#‘you looked like u wanted him to come to caiyi town with us’

[immortal-gege]

Rereading mdzs gusu era + the extras and lan xichen definitely could tell his brother was down bad for wei wuxian

[monsieurboyardee]

I tweeted this when there was discourse about lwj playing inquiry for 13 years a la cql vs lwj moving on with his life a la mdzs/fan interpretation so here u go:

Hear me out hear me out, what if "hanguang-jun spent those thirteen years moving on from wwx and raising A-yuan" and "lwj spent 13 years playing inquiry on the guqin every night" are two ideas that can coexist?

Bc death is weird and hard especially when there's things you should've said or done that still weigh in you even years later, and it takes time to mourn and to grieve even when you've got other, more important things to be taking care of. Maybe after coming out of his three years of seclusion lwj did try to move on, to raise this kid and be a good father, to be a good brother and nephew, to be the second Jade of Gusu Lan. He went where the chaos was, he helped people, he lived his life. Even when wwx was alive they weren't attached at the hip. And slowly but steadily, he begins to move on because he is more than just his grief and his pain.

But at night, it's just him. The world is asleep, or getting ready for sleep, and he's checked everything off his to do list for the day. There's nothing but the silence in the Jingshi and the soft sounds of nightfall outside. And when wwx's death was still too recent, too fresh of a wound, lwj would sit and play Inquiry until his fingers bled over the strings, just in case his spirit was still out there, just in case he still has one more chance to say he's sorry. But an answer never came, and at this point he isn't expecting it to.

And he's been trying to move on, he really is, but sometimes it's the way Shizui smiles so so brightly and beautifully, sometimes it's when he's in caiyi town and he sees a bottle of emperor's smile, sometimes it's just when the night stretches on and all lwj can think about is wwx's hands on him, of his forehead ribbon in wwx's hands, of how he's so so fucking lonely despite everything because he's still kind of caught up in the idea of what might have been, what could have happened if lwj had just said what he'd wanted to say when he'd wanted to say it.

So he stores bottles of Emperor's Smile in his floorboards, and he sits up at night and plays Inquiry. As the years pass on he only plays it once or twice, but sometimes when the ache is too strong to sleep but not strong enough to put into words, he plays a few more. And eventually it stops being a way to call out to wwx and just one of those Things That He Does, as all people have--he holds his hand behind his back when he walks, he cannot handle his alcohol past one sip, and he plays Inquiry at least once a night every night before he goes to sleep. Because it's become a tradition of sorts for him, a way to rationalize and express his grief while still being able to go about the day and live out his own life. And so even when it stops being his crutch and just starts being his routine he continues, because it feels wrong to stop now and because he is Allowed to express every thing he cannot say in that short period, and he can quietly, secretly, say everything to wwx that he couldn't say before: I'm here, I'm here for you now, even though I wasn't there for you back then. And as the years pass and his routine continues, lwj learns to cope.

Until one day, thirteen years later, lwj hears an unmistakable melody floating through air and looks into Mo Xuanyu's eyes. And for the first time in what seems like forever, something slots back into place inside of him, a feeling that he had accepted and grown used to over the years rewritten over so quickly it would be astounding if he wasn't currently quite so distracted. And for the first time in thirteen years, lwj forgets to play Inquiry before he goes to sleep. Because for the first time in thirteen years, Lan Wangji can make things right.

[inessencedevided]

There is another missive waiting for him on his bed in the inn he has booked for this week. Wei Wuxian is a busy man, resident rogue cultivator and vanquisher of restless spirits (In truth he just politely sends them on their way but ‘vanquisher’ just sound so much more competent).

He has been travelling from the area of Yiling over Lanling to Yunmeng, getting paid for keeping quiet while cleaning up the resentful energy Sunshot has left behind. So many deaths. Some of them frightfully young.

He has heard of the ransacking of Lotus Pier, its clan staying alive by the skin of their teeth, of the razing of the Cloud Recesses, the burning of buildings that have stood for more than a century. Of the brave sacrifice they all keep whispering about. Of Jin Guangshan stretching his greedy hands towards the seat of Chief Cultivator before Wen Ruohan was even cold. Of the Dafan Wens, simple healers and farmers who were taken in by the Jiangs to help rebuild their home.

The missive is still on his bed, patiently waiting but something about it makes him uneasy. The scroll is of a high quality and sealed with the symbol of the Gusu Lan sect. ZewuJun himself is asking him to come to Caiyi and visit the Cloud Recesses. Not hushed, not hidden away, right there with a seal and everything. It must be important. So he packs his bags and goes, apprehensive and curious both. Their sect was one of those who lost a lot, who lost many capable cultivators.

As he arrives in the town, it is still rebuilding, still mourning its losses. It is quiet, contemplative. Children look at him with wide eyes, a little girl is clutching a rabbit made from colourful cloth to her chest and sticking to her brother’s robe but they don’t say anything, they just watch him as he approaches the mountain and its austere monastery. The steps make his legs ache despite his high cultivation and as he reaches the top, he leans against a pillar to pant for breath.

ZewuJun meets him there, still young but looking like he aged twenty years in the last less than two, a white mourning sash around his waist. He leads Wei Wuxian up the last flight of steps, his back straight but the corners of his mouth downturned.

As they arrive in what seems to be his home, he serves them tea and refreshments, takes a deep breath and steels himself. “I sent for you because I know of your line of work. You know what happened to us, to my sect. There is a lot of pain in the soil and in the walls but I…”

He takes a fortifying breath. “You must know. Surely you must know what happened. They…they came. Wen Xu and his men. They set the buildings alight, tried to burn our whole sect down. Most of us fled to a hidden cave, carrying what we could.”

As he pours himself another cup, his hands shake but he drains it quickly and gets up. “I need to show you something,” he says and walks ahead, Wei Wuxian trailing behind. Of course he heard of the terrible tragedy, the loss and the sects banding together in their grief, felling Wen Ruohan. But what ZewuJun (“please, call me Lan Xichen or Sect Leader if you must”) wants to present to him still is a mystery.

“What I am about to show you has been kept secret ever since the end of Sunshot so I expect you to keep your silence as well, Young Master Wei,” Lan Xichen says and opens the doors of the Underworld Chamber with a glowing sigil. There, placed on a table made of some pale material is a body swathed in white tied right over left, black hair a river of ink around their face. A very beautiful face in fact, still and serene, headband carefully tied in place, looking as if carved from the finest jade. The man looks as if he was just sleeping.

“Wangji, he…” Sect Leader Lan’s voice trembles as he approaches the body of his younger brother. Because this is his younger brother Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian realises with a start, one of the reasons the sects rallied together. “Our father refused to leave seclusion to help us. Uncle was too weak and I was already too injured. He sacrificed himself, stood between the entrance of our sacred cave and a horde of Wen soldiers. I… I know he was able to kill almost all of them before they broke his leg. He felled Wen Xu himself, riddled with arrows. They… they had to stab a sword into his unwavering, endlessly brave heart to make him stop fighting.”

He looks up at Wei Wuxian, his dark eyes unfathomable and utterly sad. “Master Wei. There is something else you need to know. Wangji has been dead for over a year. His body refuses to rot. He has gone through soul calming ceremonies knowing that he might die one day. But…”, he trails off and looks towards what is presumably his brother’s sword in its stand next to the body, the guqin resting on a table. “He has not left. He is still here. And I want to know why.”

- 🍄 anon

🍄 anon!!!! How dare ... you can't just leave this like that??? 😭😭😭😭😭

U know i love rogue cultivator wwx and even though lwj being dead from the start is heartbreaking I adore the imagery of this!! Yoz always sent me ficlets that make me wish I could draw 🥺

please don't leave me hanging though i need a happy end 😭💔

[choupichoups]

Wei Wuxian felt his heart in his stomach as he took one, two, three and more steps up on the staircase leading up to Cloud Recesses. The man walking in front of him was quiet ever since they arrived to Caiyi Town, which didn't help him get rid of his nervousness. He really wished to have a jar of Emperor's Smile with him, so that he could feel a bit more at ease. Maybe it was a bad idea coming back here. Maybe Lan Zhan wouldn't want to see him, since he is busy restoring the Sect Principles.

As they arrived, he was suddenly hit by a wave of emotions. Remembering everything: the night he had a fight with Lan Zhan on the rooftops, getting punished several times for breaking the rules, playing around with Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng. Sometimes he wanted to go back to those days, having all these problems off his shoulder... having his golden core back. He quickly shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts. He can't be like this, not now when he's about to see Lan Zhan again.

He almost walked into the First Jade of Lan in front of him as he zoned out while thinking about those good old days. Lan Xichen turned around, a gentle expression resting on his face as he put his hands behind his back. They were in a place that Wei Wuxian was not familiar with. It seemed like a secluded house with a small yard. He looked at the tablet just above the doorframe 'Quiet Room'. He couldn't supress the soft smile appearing on his lips. Of course it's Lan Zhan's room.

"Young Master Wei, please wait here for a moment." Lan Xichen said with that gentle smile of his. No wonder Jiang Cheng agreed to let him leave Lotus Pier yet again. Who could say no to the kindest, most gentle Sect Leader. Wei Wuxian just nodded in response, casually resting his back on the frame of the gate leading into this secluded area. His eyes were following the Eldest Lan Brother until he entered the house. It was just now that Wei Wuxian realized there's a soft tune breaking the silence

Just when he was about to recognize the melody, it stopped. Wei Wuxian really wanted to use one of his self invented talismans to eavesdrop on the Lan Brothers, so he would know whether or not Lan Zhan wishes to see him. Of course he resisted the urge, considering his respect towards the Twin Jades were stronger than his curiosity. He unconsciously grabbed ChenQing, that was placed in his belt, seeking for some sort of comfort while waiting for Zewu Jun to come out and probably tell him to leave

Did you... write me a fic?? Who r u