Chapter Text
It all started with the havoc on the Yunmeng Jiang main courtyard.
As always, Jiang Cheng was sitting at his desk in the head office, dealing with the official sect business. Reading, composing, and writing letters was never his forte. In fact, it was one of the most excruciating tasks of his position as a sect leader - to properly conjure the official letters, to placate his political opponents and allies, to deal with the sect business using paper and a quill. Of course, he had a group of scribes who - upon a request - could rewrite whatever formulaic phrase expressing politeness he had screwed up but he wasn’t using their services to the whole extent. No, he liked to do the main business himself as he was used to. Even for the price of a wrinkled forehead from the constant frowning and impeding headaches that followed afterward.
It was perhaps destiny that as he was finishing his official business letter to Gusu Lan, he happened to hear muffled shouts coming from the outside.
A few seconds later after the initial uproar, the doors to the office flew open.
Into the room came Du Fang, a fairly young cultivator whose job was to guard the Jiang Clan estate. He is usually calm but there was a sense of urgency in his expression. He stopped in the middle of the office and gasped for the air.
“Sect leader Jiang! Please come to the courtyard!” he rasped. “It’s sect leader Lan, he’s -“
“Sect leader Lan? As in Zewu-jun?” that was unusual. From what he knew of his situation, the sect leader of Gusu Lan was still supposed to be in seclusion. “What is he doing here?”
“I don’t know!”
“What do you mean you don’t know?”
The muffled shouts were intensifying.
“Sect leader, we don’t know! Nobody knows!” the panic in his voice was growing. “I don’t think he’s - “
“UNHAND ME!” the shout from the courtyard was unmistakably the sect leader Lan, who was most certainly not in his seclusion.
This time Jiang Cheng didn’t ask any questions. He stood up from his chair, and swiftly turned his steps out of his office towards the courtyard with the poor Du Fang following him. As he was half-sprinting, half-walking down the stairs, he was trying to think of any possible reason why would sect leader Zewu-jun visit him, unannounced, still officially secluded. And why did he sound so violent?
The sight he was presented with gave him absolutely no answer to any of his questions. As he finally reached the courtyard where he could see clearly, he stopped with a shock. There was Zewu-jun, standing in the middle of the courtyard with his Shuoyue unleashed and ready to attack the Jiang cultivators surrounding him. And if that didn’t sound strange, there was more: 1. The sect leader was alone, which was quite unusual as sect leaders visited other sects with at least a dozen disciples. 2. He wasn’t wearing his signature light blue robes typical for Lans but instead, he was wearing purple robes. 3. The only positive thing that could be said about this situation was that he appeared to be in a much better condition compared to the last time Jiang Cheng saw him - when he looked like an empty shell. This Zewu-jun looked lively. And unfortunately, quite angry.
Jiang Cheng was about to shout What the fuck is going on but then Zewu-jun noticed him. At first, there was a recognition in his face and then just plain confusion.
Jiang Cheng finally got to start his question: “What the fuck - “
“Sect leader Lan?” asked Zewu-jun.
…
“What?”
Suddenly, there was a complete silence. Both sect leaders were staring at each other with about the same amount of bewilderment.
It was Jiang Cheng who recovered first. “Again, can someone tell me, what the hell is going on?”
“I could ask the same question, sect leader Lan.” stated Zewu-jun, who at least seemed to calm down a bit.
“What the hell do you mean by sect leader Lan? Why are you addressing me as sect leader Lan?” Jiang Cheng didn’t calm down. And there were more pressing questions, like: “Why are you here? What the fuck are you d-“
“What do you mean?” asked Zewu-jun and Jiang Cheng could swear that in those 3 or 4 thousand Gusu Lan rules there must have been at least one forbidding interrupting others.
“What do you mean What do you mean?” at this point, Jiang Cheng was practically shouting.
Zewu-jun on the other hand started to look a bit startled and even more confused, if that was possible.
“I am simply asking,” started Zewu-jun slowly and a bit apprehensively, “why are you confused by being properly addressed?”
“Properly addressed?”
“...yes?”
“Properly addressed, as in you, Zewu-jun, addressing me, Jiang Wanyin, the Jiang sect leader, as sect leader Lan?”
“Ehm… pardon me, sect leader, but…. Are you alright?” and Zewu-jun genuinely appeared to be concerned.
“Am I al-, are YOU?”
They were just staring at each other silently. It was the voice of Han Shiu, the first disciple of Jiang, who tried to bring reason to this conversation.
“Excuse me, sect leaders, but it would probably be the best idea to relocate this conversation to a more private space.” She was speaking quietly in a polite manner. It was the tone of her voice that made Jiang Cheng aware of the size of the audience this conversation was getting. It would probably be the best to move back to his office.
“You are right.” He looked up at his office and then back at Zewu-jun. “Please, follow me to my office.”
“To your office?” pushed Zewu-jun.
“Would you rather prefer a different accommodation?” asked Jiang Cheng half-sarcastically, half-pissed. “Hm? A dining hall? A picnic?”
“It is just that Gusu is rather far from here, don’t you think?”
“Gusu? Why in the hell-? Gusu?! Why are we talking about Gusu? I am just simply asking you,” and he was seriously running out of patience, “to go to my YUNMENG office that is RIGHT THERE to deal with this nonsense IN PRIVATE!”
“But that office is my office!” protested Zewu-jun.
“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!”
There was a complete silence. And then Jiang Cheng found Han Shiu whispering in his ear: “Sect leader, please, calm down. It is clear, that Zewu-jun is not in his right mind, perhaps a more delicate approach would be more suitable.”
Although it was an extremely ill-advised idea of Han Shiu to be criticizing the Jiang sect leader when he was this pissed, her suggestion was undeniably sound and logical. He was sure that he hadn’t missed any announcement of Zewu-jun leaving his seclusion. No, Zewu-jun just appeared here out of nowhere, accompanied by no one, looking absolutely strange and making zero sense. Clearly, he wasn’t in such a good condition as Jiang Cheng had previously thought.
Although he was livid with the other sect leader’s behaviour, he probably couldn’t fault him for that. A year ago, Zewu-jun had truly looked like a walking corpse, only a shadow of the man he had once been. A year of being confined in a dark, narrow, and bleak space surrounded by no one but your own guilt and grief… It must have done quite a number to his mental health. If he were to make an educated guess - it was most likely that Zewu-jun truly lost it. He must have escaped his seclusion on his own and arrived here, completely delusional, most likely thinking he owned this place.
And as infuriating as that was, he most definitely could not blame this situation on him. It was quite worrisome that such an accomplished and kind cultivator could end up like this.
To ensure that Zewu-jun would get as quickly as possible to the proper care he desperately needed, it was crucial to take a completely different approach. Instead of reasoning with logic, it would probably be best to try to appease the deranged person with the delusions they believe to be their reality.
“Yes, sect leader Jiang” tried Jiang Cheng kindly and a little uncertainly, as he felt like an idiot. “Let’s go to your office that is right there.”
Zewu-jun was looking at him blankly.
“Let’s go there, you were right” he was losing his already abysmal amount of confidence in this spiel as he noticed the other’s expression. “It is your office, not mine.”
“Are you mocking me?!” Zewu-jun was incredulous.
“Ehm… no?” and it was strange how awkward he felt in his own courtyard.
Well, Zewu-jun, on the other hand, obviously felt quite confident in the very same courtyard. “Firstly, you are confused when I address you as sect leader Lan, then you claim my office as yours and then, oh so suddenly, you start claiming the complete opposite?!” Zewu-jun, it would seem, found his previous anger again.
It was a miscalculation on Jiang Cheng’s part. He was right about the Lan sect leader being delusional. What he didn’t count with was that in his deranged state, Zewu-jun would actually be able to use some sort of logical thinking.
Apparently he was silent for a tad too long, as the lunatic was continuing.
“Not only am I surrounded by Lan disciples, clothed in my sect’s robes - yes, I can recognize Han Shiu, the first Lan disciple. No! No, it is not only just a juvenile prank of some misbehaving disciples, the Lan sect leader himself is actually on it as well! Have you lost your mind, Lan Wanyin? Do you realize that this could have political consequences? I mean, where are my disciples? If it wasn’t some idiotic practical joke of yours, this action could be considered an attack! Have you, Lans, completely lost your minds?!”
He was speaking so fervidly, that Jiang Cheng almost found himself guilty. As if it was him who was making all this trouble. But a one quick look to his right where he could see a line of Jiang (not fake-Lan-Jiang) disciples looking absolutely perplexed, he knew that it was not him who had lost his mind. Something should be done about this situation. And quickly. He was most likely not getting any help from Zewu-jun. And there was also the pressing problem of all of the eyes present, witnessing a major Sect leader being at his worst. That could lead to political consequences: sect leader Jiang, unable to discretely transport a prominent, mentally ill cultivator to his home to get him the medical attention he needs.
Crazy or not, Zewu-jun looked physically healthy, strong and he was enraged. There was no reasoning with him and with his Shuoyue unsheathed, he looked like was ready to be violent. There seemed to be only one option present: Wei Wuxian’s petrifying talisman.
Despite his and his brother’s rocky but slowly meliorating relationship, he had a few of his talismans always on him. No one could deny that his brother was a genius and his inventions really came in handy. Like right now.
Zewu-jun was opening his mouth again to say something but Jiang Cheng was quicker and with a swift move of his right hand, he sent the talisman right across to his opponent. The Lan sect leader was too occupied with his next argument that he didn’t have the chance to react to this attack.
And suddenly, as the talisman reached its destination, he was unmoving. Stunned.
The disciples were still silent but there was an audible collective gasp. Jiang Cheng took advantage of this situation to announce: “Disciples, I am taking sect leader Lan back to Gusu Lan, as he is clearly too ill to do so himself. Nobody - and I am completely serious - will speak of this in public. It is a difficult private matter that doesn’t concern our sect directly. Please, pay respect to Zewu-jun’s privacy and hope for his recovery.”
With that, he ordered a few disciples nearest to the statue of the sect leader Lan to carry him back to his office.
He looked at Han Shiu. “You come with me. We have a letter to write.”
He couldn’t really believe it had been a year of wandering the world. A whole year of discovering nature, the villages, the people, the new curses and the new types of vicious ghosts. A whole year of a new found freedom. A whole year without Lan Zhan.
It was one of the most difficult things to do - to part ways with him again and willingly. But there was no option left. Lan Zhan had to become the new Chief Cultivator and who else would have been able to accomplish what Lan Zhan had in a year. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, wasn’t even able to follow the stupid Lan rules to actually be able to live in Cloud Recesses. He would only be a hindrance to Lan Zhan, anyway. And it was not as if Lan Zhan expressed any desire to leave his post and go to explore the world with him.
Despite all these self-deprecating thoughts, he was returning back to the Cloud Recesses to see Lan Zhan again. And admittedly, to find a cure for his tiny curse situation he had going on. There were no symptoms yet, and the curse seemed harmless - it was only a small blot on his right hand but it served as a great excuse for visiting Lan Zhan and A-Yuan.
He was ascending the never-ending stairs when he noticed the back of a light blue-clothed figure in front of him. He didn’t think it was Lan Zhan or any of his favourite Lan juniors but he couldn’t help himself and call: “Hey!”
The light blue-clothed figure stopped. And slowly turned around and it was -
“Jiang Cheng?” he exclaimed confusedly. “What are you doing here?”
“What did you just call me?” he scowled after the initial shock. “And what are you doing here, Wei Wuxian? Aren’t you supposed to be wandering around the world?”
“Well… yes? I’m… I’m actually getting back here for a bit. I need something in the Lan sect’s library.” He chuckled nervously. “You know how they are… Having all the forbidden texts and so on.”
Jiang Cheng looked unimpressed. “Yes, we do. But you could have at least sent a message that you would be coming. I would have more time to mentally prepare and meditate.”
“Ehm… Why would you need to mentally prepare for me visiting the Lan sect’s library?”
Instead of responding to his absolutely reasonable question, Jiang Cheng asked: “And where is Jiang Wangji?”
“…”
“…?”
“…. The who?”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “What do you mean the who? Jiang Wangji! That annoying…” he tried to compose himself. “The husband of yours who follows you everywhere.”
“Ehm… What?”
“Your husband. Jiang Wangji. The one whom you had married.” He explained slowly like Wei Wuxian was the idiot in this scenario.
He took a closer look at his brother. He again became aware of the fact that he was wearing Lan robes. And what he hadn’t noticed before was the fact that he was also wearing the Lan sect ribbon! And not only the ordinary one - it was the one intended for the main line of the family, the same one Lan Zhan had! And seriously, did he connect “Jiang” and “Wangji” together?! Something was gravely wrong with his brother.
“A-Cheng…” he tried the gentle approach because what if his brother had been cursed? It was not wise to feed the anger of curses of any kind. “I don’t really understand what is going on but would you mind telling me why are clothed as a Lan?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you don’t normally dress yourself like this.” He continued with the gentle carefulness.
“What do you mean? Are you making fun of the “rigid” rules again? The rule about modesty? Parading your new clothes that your husband had bought you, huh? You know that arrogance is forbidden!” he started losing his cool and quite frankly, resembled the good old Lan Quiren.
“Say, Jiang Cheng… Have you recently been on a night hunt?”
“Yes. And why are you calling me Jiang Cheng?” he was genuinely confused.
“Well… Because it is your name?” Wei Wuxian tried to risk it. “See, A-Cheng, this is what I think happened: You had gone on a night hunt, got cursed and the curse is making you think that you are a Lan. Although I don’t know how where you acquired the forehead ribbon.” He pointed at Jiang Cheng’s head. Jiang Cheng frowned.
“Or!” continued Wei Wuxian, “you are perhaps mistaking the Lans and Jiangs in general because you said “Jiang Wangji”. But there is no Jiang Wangji, only a Lan Wangji. And I definitely don’t have any husband.”
“Or, ” started Jiang Cheng calmly, “you are the one who is cursed as you appear to have a curse mark on your hand.”
Wei Wuxian looked at his stretched out hand still pointing at Jiang Cheng’s forehead, foolishly displaying his curse. “Well… heh… Yeah… But this curse has actually nothing to do with your curse, you see - that’s why I am coming to the Lan sect’s library. There are no symptoms of this curse yet.”
“And you don’t think this could be the symptoms?” Jiang Cheng challenged him.
“No! See, I am aware that I am cursed. And that has to count for something, right? But there is seriously something wrong with you! I think it would be the best, if you came with me to the Cloud Recesses.”
“Well… I am heading to Cloud Recesses. Since - as you can clearly see - I am the sect leader of Gusu Lan. It is you, who is coming with me.”
Well, there was no reason to argue with him when he was cooperating and not causing any trouble. The only challenging part was not to argue back that Jiang Cheng was having too much of an attitude to be an actual Lan.
“And are you alone? Where is Jiang Wangji?”
Oh boy, this was going to be a very, very long way up to the Cloud Recesses.