Chapter Text
Luo Qingyang didn't expect to meet Hanguang Jun on her journey. She'd been roaming the world for the past six years and had heard all about the infamous Hanguang Jun.
She had arrived on the outskirts of Lanling city and been requested to investigate claims of a fierce corpse terrorizing the village. The villagers were too scared to be out at night because of the inhuman screaming that rang dense through the village once the sun set. She heard the shrieks all throughout the night until the sun came up for the past five days and hadn’t gotten much sleep. On the fifth day a granny on the edge of town had seen her walking through and caught a glimpse of the sword she held in her hand and begged her to help.
She knew the bigger sects wouldn’t bother sending any cultivators to solve something small like this. It was not a prestigious enough kill for them. With this thought Luo Qingyang huffed indignantly, no matter how many years passed those hypocrites would never change. Luo Qingyang had been freely roaming as a rogue cultivator since she left the Lanling Jin Sect. It had been a lonely journey; she missed the camaraderie and comfort that the big sect provided. But when she thought of how not one of her comrades from the Lanling Jin sect had stood up for her or even bothered to think about her perspective, she realized that she was better off alone. Hanguang Jun had been present when she defected from her sect six years ago. He’d been the one to speak up for Wei Wuxian first.
She bumped into Hanguang Jun on the fifth night outside her inn, shortly after the screaming had started.
“Hanguang Jun.” She bowed with her sword in hand when he was close enough.
Hanguang Jun nodded once before returning her bow.
“Did you also hear about the fierce corpse in this area?”
“Mn. A young boy requested help.” His voice was even and controlled. Luo Qingyang couldn’t help but admire him and not for the first time she thought he was truly befitting of his title of Hanguang Jun. No matter where she went there were talks of what a righteous and talented cultivator he was.
Hanguang Jun follows wherever the chaos goes.
He looked as prim and proper as ever, but there was something different about him. His face still beautiful like it was carved from jade, stoic and unsmiling, cold yet refined. His posture straight and upright despite the heavy guqin strapped across his shoulder, carefully holding Bichen in his left hand. Luo Qingyang couldn't help but notice the light shadow under his eyes that blemished his otherwise perfectly pale complexion. His eyes screamed that he was exhausted, but nothing about the way he held himself would give that away. If someone just glanced at him they would not have noticed this in the slightest. The last time she had seen him there was a fire in his eyes as he vehemently defended Wei Wuxian.
“Could I join you?” she blurted out before she could stop herself, “it’s always easier to handle a fierce corpse with company.”
Hanguang Jun stared at her as if he was trying to figure what out her intentions were. In reality asking to join him hadn’t even crossed her mind but the words had slipped out when she saw the exhaustion in his eyes. It was not that she had any doubts that Hanguang Jun would be fine. After all it was just one fierce corpse, at his level of cultivation he could probably defeat it without breaking a sweat. But something about the look in his eyes made her feel like she needed to make sure he was alright.
He finally nodded and they set off into the dense forest.
Luo Qingyang paused when she heard the faint melody of the guqin flowing through her open window. It was late enough in the night that there was no street noise and most of the other patrons in the inn had fallen asleep, grateful that the screaming had finally stopped. Her and Hanguang Jun had managed to defeat the fierce corpse quickly and cleansed the area of residual resentful energy before heading back into the village to rest.
Curiously she wrapped herself in her outer robes and headed down to the back of the inn. The back of the inn was facing the edge of a lake with a large tree whose branches dipped to reach the water. Underneath the tree she saw Hanguang Jun sitting with an upright posture and carefully strumming each string of his guqin in a methodical manner, his eyes were closed and as usual there was no expression on his face. Luo Qingyang could barely make out anything as the only source of light was the bright moon in the sky. The melody seemed very familiar. She waited until he finished his final note before she moved to quietly walk towards him. Her cultivation was no where near as good as Hanguang Jun’s and she wasn't trying to conceal her presence in the slightest, so the second her foot lifted off the ground his eyes opened and stared straight at her.
“Sorry, am I bothering you?”
Hanguang Jun shook his head.
“I heard the music from my window and thought it sounded familiar, so I came down to look”, she said quickly. Hanguang Jun looked up at her for a second, contemplation clear in his eyes.
“It is Inquiry.”
Inquiry – she had learned about this while she was at Cloud Recesses.
A song to speak with the souls of the deceased, “Wei Wuxian…” slipped out before she could stop her mouth.
They both froze and look at each other wide eyed. Pain and panic flashed through Hanguang Jun’s eyes and she could only scream at herself internally for letting the name slip. After a moment the pain in his eyes subsided and are replaced again with a glassy distant look as if he was trying to lock that emotion away and he nods. Luo Qingyang glanced down at his guqin and noticed the string marks on the pads of his otherwise perfect fingers. His finger tips were bright red and a bout of sadness rises through her chest.
She glanced at his face, his eyes seemed a thousand miles away again. The look in his eyes bore so much pain that she couldn’t look straight at him anymore. There was something reminiscent about that look. It was the same eyes that her mother had worn every time she talked about her father. A look of longing, loss, love and then – Oh - He was in love with Wei Wuxian.
Several moments flashed through her mind at once. When Hanguang Jun had voluntarily stayed behind with Wei Wuxian in the Xuanwu cave. How he clutched the unconscious and fevered man close when they found them several days later, refusing to let go. When he had argued for Wei Wuxian at Carp Tower as if he were confident that there was no way that Wei Wuxian could kill indiscriminately. When he followed her out of Lanling Jin Sect after she defended Wei Wuxian and quietly thanked her with a look of relief in his eyes as if he was relieved he was not the only person in the world who would stand by Wei Wuxian.
“I’m sorry you lost him”, the words spilled from her mouth as if she were throwing them up, eager to be rid of the discomfort in her chest.
Nervously she glanced at Hanguang Jun hoping that she didn’t offend him. He looked at her for a second before nodding slightly.
“He saved my life”, she stated, directing the words to herself more than to him, “but I didn’t stand up for him because I thought I owed him my life” – no matter what my sect thought. Wei Wuxian was insufferable, annoying, loud, and obnoxious. But she knew he was also selfless, righteous, and incredibly brave.
“I stood up for him because I believed that what he was doing was right even if his methods were wrong and I trusted that he was not evil nor would he kill indiscriminately and for no reason. I knew he would always stand on the side of justice.” Luo Qingyang had never said these words out loud. There was never an opportunity to. When she had argued against Jin Guangshan and her sect members all those years ago, she couldn’t formulate into words exactly why she stood by him. She’d been so frustrated that no matter what Wei Wuxian did or what his intentions were they already had preconceived notions of him that would not change. Her own sect had even mocked her for only standing up for him because they thought she was in love with him. It made her so angry that she could not coherently say what she wanted to say. It was one of the only things she regretted about leaving her sect.
After a long pause Hanguang Jun spoke up, “Luo Qingyang... thank you”, for your trust in Wei Ying.
Luo Qingyang smiled sheepishly at him, “you can call me Mianmian.”
Hanguang Jun paused for a moment and his eyes look a thousand miles away again but they soften.
“Mianmian” he whispered and a look of fondness flashed through his eyes. Not for the first time since they’ve met, she understood what his eyes conveyed and giggled softly.
"My name? My name is Yundao."
For a second she swore she could hear his boisterous laughter in the distance. He’d so brazenly called her Mianmian before even introducing himself.
“Only those I am close with can call me Mianmian”, she’d retaliated in frustration.
In truth it was a lie, everyone called her Mianmian back then. Some more distant people didn’t even know her birth name was Luo Qingyang and thought she was Luo Mianmian. But for some reason Mianmian sounded unfamiliar to her now. It had been a long time since she’d been addressed so casually.
“Lan Wangji” Hanguang Jun interrupted her thoughts and she looked at him with a confused expression.
“You can call me that if you wish.”
Mianmian smiled fondly at him, a sense of camaraderie bubbling in her chest.