Work Text:
Perhaps the most startling realization for everybody after everything had been over, was finding out who Hanguang-jun really was. And who the Yiling Laozu was.
Up until that point, Jingyi had known Hanguang-jun as a man focused only on cultivating, serving people and being amazing at it, instead of worrying himself over vain things such as being social. Hanguang-jun never attended the cultivation conferences where they pretended to care about social issues while drinking expensive liqueurs and having gigantic banquets. Hanguang-jun much preferred to address the problems himself, personally, one by one, visiting little towns and places that had been abandoned by the people that were supposed to protect them.
Ever since he was allowed to go on night hunts and started to join some of Hanguang-jun’s hunts, Jingyi had promised himself to follow his steps and become a pillar of righteousness too. He had been so proud to be one of the juniors that were under Hanguang-jun’s command, feeling that all his efforts at training and studying had turned him into someone Hanguang-jun could trust, and had also been proud to say that he knew him personally almost as well as Sizhui did. Not more, of course –because nothing could compare to actually being raised by Hanguang-jun himself— but enough to feel satisfied with himself.
So that day at the Dafan Mountain hunt, when Hanguang-jun had not only defended that weirdo from Sect Leader Jiang, but also had ordered them to bring him to The Cloud Recesses (against the man’s will) and ALSO had ordered them to bring him to the Jingshi and lock him there, Jingyi had been more than a little unsettled. Specially because things only got weirder after that.
For starters, no matter how outrageous That Freak acted, Hanguang-jun did not even bat an eye. In fact, he had a weird expression that Jingyi had never seen on him before and he didn’t even know how to begin to explain. Plus, he knew he hadn’t been the only one who thought so! Everyone who’d witnessed the embarrassing scene at the cold springs was just as baffled. Also, there was the fact that the man had slept at Hanguang-jun’s place that night (!). Of course, gossiping was forbidden in the Cloud Recesses; it wasn’t that Jingyi had been gossiping with other sect members, they all had been just really worried and had been… debating. Over the recent events. Just in case their help was needed, had Hanguang-jun been… cursed or something. Yeah.
So anyways, it was weird. Everyone agreed. But even then, nobody had expected things to get so, so bizarre.
The whole thing with the demonic arm happened, Hanguang-jun and The Freak had parted together to, apparently, “investigate” the case and to whom did the arm belonged. To that point Jingyi could understand. Investigating demonic beings was a cultivator’s job, after all. Although, why would Hanguang-jun choose to go with the weird cut-sleeve freak instead of taking a couple of the capable and perfectly normal juniors the Lan Sect had to offer (such as himself), Jingyi would never get it. Through the first couple of weeks everything had been fine, or at least they didn’t get any important news or any help was required whatsoever. But then, a few weeks later they became involved in the whole dead-cats-hanging-by-their-doors incident while on their own night hunt.
Which led them to find Hanguang-jun and The Weirdo again in Yi City.
Now, from everything Jingyi had heard (accidentally) about Mo Xuanyu, the guy was supposed to be weird, dumb and a pervert. For heaven’s sake, the guy had been kicked out of the Jin sect despite being one of the only two bastard kids Jin Guangshan had recognized as his heir! What kind of aberration did you have to be to be kicked out? However, now that they were actually interacting with him, Jingyi could not see any of that. That man walked confidently around the place like he owned everything on sight (and could just take everything he did not). He was terrifyingly sharp and seemed to have an answer for every question, this man did not feel like a mediocre sect drop out. It was actually very enlightening; the guy knew how to explain things, he was constantly encouraging them to push their boundaries and come out of their comfort zone. Even if it meant looking directly into the eyeholes of a tongueless dead little girl. Very educational.
Which also brings him into the next point, the fact that Hanguang-jun seemed to trust That Guy a lot? Hanguang-jun did not think twice before letting them all go with him when they got poisoned. With absolutely no hesitation. Like they were not going away with a freak and a cut sleeve, heavens know where to! The Guy also had saved them from the corpse poisoning with the worst congee Jingyi’s ever had before. They only got to know Hanguang-jun was okay when he appeared after Xiao Xingchen decided to go berserk out of apparently nowhere. And then they went AFTER the ghost!! They found the funeral home, with the coffin and the little girl (again), they learned about the tools commoners use against corpses and their rituals, they got to witness demonic cultivation first hand (!!) with the Final Eyes Summoning spell.
And boy, was that really fucking amazi— Ahem, very illuminating. Well, they’d never actually seen anything like that in real life, alright? Judge him for being impressed about it when they’d been subjected only to the textbook descriptions of the crooked path that, in all fairness, did not even come close to describe how it truly was.
So in general, Jingyi was having a weird time.
There they were, terrified thinking they were going to die; they had no idea where Hanguang-jun was (again) and whether he was okay (again). And it wasn’t that they didn’t trust Hanguang-jun’s capability, but This Guy seemed to be so chill about everything, taking his sweet time around the ghost girl and the coffin with the dead guy. Oh, yeah and the dead guy. The dead guy who turned out to be Xiao Xingchen, because the guy from before, who was now fighting against Hanguang-jun was not Xiao Xingchen, it was Xue Yang pretending to be him. Such a mess! Just remembering it was giving Jingyi a headache.
While in the tiny funeral home, they all got to witness That Guy perform Empathy with the little girl! Empathy!! He disregarded the risks like they were nothing and just went for it, leaving the Jiang Clarity Bell on the little mistress’ hands along with the responsibility of bringing him back when it was due (out all of them), like he could just trust them, a bunch of kids, to keep him safe!! Not that he thinks they were not capable of handling the situation for him, but come on!! How could he trust them just like that? Hadn’t they just met?? Had he forgotten how they all forcibly took him to the Cloud Recesses?
It had all been so stressful, Jingyi will probably feel the residual tension in his neck for the rest of his life.
Simultaneously, he’d never learned so much in so little time.
Everything ended fine, Hanguang-jun ended Xue Yang for good (obviously) and they could set free the souls trapped in Yi City. They also learned the horrible story behind Xiao Xingcheng’s death, which definitely killed all the good mood they had.
And then, the night arrived.
By the time they sat down to eat that night, the spirits were all high up again. They ordered a lot of food, some of it was even spicy as per the young mistress’s request. He also tried some of it reluctantly, remembering vividly how he almost died with the congee in Yi City. But as it turns out, it wasn’t even bad! The congee was just ridiculously spiced, but this food Jingyi could actually come to like!
They also ordered some alcohol. It wasn’t their idea, Jingyi swears! The kids from the other sects asked for it and the Young Mistress actually offered to pay for their dinner, so it would have been very rude to reject the invitation. They got into a bit of an altercation when Sizhui mentioned Wei Wuxian, the Grand Master of Demonic Cultivation, but it was quickly fixed by him again with an apology, because that was just who Sizhui was. In any case, if you had asked Jingyi at the time, the Young Mistress was way too quick to anger. The boy could really use some the Lan Sect’s meditation classes for temper control. Jingyi would make sure to request Hanguang-jun’s permission to invite him.
But aside from that incident, the night was going really well. Jingyi felt like he’d never been better: they had survived death, they had helped someone in need and they solved a mystery along the way. They also made new friends. They were having fun.
Until Hanguang-jun barged in, dragging Mo Xuanyu behind, tied up on the wrists with his sacred ribbon.
They were baffled! Even Sizhui, who was the epitome of good behavior and manners, was gaping at them! The weird thing is Hanguang-jun did not even seemed to notice them. He’d looked in their general direction, but it was as if he didn’t know them. He hadn’t even said a peep about the liqueur on the table which Jingyi tried to hide at first. It was actually The Freak who called out to them for it, threatening to tell on them and have them punished. Which was very hard to take serious, because he was tied around the wrists.
Now, thinking back, that should have been the first real warning sign. Not the ribbon thing. Although just remembering that makes him blush in embarrassment! Ridiculously so, because it wasn’t him that shamelessly wandered around without it and tied it to another man. But Jingyi suspected that Hanguang-jun had the power to not be touched by regular human feelings, so the embarrassment was passed down to everyone else around.
Anyways, that should have been the first sign. The fact that lately, it seemed to be the supposed Weird Freak, the one that was constantly on their heels scolding them for being improper instead of Hanguang-jun, who usually just looked at the lot of them from the distance with a strange expression in his face. He looked at them like he was at total peace, which was different to his usual expression that said “do not approach me without a prior five to ten business days notice”. No, this one actually looked like… a smile. Or as close as Hanguang-jun could come to a smile.
“What do you mean by that? I’ve seen Hanguang-jun laugh before.” Says Jin Ling, taking a bite of his meat bun.
“What? No way, you’re lying,” Jingyi frowns. “I’ve known him my whole life and I’ve never witnessed him laughing.”
“I’m not lying!” Jin Ling exclaims, indignant. “It was when the whole Guanyin Temple fiasco happened.” He grimaces slightly, probably remembering everything else that occurred that day. “He laughed at some stupid shit Wei Wuxian said, I saw it with my own two eyes! And besides, weren’t you telling this story to prove how Hanguang-jun is just a regular human being? How can he be human and have no emotions?”
“Shut up, I refuse to believe you witnessed that. I think that’s a spectacle reserved only for the pure of heart” Jingyi thinks about it for a second “And Wei-qianbei, I guess. Marital rights or whatever. Right, Sizhui?”
“I’ve seen him laugh too.” Sizhui says while spreading butter over a piece of bread before passing it to Jin Ling, “he used to bring me to the bunny field when I was little to play with the bunnies. He would place a carrot on my chest while I was laying on the ground and then we’d wait until the bunnies came to me. One time a bunny accidentally stepped in my mouth and Hanguang-jun laughed at me.”
It had been more like a tiny breath of laughter, but Sizhui was not about to tell that to Jingyi. Besides it was not a lie, Hanguang-jun does have a laughter. It had been making fairly regular appearances ever since Wei-qianbei came back.
“Yeah, I saw him smile at Wei-qianbei once too,” Says Zizhen, looking wistfully at a far point past Jin Ling’s shoulder, a piece of bread laying forgotten on his plate. “I was out with my father visiting one of his friends, when I saw them on the distance walking through the market street. I thought about going up to them to say hi, but they seemed to be having some good quality time together and I didn’t want to interrupt.” He sighs. “Wei-qianbei was talking about something and Hanguang-jun was looking at him with the softest expression I’ve ever seen on anyone. Then he suddenly smiled and I felt like I was looking at something not made for mortal eyes, so I ran away immediately.”
Jingyi looks stupefied.
“There’s no way you all have seen it and I, his biggest admirer, have not.”
“You do realize his son is sitting right next to you, right?” Says Jin Ling.
Sizhui looks at him sympathetically.
“Don’t be upset, is not like Hanguang-jun is purposefully being stricter to you.”
“When did I ever mentioned that!?”
“Can you just keep telling the story? Were almost done with breakfast and the conference is about to start.” Says one of the youngest Lan disciples sitting at the table.
Oh, right!
So thinking back, the task of keeping everyone out of trouble and actually getting things done with the common people ended up falling into That Guy’s hands, while Hanguang-jun stood back and let them do their thing. It was a weird dynamic if you thought about it, because crazy people should not be in charge! But it all had felt very natural up until the moment in which Hanguang-jun himself broke the rules.
Well, more like exposed them to the embarrassment of the ribbon ritual being performed in public like that.
It took them a second to get over the surprise and find their words again, even when the adults were out of earshot.
“What does the ribbon mean?” The Young Mistress had asked.
“The ribbon is sacred for our sect,” explained Sizhui after clearing his throat softly. “It’s meant to represent self-control and discipline. We are never supposed to be seen without it and it can only be touched by your close family and…”
“And what?” Asked Ouyang Zizhen from across the table.
“…and your spouse.”
An embarrassed silence had followed after Sizhui’s words. Nobody had dared to say it out loud, but everyone knew what it meant. Mo Xuanyu’s feelings, that he had so shamelessly proclaimed, were reciprocated.
Everyone decided collectively to not mention this again for the time being. The very next day they tearily parted ways with the kids from the other sects and continued on their way with the adults. After that, they found that abandoned garden that supposedly used to shelter a garden spirit that enjoyed poetry. Sizhui told them the story of how Wei Wuxian had made the spirit so angry, she showed up to him just to kick him out. Jingyi had no idea where Sizhui had learned about that, but it didn’t really sound like something the Yiling Laozu would do.
“Wait, what story is that?” Interrupts Jin Ling one more time.
“I swear by everything that’s sacred, if you keep interrupting me, I’m going to throw my bun at your head!” Jingyi exclaims.
“Do not waste your food, Jingyi.”
“But he keeps interrupting me, Sizhui!”
“I just asked what story you’re talking about, I was not there with you when you found the garden!”
“You would have thrown a fit if Sizhui had told the story in front of you, so it’s a good thing you were not there. Otherwise we would have never heard about it.”
Jin Ling stops himself from retorting, leaning back with his arms crossed. There is no way to deny that.
“Jingyi don’t be rude like that, it’s all in the past.”
Jingyi seemed about to reply when Zizhen suddenly intervenes;
“It’s okay, I can tell you about it.” Zizhen laid down his empty tea cup to pour more. “Many years ago, there was a man who loved his garden so much that his flowers grew conscience in the form of a beautiful spirit, the Damsel of Annual Blossoms. She was very shy though, so she would only show herself when someone recited poetry the same way the gardener did. If you were lucky and she liked your performance, she would show up and gift you a single annual flower that would stay in blossom for three whole years.”
Everyone around the table ooh-es. Zizhen continues with a soft voice and great sentiment:
“But if you did it wrong and she didn’t like it, she would show up only to throw a bunch of flowers at your face before disappearing. If that were to happen to you, you would fall unconscious and find yourself waking up outside the garden. It was apparently a very popular place to visit back in time.”
“And what does that have to do with Wei-qianbei?” Asks Lan Congyi.
“The legend says that there was only one person who actually got to see her face,” Jingyi answers with a shine in his eyes. “And that was Wei-qianbei.”
“No fucking way,” says Jin Ling, but he is leaning forwards, waiting for the rest of the story.
“Oh, yeah.” Jingyi smiles smugly, looking absurdly proud to be telling this story. “Apparently, he came over and over again to recite bad poetry to the Damsel of Annual Blossoms, every time he would fall unconscious but as soon as he woke up, he’d crawl back in to do it again. It is said that he did this over twenty times! Until he actually managed to get a good look at her face. He went on to tell everyone about how beautiful she was, but she was so angry at him that she stopped showing up for a while. After that, every time he dared show up around the garden, she would storm him and everyone near in a colorful spectacle of flowers. It was said to be a true marvel.”
“Can you imagine being so annoying?” That’s what Jing Ling says, but he looks somewhere between amused and impressed.
“I think that is very romantic,” Zizhen replies. “That’s what they write about in romance novels. A gentleman so in love he would go to any extreme to get the girl. No wonder Wei-qianbei was fourth on the Top Most Eligible Bachelors List at the time.”
“I really don’t think annoying someone is the best way to get to their heart.” Jin Ling huffs.
“Oh, please, you’re just upset because your uncle was not even on the top ten!”
“Shut up, Lan Jingyi!” There was no way to save face for his uncle.
“Guys, please”
“Top Most Eligible Bachelors List?” Asks Lan Congyi.
“It was a list published on the ladies’ magazines!” Zizhen answers excitedly. “Apparently, they had monthly printings of magazines and once a year they would make a list of the best cultivator bachelors based on their looks, prospects and charm. Wei-qianbei made it to the list every year despite not being a sect heir and having no money! We found some records about it when we were going through the books on a library in Caiyi Town during a night hunt investigation.”
“You guys seem to have so much free time…”
“Can I keep going with the story?” Said Jingyi and everyone straightens up again expectantly.
That night when they were camping, The Weirdo asked them what the Lan sect ribbon meant, and Jingyi had almost passed out from outrage. What does he mean he doesn’t know!? Had he not been shamelessly flirting with Hanguang-jun that whole time? How can you pursue the second young master of the Lan Clan and not know what the ribbon means!!? He then seemed to have a panic attack after learning what it means, which served him right. After all that fuss, they had that terrifying encounter with the headless fierce corpse that Hanguang-jun and The Weirdo had been carrying on pouches. When Hanguang-jun appeared alongside Zewu-jun and helped calm him down, it seemed like they already knew whose body it was. As we all know it turned out to be Chifeng-zun. Something very strange was going on, even though neither of the adults actually told them anything, the juniors knew it.
When the whole thing at Koi Tower happened, they were not there and they only got the news when they received the message a couple of days after. That Man they had been traveling with was not really Mo Xuan Yu, it was actually Wei Wuxian, The Yiling Laozu, inhabiting his body. It all made sense now, yet at the same time it made none at all. Why was Hanguang-jun on the run with him? Were they not supposed to be mortal enemies? Had he really been bewitched, had he fallen prey to the claws of an awful monster?
Except during all that time they spent together with him, he had been nothing like what the stories he’d been telling and it was very confusing. The Yiling Laozu was a horrible, unscrupulous man that used the bodies of the dead as tools to commit atrocious acts of violence, he was not supposed to be a little guy who explained to them the most complex aspects of talisman work like it was baking bread, spoke softly to dead illiterate girls and helped set ghost towns free.
For the first time in his life, Jingyi found himself doubting the word of his elders.
Jingyi found himself worrying after the wellbeing of a man that was the protagonist of horror tales
A man who was responsible of the deaths of thousands of people, including people of his own clan.
When they got caught at the top of the Burial Mounts and Hanguang-jun showed up along Wei Wuxian to save them, Jingyi felt nothing but relief.
This man had changed nothing even after his true identity had been revealed, he still came to them with his stupid and fucked up sense of humor. He wasn’t even mad at Jin Ling who’d almost killed him again (It was okay, though, Jingyi could be mad enough for him). Soon enough, the sects came up to rescue them too, and it soon became very obvious how full of shit everyone is. It was a revealing chat that they had at the top of the mountains. Wei Wuxian is a formidable man in both wits and guts; he is not afraid to recognize his mistakes and own up to them, but he is also not afraid to call people out in their bullshit.
The fight against the fierce corpses was the most spectacular event Jingyi has experienced so far. Everyone joining together made Jingyi feel invincible, which was in turn so upsetting when, at the end, everyone still went after Wei-qianbei when the worst was over. It broke Jingyi's heart in worry when he suddenly passed out on their way to Lotus Pier. True, they ended up exiled after witnessing by firsthand the connection between him and Hanguang-jun. But worried, nonetheless.
The hypocrisy of their world was exposed again when they were having the discussion at Lotus Pier. Oh, how willing were they to turn to Wei-qianbei for help as soon as it was made evident that Lianfang-zun was the real threat.
And would you look a that? All they had needed was the word from two unknown women to turn from kissing up the robes of Jin Guangyao to call him the son of a whore again.
Now, something else happened at Lotus Pier, none of them know exactly what it was but at some point Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian had disappeared along with the Ghost General and Sect Leader Jiang was suddenly on a rampage around Lotus Pier, running around with a sword on hand or something. Jin Ling and all the other juniors made sure to steer away from his path, so as to not get involved with whatever might have been going on there.
Next thing they know, everyone is running towards a Temple in a tiny town close to Yiling where apparently the big confrontation had happened. When they arrived, it was already over and from what Jin Ling had been forced to tell them about it, things went in this order:
-Jin Ling got captured along with Wei-qianbei, it was totally Wei-qianbei’s fault. Of course.
-Zewu-jun was there and they all were forced to block their spiritual powers by Jin Guangyao.
-The three adults had a conversation, Jin Guangyao and Zewu-jun were surprised that Wei-qianbei was there without Hanguang-jun.
-Zewu-jun got very angry at Wei-qianbei (Had never ever happened before) because he had no idea that Hanguang-jun had been in love with him.
-Apparently Hanguang-jun had confessed his feelings when Wei-qianbei was on the verge of death?
-Hanguang-jun had confronted the Lan Elders after they tried to have him give Wei-qianbei up and had been punished with thirty-three lashes with the Lan Discipline whip. (But that one Jingyi would not tell the other juniors).
-Hanguang-jun arrived at the temple and Wei-qianbei had confessed his own feelings too. Although, Jin Ling had refused to tell them exactly how it went down, said he preferred to die before repeating those words again. Jingyi doesn’t understand what could be so bad, but well, it probably was just Jin Ling being baby.
-Jin Guangyao died too, but that’s not what they are talking about here.
It truly speaks a lot about their world how after that, everyone continued being the same. They switched villains, and even though the tales about the evil Yiling Laozu were still whispered around the dark corners, right now Lianfang-zun was the true personification of evilness. It doesn’t matter how their sects benefited off of him on their time, how Lianfang-zun had helped them establish their night-hunting grounds limits in a way they could find prey and not be overpowered by bigger sects, how he had reduced their taxes based on size and capacity, how he had allowed all sects to take part on the cultivation conferences no matter how small they were. Lianfang-zun stopped being beneficial and just became another villain.
Hanguang-jun and Wei-qianbei remained the same too, though, and that brought Jingyi peace. They traveled around helping those in need, expecting nothing in return. Wei-qianbei continued to move around the place, untouched by the rudeness and ungratefulness of a world that refuses to recognize its mistakes and still expects him to solve their problems. Hanguang-jun shines with the satisfaction of a man that is living his life at its fullest, unashamedly in love. At times, kind of embarrassingly so.
Jingyi doesn’t think they’ll ever truly get the full story of what happened during the war. Each sect tells their own story, the books still tell tales of a horrible man that was so blood thirsty that the most powerful sects had to come together to bring him down, a man so evil that his name used to be whispered around little towns like a curse, a man that died by the hands of his own shidi who could not bear the pain of his deranged choices.
But that man they have come to meet by chance, that man was willing to share his knowledge with them and is always ready to help. That man does not deny his sins. That man taught them kindness like no other, that man shares his knowledge with them and anyone who wants to learn, easily and selflessly. Jingyi knows there are things they don’t know about Wei-qianbei, questions that probably will never be answered. It feels terribly unfair to Jingyi how Wei-qianbei keeps being put in the same category as Jin Guangyao who caused so much pain out of pure greed when he has been nothing but kind. No matter how many times Wei-qianbei tells them that they’re not exactly wrong, Jingyi knows there’s a deep underlining of contempt based solely on Wei-qianbei’s humble roots. But even that feels hypocritically convenient because isn’t he the son of Cangse Sanren? How can that be overlooked?
In the end, no matter how hard it is to try and move past everything that is the unfairness of society, one must go on. They’ve learned that they cannot change the world, so they can only change themselves and hope that’s enough, they must live righteously and kindly, that way they can at least take part of what feels like the best way forward.
And if they can save a person along that way, well that would be a bonus.