Chapter Text
It was a sunny day in cloud recesses. The sky was bathed in a clear blue and the wind softly flowed through the narrow passageways that Lan Zhan took to go to his first class of the day. Lessons and test were what his days consisted of since his husband, Wei Wuxian, went on a trip to lotus cove to try and fix the relationship with his brother.
Sect Leader Jiang had sent the invitation two weeks after their wedding, earning a disapproving answer from Lan Zhan. “He just wants to drag you away from me.” he had said. Wei Wuxian had laughed at him, lovingly stroking his husbands cheek. “My dear Lan Zhan, are you drinking vinegar? Over my brother?”
Even Sizuhi had noticed that his father seemed to be in a bad mood. He accompanied him whenever possible, going on walks, eating lunch and dinner together, or helping Lan Zhan take care of the bunnies, but in the end he had his own friends to spend time with, or some kind of studies to attend to.
This day was another boring one. After finishing his lessons, Lan Zhan went into the backyard of the cloud recesses, where he spend some time with his bunnies, trying to focus on the book in his hand. It didn’t work. Sizuhi and Jingyi found him around dinner time, dragging him back to eat. After that, he excused himself and went into the jingshi, where he took off his obnoxiously big headpiece and opened his hair, letting it flow down his back.
It was quite long at the moment, he thought, running his fingers through his thick, black hair. But he shouldn’t. Wei Wuxian loved his hair, braiding it when he had the time, washing it after a long day, or just pulling on it when he...Lan Zhan shuddered at the thought. He missed Wei Ying.
It was only a moment later that he noticed the jingshi fill with white smoke. In an instinct he held up his sleeve to his nose, trying to block out most of the smoke, but he ended up inhaling most of it anyway. Bichen was tightly clutched in his hand, but he couldn’t make out an intruder. The only thing that happened was the dizzy feeling that took over his body. Lan Zhans vision swam and he had to hold onto various objects beside him to hold himself up.
That was when he saw them. Three figures, all of them in black and masked faces staring back at him. “Who are you?” he growled, trying to pull Bichen from his sheath. It wouldn’t budge. The smoke not only made him disorientated, but also sealed off his spiritual powers. A strong hit to the head was the last thing he felt before collapsing to the ground.
Meanwhile Wei Wuxian sat at the lotus pier, his feet dangling in the lukewarm water. The nightsky was dark and clear, the stars were sparkling in the sea of darkblue, reflecting on the water underneath him. He imagined how it’d be to have Lan Zhan by his side right now. He would lean back into Lan Zhans body, relaxing into the protective warmth of his husband and inhaling the scent of sandalwood. He missed him terribly.
“Did you miss this?” asked a voice behind him suddenly. Jiang Cheng sat down beside him, playing with Zidian who was twirled around his finger. “Of course I did. What would make you think I didn’t miss the lotus cove and pier?”
Jiang Cheng huffed, staring straight ahead into the water. “You didn’t come back. You went with Lan Zhan. You went and choose him. Again. You even got married to him and now you live in the cloud recesses.”
Wei Wuxian looked to his brother, his fingers clawing into the soft fabric of his robe. “I didn’t go back to Lan Zhan, he found me. I did not choose him over my family, over you, ever, I simply defended a friend and got shit for that. And yes, I went and married him because I love this man more than life itself. I want to wake up by his side every day, I want to grow old with him and raise another child besides Sizuhi, I just want to be with him. Every second I spent apart from him is unbearable.”
“You really do love this idiot, don’t you?” asked Jiang Cheng, a frown between his eyebrows.
“Yes, yes I do.” answered Wei Wuxian, reaching out to brush a strand of hair out of Jiang Chengs face. “But I love you, too. You’re my brother. Nothing can ever change that.”
A strange glow radiated from Wei Wuxians robe. A panicked look appeared on his face when he scooped ashes from his pocket. “What’s that?” Jiang Cheng asked, eyeing the ashes strangely. “A talisman...i have to leave for cloud recesses immediately.” Wei Wuxian jumped up, picking up suibian.
“Hey, hey, tell me what happened!” Jiang Cheng grasped Wei Wuxians sleeve, holding the other back. “I made this talisman for Lan Zhan. If something happens to him, like his spiritual powers being sealed off, it will burn up and alert me. I need to go, ok?”
Jiang Cheng huffed out a breath. “I’ll fly with you. You still don’t have a good golden core and you’re way too upset. Let me help you!” Wei Wuxian stopped struggling against Jiang Chengs hold. He looked at him for a moment, but then he nodded. Relief rushed through Jiang Cheng. “If we go now, we’ll arrive at cloud recesses tomorrow morning.”
Sizuhi was the one to find the jingshi abandoned the next day. He stepped inside, carefully avoiding all the knocked-over objects on the floor. He stumbled over a hard object anyway, looking down. It was Bichen. With trembling fingers he went and picked up his fathers sword. Something was seriously wrong. His fathers headpiece was still on his nightstand and Bichen was left behind. Lan Zhan never left anywhere without Bichen.
“Hanguang-Jun!” yelled Sizuhi, ignoring the rule that loud noises were forbidden. This was about his family after all. “Sizuhi?” he whipped around. Jingyi was standing in the open door, concern written on his face. Sizuhi trembled, his entire body shaking like a leaf.
“My father, my father is gone!” Jingyi frowned. “Are you sure? Hanguang-Jun is one of the best swordsman we have in cloud recesses, if not the best. Who could abduct him so easily?”
Sizuhi shrugged, but held up Bichen so Jingyi could see the sword himself. “He would never leave Bichen behind if not necessary or forced. Please, we need to alert someone right now. Dad is at lotus cove, it would take too long if we send for him. We need to speak to Lan Qiren and Zewu-Jun. Now!” Jingyi nodded, taking a hold of Sizuhis hand and rushing into the main hall.
Lan Qiren was seated there, eating his breakfast in silence, luckily accompanied by Zewu-Jun who would be going into seclusion the following week.
“Zewu-Jun!” shrieked Sizuhi, coming to an abrupt stop in front of his uncle. The man raised an eyebrow at the two boys, a soft smile on his tired face. Sizuhi felt bad for him.
Lan Xichen patted the seat beside him, ushering Sizuhi and Jingyi to sit down. He reached forward and softly patted his nephews head. “What’s the matter?” he asked in the quiet and loving tone that everyone loved about him so much.
Sizuhi held out Bichen to him. “Father, he’s gone. Something happened.” Lan Xichens smile slipped from his face. Lan Qiren turned his attention to the conversation beside him after seeing Lan Zhans sword. “Can someone enlighten me on what is going on?”
Lan Xichen took Bichen into his hand. “Wangji…” he whispered, turning around to his uncle. “Wangji, he is gone. He would never leave Bichen willingly behind, meaning…”
“Meaning someone kidnapped my father!” said Sizuhi, leaning into Jingyi who had his arms protectively around his friend. Lan Qiren went even whiter than he already was. Lan Xichen handed Bichen back to Sizuhi, who clung to the sword as if seeking comfort in his fathers possession. “Dad.” he said suddenly. “Dad!” Lan Xichen nodded. “Sizuhi is right, we need to inform Young Master Wei.”
The door of the hall got torn open. “Not necessary, I’m already here!” boomed a voice through the silence. Sizuhi jumped up, running into his dads arms. Wei Wuxian wrapped his arms around his shaking son, soothingly running his hands up and down Sizuhis back.
“Sizuhi, calm down, I’m here.” he lead his son back to the table, Jiang Cheng silently following his brother before bowing and greeting Lan Qiren and Zewu-Jun.
“Sect Leader Jiang, what are you doing here?” Jiang Cheng forced himself to smile. Wei Wuxian snarled at Lan Qiren. “Does it matter? He’s here to help. Now Sizuhi, please, tell us what happened.”
The young cultivator cleared his throat, while Jingyi squeezed his hand in silent comfort. “Hanguang-, I mean father, he didn’t attend his class today, so I went out to look for him. When I got to the jingshi, the door was open, which is unusual since father hates insects intruding his space. When I came inside, the room was a mess, Bichen was laying on the ground and fathers headpiece is still here.”
Wei Wuxian could feel the color drain from his face. Jiang Cheng steadied him with a hand on his brothers arm. “Bichen?” Sizuhi nodded, handing the sword over to Wei Wuxian who cradled it like a child, letting his fingers roam over the artsy sheath. “If he left Bichen, he left forcefully. His spiritual power has been shut off.”
Zewu-Jun turned to Wei Wuxian, a confused look on his face. “How do you know?”
Wei Wuxian stole a piece of bread and munched on it while explaining: “I created an emergency talisman that I always use when I’m not with Lan Zhan. It burned up yesterday, meaning his spiritual powers have been shut down.”
“But...if father doesn’t have any way to fight back...he could already be-” Wei Wuxian whipped his head around, slapping his hand over Sizuhis mouth. He shook his head, a determined glint in his eyes.
“No way. There’s absolutely no way Lan Zhan is dead. Don’t think like that. Come on, we’ll take a look at the jingshi, let’s see what we can find. Jiang Cheng, Jingyi, Zewu-Jun, accompany me please.” Wei Wuxian bows to Lan Qiren, but left without another word.
When Lan Zhan regained his consciousness, he was sat in a dark room. The air smelled damp and musty. His hands had been tied, his feet in shackles. He still couldn’t feel his spiritual power, meaning that either, it still hadn’t returned, or his kidnappers went and shut them off again.
Lan Zhan shivered in his robe, the fabric way too thin for the climate in the room. This was the first time for him to be in such a situation. It was the first time, ever, that he felt absolutely helpless. And Wei Wuxian didn’t know he was gone.
A door opened with a low sound, footsteps approaching him slowly. “Who the fuck are you!” he hissed, trying to take a look at the persons face. All he could make out were the eyes behind the mask. They reminded Lan Zhan of a cat, looking at his prey.
“Look at you. The great great Hanguang-Jun, at my mercy.” the person took a syringe out of his pocket, holding it up in front of Lan Zhans face. It was filled with a clear, glistening liquid. Panic flooded every inch of Lan Zhans body, but his face remained emotionless.
“We have our own demonic cultivator, you know? Even if your husband comes for you, you’ll already be dead at the time, or our cultivator will kill the Yiling Patriarch before he can help you. Once and for all.”
The stranger stabbed the syringe forcefully into Lan Zhans vein on his neck, pushing the liquid into his bloodstream.
“He’ll come for me. And mercy won’t be on his mind.” spat Lan Zhan at his kidnapper before darkness consumed him.