#dafan mountain

[twistedappletree]

The funniest “Jin Ling damsel in distress moment” is actually in the donghua on dafan mountain when Lan Jingyi kicks Jin Ling into the cave with so much force (infamous Lan Clan hamstrings?) that he just disappears??? I mean logically, he probably just fell on his face then got up and was like “screw this loser” and started exploring the cave for the heck of it but it’s so much funnier to imagine LJY kicking him so hard that he just rolled through the entire cave system for like 5 minutes straight until he crashed into the dancing goddess statue

[jinkx-monsoon-season]

Goodness, what tf is happening here?

nhs is so putting all this on a fan if they survive

[cql-screenshots]

[flowersdiceandlove]

The burial mounds, a place of mystery, the place of the dead, cannot be comprehended by humans. It is a place warped by time and resentful energy and the intentions of those who inhabit it and who knows what else. It is sentient and has a strong will of its own. It’s said that no one can leave the Burial Mounds, and that is true as much as it’s not. The burial mounds keeps what is theirs; protects what is theirs. No one can escape from the Burial Mounds bc more often than not, once you enter, the Burial Mounds see you as theirs. It does not take well to people hurting and taking what is theirs. (And, maybe this is why a certain demonic cultivator was able to survive and leave that place. Maybe he understood this will and resentment bc he too would do anything to protect those he loves. For him as well, once he considers someone family, they are family. And nothing will change that. No matter what happens, his family is his family, and those under his protection are fully under his protection. They can see a kindred spirit in each other, and so the Burial Mounds let him go, knowing that he will always carry part of the Burial Mounds with him. The souls in his sleeves and the resentful energy he welcomes into his body. The boon that the Burial Mounds grants him.)

It is for these reasons that WWX knows to bring the Wen remnants there. Not only does he know he can defend them if needed in that place teeming with resentment, he knows the Burial Mounds themselves will protect them. It protects its own, and the Burial Mounds knows these people that WWX brought are his, so they are its. It’s as simple as that. And, the Burial Mounds likes it. It likes having these people here, milling about and carving a life on it. It likes how they turns its soil from barren to fruitful. It likes how they are happy and content. It likes being their home and haven. It will do anything to protect them.

When the first siege comes, the Burial Mounds try to protect what is theirs. These people who have made a home on it. But, they are all grieving deeply, and it’s beautiful child, the first to even understand them and want to make peace with them instead of destroying them, is breaking apart. He is breaking apart with the weight of someone who could not protect that which is most precious to him. And he has been breaking with this weight for months now, every day chipping another piece of himself away, every day pulling further and further into himself, every day driving him just a little more insane. The Burial Mounds have no problem with madness. They will still embrace him fully and without question, but it pains them to see him like this. They are all breaking under the pressure of what the world outside its borders do. This is no longer their haven, but now their place of imminent doom. It is only a matter of time until the cultivators attack. The Burial Mounds fights back as it always does to protect those that are its. But, some of these living cultivators attacking are family of WWX and it cannot attack family. And, it knows that even should he wipe all these harmful intruders out, that will not stop more from coming, and more after that. The Burial Mounds would fight every wave they send, but that is not the issue. The issue is that its people are grieving and breaking. The issue is that it cannot do anything to fix that and every attack will break their spirits just that much more.

So instead, the Burial Mounds decide to change it. As the cultivators pour in, the Burial Mounds pulls its energy from defending and into charging its intention.  Some of its people get cut down, but that is fine, it will still work, they do not have to be alive. Just as WWX is about to destroy the Stygian Tiger Amulet (oh, and look at their brave boy, but don’t do that, my child, it will tear you apart) a large pulse of resentful energy ripples out over the battlefield, shaking the ground and seeping into all that is theirs. The air and ground starts to ripple, unstable and warping like swirls of marble, until none can stay standing in this odd happening, toppling over, nauseous from the swirling. Those that are theirs are sucked into the soil, deep into its power, and it embraces them into its depths.

Then—

They open their eyes.

WWX is seven, on the streets of Yiling, and turns his head to the Burial Mounds so close by, calling to him. Come home, my child, it whispers. Come to me; I will protect you.

Wen Ning is eight and Wen Qing 14. They also look in the direction of Yiling—of the Burial Mounds. They too hear the call. There are gasps rippling around their home, and people bursting through doors, embracing each other, crying in joy. Eyes flick around at everyone. They know. All those that were on the Burial Mounds, as well as Wen Qing and Wen Ning remember. They know what Wen Ruohan is planning. They also know what will happen to their real family.

They go to Yiling. Just a few at first. They lost many people in their branch before they were saved by WWX, and those people are more than hesitant to go to that cursed place. Those that remember can’t simply leave them to their fates again. So, some go, while some stay. They will convince the rest later. When they arrive at the base of the Burial Mounds, there is already a large collapse in the wall surrounding it looking to be made recently. The paths open up for them as they start their ascent. The path is just as they remember, the corpses and spirits howling, but leaving them be. They know they are already part of them. Granny Wen and Wen Qing are at the front of the group, leading the way. Wen Qing wishes her brother was there, but that was not something their parents would budge on. They barely let her go, and only because Granny was insisting as well and promised to look after her.

They reach the clearing where their homes were, and there they are. Their little shacks that barely stay standing. The patches of land they’d tilled and toiled over. And there, perched on a tree stump by the side of the road is a boy, even smaller than A-Ning, covered in dirt and grime that can’t all be from the Burial Mounds, spinning a black, bamboo dizi in his tiny hands. He watches them with shining eyes and a large smile they’d know anywhere breaks out on his face, then—

He laughs. The boy laughs loud and clear and bright as he topples off the stump in his joy. Many of them join in the laughter as well. Amazed and in disbelief. Wen Qing, granny, and a few others rush over to the little Wei Wuxian and pull him into a crushing embrace. The laughter soon turns to wracking sobs as they all cling to each other and let it all sink in. 

They are alive. They are together.

And, they will make sure it stays that way.

The Burial Mounds hum around them, welcoming them home.

[chronomally]

I don't know if I've said this before, but I love the way they dress Wen Qing. When she's among other cultivators, she dresses in the red and black of the Qishan Wen as if to signify that she's not on their side and can't be trusted, but when she's among the Qishan Wen she dresses in red and white as if to signify or remind herself that she's not like them either

[qiu-yan]

reread a lot of mdzs while going through the book for quotes recently, and wow jiang cheng really does not show his love through his words at all. somehow everything he says is acerbic, cruel, or both.

but then you look at jiang cheng's actions instead, and it turns out this guy's actually busting his ass really hard for his loved ones? wei wuxian gets beaten by gusu lan, and jiang cheng carries him back. wei wuxian and lan wangji get trapped in the murder turtle cave, and jiang cheng runs for seven days without rest to rescue them. jiang cheng and jiang yanli secretly visit wei wuxian in yiling. helicopter-parent jiang cheng goes charging up dafan mountain the moment jin ling sends a distress signal flare. jiang cheng goes running after jin ling whenever he gets into trouble. when jin ling cries, he cries to jiang cheng. and - of course - jiang cheng only got his core melted in the first place because he led the wen patrol away to save wei wuxian.

what's interesting is that, whenever jiang cheng is saying or doing something cruel, the narration always adds a few extra sentences describing how cruel jiang cheng is being. an aside about sect leader jiang's infamous ruthlessness, wei wuxian's snarky commentary about how jiang cheng can never let a grievance go, or just a description of the vicious sneer twisting jiang cheng's face - the narration never just lets jiang cheng's actions or words stand on their own.

however, whenever jiang cheng does something kind, the narration does not comment on it at all. it merely describes what jiang cheng did before moving on immediately. almost as if we aren't meant to take note at all.

[karlathewitch]

Kudos for Lan Wangji for keeping cool on the Dafan Mountains.

I mean the love of his life who died thirteen years ago just suddenly appeared in the body of this random boy, and started to play the love song WANGJI WROTE AND PLAYED IT ONCE TO WEI YING, and he did not start to ugly cry of joy immediatelly.

Also he saw Jiang Cheng literaly whip Wei Ying a second later, and he managed to keep it together and not punch him in the face.

[mxtxfanatic]

Not to bring another book into this, but something you both said actually reminds me of how I conceptualized the reveals in 2ha. Like, in 2ha, we get all relevant stories and backgrounds for, say, Mo Ran in like the very first chapter of the book. But as the novel goes along, those relevant stories keep getting retold, with more and more detail and even some details changing so that by the last retelling, the picture that story told us about Mo Ran and his character is completely different than from chapter 1. This is what justifies the length of the story for me.

Mdzs (and really all of mxtx’s stories) are much shorter and much less subtle, with the deconstruction happening almost immediately after the initial story is told. Chapter 1 says that wwx is a monster who would be obsessed with getting revenge, chapter 2 shows us that wwx could not give less of a shit about the cultivation world and just wanted to live a peaceful life/undisturbed death. Narration tells us jc is a hero, like 10 chapters later the same narration introduces him like a whole villain. Lxc says that he trusts that jgy isn’t a murder, the very next chapter confirms that not only is jgy nmj’s murderer but he has also committed much worse crimes. And these are just the really in-your-face moments because, as pointed out, other facts are just hammered in over the course of the book (jin ling saying jc never hit him being followed by jc hitting him a minimum of three times after this statement).

What I find interesting about this comparison is that I do not see the type of contention and debate in the 2ha fandom about these misdirectional stories that I do in the mdzs fandom, despite these differences. The mdzs fandom really is full of people tryna gaslight everyone else about the facts of the story just because what we, the audience, are told on page 1 is different from what we learn up to the last page.

Fanon Pet peeve, when Jin Ling's "my uncle never hit me" at the start of the novel is used as a source for jc never hitting him, like where's the rest of the novel my guy:

Jiang Cheng forced himself to walk over to Jin Ling, grabbing him at once, “Did you get hurt?!”

Jin Ling’s breaths even smelled like rust, “I didn’t. I…”

Jiang Cheng immediately slapped him onto the ground, scolding, “You didn’t?! Then I’ll make you get hurt and teach you the lesson! You damn brat turning a deaf ear to my words?!” ---

Jiang Cheng shoved Jin Ling, who’d been holding him up helplessly, out of the way…

…With panic, Jin Ling stood in front of Jiang Cheng, “HanGuang-Jun! My uncle’s hurt…”

Jiang Cheng slapped him onto the ground, “Let him come! Am I scared of him?!” ---

For as long as he could remember, Jin Ling had never seen Jiang Cheng with such an expression. His uncle, who had single-handedly led the Jiang Clan of Yunmeng at a tender young age, was always cold and gloomy. He was merciless and never kind with his words.

And then near the ending after Guanyin Temple

"Hearing this, Jiang Cheng raised his hand with glaring eyes, scolding, "Is this how you talk to someone older than you? You asking to be beaten up?!" Jin Ling shrunk back. Fairy tucked in its tail as well. Yet Jiang Cheng's slap never landed at the back of his head. Instead, it was retracted powerlessly."

Like yea finally he doesn't hit jin ling this time but when Jin Ling flinches back expecting to be hit. He's hit him enough times for it to stick to the kid that yes his uncle will hit him.

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

It's almost laughable to think Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui care or want the attention of Jiang Cheng or even do respect him. The only one courteous is Lan Sizhui who speaks to Jiang Cheng in deference to Lan Wangji. Lan Jingyi has no issue stating that Jiang Cheng is discourteous and rude to Lan Wangji, the man he does actually admire.

Jiang Cheng is no one's role model and is the negative mirror to Lan Wangji in how children and junior cultivators reach to them. The only one deferential to Jiang Cheng, is Jin Ling out of loyalty of being family, but even that begins to be overshadowed by Jin Ling's growing admiration for Wei Wuxian.

And at any point of the story the children either ignore him as Lan Wangji does, or call him difficult or unreasonable. There is a direct contrast to how the juniors that do know Lan Wangji literally flock to him and look to him for direction, and Wei Wuxian eventually as well with no regard to Jiang Cheng. Who mind sarcastically stated Lan Wangji had no business disciplining Jin Ling, who was stating it was okay to leave cultivators, trapped in nets left by Jiang Cheng and himself, to die if they ran into the threat on Dafan Mountain.

[chirpycloudyrobin]

Previous || Masterlist || START || Next

wei wuxian had barely dusted off the magma from the kiln off his person when he gets rudely yanked to mo village and mo xuanyu's side. he appears before mo xuanyu still in his bloodied yiling laozu set up and theyre both ??? confused as fuck because what the hell that wasnt supposed to happen !

turns out the whole sacrificial summon array didnt account for the possibility of summoning a ghost king. so there was no soul replacement, mo xuanyu is still alive, and wei wuxian once again walks with the living. ish. hes still dead. technically

now what ?

well mo xuanyu mustve been pretty desperate to unsubscribe from the reincarnation cycle just to get revenge on his family so wei wuxian hears him out ,,, and really really doesnt like the hand that mo xuanyu has been dealt with in his life so hes like welp time to tap into ye olde wuxian the helping hand. might as well bring in some justice now that hes back and better than ever !

but first wwx shldnt walk around looking like the entire cultivation world's worst nightmare so they brainstorm a new identity for him in that little shack.

they end up deciding that wwx will be a distant mo cousin. for wwx's disguise, he gave himself the birth name mo ling and the courtesy name mo shanxi. he is mo yi, courtesy name mo xuanyu's, other maternal cousin but like further down the family tree. a fourth son of a fourth son. parents dead, siblings dead. lots of fours, lots of death in the identity and the name. it's funni, cuz wwx is dead and hes a ghost and- you get the idea.

mo shanxi's an eccentric ex-rogue cultivator whose cultivating career ended early at the hands of the late core-melting hand. he has no sword because no core. hes friendly with crows because rogue cultivator things. he has a dizi because hes a traveler, a peasant, decidedly not gentry. an absolutely fool-proof disguise. no one would guess hes wei wuxian at all ! no one !

they still bust into the meeting between madam mo and the lan juniors and wwx helps mxy embarrass the entire family. they also still stay around to watch shit happen and it's during this time where wwx gives mxy practical lessons on fighting and cultivation. not demonic cultivation, mind, wwx doesnt want to damage mxy's fledgling golden core.

mxy is witness firsthand how wwx just bluescreens and takes A Minute to process seeing adult lan wangji. mxy knows that lwj is One Fine Ass Man and he, too, would undoubtedly climb lwj like a tree but wwx's reaction to lwj is just ,,, different.

hm, mxy thinks. interesting.

soon wwx snaps out of his "holy-shit-lwj" trance, grabs mxy's hand and skedaddles out of there. its funny, its camp, mxy has more questions than answers.

the entire mo family (besides mxy) is dead. the contract is complete. mxy is free.

"ykw," wwx thinks. "let's be rogue cultivators and ill teach you everything i know !" "i have absolutely nothing better to do," mxy says. "fuck it, lets go" "great ! for ur first lesson lets check out that story of a soul eating entity at dafan mountain" "what"

so ! dafan mountain. lessons going good, mxy has a good head on his shoulders. and then wwx accidentally insults his shijie's child. and then he and mxy are trapped between jc and lwj. and then they ,,, get out of it unscathed ? um

whatever, back to the lessons !

mxy was not having the best time in his life. shit got way out of hand way too quickly. he cant do anything to help in the fight so hes just trying to keep himself alive while wwx is trying to save everyone. theres too many crows and ravens yelling.

... why the fuck is wwx playing a dizi badly ?

mxy knows wwx is some kind of powerful ghost or whatever but now is not the time for a bad dizi concert ! senior wei please !!

mxy just feels really out of his depths right now as he watches everything unfold from his safe(ish) place high up a tree with a couple of wwx's creepy red-eyed crows.

he watches as the fucking ghost general answers wwx's dizi calls apparently ? (mxy may be half insane but he still knows the ghost stories they all tell about the yiling laozu and his ghost general)

he watches as wwx attempts to lead the ghost general to safety, and how his attempt is thwarted by none other than hanguang-jun himself. and then mxy is forced to watch the world's most awkward, most tense reunion in all the earth.

and then mxy sees sandu shengshou fucking whip wwx and attempt to do it a second time and he really, really cant just sit there and watch his saviour and senior be bullied.

so mxy jumps down, startles the living shit out of everyone, and proceeds to yell at them all. accuses jc of harrassment, of abuse of power, of weird kinks. wwx catches onto what mxy is doing and joins in the insanity, adding that lwj is more his type for good measure

senior wei, mxy thinks, watching lwj gaze at wwx with something in his eyes. what the actual fuck ?

if anyone asks how the hell they both ended up becoming guests at the cloud recesses, mxy will gladly tell them that it's all wwx's fault. at least mxy ended up being roomed at actual guest quarters. god knows what kind of shit is happening with wwx getting roomed in the jingshi of all places

NAME NOTES

Mò Yí (莫怡) — mo xuanyu's birthname in this au ! i like to think his mother gave him that birth name because she really wanted him to have a happy future :]

Mò Líng (莫玲) — 玲 is an onomatopoeia, referring to the sound jades make when they are hit. i like to think wwx chose this name on the spot absolutely not thinking about how a certain jade was doing lol

Mò Shànxì (莫善戲) — now this one is fun ! i took this from one of the poems in the Classic of Poetry aka Shijing aka the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry and one of the Five Classics. it's taken from the third paragraph of the poem Qi Yu from the Odes of Wei (as in the state of Wey. unfortunately not the same wei in wwx's name. thats a diff state)

瞻��淇奧、綠竹如簀。 有匪君子、如金如錫、如圭如璧。 寬兮綽兮、猗重較兮。 [善戲] 謔兮、不為虐兮。 Look at those recesses in the banks of the Qi, With their green bamboos, so dense together! There is our elegant and accomplished prince, - [Pure] as gold or as tin, [Soft and rich] as a sceptre of jade! How magnanimous is he and gentle! There he is in his chariot with its two high sides! Skilful is he at quips and jokes, But how does he keep from rudeness in them!

so 善戲 should translate to "good at theatrical shows" as in he's good at putting on a show ! since mo ling is essentially just a role wwx is playing and all lmao. BUT ALSO the last sentence where i took the characters describes wwx pretty well. the sentence describes the lord aka the subject of the poem as someone who is good at playing games, jokes etc. but his jokes would never be intended to harm or to be rude. so wwx :]

his disguise's courtesy name also has a nice though subtle common element w lan wangji's birth name since the zhan is thought to also be taken from the five classics uwu

[mxtxfanatic]

Why Wen Qing and Jiang Yanli Matter

Even though their time as living characters in the narrative is short, Wen Qing and Jiang Yanli actually have a major influence on how Wei Wuxian chooses to go about his second life.

The comfort that Wei Wuxian couldn't express a desire for but that Jiang Yanli once tried to provide, anyways, without needing a request, he now seeks out in Lan Wangji:

No matter what [Jiang Yanli] said, Wei WuXian continued clinging to the tree, refusing to come down. Afraid that he’d hurt himself, Jiang YanLi put the lantern under the tree and extended her arms to catch him, too worried to leave. Thirty minutes later, Wei WuXian’s hands finally grew sore. He let go of the tree trunk and fell down. Jiang YanLi hurried to catch him, but Wei WuXian still landed with a slam.

—Chapt. 71: Departure, exr

The very instant he had wrapped his arms around the tree trunk, his eyes had warmed. Now, as he looked down, his vision was already blurry. Lan WangJi was standing underneath the tree, staring up at him. He was also clothed in white, but without a lantern. However, under the shower of the moonlight, his entire person was bright and clear, as if engulfed in a sheen of pure light. With his head slightly raised, he was watching Wei WuXian intently. With his gaze at the tree top, he took a few steps closer, as if wishing to extend his arms. Suddenly, Wei WuXian was overcome by a strange yet powerful urge. He wanted to fall down, just like that time many years ago. A voice in his heart said, ‘If he catches me, then I will’...... At the thought of the words ‘I will’, Wei WuXian let go. At the sight of him falling without a hint of a warning, Lan WangJi’s eyes widened. Instinctively, his body moved and the next moment Wei WuXian was in his arms, or, more correctly, in his embrace. ... He could not see Wei WuXian’s face. His face was out of Wei WuXian’s sight as well. But there was no need for Wei WuXian to see. With his eyes closed, he was engulfed in the soft, fresh scent of sandalwood that always lingered on Lan WangJi. Wei WuXian’s voice was hoarse, “Thanks.” He was never really afraid of falling. All these years, he’d fallen plenty. Of course, it still hurt everytime he fell. If there was someone who could catch him, then he couldn’t be happier.

—Chapt. 87: Core Part 9, boat-full-of-lotus-pods

Except Lan Wangji is both willing and capable of protecting Wei Wuxian where Jiang Yanli due to a variety of reasons was not. Because of this, Lan Wangji is able to carry on the torch that Jiang Yanli left behind from Wei Wuxian's first life into his second, such as when he begins to cook for Wei Wuxian.

As for Wen Qing, the lesson that Wei Wuxian learned from his unintentional big sister is so important that he both lives by it and endeavors to pass it on to his shizhi :

After a few steps, [Jin Ling] looked backward and said, “Why are you just standing there? Are you just going to wait for my uncle to come and get you? Let me tell you, don’t think that just because you rescued me, I’ll have some kind of deep gratitude toward you. Especially don’t hang your hopes on me telling you some mushy nonsense.” Defeated, Wei Wuxian strolled up. “You’re young. In your lifetime, there are two pieces of ‘mushy nonsense’ you will always have to utter sooner or later.” “What are they?” Jin Ling asked. “’Thank you,’ and ‘I’m sorry.’” Jin Ling scoffed. “I just won’t say them. What can anyone do about it?” “There will eventually be a day when you’ll say them with tears in your eyes,” Wei Wuxian said. Jin Ling made a derisive noise. Suddenly, Wei Wuxian said, “I’m sorry.” The boy stared blankly. “What?” “On Dafan Mountain, what I said to you. I’m sorry.” It hadn’t been the first time someone had jeered at Jin Ling for lacking a mother to raise him, but no one had ever apologized to him with such seriousness. He didn’t know exactly what the feeling was, but being slapped in the face with such an apology made his entire body prickle with unease.

—Chapt. 24: Malice II, fanyiyi

This scene preludes Jin Ling's softening, where he actually does begin to be more mindful of his words, how he speaks to others, and especially how he interacts with "Mo Xuanyu." The fact that no one had ever seriously apologized to Jin Ling allowed the boy to justify being rude and mean-spirited to others, but the fact that Wei Wuxian does and about something that people had mocked him for often without regret causes him to reevaluate this "uncle" as well as himself. This apology, though it may seem small, is what sparks the actual beginning of Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling's shishu-shizhi relationship, and none of it would have been possible had Wen Qing not torn down the wall of "what need not be spoken."

Because of these two women, Wei Wuxian is able to form closer bonds and live a more fulfilling life during his second chance, and through this, the legacy of his sisters lives on.

[catmaid-san]

Yeah. That ridiculous. Lan Wangji post 13 years, after Wei Wuxian being dead once, is actually extremely chill and accepting of Gui Dao. That's because he knows, what harmed and killed Wei Wuxian was not his Cultivation Path, it's People with Malicious intention!

I always get a little frustrated when I see the idea that his cultivation corrupted Wei Wuxian and that's part of his tragedy that led to his death. In the books, it's really not.

First of all, why would he still uses his cultivation in his second life if it was corrupting him ? Why would Lan Wangji let him do this again if that what's destroyed him in the first place ? His cultivation was dangerous but so is the righteous path (Qi deviation anyone ?).It doesn't corrupt.

I would also argue that the three times he did use said cultivation against the cultivation world were absolutely justified, because the first one was because they were creating work camp where children and elderly Wens were forced to work and beaten to death (despite the fact that the Jins said they were leaving them alone) and the second time was an ambush 200 against 2 (so self defense) and then, the third time was 1 against 3000, plus, they attacked first and the last time they were meeting to discuss the massacre they were planning to do against him and the Wen renmants despite the fact that they said they wouldn't after the death of Wen Qing and Wen Ning

Wei Wuxian is still the same person in the burial mound trying to protect the Wen renmants and deciding to destroy the Yin Tiger Rally so that the Jin couldn't have it as he is when he decides to stay behing in the Xuanwu cave or when he is having fun, teasing Lan Wangji during his studies at the Lans.

The tragedy of his death is that he is doing the right thing, from beginning to end by himself and the people in power don't like having a servant calling them out when they do terrible things. His fate isn't sealed when he got pushed to the burial mounds the first time by Wen Chao, it is sealed and he is not even there at the meeting after he saved the Wen remnants, and the clans start defaming/slandering him for his actions, because he made the choice to save the Wen remnants and only two people, who are not in power and both of them do not have the support of theirs clans at that moment (Lan Wangji and Mianmian) defend him.

His new way of cultivating was just a convenient excuse the cultivation world/the mob, who didn't like someone who they saw as below them calling them out, used to discredit him.

[jinkx-monsoon-season]

Wait was this the same Granny Wen all along?

If so, she might be the character who cumulatively had the worst time in the series (and that's saying something). Oof, all the uncomfy times she's having and still going to have!

[cql-screenshots]

[xi-vz]

Cheat Sheet

The world was both larger and smaller than Shang Qinghua thought it’d be. But, then again, he was still only on one continent. He knew there were a few others—4 more to be exact. But that was neither here nor there.

He was staying at a…quaint (read: rundown) inn in a place called Fojiao Town, which was located at the foot of Mount Dafan. He heard there was a Heavenly Maiden on the mountain and wanted to check it out. The locals were all too happy to tell him, an obvious cultivator, about it.

Shang Qinghua hadn’t written much about gods and goddesses in PIDW. Martial and scholar gods were a thing, but they had been human before ascending. As far as he was aware, he was the only God™️. Capital G.

Mount Dafan was like any other mountain. Maybe with denser trees. Seriously, unimpressive all around…except for the cemetery that had plenty of ghosts floating around. He ignored them as he flew above the trees until he reached the cave where the Maidens alter was.

The Heavenly Maiden was a rock formation.

Yes, it vaguely resembled a woman dancing. If one were to squint and turn their head.

“Typical,” Shang Qinghua clucked his tongue before touching the base of the alter, only to jump back in surprise when a familiar blue screen popped up.

[Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! User 001 has unlocked “God Mode”. Would the user like to download now?] [Yes - No]

What the hell was “God Mode”?

After living so long with The System, he learned to be weary. Even if there hadn’t been any new updates or pop-ups other than the “Return Home” option that was now in his Settings.

He was debating on his choices when the Heavenly Maiden shook. No, it was the entire mountain shaking! Earthquake? Now? There was no such thing as coincidences in this cruel world of his. He should’ve known better. Still, as Shang Qinghua fell forward, he instinctually put his hands out to brace himself, accidentally clicking Yes.

And then something inside of him popped and Shang Qinghua felt his golden core explode.

TBC? Should I post on AO3?

[carrot-felisidad]

If you think about it, Nie Huaisang's plans aren't as meticulous as Jin Guangyao's. His plans could be stopped immediately by unforeseen forces with enough bad luck, like what if Mo Xuanyu was not banished and instead killed? What if the ritual did not work? What if JGY denied his cryings in the Koi tower, disabling the messenger to deliver the letter to Qin Su? What if Qin Su wasn't that repelled from the fact that they're siblings? What if Qin Su did not believe the truth about their son's death? What if Si si refused to drop the bombs? What if the Sect leaders refused to believe the two random and unknown women? WHAT IF WEI WUXIAN DID NOT PLAY "WANGXIAN" IN THE DAFAN MOUNTAIN?

So many plans were released to the wind with a little prayer "I hope this works!", and you know what? They did! Because Nie Huaisang isn't actually an evil calculating meticulous mastermind who has plans from A to Z. That's Jin Guangyao. NHS is an artist, a theatre kid, and a grieving little brother.

He was also sided by the gods. (And the author)