty sure he was just that hungry, but when his own stomach rumbled, he couldn’t find it in himself to disagree.

If he was starting to feel hungry, with his level of cultivation, and strong golden core, then what must these frail, non-cultivators feel? He would definitely need to buy them a large stock of food before he left.

…

Once they had finished their meals, and it seemed like no one was watching them, Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan made their escape. 

“No one’s really paying attention to us,” Wei Ying said, as they made their way towards the exit at a reasonable pace. A part of Jin Zixuan felt like they were being overly cautious about this, but he felt skittish and uncomfortable about what he was about to do, and he couldn’t help it. Wei Ying looked very much the same, talking even more than usual, his hands moving in quick, nervous little gestures, probably still thinking about his argument with Wei Wuxian the previous day.

“And Qing-jie doesn’t seem to be around, which is really the main obstacle.”

“Yeah, Wen Qing is…intense,” Jin Zixuan said, thinking about the woman. She was definitely someone you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of.

“Qing-jie is terrifying.” 

They managed to make it to the exit with no problems, and Jin Zixuan decided that they wouldn’t be having any issues with leaving. Even if they did, he was sure that they could come up with a reasonable excuse.

“Peacock-gege! Little Xian-gege! Where are you going? Can A-Yuan come?” 

Both of them froze, and turned around in time to see the little toddler hurrying over, his eyes wide with excitement.

“Ahh, shit,” Wei Ying said. 

“A-Yuan,” Jin Zixuan said, smiling awkwardly. “We aren’t going anywhere.”

A-Yuan came to an immediate halt, and blinked up at them, his eyes wide. “But I saw Xian-gege and Ning-gege going there before, and then they left! And Qing-jie said they were going to a party! Are you going to the party too?”

Why was this child so perceptive? Jin Zixuan thought that children were supposed to be stupid. He remembered meeting the son of one of his distant cousins the year prior, and that boy had definitely been stupid.

“A-Yuan, we are definitely not going to a party,” Wei Ying said, kneeling down so that his gaze was level with A-Yuan’s. “We’re just…taking a walk.”

“Can A-Yuan come?”

Wei Ying winced. “Ah, no.”

A-Yuan pouted. “Why not? Xian-gege said the same thing! I’m bored.”

“Wen Qing probably wouldn’t be happy if you came,” Jin Zixuan told him. Surely the threat of an angry Wen Qing would be enough to change his mind?

A-Yuan blinked. “If I ask Qing-jie, and she says yes, then can I come?” 

Jin Zixuan stiffened. No, that was a terrible idea. If A-Yuan mentioned this to Wen Qing, she would probably try and stop them. She wouldn’t be happy about them going to Lanling, for obvious reasons. Jin Zixuan wasn’t sure how strong her golden core was, or if she had a sword of her own, but he didn’t want to risk her catching up to them and stopping them from leaving if she realised they were gone too early.

“Alright, A-Yuan, you can come,” Wei Ying said.

Jin Zixuan’s head snapped around. “No!” he cried, his eyes widening in panic. 

Wei Ying frowned. “Peacock, I’m sure if we watch him — ”

“Do you remember what Wei Wuxian told us yesterday? About my Sect?” Wei Ying stiffened immediately, his eyes widening in realisation. Jin Zixuan thought about those labour camps, about little A-Yuan’s parents being killed in front of him, and the thought of the boy being anywhere near Lanling made his stomach twist. No, he would prefer if A-Yuan stayed here, safe and sound.

Safe and sound in the Burial Mounds, a place that was apparently far safer than Koi Tower. Jin Zixuan still had a hard time wrapping his head around it.

“Sorry A-Yuan, it turns out you can’t come,” Wei Ying said apologetically.

“But what if Qing-jie — ”

“You can’t tell Wen Qing either,” Wei Ying said hurriedly. “You see…do you know how there’s a little Xian-gege and also a big Xian-gege?”

A-Yuan nodded.

“Well, there’s a big Peacock-gege too, but this Peacock-gege — ” He jerked a finger in Jin Zixuan’s direction, who scowled at him. Seriously, how had he gotten stuck with that awful nickname? “ — he hasn’t been able to see him yet. So Peacock-gege is very sad. He’s even about to cry.”

Wei Ying glanced at him expectantly, and Jin Zixuan shot him another scowl. He was definitely not going to cry.

A-Yuan’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh no!”

“Yes! So we need to pay Big Peacock-gege a visit, and you can’t come because…you need to stay here and look after your Granny, and your Uncles and Aunties, and Qing-jie. Since Xian-gege and Ning-gege aren’t here to do that right now. Do you think you can do that, A-Yuan?”

“Mn!” A-Yuan said, nodding his head quickly. “A-Yuan will do a really good job!”

Wei Ying beamed and ruffled his hair. “Amazing! And also, don’t tell Qing-Jie about this. Or anyone.”

“Okay! Bye Peacock-gege, Little Xian-gege. Say hello to Big Peacock-gege for me!” He gave them a big, enthusiastic wave, and then hurried off back to the main living area of the Burial Mounds.

Jin Zixuan shot Wei Ying an incredulous look. “That is the most convoluted story I’ve ever heard. You couldn’t have just told him we were going to the market place?”

Wei Ying pouted. “But that would be a lie, and I don’t lie to children! This wasn’t technically untrue.”

Jin Zixuan gave him a flat look. “You just wanted to make this more complicated than necessary.”

“Do you have to be so boring, Peacock? Anyway, no one’s here, so we should probably leave before anyone else sees us.”

They unsheathed their swords, and left the Burial Mounds, apprehension whirring within them. Soon, they would be on their way to Lanling, and on their way towards answers that they weren’t sure they were ready to handle.

…

Neither of them knew that Wei Wuxian would be traveling by foot. 

It wasn’t even a thought that had crossed their mind, because Wei Wuxian was a cultivator, so why wouldn’t he use his sword for a long journey? Wen Ning had left with him, and while a fierce corpse obviously wasn’t going to use a sword to fly there, neither of them really thought about it too much. 

They mounted their swords and headed in the direction of Lanling, with Jin Zixuan leading the way.

“What will you ask your older self when you see him?” Wei Ying asked him.

Jin Zixuan considered this. “I want to know about the Labour Camps,” he said. That would be his first question; he owed it to the Wens, who had suffered at the hands of his Sect, before he asked any selfish questions about his own happiness. “I want to know if my older self knows, and I want to know about what he’s going to do about them.”

“Well, you’re annoying, and kind of stuck up, but I doubt you’d agree with something like that,” Wei Ying told him.

Jin Zixuan rolled his eyes, but felt oddly warm inside.

“And what about Shijie?” 

“Oh, I’ll definitely be asking my older self what his marriage is like. I…need to know.” The thought made him nervous, because what if this truly was just an arranged marriage. What if there were no true feelings between them, like Wei Ying had alluded to, and he truly was trapped in a union that he had never wanted?

He tried to ignore these thoughts by focusing on his primary concern. As upset as he was about his marriage, the horrors of what his sect had been involved in were the main issue here. Innocent people had suffered, were suffering, and Jin Zixuan couldn’t go home knowing what was happening. He would make sure that this would never come to pass in his own future, no matter what he’d have to do to ensure that, but the events of this timeline wouldn’t change when they went back, if Wei Wuxian was to be believed.

“What about you?” he asked, because he was starting to grow tired of thinking about what he would do. He was nervous enough as it was, and wanted to distract himself. “What will you be doing?” 

Wei Ying hummed thoughtfully. “I want to speak to Shijie and Jiang Cheng,” he said. “I want to ask them exactly what happened during the attack on Lotus Pier, and how I can stop it.” He hesitated before continuing. “I want to ask them if they hate me.”

“…If it’s any consolation, I think it’s highly unlikely that they do,” Jin Zixuan said, after a brief hesitation.

Wei Ying looked at him in surprise, and then his lips quirked into a smile. “Thanks, Peacock.”

They flew in companionable silence for a while longer, and Jin Zixuan decided that Wei Ying really wasn’t as intolerable when he wasn’t outright trying to be. Jin Zixuan could probably put up with him for the rest of their time here if things continued like this.

“What is that?” 

Jin Zixuan glanced at Wei Ying, blinking in confusion. “What?” 

“Down there. Why are there so many people?”

Jin Zixuan glanced down. It looked like they were in some sort of valley, although he wasn’t sure exactly where they were. As he peered down, he could see what Wei Ying was talking about. There was a large crowd of people standing below, and even from where he was, he could hear that there was obviously some sort of argument going on.

“They have weapons,” Wei Ying said, frowning. “Do you think there’s some sort of fight going on? Should we go and help?”

“I can’t see anything else…” He dropped slightly, trying to get a closer look at what was going on. He looked for an assailant, wondering what had drawn the attention of such a large group of people. He was expecting some sort of danger, perhaps a large amount of fierce corpses, or some other dangerous beast that would warrant the attention of this many cultivators.

Instead, all he could see was two people, who the other cultivators surrounded completely, their arms laden with bows and swords.

A moment later he realised that they were all dressed in the gold of his sect, and a moment after that, he realised that one of the men they were cornering was dressed in the grey and black robes that he had last seen Wei Wuxian wearing. He saw a shock of bright red, amongst long tresses of dark hair, and felt his stomach plummet.

“Is that Wuxian-ge?” Wei Ying said incredulously. “And — Ning-ge? That’s Ning-ge next to him!”

Yes, the other person was Wen Ning, Jin Zixuan realised with a start. The fierce corpse and demonic cultivator seemed to be cornered on every side by members of the Jin Sect, and from the volume and tone of the conversation, things didn’t seem to be going well.

He saw someone hurry towards Wei Wuxian, yelling something that Jin Zixuan couldn’t hear from the distance he was standing at, and he felt panic engulf him. All he could think was, ‘Of course it had to be my fucking sect,’ and then he was flying down, with barely any care for the armed men surrounding them.

Wei Ying let out a cry of alarm and followed him.

He landed on the ground, and was running forward before he could even stop to think. Wei Wuxian was arguing with the Jin disciple, and another person from the crowd, and neither seemed to realise notice his presence. It was Wen Ning who turned around, on the immediate offence, and Jin Zixuan was almost shocked at the fear he felt at the sight of him. For once, the gentle fierce corpse actually looked as dangerous as he really was.

His body relaxed a moment later, and his voice was shocked as he spoke. “Young Master Jin? Young Master Wei? What are you doing here?” 

“There are other people here!” someone yelled from the crowd. People turned towards them, angling their weapons towards them, their bodies tense and ready for an attack. Jin Zixuan and Wei Ying stood close to each other, their hearts pounding as they tried to take it all in. 

“What are you doing here?!” Wei Wuxian asked, his eyes wide in alarm. Whatever argument he had been having, the arrival of the two teenagers seemed to have gained his sole attention.

“What the hell?” Jin Zixuan turned his gaze to the man standing in front of Wei Wuxian, and his eyes widened in shock. In his haste to get here, and in the overall confusion of everything, he hadn’t even realised that the man Wei Wuxian had been facing was himself.

He suddenly felt very cold. This was clearly an ambush — hundreds of his sect’s disciples, cornering an unarmed man, because for some reason, that idiot Wei Wuxian wasn’t carrying his sword — and why else would his older self be here if he hadn’t taken part in it?

“What are you doing?” he yelled, marching towards his shocked older self. He ignored the cries from the crowd of Jins, his mind focused on one single thing.

“What is this?” 

“Is that — ?” 

“What tricks are the Yiling Patriarch using now?!” 

“What are you doing here?!” Jin Zixuan demanded. He could feel his heart racing in his chest. His older self continued to stare at him, his jaw unhinged. “Did you — are you ambushing him?! What is wrong with you — ?”

The older Jin Zixuan turned to Wei Wuxian, his eyes wide. “What is this?” he asked. “What — how?” 

Wei Wuxian ignored him. His gaze was panicked, and very worried as he turned to face Jin Zixuan. “Why are you here?” he asked. “You — both of you need to go back to the Burial Mounds right now. Wen Ning, take them back — ”

“Young Master Wei,” Wen Ning protested, and the older Jin Zixuan seemed to reel even more at the sight of the talking fierce corpse.

“I’m not going anywhere until he explains what the hell is going on!” Jin Zixuan yelled. Wei Ying hurried forward, and if Jin Zixuan had been more aware of his surroundings, he would have noticed the way his sect members angled their weapons towards them. He was barely aware of anything other than his older self standing in front of him, and the pounding anger in his heart.

He had hoped so desperately that his older self had nothing to do with the plight of the Wens, that he hadn’t been complicit in the atrocities that had taken place. Yet, here he was, apparently conspiring with his sect members, ambushing Wei Wuxian — Wei Wuxian, who had done nothing but try and protect the very people that he had failed — 

“Jin Zixuan,” Wei Ying said, placing a hand on his back. If Jin Zixuan was more aware, he probably would have realised that Wei Ying had actually used his name for once. “You need to calm down — ”

“Tell me what’s going on! How could you agree with any of this? What the hell happened — ?” 

He took a step forward, not sure what he was about to do, and perhaps that was just one of his many mistakes in that moment. Perhaps he should have been paying more attention to his surroundings, to the hundreds of threatening faces closing in on them.

Maybe he could rationalise his behaviour, say that his mind had been clouded by anger and hurt, or that he had dealt with night hunts and fierce corpses, but never anything of this magnitude, or that he had spent his whole life surrounded by those very gold robes, and had almost subconsciously dismissed them because for him, gold had always meant safe. 

It didn’t change the fact that his sudden movement, combined with the confusion of everything that was happening, spurred one nervous Jin disciple into action. The man let out a cry of alarm and let two arrows fly, aiming it at what he saw as some sort of trick of Wei Wuxian’s, something that could harm their Sect Heir. 

“No!” the older Jin Zixuan cried in alarm, but it was too late to do anything in that moment. Wei Wuxian turned around, his eyes widening in horror.

Jin Zixuan barely had anytime to realise what was approaching him, and by the time he turned around, it was already too late for him to move out of the way, or reach for his sword and deflect it.

He felt something slam into him, and felt himself go flying. He landed hard on the cold earth, and let out a small groan.

He pulled himself up, shaking his head, feeling disoriented and unsure of what was going on. His older self was yelling something, and Wei Ying was shaking, and Wen Ning was rushing forward, letting out a roar of rage that Jin Zixuan hadn’t even imagined the man was capable of making.

He pulled himself to his feet, suddenly far more aware of the danger surrounding him. He peered down, and didn’t see any sign of an arrow, or of blood. He certainly didn’t feel like he had been shot.

He moved towards the group, not sure what he wanted to do, but knowing that he needed to get Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning, and get out of here. There were too many people here, and there was too much of a risk. He couldn’t find it in himself to care about his older self right now, or Jiang Yanli, or any of it. He just wanted to leave.

“Wuxian-ge,” he heard Wei Ying say, the other boy’s face white with terror. 

Jin Zixuan turned, in time to see the stark pallor of Wei Wuxian’s face, and the glazed look in his eyes. For a moment, he wasn’t sure what he was seeing, and then his vision swam into focus, and he saw the arrows sticking out of Wei Wuxian’s chest, the darkening patch of blood on his robes, and could only watch in numb horror as the older man crumpled forward into Wen Ning’s arms.

Chapter Text

Wei Wuxian could hear the older Jin Zixuan saying something, but it was all just a rush of sound in his ears. He stood still, staring blankly at the puddle of blood on the floor - Wuxian-ge’s blood, which had spilled out of him as he had swayed and fallen into Wen Ning’s arms.

Wen Ning had taken him and sprinted away immediately, with almost shocking speed, but Wei Ying had barely been able to process it.

He didn’t know what was going on here. It was too much for him to take in, and with almost surprising force, he found himself longing for his own time period. The future was too strange, too unfamiliar. 

Jin Zixuan’s angry voice snapped him back to the present. He turned his head towards him, and saw the other boy furiously arguing with his older self, who seemed baffled by what was happening.

Wei Wuxian strode over, and latched onto Jin Zixuan’s arm, tugging him away. The older Jin Zixuan was frozen in place, seemingly overwhelmed with everything that was happening. The other Jin cultivators looked uncertain, exchanging glances and muttering amongst themselves. That was good. They needed to get out of here before they started attacking again. There were far too many of them, and he and Jin Zixuan would be vastly outnumbered if there was a fight.

“We need to leave,” he told him, tugging almost urgently on Jin Zixuan’s arm. “Wuxian-ge — ”

Jin Zixuan paled, and nodded. “Yes,” he said hurriedly. “Yes, let’s go.”

“You aren’t going anywhere!” snapped one of the cultivators. “You — whatever you are, you stay right here! Someone bring back that damned Wei Wuxian, he needs to pay for what he’s done to me — ”

“Zixun, enough!” the older Jin Zixuan said, furious. He turned back to Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan, and the confusion on his face was evident. “Please, one of you tell me what’s going on.”

Wei Ying’s mouth opened and closed. He wasn’t sure what to say. All he wanted to do was leave, go after Wen Ning, and make sure Wei Wuxian was okay.

“It’s none of your business,” Jin Zixuan snapped. “Wei Wuxian — let’s go.” 

He unsheathed his sword, and mounted it. Wei Ying followed, warily eyeing the group surrounding them. The older Jin Zixuan looked stunned by their actions. 

“Wait! At least let me come with you — ”

“You’re not coming anywhere near us,” Jin Zixuan said, with a shocking amount of venom in his voice. “Just stay the hell away from us.”

Wei Ying felt a spark of concern, because this much anger towards your own self could not be good. But Jin Zixuan had already taken off, and Wei Ying was hardly going to stay back in this crowd. He was sure the only reason they weren’t shooting him full of arrows was because of the older Jin Zixuan’s presence.

He almost expected the older Peacock to follow him, but that didn’t happen. Wei Ying quickly caught up with Jin Zixuan, who was trying to fly as quickly as he could. The other teen’s face was pale, and his jaw was clenched.

“He’ll be fine,” Wei Ying said, not sure if he was trying to reassure Jin Zixuan or himself. Wei Wuxian had to be alright. An arrow to the chest wasn’t a fatal injury to a cultivator, granted it didn’t hit any vital areas, and Wei Ying didn’t think it had been that bad. He would be fine.

He had to be fine. Wei Ying had not just witnessed his own death.

“You don’t know that,” Jin Zixuan muttered.

Wei Ying glanced back at him and let out a weak laugh. “Wow Peacock, you’d think you were actually worried.”

“He got hurt because of me.”

“What, no,” Wei Ying said, unable to hide his surprise. “That’s not — he pushed you out of the way. It’s not like you could have known.”

“He shouldn’t have had to do that,” Jin Zixuan retorted, his gaze fixed forward. “And — and all of this happened because of my stupid sect.”

“Well yes,” Wei Ying agreed. “But that doesn’t make it your fault.” Jin Zixuan’s older self had been there, and Wei Ying didn’t know what that meant, but it wasn’t like he could blame this version of the Peacock for things that he hadn’t even done yet. Besides, Wei Ying was pretty sure Jin Zixuan was about to crack his jaw with how hard he was clenching it, and if the Peacock was, even unconsciously, willing to damage that precious face of his, then he was obviously feeling guilty.

Jin Zixuan didn’t reply, and the two flew in silence, as fast as their swords could go. Wei Ying scanned the grounds, keeping a look out for a fierce corpse, and a hopefully still living man.

…

It didn’t take long to catch up with Wen Ning. He was fast, but he was still travelling on foot, while they had their swords moving at their full capacity. Wen Ning let out an enraged roar when he saw them running forward, clutching a limp, prone form protectively to his chest. Wei Ying tried not to focus on that too much. 

“Young Master Wei. Young Master Jin,” Wen Ning said when he recognised them, and Wei Ying inwardly let out a sigh of relief. He was used to the fierce corpse’s gentle nature (and wow he still couldn’t believe he could say that), and seeing him so enraged and primal before had been jarring.

“How is he?” Wei Ying asked.

“Not good,” Wen Ning said, a tremor in his voice. “Young Masters — I can’t stop, I need to return to the Burial Mounds — ”

“Wait!” Jin Zixuan said hurriedly. “We can take him! It’ll be faster if we go by sword.”

Wei Ying nodded. It would be much more efficient, getting Wei Wuxian back to the Burial Mounds if they flew. He wasn’t sure how long it would take Wen Ning to get back by foot. 

(He also wasn’t sure that the Burial Mounds was the best place for a man who was bleeding out, but then, apparently his future self was widely despised. Where else were they supposed to take him?). 

Wen Ning hesitated for a brief moment, glancing between the two of them, and then down at the figure cradled in his arms. He nodded. “Alright.”

Wei Ying took a step forward, but Jin Zixuan hurried forward, his arms outstretched. “I’ll take him,” he said. 

Wei Ying stared. 

Wen Ning carefully deposited Wei Wuxian in Jin Zixuan’s waiting arms. Wei Ying hurried forward to help. He caught sight of Wei Wuxian and felt a jolt of shock as he took in his older self’s pale, slack features, the blood staining his robes. 

“I’ll help you,” he told Jin Zixuan. “I can hold his legs — ”

“It’s faster if one person does it,” Jin Zixuan told him. “It’s fine, he barely weighs anything.” 

Well, that was sadly true, although now Wei Ying had a better idea of just why Wei Wuxian was so thin; the food at the Burial Mounds was hardly enough to keep someone of his age and size going, although he didn’t understand why his cultivation hadn’t supported him a bit more. 

“Are you sure you don’t need me to — ”

“It’s fine,” Jin Zixuan said curtly, mounting his sword. He was flying away shortly after, clearly trying to move as fast as possible. 

Wei Ying watched him leave, and bit back a sigh. He would need to talk to Jin Zixuan about this newfound guilt complex later. Seeing the Peacock actually worried for another human being that wasn’t himself was just wrong.

(Okay, that was mean. The Peacock probably cared about other people, Wei Ying just didn’t think he — or rather, any version of himself — would be one of them).

“Ning-ge, I can give you a lift on my sword,” Wei Ying told him. He wasn’t sure how difficult it would be, but he was willing to try.

Wen Ning shook his head. “No, I can make my way back myself. You go back with Young Master Jin.”

Wei Ying nodded. He could have maybe pushed a bit more, but he didn’t really have the energy for it. His mind was fixated on the prone form of his older self, on the blood staining his robes, and he just wanted to go back to the Burial Mounds and fix all of this. Wen Qing was a good doctor, and in her hands, Wei Wuxian would be fine.

He mounted his sword, and glanced back at Wen Ning. He looked tense and more nervous than usual, clearly just sticking around now for Wei Ying’s sake. 

“He’ll be okay,” Wei Ying said, trying to sound like he believed it. “He’s a strong cultivator — I should know.”

Wen Ning stiffened slightly, and then nodded, very slowly. “Yes, of course,” he agreed. There was a strange note in his voice, that Wei Ying brushed off as concern.

He took off to the sky a moment later, trying to catch up with Jin Zixuan, and hoping with every ounce of his being that Wei Wuxian would be okay.

Their argument from the previous night lingered on the edge of his consciousness, and he quickly pushed it away. Wei Wuxian would be fine, and then, Wei Ying would apologise. He had probably been a bit too harsh anyway.

…

Wei Ying half expected Wen Qing to yell at them when they got back, but obviously the health of her patient was her primary concern. She took one look at Wei Wuxian, and told them to take him to the Demon Slaughtering Cave straight away. Frankly, Wei Ying thought they needed more facilities here if they were using a place called the Demon Slaughtering Cave as a sickbay, but then he remembered that they were all living in poverty in the Burial Mounds and he should probably stop complaining.

(And perhaps get used to it, since this would be his future home, and him bleeding out in Jin Zixuan’s arms someday).

Jin Zixuan seemed to be straining slightly by this point, so Wei Ying ran over to help him. Jin Zixuan shot him a slightly irritated glance, proving that the usual asshole Peacock was still in there somewhere, and the two hurried forward.

Wei Ying tried to keep his gaze averted from Wei Wuxian. Seeing his older self here, so pale and lifeless, was making him feel slightly sick. Jin Zixuan’s face wasn’t making him feel any better, so he gazed at a random spot in front of him, and hoped that Wen Qing could come up with a quick solution for this. He was relieved that A-Yuan wasn't anywhere in sight, because the last thing the little boy needed was to see his Xian-gege in such a state.

Maybe he was being too naive; Wei Wuxian was badly hurt, and there was no quick fix that would have him back on his feet in the next few minutes. But, he reminded himself again, Wei Wuxian was a strong cultivator. Wei Ying could recover from injuries easily with the help of his golden core, and with the additional years, surely Wei Wuxian’s would be even stronger.

Perhaps not the next few minutes, but maybe the next few hours, or by the next day. Wei Wuxian would be fine.

Jin Zixuan lay Wei Wuxian down, and stepped back, as Wen Qing hurried over. Both boys stood there, feeling more than a little useless. Wen Qing already had some of her supplies here, with very few places to store her things in the rest of the Burial Mounds, and at least that meant that she had what she needed in close vicinity.

Wei Wuxian would be fine. He was strong. He would be fine.

…

Wen Qing told them, distractedly, that they should leave and get cleaned up. Both of them refused. She huffed in annoyance, but didn’t spare them any further glances.

Wei Ying didn’t really know what was happening. He knew barely anything about medicine, and stood back, allowing Wen Qing to do her work in peace. She was currently pulling at pieces of stray fabric, using them as bandages, since apparently they didn’t even have access to those over here.

She didn’t seem to be transferring any spiritual energy over, which just seemed strange. He was no doctor, but surely that would be useful? 

“Qing-jie?”

“Hmm?” she said, without looking up.

“I can — ”

“A-Qing?” 

Wei Ying turned around. An elderly Wen woman named Wen Su stood at the entrance of the cave, staring worriedly at Wei Wuxian.

“Yes?” Wen Qing said.

“There’s…” she hesitated, glancing at Jin Zixuan briefly, before continuing. “The Jin Sect Heir is standing by the entrance. He…says he would like to see Young Master Wei.”

“What? No!” Jin Zixuan said hurriedly.

“Tell him to leave,” Wen Qing said, her voice slightly cold. 

Wen Su frowned slightly. “He is very insistent."

“I’ll get rid of him,” Jin Zixuan said, walking over. There was a dangerous note in his voice, and Wei Ying wondered if he should be going after him. Jin Zixuan potentially killing his older self would be — a very bad thing. He didn’t know if the older Jin Zixuan had been involved in all of this after all, if Wei Wuxian was lying hurt and unconscious right now because of him, but he still didn’t think the Peacock should be doing anything impulsive.

He didn’t really want to leave though, and the thought of getting involved in that potential mess was making his head hurt. Jin Zixuan would probably be fine alone, and at the very least, the older Jin Zixuan was probably more than capable of protecting himself from a teenager.

And if he was here to hurt Wei Wuxian…Wei Ying’s grip tightened on his sword. No one would be doing that.

He turned his attention back to Wen Qing, who was finally leaning away from Wei Wuxian. Her brow was still creased, and she looked pale and stressed. He turned to look at Wei Wuxian, and felt his stomach clench when he saw how weak and lifeless the older man looked. Shouldn’t he look at least a little better? Perhaps have a little more colour back in his face? Wen Qing had been working on him for a considerable amount of time now. 

“Did you want me to transfer him some spiritual energy?” Wei Ying asked. Maybe that would help. They technically had the same golden core, after all.

Wen Qing stiffened slightly, and then shook her head. “No, that’s fine.”

“What? It might help — ”

“I’ve done all I can for him. We just need to wait.”

“What do you mean, I barely saw you transfer any spiritual energy into him! And he looks so bad right now! I — I don’t even think the arrow hit anything vital — ”

Wen Qing sighed. “Wei Wuxian.”

“ — I don’t understand why he hasn’t improved — ”

“Wei Wuxian,” she said again, “Stop.”

It was the tone of her voice that finally made him quieten down. He stared helplessly at Wei Wuxian, who still looked so pale and fragile lying there. Wei Ying had always prided himself on being strong and capable, able to brush off injuries with an ease that had always surprised the healers back at Yunmeng. He couldn’t understand why his older self was like this, why he looked so weak not just now, but all of the time.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and he stood up and strode over. Maybe Wen Qing thought she was doing the right thing, but Wei Wuxian looked terrible right now. He and Wei Ying were the same person, and surely if Wei Ying transferred some energy to him it would help. At the very least, it couldn’t help to try.

He reached down to grab Wei Wuxian’s wrist. It felt cold in his grasp.

'I'm holding my own dying body right now,' he thought, almost hysterically. He quickly pushed the thought away.

"Wei Wuxian."

"Qing-jie, just let me try," he said, his voice desperate. Why were they even arguing about this? They were wasting time. "I don't understand why I can't just try. It could help him heal faster - "

"It won't help him heal faster," Wen Qing said, her voice exhausted. Wei Ying opened his mouth to argue, but Wen Qing cut him off. "It won't help him, because he has no golden core."

…

Jin Zixuan was angry.

Jin Zixuan was really, really angry, and it was all because of his stupid older self. After assuring Wen Su that he would be able to handle the situation just fine, he strode over to the entrance of the Burial Mounds with unwavering focus, rage pulsing through him.

It was his sect’s fault that these innocent people were suffering here, that they’d had to deal with torture and death in the most inhumane ways. It was his sect’s fault — his fault — that the only person who had bothered to protect them was hurt. 

It was his fault that Wei Wuxian, who was decent enough to try and find a way to send them home, who was kind enough to comfort him when he was upset (even if he was still annoying about it in a way that only Wei Wuxian could be), had been injured. His fault that Wei Wuxian had needed to push him out of the path of an arrow, that Wei Wuxian could die because Jin Zixuan had been an absolute idiot, and because his older self was apparently a backstabbing bastard.

Jin Zixuan was angry, and no one could blame him for punching his older self in the face the second he saw him. The man seemed too shocked to duck out of the way, and the satisfying crunch of his fist connecting with the asshole’s face was almost worth the throbbing pain in his knuckles.

Was this how Wei Wuxian had felt after punching him? Perhaps Jin Zixuan should have tried punching himself a long time ago.

“Who are you?” his older self demanded, rubbing his cheek. 

“I’m you,” he snapped, glaring. “I time travelled here, but that’s really not important.”

His older self gaped.

“What is important is that you are an asshole. I am horrified right now because I turned into the biggest damn asshole. Seriously what happened to me?! How did things go so wrong that I would support putting elderly people, non-combatants and children in labour camps? How could I ambush a man that I had invited to a party, and then have the gall to show up looking like a — like a — ” He waved his hands furiously, while his older self continued to gawk at him silently, “Like a fucking peacock.”

Yet another thing Wei Wuxian was right about. His older self was dressed in his most ostentatious ceremonial robes, rich and opulent, and clearly wasting no expense on looking amazing for his son’s one month celebration.

They would probably have a grand feast, while the people here nibbled on their meagre meals, and slept on the cold ground; while little A-Yuan ran around in threadbare robes, and played in the vegetable patch since it wasn’t like he had any actual toys to play with.

‘I am actually a disgusting human being,’ he thought, almost numbly.

“Time travel,” his older self repeated. “I don’t — how?” 

“That’s what you got out of that?!”

His older self rubbed his forehead. His shock was seemingly fading, as Jin Zixuan’s rage dragged him back to reality. “Okay — you know what, I’ve seen some pretty strange things over the years. Time travel? Fine. But that other stuff you said…I think you’ve got the wrong idea.”

“I have the wrong idea,” Jin Zixuan repeated, almost mockingly. “So you weren’t ambushing Wei Wuxian?”

“No!”

Jin Zixuan raised an eyebrow disbelievingly.

“I wasn’t,” his older self said firmly. “Jin Zixun set that whole thing up. I had no idea that was happening.” 

“So why were you there then?!”

“I was trying to stop it! I found out what Jin Zixun was planning, and I hurried over there because I wanted to stop it from happening!”

Jin Zixuan didn’t know what to believe. He wanted to believe his older self’s words, but it was hard to focus through his anger. Was that really all it was? A misunderstanding?

He shook his head. “And I suppose you know nothing about the labour camps?”

“What labour camps?” 

“The labour camps that the Wens were kept in! That our sect set up, and our father was clearly in charge of!” 

His older self shook his head. “I don’t know anything about that,” he said. “But if there were camps, these Wens did atrocious things during the war — ”

“Oh shut up,” Jin Zixuan snapped. “The people in those labour camps were elderly, and children. The only young person that isn’t a toddler is Wen Qing — and Wen Ning, I suppose — but if you try to convince me that old Granny Wen killed people, then I’m seriously going to start doubting the abilities of these cultivators.”

His older self fell silent, staring at him in confusion. “What?” he said at last.

Jin Zixuan huffed. “Just get the hell out of here.” He should get back. He wanted to ask Wen Qing if Wei Wuxian was doing any better.

“Wait,” his older self said hurriedly, taking a step forward. Jin Zixuan tensed. “Let me see Wei Wuxian.”

“The hell I will.”

“I’m not trying to hurt him! Look — you might not believe me, but…if you have really time traveled, then you’re me. Is this really something you would do?” 

Jin Zixuan scowled and looked away.

“I honestly didn’t know about the labour camps, and I didn’t know about the ambush. I would never hurt Wei Wuxian, because I’d like to think I have enough honour that I wouldn’t murder someone I had invited to my own party. And I would never do that to A-Li.”

Jin Zixuan’s brow furrowed slightly. His older self’s voice was firm and unflinching as he spoke. “Who’s A-Li?” 

His older self’s expression softened. “My wife,” he said. “She wanted Wei Wuxian at our son’s celebration, and I wanted to make her happy. I would never hurt her brother. I would never hurt her.

A-Li. Jiang Yanli. Despite his confusion, his still-present anger, Jin Zixuan felt the slightest stirrings of hope. This wasn’t the expression or tone of a man who had been forced into a marriage against his will.

He thought about what Wei Ying had said, about how Wei Wuxian would never support a marriage that would make his sister miserable.

He thought about himself, his own values, how he didn’t think he could ever do the abhorrent things he had accused his older self of, no matter how many years went by.

“Alright,” he said at last. “Apparently you’re just an oblivious idiot.”

His older self stared.

“You can come in, but I’ve still got my eye on you.” No one would be harming these people, if he had anything to say about it.

“Fine,” his older self agreed. “How is Wei Wuxian? There’s no way I can go home without knowing that he’s okay first. A-Li must be losing her mind with worry.” 

Oh, he had so many questions. Namely, how the hell Maiden Jiang had turned into A-Li, but he should also probably question the man on what the hell was going on in their sect right now.

(He also thought a quick trip around the Burial Mounds, and a few introductions to the frail, defenseless, residents was a good idea).

“Wei Wuxian…isn’t doing too well,” he said, feeling a spike of guilt. It was still his fault that the man had gotten hurt. “You should probably talk to Wen Qing about that though. I’ll show you where she is.” 

And on the way there, he would make sure to question his older self as much as possible. 

Chapter Text

“He doesn’t have a golden core?” Wei Ying repeated. For a moment he thought Wen Qing was joking, which made absolutely no sense, but — the alternative didn’t make any sense either. How could Wei Wuxian not have a core?

“No,” Wen Qing said. She sounded tired.

Wei Ying glanced down at his older self, still looking so pale, and weak, and apparently coreless, and he felt the sudden urge to run away from here. The future made no sense, nothing like the life he had once imagined for himself, and he didn’t know what he was supposed to do. 

“I’m sorry,” Wen Qing said gently. 

“How?” Wei Ying asked numbly. “I don’t — how did he lose it?” Lose it. What a funny choice of words. How do you just lose a golden core, something that was such a huge part of him, and had been for most of his life? His core was a part of him, almost as essential as any other organ, and the thought that he might need to live without it in the future was terrifying.

“I can’t tell you that,” Wen Qing said. “You need to ask him.”

“How? How do I ask him, when he might not even — when he might not even survive?!”

“Have more faith in yourself,” Wen Qing told him. Her voice was still far too gentle, so different from her usual demeanour. 

The thing was, Wei Ying didn’t know how to have faith. Wei Wuxian may have been an older version of himself, but so much had changed to turn him from a young teenager, to the weathered, damaged man in front of him. 

How could he believe that Wei Wuxian would make it through this, when Wei Ying himself had never needed to survive such a grievous injury without the constant support of his golden core? 

He glanced at Wen Qing, and he could see the worry lining her face. She was scared too, even though she was trying her best to be strong for him. That was what stopped him from pressing harder and demanding that she tell him the truth about what had happened. 

He sank to his knees, and crawled over to Wei Wuxian. The older man remained still, his chest moving in slow, shallow breaths.

‘Please live,’ he thought. ‘I’m sorry. Please live.’

…

Jin Zixuan definitely didn’t regret punching his older self in the face. Even if the man hadn’t been involved in any of this, that didn’t excuse him for being an oblivious idiot. How did his cousin, and a half-brother who had only recently arrived on the scene, know more about the details of a series of labour camps than the sect’s own heir? 

“Father didn’t seem to want me to get involved in any of it,” his older self said, sounding regretful. “And to be honest…I didn’t really want to either. I had a new wife, and then a son, and I wanted to put the whole business with the Wens behind me. A-Yao seemed to be handling things just fine.”

A-Yao, because apparently he now had a brother. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised. He was more surprised that it had taken this long for an illegitimate child of Jin Guangshan to appear. 

“I was naive. I trusted Father. I just…I’d never imagine he would go to these lengths.”

His older self glanced around, his eyes settling on Granny who stood a short distance away, A-Yuan sitting on the ground beside her. He lowered his head slightly, and Jin Zixuan could see the shame and regret in his eyes.

He sighed, relenting somewhat. “I guess you really didn’t know. That — that doesn’t make any of it okay though. You need to do something about it.” 

His older self nodded firmly. “I will be doing something about this. The moment I go home, I will confront Father about this. But first — how is Wei Wuxian?” 

The reminder of Wei Wuxian and his injuries made Jin Zixuan’s chest clench, and he felt another wave of guilt. Gods, he’d probably felt more guilt in these past few days than he had in his entire life. 

“He’s hurt,” Jin Zixuan said. How badly, he didn’t know. He would need to go and check in with him soon, but he could also feel the stirrings of anxiety at the thought. He hoped that everything was okay. 

“Hurt,” his older self echoed, frowning slightly. “I'm truly sorry about that. I never thought that Zixun  would go as far as to do something like that. I invited Wei Wuxian because I knew that A-Li would want him there.”

A-Li again. Jin Zixuan pondered that for a moment, and felt a spark of nervousness as he turned to his older self, knowing what he couldn’t put off asking any longer. “Your…wife. You…you care for her?” 

His older self looked almost shocked by the question. “I love her.” 

Jin Zixuan just didn’t know what to do with that. He didn’t even know what question to ask first, the words all jumbling in his head as he desperately tried to say anything that would give him more. He needed to know more about what Jiang Yanli had done to go from being a thorn in his side, to this — the reason for the obvious adoration in his older self’s eyes whenever he spoke about her.

It took him a moment to realise that his heart was racing, and it wasn’t from fear — it was from anticipation. The thought that he might be able to have a marriage based on love — to raise his son with a woman he truly cared for, who was his wife not just in name — 

Before he could say anything else, there was the sound of hurried footsteps, and Wen Ning appeared, walking hurriedly in their direction. Beside him, somehow looking unfairly immaculate despite his brisk stride, was Lan Wangji. 

The look that Lan Wangji shot his older self when he saw him made Jin Zixuan feel genuine fear. He had never seen the Second Jade of Lan looking so furious. 

“I — I don’t think Master Jin had anything to do with Master Wei’s injuries,” Wen Ning said, and his words sent a cold wave through Jin Zixuan at the reminder of how hurt Wei Wuxian had been.

“I didn’t,” his older self said hurriedly. “I had genuinely invited Wei Wuxian for Jin Ling’s celebration — I had no idea what my cousin was planning.” 

Lan Wangji turned to Wen Ning, seemingly ignoring the older Jin Zixuan completely. “Where is Wei Ying?” 

Jin Zixuan watched Lan Wangji, unable to figure out what his motives were. The man’s relationship with Wei Wuxian had been a mystery from the moment they’d arrived here. Wei Wuxian claimed he hated him, and they certainly argued like they did; but at the same time, he’d been the only outside face they’d seen during their stay here. If Lan Wangji truly hated Wei Wuxian that much, then why did he keep coming back? 

“I’ll take you to him,” Wen Ning told Lan Wangji. “Jiejie is looking after him, he - he’ll be okay.” 

Wen Ning sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that fact. Jin Zixuan tried to ignore another wave of guilt, and told himself that Wei Wuxian was one of the strongest cultivators of their generation. His golden core could easily take care of injuries like that.

Lan Wangji turned towards the older Jin Zixuan, who looked like he was about to follow them. “Your sect is concerned about your disappearance,” he said, his expression unreadable. “Your cousin is telling everyone that Wei Ying kidnapped you.” 

“What?” the older Jin Zixuan spluttered. 

“That’s ridiculous!” Jin Zixuan cried in disbelief. “Wei Wuxian was the only one injured during this whole mess, and they're trying to blame him?” 

“That’s our sect for you,” his older self said bitterly. “I’ll go back and deal with this. Please —” He turned to Lan Wangji, his gaze imploring, “Inform me about how he is. A-Li will be so concerned.”

Jin Zixuan was once again struck by his obvious love for his wife.

Lan Wangji nodded once, and then the two began to walk in opposite directions. Jin Zixuan hurried after Lan Wangji, not even sparing a thought about following his older self. He finally had answers about the thing he had been most concerned about — he and Jiang Yanli weren’t in a strained, loveless marriage like his parents. 

He could find out more about it later, but right now, he needed to know that Wei Wuxian was going to be okay.

…

Lan Wangji’s eyes seemed to immediately zero in on Wei Wuxian, as if he were the only one in the room. 

And, to be fair, Wei Wuxian looked bad. Jin Zixuan couldn’t process how he could look that pale and small when Wen Qing had been working on him for so long. A good dose of spiritual energy should have been enough to supplement his strong golden core, and start the healing process. 

Wen Ning lingered in the doorway, clearly concerned as he looked at his unconscious friend. Jin Zixuan made an immediate beeline towards Wei Ying, who was looking at his older self as if he’d never seen the man before.

“Is everything okay?” Jin Zixuan asked him. Wei Ying’s mouth opened and closed for a moment, and he shook his head weakly.

Jin Zixuan’s brow furrowed. “What’s going on? He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?” It had been a bad injury, but nothing life threatening for someone as strong as Wei Wuxian.

“I don’t…” Wei Ying shook his head weakly. “I’m not…sure.” 

“I don’t understand — ”

“Don’t ask me,” he pleaded. “Please, not now.” 

Jin Zixuan stared at him. What was he supposed to say to that? Wei Ying was no longer meeting his gaze, and so he returned his gaze to Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji was kneeling down beside him, and the look on his face…

Oh.

Well, he definitely hadn’t seen that coming.

…

Wen Qing managed to usher the two teens outside a short while later, despite their loud protests.

“Why don’t you go and help Granny prepare the meal for lunch,” she said. “You’re not going to change anything by staying here.” 

Jin Zixuan wanted to argue, but Wei Ying still looked shaken, and Jin Zixuan was surprised by how concerned he actually felt for the other boy. The thought that he could have ever been worried about Wei Wuxian would have seemed crazy a few days ago.

“He’ll be okay,” Jin Zixuan said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. “We’ve all been injured before, and wounds like that may look bad, but it’s not the same as when a non-cultivator gets injured — ”

“Let’s go help Granny,” Wei Wuxian said, cutting him off abruptly. The two stayed silent after that.

It wasn’t until they’d finished preparing lunch and headed back to where Wei Wuxian was, concerned that no one had come to get them, that they heard a familiar voice drifting outside. And even though it sounded weak and rough with sleep, it was undoubtedly Wei Wuxian’s.

The boys all but sprinted inside, eyes wide. Jin Zixuan almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing at the sight of Wei Wuxian, propped up slightly on a pillow, looking pale and weak, but very much awake. 

Wei Wuxian had been talking to Lan Wangji, who apparently still hadn’t moved from his spot beside him. Wei Wuxian glanced up when they arrived, and his eyes lit up. His lips curled into a small smile.

“Well, if it isn’t my favourite Little Me and Little Peacock,” he said, and Jin Zixuan found that he didn’t even mind the nickname. “Wen Qing’s been telling me that you’ve both been worried. I’m touched.”

“Wuxian-ge,” Wei Ying said, and rushed forward, looking like he was preparing to hug the older man. Wen Qing stepped in front of him, her eyes narrowed.

“Do not undo all my hard work,” she snapped, and Wei Ying instantly cowered away.

Wei Ying moved a safe distance away, and smiled widely at Wei Wuxian, ignoring the narrow-eyed look that Wen Qing shot him. “I’m glad you’re okay, Wuxian-ge. And…if it’s okay, could I please speak to you? Alone?” 

Wen Qing’s eyes widened. “Yes, I think that’d be a good idea.”

Jin Zixuan didn’t know what was going on, and a glance at Wei Wuxian showed that he was equally as confused. Still, remembering how strange Wei Ying had been acting, he was sure that it had to be important. 

He offered no protest as Wen Qing ushered him out of the room. Lan Wangji followed, looking almost reluctant, and Jin Zixuan considered his earlier realisation. God, it was still so weird.

Wen Qing and Wen Ning exchanged glances as they walked away. Jin Zixuan wondered if he should ask them what was going on, but then realised that they probably wouldn’t tell him anyway. If this was something private for Wei Wuxian, then Jin Zixuan thought that he deserved to keep his secrets. 

Lan Wangji’s stared into the distance, his eyes glued to the direction of where Wei Wuxian was. 

“Master Lan, would you like to sit down?” Wen Ning suggested awkwardly.

Lan Wangji shook his head. “No thank you.” He continued to stare.

Jin Zixuan looked away, feeling embarrassed.

…  

“So,” Wei Wuxian said, when the others had filed out of the room, “what did you want to talk about?” 

He sounded fine, but Wei Ying could still see the way his smile strained at the edges, the shadows under his eyes, the way his face still looked too pale and drawn. He could barely sit up properly — probably shouldn’t have even been trying right now, and Wen Qing would surely have words about it if she were here — and Wei Ying was reminded all too well of why he was currently so weak.

“What happened to your golden core?” he asked at last.

Wei Wuxian stared at him for a long moment. “What?”

“Your golden core,” Wei Ying repeated. And then, seeing the look on his older self’s face, and knowing himself all too well, he said, “And please don’t lie or try to convince me that nothing’s wrong. I know that it’s gone, and Qing-jie confirmed that.”

Wei Wuxian let out a small groan and squeezed his eyes shut. “Well shit,” he said, laughing and running a shaky hand through his hair. “I really didn’t want you to know about that.”

“You lost your golden core,” Wei Ying snapped. “It seems pretty important.” 

Wei Wuxian glanced at him, and Wei Ying was once again taken aback by the exhaustion on his face.

“Don’t take it personally. I don’t want anyone to find out.” 

Wei Ying really didn’t know what to say to that. He shuffled for a moment, trying to find the right words. In the end, all that came out was a weak, “Wen Qing knew.” 

Wei Wuxian hesitated, and then nodded slowly. “Yes, she did. She was the one who removed it for me.” 

For a moment, Wei Ying wasn’t sure he had heard that correctly. His older self watched him patiently as the words ran through his head again and again. 

“What?”  he managed at last.

“I probably should have told you earlier. I should have told you about all of it — Lotus Pier, the war, the Wens. It was just…hard.” 

“I don’t understand,” Wei Ying said, his voice sounding weak to his ears. “Why would — why would Wen Qing remove your core?” 

The thought was horrifying, and while Wen Qing was undoubtedly brash and headstrong, she wasn’t cruel. Wei Ying had seen her with Wei Wuxian, and she obviously cared for him. So why? 

“Alright, stop that line of thought. I know what you’re thinking, and you’ve got the wrong idea,” Wei Wuxian said firmly. “Wen Qing removed my core because I asked her.”

“Why — ?”

“Because,” Wei Wuxian said, raising his voice above Wei Ying’s alarmed cry, “Jiang Cheng lost his. Have you heard of the Core Melting Hand?” Wei Ying shook his head, his mind whirring. “You will. He’s the Wen's loyal dog, and he’ll do whatever they ask him to - including melting the cores of their enemies.” 

‘Jiang Cheng,’ Wei Ying thought in alarm, and suddenly the thought of losing his core wasn’t the most terrifying thing anymore.

“He’s our brother,” Wei Wuxian said calmly, and Wei Ying felt himself nod, almost automatically. Of course he understood that. Of course he did. “Wen Qing…there was a surgery she had developed, that would allow her to transfer someone’s core into another person’s body. Jiang Cheng has no idea, but…I needed to do it. I could make up my mind, live an ordinary life if I wanted to. But Jiang Cheng couldn’t do that. Madam Yu and Uncle Jiang were already dead, the Jiang Sect needed Jiang Cheng, and — ”

“And he’s our brother,” Wei Ying finished, nodding his head. He felt oddly calm. The thought of losing his core still made him feel sick if he thought about it for too long, and he couldn’t even imagine how his older self must have felt, but — he’d done it for Jiang Cheng. 

Wei Ying could understand that. And, if he had to lose his core, at least it would be for something important.

“I won’t let it happen to you, or to him,” Wei Wuxian said. He still looked weak, but his eyes blazed with determination, and Wei Ying found that he believed him. “I am sorry for not telling you about all of this earlier. I promise you, I’ll tell you and the Little Peacock everything you need to know before I send you back. The things that happened here don’t need to happen in your world too.” 

Wei Ying nodded his head. He could feel his heart racing, both with fear and anticipation. He was scared to hear about everything that had happened here; about how Lotus Pier had fallen, about how and why he had resorted to demonic cultivation, about how he had ended up in the Burial Mounds of all places.

But, there was no way he would let those things happen when he went home. He would do everything he could to make sure they didn’t. 

“Thank you,” he told Wei Wuxian, fully aware that if it wasn’t for the man in front of him, his friends and family could be suffering a very similar fate in the near future. 

Wei Wuxian smiled at him. “Don’t worry about it, Little Me. I’m not about to stand by and let the people we care about get hurt.”

He remembered his harsh words from earlier and swallowed. “Wuxian-ge?”

“Yes?”

“I’m really sorry about what I said before. You didn’t fail anyone.”

Wei Ying knew himself all too well, and he knew, despite his words, Wei Wuxian would never believe them. He blamed himself for what had happened, just like Wei Ying would be blaming himself in the same situation.

Still though — he had been cruel before. Wei Wuxian had gone through unspeakable pain, that Wei Ying himself couldn’t even imagine dealing with, and hoped he would never have to. He couldn’t understand that level of pain and tragedy, so what right did he have to judge? 

“It’s alright,” Wei Wuxian said, letting out a small laugh. “Little Me, you look like you’re about to cry. I'm not so fragile that my feelings get hurt that easily.” 

‘I can see right through you,’ Wei Ying thought. 

“I’m going to save them when I go home,” Wei Ying told him. “Uncle Jiang, Madam Yu, our Shidis — all of them. And that’s all thanks to you.” 

This time, Wei Wuxian smiled like he meant it.

…

“Thank you,” Jin Zixuan said to Wei Wuxian a while later. Wen Ning had already wandered off, and Wen Qing was checking Wei Wuxian’s vitals, still glaring in irritation from when she’d walked back inside and saw him trying to sit up.

“Hmm?” Wei Wuxian blinked at him. “For what?” 

“For saving me back there. And…I’m sorry. You know, for being the reason you had an arrow sticking out of your chest.”

Wei Wuxian let out a snort of laughter. “God, your apologies are just as awkward as your love confessions.” 

Jin Zixuan turned bright red and spluttered, while Wei Ying howled with laughter in the background. “Hey! What — what would you even know about that?!”

“Little Peacock, for all our sakes — please confess to my Shijie privately next time.” 

Jin Zixuan looked away, embarrassed. However, he didn’t feel the usual irritation he did when Jiang Yanli was brought up. Instead, he felt a strange feeling bubble inside of him, almost like anticipation. 

Maybe he would ask Wei Wuxian more about his relationship with Jiang Yanli later today. He had missed the chance with his older self, but Wei Wuxian would surely know something. 

“Really though, you have nothing to apologise for,” Wei Wuxian said, waving his hand dismissively. “You’re not the one who shot me.”

“Would you stop moving,” Wen Qing hissed.

Wei Wuxian pouted. “You’re so cruel to me! Kids, isn’t she mean?” 

“You do need the rest,” Jin Zixuan said pointedly. “It must have been a bad injury if it’s still this bad.” 

Wei Ying started slightly at that, but Jin Zixuan didn’t know why.

“I’ll be fine,” Wei Wuxian said. “You kids don’t need to worry.” He grinned slightly. “I am touched though. I never thought I’d have any version of the Peacock worrying about me.”

“I was worried,” Jin Zixuan said firmly. “So was my older self. He stopped by here, you know.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him, looking bewildered. “Oh,” he said at last. “That’s…” He shook his head, and laughed. “By the way, Little Peacock, you’re adorable when you’re worrying like that.” 

Jin Zixuan rolled his eyes, not feeling nearly as annoyed as he had been about the nickname. 

“Alright,” Wen Qing said, standing up, “everyone out of the room now. He needs his rest.” 

“I’m really not that tired — ”

“Rest Wei Wuxian.”

“I will stay,” Lan Wangji said promptly. Though he sounded as composed and unemotional as ever, he was gazing intently at Wei Wuxian, and Jin Zixuan instantly thought back to his earlier conclusion. Yeah, Lan Wangji definitely had feelings for Wei Wuxian.

God that was a weird thought. 

Wei Wuxian blinked. “Oh, Lan Zhan, you don’t need to do that. I can’t really do anything right now — “

“Wei Ying. I will stay.” 

“Yes, but I don’t get why —”

“I was worried,” Lan Wangji said, still staring intently at Wei Wuxian, and god this was awkward.

“You were worried,” Wei Wuxian repeated, still sounding confused. “For…me?” As if there was anyone else here who needed worrying over.

“Mn. For Wei Ying.”

“Oh.” Wei Wuxian blinked. “Oh that’s…I’m okay, Lan Zhan.”

Lan Wangji glanced down at the bandages peaking over Wei Wuxian’s shoulder, and then back up again.

“Lan Zhan! Don’t look at me like that, I really am! You don’t need to stay here with me.” 

“What’s going on right now?” Wei Ying asked, sounding bewildered. “I thought you two hated each other.” 

Lan Wangji shook his head firmly. “Not hate.” 

“But he said — ”

“What do you mean, not hate?” Wei Wuxian asked, his voice almost fragile. “Lan Zhan, I don’t…why are you here right now?” 

Jin Zixuan’s face felt warm. “Um,” he said, “should we…go? Give you two some privacy?”

Wei Ying glanced at him, still looking confused. “Huh? Why would they need privacy?” 

“Oh for gods — yes, we’re leaving, you two sort your shit out,” Wen Qing snapped. She walked briskly towards the doorway, and then shot both Jin Zixuan and Wei Ying glares when they didn’t immediately follow.

“Come on,” Jin Zixuan said, tugging on Wei Ying’s arm. He continued to watch his older self and Lan Wangji in open confusion.

Wei Wuxian was staring Lan Wangji with wide eyes, something soft and vulnerable in his gaze, and Jin Zixuan didn’t know how the hell Wei Ying wasn’t seeing that right now. He also did not want to stay in this room any longer, because he was starting to get a horrible feeling about this whole thing. 

“Come on,” he said again, all but dragging Wei Ying to the exit. 

“I still don’t understand — ”

“I’ll tell you later, but let’s just go.”

…

“You’re crazy,” Wei Ying said again. Jin Zixuan had lost count of how many times he had said that.

“Don’t drag me into this,” Wen Qing had snapped when Jin Zixuan had glanced at her desperately.

“No, really,” Wei Ying continued, “Lan Zhan? Like Wuxian-ge? That’s crazy! Neither of us are even cutsleeves!” 

Jin Zixuan rubbed his forehead, almost wishing he had never said anything. Uncle Four walked past him, and pat his shoulder comfortingly as he did. 

“What’s happening?” A-Yuan asked, looking at them in wide-eyed curiosity. They were trying to keep him away from Wei Wuxian for now, not wanting him to see his guardian’s injuries. 

“We’re talking about how Lan Wangji likes Wei Wuxian,” Jin Zixuan told him. 

A-Yuan’s face lit up. “Rich-gege!” he said, clearly recognising Lan Wangji’s name. “I like him!”

“Yeah, so does Wei Wuxian.”

Wei Ying shot him a glare. “Would you stop. That’s not even happening. Now, let’s talk about you and what you were talking with your future self about.” 

Jin Zixuan sighed and let the topic drop for now. 

(Lan Wangji didn’t leave Wei Wuxian’s room that night).