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mdzs-is-rotting-my-brain · 10 days ago

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Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue

In this post, I want to discuss what I find to be one of the most misunderstood scenes in the entire novel: the altercation between Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao near the end of the empathy session during which Nie Mingjue kicks Jin Guangyao down the stairs and threatens to kill him. In particular, it is commonly believed that Nie Mingjue was expecting Jin Guangyao to condemn Xue Yang to death (even though Jin Guangshan was the only one with that power) and that the reason he approached Jin Guangyao in the first place was because he blamed him for Jin Guangshan's failure to condemn Xue Yang to death (even though Jin Guangyao had no way of preventing this). As the argument usually proceeds, Nie Mingjue's threat to kill Jin Guangyao made >!Jin Guangyao's subsequent murder of him!< justifiable self-defense.

Both of these claims are false. When Nie Mingjue confronted Jin Guangyao at the stairs of Jinlintai, he knew perfectly well that the latter did not have the authority to change Xue Yang's verdict. Instead, what he expected Jin Guangyao to do was to kill Xue Yang on his own, and this was something that was very much within Jin Guangyao's power. If Jin Guangyao could get away with >!the murder of the most powerful man in the Jianghu!<, he would certainly be capable of killing a prisoner without being caught—and even if he were, he would have two clan leaders for sworn brothers who would be willing to protect him. What he stood to lose, as he explicitly tells Nie Mingjue, was not his life but his position in the Lanling Jin Clan, and his insistence on prioritizing his ambitions over morality was precisely the problem.

Likewise, Nie Mingjue did not blame Jin Guangyao for the fact that Jin Guangshan had commuted Xue Yang's verdict to life imprisonment. He knew that Jin Guangyao had no say in that decision, though he did blame Jin Guangyao for complying with his father's orders to imprison Xue Yang. However, the main reason that he confronted Jin Guangyao was because he believed him to be complicit in the Chang Clan massacre and Xue Yang's many other atrocities, and because he believed that he should take responsibility for his actions and remove the scourge that he himself had brought into the world—and rightly so.

To understand why this was, we must begin, years prior, with Xue Yang's initial enlistment by the Lanling Jin Clan. As we know, Jin Guangyao was the one who recruited Xue Yang, who recommended him to his father, and who entrusted him with the reconstruction of the Yin Tiger Tally. Nie Mingjue knows this too, and states so explicitly during the staircase incident. All this was entirely Jin Guangyao's initiative, and he cannot blame his father, as he is wont to do. Yes, Jin Guangshan was searching for demonic cultivators at the time, but nothing other than his uncontrollable ambitions forced Jin Guangyao to intentionally recruit a dangerous criminal and hand him a weapon of mass destruction.

And Jin Guangyao was certainly aware, even back then, of who exactly Xue Yang was. In Chapter 30, Lan Wangji describes him as follows: "Ever since the age of fifteen, he had been a delinquent in the area of Kuizhou, known far and wide for his radiant smile, inhumane means, and merciless personality. Everyone's expressions changed whenever he was brought up in a conversation." This description refers to Xue Yang when he lived in Kuizhou, before Jin Guangyao recruited him and he was taken to Lanling. Even more telling is the following exchange from Chapter 49, which occurs immediately after Xue Yang becomes a guest cultivator of the Jin Clan:

Jin Guangyao walked over and spoke with a tone of respect, "Brother."

Nie Mingjue, "Who was that?"

After a moment of hesitation, Jin Guangyao answered carefully, "Xue Yang."

Nie Mingjue frowned, "Xue Yang of Kuizhou?"

Jin Guangyao nodded. Xue Yang had been infamous ever since he was young. Wei Wuxian clearly felt Nie Mingjue's brows knit even tighter. He spoke, "Why are you wasting your time with such a person."

Jin Guangyao, "The Lanling Jin Sect recruited him.

He didn't dare to protest any further. Excuse being that he needed to care for the guests, he scurried to the other side.

Qinghe, where Nie Mingjue resides, is over fifteen hundred kilometers from Kuizhou. The fact that Xue Yang's infamy has spread across China to the point that Nie Mingjue can recognize him by name indicates that he is not a mere petty criminal, but something much worse. While Jin Guangyao may never have heard the saying "When Xue Yang attacks, he leaves behind not even the chicken or the dog," I am confident that this was common currency in Kuizhou. Giving such a man any sort of official position, not to mention providing him with a dangerous weapon, is at best gross negligence and at worst outright murder.

Next, we must consider the atrocities that Xue Yang committed under Jin Guangyao's supervision. As an example, we can take the slaughter of the Tingshan He Clan, which occurs in the "Villainous Friends" extra. As I see it, Jin Guangyao's guilt in the massacre is indisputable (though I am sure that certain Jin Guangyao enthusiasts will disagree); the question is how much Nie Mingjue knew about it. Needless to say, an entire clan could not have disappeared without anyone noticing. Everyone knew that their was a massacre, and they knew that the Lanling Jin Clan had done it. Even if no one saw the Jin cultivators arriving in Tingshan and dragging the members of the He Clan out of their homes, who else would have the motive besides the man whom He Su had just compared to Wen Ruohan?

This is of course why Jin Guangshan goes through the charade of accusing He Su of murdering a Jin Clan member, trying him in a kangaroo court, and convicting his entire clan on trumped-up charges of treason. He knows that there is no way of keeping the massacre a secret, so he instead goes for the next-best option of persuading everyone that it was justified. This is the reason that Nie Mingjue does not confront Jin Guangshan or Jin Guangyao about the massacre of the He Clan: he has no way of proving that the charges were false, even if he suspects this to be the case (and I think he knows the Jins too well to be entirely swayed by their claims).

It is also important to recognize that the massacre of the He Clan was by no means a unique occurrence. MXTX's summary for the "Villainous Friends" extra reads, "The daily lives of the evil duo, committing crimes and wiping evidence." Given that these summaries can be found in the web version of MDZS along with the main text, they can be considered part of the novel canon. While this is not meant to imply that Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang literally massacred another clan every day, it is equally clear that the He Su and his family were not their first victims. Just before He Su arrives, we see Xue Yang experimenting on a sizeable crowd of corpses in his impromptu laboratory, corpses that must have come from somewhere (and, being a practitioner of modao, he would not simply take them from the nearest graveyard as is Wei Wuxian's usual practice).

In any case, we now come to the massacre of the Yueyang Chang Clan. Unlike with the He Clan massacre, we are not privy to the perspectives of Jin Guangyao and Jin Guangshan, so we cannot say for certain that they ordered the massacre. However, we know that this was the first test of the newly reconstructed Yin Tiger Tally, and that the Lanling Jin Clan had never hesitated to slaughter entire clans for Xue Yang's human experiments, so there is good reason to think that the circumstances of the Chang Clan massacre were quite similar to those of the He Clan Massacre. Wei Wuxian's suspicions, as usual, seem to be quite on point

Chapter 30:

Perhaps, Xue Yang destroying the Chang Clan wasn't entirely to avenge what they did to him when he was young. He might have been testing on this clan of live humans what exactly was the extent of the restored Stygian Tiger Seal's powers!

The particular choice of the Chang Clan was of course due to Xue Yang's personal grudge against Chang Ci'an, and one could imagine that Jin Guangyao had granted Xue Yang the privilege of choosing the next clan that would be eliminated as a reward for his success—but, at any rate, none of this excludes the Jin Clan's full approval of and participation in the massacre.

How exactly the Jins were planning to justify the massacre to the other clans is unclear. Possibly, they were hoping to have Xue Yang finish off the entire clan at once and leave no witnesses. They may have intended to come up with yet another false charge to levy against the Chang Clan *post facto*, as they did with the He Clan. Whatever the case, their plans were foiled by Xiao Xingchen, who managed to catch Xue Yang immediately after the massacre and made his crimes public before the Jins could come up with any excuses. At this point, Nie Mingjue finally has solid evidence that Jin Guangyao allowed his subordinate to slaughter an entire innocent clan, and it would hardly be a stretch to conclude that the other clans massacred on Jin Guangyao's orders were no more guilty of the crimes of which they had been accused. It is no surprise, then, that Nie Mingjue immediately storms into Jinlintai to confront Jin Guang … shan.

I cannot count the number of times I have seen the claim that Nie Mingjue should have taken up his grievance with Jin Guangshan rather than Jin Guangyao; as the argument usually proceeds, Nie Mingjue was too afraid to confront a fellow clan leader, so he instead went after the much less powerful Jin Guangyao. If this were really the case, Nie Mingjue would never have dared to confront Jin Guangshan in the first place, nor would he have so strenuously opposed his efforts to establish the position of Xiandu, nor, back before the Sunshot Campaign, would he have been so outspoken against Wen Ruohan's tyranny. Nie Mingjue can be called many things, but he was never a coward, and his decision to confront Jin Guangyao was in no way motivated by fear.

When Nie Mingjue arrives and threatens to execute Xue Yang on the spot, even Jin Guangshan does not dare to protest, having been cowed into silence by Nie Mingjue's rebuke. The only member of the Lanling Jin Clan who attempts to stop Nie Mingjue and save Xue Yang's life is none other than Jin Guangyao. Until this point, I think, Nie Mingjue was willing to ignore Jin Guangyao's role in the massacre and focus on Jin Guangshan (who, after all, was the clan leader), but he could no longer do so when Jin Guangyao went out of his way to obstruct justice and get his subordinate out of trouble.

What is more, unlike before when Jin Guangyao could have excused himself by insisting that he was simply following his father's orders, this claim is not tenable here—there was no way that Jin Guangshan would have expected him to defend Xue Yang when he did not do so himself. The only reason that Jin Guangyao defended Xue Yang was because he knew that finding a demonic cultivator who could reconstruct the Yin Tiger Tally was the surest way of winning his father's favor, and keeping Xue Yang alive would ensure that he stayed in his good graces. Not for the first time and not for the last, Jin Guangyao showed himself willing to sacrifice justice for power, and this was precisely what Nie Mingjue could never tolerate.

While Jin Guangyao did not succeed in persuading Nie Mingjue to relent, the Lanling Jin Clan was nevertheless able to worm their way out of the situation by promising Nie Mingjue that Xue Yang would be executed. It seems, from Nie Mingjue's words during the staircase incident, that Jin Guangyao himself was the one who made this promise \[Chapter 49\]:

Jin Guangyao, "He's already been locked inside the dungeon, imprisoned for life..."

Nie Mingjue, "What did you say to me back then?"

Jin Guangyao was silent. Nie Mingjue continued, "I wanted him to pay blood with blood, yet you have him imprisoned for life?"

Nie Mingjue was presumably given this assurance by someone in the Lanling Jin Clan whom he could reasonably trust, which would obviously not include Jin Guangshan, so it is not such a stretch to think that Jin Guangyao had promised Nie Mingjue that Xue Yang would not be executed. And note that after the Jin Clan goes back on their promise and imprisons Xue Yang after executing him, Jin Guangyao does not even attempt to deny that he intentionally lied; his silence at that juncture, coming from the silver-tongued Lianfang-zun, is quite telling.

Thus, by the time of the staircase incident, Nie Mingjue knew that Jin Guangyao had intentionally recruited a mass murderer, given him a prominent position in the Jin Clan, provided him with a weapon of mass destruction and instructions for how to repair it, sent him on a killing spree with that weapon, and then attempted to protect him when Nie Mingjue demanded justice. Both in universe and out of universe, Nie Mingjue is characterized a man who sees violence as his first option and does not think twice before drawing his saber, but as we see so often in MDZS, this perception is not a true estimation of his character. We see him again and again restraining himself against his better judgement, keeping silent and not voicing his (well-founded) suspicions, and only confronting the Jin Clan when the evidence is so clear that ignoring it would be a crime in itself. If, at this point, he refused to take up the issue with Jin Guangyao because of his personal debts, he would be placing himself firmly on the side of injustice.

I have given my arguments on why I believe that Nie Mingjue was right to confront Jin Guangyao over the Chang Clan massacre; now, I wish to address Nie Mingjue's behavior during the confrontation itself. As usual, Jin Guangyao begins with excuses. He claims that giving Xue Yang a life sentence is tantamount to executing him, as though Nie Mingjue had not yet figured out that Jin Guangshan was planning to let him out of prison as soon as he turned his back. Jin Guangyao denies having known about the massacre in advance and claims to have been "shocked." One might imagine that he was just as shocked at what Xue Yang did to the He Clan.

Finally, Jin Guangyao attempts to push all the blame onto his father. To be sure, Jin Guangshan was guilty of the Chang Clan massacre and of protecting Xue Yang after the fact, and he richly deserved to be kicked down the stairs by Nie Mingjue, but that does not absolve Jin Guangyao of his own role. He chose to work for his father. He chose not to leave the Jin Clan even after he found out what sorts of things were expected of him. He chose to hire Xue Yang. He chose to help Xue Yang slaughter so many innocent clans. He chose to protect Xue Yang after the Chang Clan massacre. Jin Guangyao likes to say, "I had no choice," but he always had choices, and he always chose what would serve his ambitions over what was right.

At this point, we have a very interesting exchange:

Jin Guangyao still wanted to speak, but Nie Mingjue had already lost all patience. "Meng Yao, don't speak such pretentious words in front of me. Your whole thing stopped working on me since a long time ago!"

Within seconds, a few degrees of unease flashed over Jin Guangyao's face, as though someone with an unmentionable illness was suddenly exposed in public. There was nowhere for him to hide.

Why, immediately afterwards, does Jin Guangyao drop the servile, conciliatory façade that he always wears in front of others and adopt a much more aggressive tone towards Nie Mingjue? Lan Xichen believes this to be a consequence of Jin Guangyao's frustration over the watchtowers, but MXTX rather unsubtly tells us the truth: Jin Guangyao is insecure because Nie Mingjue has seen him for exactly what he is: a man who is willing to do anything for the sake of power, a man in whose eyes the lives of others are worthless. He responds to these insecurities by becoming angry and lashing out at Nie Mingjue—but he knows perfectly well that they are the truth, something that many readers still do not.

Jin Guangyao then goes on a long rant about how Nie Mingjue, speaking from his privileged position, could never understand his situation and has no right to criticize him. Of course, it is true that Nie Mingjue is a clan leader with powerful cultivation, neither of which traits Jin Guangyao possesses, but he has never hesitated to help those less fortunate than him (unless they happen to be Wens). I would dare say it is the foundation of his sense of justice. During the Sunshot Campaign, when the Nie forces were already stretched thin, Nie Mingjue further depleted his manpower by assigning some of his cultivators to evacuate civilians from the battlefields. And during those same battles, let us recall who was it who took pity on a young soldier who was being bullied by his comrades, appointed him as his second-in-command, and gave him the best possible recommendation to a fellow clan leader. Even Lan Xichen seems to have treated Jin Guangyao so well only because he was repaying a life debt, but Nie Mingjue helped him purely out of kindness.

And what of Jin Guangyao? Does he, in consideration of his (formerly) lowly position, show kindness to those who are now below him? I think that the answer can be found quite clearly in the "Villainous Friends" extra. Jin Guangyao takes sadistic pleasure in taunting He Su over his fate and the fate of his clan, reveling in the power, or rather the illusion of power, granted to him by his father. Shortly afterwards, he burns down the brothel in which he grew up, and later on >!forces more than twenty prostitutes to rape his father. Does he care that these women are in precisely the same situation that his mother was, and that he is treating them even worse than Jin Guangshan treated Meng Shi? The irony of what Jin Guangyao does to the woman who protected his mother for years is quite intentional on MXTX's part.!<

In any case, what Jin Guangyao wants from Nie Mingjue is not sympathy for his situation, and certainly not help. He wants Nie Mingjue to condone his crimes and allow a mass murderer to go free, and that is something Nie Mingjue would never be willing to do—nor should he be. Even if Jin Guangyao would have to put himself in genuine personal danger to go against his father's wishes, he would still be in the wrong. There are certain crimes that cannot be excused by any extenuating circumstances, and what Jin Guangyao and Xue Yang did was among them. In any case, Jin Guangyao is quite clear about why he felt that he had "no choice":

Do you think that I'm in a steady position, here at the Lanling Jin Sect? Do you think I can rise into power the moment Jin Zixuan dies? Jin Guangshan would rather bring another illegitimate child back than want me to succeed him! You think that I should be afraid of nothing? Well, I'm afraid of everything, even other people!

The meaning is clear: Jin Guangyao is refusing to kill Xue Yang because he wants to succeed his father as the Jin clan leader, and he knows that disobeying him will considerably reduce his chances of doing so. And it is interesting that Jin Guangyao happens to bring up the death of Jin Zixuan, which, as we know (though Nie Mingjue does not) >!was arranged by Jin Guangyao when he lured him to the ambush at Qiongqi Path. It is rather galling of him to justify murder by citing yet another murder that he committed.!<

Jin Guangyao then abruptly switches tack and begins to complain about Nie Mingjue persecuting him over his murder of the Nie cultivators during the Sunshot Campaign. Why exactly is unclear, since this has nothing to do with the situation at hand, though I suspect that he recognized that he was losing the argument and simply began trying to antagonize Nie Mingjue at this point. In any case, he claims to have been justified in killing them, because it was the necessary price of serving as a spy inside the Nightless City, which saved many lives by shortening the war. Nie Mingjue points out the obvious hypocrisy in Jin Guangyao's willingness to sacrifice others' lives for the greater good while refusing to compromise on his own ambitions to do what is right.

Jin Guangyao's response is "Of course we are different!" For the reader, this statement lays bare Jin Guangyao's psychopathic mode of thought and the complete apathy with which he regards the lives of others. For Nie Mingjue, however, it is something more. The incident that their conversation is now referencing was the single worst moment of Nie Mingjue's life. He was beaten, tortured, and humiliated, made to kowtow to the man who killed his father. He was forced to watch as his family and comrades and arms were murdered by a man he once trusted, a man he might even have called a friend. And now, Jin Guangyao is telling him that the reason he killed Nie Mingjue's comrades was not because he "had no choice," but simply because he did not care. Is it any surprise, then, that Nie Mingjue's response is to replicate Jin Guangyao's worst memory, when he was kicked down the stairs of Jinlintai on his father's orders?

Nie Mingjue then draws his saber on Jin Guangyao. Whether he would have actually gone through with his threat and attempted to kill Jin Guangyao is its own question. Personally, I think that he would most likely not have done so, judging from Jin Guangyao's reaction. The two times that Nie Mingjue genuinely tried to kill Jin Guangyao—after Wen Ruohan's assassination, and just before his death—Jin Guangyao was completely terrified and running for his life. His reaction here is rather more low-key:

Jin Guangyao only landed after rolling down more than fifty steps. He didn't even stay on the ground for long before crawling up. With a wave of his hand, he sent away the servants and disciples who surrounded him. Dusting off his robes, he slowly raised his head to look at Nie Mingjue. His eyes were quite calm, almost indifferent. Just as Nie Mingjue unsheathed his saber, Lan Xichen happened to leave the palace to see what was going on, concerned after having waited for long. Seeing the situation before him, he unsheathed Shuoyue as well, "What happened, this time?"

Jin Guangyao, "Nothing. Brother, thank you for your advice."

Clearly, Jin Guangyao does not think he is in any real danger. Even if he were, however—even if Nie Mingjue truly intended to kill him—he would not be wrong to do so. Let us recall that when the San Zun took their oath of sworn brotherhood after the Sunshot Campaign, one component of the oath was that, if any party should "think otherwise," his punishment would be to "face a thousand accusing fingers, be torn from limb to limb." In other words, Jin Guangyao agreed that if he violated the terms of the oath—which presumably excluded abetting mass murder—Nie Mingjue would have the right, or rather the obligation, to execute him.

Unfortunately, Lan Xichen intervenes to remind Nie Mingjue that Jin Guangyao has "constantly been rushing to and fro between Lanling and Qinghe" to play the Cleansing music that helps mitigate the effects of the saber spirit. The irony that the reader can only appreciate later is that, according to Wei Wuxian's explicit statement, >!Jin Guangyao has been playing a corrupted version of the music designed to make Nie Mingjue gradually lose his mind and qi deviate for at least a month prior (see [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/MoDaoZuShi/comments/1fhmt4f/spirit_turmoil_music/) for an elaboration).!<

Nie Mingjue, unfortunately, is unaware of this, and it is for this reason that he relents and eventually makes the fatal mistake of trusting Jin Guangyao one last time.

A few days later, when Jin Guangyao returns to Qinghe to murder Nie Mingjue, he is not doing because his life is in any danger. If that were the case, he would never have dared set foot in the Impure Realm. The reason that he murders Nie Mingjue is because he knows that Nie Mingjue has finally seen through him and will not tolerate any more of his evil deeds. He knows that if he wants to continue to rise in the ranks, and eventually to succeed his father as the leader of the Lanling Jin Clan, he must continue to execute his father's murderous schemes. It is thus that Nie Mingjue becomes yet another victim of Jin Guangyao's ambitions, and it is fitting that he should be the one to rise from the dead and serve justice upon his murderer, and the murderer of so many others.

(Not my Meta. Shamelessly stolen(?) From reddit. I put a link back to the source.)

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #mdzs meta #jin guangyao #nie mingjue #lan xichen #canon jin guangyao #canon nie mingjue #sometimes #ppl on reddit *dont* have awful takes #follow the link back to the source

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rayan12sworld · 6 months ago

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💠💙By Any Other Name

by:ShanaStoryteller

Summary:

Wei Wuxian wakes up in Mo Xuanyu's body and heads straight for Lotus Pier. Wu Yingtai is the newest member of the Jiang Clan and rumored to be the future wife of Jiang Wanyin.

Lan Wangji is not in love with her.

Chapter:4/4

Words:31,828

Status:completed (crossdress wei ying)

“He likes her,” he says helplessly. Wangji enjoys the company of so few people that even that would be remarkable, but this is something he hadn’t thought he’d ever see again, something he hasn’t seen even a hint of in the past thirteen years.

But it’s there again, like Wangji is fifteen years old again and just discovering what want is. It’s desire and protectiveness and affection too overwhelming to be anything but painful.

Sizhui likes her too. It’s almost perfect.

Uncle’s lips press together. “She is not his to like.”

Lan Xichen has no response to that, because of course Uncle is right. Wu Yingtai is obviously if not publicly engaged to Jiang Wanyin. There’s nothing to be done about it.

He’d killed his brother once. He’d killed Wei Wuxian after A-jie had died to save him, dishonoring her sacrifice. What sin could be worse than that? Whose life could be more precious than that of his brother who their sister had died for? What wouldn’t he be willing to do in order to ensure one of his worst mistakes remains undone? Very little.

He’d been prepared to die and join Wei Ying and instead he’d woken up in Wu Yingtai’s arms

She sways and both Wangji and Sizhui reach out to steady her, but Jin Ling wraps an arm around her waist and glares at them. “Come on, Aunt Ying.” Does that glare seem worse than before? More possessive? Does Jin Ling know that Wangji is in love with his uncle’s fiancé? Lan Xichen can’t tell.

If only she weren’t engaged to Jiang Wanyin. ~

“I AM NOT ENGAGED TO A-YING!” Jiang Cheng roars, facing rapidly going from grey to red. “THERE WILL BE NO MARITAL DUTIES!” He reaches for his sword, seemingly barely restraining himself from unsheathing it. The rest of the hall has gone quiet, everyone’s attention on them.

~~😂😂

“You knew I was Jin Guangshan’s daughter and you married me anyway?” Lan Xichen’s eyes widen. Jiang Cheng frowns and pinches the skin of his wrist. If he’s in the middle of a dream right now, that would explain several things. The doors burst open. A scarred woman stumbles into the banquet hall and announces, “I was there the night Sect Leader Jin killed his father!” “Darling, please,” Jin Guangyao starts, but is cut off by a dark figure bursting in through the window and heading straight for Qin Su. It’s, somehow, impossibly, Wen Ning. “Oh, I see,” Jiang Cheng says, reaching for Sandu. “This is a nightmare.”

~😂😂 now this is a nightmare that nie Huaisang have made,nie "i cause problems not solutions" huaisang

It’s impossible. It’s impossible. It’s the only thing that makes sense. “Wei Ying,” he breathes, soft enough that no one else can hear him. She flinches. He tugs her forward, so she’s pressed against him like that day she ran into him, and curls his other arm around her waist. He lowers his head so he can speak directly into her ear. “Wei Ying.” She breathes out, shuddering in his arms, then mutters, “Lan Zhan. Not here.” He turns his face to bury it in Wei Ying’s hair, attempting to hide his smile from everyone else. Explanations can come later. For now, Wei Ying is alive, and in his arms, and that’s enough

Jin Guangyao has his sword pressed against Wu Yintai’s throat, enough that it’s broken skin, if only barely. Additionally, in the ten minutes since he’s left his brother’s side, it appears that he’s proposed, if his ribbon in Wu Yingtai’s hair is any indication. Jin Guangyao is holding a sword to throat of the woman Wangji loves. He barely survived losing Wei Wuxian, and now there’s no child to give his brother a will to live. He doesn’t know what losing Wu Yingtai would to do Wangji. He doesn’t want to find out.

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robininthelabyrinth · 1 year ago

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The Other Mountain - ao3 - Chapter 27

Pairing: Lan Qiren/Wen Ruohan

Warning Tags on Ao3

———————————————————————-

Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze led Wen Ruohan and Lan Qiren into the passageways and made their way deep into the secret parts of Jinlin Tower, heading towards what they claimed was some sort of laboratory that would provide them with the answers they required. They were being unduly mysterious, which was both highly annoying and so in character that it was not worth arguing over.

Behind them, the Wen sect disciples had been left to guard the hole in the wall and keep the Jin sect disciples from either following or leaving – to the extent there were any unfortunate revelations to be had here, the four of them had all agreed that it was better to keep them first to themselves.

The Jin sect would learn in time what they deserved to learn, which probably wasn’t much.

For his part, Lan Qiren spent much of the journey in silent contemplation.

He thought first of Wang Liu, who had – well, if Lan Qiren was being completely honest with himself, probably deserved his fate. His ghost had been honest in the manner of the dead, beyond the use of lies. He’d explained succinctly how he had worked loyally for Jin Guangshan until he had realized that the man planned to betray him in exchange for holding off Wen Ruohan’s rage; he had accordingly shifted his loyalties over to Lan Qiren’s brother, reaching an agreement with him that he believed would allow him to preserve his life. He had then later realized that the man was insane, a realization that had likely though not explicitly occurred upon learning that he’d murdered Jin Guangshan, at which point he had rather unwisely tried to double-cross Lan Qiren’s brother and go back to the Jin sect. Floundering and clueless as the Jin sect appeared to be regarding his death, it was likely that last betrayal which had led to it. Though the ghost hadn’t known how he had been killed, the event having come upon him as a complete surprise, the details made it clear who must have been the perpetrator.

Wen Ruohan hadn’t asked, which meant that he already knew.

Lan Qiren…

Lan Qiren genuinely did not understand what his brother was doing.

He never had, that was true, but this seemed beyond even the furthest reaches of his imagination. Truly his brother must have gone mad, genuinely mad. Why would he ally with Jin Guangshan, only to later kill him? Why kill Wang Liu so recklessly, practically in front of their eyes? What was his goal? What did he even have left to live for, knowing that He Kexin was dead at his own hands and that Lan Qiren would never tolerate letting him escape justice for what he’d done? Did he really want to kill everyone in the world, as Wen Ruohan had suggested?

Lan Qiren wanted to say Surely not and he would never and some of those people are his friends, but he didn’t think his brother had any friends, not anymore. Lao Nie had been his friend once, perhaps, and several others besides, but his brother had ruthlessly accounted for them all in his original plan. He had used his friendship with them in the most awful of ways, using what he knew about them to manipulate them, plotting a course that could and would have led to their deaths or at least their shame and grief and guilt. Still worse, he had done so without any shred of remorse, and even now there seemed to be no sign of regret – or of changing course.

He had to be stopped.

He had – and Lan Qiren really and truly hated to admit it – to be killed.

The fact that only he and a few others knew the truth of what he’d done did not change this fact.

Justice had to be meted out. That was Lan Qiren’s bottom line, the point of no return past which he would not go, the point past which he could not go without losing everything worthwhile about himself. It was a fundamental part of who he was. Lan Qiren knew himself to be a rigid man, someone who would break but not bend, and this was something he could not give in on. Hadn’t he just nearly had a qi deviation just thinking about how those in his sect had perjured morality and closed their eyes to injustice? As Cangse Sanren had pointed out, if all their principles of justice and righteousness were abandoned, then what was the point?

Lan Qiren did not see his efforts at concealing the truth of his brother’s actions from the world as contrary to that steadfast belief. Justice was paramount, morality the priority, learning first – but harmony was also the truest value, and the Lan sect rules had always counseled against excess, whether in joy or grief or self-sacrifice. The rules imposed Do not tell lies instead of Tell the truth, and that, too, was the wisdom of Lan Qiren’s ancestors. Truth was an instrument, to be played when it would help achieve the loftier goals of justice, of harmony, of kindness, of righteousness, and kept silent where it would not.

If the cultivation world found out what Lan Qiren’s brother had done, it would disgrace not only his brother, who thoroughly deserved it, and his sect, which could probably stand to be at least a little disgraced, but also very specifically his nephews. Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji would grow up the sons of an acknowledged murderer, a madman, in a world that did not absolve children of their parents’ sins. They would be shunned by their peers, disdained by women (or men, if their preferences ran that way), blacklisted by all the respectable matchmakers and mocked in their efforts no matter how much they accomplished, no matter how perfect they were in their own conduct. No matter what they did, everyone would always be waiting for them to go mad as well.

Lan Qiren did not want that.

His brother needed to be punished and justice restored; that much was unquestionable. But he was a member of one of the Great Sects, and according to long-standing tradition and written treaties both, that meant the Lan sect had the first say in meting out his punishment. Lan Qiren might have married out, but he had the right surname and the closest blood connection, and he could therefore claim that right of punishment in his sect’s name if they would not – and claim it he would, because having first right only meant the right to be first. If the Lan sect failed to punish one of their own, if they tried to let his brother go free in contravention to all justice and morality, then they gave up that right, and the right and obligation to seek punishment would flow to the next-most victims.

And the Jin sect, having lost both their sect leader and all their face, would pursue that punishment to its utmost bitter end with not one bit of care about what life would be like for Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji in the aftermath.

That was why Wen Ruohan was helping Lan Qiren now, helping him buy the time he needed. Time for them to find his brother and to stop him by whatever means necessary, time for them to keep the punishment inside the confines of the Lan sect where the collateral damage could be minimized. Time enough to convince the Lan sect of the necessity of that punishment – a trial and sentence, if they could take him into custody, and death, if they could not. Time for Lan Qiren to take that first right and try his hardest to make a terrible situation with no good results end better than it might have otherwise.

It was perhaps a little insane to feel warm about the fact that his wife was helping him manipulate a murder investigation.

Lan Qiren thought once more about that painting, obsession, and decided it was fine.

(Or, well, at least that it was mutual.)

Of course, he immediately then began contemplating – worrying, really, if he were being honest with himself, a virtue he often strove for and just as often failed in – whether he was being hypocritical, as his brother had several times accused him of being. To claim that the madness of love he felt was righteous, and that that of another was not, would seem to be the first and easiest fallacy to fall into; “acceptable for me but not for you” was the first step of any hypocrisy. It was necessary to seek to evaluate everything he did from an objective standpoint, without clouding the eyes with undue passion or excuses borne out of love instead of reason.

Still, after some considerable consideration, Lan Qiren genuinely did not think that was the case.

His brother’s madness was not love, as Lan Qiren felt it. He had turned against He Kexin not for any just cause, not for any rational reason that made him feel as if he had no choice in acting against her, but only because she did not love him as he loved her, a fact he had already known when he’d married her. He’d murdered her for disagreeing with him, murdered her out of jealousy, and he hadn’t sought to punish himself for what he’d done, only others. He had blamed others for what he had done – first Lan Qiren, and then the world…never himself.

Their madness, insofar as it had been based on love, was not the same.

Similarly, Lan Qiren’s efforts to cover up his brother’s actions in order to have the chance to bring him to justice with as few negative side-effects as possible were in no way comparable to his sect elders’ complicity in covering up the crimes of the mine, choosing to use He Kexin as a scapegoat and never seeking justice at all. Lan Qiren had been willing to hide He Kexin’s murder from public knowledge for his nephew’s sakes, when he had believed that to be her crime, because he had known that she was being punished for it; he would only be willing to hide his brother’s crimes, if he could, for the same reason.

It was not the same.

Despite what his brother might think, Lan Qiren was not a hypocrite.

She thought you were a hypocrite. Stupid woman.

Lan Qiren paused: that was Wen Ruohan speaking, but it was an unfamiliar memory. From last night, perhaps? Wen Ruohan had asked him to alert him if –

Ah.

There were the rest of yesterday’s memories.

Including the ones where he –

Ah.

Grateful for the relative dimness of the tunnels, which hid how red his face was turning, Lan Qiren retracted the hand he had reached out to Wen Ruohan, intending on alerting him to his recovered memories as he’d requested, and delivered a sharp kick to his shin instead.

Predictably, Wen Ruohan did not stumble, but instead turned and smirked at him, clearly realizing exactly what it was that had motivated his action.

The heat in Lan Qiren’s face got worse. He couldn’t believe that he’d actually – in a public room – and in such a bestial fashion, no less! Even if Wen Ruohan had been egging him on, and he had been, thoroughly, his own behavior really had gone beyond the pale. Particularly the bits that weren’t strictly sex-related, though Wen Ruohan had certainly reacted as if they were, vocally appreciative to great extent. It wasn’t that Lan Qiren didn’t agree with his drunken self that Wen Ruohan desperately needed to be turned over his knee and given a good thrashing, but still, to actually do it…

Though he supposed if Wen Ruohan really had enjoyed it as much as he’d appeared to, perhaps the restrictions he had placed on his behavior were a little more arbitrary than he had hitherto considered. Something to think about.

…not the bit about being in public, though. They were another sect’s guests, bound by etiquette and the rules of hospitality! To behave in such a manner was utterly disgraceful!

“Here we are!” Cangse Sanren announced.

Lan Qiren shook his head to clear it, as now was most eminently not the time and place for such thoughts, and stepped out of the passageway into a broader room. It was a frightful place, by any token: dark and gloomy, with chains and cages and sinister contraptions on the wall, some of which Lan Qiren recognized from Wen Ruohan’s Fire Palace…though the quality was not quite as good.

He couldn’t believe that he knew enough about torture implements to make that judgment.

He kicked Wen Ruohan again for good measure.

(When Wen Ruohan gave him a puzzled look in response, Lan Qiren pointedly looked at a few of the pieces, then mouthed the word inferior at him, which caused Wen Ruohan to let out a bark of laughter that made Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze look at the two of them oddly.

Lan Qiren refused to explain.)

That room, however, turned out to only be the entrance, with the main attraction being centered in the next room they entered: a much larger but more vacant room, with only a few forges and other such things pushed out to the sides, and in the center, a vast and ominous-looking array, glowing with a dull light, already activated and ready to go to work.

It was massive, even as arrays went, and extraordinarily complicated: more circles than Lan Qiren had ever seen, with dizzying geometric designs, all sorts of runes and other complex equations built in. It was filled with spiritual energy, emitting a low-pitched hum that shook the bones. It was exceptionally menacing.

Wen Ruohan went over to examine it at once.

“We figured Sect Leader Wen would be able to handle it,” Wei Changze said with satisfaction and not a little bit of relief. “It took us some doing to even get this far and find it – apparently, the door lock to this particular room only opens for someone with Jin blood. Luckily not limited to the main line, at least!”

“We got it voluntarily,” Cangse Sanren said. “Don’t look so worried, Qiren-gege.”

Lan Qiren, pained, decided not to ask about the details.

“What else have you managed to learn?” he asked. “How did you even find this place?”

“Let’s answer that first question, since you don’t want to hear the answer to the second – ”

Lan Qiren narrowed his eyes.

“– purely because it was very boring and involved a lot of following people around using papermen in a reckless and inadvisable fashion, plus at least one attempted sexcapade – ”

“We started kissing so that someone wouldn’t pay attention to us,” Wei Changze said proudly. He was just as bad as his wife, actually. Lan Qiren was starting in retrospect to worry about what bad lessons his nephews might have picked up while in their care. “It was great.”

“It was,” Cangse Sanren said, nodding. “Very sexy of us.”

Lan Qiren did not throw anything at either of them, but only because there was nothing to hand.

“You said that you could help us in identifying the nature of the curse that killed Wang Liu and Jin Guangshan,” he said patiently. “I assume that’s the array? How did you determine it was related to their deaths rather than being for some other purpose, such as a protective array or something like that?”

“No one would keep their protective array in a creepy laboratory of death,” Wei Changze said.

Lan Qiren thought about the Fire Palace’s record-keeping function and grimaced in disagreement.

“We captured and interrogated one of the Jin sect disciples that were here when we got here,” Cangse Sanren said, more helpfully. “He confirmed all sorts of interesting things, including that this array had only been set up after the events of the mountain at Xixiang, that it was something very secret that only the sect leader and a very select few knew about…and most importantly, after a little encouragement, he told us what it does.”

“Tell me you did not torture him for information,” Lan Qiren said, pinching his brow.

“What, your lover gets to torture people and we don’t? That’s just blatant favoritism, Qiren-gege…”

“We scared him and then knocked him out,” Wei Changze assured him earnestly. “Don’t worry.”

Lan Qiren inclined his head in thanks. Very begrudging thanks. “I am not worried. I am impatient. Will you proceed to the part where you tell me what the array does?”

“That’s the interesting part!”

Lan Qiren assumed that meant he wasn’t going to like it.

“As far as we can figure,” Cangse Sanren said, “the whole thing is actually meant to drain spiritual energy.”

Lan Qiren frowned and reached up to stroke his beard. He’d been right: he didn’t like it.

“Drain spiritual energy?” he asked. “What does that even mean? I have heard of arrays meant to improve the ability of a given area to contain spiritual energy, and inversions to make a place more unlucky or less auspicious, and naturally there are spells to use up what spiritual energy is available, however unwise those may be. But what does it mean to ‘drain’ spiritual energy?”

“I think Qingheng-jun told Sect Leader Jin that he could pull off something like what Sect Leader Wen did at Xixang if only he had enough power,” Wei Changze said. His mirth had faded away, and he looked unusually solemn. “The only difficulty was in gathering that power, which had taken Sect Leader Wen a century or more to accumulate – time they didn’t have. So they decided to go with a shortcut by obtaining it from cultivators directly.”

“What?”

Orthodox cultivation taught that each cultivator had to train themselves in order to generate and use their own spiritual energy: to absorb qi from the world around them, to form a golden core, to further refine and strengthen their golden core through hard work and effort. Draining the spiritual energy of another person, using their efforts as substitute for your own, building cultivation on each other’s corpses rather than their own strength – that was demonic cultivation, surely!

“Technically yes, though demonic cultivation is a larger category of which this sort of ‘drainage’ technique would just be one subgroup,” Wei Changze said when Lan Qiren said as much. “Orthodox cultivation has always categorized almost all usage of resentful energy, particularly when involving resentful energy generated by human beings, as demonic cultivation, regardless of the type, methodology, or purpose involved. This is likely because the side effects of utilizing – or rather, mishandling – resentful energy is similar throughout, with corrosive effects to the temperament and often judgment and morality. While traveling, we’ve actually encountered any number of different legends about – ”

Cangse Sanren tapped him on the shoulder. “Not the time for academia, husband mine. Qiren will be happy to hear about it later.”

“I would be delighted,” Lan Qiren assured him. As someone with his own set of special interests which consumed his mind whenever mentioned, he was always willing to listen to others who were willing to listen to him…even if it was on as unsavory a subject as demonic cultivation. Wei Changze had strange interests. “But I agree with Cangse Sanren, perhaps later.”

“Right, right, of course. Later is fine.” Wei Changze coughed. “Forgive me, I didn’t mean to get distracted. Where were we?”

On second thought, perhaps discussing demonic cultivation was the lesser of the two evils here.

Sadly, they didn’t have much choice in the matter.

“Jin Guangshan’s plans to use cultivators to provide my brother – and himself, presumably – with additional power.” Lan Qiren grimaced in disgust. “What a vile plan. I cannot believe Jin Guangshan would do such a thing to his own people…!”

“Oh, he didn’t,” Cangse Sanren said, and pointed to one of the forges that had been pushed to the side – or at least, which Lan Qiren had previously assumed had merely been pushed to the side. “He planned to use everyone else’s.”

Lan Qiren walked over to the forge, which was not a forge, exactly. He didn’t quite know the word for what it was: a place where one could pour molten metal into molds, casting some figure or item…

He blanched.

“Surely not,” he said, recognizing the symbol on the mold. “Those terrible coins he was handing out?!”

“Cursed coins are a classic,” Cangse Sanren said with a shrug.

“From what you and Sect Leader Wen told us, Sect Leader Jin was handing them out to everyone who participated in the events at Xixiang, claiming that they were a means of commemorating the grand night-hunt that had unified the cultivation world,” Wei Changze said. “Which meant that even if people knew that it was just his attempt to buy good will, they would still accept the coins, whether from pride, not wanting to be left out, or even, like Cangse and me, just because they were made of gold and therefore able to be resold.”

It made a sick sort of sense.

The Jin sect excelled at applying spells to gold and silver – they produced the finest spiritual ornaments in the cultivation world, ranging from jeweled hair pins to elaborate necklaces to belt adornments to ornate golden fans. There was a reason that Jin Guangshan was able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the other leaders of the Great Sects, beyond merely his wealth and heritage and despite his own mediocre level of cultivation; he was usually dripping with enchanted wealth, spelled for protection and sometimes offense. It was unwise to discount the Jin sect’s ability in this field, just like no one would doubt Qinghe Nie’s skill in producing sabers.

It wouldn’t be hard for Jin Guangshan to find someone to pour the metal and cast the coins, nor for him to arrange one casting of the coins to be with the curse and one without. And then he’d only need to hand the cursed ones to the rest of the cultivation world, reserving the rest for his own sect, and that would mean that they would remain safe when Lan Qiren’s brother eventually activated the array and drained the spiritual energy from everyone for his own selfish use…

“That is truly terrible,” Lan Qiren said vehemently. “Is there really an array that can do such a thing?”

“No,” Wen Ruohan said.

They all turned to look at him.

“Well, I cannot discount the possibility of such a thing existing, people have always been both clever and lazy,” he said. “But that’s certainly not what this array does.”

“Are you sure? The researcher seemed quite sure, and it tallied up with everything else we discovered,” Cangse Sanren said, pouting a little at having her deductions overturned, but then shrugged it off a moment later. “All right then, I guess we were wrong. What does it do?”

“Nothing.”

They all paused, waiting for an explanation.

None appeared forthcoming.

“What do you mean?” Lan Qiren finally asked. “What does ‘nothing’ entail?”

“No, I mean it does nothing.” Wen Ruohan shrugged when they looked at him. “The spiritual energy pathways all tie into each other until they’re knotted. There’s no exit point: you can feed the array qi and it will light up and look impressive, but functionally, that’s it. It’s a dud.”

“…are you joking right now?” Cangse Sanren asked blankly.

“Not in the slightest,” Wen Ruohan said.

“It’s a dud?!”

“A very fancy dud, yes. If it makes you feel better, I’m sure the rest of your deductions were correct, or at least that they matched up to the false bill of goods being sold to Jin Guangshan as a miracle pathway to power,” he said dryly. “Only Qingheng-jun decided not to bother with all the effort involved in finding or inventing an array that could drain spiritual energy from living cultivators, which may or may not be impossible. He just cursed the coins directly.”

“He fooled Jin Guangshan,” Lan Qiren realized. “That was the purpose behind the array: it was to trick Jin Guangshan into helping him create and then spread the cursed coins!”

And if the array for draining energy was fake, then the true purpose of the cursed coins was likely to be the traditional one – namely, the death of anyone who possessed one.

Wen Ruohan had been right. His brother really did want to kill everyone.

Lan Qiren felt sick to his stomach.

“Well, I mean, cursed coins,” Cangse Sanren said. “Like I said, they’re a classic. There’s a reason for that.”

“Indeed there is,” Wen Ruohan said. “When it comes to finding a way to kill a great number of people to whom you do not have immediate access, there is scarcely any better – although removing the array from the equation does mean that this attempt at murder is far less creative than Qingheng-jun’s previous efforts. I suppose he must have put all his energy into devising his first plan, leaving nothing behind for this shoddily crafted fallback.”

“Isn’t that a good thing for us?” Wei Changze asked. “That it’s not creative, I mean?”

“Not necessarily. Creativity often means innovation, and innovation leaves loopholes that can be exploited, whereas using a tried-and-true method has the advantage of reliability. For instance, a curse on coins has a less obvious focal point – moreover, I’m not familiar with an array that generates a curse quite like the one we have observed, or for that matter a curse like that at all, excluding arrays from consideration. Even if the method is crude, the curse itself is quite clever. I like to think that I would have thought of something similar myself, in time…cultivators do so love their swords.” He snorted. “Or their sabers, I suppose. Such a thing would be tremendously effective on someone like Lao Nie, who treats his saber better than his sons.”

Better than his lovers, you mean, Lan Qiren thought, a little spitefully, then felt bad: When others lose to you, do not look down on them.

“I can’t even imagine the look on his face if something like that was used on him,” Wen Ruohan continued, shaking his head. “His expression – to see his precious Jiwei cracking in two right before his eyes – ”

Something about the way Wen Ruohan had phrased it suddenly caused something to flit across Lan Qiren’s mind. It was a memory, very faint, of something he’d read once but not especially cared to remember. Something obscure, given that the subject was curses. But definitely some text, the memory accompanied by the familiar feeling of pages unde his fingertips, the smell of ink, the pleasant exercise of learning something…

Perhaps it was a reading he had come across while searching for ideas for one of his classes? No, that didn’t seem right.

It didn’t seem like something he’d read for sect business, either, and neither did it fall into the memories of the times he had helped others in his sect do the research necessary to solve a tricky issue that had arisen in one of their night-hunts – it felt like something he had read alone.

But why would he have read a treatise on curses? That was hardly something he would read for pleasure…

Lan Qiren abruptly recalled where he’d encountered it.

It wasn’t reading for pleasure, necessarily, or at least not how he’d term it, even though it had not been motivated by any actual requirement.

It had been his brother.

Lan Qiren had once used to read every book his brother had ever requested, cherishing the rare notes that his brother had left behind for the servants that only came to his seclusion in order to clean and leave food and items. At the start, he’d hoped that it would give them something to discuss through his brother’s closed door, though that had never come to pass; his brother had ignored Lan Qiren so completely that his visits had swiftly turned more into recitations than anything else, reading out a report without any expectation of commentary. Even after he realized that he would never find common ground with his brother, he’d never really stopped skimming the books that were sent in for his brother’s reading pleasure. He’d gotten into the habit by then, and since it had served as a good way to find new books to recommend (or not) to He Kexin, he’d carried on in the same fashion he’d started.

This memory had come from one of those books.

“Ah,” he said.

“It appears that I’ve been underestimating the Gusu Lan library,” Wen Ruohan said archly.

“No, it makes sense,” Cangse Sanren said, though she was suppressing a smile. “We all agree that it was Qingheng-jun who was the one planning this, wasn’t he? He knows what his sect knows, so it only stands to reason that Qiren would have a better chance of figuring out what curse he used.”

“How did they both manage to read up on the same obscure curse, though?” Wei Changze said. “Assuming the library in the Cloud Recesses is even bigger than the one in the Lotus Pier, that seems like rather a coincidence. Fengmian and I almost never read the same books, except when we had overlapping interests – oof! What did I say?”

“Nothing of value, husband mine. Consider the value of silence instead.”

“But –”

“Qiren,” Wen Ruohan interrupted. “What can you tell us about this curse?”

“Not much that is relevant,” Lan Qiren said, too busy mentally sorting through his memories to figure out what exactly what they were trying to distract him from – he didn’t have enough mental energy to spare to also figure out social situations. The majority of what he recalled about that particular reading pertained to the way the underlying part of the curse functioned, utilizing certain musical elements to achieve its aims, specifically, the crack of shattering steel rebounding through the body with an echo effect. Hardly the most effective means of accomplishing the goal, though an unusual one…however, he suspected no one would very much care about the technical details at present. “Other than the means of attack, I believe it was fairly standard.”

“Is there a standard for curses?” Wei Changze asked. He looked interested and appreciative of Lan Qiren’s knowledge, which Lan Qiren could appreciate. “Do you know a great deal about curses, Lan Qiren?”

“Leash your dog, Cangse Sanren, or I will do it for you,” Wen Ruohan informed her.

She rolled her eyes back at him, but did in fact reach out and tug her husband’s collar.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Wei Changze protested to her. “I really do want to know more about it.”

“Later. You can wrap it into the discussion about demonic cultivation.”

Lan Qiren decided to ignore them.

“I do not know more about curses than I know about most things,” he explained, although for whatever reason that made Wen Ruohan smirk as if proud of something, Wei Changze smile, and Cangse Sanren snort in amusement. “I only mean that it is not dissimilar to other curses: it is meant to cause death. There is nothing special about how it operates, other than that it takes a longer route to accomplish the same goal as a regular curse – in fact, I would say that the only thing that makes it different from other curses is its obscurity, and perhaps the dissipation of spiritual energy afterwards.”

“I suspect that that latter one is sufficient reason for its use here,” Wen Ruohan said. “Jin Guangshan would have demanded a demonstration of the curse’s ability to ‘drain’ cultivators of power, and seeing the energy dissipate would have been sufficient for him.”

“That is reasonable. In terms of how the curse is done, that is also typical: it can be cast directly on another individual or, as in this case, indirectly on an object, with the goal of it triggering later. I think what is most interesting here is the use of coins, as curses used on cursed coins are typically monomorphic in nature – ”

“I really need to visit Gusu Lan’s library,” Wei Changze mused.

“I’m going to stop you there, Qiren-gege,” Cangse Sanren interrupted, although she was grinning. “For the same reason that I stopped Changze: now is not the time for academia. Let’s be practical – the array’s a dud, and you know what curse he’s using. How do we stop it? Is there another triggering array hidden somewhere?”

Lan Qiren must have been going too deeply into theory despite himself.

He cleared his throat, a little embarrassed, and tugged at his beard.

“I do not believe there is any array that controls the form of the curse,” he said. “On the contrary, I think that the coins were created and then cursed, just the one time, which would mean that there is only a single predetermined action that is set to function as the trigger, the mechanism that causes the curse to take effect.”

“So what you’re saying is that the curse on the coins is going to lie dormant until someone does the specific thing that sets it off,” Wei Changze observed. “That makes sense and is certainly more traditional, especially for cursed coins, but it makes things trickier for us. Both Jin Guangshan and what’s-his-name Wang must have done the same thing, but since we don’t have eyewitnesses to either death, we have no basis to figure out what the trigger action is.”

“I don’t suppose anyone would be amenable to testing it out with some of the coins we have in stock…?” Wen Ruohan held up his hands when they all glared at him. “So noted. A better question, then: do we care?”

“What do you mean?” Lan Qiren asked, puzzled. Wen Ruohan had been joking the first time, possibly, but his second question appeared to be wholly sincere – yet he could not understand why they would not care. Curses were pernicious, and they did not know how many of the gold coins had been taken by Wen sect disciples. Even putting aside morality, or what morality he was willing to assume for Lan Qiren’s sake, Wen Ruohan would not risk his Wen disciples so callously. So what did he mean?

“He’s right,” Cangse Sanren said, surprising Lan Qiren. “We don’t care. The curse is in the coins. That makes it easy! We don’t actually need to undo the curse. We just need everyone to get rid of the coins before they trigger them.”

That…made sense.

“The coins have all been scattered by now, all the way throughout the cultivation world,” Lan Qiren said. “Yet we have not been hearing about mysterious deaths occurring anywhere but here. The trigger must not be that straightforward an action, nothing that would activate too soon – which makes sense, assuming my brother did not want people to immediately suspect the coins, and therefore the Jin sect, of what he was doing.”

“That gives us some time, at least,” Cangse Sanren said. “Which is good: I desperately need a bath. Do you know that crawling through dusty corners is awful, actually?”

“How are we going to convince people to give the coins up?” Wei Changze asked, even though he was just as dusty as she was. Lan Qiren even thought he saw a spiderweb in the other man’s crown. “I mean…the coins are made of gold. If someone came up to me and asked me to give them up to them, I’d be suspicious that they were out to cheat me.”

“Or rob you of your valor, given that it was meant to act as a prize for participants,” Wen Ruohan said. “Which means that even if we offer them a gold coin of equal value in exchange, they may not wish to accept. Naturally this is not a problem for my sect – no one is going to countermand my order, and if they do, they’d be getting what they deserve.”

“Perhaps that is the answer,” Lan Qiren said, ignoring Cangse Sanren’s snort of help someone else for once. “The leaders of the Great Sects have more authority than most. If each one gives the order to collect the coins, especially paired with remuneration in equal value, they would be able to obtain the majority of the coins from not only their own sects, but their subsidiary sects as well.”

“And the minor sects would catch wind of there being something wrong with the coins and be in a hurry to get rid of them, especially if there’s an equal or better exchange being offered,” Cangse Sanren agreed. “I know your sect doesn’t like gossip, Qiren, but you must admit there’s some value in it.”

“When it has value, it is news, not gossip,” Lan Qiren informed her, making her laugh. “Do we need to worry about the Jin sect itself? If my brother was planning on tricking Jin Guangshan, he might not have refrained from cursing the coins that were meant to go to the Jin sect’s own disciples, or to its own subsidiary sects. They are currently lacking a sect leader, and Madam Jin might not want to issue such an order without adequate explanation…”

She almost certainly wouldn’t, in fact. And even if she did, it was uncertain if the Jin sect would believe that any orders she gave were free of coercion…

“I wasn’t planning on letting her give the order,” Wen Ruohan said mildly. “I do have that army sitting outside. They’re probably getting rather bored with nothing to do – a search for a needle in a haystack, or a bunch of cursed gold coins in the hotbed of gold items that is Jinlin Tower, sounds just right.”

It sounded like the Jin sect was going to be in for a fairly miserable time.

“That sounds reasonable,” Lan Qiren said, conceding the point. It wasn’t the Jin sect’s disciples’ fault that they had as terrible a sect leader as Jin Guangshan, but boats rose and fell with the tide; they were ants on the same branch as him whether they liked it or not. “Provided you ensure that your army does not do anything outrageous in the process.”

“I’ll give orders that strict military discipline will apply,” Wen Ruohan promised, which was good.

(Somewhat less good was the suggestion that military discipline wouldn’t normally apply, but it was the Wen sect, after all. There were limits to the sorts of ethics Lan Qiren could reasonably expect to see before he’d had a chance to make some serious changes and enough time to make sure they would stick.)

“I can go to the Jiang sect,” Wei Changze volunteered. “Cangse shouldn’t, since she’s nominally guarding the kids right now – and I’m better at avoiding answering questions about uncomfortable things like that. Fengmian will listen to me on something like this.”

“He’ll listen, but will he do anything?”

Wei Changze sighed. “I think so. I’ll do my best to get Yu Ziyuan on board as well – she doesn’t like me, but she doesn’t hate me, either.”

“Another good reason not to send me,” Cangse Sanren said, then shrugged. “I guess that leaves me to go tell the Nie sect? That’ll be fun, I don’t think I’ve been to the Unclean Realm in years.”

She paused, then belatedly winced.

“Oh, sorry, Qiren-gege,” she said.

Lan Qiren frowned. “For what?”

“I just assumed you’d be the one going to the Cloud Recesses to tell the Lan sect,” she said. “Wouldn’t that be awkward?”

“Why would it be awkward?” he asked, puzzled. “Even if I married out, I’m still a Lan, and a member of the main family. Naturally I should be the one to go to them. I am the one most likely to be believed.”

He was painfully aware of how slow his sect was to trust in news from the outside. Some of them claimed that it was just obeying the rules against gossip, but Lan Qiren suspected it had more to do with a violation of Do not form a clique to exclude others.

Still: even if his marriage had now rendered him an outsider, he was still a Lan of the main sect line, and more than that, he had been their acting sect leader for ten years. That was not nothing. He knew how to make them listen.

And…the coins were not the only business Lan Qiren had with them.

Lan Zhengquan – the other sect elders –

Lan Qiren’s brother had claimed that they’d all known, to greater or lesser degree, and that they’d all refused to share their knowledge with him, purposefully deceiving him. Lan Qiren needed to know how true that was. He needed to know how far the rot extended. He needed to make them see that they had to excise that rot, destroy the corruption of their values root and branch, if the Lan sect were to hold its head up high in the cultivaiton world once more.

“What about my brother?” he asked, thinking of another problem. “We speculate that he fought with Jin Guangshan, and he certainly must have been here to create the coins, but we do not know where he has gone.”

“I expect he’s still here, hiding somewhere,” Wen Ruohan said. “Jin Guangshan’s death was too recent – my forward scouts were already here, setting up detection arrays. Between the scouts and my spies, they would have noticed if someone tried to escape the city, and now that my army is here and searching the city, there will be no chance left to leave; it is impossible for him to run away even if he wanted to. Do not be concerned – I will find him for you, Qiren. You go to the Cloud Recesses.”

Lan Qiren smiled, thinking once more of the painting: obsession, he’d titled it in his head, but it could also be called merely love, if a very particular form of it.

But perhaps, for Wen Ruohan, the painting would best be termed something even rarer than love: trust.

He was letting Lan Qiren go, and back to the Cloud Recesses of all places. Back to his home, back to where he had supporters and a Great Sect of his own to back him – if Lan Qiren wanted to leave Wen Ruohan, or to turn against him, this would be the best moment for it. Now, when Wen Ruohan was weakened; now, when his forces were committed far away from the Nightless City; now, when he trusted him.

Lan Qiren would not betray that trust.

And neither would he overlook what Wen Ruohan was doing for him – because it was for him that he was doing it. Finding Lan Qiren’s brother was a necessity, of course, as necessary as finding and putting down any mad dog. But sending Lan Qiren away…

I will find him for you, Wen Ruohan had said, but he meant I will kill him for you.

Knowing that they were discussing his brother’s death should have made Lan Qiren feel bad.

It didn’t.

Later, when he had time, he would mourn his brother properly. He would mourn the possibility of his brother, really, rather than the man he’d become in the end, but that would be enough to fulfill his duties, whether to his brother, to his family, or merely to himself as a younger brother. And when he did, he would take the time to properly mourn He Kexin as well, as he should.

For the moment, he would be grateful for what he had, however unexpectedly he’d obtained it.

“We have a plan, then,” Lan Qiren said firmly. “I will set out tomorrow morning, at the earliest opportunity.”

“We can leave tomorrow, too,” Cangse Sanren agreed, then made a face. “Though maybe…not quite as early as whatever you mean…you Lan are all insane…”

Lan Qiren sighed and ignored her.

“How much do you need to do to get started with the search on your end?” he asked Wen Ruohan as they walked out of the hidden laboratory. “Although current events naturally take priority, if there is an opportunity I should very much like to play you the song I wrote for you.”

“In that case, very little time,” Wen Ruohan said with a faint smirk.

Lan Qiren left him to it and returned to their rooms. He didn’t have anything he needed to pack, as he’d arrived at Jinlin Tower with little more than the bare essentials and had never had the opportunity to unpack, but he hadn’t come here for that.

Guqin in hand, he began setting up an extensive set of privacy wards, layering them on several times over, and then over again. It was almost certainly overkill, but they’d been subject to an assassination attempt once before, and Lan Qiren wanted them to be able to sleep without concern.

As well as – other distracting things.

He had promised to be diligent, after all. Diligence is the root.

“Tell me, Qiren,” Wen Ruohan said upon arriving and observing Lan Qiren’s preparations. “Is there something about Lanling that particularly inspires you? Or is this just good luck on my part?”

“Purely the latter,” Lan Qiren said dryly. “I assure you.”

Wen Ruohan chuckled. “Why so many, though? Do you have a particular concern that we will be attacked while sleeping tonight?”

He seemed to be suggesting that Lan Qiren was being unnecessarily paranoid. Ironically enough, Lan Qiren was well aware that if he confirmed that he had such a suspicion, Wen Ruohan’s own paranoia would then ensure he did not sleep at all.

Lan Qiren wouldn’t do that to him, but for a moment he was tempted.

“I do not,” he said. “However, I wanted to ensure that we had some privacy, as I had hoped that we could try dual cultivation this evening.”

Lan Qiren was a little disappointed when Wen Ruohan’s expression of mild approval and teasing did not change in any way at his words. He’d hoped that being unexpectedly blunt with the request would have a greater and more amusing impact.

However, Wen Ruohan also didn’t say anything, so eventually Lan Qiren prompted: “If that would be acceptable to you?”

Wen Ruohan blinked extremely slowly, as if moving through water, and then said, with unusual politeness: “Forgive me, you may need to repeat yourself.”

Lan Qiren felt a sudden urge to laugh, though he suppressed it immediately. It seemed he’d gotten his desired-for impact, only it was even more impactful and more humorous than he’d originally suspected. Truly, Wen Ruohan could be very funny…often when he least expected to be.

“I would like to dual cultivate with you this evening,” he said, and watched as Wen Ruohan seemed to absorb that statement with remarkable slowness. “I also would like to play for you. I do not expect that either will have much effect, but it would please me to know that you have as much power at your command as possible when you go up against my brother.”

“Oh,” Wen Ruohan said, and sat down heavily on the bed, all at once, as if he were a puppet whose strings had just been cut. “Yes, that makes sense.”

Lan Qiren arched his eyebrows. “Do I want to know what you were thinking?”

“Many things, none helpful,” Wen Ruohan said, which meant his thoughts had probably been especially pornographic in nature. “Are you certain about the dual cultivation? It’s not necessary. I am quite confident in defeating him either way.”

“If it is not something you want to do, we do not have to,” Lan Qiren said, tilting his head to the side and wondering at Wen Ruohan’s atypical hesitancy. Most of the time, the other man was goading him on to further acts of debauchery, not acting skittish – he hoped that he had not inadvertently misstepped, somehow. Was there some sort of etiquette he should have followed…? “You had previously expressed an interest in doing it, that was all. I thought now seemed like a good time.”

Would making a joke about carriages be inappropriate? Was this a sensitive subject or something? Something that had happened to Wen Ruohan in the past –

“You’re not – worried?”

Oh. Of course.

Understanding dawned.

It wasn’t that Lan Qiren did not know what risks dual cultivation entailed. They would be merging their qi together, achieving harmony, accessing something deep within each other, and in so doing they would leave themselves vulnerable to the worst sort of theft. It was a little like the fictional array his brother had invented, and no doubt the reason Jin Guangshan was so willing to believe in it: this was the only way Lan Qiren knew of that cultivators could steal each other’s spiritual energy. Once they were dual cultivating, they each of them had the chance to destroy the other, if they wanted, or drain away the other’s cultivation and leave them empty and broken – or, well, Wen Ruohan could drain him dry, while Lan Qiren could at least make a significant dent in Wen Ruohan’s remaining power, leaving him weak and powerless just before his brother attacked him.

And that made all of Wen Ruohan’s hesitations make far more sense. It was exactly what his painting had already told Lan Qiren: the thing that had been most missing in Wen Ruohan’s life until now, that which he lacked most, was not love, nor lust, nor friendship, but trust. Someone he could feel safe in trusting, but also someone who would trust in him: someone who would give him the benefit of the doubt, who would side with him first simply for his own sake, someone to believe in him, with an unshakeable faith.

Luckily for him, Lan Qiren had that in spades.

“No,” he said. “I trust you.”

Wen Ruohan looked as though he’d just been struck by lightning.

Lan Qiren politely averted his eyes for a little while to let him have some privacy as he collected himself.

“I do want to play for you first, however,” he remarked after a few moments had passed, changing the subject. “I know a number of songs that can be used to enhance meditation and improve energy, and of course there is the song I wrote with you in mind – I am not yet certain as to what the purpose it may eventually be put, so playing it for you may be pointless, but as an emotional matter, I would still like to do so.”

“That would be good,” Wen Ruohan said, his voice a little hoarse. “I would very much like to hear it.”

“I will warn you that the same terms apply as to your painting,” Lan Qiren said, moving over to settle by his guqin. “I do not explain my songs. I find that it is impossible to express precisely what I intend using words. They simply do not capture the full extent of my meaning.”

“Mm. ‘If it were possible to simply say what I meant, I wouldn’t have needed to paint it’ – something like that, but with music?”

“Exactly,” Lan Qiren said, and snuck a peek at him: Wen Ruohan looked much better, though his expression was still uncharacteristically soft. It was nice. “Going back to the subject of dual cultivation, as you can imagine, I am thoroughly inexperienced in how it would go. Would you like to take the lead? Or the assertive position, for that matter?”

That seemed to give Wen Ruohan yet another shock: he stared blankly at Lan Qiren for another long moment.

“You go both ways?” he asked, a little incredulous. “Since when?”

“…you do remember that I came to your bed a virgin, correct?” Lan Qiren asked, a little bewildered by the question. “You made fun at my expense over it? Several times? How would I have known if I preferred one to the other? I just went with what felt right at the time.”

Wen Ruohan opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again – then repeated the whole process a few more times, looking increasingly aggravated each time.

In fact, overall, he seemed to be deeply vexed by something, though Lan Qiren couldn’t begin to guess what. Some internal debate or shockingly overturned assumption he’d made, presumably.

“Receiving does not seem that difficult?” Lan Qiren hazarded a guess. “Unless there is something I’ve missed?”

Wen Ruohan snorted, and all of a sudden, he no longer looked annoyed, all the tension leaving his shoulders as he relaxed. “No, nothing like that,” he said. “I think you have a good grasp on the mechanics by now. This is on me: I should stop being surprised at being surprised by you…tell me, do you really not mind? The thought of being the one being taken, I mean?”

Lan Qiren had heard some strange things about sex before, but this one seemed especially bizarre. “I already told you that sex is not an imposition to me, but a duty I am happy to fulfill. Why would the position matter?”

“I’ve often asked myself the same question,” Wen Ruohan remarked. “I have yet to receive an adequate answer. And yet, some people think it does.”

“I enjoy the position I generally take,” Lan Qiren said with a shrug. He was not ‘some people’ and never had been. “I have never especially yearned to try the other way around, but perhaps it would be valuable as a learning experience…?”

Wen Ruohan stifled a laugh in his sleeve. “Let us save that for another time. I would prefer not to distract you right before you go confront your sect elders – I assume you are planning to raise the issue of the mine with them?”

“Of course. How could I not? Justice has already been delayed long enough.”

“I thought you’d say that. I almost regret not being there to see their expressions, but I suspect that if I were there, they wouldn’t make them.”

Lan Qiren inclined his head in agreement.

“As for dual cultivation…” Wen Ruohan paused.

“We do not have to,” Lan Qiren said firmly. “It was only a thought – ”

“I like it.”

Lan Qiren paused, a little frustrated: Wen Ruohan could be so mercurial at times.

Wen Ruohan laughed at him, clearly identifying the expression on his face.

“I would very much enjoy dual cultivating with you,” he said. “In spite of the risks of it – because of the risks of it. I like the idea that you would bare yourself to me and give me everything you can, wanting me to be strong, wanting me to have power, not because you fear me, but because you fear losing me.”

He smirked.

“After all, the one advantage of being in love with a bastard like me is my longevity, is it not?”

Lan Qiren groaned. Wen Ruohan was never going to let him live that one down, ever.

“Well, for my part, I look forward to what it will do to you.”

“To me?” Lan Qiren asked, surprised. “What do you mean?”

“Proper dual cultivation benefits both parties, but the weaker one benefits more,” Wen Ruohan said, confident as ever. “I want to see your face when the power comes to you. I want to send you back to your sect glowing – I want them to see that beautifully pure golden core of yours shining through your eyes, and know what a treasure they gave up when they gave you to me.”

“And you are not worried in return?” Lan Qiren asked, charmed in spite of himself. Despite the offer, he had no intention of letting himself take too much of the power they would be able to generate – the purpose for this evening was to enhance Wen Ruohan’s strength, not his own. “Your paranoia is infamous, and yet your primary thought is of me and my fears, not your own?”

Wen Ruohan laughed and settled down into a meditation pose.

“That much I already promised you,” he said mischievously. “Do you dare doubt my word? Watch yourself, Qiren. I might grow insulted.”

Lan Qiren smiled despite himself, and settled himself at his guqin.

“Now, play me your song,” Wen Ruohan ordered, back to being imperious and demanding. “The one you wrote for me. We’ll start with that one, and then we’ll see about the rest.”

Lan Qiren would have preferred to start with the more definitively useful ones, the ones that encouraged focus and clarity of purpose and strength, but it was no matter – he could play those just as easily later, or even in the morning if need be. And he did want to play Wen Ruohan the song he’d written for him.

He didn’t know if Wen Ruohan knew what it meant for one of Gusu Lan to write their beloved a song. But whether he did or did not, it didn’t really matter. The music was the music, expressing whatever it expressed, the listener just as able to extract meaning as the player, each interpretation equally valid.

All Lan Qiren could do was play it with every last feeling he had in his heart.

He put his fingers to the strings and sank into the music.

When he finally looked up, it was to see Wen Ruohan kneeling in front of him, his eyes glowing – literally glowing, the way he’d said he wanted to do for Lan Qiren (and which Lan Qiren had perhaps mistakenly assumed was merely poetic exaggeration), the red of them bright like rubies.

“Qiren,” he rasped, voice choked with unspeakable emotions, and he reached out to put his hands on Lan Qiren’s face. “The answer is yes.”

Lan Qiren didn’t even know the question, but as Wen Ruohan reeled him in, he found he didn’t care.

#mdzs #wen ruohan #lan qiren #cangse sanren #wei changze #my fic #Megafic

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wangxianficfinder · 2 years ago

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Fic Finder

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1. Hi, I'm looking for two fics:

A) In this fic wen ruohan will send all the sect heirs into the burial mount. Some sect heirs died and others learned demonic cultivation and came out. Jiang sect send wei wuxian to the burial mount instead of jiang cheng.

B) This is a time travel story where wei wuxian and lan wangji time travelled to the past after attack on cloud recess. Some mysterious cultivators attacked gusu lan and they wore green dress. Name of the clan is Shen I guess. @purpleorchidzz

1B)

FOUND? If Wishes Were Donkeys by NightOwl1 (M, 82k, WIP, WangXian, SVSSS, Time Travel Fix-It, Case Fic, Mpreg, Fluff and Humor, Dysfunctional Jiāng Family, Bad Parent YZY, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Period-Typical Homophobia, Crossdressing, LWJ and WWX Have a Breeding Kink, It’s All The System’s Fault, Post-Canon, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Warning: JGS, Good Uncle LQR, LWJ and WWX Are LSZ’s Parents, Inappropriate Humor, Family Feels)

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2. I'm looking for a fic where LQR thinks wwx actually is LSZ's parent and asks for more grandchildren. The lan clan also thinks this is true. A little girl Lwj/wwx adopt is confused with their actual kid. Wwx gets letters calling him yiling matriarch. @napping-tiger

FOUND? The Grandmaster of Demonic Reproduction by likeafox (E, 7k, wangxian, kid fic, pregnancy kink, smut)

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3. Hi! I hope you all having a great day! I’m looking for 3 fics. Please help me. Thank you very much.

A) I only remember a scene where WWX had a talisma which can trace who are blood-related in the family. I remember wwx used the talisma to Jin zixuan which pointed who are his parent, his siblings. I remember the Sect leader Qin wants to kill Jin Guangshan because it pointed that his daughter is actually Jin’s. This is a time travel fic i think

B) Lan qiren and the elders want lan zhan to marry a girl even though they knew that lwj is married to wwx. Lwj forced to spends time to the girl. Because of insecurities wwx left lwj and isolated himself. Then I remember Lwj rejects the girl who wants to marry him, announcing that he’s married to wwx, and removing himself as the chief cultivator in a conference. After that he left his sect and went looking for wwx.

C) I hope you can help me with this one. Lan xichen can hear the Jiang wanyin clarity bell ringing. He eventually learn that the clarity bell rings differently according to the emotions of Jiang wanyin. Thank you very much

3A)

FOUND! And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami (M, 138k, WangXian, XiChengQing, Time Travel, Fix-It, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Healing, Mental Health Issues, PTSD, Hurt/Comfort, Depression, BAMF WWX, BAMF JC, BAMF LWJ, BAMF JYL, Getting Together)

NOT FOUND! I think it is chapter 57 of Debts of a Child Part 2 by Hauntcats (M, 111k, WangXian, YZY Bashing, Not Jiang Family Friendly, Angst and Feels, lots of anger, JC Bashing, not Jiang friendly, Angst with a Happy Ending, Content warning for icky spiders in later chapters.)

hey! for the most recent fic finder, i know 3a was already found, but something very similar also happens in chapter 6 of all things belong by kuroi_atropos in case the requestor is interested

3B)

FOUND! What Comes After Love by Rainbow_Horizon (T, 17k, WangXian, POV LWJ, Protective LWJ, LWJ Has Feelings, POV WWX, Sad WWX, Jealous WWX, Módào Zǔshī & The Untamed Combination, Post-Canon, Insecurity, Chief Cultivator LWJ, Break Up, Separations, Healing, Husbands, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, marriage issues, Marriage Proposal)

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4. Tried asking, but I can’t get your ask box to load even though it doesn’t say it’s closed. I’m looking for a fic where Jiang Cheng of the future sends a very comprehensive letter back to Yu Ziyuan begging her to change the future. She goes to see Jiang Cheng at Gusu, and arrives as they’re dealing with the Waterborne Abyss. Niè Huaisang sent a fan back to his younger self, painted in his private code that says, “I was painted by Sect Leader Niè,” and calling himself a coward. Jin Zixuan ends up forming a study group with Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Niè Huaisang on how to use fans as cultivation weapons. The Lan are spending a great deal of time copying Absolutely Everything in the library. @any-mouse

FOUND! If you only knew then (the things I only know now) by Nillegible (T, 34k, JFM/YZY, wangxian, JLY/JZX, time travel fix-it, jiang family fix-it, WIP)

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5. Hey was hopeful that you could find this fic

The most I remember was that when wei ying went to go to jin lings one month, a yuan ends up going. I'm pretty sure wei ying ends up hurt some how so a yuan ends up with lan wangji and the rest of the sects? @yilingpatriarchsimp

FOUND? Those Who Defy by qurbat (G, 31k, wangxian, LWJ & LSZ & WWX, canon divergence, found family, everyone who matter lives au, justice for wen remnants, WIP)

FOUND? To Ride A Stygian Tiger by Madyamisam for Duochanfan (M, 93k, WIP, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Time travel, Angst with a happy ending, BAMF WWX, Dark LWJ, Slow burn, Family Feels, Misunderstandings)

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6. Hi! I'm trying to find a fic I read that I don't remember the name of! It's a modern au, where lan zhan and lan xichen are the heads of a company and wei ying is a copier repair person (or something like that? Some kind of repairing) and lan zhan keeps filing complaints against wei ying, and lan xichen (I think they refer to him as lan huan in this fic) jokes about "someone staring at you for too long" not being a reason to file a complaint (idk if it's that exact wording tho). Lan zhan starts stocking the break room fridge with a red drink that wei ying likes, and the final scene is in an elevator and there is some kind of comment about his red tongue when they finally kiss (something like sucking the red out of his mouth or off his tongue or something?). Was slow burn and pining but not sure if it has those tags. I think it was a one shot and not that long but not sure on the exact length or chapter number. Thank you for your help! @toopunkrockforshul

FOUND! threadfic by saltyfeathers (Not Rated, 46k, WIP, WangXian, threadfic, chapters will be tagged individually) okay #6 is from saltyfeathers! it's chapter 16 of this ao3 multichap where each chap is a story. they're all amazing!

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7. Hi, I am looking for a fanfic where WWX and LZ get married and or handfasted. WWX does not think he is good enough for LZ and gives him a list of 7 things and LZ was like "Mark your words" and he completes the 7 things. They handfast in a secluded area? There was maybe water near them? And they maybe got caught or spied on? @abrat4u2

FOUND! Cultivating immortality by KizuKatana (E, 231k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Rogue Cultivator WWX, Mutual Pining, BAMF WWX, BAMF LWJ, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, unreliable narrator, Found Family, First Time, novel canon relationship dynamics)

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8. hi!! looking for a fic i read a while ago where wwx was either resurrected or captured by the jins after nightless city. he's found years later in koi tower by jin ling who sends a letter to jiang cheng and he's eventually rescued. I think there was also a scene where wwx was forced to experiment on a dead tiger? can't find it anywhere on ao3 :,)

Sorry I don’t have the link, but this sounds a lot like a twitter thread fic I read a while ago. Some more details in case anyone recalls. WWX is kept by the Jin and blackmailed with the safety of JYL and Jin Ling. Little Jin Ling goes exploring and find WWX through a gate. WWX realizes that JGY put a curse of Jin Ling so he gives Jin Ling a letter to give to JC. Lans remove the curse and JC and LWJ rescue WWX.

FOUND? of all the hands by typefortydeductions (E, 51k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, Canon Divergence, Emperor LXC, PTSD, Nightmares, Dual Cultivation, Mental Health Issues, Fluff and Angst, Dom/sub Undertones, Consensual Non-Consent, Bonding, Mutual Pining, Orgasm Delay/Denial Politics ,Improper Use of the Lan Forehead Ribbon, yunmeng trio reconciliation) Lan Zhan stops Meng Yao from making Wei Ying work on tiger corpses that is causing him to be depleted of energy

FOUND? This threadfic by @/greenteafiend1 here's the threadfic! No tigers but hopefully it's at least similar

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9. Hi! I hope you can help me find this fic. Lan zhan learned that Wei Ying had their child. He learned this when he saw a mark on A-yuan back similar to his. Thank you very much

FOUND! The Emperor’s Love for Lotus Flowers by cherrieblossoms (M, 46k, WIP, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Alpha LWJ, Omega WWX, Single Parent WWX, Emperor LWJ, Knotting, Unplanned Pregnancy, YLLZ WWX, Family Drama, Family Bonding, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Angst and Romance, Sharing a Bed, Anal Sex, Anal Fingering, Oral Sex, Shameless Smut, Creampie, Light Dom/sub, Light Bondage, Inappropriate Use of Gūsū Lán Forehead Ribbon, Nipple Play, Blow Jobs, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Bites, Mating Bond, Soulmates, Scenting, Scent Kink, Scent Marking, Breeding, WangXian Have a Breeding Kink, Protective LWJ, Male Lactation, Belly Bulge, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, Love Bites, Nesting, Mpreg, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex )

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10. Hey, I’m looking for a fic that I remember SO CLEARLY but can’t find?? Its multi chapter omegaverse during a war against the wens, wei wuxian is an omega that goes on to create this massive guerilla warfare faction/effort. But every time he goes into heat he goes absolutely feral and goes on a black-out killing spree. It starts with gets captured by wen chao and meets lan zhan for the first time while they’re both in captivity. Anyway lan zhan helps wuxian escape, and they both believe the other lost forever. So there’s that. I’m pretty sure wuxian gets a name/rumor about it as the red demon from yiling, something like that? Please help me find it, I’m worried the author might have taken it down, but it was so long and so good! @pisceseelie

FOUND! I Will Not Go Gentle into the Quiet Night by TriviasFolly (M, 89k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Omega WWX, Alpha LWJ, no cultivation au, Vaugely Historical AU?, royal au, War AU, Slow Burn, Attempted Rape, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Murder)

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11. hi! i'm looking for a wangxian fic: wangxian were engaged & lwj sees mme yu whipping wwx with zidian bcs he refused to break off the engagement to lwj & lwj stops her & says she has no right to punish wwx when he'll be a member of the lan clan. jyl also saw him get whipped i think

NOT FOUND! If Wishes Were Donkeys by NightOwl1 (M, 82k, WIP, WangXian, SVSSS, Time Travel Fix-It, Case Fic, Mpreg, Fluff and Humor, Dysfunctional Jiāng Family, Bad Parent YZY, WangXian Get a Happy Ending, Period-Typical Homophobia, Crossdressing, LWJ and WWX Have a Breeding Kink, It’s All The System’s Fault, Post-Canon, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Warning: JGS, Good Uncle LQR, LWJ and WWX Are LSZ’s Parents, Inappropriate Humor, Family Feels)

FOUND! standing by you; holding on by Anonymous (T, 8k, WangXian, Arranged Marriage, No Sunshot Campaign, YZY's terrible parenting, that is., Child Abuse, Hurt/Comfort, Cloud Recesses Study Arc, Yúnmèng Siblings Dynamics, little bit of BAMF lwj too)

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12. I would LOVE to find this fic again: one shot, less than 10k, WWX does not come back. Guanyin Temple happens somehow but LWJ is absolutely brutal against his brother. Like, everything he said in defense of JGY was a rethread of how LWJ tried to defend WWX, and it ended with LWJ saying something like then I will do as you did and then kills JGY and walks away. It was righteous (as befits our LWJ) and totally a balm on that day you want to strangle LXC for being such a naive idiot sometimes. @mreisse

FOUND! Bitter Recompense by mondengel (M, 1k, LXC & LWJ, Angst)

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13. Hello i'm for a fic where wwx dies and everyone mourns for him (including wens in burial mounds) and everyone tried to revive him. @aycee0806

Is 13 the one where WWX died right at the cusp of immortality right around when the first seige was supposed to happen, and because of that even though he was dead his body didn't decay? So a type os glass casket/shrine was set up for him up in the Burial Mounds I think? Or is it some other fic? I know I've read at least one other fic with this vague premise, but either way I absolutely CANNOT remember the fic name either

FOUND? could be the deleted "When I'm gone" by qiankun_pouch. I have a copy of it. ~bluekittenfire

FOUND? If One for you, then One for us by KusakabeNAyako (T, 85k, wangxian, WIP, Canon Divergence, WN is precious Cinnamon roll, WWX is precious cinnamon roll, Rape/Non-con Elements, YLLZ WWX)

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14. I’m really hoping you can help me find this fic! It takes place during the cloud recesses study arc and lan qiren or someone uses a spell/talisman that allows the whole class to experience the pain at the moment of their death (or maybe it’s a spell gone wrong?) but the whole class gets shocked when wei ying end up experiencing getting ripped up by corpses. i also very clearly remember wei ying slamming his arm on a desk hard enough to break it while the spell is active. it’s angsty and i think the first few chapters are in lwj’s pov? it’s also on ao3 if that helps 🙏🏻 @shoalghost

NOT FOUND! To Gaze at the End by mondengel (M, 1k, LXC & LWJ, Horror)

mondengel: About #14: I forget the title and author now, but a year or two ago someone did ask to use the initial bit I wrote on tumblr as the start of a continuation, which I granted, so there is a chaptered fic out there with a rougher version of To Gaze at the End in italics at the beginning of it. That might be what they're looking for.

FOUND! The Shattered Smile by Amaranthines (M, 26k, wangxian, canon divergence, canon-typical violence, non-graphic violence, fluff & angst, eventual happy ending, falling in love, mental health issues, mental instability, mental breakdown, pining, WIP)

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15. HII!!, I was wondering if you have the fanfic where wei wuxian is going through a hard time bc of his gf jenny and lan wangji the son of a ceo who is working a sex shop to close it down also jiang cheng works at the bar-

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16. Hi mods, thanks for all you do! Fic finder request: I don't remember the rest of the plot, but WWX returns from the Burial Mounds and is using resentful energy to literally hold his body together (i.e. all the broken bones from WC/WZL dropping him in). WQ is found to fix him and she does a surgery where WWX has to pull back the resentful energy one body part at a time so she can fix it without him bleeding out. (The surgery might happen in Qinghe?)

FOUND! ❤️ three surgeries and a mercy kill by MarbleGlove (T, 11k, medical procedures, fix-it, Demonic Cultivation, Canon Divergence, Fix-It, Self-Indulgent, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies)

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17. Hi! I've been searching for a certain time travel Wangxian fic for a while now, and I can't find, probably cause I don't remember the name!

Basically, it starts with LW and Nie Huaisang getting into a book exchange (porn, it's very awkward at first) during LW's seclusion that leads to them getting closer and becoming friends. fast forward years later (possibly 13, I dont remember) and NH approaches LW saying that he's found a way to fix this whole mess: Time travel! LW agrees and they both get flung back to the Burial Mounds Era.

But things are a bit different. LW's body has his old scars, both the brand and the whips, but he's closer in physical age to where he should post-sunshot. This comes up later.

Anyway, LW and NH know some of the goings on that they have to prevent, but the don't have all the answers, cause the whole murder-mystery-Jin Guangyao-reveal never happened. But they do know they need to get WWX and Wens some immediate help, like money and food, as well as a better means of income than radish sales. LW, in the hopes of starting all this, creates a fake identity, dressing in simple dark clothes and using a sort of magic-glamour and large hat to obscure his face (mostly cause he thinks WWX hates him and doesn't trust him, I think) and goes to talk to WWX. He asks him to write a book about ways to help the common people deal with monsters and little cultivation things. WWX almost immediately recognizes LW, even though he can't see his face, and is struck both with immense curiosity about what has driven LW to hide and also creating this book sounds fun. So he does, and LW publishes it. He also, in disguise, visits the burial mounds a lot. WWX doesn't reveal who it is to the Wens, but he does go on about how they can trust this mysterious strange and acts very friendly and very close and Wen Qing thinks the whole thing is suspicious.

Next, NH remembers that Jin Jin accused WWX of cursing him, which led to the whole Qiongqu Path and murder of Jin Zixuan and kicked off everything else. So, they need to find who really cursed him.

LW, in disguise, asks WWX to create a curse tracker, and when asked about what kinds of curses it should work on, he specifically says the hundred holes curse.

During a couple of these disguised visits, WWX says that LW is really good with A-Yuan. LW is, obviously, missing the boy who grew up his son, but is also happy to him with his family. LW tells WWX about Sizhui, described as a child he cared for but who has returned to his family and therefore LW can't see him anymore. In another visit, (for reasons I can't remember) LW faints (gets injured??) and WWX, obviously, freaks out and demands WQ take care of the shadowing face hiding stranger. It's as she's doing that that she discovers some interesting things. Namely, a Wen brand on his chest and a fuckton of whips scars on the guys back. But all these scars are old! Like, maybe 10 years old, and so it's weird. If this was someone the Wens had tortured, his motives are not great for helping them but also, she would have definitely helped treat these wounds and she didn't! WWX promises that the stranger is trustworthy when she brings up questions, but is also professional enough to not mention a patients scars to someone unrelated.

After that, WWX finishes the curse tracker and gives it to the LW, who gives it Jin Zixun who trackes it to Su She and attacks him in the middle of a conference. LW and NH are enjoying the show and hiding the curse tracker. But! Rumors spread all the way back to Yiling, but how a Jin managed to track down the one who cursed him. Specifically the Hundred Holes curse. And WWX goes, 'wait a minute, I made a thing that did that. How did LZ know about that 2 WEEKS in advance?'

I think the last chapter, (it's unfinished) was NH and LW arranging to sneak WWX into Jing Ling's one month celebration. And WWX overhears someone who caught a glimpse of LW taking a bath remarking on all those scars. But WWX has seen LW's back, back in the Cloud Recesses, and there were no scars then. And it ends there, with WWX with some pieces and absolutely no logical way to put them together.

I have searched EVERYWHERE!! Everything I can think of!! Do you recognize it?? Could you find it?? It's a fantastic read. I love the subtle friendship of LW and NH as they try to fix the world, but not telling anyone what they're doing or why they're suddenly spending so much time together. And WWX enjoying time with LW not worrying about his cultivation getting in the way and without LW asking him to go to Gusu, but still trying to figure out why LW needs a fake identity to do it. @several-things-in-abundance

FOUND? A Narrow Bridge by FrameofMind, Jo Lasalle (Jo_Lasalle) (E, 700k, wangxian, time travel fix-it, slow burn, getting together, first time, pining, pining while fucking, burial mounds settlement days, angst w happy ending) might be this one though not super sure, it's been a long time since I read it last.

FOUND? Not to be sobered by anything(like regret) by astrobandit (deleted)

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18. Heyoo back again for the next FF~

A) Looking for a time travel fic in which WWX comes up with a cover that he knows the future because of the "Prophetic bird sh*t".

B) Everyone thinking tht WQ and WWX had something going on at the burial mounds, and WWX correcting it later on when a junior ask him about his wife.

Thanks again mods!! ~♡~

18A)

FOUND? In Eclipse by oleanderedits (G, 45k, WIP, WangXian, Time Travel, Post-Canon)

18B)

FOUND? the tragic and entirely true story of the romance between the yiling patriarch and his wife, most renowned doctor of her generation by ravenditefairylights (T, 18k, WangXian, Post-Canon, Angst, Rumors, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Heteronormativity, Fake Marriage, Chronic Pain, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining)

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19. Hi! I looked through your warprize compilation but couldn't find the fic I was looking for. In that fanfic, Wwx and Wq make up a plan to have Wwx marry Lwj, so that they could buy some time until the sects attacked and since Lwj was the least likely to try to murder Wwx. Wwx acts distantly, but after the mid-autumn festival, they start getting closer. Some time later, Xy invades the Burial Mounds and tries to attack a-Qing, who was out and about on the middle of the night. Lwj saves her, but is almost killed while trying to do so. Wwx had been called to Baixue temple with Wq, and, when he was there and received Lwj's ask for help, he believed it was a trap from Lwj and almost didn't go back. He felt really guilty about using Lwj and almost getting him killed.

FOUND? 99% sure this one is 💖 love, in fire and blood by cicer (E, 360k, wangxian, immortal WWX, slow burn, pining, arranged marriages) XY attack is somewhere in the middle chapters I think 🤔

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20. Hello! I hope you can help me find this fic. I remember it is in Outsiders pov (or OC’s POV). Wwx got kidnapped. Then wwx reveal his ruthlessness (of being yiling patriach) to his kidnappers. The OC became terrified of wwx and wishes he didn’t join the kidnappers lol. Then, when Lwj came to rescue wwx, wwx switch to a weak being. The OC was dumbfounded because the terrifying person became a fragile, weak, innocent being when Lwj came.

Thank you very much! Have a great day!

FOUND? pitfalls of greed by glitteringmoonlight (T, 3k, WangXian, POV Outsider, BAMF WWX, Kidnapping, Violence, YLLZ WWX, not exactly but the vibes are there, Post-Canon)

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#wangxian #mdzs #wangxian fic finder #wangxian fic search #the untamed #wangxianficfinder #long post

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thepurplewombat · 2 years ago

Text

Why was WRH so stupid?

I've been thinking about this for a while and like, WRH's actions were deeply stupid in a way that turned the whole cultivation world against him in self-defence when, with a bit more patience, he could have wiped out all the Great Clans within five or so years and set himself up as a petty-Emperor of the cultivation world.

If I was WRH, this is how I would do it.

A ten-step plan for world domination.

Step 1: don't attack Cloud Recesses. The pretext was dumb and nobody bought it. Send a polite invitation to a Wen Study Term just like Cloud Recesses'. A POLITE ONE! The clans will acquiesce because nobody wants to rock the boat.

2: now you have to decide whether you want to go after the Jiang, the Lan, or both. I would recommend choosing one - both is too ambitious. The Nie are not an option for reasons that will become clear. I would recommend the Jiang.

3: kill Wen Chao. He's useless anyway, but he's still the son of the sect leader.

4: frame Jiang Cheng (not WWX - WWX can be disavowed, but Jiang Cheng is the sect heir, his actions are, to an extent, the actions of the Jiang Sect) for the death of Wen Chao. It doesn't have to be murder, although it would be best if WC could pick a bunch of fights with JC beforehand so that whatever 'night hunting accident' he dies in can be spun as JC deliberately getting him killed out if rage. (now we see why the Nie are not an option. Nobody would believe that NHS murdered Wen Chao, and if WC got killed on a night hunt because of NHS' incompetence, the Nie can easily say that the Wen knew that Second Young Master Nie is not suited to night hunting so why was he there in the first place? Not that NMJ would do that because the loss of face would probably send him into qi deviation, but best not let it come up)

4a: Massacre the Jiang. Nobody is going to object - and if they do, they won't do it loudly. The loss of a son and heir - because WC is still in the succession, I believe? - is sufficient pretext that nobody is going to object too loudly. If you want to be super practical you can just kill the Jiang inner Disciples and take the sect for yourself, but I feel like WRH does have the manpower to take Lotus Pier and keep industry flowing with civilian labor. No need to risk hostile cultivators at his back.

5: we are now one Great Sect down, and no war. Everyone is kind of 👀 about it because they never thought their own tactics would be turned against a Great Sect like this, but there is sufficient precedent that nobody wants to object too loudly.

6: now you wait. Move too soon and you could scare the Lan and the Nie into uniting against you, and you don't want that. While you're waiting, you consolidate your hold on Yunmeng, bringing the smaller sects in the region under your banner. Nothing to see here, just doing what sects do. Make sure your relations with the Jin remain good. Jin Guangshan won't cause any trouble for you if you don't cause any trouble for him.

7: choose whether to go after the Lan or the Nie next. I recommend the Lan, because the Unclean Realm is a tough nut to crack.

8: attack the Lan. Kill everyone - but most especially you want to kill everyone in the line of succession. You don't want Lan Xichen or Lan Wangji rallying people against you later on. A pretext would be useful for this, but at this point is not entirely necessary. Don't burn the library, you idiot.

9: you are now left with the Nie and the Jin among the great clans. This is good because they don't get along, and also Jin Guangshan is useless. Besiege the Unclean Realm. You don't have to go frontal assault, just keep them bottled up in their nice little fortress where you can pick them off at your leisure. This may take a few years, but once they are sufficiently weakened you can take them out.

10: CONGRATULATIONS!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!! Important things must be said three times! World domination is now yours! The Jin are the only Great Sect left, and they won't dare move against you and can't unite the smaller clans (whom I hope you have been treating well as you unite them under the Wen. You have been treating them well, right?) . At some point later, you can take them out if you wanted, but it's not necessary. I'd recommend taking care of Jin Zixuan, who is likely to bear a grudge and is an honorable idiot who won't take well to having a Wen boot on his neck. Jin Zixun will be much more amenable.

There are some people who might see your plan and derail it - primarily NHS and Meng Yao. NHS is unlikely to be able to do much since nobody will listen to him, although if both he and Meng Yao are in the Unclean Realm they might be able to convince NMJ to take action before the attack on the Lan can happen. I would recommend convincing JGS that a spare heir is never a bad idea (if this works you can always get Meng Yao installed as head of the Jin later - if he knows you're the one who convinced JGS to take him on he will be loyal to you, and if JGS and Co treat him as they did in canon he will not object overmuch if you kill him, and might even do it for you). If that doesn't work, kill him.

#MDZS #A ten-step plan for world domination #WRH #Jin guangyao #WRH lost the war because he had no patience #And all his pretexts were dumb

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ultfreakme · 10 months ago

Note

Danmei ask, what are your top 5 (or top 7) favorite moments from MDZS? Also, can I ask why you love those 3 (JC, WWX , XXC)?

(Riki, I'm so glad when found out you also love Jiang Cheng. You must know how many haters on his character in tumblr and twitter. Like, I was blocked 4 times by MDZS lover blog, when they knew I love Jiang Cheng.)

I love reading your MDZS/ SVSSS crossover, they're so in character.....And yes, SQQ must love Sukuna and Jogo if he ever read JJK...

Thanks for the ask Anon!!

Top 7 moments:

When we find out the Jiang Cheng sacrificed himself to the Wens to save Wei Wuxian. It was dropped so casually and I had to backtrack and go "wait, wait, WAIT! DISCUSS IT PLEASE!!"

The juniors in the Yi City arc, they were so adorable, I loved reading them putting on a brave face and investigating.

Wei Wuxian murdering the crap out of Wen Chao with his sexy undead ladies. Him and Jiang Cheng together torturing him while Lan Wangji was sent out and it's like, LWJ is confused, shocked, and horrified.

The scene where Wei Wuxian's roasting Jin Guangshan at the conference post-war and everyone's scandalized. I love it when Wei Wuxian gets bitchy.

Jiang Cheng's intro scene in the donghua where he emerges from the shadows of that tree, pushing aside the leaves. That's so hot of him.

Wei Wuxian covered in blood in the second siege of Burial Mounds and Lan Wangji is defending him. That scene's so cool and romantic in all its iterations. The donghua went above and beyond and made it seem like a wedding.

Jiang Cheng giving Zidian to Jin Ling ;_; It hurts me. It's so much worse knowing that MXTX was planning on killing Jin Ling soon after to really hurt Jiang Cheng.

Reasons I like:

Jiang Cheng-

He's so complicated! You can't immediately look at him and say he's the good guy or the bad guy. I personally think he leans more towards the good guy category.

He's the perfect opposite of Wei Wuxian, he's not a genius cultivator like wwx, he had to work for every bit of progress he made. He started off simply wanting to keep his family together and at peace, but the war happened and his priorities shifted. He's duty-bound, he's always fighting and scraping to be recognized but no one ever does. He wanted so bad to help wwx, but duty made it so that he was forced to pick between his sect and wwx. Forever chained, closed off.

He's jealous and vicious and so, so angry. I get it, I understand the worst parts of him and relate to it.

Wei Wuxian-

Again, super complicated as a person. Wronged at every turn. He wanted to do good and protect people, and for that he kept sacrificing himself over and over again with little value given to himself as a person. He's got his sharp edges and cruelty too, and I feel like people often forget that Wei Wuxian's traumas and his lack of self-appreciation and value on himself show in ugly and vicious ways.

His story obviously shows a key message of MDZS, which is that when people sacrifice themselves thinking that they're protecting their loved one, they only hurt them in another way. I understood his desire to do good, protect people, but there's no one to stand at his side. The loneliness and fear that comes with fucking up so bad that no one even tries to hear you out, no one's listening no matter how loud you shout.

Xiao Xingchen:

He's like Wei Wuxian but 100% times worse and more self-sacrificial. Too trusting, too good, and everyone kept taking advantage of that without bothering to guide him or be honest with him. Like legit, no one told him what they were truly thinking.

I love that xxc wants to be a good person, i hate that he was ruined for it. God I really wanted him to have a happy ending because he's just, he's so NICE. In a world filled with betrayal and deceit, xxc wanted to spread goodness. And yet.

AAHHHHHH

I think these characters made me see the point of MDZS in a very clear way, or in a way that impacted me most. So they're my faves.

Being a Jiang Cheng liker is a struggle! I was getting into MDZS even before the donghua started airing, like around 2018 and back then Jiang Cheng hate was so bad. I kept waiting year after year for the hate to go down but it just got worse the more popular MDZS got. The misunderstandings built up too. I got black and got into a million arguments too ;_; We have to stick together!!!

i have so many thoughts about Jiang Cheng specifically because, okay I read and watched everything about 3 years ago, so I don't remember much other than my fav, so I'm always thinking about everything he did.

nbsdhfb SQQ's monster-loving ass would go gaga for Sukuna. Four armed man wrecking people??? Yes sir! (side note; big tall powerful man who is called king who is only nice to his close servant and confidante???? SQH come get your boy!)

#riki asks #mxtx #svsss #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #scum villain self saving system

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silverflame2724 · 2 years ago

Note

Wei Wuxian is killed in Path Qionqi's ambush and Lan Wangji decides to marry Wen Qing and pass off A-Yuan as his son to protect the remaining Wen.

There were too many of them. And Wei Wuxian knew this was where he would meet his end. But that doesn't mean he would go without a fight. But first things first, he had to get Wen Ning back to a conscious state and send him off to Wen Qing with the Seal to protect them. Now that it had come to this, Wei Wuxian thought back briefly.

Perhaps this situation could have been avoided if he had been careful about breaking out the Wens. If he had been covert and not made a big spectacle out of this, perhaps things would have been different.

It was too late for regrets now.

He tossed the suppression talismans on Wen Ning and called out to him. Told him to use his arrays to protect the Wens long enough so that they could escape somewhere. Perhaps they could blend in with the townsfolk if they changed their clothes. The elders could, at least. Wen Qing and Wen Ning, on the other hand, would have to run far, far away, if they could.

Wei Wuxian didn't know. He had no time.

With one last command to Wen Ning, forcing him to flee, Wei Wuxian snapped the two halves of the Seal together. He planned to destroy the damned thing along with everyone here.

As he poured every last bit of energy he had into the Seal and felt himself get sucked into the ensuing explosion, his last thought was........ that now, finally, he could rest.

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

The news broke out soon enough. Jin Zixuan limped back into his son's one month celebration and announced what had happened. His stupid cousin Jin Zixun had ambushed Wei Wuxian with members of both Lan and Jin and forced him to use the Seal to protect himself. No one except Jin Zixuan, who had arrived too late, was only able to witness the explosion and death of everyone there.

Jiang Yanli cried out in despair, pleading Jin Zixuan that it wasn't true, that her A' Xian, her brother couldn't be dead. Jin Zixuan didn't know how to comfort her, but merely replied that he saw his broken body among the many others littering Qiongqi Path.

When asked about the Seal, Jin Zixuan shook his head, it had completely crumbled to dust. The many greedy faces of the sect leaders looked dismayed, including Jin Guangshan.

In the corner, Lan Wangji stumbled back, whispering a heartbroken "no" and simply left the place. But no one paid attention, all they could think about was the defenseless Wens.

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

No. No, no, no, no.

Lan Wangji begged any god that ever existed. This couldn't happen. This didn't happen. Wei Ying wasn't dead. It was a joke. A cruel joke that Jin Zixuan said, right? Wei Ying and Jin Zixuan never got along, so of course it would be like that.

Lan Wangji didn't lose his chance. Wei Ying was alive. He was alive. He had to be alive.

Cause if he wasn't.....

He landed at Qiongqi Path.

If he wasn't.......

He desperately searched the desolated place, ignoring the implications of the many Lan members with weapons in their hands.

If he wasn't---

He collapsed beside a broken, torn body. Chenqing was in pieces by her master's side. Lan Wangji lifted up a trembling hand to the vacant silver eyes, perhaps the only intact thing on his face.

The cry that left him was silent and desolate.

What was Lan Wangji supposed to do? How could he go on? How could he.....when it was his fault, his letter that led Wei Ying to this place. To his death.

Numb to everything, he lifted Wei Ying's body up, tucking him safely by his side, ignoring the blood staining his clothes. He had to get to the Burial Mounds.

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

Wen Ning wanted to cry. He wanted to sob, to rage, to tear them all to shreds. Wei-gongzi died. He died, alone and hurting and there was nothing Wen Ning could do about it. He couldn't even go back to get his body. Because what if A' Jie and the others were attacked while he was away? He couldn't risk that. Not when--Not when Wei-gongzi gave his life for them.

But what could they do? They could, perhaps look for a place for the elders to settle down somewhere, but he and A' Jie were too well-known. They had to leave far, far away. But where could they run to? And....how far? Would there ever be a day when they could be safe?

Wen Ning didn't know.

But he didn't have to know.

Hanguang-Jun soon arrived with Wei-gongzi's body. But....something was wrong. Hanguang-Jun’s expression....it looked.......dead, somehow. It looked wrong.

“Hanguang-Jun, thank you for bringing him back.” A’ Jie said, her voice trembling. “But, why....why are you here?”

Wen Ning suddenly remembered the various Lan disciples that had attacked them and tensed. Lan Wangji had been amicable to them in their previous encounters but who could say that his mind was changed, considering how many Lan disciples were killed.

“I....I had a plan.” He whispered, to no one in particular. “I had a plan. I could hide you in a town near Caiyi and bring A’ Yuan in as an war orphan. Then, bring Wei Ying to Gusu under the guise of healing him and bringing him back to the sword path. We could lock the Seal away and find a way for Wei Ying to live peacefully. But.....”

Wen Ning acted quickly and caught Hanguang-Jun as he seemed to collapse in on himself.

“Why.....Why did this happen? I just....I just wanted him to see his sister. He was so....so sad the last time I was here. I just wanted to see him smile. Why? Why?”

Wen Ning yelped even though he felt no pain. Lan Wangji’s spiritual energy seemed to spiral out of control at that moment.

“This is-- Damn it, he’s going into a qi deviation!” Wen Qing panicked. “A’ Ning, get my needles! I need to knock him out before it’s too late!”

“Y-Yes!” He quickly scrambled away and got her medical supplies.

Without hesitation, she transferred spiritual energy into her needles and knocked Lan Wangji out. She pulled Wei Wuxian’s body away and couldn’t help the tears that fell down her face at his condition.

She turned her attention away and used it to calm Lan Wangji’s energy down. They didn’t need another death on their hands.

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

Lan Wangji woke up.

Why did he wake up? Why should he be in a world where Wei Ying is no longer there? What is even the point? He was too late. Always so late.

He shouldn’t have been so scared of rejection, of his own feelings, of Wei Ying’s response. He should have just gone for it, confessed, perhaps even courted the other until he fell for him. But he didn’t do any of that.

Like a coward, he said nothing. He didn’t convey his feelings, he never corrected Wei Ying about his supposed “hatred” towards him, he never did anything.

He couldn’t do anything right.

Why was he still here?

Why--

“Rich-gege?”

Lan Wangji got up with a start, “A’ Yuan?”

“Mm.” A’ Yuan nodded. “Rich-gege, you’re back! Xian-gege said you wouldn’t come, but he was wrong! Hehe. Are you staying for dinner this time?”

Lan Wangji’s lips trembled. He should have stayed for dinner that night. He should have stayed forever that day. If he had, would Wei Ying still be alive? Or...if he had showed his support more outwardly, had given him food, water, even crops to give him strength, would things be different?

So many what ifs come to mind and what did Lan Wangji do?

Nothing. He bought a toy - not that A’ Yuan didn’t deserve it - and a meal and thought that was enough. Thought that nothing would go wrong.

Oh, what a fool he was.

“Rich-gege, why are you crying? What it something A’ Yuan said?”

Lan Wangji shook his head and bent down to hug the boy. “It’s nothing. I...just need a hug.”

“Okay! I’m good at hugs. Xian-gege told me so!”

Lan Wangji took a shaky breath at the mention as he hugged the boy.

Because Wei Ying was no longer here.

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

They buried him in the spare ragged blankets they had and put whatever flowers they could around his grave. Lan Wangji wanted to take Wei Ying’s body to Gusu, but he didn’t know what his uncle or others like him would do should they discover Wei Ying’s grave. He couldn’t risk it.

They decided to settle the elders in the abandoned village near Caiyi and decided to “show proof” that Wen Ning was put down. In actuality, he would be a guard for the Wen village, though they would do their best to disguise him as a human.

Wen Qing and Wen Yuan on the other hand, were tough decisions. They could leave A’ Yuan in the village, but the elders were all on their last legs and weakened from their time in the Burial Mounds. They couldn’t really take care of A’ Yuan. And even if Wen Qing were to disguise herself and run away, it was only a matter of time before she was caught considering her well-known medical skills. The Wen elders too. Even if they were old, if they happened to be recognized, there was little Lan Wangji could do to prevent the Wens from being murdered without implicating his clan.

“You could....” Wen Qing gritted her teeth. “You could...marry me. Pass of A’ Yuan as our child.”

Lan Wangji stopped breathing for a moment. “.........What?”

“Look, I don’t like it either, but this could be the only way to grant us immunity. Besides, I remember one of A’ Yuan’s parents being from the Lan clan, at least a distant relative of one. Some of his features resemble you, so it could work.”

“I....” Lan Wangji was conflicted. He had never wanted to marry anyone but Wei Ying, but if this method helped protect the people Wei Ying gave his life for, then.... “Okay.”

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

It didn’t go down well with the elders. The demanded seclusion and the discipline whip for his slight, but Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren managed to calm them down, opting to give him a couple hundred strikes with the discipline ruler, three strikes instead of the thirty originally suggested with the whip, and seclusion for a few years, at least until the storm of rumors died down.

In the end, the Wens were protected and were able to live out their last years peacefully. Wen Ning migrated away from the sects after their deaths, occasionally popping by Gusu to see A’ Yuan grow up. Wen Qing contributed to the Lan sect with her skills and the originally wary Lans, warmed up to her, though not too much. Lan Wangji recovered from his punishment quickly with Wen Qing’s help though he was still stuck in seclusion.

A’ Yuan grew up to be Lan Sizhui, a calm and gentle person who occasionally showed a mischievous side. And Lan Wangji.....well, he never quite recovered from Wei Wuxian’s death, but found companionship in Wen Qing, who shared stories about Wei Wuxian with Lan Wangji.

Everything seemed fine, until Nie Mingjue’s violent death and the resurgence of demonic cultivation.

In a shed near the Mo residence, a bloody array shimmered. The body in the center of it woke up, disoriented.

“Wasn’t I dead?”

________________________________

Sooooo, wasn’t sure whether you wanted more details out of the repercussions of Lan Wangji taking in the Wens, but I did my best, haha.

Hope you enjoyed it!

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