Chapter Text
While working on a talisman, A-Ying accidentally uses too many strokes because he start spacing out halfway through. He thinks it’ll be fine. Probably. He’s made mistakes before and he’s often been able to make use of it with his intelligence (A-Ying is reluctant to say she’s a genius, but if that’s what her teacher says, well, she’s always right).
It isn’t fine.
The talisman explodes violently despite his best efforts to fix it. A-Ying feels like he’s dying from the impact, and can only be glad that he doesn’t have many important people that he’s leaving behind. He might’ve had his parents, but he’s an orphan for a reason, and he had his classmates, but he wasn’t particularly close to any beyond friendly teasing and general camaraderie, and his teacher probably only liked him because he engaged in the material, did the work, and was smart.
Before passing out, A-Ying has the sudden thought that nothing about that talisman, mistakes or not, could’ve created a deadly explosion. It was supposed to be a modified teleportation-type talisman for an easy assignment…
———
A-Ying startles awake when they hear a stranger’s voice. Am I dead? Their confused, spinning thoughts are interrupted by another stranger picking them up gently. That’s when A-Ying realises something very important. This is not a 15-year-old’s body! It seems 5-years-old instead? Overwhelmed, A-Ying can only watch as these people they’ve never met act like they’re their precious child, cradling them in their arms.
“Good morning A-Xian! What do you wanna do today?” The man (Never assume, A-Ying scolds himself) coos while squishing A-Ying’s chubby cheeks.
“Little One, why are you so quiet? What’s my baby thinking of, hmm?” With a gentle but cheeky voice, the more mischievous parent attempts to elicit a reaction. A-Ying doesn’t know what to say, but he can tell this is not a dream of trick, so he has to be careful. Well, that also raises the question: should he reveal himself? He doesn’t want to trick these parents into thinking that they still have their precious baby.
“Uh-“ A-Ying is immediately struck silent by soul-piercing stare from the previously cheeky parent. She gulps audibly. Suddenly, the presence of resentful energy becomes clear, so she instinctively pulls it around herself like a preemptive measure of protection. She is surprisingly rewarded with a grin as she feels the shield being poked by another’s energy.
“Ahah, I see how it is! Are you a student of Baoshan Sanren? So was I! Cangse Sanren, she/they pronouns, at your service, fellow disciple. My husband here is Wei Changze.” The scary-starer, Cangse Sanren, introduces herself and her husband.
“He/him pronouns, at your service.” Wei Changze continued his own introduction, refusing to speak more than necessary. Taking a moment to register the situation, A-Ying finally responds.
“Ying - no last name - whatever pronouns, at your service. I’m 15 years old, so i’m really not your equal.” By this point, Wei Changze had put A-Ying down, who laments the loss of the parental warmth.
“Oh, so we’re super old compared to 15 year olds now?” Cangse Sanren teases, making A-Ying burst into laughter. “Back to business though, this is not the world of Baoshan Sanren.” She sighs. “We - meaning you and I - managed to transmigrate to another universe. Our dear teacher still exists here but I didn’t, for some reason, and I don’t know if you do, but this is evidently not your equivalent body. Everything here is quite different, which I’d say is mostly because here she is a recluse who only takes orphans into her care and refuses to interact with anybody else. Because of my non-existence here, I left this Baosan Sanren immediately - I appeared in her area - but everyone assumes I was her disciple, which is incorrectly correct, ha.”
Having been a fellow disciple, A-Ying is able to understand what’s going on very quickly: Baoshan Sanren didn’t hold back when it came to regaling her theories about anything and everything, as well as many experiences during her immortality.
“Of course, Wei Changze knows all of this from me, so he can talk with us about it. That reminds me, Heart Cultivation isn’t accepted here because everyone’s so bad at it, so that’s how I figured you out!” A-Ying thinks back to the resentful energy suddenly permeating the room before, which, thinking back on it, was definitely because Cangse Sanren used resentful energy cultivation, widely known as Heart Cultivation in her past universe because it involves intense training of one’s spiritual heart, mind, and emotions. “These fools call it ‘demonic’ or ‘ghostly’ cultivation because of the source of the energy. Do you know how upsetting it is, not being able to use resentment? So many unused talismans and wasted potential…” Cangse Sanren pouts petulantly. Wei Changze pinches their cheeks.
“Anyways, can we adopt you?” He asks A-Ying, who mentally and physically stumbles at the question, apropos of nothing.
“Um, are you sure about that? Aren’t you upset I replaced your real child?” A-Ying questions. A valid concern.
“Sure we are, but it wasn’t on purpose and you’re already a delight to be around, so we thought it’d be fine. Don’t worry, we’re not crazy, we’ll cry later once it mentally and emotionally kicks in.” Cangse Sanren replies. A-Ying starts crying at this, ridiculously happy at the thought that somebody - multiple people!!! - would want to adopt her. Baoshan Sanren, despite being hella old, was closer to a friend than anything.
The trio spend the rest of the morning simply talking about the different universes and getting to know each other.
(“How old are you guys, anyways? A-niang, when did you leave our world?”
“Mid to late 20s, so 26 or 27, abouts. I’m an orphan so obviously no specifics here. Left about, uhh, max a decade ago? But obviously more than 6 years ago, considering our child’s age.”
“Bad memory is something we share, huh? Anyway, I’m 15… taken in at 5…”
“27, taken in at 6.”
“A decade ago, you were about to leave and I wasn’t even taken in yet, so that means we just missed each other, or possibly only had a few years of maybe meeting?”
“Ah, I guess! The world works in strange ways, I guess. Weird to think some little baby who I shared a teacher with would meet us like this.”
“Yeah.”)
———
A-Ying - now Wei Ying - takes the majority of the afternoon enjoying his parent’s company and properly reconnecting with his Heart Cultivation, not being used to it in this new body, but seeing as it’s mostly a mental cultivation - there’s no special storage space or conduit for the energy like a golden core since most people don’t generate significant resentful energy while alive - it’s only slightly impeded by the undeveloped structure of his body’s brain. Though he has to deal with no golden core, he thinks it’ll be fine for now. Whether or not that’s his opinion based on facts or his opinion influenced by his new brain is an entirely different matter.
(“Our baby was ‘Wei Xian’, but I think you should keep your name. Maybe we could have your courtesy name as ‘Wuxian’ as a sort of tribute?”
“Okayyy!!!”)
———
Still trying to adjust to his new body, Wei Ying stumbles a bit as he looks for his parents after waking up the next morning. Once he sees them sitting and talking, he clambers into their laps and grabs their faces, one on each hand. “A-niang… A-die… Do you have any friends we can go to? I wanna meet them!” Wei Ying exclaims. Cangse Sanren grimaces slightly. Wei Changze looks away for a second, before responding.
“Do you want to meet Jiang Fengmian? He’s a friend of ours.” Wei Ying beams, melting his poor parent’s hearts.
“Yeah! When can we go??” Wei Ying has dropped her hands from their faces by now, instead shaking them in excitement. Being in a small body and being with actual parental figures has actually made her mental state regress in two different ways, so her reactions are more out of control and filled with awe and joy than they would be otherwise.
Packing what they have, they prepare to set out to go meet up with Jiang Fengmian for the first time in a while. They don’t have much, considering that Cangse Sanren really cannot stay in once place for long, so it’s quick, easy, and they are out the door before lunch, which they eat on the road. Their methods of travel change often to conserve energy but also to enjoy the trip itself. By the time they reach the Yunmeng Jiang area, it’s been a week of what basically amounts to sightseeing, mostly due to Wei Ying’s insistence because he doesn’t know anything about this version of the world. He whines about the lack of technological and even cultural advancements and changes, half-heartedly cursing this Baoshan Sanren for being so reclusive.
As Jiang Fengmian, Cangse Sanren, and Wei Changze have catch-up and talk while Yu Ziyuan oversees the disciples, Wei Ying is introduced to Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli. They’re immediately attached to the little babies because what in the world they are so fucking adorable! It takes all of Wei Ying’s self restraint to not latch onto them and never let go. Ah, such squishy dumpling cheeks…
An idea swirling around in their mind, they quickly draw up a talisman to take a picture of Jiang Cheng and Yanli, startling them. They try to connect to a Spiritual Heart Leyline to save it, only to be abruptly reminded that there are none. Aiyaaaa, they think. Wei Ying lets a curious Jiang Cheng grab the talisman that they used, the writing now replaced with the image. “Woah! What’s this? Why can I see me and A-jie?” Jiang Cheng exclaims. Wei Ying thinks that maybe they shouldn’t explain alternate world technology, but they give some information anyway.
“It’s a picture talisman. It copies whatever you see and puts it on the paper so you can look at it later, no drawing required!” Wei Ying sees that their new friends are still confused.
“Wow, that’s so cool! How’d you make it? I’ve never seen one before!” Jiang Cheng bounces around. Wei Ying has no idea how much they should reveal, so they decide to ask their parents about that later. They probably shouldn’t have forgotten about this world’s opinion on resentful cultivation, but here they are.
“Ahh, you should ask my parents. They are much smarter than I am!” They giggle, deflecting with a trained ease. Jiang Yanli tugs on their sleeve.
“You’re like a cute little shidi! Can I call you A-Ying?” Wei Ying’s eyes almost sparkle with excitement.
“Of course, shijie! Does this mean that A-Cheng is my shidi now?” They ask teasingly, eliciting an angry and embarrassed flush on Jiang Cheng’s squishy face.
“Hey! I’ll set the dogs on you!” Wei Ying grimaces. They aren’t scared of dogs much, but they do vividly remember fighting dog creatures, domestic and wild, in the arena and on night-hunts. It is fortunate that their teacher saved them from the streets early on, otherwise their current dislike would certainly have become fear or outright hatred.
“I could beat a couple of dogs! Or I’ll just run away!” Wei Ying teases their new shidi.
“Do you want to join Lotus Pier and train with us?” Jiang Yanli inquires, fully aware of her brother’s current attachment to this new person who can tolerate and even, to an extent, encourages Jiang Cheng’s more abrasive nature.
“Sure! I’ll go ask A-niang and A-die first though.” They babble excitedly, once again struck by the fact that they have parents now, getting a little teary-eyed at the sentiment.
———
“Oh, my Little One wants to cultivate at Yunmeng Jiang?” Cangse Sanren coos while abusing Wei Ying’s cheeks. “We’ll talk to Jiang Fengmian, see what he says, but I really doubt he’ll deny such a cutie, child of his be-e-est friend Wei Changze.” They add, winking at their husband.
“We haven’t told anyone about the whole transmigration thing, Heart Cultivation, or anything else associated with that. So be careful, A-Ying.” He sighs fondly.
“Yep yep, got it. Hey, have you figured out a solution to the lack of Heart Leylines here? I want to make records of things but I don’t have anywhere convenient to store talisman images and stuff.” Wei Ying groans. She really hates this sense of isolation that comes with having no Leylines powered by resentful energy. The Heart Leylines are this sprawling system of paths of energy that are made of many, many talismans and other inventions that are spread all across the areas affected by the innovations made by the Baoshan Sanren that Wei Ying and her new A-niang are familiar with. The Leylines are effective at sending messages, storing items, and even teleporting people.
“Oh, I just use wayyyy too many qiankun bags instead for storage since they don’t need a power source. In terms of communication, I just remade those talismans for on the go. Teleportation however… I struggled a bit with those talismans because using qi is inefficient and there’s not enough resentment around most places, courtesy of those damned cultivators!” Cangse Sanren grumbles as they gather Wei Changze’s head into their arms for moral support, them sitting on a tall pile of cushions while he sits on the floor in the lotus position.
“Darling, what do you expect when their only experiences with resentful cultivation are bad users and the controlling of corpses?” The man huffs with mirth.
“Wait, what?” Wei Ying stutters. “They’re doing what with the corpses??? Even after all this time, Teacher never let us control the dead! Have you?? Is it fun??” She fires questions at light speed, wonder apparent on her face. “Why didn’t you tell me before-e-e?“ Whining, she jumps onto her A-die’s lap, standing on his thighs, hands on his shoulders as she tries to shake him, but fails, only rocking herself back and forth violently instead. Cangse Sanren bursts into teary laughter at the sight, only calming down after a long while.
“Little One, yes, the resentment cultivators of this world, as ridiculously bad at it as they are, are only barely able to control corpses and maybe make a few crude talismans, most of them getting killed by the backlash. In order to stop the very few I’ve come across, I indeed took control from them. It was a weird experience, and it was not exactly fun, but it was easy compared to a lot of other stuff we do because you just use the resentment already attached to the corpses, controlling them with their own desires.
“Though, Teacher Baoshan mentioned reawakening the consciousness of newly dead people, so I tried that, but it was damn difficult to find a recent corpse that just didn’t have any major issues. I wonder if that is how Heart Cultivation feels to those who never studied under an experienced teacher? If that’s the case, I’ll never make fun of them again… Maybe.” Cangse Sanren rambles. “Oh, we got super off track. Eh, let’s continue this conversation later, okay Little One?”
Wei Ying voices her agreement, feeling exhaustion hit her earlier that she would’ve liked. Damn child’s body.
“Oh, just remember, the Burial Mounds is full of unchecked resentful energy, unlike the well-managed state of it in our past world. Nobody wants to use it or be near it here due to the fierce corpses and general issues with resentful energy.
“I believe that, according to Baoshan Sanren’s understanding of the human mind, we have to live for maybe at least… 25 years in total before our minds fully develop and we are able to reach our full Heart Cultivation potential. So, theoretically, I’m ready, but you’re two decades off if we go by your current brain, kid.” At Cangse Sanren’s words, Wei Ying groans obnoxiously, frustrated at the decent chance that trying to control the Burial Mound’s energy would result in her losing control if she tried within the next 20 years.
“I know this stuff, but I’d never thought it’d be a problem until now.” Wei Ying grumbles under her breath as Wei Changze deposits her on the floor.
“Ah, well, we still have to sort out your situation with cultivating at Yunmeng Jiang.” Cangse Sanren mentions, almost as a non-sequitur, earning them a Look.
———
Approximately 10 years later
“Finally, I’m this close to having a new birthday to experience!” Wei Ying rejoices suddenly. His birthday had already passed a couple of months ago, but the realisation that he’s getting close to a new age didn’t hit him until now. Physically catching up to his first age is certainly a relief, as now he can practice certain techniques which need a decent amount of mental development, development that becoming a 5 year old again had stripped him of. “I wonder what it’ll be like to finally actually mentally age again.” Jiang Cheng just shot him a dirty look for interrupting his A-jie.
By this point, the main Jiang family - Jiang Fengmian, Yu Ziyuan, Jiang Yanli, and Jiang Cheng - had been informed of the transmigration situation and most of what that entailed, even if they didn’t truly know how much they could believe. However, the almost effortless and safe resentful cultivation is a clear indication that some of the explanation could be trusted at least a little bit, so they don’t outright accuse the Wei family of lying, no matter how silly they secretly think it is. No one else had been informed, so hopefully their Heart Cultivation was a well-kept secret.
“Shijie’s talking, so shut your mouth, Wei Wuxian.” Jiang Cheng scolds his older sibling.
“Right, right, sorry!” Wei Ying apologies insincerely, instead turning their puppy eyes on Jiang Yanli. “Shijie-e-e, I didn’t mean to interrupt you!” Their lips tremble, but the effect is undercut by the corners of their mouth twitching up into a smirk.
“I forgive Xian-Xian this time.” Chuckling, Jiang Yanli pats them on the head, as if they’re still 5 years old, but Wei Ying doesn’t protest in the slightest, pushing their head further into her touch like a friendly cat.
“This is why you don’t like dogs that much: you’re a full-on cat!” Growling like his beloved dogs - Jasmine, Princess, and Love - Jiang Cheng initiates a play fight with Wei Ying, even going so far as to use qi and some recently learned spiritual techniques while Jiang Yanli occasionally physically interjects when she thinks she’s strong enough to. It’s the way that Wei Ying helps them practice: they all get to let off some steam in a productive manner while showing each other sibling love. It also helps keep Madame Yu happy - as happy as she can be, anyway - as Wei Ying isn’t being lazy (technically) and Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli get stronger (always a bonus in Madame Yu’s eyes).
Though she has long given up on the thought that Jiang Fengmian is still in love with Cangse Sanren, it’s still somehow strange to see Yu Ziyuan tolerate, even sometimes enjoy the Wei’s company, and not compare her son to Wei Ying. The mere fact that she respects the whole thing with Cangse Sanren’s and Wei Ying’s deals with gender make her instantly one of Wei Ying’s favourite people, even if she clearly doesn’t understand fully, having no such issues of her own. Yu Ziyuan, if Wei Ying’s notoriously terrible memory serves, once said, “I, in a way, consider you both women. Us women need to stick together, so if you have issues related to that, just ask me for help.” Both Cangse Sanren and Wei Ying had almost suffocated her in a long hug, surprising even themselves when all three of them burst into happy and relieved tears.
… Thinking about it, maybe it’s not really much of a surprise that Yu Ziyuan actually likes them now. Wait a second, didn’t they, including Jiang Yanli, actually go on a trip together a week ago, just the 4 of them??? Why has none of this registered in Wei Ying’s brain before now???
Side-stepping Jiang Cheng’s attack, Wei Ying casually sits down again, head in hands, taking a moment to process this revelation. When she relays her thoughts to her siblings, Jiang Yanli just huffs with amusement while Jiang Cheng sarcastically exclaims, “Oh, I didn’t fucking notice!”
———
The moon shines bright while Wei Ying takes a sip from her jar of Emperor’s Smile, pointedly ignoring the rules that she had only seen for the first time earlier that day. Despite being a guest cultivator of the Gusu Lan Sect in the Cloud Recesses, Wei Ying is not intending to be a particularly good influence, so when she notices a new presence, she turns a blind eye to them. When they start getting closer, she bounces to her feet, carefully balancing the two jars of alcohol in her hands.
“I’ll ask you, may I know your name?” Wei Ying says with a cheeky grin as he continues to take sips of his beloved Emperor’s Smile, the best alcohol, if he says so himself. When Cangse Sanren had figured out that Wei Ying was drinking at such an early age (“But A-niang, I’ve technically already lived 30 years! I’m tired of waiting~!”), she had grabbed his ear and scolded him for damaging his body and mind (“If you find yourself never reaching your full Heart potential, don’t say I didn’t tell you so!”) so he reluctantly limited his alcohol intake to only 2 jars every year. A truly heartbreaking amount. Considering the Gusu Lan Sect’s strict rules, Wei Ying concludes that he is most likely to get away with breaking said rules early on, when he could feasibly pretend not to have known.
“No breaking curfew. No consumption or possession of alcohol.” The patrolling Lan disciple says. Unable to get rid of his habit of asking for others’ manner of address despite a decade of living here, Wei Ying instinctively retorts with the first words that come to mind:
“Aw, never mind all of that for now. Am I being graced with the presence of a pretty boy or pretty girl tonight? Or perhaps someone who disagrees with such notions of black and white categories? I can always appreciate a fellow overthrower of the societal norms~” He teases the stranger, who still stares blankly, if maybe a little angrily, in his direction. “Ah, I apologise, maybe you prefer for me to assume based on your appearance? I’d say… definitely a pretty boy, then. But I’d really rather you tell me yourself.” Wei Ying hops around chaotically yet gracefully as the Lan disciple begins attacking with their sheathed spiritual sword.
“Oh, I know! You’re Lan Wangji! I didn’t recognise you due to the dim lighting. I also just have absolutely abysmal memory most of the time.” Still avoiding jabs in his direction and protecting the jars of Emperor’s Smile, Wei Ying continued his rambling. “I guess you’re definitely a pretty boy then! Once again though, no assuming being done here. I myself prefer a bit of societal collapse and ambiguous identities.” As if to emphasise his point, Wei Ying quickly yet neatly copies his shijie’s hairstyle of twin buns, holding the rope connecting the jars of alcohol in his mouth, taking out a different robe from inside his sleeve and putting it on over his clothes. Like this, he looks like a tall and pretty girl.
Dancing back and forth to avoid capture, Wei Ying downs one of the jars in a split second and shoves the other into a resentment talisman, making sure to prevent Lan Wangji from seeing what it says, before he shoves it in his mouth and swallows it whole, banging his chest a few times to get it down. Lan Wangji’s eyes widen slightly as he stops his attacks, shocked by the display. “You wouldn’t go around telling others about what you just saw, would you, pretty-boy Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying giggles as he restores his appearance to his previous look. “They’d ne-ever believe you anyways~”
Lan Wangji just suddenly turns around to leave, but not before uttering, “You will be punished in the morning.”, earning him a laugh from Wei Ying.
After watching the Second Jade of Lan escape, Wei Ying suddenly feels the alcohol hit. They had put the second jar of Emperor’s Smile into a talisman which turns anything into its main edible components or effects. Those are usually used for eating food in an emergency or consuming healthy but bad tasting food. For Wei Ying, this means that the intoxicating effect of the alcohol is amplified by many times, seeing as it is no longer diluted and consumed over a period of time.
“Ah, shit. I’d hoped that a high tolerance would’ve helped, but of course I just had to forget that I added a separate amplification effect so I could-” They gag for a second, “-get bursts of energy during busy moments…” Feeling Not So Great™, Wei Ying sits down carelessly, almost stumbling off of the Cloud Recesses’ wall in the process.
“A-nian-n-n-g,” They whine into the mini communication-array set up by Cangse Sanren, adapted from Baoshan Sanren’s design.
“Oh. I put sobering tonics in your robes. Just use it within an hour and you shouldn’t experience any hangover effects, courtesy of your A-die’s help.” She sighs tiredly. “Before you ask, I can tell you’re drunk because you’re not asking for help even though the connection is shit as fuck due to your terrible handling.”
“I see-e-e-e ahahehehe.” Wei Ying incoherently voices their thoughts. Cangse Sanren playfully growls, becoming more energetic as she fully wakes up from her sleepy haze.
“If you’re gonna be a nuisance and get kicked out or in trouble not even a week into your visit, Little One, at least do it for a worthy cause, like shaving Lan Qiren’s facial hair or teaching the Lan disciples how to create talismans for changing their bodies’ structures! Something scandalous and likely to cause these small-minded chuckle fucks to all collectively have aneurysms.”Wei Ying begins to start brainstorming ways to cause non-destructive mayhem as their parent verbally guides them to their room with instructions like “A-Ying I swear to all that is regarded sacred in this world, pick up your damned robes! Don’t you lie to me, I heard the noise! They may be your spares, but I will not spare you from Yu Ziyuan’s wrath if you damage or lose her gifts!”
———
Wei Ying pouts dramatically as he recovers from his punishment for breaking the rules. It’s not like he did anything bad this time - he just forgot that being able to freely move between differently gendered areas is not a thing here! He’s not used to being restricted to the men’s areas since his old world had very different sensibilities when it came to this sort of stuff, and Yu Ziyuan actually lets him into women’s and men’s areas, even explaining the situation in a way that the Lotus Pier residents can understand. Jiang Fengmian had begun construction on a neutral area for those previously separated facilities just a while back too.
Anyways, all he had wanted to do was return a jiejie’s robes after he had offered to fix a few tears and customise it for her because she had complained to her friends that she didn’t have enough skill in that department to do it herself. Wei Ying had been in the area wearing his feminine set of clothes - he’s honestly surprised that no-one called him out for being a stranger - so he overheard the conversation and approached, only wanting to help in return for some good conversation: sometimes the boys just don’t cut it, especially in the whole ‘attraction’ department. He had informed her of his lack of ‘female’ parts because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, but she had waved it off and accepted his offer. While on his way to returning the robes, Wei Ying had not realised that he was in his ‘male’ clothes, so others noticed him entering the women’s area and reported him, leading him to this situation of suffering.
The jiejie did get her robes back, but it was definitely not in the way she expected: a clearly-beaten-as-punishment guest disciple sneaking into her rooms at night, holding her newly-fixed and changed robes out to her, saying in a cheeky voice “Sorry jiejie, but I forgot about the whole “no ‘men’ allowed” thing-” rolling their eyes at the word, “-so I got caught and punished!” As payment, she gave them a pouch of herbs made by ‘Mianmian’ for healing and a hairpiece and comb duo which she had made herself for practice.
“Thank you, but I’m happy to have done it for free-“ She cut them off by shoving them out of her room without taking back anything.
In present time, Wei Ying is playing with the comb by pulling it through her own hair to get rid of at least some knots. The hairpiece, which is made of two pieces of decent quality jade of different shades of green inlaid in a pretty dark wood base, sits in her ponytail, complementing the light jade of the comb. Despite having just done her hair in her usual ponytail but with a pineapple braid from the base of her neck and along the bottom side of the ponytail, her hair is already in need of combing.
Jiang Cheng suddenly bursts into their shared room, Nie Huaisang trailing just behind. “I can’t fucking believe you,” he huffs, “Going into the women’s area? Really? We just got out of lectures. This is why you were missing? For fuck’s sake.” His harsh words are belied by his casual body language and Nie Huaisang’s interested expression.
“So, what exactly were you doing, A-Xian?” Nie Huaisang questioned teasingly (Wei Ying insists that her friends use nicknames and such rather than any sort of formal honorifics like gongzi or gendered affixes and terms like gege and jiejie. She’ll still respond to them, but it gets boring or it causes her to get exposed, even if others don’t exactly understand the reality of the situation).
“Let me just tell you A-Cheng, I really had no ill intentions!” At Jiang Cheng’s disbelieving stare, she continues speaking. “I was helping a nice jiejie fix her robes, but when I went to return them, I forgot to wear the correct clothes so some Lan disciple saw and reported me. Being a dude is such a bore~ No nice jiejies and meimeis to talk to here.”
“I can be your meimei~” Nie Huaisang says in a sing-song voice, face hiding behind an intricately designed fan, to which Wei Ying starts crying-laughing. “Hey, I’d make a good little martial sister!”
Jiang Cheng scoffs. “You? Even our shimeis at Yunmeng Jiang are stronger with the sword than you. In fact, I bet at least half of them are better than the shidis - same with the shijies and shixiongs - so you can’t compare.” Nie Huaisang fans himself dramatically, not even insulted by such truthful words.
“Why do I feel like there weren’t that many female disciples in any sect the last time I checked…?” He wonders aloud. Wei Ying just whistles suspiciously, so her shidi responds instead.
“It’s Wei Wuxian’s fault. One day they specifically went around Yunmeng Jiang searching for any potential female disciples that had been ignored because of their gender. They also found any street rats that needed help along the way.” Jiang Cheng informs their friend, saying ‘street rat’ in an unusually fond tone (It has everything to do with the cute kids they found and befriended).
“I see… You know, I know someone I think you’d like to meet.”
———
“Ah, so you’re the ‘Mianmian’ that jiejie told me about! She gave me some medicinal herbs that she said were from you.” Wei Ying exclaims upon meeting Luo Qingyang. “Hahhhh, you’re so pretty!” They complimented her.
“Thank you. You’re also very pretty!” Mianmian replies cheerfully, Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng feeling neglected. Wei Ying is wearing their male robes with the hairpiece still in their ponytail, light makeup around their eyes, so they can only imagine what Mianmian thinks. A man trying to look like a woman? A women trying to look like a man? Or something more accurate? Wei Ying’s face shape makes them pretty rather than typically masculine, according to many people, but it’s still difficult for most people to guess what Wei Ying is ‘supposed’ to be if they don’t have the context of clothes and accessories. The Jiang clarity bell tied to their sash jingles softly as they laugh and shift on their feet.
“Are you interested in medicine? Or is it more of a hobby thing?” Wei Ying wonders, looking through Mianmian’s herb pouches with appreciation.
“It’s really just a hobby: I create these scented and useful pouches as little gifts.” She explains. “I don’t intend to go into medicinal cultivation, but it is interesting stuff.”
“Fuiyo, this is some good quality stuff!” Wei Ying whistles. “Are you sure this is a casual thing?”
“Jin-gongzi sometimes pays. Or at least, he says his mother made him fund it.” They scowl at the thought of Jin Zixuan, the prick who dismisses their shijie, but then smile at the thought of Madame Jin, the most prominent figure in the cultivation world that really should just kill their marriage partner. Since Yu Ziyuan and her are sworn sisters, they’d sometimes visit each other, bringing along their children.
Those times where Madame Jin comes to Lotus Pier are interesting because she fully brings back out the fury and badassery of Yu Ziyuan. In fact, they both have the same effect on each other. Madame Yu doesn’t become cruel, but it certainly becomes much easier to remember why she’s the Violet Spider, master of Zidian, while Madame Jin actually takes steps against her unfaithful husband, Jin Guangshan (Just in the last few months, Madame Jin has amassed a collection of women who Jin Guangshan has harassed. Nobody is sure what she’s planning to do with them, but everyone can tell something big will happen). Wei Ying thinks that they are actually good for each other in this way: they remind each other to not become too complacent with the world. Jiang Fengmian is understandably terrified, but ultimately supportive.
…Though Madame Jin is already no-nonsense enough, so this kind of development is terrifying to anyone she doesn’t like. Wei Ying is tolerated, so they’re on thin ice. Not even Jin Zixuan is safe from his mother’s rage. Honestly, Wei Ying is proud of Jiang Yanli for impressing her.
“I really should punch that dick in the face. It’ll be amazing to see his reaction to getting absolutely decked by a girl~” Wei Ying daydreams exaggeratedly before turning to Nie Huaisang. “Hey, do you think that fighting the peacock would get me expelled immediately?”
“Probably, but I don’t know, I don’t know!” His fan flutters agitatedly until he snaps it shut so he can use it to give Wei Ying a friendly bashing on the head. “And *smack* you *thud* won’t *thump* find *whack* out *bam* either!” Nie Huaisang’s surprisingly powerful abuse emphasises his point, a slightly different sound accompanying every word.
“Aiyaaaaa, it hurts it hurts! Is this the respectable thing to do to this poor Xian-Xian?!?” Wei Ying howls, the attacks not hurting too much, but certainly enough to bruise. Nie Huaisang’s eyes narrow at the small sliver of resentful energy that creeps out from their robes, but he turns away quickly. The energy had actually intercepted some of the fan strikes by instinct, but Wei Ying didn’t really notice it. Jiang Cheng does, however, notice the resentment, so he takes matters into his own hands.
“Wei Wuxian, are you going to keep complaining as if you’re a brittle-boned old geezer or are you going to acknowledge that your golden core protects you from Nie Huaisang’s weak arms?” Internally grimacing, Jiang Cheng hopes that Wei Ying picks up on the implication - they were the one who taught him things about subtlety in the first place!
“Ah, well…” Wei Ying rubs the tip of their scrunched up nose with the side of their index finger lightly. “Nie Huaisang, let’s talk, shall we?”
———
“That certainly explains a lot.”
“I’d hope it would, ahah!”
———
Huffing and puffing about, Wei Ying mutters obscenities at the floor as he makes his way over to the Cold Spring. He had been punished with the discipline paddle again, so his back hurts a decent amount. Lan Xichen pointed out that the Cold Spring could aid healing the first time Wei Ying was smacked, so he decides to go back. This time he likely won’t see Lan Zhan, since this was an independent punishment.
Alone in the springs, Wei Ying has the brilliant idea of practicing talismans of temporary shifting on himself. It’s been too long, so the first shift he thinks would be a welcome change is to change his sex. He only changes the external appearance, paying no attention to hormones and anything else since that would require more effort.
He spends a good while trying to meditate, but he mostly just plays around with shifting talismans and their effects, the qi he expends being replenished quickly by the Cold Springs and the Cloud Recesses in general. When Wei Ying eventually leaves the springs, he forgets a thing of major importance.
He walks past a few Lan disciples without realising, their eyes showing confusion.
He passes Mianmian without realising, her expression one of intrigue.
He says hello to the jiejies and meimeis without realising, their faces contemplative.
At some point, he dashes past Lan Qiren without realising, his mouth twisting into a shocked grimace, ready to start shouting.
He even teases Lan Xichen as he travels along the path without realising, his eyebrow raised with a faltering smile.
Wei Ying only realises the thing of importance when they come face-to-face with a frowning Lan Zhan.
“Wei Ying…”
“Hah, what’s wrong? Is it the fact that I got in the trouble again? Or-“ They cut themselves off abruptly and look down at their body briefly, proceeding to fling their head back violently and groan with the pain of a thousand long-suffering souls, face in hands, garnering a slight expression of concern from Lan Zhan.
“Of course!” Of course, Wei Ying forgot about their sudden acquisition of a certain type of body part. “Of course I had to forget about the breasts!”