Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

My first memory of this life was a tiny hand mushing into my face. 

“Whaghehrvj-”

Surprise. I couldn’t speak.

“A-Ze, A-Ze!”

“I saw that, A-Se.”

A-Ze, A-Se. I hoped they were names, because if they were, it meant I could actually understand the language in this world instead of having to learn an entirely new one. 

Oh, hello again tiny hand. Who do you belong to?

“A-Ze, look! He knows his sister is there!”

Tiny hand belonged to my brother, and I was a girl. Good to know; God knows how awkward and long it took for me to get used to being a guy. 

And so, my life wasn’t actually that bad. Despite the conditions not being the greatest (hey sue me I was raised by some of the richest people in my last life) we weren’t poor, more just my parents didn’t see the need in buying so much things when we were moving all the time. After finding out they were rogue cultivators, had a donkey, and started calling my brother A-Ying, it didn’t take me long to figure out where I was. 

Oh great, my brother is the fearsome Yiling Patriarch. I wonder how the story’s going to play out with a sister added now. 

[Qiqi? Yo u there?]

Ahhhhhh I knew I forgot about something

[u forgot didn’t u]

[reply bitch]

[ hello to u too ]

Don’t get me wrong, I was ecstatic, but I could’ve used a warmer welcome…

[ so, who’s sibling r u ]

[bro my brother has a resting bitch face and he’s not even a year old wtf]

[ is his name Lan Zhan? ]

[yep. Is this another one of those chinese novels u read?]

[ yee]

[ dw i’ll send u the details later, for now just try not to get thrown out ]

[I was about to ask u to break me out]

[ Xiao no- ]

[3000 fucking rules bro i can’t]

“A-Yin!”

Mother dearest, please do not scare your daughter like that.

“Mama?”

Cangse Sanren looked at her family with proud eyes.

“Our children! A-Ying and A-Yin!”

I’m not the most original, but even to me it sounds...lazy.

“A-Se, I’m not sure…”

See, even dad agrees with me!

“Yin! Yin! Yin!”

“A-Ze, can’t you see even A-Ying agrees with his Mama?” She pouted at her husband.

“Yin?” I decided to ask why.

“Yes, our little A-Yin.” My mother picked me up, settling me comfortably on her lap while my brother crawled to cuddle me too. “A-Yin, your name means shelter, shade, and protect. You’ll be a shelter, a shade, and someone to protect others, and you’ll always be sheltered, shaded, and protected.”

Wei Changze sighed. “I suppose I won’t disagree with you.” Bullshit! I see your smile!

[bro?]

[ I have been named ]

[oh shit what u called]

[ Wei Yin ]

[nice name, mines Lan Xiu]

[ My brother’s name is Wei Ying ]

[ok even I could have done better]

[ nice name, im guessing ur a girl this time? ]

[yep. Im happy now but in the future im probs gonna be missing being a guy…]

[ ok tmi u pervert ]

[;)]

[ ur not gonna last in the Lan sect lmfao ]

[ wait how did u do the emoji ]

[ bro? ]

[ ......... ]

Well, now that I’ve pissed off my only friend, let’s think about my situation. I will, along with my brother, become orphans that live on the streets for a few years until Jiang Fengmian comes along. Xia-Xiu, well, she hasent’ said anything so it should be fine. As much as I don’t want to become an orphan again, I’m also just as certain that it is impossible to prevent the deaths of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze, so y’all can fucking bet I’m spending the best of my time with them!

…

….

…..

Why is it so quiet?

“You need to rest, love.”

Oop, spoke too quickly.

“My children...let me see them.”

I felt myself being picked up, then-oh hello, are you my new mother?

My new (?) mother smiled at me, then turned her attention to another bundle being handed over to her.

Gasp, is that a little sibling?

“My children…” 

Fuck yeah I get a lil’ sibling!

“My love, do you want to name them?”

Go ahead and name me! I never got an actual name last time now that I think about it. It’d be nice to have an actual name to go by.

“She will be...Lan Xiu. My second son, Lan Zhan.”

“Elegant and Clear. Of course, my love.”

Lan Zhan...sounds similar. Can’t place where though.

“A-Huan, meet your little siblings.”

I have an older sibling?

A boy’s face swam into view. !!An older brother!!

“A-Xiu, A-Zhan. Hello, I am your brother, Lan Huan.”

Aaaaand formal too. Damn, where is this?

When everything had settled, I tried using the System to figure out where exactly I was.

{Greetings user LIVINGMEME ! Your partner, user KILLMEPLS has not yet activated the SYSTEM ! Please wait until user KILLMEPLS is online.}

So I’m the older one again. Also what were we thinking when we made the nicknames??

‘Can I still use the system while waiting?’

{Thank you for your question! The SYSTEM is always available for use!}

‘Great, I need to read this world’s story-’

[WARNING. WARNING. The SYSTEM cannot do this action! If the user persists, the SYSTEM will be forced to take action!]

‘FUCK YOU!’

Chapter Text

Okay my little brother is seriously the cutest. Not that I’m being biased, but he is. I’m honestly pretty happy we’re twins, since from what I’ve noticed so far, and from what I’ve been told, this place seems very strict on the whole gender thing, so because we’re twins, we’re allowed to be in the same room. I know, it seems too much. Our older brother, Lan Huan, is also cute. He’ll probably be extremely handsome when he grows up. Actually, scratch that. This entire place is full of extremely good-looking people.

‘Ay, so I’ll be a beauty huh?’

{To answer user LIVINGMEME, the Lan Clan is known for their beauty. Lan Huan and Lan Zhan are to be called the Jades for their beauty}

‘...I didn’t ask that but thanks.’

The Jades? Well, I can already tell I’m not going to be like your usual Lan. I had a record of not following school rules before (just ask Qiqi, she was usually the one that busted me out of detentions), and now I’m expected to follow 3000? Nah fam, I can’t…

“A-Xiu, A-Zhan, come now, it’s time to visit Mother.”

“Mother?” Lan Zhan perked up, although you really couldn’t tell if you weren’t his sibling. I nodded along with him. Finally! It’d been ages since I’d seen her!

“Gege.” I tugged on Lan Huan’s wide sleeve. “Why see Mother only now?”

I felt my brother stop beside me, curious to know why too. Lan Huan sighed, turning to face us.

“Mother is ill. In order to prevent us from contracting her illness, we can only visit once a month.”

Well that’s suspicious, seeing as she’d been able to give birth to three healthy children, and it’s even more suspicious if she got an ‘illness’ right after she gave birth to me and Lan Zhan.

“Oh.” My cute brother nodded, frowning in thought. “Then we give gifts? To Mother?”

Lan Huan smiled. He looked even more amazing when he did that.

“Yes, I’m sure Mother would love it.”

I grabbed my twin’s hand. Twin bonding activity coming up!

“A-Zhan. Let’s go find gifts for next time.” “Mhn.”

Hey, come to think of it, where the fuck is my dad?

~~~~~~~

[so, you ever gonna tell me what’s up with my parents?]

[ i was waiting for you to bring it up ]

[well now i have, so spill]

[why is my mother isolated? Why can we only see her once a month? What’s up with my father?]

[ ok so ur mum killed a teacher of ur dad’s, it was never specified but I’m leaning towards him making unwanted advances, then ur dad tried to protect her by marrying her, but then isolated both of them ]

[...the elders?]

[ o yeah fuck the lan elders man they suck ]

[what else did they do?]

[ well in the future, ur brother gets whipped ]

[...forget about breaking out of the Lan clan I’m going to reform this entire shit place]

[ there’s really no need, its just the elders ]

[ Lan Qiren’s also not that bad, he just wants the best for his nephews ]

[ and niece. Sorry ]

[its fine]

[i just- so what happens with my mother?]

[ she dies when Lan Zhan is 6... ]

[so i have until I’m 6]

[ ...yes ]

[thanks for telling me]

[ i’m sorry- ]

[why are u sorry? It’s not ur fault! Besides ur the one that gets orphaned and lives on the streets!]

[ I know, I know. Well, u know now. I’m not sure if u could change anything, sorry, but Lan Zhan is really affected by this, so, ]

[gosh what is that kid-yeah, he’s grown on me. Did i tell you that i’m the older one? Ofc i’m gonna look after him]

[ thats good! But don’t forget abt urself too! ]

[right back at u]

[argh, gotta go, uncle’s making us learn the rules again]

[ lmao good luck ]

[3000 r u l e s wtf]

What. The. Fuck. Isn’t my clan supposed to be the prestigious clan of learning? We even have an actual rule, probably multiple, that basically all mean to not do what Qiqi just said! And that whole future thing? Not happening on my fucking watch. Actually, how did it even happen? I’m fairly certain that Lan Huan wouldn’t let the elders harm his precious younger brother…

AGRHHkaehrbqh

I’m like three! I shouldn’t have to think about those kinds of stuff! Fuck this! See if I care about being the model Lan disciple! My family is going to be happy dammit!

“Mama! Baba!”

“A-Ying?”

I lifted my head up from where I had been dozing in my mother’s arms, only to get a face-full of dirty toddler.

“Meimei!”

“Gege.”

Why was I born here? My energy is not enough to keep up with the Wei family.

“A-Ying, get off your sister,” Thank you dad! “You can cuddle later when you’re not so dirty.” No! 

“Ah, my two little babies.” Cangse Sanren gathered both of us in a tight hug, gesturing at her husband to join them. 

You could say my life with the Wei’s is pretty good. I could definitely get why they choose to become rogue cultivators; there was something so exciting on travelling around, never knowing what tomorrow could be like. Of course, when our parents left on night-hunts, me and my brother were left behind. 

‘He has no space to complain about Lan Wangji when he’s this hyper as a toddler.’ I had thought grumpily when my dearest brother insisted on playing instead of sleeping. 

[FUCK LAN QIREN!]

Ah, there’s the daily complaint.

[WHO EVEN FOLLOWS ALL 3000 RULES???]

[WHAT KIND OF SADIST DOES]

[ your brother does ]

[No he doesn’t count he's so repressed]

[ aivuweoiub why do toddlers have so much energy ]

[u have no idea how much I want to switch with you]

[ I do, actually ]

[ it’s not like you haven’t been complaining and saying that for weeks now ]

[3000 RULES WHAT THE FUCK]

“Meimei! Meimei!”

‘Why me, System.’ 

{To answer user KILLM-}

‘I didn’t mean to actually ask that!’

Sighing, I buried my head in the pillow, hoping I could somehow block out the sounds of my brother energetically trying to wake me up, and the dinging of the System.

~~~~~~~

“A-Ying, make sure you look after your sister okay? Mama and Baba are going to have some adult business, so you can look around here but don’t wander off!”

“Mn! A-Ying will take care of Meimei!”

“That’s a good child.” Cangse Sanren ruffled his hair, then turned to me. “Stick close to your brother A-Yin, be good!”

“Okay Mama.” I blinked at her, holding onto my brother’s arm tightly. Don’t worry, I have absolutely no plans on getting lost in this huge crowd. 

“Meimei, look! Butterflies!” Wei Ying tugged on my arm, pointing at a nearby stall selling children’s toys.

I followed him, not suppressing the curiosity I felt upon seeing the toys. Hey, you don’t usually get to be a child again, and even in my case, it takes (literally) a lifetime to experience this again. Sue me for going along with my childish instinct.

Approaching the stall, the owner grinned seeing us.

“Hello children! Here to take a look at my toys?” He chuckled, gesturing at us to come closer. “Don’t be shy, come, come!”

Hm, no. I’m getting bad vibes from this guy. But, the butterfly does look really good…

“Which one’s are you looking at?” A gruff voice reached our ears.

“Huh?” The fuck was Nie Mingjue doing here?

Nie Mingjue sighed. “Which toys are you looking at?”

“The butterfly!” My dear brother pointed happily at said toy, beaming at the future sect leader. Were we in Qinghe?

“I’ll take it.” He said, nodding at the stall manager, who, interestingly enough, was pale and sweaty. Gross. Nie Mingjue hesitated, looking at me. “Two. Of the butterfly.”

“Gege, “ I nudged my brother. “Mama gave us money, remember?”

Wei Ying blinked. “Oh! Gege!” He waved to get Nie Mingjue’s attention. “Mama gave money, we can pay!”

“No need, “ Nie Mingjue said. “Take it. As a gift.”

Seeing my brother about to argue, I butted in. A free gift is a free gift, and it’s not like we didn’t try to pay it ourselves first.

“Thank you, gege.” I did a (badly done) bow. “Gege, thank the rich gege!”

“Thank you!” He didn’t even try to bow, just smiled. For his part, Nie Mingjue didn’t look offended at all, just shrugged and gave the toys to us. Yeah! I always knew he was a chill dude. 

“Meimei, anything you wanna see?” Oh I was getting a choice? Hm, let’s see.

“That!” I pointed at another stall, this one selling what looked like either needles or really small knives. Both worked.

“Okay! Thank you again, rich gege!”

Sadly, we didn’t get to spend much time looking at the stall I had picked. Our parents came barely a minute later and basically dragged us away from the stall. 

“Wait until you’re older, A-Ying, A-Yin.” Wei Changze scolded us. “You’re still to young right now!”

Older? But in at most two years, I thought, gazing sadly at my parents, you’ll be gone.

~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

(bonus:)

Nie Mingjue looked after the two children he’d just saved. The two children who were now running towards a weapons stall. 

“Uh,” Should he stop them? 

“A-Ying! A-Yin!”

A couple ran towards them, each picking up one. 

Well, they looked like they were okay. He turned his attention back to the toy stall manager, thinking ‘honestly, if Huaisang was that interested in weapons I’d be crying. Maybe if we meet again, I’ll arrange for them to meet him.’

Chapter Text

‘This is nice,’ I thought, watching my little family. ‘I wish Xiao could see this.’

My brother and I recently turned four, and I was getting more and more nervous. The timelines are all wonky, but the general idea is that Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze die on a nighthunt when Wei Wuxian is around 4-5, so naturally, I started paying much more attention when our fourth birthday came. 

“A-Yin, what are you doing here by yourself?”

“Baba!” 

It wasn’t that I disliked my mother, she was just too much for me to handle all the time. Add that with my brother- I desperately needed some me time. Wei Changze, well, he definitely goes with the accepted description the fandom gave him- much more relaxed and (thank god) quieter, but he has his crazy moments. Yep, my brother really got the best from both parents.

“Hm, loud.” Give me hugs father.

“Loud?” He laughed, picking me up. “You hear that, A-Se? Our little A-Yin thinks you and A-Ying are too loud!”

Cangse Sanren gasped, Wei Ying doing a small, but equally dramatic gasp as well. I groaned, hiding my face in Wei Changze’s shoulder. 

“Baba…” 

“Aiya, A-Yin, don’t be like that.” My mother softly turned my head away to face her. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting some alone time, especially when it’s too loud, but Mama wants you to tell us when you feel like this, okay?”

“...Okay.” Prime parenting right here, why must you die?

“And A-Ying, you need to understand this too!” She looked seriously at my brother. “Make sure you’re always there for your sister, okay?”

“Okay Mama!” He beamed at me. “Gege will protect A-Yin! Always!”

I've had you for around four years, and I want to strangle you half the time but god dangit if you die I will kill myself and everyone else in the vicinity.

Rabbits. 

Not real rabbits, there was some kind of rule saying ‘no pets allowed’ which, let me just say first is total Bullshit and something I will most definitely change, but toy rabbits. Eh, the sentiment is still there. 

“A-Xiu, A-Zhan, what is this?”

“Gifts.” Lan Zhan held a toy rabbit out to our mother. “For Mother.” I nodded, holding mine out to her too.

“For me?” Her beauty really stood out when there was a smile on her face. I wondered if Lan Zhan would be the same- I haven’t seen him smile yet. “Thank you, baby.” (1)

She put the toys on a shelf (“Don’t worry, Mother will take good care of them.”) and settled in between us, Lan Huan having left us to spend time with our mother first. 

“A-Xiu, you look very happy, did something happen?” 

‘Do I? Well, I have been chatting with Qiqi more lately, maybe that’s why...Should I tell her? The System doesn’t have any restrictions on us, so there won’t be any punishments right?’

{To answer user LIVINGMEME , the SYSTEM has no power over the user’s decisions! There are no point systems or restrictions! User LIVINGMEME and KILLMEPLS are free to do as the user’s please!}

That’s helpful. Okay then-

“Mn! A-Xiu has a friend! Best friend!” Can’t tell her ‘hey, I actually used to be highkey feral and a demon and I just started chatting again with my best friend for three lifetimes now’ so it’s the imaginary friend route we’re taking boys.

“Best friend?” She looked at Lan Zhan, who looked just as confused. “I see, is your friend real, A-Xiu?”

“Of course!” I nodded furiously, face set. “Qiqi is the best! And real!” 

“May I meet them?” (2) Oh little brother, you’re going to meet her, no arguments about that.

“Yes! And Mama, Mama meet Qiqi too!”

She laughed. “Mama would be happy to meet A-Xiu’s friend. Their name is Qiqi?”

“Um, “ I can’t say it was her slave number can I? “A-Xiu calls them Qiqi because they said they liked number seven!” That makes sense to kids, right?

“Jie jie, want to meet Qiqi.” You will!

“A-Zhan, when will you get your friend?” Mother gently teased him. I laughed along, but I wasn’t too worried.

‘A-Zhan’s going to get a soulmate- way better than just a friend!’

And so, we spent the day with our mother, and as we left, I suddenly remembered what Qiqi had told me.

“Mama will see you next month okay? Be good!”

We only see her once a month, and she’s going to die when we’re six. 

[is there any way to save her?]

[ ? ur mum? ]

[yeah]

[ I’ll be totally honest with you-idk ]

[ it never was revealed how she died, but the most popular theory is suicide ]

[I’m not surprised]

[she’s not even allowed to step out of the cottage]

[ pretty sure the only thing preventing her from doing it earlier was her kids ]

[ tho, the problem really is deep. Ur gonna have to like turn the entire Lan clan upside down to really save ur mum ]

[I know…]

But, we’re only four, what can we do?

[speaking of saving parents, what abt u?]

[ ? ]

[ur parents die when ur 4 or 5 right? Aren’t u 4 already?]

[ oh yeah, right ]

[ I think, I’ll let it be ]

[what]

[ my parents go on nighthunts every other night and leave us at whatever inn we’re staying at ]

[ I could sneak out to follow them, but what can I do? There’s also my brother to consider ]

[ hey, we’ll be on the streets for a few years, but I’ll make sure to direct us to Caiyi town at least once ok? ]

[I’m not too happy but ur right…]

[yeah, come over to Caiyi if u can, I’ll sneak some food to u]

[ :D ur the best! ]

[Of course I fucking am]

[u wouldn’t have survived this far without me bitch]

[ Jesus let me have a moment will u ]

[:) no]

What a great conversation. 10/10. Outstanding. 

“A-Zhan.”

“Jie jie.”

“If Qiqi has a brother, would you be friends?”

Lan Zhan blinked, but I could tell he was thinking very seriously about the question.

“Mn. Best friends. Like Jie jie and Qiqi.” He stared at me, face earnest.

I laughed, pinching his cheeks. “We’ll all be the best of friends!”

-------

That night, as we settled down to sleep (we have to wake up at five what the actual-) I tapped my brother’s cheek lightly. 

“A-Zhan, can you keep a secret?”

“Mn.”

I looked into his eyes and took a deep breath, leaning in.

“ They’re real, ” I whispered. “ They’re my soulmate .”

Chapter Text

 Nothing really changed after I told Lan Zhan. He kept quiet about it, which I appreciated, but also made me worry about how he would be like when he grows up.

‘He’s not going to understand sarcasm or even joking is he.’ I silently despaired. Two things that made me, and my own brother wasn’t going to get it. 

“A-Xiu, have you thought about what instrument you will choose?”

Ah, my older brother, Lan Huan. He’s only nine, but he seems to be becoming a prodigy already. Not that it was bad, but I swear he’s doing sect leader stuff already!

“A-Zhan wants the guqin right?” 

“Yes.” Lan Huan smiled at me. “Are you thinking of choosing one so duets are possible?”

“Maybe.” I was actually more thinking of being able to play duets with Qiqi but yeah duets with my siblings also sound great. “Play together with Gege and A-Zhan!”

Lan Huan chuckled, a soft smile on his face. He looks like Mother when he does this. 

“I’m happy you’re thinking of me as well, A-Xiu. There’s not many records of trios, but we can ask Uncle. How about that?”

“Un!” 

[can I ask something?]

[ yeah? ]

[u gonna learn music? Like the music cultivation thing]

[ probs, my brother ends up using a dizi and besides I like music. Why? ]

[I have to learn something but I wanna make sure we can do duets]

[ aww- I’ll do dizi, it’s the easiest for me since I learnt it before ]

[before?]

[ I was very successful in learning the wrong things during corona ]

[oh shit corona don’t remind me]

[but ok fair, guess I’ll have to be the one learning an entirely new instrument this time]

[ well, go ahead and invent the violin if u even know how lmao ]

[bitch I know how to play but I can’t even draw a violin in the right shape-]

Qiqi decided to go ahead and learn an instrument last time (what was it called? Pip or something?) while I did feral demon stuff, so I suppose this made it even. Hopefully I can pick it up quickly, especially since my entire family seems to be made of prodigies. Fuck.

“Jie jie.” Speaking of prodigies, hello. 

“Hm?”

“Will their brother be mine too?”

What?

“Soulmate, “ His ears coloured. “Like Jie jie and Qiqi.”

“Oh.” I blinked, before laughing and squishing his cheeks. “Of course! If you want, that is.”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan nodded, ears still red but nevertheless very earnest in his reply. “Do want.”

Am I matchmaking my brother already with someone I don’t even know? Yes, but from what I do know, there’s a shit-ton of misunderstandings between them, and let it be known that I cannot stand slow-burn; Qiqi always tells me I’m too impatient and it’s true. 

[I think I’ll let it be]

Did I sound too cold? What kind of daughter knew her parents were going to die but decided not to help? 

‘It’s not just you that will be affected.’ I looked at my brother, sleeping peacefully. ‘You have to think about the consequences now.’

I could deal with being an orphan left on the streets, but could I deal with being responsible (however indirectly) for leaving Wei Ying an orphan? He got his fear of dogs from being on the streets. If I somehow saved our parents, he wouldn’t have that fear would he? And the Jiangs...the entire story would be changed, from the Jiang family problems, to Cloud Recess, to the Wen arc, everything! Could I do that? I wouldn’t have the advantage of knowing what happens in that event, and what if something worse happens? Something like ‘if you change something, something worse will happen in the future to make up for it’! 

‘System! Why were we brought into oc’s? Why not as siblings at least?’

{To answer user-}

‘That was rhetorical! Thank you anyways! Please go to sleep for the next few hours!’

I let out what probably sounded like a kettle whistling, collapsing back into the pile of pillows and blankets I had been attempting to crawl out of to reach the window. 

‘That was pretty accurate, why not have me reborn as a kettle next time huh?’

“A-Yin?”

I flopped onto my back. The concerned face of my brother peered at me, I'd woken him up. 

“A-Yin! Why sad?”

I blinked. He blinked back.

“Not sad.” 

Oh man how does a four year old even pull off that eyebrow lift?

“Little sad.” I amended, sighing. Wei Ying looked at me for a bit, then climbed into the pile, hugging me tightly.

“No more sad.” He murmured. “Gege’s here.”

I hummed, relaxing into his hold. Our parents weren’t home, out on a nighthunt.

‘As always,” I mentally frowned. “Parents really shouldn’t be leaving their children alone at night, especially toddlers.’

-------

Maybe it was karma. Maybe God (or the System, it could go either way) just really hated me. 

“Mama and Baba will be back soon.” Wei Ying told the innkeeper for the third time. “Please wait a bit more, Mister!”

The one night I stopped worrying about if this was the night we became orphans, we became orphans! 

‘I wonder if I can name my sword Orphan Obliterator.’ I thought. ‘And use it unironically.’

“A-Yin, how much longer do we have to wait?” My brother looked unusually serious, face set in a slight frown. “Should we pay another night?”

I hesitated, then, started stuffing as much as I could into a bag. 

“A-Yin?”

“He’s going to kick us out.” I said, not stopping. “Need to go, Gege.”

I could feel the eyes staring at me, shocked. My hands shook slightly as I hovered over the box of ribbons our dad kept exclusively for our mum. “We’ll all have matching ribbons!” Cangse Sanren had said, beaming at her children as Wei Changze smiled, tying her hair with a deep red ribbon, an identical one in his hair. A thump at the door made me drop it in shock.

“Brats! They’re not coming back, and unless you have the money for another night, you’ll have to leave!” A pause. “Or sell me that donkey of yours and you have a deal.”

A movement behind me. I smiled slightly, Wei Ying had a bond with Donkey, like our mum. He wasn’t going to sell him to the innkeeper. 

‘Huh, didn’t he sell everything until there was nothing left? Guess I’m already changing the story.’

“Just a minute Mister!”

Smart, he knew we didn’t have time or the strength to carry everything. Wei Ying ignored the clothes and miscellaneous items entirely and took the most likely overstuffed bag from me. 

“Go!”

I didn’t need to be told twice. Making sure my brother wasn’t watching, I grabbed the box of ribbons.

‘System, is inventory working?’

{ INVENTORY of user KILLMEPLS is open. Currently there is: 23/100 items stored.}

‘23? What do I even have?’ Sensing the System about to explain, I hurried on.

‘I’ll sort it later! System, turn on shortcuts!’

{Affirmative.}

The box vanished in a burst of pixels, and I hurried out to Donkey and my brother. 

“Donkey, we love you!” I caught the end of Wei Ying’s love confession as he let Donkey free. I was surprised, but it made sense; we couldn’t even get on Donkey at our height.

“A-Yin!” He ran towards me, frowning but not protesting when I took some stuff from his bag and put them in the second, smaller one I had grabbed. 

“Where-?”

I pointed in what I hoped was south. 

[ when do you visit Caiyi ]

[?]

[Caiyi?]

[Uh, I think we’re going for a visit in a week?]

[Qiqi?]

[?Bro?]

[Hey!]

[Is everything ok?]

Chapter Text

[ when do you visit Caiyi ]

[?]

[Caiyi?]

[Uh, I think we’re going for a visit in a week?]

“A-YIN!”

[Qiqi?]

“GET AWAY FROM HIM”

[?Bro?]

“GEGE-”

[Hey!]

“NO STOP-”

[Is everything ok?]

No.

-----

“Gege, you didn’t have to…”

My hands are shaking. Why are they shaking. I used to be in Qian Cao, why are my hands shaking it’s just blood, nothing I’m not used to, it’s just blood it’s just blood it’s my brother’s blood it’smybrother’sbloodit’ smybrother’sbloodit’s-

“A-Yin, don’t be sad.” How are you smiling? “Wei Ying protected Meimei, that’s all.”

“No, Gege, that’s not,” Am I crying now? “Gege, you’re hurt, I don’t know what to do, I’m sorry.”

Wei Ying laughed.

“It’s just scratches! A-Yin is safe?”

I sniffed. “A-Yin is safe.”

‘Fucking dogs.’

A pause.

‘Fucking stray rabid dogs’ I silently amended. 

“Gege, stay here, don’t move.” I can’t just sit around, they need to be at least bandaged and cleaned.

“Huh? Wait, A-Yin!” A shuffle. He tried to get up.

“Gege.” I frowned at him. “I’ll be back. Stay.”

As I walked away, I heard him try to get up again, but gave up.

“Please, just scraps will be okay!” 

Bitch, I will not hesitate to punch you if you do not give me the fabrics in the next five seconds-

“Oh, what’s this?”

Hel lo you gorgeous lady-

“Ah, nothing, nothing, just another street rat begging-”

“I am begging for scraps ! I just need some cuts you don’t need!”

Oh no she’s looking at me now.

“And what do you need them for? Bedding? Shelter? Clothes?”

I shook my head.

“Bandages! I-my Gege got hurt, I need to, I need to get stuff, there’s,” Stop stuttering and stumbling around like an idiot! Gege is probably bleeding out right now!

There was a silence, the lady inspecting me. As I got more agitated with the adults here doing nothing, I readied myself to make a break for the exit.

“How old are you and your brother, child.”

I frowned slightly but replied politely.

“A-Yin and Gege are four, Auntie.” (1)

“Same age as my A-Yao then…”

Oh shit A-Yao? Isn’t Meng Shi from a brothel in Yunmeng? The hell is she doing all the way here?

“Give me all the scraps and cuts you have.” Meng Shi(?) ordered the shopkeeper, who scurried off to do exactly that.

“You, “ She pointed at me. “Come. Lead me to your brother, we will talk.”

‘System, what’s Meng Shi doing here?’

{To answer user KILLMEPLS , Meng Shi is one of the most prominent prostitutes of the current time, and as such, travels and visits other brothels once a year.}

‘Great, just my luck. Well, at least she’s helping.’

On the way back, I had to restrain myself from taking the cloth and running back to Wei Ying.

“What can you do.”

What. “What?”

She looked at me, an eyebrow raised.

“You’re very smart, even knew to ask for scraps and cuts. I’m helping you here, I expect you to help me back in some way.”

I hesitated, slowing down slightly.

“What do you need?”

“...Provide my son company.” She said. “I will be-”

“Auntie.” She turned to frown at me, not happy about being interrupted. “I, we can do that, but only when you’re here.”

“Oh?” Her lips turned up slightly. “I can provide you and your brother housing and food, is that not enough?”

How should I tell her this?

“Our parents were rogue cultivators.” The death of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze is going to spread eventually. “We want to follow that.”

“Rogue cultivators?” Wait didn’t she want Meng Yao to learn cultivation? Damn it, what now? 

I waited, but she didn’t speak. 

“Gege!” 

I completely gave up any attempts to remain cool and polite, snatching the fabric away from Meng Shi and running towards my brother.

“A-Yin! Don’t do that again!” 

We hugged, mindful of the scratches on Wei Ying. I started cleaning and bandaging the wounds as best as one could in a dirty alley. I distinctly remembered putting some stashes of various herbs and first aid in my inventory, but I didn’t want Wei Ying to ask about it (at least not now) and there was no way of knowing if I could get more later (look these are top quality stuff from Cian Cao-), then Meng Shi came and no way am I letting anyone I didn’t know or trust that much see the System.

“Auntie! Thank you for helping A-Yin!” Yep, he’s smiling at her isn’t he.

“No need, child.” I could feel her staring at me, but I refused to let it distract myself. “What are your names?”

“This one is Wei Ying! And A-Yin is my sister!”

She paused. 

“You...have the same name?”

I stifled a snort. 

“No, no! Mama said A-Yin means shade, shelter, and protection! It’s what A-Ying gives and what A-Yin does!”

Cangse Sanren, you are one badass bitch. You too, Wei Changze.

“Oh, I see.” No, you don’t.

“Be careful, Gege.” I gave my best scolding expression to him. “No more of that!”

“Mhm, yes, yes.” And he said yes, ya know, like a liar.

“Wei Yin, is it? Your sister.”

“Yes?” I stared at Meng Shi. You have a problem or something?

She looked at me intensely. “I...did not...realize you are a girl.”

I huffed, settling down beside my brother.

“So? A-Yin looks like Gege, Gege looks like A-Yin. That’s all.”

“Indeed.” She murmured. “Such is the nature of twins, I suppose.” And what’s that supposed to mean?

She stood up. 

“I discussed with your sister already, but I expect you to help me.”

Wei Ying blinked, then nodded. He could understand that.

“I have a son, around your age. Go to the brothel tomorrow morning, you’ll be his playmates while we’re here.”

My brother brightened at that. “Okay!” 

I nodded as well. Who knows, maybe making friends with Meng Yao can change things for the better in the future.

-------

[Is everyth-ng ok?]

[-ls respond]

[di- it happ-n?]

[Q-qi!]

[W-i Yin!]

[Please respond!]

[T-- System sa-s ur fin-, so why won’t yo- respond?]

[it wo-’t tell -e anything!]

[w-y Caiyi?]

[w-en?]

Chapter Text

The next morning we headed out to the brothel. It was actually pretty easy to find- just follow the perfume smell. 

“Hmph. She was right, you look exactly the same.”

Another (gorgeous) lady greeted us.

“Call me Jiejie, I’m a friend of A-Shi’s, follow me.”

A friend? I’m guessing that’s Sisi then.

We walked through the brothel, and I will be honest, I was blown. I’d been to a brothel before, but only to stay the night and as a result was usually half asleep. Plus, my memory is pretty horrible; there’s a reason why I rely so much on the System and Xiao. If I didn’t know this was a brothel, and the workers covered themselves up a bit more, I’d have thought this was an extravagantly decorated restaurant.

“Good, you’re both here.” Meng Shi greeted us with a nod, her eyes lingering on my brother’s injured arm. “You did a pretty good job, child.”

You know my name, stop calling me child! “A-Yin did her best, Auntie!”

“Hm.” She turned her head away to call for Meng Yao. “A-Yao, the playmates are here!”

I could feel Wei Ying bounce excitedly at the prospect of having a playmate, and I will admit I was getting excited too.

‘This is not the twin link I wanted. Stop.’

“There was no need to, A-Niang.”

Oho, I really want a picture of this to use as future blackmail. Sadly, no cameras have been invented yet and I doubt I can explain having an intricate painting of young Meng Yao.

“Hello!” Thank God I have a brother to start conversations. “I’m Wei Ying! This is my meimei, A-Yin!” 

There it is, the pause.

“Ah, Wei...Ying and Wei Yin?”

I knew he was smart but…

“Yes. You are?”

Meng Yao blinked at me, quickly glancing at my brother before responding.

“This one is Meng Yao. It’s nice to meet you,” I could feel he wanted to say something else but stopped himself. Wei Ying laughed, pulling me with him as he went to hug Meng Yao.

“No need to be like that, A-Yao!”

He flushed slightly, taken aback by my brother. I gave him a small smile, our faces almost touching because of how Wei Ying squished us together.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.” “I’m not sure if that’s helpful…”

A clap startled us out of the hug.

“Well, have fun, A-Yao.” Meng Shi was about to close the door when she paused. “I’m sure they can help with some cultivation questions you have too.”

I was totally freaking out and it's all because of my horrible, horrible soulmate. Where the fuck is the receipt! I demand a different one, maybe one that won’t make me die from stress and worry!

‘System! Why is there no response!’

{To answer user LIV}

‘Turn on shortcuts!’

{If there is no response, user KILLMEPLS is most likely occupied}

‘Yeah no shit it’s because she’s occupied- it was glitching! Why is it glitching!’

{Apologies to user LIVINGMEME , but as users LIVINGMEME and KILLMEPLS are -̸͉̰̜̬̑͆o̶̧̢͕̺̠̓̉͠ḏ̴̖̹͇̪͑̏ ̸͔̊T̸̙͒̃͘-̵̨̩͑͋e̵͚̩̠͌̅̆̈ŕ̵̜̙̉̓̅͘͜, SYSTEM is unable to interfere}

‘Fuck!’

“Jiejie?” 

Whomst-

Lan Zhan looked at me, eyebrows crinkled slightly, so little that you’d have to either be extremely close to him or his twin to notice.

I exhaled. 

“You scared me. Need anything?”

He shook his head. Thankfully, I’d had experience with this. (We don’t like to talk about that life)

“Jiejie’s fine, A-Zhan, just worried.”

I could feel the confusion and want to help radiating from Lan Zhan. However, I hesitated.

“Is it a secret?” “What?” “Secret. Like Jiejie and Qiqi.”

I couldn’t help it, laughing and pinching his cheeks.

“My Didi is so cute!” He’s going to get eaten up if he stays this way.

Lan Zhan pouted, something so small anyone else would have missed. 

“Jiejie.”

“Ah, well, A-Zhan has been keeping it secret…”

He visibly perked up at that. I laughed again, albeit a bit more weakly than before.

“...Jiejie and Qiqi, we, uh,” As much of a prodigy he is, he’s only five. “We talk, but Qiqi stopped responding.” 

“Qiqi not a friend?”

“No! No, that’s not it.” I shook my head. “I-Jiejie thinks somethings wrong.”

Silence. Lan Zhan was frowning, obviously thinking hard.

“Help?”

I sighed.

“Jiejie wants to.” I brought my brother in for a hug. 

“I’m just not sure how.”

-------

“Sect Leader Nie, Mingjue-ge, greetings.”

Lan Huan was introducing us to the Nie Clan; apparently, he was good friends with the heir, Nie Mingjue. I would have liked to ask Qiqi or the System about this, but as Qiqi was currently not available and I was feeling pissy towards the System, that wasn’t an option. 

“Greetings. This one is Lan Xiu, courtesy Qingshan.”

“This one is Lan Zhan, courtesy Wangji.”

The Sect Leader went off to discuss stuff with Lan Qiren, and we were left with the two sons of the Nie Clan.

“Hm. Nie Mingue. This is my little brother, Nie Huaisang. Come here!”

If one looked closely, the similarities would be clear. But from first glance, I did not think they were siblings. Despite being still young, (I guess around Lan Huan’s age?)Nie MIngjue was already buff. How. His little brother looked quite normal, but beside Nie Mingjue he looked like a stick.

“Greetings, Lan-guniang, Lan-gonzi.”

Judging by how he was glancing between Lan Zhan and the older brothers, I’d guess he wasn’t used to addressing others this formally. Well, I’ll remedy that real quick! 

“Ahaha, call me Jjiejie! You are younger, correct?”

Both Nie blinked in shock, while my brothers sighed. Nie Mingjue burst out in hearty laughter, slapping Lan Huan’s back.

“You sure that’s a Lan?” 

Lan Zhan frowned, inching closer to me and tugging on my clothes.

“Mn. My Jiejie.”

Nie Mingjue laughed again and nudged his brother towards us.

“See, Huaisang? Now go on, make some friends.”

Seeing he was still nervous, I put on a grin, knowing very well it was probably against the rules to be this cheerful.

“A-Sang? Call I call you that? I’m going to call you that!” Aware of Lan Zhan still holding on to me, I grabbed Nie Huaisang’s hand. “Come on! Let’s go!”

“Running is forbidden.” Lan Zhan mumbles. I shot him a grin. “Not running, walking. Very fast.”

-------

“Bye bye Jiejie, Wangji-xiong!” I waved at him as well, and Lan Zhan even gave a nod. 

We’d chatted (well me and Huaisang, Lan Zhan just kinda watched us) about a bunch of stuff, as much as three five-year-olds could anyway. He was very interested in arts apparently; too bad, I may be good at music but I was shit at painting, especially the ink stuff of this period. Nah fam, I’ll take a tablet thanks. Huaisang also didn’t really care about fighting, surprisingly. I could tell he’d been at least lectured about this before; he’d been nervously eyeing me since I’d exclaimed ‘that’s so cool’ when he stammered out he liked painting instead of sabers. He’d get along well with Qiqi.

“A-Zhan, A-Xiu, how did you like that?” Lan Huan had returned, reaching to hold our hands as we made our way back for dinner.

“A-Sang is very nice!” He is! He reminded me of a bird- flighty but fun enough once you gain their trust.

Lan Huan smiled. “What about you, A-Zhan?”

He didn’t respond. Aw, still not used to other people having your Jiejie’s attention? Lan Huan apparently came to the same conclusion as I did, seeing as he suppressed a smile. A ping snapped me out of my good mood.

{User KILLMEPLS has added one (1) item to <Shared Inventory> Would user LIVINGMEME like to check <Shared Inventory>?}

I glanced around. Lan Zhan knew about messaging and Qiqi, but Lan Huan didn’t know anything. As much as I wanted to check right now, I had to wait until we were alone.

‘Not now, System. I’ll check later.’

We rarely used the shared inventory, seeing as we were always together. Either she accidentally put it into shared, or it was a message.

Chapter Text

We had fun with little Meng Yao. He was definitely a snake, but right now, with his mother still good and well, he reminded me more of one of those little tiny sneks. He did ask about cultivation, but seeing as we were around the same age, he understood that we wouldn’t know much. 

‘Maybe I’ll try to find him in YunmengJiang, if the timeline lines up.’ Wait, speaking of timeline…

‘System! Can you give me an outline?’

{SYSTEM apologizes to user KILLMEPLS , but giving the timeline would be defined as interfering!}

‘Ah, well okay. Thanks, System!’

I kept forgetting that aside from the chat, inventory, and market, the System was really just there for clarifying any questions we would have. We still earned points, which is how the market worked. If my memory is correct, we each earn 1000 points everytime we ‘die’, or as I like to call it, ‘complete a life’. Then, we still got those little affection points and such, although because our level was high enough, it never affected us much. The market, on the other hand, was a godsend. It was also something we had to use very carefully, because as weird as the world might be, a computer or guns appearing in, let’s say, this era, would look way too out of place. It had other things too, like first aid and food, but one, I couldn't pull it out without Wei Ying getting suspicious (like the whole inventory thing), and two, it actually only opened once we reached the age of six. 

“I liked it.” “Hm?”

Meng Shi had shooed us out, saying that she’d done her best by providing some food and a place to clean up. And so, here we are, huddled together in a box in a stuffy alleyway. 

“Being with A-Yao.” Wei Ying clarified. “I like him!”

I laughed. 

“Gege likes everyone!”

“But I like A-Yin most of all!” He grew quiet, then- “A-Yin knows, right?”

What’s this? He’s worried I might be jealous?

“Mn!” Smiling, I looked him in the eye. “Gege, I like A-Yao too, but I like Gege the most. Does Gege know that?”

Ew, kiddie talk does not agree with me. Might have to repeat this conversation once proper communication is established.

-------

We spent around two weeks like this; spending the day at the brothel (and thus keeping fed and cleaned) before being kicked out to spend the night on the streets. All in all, going a lot better than what Wei Ying experienced originally, but Meng Shi was leaving soon. 

[hows everything going?]

[ pretty good so far, but we’ll probs start moving soon ]

[ Meng Shi is leaving soon thats why btw ]

Oh, another development. The issue with the System got resolved. Yay! Xiao was not happy about, well, everything, but we managed to talk it out. Chat it out. Whatever. 

[pog. So ur coming to Caiyi soon?]

[ hmm. Maybe. I want to go around the major places first before getting discovered by the Jiangs. We won’t be able to leave a lot-maybe even at all ]

[damn that sucks]

[but why going around?]

[ kinda wanna see if I can start getting connections early ]

[ meaning before Yunmeng, my goals are at least Lanling, Yueyang, Qishan. I’ll try to get to Qinghe and maybe Gusu again too before Yunmeng ]

[I get Lanling and Qishan, but why Yueyang?]

[ I’m hoping to get the trust of a certain gremlin ]

[bro what is with u and gremlins]

[there are literally hundreds of characters and u always go for the gremlins]

[ something about them bro ]

[ there’s just something about the gremlins ]

[ u can’t say anything u fucking Sebastian stan ]

[hey stop-]

[wait]

[was that]

[was that a fucking]

Yeah we’re getting back along just fine. 

I was being serious about going to all those places before getting freaking jailed in Lotus Pier for like five years. Lanling and Qishan are a bit dangerous, and I’m not even going to attempt to go into all those theories about our parents being killed because of Wen Rouhan. Even if they are some of the most believable theories in my opinion. 

“A-Yin?” 

Wei Ying shuffled into our little cardboard house, a dirty and cracked bun cradled in his hands. At least with Meng Shi, we got clean and fresh food. 

“Gege, you need to eat too.”

I refused the whole bun, making sure to split it as evenly as possible to share. No self-sacrificing on my watch!

We ate our bun in silence, and it was only after some time had passed that I dared to break it. 

“Gege, we should...leave soon.”

“Leave?”

I didn’t want to just make him leave, but I also didn’t want to stay here. We’d gotten familiar here as acquaintances of the brothel, and that made begging for food harder than it should be.

“Okay.”

What?

Noticing my dumbfounded look, Wei Ying smiled.

“A-Yin is very smart. Gege trusts you!”

Nope nope nope nope I am not-

“Ah! A-Yin! Don’t cry!”

Good news! The System has been fixed and I no longer have to worry! Bad news! My best friends is a fucking nightmare! 

“A brothel,” I mumbled. “You got taken in temporarily by a prostitute to a brothel .”

I refrained from thumping my head on the table because Lan Huan was also here. Lan Zhan (the bestest little brother ever, period.) noticed my mumbling and patted my hand underneath the table. When the class was finally finished and we were alone, he nudged me.

“Something wrong?”

I huffed. 

“My best friend is an idiot.”

He paused. 

“Do not…”

“Nu-uh. If someone did something that justifies them being an idiot, it’s fine to call them one.”

Silence. “What did they do?”

“They uh, “ Fuck he doesn’t know what a prostitute or brothel is and I am not explaining it! “Followed a stranger to a weird building for food.”

That was close enough right?

“Do not follow strangers. Do not proceed without information. Do not-”

“Aiya, I know, I know.” I patted his head. “Save it for when you meet them?”

“Mn.”

-------

“U-Uncle.” Why was I born in such a formal clan? I miss when it was acceptable for me to be feral and no thoughts head empty. 

“A-Xiu.” Thank god for my age, otherwise, there’s probably a rule against stuttering or something.

“Uncle, are there any maps about this region?”

Lan Qiren frowned minutely, stroking his (goat) beard.

“Maps? And what does A-Xiu need them for?”

I made sure to keep eye contact. 

“This one is merely curious and wants to learn more about our surroundings.”

He nodded. 

“Good, you are improving on your speech. The second aisle is where the maps are. Remember the rules of the library.”

‘Improving on my speech BULLSHIT’ I bowed politely to the disciple leaving the library. He took a minute to respond, taken aback by the fact I was by myself. ‘My speech is perfectly fine! It’s the fact that the Lan’s insist on being all Downton Abbey when there’s no reason to!’

I found the maps, pulling out the first one I found. 

‘System, translate.’

{Affirmative}

Hehe.

The fuck.

What.

[hey bro so where r u rn?]

[ ? uhhh Guangling i think ]

[where tf is that]

[ pretty sure its near Lanling. We ran from a small town right outside Lanling and theres a lot of Jin ppl here ]

[aight thanks]

[ ? np? ]

FUCKING IDIOT

Lanling, Yiling, Qishan, Caiyi, and Yueyang? That was basically traversing the entire map! How are they even going to do that? And on their fucking toddler legs too!

[u better come to Caiyi before u start ur fucking around the world trip]

[ ... ah so I see u found a map ]

[NO SHIT I FOUND A MAP]

[ relax relax ]

[ yea, I wanna come to Caiyi first, then hopefully Qishan. I’m gonna poke around at Yueyang to see if the gremlin is there yet. Then Qinghe, Lanling, maybe Caiyi again before finally going to Yiling to wait for the Jiangs ]

[thats gonna take a long time]

[ yep. I’m not too worried tho. It’ll be hard trying to avoid Jiang Fengmian, but it should be easy ]

[what about that gremlin of urs?]

[ ah, well if i find him, we’ll take him with us. Depending on that tho, we might skip Qinghe and Lanling and just visit Caiyi one more time. If we don’t find him, after the round I’ll make another quick trip to just Yueyang again ]

[? younger?]

[ yee ]

I took another look at the map.

[Qishan’s all the way at the other side of the map. Why there first?]

[ Wen sect. Theres a lotta theories abt them being behind Wei Ying, well, my parents’ death. If everything goes well we’ll be in and out of there before the news of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze being dead reaches them. ]

[understandable. Also, how do u kno where to go?]

[ uhh, the System? ]

[WHAT]

[ I just asked for a map. It’s not exactly interfering-maps count as information apparently ]

With that she cut off the conversation to do something, probably her brother started talking to her. I leveled a glare at the empty space beside me.

‘You’re never that helpful to me.’

Silence.

‘Fucking bitch.’

{SYSTEM is yet again requesting for a transfer to user KILLMEPLS ... ｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡}

Chapter Text

“A-Yao!”

While my brother was busy waving and greeting Meng Yao, I hung back, Meng Shi wanting to say something.

“We will be leaving today.”

I blinked, then nodded, turning away to join my brother. I knew that; it’s not exactly news.

(If I had turned back, I’d see Meng Shi exchange flabbergasted looks with Sisi. They’d been preparing to ask us if we wanted to tag along.)

“A-Yao, Gege.”

“Ah, Yin-Jie-” “No, just Jiejie!” I smiled at Meng Yao until he gave in. 

“Jiejie…”

“Gege, you-” “I know.”

Meng Yao glanced between us. 

“Know what?”

Wei Ying smiled at him.

“A-Yao’s leaving today! Gege hopes A-Yao will remember his Ying-Gege and Yin-Jiejie!”

“Oh, “ Meng Yao swallowed. “Of course, I’ll remember you.”

Meng Shi walked over, Sisi following.

“What will you do?”

“A-Yin wants to travel!”

I nodded. 

“Travel? Where will you go?”

“Mama said something about Caiyi.” I murmured, shifting so I could lean into my brother a bit. Play up the traumatized little sister- less questions this way. 

“I see.” It worked! Meng Shi looked noticeably softer, and Sisi was giving us a pitying look. Meng Yao however, didn’t seem fooled. Eh, whatever. “We can leave some supplies behind, the journey to Caiyi may not be long, but will still be dangerous.”

In the end, they left behind a little sack with one (slightly smelly) blanket, two baozi’s, and a small pouch of coins. Not too much, but considering it was done behind the backs of the owners of the brothels, it was pretty generous. 

‘Meng Yao is definitely onto something,’ He’d left with a polite smile and demeanour, but the way he didn’t seem convinced by my traumatized child act said something else. ‘Hopefully this won’t come back to bite me in the ass.’

“Meimei, are we going to Caiyi?”

We were packing, well, as much as you can pack when you’re home is a partially destroyed cardboard box, but with a new sack, we could split up the load. (I still had to stop my brother from stuffing all the heavy stuff into his bag only)

“Mn.” I risked a look at him. “Gege, do you…”

“Meimei is Meimei.” Wei Ying stopped packing, turning my head to face his. “Go on.”

“I have a friend, near Caiyi. She has more supplies.”

Wei Ying hummed, looking thoughtfully at the sky.

“Meimei still wants to travel after?”

“Yes.” I surprised myself with how adamant I sounded. “I want to travel around.”

“Mama and Baba mentioned Uncle Jiang.”

I nodded. “We can go there after travelling.” I paused. “Only if Gege wants to as well…”

“No!” Shaking his head, Wei Ying swept me up in a hug. “I like it! Let’s go to Caiyi, then wherever we want, and if we suddenly want to see Uncle Jiang, we go to Uncle Jiang!”

Life was good, well as good as it can be when you’re bound to 300 rules. I’d asked both Lan Qiren and Lan Huan if we could have a trip to Caiyi town soon. After giving some bullshit excuse of wanting to see how the people are, we were cleared, although the exact date hasn't been set yet. 

[ yo, we’re leaving for Caiyi now ]

[u have any ideas when ur gonna arrive?]

[ uhhh system says including rests and stops and inns, around a week ]

[bruh why is ur system so fucking nice to u]

[not fair]

[ ???just be nice to them???? ]

[I AM]

[*are you sure about that*]

[...stop I can hear that]

The system’s are hacked I swear.

“A-Niang.” “Mama!”

Our mother smiled, arms wide open for the two of us to run into. 

“How are my precious ones today?”

“Good!” I answered for both of us. 

Spending time with her was a literal godsend- she couldn’t be a Lan, what with her casual dismissal of the rules. What this meant, was that I could relax around her. No one else liked her, and if I was like Lan Zhan, I would be confused too. But seeing as Qiqi explained as much as she could, all I felt was anger at the stupid elders.

‘Just wait you fucking boomers.’

“A-Xiu, what’s with that frown?” I felt a hand on my head. “You’ll look just like A-Zhan if you continue doing that.”

I immediately pulled on said brother’s cheeks.

“No! Didi needs to smile more!”

“Don’t pull your brother’s cheeks, A-Xiu, “ She pried my hands away and soothed Lan Zhan, patting the red splotches. “But I do agree, A-Zhan, smile more. Your smile is beautiful.”

We spent the rest of the day, relaxing in each other’s presence and just generally being free of the strict rules of the Lan. 

“A-Xiu,” She called out to me as we were ushered out by Lan Huan.

“Yes Mama?”

“Take care of your brother.” Her hand rested at my check, I could vaguely feel a trickle of spiritual energy.

{SYSTEM has detected foregin spiritual energy in user LIVINGMEME . Would user LIVINGMEME like to assimilate the energy or repel it?}

‘Energy? Assimilate it.’

{Understood. SYSTEM has successfully assimilated foregin energy to user LIVINGEMEME}

“A-Zhan will need guidance from more than just the rules. But,” She leaned in, lips glossing over my headband. “That doesn’t mean A-Xiu shouldn’t take care of herself either.”

“I know, Mama.”

“Good.” She smiled one last time. “I love you, A-Xiu!”

“Mn! Love Mama too!”

I waved excitedly as Lan Huan gave me to the pair of Lan guards with Lan Zhan. We bade goodbye to him, and were escorted to our room. Lan Zhan nudged me as soon as we were inside as the doors closed.

“Jiejie?”

I shrugged at him. 

“Mama just said she loves us.”

Lan Zhan nodded solemnly. I laughed, poking him. 

‘Ah, how cute this brother of mine is.’

He frowned. “Do not make excessive noise.”

“Psh, this isn’t excessive! Besides, when did you memorize all the rules already?”

Lan Zhan shook his head. 

“Have not memorized all.”

This time, I was the one frowning.

“You’re not supposed to memorize all of them yet are you?”

He shrugged, which was really just a slight movement of his shoulders.

“Shufu was teaching them.” At that, he stared at me. I fell backwards to flop on our bed, avoiding his eye contact. So what if I clocked off during lectures? The only one that noticed was Lan Zhan, and I thought perhaps Lan Huan knew about it but eh no one snitched. I looked perfectly attentive, but I guess my brothers could tell when my mind was wandering. 

‘I was learning! About how to survive outside! And trade routes! All perfectly good things to learn instead of 300 rules!’

It wasn’t as if I needed to memorize the rules. I had a built in google in my head afterall.

{｡･ﾟﾟ*(>д<)*ﾟﾟ･｡ please refrain from calling SYSTEM google}

‘Would you rather I called you Alexa or Siri?’

Chapter Text

“This would be easier if we had Donkey…”

“Meimei!” Wei Ying pulled us to a stop. “Tired? We can rest here.”

“No, I’m just complaining.” I hefted the rucksack back onto my shoulder. “There should be an inn, or something with a roof down the road. Let’s rest there.”

“If Meimei is sure…”

I huffed, nudging him slightly.

“We’re nearly to Caiyi anyway, might even reach it before nightfall.”

I was basically vibrating with energy at this point; even Lan Qiren noticed, although he just sighed and stared at me until I settled down. Yeah, go favoritism! 

“Jiejie?”

“A-Zhan, A-Zhan, A-Zhan, they’re nearly here!”

He blinked.

“Jiejie’s friend?”

“Mn! They’re nearly at Caiyi!”

Lan Zhan nodded. 

“We will visit.”

“Of course! We’ll-” “Causing noise is prohibited.”

“Shufu.” “Shufu.”

Lan Qiren looked at the two of us, standing close to each other in the corner of the garden. 

“I assume you want to visit Caiyi soon?”

“Ah, uh, tomorrow?”

A raised eyebrow was all I got.

“I mean, this one, asks to go to Caiyi town tomorrow…”

He sighed.

“Good enough. Very well, the two of you will go with myself accompanying.”

“Gege is not coming?”

Lan Qiren hesitated.

“No, your brother has other matters to attend to.”

And he walked away. Well, rude.

-----

{ Ayup }

{hey]

{ we’re at Caiyi }

{!!!!!!!!!!!!!}

{I’ll be right there!}

{ Oh no the fuck you will not }

{ it’s like midnight- you can visit tomorrow }

{But-}

{ My dude I am tired. My brother is tired. We be tired. I want coffee. Ple a se visit tomorrow }

{I can-}

{ We t i r e d. Please.}

{ smh just come tmr im begging u at this point }

{fineeeeeee}

{see u tmr then}

-------

The next day, I actually woke up on my own volition at 5am. Shocker, I know, I was surprised too. What can I say, this was the longest we’d been separated since being reborn- and we’d been reborn a lot of times...we don’t talk about life no. 2. Or no. 8. Or a lot of them. 

{BRO BRO BRO BRO BRO BRO BRO BRO}

{HEYYYYYY}

{ ????/???WHAT }

{ IT IS 5 FUCKING AM }

{...oh}

{sorry}

{ AKJDBVLIUBDSUYCHLAIUSVBDUj }

{Well, I just wanted uhhhh to ask how u were doing?}

{...}

{go back to sleep mate I’ll poke when we leave for Caiyi}

I sighed, oops. Well, that backfired. Guess I’ll see if Lan Zhan wants to be talkative this morning.

“Didi. A-Zhan. Didi.”

“Mn?”

Yay! He’s awake!

“Do you-” “Need to get dressed.”

“What.”

Lan Zhan looked at me.

“Five. Should be ready to head out. Not dressed yet.”

Ahhhhhh, this brother of mine…

“Okay, okay. Then, can my Didi help?”

“Help?”

“Mn!” I turned around. “Tie it for me, will you?”

He nodded, and after that, I did it for him too. I remember the whole conversation we had about our forehead ribbons, all ‘never let anyone touch that isn’t your family’ and ‘restraint’ and ‘blah blah blah’. I suppose it is useful with all the power inside it (I wasn’t supposed to know that, but the System decided to let me know anyway), especially in a pinch like getting locked up or caught by enemies. 

“A-Xiu, A-Zhan, are you up?”

“Gege!” “Gege.”

We opened the door, looking all smart in our Lan robes and neat hair, forehead ribbons firmly tied on-I’ll stop. Lan Huan chuckled, moving out of the way.

“Good morning you two. Come, Uncle is waiting.”

Ugh, the food. Definitely the second worst thing about the GusuLan Sect in my opinion. What’s the first? The fucking rules obiously! I’m all for herbs and health, but it’s like Lan people don’t know what spices are! Spices! Even some salt would give some taste to the shitty bland-ass food! Can’t wait until I meet up with Qiqi; the System came with some kinda shop, but it only opened if we met two requirements: meet up/be together, and be above the age of four. So, we’ve met one requirement, and personally, I really want to nab some of the salt and spices I’d seen in the shop. 

“Shufu.” “Greetings, Shufu.”

Lan Qiren nodded to the two of us, and after we’d all ate (do not talk or...whatever during meals) he cleared his throat and addressed all of us. 

“Qingshan, Wangji, we will spend the day at Caiyi Town. The two of you will receive a small amount of money for food, and if you wish to buy anything, you must ask me first. Understood?”

“Yes Shufu.” I answered, while A-Zhan just mned. 

Lan Huan smiled at the two of us.

“Have fun, you two. Don’t forget to stay close to Uncle, and stay safe.”

~~~~~~~

{ INVENTORY of user KILLMEPLS . Currently there is: 23/100 items stored.}

{Open?}

{YES}                  {NO}

{YES}                   {NO}

<Herbs x15>

<Enchanted Netherite Sword x1>

<Enchanted Bow x1>

<Wand x1>

<Portable Waypoint x2>

<Book and Quill x1>

<Arrow of Harming x1>

<Sweet Madame x1>

{Add <Box of Ribbons> to INVENTORY ?}

{YES}                  {NO}

{YES}                   {NO}

{ INVENTORY of user KILLMEPLS . Currently there is: 24/100 items stored.}

<Herbs x15>

<Enchanted Netherite Sword x1>

<Enchanted Bow x1>

<Wand x1>

<Portable Waypoint x2>

<Book and Quill x1>

<Arrow of Harming x1>

<Sweet Madame x1>

<Box of Ribbons x1>

{Close?}

{YES}                  {NO}

{YES}                  {NO}

Chapter Text

(Note: “ Speaking ” is Gusu Dialect)

Here’s a fun fact about my first ( originaltherealmebeforeidied ) life: I was born and raised until the age of six in China. Suzhou, to be specific. Why am I bringing this up? Well, Suzhou used to be known as Gusu! Something about being named after a mountain, and oh- oh! Additional fact! Gusu was then changed to, well, a few other names, but one of them was Wuxian and Wujun! Man I am popping off right now!

Okay, what led me to this? While my dearest brother was wide-eyed and confused, I could understand what everyone was saying! 

“ Little ones! Here! ”

I turned to the voice, Wei Ying following. 

“ Thank you, jiejie! ” I shouted back, the almost forgotten dialect making my words come out clumsily.

“Thank you, pretty jiejie!” Wei Ying shouted as well, trying to say the words the way I did and failing very cutely. The lady laughed back, and waved us away. 

The two of us found a relatively clean alleyway, away from all the hustle and bustle of the main streets, and settled down to enjoy our food. The lady had given us an entire bag of loquats, and even though they weren’t the best- it was obvious they were ones she deemed not good enough to sell- we enjoyed it immensely. Fresh food isn’t the easiest to find these days.

We really just wandered around afterwards, taking in the scenery, which was a very appreciated change from the dirty alleyways and slums of Guangling. I was trying to find somewhere to have Wei Ying stay while I met Xiao- well I suppose I should start calling her Lan Xiu now. It’s not that I don’t trust my brother, I do! But I want to tell him myself, clearly, about the truth, and right now I doubt he’d understand or even remember anything. 

{Yo, we’re at Caiyi, where u at}

{ uhhhh we were just by the water }

{ a pretty lady gave us some loquats? }

{oh gotcha}

{ we’re in like an alleyway around there }

{ imma try have my bro wander around first, then I’ll try find u k? }

{o good idea i forgot}

“Gege?”

“Mn?”

“Can I look around by myself?” Seeing him begin to frown, I rushed to explain. “Just...walking. Around here. Please? We can meet up again by the pretty ladies!”

“...ok. But before it gets dark! And, and no going with anyone! And-”

“I know, gege.” Hugging him, I gave a big grin. “I’ll just stay around this area, you have fun too!”

With that, I ran off. Do I feel kind of bad? Yes. Was it worth it? ….ask me again maybe five years later.

{hey real quick would u happen to be a smol dirty child with a...red? ribbon in ur hair}

{ and would u be a...kinda smol child in fucjing mourning clothing with a headband }

“Eyy-”

Without letting her speak anymore, I dragged Xiao-Lan Xiu into a small alleyway with no one there and got my hug.

“I missed you.” “Missed you too bro.”

-------

I would like to say we got straight to business and made a plan for everything, but I was taught to not lie, and so I won’t. That was a lie by the way. We didn’t even speak much at first, content to just hug and feel each other ( stillherestillalivenotgone ). Eventually, we did get to business. I filled her in on the world we were in, and we did agree to not go out of our way to change anything, and go with the flow, but that was code to be subtle, aka Fuck This We Doing It Our Way. Am I going to elaborate? Nah. Besides, plans are always changing to fit fate’s fickle desires, and the higher powers are never to be trusted with anything. We are going to try get Wangxian together faster though, I don’t think I personally can stand the pining. Hm, maybe some other ships too now that I think about it…

“What about us?”

I blinked. 

“What about us?”

I got a slap for that.

“Like, how do we know each other? Can’t exactly say ‘oh we’re mentally connected because of something called a System no we’re not crazy’ can we?”

Point given, okay.

“We could stick with this, meeting here as children, then, uh, we kept in contact?”

Lan Xiu grinned at that, and I inwardly wept.

“Which means, you have to stop by here before going to YunmengJiang! Then, uh…”

“Then just let others think up their own explanations.” I shrugged. “Easiest way, we’ll just say that, and they can think whatever they want to.”

I clapped my hands, standing up and brushing dust off my dusty clothes. 

“Now, I’m hungry, and you’re the rich young master, mistress, whatever, this time.”

“Yes yes,” Lan Xiu sighed, uncaring of the dust and dirt on me and pulling me close. “It’s not the first time I’ve been your sugar parent. Memory finally failing you?”

“My memory is swiss cheese and every thought is a famished mouse.”

“I regret letting you hangout with them…”

“Hey! I haven’t committed any acts of arson or genocide yet!”

“ Yet !????”

-------

Lan Xiu slipped away as we reached the area I had left Wei Ying, having decided to have out actual ‘formal’ meeting be in a few years. 

“Meimei! Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, this is my meimei!”

‘Well fuck that I guess.’

“Gege?”

Yep, Wei Ying was waving happily while hanging off of a younger, still poker-faced Lan Wangji. I had to give it to him though; with all the racket and clinging Wei Ying was doing, Lan Wangji wasn’t fazed at all.

As I reached them, Wei Ying thrust a toy into my hands.

“Here, Lan Zhan gave it to me! Meimei can have it if you like it! Oh, “ He glanced at the silent Lan. “sorry, Lan Zhan, hope you don’t mind?”

Lan Wangji blinked slowly, then shook his head. 

“Share with meimei. This one...shares with jiejie.”

“A-ZHAN!”

Here she comes.

Lan Xiu bounded over, two sticks of candy animals (I can never remember the name of those)

in her hands. She stopped, giving a pretty good look of confusion at us. 

“A-Zhan?”

“Jiejie.”

Wei Ying gasped, letting go of Lan Wangji to look back and forth at him and Lan Xiu. 

“You’re his jiejie? Wow, you look really alike! Not as much as me and meimei though…”

Lan Xiu huffed, though she had a smile on her face. 

“Of course we look alike! Gege says we’re twins, which means we were born at the same time! Are you twins?”

“Ah, well, we were born at the same time too, so-” “We’re twins.” I chimed in when my brother looked at me. 

“Huh.” Lan Xiu looked at us for a few moments more, then turned away. 

“A-Zhan, we should go. Look at you, you even got your clothes dirty…”

{ wow, taking the rich kid route? I’m offended, I really am }

It was small, but her mouth definitely twitched a bit.

{fuck off bro, I have a reputation here}

{ well as long as ur not as bad as the Jins go ham }

{Who?}

{ ah dw you’ll find out. Maybe watch out for ppl in yellow }

{I fucking hate it when u go all mysterious like that and u kno it u lil shit}

{ *Never Gonna Give You Up* is now playing by user KILLMEPLS }

{FUCK YOU}

Chapter Text

I could practically see the confusion from Lan Zhan as we walked back to where we had left Uncle. 

“Not jiejie’s Qiqi?”

I hummed, discreetly passing the bag of goodies I got over to the lady Wei Yin had told me took care of the street kids. 

“Reputation, A-Zhan, and social standing.” I hesitated, glancing at him. “Adult stuff.”

‘Aw, is he pouting?’

“Can understand.” Lan Zhan insisted.

I sighed. “It really is adult stuff though. Social standing and reputation is everything to them. You’ll have to learn too.”

Lan Zhan frowned in thought. I pat his cheek.

“Don’t worry about it now, A-Zhan.”

-------

“How was your visit, A-Xiu, A-Zhan?”

Lan Huan looked rumpled, although that just meant he looked slightly harried and his smile was just a tad bit strained. 

‘Oh, I don’t ever want to become a Sect Leader if just training to be one makes even Lan Huan like this.’

“Good.”

The outer disciple that came in with Lan Huan looked like he wanted to say something about A-Zhan’s one worded answer, but Lan Huan seemed to beam even more. Probably happy he’d said something without me having to prompt him first.

“We got you gifts! And for Mama!” I decided to help elaborate. “Caiyi Town was very fun too!”

“Next time, go with gege?” 

Oh man, is that tears in his eyes? Lan Huan looks close to crying right now, what the fuck. Okay I know A-Zhan doesn’t speak much, but isn’t this a bit overkill?

‘Hey System, is Lan Huan a bro-con?’

{Answer: <Lan Xichen> is most likely very loving and protective with his siblings, as he is modeled after the Original}

‘The fuck do you mean ‘most likely’ give me the actual answer goddamnit!’

After the whole Caiyi visit, we set out again. Destination: Qinghe, with a small pit stop in Moling. Now, I’m aware we have stopped at Qinghe before, don’t scream it at me. I’m not sure when Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang’s dad died, but even after he died, Qinghe has always been the ‘safest’ sect in my opinion. We’d stop at Moling, although I’m certain Mo Xuanyu hadn’t been born yet. Stopping here is really just because going all the way to Qinghe was too long.

-------

<QingheNie Sect>

I tugged on Wei Ying’s sleeve, pointing to the ground. A small fan had fallen to the ground, probably coming from the person that was steadily getting away.

“Ah, Young Master!”

‘Hey he looks familiar-’

“My fan!”

The young master made his way over, thanking us profusely for picking up his fan.

“I, my friend made it for me.” He explained, carefully examining it for any tears or dirt. “First friend. I think. Well, thank you.”

“It’s no worries!” Wei Ying smiled. “Be more careful, yeah?”

“Mn!” Stranger nodded his head, then hesitated. “Um, I’m not sure what to give, do you want money? Or, uh, food?”

I shook my head.

“Just keep a better eye out for your belongings. We’re traveling, no need to give us anything.”

“Traveling?” He eyed us, then seemed to shake his head. “Um, take this.” We were handed another small fan, handpainted, I think.

“If you ever need some help or shelter in Qinghe, show this to a disciple.”

Wei Ying tilted his head.

“Are you high up in the sect?”

I smacked his arm.

“Gege! You can’t just ask people that!”

Stranger just chuckled at us. 

“It’s fine. I guess you could say that! Thank you, and don’t forget about my offer!” He bowed. “Safe travels, young masters.”

Well, see you around too, Fan Boi.

-------

<QishanWen Sect>

“Adkdjhkhv-”

“More!”

While I was busy hacking my throat out and gulping down water (I remember being told milk is best for spicy food but aha we broke), my absolute ass of a brother gleefully swiped my still-full bowl and annihilated that shit. 

“Meimei, it’s not even that spicy!”

The vendor smiled seeing him try to get me to eat a bit more.

“That meimei of yours doesn’t seem to be able to handle spice, boy. Go over there, that lady. She’s got some non-spice dishes.”

“Ah, thank you, Mr!”

I swear to god I cried literal tears when I got to eat shit that wasn’t red .

(weird, everything seems so familiar…)

---

“Hello? Anyone here?”

I’d finally escaped to get some more resources, specifically medical resources. 

‘Hello System, if Wen Qing here?’

{Hello user! Would user like to visit <Wen Qing>?}

‘It’s less of a visit and more of a I need stuff and she’s supposed to be the best but yeah.’

{Understood! SYSTEM has temporarily activated <mini-map>!}

‘Thanks!’

“Who is it.”

“Hello!” I bowed to the girl, probably Wen Qing. Wow she looks so cute…

“This one is Wei Yin. I’m looking for some bandages, and, any medical herbs you have, really.”

There’s the eyebrow raise, but props to her, she seemed to just shrug and turn to find what I’d requested. 

“Any specific wounds?”

I hesitated, but responded.

“Dog bites. Probably.”

That seemed to be the point for Wen Qing, seeing as she put the stuff down and sighed.

“You’re not traveling alone.”

“Is that a question or?”

“You’re not, then.”

“Hey!”

“Do me a favour.” She continued, wrapping everything up. “Do not come back to Nightless City. If you must go somewhere, go to Yiling and ask for Wen Qing. Nightless City is not safe.”

I blinked.

“Should you be saying that?”

Wen Qing looked balefully at me, and shoved the package into my arms.

“Go. No need to pay me.”

I stumbled, this is one strong girl. 

“Ah, but-”

“Go!”

Grumbling, I walked off, stashing my loot into inventory. Oh well, if Wen Qing found a nice red ribbon tied to her door tomorrow morning, who knows who it came from.

~~~~~~~

{INVENTORY of user KILLMEPLS . Currently there is: 23/100 items stored.}

{Open?}

{YES }                  { NO}

{ YES }                   { NO}

<Herbs x15>

<Box of Ribbons>

<Enchanted Netherite Sword>

<Enchanted Bow>

<Wand>

<Portable Waypoint x1>

<Book and Quill>

<Arrow of Harming x1>

<Sweet Madame x1>

{Add <Wen Qing’s Gift> to INVENTORY ?}

{YES }                  { NO}

{YES}                   { NO}

{INVENTORY of user KILLMEPLS . Currently there is: 24/100 items stored.}

{Close?}

{YES }                  { NO}

{YES}                   { NO}

Chapter Text

GusuLan celebrated our 6th birthday, and I reckon I was the only one not happy about it. Not that anyone except for Lan Zhan and maybe Lan Huan and mother noticed, that is. Bless his heart, Lan Zhan did everything to try cheer me up, from participating in games/conversations to subtly passing the gifts he knew I liked to me. That’s probably what made Lan Huan and mother notice; Lan Zhan isn’t usually this subtle. 

“I’m fine, A-Zhan.” I smiled, trying to reassure him. From the way his eyebrow raised just the tiniest fraction, he didn’t believe my bullshit.

‘Hey System, is there a countdown for when mother is going to die?’

{ ... SYSTEM is unable to give any kind of warning for deaths… }

‘Oh, ok then…’

Well, no help from the System for this. 

{ ... }

‘?’

{ User LIVINGMEME : Relations in MDZS }

{ <Qingheng-Jun>

<Lan Huan, Xichen>

<Lan Zhan, Wangji>

< Madam Lan, W̵̢͕̦̣̺̜͚̍̀͛͆̓̀̅̓͝ę̶̧̡͖͖̟̹̘̰̾̈́̿́̄̒į̵͉̾͐͗̋l̶̤̪̼̲͙̹̫̯̟̪̲̙͓͚̹̀͗̉́̒ i̶̠͔̯̪͊͗̉̿̔̈́>

<Nie Huaisang>

<Nie Mingjue>

<Wei Ying, Wuxian> }

‘What?’

‘Wait, System, is she already gone?!’

‘System!’

“Jiejie?”

I turned around, eyes wide. 

“Oh, A-Zhan, “

Lan Zhan absolutely adored Mother, how was he going to take this? Does he know? Does anyone know? 

“Qingshan, Wangji.”

‘Whomst?’

“Courtesy names.” Lan Zhan whispered to me. “Lan Qingshan, Lan Wangji.”

Again, thank the gods for Lan Zhan, but what the fuck kinda name is Qingshan???

Lan Huan smiled at us, hands outstretched. 

“Come, Fuqin would like to see you two.”

“Mama?” 

He hesitated, eyes going dark for a moment.

“You’ll have to wait until the monthly visit, Qingshan.” He said gently. Oh fuck off already…

I didn’t know my father. 

And I don’t mean as in ‘oh I’ve never seen him’ or ‘oop what’s his favourite colour again?’ I mean ‘oh shit who is this?’ and also the fact that our uncle (his brother) is more of a father to us. The conversation we had was awkward, and I was only just aware that I was as quiet as Lan Zhan, if only because Lan Huan was looking at me worriedly. No actually, Lan Zhan was speaking more than me! I’m not kidding! I certainly did see where he got it from though. If Mama was outgoing and fun, Father would stop and think for a long time, only to ask one sentence. The awkwardness was enough for me to want to go and copy rules. 

{so Qingheng-Jun is fucking awkward as fuck}

{ Who? }

{ oh wait ur dad? }

{Yeah he was so awkward it was painful}

{but also…}

{ yea? }

{We just turned six, and I think our mum died}

{ oh }

{ Do u want me to come over? I only have one teleport waypoint left but the shop should at least give me the ingredients to make more… }

{can u keep that as a last alternative?}

{I’m fine rn, but idk bout later}

{I only know bc the system gave me some fucking cryptic warning, I don’t think anyone else knows yet}

{ ofc! Don’t hesitate to tell me if u need me ok? }

{I know I know}

{ If u know then go cuddle ur brother. He’s gonna be hit hard too }

{oH SHIT A-ZHAN}

I sighed, looking over my inventory.

“I really need to stock up again,” I mumbled. 

‘System, open up shop please.’

{ Opening new interface: SHOP }

I looked through the various objects and the currency needed.

‘Can you help alert me so I know I’m gathering the right stuff? I’m still new to this world.’

{ Of course, user KILLMEPLS }

‘Thanks.’

“Gege, where would you like to go?”

“Hm?” His head shot up to face me. “Me?”

“Yes.” 

‘We just have to avoid Yiling in...eh, around two years since that’s when Jiang Fengmian found him before.’

Wei Ying hummed, tilting his head. 

“I like Qishan, but meimei can’t eat there.”

I pouted. 

“It’s too spicy! You’re just different!”

He laughed, patting my nose.

“Meimei likes Gusu, yes? We can alternate between them!”

I perked up. Gusu, with the much more blander and sweeter food, agreed much better with me than the absolutely horrible spiciness my brother preferred. 

“Okay! Let’s go to Gusu first then! We can pass through Yiling and Yunmeng if gege wants too.”

-------

So yes, what we really did was go on a huge roadtrip until we were 10, nearly 11 years old. Let me try summarize it:

We did swing by Yiling and then Yunmeng, saying a quick hello to Meng Yao. (We couldn’t get to see his mother but he promised to bring our greetings to her) Wei Ying had fun eating the spicy cuisine, while I watched morosely. He tried getting me used to it but gave up after I burst into tears for the hundredth time because of one measly bite. Then, we made our way to Gusu as discussed, and I managed to sneak away to have some time (and comfort her, although she didn't say it like that) with Lan Xiu, who helpfully informed me that her courtesy name is Qingshan, which personally I quite liked. She later thanked me because apparently my brother had cheered up her brother, so win win! We went up to Qinghe for Wei Ying, but this time instead of passing through Lanling, we took a slight detour. Didn’t really matter much to Wei Ying either way, he liked seeing the scenery. 

We had a few more close calls with dogs and Wei Ying’s cynophobia, which, despite my efforts, was as strong as ever. I won’t bore you anymore, despite it being years, we didn’t get that much traveling. Everything was on foot, and even if there were carriages, how could two homeless broke children get in? So let’s start again at Yueyang, four years after. Why Yueyang? Well, I’ve always wanted a younger sibling!

Chapter Text

“Hey! Stop that, meanie!”

“You...This doesn’t concern you! Scram!”

I ignored the adult child arguing with my brother, instead frowning at the kid said adult child was beating up before we arrived.

“Are you ok? Come with us, that looks pretty bad.”

Not waiting for a response, I yanked him up and hightailed it to the ‘safe spot’. Which is really just a relatively stable shelter in an alleyway we had found when we first swung by Yueyang. Miraculously, it was still safe so why not keep using it.

“Hmph. Dumbass. How is he, meimei?”

“Language. He’s fine, but his finger-” I was about to reach for it when the kid snatched it back.

“Touchy, touchy.” He smiled. It was definitely not cute or anything. “Who are you?”

Wei Ying sighed, side-eyeing me before offering a bow to the kid. 

“This one is Wei Ying, courtesy Wuxian! And this, “ He glomped me. “Is my lovely meimei, Wei-”

“Wei Yin, courtesy Mochou.” 

“You decided to have the same name? Pfft. Xue Yang. No fancy courtesy name here.”

‘Oh.’

{!!!}

{<Xue Yang, Chengmei> has been encountered!}

‘Encou-what is this, pokemon??’

“We don’t have the same name! I’m Wei Ying, she’s Wei Yin! A-Yin!”

“Just call me jiejie!”

‘His pinkie is already broken, but that’s not gonna stop me!’

Xue Yang blinked, his smile faltering for just a bit.

“Where are you from? I’ve never seen you two in Yueyang before.”

Wei Ying hummed. “I suppose, we’re from Yiling? We’ve just been traveling around! My favourite place is Yunmeng, but meimei can’t eat there and we have to be extra careful!”

“I don’t get how you can eat all that spice.” I whined, shooting Xue Yang a look. “Everything is just red. I’ll happily eat sweets instead.”

Wei Ying laughed before turning back to Xue Yang. 

“A-Yang? Let’s be friends!”

-------

‘Hey System, how late did we arrive?’

{If User KILLMEPLS is referring to the incident with the Chang Clan, it has been approximately nine months.}

I spluttered.

‘Nine months!’

{Indeed.}

‘Oh we late late huh…’

-------

My brother was extremely happy to have another little sibling to dote over, but even I could see he was getting uncomfortable around Xue Yang. Now little Xue Yang is adorable. Despite how late we arrived, he hadn’t had much sweets yet, so with some help (cough the shop cough) I got him hooked on candy and made sure he knew there would be no way for him to get candy off me (weird magic space inventory for the win ehe)- I know this is sounding a bit like training animals but I really needed some way to get the gremlin under control. 

As for why Wei Ying is currently getting the wrong vibes from him, well. 

Our third day together, Wei Ying got to witness Xue Yang in all his glory taunting and beating some other homeless kids. And for me, not even a week with him and I understand completely why people call him the trash gremlin and hate on him despite loving him. This kid has no mercy. 

Thankfully, (or maybe unfortunately?) it seems being twins has its benefits and my amazing brother is on board with basically adopting Xue Yang, insanity and dubious morality included. Watch your back Jiang Fengmain, you’re going to have very full hands; take us in and you’re taking our trash child in too. 

-------

“Gege, A-Yang!”

I dropped off today’s food (leftover buns at one of the stalls) and looked around. It was weirdly quiet.

“Gege? A-Yang?” My mouth opened, then closed. “Do you want me to come back later?”

That got a reaction. Wei Ying shook his head furiously while Xue Yang raised an eyebrow at him.

I definitely stumbled into a boys-only conversation. Before I could assure them it was fine and left, Wei Ying had pulled me over to sit between the two. 

“Meimei, let’s bring A-Yang to visit Gusu.”

“Sure, if that’s what A-Yang wants.”

Xue Yang blinked. “That easy? But, isn’t Gusu really far away?”

Humming, Wei Ying took out our map, pointing out the places for Xue Yang.

“It’s not that far, especially if we go directly there.”

I looked at him. “What do you think, A-Yang?” 

“...Where are you from?” His words were quiet. Wei Ying tilted his head, a confused frown forming. 

“We started travelling from Yiling. Here.”

I pointed out the place on the map. Xue Yang studied it for a bit, then nodded. 

“I want to go to Yiling first.”

“Are you sure? It’ll take a lot longer-”

“You asked me didn’t you?” His words were sharp, yet the way he averted his eyes and that faint blush spoke differently. “Well? Or does my opinion not matter after all?”

“No, no!” I said hurriedly while my ass of a twin laughed. “We’ll head to Yiling first!” 

Xue Yang kept glaring. Wei Ying did not stop laughing.

“Ah, A-Yang, want a candy? And w ill you stop laughing !”

This is nice, I thought. A trio of street urchins with a dark future ahead of us, laughing and being content huddled in an old box. A notification sounded.

‘System, turn on silent mode please.’

{...}

{> Silent Mode< has been selected. SYSTEM urges user KILLMEPLS to be cautious. }

Chapter Text

It’s a lovely day outside. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the rats are leaving us alone, and I lied, the birds aren’t chirping because lovely adorable Xue Yang has just killed a bird in cold blood. 

“What?” Xue Yang pouted, poking the dead bird. “We need food don’t we?”

Wei Ying snatched his hand away, scandalized. 

“Stop! It’s probably full of diseases, and the way it is now we won’t even get any food from it!”

“Sorry, but that is true, A-Yang.” Observing the extremely dead bird, I muttered “I’m surprised at the state of it really. I’m in awe.”

“Meimei!” I took one look at my brother and burst out laughing. “Hey! Why are you laughing now!”

“You- you look so- you look like one of those noble ladies!” His scandalized face looked more at home on those dramatic mothers in tv dramas when they find out they were being cheated on or their daughter is in some kind of scandal. 

“Meimei~ Stop laughing at my pain…”

Xue Yang snorted, standing up. “Ying-gege!” 

Wei Ying squawked, dodging the bird Xue Yang threw at him. 

“A-YANG!”

-------

“Okay, now that the bird issue is resolved, “ Huffing, I looked at the two boys. “What I wanted to ask was: gege, how are you feeling today?”

“What? I’m good, meimei!”

“I’m bored.”

“We know, A-Yang.”

“Gimme candy.”

“No, A-Yang.”

“Fuck you.”

“Language, A-Yang.”

“I’m gonna bring back another bird.”

“Oka-NO!”

-------

“What have we learned today?” Wei Ying droned, the three of us collapsed in a sad puppy pile of street orphans.

“Birds are surprisingly hard to catch?” “You don’t get to speak for the rest of the day.”

“Never let A-Yang get bored and out of your sight.” I said solemnly. Wei Ying nodded. Yay, twin telepathy for the win!

I dragged myself into a sitting position, face carefully blank with a tinge of disappointment. 

“A-Yang, we actually wanted to give you a present today, but maybe we’ll give it to you tomorrow instead now.”

“What?” He perked up, eyes darting between my brother and I. “What present? For me? Where is it?”

Wei Ying shushed him before he could continue rambling and distract us from him attempting to rummage through our clothes. Sneaky.

“Well, “ I looked at Wei Ying. “You tired us out, so you’ll have to wait, A-Yang.”

“Ah, to be young and full of energy…”

“Stop fucking around.” Xue Yang growled. “You’re not any older than me, idiot. Yin-jie, give me my present?” 

I stifled my smirk. Oh, you innocent child. My brother certainly is not the only little shit in our family, and unlike him, I’ve had literal years to perfect my skills. Surprisingly, or maybe unsurprisingly considering their backstories, hanging out with Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua had given me the perfect mask. If you ask me, Shen Qingqiu was the master of seeming like a cold, immortal master while being an absolute meme lord inside. Shang Qinghua seemed like a coward until you got him comfortable (or scared enough) to really talk, and there comes the shit talk. 

“Hmm…” I gave Xue Yang what Lan Xiu had dubbed the ‘Shen Qingqiu smile 6’. “I’m tired. We’ll give it to you tomorrow.”

Wei Ying giggled. Before Xue Yang could storm off and get into more fights, the two of us caged him in. 

“Good night, A-Yang!” “Good night!”

“I’m so fucking done let me go you fucks-”

“Remind me to teach you some better swears.” I mumbled, half asleep. We weren’t lying, well I wasn’t lying, today really tired me out. Who knows about Wei Ying though.

A nudge. “Hey.” It was my brother. “It’ll be a joint effort.”

I snorted. “Yeah, a joint effort.” 

“STOP IGNORING ME!”

“Qingshan, please.”

“What?” 

Lan Xichen sighed, and I could just see him gaining wrinkles. 

“You are one of the sect heirs of GusuLan. You must control yourself in public.”

I huffed, crossing my arms, ignoring the feathers that drifted around at the movement.

“I am! I’m a perfect disciple of GusuLan!”

“What’s rule number four, Qingshan.”

“Uh, do not kill?”

Lan Xichen slumped ever so slightly. 

“That was on me. I set the bar too low."

Lan Zhan patted his hand. 

“Thank you, Wangji. But you also didn’t help.”

“Do not disrespect the elder.”

Oh boy, is that more wrinkles forming?

“Wash up, you too Wangji. I will inform the servants to clean up the...feathers.”

As he walked away, I could hear him muttering how at least none of the chickens died. Well of course none of them died! Lan Zhan is so fucking sensitive, seeing chicken blood would probably put him out of commision and goddamn sad and ignore me. Nah, we just had some fun. Speaking of chickens though, it’s been a long time since I’ve had meat. Maybe I’ll sneak down to Caiyi sometime and get some real food. 

Wait...Caiyi…

‘System? How’s Wei Yin? Status?’

{User KILLMEPLS has selected  > Silent Mode <. An emergency message can be sent through for a price.}

‘I thought we didn’t have a fucking point system!’

{User LIVINGMEME and KILLMEPLS do not have point systems, so SYSTEM has created another currency for usage in SHOP and for scenarios like this.}

‘Alright whatever what’s the price for an emergency message.’

{An emergency message will give a notification even when > Silent Mode < is selected. Upon using an emergency message, SYSTEM function > Chat < will be disabled for a certain amount of time. The duration will increase the more emergency messages are sent.}

‘What…’

{ SYSTEM hopes that was sufficient! (─‿‿─) Would user LIVINGMEME like to send an emergency message?}

‘...no. If she turned it on there’s probably something going on. I’m not in any emergency right now anyways.’

{...user KILLMEPLS thanks their SYSTEM ...(￣︿￣;)}

Chapter Text

Groaning, I turned over, ignoring my brother’s wince as I kneed him in the chest.

“How early even is it?”

“Not at all!” Xue Yang barked, pawing at us. “Give me the present already!”

In a true show of twin telepathy, we made a sound that resembled zombies. Xue Yang went quiet. 

I peaked at Wei Ying. ‘Oh?’ He lightly shrugged.

Fwump.

“Ying-gege gets cold at night. I got some blankets.”

‘Oh!’

Stretching, the two of us got up. What do you know? A blanket, surprisingly not worn out and full of holes, with Xue Yang glaring at us. 

Wei Ying fought back a smile at Xue Yang’s red ears- if I was watching this as a donghua, there would definitely be smoke coming out of a chibified Xue Yang.

Wait.

“A-Yang,” Don’t get angry, I mentally chanted. Do not get angry. Or disappointed. “Where did you get the blanket from.”

“Well they won’t be missing it so who cares?”

Wei Ying shook his head, Xue Yang missing it as he had averted his eyes. 

“Ahhhh, A-Yang! I knew you loved us!” 

“Watch it!”

Laughing, Wei Ying was undeterred. He winked.

“Hm, you gave a present, so it’s only fair for us to give you a present in return, isn’t it?”

Xue Yang perked up at that, spinning around to stare at me. 

“Gege, you make a good point.” Snickering, my brother detangled himself from Xue Yang.

Drawing himself up, Wei Ying cleared his throat. 

“Ahem! As you know, the two of us have courtesy names! We have them because our parents gave us them early!”

I took over the speech from here.

“As a way of formally, in our eyes, making you part of our little family, gege and I want to give you a courtesy name!”

Xue Yang’s mouth opened. Then closed. He opened them again. He blinked, stammering.

“Me?”

“Only if you want,” I added, hastily. “We’ve only know each other for a short time, but we really do like you, A-Yang.”

He huffed, turning away.

“W-well, I suppose I’ll accept a courtesy name from you two idiots, as long as it’s a good one.”

Wei Ying grinned. 

“Xue Chengmei, how does that sound?”

Okay, pause. Look, I’m just as surprised as everyone else...probably is? I didn’t actually come up with one, just bounced off ideas with my twin. Well...I did mention the proverb his original courtesy name came from, and seeing as we both agreed we wanted the best for A-Yang, I guess Wei Ying went with it. You could almost say it’s...destiny…ahahaha...

Xue Yang mouthed the words slowly.

“Chengmei?”

“Help others do good deeds.” I recited to him. “If you ask me though, just accomplish what you want how you want it.”

Wei Ying nodded.

“Help others, of course, but in the end, be satisfied with yourself. We want the best for you, A-Yang.”

Xue Yang’s eyes looked suspiciously watery, but I let it slide. He huffed, looking down.

“I suppose it’s good.” Rubbing his eyes, Xue Yang turned away. “What’s your courtesy name mean anyway? Both of you.”

Wei Ying and I looked at each other.

“Wuxian means to be free of envy.” Wei Ying started. “To have no envy for anyone, and help all those in need.”

“Mochou, to be free of sadness.” I continued, smiling when Xue Yang’s eyes lit up at that. “To have no sadness is impossible, but to help others be free of sadness is not.”

“And Chengmei, to make sure you are satisfied with yourself .” Xue Yang breathed, not looking away from the two of us. 

“Hm, if that’s how you want to think of it!” 

An hour later, Xue Yang would adamantly say he did not cry, and that no, his eyes are not red. I smiled and nodded while Wei Ying laughed and teased him about his red ears. It wouldn’t be until that night, as we were snuggling up in the blanket Xue Yang had gotten from who-knows-where-and-we-won’t-ask, when he asked us something.

“Can I have a ribbon too?”

“Hm?” Wei Ying stopped in his eternal struggle for a cosy fit. “Ribbon?”

Xue Yang pointed to our hair. 

“Both of you have one. I want one too.”

Wei Ying glanced at me. He hasn’t asked and I’m not sure when he will, but it’s clear that he knows I’ve been safekeeping our father’s treasure box of ribbons. 

After making sure I was fine with it, Wei Ying asked Xue Yang what colour he would want the ribbon to be.

“Red! Like yours!”

No, I’m not cooing over how cute Xue Yang is. Nope, not after Yi City. Wei Ying is mistaking my facial expressions, that’s all. 

{ hey }

{BITCH}

{ hello to u too }

{I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A SILENT MOOD WTF DUDE}

{CAN’T JUST DO THAT}

{ sorry sorry! }

{ wanted to make sure I settled down somewhat first }

{ok just, idk, tell me? Give some warnings?}

{ will do. Sorry. How’s life? }

{Fucking horrible that’s how it is}

{People are shit- like what’s the fucking point in giving titles to literal 10 year olds}

{ the 2 jades title was given this early on??? }

{3. 3 Jades of Lan.}

{ ooooo fancy }

{the nicknames! The horror!}

{ well keep me updated pls, I don’t know anything }

{bitch ur the one that’s read this fucking thing before}

{ my,,,sense of time is bad? }

{Yeah yeah, i got it}

{u coming over anytime soon?}

{ oh, yeah, we’re just gonna swing by Yiling first }

{Yiling? That’s where u started right?}

{ yep! We’re a trio now and the gremlin wants to visit Yiling }

{what}

{ ehe }

{ ttyl bro }

{AY YOU CAN’T JUST

Ah, I thought, ready to sleep, the perks of having a mute button.

I lied. I didn’t sleep much. A-Yang wants a ribbon to match us and we’re leaving on a big journey again. Which means, preparation. 

‘Heh, remember when Jin said Suga's preparation for trips almost made him fall for a man? Or something like that.’

I stopped. 

“How come I forget everything except stuff like this?”

“Stuff like what?”

Jumping, I sagged in relief when it was just Wen Qing.

“Please don’t do that, my heart is going to give out.”

She scoffed, looking over me critically.

“Don’t be foolish. A young heart like yours is not so weak.”

“Uh,” I broke the silence, smiling sheepishly. “So can I-”

“Follow me.” 

‘What.’

And I didn’t stand there like an idiot. No, I followed her immediately. I’m not that stupid.

I ran to catch up. 

Chapter Text

Wen Qing led me to a small courtyard. Huh. Kinda reminds me of something, can’t remember what though.(“Igrewupinoneofthosecourtyardhomestoo,alwayshadtohavesomeonewithmebecausethechickenswouldpeckandfollowme!Itoldyouthisbeforedidn’tI,L̴ȃ̸̱̰̮͒̈̄̋̈́́͐̋̊̋̎̾̿̃̚͝u̸r̷̒͜͠n̴”)

“Stay here. Don’t move.”

Confused, I did as told. 

‘Hey System, is this where she lives or something?’

{This is a form of residence for <Wen Qing>, yes!}

‘Hmm. Weirdly specific but ok. Thanks.’

Looking around, it really wasn’t what I would expect from inside Nightless City, but I guess once you remember Wen Rouhan is in charge, it becomes clear. Bare, dirty, old. Something I would happily settle in now, but would steer away in my first life.

“You were told to go to Yiling if you needed help.”

Good lord she’s trying to kill me-

“I’m closer to Nightless City! And it’s fine, no one’s going to notice if a new child appeared in the streets.”

Wen Qing shook her head, handing me a bundle of cloth. 

“It is not safe.” Looking me in the eyes, Wen Qing sighed. “Wei Yin. Do not come back to Nightless City. If needed, just stay in Yiling.”

“But-” “Please.”

That caught me off guard. I swallowed, looking away.

“We’ve only met a few times. Why are you this...insistent?”

Her eyes darted around, making sure we were alone.

“I have...heard of you.” She admitted, head low. “Your parents. Wen Rouhan is interested, for lack of a better word.”

I didn’t mean for the sharp inhale to be audible, but it clearly was with the way Wen Qing flinched, turning away from me.

“No, I didn’t mean to-”

She cut me off again, herding me out. 

“I said too much. Remember that. Please, stay safe.”

Deciding to listen to her, I walked away. If you or your family ever need help, I’ll always be there. If I muttered this loudly enough for Wen Qing to hear, I ignored it. Don’t think I didn’t see that new hair ribbon Qing-jie! 

‘System, open inventory please.’

{ (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ*: ･ﾟ Opening INVENTORY }

<Herbs x34>

<Box of Ribbons>

<Enchanted Netherite Sword>

<Enchanted Bow>

<Wand>

<Portable Waypoint x4>

<Book and Quill>

<Arrow of Harming x1>

<Sweet Madame x1>

<Wen Qing’s Gift x1>

<Candy x8>

‘Alright, I think it’s pretty good. Thank you, System!’

{SYSTEM is happy to help! Closing INVENTORY (*￣▽￣)b}

I suppressed a smile. Seems like the System is in a good mood. Shen Yuan had confirmed that the more kaomoji used, the happier our System was apparently. 

“Meimei?”

Oh! The zombie has awakened!

“Gege, A-Yang!” I waved. “I’m packing up stuff, let’s leave today.”

Nodding, Wei Ying moved to help, still groggy from sleep. Xue Yang hovered around, unsure how to help.

“A-Yang, come here.”

He wandered over, shuffling. Grinning, I held up a ribbon. His eyes lit up.

“We couldn’t find another one in the same colour, so here’s what we came up with!”

The compromise me and my brother had come up with was a light blue ribbon. Blue means trust and intelligence, I explained. 

“We trust you, A-Yang, and you’re scary smart. Also, blue pairs great with red!”

Seeing him start to sulk, I sighed, pulling my hair ribbon out. Cutting it in half, I retied my hair with half and called Wei Ying over. 

“Gege! Second plan!”

He wandered over and gave me his hair ribbon, taking the other half of the one I cut and tying his own hair with it. 

“Here, “ I tied Xue Yang’s hair with the blue ribbon, then intertwined our red one with it. “Now we match!”

Xue Yang moved carefully, tilting his head to look at the ribbon. He huffed, staring at it.

“It’s weird, but you guys are weird so it makes sense.”

Wei Ying raised an eyebrow, hands held out.

“If you think it’s weird, I’ll take it back now-”

“No!” Xue Yang bared his teeth at Wei Ying. “I’ll fucking bite you, you hear me!”

“Hey, hey, calm down.” I stepped in between the two, just as taken back as Wei Ying at Xue Yang’s sudden aggression. “Gege was joking, weren’t you?”

Nudging him out of his daze, Wei Ying nodded, hiding his flinch. 

“Joking! I was joking, didi! What, can’t handle a little teasing?” He grinned, quietly assuring me he was alright now.

Xue Yang blinked, a look of confusion flashing across for just a second. Then he smiled. No, smirked would be better to explain the sheer aura he had, but being a child the smirk just looked cute on him. 

“I was teasing too, Ying-gege.” The brat even closed his eyes, beaming at us. “Couldn’t handle a little teasing?”

“Hey!” 

The tension was gone, and I went back to packing while the boys ran around. 

“A-Yang, don’t wander too much okay?” 

I managed to ask around for a small pouch to give to Xue Yang to carry around. He didn’t have much belongings, didn’t have any really, so I just gave him a black ribbon (as a spare) and some candy to put in there. He did have a knife, but it was hidden somewhere on his body and I knew enough to not pester him about it. 

“I know, I know, stop hovering around, I’m not stupid,” He rolled his eyes. “Like you two.”

“Hey I heard that!” Wei Ying whirled around, pointing at him. “Don’t try us! We know all your weaknesses!”

I snorted, but continued.

“You’re a brat that’s what. We’re great targets for bandits out here, just be on your guard. Don’t address me as jiejie if we’re not alone, got it?”

That got a reaction. Xue Yang stopped, spinning around to trot back to us. 

“Don’t call you Yin-jie?”

I shook my head. 

“Either call me Yin-ge, or Er-ge.” 

Xue Yang frowned, looking between the two of us. Why, he asked.

“It’s safer.” Wei Ying explained. “Most don’t want two boys, but a girl is always wanted.”

I shivered. It was a few years ago when we had just started traveling when it happened. Fortunately, I looked similar enough to my twin that I could pass as a boy, our age sufficient to explain our high voices. 

“That’s stupid.” Xue Yang spat. “I’ll kill those fuckers if they cause trouble!”

“Ah, no, no, “ I hurriedly placated him. “No killing, killing bad. Just don’t call me jie and we’ll get out of anything safely, alright?”

Wei Ying snuck a candy out of my pack, handing it to Xue Yang as a bribe. 

“No killing, A-Yang.”

“Hmph.” Xue Yang ran ahead, happily sucking on his candy. Oh well, better candy-addict than bloodthirsty psychopath. 

Chapter Text

As discussed, we headed for Yiling first. The way there wasn’t that bad; we met the occasional merchant who gave us some food. It was times like this I kind of missed Donkey, and I could tell my brother missed him too. We’re going to get Donkey back, he’d whispered to me one night. I didn’t have the heart to tell him we probably wouldn’t be able to find one donkey out of the hundreds out there, but I reasoned that any donkey would do the trick. On the other hand, it was extremely clear to us that Xue Yang had never left Yueyang. The kid was gawking at everything, attention divided between us and nature. 

“We should do this more often, “ Wei Ying snorted, eyeing Xue Yang with amusement. “He’s getting tired so quickly.”

I’m not sure how long it took, but it had to be a good month or so. The weather was getting colder, so we were slowly depending on the merchants and their kindness. The ones who had their family with them were the easiest- just a little pleading and the wife would let us in without a fuss, even share food! Xue Yang was becoming a very good actor, and I’m taking the credit for teaching him so back off gege! 

“What’re you three doing out here in the cold by yourselves?”

We’d hit gold this time. The merchant was a food trader, and he had his wife with him, who’d just given birth. We didn’t even have to say anything before one look at our faces had her ushering us inside, stuffing food into our hands. 

“Traveling!” Wei Ying answered, shoving another bun into my hands. Brother dearest, please, at this point you’re just stuffing me.

“Traveling? To where? And where are your parents?”

“Yiling.” Xue Yang answered around a mouthful of food. I pinched him. He needs to mind his manners. “No parents here, nu-uh.”

The lady gasped, tearing up.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Are you…”

“They were cultivators, Auntie.”

“Ah. I see.” She fell silent. “I could-”

I shook my head, interrupting her. 

“We’re going to travel.” I said firmly. “Until we decide to stop.”

She sighed, apparently deciding to humour us.

“Me and my husband, we’ll be settling down in Tangzhou. We’d be glad to have you all visit us sometime.”

“Tangzhou?”

{ South of Yunmeng, below Baling. }

‘Ah, thanks!’

“Sure!” 

The nice lady (Lin A-yi, she told us to call her) and her husband left at Kuizhou, and, probably against my better judgment, we all got off there as well. 

“I thought we were going to Yiling!” Xue Yang was whining again. “Why are we here? Fucking liars, I wanna go to Yiling!”

“Shush, you.” I said firmly. “We’re going to stay here for the night, ok?”

“We still have to walk a lot, A-Yang.” Wei Ying added, patting his head. “Let’s rest first.” 

Sulking, Xue Yang followed us. 

I had a bad feeling about this place, but I couldn't remember why. 

‘Hey System, would you be able to tell me what’s wrong with this place?’

{ Unfortunately, user KILLMEPLS , the !Help feature is payment-based only. Should user KILLMEPLS still want to use the feature, I shall pull up the corresponding payment guide. }

‘Oh. I won’t use it now, but what, like, generally, are the payments?’

{ As users KILLMEPLS and LIVINGMEME have their physical bodies reset each life, the payment will simply be from said physical bodies. SYSTEM hopes this explains the feature well.}

‘Physical bodies? So like, I dunno, Truth? From Fullmetal?’

{ o(≧▽≦)o user KILLMEPLS is correct! Albeit with some changes, the general concept is the same! }

‘Alright, thanks!’

Well, nevermind then. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

So, I’m a liar. We didn’t stay there for one night, we stayed for a few nights. Look, we found this really nice alley, and right next to it was the really nice lady who would give us free food and blankets. Even Xue Yang was willing to let it slide after he cuddled up with us and it was finally warm. Winter is brutal y’all, especially as a wandering street orphan. Of course, I didn’t let us just pass this time sitting around doing nothing. No, I did what every transmigrator should do when the place they’re at speaks another language: I taught my brothers English. Children pick up languages more easily, and the two of them are geniuses anyways, so it wasn’t much work. And here comes the next benefit of being a transmigrator: copyright doesn’t exist. 

{ bruh I’m legit turning into Venti at this point }

{who?}

{ ...I forgot u didn’t play genshin }

{ the trap. His human alias is a wandering bard that ‘knows all songs, past, future, present’ or something like that idk }

{oh ur abusing the knowledge of modern songs huh}

{ whos gonna tell me off- the system? Nah bro if anything they encourage it }

{I still call cap that ur system is giving u king shit while mine treats me l i k e shit}

{ :D }

{ anyeways yee I am…fully embracing this. Again }

{u have good taste in songs so u go bestie}

{slap that copyright shit}

{ ~(˘▽˘)~ }

“Why live like this?”

“Hm?” Mentally shaking myself, I turned to whoever said that.

Xue Yang fiddled with his knife, refusing to look at me. Funny, he always asks those kinds of questions when Wei Ying isn’t here.

“You could easily go with someone.” He pointed out. “And Ying-gege said you have a place at Yunmeng. Why live like this when you could go to a sect?”

Humming, I leaned into the blanket, closing my eyes.

“Going to Yunmeng, any sect really, we’d be stuck there. Our parents were rogue cultivators. We want to…travel first.”

“I’ve seen cultivators out there though.”

I eyed Xue Yang speculatively. 

“We would be too young. The…sect leader wouldn't let us.”

Frowning, Xue Yang stopped fiddling. Finally, he spoke.

“You’re weird.”

I chuckled. Yeah, that’s a good way to describe me. 

“Come here you. It’s getting too cold.”

Tucking the blanket around the both of us, I started humming, patting Xue Yang as we waited for Wei Ying.

I want to say very proudly that I am The Most Un-Lan Lan. It’s even more of a brag when you remember I’m technically the second heir to GusuLan. Fortunately, being a woman doesn’t matter that much when you prove you’re powerful, aka have a powerful golden core. Okay, maybe I’m cheating a bit with my golden core, but the point stands- if Huan-ge doesn’t choose to be the next Sect Leader, it would automatically pass down to me. 

“Jiejie, “ Lan Zhan pulled at my hand, uncertain. “Breaking rules. We should go back.”

“Nonsense!” Grinning, I tugged him over the wall. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing! A little rule-breaking never hurts anyone!”

I had to thank Lan Zhan’s abnormally strong core; I was certain it’s the only thing keeping him healthy with me pulling him along for adventures. Hey, he needs to live a little, okay? Anyways, we transmigrators have a cheat because our golden cores don’t change like we change bodies. So, yes, my baby brother somehow has a strong core already. Am I gonna question it? Nope.

“Not exactly once per lifetime…”

“Meh. Statistics.”

“I don’t-?”

“Don’t pay attention to it.”

Oh, A-Zhan, you’re so easy to tease. 

“Here! Come on, didi!”

I’d found a good spot to sit, and after fussing over Lan Zhan being comfortable, I sat down beside him, cuddling. 

‘Any moment now…’

There was an audible gasp. Not minding that I was missing the view, I smiled, seeing Lan Zhan’s eyes widen and sparkle. See, that’s what a child should look like. Not all prim and stuffy!

I sighed, turning my own gaze to the sky. It was…strange, not having Wei Yin here, but it’s also nice to share something with my brother in this life. 

‘I’m sure she’s gone off and shared a bunch of stuff too.’ I snickered quietly, our last conversation about copyright still fresh in my mind. 

“How?”

“Hm?”

“How,“ Lan Zhan repeated, eyes still fixed to the sky. “How is this happening?”

Leaning back, I let myself enjoy the view for a few seconds before responding.

“I’m not actually sure, but it’s called a meteor shower.”

“Ah,” Aw, he was distracted! “Meteor?”

“A…rock. A space rock.”

“Space?”

Chuckling, I shook my head.

“Don’t worry about it.”

I let the silence reign for a bit longer, and as it thinned out, I whispered quietly.

“Doesn’t it look like the sky is falling?”

-------

“Where were you, Qingshan.”

 Fuck fuck fuck . Lan Zhan would be no help here he can’t lie for shit.

“Who’s Qingshan?”

‘F u c k me-’

Chapter Text

“What’s Qiqi like? Hm, let me think.”

We were supposed to be reflecting in silence but no one came over to check, and thanks to me, Lan Zhan is slowly getting accustomed to slight offences against the rules.

“My first thought is to say ‘she’s the planner between us’, but that’s not really true. She just knows more.” I nodded. “Yeah, Qiqi is…unexpected. She doesn’t do plans, but she’s really knowledgeable, so she seems to have plans but it’s just her bull-uh, making stuff up.”

Lan Zhan hummed, eyes closing.

“I will make plans.”

Stifling my laughter, I nudged him.

“Plans? For what?”

“For mine. For jiejie’s. Will be prepared.”

My shoulders shook with suppressed chuckles, cooing over the determined look on my brother’s face. 

Huffing, I looked around carefully. It was my turn to go scavenging for food, and I wasn’t going to pass off the chance to be alone for a while. 

“System, open shop please.”

{ Affirmative. Opening interface SHOP }

I sorted through the options, checking my inventory as well. What am I looking for? Food, duh. Choose some nutritious food, give some to the other orphans or starving people, get the bowl or plate kinda dirty and bring it back. They’ll never notice. 

{ Warning! Warning! Warning! Heat signature detected! }

“Fuck-”

Swiping down, I ducked into the nearest alleyway.

“There’s so many orphans here…how are we supposed to find one?”

“Shh! You know how important Wei Changze was to Sect Leader Jiang!”

“I know, it’s just, ugh.”

‘They’re already here? Shit.’ I cursed. ‘I’ve delayed it enough I guess. Still, we haven’t even made it to Yiling.’

Making my mind up, I ran back to my brothers. We had to leave.

-------

“Gege! Didi aakcksd-”

“You were gone for so long!” Xue Yang yelled, pinning me down. “We thought- I thought you…”

I blinked. Was I gone for that long? I looked to Wei Ying, but he also looked sad.

“Next time, meimei, don’t go off by yourself.”

Frowning, I sat up, gently picking Xue Yang off.

“But it’s not fair. I want to help too.”

“You can help by not scaring us!” Xue Yang interjected, still glaring at me. His eyes were suspiciously red.

Sighing, I motioned both into a hug.

“No matter where I go, I’ll never leave your side.” Patting Xue Yang’s head, I smiled at him. “You will never be alone, A-Yang. Okay?”

“Well, I agree with A-Yang. At least try not to take too long please.” 

I nodded. That was a good enough request. It was when I heard a rumble that I suddenly remembered what had caused me to come back in such a rush.

“Gege! The Jiang sect is here! We have to leave now!”

“The Jiang sect?”

“I want to go visit Yiling one last time before we go with them.” I hugged Xue Yang tightly. “For A-Yang as well, gege. Come on, please?”

“Hmm.” Wei Ying thought about it, then nodded. “We did promise A-Yang! Let’s go then- to Yiling!”

“Hah?”

Ignoring his confusion, my brother and I packed up our little pile quickly, experienced with the motions. 

“This way.” I followed the faint golden line only I could see, leading to the mark I’d placed in Yiling. 

-------

We made it to Yiling alright, but the relaxed environment didn't last. 

“There you are! You little brat, thought you’d gotten away?”

 A man panting heavily yelled, and we were instantly surrounded.

“Heh, trying to shame the YueyangChang Clan? There’s no getting away this time you street rats!”

“YueyangChang?” I hissed, instinctively pushing Xue Yang between me and Wei Ying. My brother shrugged, eyes darting around nervously. “No idea.”

‘Shit shit shit fuck we shouldn’t have stayed here.’

“A-Yang, stay quiet, don’t let them see you okay?”

I didn’t get to hear his answer when the men spoke up again.

“Hey, doesn’t that look like a girl?” “You’re right! We got ourselves a girl here!” “Clean her up a bit…maybe even have some fun…” “Quiet! They sell higher when they’re clean, we can have fun after we get the money.”

“Stay…” Wei Ying swallowed heavily. “Stay away from my didi! We didn’t do anything!”

“Didi? Ah, well, that’s fine too, he looks good enough.” “Let’s take both of them, make up for the lost money.”

A single man stepped forward. He was dressed significantly more intricately than the others, and feeling Xue Yang tense up, he was probably the one that had a stone to pick with him. 

“The two of you may not have done anything, but that bastard between you has. Hand him over, and maybe we’ll find a better place to sell you.”

“No.” Making sure to make my voice match Wei Ying’s, I pushed Xue Yang out of his sight.

 “Gege, I’ll make a distraction. Run and get help from the Jiang sect.”

“ What ?” He hissed, staring at me with wide eyes. 

“Just listen!” I shushed him, keeping track of the Chang clan. They seemed amused, letting us whisper amongst each other. Well, it works for me. “They know you. Just say you’re Wei Ying. I’ll…I’ll be safe I promise!”

I felt bad for making my brother do this, but it’s true. From what I heard, Jiang Fengmian was only aware of Wei Ying, not that Cangse Sanren had twins. And he’d be even more in the dark about Xue Yang. Wei Ying frowned, glancing between us and the exit. 

He nodded determinedly, ready to bolt for the opening as soon as I distracted them. 

“Stay safe. You too, A-Yang.” 

Now here’s the next problem: I don’t have a distraction. 

‘Uhhhhhhhh-’

I whipped my head over to stare at the rooftop, pointing and yelling “Sect Leader Jiang!” Grabbing Xue Yang, I bolted, right at Head Bastard, managing to ram him right between the legs and pushed past him. 

“WHY YOU- CATCH THEM!”

‘Please,’ I thought frantically, running as fast as I could. ‘Please tell me Wei Ying got past.’

I wasn’t sure how long I was able to run, weaving between different alleys and twisting paths, but soon enough we were surrounded again by the Chang. 

“That fucking…” 

Oh look, Head Bastard was hobbling his way towards us. I hope you weren’t hoping to have children. Actually, no, I may have helped the world by doing this. That guy screams the opposite of a good father- probably would be best friends with Endeavour.

“I changed my mind. This one’s coming with us as well.”

My last thought before blacking out was a faint oh my fucking god this is so cliche and Xue Yang pulling his knife out. This is fine. This is fine. Please don’t kill anyone A-Yang. 

Chapter Text

Wei Ying ran blindly, trusting his sister would be able to handle things from her end. 

‘Sect Leader Jiang, Jiang clan, purple, look for purple-’

“Watch where you’re going!”

He’d slammed into someone, a cultivator, looking at their sword and purple robes.

Purple robes.

“Please!” Wei Ying cried, holding on to the cultivator, “You have to help! My meimei and didi need help! Your, your sect leader! Where is he?”

The cultivator frowned, looking at him more closely. 

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Wei Ying! My meimei is Wei Yin and-”

The cultivator swore, looking around. 

“Sect Leader Jiang! I found him! Sect Leader Jiang!”

What happened next was a flurry of movement, and then Wei Ying was pressed securely against a firm chest.

“Wei Ying?” He looked up. “I’m Jiang Fengmian, do you…know me?”

Wei Ying nodded. 

“Uncle Jiang! But, but, you have to help! Meimei and didi needs help!”

Uncle Jiang had a weird look on his face. 

“Wei Ying has two siblings?”

“Meimei said to look for Uncle Jiang because Uncle Jiang can help! Please!”

“Of course, “ Jiang Fengmian nodded. “Tell me what happened, A-Ying.”

My first memory of waking up was a vile taste in my mouth.

“Whaststhht-”

Surprise, I couldn’t speak. 

“Jie? Yin-jie?”

“Mhfffm?”

A shuffle. A-Yang appeared in my vision, eyes wide in not exactly concern, but not apathy either. 

“Stay quiet,” he hissed, a glint in his hands. He was cutting my ropes and gag. Now why the Chang Clan gagged and tied up two street brats escape my mind, but that’s not the main concern here. “I’m gonna find a way out, you stay here in-case they come back.”

Before I could protest, the gremlin was gone. Groaning, I pushed myself up and looked around. Dark, lit by candles, crates stacked up everywhere, generally unpleasant and probably full of rats. Yep, a storage room. Or something. I don’t know, I’m not an expert in rooms. Making my way carefully around the cluttered room, I tried looking for windows.

“What the- did they block up all the windows?” I muttered, checking the wall. “How secure do two children need to be?”

Finished with looking around, I ended up just standing there. I didn’t want to leave without Xue Yang, but I also felt extremely uneasy here, like something’s about to happen. 

‘Don’t worry, everything is going to be ok. Gege is with Jiang Fengmian, A-Yang is finding a way to get out. Just stay put here.’

I’m not sure how long I waited, but eventually I heard a small thump.

“Yin-jie, Yin-jie!”

“A-Yang?” I rushed over to the door, just catching Xue Yang slip in. “Are you hurt?”

He batted away my attempts to look over him, grumbling about how he could take care of himself thank you very much. 

“I couldn’t find Ying-ge anywhere, but we can easily cause a distraction and get away.”

I sighed in relief. If Wei Ying wasn’t here, chances were that he managed to find Jiang Fengmian and is hopefully on his way. 

In hindsight, I probably should’ve asked Xue Yang what kind of distraction he meant.

“XUE CHENGMEI-”

“I SAID A DISTRACTION!”

“I DIDN’T THINK YOU MEANT STARTING A FIRE !”

“IT’S A DISTRACTION!”

“FUCK YOU!”

Not that I’m saying it didn’t work, because it did. Extremely well. Too well, maybe. No one was looking at two kids running out of the building because everyone was running out of the flaming building. Wood and paper burns fast, I was beginning to realise.

“Where’s the fucking exit you little shit?” I panted out, dodging a painting that fell and burst into flames. 

No answer.

“A-Yang?” I spun around, searching for the shit. There was a scrap of burnt cloth on the floor in front of the painting that just burst into flames. 

‘Think, all those fire safety lessons and videos you watched at school, don’t fail me now brain-’

All I could think was ‘tie a cloth over my nose and stay low to the ground’ which I was half doing already, being so short. Ignoring (or, trying my best to ignore) the searing heat, I moved away from the exit, going back into the flames. 

“Fuck, A-Yang? Answer me! I need to know where you are!”

There was still no answer, and I tried to not think about all the very possible reasons why he wasn’t answering. Not for the first time, I cursed the limitations of my body. See, while we don’t have to abide by the rules of the SYSTEM like poor Shen Yuan and we were allowed to retain a certain amount of whatever power or abilities we had in a previous world, children aren’t exactly made to withstand any of it. Unless of course it was a lab baby, but that would make our whole ‘having to die to gain points’ thing harder. Long story short, I mentally have a lot of solutions for this, but physically I’m a literal child. Shit sucks doesn’t it? 

“Jie?”

“A-Yang!”

M a n he looks bad. His face was covered in smoke, the edges of his clothes burned, and he was coughing horribly. 

“Jie, I-, my ribbon-”

“Hey hey hey,” I fluttered around him, trying to stop him from speaking when he honestly sounded like a 50 year old smoker. “Don’t talk, you’ll hurt your throat even more.”

He shook his head, grabbing my hands. It really isn’t fair how strong this child is.

“My, “ Xue Yang cleared his throat. “Ribbon. Sorry, burned, I couldn’t…”

“You’re worried I’m mad over you burning the ribbon?” I stared incredulously at him. “It’s just a ribbon! We’ll get you another one! Right now, we have to get out.”

Translation: Xue Yang get your shit together if we stay any longer that ribbon’s not gonna be the only thing burned.

Too harsh? Yeah probably. True? Definitely. 

“I’m not burning to death again, no thank you, once was enough for the experience.” I muttered, hauling Xue Yang to his feet, being mindful of his burns. I didn't notice him glancing at me, too busy squinting through all the smoke and fire.

‘Come on, where’s the fucking exit?’

Chapter Text

Should’ve known things wouldn’t be that easy. Can’t have a single break, what the shit? I want a refund, system! 

“Why the fuck is he still here?” I whisper-wailed into Xue Yang’s ears. Who even gets petty enough to stay behind in a burning building to catch two kids? This fucking idiot apparently.

“Why are you asking me? Left!” Xue Yang snapped back. I was still carrying him, though he’d migrated to my back so it was easier for me to run. 

Swerving left and then ducking behind a falling piece of wood, I panted harshly. Running normally was hard enough, running with a child through burning wood was another tier. 

“Okay, “ I breathed out, carefully putting Xue Yang down. “Let me just…catch my breath here…”

Noticing Xue Yang fiddling with his hair, I sighed. 

“Here.”

I gave him my own hair ribbon, a bit charred but still usable.

“Don’t tie it yet, just hold it for now. There, you have one now don’t you?”

It must’ve actually shook Xue Yang if he didn’t oppose what I said, merely holding it with a tight grip, nodding. Taking a deep breath, I turned around. 

“We should keep moving. Let’s go.”

Except I didn’t feel Xue Yang getting on my back. I felt something warm drip down. My stomach dropped and I froze. 

“A…Yang?”

Turning around I was greeted with the sight of Xue Yang hunched over me, a steadily growing stain on his stomach. Lifting my eyes up, it was the same man that had been chasing us, grinning.

“I said you little street brats would be sorry!” He cackled, not even bothered about his home burning down. “This shit called you jie didn’t he? Good, you better earn all this money back when I sell y-”

I want to say I was smart, I thought things through. I want to say I didn’t just punch him and leave him to burn to death, because I could’ve waited for my brother to arrive with the Jiang sect. What we want, is not always what we need, and in this case, what I needed was for the fucker to die. 

A wheezed out ‘jie’ broke me out of my stupor.

“Stay still! You can’t bleed out more!”

I carefully looked at the stab. 

“Stupid! Why’d you do that!”

He snorted.

“Turned your back, idiot. Never do that.” He tried to speak more but coughed out blood instead.

“Okay, okay, yeah, stop talking.”

Because really, what kind of main character shit is this? Realistically, it should just be a stab wound.

‘So why the fuck is it so severe?’

Let’s just not include the burns and scraps we both have from this still burning house holy shit we need to get out but I have to somehow patch Xue Yang up first.

“Sorry, “ I muttered, picking Xue Yang up and dragging him to the courtyard I could see. At least there it was slightly clearer, and the fire was less worrying. 

Dragging him over was the hardest. He kept groaning, because as gentle as I tried to be, Xue Yang was still being jostled and he may seem tough but he’s still just a kid. 

I laid him down on the ground, apologising again because it was hard stone but there was no material to put under him. 

“Okay, A-Yang, I need you to tell me if you can feel this.”

No response. Deja vu?

“A-Yang!”

I frantically shook him, checking his vitals and breathing.

“A-Yang! Come on, respond! It’s me! Yin-jiejie! Jiejie!”

No response. My hands shook as I felt his heartbeat again.

“No no no no no no…” I muttered, shaking. “What’s the fucking point of becoming head disciple of a medical peak if I can’t save my own brother…”

My own breathing was coming out in short bursts, and my vision tearing up. No, I can’t, that is not happening- not when A-Yang was right there slowly dying ! Forcing myself to control my breathing, I focused back on him, carefully ignoring the blood and how clammy he felt. 

“Think, you goddamn idiot, “ I’d slipped back into English. How strange. We’d always stuck to whatever language the world we were in spoke in. “No fucking attacks you dumb shit, now’s not the time to think about yourself!”

{...Would user KILLMEPLS like to obtain a HINT from SY-}

“Would I like to? Would I fucking like to?”

A soft glow suddenly enveloped Xue Yang, distracting me momentarily.

“That’s-” His golden core. Of course! The basis of every cultivator’s strength! 

“It-it should be healing him, why isn’t it healing him?”

I didn’t need to hear the System’s reply, I could see it clear as day. Xue Yang’s core was…frail. No other word could describe it; the glow was dim, there were visible cracks, and it was just overall so small. He’s still young, I realised, the hope I’d gained vanishing. His core isn’t developed yet, that would take a few more years at least. 

At this point, I was lost. What could I do? We were inside a burning building, Wei Ying nowhere to be found, one dying and the other about to die if I didn’t do something. Y’know when you put your entire head underwater and everything goes all woozy? It’s not exactly a ringing in the ears, but it is kind of like that. The cracking of flames sounded muffled, as if I’d put it on the 2x setting on Youtube. All I could see was that pathetic golden core, growing weaker and weaker. 

‘Scum Villain isn’t the only media with a form of healing shtick.’

I think my hands are moving. Funny, they were shaking earlier, weren’t they? With how still they are now, I could perform perfect surgery.

‘Is someone talking?’

{...user KILLMEPLS is certain?}

‘Someone’s yelling. Probably mum yelling at D͔͇̭̻̱ͦ̓̏̂͢ẫ̸̳̩̖̬̘̥n̄̃̇̋͏͚̘̼̲iͣ͐͏̗̙̠̙̟̳ͅe̯̮̲̣̱̅̄̂͝l̺̯͕̏͟ again. Thank god I’m in the bath right now.’

{Understood. SYSTEM is processing payment details…}

‘Honestly, I don’t get it. Him. Whatever. As soon as I start university I’m getting the fuck outta here- independence here I come.’

{SYSTEM is processing…}

‘I wanna see Collie again. Meet up, travel together, eat together, I’ve been talking about that cafe for literal years now…’

{Payment has been processed. SYSTEM will now proceed.}

‘I’ve always wondered what university is like…’

{...SYSTEM will make sure user KILLMEPLS is safe afterwards. This feature will be free of charge.}

Chapter Text

‘Am I…back?’

My name is Wei Yin, I’m the younger twin of Wei Ying, also known as Wei Wuxian. I’m also confused right now, because I’m pretty sure we were not able to afford beds and the thing I currently am on is a very soft bed. Oh well would you look at that- it’s a very nice, wealthy looking room I’m in too. I moved to get up, only to wince as my arms burned. As in they hurt. Because they were burned. Somehow. 

“Meimei! Meimei! A-Yin! Please wake up!”

Ohhhhhhhhhhh shit that’s how my arms got burned.

I felt my throat closing up as memories came rushing in from the fire. 

Cloud Recess was usually the epitome of calm and composed, so it was easy to see something had happened when Lan Qiren (THE Lan Qiren) was seen hurrying around in a rush. 

“Uncle?” I bowed to him, Lan Zhan by my side as always. “May this one ask what is happening?”

Lan Qiren took a deep breath. It wasn’t enough to be counted as a sigh but for him it might as well be one. “The Jiang Clan is asking for our healers. A most important matter, they say. Wangji, what does this likely mean?”

“Concerns an heir of YunmengJiang, Uncle.”

He nodded. “Correct. Qingshan?”

“Uncle is required to be part of the, the party going.”

“The entourage. Correct, there is improvement.”

Finally, he stroked his beard and came to a conclusion.

“Xichen will be here to look after Cloud Recess. The two of you will accompany me to YunmengJiang.”

I nearly shouted right there and then, but Lan Zhan, the sweet angel he is, kept a firm hold on me and bowed.

“Understood. Shall we pack, Uncle?”

Lan Qiren waved a flowy sleeve at us. “No need. Be ready to leave in four shi. We must arrive before nighttime.” And before he left, he turned back to look at me. “Perhaps read up on YunmengJiang. You are representing GusuLan also.”

As soon as he left I started grumbling under my breath.

“Read up, represent, tch.” I rolled my eyes, heading to our room. “Whatever. It’s a vacation! A-Zhan, are you excited?”

He didn’t respond right away, instead holding my hand tighter. 

“Mhm. But, scared. Have not been outside of Gusu.”

“Awww,” I patted his head. Poor boy was shy. “It’ll be like meeting A-Sang! I heard Yunmeng is extremely pretty, with lots of water and flowers! The people are also really nice!”

I lowered my voice to whisper to him. “Besides, if anyone tries anything, you tell me ok? I’ll always be here.”

He nodded. 

—----

{yo so what’s going on at yunmeng?}

{its where ur headed right?}

{bro?}

‘Holy fuck not again-’

‘System! What’s going on?’

{ User KILLMEPLS is on a SYSTEM-activated sleep cycle. Please wait until the cycle is over.}

‘System-activated what? Why? What happened?’

{SYSTEM-activated sleep cycle: the User is required to shut down in order for the SYSTEM to make the necessary adjustments.}

‘So what happened?’

{The SYSTEM must make necessary adjustments to User KILLMEPLS .}

‘That’s not helping! Where is she then?’

{SYSTEM #823120281862038 is currently located in <YunmengJiang>}

Lan Xiu blinked. What?

‘There’s system numbers? Is that Wei Yin’s?’

{Every User is given their own unique SYSTEM, tailored to suit them.}

‘Oh are they now...So what’s your number?’

{...This SYSTEM is SYSTEM # 822003613214023.}

‘Cool. Anyways, she’s in YunmengJiang? Why’d you say her system instead of her name?’

{SYSTEM #823120281862038 is currently located in <YunmengJiang>}

‘What???’

{SYSTEM #823120281862038 is currently located in <YunmengJiang>}

“Tch. Stupid system and their stupid rules…”

“Jiejie?”

I whipped around to find Lan Zhan standing behind me, a concerned and unsure expression on his face.

“A-Zhan! Nothing, nothing, just some annoying things popping up!” I grinned and gestured for him to join me. “Wanna look up some stuff about Yunmeng with me?”

Yunmeng better be ready for me.

Chapter Text

I can’t tell you for sure what happened the last few days. I remember being surrounded by fire, the crushing pressure(or was it guilt) of A-Yang being unresponsive, my brother screaming my name, and just generally feeling numb. System was also not responding to any of my questions. I managed to pull up my profile, and my inventory was still fine however, so I’ll take that. The stats though…

{User: KILLMEPLS }

{V8 Member}

{Current status: Healing}

{Estimated Recovery Time: 2 Weeks}
{ See more? }

The sheer…simplicity of everything made me nervous. I only remember the System acting like this once before, and I’d chalked it up to being in the presence of two other System-holders. But even then, my System was still up and running, providing the details verbally for me. Oh, or maybe this happened Before, but I hardly remember anything from that time. 

Enough about the weird bug that’s happening; Wei Ying found me, took me here (I came to the conclusion that here is Yunmeng, looking at the various lotus motifs around me), and is hopefully taking care of himself. I’ve had the same panicky feeling ever since I woke up more aware, the feeling that something was wrong and I needed my brother, but how? I lacked the strength to get up and move, forget about yelling. We’d found a way to alert each other by briefly flaring our qi, but that was reserved for dire situations and I didn’t want to make him panic. One panicking person is enough, thanks. 

And right on cue, faint knocking sounded from the door. 

“Excuse us, gongzi.”

The door gently opened and two ladies came in, one carrying a tray of food, the other what I presume to be medicine. 

“Thank you for taking care of me, “ I croaked out, attempting to sit up and give them a bow. “Um, also-”

Turns out my throat was hella dry. I devolved into coughing and one of the ladies hurriedly put down her tray, gesturing something to the other.

“Thanks.” This time I didn’t sound like my throat was made of sandpaper, the kind lady giving me a glass of water. “What’s your name?”

“Oh.” She hesitated, then smiled softly. “This one is simply called Ling. I’m very glad gongzi has woken up.”

“Ling? Like bell? It’s a pretty name!” I managed a half bow. “This one is Wei Yin, courtesy Mochou. Also, you don’t need to call me gongzi…”

Ling blinked, shaking her head. 

“It would be improper of me to call you anything else-” “Ah, I mean that I’m, um, not a boy?” I sheepishly interrupted her, giving a half shrug.

“Oh. Oh-” Her eyes went wide and she hurriedly gave me a deep bow. “My deepest apologies, guniang! We assumed that, well, seeing Wei-gongzi, and then you look so similar, we’re very sorry!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Please get up!” I failed to cover up a cough, but it got Ling to stop bowing if only to give me more water. 

“Where is gege?” I asked after thanking her for the soothing water- note to self find honey if there are any in this time period. “You said you’ve seen him? So he’s fine right?”

“Xing has gone to fetch Jiang-zhongzhu. I highly suspect Wei-gongzi will accompany them here, with how worried he has been.”

And once again with the timing! I could faintly hear someone running down the hall, and next thing I knew someone was on top of me.

“Meimei! I’m so sorry! I thought it-I thought you- you weren’t moving or responding and A-Yang wasn’t there-”

“Gege, I missed you too don’t apologise please get off I can’t breathe-”

Yelping as he probably just realised he was pressing down on my lungs, Wei Ying moved off, still looking remorseful.

“I’m fine, gege.” Coughing a couple more times then wincing when I tried to reach for him didn’t help. Wei Ying peered at me.

“No, you’re not.”

“I am! I’m awake, and, uh, I’m here?”

There was a subtle cough that stopped what could’ve been a very long argument. Right, I forgot about Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian.

‘Oh boy here we go.’

“This one thanks, um, Jiang-zhongzhu and Jiang-furen for the help.”

Yes I know it’s Yu-Furen but I’m not supposed to know if ya get what I mean.

Wei Ying nudged me. 

“Ah, this one is Wei Yin, courtesy Mochou. Thank you. For the help. Um.”

A glance at Wei Ying told me I wasn’t doing too bad, judging by his reassuring grin. He’s always grinning and being reassuring though, so it doesn’t help much.

“No need for all that, A-Yin.” Jiang Fengmian sat down by my bed. “You may call me Jiang-shushu. Your parents were great friends of mine, sworn brothers. I have neglected my duty by only finding you now. This should’ve been done years ago.”

Ah. Wei Ying was just as uncomfortable about this as me it appears. 

“Enough. You will gain nothing by confusing the two children.” Yu-furen looked at us. “You may call me Shimu. There will be a doctor to examine you properly.”

Here, she paused and it seemed like she was speaking directly to my brother even though she was looking at both of us. 

“I will stay. Should Jiang-zhongzhu make too much fuss, he will be kicked out. Is that satisfactory?”

Wei Ying nodded. Huh, did something happen while I was off in dreamland?

“San-niang…” Jiang Fengmian looked pained. 

“Quiet, “ She snapped at him. “If you have nothing better to do, go take care of your children. These two should not be disturbed so much this soon.”

‘Whipped.’ I was in awe. Yes, Yu Ziyuan’s character is absolute dogshit in the novel (if she behaved like in canon I’m hightailing it out with Wei Ying, following the script be damned) but the pure confidence and power she has? Amazing.

‘Gaslight gatekeep girlboss, queen.’ Sect Leader Jiang of the YunmengJiang clan slunked out of the room looking like the human embodiment of a sad puppy. 

Wei Ying blinked, amused. 

“Was Jiang-shushu making a fuss already, Shimu?” 

Yu Ziyuan pointedly didn’t answer him. 

“How do you feel, Yin-er?”

“Me? Um, “ Good question. How did I feel? “I feel tired. My arms hurt a bit, but other than that I’m fine.”

“That is not fine in any way, child.” Yu Ziyuan reprimanded me as Wei Ying clutched on tighter. “One does not list the ways they feel bad and then say it is fine . Up, child. I will check as you apparently cannot.”

I should be offended, but after really thinking about how I felt, wow I’m really tired. 

Yu Ziyuan (I suppose I should think of her as Yu-shimu now) carefully pried Wei Ying away before putting her hands softly on my back. It didn’t even take a minute before I heard a gasp and her hand came away. 

“What’s wrong? Is she okay?” Wei Ying immediately started asking questions, going back to his koala grip on me. Yu-shimu ignored him.

“Yin-er, tell me exactly how you feel, every little thing.”

“Um.” I blinked. “Tired, I’m hungry. I don’t know, it’s blurry. Gege, where’s uh, where’s A-Yang? Is he okay?”

Wei Ying fell quiet, and I could faintly hear Yu-shimu curse.   

“Gege?” I was starting to worry, where was Xue Yang? I got him out of the building, I had to have. He couldn’t just die ! 

“-down! Calm down, please, meimei!” Wei Ying was holding me, grounding me. “I’ll…tell you about A-Yang when you’re better, okay? You need to recover first…”

I heard a small “sorry” and the next thing I knew was darkness. 

‘Motherfucker knocked me out-’