#and tells him to fuck off and never speak to the jiangs again

[lizhly-writes]

introducing new character: liang yuwen. not sure if i'll stick with this exact characterization, or even this character role (she was actually meant to be a rival character for chen lihua), but i ended up here anyway, so. here you go.

Jiang Mingxi kept perfectly still as her mother ran fingers through her hair.

"You have such nice hair," Liang Yuwen sighed. "It's unbelievable how little you do to maintain it! You never use any of the conditioners or oils I send you, but it's still like this..."

Jiang Mingxi only half-paid attention. This track of conversation was well-worn; the very first thing her mother would say upon seeing her would always be about her hair. Jiang Mingxi had mostly learned to tune it out by now, as she did with most of the things her mother said at her.

"I still can't believe you've cut it so short," Liang Yuwen said, as if Jiang Mingxi had recently shaved it all off instead of going for just-past-chin-length years ago. She picked up a comb -- some ornately carved wooden confection that Jiang Mingxi had gotten her years ago. "If I was you, I would never. I might have cried, if my hair looked like this. I suppose, if you like it -- but I really do think you should think about growing it out again."

Jiang Mingxi was actually thinking about cutting it shorter. This was not something she was going to bother telling her mother.

"You looked so pretty with long hair," Liang Yuwen said, starting to comb through it. "What does A-Ran say about it?"

Jiang Mingxi took a split second to register that her mother actually wanted a response instead of a doll to talk at and play with. "What about him."

"Your hair. What does he think about it? Does he like it?"

Jiang Mingxi shrugged. "It's not like it's attached to his head."

Liang Yuwen sighed, disappointed as she always was when it came to how Jiang Mingxi talked about Yang Haoran. "He's your man, Ming-er. Of course it matters if he likes it. Surely he has opinions on your appearance."

Sure. Fine. Yang Haoran had opinions. He cared about appearances, in the sense that he enjoyed making jokes about them. She'd always hear offhand remarks about his skincare routine and his manicure and how much effort he put into his pretty face, despite the fact they both knew he was the kind of person who wouldn't even bother brushing his hair if social standards didn't make him. At one point, she had gifted him a full skincare and cosmetics set. He had laughed so hard he almost cried.

"He's fine with it," Jiang Mingxi said.

"Is he? Just because he doesn't say anything doesn't mean there's no problems."

Technically speaking, Yang Haoran had, at one point, expressed disappointment about her lack of makeup and pretty outfits. This was less because he felt that she should be wearing pretty outfits and more about how he felt somebody in their relationship should be wearing pretty outfits.

This had led to some interesting things in their sex life that, again, Jiang Mingxi wasn't going to bother telling her mother.

"It's just... you're still not married. Of course, it's good that you're watching out for your career, but you have to keep his interest somehow, at least until the wedding."

"We fuck three times a day," Jiang Mingxi didn't say, because logistically speaking, she could probably only manage once or twice a day before work got in the way. "It's fine," Jiang Mingxi said instead.

Liang Yuwen shook her head. "Just because he doesn't say anything doesn't mean there's no problems. That's a tenet in all communication. Not all things are said out loud. It's a shame 'out loud' is the only way you ever understand anything."

This was one of the things that her mother always picked at. Jiang Mingxi had gotten tired of hearing it years ago.

"Oh, don't make that face," Liang Yuwen said, without actually getting a look at Jiang Mingxi's face. "It's just an observation, dear -- you have to admit you are awfully straightforward. People don't just say what they think, there's subtlety involved. Subtlety will get you everywhere, but... well! It's not really a skill you practice. It really does seem I'm a terrible teacher, doesn't it?"

Jiang Mingxi didn't bother saying anything. There was no point; it wasn't a question with a correct answer. Agree, and then Mother would accuse her of being a rude, unfilial child. Disagree, and then Mother would ask, if she was such a good teacher, why Jiang Mingxi hadn't learned anything.

"You're always so quiet," Liang Yuwen said. Her hands tightened on Jiang Mingxi's hair. "Are you upset? I'm only trying to look out for you. It's only that people like looking at new, pretty things. Of course my Ming-er is very beautiful, but you always choose such boring things, over and over again. Don't you think you should put a little more effort? I'm sure A-Ran would like it. It's just... people can get bored so easily."

....Was she saying...?

"You've gone so stiff," Liang Yuwen said. "This sort of posture isn't very good for you, Ming-er. I'm sure you're already getting some aches and pains. You'll need to visit the masseuse -- oh, or we could order one over. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"What are you saying about Haoran," Jiang Mingxi said lowly. Liang Yuwen didn't try that hard at subtlety when she was talking to Jiang Mingxi, not when she was aware that too subtle would fly over Jiang Mingxi's head. There were very few ways to interpret what Liang Yuwen was saying.

"Hmm? A-Ran? I only said he might like it if you try something else with your hair."

"You're saying he'll get bored of me."

Liang Yuwen sighed. "Oh, that's such an unpleasant thing to say. Do you really want to talk about this?"

"You're the one who brought it up," Jiang Mingxi said. "Why would you even say that?"

Their relationship was fine. Yang Haoran was happy, Jiang Mingxi was happy -- no matter what Liang Yuwen said, everything was fine. Why would her mother even --

"Ming-er, it's rude to raise your voice."

"He's been engaged to me for over ten years. If he was going to get bored of me, wouldn't it be before now?"

"A-Ran," Liang Yuwen said, setting down the comb with a faint click, "is a very nice boy. Very... obedient. Very unlikely to rock the boat, don't you agree? Ming-er, if he was bored of you, do you really think he'd say so?"

... Yang Haoran complained all the time. Jiang Mingxi thought that he did it sometimes just because he thought it was funny, always about annoying little things that she was sure he didn't actually care about. It was easy assume that if something actually bothered him, he'd just complain about it.

Looking back, though, she couldn't remember him ever complaining about anything he was actually upset about. Did it make more sense to assume that he never had serious problems, or that he did and just never talked about them?

If he was really unhappy...

"Ten years," Jiang Mingxi repeated.

"Yes, about that," Liang Yuwen said. "Have you heard of the sunk-cost fallacy?"

"You think my relationship is a sunk-cost fallacy?"

"An engagement is, by nature, temporary. When that engagement develops into a marriage -- well, some things become... intolerable, when they become permanent. Men do get cold feet at the altar, sometimes."

"He's not -- he wouldn't--"

"Oh, maybe he wouldn't," Liang Yuwen said. "I could just be overthinking it. I'm sure you know A-Ran best, but it's only reasonable to worry about these things."

"Is it?"

"I just want you to be careful. I only want what's best for you, Ming-er. Now, why don't we try something else with your hair?"

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

The poll

Ficlet based off this poll

The moment he walked into his home's living room after a long, daunting day of lessons, the last thing Jin Ling had expected was to find his dad sitting on their couch, elbows on his knees, a fornlorn stare directed towards his work macbook on the glass coffee table. His eyebrows were furrowed in anger, one of his hands covering his mouth in disbelief.

It wasn't often Jin Ling saw his father like this - last time it happened, there was a stock market crash that almost sent their company reeling and that had Jin Zixuan work overtime for three months to deal with the fallout.

But Jin Ling had checked the stock market forecast for that day already and nothing else notable happened to put the company in jeopardy - so something else must have happened to have his dad stare at his laptop like it owed him money.

"Everything okay, dad?"

Without taking his eyes off the screen, Jin Zixuan huffed a disapproving "Hm."

"Where's mom?"

"Here, A-Ling." Yanli replied, emerging from the kitchen with two cups of steamy herbal tea. She set them onto the table and left a kiss on her son's forehead.

"What's going on?" He insisted, "You can tell me, I won't freak out or anything, I can take it. Did something happen with the company? Did a deal fall through or something?"

Yanli gave a long, tired sigh. "Come look, A-Ling."

Joining his father on the couch, he glanced at the laptop screen and frowned. Somebody had made a poll listing out various names (of Jin Ling's uncles, uncles-in-law and uncles-in-spirit) and asking which of them was the hottest cultivator.

Wei Wuxian was clearly in the lead, with over half of the votes, followed by Lan Wangji, uncle Jiang, Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen... and far down the list, with a percentage switching between 0 and 1%, his dad and uncle Jin Guangyao.

"....Why are you on tumblr, first of all? And second, is this why you're so upset?!"

"This is terrible, A-Ling!" Jin Zixuan wailed, Yanli sitting beside him to rub his back comfortingly. She appeared absolutely done with the situation, however she still tried to be kind and supportive of her husband.

"It's a tumblr poll, dad." Jin Ling rolled his eyes. "Is it that important?"

"Of course it is! People don't find me attractive anymore! I used to be the third hottest after the Twin Jades! Now look at this! Lan Wangji I get, but - Wei Wuxian?! Are you serious?!"

"He is pretty hot, objectively speaking."

Jin Zixuan gasped, scandalized. "Jin Rulan! How dare you?!"

His father's outburst didn't sway Jin Ling. "What, don't you have eyes?! It's true! Do you think Hanguang-Jun would marry someone ugly?!"

Jin Zixuan huffed an annoyed breath at that, glaring even further at his laptop for a few seconds, begrudgingly seeming to agree... before his rant resumed. "And what about Jiang Wanyin then?! How is he hotter than me?! He's angry all the time! He never even had a girlfriend! Or a boyfriend! I know he's your brother, A-Li, but, he's just some guy that needs therapy! What does he have that I don't?!"

"Zidian." Both Jin Ling and Jiang Yanli responded in unison.

Jin Zixuan paused for a few more seconds, before angrily throwing his hands up. "I guess!"

Jin Ling was quite sure that if he rolled his eyes again, they'd get stuck in the back of his head. "This is so dumb."

"To you! It matters to me! I thought I was a DILF! I'm rich, I have a 6 pack, I'm a CEO - but no, everyone is wet for the fucking grandmaster of demonic cultivation for some reason!"

"I'm going to my room. I've had enough dumbassery dealing with Jingyi today, I don't need my own father agonizing over a fucking tumblr poll!"

"I made you a snack, A-Ling. It's on your desk." Yanli said, momentarily distracting her husband by giving him tea. "We are having a family dinner at the Four Seasons later, so it's just something to tide you over, okay?"

"Dinner!" Zixuan suddenly exclaimed again, beyond scandalized. "That bastard Wei Wuxian is going to be so fucking smug about this! I'd rather be fucking eviscerated than have to deal with him!"

Jin Ling sighed and dragged himself up the stairs. "You're so dramatic for no reason! That's why people don't find you hot!"

[mdzs-is-rotting-my-brain]

Wangxian Mermay 2023

Day V: Ocean

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

A drunken confession sparked a trip three years in the making.

"You are still not going to tell me where we are going." Lan Zhan said.

His look was heavy, Wei Ying could feel the weight of expectation on the side of his face.

Adjusting his hands on the steering wheel he forced his eyes to stay on the road.

"Nope!"

He couldn't lie to his husband. Lan Zhan knew him too well, Wei Ying had been planning this trip for far too long. There had been so many moving parts, so many people to reach out too to make this happen. He was not about to give it away when they were nearly there.

"Sit back and enjoy the trip your devoted husband has made for you."

Lan Zhan settled into seat, picking up his knitting needles again.

Wei Ying loved his husbands knitting, he had four sweaters, five scarves, three pairs of gloves and two slouchy hats. He started the first sweater when they met through Nie Huaisang during a Cultivation event aimed specifically at inter-species cultivators.

Wei Ying really thought Lan Zhan had hated him when they were paired together. Now he knew that stubborn scowl was Lan Zhan fighting the urge to pin Wei Ying to the nearest surface, kissing him senseless.

He made a sweater every fall they had been together.

Four years was shorter than anything else Wei Ying had in his life before. His parents, his life in the Jiang Sect. Unlike those, this felt permanent.

He knew, no matter wha,t Lan Zhan would be there for him. Never let him go.

He had a ton of doubts about a lot of things. But their love. Their relationship was not one of those.

Up ahead he could see the mountains on the right side coming to an end. He knew Lan Zhan had picked up on his anticipation, he could feel his husbands eyes dart to him. Wei Ying fought to keep a straight face and his breathing level.

The mountains fell away to a glitter expanse of water that reached to the horizon and either on either side as far as the eye could see.

Lan Zhan inhaled sharply, his body going taunt.

Easing off the gas Wei Ying pulled into the cut out constructed for tourists.

"I have never been to the ocean."

Lan Zhan hadn't been what Wei Ying considered 'social.' Reticent and reserved. Everything about him so tightly controlled when Wei Ying said he was going out with his friends a year into their dating life, he floored Wei Ying by saying he wanted to come too.

He was pleasant company at the bbq restaurant, though he spoke little, when he did speak he commanded the table. Offering advice, or the most deadpan humor that was the funniest thing in the fucking world.

He also, as it turned out, had a low tolerance for alcohol. An interesting fact Wei Ying delighted in knowing Lan Zhan trusted him enough to watch over him while inebriated. One cup after he got home had been enough to put him on the flat of his back.

He laid with his head on Wei Ying's lap, watching an ocean documentary when he confessed he'd never seen the ocean.

The rest of the story came from there. His mother, a deep sea Atar, from a village so deep in the south it was impossible to find for the few letters she'd been allowed to write, but something she spoke so often Lan Zhan was able to nearly recreate it in paintings.

The paintings he did and the poems she wrote on the back were all he had left her. No family, no village, no connection. He'd wanted so badly to find that village after her death. A desire so deep he went against his uncle and brother, leaving home at fourteen with his inheritance to search for it.

He never found it. And he never had the courage to reach out the family he had left. He didn't want to be judged for his failure despite his conviction.

It was, admittedly, a lot to divulge. More than the knowledge of his story, was the desire to help his boyfriend.

If desire were contagious, then Lan Zhan was patient zero, because after that Wei Ying laid out a plan with Wen Qing, Wen Ning, Mianmain, jiejie and her husband, Jin Zixuan, and the two-faced butterfly, Nie Huaisang. If anyone could do anything and make someone think it was their idea, it was Nie Huaisang.

He'd had the disturbing front row seat to seeing it happen to Meng Yao a few years ago.

Wei Ying was saved from having to work around his boyfriends confession, when he woke the next day remembering nothing. Wei Ying said he spent a few hours rambling about rabbits and their care and fell asleep in the middle of the show.

Lan Zhan seemed pleased and a bit embarrassed, an embarrassment that melted when he took Lan Zhan to the animal shelter to spend a few hours with the rabbits.

(If he had already called and bought the two he knew Lan Zhan had been eyeing for months. No one needed to know but him.)

A successful distraction acquired, Wei Ying set his plan into motion later that week by searching every box in their apartment and storage room until he found the cared for paintings.

Finding contact information for Lan Huan and Lan Qiren was easier.

Sadly, he didn't find them before his and Lan Zhan's modest wedding, but he was sure they would be up for a lavish vow renewal.

It took a long time, lots of searching and traveling up and down the Jiangnan coast by Nie Huaisang before they found the village and the family they were looking for.

He opened the passenger door, offering his hand to Lan Zhan.

Walking with him to the guardrail to look at the greyish blue waters glowing in the late afternoon sun.

Lan Zhan's face was wide open, though he often didn't hide from Wei Ying, he was reserved from a lifetime of habit. It wasn't hard to read him, not after he'd put in the work to learn how Lan Zhan communicated. But he did enjoy these moments. When he did something that obliterated the habit of reservation. Pure awe and delight written in the wide eyes and slight open mouth, his hands gripping the guardrail.

Wei Ying slid an arm into his, kissing his cheek.

"There's more. And I'm letting you know now, I have alternative plans if this is too much for you."

It took a long moment for Lan Zhan to turn away from the ocean, his face still bright, eyes as deep as the sun.

He asked in the slight narrowing of his eyes, the turn of his mouth, and the tinniest of wrinkles between his brows.

Wei Ying kissed the corner of his mouth and stepped asked, gesturing to the village built along the shore.

He felt Lan Zhan go stiff, all emotion wiped off his face.

Wuzhen Water Town was one of the oldest villages on the coast. According to most rumors, and Nie Huaisang, it was the first village to met Atar's.

Like a diamond on a string of pearls, while buildings were dotted among the landscape of forest and shore. Dark roofs polished a deep black and blue, windows glowing with warm yellow light.

Somewhere down there Lan Zhan's maternal family lived, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles. Distant relatives. Local foods he'd never tried, the songs of his people he'd never heard.

And, of course, Lan Huan and Lan Qiren, both of them probably piles of nerves and anticipation.

Lan Zhan's eyes were red, his mouth wobbling, his hands kept flexing on Wei Ying's waist. His gaze kept darting to each house, as if he could pick out his mother's house from the scant few times she described it.

"It's that one, there." Wei Ying pointed to a large estate on a hill, with a balcony built over the cliffs. "Your zufu says-"

"Zufu?" His voice is a warbling note of hope and caution against the hurt.

Wei Ying pulled him into his arms, kissing his neck.

"Your entire family has come from the Deep, and the Land to see you. We didn't stop until we were sure we had everyone." He squeezed him a bit tighter, "Everyone."

"Shufu, Xiongzhang?" His cracked on his brothers formal address, his hands tightening in Wei Ying's jacket.

"Yes. I brought them too. If this is too much I have a hotel reservation a few mi-"

Warm lips silence the rest.

Every kiss has been as exciting as the first, this one more so for the salt that slipped between their lips. How tightly Lan Zhan held him, his fingers digging into Wei Ying's back. One of these days he was going to get something ethereal and beautiful tattooed on his body in every place Lan Zhan left bruises from holding him so tightly.

"Wei Ying." His voice was shot. Rough and thick, the depth of it made Wei Ying want to pull him into the back seat.

"This is about you love." Wei Ying laid a hand on Lan Zhan's chest, his rabbiting heart racing, "How long we stay, who we talk to, and what we do. You say go and we're gone. Anything." He met Lan Zhan's eyes. His face a pale gold from the setting sun, his eyes glowing. Bright and alive. "I mean it."

Lan Smiled at him, both of his hands cupping his face, holding Wei Ying like he was the most precious thing on the planet.

"I want to swim in my mother's ocean with you first."

Wei Ying smiled at him, "Okay."

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

Self contained one shots?

We don't know her.

Fun facts: the first recorded legends of mermaids was in Syria (according to an Internet search and no follow up) called Atargatis. So the atargatian potion from day four and the 'atar' abbreviation are mutilations of Atargatis because...I don't know why really Mermaid felt childish to me. I wanted something that was carried differently.

[jaimebluesq]

The lates installment of my 12 Months with the One Braincell Trio - the word of July was mutual, and I swear I did not plan it. For these three, there was only one way I could go with this prompt - modern day AU Tumblr Mutuals :D

~ ~ ~

Nie Huaisang flopped onto a park bench, simply trying to catch his breath. His brother sarcastically waved over his shoulder as he jogged away, leaving Nie Huaisang to recover in peace.

“I told you I wasn’t built for exercise, Da-ge,” he muttered.

With a sigh, he lifted one of his feet onto the bench. He’d worn his brand new running shoes – flashy neon green and black, bought for the aesthetic, not because he actually liked running – and had just changed to new laces the other day. Laces that were now loose and dirty from trailing along the ground. He admired the cute little frogs on his laces as he went about tying them in a bow.

“Hey man!” someone called out from nearby. “I like your shoelaces!”

“Thanks!” he called back without thinking. “I stole them from the president!”

And then he froze, realizing what he’d said. He slowly lifted his head, his cheeks already turning hot, and met the happily surprised face of a stranger standing nearby next to a bright red bicycle. The young man grinned at him and pointed his way.

“Tumblr!”

Nie Huaisang nodded, feeling a little less embarrassed. After all, the other guy would have only gotten the reference if he too had been at the ‘devil’s sacrament’. “Yeah,” he managed a small smile, even if his breath was still a little too fast after his attempt at jogging. “You too?”

The stranger flipped the kickstand on his bike to keep it standing, then strolled over to join Nie Huaisang on the bench. “Yep. RedAndBlack4Eva, though I mostly post about Proud Immortal Demon Way, and not many people are into that-”

“No!” All hesitance leeched away from Nie Huaisang and he nearly bounced on his seat. “No way! I’m FanBoy69!”

The stranger gave Nie Huaisang a playful shove. “Seriously?! We’ve been mutuals for two years now! I love your headcanons on Liu Qingge.”

Nie Huaisang shrugged. “What can I say, he reminds me of my brother. But your fic about Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu was just,” he smacked his lips, “chef’s kiss.”

“Where the fuck did you go?!” a new voice shouted from nearby. “Wei Wuxian, if you fucked off on me again, I’m going to break your legs!”

“And that’s my best friend. And yeah, I’m Wei Wuxian.”

“Nie Huaisang,” he offered in return.

“A-Cheng, I’m over here!” Another young man on a purple bike came into view, and the moment he saw Wei Wuxian, he grimaced and wheeled his bike in their direction. “Hey, FanBoy, you should totally try the key phrase on my friend,” Wei Wuxian whispered. “He won’t know what’s going on – he’s funny when he’s confused and angry.”

Nie Huaisang chuckled. He waited until the other young man was closer before speaking up. “Hey,” he called over, and the guy looked at him. “I like your shoelaces.”

“Thanks, I stole them from the president,” the guy muttered back.

Wei Wuxian suddenly stood up and pointed at the other guy. “Jiang Cheng, you said you didn’t have Tumblr!!!”

“Like I was going to admit it to you!” the guy shouted defensively. “And besides, you’re not even into the same things I am.”

“Oh yeah?” Wei Wuxian had a challenging look on his face, and Nie Huaisang was more than amused watching them together. He’d had a good relationship with his big brother all of his life, but he’d never really had a long-term friend of any kind, particularly one close enough to call a best friend. “Then what’s your username? Unless you’re scared of me finding out what you post...”

Jiang Cheng frowned, but Nie Huaisang could read the tell-tales signs of someone giving in. “I’m sure you’ve never seen it before,” he muttered. “AngryGrape77.”

Nie Huaisang lit up immediately. “You commissioned my fanart of Sha Hualing!!!”

“FanBoy?” Jiang Cheng asked, looking a little less put out. “You have a great colour palette.”

“And,” Wei Wuxian crowed, “you reblog half my posts with the tag #why do I even like this damn novel.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “I should have known you’d be RedAndBlack.

“So!” Wei Wuxian stood and waved his hands from one of them to the next. “Proper introductions. The AngryGrape here is my bestie, Jiang Cheng. I’m Wei Wuxian, the only guy on Tumblr with correct opinions,” the other two groaned in response, “and FanBoy is Nie Huaisang.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” Nie Huaisang replied with a light wave.

“Now that that’s settled, we need to go for coffee!” Wei Wuxian perched his hands on his hips. “Come on, I’ve been waiting ages to be able to talk with other fans of Proud Immortal Demon Way in meet-space. Huaisang, say you’ll join us?”

Jiang Cheng grimaced. “Please, join us so this one can talk someone else’s ear off for once.”

Then the two looked to Nie Huaisang expectantly.

“Ah, just... wait a moment.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly sent off a text to his brother.

Da-ge, a new friend invited me for coffee. Meet you back at home?

And a few moments later, his phone chirped back.

Fine, don’t get into any trouble I can’t get you out of. I’m making hotpot for supper, so don’t be late.

He slid his phone back into his pocket and gingerly rose up from the bench, thankful his legs were no longer as wobbly as when he’d first sat down. “So... you were saying coffee?”

Wei Wuxian grabbed his bike and he and Jiang Cheng walked theirs along either side of Nie Huaisang, and the three of them spent the next two hours chatting over coffee about the latest headcanons and their favourite fanfics.

It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[fanfictiongreenirises]

Xuanli speak now au 👀👀👀

dottie is this you asking me when this fic will be done 😂💜

thot process behind the fic: based on speak now by taylor swift <3 in a modern au where jin zixuan breaks off his and jiang yanli's arranged marriage when they're about high school age, and then years later as young adults he realises he's done diddly fucked up, and gets into Shenanigans as he tries to court her. featuring meng yao, mianmian, and qin su who're trying their best, and jiang cheng and wei wuxian who are trying their best in the completely opposite direction :D

here's a snippet that i'm hoping you haven't seen before:

Meng Yao hums a little, and the coffee machine starts making noises. They wait for it to decide it’s finished before he says, “I think asking even one of her friends what flowers she likes—or at least isn’t allergic to—would be a good idea, don’t you think?” “A’Yao, this is why you got bullied as a child,” Jin Zixuan mutters. Saying that to his brother three years ago would’ve probably put him on Meng Yao’s hit list. Now, all he gets is a laugh. “Then you shouldn’t have asked for my advice. Now, I need to actually go—” “Wait!” Jin Zixuan is suddenly struck by the mental image of Jiang Yanli writing him a letter saying she never wants to see him again, and also that Nie Mingjue’s muscles are better than his. “What do I do now?” There’s a pause. “That’s a little broad,” Meng Yao says carefully. “Probably start with a sincere apology? And tell her you didn’t know she’s allergic?” Jin Zixuan’s nodding. “Yes, yes, but more importantly, I have a target on my back now. Her idiot brothers aren’t going to let me say anything to her—if they find my body, it was one of them, okay?”

[winepresswrath]

It’s sad because they wanted to introduce Wei Wuxian to his nephew together as a family.

[weiying-lanzhan-fics]

To lurk, to lie in wait by trippednfell

This was amazing! What a beautifully told, unique and interesting story. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Featuring Dragon LZ and Fox WY.

Quotes:

“Dude I walk in and you were about to jump Hanguang-Jun. Lan Wangji. A Lan. Do you not realize what a colossal mistake that would have been? What he could have done to you? You’d have been fired at the very least.”

Jiang Cheng leaned back and covered his eyes with his hands. He slumped with weariness. It had been a long day for all of them.  “That’s assuming he didn’t kill you, none of us even know what he is.”

The Lans were members of the Consortium, as were the Jiangs, Jins, and Nies. Families and clans with extra-normal abilities.

The Lans were an enigma. No one knew what they were and they weren’t telling. It wasn’t exactly unheard of to guard one’s privacy in that manner, most extra-normals had been persecuted by the general populace at times. Some more than others. Like Huli Jings, hunted so thoroughly Wei Wuxian had gone 32 years of his life before meeting another. Or like the dragons, who were extinct now.

 But the Lans took it to an extreme. They were an old family, and very powerful politically. The patriarch, Lan Qiren, currently headed up the Consortium Council.

Jiang Cheng was right. Fighting a Lan would have been career and possibly even personal suicide for him.

Wei Wuxian started to speak, to tell his brother, but the words didn’t want to come out. He took a deep breath, leaned his head back against the couch cushions, closed his eyes, and tried again.

“He’s a huli jing,” he said.

“Lan Wangji?”.

“No, the kid.”

“Are you sure?”

Wei Wuxian opened his eyes and turned to look at his brother. He let his facial expression speak for him.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. “Fine. Stupid question, sorry.”

The water had stopped running in the bathroom. Wei Wuxian listened to Jin Ling’s movements as he closed the door and headed into his bedroom, probably to change into sleeping clothes. There would not be any more time to talk about this tonight.

“Well, fuck, that complicates things,” Jiang Cheng said.

Wei Wuxian nodded. It did indeed.

————

“Why didn’t you bring him to me?”

Lan Wangji stiffened up. He paused, as if considering his words. Then he spoke, his voice level and even. “One of our clan physicians visited him last night. He acknowledged that he wasn’t healing well but did not think he needed emergency care.”

“I’m not talking about bringing him back to the hospital. I’m talking about bringing him to me because your son is a huli jing and I’m the only other known huli jing around.”

Lan Wangji blinked at him. His expression did not shift but his eyes widened slightly.

“Sizhui is a huli jing?”

Wei Wuxian closed his eyes. May whatever fox spirit deity created his species grant him patience.

“I wouldn’t have thought it a difficult differential diagnosis to make. Usually the fact that he turns into a fox would be enough to convince most people.”

The snark was probably over the top. But Wei Wuxian was tired. That child in there represented a link to his own past and heritage. And he had been denied the ability to know him and spend time with him because this stubborn fool didn’t recognize a huli jing when he saw one.

The stubborn fool just looked at him  Blinked again.

“Sizhui has never transformed into a fox. Or into anything else.”

Wei Wuxian felt his mouth drop open. That wasn’t possible. From his own experience and what research existed on huli jings it was very clear. Transformation was not optional. If you put it off long enough you’d spontaneously transform in your sleep.

Could he be mistaken? It’s not like he had a lot of experience here.

But no. He knew it. Knew it in his bones. That boy was a huli jing. He smelled like one. He reacted to Wei Wuxian, recognized him. Responded to him in a way that only another huli jing would.

It just wasn’t possible that Sizhui was human. He was a huli jing. Wei Wuxian was absolutely certain about that fact.

He was a huli jing that had never transformed before.

An impossible contradiction.

Lan Wangji continued to look at him. That ridiculous posture, ramrod straight and so very, very still.

There was only one possibility.

“How long has he been cursed?”

M, 125k

Summary:

Wei Wuxian thought he had his life figured out. Work as an emergency room doctor on shift 2-3 times per week. Help Jiang Cheng take care of Jin Ling. Swallow down any other ambition or desire because it just didn't matter.

But then, Lan Sizhui entered his life, along with his infuriating, enigmatic father.

And everything Wei Wuxian had planned out for his life had to change.

[fannish-karmiya]

Is Wei Wuxian's Cultivation Actually Harmful to Him?

Throughout Wei Wuxian’s first life, he frequently argues with Lan Wangji over his cultivation. Lan Wangji believes that his cultivation will harm him and eventually destroy him, while Wei Wuxian insists that he has everything under control. Many readers take Lan Wangji’s warnings at face value, leading to the common fandom perception that demonic cultivation (more accurately, the ghost path) is inherently harmful to Wei Wuxian and that he should indeed give it up.

But does the text actually back that up, when we examine Wei Wuxian’s use of his cultivation? While Wei Wuxian does experience a few losses of control, I would argue that they are far more due to circumstances than anything else, and not a sign that the cultivating with resentful energy is inherently harmful to a cultivator’s body or that loss of control is an inevitable conclusion.

Preconceptions

Lan Wangji is the character who most often tries to tell Wei Wuxian that his cultivation is harmful. Immediately when Wei Wuxian returns from the Burial Mounds and meets Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji again while torturing Wen Chao, Lan Wangji expresses concern:

One against two, Lan WangJi still refused to back off. He gazed at Wei WuXian, “Wei Ying, for cultivating an evil path you would eventually have to pay. Throughout time, there has not been a single exception.”

Wei WuXian, “I can pay.”

Seeing how unconcerned he seemed to be, Lan WangJi lowered his voice, “The path would not only damage your body, but your heart as well.”

(Chapter 62, Exiled Rebels translation)

Now, Wei Wuxian’s path (guidao, the ghost path) is brand new. He invented it, being the first person to ever successfully cultivate using yuanqi, or the resentful energy of dead humans. So why does Lan Wangji speak so assuredly of the harm it can cause?

The term ‘cultivating an evil path’ is telling. Wei Wuxian’s cultivation is a new path, but there are other dark paths of cultivation which exist. The Nie sect’s sabres are an example; they absorb the killing intent and evil energy of the yao and guai they kill, and over time their sabres become more and more powerful but also lead the wielder closer and closer to an inevitable qi deviation.

Of course, Lan Wangji is not aware of the Nie sect’s technique, which is a strictly kept secret, at this point. Nie Mingjue only seems to have told Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao because they were his sworn brothers. But there are surely other paths like this which are publicly known.

We know about other dark rituals which are not part of Wei Wuxian’s ghost path, after all, and ‘backlash’ is a frequent risk, either due to making the user vulnerable or failing to fulfil the contract one agreed to.

The body sacrificing ritual which Mo Xuanyu uses, for example, will cause backlash if you fail to keep up your end of the deal.

It was an ancient, forbidden technique. Compared to an array, it resembled a curse more. The caster of the array injures themselves by creating incisions on their body, and draws the array and writes the incantations using their own blood, finishing by sitting in the center of the array. They can then summon an extremely villainous ghoul and ask for it to complete their wish. The price to pay was to offer their body to the evil spirit, with their own soul returning back to Earth.

This was the forbidden technique opposite to stealing another’s body—offering one’s body.

[...]

The difficult part was that, as soon as the evil spirit has taken over the body of the caster, the contract is sealed by default. The evil spirit must grant their wish, or else the curse will cause a backlash. The spirit in possession of the body will be completely annihilated, never to be born again!

(Chapter 2, Exiled Rebels translation)

Interestingly, the harm here is to the ‘evil spirit’ if they fail to keep up their end of the contract. Well, also the caster who gives up his or her life in exchange. At any rate, this sort of thing seems to be a frequent risk of dark cultivation techniques. The paperman technique is also quite risky:

The good thing was that Wei WuXian had once learnt a certain technique of the dark arts—the paper metamorphosis.

Although it was indeed useful, it had a number of restrictions as well. Not only was the time strictly limited, the paperman must also return as it were, after it had been released. There mustn’t even be a single scratch on it. If, on its way, it was torn apart or broken in any way, the soul would receive the same degree of harm—from a year of unconsciousness to a whole lifetime of lunacy. Thus, one must be extremely careful.

(Chapter 47, Exiled Rebels translation)

This seems to be a frequent concern with any dark technique, which probably is what led Lan Wangji to believe that Wei Wuxian’s new path would be similarly dangerous. It’s also very worth noting that he grew up in Gusu Lan, which is known for being even more judgmental towards dark cultivation than other sects.

He immediately seemed to realize, “Oh. I forgot. Your uncle Lan QiRen hates crooked people like me. You’re his proudest disciple, so of course you’re the same as him, haha. I refuse.”

Jiang Cheng stared at Lan WangJi, cautious, “Second Young Master Lan, all of us understand the Lan Sect’s ways.

[...]

Wei WuXian had been angered as well, “Lan WangJi! Do you really have to make this difficult at such a point in time? You want me to go to the Cloud Recesses for the GusuLan Sect’s confinement punishment? Who do you think you are, what do you think the GusuLan Sect is?! You really think that I won’t resist?!”

(Chapter 62, Exiled Rebels translation)

While many people speak negatively of Wei Wuxian’s cultivation path, Lan Qiren is particularly virulent when Wei Wuxian first proposes the theory as a teen:

Everyone in the room was stunned. Lan QiRen sprang to his feet, “The essence of exorcising demons and annihilating ghosts is to liberate! You do not study the methods of liberation, and even think about increasing their energy of resentment! You reverse the natural order, and ignore ethics and morality!”

[...]

Another book came flying from Lan QiRen. He spoke harshly, “Then, let me ask you again! How do you make sure that the resentful energy only listens to you and does not harm others?”

Wei WuXian ducked while speaking, “I haven’t thought of it yet!”

Lan QiRen raged, “If you thought of it, the cultivation world would not allow your existence! Get out!”

(Chapter 14, Exiled Rebels translation)

Due to their father’s seclusion and their mother’s imprisonment, Lan Wangji and his brother were raised by Lan Qiren. With his uncle having such a black and white view of such matters, it’s understandable that Lan Wangji would absorb that and struggle to reconcile the Wei Wuxian he knows and loves with the man who is cultivating an ‘evil’ path.

With his own sect and family so negatively inclined towards Wei Wuxian’s cultivation, I think Lan Wangji was primed to see every behaviour of Wei Wuxian’s through this lens. Similarly, the audience hears the younger Lan Wangji repeat these warnings so many times that I think many readers wind up believing him, too.

Confirmation Bias

However, I think much of this is actually a case of confirmation bias. Lan Wangji is predisposed to see Wei Wuxian’s cultivation as harmful, and is actively looking for signs that it is; he winds up correlating all sorts of things to Wei Wuxian’s cultivation as a result.

He does so when he visits Wei Wuxian in Yunmeng:

Lan WangJi, “Last time, during the hunt on Phoenix Mountain, have you noticed certain signs?”

Wei WuXian, “What signs?”

Lan WangJi, “The loss of control.”

Wei WuXian, “You mean me almost getting into a fight with Jin ZiXuan? I think you got something wrong. I want to fight with Jin ZiXuan whenever I see him.”

(Chapter 71, Exiled Rebels translation)

Which is true! Wei Wuxian and Jin Zixuan just do not get on at all. And if we go back to Phoenix Mountain, it’s clear that this was a perfectly ordinary fight:

However, Jiang YanLi didn’t turn around. Jin ZiXuan was even more enraged. He caught up to her in just three strides and was about to grab her hand when a shadow suddenly flashed before his eyes. Before he could see who it was, he received a blow on his chest. Jin ZiXuan swung his sword across and backed away.

When he finally could see, he raged, “Wei WuXian, why is it you again?!”

Wei WuXian blocked Jiang YanLi behind him, raging as well, “I haven’t fucking said it yet—why is it you again?!”

Jin ZiXuan, “Attacking because of nothing have you gone mad?!”

Wei WuXian struck with his palm, “That’s exactly what I’m doing! What do you mean because of nothing? What are you doing trying to grab my shijie just because of how ashamed you are?!”

Jin ZiXuan dodged to the side and returned to him a sword attack, “If I don’t grab her should I let her walk randomly around the mountain alone?!”

(Chapter 70, Exiled Rebels translation)

Jin Zixuan is described as being ‘enraged’ and tries to grab Jiang Yanli. He’s clearly being very hotheaded here himself. What brother wouldn’t be enraged after this, especially given Jin Zixuan’s pattern of speaking of Jiang Yanli derisively?

Earlier, Lan Wangji had forcibly kissed Wei Wuxian while he was blindfolded, and yet he didn’t display any loss of control or temper problems then.

(I also think this ties into how people tend to judge Wei Wuxian more harshly due to his lower social class; he’s often no more brash and arrogant than his peers, but because he’s the son of a servant only he is judged for it. Look at Jin Zixuan pulling his sword on a man who no longer carries a sword! He isn’t criticised for that. But I digress.)

Lan Wangji also believes that Wei Wuxian’s cultivation is doing him spiritual harm, using evidence such as Wei Wuxian’s unwillingness to carry his sword or receive spiritual energy to help him heal:

Suddenly, he felt an itch at his throat. Blood began to rise up his chest. Trying to restrain it, Wei WuXian coughed a couple of times. Seeing that Lan WangJi was going to grab his hand again, Wei WuXian dodged, “What are you doing?”

Lan WangJi, “Your injuries.”

Wei WuXian, “No need. Why use spiritual energy for such a small wound? It’ll get better after some sitting around.”

Lan WangJi didn’t waste any words with him, grabbing for his hand again. At this point, two people came from outside of the cave. Wen Qing’s voice sounded, “Get better after some sitting around? Did you think I’m dead?”

(Chapter 75, Exiled Rebels translation)

He observes this back when he visited the Burial Mounds in the day, and many years later tells Wen Ning that this was the conclusion he drew:

Wen Ning turned around. He couldn’t help but ask, “Young Master Lan, you don’t seem too surprised about this. Did you… Did you know about this as well?”

“…” Lan WangJi managed, “I only knew that his spiritual powers were somehow impaired.”

But to think this was the truth.

(Chapter 89, Exiled Rebels translation)

Working with incomplete information (since he doesn’t know that Wei Wuxian has no golden core, he instead assumes that he is being harmed spiritually by his cultivation) and a pre-existing bias against demonic cultivation, Lan Wangji viewed Wei Wuxian as someone who was bound to lose control at some point, and everything became evidence to prove what he already believed.

Loss of Control

However, I think it’s arguable that the instances where Wei Wuxian loses control are not an inevitability of his cultivation path. Instead, they occur in extremely dangerous combat situations where Wei Wuxian has no allies and is being besieged by hundreds or thousands of enemies.

I want to go over three instances where things go sideways for Wei Wuxian with his cultivation in his first life: Wen Ning’s awakening, the ambush at Qiongqi Path, and the battle at Nightless City.

Now, I wouldn’t even describe Wen Ning’s revival as a loss of control. Wei Wuxian had spent months trying to revive Wen Ning, and in the end he wound up waking up while Wei Wuxian was down in Yiling, not at the Burial Mounds to keep the situation under control. It’s like an unwatched pot boiling over.

Wei WuXian, “Didn’t I say not to touch the talismans on him?!”

Wen Qing didn’t even have the spare seconds to be surprised that Lan WangJi was here. She answered, “Nobody touched them! Not a single person went into the Cave! He tore them off on his own when he suddenly went on a rampage. Not only the ones on himself, he destroyed the restriction seals at the blood pool and the Cave as well! All of the fierce corpses in the blood pool got out. Wei WuXian, go save Granny and the others. They won’t be able to hold up much longer!!!”

(Chapter 75, Exiled Rebels translation)

Honestly, it’s hard to know based on this what caused Wen Ning to wake up or to return to consciousness. My suspicion is that Wei Wuxian’s efforts had worked, and he woke up with a lot of excess resentful energy he needed to work off; hence going to beat up all the other fierce corpses in the Blood Pool.

After this, Wei Wuxian takes measures to ensure that Wen Ning doesn’t lose consciousness again. For the next year until the ambush at Qiongqi Path, there are absolutely no incidents, and Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian go on night hunts together frequently.

Things only go wrong during the ambush.

Wei WuXian laughed coldly, “You’re seeking your own death!”

As he finished, Wen Ning raised his hand and tore off the red string that hung a talisman at his neck.

After the string snapped, his body wavered, and the muscles on his face began to twist. Marks that resembled black cracks crawled up his neck to his cheeks. He suddenly lifted his head, letting out a long, inhuman roar!

(Chapter 76, Exiled Rebels translation)

So Wen Ning wears a talisman which presumably suppresses his resentful energy, and which he must remove in order to fight at full strength. After Jin Zixuan shows up and completely fails to de-escalate the situation at all, Wen Ning kills him:

Wei WuXian was suppressing a blazing flame of hatred. His voice was cold, “Jin ZiXuan, move away right now. I won’t touch you, but you’re not going to provoke me either.”

Seeing that he still refused to yield, Jin ZiXuan suddenly lunged forward, as if trying to hold him down, “Why can’t you just back off for once?! A-Li is still…”

Just as he reached toward Wei WuXian, he heard a strange, heavy noise.

The noise was almost a bit too near. Jin ZiXuan paused in surprise. He looked down and finally saw the hand that pierced his chest.

(Chapter 76, Exiled Rebels translation)

It’s pretty clear that Wen Ning saw Jin Zixuan lunging towards Wei Wuxian and interpreted him as a threat. As objective observers, we can see that this is actually quite understandable, if tragic, and realistically could have happened similarly in a mundane setting with no magic. But Wei Wuxian of course would start to feel doubt when something so terrible happens:

He was clearly controlling Wen Ning properly.

Even though he activated Wen Ning’s rampage mode, he should still be able to control him.

He’d clearly always been able to control him perfectly.

He didn’t want to kill Jin ZiXuan at all.

He never had the intention to kill Jin ZiXuan at all! It was just that moment. He didn’t know why, but all of a sudden he wasn’t able to control it… He had suddenly lost control!

(Chapter 76, Exiled Rebels translation)

Wei Wuxian had always been able to control Wen Ning perfectly before. Honestly, it’s not a surprise that his control was looser in a situation like this; he’s in the midst of an ambush where 300 people are trying to kill him! Realistically, Jin Zixuan bears some responsibility in his own death, too. When you’re trying to negotiate a ceasefire, you don’t fail to give the target of the attack any assurance of his safety and then lunge for him threateningly! Of course Wen Ning saw him as a threat and acted to defend Wei Wuxian.

Later, Wei Wuxian observes that during his ‘rampage’ state, Wen Ning draws his guidance from Wei Wuxian’s impressions of people:

Listening to him stutter as he apologized over and over again, all of a sudden, Wei WuXian felt extremely ridiculous.

It wasn’t Wen Ning’s fault at all.

It was his own fault.

When on a rampage, Wen Ning was nothing more than a weapon. The person who created the weapon was him. The things it listens to were his orders as well.

At that time, with all the tension and the killing intent on top of how Wei WuXian had never hesitated to show enmity toward Jin ZiXuan in front of Wen Ning, when he was unconscious, Wen Ning recognized Jin ZiXuan as an ‘enemy’ when he attacked, carrying out the order of ‘exterminate’ without a second thought.

(Chapter 76, Exiled Rebels translation)

I actually think that if Wen Ning had killed, say, Jin Zixun, Wei Wuxian would simply have seen it as a case of self-defence and accepted it as that. It’s the fact that Jin Zixuan is the husband of his foster sister (and the one person there he didn’t actually want dead) which turns this into such a tragedy.

The intensely stressful situation in the aftermath of Jin Zixuan’s death is the only time we ever see Wei Wuxian express doubt in his own abilities or regret choosing the ghost path:

With the child’s cries coming to his ears from afar and the scared siblings who were at a complete loss as to what to do in his eyes, Wei WuXian felt his heart sink lower into darkness. He asked himself, Just why have I been locking myself up on Burial Mound all these years? Why do I have to go through all this? Why did I choose to walk this path in the beginning? Why did I make myself like this? What do others see me as? Just what have I gained? Have I gone mad? Have I gone mad? Have I gone mad?!

If only he didn’t choose this path in the beginning.

(Chapter 76, Exiled Rebels translation)

I think that during this period, Wei Wuxian was under an immense amount of stress. He was the sole protector of 50 people who the world wanted dead, and he had to be strong and confident for them at all times. Only during his initial panic after Jin Zixuan’s death does that confident front break down and show us just how much the stress must have been wearing on him:

As he thought and thought about it, Wei WuXian suddenly broke into tears.

His voice was submerged in a deep helplessness, “… Can someone tell me… what I’m supposed to do now?”

(Chapter 76, Exiled Rebels translation)

I honestly think that if Wei Wuxian had had someone to lean on and share responsibility with during this time, it would have helped him so much.

In the past, there were only others who asked him what to do. Now, though, he was the one asking others what he should do, and nobody was able to give him an answer.

[...]

Wei WuXian raged, “You can shut the fuck up! It’s already pandemonium the way things are right now! You two can stop adding more trouble onto my platter. Give yourselves in my ass. Did I tell you to do this? Take it out!”

(Chapter 77, Exiled Rebels translation)

Later on, at Nightless City, Wei Wuxian’s loss of control is directly tied by the narrator to his worsening mental state:

The more Wei WuXian panicked, the less control he had. The corpse ignored his command and instead lifted the sword in its hand, slashing it down at Jiang YanLi!

Wei WuXian had lost it, dashing as he shouted, “Stop it, stop it, right now, stop it!”

(Chapter 78, Exiled Rebels translation)

He manages to calm himself down and get back under control:

Jiang YanLi sighed, “A-Xian, you… you should stop first. Don’t, don’t…”

Wei WuXian hurried, “Yes, I’ll stop.”

He took up Chenqing, placed it by his lips, and began to play. He only managed to steady his mind with great effort. This time, the corpses finally stopped ignoring his commands. One after another, strange gurgles echoed in their throats as if they were complaining. Slowly, they bent down.

(Chapter 78, Exiled Rebels translation)

Only when Jiang Yanli is killed by a cultivator aiming for Wei Wuxian does he decide, in his grief and rage, to put the Yinhufu together again:

Yet, no matter the criticism, the blame, Wei WuXian could no longer hear any of them. As if governed by another soul, he reached out and took two objects from within his sleeves. Before everyone’s eyes, he put them together. One half on top and the other below, the two objects snapped into one, letting out a resonating clang.

Wei WuXian placed it on his palm and raised it high into the air.

It was the Stygian Tiger Seal!

(Chapter 78, Exiled Rebels translation)

We know that after the Bloodbath of Nightless City, as this battle comes to be known, Lan Wangji takes Wei Wuxian back to Yiling. However, Wei Wuxian is in a very poor mental state (most likely due to stress, exhaustion, and trauma), and only regains awareness a few days later at the Burial Mounds.

This is when he decides that the Yinhufu is a weapon which he should never have created, and determines to destroy it.

After using it for the second time, he finally decided to destroy one half of the seal. Before he could completely destroy the other half, the siege at Luanzang Hill happened, and it had since then been beyond his capabilities.

(Chapter 30, Exiled Rebels translation)

So Wei Wuxian was actually able to successfully destroy one half of the seal, and start work on the second, in the three months between Nightless City and the First Siege.

Toward his own creation, Wei WuXian was confident to say that even if the sect that got hold of it, made a temple for it, and offered it incense every single day, the remaining half of the Tiger Seal was just a piece of scrap iron. However, Lan WangJi told him something shocking—it appeared that Xue Yang could rebuild the other half of the seal!

Although Xue Yang was young, he was also quite clever, a bizarre eccentric. The LanlingJin Sect discovered that he could use the remaining half of the seal to roughly piece together the other half. Even though the recreated version wasn’t as powerful and couldn’t be used for as long, it could already result in terrible catastrophes.

(Chapter 30, Exiled Rebels translation)

I gather that the first half, he completely neutralised. The second half had not been fully drained of power when the First Siege happened. We never see the First Siege, but I think we can hazard a guess that once the Wens were massacred, Wei Wuxian knew that it was all over, and decided to destroy the second half of the Yinhufu so that no one there could get their hands on it. It is likely the backlash from improperly destroying/neutralising the Yinhufu which led to his corpses turning on him and ripping him apart.

Wei Wuxian does confirm that some sort of backlash killed him:

Wen Ning whispered, “Sect Leader Jiang, Jiang Cheng, brought a siege upon the Burial Mounds. And he killed you.”

Wei WuXian, “I’ll have to clarify this one. He didn’t kill me. I died from a backfire.”

(Chapter 43, Exiled Rebels translation)

“That’s merely hearsay. Although Jiang Cheng was one of the main forces, he did not give Wei WuXian the final blow. Because he cultivates the Demon Path, Wei WuXian’s powers had backfired and he was ripped to pieces.”

“Hahahaha… That’s karma! The ghost soldiers that he created are like unleashed dogs, biting everyone that they come across. It serves him right to be chewed to death!”

(Chapter 1, Exiled Rebels translation)

While the vast majority of information in the prologue is revealed later to be lies, Wei Wuxian does confirm this. Strictly, the ‘ghost soldiers’ were probably his fierce corpses. ‘Ghost’ or ‘Gui’ is used in Modao Zushi’s magic system as a catch-all phrase for dead humans, whether they’re actual ghosts (incorporeal spirits) or reanimated corpses. We know that Wei Wuxian was using huge numbers of fierce corpses to act as guards at the entrance to the Burial Mounds and protect the Wens, after all.

Wei Wuxian’s Second Life

So the risk of backlash is confirmed as a threat when using guidao and other dark cultivation techniques. However, it seems that they either have a clear contract which has to be fulfilled (like in the body sacrifice ritual), or a clearly defined risk which can be mitigated or prevented entirely through careful use.

It’s notable that Wei Wuxian is in control of his cultivation far more often than not, and in his second life we see absolutely no losses of control from him. This is probably down to a few things, one of them being greater experience. He also is no longer working alone; Lan Wangji is nearly always at his side or very nearby, which removes the intense stress of trying to fight against the entire world alone.

Honestly, I can’t even pull up any instances of Wei Wuxian struggling to control his cultivation in his second life or being even mildly harmed by it; there are absolutely none. We only ever see him dealing with mundane exhaustion, stress, and physical injuries.

He recovers very quickly from performing Empathy with Nie Mingjue:

Hearing this, Wei WuXian instantly pulled himself out!

He was still the thin paperman, stuck to the helmet that sealed Nie MingJue’s head. He had tugged loose the knot that tied the iron shells over Nie MingJue’s eyes, revealing a bloodshot eye, opened wide with anger.

[...]

There wasn’t much time left. He must return to his corporal body immediately!

Paperman WuXian flapped his sleeves, flying out as though he were a butterfly.

[...]

A while later, once his soul had returned successfully, Wei WuXian immediately took a deep breath. He raised his head, opened his eyes, and suddenly stood up. Yet, having not expected his body to still be disoriented, he felt dizzy and leaned forward. Seeing this, Lan WangJi caught him in his arms. Wei WuXian lifted his head once more, and the top of his head collided with Lan WangJi’s chin. With a thud, both of them grunted in pain. Wei WuXian rubbed his head with one hand and felt Lan WangJi’s chin with the other, “Ugh! I’m sorry. Lan Zhan, you alright?”

His chin having been stroked a couple of times, Lan WangJi lightly took Wei WuXian’s hand away before shaking his head. Wei WuXian tugged him, “Let’s go!”

(Chapter 50, Exiled Rebels translation)

After this, he is stabbed by Jin Ling and winds up spending four days unconscious in Cloud Recesses. I’ve seen it suggested that his short bout of hallucinating after he wakes up is due to harm from his cultivation, but I firmly disagree. He’d been unconscious for four days after being stabbed!

He immediately let go, almost wanting to roll away. His movement was so large that it hurt the wound at his stomach. He exclaimed an ‘ah’ as he scrunched his brows, finally remembering that he was still injured. Amid the stars before his eyes, Jing Ling, Jiang Cheng, Jiang YanLi, Jiang FengMian, Madam Yu… Many faces spun around in a large circle.

[...]

Only having ensured that his injuries were indeed fine did Lan WangJi finally let him go, “Four days.”

Jin Ling’s sword stabbed right through. The wound hadn’t been shallow at all. How it healed within four days without even leaving a scar behind meant that high level medicine of the GusuLan Sect had to have been necessary. Wei WuXian thanked him, mocking himself along the way, “I’ve reincarnated but somehow I’ve become even weaker. I couldn’t keep going after just a single stab.”

(Chapter 63, Exiled Rebels translation)

After being a bit muddled upon first waking up, he’s fine. He was also dreaming about his past while unconscious, which is why he’s described as seeing all these faces ‘amid the stars before his eyes’. The flashbacks in Refinement and Poisons-Evil are both framed as Wei Wuxian sleeping and dreaming about the past, and he’s thinking about them as a result; he’s not portrayed as actually hallucinating and thinking they’re really there.

Wei Wuxian is very drained by the events of the Second Siege and faints twice afterwards. However, it’s worth noting that during the Second Siege, he didn’t really use resentful energy (he couldn’t, as all the corpses there were under the control of the Yinhufu); he used talismans, which only require a small amount of spiritual energy.

Wei Wuxian even specifically states that Mo Xuanyu’s body is very weak, refusing to use Suibian before the Second Siege:

He wore it by his waist and didn’t seem like he was going to use it. Seeing how Lan WangJi looked at him, he fiddled with his hair and explained, “I haven’t used a sword in so many years. I’m not used to it.” As he spoke, he sighed again, “Alright. The real reason is that my current body is low in spiritual energy. Even if there’s a high level sword, it won’t be able to make the best use of it. And so, it’ll be up to HanGuang-Jun to protect the delicate man that I am.”

(Chapter 68, Exiled Rebels translation)

Wei Wuxian collapses due to exhaustion on the boat ride to Lotus Pier:

OuYang ZiZhen, “HanGuang-Jun, why did Senior Wei collapse?”

Lan WangJi, “Fatigue.”

Lan JingYi was amazed, “I thought that Senior Wei would never get tired!”

(Chapter 84, Exiled Rebels translation)

He collapses again during the fight at the Jiang ancestral hall:

Lan WangJi, “Wei Ying?!” His low voice rang within Wei WuXian’s ears, echoing endlessly.

Wei WuXian was starting doubt if something happened to his ears, “What’s wrong?”

He felt something streak down his face, but reached up only to retrieve a handful of scarlet. Accompanied by throbs of dizziness, blood continued to drip down his nose and his mouth, onto the ground.

[...]

Having come to the conclusion that Wei WuXian was only in a temporary state of unconsciousness due to extreme fatigue and anger, Lan WangJi finally tore his gaze away.

(Chapter 88, Exiled Rebels translation)

When he wakes up in Chapter 90, he feels unwell but recovers fairly quickly:

For a long while, he couldn’t figure out what was happening. Only when he saw the splatters of blood on Lan WangJi’s left sleeve, like a string of plum blossoms resting on snow, did he finally recall what happened before he passed out from anger. His expression twisted at once as he suddenly sat upright. Lan WangJi went to help him, but the ringing in Wei WuXian’s ears hadn’t stopped yet.

[...]

Lan WangJi knew that he wasn’t feeling well. Silent, he didn’t ask anything. He lay one hand on his back, sending him a warm thread of spiritual energy.

[...]

Looking around, Wei WuXian suddenly exclaimed, “I’m hungry.”

Lan WangJi looked up. Of course, Wei WuXian wasn’t hungry at all. He had just eaten three pies at the vendor in front of Lotus Pier’s gates. Lan WangJi only ate one, however, and it was the only thing he’d eaten in the past two days. The matter was on Wei WuXian’s mind.

(Chapter 90, Exiled Rebels translation)

The narrative again directly links it to exhaustion, not to anything more ominous than that:

In the fight at Burial Mound, Wei WuXian exerted too much energy and stamina. Both his mind and his body were strained for too long. A few hours earlier, Jiang Cheng angered him so much that he almost bled from his qiqiao.

He only recovered after a long time of rest. Although he didn’t feel too bad right now, if there was something he missed and he pushed himself all the way to Lanling, it was hard to tell whether or not an accident would happen at a critical moment. On top of that, he wasn’t the only one straining his mind and body in the past few days. Lan WangJi didn’t rest for a second either.

(Chapter 91, Exiled Rebels translation)

As said, there simply isn’t any proof, based on Wei Wuxian’s second life, that his cultivation is doing him harm, nor does he ever lose control of it.

This definitely indicates to me that Wei Wuxian’s losses of control in his first life were related to the circumstances and not an inevitable risk of his cultivation path.

In Conclusion

I actually suspect that Lan Wangji himself came to the same conclusion; he only ever gently warns Wei Wuxian to be careful when using dark techniques during his second life:

Lan WangJi let the paperman wriggle on his ribbon for some time. Just as he reached out to take it down, the paperman slid its way down as fast as it could. No matter intentionally or not, it bumped its head once against his lips.

Lan WangJi’s movements paused for a moment. Using two of his fingers, he finally caught it, “Do not fool around.”

Softly, the paperman rolled its body over his slender finger.

Lan WangJi, “You must be careful.”

The paperman nodded and flapped its wings. Clinging flat onto the ground, it climbed through the door slit and snuck out of the guest room.

(Chapter 47, Exiled Rebels translation)

He still does have some level of distaste for Wei Wuxian’s cultivation path, I would argue, due to the way he instantly latches onto the idea that Wei Wuxian would never have turned to the ghost path if not for his lost golden core:

“…” Lan WangJi managed, “I only knew that his spiritual powers were somehow impaired.”

But to think this was the truth.

Wen Ning, “If not because of this…”

If not because there really wasn’t a second path to walk on.

(Chapter 89, Exiled Rebels translation)

But the discussion of Wei Wuxian’s feelings on his cultivation is one for another day.

At any rate, I doubt that Lan Wangji is only holding back his feelings on the ghost path due to wanting to avoid any more fights with Wei Wuxian. After all, he spent 13 years mourning him. If he still believed that Wei Wuxian’s cultivation was going to eventually kill him, I doubt he would accept it so much more readily now.

I think the lesson he learnt, after looking back and thinking on the past a great deal, was indeed that Wei Wuxian would not have suffered such losses of control if he had had anyone to rely on in his past life. So now Lan Wangji always stands by his side and ensures that he will never reach such a state of desperation again.

[sincerelystranger]

It’s a strange feeling to learn something new about a person you thought you knew everything about, and the newness leaves a strange taste in Jiang Cheng’s mouth, a faintly uncomfortable feeling in his gut.

It’s not anything major – not really anyway – and it shouldn’t bother him so much but…

But…

But the thing is…

Wei Wuxian lies.

He lies a lot.

And his lies are about stupid things – like that he’s fine when he’s obviously not, and that he’s forgotten something when he hasn’t, and…

Well, he lies.

And it’s surprising to Jiang Cheng, because he always thought that Wei Wuxian was basically incapable of lying. Incapable of just saying nice shit to smooth things over. Incapable of hiding his feelings at the expense of someone else’s pride. Incapable of just saying some stupid white lie when some idiot in charge asked him something.

Incapable.

Now, Jiang Cheng realizes that Wei Wuxian wasn’t incapable, he was just unwilling.

And maybe it’s because of this new face – younger and stranger and just a little bit familiar – or maybe it’s because Jiang Cheng is older now, and maybe just a little bit wiser, but it’s easier to read Wei Wuxian now.

Easier to see the slight downturn of his lips before he gives a fake smile. Easier to notice the strange, tired nervousness in his eyes as he checks to see if his lies have been believed.

Easier.

Easier to see, but not any easier to understand.

“So you just randomly decided to come to Lotus Pier,” he asks slowly, his eyes carefully tracking every nervous tick of Wei Wuxian’s brow.

“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian smiles, scrunching up his nose as if he’s being mischievous. “Can I stay, oh great Sect leader Jiang?”

He’s so obviously unhappy that it makes Jiang Cheng’s jaw ache.

“I promise I won’t stay long. Maybe just a week. And I’ll be quiet. You’ll barely know I’m here!”

“Shut up,” Jiang Cheng sighs, stepping to the side to let Wei Wuxian in through the gate. “Since when have you needed my permission to stay here.”

“Your kindness knows no bounds, great Sect Leader Jiang,” Wei Wuxian says, bowing obnoxiously as he slides his way past Jiang Cheng.

“It knows bounds and I’m sure you’ll test them,” Jiang Cheng replies, kicking at Wei Wuxian’s knees as he follows him inside.

Wei Wuxian hums as he walks and excitedly waves to disciples he knows.

To anyone else, he probably looks careless and happy, but Jiang Cheng knows better.

He can see the tense set of his shoulders, the forced bounce in his steps, the fake lift of his lips and the way his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

His stupid brother is miserable and it’s obvious. Achingly so.

It makes something clench tightly in Jiang Cheng’s stomach. A strange, stuffy feeling in his chest. It’s…

Irritating.

“You know where your room is,” he says, wanting to quickly part from Wei Wuxian before this irritation grows into something bigger. “Should I expect your stupid husband to be here soon?”

That Lan-er will know how to handle a sad Wei Wuxian. And, historically speaking, wherever Wei Wuxian goes, Lan-er is soon to follow. There’s no way he’d let Wei Wuxian just hang out in Lotus Pier by himself for a week.

Wei Wuxian stumbles over his own feet at the mention of the Lan-er.

“Ah, Lan Zhan?” he asks, a weak smile on his face.

Strange.

“He’s not coming.”

Very strange.

Jiang Cheng feels a strange nervousness join the irritation in his stomach. If the Lan-er isn’t coming, then…

Then Jiang Cheng is going to have to…

“Well whatever, whatever,” he says hurriedly, turning away to walk towards the main hall. “Do whatever you want.”

It’s not Jiang Cheng’s problem and Jiang Cheng doesn’t care.

He doesn’t.

So what if his stupid brother is stupidly sad? What if it has something to do with his equally stupid husband? Who cares?

Not Jiang Cheng.

Yep.

Jiang Cheng does not care at all.

---

Jiang Cheng successfully spends the whole day not caring about his stupid sad brother and his stupid sad marital problems.

He eats lunch and even dinner with Wei Wuxian and pretends to fall for his stupid ‘I’m totally fine and super happy’ façade. Wei Wuxian is obviously putting in a lot of effort to appear normal. It’s basically a kindness to go along with it.

It is.

Anyway, it isn’t Jiang Cheng’s problem and Jiang Cheng doesn’t care.

So when his head disciple catches him as he’s walking back to his room after dinner and tells him that Hanguang-jun has checked in to a local inn by the piers, Jiang Cheng just waves him off.

Not his problem. He doesn’t care.

He doesn’t care.

Except…

Except it’s very rude of the Lan-er to come to Lotus Pier and not pay respects to the sect leader. Jiang Cheng should probably go and set him straight.

Yeah.

---

Lan-er looks an absolute mess as he opens the door for Jiang Cheng.

His hair is perfect, of course, and his clothes are perfect, of course, and his expression is the same placid expression he always wears, but he looks a mess.

It’s just something about his aura.

He’s obviously torn up about something.

Or maybe Jiang Cheng is projecting – whatever.

“Very rude to come all the way to Lotus Pier without paying respects to the sect leader, don’t you think?” Jiang Cheng asks as he walks into the room. “Even more disrespectful to disregard my hospitality and choose to stay in an inn instead of Lotus Pier.” He sits down at the table and considers whether or not the Lan-er would take offense if he orders some wine.

Lan-er takes a seat across from him, his expression betraying no emotion other than what might be slight annoyance. “Wei Ying wishes to be… alone.” Lan-er’s voice does something strange as he says alone and his brow twitches just bit and it does something strange to his face – it makes him look… like he might be seconds away from bursting into tears.

Fuck Lan-er’s feelings. Jiang Cheng yells for some wine.

“Did he say that? Because he hasn’t really been alone since he’s come here,” Jiang Cheng says, pouring some wine into his cup. “He spent all day with the disciples and he ate lunch and dinner with me.”

Lan-er’s face does something strange again, and he almost – almost – sighs.

“So what you really mean is Wei Wuxian told you not to follow him to Lotus Pier, right?”

Lan-er doesn’t answer but his silence is answer enough for Jiang Cheng. He downs his cup of wine.

This really isn’t his problem. 

“What the fuck did you do?” Jiang Cheng asks, and his voice comes out angrier than he means it to.

He’s not angry.

Well…

He shouldn’t be angry.

Because this isn’t his problem… but…

He slams his cup down on the table. “I know that fucking idiot – I can’t think of a thing in this world you could do to make him angry with you, so whatever you did must be pretty bad,” he says. 

He can feel hot anger growing in his stomach with every word that comes out of his mouth. His idiot brother thinks that the Lan-er is the best thing since music was first created. The Lan-er could probably tell his stupid brother to cut his hands off and Wei Wuxian would probably do it happily. If Wei Wuxian is upset with the Lan-er…

Upset enough to leave…

Jiang Cheng has to let go of the cup in his hand or risk it shattering. He’s so angry his fingers shake.

“I will personally escort you out of Yunmeng unless you tell me what you did,” he threatens lowly.

Lan-er just looks down at the table and if Jiang Cheng didn’t know better – if Jiang Cheng didn’t know that this was the man who stood against the world with Wei Wuxian – then he would assume that Lan-er didn’t care.

But Jiang Cheng knows better.

The Lan-er has to care. He has to.

He came all the way to Yunmeng and checked into this small inn by the water because he… because he cares.

The Lan-er doesn’t sigh, but he breathes deeply before he opens his mouth.

“I…” he closes his mouth again, his brow furrowing just the slightest bit in frustration. He looks up, and for the first time since Jiang Cheng entered the room, he meets Jiang Cheng’s eyes. “I can’t seem to stop… grieving.”

Jiang Cheng feels the anger in his body leave him in a sudden gush. Confusion rushing in to replace it.

Jiang Cheng just stares at Lan-er.

Lan-er stares back.

Grieving.

Grieving?

What does Lan-er have to grieve?

Jiang Cheng refills his cup with wine and breaks eye contact with the Lan-er. He drinks his wine slowly and breathes. He needs to handle this… carefully. The Lan-er is obviously going through something.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” he asks finally.

Lan-er looks back down to the table and something about his expression lets Jiang Cheng know that Lan-er totally regrets admitting anything to Jiang Cheng. He thinks Jiang Cheng is a fucking idiot. Which isn’t fair because it’s the Lan-er who isn’t making any fucking sense.

Jiang Cheng takes a breath and tries to ask the question again – even more carefully.

“What the fuck, or who the fuck are you grieving? And why is Wei Wuxian upset about it?”

Great job. Jiang Cheng is really good at this. All those years mediating shit for Jin Ling have really paid off.

Lan-er closes his eyes for a moment and breathes out slowly. He opens them and looks back up to meet Jiang Cheng’s gaze.

“I can’t seem to stop grieving Wei Ying,” he says slowly, his gaze steady, his words sure. He says it like it should make sense.

Jiang Cheng fills his cup again and looks at Lan-er in concern. “Wei Wuxian is alive,” he says earnestly, because maybe the Lan-er is going through some mental breakdown. “He’s annoying the shit out of me at Lotus Pier.”

Lan-er shakes his head just the slightest bit. “I understand Wei Ying is alive,” he says, “but… I grieved for him for so long and… and I can’t seem to stop.”

Ah.

Jiang Cheng thinks he can… understand… a little bit.

“You mean you’re scared?” he asks quietly.

Lan-er grimaces just a little, as if Jiang Cheng’s words hit a little too close to home and he nods.

“Wei Ying says it makes him feel lonely. He says that perhaps I’m more in love with his memory than…”

This is so not Jiang Cheng’s problem and way above Jiang Cheng’s pay grade. He doesn’t… Jin Ling’s problems never prepared him for this.

He drinks his cup of wine slowly, to buy some time and to gather some liquid courage.

“Well,” he starts, waving his cup towards Lan-er like it might offer up some answers, “You know, he’s an idiot.”

Lan-er’s expression shutters close. “Wei Ying is not an idiot,” he says tersely.

“He is,” Jiang Cheng replies firmly. “He’s an idiot for sure. And that idiot is at Lotus Pier right now, miserable as hell, because he thinks he might be the reason you might be even a little bit unhappy.”

Lan-er looks up at Jiang Cheng again.

“That idiot is stupidly in love with you. You know that, right?” Jiang Cheng asks. “Knowing him, he’s probably preparing himself to leave you so you can find some greater happiness or something.”

Lan-er’s brows furrow together. “There is no greater happiness than Wei Ying,” he says seriously, as if that isn’t the grossest thing Jiang Cheng has ever heard.

“Don’t tell me that,” Jiang Cheng says with a roll of his eyes, “Go tell Wei Wuxian that!”

“Wei Ying said he wants to be alone,” Lan-er says dejectedly.

Jiang Cheng sighs and refills his cup. He’s well on his way to tipsy now and his tolerance for stupidity is going down with every sip of wine.

“You know he lies, right?” Jiang Cheng asks, “He lies like… all the fucking time.”

Lan-er just stares at him as if Jiang Cheng is speaking in another language.

It’s almost funny.

“He says he’s okay when he’s obviously not, he smiles when he doesn’t feel like smiling,” Jiang Cheng says as examples, “Oh! And you probably didn’t even know he noticed you were grieving until he just blew up about it, right?”

Lan-er nods slowly.

“You get it now? Your stupid husband lies.”

“My husband is not stupid,” Lan-er says.

Jiang Cheng waves it off with his cup of wine, “Yeah, yeah, whatever. What I mean is that Wei Wuxian lied about wanting to be alone. He doesn’t want to be alone – trust me.”

Lan-er just stares at Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Cheng might just be imagining it but it looks like there’s some sort of hopeful light in Lan-er’s eyes – like he might be desperately wanting to believe Jiang Cheng.

He should believe Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng is right.

“But I can’t stop grieving,” Lan-er says softly, the hopeful light in his eyes dying.

“Of course you can’t stop grieving,” Jiang Cheng says, and he’s almost done with his bottle of wine at this point. This conversation needs to be over before his wine is done.

Lan-er looks at Jiang Cheng in question. Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes. Wei Wuxian and his husband owe Jiang Cheng so much for this. So. Much

“You love him,” Jiang Cheng says slowly, “You probably love him more than you did twenty years ago. More than you did last year, right?”

Lan-er nods.

“So of course you can’t stop grieving,” Jiang Cheng says, “You’ve already experienced what it’s like to lose him. You can’t stop grieving because your heart is just trying to prepare itself for the worst possible outcome.”

Lan-er lifts a hand to hold over his heart. He doesn’t say anything but he doesn’t look quite convinced.

“Look, your grieving is probably keeping mementos and writing shit down about Wei Wuxian and just trying your best to remember him, right? Trying your best to keep as much of him as you can?”

Lan-er nods slowly, as if he’s a little bit suspicious of how Jiang Cheng might know this. “Did Wei Ying…?”

Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes again. He’s all out of wine and patience. “No,” he says, “that idiot hasn’t said a word to me about your little problem.” He stands then and walks over to the corner where a small satchel is – all the Lan-er brought with him to Yunmeng. “You can’t stop grieving him because you’re so stupidly in love with him that the thought of losing him scares you to fucking death.”

He picks up the satchel and throws it to Lan-er who, annoyingly enough, catches it easily. “Spare my idiot brother a night of misery. Come to Lotus Pier.”

Jiang Cheng walks out the inn, not even bothering to look back to see if the Lan-er will follow. He’s done all he can. If the idiot in white still chooses to stay at the inn, well… Jiang Cheng will chase him out of Yunmeng tomorrow.

---

Lan-er catches up to him about midway to Lotus Pier. He’s quiet and Jiang Cheng feels perfectly content to keep the silence. He feels warm and light from the wine and the night is cool and clear. He feels…

“How did you know the reason for my grieving?” Lan-er says suddenly. It’s unlike him to break the silence first. He must really want to know.

Jiang Cheng has half a mind not to tell him. He sort of wants to keep this to himself. But maybe it’s the wine or the clear night or just his general good mood but…

“I grieve Jin Ling,” he admits lightly. “He was the only family I had after I lost everyone. He was just a little baby; you know? But I was constantly terrified of losing him. Even now, I still have the clothes he used to wear when he was a toddler. I have the first bow I gave him. The first shoes he wore when he could first walk. I remember, I used to just stare at him because I was afraid I might forget what he looked like.”

He doesn’t look at Lan-er as he admits this. And it’s strange to admit this to Lan-er of all people. But… Lan-er can keep a secret – Jiang Cheng knows this. Maybe that’s why he feels safe to admit it.

“Luckily, Jin Ling isn’t a fucking idiot like my brother,” he says, “Jin Ling just thinks I’m a sentimental uncle.”

Lan-er doesn’t say anything in response, but Jiang Cheng finds he doesn’t care.

It’s a strange feeling to learn something new about someone he thought he knew all about, even stranger to learn that someone he thought infallible shares the same fears as him.

It’s… strange.

But under the cool clear skies of Yunmeng, he feels strangely close to Lan-er.

Strange.

[silverflame2724]

Funny prompt

Student days!Wangxian acting exactly like shameless&married post-canon!Wangxian due to a talisman accident by Jin Zixuan.

This leads to:

LWJ and WWX publicly admitting their feelings towards each other as sappily as possible. JC and NHS trying desperately to be the voices of reason and restraint. LWJ and WWX deciding they should immediately elope into the sunset and become rogue cultivators going wherever the chaos is. LWJ and WWX not telling anyone that the talismans effect actually wore off a few minutes after their first confession but realising that their feelings for each other were genuine and continuing from there. JZX never ever lives the incident down.

“It was an accident!!!!” Jin Zixuan yells to an incredulous, disbelieving crowd. “I did not mean for this to happen!!!”

“You were complaining about them for weeks now! How can we believe you?!” Jiang Cheng retorts. “And now, look at what you’ve done!!”

He gestures to the side and people are instantly greeted to sight of Wei Wuxian pressing up against Lan Wangji and giggling every so often with a besotted look on his face. Lan Wangji, for his part, ignores the fact that Jiang Cheng’s brother is sitting in his lap and playing with his hair, merely settling his hands on Wei Wuxian’s waist and nuzzling Wei Wuxian back.

The scene was so incredibly sweet and shameless that people cried at the sheer amount of dog food they were given.

“What did you even do?” Nie Huaisang asks curiously.

Jin Zixuan, “Well…….”

……

He had been walking to class when a loud voice had interrupted his thoughts. It was Wei Wuxian. And he was bothering the Second Jade yet again. 

And honestly speaking, it annoyed Zixuan. As a fellow teenager who couldn’t express himself well, he somewhat understood how Lan Wangji felt having someone as loud as Wei Wuxian fluttering around like some courting bird. But Zixuan had to praise Lan Wangji’s self-restraint in not actually clobbering or yelling at Wei Wuxian.

This made Zixuan come up with a brilliant plan! He’ll use a truth talisman to encourage Lan Wangji to actually say what his feelings are about Wei Wuxian’s insistent presence!! He had plenty of those stocked up (considering his father expected him to use them to get dirt on some disciples here - not that he would do that).

So he silently sent a truth talisman over when both their backs were turned. Hopefully, Lan Wangji would finally be free from Wei Wuxian’s clutches.

.

.

.

.

What’s going on???? Jin Zixuan internally screamed as he watched the scene unfold in front of him.

One moment they’re talking normally - or, at least Wei Wuxian is - the next, Lan Wangji is blurting out for Wei Wuxian to stop mocking him - which is what Zixuan was going for - and Wei Wuxian is confessing that he’s not mocking, he just likes Lan Wangji so much, he can’t help but tease!

And then Lan Wangji.......blushes. On his ears, but it’s there nonetheless. And then he says he likes Wei Wuxian too!

And Wei Wuxian blushes!! That shameless boy actually blushed!!

At first, Zixuan thinks it’s just the like as in friendship. But then......then, after more talking, they kiss. They kiss. And th-there’s tongue a-and--

Jin Zixuan flees.

……..

“So a truth talisman, huh? It’s surprising that it hasn’t worn off yet, considering how shameless they’re being.” Nie Huaisang hums. “I wonder if you can lend me some.....”

“Huh?” Jin Zixuan asks.

“Nothing, nothing. Oh right! Shouldn’t we separate them? Things are getting.....steamy.”

And, sure enough, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are kissing again. Jiang Cheng fumes and goes over to separate them.

“No more kissing until marriage! You two aren’t even betrothed so stop being shameless!!” Jiang Cheng rages.

Wei Wuxian’s red, swollen lips form a pout. “But Jiang Cheng, Lan Zhan and I are already engaged!”

“WHAT?!”

Lan Wangji nods. “Bound Wei Ying with my forehead ribbon. In Lan sect tradition, we are engaged.”

“Wei Wuxian is a part of the Jiang sect so Lan sect tradition doesn’t count!”

Lan Wangji frowns and Wei Wuxian coos, using his hands to smooth out the frown. “Now, now Lan Zhan, don’t be so angry. No matter what Jiang Cheng says, I’m yours.”

“Mn. Mine.” Lan Wangji squeezes Wei Wuxian’s waist.

Jiang Cheng goes purple. “Get your filthy hands off my brother!!!!”

“Shouting is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses.”

“Well, fuck that!”

“Improper language is forbidden.”

Nie Huaisang prods Jin Zixuan with his fan, “You should probably go de-escalate.”

“Why me?”

“You dug the hole, you got to put in the effort to help now.”

Jin Zixuan sighs.

“Lan-laoshi won’t allow this!” Jiang Cheng retorts.

“Then we’ll just elope!! Right, Lan Zhan!!” Wei Wuxian leans against him. “Just imagine it, us becoming rogue cultivators and helping the common people, going wherever chaos is.”

“Mn.”

“NO ELOPING!!!!”

.......................................

In all actuality, the moment Wei Wuxian had confessed that he liked Lan Zhan in that way and the moment Lan Zhan returned those feelings, was the moment the talisman had worn off. Wei Wuxian had discovered it hanging on both their backs but decided to leave them on there so that he could continue to act shameless with Lan Zhan in public.

He was just so happy! All this time trying to get Lan Zhan’s attention and he finally got it! And maybe forever considering Lan Zhan bound him with his forehead ribbon, signalling their engagement and possibly their marriage.

Originally, he thought Lan Zhan would go back to normal after the talisman’s effect wore off, but Wei Wuxian’s confession seemed to have loosened something in him, causing him to just lose all restraint.

And Wei Wuxian loved that.

Lan Zhan just kissed so well! And fierce too! He sighed dreamily, leaning against Lan Zhan and ignoring the crowd and chaos this incident had drawn in. 

Perhaps, when they elope, they could adopt a little one too......or is it too early to think about children?

....................................

In the end, they didn’t get to elope. Instead, they were separated by Lan Qiren, put into separate rooms, got an official engagement contract set, and then were able to see each other. But. With a chaperone.

The rest of their time was spent trying to sneak around the chaperone - Wei Wuxian didn’t think Lan Zhan had it in him - and kiss every now and then. Of course, they wanted to go farther but Lan Zhan wanted to properly court and honor him until the official wedding. Wei Wuxian had swooned when Lan Zhan told him that.

Jin Zixuan floated into the classroom and Wei Wuxian immediately bounced towards him. 

“Hey, Peacock!” Wei Wuxian called.

“What.”

“Thank you.”

Jin Zixuan seemed startled, “For what?”

“Thanks to that talisman you set on us, I was able to get Lan Zhan! So, thanks!” Gratitude properly conveyed, he skipped back to Lan Wangji’s side, chattering about nothing in particular.

Jin Zixun gave the pair a long-suffering sigh. He would never ever forget this day.

[bloody-bee-tea]

Poses

Jiang Cheng knows what’s going to happen a moment before Lan Xichen steps away from the camera.

Lan Xichen gives him a reassuring smile, but Jiang Cheng can tell that he’s annoyed and he clenches his teeth.

It wasn’t his idea to come here and pretend to be a model. He told Lan Xichen over and over again that he couldn’t do this, that he might have the looks of a model—even that is debatable—but he sure as fuck can’t work as one, and now it’s going to prove Wei Wuxian right.

Instead of going over to Lan Xichen and ask what he did wrong, how he can do better, Jiang Cheng goes to get something to drink.

He knows what his problem is; he’s stiff and unnatural as soon as a camera lens is pointed at him, and he told Wei Wuxian and Lan Xichen just that, but it’s not like anyone is ever listening to him.

“I don’t think this is going to work,” he hears Lan Xichen say to Wei Wuxian. “He has the looks, but apart from that—” Lan Xichen trails off with a wince and Jiang Cheng wants to shake Wei Wuxian when he starts to shake his head.

“No, no, Xichen-ge, come on! You’re the best photographer I know! If you can’t make it work, how am I ever going to convince Jiang Cheng that he could work in this profession?”

Jiang Cheng fights the urge to yell over that he doesn’t even want to work in this profession, that this is just some new bullshit Wei Wuxian got into his head, but before he can do so, Nie Huaisang speaks up.

“Actually, I might have an idea,” he says, hiding behind his fan as per usual and Jiang Cheng sighs.

He doesn’t want to try something else. He just wants to go home. It’s never going to work anyway; he feels uncomfortable the moment the photographer directs him into his first pose, and it doesn’t matter who’s behind the lens.

Jiang Cheng simply can’t deal with that kind of focus on him.

Before he can go over and tell them that, Nie Huaisang goes on.

“I called my da-ge, he’s going to take the pictures.”

Jiang Cheng goes ice-cold.

Nie Mingjue is well known in these circles for being one of the toughest but also one of the most accomplished photographers.

He’s going to snap Jiang Cheng clean in half if he can’t pose like Nie Mingjue wants him to.

“I think I’ll be leaving,” Jiang Cheng hears himself saying and every head turns around to him.

“Jiang Cheng!” Wei Wuxian cries. “You can’t just do that!”

“I can. I told you I didn’t want to be here in the first place. I told you that it never works out. I don’t see why we should trouble someone else over this when it’s so clearly pointless.”

“I wouldn’t call it pointless,” Lan Xichen says, but going by his face he doesn’t even believe himself.

“It is, let’s not pretend,” Jiang Cheng scoffs and crosses his arms in front of his chest.

He always feels strangely vulnerable in the clothes he’s supposed to model when he’s not in front of a camera. Not that he fares any better when he is in front of a camera.

Jiang Cheng is just simply completely useless when it comes to this kind of thing.

“You should really rather spend your time on finding a suitable model, instead of wasting more time and resources on me,” Jiang Cheng tries again.

He’s just a stand-in for a model that dropped out anyway, and he can’t believe that there are no easier solutions to this than to not only get someone completely inexperienced into this but to also trouble another photographer.

Who will despair with Jiang Cheng just like Lan Xichen did just a few minutes ago.

“There is no more suitable than you, Jiang Wanyin,” Nie Huaisang says. “The clothes fit you perfectly and they suit you so well, too, and I can’t bear to see anyone else in these.”

“Well, you’ll have to, cause I’m leaving!”

“No one is leaving,” a new voice suddenly says and Jiang Cheng goes still.

He has never heard that voice before but he goes warm all over and something in him thinks that this must be what home feels like.

Jiang Cheng can’t bring himself to move, still too shocked by how comforting and familiar that voice sounds, but Nie Mingjue steps up right next to him.

Nie Mingjue is just as imposing as he always seemed from the pictures, but the pictures did not accurately convey just how goddamn gorgeous he is.

He should be in front of a camera and not behind it, Jiang Cheng thinks, and then doesn’t get to think much of anything else when Nie Huaisang starts to explain how stiff Jiang Cheng is behind a camera, Lan Xichen helpfully chiming in with his crushing disappointment, too, and then Nie Mingjue is already sweeping Jiang Cheng away.

It’s only when Jiang Cheng is being pushed into the bright light that his brain comes online again.

It’s silent in the studio, and Jiang Cheng tries his best to see past the light if the others have left, but when he squints Nie Mingjue makes a disapproving noise.

“Stand up straight, Wanyin,” he instructs, and his voice is gentler than Jiang Cheng expected it to be.

He doesn’t even take offence at the familiar address.

“Chin up, shoulders back, angle yourself towards me,” Nie Mingjue says, gently directing him into different poses and Jiang Cheng follows along without a second thought.

He still feels stiff and uncomfortable but the knowledge that Nie Mingjue is watching him through the camera burns hot inside him.

With every twist and every turn Nie Mingjue guides him into it feels like his gaze is brushing all over him and for the first time since Wei Wuxian picked up modelling and started to force Jiang Cheng in front of the camera again and again it feels normal.

It feels like Jiang Cheng can do it and like it’s something he could come to like.

Nie Mingjue’s voice continues to float over to him, directing his body into new positions and Jiang Cheng wonders if he could do it forever, if only Nie Mingjue keeps speaking to him.

The thought makes him blush, because he just met the other man, and they haven’t so much as exchanged greetings with each other, but Jiang Cheng can’t make it stop.

“Whatever you’re thinking about, keep doing it,” Nie Mingjue suddenly says, which of course only prompts Jiang Cheng’s face to burn hotter.

There’s a brief moment of defiance, where he tries to think about anything else but Nie Mingjue, but then Jiang Cheng reminds himself that he has permission, no matter if Nie Mingjue knows what he’s thinking about or not, and so he goes on.

Jiang Cheng wonders if Nie Mingjue likes what he sees, if there’s a pose or a face he can make that would please Nie Mingjue and over that Jiang Cheng forgets to be self-conscious and he starts to move much more fluidly.

There’s only him and Nie Mingjue’s steady gaze and gentle voice.

Jiang Cheng is almost disappointed when Nie Mingjue calls an end to it.

“We’re done, thank you, Wanyin,” he says and Jiang Cheng immediately tenses again, brought out of his head-space.

The bright light is turned off and Jiang Cheng realizes with horror that everyone else is still there, they were just being quiet, which is a feat, considering that Wei Wuxian is there as well.

“A-Cheng, that was amazing!” Wei Wuxian immediately yells and throws himself at Jiang Cheng, who is too dazed to dodge him.

“Get off me,” he grunts out, Wei Wuxian hanging around his neck and it takes him way too long to push Wei Wuxian away.

“That was—really good,” Lan Xichen haltingly says, clearly not happy with the fact that he and Jiang Cheng didn’t work together.

“That wasn’t just good,” Nie Huaisang says, an excited glint in his eyes. “That was perfect. Amazing. Breath-taking.”

“All of you, shut the hell up,” Jiang Cheng groans out. “It was alright, I guess.”

“Now, please don’t insult me like this. I just took some of the best photos of my career,” Nie Mingjue says, stepping close to their circle, but his eyes are on the tablet where he’s clearly going through the pictures.

“Alright, I’m out,” Jiang Cheng decides, because if Nie Mingjue looks at him without the lens between them, Jiang Cheng is going to combust.

And he doesn’t actually want to see himself in the photos, either, so he runs away.

At least he has the excuse of wanting to change out of Nie Huaisang’s no doubt expensive designer clothes.

Jiang Cheng is back in his clothes faster than he really expected to be but he doesn’t feel ready at all to go back.

“Fuck,” Jiang Cheng mutters, scrubbing a hand down his face.

He never felt like this before with anyone; he had an ill-fated crush on Wen Qing because of his competence kink, but what happened today with Nie Mingjue—that’s new and scary and Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what he wants to do about it at all.

If he’s being honest, he’s not going to do anything. He’ll probably never see Nie Mingjue again after this, so worrying doesn’t even make sense.

“Go out for coffee with me,” Nie Mingjue suddenly says and a shudder runs down Jiang Cheng’s spine.

He whirls around and Nie Mingjue is just there, inside the room, and Jiang Cheng hadn’t even heard him come in.

“What?” he asks, but everything inside him screams to say yes immediately.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t understand it, but he wants to reach out for Nie Mingjue, wants to fold himself into his embrace and never let him go again and fighting that urge gets increasingly harder the longer Nie Mingjue simply stares at him.

Why did it take so long to find you? Something inside of him screams and Jiang Cheng tries to push that thought away, because it makes no sense.

It seems like Jiang Cheng is not the only one affected, though, because it only takes a second longer before Nie Mingjue curses softly under his breath and purposefully walks up to Jiang Cheng.

He moves close, cupping Jiang Cheng’s cheek in his hand and pressing his nose to Jiang Cheng’s temple.

Jiang Cheng hates to admit it, but just that makes his knees go weak and his stomach do somersaults.

“Wanyin, go out for coffee with me,” Nie Mingjue breathes out and Jiang Cheng manages to bring his hands up to cling to Nie Mingjue’s shirt.

“Only if you go for dinner with me afterwards,” he says, his voice shaking just the slightest bit and Nie Mingjue chuckles.

“Deal,” he immediately agrees and Jiang Cheng feels like he might start crying out of happiness.

It doesn’t seem like Nie Mingjue fares any better, though, so Jiang Cheng decides not to feel bad about it. Instead he’s going to enjoy every second with Nie Mingjue.

(The photos truly are the best Nie Mingjue has taken thus far in his career. Jiang Cheng gets into modelling, but only for Nie Huiasang’s clothes, and only with Nie Mingjue behind the camera. Nie Mingjue kept the very first ones where Jiang Cheng blushes to himself for years, and he only shows them to the public on their wedding day.)

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[drwcn]

Idk why but w/ the new update on the Jiang Cheng dies au when we found out Lan Wangi still has Bichen then followed the angst thoughts on how Wei Wuxian doesn't trust him or remember the confession, my mind went straight to suicide. Like maybe my love can fully know my devotion if I'm totally under his power kind off way. Idk why that process but possibly bc I was lurking on angstyMZDXheadcanons earlier in the day😅😅. The sigh of relief and small laugh at Jiang Cheng's reveal was worth it though. Plus ur tags of Jiang Cheng's In front of salad made laugh harder.

cql verse au: jiang cheng dies at nevernight, wen qing does dark, and wei wuxian goes darker tw: torture, suicide(? not really. it was in the question stem).

~~~

Hi friend! Ah yes, our favourite idiots in love. Originally, I was gonna make this AU way darker but then I thought...nah.

I was debating how far off the deep end do I want wei wuxian to go, and well originally i thought if lan wangji refused to tell wei wuxian where wen yuan is, wei wuxian would try to extract that information from him by repeatedly using the stygian amulet on his mind to try and force lan wangji to tell him. lan wangji refuses to break, so wei wuxian ups his game. pain is in mind; he doesn't need to lay a finger on lan wangji. he suspends lan wangji in mid air with demonic energy so he has no means of ending his life or escape: "i'm not going to let you die until i know what you've done with a-yuan."

lan wangji does not speak a word.

wen qing....doesn't really care. she has her own things to think about, but one day she vists him in his prison and says: "you're not as clever as you think, hanguang-jun. the boy is dead, isn't he? that's why you're here. that's why you've allowed wei wuxian to do all those horrible things to you. it's what you want. punishment. is it because you believe you deserve it or because you hope to divert his wrath so that he doesn't go after your clansmen for what they did to an innocent child?"

lan wangji looks at her, and wen qing knows she's right. "you're wasting his time. this ends now."

"no."

lan wangji tells her the truth. he did save a-yuan before nevernight, but there was no time to return all the way back to cloud recesses before the siege, so he left him with a farmhand's family with a promise to be back for the boy soon. but when he returned to the farm several days later, the place had been razed and the family was found slain - by bandits from the looks it. a-yuan's body was never found, so he remains missing.

"i see." wei wuxian steps out from the shadow. he's heard everything.

"wei ying -"

"i don't need a martyr, lan wangji, just the truth." he releases lan wangji from his spell and tosses bichen onto the ground before him. "go home."

lan wangji of course will not leave. and then maybe wei wuxian keeps him in his own resident and just orders that nobody engages with him or talk to him, hoping to bore him to leave nevernight. maybe one of them gets drunk, maybe both of them gets drunk, in any case alcohol is involved and some very nsfw things happen and for three weeks wei wuxian pretends it never happened while lan wangji just accepts it and doesn't talk about his feelings. maybe bc wei wuxian is really off the rails, some nfsw things happen again except this time sober, and wwx finally just snaps.

"why won't you LEAVE?! why?! look at me - LOOK AT ME - look at what I am now. This!! You can't 'fix' me, Lan Wangji, so FUCK OFF!!"

"I can be useful to you in different ways."

"I - you - "

"you like this body, don't you? so take it. it's yours."

anyways.

jiang cheng's ghost probably still watches this happen and just be like....wow even death can't save me from this drama fml. idk how much of the above i was gonna keep in the offical version. i'm still thinking about it.

[thebiscuiteternal]

“Paper Scraps”

Post-Canon, Angst, Hurt/Comfort...ish?, Reconciliation, Discussion of Suicidal Ideation, Ghosts, Implied Sangyu, Mo Xuanyu Gets To Be Mourned, Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang Are Going Through It

Series Link on Ao3

__________

"To what do I owe the surprise visit?'' Nie Huaisang asks, and his voice is so devoid of emotion that Wei Wuxian has to bite back a shudder, suddenly very much aware that he is treading in completely new and potentially dangerous territory.

Nie-xiong is as dead as his beloved elder brother, and the Headshaker was nothing more than a mask. All that's left now is Nie-zongzhu, whom he knows nothing about and threatened the last time they actually spoke to each other in person.

Still, he sucks up his nerve and plasters on one of his usual careless smiles. "We need to talk, you and I. Just you and I."

"Wei Ying-"

He holds up a hand to cut off Lan Zhan's protest. "How about it?"

"And what, exactly, do you think there is for us to discuss, Wei-xiansheng? Have I not been behaving well enough for your liking?"

Ouch.

"Okay, I deserved that," Wei Wuxian says as he waves off his defensive husband and friend a second time, suddenly wishing he'd just snuck out and come alone.

Then again, that probably wouldn't have gone well either, judging by the wary looks he keeps getting from the handful of Nie disciples who linger defensively near their sect leader.

Okay... okay. No more trying to joke around. He takes a deep breath and lets it out, then straightens his back. "I'm here about Mo Xuanyu."

Nie Huaisang’s face betrays nothing, but the fan in his hand snaps shut with enough force that it's audible throughout the room. “Everyone, please escort our other two guests to the main gardens so that we may speak privately.”

“Zongzhu-” one massive bear of a man starts to protest.

At the same time Lan Zhan moves in front of Wei Wuxian to growl “We are not going anywhere,” and the tension in the room ratchets sharply to hair-on-end levels as the situation threatens to turn into a standoff.

Wei Wuxian pinches the bridge of his nose to stave off a building headache, then reaches out in an attempt to tug his husband back. “Lan Zhan. I’m the one who requested a one-on-one meeting, remember? Literally just now?”

“He cannot be truste-”

“Wei-gongzi, he might-”

“Enough,” Nie Huaisang snaps, the unexpected whip-crack of his voice making them all, a few disciples included, jump. “Let me remind all three of you that you came here and none of you are required to stay. In fact, today would be much improved if you didn’t.”

“Lan Zhan.” Wei Wuxian hisses.

Lan Zhan doesn’t budge, hand still tight on the hilt of Bichen. “If you harm Wei Ying-”

“Yes, yes, you and the Ghost General will cut me open and hang me with my own entrails just to start with,” Nie Huaisang replies irritably, giving a dismissive wave of the closed fan. “I’m well aware.”

Judging by the startled and utterly appalled looks that cross Lan Zhan and Wen Ning’s faces, that had decidedly not been on the list of options of what they might potentially do. But the descriptive suggestion does work to knock them off guard, and Wei Wuxian bites his tongue hard to keep his expression neutral as the two of them are herded out without any more fuss after Nie Huaisang makes a short gesture to his disciples. “You did that on purpose.”

Nie Huaisang turns without responding to the jibe at all and walks off towards another door.

Ouch again.

He trots after the other man and falls into step beside him as they enter a hallway that’s clearly not for public use. Part of him wants to ask where they’re going, if just to break the uncomfortable silence, but he keeps his mouth shut.

They finally stop at a door that, when Nie Huaisang slides it open, leads to a tiny garden so deep in the sect's keep that the back wall of it is cut into the mountain itself.

And in that little carved out cave, shielded from wind and rain and snow, sits a funeral tablet on a table shrine.

Wei Wuxian involuntarily sucks a sharp breath through his teeth at the sight of it, his hand coming up to clutch at his chest. Guilt wells up hot and stinging and bitter in his stomach, then higher into his throat. Dizzy, he sways on his feet and is only vaguely aware of the hands that catch him.

Once his resurrection had been revealed, everyone simply accepted him as “Wei Wuxian”, not “Wei-Wuxian-In-Mo-Xuanyu’s-Body”, seemingly having just... forgotten that the face he has now once belonged to someone else. He had grown so settled into this body that until the dreams had begun, he had barely given Mo Xuanyu a second thought.

But right at this moment, staring at the name carved into that tablet, held up by the one person left who had remembered- had loved the original owner of this body enough to memorialize him, he has never felt more like an invader in it.

His vision, gone fuzzy from the sickening torrent of emotion, slowly begins to come back into focus and, for just a moment, he is staring through Mo Xuanyu’s eyes into the worried expression of Nie-xiong before the lingering memory clears to the more neutral face of Nie-zongzhu.

He is on the ground, his head in the man’s lap, and the sudden urge to cry hits him hard. “Do you hate me?” he asks without meaning to, voice coming out plaintive and half-strangled by his effort to hold back the tears.

“You were the one who decided there was nothing left between us worth salvaging.”

“I did. And it was stupid. But that’s not what I mean, and you know it. Do you hate me for having this face?”

There is a pause, then a quiet sigh. “No, I don’t.”

“Why?”

“If it wasn’t you, it would be someone else. Or something else. Yu-er was…”

Nie Huaisang turns his head away, expression softening into a complicated mix sadness and pain, and Wei Wuxian finds himself thinking that while ‘his’ Nie-xiong might be dead, Mo Xuanyu’s Nie-xiong might still exist somewhere deep under the protective layers of Nie-zongzhu.

He swallows hard, then makes himself sit up and looks again at the tablet and its small offerings.

“Determined,” he says quietly, finishing the sentence. A tiny wet laugh bubbles out of his throat. “I thought… I really did believe that you had forced him into it,” he continues, and in the edge of his vision, he sees Nie Huaisang flinch at the accusation. “But no. No. He... really was determined to see it out to the end.”

“How do you-”

“Ah.” He scratches his cheek, then scoots to face the other man. “That’s actually the reason I needed to talk to you. I’ve been seeing- fuck, dreaming his memories, I guess… though they were more like nightmares, considering what was in them-”

“Wait,” Nie Huaisang says, holding up a hand. “When did this start?”

“Mmh. Just a little over ten months ago, I think? Or maybe closer to eleven. The first one was of your visit right after his mother died.”

Nie Huaisang goes slightly pale at that, though whether it’s from the admission of the length of time or the contents of the memory, Wei Wuxian can’t tell.

He gets an answer when Nie Huaisang gets up and rushes to the table, returning with something carefully cradled in his hands.

It’s a spirit pouch.

His hands are shaking as he holds them out to accept the tiny burden, and he’s vaguely aware that he’s gaping like a fish. “Huaisang…” he chokes out when he finally manages to find his voice again, but that’s as far as he gets.

“I… have studied a lot of ways of finding and contacting the dead,” Nie Huaisang says, and Wei Wuxian nods along numbly because that makes a ridiculous amount of sense, given the circumstances. “I know what the ritual notes said, but seeing that there was still something left of Da-ge after everything that had been done to him…”

He reaches out and touches the pouch and Wei Wuxian finds himself thinking of a gentle hand ruffling his (but not his) hair.

“I’m just sorry it took me two years to get up the nerve to go looking.”

But you went, Wei Wuxian thinks. You went.

He’d never even considered it. It had never crossed his mind at all.

“Eleven months ago, right?” he asks, voice still a little squeaky.

“Mm-hmm. I should have written to you about this long before now, but it seemed like every time I’d prepared myself to send the letter, something would happen that would remind me that… well.”

That we’re not friends anymore.

That you want nothing to do with me.

Wei Wuxian closes his eyes and rests his hands in his lap, still holding the pouch as if it’s made of porcelain instead of cloth. “I probably wouldn’t have read it,” he confesses quietly. “Or I would have, but I wouldn’t have believed you. I would have thought it was a ruse, a setup-” A tiny, wounded laugh escapes his mouth and he tilts his head back to stare up at the sky. “Maybe that’s why I started having the dreams. His way of telling me I’m an idiot.”

“A little drastic on his part if it was.”

“Can’t say it wasn’t necessary.” The pouch gives a jangling, discordant little hum when he pets it, the fracturing of the soul within vastly different from what he’d felt from Xiao Xingchen. The pieces feel smaller and fewer, yet heavier. “Oh,” he murmurs when he realizes why.

“Oh?”

“The array was designed to consume the resentment of the caster based on negative memories of the person or persons they wanted to curse. That’s why the memories of you and the flashes of his mother were so vivid when the rest of them weren’t. That’s why you were able to find these pieces. He really did see you two as the only bright spots in his life, so those memories were spared.”

Nie Huaisang makes a choked noise in the back of his throat, and when Wei Wuxian turns his head, the other man is looking away in a clear attempt to hide his expression. “He was wrong.”

“A year ago, I would have agreed,” Wei Wuxian mumbles. “After everything he showed me, though… I don’t think he was. I get it.”

He takes a deep breath. He has never talked about this, not with Lan Zhan, not with Wen Ning, and certainly not with Jiang Cheng, even if they are taking tentative baby steps towards being less awkward around each other. He’s not sure he should be talking about it with Nie Huaisang either, but-

“I know what it’s like, just wanting everything to end. Deciding the whole world can go to hell. Maybe I didn’t intend for the backlash from breaking the seal to kill me, but I sure didn’t fucking care what it would do to me one way or another. Nothing and nobody could have saved me by that point. You couldn’t have saved him even if you’d dragged him home with you like Lan Zhan wanted to do to me.”

“Wei Wuxian-”

He ignores the little flutter in his chest that they’ve at least moved back to an address that feels less precarious than the icy ‘Wei-xiansheng’. “Let me finish, okay?”

“Okay.”

“So... So... Ah, fuck,” he mutters, gently shifting the pouch so he can scratch the back of his neck, trying to catch the lost trail of thought. “You know… I never questioned the clothing I woke up in when I was resurrected. As brutal and nasty as the Mo family were and as disgusting as that little shack was, it should have come off as weird that I was wearing such nice robes.”

There is a quiet sniffle, and Wei Wuxian pretends not to see Nie Huaisang wipe wet eyes with the edge of a sleeve as he continues talking. “He appreciated those. Appreciated that you tried to take care of him.”

He raises the pouch to eye level, and it gives another little crackly hum. “And clearly he still appreciates your efforts, considering his method of dragging me here to make me apologize for thinking the worst of your relationship. So, I’m sorry for that.”

Nie Huaisang gives a watery little chuckle and swipes at his eyes again. “Accepted. Is he… Is he alright? I only know how to contact souls, I don’t know anything about tending to them.”

“Honestly… I’m not sure what can be done,” Wei Wuxian admits as he begins another examination. “There’s really so little of him left, I don’t know what will happen if a purification ritual is attempted. He seems to be more stable as he is than Xiao Xingchen was, but there’s no guarantee he’ll stay like that. Still, I owe it to him to find some way to help him out, so I’ll do what I can.”

“If it would be easier for you to take him back to the Cloud Recesses for study, then… then you should,” Nie Huaisang says, and Wei Wuxian is a little bit impressed that he was able to make the offer despite how much it must have hurt.

“I think he’d be much happier staying here,” he says, then tentatively adds, “But that would mean visits, plural, and while I’m definitely going to have a very long talk with them about all this, I doubt I’ll be able to come without either Lan Zhan or Wen Ning… probably both at first.”

Nie Huaisang rubs his temples with his fingertips, his expression cycling through a complicated series of emotions too quickly for Wei Wuxian to follow, then he sighs. “We’ll figure something out,” he says as he reaches out and takes back the pouch.

Wei Wuxian can’t help smiling at the tender way he cradles it against his chest as he gets up to approach the funeral tablet and put it back in place. “Yeah. We’ll figure something out.”

[plan-d-to-i]

What's your opinion on JYL and JFM? I've seen a few say they were just as bad to WWX for not doing much to defend him, especially against Madam Yu, or like when JYL apologized to the Jins on his behalf.

I think the novel doesn't mean them to be seen as bad people just weak. I think I'm more defensive of JFM because fandom is really hard on him, while he was stuck in a terrible situation himself with his wife. The only way you can come out on top w YZY is to never fucking interact w her. To never marry her in the first place ideally. And he tried!

He didn’t like Yu ZiYuan’s conduct and felt that the two wouldn’t be an appropriate match. He had politely refused the offer a handful of times. However, the MeishanYu Sect set about multiple factors, putting pressure on Jiang FengMian, who was at the time still fairly young and had nothing to lean on. Along with the fact that, not long later, ZangSe SanRen had become cultivation partners with the most loyal servant at Jiang FengMian’s side, Wei ChangZe, and rode off into the sunset, roaming around the world, Jiang FengMian finally gave up.

Meishan Yu literally schemed behind the scenes to force JFM to marry this bitch so rip JFM you really pulled the short straw in life. Once he married she's not the type of person he can tell what to do.

Madam Yu, “What am I doing here? What a joke that I am asked of such a thing! Sect Leader Jiang, do you still remember that I’m also the leader of Lotus Pier? Do you still remember that every inch of the earth here is my territory? (Chapter 56)

Much like how JGS can't stop Madam Jin from beating the shit out of JGY... JFM tries to end WWX's punishments early, but he's doesn't seem capable of banning YZY from punishing him entirely. Although JFM is kind to WWX I don't see any favoritism. Correcting jc's behavior when it's wrong is not in fact showing favoritism towards WWX. & ultimately as WWX concludes later on regarding the Wen sibs:

Just as Wen Qing said, if Wen Chao truly wanted to kill anyone, it was unlikely for Wen Qing to be able to stop him. Perhaps she’d be affected as well. After all, children of others could never compare to children of one’s own.” (Chapter 60)

No matter how much he likes WWX, WWX is not his own son. JFM's last interaction with WWX is to ask him to care for jc.

As for YanLi I wrote about her more at length here. I think a lot of ppl in this fandom project really hard on her, so they get very defensive over what is a kindly but mediocre person who benefits from a heaping helping of privilege and WWX's rosy view. To be clear I don't think you're supposed to hate her in the novel. I think she's forgettable. The person who didn't quite catch WWX when he jumped from the tree. The mother of Jin Ling and the person who consistently showed WWX some crumbs of warmth in the Jiang household.

It's this fandom that made her into a soup goddess of goodness lmao. Personally I think it's absurd when they act like YanLi's not responsible for her own ignorance or choices. Like someone locked her in the attic and she didn't know what money or war refugees were. They try to blame the society she was raised in for why her ass only knew how to make soup and it's like... Her mother is YZY. Can't stand YZY but there's no way in hell she wanted her daughter making soup and not training or educating herself. Or that JFM was tyrannical and wouldn't let her do what she wanted. All this to say it's YanLi's own flipping choice to stay not knowing. So she'll always fall short in my eyes, compared to Wen Qing or Mianmian. And again people act like she was so helpless and no one would let her speak, yet:

“Jin ZiXun’s face was dark, but he didn’t respond. There were two reasons. First, he had never seen Jiang YanLi step up and talk before, so he didn’t know how strong his reply should be. Both Madam Jin and Jiang Cheng held Jiang YanLi in high regard, and he didn’t dare rashly go against them." (Chapter 73)

“The people who gathered around Jin ZiXun had on the same dark faces as he did. Yet, taking into consideration Jiang YanLi’s background, they didn’t dare talk back to her directly.” (Chapter 73)

“If the one currently saying these words wasn’t Jiang YanLi and instead some random person, Jin ZiXun would probably have come at them with a slap already. His face was almost black, but he kept his mouth shut.” (Chapter 73)

Ahhhh... look at all that privilege. No one reprimands YanLi for speaking up. Sharp fucking contrast to Mianmian. YanLi just doesn't want to speak up. She wants her wedding to go off without a hitch. She wants WWX to exclaim over her pretty dress and play nice with jiang cheng and probably stop w his foolishness w the Wen Remnants. Ig she thinks the mental image of her in her wedding dress will be much more filling than meals or funds. Ironically when jc, WWX & the other disciples were headed to the Wen indoctrination camp she loaded them w snacks, so maybe she gets how supplies work. She just didn't think WWX would need any when he was possibly starving on the corpse filled mountain.

Jiang YanLi saw them off, staying with them road after road. She filled everyone’s arms with all sorts of snacks, afraid that they’d starve at the QishanWen Sect. Clothes brimming with food, the twenty boys set off from Lotus Pier. (Chapter 51).

guess she's not sheltered enough to not understand how starving works... interesting. Luckily it's not my eyes she's being judged through and WWX certainly remembers her fondly. However he's not wracked with guilt about her death as fandom often portrays him- and rightly so bc it was her own harebrained ass that stumbled on a battlefield unarmed, and untrained and asked the guy everyone was attacking to stop fighting.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 25 part two

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Jin Jerks Continued

Jin Furen is all judgy about Wei Wuxian, so it's hard to like her, since WWX is our protagonist and whatnot. But! Jin Furen is actually totally awesome. She adores Jiang Yanli and takes sides with her against her own son. She knows he likes Yanli and works her ass off to do all the courting for him, since he sucks at it, rather than picking a random wife for him and sticking him with her choice. She's always gentle with Yanli in her tone and body language. And Jin Zixuan had to get his good side from somebody.

Wei Wuxian politely tells Jin Furen that it's all over (again/still) between Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan, and cousin Jin Zixun rushes up to argue with him, saying he's being too proud and that he shouldn't talk to Jin Furen that way, since she is his senior. Wei Wuxian, still politely, explains the clan politics that underlie every one of these Zixuan-Yanli interactions. As a matter of clan pride, the Jiang Clan can't allow Yanli to be insulted.

Cousin Jin Zixun immediately goes all in on the clan rivalry, beefing with Wei Wuxian about how much prey he caught. Everybody forgets all about Yanli's situation while they talk about the hunt results instead.

The Jin cultivators--parroting what they heard from Jin Guangyao--say that Wei Wuxian has flute-walked 30 percent of the prey into nets by himself. Lan Wangji actually decides to react to something, saying "30 percent? and giving Wei Wuxian such a series of LOOKS, oh my god. 

This Wangxian moment is an important one, I think, because it shows where Lan Wangji's priorities are, and they're...wrong. He's continually telling Wei Wuxian "be good," in one way or another; trying to help him back to the correct way of being a cultivator.  Meanwhile the Lans are totally fine with the Jins being murderous shits who feel entitled to insult high-ranking ladies.

CJZX continues to snipe at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji continues to judge WWX for being unsportsmanlike.

(more after the cut!)

Wei Wuxian says that he's just showing his capability, and CJZX tries to tell him both that 1. he's practicing evil cultivation and 2. he's just playing the flute. WWX offers him Chenqing and says "show me your capability" which I think is cultivator speak for "fight me, bitch." 

Cousin Jin Zixun moves the goalposts, saying that Wei Wuxian broke the rules, and starts in with class-based dogwhistling, saying "it's understandable that you don't know the rules," and citing examples of Wei Wuxian’s previous bad manners at cultivation events. 

Things escalate and pretty soon Wei Wuxian is yelling at everybody, threatening to tell them why he doesn't carry his sword, (which would actually clear up SO much) and saying he's going to beat them all using necromancy whatever is just this side of necromancy. 

Cousin Jin Zixun tosses his birth status at him, and then it's ON. Scary music, shaking fist, Chenqing booting up...

Lan Wangji, who has been singularly unhelpful since CJZX started talking, suddenly forgets his judginess as he's swept into motion by his constant fear of whatever is going to happen next time Wei Wuxian loses his temper. 

He rushes to Wei Wuxian’s side, grabs his wrist, says his name, and wills him to chill the fuck out. Jiang Yanli joins him, grabbing Wei Wuxian's other arm, and Wei Wuxian manages to get control of himself.

Queen Yanli

Yanli has had it, and she has Wei Wuxian stand behind her while she goes to politely reduce Cousin Jin Zixun to a heap of smoldering cinders.

First she recaps CJZX's accusations against Wei Wuxian; says she doesn't know a lot about the hunt, and apologizes formally on her brother’s behalf. WWX says "Shijie!" but she shakes her head at him and he shuts up.  

CJZX laughs and tells her, in a tone designed to infuriate Wei Wuxian even further, that Wei Wuxian doesn’t rate her apologizing on his behalf, and says that their clans are like family; reinforcing WWX's outsider status. I don't think CJZX is taking orders from Jin Guangyao, because he's way too big of a snob for that, but he's definitely helping JGY to move his agenda forward.

Even Lan Wangji is having trouble staying cool during this exchange; he is focused on keeping Wei Wuxian in check but he’s also angry himself, judging from what his neck is doing here, anyway. *Stares at his neck for way too long*

Wei Wuxian is super upset about Jiang Yanli apologizing, and he’s unable to hold back tears, even with Lan Wangji using the power of extreme staring to help him. 

Jiang Yangli is nowhere near finished, though and she turns around and proceeds to tell everyone that they suck, that it's not Wei Wuxian's fault if he's more talented than everybody else, and that they are just making up rules because they are a bunch of losers. 

Clan Leader Yao has the nerve to say that they know the rules "in their hearts" which is just another class-based dogwhistle. 

Yanli defends Wei Wuxian's cultivation method to everybody, saying it's something he worked at and put effort into--that it's different, not wrong. She's literally the only person who defends his cultivation style, even though they all have benefited from it.

Then she gets right up in Cousin Jin Zixun's face and tells him that it's not ok for him to insult WWX by calling him the son of a servant, and she wants CJZX to apologize. (full gifset here) All of the Jins and Captain Blowhard Clan Leader Yao are SHOCKED at this idea. Jin Furen tries to talk Yanli down but Yanli politely nopes her away, so JFR tells CJZX to apologize.

He's saved from having to actually do it by the arrival of Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen, who jump down off a box fly over to find out what's wrong.

Jin Furen yells at smiley, blinkey Jin Guangyao, telling him he should be able to figure out what's wrong, saying "aren't you good at judging the situation," i.e. aren't you a conniving little creep? She's bitchy but she's not wrong.

When the "30 percent" thing is explained again, Lan Xichen gives Wei Wuxian the same Lan Glare of Sportsmanship Disappointment that his brother did. 

Lan Xichen: It's fine for my boyfriend's obviously power-hungry family to insult my brother's war-hero best friend in a bid to reduce his social status, but him using magic powers in our magical creature hunt is super wrong.  

Jin Guangyao and Lan Xichen explain that they're going to open up more area for the hunt, but it's too late to make Cousin Jin Zixun happy. He takes his ball and goes home. 

The Breaking of the Fellowship

The remaining group stroll slowly through the woods, Jin Furen and Jiang Yanli together, while Wei Wuxian walks at a bit of a distance and Jin Zixuan follows right behind his mother. His mother offers to beat him to make Jiang Yanli feel better. See? Perfect Mother-in-Law material.

Jiang Yanli tries to leave again, and is stopped again. This time Jin Furen tries to convince her to come back to the stands to sit with her and Jin Zixuan, and not to go with Wei Wuxian. First she tries saying that it's not appropriate for her and Wei Wuxian to be alone together. Yanli shuts that right down, saying that Wei Wuxian is her didi. Then Jin Furen says that Wei Wuxian has "strong wicked energy" and that he may do something evil. Like fighting back when he is ambushed on his way to a party.

Jiang Yanli repeats that Wei Wuxian is her didi, and says that she'll never leave him. JFR keeps trying but Wei Wuxian steps up and takes Yanli by the wrist and goes to lead her away. Jin Zixuan finally, FINALLY admits that he likes Jiang Yanli. 

He is embarrassed, Jiang Yanli is delighted, and Lan Xichen is amused. 

Jin Zixuan runs away and Jiang Yanli agrees to go back to Jinlintai with Jin Furen. Wei Wuxian is super immature unhappy about it....

....but he accepts her decision, in a nearly wordless exchange that we’ll see echoes of much later, between him and Lan Wangji. (Exceptionally cruel gifset here)

Wei Wuxian formally bows to Jin Furen, asking her to take care of his sister. Because he recognizes this for the parting that it is.

Jiang Yanli isn't wrong to make this choice. She deserves to be happy, and married women in this environment can't live with their original family. But she told Wei Wuxian, over and over, that the three of them have to stick together, only to change course and leave him behind with no warning. It’s not even five minutes since she said "I will never leave him."  Wei Wuxian isn’t the only person making impossible promises in these parts.  

Jiang Cheng and some Jiang cultivators show up, and everyone, including Wei Wuxian, tells Jiang Cheng that he missed an important scene, but nobody will tell him what actually happened. 

Wei Wuxian says he's going into town, and he leaves Jiang Cheng behind just as abruptly as Jiang Yanli left him.

Jiang Cheng asks Lan Xichen what happened, and Lan Xichen says "there was an argument but it's mostly smoothed over now; also, Jin Zixuan says he likes your sister."  Ha ha ha ha! Of course he does not say that, he says "You should ask your sister at the banquet" and Jin Guangyao says it wouldn't be appropriate for them, as outsiders, to comment.

I would like to see Jiang Cheng respond to this by beating the crap out of them with Zidian for being a couple of coy bitches, but he just furrows his brow. 

JGY hangs back from the group for a second to tell JC that WWX is sooooo great, before they all head back to Jinlintai.

Insecurest Boi

As everyone is walking Jiang Cheng hears Captain Blowhard saying that Lotus Pier made a strong impression today, and that they'll be able to recruit a whole lot of disciples. The cultivators are of two opinions about whether having Wei Wuxian is a good thing for a clan. 

Then a Jin cultivator says he heard that the Yin tiger amulet is made of the missing piece of Yin iron. He says he overheard it from Jin Guangyao. He says even if it's not for certain, the timing fits. Jiang Cheng reacts to this as if he 100% believes it, because Jiang Cheng is a dumbass sometimes. 

He should just frickin’ ask Wei Wuxian about the amulet. Lan Wangji asked where he got it and Wei Wuxian told him, and Jiang Cheng, while they have their issues, is officially on WWX's side, so there’s no reason for WWX not to tell him.

The Jin cultivator goes on to say that the Jiang Clan ain't shit, that all their deeds belong to Wei Wuxian.  Jiang Cheng takes all of this on board totally unfiltered. Literally everything that any Jin cultivator other than MianMian says is propaganda coming from Jin Guangyao, but Jiang Cheng thinks they're friends and doesn't know how to recognize manipulation. 

Jiang Cheng is hearing the exact same criticism that Jiang Yanli heard, but he's not equipped to handle it, and instead of fighting back he gets angry at Wei Wuxian. Despite all his recent growth, he is still crushingly insecure, and this is hitting him right in his tenderest spot. Jiang Fengmian has a lot to answer for.

Instant Replacement Sister

Wei Wuxian is off working through his own feelings; he's wandering the street in Lanling with a bottle of wine in hand. Wen Qing, in her red Wen robe and her hooded cloak, is wandering the street in the opposite direction. They pass each other without seeing, in a moment that's excruciating to watch the first time. 

But then some Jin cultivators obligingly push her to the ground, and Wei Wuxian, with his beautiful heart of fucking gold, hears someone who needs help and turns around.

For a moment he smiles in recognition, before the smile clouds over. Wen Qing, for her part, looks horrified; perhaps it’s everything she’s going through, but perhaps she can see that he, in his own way, is struggling nearly as much as she is. Meeting with her will galvanize him and give him the life direction he desperately needs.

A Day Late and a Tael Short

Lan Wangji wants to solve Wei Wuxian's problem, but he lacks imagination, so his best idea is to hide him in Cloud Recesses. 

Lan Xichen points out that Wei Wuxian might not be on board with that. This conversation is short, but it has some layers, once you know about their parents' relationship. Lan Wangji frowns but doesn't have a second idea.

[killerandhealerqueen]

Hi~ Can you write something like this? i would totally appreciate it🥺🥺

Yutong is under Feng Jie's hypnosis, so he starts to ignore, dismiss and be blunt with ZZ, in one case the bad guys capture FJ and say something like "let's make a trade, this guy for the one next to you ( ZZ)" Yutong agrees and concentrates only on FJ until the bad guys start beating ZZ and BY manages to come out of hypnosis (because we all know that even if he's dying he wouldn't let anyone touch his kitty) and goes to save to his cat. (Later they find out or FJ tells them about the hypnosis and ZZ punches him in the face while Yutong is proud of him and sorry that he treated his kitty badly but Zhan Zhao forgives him)

Feng Jie bout to catch these hands on GOD

Zhan Yao knew that something was wrong the minute Bai Yutong walked into the S.C.I. office and made a beeline straight for his office instead of stopping by to talk to Zhan Yao like he did every morning.  And it’s not that Zhan Yao was disappointed (well, he was, just a little) but it was just…weird; they weren’t that busy with cases nor had Zhan Yao upset Bai Yutong recently so…why was he ignoring him?  He thought about getting up and going to see just what Bai Yutong’s problem was when Bai Chi came to the door of his office and knocked, making him look at the young man with a raised eyebrow.         “Yes, Bai Chi?” he asked.         “We got a new case.  Can you get Bai Sir?” Bai Chi replied.  Zhan Yao blinked before he nodded and pushed himself to his feet, heading around his desk and out of his office before he walked over to Bai Yutong’s office and opened the door, stepping inside.         “Why didn’t you knock?” Bai Yutong snapped, making Zhan Yao look at him in surprise; when had he ever knocked before entering Bai Yutong’s office?  He then shook his head as he looked at him.         “We’ve got a case.  Come on” he instructed.  Bai Yutong hummed before he pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the door, none-to-politely shouldering past Zhan Yao, who looked at him with wide eyes.         ‘What the fuck was that?!’ he exclaimed, watching Bai Yutong step into the bullpen before he shook his head and followed after him.   ~*~*~*~*~*~ During the meeting, it was very evident, to not only Zhan Yao, but to the other S.C.I. members, that something was very off about Bai Yutong.  He hardly let Zhan Yao speak or let him give his opinions like he normally did and if Zhan Yao tried to speak or interject to offer some insight, Bai Yutong would cut him off with either a glare or a very sharp “Zhan Yao”.  Which was just…bizarre.  After the meeting, Bai Yutong headed back to his office while Zhan Yao remained in the bullpen with the other S.C.I. members, all of them looking at him in confusion.         “Dr. Zhan…what’s up with Bai Sir?” Jiang Ling inquired, Zhao Fu nodding in agreement.         “Yeah, what’s up his ass today?” he added.  Zhan Yao shook his head.         “I don’t…I don’t know” he replied.  Wang Shao frowned.         “You two didn’t have an argument or something, did you?” he asked.  Zhan Yao shook his head again.         “No.  Not that I know of” he answered.  Bai Chi frowned.         “Bai Sir’s never rude to you like this…maybe he’s just having a bad day?” he offered.  Ma Han scoffed.         “Even if Bai Sir was having a bad day, he’s not like this to Dr. Zhan” she reminded, the others nodding in agreement.         “Yeah, remember that case where they fought the entire time?  This isn’t like that” Zhao Fu stated.  Everyone fell silent before Jiang Ling huffed.         “I’m gonna say it: Bai Sir’s acting like an ass” she declared.           “Astute observation” Gongsun murmured from where he had stepped out of his lab to give Zhan Yao some files.  Everyone looked at him in shock before Bai Chi frowned.         “Gongsun, do you know what’s wrong with Bai Sir?” he asked.  Gongsun huffed.         “Why are you asking me?  I’m just the medical examiner.  You should ask our resident psychologist here what’s wrong with him” he replied, motioning to Zhan Yao, who just sat quietly in his chair, mulling things over.  Wang Shao shook his head.         “But even Dr. Zhan doesn’t know what’s wrong with Bai Sir!” he exclaimed.         “I’m perfectly fine” a voice snapped, making everyone look over to see Bai Yutong standing at the entrance of his office, his arms crossed in front of him.         “Now, are you all actually going to work on the case or are you just going to sit around and twiddle your thumbs?” he demanded.  All of the S.C.I. members fell silent before they turned back to their computers as Bai Yutong pointed to the files in Zhan Yao’s hand.         “I’ll take those.  You don’t need to look them over” he stated.  Zhan Yao and Gongsun looked at him with wide eyes.         “Hey, Bai Sir, Dr. Zhan specifically—” Gongsun started when Zhan Yao quietly stood up from his chair and walked over to Bai Yutong, handing him the files.         “Here” he murmured.  Bai Yutong nodded and took the files from him before turning and heading back inside his office, shutting the door behind him.  Everyone stared at the closed door before Zhan Yao sighed and turned to look at the others.         “I’m going to head to the university…if something comes up, let me know” he instructed.  The S.C.I. members nodded and watched as Zhao Yao headed into his office to grab his briefcase before he turned and headed out of the S.C.I. office, leaving everyone in a pensive silence before they all looked over at Bai Yutong’s closed door, narrowing their eyes.  Something was wrong with him…but they just didn’t know what.   ~*~*~*~*~*~ The next day, when Zhan Yao came into work, as soon as he stepped through the sliding glass doors, his eyes widened before he quickly reached out and grabbed Wang Shao, who had just walked in behind him.         “What the hell is Feng Jie doing here?” he hissed.  Wang Shao blinked before he looked over at Feng Jie and Bai Yutong, both of whom were standing too close for his liking, and shook his head.         “I don’t know…why don’t you ask him?” he asked, looking up at Zhan Yao, who just shook his head.         “Considering how Bai Yutong acted towards me yesterday, I don’t know if he’ll even answer me if I ask” he replied.  Wang Shao hummed; he had a point there.         “Bai Sir!” he suddenly called out, making Bai Yutong and Feng Jie look over at him with raised eyebrows.         “What is Feng Jie doing here?” Zhan Yao demanded before Wang Shao could get the question out.  Bai Yutong huffed.         “He’s helping with a case.  Since he’s, you know, an actual cop and not an academic” he replied.  Zhan Yao’s eyes widened, as did everyone else’s, before Ma Han looked at him incredulously.         “Bai Sir!” she exclaimed.  Bai Yutong looked at her and frowned.         “What?” he replied, just as Gongsun grabbed him by the collar of his suit jacket, giving him a firm shake.         “Apologize” he growled.  Bai Yutong looked at him in confusion as Zhan Yao waved his hand.         “It’s fine.  It’s not like I haven’t heard that before” he murmured before he sighed.         “I think I’ll sit this meeting out; if Feng Jie’s here, then you won’t need me” he stated as he released Wang Shao’s arm and headed for his office, quietly shutting the door behind him.  As soon as he was in his office, Gongsun released the back of Bai Yutong’s suit jacket, only to slap him upside the head, making Bai Yutong look at him with wide eyes.         “Gongsun, what the hell—” he started.         “Don’t talk to me.  Don’t…don’t fucking talk to me” Gongsun growled before he turned on his heels and walked over to his office, slamming his door behind him as soon as he stepped inside.  Bai Yutong and the others flinched at the sound before Bai Yutong huffed.         “What’s his problem?” he grumbled.           “More like what’s your problem” Bai Chi muttered under his breath, making Bai Yutong look over at him and raise an eyebrow.         “What was that, Bai Chi?” he demanded.  Bai Chi’s eyes widened and he looked over at him, shaking his head.         “Nothing” he replied.  Bai Yutong narrowed his eyes before he huffed and clapped his hands.         “Alright, now about this case” he started.

~*~*~*~*~*~ A little while later, as Zhan Yao was sitting at his desk, working on some reports for another case, there was a knock at his door, making him look up from his computer.         “Come in” he called out.  The door then opened, and Ma Han poked her head in.         “Dr. Zhan” she replied.  Zhan Yao raised an eyebrow.         “What is it?” he asked.  Ma Han motioned with her head to the door.         “We’re heading out” she explained.  Zhan Yao nodded.         “Okay.  Be safe” he instructed.  Ma Han frowned.         “Bai Sir wants you to come along” she declared, making Zhan Yao frown.         “What?  He does?  Why?” he demanded.  Ma Han shook her head.         “Don’t know.  But he said to make sure you come along” she explained.  Zhan Yao frowned before he sighed.         “Alright, I’ll be right out” he replied.  Ma Han nodded and stepped away from the door as Zhao Yao shook his head; first Bai Yutong acts like he doesn’t fucking exist and now he wants him to come along on the case…         ‘What the hell is wrong with him?’ he wondered before he sighed heavily and stood to his feet, walking out of his office and over to Bai Yutong and Feng Jie.  Bai Yutong glanced at him before he looked at Feng Jie and the others.         “Alright, let’s go” he declared.  He then turned and headed out of the office, Feng Jie and Zhan Yao flanking him while the other S.C.I. members followed behind.         “Where exactly are we headed?” Zhan Yao asked, glancing over at Feng Jie and Bai Yutong.           “We’re heading to meet an informant of Feng Jie’s” Bai Yutong answered.  Zhan Yao hummed and didn’t ask or say anything else as they continued out of the police department. ~*~*~*~*~*~ When they arrived at the warehouse where the informant said they would meet, Zhan Yao immediately frowned.         “This seems like a trap” he murmured.  Bai Yutong huffed.         “What, is that your “psychologist intuition”?” he asked, glancing over at him.  Zhan Yao shot him a glare.         “Does this not seem like a trap to you?” he demanded.  Feng Jie shook his head.         “I’ve met informants in weird and sketchy warehouses before, Dr. Zhan.  I’m sure this is the same thing” he assured.  Zhan Yao frowned but followed him and Bai Yutong into the warehouse, the others following behind.  As they looked around, they noticed that it was eerily empty and incredibly dark, making it almost impossible to see anything inside save for the single overhead light that was shining down on them as the windows had been all blacked out.           “Bai Sir, are you sure this is where we’re supposed to meet the informant?” Bai Chi asked, looking over at Bai Yutong.  Bai Yutong said nothing as he continued to look around before he frowned.         “You know, maybe…maybe this is a trap” he murmured, just as the warehouse doors suddenly slammed shut, making everyone whirl around in shock before the world began to spin and everything suddenly went black. ~*~*~*~*~*~ When Bai Yutong woke up a little while later, he found himself on his knees with his hands bound by ropes in front of him.         ‘What the hell?’ he thought to himself before he looked over to find the other members of S.C.I. also bound, but they were all tied together in one bundle, ropes wrapped around their torsos and wrists.         “Where’s Feng Jie?” he murmured, just as a low, dark chuckle echoed throughout the warehouse, making everyone turn to see a man dressed in all black step out of the shadows, holding Feng Jie and Zhan Yao at gun point.           “Dr. Zhan!” Bai Chi exclaimed, causing Zhan Yao to look at him with wide eyes and shake his head as the man dressed in all black looked at Bai Yutong.         “I have a proposition for you, Bai Sir” he stated, making Bai Yutong raise an eyebrow.         “What?” he snapped.  The man chuckled and motioned to Feng Jie and Zhan Yao.         “Only one can go free so…pick one” he stated.  Feng Jie and Zhan Yao both looked at Bai Yutong with wide eyes but Bai Yutong didn’t even spare Zhan Yao a second glance as he looked directly at Feng Jie.         “I pick him” he declared, making all of S.C.I. gasp.         “Bai Sir!  How could you?!” Zhao Fu shouted as the man shoved Feng Jie towards Bai Yutong before he wacked Zhan Yao on the back of the head with the gun, sending him to the ground with a cry.           “DR. ZHAN!” the S.C.I. members screamed.  Bai Yutong, however, didn’t even make a peep as he was too focused on Feng Jie, who had run over to him and began to undo the ropes around his wrist.         “Are you okay?” he asked, looking him in the eyes.  Bai Yutong nodded.         “I’m fine” he assured.  Feng Jie nodded as he undid the ropes before helping him to his feet, giving his wrist a tug.         “Come on, let’s go free the others” he suggested.  Bai Yutong nodded and they both ran over to the other S.C.I. members, quickly helping them out of their ropes and to their feet.  Once they were free, Feng Jie looked over at Bai Yutong and gave his wrist a tug.         “Come on, let’s go back” he insisted.  Bai Yutong nodded again as they both began to head towards the entrance of the warehouse, making the S.C.I. members look at them in shock.         “BAI SIR!” they shouted, making Bai Yutong stop and look over at them.         “What?” he snapped.           “What about Dr. Zhan?!” Wang Shao exclaimed.  Bai Yutong frowned before he turned to see Zhan Yao curled up on the floor of the warehouse, the man who had taken them hostage relentlessly kicking him in the stomach and face, which Zhan Yao was doing his best to cover with his arms.  As he watched Zhan Yao get the absolute shit kicked out of him, something stirred within him and he frowned, shaking his head before he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes.         “Bai Sir?  Are you okay?” Ma Han asked, concern on her and the other S.C.I. members faces.  Feng Jie, however, just grabbed Bai Yutong by his arm, giving it a tug.         “Come on, Yutong” he ordered, only to have Bai Yutong yank his arm away and lower his palms from his eyes as he looked at Zhan Yao with wide eyes.         “Cat” he breathed before he took off running towards the kidnapper and Zhan Yao.         “Bai Yutong!” Feng Jie shouted but Bai Yutong ignored him as he ran over to the kidnapper and grabbed him by the arm, making him look over at him in surprise as he socked him in the face, sending him to the ground.         “Wang Shao!  Cuff him!” Bai Yutong barked.  Wang Shao nodded.         “Yes sir!” he replied, quickly running over to them as Bai Yutong knelt down beside Zhan Yao and reached out, gently touching his shoulder.         “Cat” he murmured, causing Zhan Yao to pull his arms away from his face and look up at him with a slight frown.         “Yutong?” he whispered.  Bai Yutong smiled slightly before he gently grasped his arm.         “Come on, kitten.  Up you go” he murmured, carefully helping Zhan Yao to his feet, making sure to hold him tightly so that he didn’t buckle or collapse.         “Are you okay?” he asked.  Zhan Yao winced and let out a soft twinge before he huffed.         “I will be in a moment” he replied.  Bai Yutong raised an eyebrow in confusion as Zhan Yao carefully shrugged off his arm and made his way over to Feng Jie and the others, the S.C.I. members looking at him in confusion as well as he punched Feng Jie in the face, watching as he crumpled to the ground like a limp ragdoll.         “Cat!” Bai Yutong exclaimed, quickly running over to him before looking at him in confusion.         “What did you…why…” he started.         “He hypnotized you” Zhan Yao growled, shaking out his hand.  Bai Yutong frowned.         “What?” he asked.  Zhan Yao huffed and looked over at him.         “When did you last hang out with Feng Jie?” he demanded.  Bai Yutong frowned again, thinking, before he looked at him.         “A few days or so ago…we went out for beers.  Why?” he asked.  Zhan Yao looked him in the eyes.         “Did he say anything to you?  Make you look at anything?” he demanded.  Bai Yutong hummed before his eyes widened.         “He had me watch this weird video…after that, he never said anything” he replied.  Zhan Yao hummed as Bai Chi and the others looked at him.         “So, you’re saying that Bai Sir was hypnotized?” he asked.  Zhan Yao glanced over at them and nodded.         “Mm” he replied.  Zhao Fu huffed.         “That would explain why Bai Sir was acting like such an ass to you” he murmured, making Bai Yutong’s eyes widen.         “I what?” he demanded.  Ma Han huffed.         “You were acting like a real ass to Dr. Zhan for the past couple of days, Bai Sir.  You were really rude to him, never let him speak in any of the meetings…you even sneered at him that he wasn’t a “real cop” and just an academic” she explained.  Bai Yutong’s eyes widened in shock and he looked over at Zhan Yao, about to say something when he noticed that Zhan Yao’s eyes were fluttering.         “Zhan Yao?” he called out, making the others look over at the man, just as he suddenly crumpled like a falling leaf, causing everyone to cry out in surprise.         “ZHAN YAO!” Bai Yutong exclaimed, quickly wrapping his arms around him before he hit the floor, pulling him close.           “Zhan Yao.  Zhan Yao!” he exclaimed, gently patting Zhan Yao’s cheek but the psychologist was out cold, causing him to hiss before he looked up at the S.C.I. members.         “I’m going to take him to the hospital to check to make sure he doesn’t have any internal bleeding” he stated before he looked over at Feng Jie and growled.         “You take care of him” he ordered, motioning to Feng Jie’s unconscious body.  The others looked over at Feng Jie’s unconscious body as well before they nodded.         “Yes sir!” they declared.  Bai Yutong smirked before he carefully scooped Zhan Yao into his arms and carried him out of the warehouse, over to his car.  He then carefully placed him into the passenger seat of the car before he walked over to the driver’s side and got in, quickly turning on the engine before he sped away, heading for the hospital. ~*~*~*~*~*~ When Zhao Yao woke up hours later, his entire body felt as if it had been constantly run over by semi-trucks and just…everything hurt.  As he tried to sit up, he let out a gasp of pain and clutched at his ribs, his face contorting in pain, just as a gentle hand appeared on his shoulder.         “Shh, don’t move Kitten.  Don’t move” a voice soothed, causing him to turn and look over with wide eyes to see Bai Yutong sitting beside him.         “B-Bai Yutong?” he whispered.  Bai Yutong smiled softly.         “Hey Kitten” he greeted.  Zhan Yao shook his head.         “What…where am I?” he croaked.  Bai Yutong sighed as he reached out and began to pet his hair, his touch ridiculously gentle.           “The hospital” he replied.  Zhan Yao hummed before he let out a soft sigh.         “I’m glad you’re back to normal” he murmured.  Bai Yutong frowned.         “Was I really that bad?” he asked.  Zhan Yao looked over at him and nodded, making Bai Yutong groan and remove his hand from his hair as he ran it through his own.         “God, Cat, I…I don’t…I don’t even know what to say.  I don’t even remember doing or saying half the things I must have said to you” he murmured.  Zhan Yao chuckled softly.         “I wouldn’t expect you to…you’ve seen all the people we deal with whenever they’re hypnotized…it’s like they’re a completely different person” he reminded.  Bai Yutong huffed.         “That’s true” he agreed before he looked at him.         “I’m sorry, Zhan Yao.  For…whatever I said and whatever I did.  I’m sorry” he apologized.  Zhan Yao sighed.         “It…did hurt.  To have you dismiss me.  To have you treat as if I was beneath you…like I didn’t even exist” he murmured.  Bai Yutong shook his head.         “And I won’t do it again.  I promise.  I won’t…I won’t hurt you again” he promised.  Zhan Yao looked over at him and huffed.         “I know you didn’t do it on purpose…you were hypnotized” he stated.  Bai Yutong growled.         “Fucking Feng Jie…I’m gonna kill him” he growled.  Zhan Yao chuckled and reached out, gently patting his hand.         “Easy tiger” he soothed, making Bai Yutong look at him with wide eyes.         “But he…he made me say those things to you!  He made me mock you!  Zhan Yao, you know I would never intentionally mock you.  Ever.  Yes, I tease you, but I wouldn’t…I wouldn’t hurt you” he whispered.  Zhan Yao nodded.         “I know.  Bai Yutong, I know” he soothed.  Bai Yutong then let out a shuddering breath before he leaned forward and rested his forehead against his.         “I’m sorry, Cat.  I’m so sorry” he whispered.  Zhan Yao smiled weakly and reached out, gently pinching his ear.         “Stupid mouse.  Stop apologizing” he chided.  Bai Yutong winced at the pinch before he pulled away and looked at Zhan Yao, who was smiling at him softly, a fond look in his eyes.         “Forgive me” he whispered.  Zhan Yao huffed and reached out, gently pinching his nose this time.         “Stupid mouse.  I already have” he replied.  Bai Yutong winced again before he smiled and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to his forehead.         “Try and get some rest” he instructed.  Zhan Yao nodded as he let out a sigh and relaxed back into his pillow, shutting his eyes.  Bai Yutong smiled softly at him before he reached out and began running his fingers through his hair again, Zhan Yao letting out a hum of content.         “Yutong?” he murmured, causing Bai Yutong to look at him and raise an eyebrow.         “Yes Kitten?” he replied.         “Thank you.  For…saving me and protecting me” Zhan Yao whispered.  Bai Yutong blinked in surprise before he smiled and nodded slightly.         “Always” he replied.  Zhan Yao flashed him a small smile before he took a deep breath and exhaled, allowing the morphine in his IV to pull him under as he drifted off to sleep.  Bai Yutong watched him sleep before he took a deep breath and continued to run his fingers through Zhan Yao’s hair; tomorrow, he would deal with Feng Jie.  But for now, he would stay by Zhan Yao’s side.  For he never should have left it.