#Lan Jingyi's sight and hearing have been affected and his balance has suffered as a result.

[doctorcanon]

Ouyang Zizhen Tries to Save His Friends (and succeeds).

Random fic idea. Might do something with it, might not. This is actually mostly canon save for The Juniors being about 21 here. Due to some Demonic fuckery, Jin Ling, Ouyang Zizhen, Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui are all lost in the Gongzhi (not a real place) Mountains. Everyone is injured, starving and Lan Sizhui is in particularly bad shape forcing Ouyang, the most mobile to go find help in the rumored Siyi Temple (10 Points for anyone who gets that reference) to find Gong Er, a woman called The Reckless Abbess. Slight Blood warning.

The Ouyang Sect tried to stifle the rumors surrounding the Gongzhi Mountains for decades. Shrouded in fog and choked by thin air, it’s deep valleys hide a dark and cherished secret. It is said that centuries ago, the courtesan of a cruel emperor chose death over freedom, broke out of her wedding palanquin and started running. Braving arrows, dogs, and soldiers, she ran until her feet bled. When she reached the outside of the city, mortally wounded, she didn’t stop. Running into the mountains, through rivers and climbing into trees. They say you can still see her trail of blood weaving through the woods and splattered on the trees. As Ouyang Zizhen climbs his way through the valley, he knows that story is not entirely true. 

The overgrown road is lightly packed with red clay. The leaves of trees lining it are all red, particularly uncommon in a mountain range known for its evergreens. The road is long, winding and marked with red hand prints on the trees. If you don’t pay attention, you’ll be hopelessly lost. Wounded and ruined with worry, Zizhen presses on, pain gnawing at his side. He shouldn’t have laughed at Lan Sizhui when he offered to bring herbs for minor injuries. It was supposed to be a routine trip, kids don’t need salve for every cut and scrape they get. Now he’s covered in bruises and bleeding through makeshift bandages. If he doesn’t keep going Lan Sizhen will die and the others have no way of getting back home unless someone finds them somewhere in that random shack with nothing but two canteens of water between them. Even as he stumbles face first into the dirt, he presses on fueled by desperation. 

If the Lan Sect is about temperance, and the Jin Sect about decorum then the Ouyang Sect is all about resilience. He will prevail. Even against his own weakness. Sorrow is only something to be defeated. Exhaustion will be conquered. The fog gets thicker but the red handprints on the trees beckon him closer and closer. Until suddenly the trees stop. Instead of the massive wooden gate he’s heard so much about, he’s greeted with a wall. High and wide. No way to climb over, peppered with red hand prints. 

There’s supposed to be a temple here! The Siyi Temple should be here! Confusion, dismay and rage tears at his wounds. All of it mixes into inky despair that wrenches a cry from his broken chest.

“No!” His voice breaks against the trees sending birds flying. “No, no no!” He pounds the stone with his fists. This is defeat. Jin Ling believed in him for nothing. His friends - his brothers beyond blood - are all going to die. There has to be someone here. This can’t have all been for nothing! “Someone!” His ragged voice echoes with no response. “Someone, anyone please help! My friends…! There’re all…!” He can’t breathe. The thin air never bothered him before but that fall from earlier must’ve shifted one of his broken ribs. “Please…!” He can’t shout anymore and his shaking legs finally give out. He rests his head against the stone wall, gasping for air. He clutches his chest. He has to get up! He has to keep going! Weakness is only something to be conquered. With one last shout, he forces himself back to his feet. 

The world tilts. Suddenly he’s staring up at the red leaves above him. The shift and sway in the cold winds. The rustling sounds like Jingyi’s wheezy laughter. He won’t hear it again. He has no strength left, he can’t even roll over. Tears could his vision as a shadow passes over him. He mutters a prayer for his friend’s soon departed souls and darkness consumes him.

For a moment, all he knows is darkness and the feeling of floating. There’s no pain or failure. There’s nothing but the void. He supposes this is what he deserves; failures don’t deserve rewards in the afterlife. Only those who’ve achieved great things achieve enlightenment. What has he accomplished other than breaking Ouyang Zheng’s drinking record? When he’s reincarnated, he will dedicate his life to finding his old friends - whatever form they take - and begging their forgiveness. He lets the darkness consume him pulling him deeper and deeper. 

Then he wakes up.