Practical Considerations

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/57378508.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandoms: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 陈情令 | The
Untamed (TV)
Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng | Jiang
Wanyin & Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Huan | Lan Xichen & Wei Ying |
Wei Wuxian, Lan Qiren & Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian
Characters: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Lan Huan | Lan Xichen,
Lan Qiren, Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Jin
Zixuan, Jiang Yanli, Jin Guangshan, Meng Yao | Jin Guangyao, Nie
Mingjue, Wen Qing (Modao Zushi), Wen Ning | Wen Qionglin, various
Lans
Additional Tags: Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate
Universe - Canon Divergence, Found Family, Spouses to Lovers,
Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Politics, Scheming, Lán Elders
are assholes, BAMF Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, BAMF Lan Zhan | Lan
Wangji, eventually BAMF Lan Xichen, learning to make decisions,
Learning Self-worth, Self-Esteem Issues, Sweet Wangxian, Domestic
Fluff, Fix-It, JC is a big asshole, he improves somewhat but it's open-
ended, WWX learns to stand up for himself, Quote: Come Back to Gusu
With Me (Modao Zushi), POV wwx, POV LWJ, POV JC, Golden Core
Reveal (Modao Zushi), Teacher wwx, Golden Core Transfer Fix-It
(Modao Zushi), Alcohol as a Coping Mechanism, Past Suicidal
Thoughts, Post-Sunshot Campaign (Modao Zushi), Wei Ying | Wei
Wuxian Protection Squad, Feelings Realization, WWX protector of the
twin jades, Protective Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Protective Wei Ying | Wei
Wuxian, Protective Lan Qiren, Demonic Cultivator Wei Ying | Wei
Wuxian, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian is Loved, Married Lan Zhan | Lan
Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Genius Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian,
Everybody Lives
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-07-14 Completed: 2024-08-02 Words: 96,963 Chapters:
20/20
 Practical Considerations
by teawater, the_anthropologist

Summary

After the Sunshot Campaign Wei Wuxian is fooling around in Lotus Pier, and Jiang Cheng
decides that he'd be more useful to the sect if he was to enter a diplomatic marriage.
Especially since Lan Wangji seems so keen on dragging him away to Gusu. Only Wei
Wuxian doesn't expect any good to come from it...

Notes

Warning: the first couple times wangxian shag, WWX does it for weird reasons. He'll get his
head out of his ass, I promise ^^

Based mainly on the book with the exception of that WWX has seen LWJ drunk already (not
that it's important in any way).

Note on the tranlsation:

So, the first draft of this was done by the_anthropologist, using MT, then I, teawater, went in
and fixed everything MT couldn't handle, and then finally ddTiel polished it to its current
readable state. Those of you who can read in Russian are still better off, but at the end of the
day I think this is fun enough.

I will be posting a chapter a day just to ride the updates page XD feel free to wait for 20 days
and read the whole thing (also, plz remind me if I forget to post cuz sadly AO3 doesn't have a
chapter scheduler).

A translation of Практические соображения by teawater

 Chapter 1

“Wei Ying, come back to Gusu with me…”

Wei Wuxian snorted, turned on his heels and walked away with a proud gait, waving goodbye
without looking. Lan Wangji sullenly stared after him until Wei Wuxian disappeared inside
the Fragrant Palace.

Jiang Cheng, who was standing nearby in the shadow of a sculpture of fish jumping out of
the water, raised an eyebrow. He didn’t deliberately eavesdrop on his shixiong’s
conversations, he just wanted to be alone, to take a break from conversing with stuffy Jins.
The garden in Koi Tower was large, but so many people had gathered for the anniversary of
the victory that there was simply no secluded place in the Jin estate. Jiang Cheng was only
able to occupy this particular spot because Lan Wangji was mooning around, and no one
wanted to get close to him unless absolutely necessary. Well, except for Wei Wuxian, as
usual.

However, why did Lan Wangji think that Wei Wuxian should come to him in Cloud
Recesses? Wei Wuxian was a Yunmeng Jiang disciple, which Lan Wangji was well aware of!
Thinking about it, Jiang Cheng remembered that this wasn’t the first time Wei Wuxian had
heard this order from the stone-faced Lan. Jiang Cheng had heard him the very first day they
saw Wei Wuxian in the Yiling Supervisory Office, but his shixiong had whined and
complained more than once that Lan Wangji constantly threatened to drag him to Gusu and
punish him for his unconventional cultivation.

It was time for this to end.

Pulling his face into the most unshakable grimace that he could manage, Jiang Cheng stepped
out from behind the sculpture and went to give Lan Wangji a piece of his mind about who he
was and what he could do with his orders and punishments.

“Second Master Lan,” Jiang Cheng snarled, deliberately ignoring his honorary title.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” Lan Wangji replied blandly, looking through Jiang Cheng. His temper
only boiled more.

“May I ask,” Jiang Cheng began with ill-concealed fury, “why you think it is acceptable to
demand that a senior disciple of my sect be subjected to your sect's judgement?”

Lan Wangji frowned slightly.

“Judgement?”

Jiang Cheng barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Well, maybe just a little.

“It’s unlikely that Wei Wuxian will get off with a couple of months of copying the rules this
time around. And I have a nasty feeling that your respected uncle wouldn’t reconsider his
opinion on the use of resentful energy. If you have any complaints about Yunmeng Jiang,
please kindly express them to me personally, and don’t try to punish my disciples behind my
back for violating your rules.”

“I don’t mean to punish Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji replied in the same even voice. “I didn't
invite him for that.”

Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes.

“And if not for that, then for what?”

Lan Wangji moved his lips but didn't say anything, as if he didn't want to admit it. Zidian
glowed brighter on Jiang Cheng's hand.

“Is the honourable Hanguang-jun trying to lure disciples from other sects? Do you have any
shame at all? I can barely even recruit from backwater civilian families, and in the meantime
you’re courting my senior disciple?!”

“No!” Lan Wangji blurted. Jiang Cheng even thought his eyes widened a hair's breadth. “I am
not suggesting that Wei Ying change sects.”

“Then would you be so kind as to explain what you want from him?” Jiang Cheng hissed,
folding his arms over his chest.

Lan Wangji lowered his gaze.

“Constant exposure to resentful energy is bad for the body and soul,” he finally said.

“That’s very interesting,” Jiang Cheng snarled. “What do you want from him?”

Lan Wangji still looked into his eyes.

“This path can lead to insanity.”

His words burned Jiang Cheng, but he didn't show it. The idea wasn’t new, but until now no
one had presented it so categorically. Wei Wuxian himself only laughed it off and constantly
assured him that there was no danger and that he would handle everything, and Jiang Cheng
had no reason not to believe him. Wei Wuxian had always managed.

After reciting this brief lecture to himself, Jiang Cheng blinked his eyes nonchalantly.

“I am not asking you about what will or will not happen to my disciple. I want to know what
this has to do with Hanguang-jun and his sect.”

"I'm worried about him," Lan Wangji choked out under his breath.

This time, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but grimace in surprise. He had always thought that Lan
Wangji would have loved to pulverise Wei Wuxian himself. But obviously, he had changed
his mind… Probably after Wei Wuxian stayed with him to deal with the Xuanwu. That
damned tortoise, it should have died an agonising death forty thousand more times! If Wei
Wuxian hadn’t stuck his neck out, the Wen Sect would have had no reason to attack Lotus
Pier…

Jiang Cheng descended very quickly into these almost superstitious beliefs. If someone else
had presented his reasoning to him in the form of a written essay, he would immediately point
out a ton of logical holes. The Wen Sect would have found a reason without the tortoise. Wen
Chao hated Wei Wuxian from the first moment they met. If Lan Wangji had died in that cave,
they would have had one very strong warrior fewer on their side, and Lan Xichen would
hardly have been as friendly and kind to the people who left his brother to die.

However, so far no one had written anything down in the form of an essay, and blaming all
the problems on Wei Wuxian was easier and more familiar. Mother had always done it, and
no one objected to her. Wei Wuxian himself didn’t care at all; any accusations rolled off him
like rain off the oiled paper of an umbrella. But if he was thoroughly accused of every sin,
Wei Wuxian became more obedient, tried harder to entertain Jiang Cheng, and at least for a
while didn’t stick his neck out. Net benefit.

But the mention of the tortoise made Jiang Cheng angry, and he was not the kind of person to
delve into and analyse his impulses. At the moment, he just didn't want to look at Lan Wangji
anymore with his perfect appearance, unsurpassed cultivation, and ideas about Wei Wuxian's
health.

“Well, keep your worries to yourself!” he spat and walked away with a sweeping stride,
unintentionally following his shixiong.
 Chapter 2
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Moving on to the first tag ^^

The chapters will be growing bigger as we go.

"WEI WUXIAN!!!”

Jiang Cheng's bellow resounded throughout Lotus Pier, reaching the farthest corners of the
sect's residence and even the nearby villages. The source of the Sect Leader's wrath should
have fallen off the balcony, on which he’d settled down with a whole colonnade of wine
bottles, but he only waved his hand affably.

“A-Cheng, would you like a drink?”

Jiang Cheng was shaking with rage.

“Where did I tell you to go and what did I tell you to do there?” he yelled, no longer caring
that his voice would be worn out by evening.

“Hmmm…” Wei Wuxian drawled, scratching his chin ponderously. “I don’t remember?”

Zidian struck the balcony parapet, knocking a piece out of it and shattering the bottle in Wei
Wuxian's hand into small shards.

“Hey!” The bastard was outraged. “I just started drinking that!”

“You started it; I finished it!” Jiang Cheng growled. “I told you to do an orientation session
for the newbies. You blew them off. I told you to look at the repair estimate for the pier. You
didn't even approach the foreman. I told you, you ungrateful bastard, to copy from memory at
least one godforsaken book that you’ve read in your life!!! Wei Wuxian!!! How the fuck did
your damned Dark Path get in the way of that, huh?! Or am I the only one who needs these
things? Am I the only one who needs to restore the sect?! Why the hell do I need you then, if
all you do is fuck around?!"

Wei Wuxian left his wine and hopped to the ground.

“A-Cheng, why are you so mad, I’m just taking a break for a minute…”

“Your days are made up of such minutes!” Jiang Cheng roared. "Tell me, when was the last
time you did something useful?! Remind me why I tolerate you!”
For a second, Wei Wuxian looked wounded, but he quickly realised that Jiang Cheng was
about to turn to assault, and changed his expression to a lively one.

“I went night hunting yesterday and earned money!” he announced happily.

Jiang Cheng's field of vision was shrinking due to the red haze around the edges.

"Not yesterday, but three days ago," he grumbled. “Everything that you’ve earned, you’ve
already drunk. And I. Told. You. To take. The juniors. And you again, again went off alone. I
don't understand, Wei Wuxian; are you afraid that some rookie will beat you? Is it really that
hard to take a few teenagers hunting? Or do you think they should learn to destroy evil spirits
by simply breathing the same air as you?!"

“A-Cheng, I can’t teach them my way!” Wei Wuxian whined.

“All right then,” Jiang Cheng hissed, panting heavily. “You have three days. Get yourself
together and start doing your work. Either you will do everything I say, on time, or you will
give up on your crappy path and cultivate like everyone else. A-jie can spoil you all she
wants, but I’ve had enough threatening letters from Jin Guangshan. I don't intend to stand up
for you if you're useless.”

“Threatening letters?” Wei Wuxian frowned. “You didn’t tell me anything about any letters.”

“Yes, because you’re an uncontrollable moron!” Jiang Cheng yelled again. “I’m afraid to tell
you anything at all about the Jins in case you level Koi Tower to the ground! I don't want to
be held responsible for your marauding!”

Wei Wuxian's face turned cold.

“Well, since I’m so useless and dangerous, maybe I should just leave the sect?”

“What?” Jiang Cheng blinked.

“You heard me,” his shixiong muttered and flashed his reddened eyes. Over his shoulder,
Jiang Cheng could clearly see dark smoke against the light wall.

“You’ve gone crazy, haven’t you?” Jiang Cheng choked out, unwillingly recalling Lan
Wangji's gloomy prophecy.

Wei Wuxian just grunted and walked back up the stairs to his balcony to deal with the
remaining battery of bottles.

The anger that Jiang Cheng had only aggravated with his yelling found no outlet, trampled
down by shock. How could Wei Wuxian say such a thing? Was he seriously considering
leaving Yunmeng Jiang? Leaving Jiang Cheng alone?!

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to shout, “You promised!”, but then a bitter thought came to
him: hadn’t Wei Wuxian already left him alone? Didn't Jiang Cheng have to carry the burden
of all their problems? Didn't he do all the work himself? He kept the accounts, he recruited
people, he supervised the construction of buildings, he drilled the disciples, and then at
nightfall he dragged frightened, inept beginners on night hunts in order to earn money for
everything that he continued to do the next morning. Would Wei Wuxian leaving the sect
change anything?

Jiang Cheng turned around and went back, weighing the pros and cons on the way, true to his
habit. A-jie would be upset. He himself would stop resting altogether – currently Wei Wuxian
sometimes distracted him, and this infuriated him, but at the same time gave him a respite.
What else? But the Jins would finally leave him alone about the Tiger Seal. And if Wei
Wuxian did kill one of them, Jiang Cheng wouldn't have to apologise. From an objective
point of view, it wasn’t that bad.

Even through his rage, Jiang Cheng felt that it was bad, very, very bad, because Wei Wuxian
was his friend and brother, because they must be together and at the same time, because at a
difficult moment, Wei Wuxian would be there and would stand up for the sect until his last
breath… But there hadn’t been any difficult moments yet, and Wei Wuxian was drinking
away the budget. That money could be spent on clothing. Books. Building materials. Now
Jiang Cheng no longer counted every copper, but Wei Wuxian didn’t buy cheap wine either.

"What's wrong with him?" Jiang Cheng thought. “Why is he sitting there and drinking all
day?! Was Lan Wangji right, was Wei Wuxian’s mind damaged by communing with the
dead?”

And then Jiang Cheng had a thought.

As soon as he entered his office, Jiang Cheng sat down at the desk and began to write out a
message to Gusu Lan. Of course, he was rude to Lan Wangji that time, but not so much that
he had a formal reason to be offended. Having sketched out an absolutely formulaic
beginning for politeness, he immediately got to the point:

Hanguang-jun,

The last time we spoke, I was too harsh. My apologies. Since then, I have repeatedly thought
about your words and begun to fear that there was some truth to them.

If you are still interested in accepting Wei Wuxian in Gusu, we can discuss it.

***

The return letter from Lan Wangji arrived surprisingly quickly, as if he was waiting on the
edge of his seat for Jiang Cheng to write to him.

Sect Leader Jiang,

I would love to have Wei Ying here. But he refuses. I won't force him. Unless he has changed
his mind.

Jiang Cheng chuckled. If Wei Wuxian hadn’t, he would. Jiang Cheng scratched the back of
his head as he considered how much shamelessness he could get away with. But in the end, it
was about Wei Wuxian, and compared to him, Jiang Cheng’s shamelessness was nothing.
Hanguang-jun,

I heard you suggest that Wei Wuxian come with you, and to be honest, it didn't sound very
friendly, and he remembers well your esteemed uncle’s punishments. If you are ready to
provide written guarantees that in the Cloud Recesses he will not be exposed to danger,
violence or humiliation, and that he will have complete freedom of movement both inside the
sect’s residence and outside it (within reason), then he won’t have any grounds for refusal.

This post-war period is difficult for both of our sects. I know firsthand how hard it is to
restore a residence after a disaster. There is always a shortage of people, and those who
remain have a shortage of knowledge and skills. Before the war, Wei Wuxian was an excellent
teacher for young disciples and, as you know, one of the most skilled cultivators in our
generation. However, until his state of mind returns to normal, alas, he is struggling with his
duties around the sect.

Yunmeng Jiang currently has no techniques or specialists to help him. However, as I

understand it, Hanguang-jun offered to let him take advantage of your sect’s advances. Of
course, I can't ask for such a favour at no cost, but if your treatment works, Wei Wuxian's
abilities will make up for it.

Jiang Cheng grimaced as he wrote it out; he wasn’t at all sure that Wei Wuxian would even
lift a finger for the Lans. But he'd already learned the hard way that presentation is key to
selling.

And no, he wasn't going to think about selling his brother. His brother didn’t think about the
sect when he was drinking. Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and started on the most important
passage.

Maintaining a healthy balance of power is essential in the current political environment.

Many of the troubles we've encountered in the past have come from the fact that each sect
had acted separately without supporting each other. I believe we have all learned from our
mistakes, and Gusu Lan, like Yunmeng Jiang, wants to strengthen relations with neighbours.
Bonds of friendship and brotherhoods are strong, but marriage is the strongest alliance. Such
an option would look natural from the outside and would not raise questions from those
concerned about Wei Wuxian's access to an energy source of significant power. I’m sure that
amongst Gusu Lan’s numerous and extremely powerful techniques, Wei Wuxian’s methods
will not look so outrageous.

Jiang Cheng reread the letter, added a formal conclusion, and called the messenger before he
changed his mind. Of course, there was little chance that Gusu Lan would actually want to
form a marriage alliance with Yunmeng Jiang. Lans generally treated marriage alliances
somewhat strangely. But if it worked out... Jiang Cheng tried to imagine a scenario in which
Wei Wuxian suddenly got his head on straight and started working (which in itself was
unlikely). Even at the peak of his performance, could one man’s effort be comparable to a
real, strong alliance with the Lans? Even if it were more beneficial in the long run to keep
Wei Wuxian in Lotus Pier, Jiang Cheng could only dream of a long-term future right now.
Surviving a year without letting everything fall apart was his wildest dream.
And besides, if Wei Wuxian married into Gusu Lan, no one would question that in difficult
times he’d stand up for his native sect. But if he just deserted, then they would have to
pretend to be enemies… To Jiang Cheng it would feel like a bone stuck in his throat. No, it
would be better to let them feed him unseasoned rice in Gusu and put him to bed before dark;
maybe then he’d love his homeland more.

***

Sect Leader Jiang,

Should I understand your last letter as a marriage proposal?

***

Hanguang-jun,

A marriage proposal is made by the receiving party. You want Wei Wuxian to move to Gusu,
don’t you?
 Chapter 3
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Meanwhile, in Cloud Recesses...

Lan Xichen sat and laboured over a huge book where he was sentenced, for his sins, to plan
every monthly budget in advance. He would have loved to take on an interesting case, like a
mass uprising of rotting human remains, for example, but alas. The financial affairs of the
sect could only be managed by a person holding one of the highest positions in the sect, and
Uncle had dumped this work on Xichen as soon as he could. Wangji, with his characteristic
perfectionism, recalculated each figure ten times after himself, and as a result, all the work
took him half a month — the very one that should have been budgeted already.

“Brother,” came a voice behind him, and Xichen inhaled sharply in surprise.

“Wangji? Hadn't you gone to meditate in seclusion?”

His younger brother finally came into his field of vision, and Xichen immediately noticed
that he was excited.

“Brother… we… Could we form a marriage alliance with Yunmeng Jiang?”

Xichen put his brush down before it made an inkblot in the book and gestured for Wangji to
sit down.

“Do I understand correctly who is going to marry whom?” he asked carefully.

Wangji nodded nervously.

“But…” Lan Xichen hesitated. The last time he saw Young Master Wei, his way of talking to
Wangji didn’t suggest a marriage was imminent. Nor did Wangji himself look like his
feelings had finally been returned. “What does the other side think about this?”

Wangji looked away.

“It's a political alliance. Sect Leader Jiang is interested in our support. Wei Ying will be able
to take on some responsibilities in the sect. Brother... is it possible...?”

Lan Xichen also lowered his eyes, and his gaze fell again on the account book. As far as he
could remember, Wei Wuxian had mastered the science of numbers. It was more tempting
than Lan Xichen was willing to admit. However…
“But Wangji … wouldn’t it be even more painful for you to marry him, when it might never
become a true union of hearts?”

“Wei Ying is unwell,” came the reply. “Sect Leader Jiang doesn’t talk about it directly, but he
is concerned. If Wei Ying lives here, I can play for him.”

Lan Xichen’s lips parted in a soft “ah.” So, for Wangji, there was no question of choice, he
was only looking for opportunities to get Young Master Wei under his care. Well. An alliance
with a neighbouring sect wasn’t bad at all, especially in light of the Jins' rise, and Lan Xichen
would never propose his brother as a candidate for a political marriage even with the most
advantageous partner. So, although Yunmeng Jiang was now in a deplorable state and
required more investment than it could return, in the future this would probably change, and
Wangji still wouldn’t agree to marry anyone else. To introduce another clever and erudite
cultivator into the family, albeit with a dubious reputation, would be very helpful in the
current situation.

"I'll write Sect Leader Jiang a formal proposal," he decided.

Wangji bowed deeply without a word. Lan Xichen knew that his younger brother was too
emotional to speak. The Sect Leader couldn't help smiling. Too bad Young Master Wei didn't
share his affection for Wangji. Would this marriage even work…? Lan Xichen knew all too
well from his parents’ experience that you can’t force affection. But Wangji wouldn’t impose
himself. He, most likely, would never even hint to his spouse that their marriage could be
something more than a political alliance.

“Is there anything else I can do for you?” Lan Xichen asked, overwhelmed with feelings.

“Brother… Can we promise Wei Ying freedom and safety? Sect Leader Jiang worries that
our sect does not accept his cultivation path.”

Oh, right.

Lan Xichen grimaced. Of course, the elders and Uncle would want to reform “the heretic”.
Lan Xichen did not believe in reforming. But he believed in compromise when making deals.

“If Sect Leader Jiang has made certain demands, we must evaluate the risk and benefit.
Suppose we give the guarantees he asks for. Then, Wangji, as the senior husband, can you
guarantee the elders that Master Wei will not break the rules, tempt cultivators to the Dark
Path, and create difficult situations?”

Wangji hesitated, choosing his words. Xichen saw that his brother had already thought about
that as well.

“He will not tempt. Wei Ying doesn't like to talk about his method. As for the rest… If Wei
Ying lives in the Jingshi, the elders won’t need to see him often. And one more thing, I
thought... The sect has a house in Caiyi. Wei Ying could... take a break there from time to
time?”
Like Xichen himself, Wangji saw things soberly. Making Wei Wuxian follow the rules would
probably be beyond human ability. But arranging his life in such a way that the rules
concerned him as little as possible... If Wangji was ready to share his own space with him and
regularly visit Caiyi...

“You will have to change the layout of the Jingshi to accommodate Young Master Wei,”
Xichen remarked.

Wangji nodded.

“If Brother permits, I will talk to the carpenters tomorrow. I think they can add an extension.”

Lan Xichen opened his mouth. Until now, Wangji had never agreed to change the appearance
of the house in which their mother had lived, and the interior decoration remained barely
distinguishable from the times of their childhood. Lan Xichen would not be able to live amid
the memories, and it was a bit cramped there, to be honest. However, Wangji insisted that
asceticism was a virtue, and wasn’t going to change anything. But as soon as the dark
silhouette of Wei Wuxian flickered on the horizon, Wangji himself proposed to add an
extension?

“Wangji, how long have you been thinking about how to accommodate Young Master Wei
here?”

Wangji's earlobes turned red.

“Sect Leader Jiang wrote to me two days ago. I did not immediately comprehend his
meaning.”

Lan Xichen pursed his lips, thinking that it would have been more proper for Sect Leader
Jiang to write to him instead of Wangji, but there was some logic to it. It was Wangji who
most wanted to bring Wei Wuxian here. It only remained to be seen what Wei Wuxian
himself thought about it. Lan Xichen had no illusions about this.

“Well,” he said slowly. “I suppose we can promise that Young Master Wei will not find our
conditions unnecessarily restrictive.”
 Chapter 4
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

And so it begins ^_~

On the third day since taking his leave of Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian's behaviour hadn’t
improved at all. In the morning he went fishing, returned all wet and lay down to dry himself
in his clothes on the terrace of the Main Pavilion. As children, he and Jiang Cheng often did
this, but only now did Jiang Cheng understand why his mother had been so furious. And back
then, the sect wasn’t teetering on the brink of extinction.

So when Jiang Cheng received a letter from Sect Leader Lan at dinner, he immediately threw
his chopsticks on the table and broke the seal.

Lan Xichen wrote more skillfully than Lan Wangji, which was to be expected. But the
meaning of the letter was clear and crisp: in these difficult times, alliances are worth their
weight in gold, Wei Wuxian is an outstanding cultivator, we will not oppress him, here is a
formal marriage proposal.

Jiang Cheng took a deep breath, realising that what he had started out of anger and
impotence, and which was absolutely impossible, had suddenly become a reality. The Lans
were willing to take Wei Wuxian away from him on his terms. And even support the revival
of the sect in return. Jiang Cheng couldn't tell if he was happy or horrified.

“What’s with you?” Wei Wuxian asked gloomily, looking at him across the table.

Jiang Cheng wavered for a second. He had already made his bed, so now he had to lie in it.
He'd already persuaded the Lans, there was no going back.

“This is a marriage proposal,” he said, and when his sister dropped the bowl in her hand, he
added hastily, looking at his brother. “For you. From Gusu Lan.”

Wei Wuxian froze. After a couple of moments of immobility, he held out his hand, silently
demanding the letter. Jiang Cheng nervously ran his eyes over it again, but didn’t see
anything incriminating himself, so he handed it over. Wei Wuxian read it for so long that
Jiang Cheng began to suspect that he had lost both reason and literacy, but finally he put the
letter aside and stared blankly into his soup.

“You will give me to them.”

Jiang Cheng choked on the assurance that Wei Wuxian could decide for himself. He had
promised Lan Wangji that Wei Wuxian wouldn't mind.

“Better to Gusu than nowhere,” he muttered.

“A-Cheng, what are you talking about?” gasped their sister.

“Wei Wuxian offered to leave the sect a couple of days ago,” Jiang Cheng grumbled, glaring
at his brother. He was still hypnotised by the soup.

“A-Xian!” Their sister swayed with the shockwave those words produced. “How did that
even enter your mind?!”

Wei Wuxian shrugged one shoulder and raised his eyebrows as he closed his eyes.

“Jiang Cheng thinks I am of no use here.”

“And what use are you?!” Jiang Cheng bristled at once.

Wei Wuxian didn't answer. He turned away and sat, flaring his nostrils and fiddling with the
edge of the table mat with nervous fingers.

“A-Cheng!” A-jie exclaimed again. “How can you argue?! We are in a dire situation as it is!”

“Maybe it wouldn’t be so dire if Wei Wuxian helped even a little bit!” Jiang Cheng snapped.
“Maybe in Gusu they’ll figure out how to make you work?!”

“In Gusu, they’ll come up with a little house on the outskirts” Wei Wuxian's lips curled in
disdain. “And call it solitary meditation.”

Jiang Cheng frowned. He himself thought about something like that, and therefore set the
conditions.

“Lan Xichen promises not to restrict your movements.”

"And you believe him?" Wei Wuxian chuckled. “Lan Zhan has been trying to put me under
Gusu Lan arrest for years.”

Jiang Cheng's frown deepened. He himself had thought so, but Lan Wangji insisted that those
threats were actually offers of help.

"Lans can't lie," he said uncertainly.

Wei Wuxian grimaced.

“How do you imagine being a sect leader and never lying?”

Jiang Cheng had been a sect leader for hardly any time, but he still found it difficult to
imagine. He was a little confused, not finding the next argument, and rested his gaze on the
stack of letters.
“A-Xian, you didn’t really decide to leave, did you?” A-jie continued to inquire.

Wei Wuxian replied something nonsensical, but Jiang Cheng didn’t listen because the next
letter was from Jin Guangshan. Jiang Cheng unfolded it with faltering fingers.

“What else is there?” Wei Wuxian asked anxiously, so that Jiang Cheng realised that his face
must have looked upset.

“The Chief Cultivator writes that he will bring the issue of keeping the Tiger Seal in Lotus
Pier up for discussion at the spring conference.”

The brothers looked at each other for a long time. Then Wei Wuxian nodded slightly, not in
response, but to himself.

“When should I pack my things?” he asked.

“For Gusu?” Jiang Cheng asked, dumbfounded.

“No, for Lanling!” Wei Wuxian snapped. “Of course, for Gusu! They’ve promised you free
stone and a guild of carpenters!”

“ Us ,” Jiang Cheng corrected, watching with only his eyes, without turning his head as Wei
Wuxian got up from the table. “They’ve promised us . This is your home too.”

“My home is a grave mound,” Wei Wuxian spat and walked away.

A-jie shot up and ran after him to calm him down, but Jiang Cheng did not move, weighed
down by the conversation. Selling a brother was a heavy burden. But Jiang Cheng had
learned to make tough decisions. And the goings-on in this brother’s head literally bent him
to the ground, as if he was waiting for it to explode any moment.

***

The wedding was hastily arranged. Jiang Cheng didn't want to wait until the spring
conference. Lan Xichen didn't want to calculate the gains and losses for another month. Lan
Wangji didn't want to let Wei Ying's condition progress any further than it had to. Wei
Wuxian wanted all this over with and he didn’t want to have to keep wondering: is this the
last time he’d drink wine? Is it the last time he’d swim in the lake? And shouldn’t he enjoy
the meat in a spicy sauce more thoroughly, because he was probably eating it for the last
time?

He tried on wedding clothes indifferently. Gifts from the Lans — silks, crockery, books —
filled him with bitterness. Sometimes, once again waking up at night from a nightmare, he
reached rock bottom and asked himself: hadn't he paid off his debt to the Jiang Sect yet? Did
he still owe something? But whatever it was, Jiang Cheng did not know about his repayment,
and that was the whole point. Jiang Cheng had gradually become a good leader. He learned to
make decisions. Learned to calculate his moves. Wei Wuxian felt a bit like the kind of parent
who leaves a small child to tie their own clothes even though it takes half a day. But if you
interfered, they’d never learn.
Yes, of course, Wei Wuxian could do many things in the sect without the risk of being
discovered. But if he took on even just the construction projects, he would immediately want
to do everything his own way, he would have to persuade Jiang Cheng, start proving
something to him, and Wei Wuxian didn’t have the strength for it. Besides, this was Jiang
Cheng's house. Wei Wuxian increasingly came to the conclusion that he couldn’t stay here.
You can't fool everyone forever. Sooner or later, Jiang Cheng would see something was
wrong, correlate the facts, guess, check… And since Wei Wuxian had to leave Lotus Pier,
there was no need for him to create something here to his own taste. Jiang Cheng would
change everything anyway, when Wei Wuxian left. He barely had the strength to get out of
bed even as it was.

Fortunately, they decided to hold the wedding in the Cloud Recesses. This, of course, meant
lousy food, sobriety, and a dull feast in silence, but Wei Wuxian didn’t perceive the event as
joyful in any case, so there was no need to deceive himself. On the other hand, the Jiangs did
not have to prepare too much: they had sewn scarlet clothes, collected a nominal dowry
(mainly Wei Wuxian's own designs), and that was it.

“I’ll take your sword myself,” Jiang Cheng told him. “Swords aren’t worn to a wedding. As
for the flute… It’s no good for the Lan elders to see it, don’t you think?”

Wei Wuxian suspected that after Jiang Cheng handed Suibian over to the Lans, he would
never see his sword again. It might be easier, but he couldn't part with Chenqing like that.

"I'll hide her under my clothes," he promised. “She’s only a little girl.”

Jiang Cheng gave him a strange look, but nodded.

So Wei Wuxian leaned back and entertained himself imagining Lan Zhan in red. He'd seen
him once in red, at a shooting competition the Wens had held. But Wei Wuxian didn’t pay
much attention back then, only remembering how Lan Zhan got pissed off when Wei Wuxian
tugged at his ribbon. Maybe Wei Wuxian would have another opportunity to tease the surly
bore. At least he could get some entertainment in the Cloud Recesses that way.

***

The wedding ceremony in Gusu looked exactly like Wei Wuxian expected. Bland food, bland
faces. Except that Lan Zhan in red exceeded all expectations. Wei Wuxian even wanted to rub
his eyes when he first saw him, but Jiang Cheng slapped his hands to keep his makeup from
smearing. However, in everything except his appearance, Lan Zhan behaved completely
predictably — he was silent, looked at the floor or, at best, over Wei Wuxian's shoulder, and
just when they began to bow in the Hall of Ancestors, Wei Wuxian thought that Lan Zhan
was trembling a little. But by the time they sat down at the table, it was over.

“Won’t you say even a word to your young husband?” Wei Wuxian cooed in his ear between
courses.

Lan Zhan shuddered and squeezed the edge of the lacquered table with his fingers so hard
that he crushed the hard wood. Wei Wuxian swallowed. It was probably better for self-
preservation not to make Lan Zhan angry. He was hardly happy to link his life with a
demonic cultivator forever. Of course, it was he who most wanted to bring Wei Wuxian to
Gusu, but it was one thing to take him just as a prisoner, and another thing entirely —
officially as a husband. It was an open question how it would affect the reputation of the
Second Jade. Of course, the Lans would explain to everyone that this was a punitive measure,
but some might not believe it...

Finally, the time had come for the newlyweds to retire to their chambers, whatever they
turned out to be. Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief. He was already tired of pretending to
smile in response to Jiang Cheng’s nervous glances and Shijie’s tears. Lan Xichen looked at
him and Lan Zhan with a kind of uncertainty unusual for him and from time to time forgot to
glue back the smile that kept peeling off, while the other Lans did not look at him at all. Wei
Wuxian, however, playfully waved at everyone and, pretending to be pleased, followed the
handsome Lan Zhan to the place where he was to spend who knew how many years to come.
 Chapter 5
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

And thus Explicit begins XD

Chapter Notes

Like I said, WWX's reasons for sexy times are all over the place, beware.
Also, from now on chapters will be longer.

Lan Zhan was leading him away from the buildings Wei Wuxian had known since his
training in Gusu. There was the classroom where Lan Qiren lectured. Here was the dining
hall. Now they passed the Library, where Lan Zhan and he— Although, of course, it wasn’t
the same Library anymore. Cloud Recesses was no longer the same Cloud Recesses, just as
Lotus Pier was only pretending to be itself. In fact, all the buildings were new, alien, bearing
no trace of either Wei Wuxian himself or the people he grew up with. He turned away with an
effort.

“Wei Ying, how are you feeling?”

Wei Wuxian clenched his teeth. Was the lecture about the Dark Path going to start right now?

“Fine,” he muttered.

“You've been silent all day.”

“Ah, Lan Zhan, today is such a… fateful day. I’m too anxious to speak,” Wei Wuxian lied
unconvincingly.

“Wei Ying talks when he’s anxious,” Lan Zhan remarked quietly.

Wei Wuxian had nothing to say to that, and why should he? Judging by the fact that they’d
left behind all the lights of the residential buildings, with only night and mountains ahead,
Lan Zhan was going to take Wei Wuxian right away to a small house on the back slope, and
leave him there to meditate on his behaviour. He shuddered, not from the prospect, but from
the cold. Autumn came to Cloud Recesses much earlier than Yunmeng.
They walked the rest of the way in silence. It seemed that they really were going to the back
side of the mountain. Finally, behind another rocky ledge, a house appeared — exactly as Wei
Wuxian had expected. Prim, in the Gusu Lan style, small — obviously built for one. Small
lanterns hung on the corners and to the left of the entrance, highlighting the white walls and
the dark wood of the porch, and neat flower beds with small flowers all around. Wei Wuxian
was actually touched — really, they had even planted flowers for him.

Lan Zhan hung the lantern he carried in his hand to the right of the entrance and pushed open
the double doors, stepping aside so that Wei Wuxian could pass through. He huffed, mentally
estimating if he could knock his husband out now and escape before he was locked up.
Probably not. Lan Zhan was a very strong cultivator, and Wei Wuxian hadn't practised
combat for a long time. And he couldn’t do that to Jiang Cheng — after all, the Lans would
break off the alliance with him.

He went inside.

The first thing that caught his eye was a round table, on top of which a huge lotus was laid
out in rosewood mosaic. Wei Wuxian stared at it in surprise: he had never seen rosewood and
lotuses outside of Yunmeng before.

“Wei Ying?”

Lan Zhan, it turned out, came in after him. Wei Wuxian tore his eyes away from the table and
saw another lotus carved in a round openwork inset on the door in the far wall on the right.
To the left, a symmetrical door had an ebony circle carved with clouds. Wei Wuxian thought
that it was unlikely that two doors in one wall led outside, which meant that the house was
actually not that small. He cast a quick glance around: a couple more tables under the
windows, one for writing, with an ink set proudly sitting on it, and the other for the guqin,
with the guqin rested atop it. Ah yes, Lan Zhan would want to play all sorts of cleansing
melodies for Wei Wuxian. It wouldn't do any harm or good, but Wei Wuxian didn't mind. Lan
Zhan played beautifully.

In addition to the tables, the room had seating cushions — which was also surprising; after
all, the Lans always sat on hard mats — potted plants, lamps, a small kang , and several neat
low cabinets, on the shelves of which strict and subdued decorative elements were
interspersed with books. However, half were just empty.

Wei Wuxian crossed the small space to the opposite wall in four steps and pushed the lotus
door aside. Behind it was a bedroom with a large and high bed covered with bedspreads. And
judging by how warm it was, there was a duct under the bed, through which the hot air from
the kang came out. Lined up along the far wall were chests with things that had come from
Yunmeng, and right next to the headboard there was a carved stand also made of rosewood,
on the lower “horns” of which Suibian rested, while the upper ones, spaced only a couple of
palms apart, were empty.

“Is this for Chenqing?” he said, amazed.

There was no answer, so he turned around and saw the end of Lan Wangji's nod. He didn't
seem to understand what was surprising.
“Spiritual instruments should be properly kept. I thought this place would be convenient for
quick access.”

“Did you set everything up here?” Wei Wuxian spun around, noting more shelves and a table
in the other corner, as well as a new chest he didn't recognise.

Lan Zhan nodded again, but now he looked unsure.

“If Wei Ying doesn’t like it, it can be redone.”

“No, it’s very nice here…” Wei Ying said in confusion. He somehow did not expect Lan
Zhan to invest so much in the arrangement. He ran his fingers along the edge of the nearest
shelf and peered into the chest. It turned out to be not just a chest, but a chest of drawers, in
which there were stacks of paper for various purposes, including talismans, and then also
inkstones, brushes and paints. “Wow. Aren't you afraid that while I’m stuck here alone, I'll be
inventing stuff?”

“There are no restless souls in the Cloud Recesses,” Lan Zhan reminded. “If Wei Ying comes
up with something useful for night hunting, the sect will be grateful.”

Wei Wuxian doubted that, but decided not to push the topic. There were other ways to occupy
himself here.

There was a knock, and Lan Zhan went to open the door. A servant with a basket stood at the
door, and even through the two doorways, Wei Wuxian could smell the wonderful smell of
spicy meat. Lan Zhan silently accepted the basket, nodded to the servant and closed the door,
and then began to place pots of food on the round lotus table. The aroma should have made
the eyes of Gusu natives water.

“What is it?” Wei Wuxian went into the front room and looked into a pot. He was greeted by
the smell of smoked duck.

“Wei Ying didn't eat anything during the feast.”

“Was there anything edible there?” Wei Wuxian reflexively replied, but immediately returned
to his question. “Are you secretly addicted to normal food?”

“Not me,” Lan Zhan corrected. “Wei Ying loves Yunmeng cuisine. I found a cook who lived
there for several years. He will cook for Wei Ying separately.”

Wei Wuxian looked up from a pot of hot and sour fish soup and stared at Lan Zhan.

“Just for me? Is that convenient?”

“He doesn’t work in the common kitchen and won’t bother anyone,” Lan Zhan answered as
usual, seriously and without expression.

“Where does the meat come from?” Wei Wuxian couldn't understand. "Isn't that against the
rules?"
Lan Zhan gave a barely noticeable shake of his head.

“Eating meat is not forbidden. It is forbidden to kill animals, so we do not keep livestock. I
arranged for an inn in Caiyi to send a messenger here every day with a small portion of meat
or fish.”

“Every day?!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed, shocked. “Is someone going to have to climb your
mountain every day just so I can eat meat? Lan Zhan, it's not necessary!”

Lan Zhan eyed Wei Wuxian’s body with a frown, making Wei Wuxian wonder if something
was wrong with it.

“The messenger will be paid for the work,” he explained.

“Isn't it too wasteful?” Wei Wuxian continued to wonder. It didn’t fit in his head that some
person would work solely for his personal comfort.

“I can afford it,” Lan Zhan stated categorically and pursed his lips. He seemed to be annoyed
that Wei Wuxian was clinging to this issue so much, but he couldn't just leave the topic.

“You?!” Wei Wuxian's eyes widened even more. “You’re paying for it yourself? Not the sect?

Lan Zhan seemed to actually be angry now.

“My house. My husband. I can spend my money however I want. Now eat, it's getting cold.”

With these words, he got up and went into another room — the one with clouds on the door.
Wei Wuxian mindlessly shoved the contents of one of the bowls into his mouth, trying to
figure out why Lan Zhan was making life so difficult for himself. However, the green beans
with garlic in lard that he had picked up were so good that Wei Wuxian soon stopped
thinking, fully surrendering to enjoying his meal.

He snapped out of it only when Lan Zhan returned from another room with two jars, which
Wei Wuxian unequivocally identified as Emperor's Smile . He almost dropped a piece of
duck from his mouth.

“Wi’?” he exclaimed with his mouth full. “’N th’ Cwou’ R’cess’z?”

“Talking while eating is forbidden,” Lan Zhan reminded him, calmly putting the jugs on the
table and taking cups from one of the shelves. He, however, poured himself tea from a teapot
that puffed on the stove.

Wei Wuxian swallowed everything with an effort.

“And bringing wine in is allowed?”

Lan Zhan averted his eyes, and his earlobes turned red.

“No.”
Wei Wuxian stared at him, at the jugs, at the cups, and back at him, urging for an explanation
with his chopsticks.

“I trained for an extra two hours and took an unscheduled night shift.” Lan Zhan made
excuses for the first time in Wei Wuxian’s memory. “The rules say ‘no alcohol,’ not ‘no
drinking alcohol.’ Wei Ying will not be punished if he drinks what’s already there.”

Wei Wuxian put down his chopsticks and ran his fingers through his hair to massage his head
and somehow comprehend what was happening, and remembered the beautiful hairstyle and
elegant comb only when he knocked everything down.

“Lan Zhan, we just got married, and I’m already such a bad influence on you! Is this also
going to be delivered by a messenger from Caiyi every day?”

“No,” Lan Zhan hesitated. “Bringing alcohol is against the rules. I can't ask anyone. So… not
every day. Only if I have business outside of the Cloud Recesses.”

Wei Wuxian scratched his head even more roughly, trying to decide if this was a dream, and
as a result, the largest decoration from his hairstyle hung on a thin strand, pulling his hair
painfully.

“Ow,” he hissed, and tried to unhook the gold contraption he had received along with other
pre-wedding gifts from Gusu. He had been sure that Lan Xichen had simply sent someone to
the jewelry shop for the first comb of a certain value he came across, but now he began to
wonder if Lan Zhan had chosen it himself. However, the sharp prongs got so tangled that it
might have been easier to rip off the strand. Wei Wuxian raised his hand, aiming to yank.

“Wait!” Lan Zhan exclaimed. Well, "exclaimed" — by his standards. “Let me...”

He trailed off, as if changing his mind mid-sentence. Wei Wuxian looked into his cup. No, it
was definitely tea.

“My husband wants to help me comb my hair?” he asked playfully. “I didn’t expect to
receive such attention! Oh, my head is so heavy from all these hairpins! I don't even know
how to take them out. Lan Zhan, will you take care of me?”

He noticed that Lan Zhan's Adam's apple was moving back and forth, but nothing showed on
Lan Zhan's face as he nodded and took out a more practical comb from his sleeve.

“You can continue eating,” he said, moving behind Wei Wuxian and taking the tangled
decoration from him.

Wei Wuxian decided not to waste the permission. The food was so tasty that it would be
blasphemy to let it go cold. Strangely, the last months in Lotus Pier, the dishes he always
liked, even cooked by Shijie, didn’t seem appetising to him. He drank more than he ate. And
now he hesitated to wash away the wonderful taste of spicy duck even with the Emperor's
Smile .
Soon, the tangled strand was released, and Wei Wuxian felt the light and even somewhat
timid touches of the comb on his hair. However, they gradually became more confident, and
then Lan Zhan began to take out hairpins and ornaments one by one. With each movement,
Wei Wuxian's head became lighter, as if someone had unclenched the vise on his temples.
Wei Wuxian closed his eyes and groaned blissfully.

“Hurts?”

“No, it’s goo—oh…” Wei Wuxian breathed out. “Lan Zhan, you’re so gentle, I’m truly lucky
to have such a husband!”

Lan Zhan's hand trembled in his hair, but he continued combing it gently.

“I’ll order a bath,” he said when there were no more hairpins left and Wei Wuxian’s hair lay
neatly over his shoulders. “Wei Ying can relax after a hard day.”

Wei Ying drank the last of his soup and poured himself a cup of wine, but he was in no hurry
to empty it. If Lan Zhan was talking about resting, then curfew was near, which meant that
Wei Wuxian would be left alone in an empty house on the back of the mountain. Likely
forever.

“I did nothing but bathe for half a day today,” he complained. It was true: when they arrived
in Caiyi, he and Jiang Cheng and Shijie stopped for the night, and today for Wei Wuxian
began with three incense baths and dressing in scarlet robes, and then he was ushered into the
wedding cart, which Jiang Cheng hired with gritted teeth, and brought to the gates of the
Cloud Recesses. “Is that what ought to be done on one’s wedding night?”

Wei Wuxian turned to Lan Zhan, who had not yet had time to stand up and move away. They
were somehow unusually close.

“What…” Lan Zhan said with difficulty, staring at the floor, “would Wei Ying like to do?”

“Hmmm.” Wei Wuxian grinned mischievously as he considered the possibilities. There

weren't too many of them. “Maybe my husband will have a drink with me?”

Lan Zhan frowned.

“I wouldn't want to forget my wedding day.”

“Oh, yeah,” Wei Wuxian laughed. He himself didn’t see what was worth remembering from
today, but Lan Zhan's soul was a mystery. “Well then…” Wei Wuxian went through
everything he had seen in the house in his mind, “I’ll draw your portrait, and you’ll pose!”

Lan Zhan's ears were red-hot, Wei Wuxian even thought they were glowing in the semi-
darkness of the room. He moved his lips silently, and Wei Wuxian decided to take that as an
agreement.

“Let’s go!” he declared and poured the wine into his mouth, barely tasting it. Jumping up, he
ran into the bedroom, pulled out a sheet of paper, a board, a brush, and an ink stone from the
beautiful chest of drawers and threw it all on the bed, and then climbed on himself. Lan Zhan
hesitated at the door.

“Come in, come in,” Wei Wuxian encouraged him. “Wow, this bed is so soft! I thought you
couldn't sleep on soft stuff in the Cloud Recesses!”

“Not forbidden,” Lan Zhan said and took two steps inside. “Not good for posture.”

“Nothing will save my posture, so I'm all for it!” Wei Wuxian said as he leaned back against
the pillows. The pillows were soft too! Suddenly he realised that he was too tired to draw, and
in general would have preferred to spend the next eternity lying on this bed. His eyes closed
on their own, and Wei Wuxian floated on a warm, soft cloud.

“Wei Ying has had a hard day,” Lan Zhan said softly. “You should rest.”

Wei Wuxian widened his eyes in panic. Lan Zhan would go now and leave him alone in his
personal prison! Admittedly, with delicious food and soft pillows, but no pillows could
replace human contact. He felt doused in cold water.

“Not at all!” he exclaimed, voice breaking. “Why should I be tired? I didn't do anything
today! And anyway, Lan Zhan, you can’t leave your young husband alone on our wedding
night! I'm sure there's a rule about it!”

Lan Zhan didn't say anything, and then Wei Wuxian was suddenly overwhelmed with the
realisation that he and Lan Zhan were now married. True, the reasons and goals for this were
all sorts of atypical, but the union was real!

“Lan Zhan,” he called softly and licked his lips nervously. "You're staying the night, aren't
you?"

Lan Zhan looked up, eyes wide open.

“Wei Ying...”

Wei Wuxian laughed a little hysterically. Now he was about to achieve the opposite: Lan
Zhan would run away and change his mind about paying the messenger and the cook for
delicious meals. But the excitement had already taken over his mind.

“I belong to my husband now,” Wei Wuxian cooed. He couldn't say that in a serious voice.
“He won’t leave me to wither away in disgrace, will he?”

Lan Zhan stiffened.

“What are you talking about?” he almost whispered.

Wei Wuxian shoved his art supplies onto the floor and patted the bedspread beside him.

“Hanguang-jun is a great cultivator, of course, but he is also a young man in his prime. It’s
only natural that he has certain needs. Moreover, he’s overflowing with yang energy!”
Lan Zhan continued to stare at him as if he saw a ghost. Wei Wuxian mentally said goodbye
to the hot sauce.

“Wei Ying… Do you… want to…?”

“Well, what did you think?” Wei Wuxian pouted. “I got married, not took a vow of celibacy!
You didn't think I was going to be out of the game for the rest of my life, did you? You
should know me better! Moreover, my husband is the most beautiful person in the world!
Who am I to disdain him?”

Lan Zhan took a step towards the bed, as if against his will, mesmerised by the sounds of an
enchanting flute.

“Are you sure?”

“I have already agreed to be your husband,” Wei Wuxian said almost seriously, confused by
his own game and Lan Zhan’s strange behaviour. Wei Wuxian had no choice in the matter of
marriage or who to lose his virginity with, and that being so, there was nothing to think
about. “So what else is there to doubt?”

Lan Zhan made a strange chest sound and took a few steps forward as if he was being pushed
from the back. Stopping at the very edge of the bed, he extended his hand somewhere
towards Wei Wuxian in general, and Wei Wuxian did not think of anything better than to put
his fingers into Lan Zhan’s palm.

Lan Zhan's hand was very warm, bordering on hot, and trembled slightly. Wei Wuxian even
looked closely to see if he had a fever. But Lan Zhan's gaze was clear, and his forehead was
clean and dry, crossed this time with a red forehead ribbon.

“You’re wearing a red ribbon today,” Wei Wuxian remarked aloud, having no idea what to
say. “Is this for me?”

“Mm,” Lan Zhan replied as he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled Wei Wuxian’s
hand to the back of his head. “Take it.”

Wei Wuxian did not quite understand what his husband meant by that, but obediently untied
the ribbon. Part of Lan Zhan's hair slid down and covered Wei Wuxian's hands with its warm,
silky wave. Without the ribbon, Lan Zhan looked unusual: somehow young and defenceless.

And he was only twenty-one years old, Wei Wuxian realised, who himself was supposed to
reach the same age in a couple of months. How else should he look?

“Is something wrong?” Lan Zhan asked when Wei Wuxian stared at his face for too long.

He shook his head, not looking away.

“You are very beautiful,” he said at last. He couldn’t have told Hanguang-jun that he looked
innocent and helpless, could he?

“Wei Ying… too.”

Wei Wuxian didn't know what to say to that. The words didn't seem to make sense. He pulled
the ribbon from under Lan Zhan's hair and froze, unsure what to do with it. Lan Zhan's hands
came to life and wrapped the ribbon around his wrist in a tight bracer. The red ribbon
embroidered with golden clouds looked festive. After finishing winding it, Lan Zhan raised
his hand and almost touched Wei Wuxian's shoulder, but at the last moment he froze, as if he
didn't know what to do next.

“Usually… people start with kisses?” squeaked Wei Wuxian, whose voice completely let him
down. And then he remembered that Lan Zhan hated being touched. But how was he going to
fulfil his marital duty without touching? “But… if you don’t want to, we can…”

“Do start,” Lan Zhan interrupted him.

Wei Wuxian was sure he was asleep. He had probably passed out on the bed after all, and
now he was dreaming all sorts of nonsense. Well… Lan Zhan definitely wouldn’t kiss him in
reality, so at least he’d get a pleasant experience in a dream… He leaned forward, aligning
his lips to meet Lan Zhan’s lips. They, too, were hot and dry, but surprisingly soft. From such
a close distance, Wei Wuxian could only blurrily see his cheek, but he felt Lan Zhan inhale
sharply, his mouth parted. Wei Wuxian experimentally licked the slit. Then large hands
clenched his shoulders.

Up close, Lan Zhan's skin smelled sweet and slightly spicy, and the smell blended with the
taste of his lips. Wei Wuxian didn't notice how he ended up with his head on the pillow, lost
when Lan Zhan met his tongue with his. Wei Wuxian didn't even think it was possible. The
sudden wet touch seemed so indecent to him that he would have pulled back if there was any
room. But he wanted Lan Zhan to stay the night, be it a dream or reality, and for Lan Zhan to
do much more indecent things to him. Was it possible if he was even afraid of just Lan Zhan's
tongue?

Wei Wuxian chuckled involuntarily. He had never even considered that Lan Zhan had a
tongue.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan asked against his lips.

“It’s pleasant,” Wei Wuxian answered quickly. It wasn't entirely true, but it wasn't untrue
either. He just hadn't made up his mind yet. More data was needed. He wasn’t a coward, was
he? “Do it again.”

Lan Zhan licked his lips again, and then deeper, their tongues met and rubbed against each
other, and Wei Wuxian suddenly wanted to take Lan Zhan deeper, suck him harder. A
vibration spread through Lan Zhan’s chest under his hands, either a groan or a growl, but
without a sound. He sank lower and Wei Wuxian felt his inner thigh touch the outer side of
Lan Zhan's knee. And he wanted this knee to move higher, so he could rub against it.

Heavens, he was about to rub his crotch against Lan Zhan's knee! But this was a dream…? Or
was it…? What's the difference, they were already married anyway! He wouldn't rub against
anyone else's knee now. And had anyone else's knees ever aroused such a desire in him?
"Take me," he said suddenly, without knowing why. Probably to cut off his escape routes. He
couldn’t quite say now: “Oh, wait, don't, I changed my mind”?

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan croaked and lay down on top of him completely, shifting lower to
wetly press his mouth against his neck. Silk slipped over silk. Wei Wuxian thought of nothing
and bent his knees, lifting them up so that the silk would glide over a larger area. His face
was on fire, but he told himself: in for a copper, in for a silver ingot. Meanwhile, what Lan
Zhan was doing to his neck was ticklish and tightened something in his chest and pulled in
his lower abdomen. Wei Wuxian, of course, sometimes touched himself and released the
accumulated lust, imagining some coquettish beauties, but he’d never experienced such
sensations. He wanted to know more about how he could feel.

With nervous jerks, he untied his belt and parted the outer layers of his clothes. Then he
remembered how Lan Zhan pulled his hand where he needed to, and also moved Lan Zhan’s
palms so that they rested not on the bed, but on Wei Wuxian’s chest. It became very warm
under his hands, and when Lan Zhan began to trace the pads of his thumbs over his nipples
through the silk, Wei Wuxian needed to take a deep breath, puffing out his chest, because
there was something so achingly itchy, and this was the only way to deal with it.

Wei Wuxian wondered if Lan Zhan would feel the same way. He slipped his hands between
them and untied Lan Zhan's belt. There were even more layers of clothes on him, and many
of them were tied with their own ties under the belt, so it took some work. Wei Wuxian
whimpered restlessly and jerked back and forth in impatience, rubbing his groin against Lan
Zhan's rock-hard belly. And below Wei Wuxian’s buttocks, something no less rock-hard and
slightly wet touched him.

"Ow," he breathed, imagining how that hardness would slip between his lips, causing his
mouth to open wider. He never thought about Lan Zhan’s… However, he didn’t even think
about Lan Zhan’s tongue, let alone other places. But, in principle, he could imagine taking
Lan Zhan in his mouth. Why, he did imagine it, convulsively swallowing saliva. But
somehow people… put it in there, didn't they? And, judging by the books that he’d read, they
enjoyed it. Wei Wuxian wanted to try, even though his toes were twitching in fear. But it was
only Lan Zhan. He wasn’t afraid of Lan Zhan. And even if he was afraid, he would never
show it. He just needed to take a deep breath and do it, the way he did with everything scary.

“Lan Zhan,” he called, deciding just in case to push him to action once again, or else he’d be
somehow distracted by licking the hollow between Wei Wuxian’s collarbones. “Take me.”

This time, Lan Zhan let out a small gasp and jerked his hips. The air puffed onto the wet path
along his collarbone, and Wei Wuxian's back tightened, pushing his hips up, so that Lan
Zhan's wet head slid across his sack. They both took a deep breath.

“Come on!” Wei Wuxian urged him. Now he began to fear that everything would end now:
someone would interrupt them, they would call the damn curfew, Lan Zhan would come to
his senses, or Wei Wuxian would wake up, and he would never know what happened next.

Lan Zhan pushed up, his hands slid under Wei Wuxian's back and lower, clasped his buttocks
and squeezed, so that his fingers fell into the hollow in between. Wei Wuxian whimpered and
twitched, but he was held tight. He felt stretched out, open, lying there with his knees apart.
He hadn’t felt so defenceless even when Wen Qing cut out his core.

“Come on,” he urged again, wanting to move on to something else as soon as possible.

Lan Zhan squeezed his buttocks even tighter, and the fabric of his pants split at the seam. Wei
Wuxian felt the air move against his skin there , and his face flushed again. Maybe it would
be easier if Lan Zhan left him no choice, not even a hint of a choice. Tied him up, gagged
him, and fucked him. Wei Wuxian arched his back and felt wetness on his stomach where the
seam had not yet come apart. No, he definitely wouldn't mind being slammed face-first into
one of those soft pillows and… but he wanted to know what would happen next and was
afraid to scare Lan Zhan off with his strange fantasies.

And Lan Zhan, it seemed, really did change his mind. Straightening up, he looked around,
then climbed off the bed and without a word, left the room. Wei Wuxian didn't even have
time to gather his thoughts to say anything. That was how his lawful husband abandoned him
on the marriage bed. What had he expected? Although for a few moments Lan Zhan was
enslaved by his masculine nature, he was still able to control himself, and he never even liked
Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian put his feet on the bedspread and lay there wondering if he had reached the point
of crying. And then Lan Zhan returned.

“Wei Ying?”

He climbed onto the bed and bent down to kiss Wei Wuxian on the lips again.

“You…” he spoke again, “do you want to stop?”

“Me?!” Wei Wuxian let out a much more hysterical voice than he expected.

Lan Zhan ran his hand over his chest and stomach. Under his palm and under Wei Wuxian's
skin, tight whirlwinds swirled. Lan Zhan pulled back forcefully, causing Wei Wuxian to
whimper with unquenched desire. The bed was too big. Arms and legs were so complicated.
And he had to say something, to confirm and all that. Why couldn't Lan Zhan just shove his
nose into the pillow and take him? Just do it at last and end the suspense! But maybe Lan
Zhan wasn’t interested at all...?

“You don’t want me?” Wei Wuxian asked, wincing at how pathetic that sounded.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan growled. “I want. I always want.”

Wei Wuxian closed his eyes in relief. So, everything was fine, he could relax and let Lan
Zhan do what he wanted.

“Then go ahead. Take. Take me however you want.” And since Wei Wuxian liked a good
challenge, he added, “I like it rough.”

Lan Zhan's breath hitched. Maybe Wei Wuxian actually said this so that he could avoid
analysing Lan Zhan's oddities. To avoid thinking about what would happen after. To avoid
thinking about anything at all, and instead only howl into the pillow from what was about to
be done to him “rough”.

Lan Zhan nodded and moved to sit at his feet, pressing his palms into Wei Wuxian's knees to
lift them up again and spread them apart. Then, something small flashed in his hand, but Wei
Wuxian did not have time to think, and in the next moment, he felt a touch there . Wet,
slippery. It was fingers. Lan Zhan had gone to get oil, his overactive mind helpfully
prompted. How much longer until howling into the pillow, how much…?

A finger slid inside, and Wei Wuxian sucked in a breath. He wanted it. Harder, deeper, more.
Clenching a handful of bed covers in his fists, he pushed towards it. Goosebumps ran through
his body, wave after wave.

“Yes!” he moaned. “More! Lan Zhan, why are you taking so long?!”

Lan Zhan breathed noisily and quickly, as if after a serious fight.

“Wei Ying… Have to be careful…”

“No need! Heavens, tear me apart, don’t spare me, I want everything at once!”

Lan Zhan hesitated, then ripped Wei Wuxian's pants all the way to the waist and wrapped his
oily hand around him. He pumped two, three times; Wei Wuxian roared and thrashed like a
wounded tiger, releasing all his fear and falling into the void.

When he blinked somewhat aware, warm hands were stroking his stomach and buttocks, now
and then, as if inadvertently slipping into interesting places. Wei Wuxian squirmed. The room
was hot, but he wanted a different heat. He wanted to inhale the scent of Lan Zhan's skin,
sink his teeth into Lan Zhan's porcelain shoulder. It seemed that while he was recovering, Lan
Zhan took off his outer robes, and the inner ones slipped off one shoulder, revealing a bulging
pectoral muscle and a pink nipple.

“Kiss me.” Wei Wuxian couldn’t think of anything better.

Lan Zhan obediently leaned over him, kissed his lips, burning with feverish breath, slipped
his tongue into his mouth, and his finger into him. Wei Wuxian dug his nails into Lan Zhan’s
chest and pushed down, impaling himself deeper. Why had he never done this to himself?
Was he shy? Lan Zhan didn't shy away. Funny. Wei Wuxian chuckled and Lan Zhan kissed
laughter from his lips. And then he added a second finger.

By the third finger, Wei Wuxian had already wrapped his legs around Lan Zhan and was
rocking up and down, squeaking thinly and plaintively and happily ignoring it. His head was
somewhere else, separate and unused.

“Lan Zhan, I want it, I want it, let’s do it, yes, yes, yes, yes…”

He no longer remembered that he had been afraid of something, that Lan Zhan had to go
away — whether leaving him in this heat or having brought the matter to an end, but leave
anyway. He no longer cared. Now there were only kisses and gentle touches, only pleasure
and excitement, only Lan Zhan's rhythmic breath on his face and the heat of his body. On the
left, something with a hard edge was digging into his ribs — it was Chenqing, rolled between
layers of clothing, but Wei Wuxian didn’t care.

Suddenly, the fingers disappeared, but Wei Wuxian was no longer afraid, he just lay there,
moaning in pleasure and waiting for what else Lan Zhan would do to him. So this was trust,
he thought in a brief moment, when his mind woke up. It meant relaxing and not being afraid
that something would go wrong, not expecting cold and emptiness, pain or offence.
Everything would be fine, just wait ...

And then he paid no more attention to his thoughts when Lan Zhan filled him to the brim,
folded and crushed him, pressing him to the bed so that Wei Wuxian could hardly breathe,
and why should he? In his warm cloud, one could simply drown in pleasure. However, when
Lan Zhan started to move, Wei Wuxian found himself wanting to scream, and he started
screaming, simply because he could not speak, and he could not remain silent either. It was
all too bright, too amazing to be silent. Lan Zhan himself growled, almost a single vibration
of a low voice, no sound, but this vibration reverberated through Wei Wuxian's bones,
making his heart skip a beat and seize with delight. His cheeks were wet, but his lips were
dry, and it seemed that he clutched Lan Zhan's hair, but Lan Zhan also clutched his hair, and
together they swayed like a boat, thirsting for a shipwreck, and finally sank into the abyss.

Then something else was happening. Lan Zhan was whispering something, leaving, coming
back. Wei Wuxian felt the touch of something hot and wet. Then he was rolled onto his side,
and after that on the other, undressed and covered with a huge puffy blanket. The silk cooled
his hot skin pleasantly. Lan Zhan stroked his hair, and there was something final in that
gesture. Wei Wuxian reached out from under the blanket and grabbed the scarlet silk—
sleeve? trouser leg?

“Stay...”

“Mm,” came the answer after a moment, and Wei Wuxian was pushed towards the wall, the
blanket rose and fell, and a heavy, muscular arm came to rest across Wei Wuxian’s chest.
“Good night, Wei Ying.”
 Chapter 6
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Moving on to the more mundane matters... There's a conversation here that almost word
for word follows one from Discarded, but I really can't help having WWX say this and I
don't see it said enough.

Wei Wuxian woke up at some strange time of day. It was early for him, but definitely too late
for the Cloud Recesses. He remembered yesterday's events well, even too well.

He was alone in bed, but he couldn’t tell since when: all the sheets were still warm from the
heater under the bed. He remembered how cold he had been here in the mornings during his
student months, and was grateful to throw back the warm blanket, leaving the warm air of the
room to caress his completely naked body. Perhaps it was even too warm here. Wei Wuxian
opened the shutter to let in the autumn breeze and dug into the chest of clothes.

Lan Zhan hadn’t prepared the Gusu Lan white silks for him, and he didn’t have his own white
clothes, so he dressed in black and red as usual. If the Lans wanted to do something about it,
they could pay the tailor themselves. And who would see him here? A servant with a basket
of food? Wei Wuxian had no illusions about his position in this sect. At best, Lan Zhan would
visit once every couple of weeks, when he accumulated an excess of yang energy again.

Stretching, Wei Wuxian walked into the front room and froze. Lan Zhan was sitting at the
round table, making tea as if nothing had happened. There were no bottles of wine to be seen
anywhere, but there was an insulated basket by the table, presumably with breakfast.

“Good morning, Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian blinked.

“Hi. Are you still here?”

Lan Zhan seemed to think for a moment about his answer.

“I have no responsibilities today. Only when we go to lunch with my uncle and brother.”

“We?”

Lan Zhan nodded.

"Do I have to have lunch with your uncle too?" Wei Wuxian said.
“It’s a wedding tradition,” Lan Zhan explained. “The day after the wedding, the newlyweds
have… breakfast with the family. I thought that Wei Ying would like to sleep a little longer
and asked to replace breakfast with lunch.”

“Your uncle must have been delighted,” Wei Wuxian chuckled.

Lan Zhan tilted his head vaguely, as if he wanted to say that it was his uncle's problem. Of
course, it couldn’t be, but Wei Wuxian laughed anyway.

"Shouldn’t I dress in your sect’s colours for this lunch?" he clarified just in case, sitting down
at the table. Somehow he felt uncomfortable, but he still couldn’t understand what the matter
was, confused by the sudden presence of Lan Zhan.

“Wei Ying can wear whatever he wants. If Wei Ying wants, I will order the clan clothes.”

“Mm, no, thanks, maybe, I’ll make do…” Wei Wuxian muttered, feeling increasingly uneasy.
And then he jumped up.

Yesterday after everything, Lan Zhan undressed him, but he had Chenqing in his clothes, and
even worse, the Tiger Seal! Wei Wuxian rushed back to the bedroom, to the stand where
Suibian was resting. Chenqing was in her place a tier above, as if she had always been there.
Ah… Wei Wuxian noticed a qiankun bag on the nightstand, leaning against the foot of the
stand. Wei Wuxian grabbed it, ripped open the ties, and peered inside.

Yes, it was his seal. He immediately felt its call and heard the whisper of darkness emanating
from it. Breathing heavily, he sank onto the bed and pressed the hand with the pouch to his
chest, trying to calm his heartbeat. How could he possibly have been this relaxed!? Lan Zhan
could have done anything! Burn Chenqing, take the seal, give it to the Jins...

He heard a rustle and shuddered, lifting his head. Lan Zhan froze in the doorway.

“Wei Ying? Are you unwell?”

“Ah, no, I’m okay,” Wei Wuxian breathed out, gathering his strength. He hurriedly stuffed
the pouch into the front of his robes and took Chenqing to tuck into his belt, but then became
thoughtful. Was it wise to go to lunch with Lan Zhan’s uncle flaunting Chenqing? Maybe it
would be better to hide it again.

“Better eat now,” Lan Zhan remarked. “At lunch, there will be traditional ritual dishes. Not
sure Wei Ying will like them.”

Wei Wuxian shuddered at the thought of what kind of poison even Lan Zhan would worry
about in advance.

“Yes, I… in a moment,” he muttered, catching his breath, and got up. Lan Zhan returned to
the table and poured tea into cups. Wei Wuxian suddenly felt stuffy in this overly warm
house, and he thought that the table was well placed in front of the door.

“Maybe we can open the door and take in the view while having breakfast?” he suggested,
trying not to show how frightened he had just been.
“Wei Ying won’t freeze?” Lan Zhan said. “It's not as warm here as in Yunmeng.”

“You underestimate me,” Wei Wuxian snorted and flung open the door. He could have
jumped outside and run, Lan Zhan wouldn’t have had time to stop him. But where to run?
Wei Wuxian stood for a short time, admiring the sun rays breaking through the crowns of
pines and pooling over the flowers in the clearing. Then he sat down at the breakfast table.

"Pretty flowers," he remarked, delighted to discover that breakfast consisted of scallion

pancakes, with spicy soy sauce prepared in a separate bowl. “Did you even have the flower
beds arranged for me?”

Lan Zhan slowly placed the cup he was drinking from on the table.

"These are my mother's flowers," he said softly. “It was her house.”

Wei Wuxian froze with half a pancake in his cheek.

"You put me in your mother's house?"

“Now this is my house.”

Wei Wuxian looked around the room once more and swallowed without chewing.

“You put me in your house?!”

Lan Zhan raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Wei Ying…would prefer to live separately?”

“What?! Me? No!” Wei Wuxian hurriedly reassured him. “No, of course, I was just…
surprised. So...” he squinted at the door with clouds, through which Lan Zhan had gone to get
wine yesterday, “Is that your bedroom?”

Lan Zhan nodded.

“Ah…” Wei Wuxian turned to face his open door, which showed a dishevelled bed. The
rosewood decor was unlikely to have been inherited from Lan Zhan's mother. “What did you
have in this room before?”

“There used to be only the front room,” Lan Zhan explained. “With a bed behind a screen.
But I thought that it would be crowded for the two of us, and commissioned an extension.
Now there are two bedrooms and a kang .”

Wei Wuxian stared at him in dumb amazement. Even the kang was put in just for him?!

“I made do with the brazier,” Lan Zhan explained. “But Wei Ying’s hands are always cold…”

Wei Wuxian snorted, shook his head, and took the next pancake. It wasn't until he was
chewing it that he noticed Lan Zhan still looking at him.
“Your house must have rules,” Wei Wuxian guessed as he motioned to his splayed posture.
“And I’m breaking them, right?”

“No,” Lan Zhan shook his head. “I… Wei Ying, yesterday…”

Wei Wuxian frowned. He had not thought about yesterday at all and was not ready to talk
about it. But Lan Zhan continued:

“You asked me to stay.”

Wei Wuxian bit his lip as he looked at the flowers. He didn't know that Lan Zhan was only
going to go to the next room! He wasn’t proud of his actions. But it would be foolish to deny
them.

“Yeah,” he muttered.

“You slept restlessly,” Lan Zhan remarked.

“I just asked for yesterday,” Wei Wuxian immediately assured him. “After all, it’s the
wedding night and all that… You don’t have to stay any longer.”

Lan Zhan frowned, but shook his head again.

“That's not the point. You slept restlessly. I thought you were unwell. And I checked your
pulse.”

Wei Wuxian froze, unable to breathe in or out. It couldn’t be what he thought it was? Please,
anything but what he thought it was! He seemed to have left his head in Yunmeng; how could
he have let Lan Zhan get so close?! Lonely, my ass, and now...

“I noticed that your qi is not flowing,” Lan Zhan continued to say, laying out the facts in an
excruciatingly slow manner. “I got worried and checked your lower dantian. But... I didn't
feel your golden core. And there's a scar... right over it.”

Wei Wuxian tried not to look at Lan Zhan, but even so, he noticed how worried he looked.

“Did you tell anyone about this?” Wei Wuxian croaked.

“I haven’t seen anyone today. Wei Ying's secrets are not mine to reveal.”

Wei Wuxian forced himself to take a deep breath. How could he goof off like that and
completely lose control of the situation? Not to mention, Jiang Cheng and Shijie were still in
the Cloud Recesses, or at least they had planned to spend the night there. And Lan Zhan now
had enough dirt on Wei Wuxian to bury the Burial Mounds. Should he ask him what he
wanted for his silence? Or was there a rule against blackmail in the Cloud Recesses? But Lan
Zhan showed yesterday that he could find loopholes in the rules. Maybe if Wei Wuxian didn't
ask, then Lan Zhan wouldn't be able to blackmail him? Although he, as it turned out, could
easily break the rules too. He just worked a little extra as a punishment, and then it was
business as usual.
“Wei Ying, breathe,” Lan Zhan said, looking worried. “If it’s important to you that no one
knows about this, then I won’t tell anyone.”

“In return for what?” Wei Wuxian gasped out, actually starting to breathe.

Lan Zhan looked at him with a hint of indignation, but then looked down.

“Will Wei Ying forgive me?”

“For what?” Wei Wuxian was so surprised that he forgot to look for the catch.

“I urged Wei Ying to return to sword cultivation, but… now I understand.”

Wei Wuxian snorted.

“You couldn't have known. I tried very hard not to let anyone know.”

“But I didn’t even think that it might not be by choice,” Lan Zhan said softly. “That Wei Ying
has good reasons. I saw nothing but my preconceptions. I'm sorry.”

Wei Wuxian squirmed in discomfort. He wasn't used to hearing apologies. Jiang Cheng never
apologised to him, and Shijie had nothing to apologise for. Who else would want to? Not
disciples of other sects! And certainly not Lan Zhan; he was always right. And yet…

“Come on…” Wei Wuxian muttered as he tucked a shaggy lock of hair behind his ear. There
was no trace left of Lan Zhan’s work yesterday. It looked like Wei Wuxian really was
thrashing around in his sleep. He shouldn't have ever asked Lan Zhan to stay. Wei Wuxian
was often woken at night by his own screams and found himself shrouded in darkness, like a
cuttlefish in ink.

Was that what Lan Zhan saw at night? And for how long? He looked normal, but with his
level of cultivation, what was one sleepless night for him? And judging by everything he just
said, he really hadn’t slept, instead digesting what he’d discovered.

“I should be the one to apologise,” Wei Wuxian said reluctantly. “You thought you were
marrying a cultivator, and I’m just an ordinary person. Although, maybe it’s better this way:
bear with me a little, and when my time comes, you can find someone to your liking.”

Lan Zhan slammed the cup on the table and squeezed it until his nails turned white.

“No!”

Wei Wuxian jumped and hunched down.

“Not getting married a second time,” Lan Zhan snapped.

“We've been married less than a day, and you're already so sick of it?” Wei Wuxian muttered,
wondering if it was time to run for his life.
Lan Zhan let go of the cup, closed his eyes, and sat motionless for a while, probably
overcoming his impulses. Wei Wuxian had the good sense to remain silent. After all, the
pancakes weren’t finished yet.

Finally, Lan Zhan finished his meditation and opened his eyes.

“Wei Ying, Sect Leader Jiang and Maiden Jiang are still here, but they won’t stay for lunch.
If you want to say goodbye to them, I will accompany you.”

Wei Wuxian finished his tea in one gulp and jumped up, overwhelmed with anxiety. What
would he tell them about last night? What if Lan Zhan spilled to Jiang Cheng about his core?
And one more thing – was Lan Zhan now assigned to him as a guard for all eternity, or what?
Maybe the Lans deliberately decided to settle Wei Wuxian with him so he’d be looked after?

Lan Zhan gathered the dirty dishes in a basket and carried them outside. Wei Wuxian scurried
after him, torn between spluttering and biting his lip nervously and feeling like a useless
loser.

During the day, the path from Lan Zhan's house to the heart of the residence did not look so
gloomy. The autumn sun played in the foliage, white gravel crunched underfoot, nuthatches
and spotted squirrels with orange bellies scurried through the trees. Wei Wuxian didn't
remember seeing them on his first visit, but he hadn’t gone to this part of the Cloud Recesses
back then.

Finally, the newly built pavilions appeared.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian called, unable to help asking, “So your house didn’t burn?”

“No,” Lan Zhan turned around. “It’s far away. The Wens didn't reach it.”

“Okay,” Wei Wuxian breathed out with a relief that he himself couldn’t understand. “That’s
good. The house I lived in in Lotus Pier burned down. Everything is new now...”

He didn't know how to explain why he hated the new houses so much. They weren't bad at
all: built in the same style and even more conveniently laid-out.

Lan Zhan nodded.

“Like fakes. Funeral mock-ups, made of paper.”

“Exactly.”

Wei Wuxian's chest ached as Lan Zhan pinpointed his own feelings.

“Brother likes the new Hanshi. Now he is its first owner.”

“Less burden of history?” Wei Wuxian smiled. He could understand Lan Xichen to some
extent. If Wei Wuxian were to become a sect leader, he would also want a new home. Only if
it wasn’t the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. But Wei Wuxian had already done everything he could to
never become its leader.
“This way,” Lan Zhan turned off the path onto a narrower one leading to a guest house
surrounded by wisteria-covered pines.

Jiang Cheng and Shijie showed up in the courtyard. Shijie was sitting at the garden table as
Jiang Cheng circled around her with his hands behind his back.

“You!” he blurted out when he saw Wei Wuxian. “Finally! I was about to go wake you up
myself! What, did you plan to sleep through our departure?!”

“I had no idea when you were leaving,” Wei Wuxian defended himself.

“I told you three times yesterday!” Jiang Cheng continued.

“Well, I’m sorry, yesterday I had something else to think about besides you,” Wei Wuxian
spread his hands. “Good morning, Shijie!”

“If only yesterday was an exception!” Jiang Cheng pounced on him and moved closer, no
doubt intending to grab Wei Wuxian by the collar, but then Lan Zhan suddenly thrust Bichen
in his way.

“Wei Ying belongs to my sect now,” he said dryly. “Please be respectful.”

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian looked at him in the same dumbfounded way.

“Don’t worry, Second Master Lan,” Shijie smiled. "I'll make sure my brothers don't quarrel."

“Thank you,” Lan Zhan nodded to her and turned back to Wei Wuxian. “Can you find the
Hanshi from here?”

“Uh, yes,” Wei Wuxian gawked. So he wouldn’t be escorted?

“Come back when you hear the gong for lunch,” Lan Zhan said and bowed reservedly to
Jiang Cheng. “Sect Leader Jiang. Maiden Jiang.”

“Eh, L… Second Master Lan, wait!” Jiang Cheng was startled. “I have to talk to you!”

“About what?” Lan Zhan frowned.

“In private ,” Jiang Cheng said forcefully.

Wei Wuxian tensed. If Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng were left alone, Lan Zhan would definitely
tell him. And who knew what else they might say to each other. Lan Zhan was already
looking at Wei Wuxian with a sort of appraisal.

“The relationship between the sects is the relationship between their leaders,” Lan Zhan said,
as if reluctantly looking at Jiang Cheng. “I'm sure Brother will hear you out. Have a safe
journey.”

At this, he turned around and left.

“What the heck,” Jiang Cheng muttered as Lan Zhan retreated. “That broth’s got even tangier.
I was hoping he'd mellow with age...”

“Do you realise who you pawned me off on?” Wei Wuxian snorted, almost melting into a
puddle of relief.

“It’s only good for you,” Jiang Cheng snapped.

“Boys,” Shijie sighed, and they both fell silent guiltily. “A-Xian, how did it go yesterday?
Sect Leader Lan said that they don't have a tradition of setting up special bridal chambers, so
you've must have already seen your new home?”

“Ah, y-yes,” Wei Wuxian paused. He didn't really want to talk about bridal chambers and the
like.

“Did you like it there?” Shijie continued to ask questions.

“Yeah, yeah,” Wei Wuxian drawled. “Lan Zhan set it all up like… Yunmeng style. And it's
very warm there.”

For some reason, he hated to list how much Lan Zhan had provided especially for him. It was
as if he was embarrassed by Lan Zhan's concern. And besides, Wei Wuxian knew Lan Zhan
well and knew how diligently he undertook any business, even if it was a marriage with a
demonic cultivator, but Jiang Cheng and Shijie might see some underlying reason in his
efforts.

“I’m glad,” Shijie sighed. “I hope you have a friendly relationship.”

Wei Wuxian choked.

“What’s with you?” Jiang Cheng worried. “Did you do something to piss him off?”

“Uh, no,” Wei Wuxian choked out, not very convincingly.

“Look at me!” Jiang Cheng growled, but then became a little alarmed. “He didn’t try to
punish you again or something? Zewu-jun promised me that no one would do anything to
you here.”

“I don’t think so,” Wei Wuxian shrugged. It was unlikely that yesterday's experiments could
be considered a punishment, right?

“A-Xian.” Shijie seemed to notice his hesitation. “If Second Master Lan showed you
disrespect, you can tell us about it. A-Cheng agreed to all this only on certain conditions. If
they are not met...”

“Then what?” Wei Wuxian snorted. “A-Cheng will take me back? My flower has already
been plucked, who’d want me now?”

He tried to make a joke, but judging by the way Jiang Cheng's eyes popped out, it wasn't very
funny.
"Hey, did he molest you?!" hissed his shidi.

Wei Wuxian clapped his mouth like a fish.

“No, what are you thinking?! How do you imagine it?” he chuckled. Lan Zhan really didn't
molest him. It had been the other way around. “But formally, the wedding night is over,
so…”

“So you’re not a girl, for that to matter,” grunted Jiang Cheng, who was embarrassed by his
own incredible idea. “But look, if they suddenly find a rule on the performance of marital
duties, you write to me. And you better complain to Lan Xichen right away. We didn't sign up
for this.”

The one who definitely didn’t sign up for this was Lan Zhan, Wei Wuxian thought, but
assured Jiang Cheng that there was nothing to worry about.

“A-Xian, you are so shaggy,” Shijie remarked, running a hand over his hair. “Do you want
me to comb it for you?”

***

According to his habit of doing everything in advance, Lan Wangji arrived in the Hanshi a
little before the gong and therefore found himself alone with his brother and uncle, and only
then did it occur to him that he shouldn’t have allowed that to happen.

“Wangji!” His brother's voice sounded a little more emotional than it should have been
according to the rules. “How are you?”

Lan Wangji blinked. How was he? How should he be? What was his brother asking about?

“How, he asks,” his uncle grumbled, giving Lan Wangji a displeased look. “Didn't sleep half
the night. Surely this Wei Ying didn’t give him any peace, again. I hope he at least didn't
escape over the wall into some drinking establishment?”

“Wei Ying was very tired yesterday and went to bed before curfew,” Lan Wangji answered
honestly. “However, his sleep was restless, and I preferred to be alert in case I had to wake
him up.”

His brother's gaze turned from anxious to sad.

“What made him so tired?” Uncle grimaced.

Lan Wangji looked down and hoped he didn't have to answer.

“I don’t know, Xichen,” Uncle continued without waiting for an answer, “what kind of
miracle were you expecting? An alliance with the Jiangs will only make sense if they pull
through, and that doesn't look likely yet. A sect that has potential doesn’t give away its first
disciples left and right.”

“Wei Ying is unwell,” Lan Wangji said. “The Jiang Sect can't take care of him right now.”
“Did he tell you himself?” Uncle twitched his moustache sceptically. “What else did he come
up with so as not to work like everyone else?”

“He didn’t tell me anything,” Lan Wangji replied through gritted teeth. “I checked it myself.
Wei Ying is unwell. I ask Brother not to send him on any night hunts.”

"Sure," his brother agreed easily. It seemed that he was not going to risk the reputation of the
sect by sending a demonic cultivator on a hunt. “Are you going to treat him yourself or ask
the healers to look at him?”

“Myself,” Lan Wangji said confidently. “But… It could take a very long time.”

“So you’re going to indulge him dabbling in his dark arts?” Uncle was outraged. “Instead of
cutting this fancy off at the root!”

“Uncle.” Lan Wangji gave him a hard look. “Another cultivation method is not another
spiritual weapon. You can put aside the guqin and take up the sword again. Not so with the
dark path. A healthy person would need time. Wei Ying is not well. I'm not going to predict.”

"Of course he's not well now," his uncle snorted. “Perhaps it was not worth embarking on the
Dark Path?”

“If Wei Ying hadn’t taken the dark path,” Lan Wangji said softly, “we wouldn’t have defeated
Qishan Wen.”

There was a tense silence in the Hanshi. Lan Wangji knew that everyone was afraid of those
words. Especially the Jins, but not only them. To admit that the entire cultivation world was
indebted to Wei Ying and his dark power was frightening. But the Gusu Lan Sect should be
above that, right? In the Gusu Lan Sect, truth was more important than pride. This was
written in the rule book. All the great cultivators of the sect had preached it. Has anything
changed now? Lan Wangji was ready to debate.

“Wen Ruohan was destroyed by Jin Guangyao,” his brother remarked in a low voice. “Master
Wei’s contribution was significant, but even without him…”

“Without him, we would all have been wiped out before Sect Leader Nie was captured,” Lan
Wangji disagreed.

“And then your Jin Guangyao,” his uncle suddenly butted in, “would have remained Wen
Ruohan’s faithful dog. Xichen, finally admit that he killed Wen Ruohan only because he
sensed the advantage on our side.”

His brother opened his mouth to protest, but a timid cough came from behind Lan Wangji.
Turning around, he saw Wei Ying.

“I’m sorry,” Wei Ying muttered, frozen in the doorway. “Maybe I should come back later?”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji stood up and held onto his elbow before he could drift away, carried
by the wind inside his own head. “What we're talking about concerns you as well. Sorry for
starting early.”
“It’s okay,” Wei Ying gave a dazzling smile and bowed to Brother and Uncle. “I didn’t
eavesdrop, so I don’t know what exactly you were talking about.”

“My nephews,” Uuncle began, grumbling, “cannot agree on whether all the sects owe you the
victory over Wen Ruohan or not. What do you yourself think about it?

Following Brother's gesture, Wei Ying sat down and then flexed his shoulders.

“Well, in the end, Meng Yao got ahead of me, so it would be strange for me to claim the
laurels of the victor.”

"Not just ahead of you," Brother said softly. “If he hadn’t made his move in time, Master Wei
would have died.”

Wei Ying made a strange face.

“I don’t know if I should talk about it at all, but… since Master Lan is so interested in this…
That was the intention. Wen Ruohan should have killed me. And then I would have dragged
him with me to the next world.”

Lan Wangji forgot to breathe.

“Wei Ying!”

Wei Ying gave him a somewhat sullen side-eye.

“A practitioner of the Dark Path attains the greatest power at the moment of death. I was
going to use it and raze the entire Nightless City and all its inhabitants to the ground. But...
Meng Yao got there first. So,” Wei Ying smiled again, “Lan Zhan, you will have to bear with
me.”

Uncle whispered something about the demons of hell and cleansing fire. Lan Wangji finally
managed to find some words.

“Wei Ying, but you would have died!”

He shrugged again, losing his smile.

“I’d already died before that. It was nothing new.”

“What is Master Wei trying to say?” Brother became alert.

Wei Ying tilted his head to the side. Lan Wangji noticed that his hair was neatly combed,
which meant that one of the Jiangs took care of him. Lan Wangji gritted his teeth and
promised himself that tomorrow morning and all the following mornings he would offer to
comb Wei Ying's hair himself.

“I didn’t expect to survive the Sunshot Campaign,” Wei Ying said, inadvertently sending an
icy chill down Lan Wangji’s back. “When I entered the Dark Path, I knew nothing about the
fact that the sects were uniting. I was alone against Wen Ruohan and his sons. I had to avenge
my sect. I didn't care what happened next.”

Lan Wangji couldn't help it and put his hand on Wei Ying’s wrist, but Wei Ying didn't react.
Uncle thoughtfully stroked his beard, gazing somewhere inward.

Brother cleared his throat.

“Today is probably not the best day for such conversations. You just got married yesterday...
Master Wei, are you comfortable in the Jingshi?”

“Uh, yes, thank you,” Wei Ying shook himself and seemed to cheer up. His face softened. “I
like it there very much.”

"That's great," Brother smiled. “Wangji values ​that house a great deal. I was so surprised
when he decided to remodel it for you...”

“Brother,” Lan Wangji said forcefully, feeling his ears catch fire.

But Brother only grinned into his sleeve and ordered lunch to be served.

***

The silence during the meal was a relief to Wei Wuxian. Lan Qiren was thoughtful, while Wei
Wuxian was constantly expecting there to be a catch and didn’t pay much attention to the
dishes. Only after taking a sip of something frankly poisonous did he switch to tea, and when
the tea ran out, he found that the cup with the muck was empty. The Lans continued the meal
as if nothing had happened.

It was only then that Wei Wuxian realised that he hadn’t taken his sword and hadn’t hidden
his flute, but he didn’t receive a single comment on this matter, even from Lan Qiren. Had
Lan Zhan told them while Wei Wuxian was saying goodbye to the Jiangs? Well, at least Jiang
Cheng had already left — some unknown Lan elder saw him off. But Wei Wuxian had no
illusions about Lan Xichen's good nature. If he had compromising evidence, he would not fail
to use it.

So after everyone had eaten everything, Wei Wuxian decided to carefully try to find out what
Lan Xichen knew about his situation.

“What are the upcoming night hunts?” he asked, as if starting small talk between cultivators.

Lan Qiren snorted contemptuously, and Lan Xichen smiled as if he had no intention of
answering.

“Right now we don’t have applications for anything serious, and junior disciples deal with
minor problems. Master Wei need not worry.”

Wei Wuxian was dumbfounded. Was he suspended from night hunting? Well, basically, what
did he expect? Those were the terms of his amnesty: he wouldn’t be locked up, he wouldn’t
be flogged, he would be fed. It was clear that no one would let him out of the Cloud
Recesses.

He smiled tightly and decided not to investigate anything else for the time being.
 Chapter 7
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Getting a bit angsty here for a while :3

The rest of the day, Wei Wuxian wandered around the Cloud Recesses. Lan Zhan tried to
accompany him at first, but then a junior disciple approached him with some business. And
although Lan Zhan insisted that he wouldn’t attend to the affairs of the sect that day, Wei
Wuxian convinced him to go. Wei Wuxian urgently needed to take a break from the Lans'
company. In addition, he was afraid that Lan Zhan would want to talk about his golden core
again, or worse, about last night.

Trying to stay away from inhabited areas, Wei Wuxian wandered mainly along the slopes of
the mountain, the cliffs above the waterfalls, and even looked at the Cold Spring — but, of
course, he didn’t climb into the water. Early autumn in the Cloudy Recesses was quiet and
beautiful: from time to time a bird would chirp, but otherwise there was almost complete
calm, and not even a leaf rustled. Wei Wuxian thought about playing the flute, but in such
crystalline silence, its sound would have reached as far as the Lanshi, and he was surprisingly
hesitant to remind Lan Qiren of his Dark Path. If Lan Qiren had grumbled, spat poison, and
exuded contempt at dinner, Wei Wuxian would definitely serenade him right at the window,
and preferably in the middle of the night. But Lan Qiren didn’t say a word about Chenqing or
resentful energy at all, and Wei Wuxian didn’t want to wake the sleeping dragon.

He was so tired after two years of war.

Eventually, Wei Wuxian picked a clearing on a gentle slope, lay down in the grass and dozed
off, waking up only when a rabbit jumped on his chest. There were hordes of them here. Wei
Wuxian watched them in amazement for a while, even thinking about catching a couple,
teasing Lan Zhan, but he remembered that he had already done it once, and repeating himself
wasn’t his style. That, and the rabbits were not at all afraid of him, so it wouldn’t be sporting
of him.

Finally, when it was already dark, he wandered back to the Jingshi and found Lan Zhan
hovering on the porch like a white blaze.

“Did something happen?” Wei Wuxian asked because Lan Zhan didn’t look like he had just
come out or returned or decided to meditate standing up.

“Past curfew,” Lan Zhan replied. Wei Wuxian mentally cursed, but Lan Zhan continued, “I
didn’t know if Wei Ying would come back.”
“Where else would I go?” Wei Wuxian grunted and walked past him into the house.
Surprisingly, all the candles were still alight, and there were pots of food on the table.

“Everything’s grown cold,” Lan Zhan remarked sadly.

Wei Wuxian himself was a little upset. It would be one thing if he was doing something
interesting, but as it was...

"Sorry, I didn't hear the signal," he admitted. “It must be getting dark later here than in
Yunmeng. I thought the evening had just begun.”

He washed his face and sat down at the table to eat the cold food. However, it turned out to
be quite good nonetheless. Lan Zhan sat opposite and began to fuss over the teapot, but
suddenly stopped.

“Would you like some wine?”

Wei Wuxian swallowed.

“Is there any left?”

He only drank one cup yesterday, but for some reason he thought that Lan Zhan got rid of the
rest.

Lan Zhan nodded.

“Then yes, please,” Wei Wuxian smiled. Drinking now wouldn't hurt. Or even getting drunk.
But he wouldn’t get drunk off two jugs ...

Lan Zhan brought wine and sat across from him again. His eyelids were heavy. Wei Wuxian
recalled that his husband must have been up half the night investigating the phenomenon of
Wei Wuxian's missing core.

"Don't stay up for me," he said. “I'm going to take a while.”

Lan Zhan nodded reluctantly.

“There is a bath ready in your room,” he said. “Hot, under the talisman. And... when you're
done, put the jugs away. If the servant sees in the morning, he will have to inform Brother.”

Wei Wuxian snorted in disbelief. Lan Zhan was instructing him on how not to get caught
breaking the rules!

“Don’t worry,” he assured, and Lan Zhan went to his room.

The bath was indeed hot, even a little too hot; Wei Wuxian didn’t stay in it for long. Crawling
into his surprisingly soft bed, he tried to rest, but sleep wouldn’t come.

Probably shouldn't have taken the bath on a full stomach. Before, Wei Wuxian had never
been bothered by such things, but after losing his golden core, he suddenly began to notice
how difficult it was to be a mere mortal. Although two years had passed since then, there
were still situations in which he was not yet adjusted to his limited abilities.

Wei Wuxian turned over. No, everything seemed to be in order with his stomach, but his legs
were tired after a whole day of walking. No matter how he lay, it was uncomfortable. Or
maybe he was too hot? He got up and opened the shutter to breathe in the cool air, but that
didn't make his legs feel any better.

And this whisper in his chest. Who was Wei Wuxian fooling? ‘Legs’ indeed. He hadn't slept
in Lotus Pier for more than a couple of hours at a time. And before that— but at war no one
slept for a long time, and it wasn’t so noticeable.

However, he slept through the night yesterday. Because Lan Zhan had fucked him
unconscious? Wei Wuxian couldn't get used to this thought as if last night happened to
someone else, and he only saw it through Empathy. How, he wondered, did Lan Zhan feel
when he woke up in a strange bed? Probably went and stood on his hands or whatever he did
as a punishment...

Wei Wuxian's thoughts swirled restlessly, rushing from one to the other, and by the middle of
the night, he realised that they wouldn’t let him go. That he would toss and turn until dawn,
and then Lan Zhan would get up, start making tea there in the front room, and Wei Wuxian
would feel like a worthless nonentity and be ashamed to show his tired face at breakfast, and
then finally fall asleep for an hour and a half, so he’d have to eat breakfast cold too.

While his thoughts were occupied with this sad prognosis, his body got up from the bed and
went to the next bedroom. Before leaving, he still thought about whether to take the seal and
the flute with him. Eventually, he decided to leave the flute on the stand, since it would be
very uncomfortable to sleep with it. He took the seal with him: last time Lan Zhan could have
taken it, and he didn’t, but the thought that someone could break into the house at night and
steal it wouldn’t give Wei Wuxian peace.

Lan Zhan's room was much colder. Wei Wuxian curled his bare toes on the cold floor. Lan
Zhan himself slept, as usual, positioned like the lid of his own sarcophagus, but, fortunately,
his bed was wide enough, and there was still a lot of room on the edge. Wei Wuxian crept
closer and, trying not to breathe, climbed under the covers as carefully as possible. Lan
Zhan's bed was terribly hard, probably just a couple of blankets on top of a wooden platform.
But there was no choice. Alone in his warm and soft bed, Wei Wuxian was suffocating in his
thoughts. He didn't see very well why Lan Zhan's proximity should change that, but as soon
as he inhaled the scent of his skin, he felt his body relax.

Curling up to avoid even touching the porcelain pillow, Wei Wuxian carefully leaned his
forehead against Lan Zhan's shoulder and pulled his knees up to his chest, hiding the Tiger
Seal. Whether it was to keep Lan Zhan from taking it, or to keep it from spoiling Lan Zhan's
sleep, he himself didn't know.

For a short time, he listened to his husband's measured breathing, and the next moment it was
already morning, and Lan Zhan was climbing out of bed over the foot of it so as not to
disturb him.
“Mhn?” Wei Wuxian pulled the blanket up higher, protecting himself from the natural chill in
the room. Behind the shutters that were open a good way, the sky was still grey. Rubbing his
eyes, Wei Wuxian saw that the windows of Lan Zhan’s room did not look out onto a clearing
with gentians, but onto a steep cliff and the peaks of neighbouring mountains. Wei Wuxian
turned around to get a better look, but after a night in a crooked posture on the hard platform,
his back nearly screamed out loud on its own. "Oyyyy," he hissed, and tried to get into a less
painful position as soon as possible. “Heavens, how do you sleep on this?!”

Lan Zhan stood beside the bed and looked at him in confusion and concern.

“Wei Ying, is there something wrong with your room?”

Despite his deplorable state, Wei Wuxian pouted his lips. Did Lan Zhan deliberately freeze
his bedroom and remove all the duvet covers so that Wei Wuxian wouldn’t want to come to
sleep with him?

“Very hot,” he muttered, starting to shiver: without Lan Zhan at his side, the blanket wasn’t
keeping him warm enough.

Lan Zhan made a sound which he usually used to confirm that he had heard. He looked
confused and sad now.

"I'll burn less wood," he promised.

Wei Wuxian bit his lip. In fact, he liked how warm it was in his room. But Lan Zhan wasn't
there.

Lan Zhan, meanwhile, went out. Judging by the sounds, he put the kettle on, and then
returned to comb his hair. He did this without a mirror and with the air of being immersed in
meditation. Wei Wuxian was terribly reluctant to get out from under the blanket in the cold,
so he curled up and lay there, watching Lan Zhan. He must have dozed off again, because
when Lan Zhan called out to him, his consciousness came back from a very distant place.

“Wei Ying, can I brush your hair?”

“Do you think I’ll never reach the Gusu Lan standard by myself?” Wei Wuxian chuckled, but
he knew in his heart that he wouldn’t. “All right. Only… All my stuff is there,” he nodded in
the direction of his room.

So he had to gather his strength and run on tiptoe across the cold floor anyway. Taking out a
comb and hairpins, Wei Wuxian climbed onto his unmade bed and tucked his icy feet under
him.

“Will this be convenient?” he asked over his shoulder.

Lan Zhan made a sound of agreement and stood behind him, getting down to business. It was
much warmer here, and Wei Wuxian's shoulders began to relax as he warmed up. Lan Zhan's
gentle hands in his hair were soothing, caressing. It was so nice... When Shijie combed his
hair yesterday, he thought that it would be the last time; that he would never get it again. But
Lan Zhan suggested unprompted…

“Hairpin,” Lan Zhan asked.

Wei Wuxian blinked and held out the first one he found, but Lan Zhan's hand was closer than
he thought, and they collided. Wei Wuxian tried to pull his hand away out of habit, but Lan
Zhan held onto it.

“Wei Ying. You have very cold fingers.”

“It’s brass monkey freezing in your room!” Wei Wuxian complained.

Lan Zhan hesitated before answering.

“But you want me to burn less wood?”

Wei Wuxian slumped. He definitely didn’t want the brass monkey in both rooms.

“I don't,” he admitted. “I lied. I just couldn't sleep. It's a normal thing for me, but last night I
slept so well... I thought maybe it's your aura that affects me. It seems so.”

“Hmm,” Lan Zhan said. “Another hairpin.”

They didn't speak again until breakfast. Wei Wuxian didn’t know what to think: either Lan
Zhan wasn’t bothered by anything, or the opposite, he was quietly indignant. Wei Wuxian sat
in his room, dressed and combed, nervously fiddling with something in his hands. It turned
out to be Lan Zhan's red ribbon. Wei Wuxian thoughtlessly wrapped it around his wrist as he
pondered over his dilemma, and just as he was about to unwrap it, Lan Zhan called him in for
breakfast. At breakfast, Lan Zhan never took his eyes off his wrist.

“Is something wrong?” Wei Wuxian couldn't take it anymore.

“You are wearing my ribbon,” Lan Zhan replied in violation of the rules.

“I thought it was required, no?” Wei Wuxian frowned. Lan Zhan had wrapped it himself!

“It’s not required,” Lan Zhan answered as if forced and lowered his gaze. “If you do not
want.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t think about whether he wanted to or not, he was just used to tight bracers,
but Shijie had packed him mostly dress-up robes with loose sleeves.

“It’s comfortable,” he admitted.

If he squinted really hard, he seemed to make out a tiny smile on Lan Zhan’s lips.

When they finished eating and put the dishes in a basket, Lan Zhan suddenly turned to him.

“Wei Ying, I need to go to Caiyi today. Will you come with me or stay here?”
Wei Wuxian nearly collapsed where he sat. He could go to Caiyi?! Although, with Lan Zhan,
it was probably possible…

"I'll go," he replied quickly. “Only… Are you going on foot or by sword?”

“By sword,” Lan Zhan replied, and Wei Wuxian saw it dawn on him. “Wei Ying can fly with
me.”

Wei Wuxian squirmed. The last time someone carried him on their sword was when he was
thrown into Burial Mounds, and before that, only as a child, when Uncle Jiang brought him
to Lotus Pier. None of these memories were particularly pleasant. Flying on a sword that’s
not controlled by you is frankly scary.

Of course, Lan Zhan wouldn't drop him. And he wouldn’t throw him off a mountain, most
likely. It would be a strange plan to rid the world of Wei Wuxian, and the Lans usually didn't
resort to such underhanded tactics. And it would take no time to fly to Caiyi, but on foot it
was half a day. Wei Wuxian took a deep breath. What was he, after all, some kind of coward?

“Let’s go by sword,” he agreed, trying not to show his doubts. “I'm not heavy.”

“Hmm,” Lan Zhan said, looking over his figure. “Wei Ying only ate two meals yesterday.”

“Well,” Wei Wuxian chuckled nervously, “if we’re in Caiyi, then I’ll eat there all day! Before
the wedding, I didn’t have time to try all the snacks and compare them with my memories!”

Lan Zhan nodded in satisfaction and went to get Bichen, while Wei Wuxian shook his head.
What, was Lan Zhan feeding him up for slaughter?

The flight was so short that Wei Wuxian didn’t have time to really get scared. Lan Zhan
hugged him, wrapped him in his layered sleeves, and by the time Wei Wuxian recovered from
the shock and tried to get out, they had already arrived.

It was warmer in Caiyi than on the mountain, and after running back and forth through the
markets, Wei Wuxian pleaded to be allowed to go swimming. Lan Zhan did not oppose and
even agreed to hold his outerwear while Wei Wuxian was splashing in the shallow water — it
was dangerous to swim deeper: the waterborne abyss that the Wens had driven here hadn’t
gone anywhere. When Wei Wuxian got out, it turned out that Lan Zhan also had a change of
underwear in a qiankun pouch. White, of course, but Wei Wuxian didn’t complain and
quickly changed his clothes while Lan Zhan politely looked the other way, ears burning.

“You’ve already seen me in every way,” Wei Wuxian chuckled, his mood bright as usual after
swimming. “Besides, we're married!”

Lan Zhan didn't say anything, just held Wei Wuxian's elbow while he pulled on his boots.

For lunch, Wei Wuxian bought snacks — well, he grabbed them from the stalls, and Lan
Zhan paid for them — and hauled them in an armful to the steep bank to sit in the sun by the
water and pretend that he wasn’t in Gusu at all. In a flash of inspiration, he even persuaded
Lan Zhan to eat a couple of pastries. Lan Zhan smiled faintly as he helped him gently unwrap
the snack wrappers. He must have enjoyed sitting on the beach on a sunny day, too.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said as Wei Wuxian finished his meal and lay back on the grass,
squinting at the sun, “I need to talk to the town alderman. You can come with me or take a
walk.”

Wei Wuxian did not want to sit somewhere in a stuffy room on such a beautiful day and listen
to some old bore who would list how many services the sect had ordered from the town in
half a year and how much they now had to pay. Or something like that. In Yunmeng, Wei
Wuxian had started getting physically sick of talking about the money that the sect owed to
someone, because they had no way to pay up.

But then it dawned on him: so Lan Zhan would leave him alone for a few hours? In Caiyi?
Was his husband overheated…? It would have been wise to remain silent, but Wei Wuxian
couldn’t stop himself.

“Are you creating an opportunity for me to run away?”

Lan Zhan looked at him somewhat bitterly.

“Wei Ying wants to run away?”

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth — and closed it. Until then, he had been sure he wanted to.
But where to? Home to Lotus Pier? The first place they would look for him? To create new
problems for Jiang Cheng with the Lans? And besides, the reasons why Wei Wuxian didn’t
resist this marriage hadn’t gone away. He still couldn't stay in Lotus Pier. But where else?

Become a rogue cultivator and sleep out in the cold with no money, surviving from one night
hunt to another? But rumours about his Dark Path had already spread throughout the Jianghu.
Would anyone dare hire him at all? And how long would he live before the Jins sent a few
hundred people after him if he happened to be in a place previously cleared of corpses and
ghosts?

Or suppose he could get out of the Jianghu altogether? In the hope that for some reason
outside the Jianghu would be better than inside, although there was nothing to suggest that...
And here he had a warm bed, pastries, and Lan Zhan, next to whom he apparently could sleep
all night without dreams.

"Would you run away with me?" Wei Wuxian chuckled, dodging the question.

Lan Zhan raised his eyebrows and was silent for a while, so Wei Wuxian waved his hand and
lay back to look at the sky, but Lan Zhan still answered:

“Yes.”

Definitely overheated, Wei Wuxian thought, but he couldn’t help but smile stupidly.

"Where will we meet when you're done with the old men?"
“Come to the Sichuan restaurant before sunset. You've been there before.”

With that, Lan Zhan pulled out a purse from his collars and handed it to Wei Wuxian. Judging
by the weight, with this money he could come to the Sichuan restaurant every day for a
whole month.

***

The Sichuan restaurant turned out to be exactly as delightful as in the days of their youth. Lan
Zhan, however, only ate white rice, and Wei Wuxian felt unbearably sorry for him. However,
after dinner, they did not rent a room or fly back to the Cloud Recesses, but walked to the end
of the street and entered a house.

“Hanguang-jun!”

The front room turned out to be filled with Lan teenagers — about the same age as Wei
Wuxian had been when he first came to the Cloud Recesses.

Lan Zhan nodded at them, not at all surprised.

“Wait here,” he told the teens, and went to the second floor, gesturing for Wei Wuxian to
follow him.

“What are they doing here?” Wei Wuxian asked curiously as he looked around. There seemed
to be no one else in the house, but it didn’t look abandoned either.

“Waiting for me,” Lan Zhan replied. “This house belongs to the sect.”

He opened the door to one of the rooms, furnished almost exactly the same as the Jingshi;
even the rosewood lotuses were there too. Wei Wuxian didn't know what to think.

“Why are they waiting for you here?” he finally asked the simplest question.

Lan Zhan hesitated as he waited for Wei Wuxian to enter the room and stand in front of him.

“I have to supervise their night hunt. Not far from here.”

Every expression fell from Wei Wuxian's face.

“It seemed to me that Zewu-jun said that there was nothing complicated at the moment.”

Lan Zhan looked like he was disgusted by his own words.

“Nothing really difficult. The juniors can do it themselves. But I have to keep an eye on them
just in case. It's not for long. Wei Ying can stay here for the night or return to the Cloud
Recesses.”

With these words, Lan Zhan reached into his collars and pulled out an embroidered pouch,
and from it a jade pendant, the pass to the Cloud Recesses. He placed it on the table at Wei
Wuxian's feet. Wei Wuxian was silent, unable to squeeze out a sound through the insult. So
the juniors could hunt, but he, the Second Hero of Yunmeng, one of the strongest cultivators
of his generation, could not. Because he was no longer a cultivator.

They parted in silence. Lan Zhan silently left, while Wei Wuxian silently remained.
 Chapter 8
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

More weirdly motivated sex, but WWX figures it out somewhat by the end. Also, time
for accounting!

Lan Wangji returned a couple of hours later. The hunt was really quite simple, but for the
sake of it he had to spend the night in the city as the ghost appeared only after dark. The
juniors quietly went to their rooms to settle down for the night. With bated breath, Lan
Wangji opened the door to the one where he had left Wei Ying.

He was there. Asleep on the bed, half-tangled in a blanket as if a tornado had caught his feet.

Ah, no, not asleep. An open eye gleamed in the light of the lamp burning on the stairs.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Lan Wangji asked softly.

Wei Ying didn't say anything, just scooted over to the wall. Lan Wangji nodded to him, took
off and neatly folded the top layers of his robes, and placed Bichen on the table against the
wall where Chenqing was already resting. Then he returned to the bed and lay down next to
Wei Ying without touching him.

Wei Ying twitched as if trying to pull a corner of the blanket out from under him. Lan Wangji
helped him and covered them both. Wei Ying took a deep breath and turned to face the wall.

A scream woke him from his sleep. Lan Wangji jumped out of bed and grabbed Bichen, still
not fully awake. Then he realised that Wei Ying was the one screaming, his body thrashing
from side to side, tears streaming down his cheeks. Throwing Bichen to the floor with a
crash, Lan Wangji rushed back to the bed and began to share his energy with Wei Ying while
trying to wake him up.

“Wei Ying! Wei Ying! This is a dream! Wake up!”

He shook Wei Ying by the shoulders, but if he could toss around that way and not wake up, it
wouldn’t add much, and Lan Wangji didn’t dare to shake him harder. So he did the opposite:
pulled Wei Ying closer, squeezing him in his arms and burying Wei Ying’s face in his chest,
muffling his screams.

It helped: the scream turned into a confused groan, and then subsided. Wei Ying's fingers
tightened in the folds of Lan Wangji's clothes.
“Mhm… Lan Zhan?”

“Mn.” Lan Wangji gently lowered him back onto the bed.

Wei Ying exhaled and rubbed his face with his hands as he looked around. In the moonlight,
his eyes shone wetly. He glanced down at his palms, though he could hardly see moisture on
them.

“I screamed, didn't I?” he asked absently.

“Mn.” Lan Wangji lifted Bichen back onto the table and sat on the edge of the bed,
wondering if he should try to share some more energy or if Wei Ying would refuse.

“Sorry, sorry,” Wei Ying pulled his legs up to his chest and curled up around himself. “Are
there any other rooms available? I’ll go to another one.”

“This is Wei Ying’s room,” Lan Wangji said, feeling incredibly tired. “If I share energy, will
it help?”

“Mm?” Wei Ying seemed to be thinking about something else. “No, Lan Zhan. Your energy
goes in and right back out. I have nowhere to keep it.”

“I understand,” Lan Wangji sighed. He had already guessed, but still hoped that there was
some way. “Wei Ying. Let me stay here.”

“Yes, of course,” Wei Ying said after a pause and began to get out of bed. “Can you tell me
which one is free?”

“Here,” Lan Wangji repeated stupidly. “With you.”

They were both silent, staring at each other in the darkness.

“I’ll wake you up again,” Wei Ying finally said.

“That is fine.”

Wei Ying hesitated, then hurriedly huddled up against the wall again, pushing almost the
entire blanket over to Lan Wangji's side.

When Lan Wangji lay down, Wei Ying looked at him from his corner for a while, and then
timidly moved closer.

“Lie down as you like,” Lan Wangji said. After a couple of moments, his right arm was
trapped between clingy fingers, and Wei Ying exhaled deeply into his shoulder, creating a
single point of heat.

They slept the rest of the night without incident.

***
When Wei Wuxian opened his eyes, it was already very bright, and Lan Zhan was arranging
cups and bowls on the table by the window. Wei Wuxian thought that if there was anything
pleasant about this whole marriage, it would be waking up to breakfast served by Lan Zhan.

“I didn’t wake you up again?” he asked, stretching and feeling indecently good for a man
who had been yelling from nightmares for half the night.

“No.” Lan Zhan placed a bowl of Sichuan pork in front of him, no doubt brought from the
restaurant in the middle of the street. He seemed to want to ask something else, and Wei
Wuxian tensed in anticipation, but Lan Zhan changed his mind and poured himself some tea.

“And the juniors…” Wei Wuxian began awkwardly. “Were they very scared?”

“Wei Ying's rooms, both here and in the Jingshi, are lined with special spell-covered paper, so
the walls don't let sound through.”

Wei Wuxian blinked, wondering why such a precaution might be necessary. Were they going
to torture him or what?

“Why?” he couldn't resist asking.

“In case Wei Ying wants to do something noisy at night,” Lan Wangji awkwardly explained.
“Wei Ying likes to play the flute at night...”

Wei Wuxian estimated how much the cultivators’ labour cost to draw the spells. Besides,
only craftsmen with special qualifications could mount them on the walls. He looked around
involuntarily. Indeed, the walls of the room between the wooden supports were not white, but
slightly pockmarked, as if pages of text had been glued together face to face for durability.
That was probably how it was.

“Did your sect spend a fortune so I could break curfew without any problems?” he clarified,
not understanding anything at all.

“Not the sect,” Lan Zhan said. “I did. As the senior husband, I am responsible for your
infractions.”

“Ah,” Wei Wuxian finally understood. So Lan Zhan didn't want to get raked over the coals by
his uncle every time Wei Wuxian got caught, and decided to play it safe. "Don't worry, I
won't get you in trouble."

Lan Zhan looked at him strangely, but didn't say anything until the end of breakfast.

However, just as Wei Wuxian started getting ready to go, Lan Zhan covered his wrist with his
hand.

“This is Wei Ying’s room,” he said, and Wei Wuxian remembered that strange phrase from
the turmoil of the night. “If you want, you can stay here.”

Since Wei Wuxian still didn't understand, Lan Zhan added:

“You don't have to go back to the Cloud Recesses.”

Wei Wuxian felt as if he was doused with cold water. Was he being kicked out of this sect
too?!

“Do you want me to stay in Caiyi?” Wei Wuxian asked in a shaky voice.

“No,” Lan Zhan replied sadly. Then what? Or was that what the elders wanted? “But Wei
Ying doesn’t like being in the Cloud Recesses. I wanted to... offer another choice.”

Only then did Wei Wuxian notice that he was grabbing the hand that was on his wrist.

“And… the sect leader and the elders don’t mind?” he clarified.

Lan Zhan briefly shook his head, honestly looking into his eyes.

Wei Wuxian chuckled nervously. Of course, they would prefer that he never set foot in their
territory in the first place. But that meant no one was going to assign Wei Wuxian any duties
at all. Whether or not Lan Zhan told everyone about his core, the Gusu Lan Sect didn't need
him. And no one else did either. Lan Zhan probably spent half of his savings just so that Wei
Wuxian wouldn't interfere with his life.

That was it. He won the war for them, and now he was being cast off.

Wei Wuxian coughed, either choking on air, or on resentful energy rising to his throat. When
he agreed to this marriage, he was ready for harassment, isolation, interrogation and coercion.
He was ready to fight for the Tiger Seal. Ready to starve for weeks and not sleep for nights
on end, but find a way to freedom.

But the reality turned out to be much simpler. And much scarier. He could go in any of the
four directions, as long as he didn’t hinder the immaculate Lan Sect in remaining
immaculate.

“Can I go back to Lotus Pier?” he asked purely for verification. He had no intention of
returning to Jiang Cheng.

Lan Zhan thought.

“The Jiang Sect is still being restored. If your family needs your help, that's
understandable...”

Wei Wuxian nodded. So they really didn’t give a rabbit’s buttock about him. Jiang Cheng
sold him here for building materials, and the Lans invested the same amount in order to
comfortably neither see nor hear him. More precisely, Lan Zhan invested. From his own
sleeve.

But then why did he ask to stay last night? No matter how offended Wei Wuxian was, his
inquisitive mind didn’t let him lump everything together indiscriminately. What was Lan
Zhan afraid of? Maybe there was another layer, a false bottom, that Wei Wuxian couldn't see
right then.
“Which way,” he began cautiously, “would you prefer?”

Lan Zhan looked down at their clasped hands.

“I would like to… spend more time with Wei Ying. But only if he wants the same.”

Wei Wuxian frowned. What for? To seize the moment and take the Seal? But Lan Zhan had
already had plenty of opportunities to do so, even last night.

“Doing...what?” he clarified.

Lan Zhan cocked his head to the side, which in his arsenal of gestures meant a shrug.

“Everything.”

It was then that Wei Wuxian had an idea. Seriously? Hanguang-jun, leashed by base desires?

“Would you like,” Wei Wuxian licked his lips, “to sleep with me? Like... on our wedding
night?”

He watched as Lan Zhan's ears filled with intense colour. Wow.

“If… Wei Ying… wants the same,” he finally choked out.

Wei Wuxian thought. Did he want the same? Well, at least he didn't mind. He’d enjoyed
himself then. Of course, he’d dropped his guard, but… Lan Zhan still hadn’t taken anything
away from him, except for his innocence. If Lan Zhan just wanted a bed warmer, then Wei
Wuxian had nothing to fear, right?

And besides, it seemed that Lan Zhan was the only person on earth who needed Wei Wuxian
even a little bit.

“Okay,” Wei Wuxian breathed out. “Let’s do it. It suits me.”

Lan Zhan widened his eyes and stared at him like he was a wonder of wonders. Wei Wuxian
felt uncomfortable under that gaze.

“If you want, we can kiss?” he suggested awkwardly.

Lan Zhan didn't make him beg, and kissing quickly turned into making out, and then it went
downhill.

Wei Wuxian didn't really understand what was going on. Hadn’t he just taken offence at
someone and spent the night in an empty bed in the clutches of nightmares? And now he had
someone else’s tongue in his mouth, and someone else’s fingers slipping between him and his
half-removed pants. In the light of day, this ghost of the wedding night should have
dissipated, but instead it became only brighter and more distinct.

Back then, on the first evening, Wei Wuxian was shaking so much at the thought that he
would be left alone for life, that he was ready to do anything to delay the punishment, and
then he found in the sensations of the body the oblivion of the soul. However, now no such
emotion possessed him so completely as to blindly rush into that vortex and allow it to
swallow him up. Wei Wuxian was fully aware that Lan Zhan was trying to push his fingers
into him, and he himself was so hard that he was about to cut through Lan Zhan's stomach.
Wei Wuxian suddenly felt ashamed of his lust, even though he knew in his mind that it was
too late to be feeling that way. He had already done this once, and Lan Zhan didn’t get
offended but took an active part.

“Wei Ying, is something wrong?” Lan Zhan suddenly stopped trying to penetrate him.

“Nothing,” Wei Wuxian quickly replied, swallowing. It just didn't fit in his head that Lan
Zhan might want him. But on their wedding night, he did. Most definitely. Wei Wuxian, try
as he might, could not justify that passion with rules and a sense of duty. Perhaps Lan Zhan
really had an overabundance of yang, and that pushed him to such extreme behaviour.

“If you don't want to, we don’t have to...”

“No, no, it's great!” Wei Wuxian hastened to assure. “I just… It’s so bright in here…”

He ventured a sidelong glance at Lan Zhan. He looked at him in a somewhat puzzled way,
leaning over him propped on one arm over Wei Wuxian's shoulder. After a couple of
moments, Lan Zhan lowered his head and kissed his temple, causing a wave of goosebumps
to run over Wei Wuxian's head.

“Wei Ying is beautiful,” Lan Zhan whispered, moving his lips over his skin. Wei Wuxian
found himself wanting to press his mouth hard against those lips and almost missed the
thought that Lan Zhan thought he was self-conscious of his naked body.

“Ah, gege finally took a closer look at me,” he grinned contentedly, falling back into his
usual role with relief. “Lan Zhan, you ignored me for so many years, I thought you didn’t like
me!”

Lan Zhan exhaled hotly into his ear, and his fingers tightened down there again, and Wei
Wuxian felt the penetration. What was he doing? Why was he goading Lan Zhan, who
seemed to be barely holding back anyway? Just to be needed? Was that all Wei Wuxian was
good for now?

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts again. “Do you still want to
continue?”

Wei Wuxian imagined how embarrassing it would be if he said, “No, I’m done, let’s fly
home.” What would his life be like? What if Lan Zhan avoided him? He had no one else to
talk to in Gusu...

“Of course, I want to! Lan Zhan, why are you taking so long, I'm ready!”

Lan Zhan raised himself on his arm again and looked into Wei Wuxian's face. He had no idea
what it expressed, but Lan Zhan's eyebrows moved a tenth of a cun.
“Will you… let me…?”

Something in his voice sent goosebumps down Wei Wuxian's stomach. It sounded so
intimate, so… caring. It was as if Wei Wuxian had complete control over the situation. He
chuckled stupidly.

“Well, of course, I already... That is to say, this isn’t our first time...”

His memories of the first time were rather fragmented. He’d enjoyed himself. And Lan Zhan
seemed to, also. No reason not to repeat it.

And they did repeat. It hurt a little at first, but Wei Wuxian already knew the feeling from the
first time, and didn't admit to it when Lan Zhan asked. However, Lan Zhan still gave him
time to get used to the feeling, peering into his face as if looking for a trap there. Wei Wuxian
was even offended: what was it that his husband suspected him of?

But then his body got used to it, and Lan Zhan began to move, licking and biting his throat at
the same time, and Wei Wuxian forgot all his worries. He didn't hear Lan Zhan's voice so
much as he could feel the vibration through his skin, but that vibration seemed to resonate
with the rhythm of his heart. The smell of Lan Zhan's hair, slightly sweet and spicy, brought
to life memories of youthful pranks and their joint feat. It was the smell of confidence, the
smell of safety.

As soon as he accepted the situation in which he found himself, Wei Wuxian immediately
began to experiment: he lifted his hips this way and that, rubbed Lan Zhan's nipple, bit his
ear. It turned out that until then, Lan Zhan was still holding back, but as soon as Wei Wuxian
began his flirtations, he seemed to run wild.

Whining and whimpering in pleasure, Wei Wuxian thought that Lan Zhan might have other
reasons for lining his bedroom with soundproofing talismans.

When they both plunged from the peak, Wei Wuxian lay there, his body liquified for a while,
listening to Lan Zhan's breathing recovering, and thinking that for the first time since he lost
his core, he didn’t think of his body as separate from himself. Once, when he cultivated and
increased his spiritual energy, he drew strength and confidence from his body’s capabilities.
He revelled in every movement in swordplay, tested his strength daily. There was a large
mirror in his room, in which he sometimes examined himself in the evenings, checking how
different muscles worked, and also, from what angle they looked best. He was interested in
exploring himself — and this "self" included a bodily shell.

But since the path to cultivation was cut off for him, Wei Wuxian only carelessly dressed his
body in the morning and undressed in the evening. Well, he washed it too. All the research
now was about what was going on in his head, or about how to cope with the resentful energy
that filled his frozen meridians. He didn't care how he looked, how he moved. All of him fit
in the bone box behind his eyes, well, maybe a little bit in his fingers, and everything else
was background, a substrate, a necessary locomotive construct.

And now he suddenly felt his body again. Even though it could no longer wield a sword or
accumulate spiritual energy, it could bring him pleasure that he had never imagined before.
Under Lan Zhan's hands, his body sang like a tuned guqin. He felt that it was him too:
goosebumps, and sweet pain from too tightly clenched fingers, from a slight bite, warmth
under the palms, and ticklish drop of sweat — all this was him. He didn’t end below the chin.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan came to his senses and interrupted his epiphany. “How do you feel?”

Wei Wuxian broke into a lazy smile.

“I’d feel a hundred times better if gege petted me.”

At once, Lan Zhan obediently put his hand on the bottom of his ribs and ran it down to his
thigh and back again, caressing his heated skin. Wei Wuxian was about to purr. He hadn't
allowed anyone to touch him for a long time, but now... He hadn't even suspected that bodily
sensations could influence emotions so strongly. No, even if all other aspects of this marriage
were a complete nightmare, he was going to hold Lan Zhan to his marital duty like a savvy
landlord collecting rent.

"Do you understand what you've done?" he asked Lan Zhan.

He raised his eyebrows in concern.

“What?”

“You’ve corrupted me!” Wei Wuxian said contentedly. “Now I’ve known the sweetness of
this peach. Don't even think that you can tease me and then leave me! Now I want to partake
of this fruit every day!”

Lan Zhan blew air through his nose, and it sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

“Every day is every day.”

***

Wei Wuxian returned to the Jingshi alone: ​Lan Zhan needed to debrief the juniors. Wei
Wuxian was too complacent after having fun in Caiyi to worry about this: why would he
analyse a night hunt that he wasn’t on?

However, as soon as he reached the house, a servant sprouted up out of nowhere and with a
bow asked him to return to the main part of the residence to talk with the Sect Leader. Wei
Wuxian frowned, wondering if Lan Zhan had said something to Lan Xichen, but he couldn’t
figure out what it could be, so he decided to just go and find out.

Lan Xichen greeted him on the porch of the Hanshi and immediately led him inside, not to
the front room where they had lunch yesterday, but deeper into an office that looked more
like a branch of the Library Pavilion. In the middle, two desks stood at right angles to each
other, and the walls were lined with shelves full of books and scrolls, the only gaps being the
window shutters, fitted with very thin and transparent paper, letting in a lot of light.

“What can I do for the Sect Leader?” Wei Wuxian didn't add "here", but looked around
expressively.
Lan Xichen smiled somehow… guiltily? Wei Wuxian tensed up.

“I remember that Master Wei has perfect command of the science of numbers,” Lan Xichen
said. “And for this reason I thought to ask for your help in keeping accounts.”

Wei Wuxian frowned. He hated counting whom and how much the sect owed. But to directly
say so to Lan Xichen would be the height of impudence. Maybe if he turned out to be
unsuitable, he wouldn’t be asked again?

“I’ve never done that,” he said. Quite honestly: Jiang Cheng didn’t trust him with the
accounts, and Madam Yu even more so. “You’ll have to teach me...”

“Of course.” Lan Xichen smiled contentedly this time. “I myself had to study for a long time
so I wouldn’t make mistakes in difficult situations. Unfortunately, only a member of the main
family can deal with the sect’s finances, but Uncle has retired from these matters; all his time
is devoted to teaching... While Wangji and I, I'm afraid, don’t have the proper mindset.”

Which meant, this was a crappy job that would be good to shove onto someone, Wei Wuxian
concluded, and barely restrained himself from a doomed sigh.

"I'll do my best," he said aloud.

Lan Xichen was so delighted that he practically fluttered between the shelves, taking out
tomes and mountains of rolling scrolls and dumping them all on the desks. Wei Wuxian
couldn't understand why there was so much paper. Accounts were simple: how much you got
and how much you spent. Wasn’t one book enough?

It turned out that the Lans from generation to generation accounted for different types of
expenses and profits in different books, and all these expenses were supposed to be compared
with similar ones in previous years, the results of this comparison written out in a separate
book, and then the expenses or income in this category expected in the near future had to be
estimated and written down on a separate sheet, and then yet another separate book was there
to collect all the forecasts together and thus plan the budget. Plus, each disciple of the sect
received a monthly salary, which was calculated as a percentage of the sect’s total profit and
varied depending on age and cultivation level, as well as the number and complexity of night
hunts in which the disciple participated, their activity in them, hours of teaching, performance
of duties within the sect and—

When Wei Wuxian got to the point of calculating servants’ bonuses for good work, he
realised that his brain was about to boil and it was impossible to keep all of this in it.
Therefore, he suggested that Lan Xichen take a break in his tutoring while Wei Wuxian
digested what he had already learned. When the Sect Leader left, Wei Wuxian took a few
minutes to sketch a talisman, into which he could enter the necessary parameters, so that later
he could apply it to the corresponding book and get a ready-made calculation.

After that, Wei Wuxian's task was reduced to making a talisman for each type of expenditure
and income, as well as for each disciple and servant. He suspected that it would be possible
to make a talisman that would fill other talismans by itself, but since everything was done in
separate books, mass processing still wouldn’t work out, so he didn’t bother. He only had to
calculate the final numbers of what people should receive, but Wei Wuxian didn’t see this as
a problem: he easily calculated four-digit numbers in his head.

Now he knew how much Lan Zhan was getting. Well, he could afford to not only paper the
walls with talismans, but plate them with gold! And in general, the affairs of the Lan sect
were going supremely well; even the fire had a very temporary effect on their prosperity. It
turned out that a fair part of the Lans' funds weren’t stored in the sect’s territory, but invested
in the development of various crafts in neighbouring cities, and therefore the Wens simply
hadn’t been able to find two-thirds of the sect's money. The Lan's ostentatious austerity made
everyone else think that they had nothing else... Wei Wuxian wondered if there was a way to
hint at this solution to Jiang Cheng, so as not to reveal the secrets of his new sect.

In the end, when Lan Xichen returned to the archive room an hour later to check on Wei
Wuxian’s progress, he was greeted with a satisfied, “Done!”

“Have you… estimated the upcoming spending on fabrics…?” Lan Xichen was surprised.

“I have estimated all the income and all the expenses and calculated all the salaries with
bonuses.” Wei Wuxian proudly patted the book with the summary forecast. “Everything is in
here.”

Lan Xichen opened the book in bewilderment as if he expected Wei Wuxian to have
misunderstood the problem. Bewilderment turned into amazement when he saw relatively
even rows of characters detailing all financial transactions. Finally, having reached the
calculation of salaries, he looked around, searching for something on the table.

“Where are your calculations?”

“Calculations?” Wei Wuxian frowned. “Everything is there.”

“No, I mean,” Lan Xichen spread his hands, “you somehow came up with these numbers.
You must have worked on a separate sheet?”

“Ah!” Wei Wuxian finally understood what the sect leader was talking about. When he was a
junior disciple, teachers sometimes forced him to calculate on paper, but it was too difficult
and very slow, and besides, he made lots of mistakes by inattention when he copied from line
to line. “I count everything in my mind, this way it’s both more precise, and faster.”

Lan Xichen actually stared at him.

There was a knock, and Lan Zhan peeked into the room.

“Brother… Wei Ying?”

“Hi!” Wei Wuxian smiled. "Your brother doesn't believe I can count in my head!"

“No, well…” Lan Xichen got over his shock somewhat and invited Lan Zhan to come in. “Of
course, everyone can count in their minds to some extent, some are better, some are worse.
And I understand, let's say, adding and subtracting in your mind isn’t that difficult. But here
... First, you find the base share, then add to it the annual coefficient, multiplied by the
number of years — not all, but from the age of majority — then add the cultivation level
coefficient and all these other factors, multiplied by the amount of work performed ... How
can you do it in your mind?”

“Just so,” Wei Wuxian shrugged. He seriously did not understand what the problem was: you
sit yourself down, you multiply. Opening the first available book to a random page, he stared
at the report card of one of the disciples and after a few moments summed it up: “Thirty-six
gold ingots and one silver ingot.”

Both brothers, without saying a word, took up the brushes and focused on covering pages
upon pages with mathematical symbols. Those things were what confused Wei Wuxian the
most. He imagined numbers as bowls of soup. Well, perhaps jugs of wine, if the numbers
were bigger. It made so much more sense than some abstract signs!

“It’s correct,” Lan Xichen said in a weak voice. Lan Zhan counted four more times, but found
no mistake. “Can I check a few more examples?”

After the tenth check, Wei Wuxian's stomach growled, and the Lans realised that it was
almost dark outside. Maybe Wei Wuxian shouldn't have lit all the candles with a flick of his
eyebrows — if he had stood up and struck the flint, the Lans would have noticed it earlier.

“Wei Ying is very smart,” Lan Zhan stated authoritatively.

“I hope,” Lan Xichen spoke softly, “Master Wei will not mind helping me with this task in
the future?”

Wei Wuxian shrugged and nodded. In Lotus Pier, for the post-war year, keeping accounts
meant writing to moneylenders and suppliers and trying to get them to wait a little longer.
Wei Wuxian had been sick of it. He was ready to do anything else but that. But the Lans
didn’t have debts; on the contrary, they themselves lent their money at interest. And to do
math for an hour once a month was a trifling matter. You could call it a thinking break.

Moreover, he couldn’t be useful to his new sect in any other way.

“Are you tired?” Lan Zhan asked him on the way to the Jingshi.

Wei Wuxian wasn’t tired, it was just that the last thought plunged him into a pool of
hopelessness again. Who was Wei Wuxian? The guy who counted the budget. Now he would
be famous for this. This would be his honour. Wei Wuxian sighed. His second skill was to
improve the quality of Hanguang-jun's leisure time, but that was unlikely to be talked about.
Even if he peeled off the soundproofing talismans, the Jingshi was still too far from the rest
of the houses.

“What would you do,” he asked Lan Zhan, “if you weren’t a cultivator?”

“I would play the guqin,” Lan Zhan replied after thinking.

“You already play,” Wei Wuxian smiled. Lan Zhan played superbly, better than the most
famous professional musicians Wei Wuxian had ever heard. His own dizi technique wasn’t
even close, and the instrument was of the wrong calibre. Peasants danced to the dizi at the
harvest festival. “Will you play for me tonight?”

Lan Zhan nodded and smiled a little.

 Chapter 9
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Getting to the peak of the angst in here. It'll go down after this one, at least for a while.

Several days passed, each little different from the other. Wei Wuxian wandered around, trying
to stay out of the heart of the residence, playing the flute and painting portraits of his husband
against the landscape of his sect.

A couple of times, Lan Zhan took him to Caiyi, but Wei Wuxian realised that he didn't really
want to go there. It was too hard to watch others go on night hunts and stay behind.

Boredom and resentful energy were a bad combination. Dejection was eating him alive,
biting into the bone marrow and drying up the nerves. Even if at first Wei Wuxian still
pretended for Lan Zhan’s sake that everything suited him, and that he didn’t need anything
other than a jar of hot sauce and a jug of wine for peace of mind, by the end of the month he
didn’t care anymore what Lan Zhan would think.

The only time Wei Wuxian felt good was during their nightly activities in bed. Of course, Wei
Wuxian had nobody to compare him to, but Lan Zhan, in his opinion, was incredibly good at
this. Wei Wuxian simply passed out, indulging in pleasure with only his body, without the
participation of his mind. He would have liked to remain in that state around the clock. Once
he even asked Lan Zhan if he would like to tie him up and store him in a trunk until dinner,
but Lan Zhan got a little nervous and refused.

Jiang Cheng sent a letter. In Lotus Pier, the construction was in full swing, the carpenters
from Gusu knew their craft, and they did not have to be yelled at from morning to night, so
Jiang Cheng had time to recruit and train disciples. The sect’s ranks gradually grew stout.
Somehow (Wei Wuxian suspected that it was not without the help of Shijie) Jiang Cheng
managed to recruit some very decent rogue cultivators, so now there was someone to earn
money from night hunts and teach novices. Wei Wuxian sighed more freely and wrote back
that he was doing well and that he lazed around all day long. This way, Jiang Cheng would
get angry at the latter and not think about the former for very long.

One fine morning after breakfast (Wei Wuxian's breakfast; Lan Zhan had never left him alone
in the morning) Lan Zhan went to the Hanshi on business, but came back sooner than he had
planned. Wei Wuxian was sitting on the porch and experimenting with a talisman, deciding
between giving it whiskers or horns, but raised his head, noticing his husband. Lan Zhan
looked flustered.
“Wei Ying, need your help.”

Wei Wuxian blinked. He hadn't heard those words in a long time, and never from Lan Zhan.

“How can I help you?” he asked, perking up.

However, he celebrated too soon. Lan Zhan said this:

There were so many disciples in Gusu Lan that it was impossible to teach them all together
even if they were close in age. Elder Wang and Master Gong shared the beginners among
themselves. However, Master Gong recently went to meditate in seclusion, and during his
absence, Elder Wang reluctantly added his disciples to his own. However, it turned out that
the classes had too much of a difference in levels of training. Evidently, Master Gong, who
until this year worked with older disciples, did not spend enough hours on theoretical
lectures. Elder Wang didn't have time to train them up separately. Of course, there were other
teachers in Gusu Lan, but Uncle was personally in charge of their appointment, and Uncle
had also taken time off for meditation, confident that everything was under control.

Wei Wuxian felt a little dizzy at the logistics. There were no different classes in Yunmeng,
much less ones that could be united. Rather, at a certain time, one of the senior disciples
would settle on the porch or lakeshore and tell everyone how to do something, and then show
them. Those of the juniors who understood what they were talking about came up and sat
down to study, and those who weren’t yet old enough ran off to fly kites instead, until Madam
Yu caught them and drove them to the training field. But the Jiang Sect had always been
smaller than Gusu Lan. Probably, such a large number of disciples should be taught in some
other way…

Having reached this point in the explanation, Lan Zhan seemed to be self-conscious.

“Brother suggested that I take this class, but… I'm not very good at explaining the theory.”

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but chuckle as he imagined Lan Zhan walking around the
classroom like Lan Qiren, hands behind his back, dictating meaningless maxims and common
truths. He would be hoarse in ten sentences, and in twenty he’d be driven up the wall!

“And what kind of theory should be explained to novices?” he asked.

“Methods of meditation,” Lan Zhan began to list, “different types of spiritual weapons,
consumption and restoration of qi… The most basic things.”

Wei Wuxian knew from experience that the basics were the hardest to explain, especially
since it was obviously to a group of very young cultivators who had just started their path. At
one time, he himself had spent several days hammering those very ways of restoring qi into
Jiang Cheng, because he didn’t understand why more than one was needed. And weapons...
Well, there were swords, then there were sabres. Musical instruments. And the rest were a
total mess. Some had flails, some had whips, some had special bows, and all with different
properties. The Lans must have classified them all somehow and listed them in even rows,
but Wei Wuxian knew nothing of that.
“Wei Ying?”

He blinked out of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Did you have something planned for today?”

“Me? No…” Wei Wuxian was confused, staring at Lan Zhan and trying to figure out what he
was up to.

“Good,” Lan Zhan said, satisfied. “The lesson starts in an hour.”

“You want me to lecture?!” Wei Wuxian was horrified, immediately imagining himself in Lan
Qiren's place and with the same beard. He was sure that a goatee would grow instantly when
he started reciting some boring list in front of an audience.

“Lan Zhan, what are you talking about? Theory is so boring, I’ll fall asleep in the middle of
class!”

“Wei Ying can figure out how to tell it in an interesting way,” Lan Zhan didn’t back down.

“I don’t even know the material!” Wei Wuxian continued to resist.

Lan Zhan looked at him reproachfully. Of course, Wei Wuxian knew the basics of cultivation,
but it was one thing to know enough to use, and another to teach. On the other hand... What
was so hard about teaching babies? Wei Wuxian wouldn’t be able to conduct practical
classes, he couldn’t demonstrate most of the cultivation techniques.

“I already promised Brother,” Lan Zhan finished him off.

“You must have four thousand rules for how a teacher should behave,” Wei Wuxian
grumbled, feeling that he had run out of arguments. Classifying weapons with the kids
sounded so much better than getting drunk alone...

“Mn. I’ll bring them for Wei Ying to read in his spare time,” Lan Zhan replied without
batting an eyelid.

“Ah…” Wei Wuxian suddenly remembered what Lan Zhan had said at the very beginning,
“I’m sure I will have to report to your uncle about the work?”

Lan Zhan thought for a second, but shook his head.

“You will report to me. I'll pass it to Uncle.”

Well, wasn’t that just perfect?! Wei Wuxian scratched the back of his head, took out a new
sheet of paper, and began to draw different types of weapons on it while there was still time
before class.
“And one more thing,” Lan Zhan said, following Wei Wuxian’s hands. “Are you going to
help Brother calculate the budget again this month?”

“Well, I was going to,” Wei Wuxian shrugged. He completely forgot about it and had no idea
what date it was that day. “Why?”

“You made a mistake last time.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him, immediately going over his previous calculations in his head. He
very rarely made mistakes in mathematics, and certainly not when sober.

“What kind?” he asked.

“You didn’t count your own allowance.”

Wei Wuxian stared at him even harder in amazement.

“Why would I have an allowance?”

Lan Zhan looked at him reproachfully.

“Wei Ying receives a basic allowance like everyone else in the sect, with a bonus for
performing duties. Budget planning. Starting this month, add teaching hours.”

Wei Wuxian gaped at his husband. He didn’t even have a salary in the Jiang Sect — at first,
just Uncle Jiang or Jiang Cheng gave him pocket money, though very generously, and then,
after... He just came to Jiang Cheng’s office, where the chest with ingots was kept, and took
however many he needed. It never occurred to him to think about where the money would
come from now.

“Doesn't my husband support me?” he smirked coquettishly, though he was still confused in
his heart. Lan Zhan looked at him too seriously, and Wei Wuxian got nervous.

“If Wei Ying needs money, I will give you whatever you want,” Lan Zhan said without a hint
of annoyance. “But Wei Ying must receive his allowance.”

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to argue this point — although he himself did not really
understand why, but Lan Zhan tapped his finger on the sheet with sketches of weapons.

“The lesson starts soon.”

The children turned out to be exactly as Wei Wuxian had imagined: quiet, polite and timid
little Lans. Although they had only started studying a month ago, the moment Wei Wuxian
entered the classroom, they all jumped up from their oversized desks as if on cue and greeted
the teacher in unison. When Hanguang-jun himself came in after Wei Wuxian, the moppets
drew themselves so tall and straight that they began to look like fishing rods.

Wei Wuxian sighed and glanced at Lan Zhan in martyrdom.

“This is Teacher Wei,” Lan Zhan said. “He will replace Teacher Gong while he meditates.
Teacher Wei has recently joined Gusu Lan. I am responsible for your class. If you have any
questions about the material, exercises, or schedule, feel free to ask me.”

“If you have any questions about Teacher Wei, ask Hanguang-jun those questions too,” Wei
Wuxian grinned and winked at the shocked children who had never seen a lively expression
in their lives. “Now get out from behind your desks and come over here.

With that, he flopped down on the floor in the middle of the dais at the front of the classroom
and patted the floor beside him. The children crowded in front of the dais, staring first at Wei
Wuxian and then at Hanguang-jun.

“Come up, come up,” Wei Wuxian spurred them on. Lan Zhan gave a slight nod, and they
finally, a little clumsily, climbed onto the wooden platform. It was quite tall for their short
legs, and the little ones struggled not to assume inappropriate positions. “That's better. Sit
down, sit down in a circle. Lan Zhan, we should at least bring some pillows here, we’ll get all
stiff here on bare boards!”

***

Lan Wangji nodded and left.

By the time he returned with the cushions — balancing them on one hand in a pile much
taller than himself — the children were already clustering in groups of three or four around
the cut-up pictures, trying to assemble whole images of spiritual weapons from them. There
was a hubbub in the classroom, occasionally drowned out by someone's triumphant shriek.
Lan Wangji stood outside for a while, watching the scene with a smile.

Wei Ying noticed him and immediately clapped his hands.

“Come on, whoever first names three types of weapons to me will be the first to get a
cushion!”

The hubbub shot through the roof. Lan Wangji looked around, made sure no one was walking
by, and decided that soundproofing talismans would be useful here as well.

Wei Ying took up teaching with a zeal that had been hard to predict when he first agreed. In a
few days, all the surfaces in the Jingshi were littered with books on the basics,
methodological instructions, a gutted curriculum, and notes from Wei Ying himself.
Mnemonic pictures, somewhat caricatured portraits of famous cultivators, and qi circulation
charts hung on the walls of the classroom. The children were delighted and literally squealed
with joy when Wei Ying appeared on the doorstep.

“Whoever fills in the gaps correctly on the diagram will receive a hug!” Wei Ying proclaimed
as he handed out the papers.

"Teacher Wei! You always give hugs to everyone, even those who made a mistake!” one of
the boys complained.
“It's because I love you lot even when you flub tests!” Wei Ying calmly informed them, and
all the children rushed to hug him immediately, forgetting about the task.

Half a month later, Uncle returned from seclusion and arranged progress tests for all groups.
Lan Wangji suggested that Wei Ying take a day off and go for a walk in Caiyi, and he did not
even object, saying that he wanted to buy some dolls and toy animals in order to better
demonstrate the formations during night hunts.

“Wangji, Xichen told me about the situation with Gong Qianfan's class. If you want, I can
take it myself, now that I'm back.”

“There is no need,” Lan Wangji replied, looking into the cup. “It's not burdensome.”

“As you wish,” Uncle shook his head. “You haven’t taught before, usually people start with
older groups. Are you sure you can bring them up to the right level?”

“Uncle will check and decide,” Lan Wangji suggested.

Uncle was immensely pleased with the results of the test and for a long time muttered
something about hereditary talent and unexpected aspects of personality. The children even
behaved well during the test, most likely because Wei Ying still delegated group meditations
to Lan Wangji, citing Lan Wangji's soothing voice. Lan Wangji himself suspected that Wei
Ying simply didn’t have the patience to recite mantras, but he didn’t mind.

Thus, Wei Ying was happy, Brother was happy, Uncle was happy, and the children were
getting an excellent education, so Lan Wangji finally breathed a sigh of relief.

***

Next month, Wei Wuxian quickly calculated salaries again and headed off to come up with
rhymes for memorising the order of characters in standard talismans, in full confidence that
he had done everything right, but the next day Lan Xichen called him to his office to discuss
his work.

“Is something wrong?” Wei Wuxian asked in puzzlement from the doorway, since he and
Zewu-jun had already greeted each other on the path to the Library that day. However, Lan
Xichen wasn’t alone. “Oh, Uncle, hello!”

Lan Qiren grumbled through his goatee, he still couldn’t get used to this greeting from Wei
Wuxian.

“Uncle decided to help me check the calculations,” Lan Xichen said with a forced smile. It
seemed that Uncle not so much decided to help, as forced Lan Xichen to show him. “And we
found one oddity. Most likely, this is just a mistake due to inattention...”

“Mistakes like this ruin sects,” Lan Qiren said weightily.

Wei Wuxian frowned and, at the Sect Leader’s direction, sat down at the desk where there
was an account book with bookmarks on two pages.
“Look,” Lan Xichen pointed at the column where Lan Zhan’s salary was listed. “Wangji only
has a couple of hours of teaching per week here. And here,” he flipped the pages to another
bookmark, and Wei Wuxian saw his own salary, “you’re practically at full capacity. You must
have written this number in the wrong place?”

Wei Wuxian blinked.

“Why? That's right, Lan Zhan only leads their meditation, and I do everything else. Well,
except practice.”

“Wh-what?” Uncle asked in a weak voice.

Wei Wuxian looked up at him.

“Well, this is Teacher Gong's class. I'm replacing him.”

“You…?” Lan Xichen asked, bewildered. “Not Wangji?”

Wei Wuxian was completely confused. Lan Zhan had told the children back then that he was
the one in charge of the class, but to Wei Wuxian, these were empty words.

“Lan Zhan conducts their meditations,” he repeated. “Well… he told them that they can ask
him questions about the schedule and so on; I don’t know if they do ask him or not… He
sometimes comes to listen to a lesson if he has free time,” Wei Wuxian added, sensing that he
must shield Lan Zhan, but not fully understanding the essence of the problem.

Lan Qiren slammed his hand on the desk.

“You think you can just show up without permission in our classrooms and teach our kids
your heretical path?!”

Wei Wuxian recoiled, but immediately became indignant.

“What heretical path?! I teach them according to the curriculum! Your own curriculum! You
gave them a test a couple of weeks ago; did they write a lot about the Dark Path in their
answers?!”

Lan Qiren turned purple.

“So, if it’s according to the curriculum, then any passer-by from the street can now teach
Gusu Lan disciples without asking the elders?!”

“Why without asking?” Wei Wuxian was confused. “Do you think I hijacked the class
myself? Showed up in the classroom, knocked out the teacher and sat in his place?! How do
you imagine that? Zewu-jun, Lan Zhan offered this to me at your request!”

Uncle's crimson face turned to Lan Xichen.

“There must have been a misunderstanding…” Lan Xichen raised his palms. “I asked Wangji
to take this class, but maybe he misunderstood me.”
“He understood everything,” Uncle hissed. “I said that marrying Wei Wuxian would lead to
no good, and here you go! Wangji now manages the sect’s resources however he wants, and
also lies at every step!”

Wei Wuxian sat frozen in a daze. Could it be that Lan Zhan hadn’t told anyone that he gave
the class to Wei Wuxian? But surely someone must check that the teacher is in the classroom
at all and teaches what they need to? Wei Wuxian had never seen the inspectors, but he
thought that he simply didn’t notice them, carried away by the lesson.

But if the Second Jade himself was listed as the class’ teacher... They could decide that it was
inappropriate to check him... And Lan Zhan immediately took over all organisational issues...
And on the day of the inspection he sent Wei Wuxian away from the sect residence...

While Wei Wuxian was thinking about all these events, Lan Qiren told someone to bring Lan
Zhan. He appeared, as always, unshakable, and even the cautioning look that Wei Wuxian
threw at his arrival didn’t make him express concern.

“Uncle. Brother. Wei Ying. How can I help you?”

“Wei Wuxian,” instead of answering his nephew, Lan Qiren turned to him. “Get out.”

“Eh?” Wei Wuxian blinked. “Why?”

“This is a family conversation,” Uncle replied.

“And Wei Ying is a member of the family,” Lan Zhan remarked.

“Aren’t you going to discuss my employment?” Wei Wuxian added.

“You don't need to be present,” Uncle insisted.

“But why? This concerns me in the first place!” Wei Wuxian continued to resist.

Uncle slammed his hand on the desk again.

“Who do you think you are? We did you a favour letting you cross the threshold, and you still
dare to make demands here?!”

Wei Wuxian closed his mouth with a thud. Right, right, he’d already gotten used to Lan Zhan
treating him like he was here by birthright or something.

“ Uncle .”

Lan Zhan's gaze could drill into hard stone.

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen said softly. “I think Master Wei really shouldn’t listen to this.”

The brothers talked silently with only glances, accompanied by Lan Qiren's heated panting,
but in the end, Lan Zhan gave up.
“This is a conversation between me and Uncle,” he said, placing his hand on Wei Wuxian’s
wrist. “You should rest.”

Wei Wuxian pursed his lips and swept out of the Hanshi without saying goodbye to anyone.
So, in Gusu Lan, he still had neither the right to speak nor value to the sect. They didn’t take
him on night hunts, fine, but to deliver a couple of lectures to the kids — was he not even
good enough for that now? Or rather, why ‘now’? The Lans hadn't intended to offer him any
work even remotely related to cultivation from the start. Counting money, that was all. And
then, maybe out of boredom, he’d start sweeping the paths; why couldn’t that be an
appropriate job for one of the most powerful cultivators in all the Jianghu?

Wei Wuxian kicked the path in annoyance so that the gravel fanned out in all directions.

Judging by Lan Qiren's mood, it was pointless to prepare for the lesson. Lan Zhan wouldn't
convince him. If only he had at least persuaded his brother in advance; but even then, why
would Zewu-jun go against his uncle for Wei Wuxian’s sake... Overall, it was hopeless.

Wei Wuxian nearly burst into tears. Just when he found at least one outlet...

Arriving at the Jingshi, the first thing he did was uncork the jar hidden in Lan Zhan's room
and drink half of it. Then he glanced at the wall: fresh lesson plans and notes on each
student's progress — and drained the jar. He wanted to go and tear some dark creature into
tiny pieces with his teeth. But night hunting was also not allowed.

He looked blearily around the front room and the mess beyond the open bedroom door. That
was all the space his life could occupy.

Suddenly, the sound of a bugle cut through the silence of the Cloud Recesses. Wei Wuxian
knew that sound. That was how they trumpeted when they announced a serious punishment.

With a really bad feeling, Wei Wuxian leapt outside and rushed back along the path, damning
the rule about running to all the demons of hell. And he managed just in time: in front of the
Hall of Ancestors, Lan Zhan was kneeling on the prickly gravel, and some bastard with a
bastinado was already sizing him up.

“Stop!” Wei Wuxian yelled. “What's going on here?!”

“Wei Ying, go home,” Lan Zhan immediately told him.

“Home?” Wei Wuxian blurted out. “To Yunmeng, or what? Why are you being punished?!”

“Jingshi,” Lan Zhan replied, but Lan Qiren’s voice drowned him out.

“In fact, it would be good for Wei Wuxian to see what happens when his husband indulges
his whims too much.”

“What are you accusing him of?!” Wei Wuxian yelled.

Some other old bastard, standing next to Lan Qiren, proclaimed what he’d guessed:
“Lan Wangji is accused of lying and insubordination, namely, the arbitrary appointment of a
worker to a position, without coordinating with the sect elders.”

“I protest,” Lan Zhan said softly, but clearly. “I didn't lie.”

“Wangji, you know very well that omission is the same as lying,” Uncle grimaced.

“Are you seriously going to beat him because he asked me to replace the teacher?!” Wei
Wuxian looked in disbelief from Lan Zhan to the bastinado, then to Lan Qiren, and finally to
Lan Xichen, hovering inconspicuously in the corner of the square. “Have you all lost your
mind on your blasted mountain?!”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan looked at him pleadingly.

“What ‘Wei Ying’?! Why don't you punish me then for daring to open my mouth in the
presence of junior disciples?! It was me, not Lan Zhan, who taught them bad things, so come
on, teach me my lesson!”

“Wei Ying followed my instructions,” Lan Zhan snapped. “He didn’t know that I acted
against the will of the elders.”

Wei Wuxian choked on the next yell and backed away. Lan Zhan just accepted it?! What for?
Why didn't he tell those old fuckers who they were and where they should go? Why didn't he
let Wei Wuxian stand up for himself in front of his uncle? What was Lan Xichen doing? He
was the Sect Leader, not Lan Qiren!

“Zewu-jun!” Wei Wuxian once again found the elder Jade who was struggling to merge with
a pillar. "You won't let that happen, will you?"

“Wei Wuxian, that’s enough,” Lan Qiren demanded. “This is a punishment, not a circus
performance. If you can't behave yourself, then leave.”

“LAN XICHEN!!!” Wei Wuxian yelled at the top of his lungs. “Why aren't you doing
anything?!”

“Wei Wuxian, punishments are in the hands of the elders, not the Sect Leader,” the same old
geezer informed him while Lan Xichen silently shook his head. “The penalty for
insubordination is three hundred strikes with a bastinado.”

Wei Wuxian felt a tangle of resentment energy unfurl in his chest and begin to seep out. He
would inflict something on them all now that would make three hundred blows seem like a
sweet fairy tale. He wouldn’t leave even a wet smear of this rotten sect, only scorched
mountains—

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan yelled as he stoically took the first blow. “Don’t! Please, don’t.”

The scorching hell in Wei Wuxian's soul turned to ice. No, it would be too merciful to kill
them all, and Lan Zhan loved them for some reason, at least some of them. No, Wei Wuxian
could come up with something a little more elegant. He'd chop those old farts into
mincemeat. He would show them what obedience was. So, until the end of their days, or
better, until the end of the cycle of reincarnation, they’d look over their shoulders in fear that
retribution was sneaking up on their heels.

Wei Wuxian stared almost blankly as his husband flinched from every blow. It was all like a
nightmare. He felt the same as when he and Jiang Cheng watched over the wall of Lotus Pier
as the Wens tossed bodies of their fellow cultivators into a heap. The same disbelief and
furious impotence. If the Lans thought they could control a person who had gone through
that, they were greatly mistaken.
 Chapter 10
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

So there we go, first act of Wei Wuxian's revenge XD

This was the most commented chapter in the original, let's see how it does here ^^

Wei Wuxian could barely wait till the end of the punishment, and then ran up to his husband
to drag him to the Cold Spring, but Lan Zhan, of course, had to posture and pretend that he
was unaffected. Wei Wuxian was gnashing his teeth all the way to the exit from the
residential part of the estate, when Lan Zhan finally stopped to breathe. Ignoring any
objections, Wei Wuxian ducked under his arm and practically hoisted him onto himself,
carefully putting a hand on his hip to keep him in place.

“Wei Ying, I’m fine,” Lan Zhan muttered in a hoarse voice.

Wei Wuxian decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and remained silent in response.
Lan Zhan sighed sullenly.

Wei Wuxian didn’t climb into the spring, he only went knee-deep to help Lan Zhan sink into
the water and peel his undershirt off his back. Even over such a short while, Wei Wuxian's
feet went numb, and then they hurt for a long time after he jumped onto the shore, trying to
rub some sensation into them. Lan Zhan sat in the water with his head thrown back. This
time, he wasn’t shy about Wei Wuxian’s presence — no point now, Wei Wuxian had seen
everything there — but he didn’t look at him either.

“Forgive me,” Lan Zhan finally said.

“For what?” Wei Wuxian was surprised.

“I didn’t tell you that I appointed you secretly. Wei Ying got into an awkward situation
because of me.”

Wei Wuxian snorted and shook his head, smiling bitterly.

“It’s not you who should ask for my forgiveness. Lan Zhan, I don’t understand… I mean, we
didn’t have any elders in Yunmeng. That is, there were senior disciples, teachers, peers of
Uncle Jiang or older, but they didn’t influence his decisions in any way. I just can't imagine
any of them deciding to punish, say, Jiang Cheng, and Uncle Jiang not being able to stop
them. It's unbelievable, it's unreal! And Madam Yu! I’d like to see what would’ve happened
to the elder who dared to contradict her!”
“The Jiang Sect is built on freer principles.”

“Okay,” Wei Wuxian continued forcefully. “I don’t understand, but I admit that we just have
a small sect, there really aren’t any elders, and none of this nonsense either. But tell me, can
you imagine Jin Guangshan listening to his elders? So that someone could punish his
peacock, and he would just stand there and watch?”

“Don’t compare us with the Jins,” Lan Zhan bristled, shifting in the water.

“No problem! Do you think Nie Mingjue listens to his elders?! How do you imagine it? Do
you think the elders can decide to flog Chifeng-zun? No, they’ve never even raised their
hands against Huaisang, even though the rules in the Unclean Realm are in some ways even
more severe than here!”

“It’s different,” Lan Zhan insisted.

“Oh, really, and what's the difference?” Wei Wuxian flared up, unable to contain his rage any
longer. “That Nie Mingjue has balls?!”

“Wei Ying!”

Lan Zhan finally looked directly at him with such an indignant look, just like back then in the
Library. Only this time there were no books to tear up.

“What ‘Wei Ying’?! Lan Zhan, I've always thought well of your brother, but this is nonsense,
what happened today! Why don't you, as a direct heir, have the right to appoint some fucking
teacher to some godsforsaken class?! You’d think that we were talking about military
strategy, and even then! Who should resolve such issues, if not the main branch of the clan?!
Lan Zhan, I married the Second Jade of the Lan Sect, not some small fry! Why do you have
the strength of character to do as you see fit, even under pain of beatings, while your brother
can’t even open his mouth in your defence?!”

Lan Zhan stood in the water so that he was now visible from the waist up, and Wei Wuxian
could enjoy the heaving of his muscular chest with rapid breathing, but this breathing didn’t
help the Second Jade find any weighty arguments.

"That's the way it is with us," he finally choked out.

“And for how long? Tell me, Lan Zhan, do you know if your father was also flogged?”

Lan Zhan turned away.

“Father… lived a life of seclusion as punishment for his transgression.”

Wei Wuxian recalled that there was something murky with the Jades’ father, and on his
student visit to Gusu, Lan Xichen was called the Acting Sect Leader because the Sect Leader
himself didn’t appear in public.

“Well then, it all makes sense,” Wei Wuxian nodded to his thoughts. “During the time that
your brother was Acting Sect Leader, he got used to the fact that he sort of had a status, but
didn’t necessarily have any real power, and these old bastards of yours were happy to push
him around. Now he’s a real Sect Leader, but they’ve already groomed him as their puppet.”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan pleaded.

Wei Wuxian pursed his lips. Of course Lan Zhan would protect his brother from his evil
tongue. But it would be better to protect him from something else.

“I’ll spend the night in Caiyi,” Wei Wuxian said and walked away, feeling a sad look on his
back until he turned the corner.

***

Wei Ying didn’t return that night, or even the next. Lan Wangji lay on his already healed
back, unable to sleep. Had he actually run away? Maybe back to Lotus Pier… If Wei Ying
didn't show up for a couple more days, Lan Wangji would have to explain his absence
somehow.

Brother came the morning after the first lonely night to have breakfast together. He hesitated,
averted his eyes and beat around the bush about asking for forgiveness but didn’t dare to say
it directly: after all, that would mean that he didn’t agree with the elders’ decision. Lan
Wangji couldn't stand it when someone insulted his brother, and it happened very rarely.
Everyone liked Lan Xichen. But now he was beginning to lean towards the idea that Wei
Ying's observations were correct, as always.

On the second morning, when Lan Wangji had already had breakfast and was about to go
down to Caiyi to find out which way his husband had gone, Wei Ying suddenly showed up.

He came from the direction of the gate, exhausted, with pine needles in his hair and huge
clods of clay on his boots, which hadn’t shaken off despite the long walk.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji muttered, afraid to even think about what his husband had been up
to for two nights. “I didn't order breakfast for you...”

“I’ve eaten,” Wei Ying waved him off. “I’m off to sleep.”

He went to his room, which Lan Wangji had heated last night in the hope that Wei Ying
would return.

Now Lan Wangji didn't know what to do. Most of all, he wanted to follow Wei Ying and
climb into his bed, snuggle up with his whole body and breathe in his scent, reminding
himself that he hadn’t disappeared anywhere. But he hadn’t been invited... The plans for
Caiyi were also cancelled. Usually, between his breakfast and Wei Ying’s, Lan Wangji would
meditate, read, or help Brother sort through his correspondence. But now, the appearance of
Wei Ying seemed to signal that some big event was coming, and in his anxious anticipation,
Lan Wangji didn’t want to be taken by surprise.

He didn’t suffer for long: a quarter of an hour later a junior disciple appeared and asked him
to come to the Hanshi.
He expected to see Uncle or other elders there and prepared to fight for Wei Ying's rights, but
Brother was alone, apart from a young layman.

“Wangji,” Brother greeted as Lan Wangji silently bowed. “Young Master Hui has just arrived
from Caiyi to report an incident.”

Lan Wangji braced himself and turned his attention to the young Hui.

He related the following: Last night, the waters of the lake were turbulent, and a cold wind
suddenly blew, which wasn’t typical for early autumn. The fishermen, who still dared to go
out on the water despite the waterborne abyss, decided to stay at home, and very rightly so. A
couple of hours after sunset, the lake lit up with an ominous red light, and the area got so
much colder that the rainwater in the barrels crusted over with ice. Then a huge wave rose
from the middle of the lake, carrying something similar to a giant cuttlefish — a black blob
with many tentacles, clearly visible in the scarlet light. This wave grew and grew, becoming
taller than all the buildings, and the residents panicked that it was about to collapse on their
houses. However, when this form began to rear out of the water, it leaned away from the
houses, travelled in an arc and reached its peak at the top of one of the neighbouring
mountains.

“The water has receded a little, of course,” the youth chattered, gesticulating profusely, “like
after a slight drought. But that's not half of it! This morning my friends and I went to the top
of that mountain to see. Tell you what: there is no top, as if someone dug it up! Instead,
there’s a large pit, and in that pit this black terror is stirring! The size is as big as this square
here and the houses together! And it's as cold as the bottom of the ocean! There are stakes
stuck around the pit, and on them are pieces of paper with writing, and all sorts of horrors are
drawn and dead heads! Well, we got scared and immediately ran to you.”

“Could you clarify, please,” Brother frowned, “exactly which peak are we talking about?”

The mountain was the closest one to the Cloud Recesses. The brothers looked at each other.

“Thank you very much for giving such prompt notice,” Brother said, and signalled to the
servant to escort the young man to the recovery pavilion for messengers. “Wangji. Do you
know where Master Wei is?”

Lan Wangji swallowed.

“He's still sleeping.”

Brother looked away and thought for a while.

“We will have to inform the elders of what has happened,” he finally said.

Lan Wangji felt a pang of indignation, indignation on behalf of Brother because Wei Ying
spoke disrespectfully about him, but also indignation at Brother for confirming Wei Ying's
opinion.

“Why?” he asked.
Brother looked at him in surprise.

“This is a significant event. We cannot hide this.”

Lan Wangji tried to imagine the consequences for Wei Ying if his involvement was proven.
Although most likely, proving that would be a walk in the park, and the elders would be
happy with the promenade. Of course, Lan Wangji would take full responsibility. It was he
who allowed Wei Ying to leave the residence at will. It was he who insisted that Wei Ying be
given a room in the house in Caiyi. He would not allow Wei Ying to be deprived of that
freedom. But if it kept going like this… Wei Ying’s question about escaping together was
beginning to seem less rhetorical.

“Wangji,” Brother said softly. “You need to talk to him. How much more are you going to
endure for him? Couldn't he have been more thoughtful?”

“I won’t put Wei Ying under lock and key,” Lan Wangji snapped.

The brothers fell silent. Lan Wangji thought that since he had gotten the bastinado
punishment only recently, the second time around, the elders would prefer something else,
most likely secluded meditation. It would be good if it was just house arrest, but since Wei
Ying lived in the same house with him, most likely it would be some kind of hut on the other
side of the estate. Lan Wangji would like to see his husband before that, so as not to leave for
a long time after an unpleasant conversation.

“Can Brother delay notifying the elders until lunchtime?” he asked.

Lan Xichen nodded sadly, most likely guessing Lan Wangji's train of thought.

Lan Wangji put the time before lunch to good use: he finished some tasks, wrote down the
current status of others in case someone else temporarily took over his duties. In short, he got
prepared.

Wei Ying woke up for lunch in a good mood. He asked for a bath and afterward stretched
blissfully while Lan Wangji arranged the dishes on the table. After eating, he asked Lan
Wangji to comb his hair, which, even after washing, still had sticky seeds and cobwebs in it.
Lan Wangji didn't ask any questions so he wouldn't have to lie later.

Wei Ying, with his hair combed, leaned back and rested his head on Lan Wangji's shoulder.

“I said nasty things about your brother,” he said with a sigh but without much remorse.
“Don’t be mad at me. Lan Xichen is a good person and I'm sure we can get along. I will
always support him.”

Lan Wangji didn’t quite understand what Wei Ying was driving at, but didn’t want to clarify:
it was still no good to quarrel before a likely separation. He patted Wei Ying's shoulder and
was rewarded with a dazzling smile.

At that moment, a disciple came and called Lan Wangji to meet with the elders. Wei Ying got
up with him.
“You don’t have to go,” Lan Wangji said.

“Why not?” Wei Ying smirked. “I’ll at least look at these elders of yours; otherwise I live in
this sect and don’t even know who controls it.”

Lan Wangji felt an ominous cold inside, like drinking ice water on an empty stomach.

“Wei Ying. Don't be rash. Please,” he added, doing his best to make his motionless face
pleading.

Wei Ying patted his sleeve above the elbow.

“Don’t worry, dear husband; I won’t do anything against the rules.”

***

In the end, they went together. At the sight of Wei Ying, Brother turned pale and stared
pleadingly at Lan Wangji, but he didn’t react in any way. What was the point? He had no
intention of locking Wei Ying in the house. If this meeting ended in a scene... Well, it wasn't
that he wasn't expecting it. But maybe not so soon.

There were about thirty elders, and Lan Wangji's ominous feeling intensified, turning into ice
in his stomach. Wei Ying bowed to everyone according to the rules of etiquette.

“Xichen, what is your business?” asked Uncle Bingwen.

Wei Ying raised an eyebrow but said nothing, and Lan Xichen launched into a retelling of the
news from Caiyi. It seemed that he had questioned the messenger further, because he readily
answered the elders’ clarifying questions about the time and other details.

“Are there any suggestions of who could have done this?” asked another uncle, Zixin.

Most of the eyes were on Wei Ying, and Lan Wangji reflexively turned his body to shield
him.

“Of course!” Wei Ying exclaimed loudly. “It was me!”

Someone choked. Lan Wangji struggled to take his next breath. A whisper ran through the
ranks of the elders.

“Master Wei,” Brother began cautiously, “could you explain exactly what you did?”

“Well,” Wei Ying raised his hands to help himself with gestures, “I fished the waterborne
abyss out of the lake and moved it to a hard-to-reach place so that it could dry up there for
years and eventually disappear altogether. And I fenced it in with talismans and warning
signs so that the curious wouldn’t get hurt.”

The room felt noticeably colder. Lan Wangji observed that Brother had tried very hard not to
specify exactly where the waterborne abyss had been moved, and what happened to that
place, but he couldn’t avoid the elders’ clarifying questions, and now it was clear that that
mountain was the same height and distance from the lake as the Cloud Recesses’ mountain.
The air around grew crisp.

“The messenger said that the top of the mountain seemed to have been cut off,” Uncle
Bingwen said slowly. “How did you do this?”

“Ah!” Wei Ying was delighted as if he was looking forward to this question. “I fed it to the
waterborne abyss! The dead, you know, are good at gnawing. Even stone gets ground up in a
matter of hours!”

“What if,” Uncle Zixin asked grimly, “someone was there? There are temples on the
mountains that people go to.”

Wei Ying pouted.

“I climbed the mountain beforehand and made sure there was nothing important there, and
then I surrounded the top with a barrier so that no one would come during the day.”

Uncle Qiren shook his head, glaring at Lan Wangji. Of course, the marriage alliance with
Yunmeng Jiang through Wei Ying was Lan Wangji's idea, and if Wei Ying was now
threatening the sect...

“Wei Wuxian,” Elder Wang Tianyu grunted, “why did you do this?”

Wei Ying blinked.

“Why? To clean up the lake and make it safe for the inhabitants of the shore.”

“You committed subversion in secret,” Uncle spat. “It's punishable!”

“Why ‘in secret’?” Wei Ying was surprised. “Here I am telling you all the details. If you
want, I’ll show you all the talismans I used and explain how they work. Though it would take
a couple of days… And then you’ll accuse me of promoting the Dark Path,” he chuckled.

“You didn’t notify the sect and conducted a night hunt without asking!” Uncle Zixin said.

“What night hunt?” Wei Ying was even more surprised. “Did the people of Caiyi apply for a
night hunt on the lake?”

“Of course they did!” Elder Zhang Yichen interjected. “A few years ago!”

“But that request was denied, wasn’t it, Sect Leader Lan?” Wei Ying suddenly looked sternly
at Brother.

“Yes, of course,” Brother hastened to answer. “We couldn't do anything and didn't accept the
payment.”

“Exactly,” Wei Ying spread his hands. “What was I to inform the sect about if there was no
application?”
“Since there was no application, then you had no right to interfere!” Uncle Bingwen said.

“Is there really a rule in Gusu Lan that a sect cultivator can’t destroy evil spirits in his free
time? That's strange. I copied the complete set of rules so many times, and after moving here
I refreshed my memory, but I don't remember anything like that!”

“It is forbidden to waste the sect’s resources!” Elder Wang Tianyu managed to come up with
a new idea.

“What resources?” Wei Ying retorted. “Did I spend anything? Maybe some talisman paper,
but I’ve spent more on portraits of my husband than on this! However, if the sect is in a
crunch, I’ll pay for it out of my salary! Though, what crunch? I calculated the budget myself.
The respected elder uses three times more sect paper than I do, and he doesn’t go on night
hunts at all!”

Lan Wangji closed his eyes in agonising anticipation of the fracas. Telling an elder that he
didn't go on night hunts was a direct hint that he didn't bring profit to the sect. It was
unacceptable.

As he expected, a murmur arose, and Elder Wang failed to manage his exclamation of
outrage and ended up spluttering all over his beard.

“You neglected your duties and spent your time idly!” invented Uncle Junjie.

“Did I have duties during those two nights?” Wei Ying blinked his eyes and once again
caught Lan Xichen with a tenacious gaze. “Sect Leader, did I forget something?”

Brother shook his head.

“Master Wei was completely free.”

Wei Ying shrugged and looked around the assembly of elders.

“So what did I do wrong?”

Lan Wangji saw that everyone was afraid to call a spade a spade.

Finally, Uncle Qiren took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and thrust his beard forward
like a pike.

“Wei Wuxian, you made an inappropriate and arrogant display of your power.”

“Inappropriate?” Wei Ying tilted his head to the side. “But Caiyi's well-being depends to a
large extent on water crafts, and all these years people continued to die in the waterborne
abyss. What about this is inappropriate?”

“That,” Uncle said slowly, his hands clenched into fists in anticipation of a conflict, “that you
threaten our sect. You showed that you could easily drop a waterborne abyss into the Cloud
Recesses and destroy us all!”
Wei Ying smiled, and it was the smile of the conqueror of Wen Ruohan's army.

“Didn’t Uncle know this already?”

The sound of sharp breaths swept through the hall.

“Didn’t,” Wei Ying continued, “the Gusu Lan Sect accept me into their ranks in order to have
me on their side in case of another conflict between the sects?”

Lan Wangji raised his eyebrows. That was never the issue. He had wanted to bring Wei Ying
here to heal him, his brother hoped to get a capable worker, and the sect found it useful to
establish stronger ties with its neighbours.

“So is it,” Wei Ying asked again, “that the respected elders would prefer me as an enemy?”

Lan Wangji prepared to grab Bichen at any second. His prediction about the fracas failed
miserably. It wouldn’t be a fracas, but a massacre. He had to protect Wei Ying.

“You infiltrated our sect, insinuated yourself into our trust, and now you threaten us!” Uncle
Zixin shouted nervously.

“Trust?” Wei Ying pouted. “I see, you trust me so much that you beat my husband for letting
me look after some kids. What do you think, that outside the Cloud Recesses I couldn’t dump
a waterborne abyss on the mountain? Oh, wow, that's exactly what I did! By the way!” He
raised his palm to stop Elder Zhang's angry outcry. “I read the sect’s Charter here — not the
precepts from the wall, but the organisational Charter. And I wanted to clarify one point: for
the violation of which particular rule was my husband punished?”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji couldn’t resist. Hadn’t they discussed this topic enough?!

“You heard the verdict!” Uncle snorted.

“Yes, yes, of course, but, you know, I have such a bad memory! Kindly remind me?”

“He broke the chain of command,” Elder Wang Tianyu grumbled.

“Uh-huh, uh-huh,” Wei Ying nodded, and suddenly took out a book from his collars, which
Lan Wangji recognised as the organisational Charter stored in the Hanshi. “Let's take a look.
Under Lan An, the sect had no elders. Then Lan Chuanli, the same, Lan Yi…. Here, Lan
Boqin was the first sect leader who determined the position of the elders in the sect. And I
quote: ‘The elders have an advisory voice and can, if necessary, help the clan leader make
difficult decisions regarding the entire sect.’ Advisory.”

“Much has changed since then!” Zhang Yichen said.

“Of course, of course,” Wei Ying said. “Reading on. Lan Biming doesn’t write a word about
the elders, Lan Bo neither, Lan Chang neither…” He continued listing the names, leafing
through page after page of amendments and additions to Lan An’s Charter, written by the sect
leaders throughout all the generations of Gusu Lan’s existence. “Ah, look, Lan Guang issued
the following clarification: ‘If an important decision needs to be made, and the head of the
sect is absent or unavailable, their spouse is considered the first deputy by default. In the case
of his (her) unavailability, the right of decision passes to the direct heir. If the heir is for some
reason inaccessible, the decision falls on the heir’s spouse and then onto the indirect heirs
from the clan by seniority, unless the current sect leader has ordered otherwise.’ And where
are the elders?” Wei Ying picked up the book, showing the spread to everyone interested.
“Nowhere! Here, you can read it yourself, and while you’re at it, see for yourselves that
neither Qingheng-jun nor Zewu-jun have made any amendments to this issue.”

He deliberately bowed low, placing the open book right in front of Uncle, who had already
turned purple and splotchy, but was silent. Lan Wangji felt a trembling inside him, and a
buzzing in his ears. If everything was the way Wei Ying had read, his voice was more
important than his uncle's voice... But that was impossible, wasn't it? But the Charter couldn’t
be wrong, could it?

“So I’ll get back to my question,” Wei Ying said, straightening up and losing all playfulness.
“What rule did my husband break?”

The elders began to seethe, and finally Uncle Junjie spat:

“There is a fundamental respect for elders! Wangji is young and must obey the more
experienced and wise!”

Everyone buzzed in agreement.

“Oh no,” Wei Ying narrowed his eyes. “Stop pulling wool over my eyes. You are Gusu Lan,
you live by the rules. Give me a rule.”

“It's an unwritten rule!” Uncle Junjie insisted. “The whole world lives by it!”

“The whole world talks over food,” Wei Ying retorted. “The whole world takes their sons to
the flower house when they come of age. The whole world keeps dogs and pigs. No need to
tell me about the whole world, I came from it. Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying suddenly turned to him,
“you were the Head of Punishments, weren’t you? Remind me, what’s due to a member of
the sect who arbitrarily and unlawfully punishes another member of the sect on a false
charge?”

Lan Wangji swallowed. Now all the elders were staring at him. Could he answer? What if
Wei Ying was just waiting to spill someone's blood? Wei Ying was a fair person, but he
started all this for some reason… And if he carried out such an incredible feat last night, who
knew how much resentful energy he’d passed through himself for it and whether it clouded
his mind? He spoke calmly and rationally, but Lan Wangji was completely lost in his
argument.

"Don't you remember?" Wei Ying urged him on.

Lan Wangji remembered. Three lashes of the whip. For slander, for arbitrariness, and for
damage caused to another. But how could he say it now? The elders already knew the answer
perfectly, especially Elder Wang Tianyu, who had given the order.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said softly in an uneven voice. “Don’t. Please.”

In Wei Ying's eyes, he saw pain and annoyance, as if Lan Wangji had offended him.

"You don't think I'd be carrying it out myself, do you? You have special people for this, don't
you?”

“The decision on such a punishment can only be made by the Sect Leader,” Uncle squeezed
out.

Wei Ying nodded at him. Still sitting in the lotus position, he rolled over his shins and knelt,
turning to face Brother. And suddenly bowed low to him.

“Sect Leader, this Wei Ying is asking for justice for his husband.”

Brother froze like a jade statue. Lan Wangji had never seen his lively face so still.

“Master Wei,” he said softly and parted his lips, but he didn’t continue, as if he didn’t know
what to say. Then he turned to him, “Wangji… Do you… think you were wrongly punished?”

Lan Wangji's first impulse was to say that, of course, he accepted the punishment for the
wrongdoing he was aware of. But… what Wei Ying quoted from the Charter… If the Charter
didn’t allow Elder Wang Tianyu to impose punishment, and Lan Wangji didn’t break any
rule… If Wei Ying didn’t intend to attack the elders… He looked at Wei Ying and caught his
eyes. He wasn't irrational or overbearing or mocking. Wei Ying’s eyes were asking him for
support. Lan Wangji remembered what they were talking about in the Cold Spring. And
today, before coming here, Wei Ying had said he would support Brother. Wei Ying wanted
Brother… to stand up for him, for Lan Wangji? All this, for him? For his sake, Wei Ying
fished out the waterborne abyss and threw it on a mountain? Lan Wangji felt unworthy of
such deeds. What did he do besides force Wei Ying into marriage? Pay people, with money
that he hardly noticed, for a comfortable life? But where there had been ice all day, warmth
was now spreading. Lan Wangji couldn't let Wei Ying down after everything he'd done.
Brother would have to accept it.

“Sect Leader is aware of the whole situation,” he said.

Brother exhaled sharply, as if he had been struck in the chest. Lan Wangji clenched his teeth,
but he couldn't back down. Wei Ying was one step away from declaring war on Gusu Lan for
his sake. Brother should have understood this, he always understood such things better and
faster than Lan Wangji.

“Wei Wuxian, you are trying to intimidate the Sect Leader into obeying your will!” Uncle
Bingwen declared.

“Am I trying?” Wei Ying chuckled, and the cold draft blew again. “Unlike you, no. I will
accept any decision from the Sect Leader. After all, he,” Wei Ying looked around at everyone
with a burning gaze, “is the leader of my sect, to whom I am loyal.”
Lan Wangji noticed that Brother's hands were trembling. Catching his eye, Brother clasped
them together tighter.

“Master Wei,” he breathed. “Your request is valid.”

“What?!” one of the elders roared, but Lan Wangji slammed Bichen on the wooden floor.

“The Sect Leader is speaking!”

Brother nodded to him and swallowed, not looking at the elders.

“Elder Wang Tianyu,” he continued, “was wrong. However, this was undoubtedly due to a
misunderstanding by the elder of the sect Charter, and not out of malice.”

Lan Wangji stared at the floor, his heart fluttering. Brother decided to leave everything as it
was? Would Wei Ying let him?

“Because of this,” Brother continued, his voice growing stronger with every word, “I will
dispense the elder’s punishment. He should go into seclusion and study the precepts,
foundations, and history of the order for six months.”

Lan Wangji sighed. Being locked up for six months was a punishment equal to that for failure
to follow a direct order, slander, or intentional deceit in a serious situation. Such punishments
followed a person as a shadow all their life, although they didn’t leave scars.

Brother finished speaking, and Wei Ying bowed again. Lan Wangji followed suit.

“I suppose,” Wei Ying remarked, “from now on, all the elders will be considered aware of the
contents of the Charter?”

“Absolutely,” Brother replied, smiling faintly. “I thank Master Wei for pointing out the error.”

“Zewu-jun, why such formalities?” Wei Ying smiled sincerely for the first time since the
meeting started. “Call me Wuxian. After all, I'm your little brother.”
 Chapter 11
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Let's take a break from the war on elders and have some romance instead!
Also, start clearing up some miscommunication... maybe...

Warning: some minor unintentional breathplay.

Leaving the elders to reflect, Wei Wuxian walked out with the Jades and, without
unnecessary haste, decorously, as befitted a Lan cultivator, walked down the path behind Lan
Xichen. Lan Zhan walked beside him with an impenetrable grim expression. They walked in
silence for a while, but then Wei Wuxian noticed that he was still holding the Charter.

“Zewu-jun, I have already read it all, so I return this with gratitude,” he said and handed the
book to Lan Xichen.

Lan Xichen smiled tightly.

“Won’t Master Wei need this book for his plans for the near future?”

Wei Wuxian raised his eyebrows. What plans could he have? Or did Lan Xichen see
something more behind his maneuver today?

“My plans are determined by the Sect Leader,” Wei Wuxian made sure to smile as radiantly
as possible. “If Zewu-jun has any onerous tasks that I can help with, I will gladly take care of
them.”

Lan Zhan looked at him strangely, and Lan Xichen pursed his lips a little, as if deciding to
take a dangerous step.

“To be honest,” he finally took the plunge, “there is one duty that I would gladly pass on to
you, uh, Wuxian. As you already know, salaries are calculated based on activity, skill level,
and the like, but for most of these criteria there is no universal way to assess. People are
different. Someone is excellent with a sword, and someone else can read footprints on the
forest floor like a book. There are cultivators who don't seem to have any outstanding
abilities, but if they’re sent out to hunt, their teammates will catch more quarry than usual.”

“And some people, on the contrary, know everything in the world, but around them there are
only quarrels, insults and failures, right?” Wei Wuxian chuckled.

Lan Xichen smiled noncommittally.

“As you understand, such characteristics should affect the cultivator’s status and pay.
Sometimes people leave the sect, and I don't even know why. Wuxian has the ability to win
people over quickly. Perhaps you could conduct interviews with disciples or create some kind
of system for evaluating their contribution to the sect’s work?”

Wei Wuxian beamed.

“Oh, it would be a pleasure! A chance to get acquainted with everyone!”

He winked at Lan Zhan, who clenched his teeth so hard, his jaw muscles showed.

“In that case, I’ll mention it in the next sect memorandum so that people know this is an
official appointment?” Lan Xichen spoke quickly.

Wei Wuxian suspected that the Sect Leader was eager to keep him busy so that next time he
wouldn’t be “completely free” for two days while planning subterfuge. But it suited him
perfectly. He would find time for subterfuge regardless.

“I would really appreciate it,” Wei Wuxian said contentedly.

Lan Xichen's smile seemed a bit glued on.

“Indeed, during our acquaintance, I’ve never heard that Wuxian was interested in sect
administration. And meanwhile, you have a high aptitude for it. I would dare say, even more
than the young Jiang Sect Leader. Did the Jiang Sect miscalculate by giving up such a
cultivator?”

Wei Wuxian frowned. Even before the war, he had to work hard so as not to outperform Jiang
Cheng, at least in terms of managerial ability. That Wei Wuxian was better at cultivation had
been clear since he was a child and didn’t understand what it meant for Jiang Cheng, who had
been first in everything before. But when they grew up and began to receive duties from the
sect… Wei Wuxian had tried very hard to prevent anyone from wanting to make him the
Jiang Sect Leader. He had been prepared to endure any punishment from Madam Yu, as long
as it didn’t occur to anyone that he could be entrusted with the sect. And now, having married
into Gusu Lan, he’d finally ensured that. Was Lan Xichen worried about his own position
now?

“Zewu-jun, I don't have major ambitions in this area,” he said honestly. “Jiang Cheng and I
always planned that I would be his right hand when he became Sect Leader, but since that
wasn’t to be, I would be happy to serve my new sect in the same or lesser role.”

Was it just his imagination, or did Lan Xichen relax a bit?

“Well, in that case, I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow afternoon to discuss your new duties,”
he said, then threw some strange conspiratorial look at Lan Zhan and disappeared.

Lan Zhan immediately grabbed Wei Wuxian by the elbow and dragged him towards a
building that was barely visible through the bushes. His look was stormy.
“Eh? Where are we going? Lan Zhan, are you mad at me? What for?” Wei Wuxian pouted his
lips.

Lan Zhan looked around and opened his mouth, but when he saw that lip, he became even
gloomier and quickened his pace. Wei Wuxian had to almost run to avoid falling and being
dragged across the gravel.

The building turned out to be an abandoned classroom — Wei Wuxian caught a glimpse of
the sagging porch and the rain-soaked ground underneath. It seemed that the repair had
proven difficult, and the sect decided to postpone it for the time being. Wei Wuxian had
already begun to consider when and how it would be best to allocate funds for it, when Lan
Zhan dragged him around the corner, where the ground level was higher, stepped through the
half-open window, pulled Wei Wuxian in after him, and pressed him against the load-bearing
pillar of the wall. Wei Wuxian didn’t even have time to blink before he lost half of his
clothes.

Lan Zhan attacked him with kisses so passionate that Wei Wuxian was afraid one of the
elders had put something in his husband's tea, but he remembered that during the meeting
they hadn’t drunk anything.

“Lan Zhan, what are you doing?” he said in the brief pause between kisses. Lan Zhan pulled
away for a moment to untie the sash of his undergarment. “Hey, we're not at home! It’s broad
daylight!”

Instead of answering, Lan Zhan again sucked onto his mouth, so hard that the pillar seemed
to creak from the effort. Huh, apparently, Wei Wuxian’s husband had all his yang energy
gathered in his lower dantian — in fact, it stuck out even through the multi-layered silk. Wei
Wuxian lifted his head, exposing his neck for kisses.

“Lan Zhan, if we’re found here after what I did, it’ll be the end for all of us, including your
brother!” he whispered, feeling his own lower dantian grow heavy from the sharp and
demanding caress. “Ah, Lan Zhan, you are so merciless! You touch me so, and I want to
scream, but I can’t scream! Couldn't you take your husband somewhere more suit— mhn...”

His mouth was occupied again, and at the same time, Lan Zhan's hand reached the
drawstrings of his pants. Tug-tug, the cord strained, but in the end must have come loose and
didn’t break. Wei Wuxian was ready to be grabbed by the privates, but he was completely
unprepared to be in Lan Zhan's fist along with Lan Zhan himself! Of course, they had done
this before, and so Wei Wuxian knew that both of them wouldn’t last long and would get
splattered up to the chin. And they still had to get home somehow. And it was daytime!

Wei Wuxian thrashed and moaned as loud as he dared, thumping Lan Zhan's arm with his
palms. At first Lan Zhan didn’t understand, but then he froze and moved away.

“Not like that,” Wei Wuxian snapped and sank to the floor. For several days before all these
stupid events, he had been licking his lips in anticipation of tasting his husband, and now he
would try. “No, you stay,” he ordered as Lan Zhan also tried to sit down. “Better yet, hold on
to the post,” Wei Wuxian added and licked his lips meaningfully.
Lan Zhan's eyes widened and his lips moved, but no sound came from them.

Wei Wuxian lowered his eyes and surveyed his new project. Its size was impressive — Wei
Wuxian had occasionally stuffed larger objects into his mouth, but only on a dare and usually
edible — dark pink and oozing, with a shiny trail running down the shaft. Wei Wuxian licked
it as a test, and Lan Zhan above him shook along with the house.

“Just don’t scream,” Wei Wuxian whispered, exhaling directly into his damp skin. Lan Zhan
bit his lip and tensed his arms as he clung to the post. Sink or swim! Wei Wuxian stuck out
his tongue and cupped the flushed head with his lips, holding the rest with his hands —
instinctively and very opportunely, because Lan Zhan twitched and nearly slammed the back
of his head into the wall. “Hush,” Wei Wuxian breathed, pulling away, “or I’ll stop.”

Lan Zhan took a deep breath and tensed his entire body. Wei Wuxian patted his sack
approvingly and smiled, rubbing his lips over the head. He liked his husband's reaction.
They’d have to do this again in the Jingshi; Wei Wuxian wouldn't mind listening to the loud
version. He opened his mouth wide again and swallowed him as deep as he could.

Lan Zhan trembled; his breath was coming out of his chest with a wheeze, like after hard
training. His hips shook and twitched slightly in time with Wei Wuxian's movements, and he
decided that it would be best to hold them before Lan Zhan lost control. However, he
couldn’t resist running his thumbs along the groin creases, where dark veins could be seen
under the white skin. Lan Zhan started, and Wei Wuxian gasped through his nose as his throat
was completely filled.

Before, when Lan Zhan fucked him senseless in bed at home, Wei Wuxian's goal was to pass
out completely, stop thinking, forget himself. And he did it so well that he didn’t notice Lan
Zhan’s own reactions. He didn’t really think about it — what kind of reactions could Lan
Zhan have, being so frigid? True, he performed his marital duties with unusual fervour, but
then, Lan Zhan fought with full dedication too, and Wei Wuxian decided that his husband
was simply trying to give his all in any activity.

But what they were doing now didn’t seem like fulfilling their marital duties. Also, Lan Zhan
seemed to have… lost his self-control?… Was that possible?

As usual, Wei Wuxian’s passion for experimentation pushed his higher reasoning aside, and
he drummed the pads of his fingers on Lan Zhan’s skin, gradually moving his hands along his
buttocks to the crevasse in the middle. However, as soon as he touched the edge of the crease,
Lan Zhan growled, grabbed his head, clutching at his hair, and picked up his rhythm, so much
so that Wei Wuxian forgot to breathe. And if he hadn't forgotten, he still wouldn't have been
able to. He couldn't break free, couldn't say a word, and only helplessly scratched Lan Zhan's
thighs with his short fingernails. Everything swam before his eyes; he didn’t remember where
he was, or who he was. In his world, there was only a salty taste on his tongue and an all-
pervading desire.

His own hips seemed to move in time with the thrusts. There wasn’t enough sensation down
there, but Wei Wuxian could no longer figure out what to do about it. He was suffocating, his
head wasn’t working, and all he wanted was to remain forever in this blissful state without a
single thought, just giving and giving, as long as there was someone to take. Only here, in
oblivion, in emptiness, did he feel free. Only here was his soul cleansed of pollution.

It seemed that he did lose consciousness for a while, because when he woke up, he found
himself lying on the floor, his temple pressed against the boards, and Lan Zhan was kneeling
beside him and wiping his face. It felt like he had swallowed a lot, but probably not
everything.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan called anxiously. “How are you? I'm sorry, I shouldn't have...”

Wei Wuxian swallowed again and stretched sweetly. He felt refreshed, even breathing
seemed to be easier than usual. Lan Zhan mumbled something else, but Wei Wuxian rolled
onto his back and patted his hand, drawing attention to the situation below his waist.

“You’re in debt, dear.”

To be honest, he expected Lan Zhan to spit “pathetic” or “shameless”, or at the very least,
quickly solve the problem with his hand. However, after a moment of thought, he moved so
that he was between Wei Wuxian's legs and tried to take him in his mouth. Goosebumps ran
through Wei Wuxian's body at the mere thought of what Lan Zhan was about to do. He
forever remembered the kisses of his soft, but supple lips, and to feel them there ... From this
one thought, he felt moisture trickling down his shaft.

However, he was not allowed to wait long. Lan Zhan opened his mouth, just a little, and bore
down on it, so that his lips were forcefully parted by Wei Wuxian’s thickness. He grunted and
hurriedly stuffed half of his sleeve into his mouth, but still couldn't completely drown out the
sounds. Lan Zhan was doing something unimaginable to him. His mouth was so hot, and
when he pulled away, the cold air clung to his skin like a spiked whip, even though Wei
Wuxian himself was overheated. He tried to raise his hips so as not to let Lan Zhan go far, but
Lan Zhan pushed him back to the floor with all his weight, not even allowing him to twitch.

“Lan Zhan, don’t stop!” he pleaded, pulling out his sleeve. "I'm about to scream!"

Lan Zhan looked up at him with eyes dark with desire. Marital duties? Hah! Wei Wuxian felt
like he was in the arena, unarmed against a wild beast!

Meanwhile, Lan Zhan intercepted his hands — with one he pressed Wei Wuxian to the floor,
covering all of his abs with his huge palm, and with the other he pulled his knees higher,
smeared his finger on the splattered wet head and slid this finger between his buttocks, into
his entrance.

Wei Wuxian nearly screamed, clenched his throat and spasmed, and then covered his mouth
with his hands as Lan Zhan pulled him into that hot tightness again, at the same time
penetrating deeper with his finger. Wei Wuxian couldn't tell how long it took or what exactly
Lan Zhan did. His vision whited out, and he held his breath so as not to scream no matter
what, and then released into the greedy lips of his husband, feeling how the floor on which he
lay was changing places with the ceiling, and the whole house was flying head over heels,
into the open sky.
For a while they just lay there and breathed. Lan Zhan had stretched out on the floor next to
Wei Wuxian, dishevelled and half-dressed. The colours in his face seemed more vivid.

“I didn’t know you were so turned on by hanging out with the elders,” Wei Wuxian chuckled,
still trying to comprehend what had just happened. “Or was it just that the meeting was so
boring that you were overwhelmed by obscene thoughts?”

“Not boring,” Lan Zhan muttered without meeting his gaze. “Wei Ying… was amazing.”

Wei Wuxian choked on the joke he had prepared and blushed deeply.

“Since when does Hanguang-jun give compliments so shamelessly?” he protested.

This time, Lan Zhan turned his head and looked into his eyes.

“Wei Ying. I thought I would have to draw my sword against them to save you.”

For a couple of seconds, those words were not making any kind of sense to Wei Wuxian.
Against them? To save? Sword? What? Why would Lan Zhan save him? From his own
elders, at that. Didn't he buy Wei Wuxian from Jiang Cheng to guide him onto the right path?
True, since then he’d learned about his core, but ... Countless people suffered in the war, that
wasn’t a reason for anyone to raise a sword against their own sect!

Wei Wuxian mentally ran through the events of the past couple of months. Lan Zhan spent a
fortune on him, rebuilt his mother’s house… Smuggled wine into the Cloud Recesses, and
without informing the elders, assigned a children’s class to him, and when he got put over
the knee for it, he was going to defend Wei Wuxian with a sword…? Suddenly, he
remembered that conversation when Lan Zhan said that he would run away with him. Wei
Wuxian didn’t attach any importance to it then — he’d decided that Lan Zhan was teasing
him or it was some kind of attempt at emotional blackmail, because as Lan Zhan's junior
husband he was his responsibility... But... Was he sure they slept together every night just
because Lan Zhan had too much yang energy?

As soon as he thought about it, Wei Wuxian was amazed that he could believe such nonsense!
If one of his friends told him a similar story, he would laugh until he threw up. Isn't it
obvious, he would say, that this guy is just letting his lower dantian do the thinking? But it
was Lan Zhan. Wei Wuxian had known Lan Zhan since he was fifteen years old. Lan Zhan
couldn’t… be thinking… with his lower half. Wei Wuxian couldn't help but snort, covering
his face so that Lan Zhan wouldn't know what he was laughing at.

The intensity with which Lan Zhan stared at him subsided, and he began to dress.

"Warn me next time," he muttered.

“About what?” Wei Wuxian chuckled.

“About what you’re up to,” Lan Zhan replied. “I was worried about you.”

Wei Wuxian stopped laughing. No, well, dantian thinking aside, but really, was it true? And
how could he find out? He couldn't just ask Lan Zhan, like, hey, do you have a crush on me
by chance? He probably wouldn’t take it seriously, he’d only snap. Because, of course, this
was nonsense.

But what if it wasn’t nonsense? What if Lan Zhan really…well…felt something for him?
How would he behave then?

Wei Wuxian thought about it and came to the conclusion that he couldn’t imagine it. Or
rather, he couldn’t imagine Lan Zhan's behaviour being different from what he’d seen.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said as he finished tying his belt and moved closer to help Wei
Wuxian get dressed. Oh, right, he had already forgotten in what state he was lying around.
“Forgive me. I couldn't resist. You should have stopped me. If someone heard us ... It's my
fault.”

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes and raised his hips to make it easier for Lan Zhan to pull his
pants onto him. Husbands did this kind of thing, didn't they? Helped put on pants they had
taken off, even if it was just… what? ‘Wei Ying… was amazing…’

“I don’t want to hear any more about any guilt, and especially not about any punishments,”
he said. “I’m already sick of this verbal garbage!”

Lan Zhan looked at him briefly and nodded. They silently dressed Wei Wuxian for a while.
With his own minimal contribution.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan spoke again as he pulled the second boot onto him. “You said that
Gusu Lan wants to turn you into a weapon. Do you really think so?”

Wei Wuxian scratched the back of his head.

“Well, you needed me for some reason. Obviously not for my revolutionary discoveries in the
theory of cultivation!”

“An alliance with the Jiang Sect,” Lan Zhan replied, and Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes again.

“As if that’s so valuable. Jiang Cheng has only just recruited people. No, Lan Zhan, I think
that if your old farts weren't going to use me themselves, they at least didn't want anyone else
to have me. Jiang Cheng is in an unenviable position. He would have given me to Qinghe, or
even to Lanling, if he’d been pressed. Whereas your sect would have preferred me sitting on
a mountain somewhere in splendid isolation and under supervision. I don't know what Lan
Xichen said to you, but I'm pretty sure I know what he said to the elders. I'm dangerous, and
everyone will be safer if I'm locked up.”

“No, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan protested. “I would never agree to lock you up. Our sect was also
thinned out after the war. We need cultivators.”

“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian chuckled. “For what? Obviously, I wasn’t supposed to be a teacher.
Night hunting is forbidden.”

“Not forbidden,” Lan Zhan frowned.

Wei Wuxian looked at him with a frown.

“Well, now that we’ve sorted out the chain of command… I don’t know, do you think your
brother would approve? I'm afraid that the elders might go into open conflict.”

Lan Zhan's frown deepened, so that it even looked like a full expression.

“The elders didn’t forbid Wei Ying from going on night hunts.”

“Eh?” Wei Wuxian was surprised. “Is that so? So, it was Zewu-jun who played it safe?”

Lan Zhan shook his head.

“No, Brother wanted you to hunt. It was me.”

Wei Wuxian sat up straight.

“You forbade it?”

That is, Lan Zhan was to blame for the month of black depression?!

“I didn’t,” Lan Zhan corrected, looking at the floor. “I only asked Brother not to assign you.”

“Why?!” Wei Wuxian blurted out, blazing with righteous anger.

“But…” Lan Zhan briefly looked somewhere in the area of ​his stomach and lowered his gaze
again. “Wei Ying can’t…”

Righteous anger was replaced by black resentment.

“You think that since I don’t have a core, I’m not a cultivator at all?!” Wei Ying hissed.
“Should I neutralise another couple of waterborne abysses or, maybe, mow down a sect or
two?!!”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan looked at his face. “I know you can hunt! But you’ll use resentful
energy and thereby harm yourself!”

Wei Wuxian wanted to tell him what he thought about outsiders making key decisions for
him, but… They had already had this conversation once. In the supervisory office, before the
execution of Wen Chao. They had fought then, and Lan Zhan kept insisting that Wei Wuxian
come to Gusu. He’d thought it was for punishment, but apparently not?... After the wedding,
Lan Zhan said that he wanted to play healing music for him. Wei Wuxian was completely
confused.

“You don’t think that resentful energy shortens life in proportion to its use, do you?” he
muttered. Lan Zhan's eyes widened in fear. “No, no! That’s not how it works, Lan Zhan!
Interacting with the dead doesn't hurt me — same as Inquiry doesn't hurt you!”

Lan Zhan did not look relieved.

“Sect Leader Jiang wrote that he feared for your sanity.”

Wei Wuxian chuckled.

“Jiang Cheng thinks I’m crazy? Yes, it must have looked that way to him! But, Lan Zhan…
he doesn’t know that I don’t have a core. Do you have any idea what I had to do to hide that?
Anyone would look like a lunatic!”

“Why didn't you tell him?”

Wei Wuxian sighed. If Lan Zhan was willing to fight his elders for him, how would he take
the truth about his core? And, most importantly, the issue of Jiang Cheng's self-esteem, the
reason Wei Wuxian was silent in the first place. Hanguang-jun had never had any self-esteem
issues; he wouldn't understand.

“Long story. To be honest, I don’t want to tell it now. Preferably never. And he mustn't find
out, Lan Zhan. It’s important.”

“I won’t tell,” Lan Zhan promised. “So, Wei Ying… is not in danger? But you have an
imbalance of yin and yang.”

“What imbalance!” Wei Wuxian chuckled. “When my spouse infuses me with yang energy
three times every night! You’d better take care of yourself!”

Lan Zhan's ears turned red, and Wei Wuxian thought that this wasn’t so much a joke as the
truth. He really had felt better since he’d settled in Gusu, not to mention the fact that next to
Lan Zhan he slept like a human being at night.

"It's all right," he assured. “What harm could little things like talismans or musical cultivation
do to me?”

“But every source says…” Lan Zhan began.

“Ah, yes, yes, yes,” Wei Wuxian waved him off, “body and spirit, yes, I remember. But
that’s... How can I explain it to you; it's one thing to use fire to cook food or, I don't know,
cure ceramics, and another thing to be in the heart of a forest fire!”

Lan Zhan looked sceptical.

“And the Tiger Seal?”

Wei Wuxian pursed his lips. The Tiger Seal was more like a forest fire — both in terms of
how controlled its action was, and in terms of what chance the user had of staying alive.

"I'm not going to use the Tiger Seal on night hunts!"

“Didn’t you use it to move the waterborne abyss?”

“Of course not,” Wei Wuxian chuckled. “Lan Zhan, you’ve seen what happens when I use it!
You couldn't miss it!”
Lan Zhan still looked skeptical, so Wei Wuxian moved closer and grabbed his elbow.

“Zhan-gege, let me hunt! What am I supposed to do, just sit in the house? My butt will
become hard and unappetising, then you yourself will turn your nose up!”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan breathed out, but his ears betrayed him.

“Ge-ge-ee,” Wei Wuxian yammered, rocking them both. “Would you— Would you like me to
give you the Seal for safekeeping?’

He said it and froze. How did he even come up with that? How did his tongue turn on him?
This was his unique, unsurpassed weapon! What if... but Lan Zhan wouldn't use it, would he?
Certainly not against Wei Ying, and hardly against Yunmeng…

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said, “let me destroy it.”

“Is…is this your condition?” Wei Wuxian gasped and let go of his hand.

Lan Zhan shook his head.

“Wei Ying can go hunting if he promises to take care of himself. And only with me.”

When Wei Wuxian started arguing with the elders, he’d secretly hoped that he would
somehow claim a full-fledged cultivator’s life for himself, and expected that when this
happened, he would jump to the sky, shout and rejoice. But now, instead of joy, he was
tormented by doubts: Lan Zhan cared about him so much… And Wei Wuxian? What did he
give him in return?

“I can’t destroy it,” he began to justify himself. “What if Lotus Pier gets attacked again? I
can't fight like a cultivator. How can I protect them?”

“We have an alliance now. If the Jiang Sect is attacked, we will come to the rescue.”

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath.

“That may be, but you, too, as you yourself said, suffered from the war. How many
cultivators can you send? And if Jin Guangshan starts pushing to annex Lotus Pier to
Lanling, would your brother stand in his way? No, I'm sorry, Lan Zhan," he shook his head,
"but I can't destroy it. At least until I come up with something better.”

“Are you coming up with something?” Lan Zhan asked.

“Well…” Wei Wuxian fumbled. He said it mostly rhetorically. But really, if he'd managed to
come up with one new cultivation path, why not come up with another one? Who said there
were only two?

“Uncle is in charge of the Forbidden Library,” Lan Zhan quickly added. “You can write him a
petition. For this reason, he will certainly allow you in, or at least offer useful books. Do you
want me to write it?”
“Wait, wait,” Wei Wuxian put his hands on his shoulders. “Let me first try the open Library
for starters, you never know, maybe I won’t have to go so deep?”

When Wei Wuxian created the Tiger Seal, he had no choice of which energy to turn to, and
only his own knowledge on the topic — just what he’d come up with himself as a child.
However, Gusu Lan's library could really give him better ideas. The Lans themselves were
never interested in alternatives to the sword path, but that didn't mean they didn't record
anything about different energy sources.

Wei Wuxian blinked, pulled out of his thoughts by some movement. And realised that he was
sitting there with his hands on Lan Zhan's shoulders, while Lan Zhan started arranging his
hair. He was looking at Wei Wuxian's head so gently and attentively that Wei Wuxian
couldn’t stand it: he leaned forward and awkwardly kissed his husband on the corner of his
lips.

Lan Zhan didn't try to hold him back or push him away, but when Wei Wuxian dared to look
up, Lan Zhan smiled a little.

It couldn’t be, right? Surely, it couldn’t?

And if it could, then what? If Lan Zhan married him not for all those practical considerations,
but for… for love?... Then what?

Wei Wuxian only came to his senses when he was straddling Lan Zhan's lap.

“Wei Ying?”

And his look, as before, was too tender, but at the same time so... longing...

Wei Wuxian cleared his throat.

“Lan Zhan, shall we go home? I feel like my yang balance hasn’t been fully restored today.”
 Chapter 12
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Lan Qiren's world is tumbling down...

“Xichen, you can’t let him get away with this! Do you understand the consequences this will
have for the sect?!”

“But Uncle, I spoke with Wuxian, and I don’t think he intends to harm us.”

Lan Wangji stood in front of the Hanshi's porch, listening to the voices.

“And you believe him!” Uncle continued to splutter. “This man is immoral and unscrupulous.
Now you’re generous to him, and the next thing you know, he’ll steal the sect from you!”

“Uncle, you exaggerate.” Brother still resisted. “If Wuxian wanted to become a sect leader, he
could have taken charge of the Jiang Sect as their first disciple, but instead he married into a
different sect whose ideals he never shared.”

“What does he need the Jiang Sect for; are there even one and a half cultivators there?” Uncle
snapped. “Of course, climbing the social ladder is much easier here! And you’re indulging
him in this!”

“But Uncle, that elder really did wrongfully punish Wangji. I couldn’t have gone against the
Charter!”

“Are you going to use his rhetoric against me?!” Uncle yelled. “Xichen, look at yourself;
what have you come to? Any passer-by pushes you around however he wants! Can't you see
that Wei Wuxian took advantage of your weakness to seize more power?”

Lan Wangji opened the door without knocking and rushed inside.

“Wei Ying was protecting me.”

“Of co-ourse,” Uncle drawled. "Gods, who have I raised? One can’t even say no to a stranger,
the other lives in a dream world! Wangji, you're the one always trying to protect him! And
Wei Wuxian takes advantage of you and doesn't care what happens to you. Open your eyes at
last!”

“That’s not true,” Lan Wangji snapped.

Uncle shook his head, and Brother looked at him uncertainly.

“Xichen, do you see now why I said from the very beginning that it was a mistake to agree to
this marriage? Wangji is incapable of judging his husband objectively. And you knew about
it. We should terminate the marriage alliance as soon as possible.”

“What?!”

“Uncle!” Brother looked really shocked. “It will be a huge scandal!”

“Not so huge,” Uncle waved him off. “The Jiang Sect has no other support but us. Jiang
Cheng wouldn't dare to protest too loudly. Think back to their student days; Jiang Cheng
himself was always the first to scold Wei Wuxian. It would be easy to convince him that Wei
Wuxian broke the rules and failed in his duty.”

“Which rules?!” Lan Wangji growled as he gripped his sword. “What rules did he break?
Reading the Charter?”

Uncle snorted.

“You would think he doesn’t break some rule every day. Ask any three disciples, and a dozen
violations will pop up immediately! And you indulge him in this!”

“But Uncle, this alliance is already more than two months old,” Brother continued to insist.
“Other sect leaders will not consider breaking curfews or wearing inappropriate attire
sufficient grounds for a breakup. Few share our views on virtue. It would be an incredible
shame for us!”

“To break an unconsummated marriage in two months? Not such a shame.” Uncle shrugged.
“It would suffice to say that the spouses didn’t get along, which is true. Since the marriage is
impossible to consummate, and on top of that Wei Wuxian systematically violates the rules,
what is there to talk about?”

“But Uncle,” Brother began again, throwing a miserable glance at Lan Wangji. If Lan Wangji
wasn't himself, he would have chuckled.

“The marriage is consummated,” he said.

Both looked at him in disbelief.

“You must have been dreaming,” Uncle finally said.

“In that case, I dreamed every night, starting with the wedding night, and sometimes even
during the day,” Lan Wangji snapped. “But if Uncle doesn’t believe me, he can ask the
laundry maids.”

Brother blushed. Lan Wangji himself stoically bore the fundamental embarrassment of this
confession. Wei Ying had neutralised the waterborne abyss for him, and this was just some
awkwardness.
“But… that’s…” Uncle muttered. “He’s not a woman, after all… For cultivation partners, the
rules aren’t so strict…”

"But we can't say they didn't get along," Brother put in, and his voice sounded a little harder
than usual. “Uncle, Wuxian is a family member and a worthy cultivator of our sect. I refuse
to play out a farce to get rid of him. We already lack competent cultivators. From now on, I
am transferring the responsibility of assessing the skills of senior disciples to him, because I
haven’t had time for it for more than a year. Perhaps Uncle would like to take over?”

Uncle pursed his lips. Lan Wangji vaguely remembered that Uncle hadn’t been enthusiastic
about this duty when he had to do it.

“Maybe Wangji…” he started, but stopped short, and both of them looked at Lan Wangji
thoughtfully.

“I don’t think talking to people twenty hours a week is the best use of Wangji’s talents,”
Brother said softly.

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed, shuddering inwardly.

Uncle let out a guttural growl and swept out of the Hanshi.

“Wangji,” Brother broke into a smile that made Lan Wangji suspicious. “I didn’t know that
your relationship with Wuxian was so… hmm… close. Frankly, at first I shared Uncle's fears
that this marriage would become a heavy burden for you, and felt guilty for having selfishly
supported this idea for my own purposes, possibly ruining your life. But, it turns out, Wuxian
does share your feelings?”

Lan Wangji didn't say anything, only lowered his eyes. He did not want to disappoint Brother,
but to say that Wei Ying shared anything would be too presumptuous.

"I hope you don't mind his new appointment?" Brother chuckled, not noticing the hitch.

Lan Wangji was not happy with the idea that Wei Ying would now be required by his position
to get acquainted with the entire sect, but it was better than him being idle all day long.

“Wei Ying needs something interesting to do,” he replied. "Brother, I'll take him on my next
night hunt."

“You will?” Brother was surprised. “Didn’t you say he couldn’t hunt yet? Or has his health
improved?”

“We… are working on it,” Lan Wangji choked out, and this time he felt heat at the tips of his
ears. Brother's cheeks flushed. “He can only go hunting with me,” Lan Wangji added quickly
to change the subject.

“I hope you can take some juniors?” Brother checked, pulling the box with the applications
towards himself.

“Mn,” Lan Wangji agreed after thinking. Wei Ying enjoyed working with children.
***

“Well, I’m listening,” the fourth-level disciple Wu Chicheng offered phlegmatically, sitting in
a respectful pose opposite Wuxian, without a hint of respect in his voice.

“Eh?” Wei Wuxian was surprised. “I was going to listen to you.”

“What can I tell you?” the disciple raised his eyebrows in a contemptuous grimace.

He was ten years older than Wei Wuxian, born in the sect, although he didn’t belong to the
Lan clan; he was an excellent swordsman and categorically refused to take juniors below the
first level on his hunts. Wei Wuxian had no idea what level he himself was: he didn’t pass the
exam that determined it, and he suspected that he wouldn’t pass, because the Lans, as was
their custom, crammed in a bunch of useless fluff about the history of the sect and some
virtuous elders long since ascended to heaven.

“Well, for example, do you like your work?” Wuxian asked with a friendly smile.

“Do you take me for an idiot?” Disciple Wu snorted. “If I say yes, I’ll stay in this position
forever; if I say no, I’ll be released from the sect, right?”

“Hmm,” Wei Wuxian chewed on the tip of his brush and ran his eyes over the personal file of
the person sitting in front of him, working it out. He drilled disciples from levels one to three,
went on difficult night hunts, and was in command of one of the night watchmen’s shifts.

“What position would you like to apply for?” Wei Wuxian asked.

The man started breathing heavily, as if his patience was at the limit.

“It's the fifth year in a row that I've been petitioning to be put in command of the gate guard.
You don't read our notes at all, do you?!”

Wei Wuxian raised his hands in a defensive gesture.

“Why are you attacking me? I've been here for three months and I first learned about the
existence of petitions yesterday.”

“Well, of course,” Wu Chicheng nodded with a tragic look. “Why would competent people
engage in such nonsense! They appoint a newcomer who knows nothing, and hide behind
him. I went to war for this sect!”

Wei Wuxian pursed his lips into an awkward smile.

“Ah… why is the post of gate commander better than the post of night watch commander?”

The man took a deep breath, and Wei Wuxian understood why he didn’t take juniors on
hunts.

“Young master,” he said wearily, “the night watch takes place at night. Night hunts also take
place at night. And in the afternoon there are the drills. I have five children: the youngest is
six months old. I want to sleep sometimes!”

“Understood,” Wei Wuxian squeaked, scribbling on a new sheet with a half-dry brush. "Tell
me how to find you, and I'll get back to you on the matter after I report back to the Sect
Leader."

“That is, in another five years,” the disciple grumbled, but he dictated the name of the
residential sector and the house.

When he left, Wei Wuxian put his personal files in a qiankun bag and tucked it in his collars,
and went home for dinner, remembering to lock the door of the pavilion, which had now
become his office. From the very beginning of the conversation with Lan Xichen, Wei
Wuxian insisted that he couldn’t conduct interviews from home, because he had dark
talismans in all corners and the disciples wouldn’t appreciate it. Lan Xichen seemed to
understand that in the sense that people wouldn’t really like to stumble upon Lan Zhan, much
less complain about life in front of him. In fact, Wei Wuxian had completely different
reasons, but so far he hadn’t told anyone except Lan Zhan about them.

“Is Wei Ying tired?” Lan Zhan wondered, meeting him at the door.

“It turned out to be, um, harder than I thought,” Wei Wuxian admitted. “And I think I started
at the wrong end.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to start with level four disciples?” Lan Zhan clarified as he
arranged the bowls on the table, as was his habit.

“Yeah, I thought there were fewer of them, so I’d quickly do that bit of work, and I could
report back right away so Zewu-jun wouldn’t worry that I’m doing nothing,” Wei Wuxian
admitted. “But now I understand that I have to start from the bottom in order to get an idea of
​what kind of people these… fours are. Do you know any of them?”

Lan Zhan shook his head.

“Not well. My teachers were all of a higher level.”

“Well,” Wei Wuxian sighed, “then we’ll talk to the night watchmen.”

He sniffed the meat sauce and swallowed.

“Did you put a guard on the chef?” he said, scooping up some rice.

“Mn,” Lan Zhan confirmed, frowning. “Wei Ying, you don’t seriously think that the elders
would do such a thing, do you?”

“Perhaps they won’t poison anyone to death,” Wei Wuxian shrugged, “but they can easily put
me out of action for a couple of weeks while they brainwash your brother again. Moreover,
bear in mind, they think that I have a rather large golden core, so the doses would be triple.”

Lan Zhan swallowed.

“I appointed three people whom I trust completely, and explicitly specified that they are only
to follow my and my brother’s orders, but not the elders’.”

“You’re my darling bunny!” Wei Wuxian smiled and kissed the air.

Lan Zhan blushed charmingly.

“Night hunt tomorrow. Come with me?”

Wei Wuxian, who had managed to stuff a sizable lump of rice into his mouth, nodded
furiously and hurried on: if he was going hunting in the evening, he’d need to finish the
interviews early, and for that he needed to prepare for them early.

***

Taken out for the long-awaited hunt, Wei Wuxian was so jubilant that he destroyed five yao
before he remembered that it would be nice to teach the kids as well. He corrected himself
promptly: by the end of the hunt, each of the teenagers had killed one yao, and the rest were
finished off by Lan Zhan as a teaching demonstration. The children stared at Wei Wuxian like
he was a god: Wei Wuxian belatedly realised that until now they had only been allowed to
watch the extermination of such dangerous creatures, and their personal lists of exterminated
yao had still been empty.

“But why?” Wei Wuxian complained to Lan Zhan in a whisper on the way back. “They’re
already big enough. At their age, we thinned out the river ghouls twice a season.”

“It is customary for us to devote more time to theoretical training and skill development
before allowing the cultivator to work,” Lan Zhan explained, but he looked sour. “It is
important for us to maintain a high standard in front of other sects.”

“Isn't pride a sin?” Wei Wuxian chuckled.

Lan Zhan looked away.

“It's not about pride. A large portion of the sect's income comes from tuition fees for the
youth of other sects. Gusu Lan is famous for its great knowledge of cultivation theory, and
that is why cultivators send their children to study with us. On night hunts, we must
constantly demonstrate this knowledge in order to maintain the sect’s reputation.”

Wei Wuxian chuckled.

“But almost no one gets anything out of those lectures! They’re impossible to understand!
I’m telling you for sure, Lan Zhan, no one from my class learned anything from your uncle's
lectures!”

“Wei Ying learned,” Lan Zhan remarked.

“Well, I’d figured out half of it myself before I even came here,” Wei Wuxian waved him off.
“Uh, wait, so is this your plan? To assign the most boring lecturer so that young people from
other sects won’t understand anything and can’t teach their clan members? So they pay
tuition next year? Lan Zhan, seriously?”

Lan Zhan was silent, but his gaze could have set the moss underfoot on fire.

“Wow…” Wei Wuxian drawled. “And I underestimated the cunn— um, cleverness of your
clan. Have you ever thought that you would make a stronger impression with successful
hunts if, say, all disciples solved problems faster and more accurately? Or if you had a set of
especially skilled cultivators who could handle unusual difficulties? For example, when we
were sent here to study, Uncle Jiang stressed the fact that you and your brother are so
incredible that your sect must have good training. It seems to me that if you had a dozen
incredible cultivators, it would attract even more students, wouldn't it?”

“I have,” Lan Zhan replied, but didn’t elaborate, from which Wei Wuxian concluded that
what he’d thought up had shattered against the blank wall of tradition.

***

After barely sleeping off the hunt, Wei Wuxian began interviewing disciples who happened
to work with Wu Chicheng. The two night watchmen he had hunted down looked at each
other awkwardly.

“Yes, that’s our leader.”

Wei Wuxian looked at their fearful faces and raised three fingers in the air.

“Whatever you tell me, I promise I won’t tell anyone except the Sect Leader. But he must
know what's going on in the sect, don't you agree?”

They nodded uncertainly.

“But complaining is forbidden,” one added timidly.

“But telling the truth is required,” Wei Wuxian insisted.

The disciples looked at each other again.

“Well…” began the second. “The commander… often punishes us.”

“But without really understanding the situation,” the first one immediately added.

“And he sometimes falls asleep on duty,” the first one whispered.

“Understood,” Wuxian grinned, taking notes, and then scratched his head with the end of his
brush. It seemed that the animosity between the night watch and Wu Chicheng was mutual.
“Do you know anyone from the gate guard?”

The youths looked at each other again.

“He wants to transfer there, doesn't he?” asked the second. “My brother works there. Young
master, the gate guards will throw themselves at your feet, just don't put Commander Wu in
charge of them!”

“Understood,” Wei Wuxian exhaled as he added another note to his personal file. “And who
would you like as a commander?”

From the night watchmen, Wei Wuxian smoothly moved on to the teaching staff, and from
them to the main groups of night hunters. While hunting alone was forbidden in Gusu Lan,
pairs weren’t encouraged either. Most of the hunts were led by cultivators of the fourth and
higher levels, who would take several juniors with them. However, after the war, there
weren’t enough leaders left, so the juniors were driven to hunt in groups of two dozen, and
that was dangerous even with Gusu Lan discipline.

Wei Wuxian interviewed the manager of one of the food storehouses who had lost his leg in
the war, but still tearfully asked to be returned to the field because for him life without night
hunting wasn’t life. Promising to do everything in his power, Wei Wuxian called in the next
one.

A handsome young man burst into the pavilion with such a bearing that Wei Wuxian
immediately prepared to write down complaints. He had already developed a sense of how
the interview would go.

However, the man just silently placed a sheet of paper in front of him. Wei Wuxian ran his
eyes over it: it was a request for resignation and permission to leave the sect. He checked the
name against his lists and sighed heavily. It was Luo Longwei, about whom Wei Wuxian had
already collected a fair amount of feedback praising him as one of the best night hunters,
even though he was only at level three.

“Talk to me,” Wei Wuxian gestured for him to sit down.

Cultivator Luo pursed his lips.

"So you're also refusing to sign? Am I being held hostage here?”

“‘Also’? Like who?” Wei Wuxian said.

“I’ve been seeking an audience with the elders for months!”

“Elders aren’t allowed to sign this,” Wei Wuxian immediately remarked.

“What do you mean they aren’t allowed?” Luo Longwei frowned.

“They aren’t. Same as me. Only the Sect Leader can release a disciple from office. If you
want me to convince him, you'll have to tell me all the details.”

“Fine,” Luo Longwei nodded, barely covering his seething rage with indifference. “But I will
only say this once. I won’t repeat it. And I won't explain anything either. Kindly listen.”
Wei Wuxian nodded, and the hunter spread his feet wider, placing his hands on his hips,
apparently for stability when he was thrown by the recoil from the explanation.

“I will never. Again. Go. On a hunt. Led by Lan Delun.”

Wei Wuxian flipped through the book and checked that he hadn’t seen Lan Delun yet and
knew nothing about him.

“Who would you go with?” he asked casually.

“No one, not anymore.”

“No one at all, from the entire sect?” Wei Wuxian was surprised.

“Earlier, before the war,” Luo Longwei said, relaxing a little, “I used to go with Wu
Chicheng. He was my swordsmanship teacher. But now he takes very few hunts, and I was
assigned to Lan Delun. You see, if I limit myself to hunting with Wu Chicheng, my
contribution to the sect’s growth won’t pay back the cost of my upkeep! I went to war for this
sect!” he took a breath. “So, I intend to go to some other one that won’t drive away its
people!”

“Which one? Have you already chosen?” Wei Wuxian asked, wondering what to do.
Something was ringing a bell, sort of connected...

“I’m thinking about Qinghe Nie. At least they’ll promote an honest person for military merit,
not all these scribbles,” he contemptuously waved at Wei Wuxian’s book.

“Hmm,” Wei Wuxian drawled. “And Nie-xiong constantly complains that in his sect
everything is soulless and bound by the rules… How about Yunmeng? Jiang Cheng will
appreciate you, and I can drop him a letter…”

“The climate isn’t for me,” Luo Longwei replied dryly. “So will you convey my request to
the Sect Leader?”

Wei Wuxian finally realised what his mind was trying to pull out of his memory.

“Third level disciples have the right to lead the juniors on hunts! I'll tell the Sect Leader, but
maybe I'll put you on the roster for now?”

The man frowned.

“Young master is confused. We can only lead hunts starting from the fourth level, but I didn’t
pass that exam and I’m not going to; I have things to do in life other than reading poetry and
the like.”

“No, no,” Wei Wuxian shook his head. “Disciples from the first to the third level can only be
led by those who themselves aren’t lower than the fourth. And the juniors by those higher
than the first. There’s a limitation…” Wei Wuxian flipped through the notes he made while
he read the Charter that day he was lounging in Caiyi. “Yeah, here. If the hunt turns out to be
very difficult, it’s recommended to invite a more experienced comrade. You could invite Wu
Chicheng if necessary. You enjoyed working with him, didn’t you?”

“Seriously?” Luo Longwei finally sat down and tried to read Wei Wuxian's notes across the
table, but Wei Wuxian's clumsy handwriting served as a solid barrier. “Yes, I would love to
work with him. He knows more about the creatures in this area than you can even read in the
Library. But will I be trusted with the juniors?”

“Let me discuss this with the Sect Leader?” Wei Wuxian suggested. “By the way, since you
learned swordsmanship from disciple Wu, what can you say about him as a mentor?”

“He’s the best,” Luo Longwei replied simply.

Wei Wuxian seemed to have begun to understand how to do this job.

***

Over the next couple of days, Wei Wuxian completely threw himself into his work. Well,
almost completely: Lan Zhan still pulled him out to eat, sleep, and… dual cultivate.

“Lan Zha-an,” Wei Wuxian called after breakfast one day, scanning the walls of the front
room like he was seeing them for the first time. “Do you really need your bedroom? I mean,
you sleep with me all the time.”

“I have things there,” Lan Zhan remarked. “Wei Ying wants to use that room somehow?”

“I just can’t keep in mind what I’ve promised and to whom,” Wei Wuxian admitted. “I’d
hang a chart on the wall, but I assure everyone that, except for Zewu-jun, no one will know
anything about our conversations. A lot of people are especially worried about you. You’re so
serious, they think you’re going to punish them for something,” Wei Wuxian wiggled his
eyebrows playfully. “They don’t know that you satisfy your need for punishment at my
expense. By the way, did you manage to buy a silk rope? The day before yesterday, one
disciple kept looking at my wrists.”

“I did,” Lan Zhan squeezed out, ears red.

Wei Wuxian laughed. He wanted so badly to provoke his husband into some outrage, but his
first interview was in only half an hour.

“Come on, you bring your things to my room, and I’ll return early for dinner, and we’ll try
out the rope? Because, you know,” Wei Wuxian conspiratorially leaned forward and spoke in
a low, throaty voice, “I sometimes sit in an interview and think how it would be interesting if
I was all tied up under my clothes…”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan blurted out, covering his ears, and added somehow plaintively:
“Shameless!”

Instead of answering, Wei Wuxian removed the empty dishes from the table, walked around
it and knelt down again next to Lan Zhan, and then lay on his stomach on the tabletop and
grabbed its far edge with his hands.
“Ah, gege, I can hardly reach! Give me a push from behind?”

Wei Wuxian claimed victory when he felt his pants ripped off. True, without preparation it
turned out to be a little painful, although he was still slightly slippery from the night before.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, how am I going to sit in on interviews?!” he whimpered as his husband
helped him clean up.

“Think about it next time,” Lan Zhan said grimly.

“I think about it all the time,” Wei Wuxian grinned. “And now I’ll sit and remember how
hard you just took me. What should I tell the disciples if they notice that I’m fidgeting in my
seat and that my hands are in the wrong place?”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan howled and turned around, desperately looking for something to catch
his eye on to change the subject. “Your room won’t fit three more chests.”

“Well, my own chests are half empty,” Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Just put all my junk in one.
Or add your own to them; you’re the one who dresses me in the morning anyway.” He ran his
fingertips over his husband's cheek and a little of his lip. “My chests are so empty. Would you
mind filling them up?”

Lan Zhan growled and went to his room, slamming the door.

“I'll finish first!” Wei Wuxian yelled at him cheerfully. “And I’ll be back to test the rope!”

And without waiting for an answer, he ran off to work.

***

After dinner, which they barely got to, Wei Wuxian found that Lan Zhan's room was one
chest emptier, and all the combs had been moved to a shelf in the lotus room. Grunting, Wei
Wuxian got up from the table and went to Lan Zhan's icebox to paste diagrams on the walls
of who should be transferred where. Of course, this could have been done in the pavilion he
was given for work. But Wei Wuxian had other plans for it.

***

Having taken the juniors to the next hunt, they returned home after breakfast in Caiyi, and at
the door of the Jingshi, a disciple was already waiting with an invitation for Wei Wuxian to
visit Lan Qiren. Lan Zhan wanted to go with him, but Wei Wuxian assured him that he could
handle his uncle.

Lan Qiren was waiting for him in the empty training pavilion with his hands behind his back,
looking gloomily out the window.

“Wei Wuxian,” he said without turning around as soon as he entered, “it wasn’t enough for
you to ruin my nephew. You have also corrupted the disciples of our sect.”
Wei Wuxian, who had just parted ways with a group of disciples who had gone off to write a
night hunt report, froze in disbelief.

“How have I corrupted them? We went on a night hunt, all in good order...”

“Not them,” Lan Qiren interrupted impatiently. “The ones you’ve taught theory.”

“And what about them?” Wei Wuxian was even more surprised. “When I last saw them, they
were of the highest quality!”

Lan Qiren gritted his teeth.

“I didn’t have time to inspect them lately, and now their main teacher has left seclusion and
has come to me complaining that the students don’t obey him at all, refuse to follow the
lesson instructions, and don’t understand anything!”

“Is this the same teacher who failed to teach them from the very beginning?” Wei Wuxian
said. “Which is why a replacement was necessary in the first place. Haven’t you considered
that he just can't handle it?”

“Master Gong has been working in this position for more than a year!” Lan Qiren was
outraged. “I personally certified him, unlike you!”

Wei Wuxian didn't say that maybe that was the problem.

"Okay, but what am I supposed to do about this now?" he asked instead.

Lan Qiren grumbled something dubious, then cleared his throat.

“You will hold a demonstration lesson, at which Teacher Gong and I will be present. We need
to know what kind of depravity you have been subjecting the children to all this time.”

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but laugh.

“Okay, just tell me the topic, I need to prepare.”

“What’s there to prepare for?” Lan Qiren frowned. “This is the youngest group.”

Wei Wuxian almost rolled his eyes.

“I prepared for all the lessons. If you want to know what I did with them, then I need to
reproduce the process as accurately as possible, right? Therefore, I need to prepare.”

Lan Qiren seemed like he wouldn't mind rolling his eyes.

“Let it be acupuncture points. The lesson is tomorrow on the same schedule.”

“Excellent!” Wei Wuxian smiled. "Is there anything else I can do for Uncle?"

Lan Qiren finally turned to face him completely and gave him an incredulous look.
“If you hope to become the Sect Leader, abandon those ideas now,” he finally said.

Wei Wuxian chuckled.

“What are you talking about, Uncle? Me? The Sect Leader?! Attending those meaningless
sect meetings and putting on a polite face while dying of boredom? And constantly being
available to everyone in the residence for just about anything; never unwinding, never
slipping an inch! No thanks. To be honest, I thought you’d keep me locked up here so that I
wouldn’t run away, and you expect me to voluntarily lock myself up in a cage?”

Lan Qiren chewed on his lip and walked across the platform to stare out the other window.

“What is your relationship with Wangji?” he asked suddenly.

Wei Wuxian was confused. He himself didn’t really know that, and even more so, he didn’t
understand what Lan Qiren needed that for.

“In what sense?”

“The obvious,” Uncle turned around. “How do you feel about him?”

“Well… Actually, very good,” Wei Wuxian muttered. Since he didn’t understand what
depended on his answer, he at least decided not to lie.

“How close are you?” Lan Qiren kept asking.

Wei Wuxian pondered how to explain that. If Lan Qiren was worried that Wei Wuxian would
try to clear his way to the position of Sect Leader, then he must have been worried about how
much Lan Zhan trusted his husband.

“I’m not hiding anything from him,” Wei Wuxian finally said. “But what he thinks of me,
you’d better ask him.”

Lan Qiren only got more annoyed. He puffed up and finally declared:

“Are you sleeping with him?”

Wei Wuxian was taken aback. Could this be breaking the rules?

“Do Gusu Lan husbands usually abstain?”

“Are you going to answer the question?” Uncle's face began to turn red, and not at all from
embarrassment.

“Well, yes…” Wei Wuxian grunted. “He, uh, generously shares his yang energy with me. But
he has a lot, don’t you worry, he isn’t harming himself!” he said. It was probably better to put
everything in such a light so that Uncle wouldn’t scold Lan Zhan. “It’s just, you understand,
Hanguang-jun is such a wonderful husband, and I’m just a weak person, I couldn’t help but
be tempted!”
Lan Qiren took a deep breath and snarled angrily.

“I see. Dismissed.”
 Chapter 13
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

And thus opens the sectond act of WWX vs Elders XD

Acupuncture points were just the sort of topic where Lan Qiren's talent for lulling lectures
would certainly triumph. There was no logic or reasoning here. Points were supposed to be
learned by rote.

But Wei Wuxian wouldn't be Wei Wuxian if he didn't figure out how to turn a boring diagram
into an exciting game. Therefore, he began by asking Lan Zhan for a small group of punished
teenagers and had them copy the point diagram on large sheets, and then cut out the resulting
little men along the outline. He ordered them to be made a little smaller in size than the
youngest child from the class of beginners: so that all the dots fit well, but the children
wouldn’t be too afraid.

Of course, if he weren't in the Cloud Recesses, he'd have set a couple dozen dead people onto
this task — they were both more obedient and copied more accurately, because they didn't get
distracted. But here, only human resources were at his service, and he didn’t want Lan Qiren
to smell resentful energy on the little figures.

While the teenagers drudged on, Wei Wuxian used the time to leaf through several books,
sketching out a possible design for an artificial leg for the warehouse manager. And then, as
he still had to hang around in the Library, he leafed through the works on golden cores. He
had already read most of them back then, in Yiling, in Wen Qing’s collection, but back then
he didn’t have time to stop and think and hadn’t been sleeping or eating for several days.
Maybe he’d missed something...

After a few more interviews, Wei Wuxian sat down to enchant the paper men. He ended up
working deep into the night, stopping only once to fulfil his marital duties and only because
the infusion of yang energy gave him strength.

The next day, when Wei Wuxian showed up to class, the children rushed to him, nearly
destroying all the props.

"Teacher Wei! Teacher Wei! Will you teach us again?

He hurriedly threw the stack of paper men to hang over the top edge of a screen, and
conscientiously hugged each kid.
“I don’t know yet, guys,” he admitted. “Today, serious adults will look at how you and I
work, and decide.”

“We won't let you down!” the boys promised after exchanging looks.

Wei Wuxian began to question them about what they had done without him, but there were
few answers. It looked like they really didn't learn anything.

“When you need to, you can, apparently, arrive on time and even be early,” Lan Qiren said
coldly, appearing on the threshold. Next to him stood a frowning bland man in his forties.

“I’m not late for the lessons I teach myself,” Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Can I start?”

After receiving permission, Wei Wuxian briefly went over the types of influence that could
be triggered by pressing different points. The venerable teachers sat down and looked at him
suspiciously.

“So let’s give it a try,” Wei Wuxian announced as he snapped his fingers.

The topmost little man in the stack slid off the screen and hobbled to the centre of the circle,
in which the children sat out of habit. They, of course, gasped and yelled, but quickly
subsided, remembering the presence of the visitors.

“Who remembers where to press to knock a person out?” Wei Wuxian asked.

Several of the most daring immediately raised their hands.

“Very well, Lan Si, come out here and try it.”

Lan Si hesitantly stood up and approached, timidly examining the paper man who was
standing completely still.

“Should I just press?” the boy clarified.

“Should I just press, Teacher Wei ,” Wei Wuxian corrected him for the ears of the respected
mentors.

“Sorry, Teacher Wei!” Lan Si corrected himself. “The points are this one and this one.”

His fingers hovered over the paper man's neck and back.

“Press them,” Wei Wuxian nodded approvingly.

Lan Si pressed. The little man sank to the floor with a rustle. The children squealed in
delight.

Wei Wuxian snapped the little man to its feet again.

“Who’s next?
There were five who were next, so Wei Wuxian summoned a few more paper people. Soon,
the whole group was busy poking at the dots; Wei Wuxian only had time to pick the little
men back up and walk around the teacher's platform, checking that the children were placing
their fingers correctly.

“Let’s make it harder!” he announced, clapping his hands.

The children obediently left their training equipment and stood up again in an even circle.
Wei Wuxian snapped his fingers, and the little men dispersed in different directions.

“Catch,” he commanded.

By the end of the lesson, the class was swarming with paper men who rushed from corner to
corner, occasionally running up the walls and ceiling, while the children ran after them
screaming, trying to hit as many targets as possible. On each child’s back, a special talisman
counted his victories.

Wei Wuxian kept track of Uncle's complexion, and when he began to resemble a portrait of
himself painted with chili paste, Wei Wuxian made all the little men gather in a pile again.

“That's all for today!” he happily said to the slightly disappointed children. “Shall we count?”

The boys briskly stood up in single file and shuffled so that each was behind the one with the
higher score. Wei Wuxian walked along the row and waved his hand between the third and
the fourth student.

“Lan Si, Lan Du, and Li Jing will receive a personal guqin lesson from Hanguang-jun.”

The children began to chatter, and the three winners jumped on the spot.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Wei Wuxian grinned. “The next three can spend half a day at the Healing
Pavilion tomorrow morning and help prepare the herbs for the potions and ask as many
questions as they like.”

Uncle coughed meaningfully, silencing the children's exclamations.

“Wei Wuxian, do you think you can manage other people’s time?”

“No,” Wei Wuxian smiled dazzlingly, “I got permission in advance. But let me dismiss the
students, and then we'll discuss my methods, okay? Well, young gentlemen, who’s done well
today?”

“Me! Me!” the children chattered and quickly surrounded Wei Wuxian to get their fair share
of final hugs.

Finally, when the last stragglers had left the classroom, Wei Wuxian approached the teachers,
ready to listen to their opinion. Judging by the faces, their opinion was so-so.

“This din is unacceptable!” Uncle spat out first.

Wei Wuxian shrugged.

“They don’t make noise outside of class, and in here it doesn’t bother me.”

“They must have been heard all the way to the Hanshi!” Lan Qiren was outraged.

Wei Wuxian shook his head.

“The classroom is equipped with soundproofing talismans.”

“But it goes against at least two dozen rules!” Lan Qiren continued to rage. “They scream,
run, express their emotions torridly, and are disrespectful towards their teacher!”

“Respectful enough for me. They listen to me, don’t they? Well, what more respect do I need
from them? As for the rest, you wanted to look at my methods. These are my methods.
Without a torrid expression of emotions, they won’t work. Besides, I think you know without
a doubt that these kids can now find the right points even in their sleep, even in the dark.”

“But, excuse me,” Teacher Gong cut in, “they actually learned only two points which have
only one function.”

Wei Wuxian spread his hands.

“And how much did you expect, in an hour?”

The teacher bristled.

“Naturally, many hours should be devoted to acupuncture points, but at the first lesson on the
topic, a complete diagram is introduced, and the students copy it from memory for the
following hours.”

Wei Wuxian shrugged again.

“I don’t see much difference: immediately introduce the entire system and then memorise it
for six months or introduce two points every day and put together the entire system over six
months. I'll tell you more: if you introduce them in a certain sequence, then some will take
less than an hour, because the children will gradually begin to grasp the logic, and new points
will be memorised faster, so you can teach four or six in an hour. In any case, this is how they
taught us in Yunmeng, and everyone seemed to remember it. At least, I haven’t seen any
incidents where someone didn’t remember where to press at a critical moment.”

“And what, these self-propelled paper diagrams were taught to you there?” Lan Qiren
narrowed his eyes in disbelief. “How did you create them, by the way?”

Wei Wuxian smiled widely. He wasn’t going to admit that he caught weak spirits outside the
residence and sealed them in paper men.

“That’s a proprietary technique, I can’t disclose it.”

“They look eerie,” said Master Gong.

“I promise they won’t harm the children in any way.” Wei Wuxian held up three fingers.
There was a thoughtful silence, and Wei Wuxian, who still had to prepare for tomorrow's
interviews, decided to hurry the respected teachers along: “Is there anything else I can help
you with?”

“I didn’t quite get it,” Master Gong spoke up again, trampling Wei Wuxian’s hope of running
away. “The children with the most points were in front. Why did you punish them and only
them?”

“Punish?” Wei Wuxian was surprised. “I rewarded them!”

“You told them to go to extra classes in their free time,” Lan Qiren explained. “It's usually
done as a punishment.”

“Well, it depends on how you present it,” Wei Wuxian remarked. “Lan Zhan is like a god to
all the children, and getting a personal lesson from him is a great privilege. And I usually
negotiate with other disciples to give the most conscientious students some real tasks, not just
educational ones. They like to do something “adult”. Tomorrow, for example, they’ll be
turning over drying leaves, but those leaves will actually go into potions, and the children
will be able to see how it’s done. It's interesting, but the healers wouldn't let them in just like
that.”

Lan Qiren closed his mouth and drummed his fingers on the floor. Master Gong cleared his
throat.

“Um, well, I don’t have any more questions.”

"And you're saying the healers agreed to spend their time playing with your students?" said
Uncle.

“Of course,” Wei Wuxian smiled broadly. “I'm the person who decides whether to promote
them to the next skill level.”

“Are you blackmailing them?” Uncle was horrified.

“What blackmail?” Wei Wuxian was equally horrified. “It’s just that if a disciple doesn’t have
the time and energy to teach the sect’s children a little, then it’s too soon for him to take a
managerial position, isn’t it? It's a lot more work!”

Lan Qiren narrowed his eyes at Wei Wuxian, then crossed his arms over his chest.

“Master Gong, you may go. I need to have another conversation with Wei Wuxian.”

“Master Qiren, what about the class?” he asked.

“Since the class is lagging behind,” Lan Qiren said reluctantly, “we’ll let Wei Wuxian pull it
up. But you, Master Gong, will be present at all classes and make sure that there is no
indecency going on here.”
The teacher’s face fell, but he meekly bowed and left, and Wei Wuxian almost whistled. He
didn't expect to be allowed around kids again.

“Uncle?” he prompted when they were alone, and Lan Qiren remained silent.

He sighed heavily.

“Xichen did hand the post assignments over to you,” he grumbled with displeasure. “Don’t
think of taking advantage of your official position to promote any slobs.”

“No worries, no worries” Wei Wuxian held out his palms in a defensive gesture. “How could
I?! I'm just collecting information and suggesting options; only the Sect Leader can make the
decisions!”

“Do you write reports for him?” Uncle softened a little.

“Of course!” Wei Wuxian assured. Uncle hummed in satisfaction.

And then Wei Wuxian decided to take a chance. After all, if it didn’t work out it didn’t work
out, what would he lose? But if it did… Lan Zhan, of course, was a respected person, but
they were still married, so someone could say that he was shielding Wei Wuxian. But no one
would think that about Lan Qiren.

“Speaking of reports,” Wei Wuxian said casually. “Will this nephew be allowed to ask Uncle
for a little favour?”

Lan Qiren frowned.

“What is it?”

“You see,” Wei Wuxian awkwardly wrung his hands, “my office can be locked, of course, but
I’m a little concerned that someone unscrupulous might want to, hmm… edit the information
that I pass on to Zewu-jun. And I wouldn’t want to use dangerous warding charms, because
I’m so absent-minded, I’d forget to take them off...”

Uncle grunted.

“And what do you suggest?”

“I was just thinking,” Wei Wuxian smiled charmingly, “I can hide the papers, but it would be
better to catch anyone who tries to forge them, right? So I came up with the idea of ​writing
some false reports with blatant disinformation and putting them where they could be easily
found. And if someone gets mad, we’ll know that person read something they shouldn’t
have.”

Uncle chewed his cheek.

“It's deceptive.”
“Well, how is it deceptive?” Wei Wuxian spread his hands. “Who knows what papers I keep
in my office. Maybe this is a recording of my dreams.”

“And you want me,” Lan Qiren said slowly, “to testify that these reports are false?”

Wei Wuxian bowed ceremoniously.

“Uncle has great wisdom!”

Lan Qiren grimaced but nodded.

“If Xichen has delegated responsibilities to you, people must realise that you have authority,
otherwise there will be chaos. I do not approve of his decision, but in the end,” he glanced at
Wei Wuxian with displeasure, “experience shows that one shouldn’t leave you much free
time. Just try not to write anything obscene.”

Wei Wuxian beamed.

“Perhaps I’ll visit Uncle at the beginning of the week, and we’ll compose the necessary
information together? To make sure there’s no confusion.”

“Yes,” Lan Qiren agreed reluctantly. "I'd better supervise you."

Wei Wuxian thanked him effusively. Mischief managed!

***

When a stack of paper as high as the table itself was placed on Lan Xichen's desk, he
frowned. The point of delegating this responsibility to Wei Wuxian was to relieve his
conscience and free himself to go hunting at least occasionally, and not sit in the Hanshi all
day writing papers or worrying about not being able to cope with his duties.

“What is this?” he asked in the timid hope that Wei Wuxian had brought the reports of the
juniors about some kind of hunt, and it would be possible to read only the works of a couple
of excellent students, and archive the rest right away.

“Interview reports!” Wuxian said proudly. Lan Xichen mentally groaned. “A complete profile
of each fourth level disciple with reviews from above and below, career prospects, and my
recommendations!”

“Fourth level?” Lan Xichen went cold. There weren't that many fourth level disciples. What
would happen when Wei Wuxian interviewed everyone? This wouldn’t fit in the Hanshi!

“That’s right!” A beaming Wei Wuxian confirmed and waited expectantly.

Lan Xichen opened the top booklet with unsteady hands. For a moment the pages inside
seemed empty, but as soon as he blinked, the text appeared.

“The reports are enchanted,” Wuxian helpfully explained, “so that only you can read them.
You never know who’d want to know more about their colleagues.”
Lan Xichen let go of any hope of asking his uncle to check what kind of recommendations
Wuxian was giving.

Wei Wuxian's handwriting hadn't improved at all since he was a student. Worse, after the first
few pages, which outlined the abilities and shortcomings of each disciple, his good and bad
relations with others and feedback about him from his subordinates and superiors,
recommendations began on what duties should be removed from the disciple, and which
should subsequently be assigned to him, and that was when Lan Xichen started to feel dizzy.
On paper, everything looked smooth: such and such has good relations with so and so and has
such and such skills, so let him work with them. But there he’s at odds with his superiors, and
he doesn’t meet the standards for skill, so let’s get him out of there. But how did it all relate
to reality? What to do with the person whom Wuxian intended to replace with another? And
who should be put in his place? It would take Lan Xichen a few months to sort this out.

“I don’t quite understand,” Lan Xichen said slowly, flipping through the next few booklets,
“you so generously offer to put each disciple in the position that suits him best… But is it
possible to place everyone in such a way that there won’t be any unclaimed jobs? I have no
idea how to tie it all together...”

“Oh, I have a plan for that!” Wei Wuxian was delighted as if he was waiting for this question.
He took a sheet folded in six from his collars, shifted the booklets to the floor, and laid the
diagram out on the desk.

What Lan Xichen was seeing was a sort of bacchanalia of names and arrows, drawn with
coloured ink — or even with paints. The ones he must have helped Wangji choose as a
wedding present.

“This is…” he managed.

“Look,” Wei Wuxian put his index finger on one of the names. “We’ll remove him from
nightwatch duty and increase his load as a swordsmanship teacher, plus he’ll come to the aid
of this third-level disciple who’ll lead groups of juniors. Now, we put this one on nightwatch
duty, he doesn’t mind not sleeping at night and loves routine work, but he doesn’t like to
administer punishments, so we take it off him and pass it on to this one,” Wei Wuxian’s hands
flickered according to the scheme, poking at the nodes between the arrows, and Lan Xichen
could only watch helplessly.

“And so,” Wei Wuxian finished, “everyone is in their place, except we’re dismissing three
disciples with whom no one wants to work.”

“What?” Lan Xichen frowned as he noticed three names with arrows leading away from the
diagram. “You want to expel them from the sect?”

Wei Wuxian rummaged through a stack of booklets and pulled out three with the names
listed.

“Have a read.”
Lan Xichen looked longingly at the pile of letters that still had to be answered that day.
Suppressing a sigh, he opened the cover and read Wei Wuxian's chaotic handwriting. The
Zhu Haoran in question was born into the sect and belonged to a respected clan, devoted his
whole life to the sect, and didn’t even start a family. He regularly withdrew to cultivate in
seclusion, and rose to the rank of assistant manager of the purchase of rice.

The Sect Leader blinked. What was the relationship between improving one’s cultivation and
rice purchasing? He flipped through a couple of pages looking for merit in night hunts or
competitions, but the only thing he found was: "Has not participated in a night hunt since the
day he came of age."

“Does he have… health problems?” Lan Xichen clarified.

“I asked,” Wei Wuxian readily replied. “There’s a healer’s report at the back there.”

Lan Xichen found the report: Zhu Haoran was perfectly healthy, except that he was a little
overweight. And also, obviously, had a bad disposition, because all the reviews about him
from other members of the sect came down to one thing: an unreliable person, narrow-
minded and impolite. There were colleagues, and superiors, and subordinates, and even
family members, and to top it off, three girls whose relatives once tried to marry them off to
this character.

“Wuxian… have you been to the women’s section of the residence?”

“Of course not!” he assured. “It's forbidden! I spoke with one of the girls on a night hunt, and
she asked the other two to send written testimonials.”

Finally, Lan Xichen read up to the point where the purchase manager was quoted saying that
Zhu Haoran was suspected of embezzling sect funds, but had not yet been caught.
Immediately after that was a letter, written in someone else's handwriting, from one of the
guards at the gate, certified by two more signatures, in which they claimed that the person in
question regularly visited Caiyi, giving dubious reasons for his absences. It wasn't that adult
disciples were forbidden to go to Caiyi, but most were too busy to do so often, and why? For
wine and meat? For a disciple who grew up in the sect, this was really strange.

“Did you… investigate his activities in Caiyi?” asked the Sect Leader.

“Me?” Wei Wuxian was surprised. “Zewu-jun didn’t give me the right to investigate. That
seems to be Lan Zhan's job, no? I'm sure he'll be happy to do it, but I can't tell him what the
disciples are telling me without your permission.”

Lan Xichen flipped through the other two expulsion candidates’ booklets. They, too, were
useless to the sect, only inciting scandals around them, but they came from less significant
families. It was possible to part with them without evidence of theft.

The Sect Leader glanced again at the assignment chart and the pile of personal files. He
placed this burdensome duty on Wei Wuxian because he wanted to keep him busy with
something costly in terms of time and effort. For as long as he could remember, one uncle,
then another had been revisiting positions intermittently, but never his father, and the elders
assured Lan Xichen that everyone in the sect was working smoothly and fit their positions.
Why did he believe them? The same reason why he believed them in all other situations. It
never occurred to him that they might be wrong. But would Wei Wuxian have deliberately
deceived him? After all, Lan Xichen himself had assigned this duty to him; it would be
strange now to state that he didn’t trust the information Wei Wuxian gathered. He had only
been in the sect a couple of months, he couldn’t have had time to make enemies in the first
place, let alone try to dispose of them through slander at the risk of damaging his reputation.
Wangji always said that Wei Wuxian was an honest person. And anyway, how could Lan
Xichen tell Wei Wuxian to his face that he was going to double-check his work? That was too
close to an open conflict, and also, Wangji would be offended on behalf of his husband.

Of course, he could always carefully hush it up.

“Good,” Lan Xichen smiled. “I’ll study the materials you provided. Thank you for your
work.”

Wei Wuxian also smiled happily.

“Of course, of course, I’m glad to do it, Zewu-jun. Let me just clarify this point: if nothing
changes within a week, then this disciple, this one, and this one will be leaving the sect. It so
happens that all three of them are leading the juniors on hunts. According to statistics, if there
are more than ten juniors per adult on a hunt, then at least one definitely won’t come back
intact. Right now there’s ten each, but if three leave... Of course, you can appoint someone
else, but then it’s better to do it no later than the end of the week, because otherwise we’ll be
losing one child every...” he checked the hunting schedule, “five days.”

Lan Xichen frowned.

“Perhaps you could somehow stop those three?”

“Of course!” Wei Wuxian assured him as he held up the diagram stretched out in his hands.
“Like so! There is no simpler way, the positions are occupied.”

“I understand,” Lan Xichen muttered. “All right, I’ll try to think it over before the end of the
week.”

“Excellent!” Wei Wuxian beamed and carefully placed the chart back on the desk. “Only,
tomorrow I have lessons after lunch, and then Lan Zhan and I are going on a hunt, that one
where two dozen cultivators disappeared, and we probably won’t return until the end of the
week.”

“What about lessons?” Lan Xichen wondered, suspicious.

“I’ll give the kids an assignment to work in the Library on those days, so that later they won’t
have to read the textbook in class,” Wei Wuxian waved him off. “I have done this before,
they’re very well-behaved. So, will you notify all the fourth level disciples of the changes
yourself, or will you appoint someone?”

“Maybe,” Lan Xichen tried to evade, “you can skip this hunt?”
“But Sect Leader, there are already twenty cultivators missing. How can I let Lan Zhan go
alone?”

Lan Xichen didn't like the idea himself. Wangji was, of course, very strong, but on a
dangerous hunt, it wasn’t just about strength, but attention and ingenuity, and there, a partner
like Wei Wuxian could be indispensable.

The Sect Leader once again looked at the diagram and the pile of personal files. He thought
about trying to figure it out all night without understanding anything, and imagined how he
would ask trusted disciples (who would those be, by the way?) to check the information.
How he’d wait for news from them, counting the days, and then gather a few dozen fourth
level disciples to remove them from their usual positions. Even if most of them would get
something better, people didn’t like change, and Lan Xichen hated to force them. Wei
Wuxian had come up with all this, so let him look people in the eye himself.

“Fine,” Lan Xichen sighed. “I believe that you have already properly thought everything
through, so you can carry it out.”

Wei Wuxian bowed ceremoniously.

“Thank you, xiongzhang! Will you write me a note giving me authorisation? You know how
everyone here is so suspicious!”

Lan Xichen reluctantly wrote it, feeling like he was making the biggest mistake of his life.

“As for layoffs,” he remarked at last, hoping to somehow escape this discomfort, “you will
need Uncle’s consent. He keeps the records about adding or removing sect personnel.”

“But it’s the sect leader’s decision, isn’t it?” Wei Wuxian was surprised.

“Yes, but… It’s… That’s how it is,” Lan Xichen squeezed out. Uncle would most likely wrap
this project up, and then Lan Xichen wouldn’t have to justify himself before the elders at the
council. Speaking of which… “And since you’ve taken on these duties so seriously, I think it
would be useful for you to attend the sect council. Wangji, unfortunately, neglects to attend,
but it seems to me that this is a must for those who are engaged in administrative work.”

“Of course, of course!” Wei Wuxian smiled. “With pleasure! Will you send someone to
remind me the day before? I'm so forgetful...”

“Certainly,” Lan Xichen mumbled.

“Then I’m off to see Uncle!” Wei Wuxian stood up and dipped into a full bow. “I still need to
visit him today.”

Lan Qiren signed the dismissal order as soon as he glanced at the names.

“We should have gotten rid of those freeloaders a long time ago,” he muttered. “Finally,
Xichen’s starting to show character; before, he kept going easy on them. There, even without
investigating, it’s all clear. Well, tell me now, what story did you decide to spin there?”

That evening, several booklets full of incredibly fascinating stories lined up on the shelves in
Wei Wuxian's office.

The next morning, Wei Wuxian got up with his husband; lately his schedule had gone from
“absolutely nothing to do” to “hard to find time to breathe.” The first thing he did was run
through all of the Cloud Recesses and personally notify each fourth level disciple, as well as
those they worked with, of their changed duties. To avoid confusion and heaps of questions,
he ordered each disciple to hang a paper on the door of his house, containing a complete list
of what he was now doing, as well as who was doing his former tasks.

“Seriously?” Luo Longwei was looking at the appointment form that Lan Zhan had written
under Wei Wuxian's dictation so that people could enjoy looking at the immaculate
calligraphy. “That simple? I should have announced that I was leaving the sect a long time
ago!”

“It certainly helped, but first of all, the problem was that after the war, a lot of things fell to
the Sect Leader; he simply couldn’t cope!” Wei Wuxian shrugged. “This is a big job that
requires his full attention, and he’s constantly being pulled in all directions at once! But the
Sect Leader asked me to convey his apologies and express the hope that such a capable
cultivator as yourself will stay with us for many years and bring plenty of glory to the sect!
By the way, I heard that Qinghe is organising competitions for the juniors in the spring, do
you think you’ll have time to train yours?”

“Twice over,” Luo Longwei chuckled.

“That’s awesome,” Wei Wuxian smiled. “And for preparing the juniors for the competition, a
bonus is due for each month of additional work. Be so kind as to remind me about it next
week, I didn’t bring anything to write on...”

“I'll definitely remind you!” Luo Longwei promised, and life began to enter his dull
expression. “Young master, I understand that I didn’t make the best impression at the first
meeting, but Luo Longwei knows how to be grateful. If you need anything...”

Wei Wuxian scratched the back of his head and thought that a good cultivator, and even more
so an excellent swordsman, could come in handy at an unexpected moment on a hunt. After
scratching the back of his head a little more, he sketched a talisman on a blank sheet torn
from a personal file and handed it to disciple Luo.

“If I need your sword, this thing will lead you to me,” he explained.

Luo Longwei beamed and carefully hid the talisman in his collars.

“I would love to hunt with you!”

Wei Wuxian said goodbye to him and went to give the good news to Wu Chicheng, waving
an artificial leg for the food warehouse manager. The easiest way, of course, would have been
to tear off some dead person’s leg, bind the owner’s spirit to it, and teach the disciple to
control it, but something told Wei Wuxian that this wouldn’t work in Gusu Lan, so he had to
make a wood and metal prosthesis, and drive the already trained spirits into it. Of course,
because of this, he didn’t sleep for a few nights, but now there would be one more night
hunter in Gusu Lan.

“Sect Leader remembers your services to the sect,” he assured the cultivators one by one,
immediately finding a way to give a little money to everyone. Of course, Gusu Lan
cultivators were hardly beggars to begin with, but unexpected gold was much better
remembered than empty words, and it helped to smooth out the shock of change. Judging by
how many more talismans he handed out, his approach worked well.

However, the night hunt, which he did go on with his husband for several days, didn’t work
out: the spectral dragon ran circles around them for tens of li, and no matter how they chased
it, they failed to catch it, and summoning the disciples through talismans would have been of
no use. They eventually lost track of it at the Yunmeng border, and Wei Wuxian sent a
warning letter to Jiang Cheng, but there was nothing more to be done.

***

Having rested after the chase, Wei Wuxian listened to the children's lively stories about how
various great cultivators prevailed in difficult situations through the knowledge of
acupuncture points, and began to think about what to do next.

“Wei Ying could continue with the level five disciples?” Lan Zhan said as Wei Wuxian began
to think aloud over breakfast. “There are even fewer of them than the fourth level, and you
have already interviewed some of them.”

Wei Wuxian tilted his head thoughtfully.

“On the one hand, yes, but on the other... Third level disciples are the largest group, and all
the sect’s main functions rest on them. They guard, they go on simple but common hunts,
they carry out orders, they communicate with the city authorities. Plus, they obey everyone
who’s higher in rank, and they know a lot about them. I took on the fours to show that I can
handle it. But you know me, I like to chat with those who support the top of society. So I'll
probably go for the third level.”

Lan Zhan frowned at him, and Wei Wuxian tensed. Did his spouse disapprove?

“The guards assigned to the cooks have found poisoned tubers in a basket of sweet potatoes.”

Wei Wuxian swallowed as he stared down at his plate.

“Did you find out how they got there?”

“Our chef takes the ingredients for your dishes from the common kitchen. Not by himself; he
sends a servant. No one else takes uncooked food from the kitchen. Finding out which
baskets are for you is easy. I put another guard in the kitchen, but it's not very convenient. We
need to solve the problem.”

Wei Wuxian chewed on his lip.

“But, Lan Zhan, I can’t just go ahead and recommend throwing half of the elders out of the
sect. We don't even know who's messing around. We can suspect, but... we need evidence. If
they're just slackers or nasty people, that won't be enough. Your brother would never do
something like that just out of suspicion.”

They both paused, contemplating how to investigate the elders without getting caught
themselves, and so that the collected evidence looked convincing.

“Maybe provoke them?” Wei Wuxian suggested.

“I don’t want Wei Ying to be in danger,” Lan Zhan scowled. “I’d rather bring you food from
Caiyi myself.”

"Do you think they can't bribe the innkeeper?" Wei Wuxian chuckled. “You know, let’s eat
with everyone in the dining hall for now. I'll tolerate your unseasoned rice for a while. And
I’ll think about what other talismans to stick on the house. You just stay alert.”

“Always,” Lan Zhan nodded.

Wei Wuxian did not understand what made him blush: it was just a regular conversation!

***

The third level disciples had already heard from their seniors what to expect from Wei
Wuxian, so the interviews were faster and easier. This time around, the plan was even more
crushing, and it only took Lan Xichen one glance at the pile of personal files to sign Wei
Wuxian's permission to act.

However, Wei Wuxian had celebrated too early.

“There will be a council tomorrow morning,” Zewu-jun said before Wei Wuxian ran off to
bring the happy news to the new appointees. “I hope you will be there.”

“Of course!” Wei Wuxian’s smile was plastered on. This time he had no idea what they
would discuss there, and how he could avoid giving ground. “What’s the occasion?”

Lan Xichen shook his head.

“It's just a monthly council. Hopefully it won't be as exciting as your first one. You should
familiarise yourself with how they usually go.”

***

“I’ll go with you,” Lan Zhan stated decisively, hanging Bichen on his belt.
“Come on, what’s going to happen to me at a council meeting?” Wei Wuxian waved him off.
“I’ll just sit and listen to the old people babbling.”

“Did you just listen last time too?” his husband said gloomily.

"But this time I'm not plotting anything!" Wei Wuxian spread his hands. “And I'm not trying
to prove anything to them. They leave you alone, I leave them alone, we live in peace and
harmony. I still can’t expose them, but in the meantime, my queue for interviews is already
stretching into the horizon, and I also have to prepare a lesson for the children. Fights with
the elders don't fit into my schedule!”

“I will go with you,” Lan Zhan concluded.

This time, even more elders gathered despite the fact that one had been sent into seclusion.
Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes and counted thirty-three, all in full regalia. Of course, in Gusu
Lan it wasn’t customary to flaunt wealth, but no one forbade embroidering clothes with clan
patterns as dense as the clan was ancient and respected. The swords’ scabbards also didn’t
suffer from asceticism. It seemed that after the last fiasco, the elders decided to remind the
head family who they were. Wei Wuxian sat comfortably, looking forward to the circus. Lan
Zhan gracefully sat down next to him, and only then did Wei Wuxian notice that his husband
was also wearing his most formal hanfu on which was embroidered the entire history of the
sect. He had to fight his laughter.

“We have learned,” Elder Zhang Yichen spoke, “that Wei Wuxian arbitrarily expelled Zhu
Haoran from the sect.”

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to express his indignation right away, but at the last moment
he restrained himself, almost choking, and squinted at Lan Xichen. He sat with an
impenetrable face, listening to the elder.

“It is very regrettable to realise,” continued Elder Zhang, “that a descendant of an esteemed
family, whose services to the order are invaluable, can now be simply thrown out like an
unwanted kitten without a reason, just on a stranger’s whim.”

At those words, Lan Xichen widened his eyes and looked at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian didn’t
know what to do: make excuses? Put it all on the Sect Leader? He didn’t expel this
troublemaker by his own signature, Lan Xichen saw all of the man’s “merits”!

The Sect Leader cleared his throat gently.

“Wuxian, didn’t I ask you to involve Wangji in investigating this disciple’s transgressions?”

Wei Wuxian swallowed. To say no would be to make the Sect Leader look absent-minded in
the eyes of the elders, and his authority was already fragile. To say yes would be to admit that
he violated the order. Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to weave something evasive, but Lan
Qiren suddenly spoke up.

“What is there to investigate? Zhu Haoran is stupid and ignorant; a useless speck in the sect,
just like his two friends. The Zhu clan should not consider past merits, but pay more attention
to the education of their descendants.”

The elders looked at Uncle as they would have at their own swords, had those suddenly
refused to obey their owners.

“Elder Qiren, then, instead of supporting the Zhu clan in a difficult moment, has decided to
declare its members guilty?” said some other geezer in a high, scandalised voice.

“Elder Gao believes that the sect should feed idlers and arrogant rascals?” Lan Qiren retorted.

“It’s feeding Wei Wuxian!” Uncle Junjie put in.

Wei Wuxian opened his mouth again to sputter — what a slacker he was; he’d barely slept six
hours a night for a month already and ate fitfully when Lan Zhan dragged him into the dining
room by the scruff of the neck! But this wasn’t his fight.

“I think we discussed everything about Wei Wuxian last time,” Lan Qiren remarked dryly. “If
he's not here, he'll be somewhere else. Zhu Haoran will steal something from the market at
worst, but what Wei Wuxian would do, left to himself, I would prefer never to know.”

“Uncle!” Lan Zhan blurted out. “Wei Ying is not a criminal. And he creates value for the
sect.”

“Do you call this expulsion of disciples value?” Elder Zhang immediately snapped at him.
“Your brother just decided to hide behind him, since last time he managed to bamboozle us
so famously!”

Wei Wuxian decided that he’d had enough of sitting still and letting the Lans fight each other.

“I ask you to speak respectfully about the Sect Leader,” he said loudly.

“Or what?” Elder Gao narrowed his eyes. “Will you intimidate us with your demonic tricks?
Do you think the Sect Leader will take anything from you now?”

“Exactly,” Uncle Junjie agreed over a general harmonious rumble. “Xichen, you don’t seem
to have read your lovely new deputy’s reports! And if you had read them, you would
probably have noticed that while the son of a worthy clan is thrown out without trial or
investigation, real criminals receive promotions and bonuses!”

Lan Xichen turned pale and pierced Wei Wuxian with a look that gave him goosebumps.
There was no doubt in this look about who was at fault here . He didn’t even immediately
react to his uncle’s statement, so Lan Zhan called out to him in an undertone, and it certainly
sounded like he was demanding an explanation.

“How exactly,” Wei Wuxian spoke, evening his voice with difficulty, “did you know the
contents of my reports, if it wasn’t the Sect Leader who told you?”

“Naturally, I came to the Hanshi and read it!” Uncle Qunjie said.

Those on either side of him hissed at him and flashed their eyes.
“Very interesting,” Wei Wuxian grinned. “But I spelled all the reports so that no one except
the Sect Leader could read them.”

Elder Zhang exchanged glances with Elder Gao and a couple other grandpas and turned his
whole body towards Lan Xichen.

“Brother Junjie misunderstood,” he explained. “The reports in the Hanshi are really
bespelled, and we couldn’t read them. But Wei Wuxian forgot to destroy the drafts. I took
them from his office. Here, you can read it.” He took out several booklets from his collars
and flung them in front of Lan Xichen.

“What were you doing in Wei Ying's office?” Lan Zhan demanded to know.

“Do you think we’ll sit back and watch him take over the sect, clouding the minds of both
you and Xichen?” Uncle Bingwen asked peacefully. “The office isn’t a private area, the rules
don’t forbid entering.”

“But the Sect Leader has forbidden it!” Lan Zhan insisted.

Meanwhile, Lan Xichen opened one of the personal files and gasped.

“What is it?” Lan Qiren asked with a stone face.

Zewu-jun hesitated, but under his uncle's expectant gaze, he couldn’t resist and handed him
the booklet.

Lan Qiren flipped through it silently while the Sect Leader looked through the others, turning
pale.

“Why are you silent, Sect Leader?” Elder Zhang practically sang. “Would you like to read
aloud to us what worthy people Wei Wuxian decided to keep? Rapists, thieves, perhaps even
murderers…?”

“Kinslayers!” Uncle Junjie assented. “Unheard-of!”

“And it’s not like he didn’t check their background,” Elder Gao added. “Does Wangji side
with him now?”

Lan Xichen looked up at Wei Wuxian in pain.

“What is the meaning of this…?”

Wei Wuxian breathed in again for a tirade, and once again Lan Qiren was first.

“I didn’t know that fantasy stories were so popular in our sect,” he grumbled, stacking all the
booklets in a pile with the air of a man who was bored with the game. “If you break into
someone else's office and steal documents from it, at least take the trouble to match the list of
names with the sect’s personnel. These people,” he lifted the stack and let it flop back onto
the table, “do not exist.”
“What?” Lan Xichen and a few elders breathed out.

“Well,” Lan Qiren pursed his lips. “Wei Wuxian came to me a couple of weeks ago with
concerns that some of the disciples might try to change their personal files in order to cast
themselves in a better light, so we compiled these fictitious personal files and left them in the
office. They are deliberately so outrageous that any thief who read them likely couldn’t
remain silent. Wei Wuxian doesn’t write drafts; his handwriting is terrible, no matter how
many times he rewrites.”

“Qiren!” Elder Zhang barked. “You too…?! Are you shielding Wei Wuxian?!”

Uncle snorted.

“There’s nothing to shield. I made up these names myself,” he nodded at the personal files.
“If you don't believe me, you can always send someone to bring the list of disciples from the
Hanshi.”

Lan Xichen closed his eyes and slumped in relief. Lan Zhan glared at him, but he didn't
notice.

“I’ve always said,” Elder Gao said slowly, “that this branch of the clan is completely corrupt.
We should have realised that during Qingheng-jun’s time and removed him from the post of
Sect Leader. Now look at them: Xichen is a cowardly boy, Wangji’s whole world is
manipulated by a vicious spouse, even Qiren turned out to be rotten. The Lan clan is
numerous. Isn't it time to transfer the duties of the Sect Leader to someone more worthy?”
 Chapter 14
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

The elders are catching it! Also, some sweet wangxian here.

“How dare you?!” Lan Qiren hissed through clenched teeth.

“How dare he ?” Uncle Bingwen raised an eyebrow. "We should be asking: how dare you!
You imagined yourself to be gods know who as if you were the only Lan here, bringing the
light of truth from Lan An himself. Qiren, pride is a sin! And after the shame that your
brother caused the sect, you should have retired altogether and raised your nephews in
humility.”

Lan Qiren stood up.

Wei Wuxian tried to catch Lan Zhan's eye, but Lan Zhan was staring at the elders intently as
if expecting a covert attack. Wei Wuxian thought that given the current situation, it wasn’t out
of the question.

“When Xichen accepted the position,” Lan Qiren said, “everyone voted unanimously. Where
were you with these ideas then, Bingwen?”

“When your Xichen accepted the post, we had no idea what he was like,” Bingwen retorted.

“How is that?” Wei Wuxian couldn't resist. “Zewu-jun was the Acting Sect Leader already
when we came here to study; after so many years, how haven’t you been able to assess
whether he’s suitable or not?”

“Wei Wuxian, no one cares about your opinion,” Elder Zhang said to him. “We agreed to
tolerate you so that you wouldn’t create problems, but I see that in less than a couple of
months, the entire main family is already dancing to your tune. It's time to put an end to this.
Take him!”

Wei Wuxian jumped up and grabbed his flute, but it was of little use — there were no restless
spirits in the Cloud Recesses, except for those that Wei Wuxian himself brought in.
Theoretically, he could try to summon paper men, but they were weak, hardly able to hold off
a couple of elders. The Tiger Seal was with him, and if he used it, the dead would rise up
from every precinct, but then what would be left of the sect...?

Lan Xichen also sprung up.

“Wuxian was only carrying out the duties I’d assigned him! It's not fair to blame him...”

But even before he could speak, Lan Zhan had jumped up. And now he’d drawn Bichen.

The elders who had started moving towards Wei Wuxian slowed down and also reached for
their swords. Lan Zhan pushed Wei Wuxian behind him without a sound.

Wei Wuxian looked back at the other supposed offenders and realised that neither Lan Qiren
nor Lan Xichen were carrying swords inside the Cloud Recesses.

Uncle Bingwen shook his head.

“Raising weapons to your own sect! Wangji, do you have any idea of ​the punishment for
this?”

Lan Zhan was silent, but his back expressed absolute indifference. Wei Wuxian felt sick. It
wasn’t enough for him to destroy the Jiang Sect, now he was taking on Gusu Lan? But how
else could he have acted? Reconciled himself with the injustice? Swallowed it? To do that, he
would have to stop being Wei Wuxian. What was so fundamentally wrong with him?

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian reached out and lightly touched his tense shoulder blade.
“Sunshine, don’t… I’ll leave if there’s a problem. I really didn't mean to make things so
difficult...”

“Wei Ying is not a problem,” Lan Zhan said curtly and nodded at the elders. “Here's the
problem.”

Wei Wuxian stepped around him and grabbed his elbow.

“Lan Zhan, I know you wanted to help me, but this has gone too far! You can’t fight your sect
for me!”

Lan Zhan looked away from the elders and into Wei Wuxian's eyes.

“I can and will.”

Wei Wuxian felt like he was struck by lightning at that look. In the next second, Lan Zhan
had already turned back to the elders, most of whom were milling around uncertainly and
looking askance at Zhang Yichen and Uncle Bingwen, seemingly reluctant to join the fight.

And then Wei Wuxian's head finally turned on. He quickly brought Chenqing to his lips and
blew out a piercing trill.

Elder Zhang chuckled.

“You can whistle if you like, but you don’t have anyone to summon in the Cloud Recesses.”

But he was wrong.

In just a couple of dozen seconds, the doors of the meeting room swung open, and people
poured in — third and fourth level disciples, guards and hunters, the sect’s fighting force —
with swords at the ready.

“Mutiny!!!” Wei Wuxian yelled at the top of his voice before the elders came to their senses.
“CONSPIRACY!!! Treason!!! They’re threatening the Sect Leader! Grab them!”

Lower level disciples didn’t really understand the intricacies of the distribution of power in
the sect; for them it was all some abstract entity called "the management". But still, the Sect
Leader was the Sect Leader, who also recently apologised for inattention and upped their
income, and the friendly and sensitive young master clearly had the right to give instructions
since he was the one who’d made changes and dismissed all the trash.

The first ones to run in barely had to wave their swords a couple of times, and soon there
were so many disciples that the elders had no chance: they were disarmed and laid out with
their noses to the floor.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” Wu Chicheng commented, sticking his sharp knee
into Elder Gao’s backbone. "I knew you were a traitor!"

"I'm not the traitor!" Elder Gao mumbled at the boards. “Grab Wei Wuxian, you idiots!”

“Yeah, sure,” disciple Luo grumbled as he wrapped Uncle Bingwen in the spiritual net he
apparently carried with him. “He’s my boss, and you — I don’t know who you are — but you
raised a sword against the Sect Leader!”

“Sect Leader, what should we do with them now?” the former warehouse manager asked,
pressing a pair of elders, stacked crosswise on top of each other, to the floor with his wooden
leg.

Lan Xichen, white as a sheet, glanced at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian threw up his hands:

“According to the Charter, threatening the life of the Sect Leader merits capital punishment,”
Wei Wuxian prompted in a whisper.

“But they didn’t threaten my life…” Lan Xichen muttered. “It was just a misunderstanding...”

Lan Zhan glared at him and was about to say something, but then Uncle exploded.

“Misunderstanding? Xichen, they tried to depose you! Do you think they would have stopped
if they had to kill you?! I admit that I was too busy with the affairs of the sect and overlooked
their machinations for an unforgivably long time, but this is unacceptable! Xichen! We are
one of the great sects, our neighbours look up to us! This disgrace must be rooted out!”

Wei Wuxian thought Uncle was scared. Which was no surprise: according to rumours, Lan
Qiren wielded his sword perfectly (Wei Wuxian had never seen him in action), but here he
was unarmed in front of a crowd of swordsmen…

“He won’t have the nerve,” Elder Zhang Yichen hissed from the floor. “If you want to
execute us, Qiren, you will have to do it yourself. Your spineless nephew... mphmm!”
Lan Zhan pressed the elder’s head back to the floor with the end of his scabbard.

"I didn't know anything at all!" shouted some grandpa from the back rows. "I didn't know
they were planning a conspiracy! I was called to the meeting as usual, how was I to know
that there were traitors among us?!”

“And why are you so bad at keeping order in the sect?” Wei Wuxian couldn't resist. “Didn’t
you notice that your colleagues were up to something? In this sect, it’s forbidden to lie, so
how did they hide their intentions?”

"You're hiding yours somehow!" shouted Elder Gao, who seemed to have had his nose
injured. “You do what you want, but the Sect Leader doesn’t even know!”

“What did I hide? Lan Zhan, can you remember what the Sect Leader doesn’t know about
me?”

“That they tried to poison you,” Lan Zhan answered helpfully.

“What?!” Lan Xichen breathed out. “When…?”

“Right,” Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Lan Zhan, when was that?”

“After the dragon hunt,” Lan Zhan reminded him. He thought for a moment and added: “Sect
Leader, I ask for justice for my husband.”

“Wangji, why didn’t you investigate this right away?” gasped the Sect Leader.

“We suspected that it was one of the elders,” Lan Zhan replied, looking down. “Wei Ying
wanted to discover the culprit by asking people in interviews so as not to arouse suspicion. If
we accused them directly, it could end badly for Wei Ying.” He glared at his brother again,
and Wei Wuxian nervously nudged him in the side. Of course, Lan Xichen would not stand
up for his brother-in-law in front of the elders, but he was already feeling bad now, they
didn’t have to poke at him.

Lan Xichen lowered his eyes and shrivelled up, but at the same time he clenched his fists,
which Wei Wuxian hadn’t noticed him ever do before.

“Great!” Lan Qiren snorted. "Murderers too! And this is in our sect! The shame!”

“Wangji,” Lan Xichen said in a broken voice. “I ask you to conduct a full investigation and
determine the degree of guilt of each of the arrested. Wuxian can help you.”

“We must expel them all!” Uncle Qiren demanded. “This is unheard of!”

“I disagree,” Lan Zhan said.

“Why are you of all people defending them?” Uncle was surprised.

“I'm not defending them. I am against expulsion,” Lan Zhan explained.

“Indeed,” Wei Wuxian smiled. “Maybe it’s not a good idea to release a company of well-
trained cultivators into the world who know all the details of the sect’s life and are prepared
to do anything to overthrow the ruling family. They may find like-minded people.”

"Then a life sentence!" Uncle responded.

“We don’t have a prison,” Lan Xichen reminded.

“There are houses for solitary meditation,” Uncle disagreed.

“Those are for decent people who recognise their guilt and are ready to follow the rules,” the
Sect Leader said and cleared his throat. “Disciples. The suspects are to be tied up and placed
in the Hantan Cave. I will go with you and open it. After that, post a guard at the cave and at
the suspects’ houses. Wangji will have people search the houses for evidence later. As the
investigation progresses, suspects will need to be escorted to trial. Wuxian…”

“Disciples Wu and Luo will handle this,” Wei Wuxian promptly suggested. “If they need
assistance, then Lan Da and the Li brothers.”

“Good,” Lan Xichen nodded. “Named disciples, please stand by.”

“Sect Leader,” one of the young guards, resembling Elder Zhang, said, “will you order the
guilty… executed?”

“What else is there to do with them?” Lan Qiren snorted. “This isn’t what Hantan Cave is for
at all!”

Lan Xichen pursed his lips.

“Too much blood has been shed in the Jianghu in recent years. I will write to Dage and ask
him to accommodate our prisoners. He has plenty of space.”

Some of the elders trembled and protested their innocence at those words, and Wei Wuxian
almost whistled. The Nie prison was no house for solitary meditation! However, speaking of
whispers…

“Zewu-jun, allow me to ensure that the suspects don’t chat among themselves in the cave,”
he asked. "It’s best if they can't agree on what to lie about."

“If Wuxian can arrange everything quickly before the disciples get tired of holding them,
then I would be very grateful,” Lan Xichen nodded with a funereal look. “If there are no
more questions, then proceed with the implementation. I will write to Qinghe and return.”

“What a shame,” Lan Qiren muttered as Zewu-jun disappeared through the doors. “Silencing
Lan disciples so they don’t lie… It’s completely unacceptable. This is a failure.”

“This is not Brother’s failure,” Lan Zhan remarked softly, standing in the doorway like a
monolith, and immediately corrected himself: “Not just Brother’s.”

Lan Qiren huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
“I have a lot to think about. Let me pass.”

“Um, Uncle,” Wei Wuxian put in. “Don’t go far, someone needs to manage the sect during
the trials. Lan Zhan and I will be busy investigating while Zewu-jun will be the judge. These
ones,” he nodded at the elders, “also have some duties. It will take time to find replacements
for all of them.”

Lan Qiren's face darkened, but he nodded.

“I will cancel the lessons,” he promised, and brushed past Lan Zhan.

“Good thing Wei Ying started from the lower levels,” Lan Zhan said.

“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian smiled. “Otherwise, we would have had to reassign all the top ones,
now there will be so many vacancies! Okay, now, where are my talismans?”

He raised Chenqing, which he had been twirling in his fingers all this time, and began to play
a cheerful march. Nothing happened for a couple of minutes, but then Lan Wangji heard a
rustle behind him and turned to see an even column of paper men, each the height of a five-
year-old child, marching towards the conference room. Stumbling past the stupefied Jade,
they climbed onto the backs of the prone elders and clamped their paper hands over their
mouths.

“Won’t the elders rip them with their teeth?” one disciple asked timidly.

“Even the children couldn’t tear them,” Wei Ying boasted, tucking Chenqing in his belt over
his protruding hip. Lan Wangji smiled: Wei Ying finally felt safe.

***

Wei Ying had to cancel the children's lessons for the next few days, especially since the
acupuncture figures were also otherwise engaged. Instead of studying, he charged the kids to
ask all their brothers and friends if anyone saw the elders whispering in the bushes, and if
they had heard what it was about. Lan Wangji didn’t dissuade him, although he suspected that
Uncle wouldn’t be pleased.

During the rest of the day, the couple managed to find compromising correspondence
between Zhang Yichen and the magistrate in Caiyi who held up night hunt requests so the
conspirators' proteges would receive them and, accordingly, be promoted. Wei Ying laughed
at them: those who advanced were now at the fifth and sixth levels, and the traitors were
seized by rank-and-file cultivators.

Wei Ying chuckled at the letters, and Lan Wangji thought that now he would have to
somehow influence the distribution of power in the city. He was so deep in thought that he
didn't even notice that he was behind Wei Ying, wrapping his arms around him and nuzzling
his neck.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying called out.

He started and pulled away, uncertainly spreading his hands, not knowing what to do with
them.

“What are you doing?” Wei Ying was surprised as he turned around and found himself face
to face with Lan Wangji.

“Sorry, I was thinking.”

Wei Ying blinked.

“What was my husband thinking about that made him recoil from me?”

“No,” Lan Wangji hurriedly replied. “Earlier.”

Wei Ying scratched the back of his head, not awkwardly, but in thought. Lan Wangji looked
away, but his whole body felt Wei Ying examining him from head to toe. It was only now that
he began to realise that he had drawn his sword against his sect without hesitation to protect
Wei Ying. Even though he had already threatened it once, it was one thing to threaten, and
another to follow through. For the sake of his sect, Wei Ying married under oppressive
conditions, or so he had thought. To him, Lan Wangji's rebellion must have looked…
strange? Unnatural? Could it scare him? Wei Ying had some ideas of his own about why Lan
Wangji married him and sought his touch. Until now, Wei Ying had been comfortable with
these ideas, but what if today Lan Wangji destroyed them? Could they find a new balance?

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying’s voice was soft, and Lan Wangji risked looking up. His husband
looked focused, as if he were on the cusp of unravelling some dangerous secret. "Are you...
um, are you... glad we're... together?"

“Yes,” Lan Wangji blurted out without thinking, and immediately scolded himself for being
too obviously relieved that Wei Ying had only asked that. However, it always seemed to him
that all his feelings stuck out of him in all directions, like the tendrils of darkness from a man
possessed by a demon, and other people gave him a wide berth to avoid them. But Wei Ying
never kept his distance. Because he wasn’t afraid of the tendrils or because he didn’t notice
them?

Wei Ying smiled and stepped closer.

"I'm sorry I brought it to this today. It was my miscalculation. Zewu-jun asked me to find a
convincing reason to get rid of this Zhu, but when Uncle immediately signed the dismissal, I
was so happy... But in the end, I almost let everyone down.”

Lan Wangji was happy about the change of subject, but also a little disappointed. Maybe it
was time to lay it on the line. But Wei Ying seemed to be imagining some kind of non-
existent guilt again.

“If Brother wanted to investigate first, he shouldn't have sent you to Uncle. Uncle
unexpectedly agreed with you.”
“Are you saying that Zewu-jun had hoped that Uncle would give me the runaround with this
case?” Wei Ying chuckled, and the last scraps of the quiet moment between them melted
away. “You know, Madam Yu always said that making decisions was like a muscle, you have
to train it. And if you’re out of practice, it will hurt. She told Jiang Cheng that, and somehow
I hadn't thought about it before. In Lotus Pier, we didn't have much to decide. But now I'm
starting to understand what she meant.”

Lan Wangji was about to say something to the effect that Wei Ying certainly had no problem
making decisions, no matter how hard they were, but Wei Ying suddenly continued:

“But sometimes the decision is visible from afar and there is time to prepare for it, right?” He
looked at Lan Wangji strangely as if calculating his move in weiqi. “How long have you
known that you wanted to marry me?”

The question came out softly and without much expression as if Wei Ying felt embarrassed to
ask it.

“For a long time,” Lan Wangji replied hoarsely, realising that their game was over.

“Since Jiang Cheng wrote?” Wei Ying said. Why did he need to know this?

“When he wrote, there was hope that it could come true.”

Wei Ying looked at him, and Lan Wangji didn't know what he saw in Wei Ying’s eyes.
Confusion? Uncertainty? As long as it wasn’t fear… Surely, Wei Ying wouldn’t be afraid of
him if he found out—

Wei Ying suddenly leaned forward and rested his head on his shoulder, slipping his hands
under his armpits and lightly brushing his palms on his shoulder blades. He and Wei Ying
clung to each other every night, rolling on the bed, sometimes scratching until they bled and
squeezing each other’s ribs so hard they groaned, but now Wei Ying touched him barely
perceptibly, as if for the first time, and wasn’t sure that he was welcome. Lan Wangji felt like
a scarecrow himself, frozen with his arms held away from his body, not knowing what to do
with the unexpected closeness. He had the feeling that Wei Ying was testing him, but he
didn’t know which answer was the correct one, and he was already tired of the silent deceit.

Resigned, Lan Wangji hugged his husband back. At first, he was just as timid as if afraid to
crush a delicate flower, but with each exhale, the hesitation left him, and he clasped his arms
tighter, finally even pulling Wei Ying’s shoulder closer with his chin. Something in his chest
seemed to loosen, allowing him to breathe more freely. He tilted his head to the side, pressing
his cheek against the curve of Wei Ying's neck, where the stiff black collar of his outer hanfu
covered the red collar of the inner one, which was always wrinkled and worn to transparent
softness.

Wei Ying chuckled, and Lan Wangji tensed for a second, still waiting for a taunt, or at least a
joke, that would allow him to find his feigned balance again. But instead, he felt one of Wei
Ying’s hands disappear from his back, and then touch his fingers to Lan Wangji’s shoulder in
a quick gesture, and again rest under his shoulder blade. He wanted to ask, to call out, to find
out, but the words would dispel the foggy cocoon inside of which there were only the two of
them. As soon as a word was spoken, the whole world would immediately return with its
worries, problems, the need to run somewhere and think about anything but each other. It was
so convenient to focus on business and tell yourself that thoughts of your spouse were
distracting, shut them away under lock and key until night fell and there was no time for
thoughts in the tangle of bodies.

But now there were no excuses, there was only the two of them, frozen in a drop of amber at
the moment when the Heavens were deciding whether they would accept or reject each other.

Wei Ying chuckled again, as if he was humming something to himself, and his voice
occasionally sounded an unruly note. Lan Wangji noticed that he had pushed his fingertips in
too hard, and Wei Ying was probably uncomfortable. He relaxed his arms, and with that, it
was like an avalanche on a mountain peak: Wei Ying let his palms slide, first down, and then
completely off Lan Wangji’s body, and Lan Wangji reflected the movement like a reluctant
mirror.

As soon as they parted, the need to speak, to fill the world with words, to sew up the gaping
silence became unbearable, but Lan Wangji had something so stuck in his throat that he
couldn’t even inhale, let alone make a sound — as if a sleeve’s edge accidentally fell on the
strings of a guqin. He heard that chuckling sound again and looked up.

Wei Ying's eyes turned red and his lashes were matted with moisture. He clumsily wiped his
nose with the quick gesture Lan Wangji had felt before.

“I want to be better for you.”

“Wei Ying is the best,” Lan Wangji immediately assured, indignation forcing him to regain
his voice.

Wei Ying sniffed — that was the sound Lan Wangji had heard.

“You answer as if you’ve prepared in advance.”

Lan Wangji frowned, wondering what he had done wrong.

“I spoke thoughtlessly before. Wei Ying didn't understand.”

A tear rolled down Wei Ying's cheek, but he hurriedly wiped it away with his knuckles before
Lan Wangji could reach out his hand. He didn’t understand what was going on, what Wei
Ying was thinking, or if he would ever allow himself to be taken care of the way Lan Wangji
dreamed of.

“Lan Zhan… W-what can I do for you? Anything!” Wei Ying suddenly spoke up. “Just tell
me! I really... I want to do something for you!”

Lan Wangji was doused hot and cold at the same time, and he wanted to say so many things
at once that he didn’t know where to start. Did Wei Ying accept his feelings? Or did he just
have no choice? He had already done so much for Lan Wangji, for the entire sect, for the
entire world! What else? Why was Wei Ying so insistent? Gratitude? Guilt? For not sharing
his feelings?

“Do whatever you want,” Lan Wangji managed. “Don't thank me. Please. Never thank me.”

After all, that would mean that there was nothing between them, that Lan Wangji did
everything he could for Wei Ying, not for the sake of his comfort, his smile, but out of duty
— a friend’s, a husband’s. Lan Wangji's heart couldn't take it.

“But you,” tears rolled down Wei Ying’s face again and flooded even his voice, “what do you
want?”

Lan Wangji didn't know what to say to that, but he couldn't watch Wei Ying smear the salt all
over his face with his fingers again. Although his term on earth was short, that wasn’t a
reason to create premature wrinkles. Lan Wangji pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve —
a piece of old silk sheet, a tribute to ideological asceticism, but also to convenience. He
gently touched Wei Ying's cheek, letting the soft fabric soak up the moisture. His careful
touch provoked a true waterfall. Tears were streaming down Wei Ying’s face, and his voice
was coming out with his breath, while Lan Wangji could do nothing but dab it away with the
handkerchief, which was getting soaking wet.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whimpered through his lips that were pulled into a weeping grimace,
“you’re too good.”

Lan Wangji wanted to protest, to explain that it wasn’t like that at all, that he was indecisive,
greedy, clumsy and jealous, but… He wanted Wei Ying to simply accept his love. How could
he have expected that if he didn't accept what Wei Ying was willing to give him in return?

“I want to be better for you,” Wei Ying repeated, burying his face in his chest. Lan Wangji
wrapped his sleeves around him as if they were about to fly on a sword. “Help me get better.”

“Wei Ying is already the best.” Lan Wangji didn’t come up with anything new. He really
thought so.

“Well,” Wei Ying half sobbed half chuckled, “can’t I have a career growth?”

Lan Wangji couldn't help but smile. In his opinion, Wei Ying couldn't be any better. But he
could stay around longer. However, he didn't want to hurt Wei Ying by reminding him too
directly.

"When there's time," he said quietly, "we'll look together in the Library."

Wei Ying shuddered, but didn't flinch, freeze, or recoil. On the contrary, he pressed himself
closer, wrapping his arms around Lan Wangji like a vine on a lonely tree.

“Definitely,” he promised. “I’ll think of something, Lan Zhan. I…” He suddenly raised his
head and looked Lan Wangji in the eyes, “Now I understand what for.”

Lan Wangji froze, so much so that he forgot to even breathe, and did not suffocate just
because there was a knock on the door.
“It’s open,” Wei Ying said in surprise, and then seemed to have realised that he was crying.
Lan Wangji barely had time to slip the handkerchief into his hand before he again began to
smear his tears into his temples.

It was Uncle who entered. He had a businesslike look as if he was off to attend to an official
matter and had stopped along the way to issue some order, but Wei Ying's condition forced
him to slow down.

“What's happened?” he asked from the doorway.

“Nothing,” Wei Ying replied, wiping his face.

“It’s forbidden to lie,” Uncle reminded him.

Wei Ying glanced sideways, obviously holding himself back from rolling his eyes.

“Nothing to do with Uncle.”

“You were crying,” Uncle remarked, examining him anxiously.

“I wanted to cry!” Wei Ying burst out. “What, I can’t?!”

Actually, of course, he couldn’t, because it was forbidden to succumb to strong emotions. But
the fact that Uncle remained silent in response said something about the events of the day.

“We had a difficult conversation,” Lan Wangji decided to explain. “We have already dealt
with everything.”

“Yes,” Wei Ying agreed. “Does Uncle have any errands for us?”

Lan Wangji looked behind Uncle, where it was already completely dark.

"Hmm," Uncle muttered and turned to close the door before speaking again. “Wei Wuxian.
How did you manage to call so many disciples into the meeting room with your flute?”

“Ah!” Wei Ying, not expecting such a question, tilted his head back and rested it on Lan
Wangji's shoulder. Just in case, Lan Wangji put his hand on Wei Ying’s belt to remind him
that he wouldn’t be alone in fighting Uncle if it came to that. “They were the ones I
interviewed. I just gave them talismans that lead to me on a signal.”

“So you planned it ahead of time?” Uncle frowned.

“What, the mutiny? No! I had no idea, I swear!” Wei Ying panicked.

“Wei Ying wasn’t trying to provoke the elders,” Lan Wangji interjected, pulling him closer.

“Then why did you hand out the talismans?” Uncle continued to ask.

“Well, they... I mean, the disciples — they kept asking if they could help me with something,
that is, the ones I gave a promotion or something... I didn’t come up with anything, except
backup in case I needed help on a hunt. It never crossed my mind that I would have to use
these talismans in the Cloud Recesses!”

“I see,” Uncle grumbled, grimacing as if he had eaten something sour. Lan Wangji suspected
that Uncle was having a hard time coming to terms with the idea that they had been saved by
Wei Ying's charm.

Uncle's gaze lingered on Lan Wangji's arms at Wei Ying's waist. Wei Ying didn’t seem to
remember them at all — he stood relaxed and perplexed.

“Wangji, make sure he eats well, this demonic cultivation is wearing him out,” Uncle finally
demanded. “And after the investigation, go to Yunmeng, let him communicate with his sect,
otherwise this marriage alliance is just empty words.”

“Of course Uncle,” Lan Wangji said quickly before Wei Ying blurted something out.

Uncle nodded and left.

“What was that?” Wei Ying continued to stare at the closed door.

Lan Wangji smiled.

“Wei Ying is very valuable to the Gusu Lan Sect. Uncle is worried about his health.”
 Chapter 15
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Over to the next arc!

The investigation took several days of almost round-the-clock work, and its ending dragged
out indefinitely. Of the thirty-three elders present at the council on that fateful day, Wei
Wuxian and Lan Zhan found nineteen guilty, and later added five more who weren’t present
at the council. Elder Wang Tianyu, sitting safely in a secluded meditation house on the back
slope, also aroused suspicion, but direct evidence of his participation in the conspiracy
couldn’t be found. However, a thorough purge had to be carried out among the highest levels
of the sect. As a result, the numbers of the highest paid disciples were reduced, so Wei
Wuxian counted budget savings as an improvement of his karma, despite the fact that all the
disciples who stood up for the Sect Leader received a permanent bonus for loyalty.

“Lan Zha-an,” Wei Wuxian drawled, settling down with his back to his husband’s chest on
the porch. Sitting outside alone was already a little cold for him, but nestled in Lan Zhan’s
sleeves it was just right. “Are you going into town tomorrow?”

Lan Zhan, who was resting his chin on his shoulder, sighed faintly. They were both terribly
tired. So much so that even Lan Zhan had stopped hiding it. But there was no one else to find
out who from the Caiyi city council supported the conspirators: Uncle had taken over all the
day-to-day operations, and Lan Xichen had taken the prisoners and left for Qinghe where he
needed to stay for a while to digest what happened and consult with Nie Mingjue. Chifeng-
zun, having learned about the attempted coup in Gusu, shouted so much that it could be heard
all the way to the Jingshi, and this shout boiled down to the fact that his sworn brother should
immediately appear in the Unclean Realm and learn the art of sending elders to the eastern
island dwarves.

“Maybe, leave it alone?” Wei Wuxian suggested.

Lan Zhan sighed again. During the time they spent investigating inside the sect, the officials
in Caiyi probably managed to pull their fingers out of the pie, burn incriminating documents
and blend in with their surroundings. Digging there would be tedious and most likely
fruitless, and even if they discovered something, the sect still couldn’t judge the laymen or
even prove that they were guilty of anything other than naive trust in the sect elders.

Seeing that Lan Zhan had almost agreed, Wei Wuxian decided to press the point:

“I didn’t sleep well again today.”

It was even true. Of course, the fact that he woke up a couple of times during the night with
the feeling that it was already morning and he had to hurry somewhere couldn’t be compared
with the nightmares he’d had before his marriage. But it still meant that his yang energy was
beginning to dissipate without regular replenishment in the marital bed.

“Hmm,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Wuxian smiled, recognising the intonation with which Lan
Zhan told him to go to bed in the evenings. “Let's not investigate Caiyi. Let's fly to Lotus
Pier.”

Wei Wuxian had already forgotten Lan Qiren’s strange proposal, and now he slapped his
forehead and began to get out of his husband’s embrace.

“I have two unanswered letters from Jiang Cheng!”

“All the more,” Lan Zhan concluded and didn’t let him go anywhere.

***

Wei Wuxian got to the letters only the next morning — properly charged with yang energy
and therefore in a great mood. Jiang Cheng wrote boring lists of changes in the sect, similar
to reports, and between the lines he passive-aggressively demanded to know what was
happening to Wei Wuxian. He thought about what to write in response so that Jiang Cheng
wouldn’t worry, but everything came out somehow forced as if he was lying through his
teeth, so in the end, Wei Wuxian decided not to write anything at all and instead talk when
they met.

Lan Zhan offered to take a group of first-level disciples with him to exchange pointers with
the Yunmeng juniors as they probably still lacked mentors.

Wei Wuxian assumed that Uncle wouldn’t be happy with their decision to ignore the officials
in Caiyi and go travelling, but he only looked at him with an appraising look and waved his
hand:

“We don’t need the walking dead in the Cloud Recesses.”

Halfway there, Wei Wuxian was still spluttering, standing on Bichen, wrapped in his
husband’s outerwear: he was rested and looked good compared to the norm of recent weeks!
Uncle could have been more polite!

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan stopped him. “Tell me what dishes are worth trying in Yunmeng?”

For the second half of the trip, Wei Wuxian described all the intricacies of Yunmeng cuisine
and in the end almost choked on his saliva.

There were only a couple of hours left until Lotus Pier when Wei Wuxian sensed resentful
energy.

“Wow, Lan Zhan, something big’s settled here,” he said, looking around in the dusk.
“We are travelling for recreation,” Lan Zhan reminded sternly and looked back at the juniors
to make sure that they weren’t interested in hunting.

“Well, let's at least take a look with one eye? Otherwise, we’ll arrive and what will we say to
Jiang Cheng? Go there — I don’t know where; something lives there — I don’t know what?

Lan Zhan frowned, but Bichen trembled under his feet, betraying his hesitation.

“We’ll just check quickly,” Wei Wuxian continued to whine. “We’ll train the juniors to look
for the source of the miasma.”

Lan Zhan sighed, but Wei Wuxian sensed that they were slowing down, and soon Lan Zhan
waved his hand for the kids to descend.

“Has anyone noticed the yin energy?” he asked when everyone had dismounted.

The disciples shook their heads. Wei Wuxian thought about it: would he have felt it himself if
he hadn’t followed the Dark Path? Ordinary cultivators felt yin energy only when it was
sufficiently condensed, but for Wei Wuxian now, any tiny leak, any sprout of it blazed like a
flaming wound on the body of the world.

However, what he felt now wasn’t a seedling but a dense forest full of deafening screams and
stench. Wei Wuxian silently pointed his chin in the direction where the miasma was
spreading. Lan Zhan pushed him behind his back and walked forward without sheathing
Bichen.

“Can’t you sense it even now?” Wei Wuxian was amazed when it became impossible to
breathe through the darkness.

“It’s got colder,” Lan Zhan noted, slowing down and looking back at Wei Wuxian. “Keep
Chenqing ready.”

Wei Wuxian caught himself — until now he had been strolling, dangling his arms, as if on a
walk. Sometimes he relaxed too much in Lan Zhan’s company.

“Hanguang-jun!” the disciples suddenly shouted.

Wei Wuxian grabbed the flute but froze with his head raised. Against the background of the
evening sky, a black silhouette rose from the dark forest. At first Wei Wuxian thought it was a
huge human figure with long legs wrapped in hanfu, holding an armful of branches in its
hands — although at such a size it should have been entire trees. But then the silhouette
moved, and Wei Wuxian understood.

“Demonic dragon!” he yelled, immediately remembering the dozens of dead cultivators. On a

long neck swayed a head crowned with horns and overgrown with hair sticking out in all
directions.

“Everyone back!” Lan Zhan ordered, but the dragon was already rushing at them.
Fortunately, the Gusu Lan disciples were well trained and managed to jump away from the
place where the dragon almost struck with its muzzle. Turning sharply a couple of cun from
the ground, it soared again like a black firebrand among the trees.

In the dim twilight, Wei Wuxian could make out nearby branches against the background of
the treetops, stones on the road. But the dragon remained pitch black as if cut out of black
paper. Smoke swirled above, intimately familiar to Wei Wuxian, and red eyes shone through
it.

Something was wrong here. When the dragon almost hit the ground, aiming at the disciples,
and then soared sharply, not a blade of grass twitched, and Wei Wuxian himself didn’t feel
the air move.

The creature took aim again and dove for the place where Wei Wuxian had just stood. He
jumped back, but not far, so that when the dragon had almost reached the ground, Wei
Wuxian managed to touch its scaly side.

It was very strange. He felt resentful energy, heard the incessant howl of restless souls, just as
it had been with the Xuanwu. But the dragon turned out to be like a clot of fog to the touch;
Wei Wuxian’s hand passed right through, and there was no yin energy flowing inside.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan, who was behind him, pulled him by the collar.

“Lan Zhan, do you feel a dark aura now?” Wei Wuxian asked, still puzzled by the sensations.

“A little,” Lan Zhan admitted, looking doubtful at the rearing serpent again.

“A little?!” Wei Wuxian twisted out of the grip and pointed his finger at the dragon. “We’re
just short of hugging a giant dark creature, and you feel a little ?! There's something wrong
here!”

“Wei Ying!!!”

Lan Zhan’s face distorted; he twitched, but didn’t have time to do anything: the dragon, at
Wei Wuxian’s back, turned around unexpectedly deftly and snagged him up with its nose.
With a scream, Wei Wuxian rolled over the creature's face, then over the flight bump, and
finally got stuck in the horns. If he had a sword, he could have stuck it into the flight bump,
and then at least the dragon wouldn’t have been able to escape into the air. But there was no
sword. Not even a shabby dagger; Wei Wuxian had not planned a hunt.

Meanwhile, the dragon rose very high and darted over the trees. Wei Wuxian could barely
hear the screams of the cultivators below, but the dragon had no time for them now. It didn’t
seem to have had any intention of giving Wei Wuxian a ride on its nape and shook its head,
trying to shake him off. But Wei Wuxian inserted himself tightly between the horns and the
rigid, fin-like mane of the dragon. However, if he deliberately put his hand to the scales, he
felt nothing but fog and strange energy pulsating inside.

He read about something like this in the Library back when he promised Lan Zhan to look for
information about golden cores. He avoided reading about the cores themselves — it was still
very painful to think about it — so he took a couple of volumes about all sorts of different
types of energy. And there was something about a spirit capable of becoming corporeal or
incorporeal...

Wei Wuxian didn’t have time to think: the dragon shook its head again, and Wei Wuxian was
lashed across the back by its huge catfish-like whisker. Wei Wuxian screamed and arched in
pain, his shoulders escaping the clamp of the horns, and he flew up and to the side, spinning
in the air.

But he wasn’t allowed to fall. Lan Zhan appeared out of nowhere and snatched him out of the
air. He put Wei Wuxian next to himself on Bichen, immediately releasing his guqin from his
sleeve. Waves of energy thrown from the strings flew at the dragon. Breaking against its
muzzle, a luminous wave washed over the creature, running like an iridescence over its
scales, but Wei Wuxian couldn’t appreciate the beauty of Lan Zhan’s spell, because he was
twisted with burning pain.

“Stop! No!!!” He slammed the strings of the guqin with his hand, almost falling off the
sword. “It’s hurting me!”

“You?” Lan Zhan immediately jerked his fingers away from the strings and stared at Wei
Wuxian. “Why?”

Wei Wuxian himself would have liked to know that. The dragon had recoiled from the first
blow of the sound and was now shaking its head on the ground, so they had little time. Wei
Wuxian focused on the flow of energy within and around him. And almost fell off Bichen
once again.

“Lan Zhan, it’s somehow... taken my dark qi,” he whispered, not completely believing that
this was possible. “It seems it mistook me for a vengeful spirit and wants to merge with me.”

“Merge?!” Lan Zhan exhaled, clenching his hands, already free of guqin, around Wei Wuxian
and turning the sword away from the creature.

“Yes, it’s like...” Wei Wuxian tried to comprehend what he was feeling. “Like a waterborne
abyss! It draws souls into itself in the same way! Only this is a waterborne abyss, wound
around...”

And then it dawned on Wei Wuxian. A dragon! Of course, demonic dragons sometimes arose
if a weak elemental spirit was exposed to the dark qi of some inauspicious place or became
angry, offended by unworthy people. But still, most dragons had too much yang energy for
that, and the dragon they were facing was undoubtedly very strong. Dragons of that level
were usually gods of rivers or lakes. Caiyi Lake didn’t have its own god, but there were
probably dragons in the rivers that flowed into it, and someone controlled the weather in the
Cloud Recesses. What if the waterborne abyss that Wei Wuxian had thrown onto the
mountain didn’t stay there to dry, but seeped into one of the rivers flowing from the mountain
and possessed the river god…?

Lan Zhan meanwhile descended to the ground and picked up Bichen. Emerging from his
thoughts, Wei Wuxian wanted to explain everything to him, but then the dragon rushed
towards them again. Lan Zhan pointed the sword at the river god's face, intending to send the
blade into the flight bump, but Wei Wuxian couldn’t allow it. Killing or even injuring a god
was a terrible sin, and Lan Zhan would have to suffer all his life to atone for it.

“No!!!” Wei Wuxian yelled and rushed forward to stand between the dragon and the tip of the
sword. “Lan Zhan, no, you can’t!!!”

He managed to look over his shoulder and see Lan Zhan's face contorted in horror —
probably the strongest emotion he had seen on his face in his entire life — and the next
moment an inhuman pain pierced his chest. The ground suddenly disappeared from under his
feet, and Wei Wuxian flew into the sky again. The jerk rattled his head, and through his tears
he saw the dragon's tail sticking out of his chest. Wei Wuxian could neither breathe nor
scream; it was as if lightning was continuously striking his chest, and his heart and lungs, no
longer fitting between his ribs, were pushed into his throat. In horror, Wei Wuxian watched as
the tail was pulled into him, as if there was a qiankun pouch in his body that could house a
dragon. Heaven and earth switched places, everything started spinning, and nausea was added
to the pain and horror, and then his head hit the hard ground, and finally Wei Wuxian lost
consciousness.

It took him a long time to come back to himself, painfully, in separate flashes. He heard some
familiar voices, recognised familiar scents. Sometimes he seemed to be able to open his eyes
slightly, and then saw blurred coloured spots — white, gold, pink, purple... But, perhaps, all
that was only a fever dream.

And feverish he was for sure. His whole body was burning with a living flame, but at the
same time he was shaking with chills. It was impossible to take a deep breath; the taste of
blood was constantly renewed in his mouth. Wei Wuxian couldn’t even lift a finger, although
he felt that all his muscles were tensed to the limit, almost twisting the bones from their
joints.

“...An...zh...n,” he was finally able to squeeze out, and then a hot hand touched his cheek, and
the rough, wet pad of the thumb drew a weightless line under his eye. Wei Wuxian realised
that he must be lying there in tears — and sure enough, in the next second, Lan Zhan’s
fingers were replaced by a soft handkerchief. For some reason, Wei Wuxian began to cry
even harder. But now he felt so bad that he couldn’t even find the strength to be ashamed. He
wanted to hide in that palm so that the pain and fever would remain outside. Lan Zhan had
come to heal him, right? Under Lan Zhan's protection, he had no cares...

“Wei Ying,” his husband’s voice sounded tired, but so good. “How do you feel?”

Wei Wuxian tried to answer, but his tongue wouldn’t obey.

“How can he feel?!” a familiar voice barked in his ear. Jiang Cheng. So Lan Zhan took him to
Lotus Pier. Oh, this was not how he wanted to meet Jiang Cheng for the first time after the
wedding. Meanwhile, his shidi continued, “How does your conscience allow you to ask such
a thing?! You promised that nothing would threaten him in your sect!!!”
Wei Wuxian was overcome by a wave of righteous anger: how dare Jiang Cheng reproach
Lan Zhan?!

“Idiot,” he wheezed, his anger helping him master his tongue. “It happened in Yunmeng.
Watch your own land.”

“What the hell?!” Jiang Cheng was suddenly very close, and his loud voice made Wei
Wuxian shrink into his pillow.

“Quiet,” Lan Zhan immediately demanded, and Wei Wuxian tried to smile at him, but it
wasn’t very effective.

“All the disciples unanimously say that you shielded Lan Wangji,” Jiang Cheng blurted out,
although he lowered the volume. “Why the hell would you do that, Wei Wuxian?! You don't
owe him anything!”

Wei Wuxian would have rolled his eyes, but it would probably have made him feel sick, and
he already had a bloody cesspool in his mouth.

“On the contrary,” he squeezed out. “I was protecting the dragon.”

“Why?!” Now Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan had started talking together; Wei Wuxian even
thought he heard more than two voices.

“It's not a demonic dragon," Wei Wuxian said with difficulty. “It's a divine dragon. If you kill
it...”

Then he felt nauseous again, and Lan Zhan immediately rolled him onto his side and helped
him hang his head over the edge of the bed, where a bucket stood ready. Wei Wuxian's vomit
was mostly blood, as he expected. It was almost as bad as back then, in the Burial Mounds.
Almost. He didn't have a loving husband with warm hands with him then.

“Why do you always do this?!” Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng was raging. “If Lan Wangji couldn’t
distinguish the divine dragon, let his seven rebirths be plagued by misfortunes! Why did you
need to get in the way?!”

“Don’t listen to him,” Wei Wuxian whispered into the bucket, squeezing Lan Zhan’s hand.
“He's just worried about me.”

“He’s right,” Lan Zhan replied. “Wei Ying shouldn’t have to suffer for my mistake.”

At that moment, Wei Wuxian was overcome by a new attack of nausea, and he could not
answer, only punched the bed with his fist in impotent rage.

The rage gave him strength, but it also stirred something. Something he'd rather not awaken.
Frightened gasps were heard from behind him. Lan Zhan pulled his hand from Wei Wuxian's
fingers.

“Wei Ying. Let me play Purification. Your qi...”

Wei Wuxian himself felt his dark qi filling the room. He needed to calm down, take control.
With difficulty, he was still able to take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Lan Zhan helped
him lie back down and wiped his mouth. His vision cleared a little, and Wei Wuxian noticed
the blood on Lan Zhan’s hands. At first he thought that Lan Zhan had gotten dirty from
touching him, but he wiped his fingers with a handkerchief, and the angry redness didn’t go
away

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian breathed. “You... already played... how long?”

“Three days,” Jiang Cheng answered for him. “And he’ll play until he dies! Because you got
hurt because of him!”

“No!” Wei Wuxian shook his head, and his eyes blurred with tears again. Something bad was
clearly stirring inside. “The dragon is possessed by a waterborne abyss. Which I... Which...”
he coughed and leaned forward, twisted by a spasm in his stomach, and then for a moment
everything around him went white, and the next second everything returned as it was, only a
charred hole was smoking in the floor by the bed.

Jiang Cheng swore like a dockworker, and Lan Zhan didn’t reprimand him. Wei Wuxian
himself was too scared to swear. Controlling dark qi and the Tiger Seal was difficult, but
controlling the divine dragon... Wei Wuxian had to admit that he couldn’t handle it.

Lan Zhan, however, managed to follow his logic and frowned.

“There is no snow cap on the mountain where you threw the waterborne abyss. No rivers
flow from it.”

Wei Wuxian tried to comprehend this fact. Indeed, he himself tore off the top, and there was
no snow or ice on it. He specifically chose the driest of the surrounding mountains. So it
wasn’t his fault…? But he was sure that the dragon’s dark qi looked like a waterborne abyss.
How did the abyss get into the water?

“You threw a waterborne abyss onto a mountain?” Jiang Cheng muttered. “Wei Wuxian...
What do you even do there?!”

“We had disagreements in the sect regarding the chain of command,” Lan Zhan said quickly.
“Wei Ying wanted to provoke an open discussion.”

“All you know how to do is provoke!!!” Jiang Cheng exploded. “Wasn’t it enough for you,
Wei Wuxian?! Wasn’t it enough to destroy Lotus Pier and bury my family?! Now you're
going after the Lans?!”

A hot wave of guilt and anger washed over Wei Wuxian. Lan Zhan said something to Jiang
Cheng, but Wei Wuxian couldn’t hear: the yin energy was boiling in his ears, whispering.
Jiang Cheng sold him to the Lans, and now he dared to be indignant that Wei Wuxian didn’t
hit the bottle quietly in his corner, but tried to fix something?! Or was it necessary to silently
swallow Wen Chao’s insults in the hope that his anger would bypass Lotus Pier and fall on
someone even more defenceless? Why were all the troubles once again Wei Wuxian’s fault?
Why did everything he did turn out to be harmful as if he was some kind of fairy tale
demon?! Tears of resentment flooded his face; he could hardly breathe. He already felt bad
enough, he had paid all his debts with pain and blood, part of his body, his reputation and
conscience; he had sacrificed everything, even his personal freedom; he had surrendered to
another sect and only wanted his husband not to be punished for not cutting off Wei Wuxian’s
last breath! Why couldn't he even get away with that?!

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan suddenly yelled. “Wei Ying, your control!”

In the darkness and hellish heat, in the cauldron of seething dark qi, Wei Wuxian didn’t care
about control. He twitched, trying to escape from Lan Zhan’s grip, but Lan Zhan held onto
him for dear life. And he repeated and repeated his name. Like back then, in the Burial
Mounds, when the memory of his voice was the sole guiding thread by which Wei Wuxian
clawed his way back to the world of the living. Now Lan Zhan was here, and his voice wasn’t
stern and judgmental. It was frightened and caring, calling Wei Wuxian to a place where it
was warm and safe, a place where he was loved and accepted, even without a core, even with
dark qi, even with a dragon inside. And he would never be blamed for the sins of others.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian groaned, fighting to wrest control from the possessed dragon’s
clutches before his own hand could slip into his robes. Lan Zhan held him tightly, but he
didn’t understand what was happening. There was a reason why the possessed river god had
moved into Wei Wuxian. It wanted to take possession of the Seal. If Wei Wuxian lost
control... But between the call of the Seal itself, which hadn’t subsided in his heart, the dark
qi pulsating in his meridians, and the waterborne abyss that had entered him via the river god,
Wei Wuxian had no chance. It was as if he was surrounded on three sides, unarmed, and the
fourth side was a gaping chasm.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian squeezed out again, his voice ringing with strain, “take the seal.
Destroy it. Hurry.”

“Mn,” came the answer after a moment, and a warm hand slid into his collars.
 Chapter 16
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Figuring out where they stand with each other...

Except that the Seal didn't go to Lan Zhan.

Blinking, Wei Wuxian saw the qiankun pouch clutched in Lan Zhan's fingers, but Lan Zhan
couldn't move the hand holding it away from Wei Wuxian's chest as if the swirling dark qi
was holding it back.

“Wei Ying, it's not coming to me.”

“Must have recognised you as its master," Jiang Cheng muttered, nervously twirling Zidian
on his finger.

“Nonsense," Wei Wuxian wheezed. “It has no master. That's the worst part. Anyone can use
it.”

“Well then, you're not letting go!” Jiang Cheng huffed.

Wei Wuxian tried to focus again and realised that Jiang Cheng was right. It was like... When
he and Lan Zhan first agreed to sleep together. The very first time they did, Wei Wuxian had
been willing to do anything, forgetting to think or care that he might be hurt or embarrassed.
But then, when he calmed down a bit, he became wary of penetration. And Lan Zhan only
looked depressed and was afraid to take an extra breath, much less talk about what they were
doing. As a result, Wei Wuxian shrank back and wouldn't let him inside.

Right now, he was feeling similar. He was lying on his back again, looking at Lan Zhan's
fingers around what he had never intended to put in anyone else’s hands. But then, that night
in the Caiyi, Lan Zhan had still convinced him to relax. Affection, attention, caring
questions... Questions worked best, even though they were meaningless. How are you
feeling? Do you still want to go on? Are you in pain? Is that better? Will you let me? Wei
Wuxian could barely hear them back then, Lan Zhan's words merging into some background
hum for him. But here was that voice... Lan Zhan's voice that he would never confuse with
anyone else's. A voice that, when he heard it on the battlefield, told him he was not alone,
that his back was covered by a trusty sword. If the Lan brothers could be confused by sight
from afar, they could never be confused by voice.

“Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian whispered, not recognising his own voice, "help me relax. Talk or
sing...”
“I'll play," Lan Zhan immediately offered, reaching to pull out his guqin with his free hand.

Wei Wuxian shook his head.

“I need your voice. Remember when you sang to me? In the cave? Let's do that again.”

Lan Zhan gave up trying to extract the guqin with one hand and inhaled deeply. In the
background, Jiang Cheng hissed something about what they were doing in that cave, and Wei
Wuxian started to get angry again, because it was almost impossible to get Lan Zhan to sing,
especially in front of strangers, and even more so in front of critical strangers. But Lan Zhan
started to sing anyway.

It was the same tune. He sang as softly as he could, but still he sang. He was humming. Wei
Wuxian wondered if this melody had words and what they were. He let himself wonder as the
first verse played. On the second, he relaxed and floated with the flow of the melody, feeling
it envelop him inside and out. As Lan Zhan himself knew him inside and out, so there was
nothing to be afraid of. Lan Zhan knew him, and yet he was sitting here singing. In the most
inappropriate environment possible, in front of strangers, without realising what the point of
it was, just because Wei Wuxian asked. And Wei Wuxian was sure that he wouldn't get a
single note wrong. Because Lan Zhan always got everything right, that was just the way he
was. Wei Wuxian loved him so impossibly much at that moment.

The Seal gave in, and Lan Zhan swayed backward, falling silent mid-measure.

“Destroy it," Wei Wuxian asked again. “I can't manage all of it at the same time.”

“Mn," Lan Zhan said, squeezed his shoulder one last time, and stood up. “I will go out to the
courtyard.”

Wei Wuxian nodded. He had a lot more to say about the seal, about how best to go about it,
what dangers might await... His consciousness faltered, and he almost passed out when Lan
Zhan turned around to close the door. But then there was a commotion in the room, and a
new voice said:

“Wait, is it really that simple?”

Wei Wuxian abruptly sat up on the bed, and the wall above the vestibule was immediately
pierced by a new lightning discharge.

“Peacock?! Jiang Cheng, why did you let him in here? What's he doing here?!”

“Quiet, you," Jiang Cheng hissed.

“A-Xian, Zixuan is here by chance," Shijie's voice said. Wei Wuxian only now noticed her as
well. So the two of them had been sitting behind Jiang Cheng's back the whole time! “He
didn't know you were coming.”

“Lan Zhan, don't give him the Seal!” Wei Wuxian roared in a broken voice.

“I won't give it to him," Lan Zhan assured, still frozen in the doorway.
“Why are you freaking out, Wei Wuxian?” The peacock wrinkled his nose. “Your dark
artefact is the last thing I'm interested in!”

“But your father is more interested in it than anything else in the world," Wei Wuxian said as
he crawled out of bed. “Jiang Cheng, how could you let him into my room? Do you ever
think?!”

“Who's to say!” Jiang Cheng shouted back. “You got married to Gusu Lan, living happily
ever after, but did you even think about us? Or maybe you found a better fiancé for your
sister?! No?! Then stay out of it, Jin Zixuan isn't here for you!”

Wei Wuxian froze, bracing his calves against the side of the bed to avoid falling. Whether it
was the sudden rise or Jiang Cheng's words, he felt dizzy.

“Are you marrying Shijie off to him?” he exhaled. “Are you out of your mind? Have you
forgotten how he feels about her?”

“A-Xian, it's not like that!” Shijie interjected. “It was just a misunderstanding!”

Wei Wuxian glared at Jin Zixuan, who had backed away, but walked into the doorframe. The
dark qi swirling around Wei Wuxian was hard to see, and everything was coloured red. “You
of all people are defending him? He can't even speak for himself, can he?”

“Wei Ying," Lan Zhan spoke up. “Stop. Your control.”

“Wei Wuxian, you're a fucking idiot," Jiang Cheng said over him. “Don't threaten him, or do
you even care what happens to our sect?”

Wei Wuxian slowly shifted his gaze to Jiang Cheng.

“Then get him away from me. And my Seal.”

“What the hell!” Jiang Cheng exploded. “I don't have to take orders from you! You drove a
possessed creature into my territory, you showed up half-dead at the wrong time, my sister is
sitting here with you instead of thinking about her engagement, and you're kicking out her
fiancé?! If you have the strength to yell, you're not that sick! Go destroy your own seal, don't
put it on Lan Wangji, you’ve probably bothered him enough already, and I don't want a
scandal with a broken marriage alliance!”

Wei Wuxian stood very still, not even breathing. At least not with air. Dark qi filled his lungs
and heart, fogging his mind. He heard Lan Zhan's voice again, and then Shijie's voice, urging
him to do something, but he no longer understood why he should listen to them. Why hold
back instead of hitting back as painfully as he himself had just been hurt?

“Not so long ago, you didn't even want the sect," he murmured, barely recognising his voice
in the muttering of the vengeful spirits. “When you lay with a burned out core and refused to
eat.”

There was an oppressive silence.

Lan Zhan was suddenly very close and grabbed Wei Wuxian's elbow and stood beside him as
a blurry white blotch.

“Wei Ying, calm down.”

“How dare you," Jiang Cheng hissed. “You're blaming me when you caused all this to
happen! If I hadn't tried to distract the Wen guards from you, you wouldn't be living like this
now! Rushing into a captured city to buy pastries in the main square! And you’re supposed to
be smart! I should have left you to them, wonder how soon you’d have recovered!”

Wei Wuxian had stopped understanding human speech. At least Jiang Cheng's speech. What
guards, what pastries! He dares to accuse you , a black whisper sounded in his heart. You tore
your soul out for him, and he doesn't give a damn about you. You created the Tiger Seal to
avenge his family, but he sent you to Gusu and has the Jin here behind your back.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan suddenly shouted, panic in his voice. “Stop! You don't want to do
this!”

Focusing, Wei Wuxian realised that the Seal had slipped out of its pouch in Lan Zhan's hand
and hovered in the air in front of them, spinning and shimmering like rainbows reflected in
the black metal.

A little more, and he would have called the dead to invade Lotus Pier.

“So that’s your gratitude," Jiang Cheng, who also understood what the appearance of the Seal
meant, growled, "for me falling into Wen Zhuliu's clutches instead of you.”

“Lan Zhan," Wei Wuxian whispered, feeling that he couldn't control the rising tide of anger.
“Knock me out. Hit the acupoints. Just like I taught the kids... Come on.”

Lan Zhan let go of his hand, stepping behind his back. Wei Wuxian felt his warm fingers on
his back. The next thing he felt was blissful darkness.

***

Lan Wangji snatched the seal out of the air and squeezed it in his hand. His skin was burning
and freezing at the same time, and he could feel the rotten aura of darkness emanating from
the object with his entire being. But what was more important was to put Wei Ying back on
the bed. Jiang Wanyin wasn't going to help, and Lan Wangji wouldn't let him close. From the
accusations exchanged between the brothers, he struggled but gathered the answer to one
question that had long plagued him. And it didn't add to his love for Jiang Wanyin.

“Get out," he commanded the hosts and the guest in a hollow voice.

Jiang Wanyin gulped for air, undoubtedly outraged, but at the last moment, he decided not to
argue with someone who had helped him make an unlikely alliance, and had also just
protected him from Wei Ying's breakdown.

“He's insane," Jin Zixuan pointed his hand at Wei Ying. “He should be locked up!”
“Get out," Lan Wangji repeated, and his voice sounded no better than a dragon's roar.

Jin Zixuan snorted and walked out, followed by Jiang Yanli, who was wiping away tears. Lan
Wangji put his hand into Wei Ying's sleeve and rummaged around, soon finding a few
locking talismans among the other paper clutter. He applied them to the shutters on the inside
and the door on the outside.

His left hand, where he clutched the seal, was almost numb. He raised it to his face and stared
at the dark metal. Just break it into pieces? Chop it up with a sword?

“Wait!” Jin Zixuan hadn’t gone very far. “Are you just going to break it just like that?”

“I won't let the Jin Sect use it," Lan Wangji said, mentally measuring the distance to the
potential enemy and calculating whether he could break the seal before he got there, or
whether it would be better to jump over the wall and hide somewhere.

“I'm not going to give it to my father!” Jin Zixuan almost moaned. “I don't care about his
political games! That's not why I'm here. But do you have any idea how this thing works?!
And what happens if you destroy it? What if it blows up or catches fire?!”

Lan Wangji frowned. Wei Ying would have told him if destroying the Seal was dangerous.
Although... Wei Ying was on the verge of losing control, and then there was Jiang Wanyin
with his ideas... Wei Ying might have forgotten or not had the time.

“Second Master Lan, please leave Lotus Pier with your dangerous weapon," Jiang Wanyin
hissed. Jiang Yanli whispered something to him that made him gloomy, and he added, ''I'll
keep you company.”

Lan Wangji reluctantly nodded. After all, it might be better to destroy the Seal in a deserted
place and with backup.

Jiang Yanli ran over to Jin Zixuan and whispered something to him as well, but Lan Wangji
was already on his sword. He and Jiang Wanyin silently flew out of the gate and then turned
towards the forest. Jiang Wanyin pointed somewhere between two hills, where they found a
forest clearing that was fairly well isolated by the terrain from the surrounding settlements.
The cultivators dismounted.

Still silent, Jiang Wanyin found a large stone in the grass. Lan Wangji placed the seal on it.
Both of them walked a dozen steps away. Lan Wangji released the sword from his hand and
sent it into the air, then made it hover vertically over the seal with the point downwards.
Breathing in deeply and infusing the sword with as much qi as possible, he made Bichen rush
downwards.

The stone cracked. The sword went through the ground and stopped just short of the edge of
the crack. Nothing more happened.

After waiting for a while just in case, Lan Wangji approached and summoned Bichen. The
seal was lying on the stone — in two halves.
“Did it work?” Jiang Wanyin asked warily, breaking the spell of silence between them.

“It split," Lan Wangji replied carefully. He was still expecting a huge pillar of dark qi to shoot
into the sky from the seal or for the earth to tremble and the grass in the clearing to wither
before his eyes. But none of those things happened.

Jiang Wanyin finally approached as well, squinting and holding his head at an angle, as if he
was afraid that shards were about to fly.

“That's all," he muttered. “That Jin seems to have overthought it.”

They stood there for a while longer, but no cataclysmic events kicked off. Lan Wangji bent
down and picked up the shards. They were cool, as metal lying on stone on an autumn day
should be, but no more than that. No searing frost, no putrid aura. As far as Lan Wangji
understood, the metal of the Seal was infused with a huge amount of resentful energy, and it,
like a waterborne abyss, drew in all the surrounding restless souls, making them obey its
rhythm. Wei Ying could use music to control this rhythm, but the dark qi was already
contained within the seal. Where did it go?

Just in case, Lan Wangji alternately clenched each fragment in his fist to crush it. The metal
fell apart instead of crumpling, leaving a rusty dust like dried blood on his hands.

“Did you see him forge it?” he asked Jiang Wanyin.

“Just out of the corner of my eye," he replied, unhappily. “There was such a... um, aura that I
didn't really look closely.”

Lan Wangji wasn't around when Wei Ying made the seal. In the early months of the Sunshot
Campaign, they had fought on different fronts.

“Did the metal melt?”

“I guess so," Jiang Wanyin frowned. Then he took a closer look at the crumbs and frowned.
“It didn't break, that's for sure.”

Somewhere to the left, a twig snapped. Lan Wangji turned his head, listening. Someone was
approaching them.

“Who the hell?” Jiang Wanyin wondered, looking in the other direction.

Lan Wangji heard footsteps from the front as well.

“Does anyone live around here?” he asked.

Jiang Wanyin grimaced and almost rolled his eyes, probably meaning that he wouldn't have
chosen this place in that case. Lan Wangji changed his grip on his sword for a more
comfortable one, and Jiang Wanyin drew his own.

Dead people started coming out of the woods.

Started — because when the first dozen had been dealt with, three times as many came into
the clearing. And when they were dispatched, a wall of walking corpses came from behind
the trees.

“Fuck," Jiang Wanyin spat, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Where did this many come
from?!”

“From underground," Lan Wangji suggested. “The dark qi from the seal went into the
ground.”

Jiang Wanyin mumbled something profane, indirectly implying that there was an abandoned
cemetery nearby and an unabandoned cemetery over the next hill. Lan Wangji wondered how
far the dark qi from the Seal could spread underground and whether it would reach any mass
graves, or worse, non-burials left over from ancient battles.

He and Jiang Wanyin had to stand back-to-back to fend off the advancing dead while they
pondered what to do next, to their mutual displeasure. Suddenly, a gap formed to Lan
Wangji's left, and Jin Zixuan stood in it.

“The Seal has been destroyed," Lan Wangji informed him.

“ You’re about to be destroyed!” he shouted back. “I've been watching from the air, there are
hundreds of them, and new ones are rising all the time! Let's get in the air!”

Lan Wangji reasoned that this made sense, and jumped up onto Bichen. From above, the
three cultivators saw an eerie scene: it looked like all the undead within a radius of many
dozens of li were gathering in this unfortunate clearing. They dropped on top of each other in
a pile. New ones climbed the pile and were dropped too.

“Let's wait until they’re all here," Jiang Wanyin suggested, "and then set them all on fire at
once.”

“They won't catch fire," Lan Wangji remarked.

“We should throw firewood on top," Jin Zixuan added. “And pour oil on it.”

“That's a lot of oil..." Jiang Wanyin muttered and began to count something on his fingers.

“We'll pay for the oil," Lan Wangji promised.

“Who’s we?” Jin Zixuan sputtered.

“Wei Ying and I," Lan Wangji explained coldly. Seriously, Jin Zixuan wouldn’t have gone
broke, and the Jiang Sect was already struggling to make ends meet.

Jiang Wanyin opened his mouth to refuse, but seemed to come to his senses after counting the
money.

“Right, his Seal, let him pay.”

Your core is also his , Lan Wangji wanted to say, but held back.

***

By nightfall, the dead began to run out. The glade still resembled an anthill, but the streams
of walking corpses flowing towards it were thinner and fewer. Jiang and Lan disciples joined
forces to haul firewood and prepare talismans to send the undead souls from this pile to the
other world. Lan Wangji personally bought and carried all the oil, even though there was a lot
of it. He didn't want Wei Ying later to be accused of dumping the Seal problem on the Jiangs
and absolving himself.

The fire caught on darn well. The smell of burning rotten flesh fogged the entire river valley.
If Lan Wangji had eaten meat before, he would definitely have stopped after that.

Jiang Wanyin looked at the funeral pyre dejectedly.

“What we’re going to do to earn money now, I have no idea at all.”

This question, however, was answered by Wei Ying when, smelling of smoke and decay, they
all returned to Lotus Pier and Lan Wangji unlocked the pavilion.

Wei Ying had already woken up and was lying on the bed, shrouded in dark clouds, chewing
on his thumb until he saw Lan Wangji, then jumped up so quickly that he tangled in his own
feet and fell, hanging onto his clothes.

“Behave yourself," Jiang Wanyin growled as Lan Wangji helped Wei Ying up. “You could
have warned us what would happen when we destroyed that thing.”

“How would I know?” Wei Ying shrugged, "I've never tried to destroy it. Why, has
something possessed you too?” He looked at Lan Wangji with concern.

The man in question shook his head and recounted the story, occasionally interrupted by
Jiang Wanyin's hissing comments.

“Immediately send out reports to all the surrounding cities that Yunmeng Jiang has destroyed
the walking dead all over the area!” Wei Ying advised.

“Like they’ll believe me," Jiang Wanyin muttered. “And even if they do, what's the use?
They won't pay.”

“First, they'll believe it, because there won't be any fierce corpses for a long time," Wei Ying
assured, wrapping himself in the clouds of darkness like a shawl. “Secondly, some of them
might send some gifts. And thirdly, if you don't do it, one of the smaller sects won’t hesitate
to take the credit for themselves.”

“How are you feeling?” Lan Wangji asked.

“It's bearable," Wei Ying waved him away, "Just one possessed dragon is a small thing
compared to the Seal!”
He did look more cheerful. Normally, when Wei Ying thought that Lan Wangji wasn't
looking, his gaze would become blank and fearful. Now it seemed to be just a little misty.

“Are you going to do anything about this miasma?” Jiang Wanyin asked, wrinkling his nose.
Wei Ying was indeed enveloped as if in a thick cocoon, and Lan Wangji could only see his
face because he was inside the cocoon when he stopped Wei Ying from falling.

“I'll purify it," Lan Wangji said, glaring at Jiang Wanyin. Wei Ying had just allowed his main
weapon to be destroyed, couldn't he have some time to catch his breath?

Jiang Wanyin was not satisfied with this answer, continuing to glare at the two of them.

“Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said softly, "Why don't you bathe and change your clothes while I
have a little chat with Jiang Cheng?”

Lan Wangji didn't like it very much, but he couldn't forbid Wei Ying to talk to his brother,
and he couldn't think of an excuse — his clothes did smell bad. He gently sat Wei Ying back
on the bed, gave Jiang Wanyin one last stern look, and left.

***

Wei Wuxian sat swaying slightly, as if he had spent the entire day on a boat and was still
rocking with the waves.

“Are you alright?” Jiang Cheng asked gloomily.

“As you can see," Wei Wuxian grinned.

“What's he doing to you?”

Wei Wuxian chuckled venomously.

“A-Cheng, you're a big boy, you should know what married people do!”

“You and your stupid vulgar jokes!” Jiang Cheng spat. “I mean, did he sic you on that dragon
because the Lans think you're expendable or because they're fucking hypocrites and actually
wanted to dump the difficult hunts on the dark cultivator?”

“What...?” Wei Wuxian's face stretched out. ''No, Jiang Cheng, what are you talking about? I
was the one who insisted that we investigate the strange aura. Lan Zhan didn't know there
was a dragon there at all. No one knew. He wouldn't have let me go if he knew.”

Jiang Cheng looked over his shixiong again, barely visible under the clouds of darkness. He
seemed to have gained a little weight, but it was hard to see through the dragon qi. Maybe he
was swollen from drinking.

“I take it the Lan Sect's not keeping you locked up after all. So what, are you dicking around
all day long?”
“Uh, not really," Wei Wuxian waved his hands. Streams of darkness ran down his arms. “I
help a little with the sect... I go on hunts.”

“Helping out with the sect?” Jiang Cheng scowled. “What does that entail, I wonder?”

Wei Wuxian hesitated.

“Well... talking to disciples, finding out what problems there are.”

“You mean you've been given a useless job?” Jiang Cheng snorted.

“Why is it useless? I'm trying to solve those problems.”

“In what way?” Jiang Cheng frowned. “I can't imagine the Lan elders allowing you to change
anything in their sect.”

“The Sect Leader is Lan Xichen," Wei Wuxian remarked. “I try to support him when the
elders don't like something.”

“You mean Lan Xichen got himself a cat’s-paw for internal squabbles?” Jiang Cheng
translated. It made sense at least. Certainly more so than Lan Wangji's strange whims to
cleanse Wei Wuxian's soul of darkness. Obviously, he hadn't succeeded. But Jiang Cheng had
noticed back during the war that Lan Xichen was always trying to dump decisions on
someone else. And Wei Wuxian seemed like a suitable scapegoat for the honourable Zewu-
jun. “He's going to feed you to those dried mushrooms? You be careful, he'll leave you the
blame. I know how he's always passing the buck in meetings. Stay out of it, let him argue
with his old geezers. Although, this is falling on deaf ears, isn’t it?”

He sighed heavily, and Wei Wuxian was already furiously shaking his head.

“No, Jiang Cheng, it's not like that. Zewu-jun really isn't the most decisive Sect Leader, but,
uh, there is an understanding between us. I just can't tell you all the details, it's an internal
Lan matter...”

Jiang Cheng was taken aback.

“What do you mean, you can’t tell me? Did you forget what sect you're a member of?!”

The darkness around Wei Wuxian thickened so that Jiang Cheng could no longer see him at
all, but his voice sounded hollow.

“I haven't forgotten. I married into Gusu Lan, and now I belong to them. If you wanted me to
stay in Yunmeng Jiang, you should have negotiated different terms and made Lan Zhan the
junior consort. Although I'd have loved to see you bargain for it.”

“But...'' Jiang Cheng gulped air with his mouth, gathering his thoughts. “You're loyal to me,
right? And not to them...?”

Wei Wuxian was silent. The darkness around him was rippling, but it was impossible to see
his facial expression in the small gaps. And he stayed silent. He stayed silent, damn him to
the bottom of hell!

“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng shouted. What nonsense! It was a simple question with an
obvious answer. “Did you fall asleep in there! I'm asking, in case of anything, you'll be on my
side, right?”

Once again, Wei Wuxian did not reply. Jiang Cheng began to shake. It wouldn't be long
before his sister would move to Lanling. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, was always
supposed to be there with Jiang Cheng, entertaining and helping, annoying and supporting.
Yes, of course Jiang Cheng had agreed to the marriage alliance, but he thought that the Lans
would fix Wei Wuxian's mind and aura and then somehow gradually forget about him and he
could come back. Or conversely, they would torture him so much that he would escape on his
own. Jiang Cheng would be terribly angry and scold him for the broken alliance, but maybe
they could settle it somehow; after all, it wasn't in Lan Xichen's character to sever something
point-blank. Be that as it may, no matter what circumstances Wei Wuxian returned to Lotus
Pier under, Jiang Cheng never imagined that he might no longer consider himself a Jiang
disciple.

“Wei Wuxian!!!” He yelled so loudly that the pavilion shook. “Have you forgotten who you
owe your life to? Have you forgotten all your debts?!”

“I've paid off all my debts," Wei Wuxian suddenly shot back furiously.

“How so?” Jiang Cheng scowled. “Do you think that if you went to a rich sect and are
fooling around and bickering with the administration, it counts? You even brought your
fucking Seal here and gave it to me and Lan Wangji to destroy!”

“No one asked you to do that," Wei Wuxian snapped at him. “No one asked you to destroy
the Seal. No one asked you to distract the Wens from me. They would have captured me,
Wen Ning would have released me, and that would have been it. I could have done without
your drama!”

Jiang Cheng almost choked.

“Drama?! They burned out my core! Do you think you'd be doing so well now if you were in
my shoes?! What good would you be without your core?!”

The door slammed against the jamb, and Jiang Cheng finally noticed that Lan Wangji had
entered. He looked like a furious white tiger.

“Yell some more," Wei Wuxian said. “Not everyone has heard about it. Lan Zhan, we're
going back.”

“You need to rest," Lan Wangji began.

“I'll rest at home," Wei Wuxian said.

Home. Lousy bastard, Lotus Pier wasn’t his home now!

“Get lost!!!” Jiang Cheng shouted in a voice that didn't sound like his own. “Don't even think
of coming here again!!!!”

Wei Wuxian silently walked out, leaning on Lan Wangji's arm, who gave Jiang Cheng one
last hateful glance. Jiang Cheng stood there for a moment, trying to comprehend what had
just happened, then rushed after, but only saw two figures, black and white, disappearing into
the sky.
 Chapter 17
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

More talking about feelings ^^

Also, more LQR's world tumbling down XD

Chapter Notes

By the way, I'm open to suggestions for tags to include :3

Wei Ying managed to fall asleep during the flight, but it ended badly: on the last stretch of the
way to the Cloud Recesses, he suddenly woke up and struggled in Lan Wangji's arms,
shouting something unintelligible and almost unbalancing them both. Lan Wangji had to land
and wait for him to calm down, waving his hand to dispel the plumes of dark smoke
surrounding Wei Ying.

“Lan Zhan?” He finally called out after regaining his senses a little. “Where are we?”

“Almost home," Lan Wangji replied. “You didn't feel well.”

Wei Ying crouched on the ground and wrapped his arms around himself as if he was freezing.
Lan Wangji immediately hugged him, but it didn’t help much against the dark qi raging in
Wei Ying's meridians.

“I'll play for you.”

Wei Ying shook his head.

“Don't, it'll only make the dragon angrier. He's not some lowly spirit that can be subdued by
music.”

Music could be used to subdue not only the lowly spirits, but Lan Wangji had to admit that he
couldn't deal with the dragon that way. He had already suggested sharing his qi with Wei
Ying before, and he knew that it would be of no use: without a core, Wei Ying would have no
place to store it, and if the dragon gained so much qi, it would get stronger, but it would
hardly get rid of the yin energy.
There was only one sure way for them to do this: to infuse Wei Ying with yang energy.
However, Lan Wangji didn't want to do it in the cold in the middle of the forest with the
juniors tramping around. Still, Lan Wangji couldn't help but suggest it. He could send the
juniors ahead, he could keep Wei Ying out of the cold, and he was willing to ignore the issue
of cleanliness if it meant Wei Ying would stop suffering. Not trusting his words, he ran his
hand over Wei Ying's chest, trailing his fingers a little under his collar.

“Uh, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said uncertainly, "I'm not... I mean... I'm not alone. He's in there,
in me. I'm not ready to share you with him.”

Lan Wangji inhaled sharply. He hadn't thought of that. The dragon that had possessed Wei
Ying was a threat and a problem, but not a rational being, a participant in the situation. Lan
Wangji didn't want to share Wei Ying with some creature either.

But how else could Wei Ying's aura be cleansed of all this darkness?

Wei Ying himself seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Lan Zhan. The Cold Spring. It’s the only thing that will help.”

Lan Wangji frowned. Last time, Wei Ying had flatly refused to go into the Cold Spring,
rightly assuming that without his golden core, he would just freeze. But if there were no other
options...

“I'll keep you warm," Lan Wangji decided and stood up, helping Wei Ying up. He waved for
the juniors to follow them and stood on his sword again.

Once he entered the Cloud Recesses, he didn’t dally, but flew straight to the spring. Wei Ying
was shivering violently and started coughing, so Lan Wangji wasn’t going to delay the
healing procedure.

After throwing off most of his clothes and undressing Wei Ying, Lan Wangji made him stand
with his feet on top of Lan Wangji’s, then grasped him firmly by the shoulders and let his qi
flow through Wei Ying's entire body and re-circulate through his own. After a couple
minutes, Wei Ying stopped shivering and moaned blissfully.

“Don't stop.”

“Mn," Lan Wangji promised and carefully sidestepped into the water, trying not to push Wei
Ying's feet off his own. Gradually, slowly wading forward, he submerged himself almost to
his shoulders. In the water, Wei Ying clutched at him with a deathlike grip, as if his fingers
were cramped. Lan Wangji pulled him closer, so that they were pressed against each other
along the length of their bodies. After thinking for a moment, Lan Wangji unfastened the ties
on their lower garments and tied them behind each other's backs so that there would be no
barriers between them, and the garments would help pull Wei Ying closer. This way, he was
able to pump his qi through Wei Ying over a larger area.

Wei Ying warmed up and snuggled up to him, resting his head on his shoulder.
“What would I do without you, Lan Zhan?” he muttered.

Lan Wangji didn't want to think about it, but the very question fueled his quiet pride. He tried
his best to be a good husband to Wei Ying every day, and was glad when he succeeded.

“Wow," Wei Ying said, "Look at the water.”

Lan Wangji looked at it. The dark qi coming out of Wei Ying was churning in the cold water,
making it bubble as if it was boiling. But the black bubbles didn’t fly off, dissolving into the
healing water of the spring.

“Lan Zha-an," Wei Ying turned his head and tucked his icy nose into his neck. “Are you
angry with me? For getting myself into such a mess?”

“I can't be angry with Wei Ying," Lan Zhan immediately replied. He was pierced with anger
for a second at the thought that Wei Ying had expected such a reaction to his troubles. It must
be Jiang Wanyin’s doing. “You saved me from great peril.”

“I could keep you safe and not get in trouble myself," Wei Ying suggested quietly, and Lan
Wangji felt like drowning Jiang Wanyin in the Cold Spring. Although, in principle, any other
body of water would do as well, preferably a dirtier one.

“I'm happy you're alive," Lan Wangji said firmly. “And that we have found a way to help
you.”

Wei Ying inhaled intermittently and nuzzled his face into Lan Wangji's neck as if trying to
burrow deeper. Lan Wangji clenched his teeth: Wei Ying's poor health didn’t prevent the
formation of yang energy, while this proximity facilitated it. But he didn't want to push him
away at a vulnerable moment.

“So strange," Wei Ying whispered into his skin, sending goosebumps all over his body.
“When I came here, I thought I was leaving home forever for the enemy camp and would
never know peace again. And now this is my home, and Lotus Pier is like the enemy camp.”

Lan Wangji thought for a moment and finally decided to guide Wei Ying towards his own
interpretation.

“Has a lot changed there since you moved here?”

Wei Ying was silent for a long time, probably trying to think of any changes, but finally gave
up, his whole body becoming heavier.

“Almost nothing. The peacock is haunting the place, but... Jiang Cheng had considered
letting him renew the engagement before.”

“Why do you dislike him so much?” Lan Wangji decided to ask a question he had long
wondered about. Jin Zixuan was certainly rather pompous and ill-mannered, but not a
hopelessly immoral person, and Wei Ying usually gave people more than one chance.
“You should have heard how he treated my shijie!” Wei Ying was immediately enraged, and
even pulled back a little to show Lan Wangji his indignant face. “You must have heard it too,
at least once for sure! He was lucky enough to get the love of the best woman in the world,
and he still turned his nose up! Now he's crawling back on his belly, and I think he should
have been turned away! But Shijie..." he sighed and dropped his head on Lan Wangji's
shoulder again. “She couldn't take her eyes off him since she was a child. I don't understand
how you can love someone who wipes his feet on you. Just because he's handsome... There's
plenty of handsome people! Is that enough to love someone?”

“What does Wei Ying think would be enough?” Lan Wangji couldn't resist asking. He
immediately cursed himself when Wei Ying tensed up, as if he was suddenly uncomfortable
with their proximity.

“I don't know," he said, barely audible. “Maybe deserving it would help me understand.”

Lan Wangji flinched. Wei Ying did not love him. All the time they had been married, Lan
Wangji had heard words of guilt and gratitude, but never love. And now Wei Ying finally felt
confident enough to say it openly: Lan Wangji was not good enough for him.

He could accept it. Just accept it and go on living like that. Lan Wangji had never had any
illusions about himself: no one liked him except his brother and uncle, and the latter he
wasn’t sure about. His mother seemed to like him, but by the age of six he had not yet
developed all the repellent traits of his personality. That Wei Ying tolerated him at all, not to
mention sought his company, was more than he could ever dream of.

But what was it like for Wei Ying to be married to a husband he couldn’t love? Their
activities in bed seemed to suit Wei Ying, so at least Lan Wangji was at an acceptable level
there. But now because of the dragon, there was no telling how long it would be until Wei
Ying could allow himself to be pleasured again. It could be years. Couldn't Lan Wangji have
similar success in some other aspects of marriage? Couldn't he have gotten better so that Wei
Ying would be happier with him? Lan Wangji was aware that he was ill-equipped to adjust
his behaviour to the situation. But for Wei Ying's sake, he was willing to try.

“How can I change to deserve Wei Ying's love?” He asked and inwardly cringed at how
presumptuous it sounded. As if love could be guaranteed...

Wei Ying recoiled and stared at him in shock. Lan Wangji wanted to fall through the ground.
Surely the first thing Wei Ying would want was for Lan Wangji to learn how to express
himself normally. Maybe the Library had some manuals on rhetoric or whatever it was
properly called...

“What do you mean?” Wei Ying asked, "You don't need to deserve anything, I love you as
you are. Why do you even... Oh, gods!” He slammed his palm into his face, splashing Lan
Wangji with water. “Did you think I was talking about you? Lan Zhan, come on! I'm talking
about me! I'm the one who still has to work on myself to become worthy of you!”

Lan Wangji almost went mute from this turn of events.

“Wei Ying," he barely squeezed out, "but I love you already...”

Wei Ying lowered his gaze and blushed crimson, immediately starting to rub the hem of Lan
Zhan's undergarment.

“I know," he said quietly. “But it's like... too big for me to fill. I need to grow into it.”

“Nonsense," Lan Wangji exhaled, involuntarily repeating the intonation from his childhood
years. “Wei Ying is the best. Wei Ying deserves the best in the world.”

Wei Ying hid his face in his palms and whimpered.

“Lan Zha-an, this is too much! I don't need the best, even just you are so much that my heart
could stop from happiness any moment! Have mercy! You see, I thought I'd have to fight you
for every little thing, but you give me everything I never dreamed of so freely, I don't have
time to adjust! My qiankun bag is overflowing and about to burst at the seams!”

Lan Wangji gently stroked his head, feeling an unfamiliar tension at the corners of his lips.

“What if we stretch it a little bit each day?”

Wei Ying snorted into his palms.

“Yeah, first two fingers, then three...”

“Shameless," Lan Wangji said affectionately, pulling Wei Ying to him again. He didn’t resist
and rested his head on his shoulder, pressing his palms against Lan Wangji’s shoulder blades.

Lan Wangji floated in a moment of happiness, hardly believing what he just heard. So much
so that he decided to make sure.

“Repeat that for me," he asked, sighing inwardly that he had never learned to express himself
clearly. However, Wei Ying somehow understood.

“I love you," he repeated warmly. “I wanted to say it before. After the mutiny, then... but I
thought it was so... brazen? I wanted to at least stop causing trouble first. Instead, I got
myself in more trouble. I'm sorry?”

Lan Wangji took a deep breath and decided that he would look for something about human
speech in the Library after all. Maybe there was some explanation as to why they talked as if
they were speaking different languages.

“Wei Ying. I forgive you. If you promise to always be brazen.”

“Oh-ho, that's the easiest promise I'll ever make in my life!” Wei Ying laughed.

“Yes?” Lan Wangji couldn't believe it and cupped his face to lift it up and look into it. “I'll
check. Wei Ying is brave, intelligent, handsome and kind.”

“Lan Zha-an!” Wei Ying shrieked, bursting out and blushing. “I asked for one finger at a
time!
“Shameless," Lan Wangji hid a smile in his husband's hair.

“Oh, Zewu-jun, don't go!” Wei Ying suddenly shouted, "It's not what you think!”

Lan Wangji looked back over his shoulder and noticed his brother's silhouette behind the
trees. Lately, his relatives had been drawn like moths to a flame to wherever he and Wei Ying
were trying to talk about feelings. But there was nothing to be done: they couldn't chase
Brother away, especially since he must have just returned from Qinghe. Lan Wangji carefully
shifted his feet on the rocky bottom to turn sideways so as not to twist his neck.

“Brother. There's plenty of room in the spring.”

The silhouette hesitated, but finally began to descend. At the very edge of the water, Brother
slowed down again, sceptically examining the ties of Lan Wangji's inner hanfu on Wei Ying's
back.

“Are you sure I'm not interrupting anything? I'm embarrassed to remind you, but the spring is
a public place.”

“We're not doing anything like that!” Wei Ying assured him, "Lan Zhan is just keeping me
warm.”

“Hmm," said Brother, but decided to go into the water after all. Yet, when he got closer, he
noticed underwater whirlwinds of dark qi. “What is this?”

Wei Ying hesitated to speak, so Lan Wangji answered for him.

“Wei Ying has been possessed by a dragon contaminated with evil. We're trying to cleanse
him.”

Brother froze and stared at them.

“Weren't you going to Lotus Pier to visit Wuxian's family?”

Lan Wangji pressed his lips together.

“Wuxian's family is not a family at all. Brother is too generous with Jiang Wanyin. He doesn't
appreciate what he has.”

“Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said softly. Lan Wangji thought he heard reproach at first and
immediately turned to tell his husband everything he thought about Jiang Wanyin in detail,
but he was met with a gentle and slightly flirtatious look.

“What do you mean, Wangji?” Brother asked before Lan Wangji forgot about his presence
and sank into Wei Ying.

“When a marriage alliance is made," Lan Wangji began, turning away from his husband's
overly seductive face, "the implication is that the family member being given in marriage to
another sect is as important as the benefits received in return. Jiang Wanyin gave away what
he didn't need.”
“That's not true," Wei Ying suddenly interjected.

Lan Wangji turned around to look at him again. He knew that Wei Ying was much more
forgiving of mistreatment than he was, but there had to be a limit! He was about to speak his
mind on the matter, but Wei Ying spoke first.

“It's not that he doesn't want me. On the contrary, he doesn't want me to notice anyone else
but him. He kept me away from you when I was a kid, afraid that you'd steal me away," Wei
Ying added with a smirk. Lan Wangji's blood boiled with anger. “He wants me to be with him
all the time, to entertain him and increase his sense of self-importance, to fulfil his every
whim, but in a way that makes him look smarter and stronger than me. That's what I used to
do. But after the war, somehow I don't have the patience to walk that fine line...”

There was silence. Wei Ying was lost in his own thoughts, while Lan Wangji was trying to
curb the urge to immediately rush to Yunmeng and challenge Jiang Wanyin to a duel.

“I have read a story," Brother said as he walked deeper into the water, "about a man who was
visited by a powerful spirit from an ancient lamp. The spirit was ready to fulfil any three
wishes, but the man's greed knew no bounds. He demanded an imperial title and mountains
of gold, but he could not accept the fact that there would be anyone more powerful than him
under the heavens, so his third wish was that the spirit would obey him forever.”

Brother fell silent, and Wei Ying anxiously hurried him along:

“What happened to him?”

“Nothing good," Brother sighed and sank down to his neck with a detached look.

Wei Ying darkened, but didn't say anything either.

“So, Wangji, what dragon were you talking about?” Brother remembered.

Wei Ying began to recount, including his suspicions that the dragon's fate was linked to the
waterborne abyss cast onto the mountain. Brother frowned.

“I'll go today to see if the abyss is still there. But I agree with Wangji, there are no rivers
flowing from that mountain. If the abyss really got into the river, it could only be with
someone's help.”

All three of them wondered. Who could have done such a thing? The fact that the abyss was
on the mountain was known in the Cloud Recesses. The people of Caiyi had certainly seen
something, but not being cultivators, they couldn't understand all the details. There might
have been some wandering cultivators or disciples of other sects in Caiyi that night, but the
chances of that were slim, and they would have been the first ones to come running to the
Cloud Recesses to report what they had seen.

Of course, the people of the Cloud Recesses could have told someone, bragging about what
the young master had done. It was against the rules, but they couldn't keep track of
everyone... However, who among the friends or relatives of the Gusu Lan members would
ruin Wei Ying's work? If the imprisoned elders had told their Qinghe escorts something, they
certainly wouldn't do anything bad. The only one left was...

“Wangji, you check on Elder Wang Tianyu after your ablutions," Brother said after coming to
the same conclusion.

“Mn," Lan Wangji agreed fervently.

Together with Brother, they sat in the water for a while longer, until Wei Ying began to freeze
even though Lan Wangji's qi was coursing through him. The dark energy still wasn’t
cleansed, so they decided to repeat the procedure the following day. In the meantime, Lan
Wangji helped Wei Ying, who wasn’t very steady on his feet, to the Jingshi and immediately
began to build a fire in the hearth. Wei Ying fell asleep almost immediately, shrouded in
tendrils of darkness like fox tails.

But they weren’t to rest in peace that day. As soon as the fire was lit, Uncle knocked on the
door. Lan Wangji froze on the threshold, not really wanting to let him see Wei Ying's
condition, but the darkness had already spread so far into the room that its tentacles were
visible from the doorway. He had to explain everything to Uncle as well.

“Why can't he purify the darkness with the power of his golden core?” the man asked, having
barely grasped the situation.

Lan Wangji remained silent and wondered why his brother didn't ask any such thing. It was
how a strong cultivator would solve this problem. But Lan Wangji couldn’t answer, so he
stood silent, lips tightly pressed together. Uncle scrutinised him carefully.

“Wangji. Did something happen to his golden core?”

Once again, Lan Wangji couldn’t answer.

“Did Uncle come to question me about my husband or is there other business?”

Uncle stood dumbfounded, staring at Wangji with disbelieving eyes.

“Wangji... How could you let this happen? You're his senior husband! So while all is well,
you pick the peaches, but once danger comes, you repay with tree roots?”

Lan Wangji didn’t know what to do. Obviously, Uncle had misunderstood, but he had
promised Wei Ying that he wouldn't give away his secret. However, Uncle's accusations still
hit almost on target. Even though he and Wei Ying weren't married at that time, Lan Wangji
had still blundered and allowed this...

“Uncle, this has nothing to do with Lan Zhan," said Wei Ying, who was not sleeping but
standing behind Lan Wangji's shoulder. “When I lost my core, he was nowhere near me.”

“Where was he in that case?” Uncle scoffed.

Lan Wangji tried to guess when that might have been, but Wei Ying was ahead of him:
“In the Cloud Recesses, with a broken leg carrying the sect on his back after the fire while
you were badly injured and Zewu-jun was on the run.”

Lan Wangji turned around to look at Wei Ying's face. It was coldly calm. Lan Wangji himself
was burning with frustration. So, when he had left Wei Ying in Jiang Wanyin's care after
defeating the Xuanwu...

Wei Ying placed his hand on his back, and tongues of dark flame danced around Lan Wangji
as well.

“Lan Zhan, don't worry so much. Even if you had come with us back then — something
Jiang Cheng would never have allowed — it's unlikely that you would have been able to
change anything.”

“So it's—” Uncle seemed to be at a loss for words. He even took a couple of steps away and
sat down on the edge of the terrace to collect his thoughts.

“Uncle, Wei Ying needs to rest," Lan Wangji couldn't stand it. “If there are no urgent matters
to attend to now, then...”

“I came to ask," Uncle suddenly interrupted, "since you're back, when is Wei Wuxian going
to resume lessons with the elementary group, but without a core... Wait, he's been teaching
them without a core all this time?”

“That's right," Wei Ying said and moved forward, but he staggered, so Lan Wangji
immediately steadied him and sat him on the edge of the terrace next to Uncle. The darkness
thickened around him again, making it hard to make out his face. “I taught theory.”

“And the night hunts?” Uncle continued to marvel, gazing apprehensively at the swirling
darkness. “You led the juniors!”

“Only with Lan Zhan," Wei Ying reminded him, "I can hunt and I can tell the children a lot,
but I can't always demonstrate what I tell them, and they shouldn't follow my methods.”

Uncle gritted his teeth.

“The kids would run away if you walked into the classroom looking like that," he said. “I
can't let them see you like that.”

Wei Ying frowned, and Lan Wangji jumped up again.

“Uncle, Wei Ying isn't feeling well. He won't be able to work anytime soon anyway.”

“Are you trying to solve this problem at all?” Uncle asked.

“The Cold Spring helps," Lan Wangji replied. “But not quickly.”

Uncle nodded grimly to some thoughts of his own.

“A dragon, then. A river god. It's getting worse by the hour.”

With these words, he stood up and, after a brief farewell, walked away in the direction of the
Hanshi.

Wei Ying sat there, dejected, and Lan Wangji didn't know how to cheer him up. Because of
the dragon, he had now lost his novice class. Even if they managed to purify his aura in a
couple of months, by then, the children would definitely have a permanent teacher.

“You were going to check on Elder Wang," Wei Ying reminded him in a colourless voice.

“Yes, as soon as Wei Ying is warm.”

Wei Ying raised his hands, suggesting that Lan Wangji should help him stand up. Lan Wangji
pulled him up, but instead of letting him walk on his own, he scooped him up under his
thighs and leaned Wei Ying’s body on his chest.

“Lan Zhan! Did you think I wanted uppy?” Wei Ying laughed into his collar.

“Hm," Lan Wangji replied and carried him into the house. “I'll go to the elder and then talk to
Brother. Try to get some sleep. I'll ask them to prepare yang dishes for you.”

Wei Wuxian did fall asleep, but he didn't sleep as long as he would have liked. Ideally, he
would sleep until the dragon somehow miraculously weathered away. How to accomplish
that, Wei Wuxian hadn’t yet figured out. Between Jiang Cheng's accusations and his own
lousy health, his head wasn't in the right place.

His sleep was jerky and restless, and after waking up for the third time, Wei Wuxian decided
not to try again but to wait for Lan Zhan. He always slept well next to him.

The room was already filled with dark qi, and Wei Wuxian shakily waddled to the door to
ventilate. He didn't want to open the shutters and let all the heat from the hearth out. He also
decided to open the door just a crack, so it wouldn't cool down the bedroom so quickly. But
there was a surprise waiting for him behind the door.

All of his students from the novice group were sitting on the terrace. They seemed to have
been sitting for a long time, hugging their knees and pressed against each other, wrapped in
warm little robes and breathing on their hands.

“Teacher Wei!” One exclaimed, jumping up from his seat.

Wei Wuxian slammed the door in horror. He couldn't show himself to the children like this.
He didn't even want to show himself to Lan Qiren, but he was blaming Lan Zhan for
something stupid.

“Teacher Wei!” came from behind the door “It's us! Don't be afraid!”

Wei Wuxian suppressed a chuckle.

“I'm sick," he said as loudly as possible through the door. “I can't come out to you!”
“Teacher Qiren said you're not contagious!” a child's voice insisted.

“Did he send you?” Wei Wuxian was surprised.

“No! We came on our own!” the children shouted. “We have Teacher Gong again! We don't
understand anything, Teacher Wei, help us!”

Wei Wuxian's heart clenched. Of course, nothing terrible would happen if the children missed
some ideas at this stage. After a while, they would read by themselves, listen to their older
brothers... And their teacher would be replaced someday. But what if they despaired? Lost
interest in learning? They'd have a hard time at Gusu Lan. They were already lagging behind
their peers, and it was only going to get worse...

Wei Wuxian cautiously opened the door. The dark qi immediately rushed out.

“I look really scary," he warned. The children stared at the crack in the door with their
mouths open. He opened the door a little more.

“Wow," said the boy standing closest. “What's that all around you?”

“Resentful energy," Wei Wuxian explained. “It won't hurt you, but you can hardly see me
behind it.”

“Teacher Wei is like a princess behind the curtain!” giggled another boy.

“So what if we can't see you," said a third. “As long as we can hear, it’s good enough. We
have a lot of questions!”

Wei Wuxian thought that Lan Qiren had underestimated his pupils, thinking that they would
scatter.

“By the way, we learned about resentful energy the day before yesterday," said the smartest
of the students. “But I didn't understand anything.”

Wei Wuxian thought of what Lan Qiren would do to him if he found out that he had lectured
on resentful energy. But where would these kids find a better visual aid...?

He sighed and opened the door fully.

“Come on in, it’s cold. And mind you, I won't last long, I'm barely awake as it is.”

“We won't be long!” the children promised and scurried into Lan Zhan's ascetic living room.
“Wow, this place is beautiful!”

Wei Wuxian flopped down on his pillow and strained his tired brain to draw a talisman that
would at least disperse the clouds of darkness from his face.

“So, what questions do you have?”

 Chapter 18
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Getting the dragon straight ^^

Chapter Notes

So, some of your predictions are coming true!

Also, what Lan Zhan does here isn't random, I borrowed the idea from Joy of Life, the
novel. Apparently, it's a valid cultivation technique XD In general, a lot of this fic was
inspired by Fan Xian's shenanigans XD

See the end of the chapter for more notes

The children took a toll on Wei Wuxian. Of course, they had questions on theory, but Wei
Wuxian was very bad at separating theory from practice. He had to show examples, draw
talismans... And not only did he not have a drop of extra yang qi, but his hands were shaking
so much that he dropped the brush. After the fifth attempt, he gave up and began to explain
verbally, giving examples from famous stories, but it required a lot of mental strength.

He was grateful for their attention, however. Not only because it flattered his ego, but also
because, left alone, he would have burrowed into his blankets and moped around,
overwhelmed by the resentful energy. Certainly not the worst thing he'd been through, but
still not pleasant. Yet now, with questions pouring down like hail, in front of the children,
there was no opportunity to indulge in any depressing thoughts. He barely had time to answer
them.

Therefore, when Lan Zhan finally returned with the appetising-smelling basket, Wei Wuxian
didn’t let him sternly admonish the children, saying: the teacher is sick, don't tire him out.

“What's the point, Lan Zhan?” he argued “I'm useless as it is; so I'll be tired, what's the harm
in that? I can always sleep. I won’t lose yang qi or gain yin qi by talking for a couple of
hours.”

“It's dinner time," Lan Zhan said stubbornly. “Then it's curfew.”

“Is Teacher Wei having dinner at home again?” One of the disciples asked, looking at the
basket. It was fragrant with the aroma of duck in ginger sauce. The smell was tempting, but
Wei Wuxian realised that he felt nauseous, especially at the thought of duck fat. He
understood that Lan Zhan had ordered the most yang-rich dishes for him, which were
primarily fatty and greasy, but right then he would have been more willing to munch on some
watery fruit... Perhaps it was the resentful energy in him that was resisting, not wanting to
lose and leave his body. But he could never force himself to eat, even before. Meanwhile,
curious noses were prying into the basket.

“I can't go to the dining hall looking like this," Wei Wuxian said. “And I'm not hungry at all.
Can someone help me with dinner?”

“You're overworked," Lan Zhan immediately decided. While the children nodded
enthusiastically.

Wei Wuxian beckoned him with a finger and whispered about his body’s resistance while the
children were cracking open the basket. Lan Zhan still looked disgruntled, but seemed to
have accepted it.

As a result, Wei Wuxian managed to nibble some almonds and eat half a bowl of rice
sprinkled with crumbs of dried beef and pepper, while the duck was torn apart by the
children's teeth, barely respecting decorum. Wei Wuxian thought that it would be a good idea
to feed these unfortunates some meat from time to time; it was pitiful to watch. The food
made him feel better, gave him back some strength, and he was thinking about finishing
answering the question that Lan Zhan had walked in on, but his husband categorically put an
end to the evening lesson.

“Continue tomorrow," he said and stood at the door, ready to escort the company out
personally, but under Wei Wuxian's pleading gaze, he softened: "I'll help with the
demonstrations.”

Wei Wuxian smiled widely. It was still so strange, but at the same time, so wonderful that
Lan Zhan tried to please him. Not for profit or in expectation of reciprocation, but simply
because he wanted to make his husband happy. Despite the dark coldness that permeated his
body, Wei Wuxian felt warm and squinted as if from a bright light, and his heart was filled
with joy. Even the nausea had abated a little, and he managed a few more pinches of the beef.

When the children finally left to finish their dinner in the dining hall, promising not to
mention what Teacher Wei was being fed so as not to cause alarm, Lan Zhan went to his
bedroom without lighting the lamps and returned with two jars of wine, pointedly placing
them in front of Wei Wuxian.

“This has a lot of yang, too," he commented. “I didn't look at the diagrams on the walls.”

Instead of answering, Wei Wuxian pulled him closer by his collar and kissed his cheeks until
his ears glowed red.

“You're the best husband in the world," he said with conviction, watching the redness from
Lan Zhan’s ears creep down his neck. The best husband bit his lips and looked at the floor.
“Really, Lan Zhan. Even though I feel lousy and tired, I still feel better now than... Than I can
even remember. Even before the war, with my core, I'd never had so much fun or been so
relaxed.”

“Wei Ying," Lan Zhan suddenly frowned. “Elder Wang Tianyu really did flush the abyss into
the river.”

Wei Wuxian froze and shuddered as he recalled the huge vortex. He had already suspected,
was almost certain, that the dark qi in him was precisely the abyss, but now that he had
received confirmation, he suddenly tensed up. Compared to the Seal, the abyss didn't even
seem that strong. It wasn't pressing on his consciousness as much, it wasn't whispering in his
ear. If it was as easy to control as the Seal, it would make a good power source.
Unfortunately, the undead souls in the abyss were each for themselves, not a collective
consciousness like in the Seal, making it almost impossible to control. And the dragon with
his will and ego got in the way.

But most importantly, at the thought of making the waterborne abyss his new weapon, Wei
Wuxian felt exhausted to the point of aching. He wanted the warmth of Lan Zhan, he wanted
to splash in the hot spring of love, he wanted the light of the children’s attention and the
respect of the Gusu Lan disciples. He had outlived his hatred, fulfilled his revenge. He didn't
want to continue to simmer in its murky soup.

“Lan Zhan," he called out, pulling his husband up by his lapels again and pressing his temple
against his collarbone. “Give me a hug?”

Lan Zhan did so, and in the ring of his arms, Wei Wuxian tried his best to forget the cold and
death that overwhelmed him and focus on the warmth and steady beat of the heart beneath his
cheek.

It seemed to him that somewhere around his lower dantian, the dragon stirred for a moment,
shaking off droplets of darkness.

The next morning started too early: Lan Zhan got up at his five and warned that he wouldn’t
be present at breakfast because he would be escorting the elder to Qinghe.

“So he broke seclusion and climbed the neighbouring mountain?” Wei Wuxian grumbled,
amazed that Gusu Lan hadn’t set up any guards against it.

“Willfully violating enforced seclusion is unheard of," Lan Zhan said, as if it was something
as incredible as flying a sword to the moon or living underwater for a month without
breathing. Wei Wuxian sighed, lamenting his husband's charming naivety. Lan Zhan patted
his shoulder, unaware of what that sigh was about, and added, ''I'll be back by noon. We’ll to
the spring.”

Wei Wuxian kissed his hand goodbye and tried to go back to sleep, but as usual, it was no
use.
Breakfast wouldn’t be cooked for him until nine o'clock, and that was only assuming that Lan
Zhan had put the special chef to work again, but since there was dinner yesterday, he must
have. Lan Zhan didn't hesitate and didn't make rash decisions. Wei Wuxian wasn't that
hungry, but he needed something to occupy himself with since the children had meditation
lessons and training in the morning...

Wei Wuxian couldn't go to the spring alone, and without it, the black flames around him
danced almost to the ceiling. If he was to go anywhere at all, it would have to be somewhere
deserted. With a sigh, he figured that at this time of day, a relatively deserted place was the
Library. After all, Gusu Lan members didn't rush there as soon as they got up but began their
mornings with meditation and exercise, moving on to intellectual pursuits only after
breakfast, which began at seven.

Covered in talismans head to toe, like a dead man walking, Wei Wuxian snuck into the
Library, picking game trails over human paths, without meeting anyone. The talismans kept
the darkness at bay a bit, so he didn't look like a travelling smoke bomb, but black fumes
were still sneaking out from the crevices, like when burning a damp log.

What he was actually going to look for in the Library, he didn't know. He had sort of
promised Lan Zhan to think about some new way of cultivating, but that was ridiculous right
then. The darkness obviously overflowed his body, what other way could he think of? For
any new source of energy he would have to find an approach, adjust his meridians... And they
were currently smothered in resentful energy.

Without much of an idea in his head, he started browsing through the titles, occasionally
taking out and flipping through a book. On the fourth, he realised that he was subconsciously
looking for books about dragons, and decided it made some sense. Fortunately, the Gusu Lan
Library was full of such texts, and they were stored in the public section. Wei Wuxian
quickly collected as many as two dozen books of different ages and degrees of preservation
— some books Lan Xichen had taken away with him before the fire, some had been in use or
in the back rooms and only burned along the edges, and some had already been copied from
memory or from the badly burned original.

However, as soon as Wei Wuxian sat down at the table to read, the door opened and Lan
Qiren burst into the room. He looked a bit more dishevelled than Wei Wuxian was used to.
As he rushed in, he froze on the threshold and stared at Wei Wuxian, who adjusted the
talisman on his chest so that his face could be seen better through the flickers of darkness.

“Is that you?!” Lan Qiren's voice broke out. He immediately sagged and exhaled, but his face
only grew darker. “You gave off so much miasma that I thought the Library was on fire
again! Get out of here!”

Wei Wuxian looked around and realised that in the process of searching, he must have
scratched the back of his head and a talisman had peeled off, so now all the darkness was
shooting straight up like a pillar of smoke.

“Oh," he said in embarrassment. “I'm sorry, I didn't notice... But it's not doing anything bad,
it just looks like that...”
“Do you want to send all the remaining elders into qi deviation?” Uncle growled. “The entire
sect is going to come here, seeing this! Get out, I said!”

“Can I at least take a couple of books? It's boring lying around at home!” Wei Wuxian
whined, realising he shouldn't scare the Lans just a few years after the fire.

“Take them quickly and get out!” Lan Qiren shouted, hovering over the table.

Wei Wuxian wanted to go over what books he had taken out and which ones were worthy of
attention in the first place, but he didn't dare to linger for an extra moment and grabbed the
top five — as many as he could carry in his not-so-healthy state — and dashed off.

Halfway to the Jingshi, he was already exhausted, and even five books began to weigh on
him, but he still waddled home and managed not to collapse on the terrace purely by force of
will. He collapsed on the couch instead. With an incredible effort, he piled the books on the
bedside table, covered himself with a blanket and lay there for a couple of hours, looking at
the ceiling because he had no strength for anything else. Then he managed to open a book.

The stories about river dragons were all similar. Someone angered the dragon, and since then
it had to be appeased with all sorts of offerings for a long time. What exactly was offered
usually remained unspoken, unless it was some incredible item with centuries worth of
history. But Wei Wuxian didn't have any of those anyway. So what should he give it? Wine?
Wei Wuxian already had two jugs yesterday. The river god didn't need rice, he had his own
fish... The only thing left was gold, but Wei Wuxian didn't have the strength to go to the city
and shop for jewellery. Maybe when Lan Zhan came back...

Wei Wuxian tried to focus on the dragon and feel if it needed anything. Yesterday, it had no
clear desires other than to tear everyone apart, and not just to kill them, but to make them
suffer. Today... No, the dragon still wanted to tear everyone apart, and if he was disturbed in
the slightest, ripples of rage would immediately spread across the surface of his qi. But he
wanted something else too. Something ephemeral, unspecific, barely perceptible.

Wei Wuxian concentrated for a long time, but he couldn’t make out the dragon's desire, and
then breakfast finally arrived. As Wei Wuxian sat down at the table and gripped his
chopsticks, he doubled over, his face almost sinking into his plate because of his longing for
Lan Zhan.

“Uh, friend, this wasn't our agreement!” Wei Wuxian sputtered. “He’s my husband, not
yours!”

The dragon didn't object, didn't even urge him to share. But he made Wei Wuxian so hungry
that he swallowed all the breakfast and the remains of last night's dinner, and then called the
servant and asked for more rice before he started drinking the sauce straight from the bottle.

At last, the dragon seemed to calm down and didn’t bother Wei Wuxian with its strange
impulses for some time, but there was still a background hum of dissatisfaction. Wei Wuxian
read some more and drew some talismans to help the children's group, and then there was a
knock at the door.
It was too early for Lan Zhan, and he wouldn't knock on his own door, but Wei Wuxian still
flew to the door as if on wings, his heart racing, against his own will. The dragon inside was
just jumping with impatience.

Outside the door was Luo Lunwei with a dozen youngsters.

“Young master," he greeted, bowing respectfully and holding out some kind of chest in his
outstretched hands. The children, too, all bowed, arms circled, holding out little sacks and
boxes.

“Um, hello..." Wei Wuxian was confused.

“Young Master, we have come with offerings for the river god," Disciple Luo explained,
raising the chest meaningfully. “Has anyone built a temple yet?”

“Uh, no," Wei Wuxian gawked. “Should they have?”

“Teacher Qiren read in the Treatise on Tainted Deities that it’s what should be done.”

He turned and nodded to two of the boys who were carrying boxes on their backs. The boxes
contained a prefabricated temple of red and golden planks. The boys busily began to
assemble it on the terrace: twisted legs, a bottom, three walls around the altar, a doorway
decorated with gilded turquoise dragons, as if coiled around columns, and a roof with dragon
figures on the ridge. When assembled, the temple stood slightly taller than Wei Wuxian. As a
final touch, Luo Lunwei took out a pouch from his collars, and from it, a carefully rolled
scarlet ribbon. On it, Wei Wuxian read the name of the temple, which he recognised as being
named after the river. It was inscribed in gold in impressive calligraphy.

Disciple Luo fixed the ribbon over the entrance, then bowed and opened the casket. It
contained a painted dragon statuette, a delicate work of fine detail, obviously not hastily
made. Wei Wuxian had seen them for sale in Caiyi, but he hadn't looked at them closely.
Installed in the heart of the temple, it was immediately surrounded with offering bowls,
ribbons with auspicious inscriptions, and smoke from the censer. With a sniff, Wei Wuxian
inhaled the sandalwood fragrance with pleasure, and the dragon approved.

“When did you have time to prepare all this?”

“Master Qiren ordered it before breakfast," Luo Lunwei explained. “He had just read the
treatise. He must have been so concerned about the Young Master's condition that he went to
the Library first thing in the morning.”

Wei Wuxian hummed. He remembered the book with that title; he had grabbed it from the
shelf but left it on the desk when Lan Qiren kicked him out. So Uncle had decided to see
what Wei Wuxian had collected and found it. It was probably for the best, otherwise Wei
Wuxian would have been too shy to ask for offerings himself.

Meanwhile, the children began to put flowers, fruits, river pearls, jade hairpins, and even
gold jewellery in front of the temple. Wei Wuxian was perplexed, but the dragon was happy,
clearly believing that that was just as it should be.
“Did Teacher Qiren give you these too?”

“No, Master Wei," the teenagers shook their heads. “These offerings are from our families.
The Sect Leader informed everyone of your misfortune today, and we all want to help.”

“Wait...” Wei Wuxian felt that he was desperately unable to keep up with the developments,
“So, your families gave me gold out of their own pockets?”

“Young Master is highly respected," Luo Lunwei explained without blinking an eye. “He
uncovered the conspiracy, protected the Sect Leader, and made a difference in the lives of
many disciples. We are grateful.”

With these words, he placed a silver haircomb with mother-of-pearl on the mountain of
offerings and bowed to the temple.

The dragon rumbled and snorted, so that Wei Wuxian could feel its hot breath in his gut. It
seemed that even it was a little embarrassed by this generosity. Wei Wuxian didn't understand
why it should be embarrassed, though; while up until now, one could think that the disciples
had brought gifts because they feared the river god’s wrath or were afraid of it, Luo Lunwei
had clearly said that it was all for Wuxian's sake. It didn't make sense in his mind, but it
somehow calmed the dragon.

Disciple Luo and his little gang bowed out, but Wei Wuxian had no time to catch his breath
when Wu Chicheng appeared to replace them with a regiment of novice swordsmen. After
seeing the temple on the terrace that was littered with gifts, he grumbled and erected another
one right in the garden at the end of the path. There, too, a mound of fruit and jewellery soon
rose.

By the time Lan Zhan returned from Qinghe with a new batch of yang dishes from Caiyi, the
entire Jingshi and surrounding area was dotted with temples glowing red in the patches of
light sneaking between the pine trunks. Wei Wuxian was about to apologise for the chaos
around the house, but Lan Zhan only nodded contentedly and briefly remarked:

“The yin qi's gone.”

Wei Wuxian hadn't had time to examine himself all this time, he was so busy being stunned
by the Lan disciples, but now that he looked around, he realised that it was true. The black
smoke was barely oozing out, and the dead cold inside was almost nonexistent.

“It looks like the treatment is working," he chuckled nervously as he followed Lan Zhan into
the house, almost choking on the smell of spice and scallions. “Dinner? Oh, Lan Zhan, if you
were hoping for a share, then take your portion now, because once I start eating, I won’t
stop!”

“Eat,” Lan Zhan immediately said, placing the open basket in front of him.

“You let me get away with too much," Wei Wuxian mumbled, burrowing into the pots almost
up to his ears. “I'll mooch off of you and you’ll never get rid of me...”
Lan Zhan made some quiet noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle.

After lunch, they went for a dip in the spring again. Wei Wuxian, filled with hot, spicy food,
grew languid, and even the infernal coldness of the spring didn’t seem as terrible as last time.
Still, Lan Zhan, of course, immediately began to flow his qi through him. Wei Wuxian
wondered when it had become 'of course'. When had Lan Zhan completely and
unconditionally taken it upon himself to take care of him? When he helped him deal with the
dragon? Or when he remodelled his house in anticipation of their wedding? Or sometime
even earlier? It was a bit scary to think about, and Wei Wuxian decided to let out at least
some of his feelings before he was swept away in an avalanche.

“I missed you. All morning.”

Lan Zhan didn’t reply, but pressed his cheek against his temple, tickling his ear with his
breath. The dragon, who had been quiet after the offerings, suddenly stirred, as if he had
decided to run around in a circle, but in a disembodied form and in someone else's body, he
had no such opportunity.

“The dragon missed you too," Wei Wuxian squeezed out, trying to take a deep breath to quell
the strange foreign itch inside.

Lan Zhan made a questioning sound.

“Do you know him?” It suddenly struck Wei Wuxian. “He's from the nearest river, have you
met him before?”

“Hmm," Lan Zhan sounded negative. “Left offerings. I didn't see him.”

“He seems to remember you,” Wei Wuxian scrunched up his face at the strange pressure
inside. His mouth filled with salty-sour saliva, and he had to swallow it — he couldn't spit
into the spring! It was as if the dragon was climbing up his oesophagus, although there was
no way he could be localised there. “Lan Zhan, I think he wants to...”

The words 'meet you right now', Wei Wuxian couldn’t utter because there was a dragon stuck
in his throat. Wei Wuxian understood. It wasn't climbing upwards. It was expanding in all
directions, filling Wei Wuxian's body from the inside.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan was worried. “Wei Ying!”

But Wei Wuxian couldn't answer, he couldn't even inhale. His body held on with all its might
so as not to burst at the seams. He even looked down at his stomach, expecting to see an
unnatural bloat, but no, there was nothing on the outside that gave away the dragon's
shenanigans. The serpent wasn't inflating his body, but his meridians and dantians, and Wei
Wuxian couldn't understand why he didn't have dragon qi rushing out of all his acupuncture
points.

“Wei Ying!” Lan Zhan shouted again, changed his grip to hold him with one hand, and with
the other reached for Bichen in its scabbard lying on the rocks. He grabbed it by the scabbard
and swung it upwards. Wei Wuxian stopped understanding the meaning of his actions,
preparing to pass out from lack of air, but then Bichen's crossguard hit him on the top of his
head.

He shrieked in pain, but at the same moment, he felt the dragon qi that had overwhelmed him
rush up into the sky, releasing him. This lasted for an eternity. Wei Wuxian seemed to be
howling or crying when he was finally able to breathe. Judging from the amount of energy
that was flowing through his body, the dragon had also dragged half of the spring’s qi with it.

Wei Wuxian's head fell back, dangling like a bead on a string, and he didn't swallow any
water only because Lan Zhan was supporting him between his shoulder blades. But in the air,
Wei Wuxian could see the water vapour gradually thickening and taking the shape of a long,
flexible body. After a few more fen, the figure began to take on a beautiful iridescent
turquoise colour, on which the crest, mane, and beard burned silver-white.

“Dark Cultivator ," his voice rumbled over the water, but only in Wei Wuxian's mind, "
Thank you for cleansing me! Driven by the darkness of resentment, I mistook you for an
enemy: you wielded terrible weapons and perfected the control of yin qi. I thought you had
tricked your way onto the Gusu Lan Mountain and gained the trust of the young master.”

Wei Wuxian almost choked on his indignation, but the dragon laughed brightly and
continued:

“But now I see that you are well respected here, and that your feelings for the young master
are sincere! You have purified me with the fire of your heart, and I will not be indebted! The
offerings have given me strength, but I know they were brought for you, and so you are owed.
I'll make you a deal .”

“A deal?” Wei Wuxian squeezed out, catching his husband’s attention, who was also looking
at the dragon.

“Keep one of all the temples, burn incense in it, and don't forget to refill the wine. Protect my
river from dark creatures and keep the people of this mountain safe !”

The dragon's voice became distant, and even its appearance melted, and Wei Wuxian
panicked:

“What do I get in return?!”

“You'll understand soon enough!”

The last word was scattered with the rustle of leaves on the water and the murmur of a small
stream.

“Hey!” Wei Wuxian shouted, “I haven't agreed to anything yet! What’s with you setting all
the terms even though you admitted that you’re in my debt?! Come back, we're not done
talking!”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhang's voice made him come to his senses and stop climbing out of the
water over his husband like a tree. “Don't yell. The dragon will keep his promise.”
 “What promise?” Wei Wuxian scoffed, plunging back into the icy spring.

Lan Zhan was looking at him strangely, with hope mingled with fear of scaring away
something very important. Wei Wuxian didn't immediately notice his fingers on his pulse.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said hoarsely and swallowed.

Wei Wuxian examined himself as well. The tsunami of dragon qi had passed through him and
dissipated, and his meridians were still empty. But where darkness had been waiting in
ambush in the morning, there was now a tiny tongue of bright flame. Wei Wuxian knew this
feeling. It had already settled inside him once before. He had been ten years old then, and
although he had only been cultivating for a year unlike the other Jiang disciples, he had
woken up one morning and felt the same small pearl of warmth, and later in class, Uncle
Jiang had smiled proudly at him and told him that it was the beginnings of his golden core.

“Lan Zhan,” he gasped, grabbing his husband's hand and pressing it against his dantian. “Can
you feel it?”

“Yes,” Lan Zhan seemed to be out of breath himself. “Wei Ying. Until your core is formed,
you can't use the Dark Path. The darkness will crush the seed.”

Chapter End Notes

Still open to tag ideas XD

 Chapter 19
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

On the finishing stretch of the way... The last chapter will be super long though.

Wei Wuxian was desperately bored.

Of course, his husband did his best to entertain him, but entertainment as performed by Lan
Zhan always inexorably gravitated towards dual cultivation. This, of course, helped greatly
with the new core: it grew stronger and better structured compared to the one Wei Wuxian
had given to Jiang Cheng. Only now did he realise how shaky and unstable his first core had
been. It was like a shack made of branches tied together by a vine against a palace made of
smooth, standardised timber fitted together so precisely that you couldn't push a hair through
a crevice.

However, although the quality of his cultivation had improved, the speed of development still
tested his patience. Lan Zhan strictly limited his training hours so as not to provoke a qi
deviation by rushing forward too fast, and Wei Wuxian was forced to cultivate his core the
same way as in his childhood: for an entire year.

An endlessly long year, during which he couldn’t even go on night hunts — what would he
do there without a core and without the ability to use dark qi? Even a glance at the talisman
paper made Lan Zhan take a fighting stance and barely refrain from growling: he feared that
Wei Wuxian would forget himself and let some vengeful spirit in.

Of course, tumbling in bed wasn’t only for the purpose of dual cultivation, but Wei Wuxian's
stamina still wasn’t infinite, as the frowning, blushing Lan Zhan regularly recalled, preparing
Wei Wuxian healing baths and smearing him with skin-soothing potions. Besides, Lan Zhan
still had sect duties after all.

Wei Wuxian himself, once he had recovered from possession, started his interviews again,
but there weren't many people left in the sect. In the end, he threw out only ten people, and
from the rest he created a fully functional structure that required minimal supervision on his
part. Once a month, he randomly selected a group of disciples and dragged them to indulge in
gastronomic sin in Caiyi so that they got to know each other and better understand who did
what. Lan Zhan pressed his lips together, worried, but tolerant, only insisting that each group
have at least one loyal and competent warrior in case Wei Wuxian needed protection.

He and Lan Zhan visited the dragon together. Offerings aside, it never hurt to walk along the
river to pay their respects. The first couple of times the dragon only flashed glistening scales
from the depths of the water, but then, realising that no one wanted anything from him, began
to stick his head out, and then to participate in their conversation. Well, sort of participate; it
was talking in Wei Wuxian's head, and Wei Wuxian shared the wisdom with Lan Zhan if
necessary. It turned out, among other things, that the dragon was no stranger to carnal
pleasures and was very fond of baozi with red bean paste. Lan Zhan began to buy them
wholesale during such walks and bring them warm, under a talisman, to the pond where they
most often met the dragon.

“What is that delicious smell ?” sounded in Wei Wuxian's mind.

“Your favourite pastries,” he grinned. “Come on out, or they'll get soggy in the water and
won't taste good.”

A ripple ran across the surface of the river, a faint shadow loomed in the dark water, and soon
the dragon's spiny head exploded out of the water near the shore, towering on its long neck
like a great grebe.

“Catch!” Wei Wuxian shouted, tossing the bun.

The dragon clucked his jaws, catching the treat.

“I wasn't born yesterday to play games like this!”

“How else can I give you a treat? If I give it to you from my hand you'll bite it off!”

He threw the next one. The dragon grumbled some more but caught all the pastries, frothing
the river with his tail in the heat of the game.

“You're not as old as you pretend to be,” Wei Wuxian grinned, sitting down on the shore in
front of the dragon's head. “How’s life here? Are the ghouls bothering you?”

“Not me, but they're splashing around. They're probably bothering someone downstream in
the lake. Nobody lives here. What about your cultivator friends, won’t they thin them out?”

“Lan Zhan, we should send the juniors to catch ghouls in the river," Wei Wuxian said to his
husband, who had been standing there with his hand behind his back, but Wei Wuxian knew
that he was worried about what the dragon might do.

“Juniors?” Lan Zhan clarified. “The ghouls are usually hunted by the seniors.”

Wei Wuxian blinked.

“In Yunmeng, we dealt with them between lunch and practice, with no seniors at all. Some of
us didn’t even have a core.”

Lan Zhan flashed his eyes.

“Wei Ying won't take any chances.”

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes.

“That's not the point! But it's easy! Let's send Luo Lunwei, he and his juniors can handle
them for sure.”

With that, he took two jugs of wine out of the basket and showed one to the dragon.

“Do you want some?”

The dragon did, but it wasn’t so easy to pour the wine into his mouth. The dragon himself
managed it with varying levels of success, because his short front legs didn’t reach his
muzzle, so he had to put the jug on a steep bank and tilt the neck with his teeth. But Wei
Wuxian finally figured out the logistics. Of course, one jug wasn’t enough for the dragon, but
the Gusu Lan disciples weren’t stingy on offerings, so he soon brought a bunch of bottles
from his stocks. The conversation was more fun when he was drunk, although Wei Wuxian
had to translate for Lan Zhan, because he couldn’t hear the dragon.

“I thought there was a monastery on the mountain,” the dragon admitted, looking at Lan
Zhan. “They're always so prim and don't eat meat. I remember your husband as a little boy;
he and his brother used to bring me flowers and fruit in season, like to a maiden.”

Wei Wuxian laughed and asked about little Lan Zhan while Lan Zhan blushed and grumbled
because he didn’t know what the dragon was saying. But he still continued to accompany Wei
Wuxian when he decided to go to the river, though it wasn’t often: Wei Wuxian's free time
was now short.

When Lan Qiren heard that Wei Wuxian had not only gotten rid of the possessed dragon, but
had also begun to develop a new core, he was so overjoyed that he assigned the children's
group, which had fallen behind schedule due to all these events, completely to Wei Wuxian’s
care. The kids were happy, especially since Wei Wuxian malingered and was teaching some
lessons right in the Jingshi's front room, and the boys would occasionally get some treats
from his table. Wei Wuxian had never seen such motivated students before.

Teaching was still a problem, though. If before he had been able to stick an undead spirit to a
piece of paper to make it move on command and thus liven up the lesson, he couldn’t do so
anymore. While he could activate some household talismans with the small amount of light
qi that his incomplete core produced, Wei Wuxian soon discovered that classical cultivation
methods were too straightforward, crude, and clumsy to work with fine control. It was easy
for light qi to burn a piece of paper, but not to make it curl up into a tube. Wei Wuxian was
accustomed to detailed control over his surroundings during his years of dark cultivation, and
as soon as he thought of some new visual aid, his thoughts would drift back in the usual
direction.

One evening, Wei Wuxian was bored, falling asleep over another book describing the
cultivation techniques available to the weakest cultivator. Unfortunately, all the authors of
such works believed that the techniques that used minimal qi were only necessary to simulate
the techniques that used a lot of qi and had a great destructive effect. Wei Wuxian sighed.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan, who was checking the reports of the recent hunts, immediately
became alert.
“It's ironic,” Wei Wuxian complained. “It seems like all you can do with light qi is destroy.
Except for healing. And you can only create things with dark qi. How come?”

Lan Zhan put aside his papers and moved to sit with Wei Wuxian, who was seated on a
blanket by the hearth.

“What does Wei Ying want to do?”

“I need to,” Wei Wuxian sighed again, “tell the children the story of the rise and fall of the
sects, but all those people have the same names, and then there are titles, posthumous names,
all of that... There’s no way they won’t get confused. I’ve drawn portraits of all the important
figures," he said and nodded at a stack of sheets covered with doodles. Some of them were
drawn from miniatures in books, but for the most part he had let his imagination run wild,
depicting historical figures as caricatures and giving them noble and comic traits according to
their roles in history. “And I wanted them to hang in the air and move on command. You
know, like, here’s the southern alliance, here’s a skirmish, er, I meant, an emergency conflict
resolution meeting. But with light qi... Unless I become mega-powerful someday and grow a
dozen invisible hands, I have no idea how. Not to mention making portraits move their
mouths...”

Lan Zhan picked up the ink-warped sheets of portraits from the floor and pored over them.
He studied them so carefully that Wei Wuxian even felt embarrassed at how carelessly he had
drawn them. He’d just needed to make them memorable, but Lan Zhan treated each one like a
work of art.

“What do you need to do?”

Wei Wuxian blinked and stared at his husband.

“To do what?”

“What kind of talisman did you want to use?” Lan Zhan clarified.

“Ah,” Wei Wuxian perked up and pulled a blank sheet of paper towards him, grasping the
brush. “So, I was thinking of doing it like this, and then this...”

He wasn’t allowed to finish drawing; Lan Zhan took away the brush and turned the paper
towards himself.

“Wei Ying can't. Dictate.”

“Um,” Wei Wuxian thought for a moment. Half of the symbols he used he had invented
himself or at least adapted to his needs and he had no idea what to call them. “Well first, like
the table from ‘wind’... Yeah, that one, except you have to cross it from the top, like drawing
the stick from ‘ground’... Nah, it's too short, you need a long one, like in ‘benefit’ ... Yes,
that's it. Then ‘paper’, but you have to cross out the silk in it.”

“Cross out?” Lan Zhan frowned, writing out the character with perfect grace.
“Well, there's ‘silk’ for meaning, and the ‘master’ on the right for pronunciation, but I only
need the master in the portrait, so what's the paper for? Cross it out.”

Lan Zhan raised a strange look at him.

“Does it work like that?”

Wei Wuxian shrugged.

“It usually works. But if it doesn't, I pick up other elements. Trial and error is my whole
thing!”

Lan Zhan hummed and continued to draw the components according to the description.
When the talisman was finished, Wei Wuxian even admired it: he had never seen such a
beautifully executed dark talisman before. But what could he do with it now? He still wasn’t
allowed to use dark qi.

“What next?” Lan Zhan echoed his thoughts.

“Next, you need a dark cultivator," Wei Wuxian sighed.

“What would he do?”

“Well, for starters, he would have fished up some spirit outside the Cloud Recesses... Uh, Lan
Zhan, where are you going? I'm not allowed.”

Lan Zhan stood up and without releasing the talisman from his hand, handed Wei Wuxian a
warm cloak.

“You aren’t. I am.”

Wei Wuxian froze, almost dropping his eyeballs.

“You're not going to cast a spell the Dark Way, are you?!”

Lan Zhan shook his head, which in his arsenal of expressions was a substitute for a shrug.

“Wei Ying said it was safe.”

“Well... Y-yes,” Wei Wuxian said, beginning to suspect that he was asleep. “If you know
what you're doing, of course...”

“Wei Ying will teach me.”

It wasn't even a question.

Without further objection, Lan Zhan chivvied him out of the house into the winter mountain
air, and dragged him on foot to a spot on the back slope where the wall had never been rebuilt
after the war, and the protective barrier had been thinned by a stream flowing through it. It
was there, Wei Wuxian had recently learned, that Lan Zhan had passed through when
sneaking in forbidden alcohol. However, now that wine was required for dragon offerings, an
exception had to be made to the rules, and Lan Zhan could carry bottles in bundles right
through the main entrance, including Wei Wuxian's share.

“How do you catch it?” Lan Zhan asked, stopping just outside of the barrier.

Wei Wuxian looked at his stubborn face and snorted.

“If your uncle finds out about this, he'll hang me by my guts.”

Lan Zhan gave him a judgmental look.

“It's a useful technique. It's empowering.”

“It's also disrespectful to the dead,” Wei Wuxian reminded, still marvelling at his husband's
determination. Lan Zhan was always like that — if he accepted a principle, he would follow
it to the end, no matter what.

“Orthodox cultivators don't respect the dead either,” Lan Zhan said. “We don't fulfil their last
wishes. We send them down a path they don't want to take to make it more convenient for us.
That's not respect.”

“And using them as visual aids to teach children is better?” Wei Wuxian frowned.

Lan Zhan looked at the talisman as if figuring something out.

“It's better for a spirit to do good than harm. It's impossible to put everyone to rest. Does it
make any difference to the spirit to be powerlessly angry or to move pictures?”

Wei Wuxian scratched the back of his head.

“I'll have to ask sometime... After I form my core, Lan Zhan, don't get all worked up, after!
But when we don't need them anymore, we'll still put them to rest, right?”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan agreed eagerly.

Wei Wuxian laughed.

“To think that you're convincing me of the benefits of dark cultivation! Lan Zhan, if someone
had said that to you when you were sixteen, you would have challenged them to a duel!
When did you change so much?”

“When I fell in love.”

Wei Wuxian flushed, his heart fell somewhere and immediately jumped to his throat, and his
lower lip trembled treacherously. This wasn't the first time Lan Zhan had spoken about his
feelings, but every time, Wei Wuxian's insides turned upside down, and then he couldn't
concentrate on anything for half a day. Nothing in his life had prepared him for such
unconditional acceptance. It had prepared him for no one caring and having to roll with the
punches. That's what he'd learned at Lotus Pier. The war had only cemented that
understanding. He'd grown up around people who told him they cared, but it was still up to
him to muddle through the mess on his own. Twisting to give berth to other people's sharp
corners, to avoid brushing anyone's rough edges. Only now did Wei Wuxian begin to realise
that this wasn’t the same everywhere. And that he was lucky enough to marry someone who
didn't need Wei Wuxian to do all that. Lan Zhan was willing to compromise his principles for
Wei Wuxian’s comfort. And that was frightening.

How could Lan Zhan just go along with Wei Wuxian's stupid ideas? Wei Wuxian himself
never thought out his plans further than a few steps because the worst that could happen was
that he would get into trouble. But this wasn't about him, and he wasn't the one who was
going to get into trouble. Lan Zhan, when he fell in love, became more open to new ideas.
But when Wei Wuxian fell in love, how did he change? Did he start dragging his husband
into the jaws of danger with him?

He grinned nervously and gave in to the urge to run his knuckles along Lan Zhan's
cheekbone, as if tucking in a hair that wasn't even out of place.

“Let's not do this,” he said quietly.

Lan Zhan looked at him disapprovingly.

“Why?”

“Because I'm not willing to risk the person most important to me, my beloved husband, for
— For anything at all.”

“Wei Ying said it was safe,” Lan Zhan continued to insist, but his ears turned red.

Wei Wuxian absent-mindedly nodded.

“Safe. When you know what you're doing. You don't know what you're doing, and I can't
demonstrate or deal with the consequences if something goes wrong. The kids will do
without. Let's just wait until I can protect you in case of anything, and then, if you're still
interested, I'll both tell and show you?”

Lan Zhan scrutinised his face for a while, as if he was searching for a deeper meaning there,
but then relaxed and returned the gentle gesture — only in Wei Wuxian's case, there was
plenty of hair to move away from his face.

“Wei Ying wants to be more cautious,” he concluded.

Wei Wuxian smiled widely.

“Well, since Hanguang-jun decided to be reckless, someone should keep an eye on him.”

“Do that,” Lan Zhan said, and his ears lit up brighter. But they were immediately eclipsed by
the white flame, incinerating the talisman in his hand. After getting rid of the unnecessary
paper, he leaned down to Wei Wuxian's lips and kissed him tenderly, as if he was afraid that
he would dissipate like smoke. Wei Wuxian didn't notice how his hands got inside Lan Zhan's
outer garments, or when his belt had fallen on the grass, but as soon as the warm cloak was
opened, the cold air of the mountains reminded him it was winter.

“Keeping an eye on you is more comfortable at home,” he smirked, moving away. “I'd take
the high ground, so to speak. A vantage point.”

He watched with amusement as Lan Zhan's pupils dilated and his breathing quickened.
Before Wei Wuxian could pick up his belt, Lan Zhan had already picked him up and jumped
onto his sword.

“Hey! Are you trying to kidnap me or something? Too late, we're already married!” Wei
Wuxian reminded him, clutching at the clothes tearing from his shoulders.

“Running is forbidden,” Lan Zhan explained and sped up.

After the cold outside air, the house seemed boiling, but the warm clothes flew into the corner
right from the doorstep. Lan Zhan dragged him to the bed, leaving a trail of expensive fabrics
on the floor, so that by the time Wei Wuxian reached his silk sheets they touched his bare
skin. Lan Zhan's hand slid down his back and under the roundness of his buttock and froze.

“Wei Ying?”

Wei Wuxian welcomed him, rubbing himself on Lan Zhan’s calloused fingers, slippery with
the oil.

“What’s up? I prepped in the morning. We’ve been at it three times a day for days now, I get
tired, waiting for you to — Lan Zhan, we agreed that I’d be on top!”

“Another time,” Lan Zhan growled, leaning on top of him and scooting his legs up to his
shoulders.

“What about incentives for pro... pro— ah, activeness? I've done my best for your, uh. Mnh.
Convenience— ah!”

Lan Zhan sunk his teeth into his shoulder, burning his skin with his hot breath, but then
actually removed his hand and forced himself to roll onto his back. Wei Wuxian followed
him with a bewildered look and whined questioningly.

“Wei Ying is right. He deserves a reward,” Lan Zhan hissed, and Wei Wuxian realised that he
was just barely restraining himself from attacking him again.

“Aha-a!” Wei Wuxian cheered, jumping up and straddling his husband before he gave in to
the impulse. “There you go! Are you ready for my ascension to your summit?”

“Shameless,” Lan Zhan vigorously approved with a twitch of his hips. Wei Wuxian realised
that he shouldn't tease him too much, otherwise it would be a healing bath instead of dual
cultivation again.

He put his hand behind his back and grasped the shaft, hot as a sun-heated stone, guiding it
into himself. Lan Zhan's gaze slid to where their bodies were about to join, and Wei Wuxian
envied him — he didn't have as good a view. He felt the head at his opening and lowered
himself onto it. The incredible eroticism of the decision itself practically squeezed precome
out of him, and it stretched out in threads across Lan Zhan's stomach as Wei Wuxian lowered
himself down and down.

“How much more…. It's even deeper this way!” He squeaked, throwing his head back and
shutting his eyes. From this angle, he noticed the satisfied curve of Lan Zhan's lips. “Did you
know?! Confess!”

Lan Zhan snorted and moved his hips, but there was no room under Wei Wuxian.

“Quiet! Let me do it,” Wei Wuxian leaned back, pressing his husband's legs against the bed,
and lifted himself up, arching his back like a bridge. “Ahhh, Heavens, how huge you are...
Hold still, I'm not going anywhere... I'm taking a swing to get back to you! Аh! Oh, Lan
Zhan, so deep! See, I always come ba—ah—ack!” He began to slowly pick up the pace,
losing his mind at the realisation that he himself was taking exactly what he wanted. And
giving it back. Not like on his wedding night — to drown out the despair, to put off the
loneliness. Right now, he was giving himself to Lan Zhan the way he himself wanted to,
because he wanted to. He slid his palms over Lan Zhan's thighs, changing the angle, and
howled when he hit the spot. “Yes, yes, that's it! Lan Zhan, memorise it, I'm not thinking
straight, I want you so badly! Remember, we'll— Aah! Aah! We'll streamline it later!
Heavens, is this your qi? Lan Zhan, forget it, let's just— Arrrrr... Let's just do it without qi for
once?”

His arms got pulled forward and he suddenly found himself sprawled across his husband,
who was scrutinising him.

“Why no qi?”

Wei Wuxian smirked and mindlessly licked the muscular chest beneath his cheek before
biting down.

“Because I want it for pleasure, not cultivation. Just you and me. And the way all this yin and
yang starts to swirl, I stop understanding what's going on, and I want to remember who I'm
with and why.”

“And why?”

“Because I love you,” Wei Wuxian smiled shyly, averting his gaze, but he forced himself to
look into the eyes darkened with passion, even though he felt himself blushing. “Because I
wouldn't want any other fate than to be with you.”

Lan Zhan inhaled, almost choking on a groan, grabbed him under his hips and lifted him up,
pounding into him from below, hitting the target time after time.

“Love,” he repeated, “love you.”

And Wei Wuxian let him do what he wanted.

***

Afterward, they lay on the bed and lazily kissed each other's fingers, forgetting about the
whole world until Wei Wuxian started to freeze. Apparently, they hadn't closed the front door.
Noticing this, Lan Zhan regretfully let go of his hand and got up to clean up and heat water
for the aforementioned healing bath.

“Will you join me?” Wei Wuxian offered, getting comfortable in the warm water. He felt
sleepy.

Lan Zhan silently lowered himself down beside him.

“Wei Ying doesn't want me to try the dark spell,” he clarified.

“Mn-n,” Wei Wuxian let his head roll onto Lan Zhan's shoulder. “Not really. With your
control, you're really not in any danger. Especially under my watch. Ah, Lan Zhan, you'd
look great using yin qi. It will help balance your yang, too. You'll be less likely to lash out at
people," Wei Wuxian grinned and winked in response to his indignant look. “I just want to
teach you properly, not hastily. I'll think about where to start. I don't think that talisman was
the best for a first experience... I want to give you all the benefits of the Dark Path, but
without the difficulties, you know?”

“I want to share Wei Ying's difficulties,” Lan Zhan said. “But I agree, we should wait until
Wei Ying can use it himself.”

Wei Wuxian nodded.

“Such a sensible sweetie. At least outside of bed!” He laughed, catching the miffed look on
his face.

“Shameless. Yin and yang are two halves of a whole. One does not exist without the other.”

“That's true, but by the same logic, yang is creative. How much have you created with yang?”

“Only healing," Lan Zhan shook his head. “But that's not creation either.”

“Exactly,” Wei Wuxian said excitedly. “We don't heal directly when we share our qi. We just
give the person the strength to cope with the problem on their own. Otherwise, it would be
possible to treat ordinary people, not just cultivators... Apart from that… Well, I suppose,
they make babies with yang,” he grinned.

“But only when combined with yin,” Lan Zhan remarked, blushing but not rebuking Wei
Wuxian for being shameless this time. “Yin doesn’t only come from vengeful spirits.”

“But also from women, water and the moon!” Wei Wuxian picked up on this. “And that's
why women are rarely successful in cultivation, unless they pump up their yang so much that
you can’t get close to them... I wasn't going to get close, Lan Zhan, calm down, I was just
thinking about Madame Yu! But listen, have we discovered the fundamental flaw in the
theory of cultivation?”
“Wei Ying!” Instead of the usual “Shameless!” Lan Zhan bit his ear.

“Lan Zhan! When you’re pumping into me, you have no limits, but as soon as we start
talking about it, suddenly, you’re the custodian of morals!”

Lan Zhan’s gaze was level but impossibly pleased.

“You just wanted an excuse to bite me, didn't you?” Wei Wuxian guessed “You…” He started
to splash around, but then, turning sideways for better aim, he noticed through the window a
figure approaching. “Oh, your brother is coming!”

And then had the unique opportunity to watch Lan Zhan dress in a matter of moments, with
precise movements, wrapping himself in fabric without a single crease. Wei Wuxian himself
barely had time to tie his top hanfu by the time there was a knock on the door.

“Wangji, Wuxian," Lan Xichen nodded as he entered. “I hope I didn't disturb you?”

“Of course not!” Wei Wuxian promised, grinning widely enough to compensate for the sour
expression on Lan Zhan's face.

“I waited as long as I could,” Xichen said apologetically and held up a delicate blue belt with
distinctive embroidery. “I suppose, Wangji, this is yours? The patrol found it a couple hours
ago, so I thought by now it should be safe to pay you a visit.”

Wei Wuxian couldn't stand it and laughed, and Lan Zhan, of course, blushed to his collar and
almost yanked his belt from his brother’s hand.

“Perhaps, Wuxian could come up with some sort of flag on the house or at the fork of the
path to alert other disciples when you’re available for conversation,” Lan Xichen continued
to scoff, struggling to keep his smile within the bounds of propriety.

“I'll think about it,” Wei Wuxian chuckled.

“Brother, what did you want to talk about?” Lan Zhan interrupted their fun.

“A messenger from Lanling has arrived,” Lan Xichen sighed, reluctantly returning to
business. “All three of us have been invited to the Jin heir’s wedding.”

Wei Wuxian froze.

“The wedding... with Jiang Yanli?”

The Sect Leader nodded.

“They announced the renewal of the engagement at the time when we were having...
instability. I'm afraid I may have forgotten to tell you. But I understand it was coming, wasn't
it? Jin Zixuan had already suggested the engagement be renewed.”

Wei Wuxian was lost in his feelings about this. Yes, the peacock was trying. And yes, after
discovering him in Lotus Pier, one could understand that his attempts were bearing fruit. But
there was no way Wei Wuxian could believe the reality that Shijie had chosen this useless fop
as her companion. And now she would go to live in Lanling.... How would she survive in the
Jins’ viper pit? And Jiang Cheng would be all alone. Of course he'd benefit from the Jin
alliance; he'd probably get some favours. Only if he didn't screw up, because the Jins were
cunning, they could draw up a contract with some kind of trick... Wei Wuxian would prefer to
read it himself. Who was going to run Lotus Pier now? Jiang Cheng wasn't likely to get
married anytime soon...

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan pulled him out of his thoughts. “Do you want to go to the wedding?”

Wei Wuxian blinked.

“When?”

“In a month,” Lan Xichen prompted.

“But I won’t be recovered in a month!” Wei Wuxian realised “It'll take at least six months.”

Lan Xichen chewed his lip.

“I can try to persuade Sect Leader Jin to postpone the wedding until spring, citing the fact
that in winter, evil is rampant and all our forces are thrown into hunting...”

“Do you think he'll change his plans for Gusu Lan? They must have started planning the
wedding in the autumn.”

“Perhaps if you explain that you’re unwell...” The Sect Leader suggested, but Wei Wuxian
waved his hands at him.

“He'll be glad I'm not coming! And if he does reschedule because of me, Jiang Cheng will
never forgive me!”

“Sect Leader Jiang should be seeking forgiveness himself,” Lan Zhan interjected, and Wei
Wuxian immediately patted his hand to stop him from getting angry. He was already tired of
Lan Zhan freaking out at any mention of Jiang Cheng, even though the man had already
received a mildly threatening letter from Lan Xichen about the treatment of guests from an
allied sect, and the flow of material aid from Gusu had been suspended "due to a breach of
diplomatic protocol". Wei Wuxian had tried to argue, but the Lan brothers were adamant:
until Sect Leader Jiang apologised for his behaviour toward the other side of the alliance, he
could starve.

Wei Wuxian, of course, was secretly sending Shijie part of his salary, or rather, almost all of
his salary, which was quite a lot, considering his teaching duties, while Lan Zhan bought
everything for him anyway. But still... it was nice. Jiang Cheng would never ruin his
relationship with another sect just to stand up for Wei Wuxian. To take out his frustration on
him — yes, sure. In fact, that's what he had done. But like this, saying, “until you apologise,
you get nothing,” — Wei Wuxian had never thought it could happen.
Moreover, it was one thing if you were a sect leader, an heir, or a famous cultivator. But Wei
Wuxian wasn't really anyone. That was, he was famous, sure, even if rather infamous. But he
wasn’t anyone’s brother, nephew or even a shirttail cousin... Well, sure, he was the sect heir's
consort. But he wasn’t a real family member.

“So you mean you want to go after all?” Lan Xichen clarified.

Wei Wuxian hesitated.

“I can't miss Shijie’s wedding. But there's no way I can form a core in a month! I've already
gone through the entire library, there's no way to speed it up. At least not in a way that I won't
regret. And without a core, going to the Jins... But I can't not go to her wedding.”

“Wei Ying will go," Lan Zhan decided. “He will be with me the whole time. I won't let him
be harmed.”

Lan Xichen didn't seem to like this very much.

“We have to be careful not to provoke a conflict. I think we should both stay close to Wuxian.
Moreover, the invitation allows me to bring up to ten relatives — it will be a big celebration.
Uncle will stay here, of course, but I'll choose those among the cousins who can handle
bodyguard duties.”

“Do you want to escort me everywhere?” Wei Wuxian grinned, trying to catch some humour
in Lan Xichen's tone.

“Do you have any better ideas?” Lan Xichen raised an eyebrow.

Wei Wuxian clapped his mouth shut, realising that the Sect Leader was serious. He didn't
know what to say. On the one hand, the Jins would probably try to provoke him, even though
the Tiger Seal had now been destroyed, but they didn't always need an excuse to behave
boorishly. On the other hand, where normally Wei Wuxian would have turned all their
provocations against them, now he could at most parry with words. Even something as basic
as a door suddenly swinging open in his face could cause him to reflexively defend himself,
and over the years of war, all of his reflexes had developed around dark cultivation. In Koi
Tower, he would need to remain vigilant at all times, lest heaven forbid he lose his one
chance to rebuild his core. He even wondered if the Jins had gotten wind of his condition and
scheduled the wedding now, just to create this situation.

So, walking under the escort of a dozen tough cultivators seemed to be the only way out. Of
course, it would be awkward and embarrassing, and Wei Wuxian would feel guilty that he
was the reason why the respected Lan warriors would be skulking around the corridors,
peering into the shadows. But on the other hand... The fact that the Lan Sect Leader was
willing to give him such protection even though he didn't personally care about the wedding,
and the fact that Wuxian could now find a dozen people around him who were willing to
protect him without benefit to themselves... It was so... so... something that Wei Wuxian
wasn't used to thinking about himself and wasn't ready to deal with right now.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan called out to him again. “Is this option suitable?”
“Well...” Wei Wuxian squeezed out, “If it's not too difficult.... I wouldn't want to force
anyone just for my whim...”

Both brothers stared at him with equal reproach.

“Wei Ying.”

“Wuxian,” Xichen supplied his chiding with a slight sigh and even a hint of an eye roll. “The
entire sect is concerned about your success. I'll have to organise a competition among those
who want to protect you.”

Wei Wuxian gawked, tried to swallow, choked on his saliva, and coughed. Somewhere inside,
it stung almost as much as when Lan Zhan had told him that he deserved to be loved. It was
as if Wei Wuxian's soul couldn't contain such meaningful things and threatened to burst.
Tears even came to his eyes from the exertion, and his hands reached out to hide his face.

Lan Zhan prevented him from doubling over and sat him down on a pillow, holding him by
the shoulders.

“Is everything alright?” Lan Xichen asked anxiously.

“Mn. Emotions,” Lan Zhan replied as if that explained everything. “We should ration our
praise.”

“What do you mean, a competition?!” Wei Wuxian squeezed out. “I'm nothing to them!”

“What about...” Lan Xichen started, but Lan Zhan suddenly interrupted him, breaking the
rules:

“Brother. Leave it. He'll see for himself. It's hard for Wei Ying when there are too many good
things at once.”

Lan Xichen mumbled something about sect leaders who couldn’t be trusted with a dead rock,
lest they ruin it, but then he said goodbye and left.

***

The entire month before the wedding, Wei Wuxian had to get used to the idea that the
competition had to be held after all. As a result, in addition to the official delegation, there
was also a backup group that would stay in Lanling and be on hand in case of emergency, and
Wei Wuxian hadn’t been able to dissuade them all month.

“What are you saying, Master Wei!” The young disciple, who had recently been entrusted by
Wei Wuxian to maintain the integrity of the barrier because he was very gifted in defence
techniques, was indignant. “You're the kindest of the head family, helping everyone and
giving out rewards all the time. Of course, we're all happy to help!”

“But... I'm not from the head family,” Wei Wuxian was surprised.
“How so?” All the disciples who had gathered for the traditional meeting at the Sichuan inn
were even more surprised. “You’re the Second Master’s husband!”

“I didn't even change my last name,” Wei Wuxian let out a nervous giggle.

“That was wise,” said a stocky middle-aged man, recently elevated to the rank of elder.
“There's a whole mountain of Lans, so it's hard to figure out who they're talking about. But
there’s only one Young Master Wei.”

When he returned home that evening, he sat for some time in the middle of the room,
meditating while staring at his hands, twisted in the fabric of his black hanfu.

“Wei Ying?” Lan Zhan sat down across from him and wrapped his hands around Wei
Wuxian’s fists, forcing them to relax. “Is something wrong?”

“They all think I'm a real member of the family,” he complained.

“You are a real family member,” Lan Zhan replied without blinking an eye.

“I mean, the head family!” Wei Wuxian explained a little hysterically. Okay, he had already
gotten used to the fact that Lan Zhan had married him for real.

“You are a true member of the head family,” Lan Zhan mirrored. “You are one of the most
important people in the sect and wield immense power.”

“But it's really your power,” Wei Wuxian insisted. “You're just letting me use it."

This was also the case in Lotus Pier. Wei Wuxian could afford a lot of things because he was
allowed to do so first by Uncle Jiang and then by Jiang Cheng. But if either of them said a
word, Wei Wuxian would be kicked out before he could blink.

“The position of heir consort has its own privileges,” Lan Zhan objected. “I am responsible
for your violations of the rules, but otherwise you are answerable only to the Sect Leader.
Wei Ying's authority is determined by his position, but also by the duties of the sect that he
fulfils. These duties cannot be removed from you by my decision or the Sect Leader's
decision, if the reason is only a family disagreement.”

“But that means...” Wei Wuxian tried to comprehend what he had heard. “I'm bound to the
sect through you and the work I do, and one doesn't depend on the other?”

Lan Zhan nodded.

“Wei Ying has read the Charter.”

He did read it, but it was about — normal people? Not Wei Wuxian... Wei Wuxian couldn't
expect the same guarantees as the spouses of the heirs of previous generations, could he?

Could he?
He glanced timidly at Lan Zhan. He was as unperturbed as ever, although there was
something about his posture that suggested impatience, like when he had to give a village
elder a very long and repetitive explanation.

So this was really real...? Wei Wuxian was both hot and cold at the same time. Not that he
could refuse... Not that he wanted to refuse.... But he had permitted Lan Zhan to drag him
into his clan, into a position of power, and at that, without the ability to get rid of him by
himself...? If Wei Wuxian had realised what was happening, he would have somehow
prevented it, resisted it.... But for what? To keep Lan Zhan safe from him? Because Lan Zhan
didn't realise that Wei Wuxian was actually a calamity incarnate?

Something about it sounded suspiciously similar to Madam Yu's voice.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan lifted his face by his chin. “The marriage alliance was only a
formality. I needed you. And now we all need you. The Jiangs haven't learned to appreciate
you even after so many years, but that doesn't mean they're right.”

Wei Wuxian realised that he couldn't handle this thought and if he started thinking about it
now, he would just go crazy and would never make it to Koi Tower.

“Let's go to bed," he suggested.

All in all, preparations for the visit to Koi Tower were well underway, including the mental
ones, which, for Wei Wuxian, were the hardest.

***

Wei Wuxian went to the dragon the night before setting out and brought a large batch of
offerings. Lan Zhan couldn't go with him that time: there was a lot of work to be done to
ensure that everything would run properly during their absence. It was a sunny day, and the
dragon was tumbling about, curling his body into tight rings and sending sunbursts from his
scales through the coastal pines.

“Did you come to say goodbye?” The dragon asked glumly, sensing something in Wei
Wuxian's mood.

He explained the situation with the wedding, taking a sip from his cup.

“Yeah, little brother, it's a little scary. But I can't help you, I've done what I could with the
core... Your husband is reliable though, he'll manage somehow. And if you get in too much
trouble, call me. I'm no good at cultivation business, but at least I can scare people.”

Wei Wuxian thought about the dragon coming to Koi Tower to frighten some Jin who was
getting cocky, and shook his head with a sigh. It would surely create conflict between the
sects, but real defence... A huge dragon in cramped human pavilions... No, definitely not a
good idea. So Wei Wuxian offered his thanks, but decided that he could handle it on his own.

***
On the appointed day, Wei Wuxian, of course, flew on Bichen. There was a blizzard — not so
strong as to be a threat to the journey, but cold and nasty, so Lan Zhan wrapped him up from
head to toe: he bought fur boots somewhere, ordered a cotton-padded cloak with a hood. He
pulled the hood all the way down Wei Wuxian's nose and turned him around to face him, so
that Wei Wuxian could only see the embroidery on his husband's collar.

“I won't even know when we get to Lanling," he complained.

“I'll tell you," Lan Zhan promised.

And Wei Wuxian didn’t argue. Back in the early fall, flying on someone else's sword without
a view would have been unthinkable to him. Now, it didn’t even occur to him that something
might be wrong. Lan Zhan was constantly flying him to eat out, to get a fitting, or to walk
along the ocean in good weather. Wei Wuxian nestled his nose into the warm fold under the
embroidered collar, wrapped his arms around Lan Zhan's chest, and didn't notice when he fell
asleep.

***

“Wei Ying, we're here.”

He was awakened, as it turned out, at the foot of the stairs of Koi Tower. It was forbidden to
fly further; instead they had to climb up, to comprehend the greatness of the sect. However, it
was the same for guests in Gusu.

As Wei Wuxian looked around, he realised that the stairs were full of people besides them,
most of them squinting at him and Lan Zhan and whispering. He thought about pulling back
his hood, but then considered the state of his hair after sleeping with that thing on his head
and decided to hold off until they reached their rooms. Thankfully, the Jins didn't ambush
everyone as they arrived, giving their guests a chance to tidy up.

Lan Xichen had arranged with Jin Guangyao to have them housed in a separate guest
pavilion with a common room at the entrance and bedrooms around it, so that no one could
get to Wei Wuxian directly from the entrance. Just in case, two of the entourage immediately
took up a post outside his window, taking the first watch.

In the bedroom, directly across from the five-poster bed, was a huge mirror.

“Wow, Lan Zhan, we'll have a chance to see ourselves from an unexpected angle!” Wei
Wuxian grinned, shaking off his cloak that was getting wet from the melting snow.

“Shameless," Lan Zhan commented habitually, probably not even to Wei Wuxian but to the
Jins, still, he glanced at the mirror and considered the position of the bed, his ears blushing.
Wei Wuxian noted to himself that he should make sure to cover the room with sound-
absorbing talismans for the night.

In addition to the bed, Wei Wuxian himself was also reflected in the mirror, even though he
wasn’t familiar with his own appearance. Ever since his wedding, he had been wearing the
clothes that his shijie had sent with him to the Cloud Recesses: dark blue and red clothes that
barely represented Yunmeng Jiang's colours, and black and grey — no one's colours.
However, for a visit to another sect as the heir’s husband, Wei Wuxian couldn't dress as if he
had no business being there. Lan Qiren had given him a whole lecture about it, time and
again jabbing at Lan Zhan for not providing his husband with proper attire, but here it turned
out that Lan Zhan had already provided everything long ago, he just couldn't find the right
moment to show him. One of the chests that Wei Wuxian usually sat on while reviewing his
diagrams of the sect's workings appeared to contain a full wardrobe of Gusu Lan silks
embroidered with silver.

This was what Wei Wuxian was looking at in the mirror. Wei Wuxian was not comfortable in
his new clothes, as he was used to things like wiping up spilled wine with his sleeve and not
worrying about it. And all this shining splendour looked ridiculous on him. As if a street thug
had decided to pass himself off as a rich man's son. Though, everything fit exactly to size.
Wei Wuxian was even a little embarrassed at the thought that Lan Zhan knew his body so
well that he had ordered all the clothes without a fitting.

“It's kind of weird to be out in public like this," he muttered, pulling the silver combs out of
his hair to reattach them.

“Wei Ying is dressed appropriately," Lan Zhan said smoothly and took the combs away from
him, immediately starting to redo his hair. In Lotus Pier, Wei Wuxian used to think that hair
oil was some kind of feminine product, or for those pompous, shiny-faced mama's boys. It
turned out that good oil didn’t glue the hair solid, but helped it stay where it was put.
However, whatever the effect, Wei Wuxian was ready for anything when Lan Zhan took care
of his hair, and he was happy to help his husband with the oil in his turn. After a few fen, the
strands of hair that had been dishevelled by the hood were smooth, and Wei Wuxian
recognised himself even less, but he had no time to discuss it before Lan Xichen knocked on
the door.

“If you're ready, let's go, there's no need to keep the hosts waiting. Wuxian," Sect Leader
gave him an approving glance. “It's good to see you finally wearing the Sect's robes. It suits
you very well.”

“Ah, I was just...” Wei Wuxian raised his hand to scratch the back of his head, but he
remembered that it was a beautiful hairstyle that Lan Zhan had just restored. “Lan Zhan
just...”

“Your appearance matches your status," Lan Xichen cut off and suddenly grinned strangely.
Wei Wuxian was startled, recognising Nie Mingjue's characteristic grin. It seemed that Lan
Xichen had picked up a few things in Qinghe... “Let's go.”

Wei Wuxian was walking slightly behind Lan Zhan, surrounded by people in white, and
didn't feel like he was matching any status at all. His clothes hung almost to the floor and
clung to his furry boots. The nomadic shoemakers probably hadn't planned for anyone to
wear their creations under a silk hanfu. But his feet were very warm. His growing core
couldn’t yet provide Wei Wuxian with all-weather comfort. As a result, he had to watch his
every step to avoid getting tangled in the skirts, and the heavy hair ornaments pulled his head
back — how could Lan Zhan wear them all the time? And the Lan disciples on either side of
him wouldn’t let him even flick his arm without hitting someone. Wei Wuxian sighed quietly,
realising that he would have to be patient. It was better than losing his core again, and
certainly better than missing Shijie’s wedding.

There was a Jin standing in the doorway of the banquet hall, whose function seemed to be to
block half of the aisle so that the guests would line up and enter one by one. However, under
Lan Zhan's searing gaze, he didn't make a fuss and retreated, allowing the honour guard
around Wei Wuxian to pass as it was. From the doorway, Wei Wuxian could hear voices
inside, but once he was inside the hall, all conversations fell silent.

“The Lan Clan salutes Sect Leader Jin," Lan Xichen's voice sang out. Wei Wuxian bowed
along with everyone else. He tried to see who was already in the hall, but each Lan cultivator
was taller than the last, and behind their broad shoulders, he could only see hairpins and
fragments of clothes. Jin Guangshan was clearly over at the platform, but beyond that... Nie
Mingjue seemed to be in place, but was that Huaisang or some other Nie over there? He
wished he could see what he was holding in his hand... But Wei Wuxian's status didn't allow
him to twist around and stand on his tiptoes.

He happily ignored all the officiating and only started paying attention when the Lans went to
take their seats. Lan Xichen was supposed to sit closer to the Jin Sect Leader, with Lan Zhan
as the heir to his left and Wei Wuxian as his consort either to Lan Zhan's left or behind him,
but that would mean he would be seated next to someone from another sect, and Lan Zhan
strongly objected. In the end, Jin Guangyao, who was in charge of all the whole planning,
came up with the idea of seating the Lan delegation in a staggered order, so that Wei Wuxian
would be behind but between the Jades, with the mighty cousins covering him on the left and
right. Of course, no one had told the Jins the real reason why such a precaution was
necessary, but Wei Wuxian decided he would sleep better not knowing what exactly Lan
Xichen had told them.

The Lans were silently blocking even the waiters, instead handing Wei Wuxian his food and
drink. They ignored the wine, of course, and Wei Wuxian tried to ask for it a couple times,
but then decided he could do without it. In Lanling, the wine was not particularly famous,
and at home Wei Wuxian had full access to the dragon offerings, so he wasn’t starved for a
good drink. Meanwhile, it would be easy to slip something into a cup that was definitely
meant for Wuxian.

Now he could look around. The Lans were seated on the left side of the Jin couple, and
across from them, on the right side, sat the Nie. The Jiangs were to enter the hall as the
ceremony began, as was the peacock, but for now only Jin Guangyao was scurrying between
the tables, checking to see if the honoured guests were satisfied. He tried to approach Wei
Wuxian, but the stoic wall of Lans didn't let him near, and he immediately switched to the
Laoling Qin Sect sitting just down the hall, covering up the awkwardness. Wei Wuxian
noticed that many people picked up on this, and whispers spread throughout the hall.

Finally, all the invitees had gathered and greeted the hosts, so it was time for the bride to
appear. The doors at the end of the hall swung open and Shijie walked in with Jiang Cheng
on her arm. Wei Wuxian's breath was taken away by how beautiful she was. In Lotus Pier,
she always wore light lilac or sometimes light pink, and Wei Wuxian had thought that
delicate, pastel colours suited her best, but now that he saw her in festive scarlet, with rouge
on her cheeks and bright lips, he realised how wrong he was. The bright colour suited her
incredibly well, transforming her from an unassuming modest girl into a fiery mistress of the
feast.

“Shijie is so beautiful," Wei Wuxian exhaled, forgetting to close his mouth. Out of the corner
of his eye, he noticed that Lan Zhan had turned to him, so he patted him on the arm, "Don't
look at me, look at her! You can see me whenever!”

Lan Zhan made a sound of disagreement, but still turned to face the hall. Just at that moment,
Jiang Cheng guided Shijie past them. She slid a glance at Wei Wuxian, and her smile faded,
while Jiang Cheng's gaze faltered and he almost growled. Wei Wuxian flinched, falling out of
joyful admiration, and noticed Lan Zhan's murderous gaze directed at Jiang Cheng. However,
they could neither linger nor engage in conversation, so Shijie moved on, to where the
peacock emerged from the side door near Jin Guangshan's chair. Wei Wuxian had to admit
that red also suited him, although the redness of his face spoiled the effect. But most
importantly, Wei Wuxian recognised the gaze that the peacock was looking at Shijie with. It
was a very proper gaze. Wei Wuxian knew it on his own skin as performed by his husband.
Unable to bear the poignancy of the moment, he reached out and fumbled for Lan Zhan's
hand. The latter immediately squeezed his fingers under the table without moving a shoulder.

The ceremony passed like a dream. Wei Wuxian didn't really follow the details, preoccupied
only with his thoughts about Shijie and the fact that she was worthy of a hundred times the
silks and gold that adorned her, and that if the peacock stopped looking at her as the world’s
greatest treasure for even a moment, Wei Wuxian would break his cutesie-wootsie face.

Finally, all the bows were completed, and the newlyweds joined the Jin couple at the end of
the hall, showing that Shijie now belonged to their family, while Jiang Cheng took a lone seat
next to the Nie clan, exactly opposite Wei Wuxian. He immediately gave him a look of
hatred.

Of course, he blamed Wei Wuxian for the fact that he had stopped receiving support from the
Lans. Wei Wuxian didn't doubt this for a moment. It was Wei Wuxian who had fallen on his
head like a hailstone, though he had been invited, and forced him to destroy all the stray
corpses in Yunmeng for free... Advised him to tell everyone about it, so the sect was flooded
with disciples of a much more decent level, and the rich people rushed to sell Jiang Cheng
their third or fourth sons as disciples, and certainly not for nothing. This was only what Wei
Wuxian had heard in Gusu, where gossip was forbidden. Now the whole hall was buzzing
with gossip that two great sects had finally formed an alliance and their heirs had cleansed
the entire Jianghu of evil in one sitting. You'd think Lan Zhan hadn’t even been there. Wei
Wuxian clenched his teeth and tried to restrain himself. After all, he wasn’t a spoiled brat
who would yap at offenders from behind his guards. When he grew his core... he'd have time
to remind them who was worth what.

It was time to present gifts to the newlyweds. From the Nie Sect, under the sect leader's
searing gaze, Huaisang came forward, stammered, and presented a ceremonial tea set made
of clay with unique properties. Wei Wuxian thought he saw the flash of a book in the chest,
and judging by the way Jin Zixuan blushed, he was right. Wei Wuxian covered his smile with
a cup of tea and regretted that he wouldn't be able to gossip with Huaisang like in the old
days. Not in the middle of all his guards!

Lan Xichen stood up next and handed over books, as usual, and a small box of enchanted
jewellery from Wei Wuxian, but he didn't specify this aloud. The box contained a letter for
Shijie, explaining who the maker was and how things worked. Even though Wei Wuxian
couldn't use his underdeveloped core to hunt, that didn't stop him from developing new
protective charms, and Lan Zhan was eager to provide his qi.

During the entire time that Sect Leader Lan had been well-wishing the young couple, Shijie
had been looking at Wei Wuxian anxiously. He was beginning to wonder if she was not here
of her own free will and needed to be rescued. But judging from the way Jiang Cheng's gaze
was burning through him, it was something else. Could it be that there was some new rumour
about Wei Wuxian? But he wouldn't know about it among the Lans. And why should he? He
was doing just fine without that knowledge.

When the young couple finally left the party, Wei Wuxian secretly shook his fist at the
peacock and sighed as another cup was passed around. Of course, he wished for his sister to
have a better lot than that swaggering donkey and the gilded vipers’ nest. But at least she
liked the donkey, and babysitting Jiang Cheng alone was hard work that could age you
prematurely. And after all, Shijie had made her choice. Wei Wuxian hadn’t had a choice; he
was just lucky. No matter how much it shocked him, he had a different family and a different
life now. He had no way of knowing if Shijie had any problems, though he would be happy to
help.

Since drinking with the Jins was less than pleasant, and the Lans didn't like watching others
get drunk while they stayed sober, they soon decided to retire to their rooms. It wasn’t yet
bedtime even for the Lans, so Wei Wuxian was busy pasting silencing talismans all over their
rooms, not only to hide the night's activities, but also so that if anyone decided to eavesdrop
on what the Lans were saying to each other, they would leave empty-handed.

Afterward, he spent the evening playing a word game of his own invention with the guards. It
took some time to convince all the participants, especially Lan Zhan, that the game was not a
game of chance and didn’t break any rules, but rather helped them develop their oratory
skills. In the end, Lan Zhan refused to play, most likely because Xichen had teased him.
Xichen won most of the rounds, even though he realised that Wei Wuxian wasn’t playing to
his full potential, allowing others to get used to the rules.

When Wei Wuxian bowed and left for the bedroom, Lan Zhan was sitting at a desk reading a
book by candlelight.

“Ah, I don’t look after my husband at all," Wei Wuxian sighed. “I should have thought of
some leisure activities for you too!”

Lan Zhan lifted an unsure look from the book.

“Wasn't this for me?”

“Hm?” Wei Wuxian flopped down on the bed and put his hands behind his head. The Jins'
beds were nice. At least they had something. “It was for everyone. It just occurred to me, and
I thought, we had to have something to do in Koi Tower.”

Lan Zhan put the book aside and moved to the edge of the bed.

“Do you want me to speak better?”

Wei Wuxian eyed him with a huff. What a thing to come up with!

“You speak very well!” he assured. “If you played with us, you'd beat everyone! Even your
brother, I'm sure! You're concise and to the point. They could all learn from you!”

Lan Zhan averted his gaze but stroked Wei Wuxian's hand.

“Hey!" Wei Wuxian got up on his elbows. “What, are you offended that I suggested such a
game?”

Lan Zhan briefly shook his head and faintly lifted the corners of his lips.

“I'll play next time.”

Wei Wuxian pulled him in for a kiss and plopped him on the bed beside him.

“I need to freshen up," Lan Zhan said without trying to get up. Wei Wuxian tilted his head
back and looked for the bell-pull in the semi-darkness. Then yanked it. Lan Zhan kissed him
again and started to rise. “We should warn the guards that servants will be coming in.”

“I can't wait until tomorrow to have a few words with Shijie and go home," Wei Wuxian
yawned as he stretched out on the bed. While Lan Zhan was dealing with the guards and
servants, Wei Wuxian took a closer look at the carved headboard, and then at the red wedding
ribbon he wore on his wrist. The prank suggested itself.

“Lan Zha-an," he called softly, just as the servants were bringing in the bathing tub. Lan Zhan
turned around and, of course, immediately noticed his ribbon threaded through the slots in the
headboard and wrapped around both of Wei Wuxian's wrists. With a change in his face, he
growled something unintelligible and in a single motion unfolded the screen, which was
standing by the wall, blocking Wei Wuxian from view. Wei Wuxian burst into silent laughter.

To wash, Lan Zhan untied him from the bed, undressed him, and immediately tied his wrists
together.

“Ah, so you like this idea," Wei Wuxian grinned, purposely working his hands as if he was
trying and failing to free himself. “Who would have thought that the virtuous Hanguang-jun
harboured such dark desires! Ah, Lan Zhan, you should have warned me about this before the
wedding, I would have prepared some shackles!

Lan Zhan seemed to be ready to forget about bathing and pounce on Wei Wuxian as he was,
but then suddenly the outside door swung open, and in the next instant, the screen flew aside,
engulfed in sparks of lightning. The candles were extinguished by a gust of wind, and a dark
figure froze on the threshold.
 Chapter 20
Chapter by teawater

Chapter Summary

Well, there we go on the final ride! Hopefully, all questions will be answered here ^^

🥰
Once again, thanks to the_anthropologist and ddTiel for helping me bring this work into
English

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

The only thing stopping Wei Wuxian from snatching Chenqing from the bedside table was
his tied hands. He would have managed it anyway, but this slowed him down for those
fractions of a moment during which he managed to get his bearings and hide behind Lan
Zhan. Lan Zhan drew his sword, and in its bluish light, Wei Wuxian finally recognised the
intruder.

“Jiang Cheng?!” he blurted out, backing away. Frantic thoughts flashed through his head:
Jiang Cheng was now in the Jins’ pocket? Or did he decide to take revenge for the frozen
aid? Or did he decide that Wei Wuxian ruined the wedding with his presence?!

“Wei Wuxian!” Sect Leader Jiang began angrily, but was distracted by Bichen pointed at his
face. “Damn it, doesn’t he leave your side at all?!”

Wei Wuxian, with his hands tied, couldn’t put on his hanfu, but at least pulled on his pants,
and then opened the door to the common room, where the Lan cousins ​were still determining
the watch shifts.

“Attack!!!” he yelled, falling out into the brightly lit hall. The cultivators immediately
jumped up and grabbed their weapons, surrounding Wei Wuxian in a bristling ring with
blades outward.

“What is the meaning of this?” Lan Xichen asked in a murderous tone as he entered the
bedroom with Shuoyue bared. “Sect Leader Jiang?!”

But Jiang Cheng ignored him.

“Wei Wuxian, what the hell?! Why did you alert them?! You idiot, you and I could take out
Lan Wangji!”

Something finally clicked in Wei Wuxian's mind.

“Did you break in to save me from the Lans?!” He was amazed. “Are you completely out of
your mind?!”

“You’re the one out of your mind!” Jiang Cheng yelled back, not paying any attention to the
swords pointed at him. “They escort you everywhere, there are even two guards at the door! I
asked the servants, they said you were lying here tied up! What the hell, Lan Xichen?! If I
showed disrespect to your precious infallible brother, does that mean you can treat Wei
Wuxian any way you want?! If the marriage alliance isn’t desirable anymore, then let’s end
this farce and I’ll take Wei Wuxian back! You have no right to keep him locked up!”

“Sect Leader Jiang, I didn’t suspend aid under our agreement because you insulted Wangji,”
Xichen said coldly while Wei Wuxian picked up his jaw. “I thought I expressed myself quite
clearly in my letter. You behaved inappropriately towards Wuxian. And so far I don’t see any
repentance, and therefore Wuxian will definitely not return to Lotus Pier.”

Jiang Cheng stared at Sect Leader Lan in shock.

“I’ve lived with Wei Wuxian all my life and I know perfectly well how it’s acceptable and
unacceptable to behave! You simply want to keep him and not pay me! How shrewd of the
Lan sect!”

As he spoke, Jiang Cheng began to make faces, hinting to Wei Wuxian to run away while
they bickered. Wei Wuxian sighed. It was touching, although he definitely had no intention of
escaping, especially to Lotus Pier. But, taking advantage of the moment, he untied the ribbon
and wound it all around one wrist.

“Jiang Cheng, calm down, no one is keeping me under lock and key. I'm really fine.”

“Fine?! Is it normal that you haven’t written a single letter to me since the fall?”

Wei Wuxian shrugged.

“You didn’t write me a single letter either, and considering how we parted, I didn’t think that
you wanted to communicate with me very much.”

Jiang Cheng scowled.

“Who says that I want to communicate with you?! You’re a disciple of my sect and should be
in touch! You didn’t even bother to solicit renewal of my funding!”

“What was I supposed to do, forge your apology letter?” Wei Wuxian asked, but at the same
time Lan Xichen said:

“Wei Wuxian is no longer a member of your sect. He belongs to Gusu Lan and doesn’t report
to you.”

“Wei Wuxian knows whose disciple he is,” Jiang Cheng snapped. “He sealed this alliance for
the sake of the Jiang Sect, but I’m not seeing any benefit. Or do you think I released him
from Lotus Pier so that he could let the good times roll?!”
Wei Wuxian clenched his teeth. Well, yes, it was touching. Or it would be if Jiang Cheng was
anxious or worried. For many years, Wei Wuxian tried his best to see some deeper, warmer
feelings behind Jiang Cheng’s angry grimace. But now that he knew what it was like to be
truly appreciated, he could no longer discern anything there.

“As far as I remember,” Lan Xichen said coldly, “you let him come to us for treatment. But
be that as it may, the marriage alliance was sealed according to all the protocols, and it was
you who broke them.”

“In that case, I’m terminating the marriage alliance and taking Wei Wuxian back!” Jiang
Cheng barked.

Wei Wuxian felt cold. Could Jiang Cheng do such a thing? And didn’t he understand that Wei
Wuxian didn’t want to go back? Or he understood all right and just didn’t care? Could he
have in fact given him to the Lans as punishment?

“The marriage is sealed,” Lan Zhan said. “It cannot be terminated by Sect Leader Jiang’s
decision.”

“But it can be by Wei Wuxian’s decision! Come on, tell them what you think of them already,
and let's end this farce!”

Wei Wuxian froze. He felt guilty for not supporting his former almost-brother in difficult
times, but it was also for the sake of Jiang Cheng and his sect that he had agreed to this
marriage. Not to mention his biggest sacrifice in the name of Yunmeng Jiang. How much
more did he have to give? Wasn't he now bound by obligations to Gusu Lan? They might not
have picked him up off the street, but was all that trust and respect he first experienced in
Cloud Recesses worth less than his debt to the Jiangs? And didn't he pay it with interest?
Jiang Cheng blamed him for Wen Chao's attack on Lotus Pier, but hadn't Cloud Recesses
already burned down by then? Hadn’t the Unclean Realm surrendered? And Yunmeng Jiang
was the smallest of the great sects, Wen Ruohan could have snapped them up in one bite...

“Wei Ying?”

Lan Zhan turned around and touched his hand. Lan Zhan, who loved him so much that he
was willing to learn the Dark Path. The Lans needed Wei Wuxian as a family member and as
a collaborator in the sect, and in return he received love, status, and power. And why did
Jiang Cheng need him? And what would he get in return? No matter how hard Wei Wuxian
tried, he couldn’t come up with anything good. And he had already paid off his debts.

“I won’t end the marriage,” Wei Wuxian said, looking into Jiang Cheng’s eyes.

He spat a curse.

“How did they intimidate you?”

“What's going on?!”

Two figures appeared in the open door behind Jiang Cheng: Shijie and Peacock. Wei Wuxian
growled. It was their wedding, they were supposed to be having their wedding night now!
What idiot disturbed them for the sake of Jiang Cheng’s troubles?! Then, Jin Guangyao's cap
flashing in the background answered this question.

“A-Xian, they won’t let you go?!” Shijie moved to Jiang Cheng and stood next to him, face
to face with Lan Zhan. The remnants of the wedding jewellery still stuck out of her hair, but
she was already dressed in a casual Jin hanfu, which looked like it belonged to the peacock.
“Here in Koi Tower you have nothing to fear, Zixuan will call the guards, and the Lans won’t
be able to do anything!”

“No need to call the guards!” Wei Wuxian was horrified. “I don’t need to be saved at all, I’m
doing great in Gusu Lan!”

“You’re doing great!” Jiang Cheng scoffed. “Do you even think about your sect?! I have to
rescue you here in the middle of the night, you ruined my sister’s wedding night, do you even
have a conscience?!”

Wei Wuxian almost choked at the injustice of the accusations. He had managed to get out of
the habit of communicating with Jiang Cheng, and it seemed that during the time they didn’t
see each other, he had tilted towards Madam Yu’s style.

“Sect Leader Jiang, it was you who burst into Wuxian’s bedroom and caused a scandal,” Lan
Xichen noted. “And it’s time for me to call the guards of Koi Tower to remove you .”

“Of course you want to remove me!” Jiang Cheng roared. “But I won’t leave without my
disciple! And the Jins will support me!”

Wei Wuxian began to simmer. He stood still in his pants in the middle of the crowd of Lans,
and on the other side of the door the spectators kept arriving.

“I'm not going anywhere with you!” he said. “Leave me alone! You yourself sold me to Gusu
Lan, just like you sold your sister to Lanling Jin. You don’t want her back, do you?!”

“She isn’t taken away under guard and tied up for the night!” Jiang Cheng retorted. “If you
want me to believe that you aren’t being kept under lock and key, come out of there and talk
to me alone!”

Wei Wuxian assessed the situation. The crowd of Jins and other cultivators behind Jiang
Cheng was growing. Where could they go to be alone? And even if they found a place... Wei
Wuxian would be completely defenceless.

“I’m not going anywhere without Lan Zhan,” he said firmly.

“Sect Leader Jiang, Wei Wuxian is surrounded by guards for his own safety,” Lan Xichen
explained, fairly tired of this skirmish. “And he will not go anywhere alone with you, since
you clearly demonstrated in the last meeting that you don’t care about his well-being and
pose a threat to him.”
“Me?!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed. “Wei Wuxian, what is he talking about?! You will come with
me now and explain everything!”

“Is A-Xian in danger?” Shijie interrupted.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Wei Wuxian snapped. “I’m not in shape and I won’t be
able to stand up for myself if anything happens. Let's put off this conversation until I get
better.”

Whispers spread through the crowd outside the door.

“I don’t understand,” Jiang Cheng began quietly and threateningly. “Do you not trust me ?”

Wei Wuxian froze, realising that this must be the case. He felt completely safe next to Lan
Zhan: he would never offend him and wouldn’t let anyone else. But Jiang Cheng…? It was
Wei Wuxian who always had to adjust and dodge, and even cover Jiang Cheng with his own
body.

“No,” he said quietly but firmly.

“A-Xian!” Shijie gasped. “A-Cheng! I told you that you shouldn’t have agreed to a marriage
alliance! Look what you've done! How could you just take him and sell him to another
sect?!”

Jiang Cheng, who had been gasping for air for a couple of moments, snapped at her.

“What have I done?! He lives there with everything provided for him, kicks shit all day long,
and I don’t see a single copper from this transaction, and that’s called a sale?! You didn't even
give A-jie anything!”

“A-Cheng!” Madam Yu’s metallic intonations suddenly appeared in Shijie’s voice, and the
peacock stared at her with an oily gaze, which made Wei Wuxian feel unwell. “A-Xian sent
me more money every month than the entire wedding cost you!”

“What?!” Jiang Cheng was dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you tell me?! We desperately need
money! What, did you waste it all on red silk?!”

Shijie covered her face with her hand.

“Because you didn’t deserve it, that’s why! Sect Leader Lan clearly wrote to you: apologise!
Did you think I didn't read your letters? A-Cheng, I can’t always look after you and beg
everyone around you not to quarrel with you when you behave like this, and you sent A-Xian
away yourself! And as soon as you were left alone, look what you did!” She gestured around
the gathered crowd. “It's time to grow up!”

Jiang Cheng's scowl slowly but surely turned back to Wei Wuxian.

“So this is how grateful you are to your natal sect. Our father picked you up from the street,
fed you, taught you, tolerated you , but as soon as the money ran out, you found yourself a
richer home? Have you forgotten who you owe your position to? Forgotten what our family
had to go through for you? Did you forget that my parents died because of you?! You belong
to the Jiang Sect, and I decide where you should be and in what role!”

“Wei Ying is not to blame for the attack on Lotus Pier,” Lan Zhan interjected, but Wei
Wuxian had already had enough. If Jiang Cheng refused to see anything other than his right
to control Wei Wuxian's life, then Wei Wuxian saw no reason to care about him anymore.

“I don’t owe you anything,” he growled. “I gave my life, my strength and my freedom to the
Jiang Sect! I died for you in the Burial Mounds, and then survived on carrion for three
months to avenge your parents!”

“I died for you at Lotus Pier!” Jiang Cheng yelled back. “I distracted them from you when
they grabbed me, have you forgotten already?!”

“And who did you help with that?! If they had grabbed me, I would have survived! Unlike
you, I have friends I can rely on, although you tried so hard to prevent it that I almost became
an outcast in the cultivation world!!!”

Wei Wuxian felt that his face was burning from screaming, and his eyes were clouded with
moisture, but he could no longer stop.

“You would have lost your big, shiny golden core, and then the cultivation world would
definitely have been closed to you!” Jiang Cheng yelled back.

“I lost it anyway!!!” Wei Wuxian yelled, not caring that now all of Koi Tower would know
the details. Let them know. He was in no danger next to Lan Zhan, and he couldn’t let Jiang
Cheng take him, even at such a cost. “I lost it anyway! I gave it to you, idiot, so you could
revive your sect! There was no Baoshan-sanren! I gave you my core, cut it out of my body,
because you couldn’t stay put at the inn in Yiling!!!”

There was a ringing silence. Everyone, even Lan Xichen, stared at Wei Wuxian's bare
stomach and a small surgical scar. Only Lan Zhan didn’t seem surprised, but raised his arm in
its wide sleeve, shielding Wei Wuxian’s body from prying eyes.

“You’re lying,” Jiang Cheng breathed.

Wei Wuxian smiled bitterly, amazed at himself: how could he have considered this man
almost a brother for so many years? Wei Wuxian had seen how other families lived, how the
people in them treated each other. Why did he believe that everyone else was entitled to love
and respect by birthright, but not him?

“Do you think I would lie to you about something like that? And you’re surprised that I don’t
trust you.”

“There was a woman there!” Jiang Cheng blurted out defensively. “It couldn't have been you!
You weren't even with me!”

“It was Wen Qing, and I came up later,” Wei Wuxian shook his head. Due to exhaustion, the
anger passed quickly, leaving emptiness in its wake. “When you'd already passed out from
the sedative.”

The shock on Jiang Cheng's face gradually changed to a furious scowl.

“Then why did you put on such a performance?! You could have admitted it right away!
Why, you could have pulled it all off without me even knowing! You are a great master of
doing good out of spite and on the sly!”

“A-Cheng!” Shijie shouted. Her face was flooded with tears.

“I didn’t want you to think that you owed me anything,” Wei Wuxian replied. “I was afraid
that if you found out, it would build an insurmountable wall between us. That you’d lack
confidence in yourself as the Sect Leader. But the wall has already grown, and I no longer
have anything to do with your sect.”

“I don’t owe you anything,” Jiang Cheng squeezed out, and Zidian trembled and sparkled in
his hand. “Because of you, my parents died! You’ve paid for your mistakes!”

“It’s not Wei Ying’s fault,” Lan Zhan began, but Wei Wuxian put his hand on his elbow.

“Jiang Cheng, to avenge them, I created a weapon that I could barely control. And to protect
you, I didn’t destroy it when it became a threat to me. For your sake, I allowed it to be
destroyed when I wasn’t ready for it. For your sake, I agreed to a marriage alliance, although
I was sure that it would mean captivity, if not execution. But, you know what, in captivity in
a sect, whose principles I violate by my very existence, I was accepted into the family, and
for the first time I learned what it’s like when someone stands up for me! Now you want me
to leave the people who rely on me and return my kindness to wipe your snot again?
Amazingly, I don't come running!”

“A-Xian,” Shijie sobbed. “So, now you don’t have a core? And without your seal... You can't
be a cultivator anymore?”

“Don’t worry, shijie,” Wei Wuxian waved her off. “I’m already growing a new one, but until
it’s ready, I have to rely on others to guard me.”

“So, it didn’t even cost you anything!” Jiang Cheng wheezed.

“Enough!” Lan Zhan growled.

“Sect Leader Jiang, I think Wuxian has answered all your questions.” Lan Xichen looked as
if he was clinging to the Lan principles by his fingernails so as not to order Jiang Cheng
carried out feet first. “Please leave his bedroom and do not disturb him again until you fulfil
the conditions from my letter.”

Jiang Cheng turned to Jin Zixuan.

“They have no right...”

But the peacock recoiled from him in disgust.

“You!” Jiang Cheng shouted. “I gave you my sister! We’re allies now!”

“Ah, Sect Leader Jiang,” Jin Guangyao’s insinuating voice interjected. “We are all allies here.
In case you forgot, Zewu-jun is my sworn brother. Do you really expect that the Jin Sect, at
your behest, will start a conflict with the Lan Sect? Moreover, you’re the one disturbing the
peace by distracting Older Brother on a night when he should only be thinking about his
young wife. And all because you can’t decide whether you want to get rid of the disciple who
gave you his golden core, or force him to work for you against his wishes... Really, Sect
Leader Jiang, perhaps you shouldn’t have overdone it with the wine at the feast; after all,
Lanling wines are quite strong.” He turned to Lan Xichen. “Second Brother, on behalf of the
Jin Sect, I apologise for allowing this situation to happen. We’ll make sure that Sect Leader
Jiang doesn’t disturb you again tonight.”

Jiang Cheng tried to object, but Shijie grabbed his sleeve in a vice-like grip and pulled him
away.

“Go to sleep, A-Cheng. We'll talk again tomorrow.”

And it sounded so much like Madam Yu that Wei Wuxian wanted to hide behind his husband.

“Good night,” Jin Zixuan awkwardly squeezed out and waved for the other Jins to disperse.

Lan Xichen waited until everyone had moved away and ordered the guards to bring in those
whom Jiang Cheng had knocked out to enter the bedroom. They were immediately infused
with qi, and soon they began to move.

“With my own core...” Wei Wuxian shook his head.

“This is true?” Lan Xichen looked at him seriously when the doors were securely closed and
covered with talismans.

Wei Wuxian shuddered at the question: did the Sect Leader really not believe him?

“It’s true,” Lan Zhan answered for him. “Sect Leader Jiang could have guessed it if he had
troubled himself to.”

“You knew, right?” Wei Wuxian asked quietly. Lan Zhan nodded.

“How is this even possible?” Lan Xichen continued. “Our library contains a large collection
of works on golden cores, but I’ve never seen any mention that a core can be given to
someone else.”

“That was Wen Qing’s invention,” Wei Wuxian sighed. Now that the rage had subsided, he
felt guilty again. He wanted to protect Jiang Cheng, but in the end he threw everything in his
face... But he couldn’t let Jiang Cheng tear him out of his new family, using his duty to the
sect as leverage. He couldn't leave Lan Zhan. And Lan Xichen with his accounting abilities.
And the children, his students, not to mention the rest of the disciples, who had no one to talk
to but him. Jiang Cheng wouldn’t be happier if Wei Wuxian returned. He just wanted to take
back what he considered his.
“I heard about a healer from the Wen clan,” Lan Xichen said and shook his head. “It’s sad
that such talent was lost due to Wen Ruohan’s greed.”

“What do you mean lost?” Wei Wuxian perked up. “What happened to her?!”

“I don’t know,” Xichen frowned. “But I didn’t hear about her after the war. If she lived in
Nightless City...”

“I don’t know where she normally lived, but right before the war, she was sent to head the
supervisory office in Yiling.” Wei Wuxian thoughtfully scratched the scar on his stomach,
and Lan Zhan, coming to his senses, threw a hanfu over his shoulders. “So either she’s still
there, or she’s returned to her family. Her branch of the clan didn’t participate in the war at
all.”

A strange expression appeared on Lan Xichen’s face: it seemed as if he remembered

something, either important or unpleasant.

“I need to talk to A-Yao about something,” he muttered and slipped out of the room.

Wei Wuxian backed away and sat on the bed, not thinking at all. He had told the whole world
about his core, completely split with Jiang Cheng, and now it was unclear what was going on
with the Wens...

“Wei Ying, go to bed,” Lan Zhan advised, but Wei Wuxian’s thoughts were racing like
rabbits; how could he sleep?

“It seems to me that tonight isn’t over yet,” he muttered, wrapping his hanfu around himself
more tightly. “Wen Qing wasn’t killed, was she? I would have heard, right?”

Although it wasn’t very clear how he would have heard. He wasn’t interested in the fate of
her family after the war. First, he drank his soul away in Lotus Pier, and then everything went
arse over tea kettle with the marriage...

“Brother will find out,” Lan Zhan said.

Something clicked in Wei Wuxian’s head.

“He went to find out from the Jins, right? Did they do something to the Wens?”

“I don’t know,” Lan Zhan shook his head. “But Brother will find out.”

Wei Wuxian shivered and began to get dressed. He didn’t trust the Jins and, as it turned out,
he was right: Lan Xichen soon knocked on the bedroom door again.

“Wuxian... It’s good that you haven’t gone to bed yet,” he began, and from his anxious look,
Wei Wuxian realised that he’d have to act quickly. “A-Yao had told me about this, but I
hadn’t been listening... Jin Zixun, on the occasion of his cousin’s wedding, organised an
archery competition, and wants to use the captive Wen cultivators as targets. But there are
very few of them, most have already been killed, and therefore he was going to just bring
everyone with the surname Wen to Lanling, even civilians...”
“Where?!” Wei Wuxian blurted out. “Where do I fly?”

“As I understand it, a squad just went to Qishan today to pick up prisoners. It's not far from
Yiling.”

Wei Wuxian, without saying anything, put his flute in his belt and picked up his sword.

“Wei Ying, you should stay,” Lan Zhan began.

“I owe them my life. Twice,” Wei Wuxian snapped.

Lan Zhan took a short breath and nodded.

“Be careful.”

With these words, he unsheathed Bichen and handed Wei Wuxian his warm cloak.

“What about the other sects, are they fine with shooting at civilians?” Wei Wuxian asked
nervously as they walked towards the stairs, because they could only take off from the
bottom.

“I don’t think anyone else knows the details,” Lan Xichen explained. “I didn’t understand it
myself at first, A-Yao spoke in hints, he can’t afford to openly undermine the Jin clan. I asked
him to notify Mingjue, but it's already past bedtime...”

“It’s not past bedtime for the Nie,” Wei Wuxian snorted. “But they’re probably all drunk.”

Lan Xichen remained silent, but Wei Wuxian knew from his pursed lips that he was right.
Fortunately, two dozen more disciples were waiting for them in the city, who happily joined
the rescue mission.

***

The flight away from Lanling wasn’t nearly as relaxing as toward it. Wei Wuxian, of course,
was no longer able to fall asleep, but instead squinted through the wind and slushy snow
drizzle. It seemed to him that they were barely crawling through the air, although he knew
perfectly well how fast the Lans flew, and until now it completely suited him.

They reached Yiling at dawn. Wei Wuxian didn’t even have time to pick out the Burial
Mounds from the outline of the surrounding mountains when light Jin clothes began to
sparkle below his feet. The rays of the morning sun illuminated the gold embroidery, giving
the whole event a blessed look. In fact, the illustrious cultivators were pulling reluctant
people out of their houses, lining them up in single file and tying them up. Wei Wuxian saw
several children, including some so small that they wouldn’t make it far on their own. But it
was impossible to discern acquaintances in the dark mass of people — the Wens, it seemed,
had lost their sect uniforms after the war.

Lan Zhan dived almost vertically, and Wei Wuxian saw the soles of other Lans, who
descended more gently, in spirals. They landed right in front of the head of the line of people,
and Wei Wuxian immediately recognised Wen Ning. He stood with his head bowed, tied
more carefully than the others, with a bruise on his face.

“Wen Ning!” Wei Wuxian blurted out, not knowing what to say next.

The young man shuddered and looked up, and a smile immediately lit up his face.

“Young Master Wei! You…” he fell silent, looking around at the Lans.

By that time, Xichen had also landed and glanced at some high-ranking Jin.

“What's going on here?” He asked in a cold tone that imitated Lan Zhan so well that Wei
Wuxian almost laughed.

The nearby Jins froze, staring at the Lans. Finally, the one the Sect Leader was addressing
stepped forward.

“I need to ask you this, masters Lan. We were minding our own business here, so who invited
you?”

“This territory doesn’t belong to the Jin Sect,” Lan Xichen noted. “Any cultivator has the
right to come here at any time.”

“So we came, because it doesn’t belong to the Lan Sect either!” the leader grinned. There
was something vile about him, just like Jin Zixun. Surely a relative.

“Who told you to capture civilians?” Wei Wuxian interrupted, unable to stay away.

The Jin glanced at him and turned back to Xichen. He didn’t recognise me, Wei Wuxian
realised. Then again, yesterday he barely recognised himself in the mirror.

“I agree with Master Wei Wuxian’s question,” said Lan Xichen, who also noticed the lack of
reaction.

The Jin immediately glanced nervously at Wei Wuxian and scowled.

“You brought a prisoner without asking anyone, so why do we have to explain ourselves?”

Wei Wuxian frowned, not immediately understanding who the Jin was talking about.

“Wuxian is not a prisoner,” replied Zewu-jun.

“Oh, please, the whole world already knows you locked him up,” the Jin snorted. “Or is he
your watchdog now?”

Wei Wuxian was instantly tired of this conversation. If he could, he would have already
pulled out Chenqing and showed everyone present how much of a prisoner he was, but he
couldn’t, and words would hardly have convinced anyone.
“Whether I’m a prisoner or not, I took part in the war, and I’m held accountable to martial
law. But you here are oppressing civilians. I ask again, who gave you the right to capture
them?”

“How civilian are they when they’re Wens?” The Jin scoffed.

Wei Wuxian also scoffed.

“There are only a hundred surnames, but there are so many people in the Celestial Empire, so
what if someone’s called Wen? I know these guys personally, they didn’t take part in the war,
and who would know if not me; I looked through the eyes of every dead man who had a
grudge against the Wens.”

The Jin turned pale and retreated half a step.

“They are relatives of Wen Ruohan himself!” he didn’t give up.

“How can you prove it?” Wei Wuxian retorted.

“Why on earth do I have to prove anything to you, corpse desecrator?!” The Jin bellowed,
shaking his fist, but ran into Lan Zhan’s murderous gaze, infernally illuminated by the bluish
glow of Bichen, which he hadn’t sheathed.

“I’ll ask you to remain within the bounds of decency when talking to the young master of the
Lan clan,” Lan Xichen said calmly. “The war is over. If these people are guilty of any crimes,
it must be proven and they must be judged. Arbitrary punishment by individual sects is
unacceptable. Release them immediately.”

The Jin gritted his teeth, but he didn’t really have a choice — he couldn’t fight the Lans,
especially considering that most of the Jin guards, who had given up dragging people and
crowded behind their commander, could hardly be called cultivators at all. They didn’t even
carry spiritual weapons. Wei Wuxian couldn’t stay idle anymore and, pulling a small knife
from his boot (thanks to the nomadic shoemaker, who provided a pocket), stepped forward to
cut the ropes on Wen Ning. Lan Zhan squeezed himself between him and the Jins, glaring at
anyone who dared to even glance at Wei Wuxian. Wen Ning began to thank him, barely
getting the words out through his stutter, but Wei Wuxian just waved him off.

The Lan disciples also drew knives and swords and began to free the Wens, at the same time
carefully surrounding them in a protective ring. Wei Wuxian was once again glad that not ten,
but more than thirty people had come with him to Lanling, and although there were about
twice as many Wens, the Jins still wouldn’t be able to get past if they decided to try some
kind of mischief.

But how to transport them? Wei Wuxian definitely didn’t intend to leave the Wens here, a
couple of mountains away from Yiling, where they would become fodder not just for the Jins,
but for any other stray dog.

“We’ll take them to Gusu, right?” Wei Wuxian asked Lan Xichen.
“I don’t see why not. But, as I understand it, most people here aren’t cultivators? We need to
think about how best to organise the move. It might be worth buying horses and carts in
Yiling...”

The thought of cultivators suddenly reminded Wei Wuxian of something.

“Where is Wen Qing?”

“Haven’t you seen each other?” Wen Ning was surprised. Having received a puzzled look in
response, he explained: “My sister went to look for Master Wei...”

“Where did she go? On foot?”

“Well, yes... To Lotus Pier... We didn’t know that you’re a Gusu disciple now.”

“How long has she been gone?” Luo Longwei interjected, looking around as if Wen Qing
might be hiding between the houses.

“Since the Jins appeared,” answered a middle-aged man who was pushed towards them by
the crowd. “I immediately told her: run and look for help. True, I didn’t think that she would
find it, but she’s the most important of all of us. I thought, maybe we can talk our way out of
it... And she’s a girl, after all, and these...” he glared unkindly at the Jins.

“Young master, should I fly after her?” Luo Longwei suggested.

Wei Wuxian nodded, but immediately caught himself.

“Wait, she won’t trust you. I should write her a note or something... You don’t know what she
looks like!” Wei Wuxian slapped his forehead. “Who knows how many women there are on
the road… Listen, you can carry two, right?”

Disciple Luo looked him over from head to toe.

“Only if they’re small...”

Wei Wuxian spun around where he stood at the edge of the crowd and spotted a petite girl.

“Lady! Would you be so kind as to ride a sword with this gentleman and help him find Wen
Qing?”

The girl meticulously examined Luo Longwei, who, from such attention, lost all his nerve
and was somewhat embarrassed.

“Does Lady Qing really want this gentleman to find her?” the girl asked suspiciously.

“She wants me to find her because she went looking for me. Explain to her that Wei Wuxian
is already here, and I don’t think she’ll be stubborn.”

The girl exchanged glances with a middle-aged man — perhaps her father — and, receiving a
silent nod, offered her hand to Luo Longwei. They promptly went in search.
Wei Wuxian was thinking about transportation again, but then his foot got stuck in
something. Looking down, he saw a child, a toddler, who grabbed his shin as if he was going
to climb it.

“Who is this?” Wei Wuxian was charmed.

“A-Yuan!” an elderly woman pushed her way out of the crowd, unwinding pieces of rope
from her wrists as she walked. Wei Wuxian noticed the deep red welts on her skin and gritted
his teeth. “Don’t touch the masters!”

“It’s okay, granny,” Wei Wuxian assured, bending down to pick up the little one and take a
closer look. “So you are A-Yuan?”

“My c-cousin on my mother’s side,” Wen Ning explained, smiling shyly. “He likes to grab
people’s legs, sorry.”

Wei Wuxian laughed and brushed the hair that was stuck to A-Yuan’s cheeks away from his
face. His cheeks were grimy and wet from recent tears. Wei Wuxian’s hands were itching to
whip some Jin arses, but he couldn’t do anything himself.

“Lan Zhan,” he called, not knowing what he wanted.

Lan Zhan, as usual, was covering his back, not taking his eyes off the annoyed Jins crowding
at a distance, but for the sake of the baby he looked away, put his hand into his sleeve and
took out an osmanthus cake, which he often carried with him for Wei Wuxian.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, you’re so caring!” Wei Wuxian couldn’t hold back his emotional outburst.
“A-Yuan, look, at first sight you won the heart of the most beautiful gege in the world!”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan suddenly agreed. “Wei Ying.”

And he smiled so warmly, looking at his husband with the child in his arms. Wei Wuxian’s
chest ached from the sudden tenderness. Unable to bear this gaze, he looked again at the baby
eating the pastry. Maybe he and Lan Zhan could get themselves a bun like this?

“Someone is approaching,” announced one of the disciples, not overwhelmed with adoration.

Wei Wuxian glanced at the sky. The sun had already risen above the horizon, and there were
dark dots, like a swarm of insects, and light dots, like specks of dust in a sunbeam.

“More Jins?” he frowned. “Who are the dark ones?”

“Not visible yet,” Lan Zhan said.

Wei Wuxian glanced around. They still had no way to quickly escort the Wens. If the Jin
Army and its minions came here now, it would become even more difficult. What to do? He
wouldn’t have been able to organise a travel talisman for so many people even if he could use
dark qi. The Lans would be able to carry half of the Wens on their swords. But something
needed to be done immediately, something big... A ship, for example, the river wasn’t far
away... The river... Oh!
“Lan Zhan, hold this,” Wei Wuxian said quickly, thrusting the child into his husband’s arms.

“What are you going to do?” Lan Zhan asked, wary.

“Nothing dangerous, I promise! Just calling someone; I need to concentrate.”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan pursed his lips, but picked up the baby, albeit a little clumsily. The
granny began to protest again that she didn’t want to bother the young gentlemen, but in the
end she only silently adjusted Lan Zhan’s grip.

“I won’t hurt myself, I promise,” Wei Wuxian whispered and plopped down right on the
trampled dry grass under his feet in the lotus position. It was necessary to turn to his
emerging core, because it was a gift from the dragon. Wei Wuxian concentrated all his
awareness on his dantian and felt a thin thread of spiritual connection. Along it, he was
mentally transported back to Gusu, rushed straight into the waters of the river skirting the
Lan Mountain, and ascended to its source. The dragon was there, dozing on the shore, his tail
dangling in the water. He understood everything without words.

Meanwhile, the dots on the horizon grew. Wei Wuxian stood up, absentmindedly brushing
himself off, and took a closer look.

“It’s the Nies!” he cried out in delight. “The Nies with the Jins! And someone else, I can’t see
past the others.”

“Yes, Mingjue is there,” Xichen nodded with visible relief. “Well, I hope it will be possible to
avoid a conflict...”

“Brother,” Lan Zhan suddenly spoke unhappily. “There is already a conflict.”

“Yes, indeed,” Wei Wuxian joined in. “The Jins must answer for this injustice. Of course,
most likely, they’ll say that these guys,” he nodded at the guards, “acted on their own
initiative, but you still need to let them know that they won’t get away with this.”

Lan Xichen hesitated, clearly not happy with the prospect of quarrelling and demanding
where usually he would smile and hush everything up, but if you pledge, don’t hedge, as they
say...

In the face of the landing Jins, the small squad of guards perked up. The Lan disciples herded
the Wens into a tighter circle, turning their backs to them to face a possible enemy. Among
the Jins, surprisingly, was Jin Guangshan himself, and with him both his sons — or at least
both known sons. Nie Mingjue landed a little further away, but in the same row, however, it
was clear from his landing that the wine hadn’t worn off yet, and his face was redder than
usual. Huaisang tried to grab him by the elbow, but was roughly pushed away.

“What's going on here?!” Jin Guangshan asked angrily.

“Lawlessness.” Wei Wuxian spread his hands. “Your subordinates, Sect Leader Jin, attacked
civilians.”
“As I have repeatedly explained to Sect Leader Nie, these are not civilians!” Jin Guangshan
snorted. “These are Wen Ruohan’s closest relatives!”

“Whoever’s relatives they are,” Wei Wuxian insisted, “they didn’t participate in the war.
Most of the people here aren't even cultivators!”

“They didn’t participate, which means they didn’t fight for Wen Ruohan,” Sect Leader Nie
interjected. “But they didn’t fight against him either. Why on earth should we protect them?”

“Dage!” Lan Xichen begged. “How could they resist Wen Ruohan? Face certain death?”

“Even so,” Sect Leader Nie shrugged. “What do we care about some Wens? I thought there
was something important here since Meng Yao woke me up in the middle of the night.”

Jin Guangyao froze, and from his face Wei Wuxian realised that Nie Mingjue had let that
slip, even though he was asked to hide the source of the information. Jin Guangshan turned
sharply to his son.

“Why did you need to disturb Chifeng-zun’s peace?” he asked in a velvety voice that did not
bode well.

“I... found out that Jin Zixun was plotting to abuse the civilian population of Qishan... Second
Brother asked me to notify Elder Brother...”

“Why didn’t you notify me first?” Jin Guangshan asked in an even more dangerous tone.

“Why should he?” Wei Wuxian interrupted, realising that Guangyao couldn’t get out of this.
“Or are you not aware of what is going on in your own sect? Didn't you authorise this raid?”

“What are you implying?!” Sect Leader Jin jumped up.

“I don’t need to imply!” Wei Wuxian spread his hands. “You immediately rushed to find out
who was to blame for the disclosure, but you’re not interested in who sent the guards here in
the first place? Or do you already know that?”

“Wei Wuxian, your impudence has crossed all boundaries!” Sect Leader Jin sputtered.
“Naturally, I know that Zixun was going to bring the prisoners to the shooting competition.”

“Prisoners?” Lan Zhan interjected, stepping forward to stand level with Wei Wuxian. The
grimy child was still sitting in his arms. “Are these prisoners?”

Sect Leader Nie frowned.

“Well, they wouldn’t capture such little ones...”

“I assure you, Mingjue,” Lan Xichen shook his head. “When we arrived here, the Jin guards
were dragging every last baby out of their homes, and they were all tied up to be escorted to
Lanling.”

“Zixun simply instructed his people poorly,” Jin Zixuan stood up for the family.
“Wow!” Wei Wuxian put his hands on his hips. He just needed to bide his time until Wen
Qing and the dragon arrived. “The Jin Sect is in fine order; someone gave vague instructions,
and a village could be completely slaughtered. I expected more responsibility from the Chief
Cultivators's clan!”

“Indeed,” Nie Mingjue frowned even more. “What kind of a mess do you have in your sect,
Jin Guangshan, that people can be sent under arrows by mistake?”

“A separate question,” Wei Wuxian picked up, “is the whole idea of ​shooting at people as
entertainment.”

“Nobody was going to shoot at people!” Jin Guangshan said. “People were going to shoot at
targets, and a good marksman shouldn’t hit anyone!”

“So, is everyone in Lanling a good marksman?” Sect Leader Nie chuckled. “I’ve never seen
such prowess. I train mine half to death, and I’m still not sure that none of them would hit a
person standing right under the target.”

“Well, don’t put losers in competitions!” Jin Guangshan scoffed.

“Or maybe it would be easier not to make living people targets?” Wei Wuxian continued to
press his point. “What an example you set for other sects! Shouldn't the Chief Cultivator keep
the peace in the Jianghu?”

“Wei Wuxian, you corpse desecrator, do you still dare to scold me?!” Sect Leader Jin
exclaimed.

“I’ll ask you to show respect to the young master of the Lan clan,” Lan Xichen admonished
with enviable sangfroid. “Wuxian’s methods weren’t the most humane, but we were at war,
and without his contribution we wouldn’t have won. However, now it’s peacetime, and there
are no more prisoners of war left in Lanling, otherwise what is all this for?” He waved his
hand around the crowd of tense Wens. “I will stand by my brother-in-law: we didn’t choose
the Jin Sect Leader as the Chief Cultivator so we would have to sneak out at night to correct
his shortcomings and protect civilians from his whims.”

There was a shocked silence. Nie Mingjue slowly applauded.

“Xichen, you’re making progress! The company of that silver-tongued Wei Wuxian must be
good for you. A-sang, did you hear that?”

Nie Huaisang nodded slightly and hid behind his fan, looking at Wei Wuxian with twinkly
eyes. Lan Xichen himself looked frightened by his own courage, but it was too late to turn
back.

“What do you think you’re doing, Sect Leader Lan?” Jin Guangshan came to his senses.

“I should be asking you that, Sect Leader Jin,” Wei Wuxian returned fire, deciding that there
was no point in putting too much pressure on Lan Xichen; he had already exceeded all
expectations. “The Chief Cultivator isn’t empowered by the mandate of heaven, it’s an
elected position, and its holder is answerable to the sects that elected him. We have the right
to express dissatisfaction with your decisions.”

“This matter has nothing to do with my position!” Sect Leader Jin finally roused. “We’re
talking about organising my son’s wedding; this is an internal affair of the Jin clan!”

“However, you brought another clan from foreign territory into this,” Lan Xichen noted
quietly.

Nie Mingjue opened his mouth to say something, but then Luo Longwei appeared with two
maidens and dismounted a little awkwardly next to Wei Wuxian, trying to understand what
was happening and where so many cultivators came from. Wen Qing bore a vague
resemblance to a wet rat and stared hauntedly at the sect leaders.

“Look!” Jin Guangshan pointed an angry finger at Wen Qing. “Don’t talk to me about
civilians! This woman is Wen Ruohan’s niece; we’ve all seen her with him more than once!
She was his confidant!”

“But she didn’t participate in the war,” Wei Wuxian reminded them, starting to slowly panic.
Where on earth was the dragon?! It was time to get out! “She’s actually a healer and doesn’t
own any weapons!”

“Why didn’t she poison him, since she’s a healer?” Nie Mingjue snorted.

“Dage,” Lan Xichen hissed. “I didn’t expect such a low suggestion from you.”

“Low?!” Sect Leader Nie barked. “So you’d rather Wen Ruohan’s descendants live for
centuries?!”

“If you want to kill me, I won’t resist,” Wen Qing interjected. “But don't touch my family!
They’re my maternal relatives and have nothing to do with Wen Ruohan!”

Wei Wuxian immediately pushed her behind his back with his elbow, and Luo Longwei
pressed in on the other side so that she wouldn’t come back out.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan called and, when he turned around, handed A-Yuan back to him. The
child, who had been warming himself on the Second Jade’s broad chest, whimpered, but Lan
Zhan needed his hands free in case he had to fight. Wei Wuxian mentally spurred the dragon;
really, how long could it take to swim from Gusu?! What good were his promises?

“Noble,” Chifeng-zun chuckled. “It’s a pity you didn’t show this nobility during the war.”

“She showed it,” Jiang Cheng’s voice came from behind the Nie. Wei Wuxian shuddered and
stared at where Sect Leader Jiang was making his way between the tall Nie. “I owe my life to
Wen Qing and her brother. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have a golden core, and the Jiang
Sect wouldn't have taken part in the Sunshot Campaign. Everyone fights as best they can.”

Wei Wuxian clearly saw how difficult it was for Jiang Cheng to say each word. How had
Shijie brainwashed him? But Wei Wuxian’s heart was a little relieved, although now the guilt
for his own harsh words began to feel heavier.”
“Sect Leader Jiang has been going all out lately,” Jin Guangshan noted. “First he breaks into
people’s homes at night, then he protects war criminals...”

“Are you suggesting that I just forget about my life debt?!” Jiang Cheng snapped, getting
agitated about having to repeat things that were already shameful.

“Wow, the Chief Cultivator is really pushing it!” Wei Wuxian jumped in, hoping to divert
attention and give Jiang Cheng a break after a difficult confession.

“Well, since everyone is reminding me of my rank today,” Jin Guangshan spoke in a

dangerous tone, “then perhaps I should remember it too. It’s the Chief Cultivator’s duty to
judge other sects fairly. This is my judgement: these people are war criminals, and I declare
everyone who sympathises with them to be accomplices! Guards! Arrest the Wen criminals!
Anyone who interferes with the arrest will also be brought before the Chief Cultivator's
court!”

Lan Zhan stepped forward, taking a fighting stance. Lan Xichen hesitated and also drew his
sword, and the other Lans followed suit. Nie Mingjue was confused and froze, looking from
him to Sect Leader Jin. Huaisang whispered something frantically in his ear, but it didn't
seem to help. Jiang Cheng spat on the ground and stood next to Wei Wuxian, expressing with
his whole appearance that he would rather stand near a dung heap.

“Couldn’t keep your mouth shut again?” he hissed. Wei Wuxian winced. Maybe Shijie didn’t
wear him down enough...

The dragon took this moment to appear in all his glory. He swooped down from the sky, as
bright as a flare of sunlight, sending out blinding flashes around him. He wrapped himself
around the Wens and Lans and Jiang Cheng, surrounding them with a fortress wall, behind
which the enemy wasn’t even visible. His shaggy head made a full rotation, sniffing everyone
in the ring, and then lay down on the coil of his body next to Wei Wuxian, exhaling hot steam
into the faces of those who hadn’t backed off.

“Fuck you, Wei Wuxian,” Jiang Cheng bleated in a whisper, pressed by the huge bulk into
Luo Longwei. “What is this?!”

“That thing that possessed me in Yunmeng,” Wei Wuxian answered and winked playfully.
“Did I purify him well?”

Jiang Cheng swore in shock. Wen Qing muttered something about cruising and bruising
behind his back, but Wei Wuxian may have misheard it. He grabbed the dragon's thick, rough
whisker and pulled himself up to stand next to its muzzle. The baby in his arms also became
interested in the locks of the dragon’s mane and reached for them, but the dragon endured.

“Do you think your guards can handle a deity?” He cheerfully shouted to Jin Guangshan,
who rose from the wet ground, unsuccessfully trying to shake his gold-embroidered clothes
clean. Qishan mud even stuck to fabrics stitched with anti-mud spells.

“You’ve lost your core,” Jin Zixuan blurted out. “How did you summon a deity?!”
“Oh, well, that’s ancient history,” Wei Wuxian waved him off. “Since I lost my core, I’ve
invented a lot of things. Do you think I've confined myself to one new cultivation
technique?”

Next to Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan appeared on Bichen, followed by Lan Xichen. The brothers
looked at each other, clearly ending some argument. Lan Xichen appeared reluctant but
resigned.

“Jin Guangshan just publicly threatened our sect with violence,” he said, straining his voice
to be heard, although without fervour. “The Lan Sect no longer intends to respect his
authority and demands that another Chief Cultivator be elected. Mingjue?” He said the last
part almost pleadingly, and Lan Zhan pursed his lips.

“The Jiang Sect seconds!” Jiang Cheng stated, also flying up to hover over the dragon wall.

“Hmm, the Chief Cultivator let us down, of course,” Nie Mingjue drawled, looking at the
huge silver barrier. “Does this creature really obey Wei Wuxian?”

“This is a river god,” Lan Xichen corrected him reproachfully. “He is the patron of Gusu Lan
in general, and Wuxian is the priest of his temple.”

Nie Mingjue whistled.

“Wow! Xichen, are you sure he’s not applying for the position of sect leader? Look, he’s
already thinned out your elders, now he wants to gather the Wens under his leadership...”

“Mingjue!” Lan Xichen sighed in frustration. “Wuxian acts in my interests. I was the one
who became concerned about the fate of Maiden Wen when I learned that she was capable of
performing a core transplant. However, if you believe that it’s better to turn a doctor with
such skills into a target, although she did nothing to deserve it and even,” he waved his hand
towards Jiang Cheng, “helped our side, then you can continue to support the Jins!”

“I wasn’t going to support them!” Nie Mingjue snapped.

“You are my sworn brother, but you weren’t sure whose side you were on when Jin
Guangshan repudiated my sect,” Lan Xichen snapped. Wei Wuxian glanced at him. Wow, he
hadn’t even noticed how offended Zewu-jun was.

“Naturally, I wouldn’t support him against you!” Nie Mingjue exclaimed. “I just don’t like
these Wens, but if you want them, take them, it doesn’t matter to me either way!”

“Since when does Chifeng-zun make such decisions?” Jin Guangshan’s tenor sounded again.
“Wei Wuxian deciding to use force against the Chief Cultivator doesn’t mean that I’ve
resigned!”

“No, but if three of the four great sects don’t recognise your authority, then you’ll have to
accept it,” Wei Wuxian smiled predatorily. “Perhaps it’s time to choose a new Chief
Cultivator!”

“Mingjue,” Lan Xichen called again. “Maybe you’ll reconsider your decision?”
“Me?!” Sect Leader Nie was amazed. “I won’t get involved in the feuds of minor sects, my
life is already short, and that kind of work would drive me to qi deviation in a day! No,
excuse me, judge these squabbles yourself for all I care!”

Lan Xichen recoiled.

“I don't think that’s a good idea. I have enough worries in my own sect. Lanling Jin didn’t
suffer as much from the war, and even then its leader failed to cope with two important
positions. My situation is even more difficult.”

“Perhaps, in this case, we shouldn’t elect a sect leader as the Chief Cultivator?” came Jin
Guangyao’s insinuating voice. Wei Wuxian was surprised that he’d been silent until then, but
apparently he couldn’t decide who to support — his father or his sworn brother.

Jin Guangshan hissed at his son and swung his hand, but Guangyao quickly jumped back.

“Actually, that’s a good idea,” Nie Mingjue remarked. “The sect leaders already have things
to do. But your Wei Wuxian seems to have plenty of time and sky-high ambitions. I may not
agree with him about the Wens, but he put the Jins in their place quite rightly!”

“What are you talking about, Chifeng-zun, what ambitions do I have?” Wei Wuxian
muttered, chuckling at Sect Leader Nie’s incredible proposal.

“Obviously quite a lot,” Jin Guangyao interjected. “Inventing not one, but two new
cultivation methods and taming a deity — you must be an energetic and broad-minded
person, not to mention leadership qualities...”

“Who are you sucking up to, you bitch?” Jin Guangshan roared. “I’ll destroy you for what
you did here!”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan said. Wei Wuxian turned to him, surprised that he had something against
Guangyao, but it turned out that the Lan brothers were communicating with their eyes again.

“Mingjue, I support your idea,” Lan Xichen said. “During his time working in the sect,
Wuxian showed himself to be an excellent administrator, capable of taking initiative and
independently solving difficult situations, unravelling conflicts and identifying rule breakers.
I’m sure he’ll do just as well on a larger scale.”

“W-what?...” Wei Wuxian squeezed out. “Have you decided to get rid of me…?”

“Never,” Lan Zhan assured him with all the calmness of a battering ram. “Wei Ying is a
member of our sect and clan.”

“This is ridiculous!” Jin Guangshan scoffed. “He's a dark cultivator! A whelp! The Lan Sect
hopes to rise by forcing everyone to kowtow at their doorstep, but no one will support this!”

“I’ll support it,” Jiang Cheng said and glared vindictively at Wei Wuxian. “Let him work at
least a little.”

“I’m being worked to death!” Wei Wuxian sputtered.

“The Nie Sect agrees,” Nie Mingjue announced.

There was some kind of brawl going on behind Jin Guangshan; it was hard to tell, but
apparently it ended, because Jin Zixuan came forward, as if he had been pushed out.

“The Jin Sect agrees.”

“What?!” Jin Guangshan roared. “I am still the Sect Leader!!!”

“Father... um, can’t cope,” Jin Zixuan squeezed out and timidly looked over his shoulder.
Shijie loomed there with her hands on her hips. “I’m taking command.”

“What are you talking about?!” Jin Guangshan yelled.

“Really, father,” Jin Guangyao spoke quietly, keeping at a safe distance, “you’d better hand
over the sect leader’s chair in order to save the sect’s reputation, otherwise what you’ve done
here may...”

“Shut up, you damned defector!!!” Jin Guangshan burst out. “I curse the day when I lost my
mind enough to recognise you! Get out bag and baggage so that no memory of you lingers in
Koi Tower!”

“Father, that isn’t your decision anymore...” Jin Zixuan began hesitantly.

“I don’t care! I know what you're trying to do!” Jin Guangshan turned to him. “My bitch of a
wife will support you, but him,” he pointed a finger at Jin Guangyao, “she won’t stand up for
him!” You might take the seat away from me, but I will destroy this creature, no matter what
crevice he hides in, even if I don't have an ounce of authority!!!”

His face turned red from the effort. Jin Guangyao began sidling towards Nie Mingjue, but he
resolutely stepped away. Zewu-jun frowned, but didn’t say anything: it seemed that his
reserve of courage had been exhausted for the day.

“Well, if all four great sects are in agreement, then I’ll take upon myself the task of sending
out a summary of today’s meeting to others and notifying them of Wei Wuxian’s appointment
as Chief Cultivator,” he suggested.

Wei Wuxian would have grabbed his head, but he was holding onto the dragon's whiskers
with one hand and the child with the other.

“What, did you bite off more than you could chew?” the dragon chuckled.

“But I... How...” Wei Wuxian muttered, not knowing whether he was answering the dragon or
Zewu-jun.

“Wei Ying can handle it,” Lan Zhan promised and looked at the crowd with a warning
glance.

“Will you help me?” Wei Wuxian whispered, wondering whether to run away with his
husband to settle in the wilderness, cultivate fields, and raise A-Yuan.
“With everything I can,” Lan Zhan assured.

Wei Wuxian tried to picture it. Lan Zhan, of course, was very hardworking and conscientious,
but the work of the Chief Cultivator required many other qualities... What could he delegate
to his husband? Without being tormented by his conscience later, seeing how he’d suffer?
Obviously not meetings, definitely not decisions — Lan Zhan would decide them into war.
Letters…? Honestly, Wei Wuxian would prefer to delegate the purchase of trinkets and back
massages to him, and not all this. No, he needed a more politically savvy assistant.
Preferably, one who also understands the statutes of the different sects. Hmm...

“Zewu-jun, can I take an assistant?” he asked quietly.

“Of course,” he nodded eagerly. “Any disciple of the sect would be honoured... Or would you
like someone from outside?”

“Well, I don’t think it will be difficult for you to convince Jin Guangyao to join Gusu Lan?”
Wei Wuxian grinned.

Lan Xichen opened his eyes wide and froze for a moment, and then quickly turned to his
sworn brother.

“A-Yao...”

“Yes, yes,” he responded quickly with a smile that didn’t suit a person who had just been
thrown out of their sect.

Wei Wuxian squinted at his future assistant. For some reason he acted quiet today... Wasn’t he
playing a long game, telling Nie Mingjue about Jin Zixun’s plan…?

A-Yuan suddenly kicked and whimpered, and Wei Wuxian realised that it was time to go
home.

“Well, since we’ve resolved all the issues,” he began, clearing his throat, “then I think we can
part ways. It’s been a tough two days for everyone. Sect Leader Nie, can I ask you to escort
the Jin delegation back to Lanling so that there won’t be any problems there...?

Nie Mingjue chuckled and glanced at the raging Jin Guangshan and the stunned Jin Zixuan.

“You’re talking business! Okay, so be it, let's do it. Keep an eye on these turncoats!”

He nodded in the general direction of the Wens and Jin Guangyao, and then gave the
command to his disciples to line up for flight. Nie Huaisang turned around and winked at Wei
Wuxian over his shoulder. Oh, he’d gotten involved in a difficult game, Wei Wuxian realised.
But that made it even more interesting, right? After all, it was almost routine for him to
attempt the impossible in the realm of cultivation; he could take on something new!

When the Nies and Jins flew away, the dragon uncoiled and lay down along the village street,
like a silver-turquoise mountain range. Wei Wuxian ordered the Wens to pack their things and
attach them to the dragon’s crest.
“What was that?” Wen Qing exhaled, looking around. “Wei Wuxian, since when are you a
Lan disciple?”

“Since when am I the Chief Cultivator?” he chuckled nervously. “Ask Jiang Cheng.”

The Jiang Cheng in question glared at him with a searing gaze.

“You idiot, you made a mess of things, and now I…” he fell silent, as if he was choking on
what he was going to say. “I didn’t even get a word in edgewise with my sister.”

“I was actually surprised that the peacock brought her,” Wei Wuxian shrugged.

“Ha! Brought her! He told her to sit in her chambers while he ‘figured it out.’ But A-jie
didn’t quite understand why on this etiquette-abiding earth she should obey. She came with
me when I found out.”

“Why did you come here?” Wei Wuxian wondered.

Jiang Cheng bared his teeth, but caught Lan Zhan's gaze and pursed his lips.

“You’re not the only one who can be a hero.”

“Oh, so you came to save me?” Wei Wuxian smiled. “Or Wen Qing?”

“What do I care about your Wen Qing?!” Jiang Cheng bristled but immediately drooped.
“Well, that is... I repaid my life debt. Right?” He fixed his gaze on the healer.

“Your life debt is not to me, but to my brother,” Wen Qing said coldly. “So far, you’ve repaid
me the debt for the golden core. Now, maybe someone can explain to me what kind of new
cultivation methods Wei Wuxian has invented?”

“On the way,” Wei Wuxian promised. “Actually, you’ll experience them yourself, since we’ll
be flying on the dragon!”

She rolled her eyes and resolutely took the sullen A-Yuan from him.

“You can have him when you tell me!” she said and left to load.

“Sect Leader Jiang,” Lan Xichen stood next to him, apparently having finished discussing the
terms with Meng Yao (Wei Wuxian didn’t know whether he would keep the Jin surname and
the condescending name his father gave him). “Did you stay here for some purpose?”

The line of Jiang Cheng's lips curved in a wave of tension, and Wei Wuxian felt small bolts
of lightning in the air.

“You," Jiang Cheng growled, turning to him, "don't pull any more stunts like that. And as
soon as you grow a new core, you show up. I want to personally make sure that you're not
fooling me again.”
Wei Wuxian was just about to laugh it off out of habit and agree to a pitiful handout of care
wrapped in a ball of thorny vines, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Lan disciples
helping the Wens load their sparse belongings onto the dragon. The Wens, about whom the
Lans wouldn’t care at all if Wei Wuxian hadn’t suddenly demanded they fly with him to the
ends of the world, quarrel with other sects there and almost rebel against the Chief Cultivator,
simply because Wei Wuxian wanted it that way. He hadn’t even had time to explain to them
what it was all about.

“I’m sorry, but phrased like this, your invitation isn’t very interesting to me,” he finally said.

“The phrasing isn’t right for you?!” Jiang Cheng immediately spluttered. “Not even an hour
has passed and you’re already dazzled by your own importance?!”

“It’s not that I’m the Chief Cultivator and a high-ranking official of the Lan Sect,” Wei
Wuxian clarified, though not failing to show off. “It’s simply that I now know what family is.
In a family, people open up to each other and aren’t afraid to be whipped for weakness. If you
still want to be my family, you will have to acknowledge your weaknesses and stop
defending yourself from me. I was afraid to tell you about the core, afraid to admit my
weakness, because I didn’t know what I would get in response. But I was also afraid that you
wouldn’t be able to accept yours, that you’d stick your head up your ass, screw up the sect
and take it all out on me. I’m sorry that I threw everything in your face, and in public at that,
but even so I was able to tell you about it only because I no longer depend on you. Family is
security. Your invitation sounds more like a threat. All my life I’ve imagined affection behind
your threats, but now I know that affection can exist without threats. It’s unpleasant for me to
listen to them, and I don’t owe you anything to make me do it against my will.”

As he spoke, Jiang Cheng became more and more angry, but then he deflated and began to
chew his lip.

“Are you really okay with the Lans?”

Wei Wuxian sighed quietly, realising that there would be no heart-to-heart conversation.

“I’m having an amazing time with the Lans. I am loved and appreciated. I have the best
husband in the world and the respect of my subordinates.”

“You... with Lan Wangji... really…?” Jiang Cheng awkwardly rubbed his index fingers
together.

Wei Wuxian sighed openly.

“Jiang Cheng. If we’re strangers, then I don’t have to report to you about my family life. And
if we’re not strangers, I would like to see at least some proof of that first.”

“What the hell are you talking about, what strangers?!” Jiang Cheng reared up. “We’ve lived
our whole lives together, we’ve been through the war, and now we’re strangers?! You'd think
I had someone closer!”

Wei Wuxian remained silent, drawing lines on the ground with the toe of his boot.
“I didn’t intend to kick you out, actually,” Jiang Cheng continued. “You were just talking
some kind of nonsense!”

Wei Wuxian glanced at him from under his brows, and Jiang Cheng hastened to add:

“Well, I also spoke some kind of nonsense. And that Lan Wangji of yours, he's so quick to
attack me. Pissed me off.”

Wei Wuxian changed his drawing foot.

“I didn’t mean to...” Jiang Cheng sounded tortured. “Well, it’s my fault, I lost it, damn it, I’m
working hard as hell and all by myself. Then the Jin showed up at the wrong moment, I don’t
know how... In short, I was confused. Sorry.”

Wei Wuxian nodded.

“I forgive you. You’ve earned a renewal of your financial assistance. I'll think about the visit
for now. In the near future I won’t have time to travel in any case.”

Jiang Cheng grimaced.

“I supported your candidacy as a joke. To tease. You aren’t serious about running anything,
are you?”

“I’ve already jailed half of the elders in Gusu Lan and completely reassembled the entire duty
roster.”

Jiang Cheng flinched.

“Eh, what the fuck?! And they let you?! But you're just...”

“I’m just the son of a servant and a tramp, who was picked up from the street to entertain
you.”

Jiang Cheng jerked away as if he had been slapped.

“I don't think that. I know you're impressive. But you yourself never believed it, and I... got
used to it.”

“Start getting unused,” Wei Wuxian advised.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan appeared at his shoulder, and Wei Wuxian was pleased to note that he
didn’t flinch. “Everyone is ready to fly.”

Wei Wuxian waved his hand at Jiang Cheng and walked towards the dragon. His soul felt
light. He could turn this page. And if the characters from it continued to appear in his life,
that would be a completely different story.

The saddled dragon soared into the clouds to the squeals of the Wen women and children,
tied to its scaly body with spiritual nets. Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan sat on the head between
 the horns, leaving Lan Xichen to fill in Wen Qing, and lazily planned how to settle the Wens
in the Cloud Recesses and how to ensure that Meng Yao didn’t trick anyone. The winter day
was clear, and the crowns of the trees rushing below were silver with frost, like the scales of
the dragon carrying Wei Wuxian home.

Chapter End Notes

Thank you everyone who joined us for the ride! Hopefully, I'll see you again soon ^^

Also, I'm now thinking of what to do with an original MM novel in Russian (because

😏
publishing it in Russia is difficult atm). I wonder if anyone would be interested in co-
authoring the English version with me and helping me publish it in English?
Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!