Chapter Text
He doesn’t know how it happened. He wondered how it was even possible for this to happen. Just moments ago, he stood surrounded by tombstones, with the sun already going down. The weather was chilly and he couldn't help but shiver.
He put his hood on and his cold hands went back into the pockets. He let a breath out as a huge gust of wind hit him. Closing his eyes for a moment, he waited for a little, then turned to walk towards the gate when he heard movement. As if something huge had landed on the ground heavily. The loud sound scared him, and he turned around to see a stone statue.
It was an angel, recognizable because of the wings and it had its eyes covered with its hands as if it was crying. It wasn’t weird to see an angel statue there. However, how did that statue appear right on the path that he had just passed by?
If this is a prank, it’s not funny.
Maybe if it was a different time, he wouldn’t mind it, but he wasn’t in the mood.
If it was a different time, he would have been loud, trying to intimidate the person who was messing with him. He would have laughed and talked a lot, hoping to annoy the person until they came out of hiding. He would ruin the prank someone tried to do since his reaction wouldn't be what they expected. It worked before; it could work again. But that was before.
Now, he felt like a completely different person. One who didn’t tolerate this behavior, who just wanted to go home and get in bed. Lay there the whole time and pretend that the world around him didn’t exist. That he’s not real and that all of this is just a dream. Soon he will wake up, happy and full of life, like he used to be.
So, he turned around and started walking away until he heard the same sound again. Something heavy landed on the ground. He quickly turned to look back and this time saw two angel statues. The first one was looking up, with its hands lowered, the one behind was crying into its hands, just like the first statue moments ago.
Seeing that, fear washed over him like a huge wave. He was frozen in one place and didn’t know what he could do.
Why is it looking at me? How is that even possible, I just saw it covering its face. And it’s a statue. How the fuck can a statue move?
Just standing there proved to be worthless since he blinked, and the statues were suddenly a lot closer to him than before. The first one had its hand extended forwards, reaching towards him. He kept looking at the statues and started taking steps back, to try and get away but whenever he blinked, they just kept getting closer, following him.
At this point, he knew that this wasn’t a joke. This was something serious and he figured that he won’t get out of this situation unharmed. The gadgets that he had wouldn’t help either since he had no idea what he was dealing with.
And yet, he decided to not do anything. He knows that he should have started running. To try and get away from this place as fast as he could, to get out of there alive. But he had no fight left in him.
It doesn’t matter what happens now. It won’t hurt as much as I am hurting right now.
So, without giving himself a moment to consider his choice, he stopped walking. Wei Ying closed his eyes.
As he did that, he heard more sounds, it all surrounded him. Suddenly, there was a heavy weight on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see the angel right in front of him before the view changed and everything around him disappeared.
One moment he was surrounded by tombstones, the next, he was in a forest, surrounded by trees. It was daytime, the sun was high up in the sky. The weather was hot, and he could hear the forest life, with many different bird sounds.
The next moment, something hit him. A huge burst of energy took his breath away for a second and he staggered back before he leaned on a nearby tree. It was warm and very powerful, yet it felt familiar. Wei Ying quickly figured that it was yang energy. He knew how it felt but it was his first time feeling it this powerful and abundant. He didn’t know that there was a place left where the yang energy was so present.
It’s silent. I can’t hear any cars, meaning I’m far away from a city, far away from any road. Probably somewhere deep in a forest? Since there’s nothing around me but trees and bushes.
How the hell will I get back home?!
Wei Ying looked around as he took the hood off his head. The wind rustled his hair a little. A pair of birds flew over his head, he also heard the bushes rustle. The scent of nature, of the flowers and plants, was in the air. It all felt too real.
Everything could be a hallucination.
Trying to convince himself of that, Wei Ying looked around for any clues that could indicate this wasn’t real. It wouldn’t be the first time when he encountered a ferocious spirit that could manipulate and create various illusions.
However, nothing seemed out of place or weird. Trying to look for anything was useless since Wei Ying felt the yang energy. No spirit could create such a thing for a hallucination, knowing that most used resentful energy.
The only thing that didn’t make sense was that this forest had so much of it. There was no place on earth that had this much. And Wei Ying had been to the purest places on earth, none of them had this much yang energy.
Eventually, he started moving, walking through the forest in hopes of finding life. All this thinking wouldn’t just magically help him find something.
Ten minutes turned into twenty and twenty into more yet there was still nothing. He tried to check his phone but when he took it out of his pocket, the screen was broken. Wei Ying first tried to unlock the phone with his fingerprint, then tried clicking the power button but nothing happened. His phone was dead, so he decided to try another way.
Taking a talisman out of his pocket and a compass, Wei Ying drew a new one that would help him find any hostile spirits. Most spirits and ghosts were always around people so this would eventually lead him to people.
Wei Ying infused the talisman with spiritual energy and watched as it glowed. He couldn’t help but gasp as he felt the spiritual energy travel through his body. It felt unreal and he didn’t even think that he could gather this much, his golden core had barely formed.
He waited a few moments, getting used to the feeling of so much spiritual energy, then put the talisman on the compass. His eyes went wide when it started working immediately. The arrow instantly started spinning wildly. It did that for a bit until it eventually stopped and pointed to a single direction, most probably anchored to the closest place from where Wei Ying was.
“Well, this is quite interesting,” he muttered to himself as he started walking towards the direction shown by the compass.
He spent a lot of time walking, not quite knowing how much time had passed. But the place was quite far away, and Wei Ying was surprised that the compass was working so well. Usually, the compass only worked if what he was looking for was close to him, not at a very long distance.
Finally, Wei Ying reached a place. He could hear people talking, animals, and other sounds. He was sure he was going to reach a village based in a forest and far away from city life. All this walking gave him a lot of time to think, and he figured that those statues had teleported him to some kind of place.
The statues, or as Wei Ying decided to call them, crying angels, seemed to be very powerful beings. He has read about teleportation talismans and that they did exist a long time ago.
However, given what kind of world he lived in, only a very powerful cultivator could use one. He could only think of a few elder cultivators who would have enough spiritual energy to use a teleportation talisman. In the twenty-first century, cultivation is barely practiced, and most reached high levels of cultivation while being only one step away from old age.
His thoughts came to a halt when he could finally see the village. It had a stone wall surrounding it, with a huge gate in the middle. He could see people walking in and out. As he walked closer, he noticed that everyone was wearing long ancient-looking robes. Most men had long hair that reached their hips. Wei Ying stopped as he took everything in.
“Maybe this is a village that just tries to stay with the traditions?” He muttered to himself yet even he didn’t believe that.
Something was not right. He walked closer, hiding behind the trees and the bushes, hoping that no one would spot him. He was finally close enough to read the sign above the gate which said ‘Yiling’.
The only time he heard anything about Yiling was while reading texts from ancient times. Scrolls were from a time when the country was full of cultivators when different sects and clans existed. This was the only time he has heard about Yiling.
Wei Ying sat down. He leaned against a tree, taking a little break from the walking. He could see the life inside the city and couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that the theory he just thought of could be right.
“Time travel,” he said to himself while he closed his eyes. But it can’t be. It’s not possible .
Nevertheless, the truth was right in front of him. The people, their clothes. They were carrying baskets made of bamboo, some of them carried swords. People walked around with animals that could carry some weight. Their lights were lanterns. There were no electric pillars or any wires above the houses. Everything was built from wood or stone. Nothing modern.
Wei Ying could see a few stalls where people were selling things, most of it looked like food. He could also catch a few words that people spoke and some of it sounded weird. No one spoke like this anymore unless it was ancient times. And it couldn’t be.
After sitting for what felt like too long, Wei Ying decided to wait until the evening. Then it would be easier to not be seen since his clothes would just stand out too much.
He would be noticed instantly if people saw him wearing his black tightly fitted pants, and a leather jacket on top of a black hoodie with a maroon t-shirt tucked into his pants. And of course, his sneakers would catch attention too. He couldn’t afford that, because what would the people do?
The only plan he had was to steal clothes from someone and hope that he’s not caught. Wei Ying was confident that he wouldn't get caught since being a cultivator required him to be able to sneak up on spirits at times. And he worked the best at night so his only option was to wait until the night.
He stood up and went back into the forest, hoping to find a stream from which he could drink water. On the way, he took off his jacket and hoodie. The weather was too hot for that.
After finding a reliable water source, he decided to first spend his time close to it, still hiding. Later, he would go back to where he was before, to better see when it was best to go into the city.
During that time, Wei Ying found himself being bored out of his mind. Because of this, his mind wandered and he started thinking about many things. As he sat against a tree, he couldn’t help but fidget. He was nervous after all.
Wei Ying hoped that he wasn’t sent back in time. One side of him hoped that he wasn’t because if he was, how would he get back? There was no talisman for that and the angels were definitely not an option. If he was sent there, then there must have been a reason and the moving statues won’t undo what they did.
Another side didn’t seem to care about it all. He thought that maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he eventually stayed there, lived, and died. Wei Ying could simply waste away there, stuck in a boring routine if he wanted to, it didn’t matter. He could wait for the end there, with no one to hurt and no one to hurt him.
But he did have someone waiting for him to come back. Someone who depended on him wholly.
“I know you are in pain. We all are but don’t forget that you’re still needed.”
Wei Ying knew where his mind was going and he wasn’t surprised that these words flashed in his mind. Like a bright light in the darkest night. These words were like an anchor, keeping him from spiraling too deep into the wrong side.
Because he was still needed by A-Yuan. He needed to think of his son, to find a way to come back to him.
But how could he- He couldn't-
Not like this-
Stop it.
Stop thinking.
Wei Ying sucked in a deep breath and looked up, trying to stop the tears from spilling. Only then did it sink in that he was left alone with his thoughts. This was the first time in a long time and he understood how dangerous it was. He needed to get himself out of the spiral but there was nothing that could help him distract himself or someone who could help him.
So for a few hours, Wei Ying did his best to try and not let his emotions spill even if they were overflowing. He pretended that the tears he wiped away angrily simply didn’t exist.
Eventually, he reached a point where he felt void of any emotions. He was numb inside and his head was silent, but at least he had a set goal: going back home to his son.
Hours later, until the sun had finally hid behind the mountains, and when the sky was dark, Wei Ying slowly came out of his hiding spot and walked towards the city. He carefully looked around then made his way towards the gate. He easily climbed up the high wall and made it to the other side with no problems.
It was silent. Of course, most had already gone to sleep since it was near midnight, so the city was a lot calmer now. The streets were empty and Wei Ying could freely roam, looking for any shop that sold clothes.
However, he was still cautious, staying in the shadows and hiding behind buildings. It took him some time to find a specific shop. The stalls he saw from where he was hiding were mostly for food after all.
When he walked into the shop, it was completely dark. The lights from the street didn't help. Wei Ying couldn’t see much so he quickly picked what looked like an undergarment, pants, a robe. He then silently walked out, closing the door.
The only thing he was missing was shoes; he couldn’t rely on the robe to hide his sneakers. So he went to look for a pair of shoes. To his luck, he found a shop right in front of the clothing one. Wei Ying made sure he had the right size with him before snatching a pair and making his way out of the shop.
Walking behind houses and staying in the shadows, Wei Ying made it out of the city and back into his hiding spot. There, he changed into his new clothes and hid his modern ones. He didn't forget to take all of the belongings he had with him, like his phone, his wallet, empty talisman paper, and so on.
Only then did he see that he picked a brown robe and white undergarment. The robe also had big sleeves. The pair of shoes that he had picked was black and so were the pants.
Good, it looks like I’m simply a citizen. This will do nicely.
To fit in, even more, he tied his hair into a simple ponytail, silently thanking himself for having a hair tie. His hair wasn't that long yet it still reached a bit below his shoulders. Wei Ying was glad he grew his hair out since this would help him to blend in.
Eventually, Wei Ying came out of the bushes, trying to think of what he could do next. As he turned away from the gate to Yiling, he noticed a statue not too far away from him. It took him a moment since this statue did not have wings but he realized that the statue was the same crying angel.
His instincts screamed for him to run and hide but Wei Ying had to remind himself that these statues could not move if he looked at them. So the one currently in front of him could not move and possibly cause some damage.
He kept staring at it until he heard sounds indicating there was someone else. Wei Ying fought the urge to look away from the statue. However, he knew that he could not just stand and look at the statue so he decided to try and freeze it one spot.
Wei Ying took a paper out of his sleeve without looking, then bit into his finger. Using his blood, he drew a talisman. Since he used that kind of talisman a lot, he knew what to write by heart. When he finished, he infused the talisman with spiritual energy and threw it at the statue.
The talisman disappeared when it landed against the statue's back. Wei Ying waited for a few moments for anything to happen. When nothing did, only then did he dare to blink a few times. The statue didn’t move.
This doesn’t mean anything but I'm happy to know that this talisman works against them. Something to keep in mind for later.
Wei Ying walked towards the statue, taking his time to get a closer look at it. The statue looked like stone, it also felt cold to touch. This time, this one was wearing more traditional clothes. It didn’t look like the angels he saw before yet it had similarities.
A new thing he noticed was its expression. The statue had its mouth open and Wei Ying could see all the sharp teeth. Its eyebrows were furrowed, it looked angry.
He studied the statue until he had enough, then walked towards where he heard sounds. As he walked closer, he figured out that it sounded like a sword meaning the person was possibly a cultivator.
Wei Ying carefully hid behind a bush. The view before him was a little place with a few statues already turned into pieces. He also saw a man dressed in white, with a ribbon tied to his forehead and with his sword out.
Wei Ying didn’t have a moment longer since the man heard him and turned to look at him. However, there was an angel behind him, so Wei Ying turned his eyes to look at the statue that was now frozen.
“It’s behind you!” he said loudly. The man didn’t move so Wei Ying continued: “It can’t move if I’m looking at it so you can take care of it.” Only then did the man turn around and pierce the statue with his sword. He did that a few more times until there was nothing left of the statue but a pile.
Wei Ying relaxed a little, blinking a few times to make up for the lack of it. The cultivator sheathed his sword then turned around to look at Wei Ying.
Wei Ying stopped breathing when their eyes met.
The golden eyes that he dreamed about every single night. The same pair that had looked at him lovingly so many times.
Something he hasn’t seen in a long time.
His heart squeezed hard, hurting even more than Wei Ying thought it was possible. His eyes went wide, welling up with tears.
“Lan…” his voice broke at the end. He couldn’t say his name. He didn’t dare.
When the man paused upon hearing his surname, Wei Ying realized he made a mistake. He quickly faked a cough, grabbing his chest and turning away from the cultivator. He acted for a few seconds as a few tears escaped his eyes. Wei Ying internally scolded himself for that. When he stopped his act, he slowly rose and saw the cultivator standing in front of him.
“You will have to excuse me, I am currently very sick.”
“You shouldn’t be walking late at night,” the cultivator said.
Wei Ying had to hold himself from reacting. He could recognize that voice anywhere. No matter how much time had passed since he heard it last. The same voice still made him feel many emotions, even if most were negative now.
He wanted to scream. To cry. To let his sobs out. To hit something, to touch him because this couldn’t be real. It was all a hallucination.
He did none of that, instead, he tried to smile. Wei Ying knew that his smile looked forced but he was trying his best.
“I really couldn’t help it, Young Master Lan,” Wei Ying choked out, his throat felt clogged. He was holding back from crying after all.
One thing Wei Ying was proud of was that he remembered the formality of how people used to talk back in ancient times. He had classes that talked about that and that was absolutely boring to him yet they were paying off at that moment. He decided to focus on that in a way to hold himself from crying.
The cultivator only nodded and didn’t say anything. Wei Ying realized that he should probably introduce himself, it would be very impolite if he didn’t. He quickly tried to think of a name that he could use, not wanting to give away his real one.
“Ah, where did my manners go?! The name’s Mo Xuanyu!” Wei Ying put his hands in front of himself and bowed, hoping it looked natural. Then he saw the cultivator bow back.
Teacher would be delighted to know that everything he taught me is true and that I’m using his teachings. Nevertheless, he would also not show that he’s happy and instead would tell me that I should’ve studied his class more.
They both rose back at the same time and silence once again dawned upon them. Wei Ying avoided eye contact. He started to fidget so he quickly put his hands behind his back, to hide.
“This lowly one apologizes for my cluelessness. I did recognize you as Lan but I hope you can forgive me for not knowing your name.”
Wei Ying knew that he was important. He read a lot of texts about the Lan clan back when he was still studying and just by looking at the forehead ribbon, he knew that the cultivator belonged to the inner family.
“I’m Lan Wangji.”
Wei Ying had to take a moment to compose himself. He closed his eyes, breathing deeply. Coughing with his mouth closed, Wei Ying continued acting, hoping this will hide his real feelings.
He hoped that the fake coughs explained the tears that Wei Ying couldn’t stop from running. What else was he supposed to do when the person standing in front of him had his dead husband’s name, voice, and face?
What was Wei Ying supposed to do?
When he finally opened his eyes, Lan Wangji was looking at him. He saw how his eyebrows were furrowed a little and Wei Ying knew that this meant that he was concerned.
“Don’t worry, I’m really fine. It may not seem like it but I’m really strong.”
Confusion washed over Lan Wangji. Wei Ying panicked a little, thinking that he gave himself away somehow. He remembered that not many people could read Lan Zhan’s emotions so it was probably the same with Lan Wangji from ancient times. He could see similarities between his husband and this cultivator.
Lan Wangji then bowed a little and turned to walk. Wei Ying should have let him go. He shouldn’t have followed but it was impossible for him. After seeing him, he couldn’t stay away now, no matter how unhealthy it was.
This is not him. He’s not your Lan Zhan.
“I should probably mention that there is another angel,” Wei Ying said after he followed Lan Wangji.
“There is?”
“Mn! Happened upon one while walking here.” Lan Wangji didn’t stop walking, not until they reached the statue. He swiftly took his sword out and destroyed the statue. Wei Ying watched from further away, glad to see that the statue was gone. When Lan Wangji was done, he slowly turned around to look at Wei Ying.
“You’re a cultivator.” It wasn’t a question.
“I would consider myself one but I practiced it more by myself, so I’m not that good at it.”
Lan Wangji then turned around again and started walking. Wei Ying had to run a little to catch up. He just couldn’t stay away.
“You called it an angel.” Lan Wangji stated as they continued walking towards Yiling.
“Did it not look like one? I actually call them crying angels because of their pose. It fits them well!”
Wei Ying could almost pretend like Lan Zhan wasn’t actually gone. Like he was talking as he always did and that Lan Zhan was listening. Like he was talking about his day and his husband was listening intently.
He’s not your Lan Zhan.
“I encountered a few before. That’s how I knew that they cannot move while being looked at. It’s quite interesting, I’ve never seen- I meant to say that I have never read about anything like this. Is this usual?”
“No.” Ah, he was not talkative. Just like Lan Zhan.
“That is really interesting. What do you think? What are those statues? Could they be full of resentful energy? No, I haven’t felt anything while standing next to them. Some form of a ghost maybe? Also very unlikely…” Wei Ying didn’t even notice how his rambling turned into mumbling to himself. Not until they stopped walking. He then looked around and noticed that they had reached an inn.
Lan Wangji turned to look at him and bowed thus indicating his farewell.
Wei Ying couldn’t let him go.
“It is embarrassing to ask this of you. I am not from here. I have traveled a lot but I have nowhere to stay for tonight. Could you please help me?” Wei Ying looked straight into Lan Wangji’s eyes, no matter how much it hurt him.
Lan Wangji nodded and turned around to walk into the inn. Wei Ying’s chest felt lighter. He was glad that he won’t have to stay outside for the night but he was more glad that Lan Wangji was helping him.
They both walked to the second floor. Wei Ying was silent since everyone in the inn was already asleep.
It didn’t take them long to reach the room where Lan Wangji was staying. The cultivator let Wei Ying in, then closed the door. He went to his bed and put his sword there.
Wei Ying at that time had to pretend like he wasn’t seeing an inn room for the first time. Sure, he saw tons of pictures and recreations of such places but it was completely different to stand in an actual one. He still found it hard to believe that he had time traveled but the proof was right in front of him.
He didn’t even notice how Lan Wangji took out a second bed and prepared it. Seeing a pillow, Wei Ying only then realized how tired he actually was. He wanted nothing more than just to lay down and rest.
Lan Wangji had stopped in front of Wei Ying when he was done.
“You can go rest.” Wei Ying bowed.
“My sincere gratitude,” he answered and smiled while he looked at Lan Wangji who only nodded in response. Then the cultivator walked to his bed. Wei Ying didn’t waste any time and walked to his side.
As soon as he was sure that Lan Wangji couldn’t see him and that he was behind the screen, his smile dropped. Wei Ying noticed how his breathing changed instantly, how hard it was to breathe in. He could feel himself start to shake.
Emotions couldn’t be contained, no matter how hard Wei Ying tried to control himself. The same way that a cup couldn’t keep the water in if it was already full.
Wei Ying took off his outer robe, with tears already rolling down his face. This time, he let it happen. It didn’t matter if his vision had blurred if he felt as if a ball was stuck in his throat. He decided to let himself be.
How else could he handle his emotions if his dead husband was on the other side of the room? His husband was breathing, he was alive. He talked to Wei Ying.
He’s not your Lan Zhan.
Wei Ying laid down and put the cover over his head. He was shaking, with tears falling uncontrollably.
I thought I would never see you again.
He had to stay quiet. He couldn’t cry loudly and possibly worry Lan Wangji. So he tried to muffle his sobs, holding it back and choking on it at times. Biting into his fist to not make any sounds
It’s just a hallucination. A dream. This is not real.
Yet Lan Wangji was there. Wei Ying knew that and it made him cry more. He called upon the universe, the gods, or anyone who would be willing to listen. And asked one simple question.
Why me?
Eventually, he calmed down and tiredness took over. His breathing slowly evened out, his body stopped shaking and Wei Ying fell asleep.
During this whole time, Wei Ying didn’t notice how the other person in the room had sat up. And when he fell asleep, he didn’t hear the other slowly lay down, letting out a breath.