Chapter Text
Fate.
Cosmic fate.
Some things have a way of being an anchor in time and space. The universe must maintain balance and let nature run its course. There are rules. There are laws. The same goes for time. Time is infinite, with no beginning and no end. It is a continuous flow. The flow of time is like the flow of a river. It can be redirected. It can be stopped. But there are rules and laws.
No matter how the flow is disrupted, the laws of nature cannot be changed. If the flow is stopped, the sheer power of the water will break anything in its way, even rock.
Souls that are part of this universe must follow those rules. And the universe, in all its wisdom, arranges things so that certain events cannot be altered: soulmates, enemies, the rise and fall of empires. Through time and space, these souls are destined to be part of each other. There is no way around it.
“A-Zhan!”
“A-Zhan!”
"A-Huan, I will go back to the inn. Maybe he returned there and is waiting for us."
“Yes, Shufu. I’ll keep searching the market. He couldn’t have gone too far. I’m just worried. He is so little. I’ll meet you at the inn as soon as I find him.”
With a nod, Lan Qiren headed to the inn. Lan Huan kept calling for a brother who would not come back home, who could not come back home.
“Are you lost?”
He looked up. He was scared. He had never been away from his brother or uncle for this long. One minute, Lan Huan was next to him while he was looking at some pendants. The next, he couldn’t find either his brother or his uncle. He didn’t recognize where he was.
He started walking back, or at least he thought it was back. Everything looked the same. There were so many people, and he couldn’t pinpoint where he was going or if he was just walking in circles.
Panic started to rise in his chest. He stopped and looked around, hoping someone might help him. But every time he thought of speaking to a stranger, he froze.
His uncle and brother had brought him to Yiling on business. They thought it would be good for him to leave the Cloud Recesses. His mother had died last year, and they hoped a change of scenery would help him see things differently. He had never been farther than Caiyi Town. And he was always at his brother’s side, never letting go of his hand.
Tears began forming behind his eyes. They stung. Then he heard a rumble.
A thunderstorm was coming. In an instant, the sky opened into a downpour. People started running. Market stalls packed up quickly. He began to panic even more and decided to run. He hoped it was the right direction.
He stopped next to an alley. He was drenched. His hair was coming undone. He felt his ribbon slipping and took it off. He didn’t want to lose it. His mother had given it to him. It was one of the last things she gave him. He folded it neatly and tucked it into his sleeve.
Lightning. Loud thunder.
He covered his ears. The lightning had struck too close. He ran down the alley. He saw some crates stacked together and found cover beneath one of them. He crouched and sat.
His tears fell into his wet robes. He wanted his brother. He wanted his Shufu. He wanted his mom. He cried and cried. The sound of the storm drowned his sobs.
He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there. Maybe he had fallen asleep. It was still raining. He still heard thunder. But now he also heard a voice.
“Are you lost?”
He looked up.
He locked eyes with another boy. The boy was also drenched.
“Could I sit with you?”
“Mn.”
The boy sat next to him. He had never sat so close to someone who wasn’t family.
“So, are you lost?” the boy repeated.
Lan Zhan didn’t respond right away. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would start crying again. He simply nodded.
“Well, I can help you find your way. But can we wait until it stops raining? It’s really cold and I don’t want to walk in the rain.”
“Mn.”
Lan Zhan couldn’t stop looking at him. The boy’s eyes were like moonlight. He looked very cute. Lan Zhan thought maybe they were the same age. As he looked him over, he noticed the boy’s clothes were tattered. He was only wearing one thin layer. No shoes.
Lan Zhan started feeling guilty for feeling so hopeless when this boy clearly had a harder life than him.
“What’s your name? My name is Wei Ying, but you can call me A-Ying.”
Lan Zhan just stared at him and didn’t answer.
The boy didn’t seem to mind and started firing a series of questions and statements. Lan Zhan had never heard anyone speak so many words in one sentence. But he didn’t mind. Wei Ying’s voice was like a light in a dark room. It felt like safety. It felt like hope.
“Were you with your parents? Where are you from? Are you a cultivator? My parents were cultivators. I hope I can cultivate one day. How long have you been lost? Do you have any brothers or sisters? I wish I had a sister or a brother.”
Lan Zhan felt his body relaxing. The more Wei Ying spoke, the less afraid he felt.
The rain had begun to ease. There was still rumbling in the clouds. Wei Ying looked up.
“I don’t think it’s going to stop raining completely, but it’s not that heavy now. We could try to find your parents.”
He stood and turned, holding out a hand.
Lan Zhan hesitated. He usually hated touching people. But this time he felt that touching Wei Ying wouldn’t be so bad. He reached out and let Wei Ying help him up.
Wei Ying gave him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. No one, not even his mother, had smiled at him like that before. It was unrestrained and radiant.
It was like looking at the sun. Blinding, but warm. His soul felt warm.
“I’ll take you to the main street. That’s where the inns are. You look like a rich-gege to me, so your family’s probably staying at one of those fancy inns here in Yiling.”
Wei Ying started walking out of the alley, still holding Lan Zhan’s hand. They walked in the rain. Lan Zhan thought maybe he’d ask Shufu if they could help Wei Ying find his family.
It seemed like he was the one who had been lost.
“Lan Zhan.”
Wei Ying stopped and turned.
“What?”
“My name is Lan Zhan.”
Wei Ying gave him another beautiful smile. Lan Zhan tightened his grip on his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Lan Zhan.”
Lan Zhan felt a little braver. Maybe he could say something more.
He opened his mouth to speak.
A blinding flash of lightning. A deafening crack of thunder. His ears rang. Wei Ying didn’t let go. He started pulling Lan Zhan forward. They ran.
He couldn’t see where they were going. The rain was coming down harder again, and the storm muddled his senses.
“Fire!”
Over the ringing in his ears, he heard people yelling and screaming. He saw people running toward them. Some pushed past in panic. A tree had been struck by lightning and caught fire. The flames spread to nearby trees and buildings at the forest’s edge.
Wei Ying kept pulling him forward, trying to get them away from the chaos. They were knocked down but didn’t let go. They got up and ran.
What neither of them realized was that they were running toward the one place that would make them wish they had run toward the fire instead.
The Burial Mounds.