Chapter Text
Wei WuXian is angry.
He storms past wary and startled younglings of the Lan sect. They make way for him hastily, some almost tripping themselves in their eagerness to get away. When the Yiling Patriarch was annoyed or frustrated, pranks were abound and everyone was a victim. However, when Wei WuXian was furious, it was better to be out of sight and out of mind. No one wants to be the target of an angry, fierce corpse manipulator.
Lan SiZhui and Lan JingYi exchange hesitant looks before following after the angry senior cultivator from a safe distance. Their fellow Lans commends them for their bravery, while some jokingly call out to the two to “Be careful” and to “Make sure not to turn into fierce corpses”.
JingYi wants to say something back but SiZhui shakes his head and gestures at Wei WuXian’s angry gait. “Our priority right now is Senior Wei,” He gently reminds.
Lan JingYi sighs, “I understand, but wouldn’t it be better if we went to HanGuang-Jun to tell him of Senior Wei’s mood? He is less likely to be turned into a fierce corpse.” He elbows the other teasingly, eyebrows doing a complicated motion, hinting on the not-so secret nature of the two most powerful cultivators’ relationship.
Lan SiZhui nods, recognizing the truth of his words. It is easier if they called on the Second brother of the Twin Jades to comfort the angry cultivator. In fact, Master Lan WangJi would have preferred to be the one to soothe the Yiling Patriarch’s angry mood. But- “But what if the reason Master Wei is so angry is because of HanGuang-Jun?” He asks out loud.
Lan JingYi looks surprised, “You think those two are fighting?”
His disbelief was understandable. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi’s affection towards one another were clear in their eyes and actions, which bordered on inappropriate at times. Lan Xichen’s gentle smiles sometimes looked strained and exasperated whenever he saw the two cultivators together, especially since he had the unfortunate ability to be able to read his brother’s moods on his face. Lan QiRen is also another reluctant witness to the two’s inseparability. He always looked like he was minutes away from fainting from the sheer audacity of Wei WuXian.
But Lan SiZhui has heard of the stories about the powerful pair when they were younger. They got along like oil and water in their younger days. They were occasionally at each other’s throats. Some of the rowdy younger Lan cultivators joked that the fights happened because of ‘teenage sexual frustrations’ (those rowdy younglings were overheard by Lan QiRen and were sent to copy the thousands of rules a thousand times, while doing hand stands. The Elder Lan had the look of a horrified man who cannot unhear a horrible revelation throughout the week).
But then Wei WuXian died and Lan WangJi waited for him for more than a decade. When his lost half came back, Lan WangJi somehow gained an otherworldly patience for the Yiling Patriarch’s antics. Lan SiZhui could see in his teacher’s eyes, how he treasured every laugh, every smile, every teasing, or prank from Wei WuXian.
No one affects the stoic, Lan Jade like Wei WuXian does. The same applies vice versa.
Lan SiZhui was prepared to explain all this patiently to JingYi but then the other cut him off, “He’s stopped!”
The two young cultivators stop in their tracks as well. Wei Ying had stopped at a small secluded clearing, surrounded by peach trees in full bloom. There was an old bench near the oldest tree and a pond filled with water lilies but no fishes.
They were watching on in worry and wondering what they were going to say to their senior cultivator. But just as JingYi decided to just walk up casually, a flash of violet had SiZhui grabbing him by the robes and pulling him back.
The two watch in wary surprise as the YunmengJiang Sect leader, Jiang Cheng, walks stiffly towards the clueless and still angry Wei WuXian.
“What are you doing?” Came a familiar, haughty tone from behind them. They turn to see Jin Ling looking at them with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms. He must have come with his uncle to the GusuLan sect for one of the monthly sect meetings, SiZhui thought as JingYi shushed the Lanling Jin sect young master. Both SiZhui and Jin Ling were then ushered by JingYi behind a conveniently large tree to hide.
“Wha- Get your hands off me,” Jin Ling hisses threateningly. He leans back quickly when it looked like JingYi was going to pinch his mouth closed.
“Young master Jin, we apologize for the disrespect,” SiZhui, the gentler of the two Lan disciples, whispers in a low tone, “We are here because we have noticed the downturn of Senior Wei’s mood and merely wished to see how we could help.”
Faced with a polite answer, Jin Ling merely huffs. His anger at the disrespectful manhandling trickles down into mere annoyance, “That doesn’t explain why we’re hiding behind this tree.”
“It seemed appropriate, seeing as Master Jiang seems to want to have a private conversation with Senior Wei.” Lan Sizhui explains.
“And what about you, young master Jin?” JingYi interrupts, suspicious about the reason why the aloof Jiang Cheng wanted to speak with their resident Patriarch. “Were you asked by the YunmengJiang sect leader to accompany him in speaking with Senior Wei? What does he want to talk about?”
“I have no idea. I was looking for my uncle when I stumbled upon you two,” Jin Ling sighs explosively. His tone implied he wanted to say ‘you two idiots’ but was refraining to do so. “So, why were you two given the unfortunate task of soothing that man’s ruffled feathers?”
He gestures towards the angry Yiling Patriarch. Wei Ying had finally noticed Jiang Cheng’s approach. “Is his usual keeper too tired to deal with him today?”
“That’s-”
“I don’t want to talk about Lan WangJi right now!” Came the loud, angry voice of Wei WuXian. The three young cultivators’ attention snapped towards the pair’s conversation by the pond.
There was silence among them and then a loud sigh from Jin Ling. The three of them exchange looks varying from annoyance to excitement.
“Ah,” Jin Ling says distastefully, “A lover’s spat, I presume?”
JingYi looks excited by the prospect of hearing gossip straight from the source.
SiZhui sighs too, “It would appear so.”
--
Jiang Cheng takes a wary step back, “Lan Wangji?” He gives the other a perplexed look. Wei WuXian was using Lan WangJi’s courtesy name. “Whatever fight is going on between the two of you must be serious.”
Wei Ying frowns and looks away, “If you’re looking for him, you shouldn’t have come to me.”
Jiang Chen gives him an unimpressed look that seems to say ‘are you an idiot? You two are basically tied to the waist nowadays’. The Yiling Patriarch ignores the look.
“If you’re looking for him, he’s in his room, resting.” Wei Ying snaps instead. “And if you go and see him, tell him that for someone who’s praised for being a genius, he’s an idiot.”
“I didn’t come to GusuLan just so I can be a messenger between the two of you,” Jiang Cheng says testily. Realizing he’s about to lose his temper, he pauses and takes a deep breath before continuing, “What happened?” He asks more calmly.
Wei Ying starts in surprise at the change of tone. He turns to give the sect leader a hesitant look. Ever since the events with Jin GuangYao, the two of them had formed an uneasy truce. After everything that has happened, after everything they have lost, the two of them would never go back to the way they were before. They were no longer enemies, but you couldn’t call them friends either.
Sensing Wei Ying’s hesitance, Jiang Cheng inhales again and says, “I thought your night hunting with Lan WangJi has been going well.”
At the mention of his other half, Wei Ying’s expressions sours. “Last night didn’t.” His expression was angry but Jiang Cheng still knew him enough to see the worry in the twist of his lips. “He got hurt…” The worry makes itself known even in his tone, “Badly.”
“Injuries during night hunting are common.” The sect leader answers carefully. Though it was still a surprise to learn that someone as powerful as Lan WangJi had gotten so hurt.
The Yiling Patriarch seems seem to get angrier at the words, “It was an easy hunt,” He said in a tone that didn’t boast but was rather stating a fact. “But when we finished, we ran into rogue cultivators, there was a fight. He stepped in front of a sword that was meant for me and got hurt.” His eyes turn angry red, “I could have easily dodged it!” He yells angrily, “This may not be my body, this may not be my golden core, but I am not powerless!”
As though to back up his words, the ground rumbled under them and red static crackled from his eyes. Jiang Cheng knew firsthand how not powerless the Yiling Patriarch was, golden core or none.
“Idiot!” Jiang Cheng barks in a stern tone, “Control yourself!”
That seems to snap Wei Ying out of his mood and everything goes back to normal, the red cooled from his eyes and the ground stills.
He looks contrite by his actions, “Sorry.”
Jiang Cheng pinches the bridge of his nose. Wei Ying would listen now, he knows, embarrassed by his momentary loss of temper.
“Look,” He begins, not believing that he was actually doing this: helping patch up some lover’s squabble between the two most powerful cultivators of their age, oh how low he has sunken. “You are an idiot.”
Wei Ying looks offended at that.
“Lan Wangji, isn’t as stupid as you, this is a fact.” When it looks like Wei WuXian would interrupt him, he adds, “But he is human and despite how collected and serious he looks all the time, he feels 'things' too.” He grimaces in discomfort at his words.
Wei WuXian was looking at him like his words didn’t make sense but then again, despite being a genius in cultivation he had always been clueless when it came to matters of the heart. It looks like Jiang Cheng had to spell it out for him.
“You know how Lan WangJi feels about you.” Jiang Cheng refuses to utter the ‘L’ word (love, ugh) when it came to these two. “I’ve talked to Lan Xichen about what happened after you-” He gestures to get his words across and Wei Ying understands he was talking about his ‘death’ by the grim look on his face, “And I know the Lan clan kept Lan WangJi in isolation just so he wouldn’t interfere. He wasn’t there for you when you needed him most and he carries that with him until now.”
“He doesn’t have to.” Wei Ying argues, “What happened was not his fault, I’m back now and he knows I’m not weak. I may not have been paying attention at that night hunt and someone may have slipped past my guard but I could still have dodged or a fierce corpse could have covered my back, or, better yet, he could have parried the thrust with Bichen! But instead he just stepped in front of me and-”
“If someone were to suddenly stab Jin Ling while he had his back turned, I would step in front of it in a heartbeat.” Jiang Cheng interrupted, “Even if I had a sword in my hand or all the cultivation power in the world, sometimes, things happen so fast, you aren’t given a chance to think.”
He turns serious eyes at Wei WuXian who looks stunned, “He was probably thinking that he has already lost someone a few too many times to count,” He says in a soft tone, “And he was helpless and powerless to stop it all those times before, but now that he has been given a second chance, he will not lose anyone ever again.”
There was a heavy silence between them. For a moment all they could hear was the sound of the leaves rustling to the tune of the wind.
“You seem confident about that. Does he really think that way? How do you know?” Wei Ying asks quietly. All the anger has left him, it was evident in his slumped shoulders and tired expression. Jiang Cheng can still read him so well, but they were not as close as they once were.
“I just imagine myself in Lan Wangji’s place. If someone important to me- mother, father, or-“ He swallows and looks away, “-Our sister, were ever given the chance you got… I’d probably never let them out of my sight again. I’d step in front of a hundred swords for them, my own safety wouldn’t even cross my mind. Lan Wangji thinks the same and I know that you would too.”
Wei Ying is silent and when Jiang Cheng turns around, he sees the other had his head bowed in acknowledgment, “I may have been too hard on Lan Zhan,” The change of tone and the name he calls the second Lan brother does not escape Jiang Cheng’s observations. “I understand him better now but I don’t want him to keep being that reckless. I should talk to him about that. Calmly.”
Jiang Cheng scoffs, “You should have done that in the first place.”
Wei Ying looks him in the eye, “Thank you, Jiang Cheng and I’m sorry for dumping the troubles of my heart on you.”
Jiang Cheng sighs, “Just don’t mention it to anyone. In fact, why don’t we pretend it never even happened?”
The corner of Wei Ying’s mouth twitches in amusement, “I don’t keep any secrets from my Lan Zhan.”
Jiang Cheng glares at him but the other merely smiles at him.
“Thank you again!” Wei Ying waves as he walks away, back turned. But then stops and Jiang Cheng stares at his back in confusion.
“And I’m sorry.” Wei Ying says more quietly and sincerely. There was a pause, neither of them breathing for a few seconds before the Patriarch starts walking, faster, towards wherever it was Lan WangJi’s jingshi was.
Jiang Cheng stands there for awhile not saying anything, just looking on even when he could barely see Wei WuXian’s back anymore.
And I’m sorry.
The YunmengJiang sect leader doesn’t pretend that he was clueless as to what Wei Ying was apologizing for. He wasn’t an idiot like him.
He acknowledges that the apology was probably for everything that has happened between them. For the days Jiang Cheng felt like he was living in his shadow, for the pain Wei Ying caused by being adopted into their family, for the deaths of the people of YunmengJiang.
He acknowledges it, but doesn’t forgive. He has carried the anger inside of him for so long that he doesn't even know how he can let it go. Forgiving Wei WuXian meant letting go of the anger and he can’t. He didn’t know how to.
But it didn’t mean he wouldn’t try some day.
“Uncle?”
Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath but doesn’t turn around, “Did you need something, Jin Ling?”
He could sense the hesitation behind him but Jin Ling is determined and worried when he says, “Our business in GusuLan is finished, I wish to go home.”
They still had a meeting with the Lan Elders but he knew Jin Ling was only looking out for him. So, he turns away from whatever thoughts he was thinking and nods. He turns and sees a familiar pair of Lan disciples bowing at him, awe and respect on their faces, proof that they had been there to see the whole thing.
Jiang Cheng sighs, so much for keeping the whole conversation between him and the annoying Patriarch. He waves at them in acknowledgment and turns to his nephew, a small, tired smile on his face. Jin Ling looks to him in worry, and for a moment, he sees his sister’s eyes in his nephew.
He pats the young cultivator on the head, heart aching in longing to see his family again. He closes his eyes and nods again.
“Let’s go home.”
END