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Lan Wangji died clutching onto Wei Wuxian’s body as the vengeful spirits tore them both apart.
Thirteen years later Mo Xuanyu sacrifices his body and soul to summon Wei Wuxian for revenge. Wei Wuxian awakens confused and with fragmented memories of his death. He does not remember the last moments of his life.
Wei Wuxian has no idea what to do to heal the last slit on his wrist. Mo Xuanyu left no notes, no instructions, no list, therefore Wei Wuxian has no leads. He worries about the inevitable end that would come if he disregards the burning slit on his wrist. But he decides to push those worries to the back of his mind; he would figure it out one step at a time.
He decides to wander, and his wandering brings him to many places and he accidentally bumps into many familiar faces. Jiang Cheng being the one that hurt the most. But still, no one suspects Mo Xuanyu to actually be Wei Wuxian so at least no one is trying to actively hunt him down.
Throughout his weeks of traveling he hears many rumors, he’s not really interested in catching up on all that’s happened since he died. Not when the possibility of staying alive depended on solving the mystery behind the bloody slit on his arm.
Of course even if he's not actively seeking, he still catches all the whispers of the evil Yiling Laozhu, not surprising. What is surprising are the distinctly more hushed whispers of how unfortunate it was that the Yiling Laozhu had to bring down someone so honorable with him. It’s even more strange when anyone who hears this would violently hush the other person. As much as he does not want to remember his final moments, he can remember that he distinctly directed all his resentful energy towards his own body. So, he writes it off as people adding their own spin to the story to make the Yiling Laozhu sound that much worse. It was not the first time people stretched the truth to fit their own warped beliefs and it would not be the last.
Several more weeks of traveling later, a thought that had begun in the back of his mind slowly crawls to the forefront. After listening to rumour after rumour of how the Yiling Laozhu was evil, how Sect Leader Jiang abhorred demonic cultivation, how the Lanling sect became powerful under the leadership of Jin Guangyao, Wei Wuxian noticed no one spoke about Hanguang Jun. He who was righteous and famous even in his youth by helping everyone and anyone, surely thirteen years later he would be even more infamous right?
Wei Wuxian can’t help but wonder if Lan Wangji had retired early and settled down. His heart feels kind of itchy, but he eases the feeling by imagining Lan Wangji abruptly leaving the cultivation world because he was sick of the gossip and politics. Lan Wangji was probably out there somewhere, helping grannies carry groceries, and teaching orphans how to write. You know, Hanguang Jun things.
Still curiosity got the best of him and Wei Wuxian makes his way over to the Gusu Lan area. He tells himself he just wants to visit before it gets too cold and the magnolia’s stop blooming. He’s definitely not hoping to run into Lan Wangji by accident.
On the way, he bumps into several Lan Juniors who had bitten off more than they could chew during an unsupervised night hunt. The Juniors have clearly heard of Mo Xuanyu’s tarnished reputation, but since they were from the righteous Lan Clan they politely bow and thank him for saving them. The oldest of the group, Lan Sizhui, offers to let him stay a couple nights as a guest in Cloud Recesses. Clearly, he can see how dirty Wei Wuxian’s robes were. Of course, how could Wei Wuxian deny such a luxury.
Wei Wuxian chatters endlessly on their way to Cloud Recesses and surprisingly the disciples talk more than any Lan Disciple he’d ever met in his first life. As they make their way through the Cloud Recesses gates, they bump into Lan Xichen on his way out.
Flustered at seeing yet another familiar face, Wei Wuxian attempts to make some jokes. Lan Xichen eyes Wei Wuxian suspiciously but otherwise says nothing. Lan Xichen looks like he’s aged. Of course, there is still a refined ethereal beauty like aura around him, but his eyes look hollow and his face much paler than Wei Wuxian remembers. Most surprisingly is that Lan Xichen no longer smiles with his eyes and Wei Wuxian can’t help but wonder why.
The boys lead him to a small guest room and offer to show him around, but Wei Wuxian politely declines. He wanted to wander around the premise, hoping he’d bump into some more familiar faces (not Lan Wangji, obviously). Even though he tells himself that he’s not looking for anyone in particular, he can’t help but grin when he thinks about all the ways he could tease Lan Wangji when he finds him. It would just be like old times but of course, he’d have to tone it down because Mo Xuanyu didn’t actually know Lan Wangji. Still, he’s excited at the possibility of feeling some semblance of normal. Having some sort of connection to his first life. A reminder that he was actually alive and Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian makes his way over to the area near the Jingshi. He walks past it a couple times hoping someone (again, not Lan Wangji) would pass by. After his fourth time walking past, he’s surprised to see the doors to the Jingshi wide open. Excited that Lan Wangji had forgotten to close his doors, Wei Wuxian heads over to take a closer look. Instead of Lan Wangji, he finds several young disciples cleaning and dusting the room. Wei Wuxian frowns, Lan Wangji would never allow people to go into his living quarters. Plus, it’s Lan Wangji, he would never have let his room get this dusty in the first place. Maybe Lan Wangji had moved to a different space, the air in the Jingshi did seem a little bit off.
Wei Wuxian can’t shake the feeling that something is wrong. He’s wandering the halls of Cloud Recesses when he overhears some disciples talking about how tired Lan Xichen has been lately. Another disciple mentions he’s been single handedly dealing with sect matters since Lan Qiren has been bedridden for over a decade, so of course he's tired. Lan Qiren nearly suffered a Qi devastation and has not woken for nearly thirteen years.
Wei Wuxian wonders what could have possibly caused this type of thing to happen to his old teacher, he was perfectly healthy the last time he saw him. He knew the Lan Sect was all about cultivating the mind and peaceful meditation. Frankly put, the people of this clan were the least likely to experience Qi devastation. And Lan Qiren was an exceptional cultivator in his own right.
Panic starts to build in Wei Wuxian and he can’t figure out exactly why.
His head is in the clouds trying to piece things together. His feet carry him to the Lan Sect Ancestral halls.
He comes to a conclusion, but he prays to the heavens that he was wrong.
But sure enough, Lan Wangji’s tablet is there.
Suddenly, Wei Wuxian can’t breathe while simultaneously taking in too many breaths. The air doesn’t make it past his throat before it comes back out his mouth. His lungs are on fire.
There's silent footsteps and suddenly there’s a blade at his neck. The blade has a similar icy glint to Bichen and for one hopeful second Wei Wuxian calls out, “Lan Zhan.”
But it’s not.
The First Jade of Lan flinches at the name.
“Wei Wuxian.”
It’s not a question, it’s a statement said with years of anger and resentment. It’s nothing like the old Zewu Jun he knew. Suddenly Wei Wuxian panics, he can’t remember what Lan Wangji’s voice sounded like saying his name.
Lan Wangji was dead.
Lan Wangji is dead.
His ancestral tablet is sitting behind him. Will sit there forever.
Everything that didn’t make sense starts to come together. Why no one spoke about Hanguang Jun anymore, the honorable person the Yiling Laozhu brought down with him, the dusty and empty Jingshi, Lan Qiren’s near Qi devastation.
Reality crushes down on Wei Wuxian’s lungs. He wants to stop breathing but his body forces him to gasp for air.
Lan Xichen grows angrier the longer he stands with his blade against Wei Wuxian’s heaving body. He, too, starts to shake with emotion. Wei Wuxian was back but his little brother was still dead. Wei Wuxian was back but his uncle was still unconscious. Wei Wuxian was back but he was still so so alone.
Between his soft tremors and Wei Wuxian’s pained thrashing, Shouyue slips slightly and makes a shallow cut on Wei Wuxian’s neck.
Wei Wuxian does not react in the slightest. He barely even notices Lan Xichen’s presence anymore. Lan Xichen watches his blank expression that stares a million miles beyond him. Lan Xichen watches as silent tears run down Wei Wuxian’s face, salty tears dripping into the blood that runs down his neck.
Suddenly he’s reminded of the way the original Wei Wuxian had looked when they stormed Burial Mounds all those years ago.
He remembers his shock when Wangji had rushed through the crowd of a hundred or so cultivators, unable to see anything but Wei Wuxian.
He remembers the shocked murmurs of how the Yiling Laozhu had tricked the mighty Hanguang Jun to break out of seclusion.
He remembers the way his brother looked so far away when he reached Wei Wuxian’s side. No matter how much he or his uncle called to him, Wangji never even turned to face them.
He remembers how small Wei Wuxian looked in Wangji’s protective embrace. How his brother watched Wei Wuxian as if the rest of the world did not matter.
He remembers his brother’s desperate cries when Wei Wuxian shoved him away, seconds before the vengeful spirits began to destroy his body.
He remembers screaming his little brothers name desperately as he watched Wangji reach towards Wei Wuxian.
He remembers how he couldn’t distinguish between his own desperate pleas and Wei Wuxian’s screams of agony.
He will never forget how Wangji did not make a single sound as the spirits destroyed the both of them.
He will never forget the look of peaceful acceptance gracing his precious brothers face before it was no more.
He remembers all this every night since that day and will remember this every night until he dies. He understands Wei Wuxian is not the one to blame but that doesn’t stop the anger. His brother willingly gave his life to try to save this man and now he was gone.
But, Lan Wangji would not have wanted Lan Xichen to hurt Wei Wuxian.
Slowly, Lan Xichen lowers his blade while he takes in shallow steady breaths. His shoulders slump in resigned defeat. He’s so tired of being angry and alone.
Wei Wuxian is still kneeling in front of him hyperventilating, no sounds make it past his throat.
Lan Xichen opens his mouth to try to say something, anything. But suddenly Wei Wuxian snaps his head up with a wild desperate look in his eyes. Startled Lan Xichen raises his sword up while taking a step back. Before he can react, Wei Wuxian lunges straight into his blade.
His eyes widen in shock but all he can do is watch as Wei Wuxian dies in front of him for the second time in his life.