Chapter Text
It’s been a few years since The Viewing and many have been healing. It hasn’t been nearly long enough, but some things have been better.
The Nie brothers are speaking to each other again. They learned to make time to talk to each other about things. It was made clear to them that communication was a problem and have designated at least four dinners a week to talk about anything that’s been happening. This also lead to a more even distribution of power between the brothers as Nie Huaisang no longer had to carry the entire underground network for their sect and having each other as co-leaders took away the stress of keeping problems from the other.
The Lan family have also spent more time with each other. They always knew that Lan Wangji was someone that felt deeply but rarely emoted. However they learned that just because Lan Wangji did not tell them about his emotions, does not mean that they didn’t require their attention. After the shift in power within the sect, the rules became laxer and it became easier for problems to be brought forth since no one feared for punishment at the slightest error.
Since the purging of corruption in the Jin sect by Jin Zixuan, much has changed. Taxes of the region were lowered as they were originally raised to cover up embezzlement that happened. Crime rates went down as cultivators did their job at keeping the peace instead of adding to the criminal numbers. More members were welcomed, most of them being illegitimate children from ex-members of the Jin sect. Many of those children did not come forward to join but rather to be legitimatized. Its honestly a miracle that the sect still stayed as a Great Sect with all the problems brought forth, but with Jin Zixuan claiming the position of sect leader and his subsequent actions, they were given a chance to clean up their act.
The Jiang sect probably went through the least amount of problems but there was a lot of change since members of their main family were revived. There was some getting used to, but the sect was happy to welcome back the well-loved young miss and the now former sect leader. Jiang Fengmian, Yinzhu, and Jinzhu joined the sect’s elder council, much to the protest of the twins. They were technically servants, but they did much of the work for the late “Madam Jiang” and had learned what was required to support the sect, so Jiang Wanyin had appointed them to prevent further protest. Jiang Yanli spent the early days of her return at her natal sect with her son as her husband delt with his sect.
A sense of calm spread throughout the civilians as changes were made and it was noticeable that there was a positive effect all around.
Even some of the more elusive sects came forth, out of hiding so to speak, as there was no longer a risk of being targeted by the larger sects for them to gain power. Those like Meishan Yu and Gaquan Shi sect opened up and formed new alliances to enhance trading and knowledge circulation. Being as secretive as they were led to knowledge being gatekept but with the knowledge of their existence being spread around, they thought it best to come forth a offer what they had to create positive impressions.
So…
In this newly changed world…
What has become of our “protagonist”?
Well…
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“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
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…He’s currently hiding in a tree…
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“SOMEONE SAVE MEEEEEEEE!”
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…With a puppy at the base of said tree…
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“GO AWAAAAYYYY!”
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…Which is located in the middle of a forest…
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“WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO MEEEEE!?”
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…So no one can really hear him screaming for help…
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So anyways, a little further up the path nearest to said tree was a man in teal and purple. Said man was spending the better part of the afternoon looking for his friend that he had lost when they encountered a puppy.
He had seen the puppy and knew that his friend was not in any physical danger but the fear coursing through his friend could not be any good. He can occasionally hear his friend screaming but they keep changing directions and he honestly thinks that his friend might be running in circles. But it seems that the direction has stabilized so now he is making his way through the forest to hopefully save his friend.
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At the other end of the path was a man dressing in white and blue. He was on his way home from a night hunt three towns over and planned to stay in the town further up the path for the night.
However, as he walked further up the path, he kept hearing undiscernible wails that was getting a bit concerning. Was this town suffering from a ghost or a spirit?
The wailing did not stop no matter how far he walked up the path and eventually he had to leave the path to be able to follow the sound.
This kept going on until he met a man in teal and purple, someone he recognized from an event a few years back.
“Shi Yuheng?”
The call of his name made said man turn to the caller. He didn’t know how they knew what his name was, but he did recognize the Gusu Lan robes and the emotionless face.
“HanGuang-Jun?”
An exchange of greetings leads to the discussion of what they were both doing there.
“Night hunt three towns over. Planned to stay the night in the inn nearby before making the rest of my trip back to Gusu. What is Sect Leader Shi doing here?”
“I was in town with Wuxian but he saw a dog and ran, the dog chased after him leading him to run into the forest and now I can’t find him.”
“Wei Ying is with you?”
“Well, he was but he’s run off and I don’t even know where to start looking for him.”
“Follow.”
Shi Yuheng’s reply was cut off when Lan Wangji turned to walk off the path and into the forest. This just forced him to follow along. The deeper they went into the forest, the cleared the sound of yelling became and eventually the two of them saw a man hiding in a tree and the sound of a dog barking up the same tree.
“Wei Ying.” The screaming stopped and the man caught sight of the two newcomers.
“LAN ZHAN! YUHENG! SAVE ME!” It’s honestly a miracle that Wei Wuxian has yet to start crying.
Shi Yuheng quickly made his way over and shooed the dog away while Lan Wangji stood under Wei Wuxian to help him from the tree. Wei Wuxian was in that tree for too long and fell right into Lan Wangji’s arms.
“What are you doing here Lan Zhan?”
“Night hunt.”
“Can I come with?”
“No. Is finished. Was going home.”
“Do you want to join me and Yuheng? We’re staying in town.”
“Mn.”
“Yuheng! Is the demon gone yet?” Wei Wuxian was staying in Lan Wangji’s arms in fear of the reappearance of the menace.
“It’s gone, you can get down now.”
“But I’m comfortable up here.”
“Did you even ask HanGuang-Jun whether he was alright with carrying you?”
“Lan Zhan?”
“Wei Ying can stay. I can carry you.” Wei Wuxian smiled and wrapped his arms around Lan Wangji’s neck
Shi Yuheng just sighed at the shameless couple and made his way back to the path, knowing the two of them were going to follow since that was the only path to the town.
For those who did not know, ever since they have come back from The Viewing, the engagement between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian was made official. A date has yet to be set but it was declared that they were off the marriage market and were set to be married when Wei Wuxian wanted to settle down. But visits between the two occurred, there’s probably been at least a dozen pre-planned visits for Wei Wuxian to visit Lan Yuan and Jin Ling but most of the visits were actually just coincidences where they accidentally met up on night hunts, much like this one.
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Come early morning, the three set out.
Shi Yuheng was making his way back to his sect and Gusu was on the way, so Lan Wangji joined him. Wei Wuxian was originally just wandering with no destination in mind so he followed along.
The trip was filled with Wei Wuxian’s chatter as the other two were not big on talking and were happy to hear him talk. This went on until they reached a split in the road that separated their destinations.
“This is where I say goodbye, Wuxian. I hope to see you or at least hear from you semi often. Don’t go dropping contact or I will hunt for you.” Shi Yuheng sent him a glare but it was obviously no heat behind it.
“Don’t worry about it, Yuheng! I’m going to be easy to find from now on.”
“You’ve finally decided?”
“Yeah. It’s been three years. I think I’m ready to try again.”
“Then I better be getting an invitation soon.”
“What are you talking about, you’re part of the wedding party.”
The two shared a hug and went their separate ways for now.
Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian kept walking down the other path but Lan Wangji occasional gave confused glances at his partner.
“Wei Ying.”
“Hm. What is it, Lan Zhan?”
“Is Wei Ying coming to visit?”
“Of course I am. I am always happy to go see you and my last letter promised to visit A-Yuan soon.”
The two made there way to Gusu and Wei Wuxian talked about the things he planned to do during his stay, most of which was spending time with A-Yuan and Lan Wangji. It sounded like every other visit that occurred.
That was a lie of course.
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Wei Wuxian was having some quiet time since Lan Wangji was currently teaching his students and Lan Yuan was attending to his classes.
This leaves Wei Wuxian alone and with the perfect opportunity. He was in Gusu on a mission.
With determined steps, he marched his way to Lan Qiren’s office.
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Quiet knocks disrupt his silence and Lan Qiren’s gaze turned to his doors.
“Come in.”
Lan Qiren was not surprised to see Wei Wuxian walk into his office. The man had previously told him about visiting for a talk in the last correspondence. He offered him a seat and prepared some tea. Wei Wuxian stayed in silence and neither broke it until half the pot was gone.
Wei Wuxian pulled some papers out of his qiankun bag and brought forth some papers for the older man to go over. Silence continued until Lan Qiren went over the entire stack.
“This is sufficient. Once you ask Wangji and A-Yuan, I will follow through with the rest of the preparations.”
“Thank you, Teacher Lan.” Lan Qiren waved him off.
“I had agreed to give you my blessing when you came forth about your intentions with Wangji. The events leading up to this had cleared you of any misunderstandings and subsequent correspondence has shown that there is no miscommunications. If anything, if this does not go forward, a great deal of people might start a riot and I’m not sure those against will survive the fight that would follow.”
This just brought a laugh out of Wei Wuxian. He has spent the past three years just wandering. He has spent much of that interacting with and getting to know the civilians of wherever he was at the time. Much of the malicious rumours of his time as the Yiling Patriarch has been overturned in favour of the young man who smiles like the sun and a bit too self-sacrificing for some people. There were stories of people catching him playing with the street kids and giving food to those less fortunate but there were also ones where he jumps in fright at any semblance of a bark and a very comedic run that occasionally had him faceplanting. The stories made Wei Wuxian sound human rather than demonic and many discarded the stories of a monster in favour for stories of who to look for when there was trouble.
Let it be said that he has gone from being an outcast to being everyone’s favourite rogue cultivator. Now that the danger of a bad reputation was gone, Wei Wuxian had less to fear about the dangers his association could have towards his loved ones. He’s been working on rebuilding his relationship with the people of his past, it was not like it was before the war but none of them were like they were before the siege. There were heaps of trauma and none of them were unaffected by the war. However, they were all reshaping their bonds around their past to build something else. Will it be better or stronger than their previous bond? They don’t know yet, only time will tell.
However, for now he was just going to focus on cementing his relationship with Lan Zhan.
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It was dinner time. Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian, and Lan Yuan were having a quiet dinner in the Jingshi. Quiet dinner typically was not actually silent, not since the rule of not speaking while eating was eased up. Now it was just not speaking while one's mouth is full and not being rowdy while eating. Wei Wuxian has taken full advantage of this to ask about how his tablemates’ day was when they sat for dinner and just catch up with everyone whenever he visits. But today, Wei Wuxian was completely quiet, as if he had something on his mind, and it was worrying Lan Wangji and Lan Yuan a bit.
The two of them shared a look before looking back at Wei Wuxian who was mindlessly placing food in his mouth.
Lan Yuan was the first to break the silence. “Mama, how was your day?”
Wei Wuxian’s mind was still elsewhere but he answered distractedly anyway. “Hm, it was fine. Had a talk with Teacher Lan.”
“What did you talk about?” Lan Yuan tried to keep the conversation going in between bits.
“About my stay in Cloud Recesses, going to teach a class. About a potential research project and needed access to the Room of Forbidden Books.”
“Is that what is on your mind? You haven’t touched your chili oil all dinner and you have been distracted.”
Wei Wuxian appeared to still be absorbed in his thoughts because the next words to leave his mouth were, “No, thinking about how to ask Lan Zhan and A-Yuan if I can stay in Cloud Recesses and marry Lan Zhan. Already have everyone’s blessing and just need to ask now.” He didn’t seem to remember who his audience was because he just nibbled on his chopsticks, not even noticing Lan Yuan’s jaw dropping and eyes widening nor Lan Wangji’s chopsticks slipping from his hand. It was Lan Wangji’s fumbling from almost dropping his bowl of rice that brought Wei Wuxian somewhat back to the present.
“Careful, Lan Zhan.” He picked up a piece of vegetable and placed it in each of their bowls before going back to nibbling on his chopsticks and thinking his thoughts.
It was with a startle and a “Lan Zhan?!” that Wei Wuxian realized what he said and who he said it to. His face was quickly engulfed in red before he fled to the next room, completely forgetting to put down the food in his hand.
“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji pushed to a stand, completely disregarding any form of grace as he essentially tripped his way out to chase his apparently-soon-to-be-bride.
“Mama!” Lan Yuan was not much better as he copied his baba but actually did trip on his robes and faceplanted on the floor with a thump. He still shot right up though and ran after his parents.
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“Well, this seems to be a cute place to end this story telling, don’t you think?” BiMing says. “Let’s give them a bit of privacy to live out the rest of their lives.”
BiMing waves their hand and our view into this Mo Dao Zu Shi universe closes with a snap.
“See you guys around.”