Thread by @greenteafiend1

I have this fic idea where wwx doesn’t die like he did in cannon the first time. The world thinks he’s dead, but really, the Jin Sect took custody of him just like they did wen ning, and are keeping him secreted away in the dungeons.

They’re probably torturing him and forcing him to make things for him and threatening the safety of people he still cares about to get him to comply. Years pass like this.

Anyways that’s just the background, the fic itself would be jin ling centric, with jin ling being a sensitive 7 year old struggling with his place at koi tower and his relationships with the adults in his life. He’s pretty lonely.

No one will tell him anything about his parents. All he knows is that they were murdered by the evil cultivator Wei Wuxian. Sometimes grandfather will tell him things, but grandmother doesn’t like it; she always gets teary.

Sometimes just looking at him is enough to make her teary, and a servant will have to take jl away. ‘It’s because he looks just like his father at that age’ the servants whisper. It doesn’t make jl feel any better.

So he makes grandmother sad just by existing, and although grandfather can be quite jovial, even at such a young age jl understands that female servants are careful not to be alone in his presence. He understands that grandfather abuses the power he wields.

His favorite person at koi tower by far is Xiao Shushu. Xiao Shushu is patient, and kind, and never raises his voice. Conversely, jl’s favourite person aside from Xiao shushu is Jiujiu, who is not patient, and always raises his voice.

But he doesn’t get to see Jiujiu all that often, only in the summer when he gets sent to Lotus Pier for a few months to swim in the lakes and gorge himself on lotus seeds.

Anyway, the story begins in winter, when Xiao shushu is away, and grandfather is experiencing some health problems, so jl is largely left to his own devices to wander around and play in koi tower. He’s very inquisitive, and very good at climbing and squeezing into small spaces.

One day he is exploring the lower levels of Koi tower, when he comes across a tiny door hidden behind a tapestry by accident. When he tries it, it won’t open. Naturally, he is very intrigued. (I imagine Coraline vibes for this btw).

Jin ling looks for keys around koi tower and takes them back to try the secret door, but none of them work. Eventually he squirrel’s away his father’s sword that he’s not meant to touch without supervision, and manages to use that to force the door open.

It takes him down a small passage he has to crawl through, and ends with a wrought iron grate. It’s disappointing that he can’t venture in any further, but through the grate he has a high vantage point of a small dark room below.

Inside the room there is a low table covered in papers, and beside that, a man lying on the floor. His robes are threadbare, dirty, and little bit too small; jl can see emaciated wrists poking too far out of the sleeves. He is very very pale, ghostly pale. Ghostly thin.

The man’s facial hair is wild and unkept, growing in scraggy, bedraggled clumps. He lays on his back, staring unseeingly at the ceiling, arms folded over his belly.

He’s so motionless that jl wonders if he is actually staring at a dead body, and the thought is so frightful that jl gasps and somehow trips over his own feet, falling into the grate.

His clarity bell—gifted to him on his 7th birthday by Jiujiu—clangs damningly against the cold metal. At the sound the man in the room turns his head, and looks at him. He blinks—he isn’t dead.

“Hello,” he says. His voice is thin and raspy from disuse. He clears his throat.
“Are you lost, little one?”
Jin Ling flees back up the secret passage as if he's being chased, heart pounding in his chest.

He closes the hidden door, and smooths the tapestry to make sure nothing appears amiss. He resolves to ask Xiao shushu about the man, and to not return.

In the end he does neither of those things. Xiao Shushu is too preoccupied with his tower project to spend any extended time with jl when he returns to koi tower; there is no chance to bring it up.

Also, with distance, and bathed in the light of day, the tiny dark room and the secret passage don’t seem so scary. That man was trapped behind the grate, and he was so thin and unkept besides; what could he do to jl?

He isn’t a baby anymore, and if he’s to be sect leader one day, he can’t always be running to xiao Shushu or Jiujiu with his problems. So jl decides to go back and figure out what’s going on himself.

tbc? If anyone is interested in hearing how this would play out? 😅😅

‘I wondered if you’d be back, little one,’ says the man when jl returns, even though jl was being careful not to make a sound, and the man hadn’t even moved his head to look at him. How did he know jl was there?

This time the man isn’t lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, he’s sitting against one of the walls with his legs splayed out straight in front of him. It is a very undignified way to sit. Even though he knows jl is there, he makes no move to make his posture respectable.

‘Tell me who you are,’ jl demands imperiously, the way he’s seen cultivators around him demand things.
The man tsks. ‘You must be a jin with that attitude.’ He doesn’t say it like it’s a good thing.
‘So what if I am!’ snaps jl.

‘It’s not safe for you here. You mustn't be caught coming here, child,” the man speaks with forced patience. There is nothing jl hates more than being treated like a child.
‘You can’t stop me! I can go wherever I want!’ jl declares.

The man sighs. ‘Didn’t your mother ever teach you manners?’

His mother never taught him anything. His mother is dead.

Jl wants to scream. He wants to lash out with his fists. He wants to do something destructive, /anything/ that will let him relieve the choking feelings clogging his chest; it’s too much for his body to contain.

Instead of any of those things, jl bursts into messy tears. He sits abruptly (he does /not/ fall) and howls into his hands. It’s not fair that he doesn’t have a mother, it isn’t his fault she died.

It feels horrifically unfair that even this strange man that seems to be locked in a dungeon is mean to him about it, just like his cousins who refuse to include him in anything. Just like the servants and disciples of the sect who look at him with pity in their eyes.

‘Oh no,’ says the man. Jl is so upset that he doesn’t notice the man move until he is standing right beneath the grate. It’s too high up for the man to reach him, but it is close enough so they can see each other better.

‘Hey, please calm down. I meant it when I said you really shouldn’t be caught here. You’ll get us both in a lot of trouble.” Jl does not calm down. If anything he cries harder.

‘Hey, can you look at me?’ asks the man gently.
Jl lowers his hands from his face, but his lower lip is still trembling, and there are tears streaming down his face.

The man rewards him with a smile. That smile transforms his face—no—it takes over his face. The unkept beard, the gauntness of the hollows of his cheeks, how sunken in his eyes are, how dark the bags are underneath them, the smile supersedes all of it.

‘I don’t have a mother,’ jl blurts. The smile cracks, and now the man looks regretful.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says, 'For what I said. I shouldn't have.'
Jl can only blink in shock. He doesn’t think anyone has ever apologized to him before.
‘Who are you?’ jl asks again.

The man sighs.
‘No one important. Now run along, I meant it when I said you’d get in trouble for being here. Be good and forget you ever saw me.’

Jl goes, but only because it’s close to dinnertime and he’s hungry.

tbc...

Over the following weeks, jl sneaks in to visit the man. Sometimes the man is lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Sometimes he sits against the wall. Other times, he sits at the table, writing laboriously.

Every time he comes, the man tells him he shouldn’t, that he ought to be careful not to get caught or else he’ll get in trouble, but then after that, he’ll ask jl about his day, and what things he’s learning from his instructors.

He smiles at jl, and teases him kindly. It’s nice to talk to someone who actually listens to him for once. Jl tells him about his favourite foods, about summers in lotus pier visiting Jiujiu. Jl brings snacks to share; the man is too thin.

The man doesn’t tell him who he is or why he’s locked down here, and jl doesn’t try to ask again.

And then one day jl shows up and the man isn’t in the room. The room is entirely empty. Days pass, and every time jl returns, the room is still empty. Jl doesn’t know what to do, there isn’t anyone he can talk to about this.

A whole week passes, and just when jl is beginning to think he’ll never see the man again, he finds him in the room again.
‘Where have you been?’ jl demands.

The man coughs—it sounds wet, like his chest is clogged with fluid. When he turns to look at jl, jl gasps. His face is covered in bruises and cuts. One arm hangs uselessly at his side, and the other is clasped around his abdomen.

‘Hey, little one. I was wondering if you could do this old man a favour?’
‘What happened to you!?’ jl demands.
‘Nothing much, I’m fine,’ says the man, dredging up a smile that looks more like a grimace.

Jl isn’t stupid. The man isn’t fine.
‘You’re going to lotus pier next week, aren’t you? To see your Jiujiu?’
Jl nods—it’s almost summer.

‘I used to know your Jiujiu when we were young men. Do you think you could deliver a message to him for me?’
This man knew Jiujiu?
Jl nods.

The man gets up painfully, and reaches up with his good arm to pass jl a carefully folded piece of paper. Jl reaches down through the grate to grab it.
‘Thank you, Jin Ling.’

It’s only later that jl realises the man called him by name even though jl has never told it to him.

tbc

The day after the man in the room gives jl the note, Jiujiu arrives at Koi Tower to collect him for the summer. Jiujiu will be staying the night, and then they’ll head to Lotus Pier the following day.

There’s to be a banquet in the evening for jiujiu’s arrival, which jl isn’t invited to because he’s apparently too little, but jiujiu does come to see him before. He looks jl over with a critical eye while jl dutifully performs the correct bows for greeting a sect leader.

Next, Jiujiu kneels down and opens his arms, signifying that greeting a sect leader is complete, and that it’s time to greet jiujiu as family. Jl throws himself into jiujiu’s waiting arms, and is caught and held easily.

Jl feels certain that there can’t be anyone in the world as strong as his jiujiu, who feels so very familiar and safe, and smells of lotus flowers and the oil he uses to clean his sword. Jiujiu gives his back a pat--the signal that it’s time to move on to questioning.

“How is my nephew progressing with his cultivation and his studies?” jiujiu asks as he lets go of jl to stand, and jl finds himself rushing through his reply because he wants to give jiujiu the letter that is currently burning a metaphorical hole in his sleeve.

Only when jiujiu is satisfied that his cultivation is progressing as it should, and that his studies aren’t being neglected, does jl finally pull out the letter, nearly vibrating with anticipation.

‘A man who knew you when you were young asked me to give this to you,’ he tells jiujiu, thrusting the letter at him.

Jiujiu immediately looks displeased and suspicious, but he takes the letter nonetheless, turning the paper over in his hands as if he’s checking it for traps.
‘What man?’ jiujiu asks, pinning jl with a stern stare.

‘I explored and I found the man in a secret passageway,’ said jl. This answer only make jiujiu’s frown deepen. Jiujiu shocked the letter with zidian which looked really cool even though it didn’t seem to do anything.

‘The man wouldn’t curse it, he’s… nice,’ jl explained awkwardly. ‘Also, I don’t think he’s very strong. Definitely not stronger than you, jiujiu.’
Jiujiu gave him a flat look, but then he finally—FINALLY—opened the letter.

‘What does it say? Can I see it?’ jl asks immediately, gripping jiujiu’s robes and tugging to get his attention because he’s nowhere tall enough to see it unless jiujiu lets him.

But then jiujiu’s arm starts shaking; jl can tell because it’s making the whole letter tremble in jiujiu’s grip.
‘Jiujiu?’ jl looks up from the shaking letter to jiujiu’s face, and sees an expression unlike any he’s ever seen jiujiu make before.

Jiujiu looks… shocked. BEYOND shocked. His face has drained of colour, and zidian is sparking little tendrils of lightening up jiujiu’s wrist which he doesn’t seem to be doing on purpose.

Jiujiu’s eyes flicker rapidly over the characters on the page, and jl—sensing that this is SERIOUS and not the time to be whining and tugging on jiujiu’s robes—let’s go to wring his hands nervously.

‘Where is he?’ asks jiujiu. He doesn’t yell, but there’s something about the tone of his voice that is frightening. It would have been less strange and disquieting if jiujiu had yelled like he normally did.

‘Jin Ling,’ snaps jiujiu when jl doesn’t answer quickly enough, dropping to his knees once more and seizing jl by the shoulders. The way he stares into jl’s eyes is frantic. ‘Tell me where you saw this man,’ he demands.

“I—I—I can show you?” jl stammers.

Jiujiu instructs the disciples he brought with him to attend the banquet, and to inform their host that he has a matter to see to which will make him late. After that, jiujiu follows him through Koi Tower.

The corridors are remarkably empty so they come across no one else—everyone is at the banquet. They get to the secret tapestry, and jl lifts it aside to show jiujiu the tiny passageway.

Jiujiu is big and strong, with broad shoulders, which is good for being a sect leader, but less good for fitting into small, dark spaces.
‘I don’t know if you’ll fit, jiujiu,’ says jl skeptically.

It IS a tight fit, but in the end jiujiu does manage to squeeze himself into the tunnel by getting down on his belly and pulling himself along with his arms.

‘Stay here, Jin Ling,’ jiujiu orders over his shoulder.
Jl obeys until it occurs to him that he can pretend he heard someone coming and didn’t want to get them caught. He climbs into the tunnel and hurries along after jiujiu.

When he catches up, jiujiu is already sitting by the grate, one hand clutching at the metal that separates him from the tiny, dark room below, while lightning curls around his other shaking fist.

Jl hangs back even though he can’t see the room from this angle; he doesn’t want to get shocked accidentally.

‘You,’ jiujiu snarls.
Jl hears a wet cough—it sounds worse than the day before. It rattles like death.
‘Jiang Ch—’ the man breaks into a coughing fit that sounds painful.
‘You’ve been alive this whole time? You’ve been HERE this whole time?’ Jiujiu sounds very angry.

‘You make it sound like I chose this. As you can see, I’m being held here against my will,’ says the man. His voice is worryingly weak.
‘I should kill you,’ says jiujiu. It shocks jl to hear him say that.
‘You should,’ agrees the man.

‘No! You can’t kill him, jiujiu!’ jl cries, throwing himself forward to intervene. He grabs jiujiu’s arm and clings.
‘Ah. Maybe best not to kill me in front of your impressionable young nephew,’ says the man.

‘Insubordinate brat! I told you to wait!’ jiujiu snaps. ‘You don’t even know who this man is!’
‘I think we can both agree it’s better if it stays that way,’ says the man weakly.

Jl can now see that he’s in much the same position jl had last left him in, propped against the wall, holding his injured arm.

‘You probably don’t need to finish me off. I’m just about done for anyway. You’ll protect him, won’t you?’ asks the man, nodding towards jl.
‘Of course I will! I’ve been doing it his whole life so far, haven’t I?’ snaps jiujiu.

‘Good,’ says the man. He smiles, and it makes jl feel like crying.
‘What you wrote in the letter… is it true?’ asks jiujiu.
‘Why would they have kept me alive if it wasn’t? Why would they have lied about my “death?”’

There is a beat of awkward silence.
Suddenly jiujiu shakes him off so he can put his hand on Sandu’s pommel.
‘Jiang Cheng,’ murmurs the man before jiujiu can draw his blade. ‘You can leave me, it’s fine. It’ll be a relief to finally go after all this time.’

Jiujiu’s throat works furiously, but no sound comes out. Eventually he clears his throat and shoves jl back the way they came.
‘We’re leaving,’ he intones.
‘What! But jiujiu—’

‘Thanks you, and I’m sorry,’ is the last thing jl hears the man say.

The letter from Wei Wuxian to Jiang Cheng read:

‘Jiujiu, where are we going?’ asks jl as jiujiu marches him away from the secret passage, and the room with the man. His grips jl by the upper arm tightly. They don’t appear to be headings back towards jl’s room, or even where the banquet is being held.

Jiujiu doesn’t answer, he just does the thing jl has seen adult cultivators do where they slash characters into thin air with an index finger, imbuing them with spiritual energy so the afterimage of them lingers in the air with a warm glow.

Once his message is complete, jiujiu slams his palm into the words and they vanish into thin air—whatever message he had written out has now been sent to its intended recipient.

He increases their pace until jl has to run to keep up with jiujiu’s long strides.
‘Jiujiu, where are we going?’ jl pants, digging in his heels. He doesn’t like this. Jiujiu is behaving erratically.

Jiujiu doesn’t slow at all, he simply scoops jl up into his arms, and moves even faster. In no time at all, they’re standing at the exit to Koi Tower. Jl can make out the guards standing at the gates. Jiujiu finally slows to a halt, and sets jl down.

‘Jin Ling, we’re leaving early,’ says jiujiu seriously, crouching down and setting his hands on jl’s shoulders. They feel heavy, as does jiujiu’s gaze.
‘Why?’ asks jl tremendously. He feels like a leaden weight has sunk into his belly. Things are happening so quickly—he’s afraid

Jiujiu stares at him for a beat, the muscles in his jaw flexing. That always happens when jiujiu is thinking.
‘There’s somewhere we need to go urgently. We’re going to fly, and I’m going to carry you.’

Any other time, jl would be ecstatic; he loves when jiujiu takes him flying, and it doesn’t happen often.
‘I’m going to put some talismans on us. I need you to be quiet when we leave, can you do that for me?’ asks jiujiu.

Jl isn’t a baby and he isn’t stupid so he understands—jiujiu intends for them to sneak off past the guards. He intends for them to sneak out of Koi Tower together.
‘Where are we going?’ jl asks, as jiujiu pulls some talismans out of his Qiankun pouch.

He slaps one of the talismans jl’s back, and jl let’s out an indignant squeak.
‘Jiujiu, where are we going!’ jl asks again, trying to demand the way adults do, but it just sounds like he’s on the verge of tears.

Jiujiu’s expression pinches tightly. Wherever they’re going, he isn’t happy about it.
‘You’ll see,’ he says.
Before jl can ask any more questions, jiujiu sweeps him into his arms. He pulls out Sandu, and then they’re soaring away from Koi Tower, and off into the night.

The landscape passes beneath them at an alarming rate, and the wind whips past jl’s face with such force that he very quickly has to bury his face in the crook of jiujiu’s neck. Jl doesn’t know how long they fly for.

It’s probably hours and hours because at some point he falls asleep. When he wakes, the sun is up again, and they’re passing over a town surrounded by tall mountains that jl doesn’t recognize.

‘Jiujiu are we there yet? I need the bathroom,’ jl complains loudly—he has to be loud to be heard over the howling of the wind whipping past them. ‘Also I’m hungry,’ he adds—they left before jl had his supper.

‘Nearly,’ answers jiujiu.
Just when jl is getting cranky and uncomfortable enough to begin squirming in jiujiu’s arms, their velocity and altitude begins to decrease. Finally! Jl thinks. The wind is less violent at these lower speeds so jl can actually take a proper look around.

Instead of taking them down into the village, jiujiu is heading directly for one of the mountain peaks. The mountains are all covered in lush forest, and it seems that jiujiu intends for them to crash down right through the trees.

‘Jiujiu, the trees—we’re going to—’ in a panic, jl squeezes his arms around jiujiu’s neck—the tree canopy looks very thick and like there will be many stabby branches that will be painful to get past.

Just before they hit the treeline, jiujiu unleashes a blast of qi accompanied by a flash of zidian which clears a path for them. Jiujiu lowers them neatly through the hole he created. He jumps off Sandu when they’re close to the ground, and lands lightly.

Jl is forcibly reminded that his jiujiu is very powerful and formidable, and thinks to himself (not for the first or last time) that he hopes he can be skilled and powerful and good at cultivation like jiujiu when he’s older.

Jiujiu has brought them down onto a pathway, and just in front of them, there is a gate. There are two guards standing by the gate, both dressed is white flowy robes, both with their mouths gaping open like fish.

Jiujiu lowers jl to his feet, and after hours of being carried, jl’s legs nearly fold under him when he tries to take his own weight. Luckily jiujiu keeps ahold of his arm until he can get his feet under himself.

‘Jin Ling, come,’ jiujiu orders once jl is confident he can walk under his own power, and jl follows jiujiu as he steps up to the gate, and the still-gaping guards.
‘I am Sect Leader Jiang. I’m here to see Sect Leader Lan. Let me through,’ says jiujiu bluntly.

Both guards take a moment to collect themselves after that declaration.
‘Do you have an invitation or a jade token?’ asks one of them.
The displeased look jiujiu gives them in the face of that question makes both of them recoil.
‘No,’ says jiujiu.

‘Um… well, you see, it’s against the rules if you don’t…’ the poor lan disciple trails off, clearly intimidated and cowed by the ferocity of jiujiu’s scowl.
‘Hanguang-jun!’ exclaims the other disciple suddenly, sounding extremely relieved. He’s staring at someone behind them.

Jl knows of Hanguang-jun, he’s heard about him during his history lessons, and he knows he is the Lan Sect leader’s younger brother, but he’s never met the man before.
When he turns, he sees a very tall man gliding towards them with pristine white robes.

There is a young boy beside him, probably around jl’s age, also dressed in white. Their forehead ribbons flutter behind them as they walk. The boy looks at him and jiujiu curiously, but Hanguang-jun barely reacts to their presence.

His golden eyes flick over them, and then away again immediately, as if they aren’t worth his attention.
‘No invitation, no entry,’ Hanguang-jun proclaims.

Jl can’t help but bristle at the blatant disrespect, and apparently jiujiu can’t help it either, because zidian crackles at his fingertips.

(Little does jl know that this scene is a mirror of something that happened many many years ago. Hgj and jiujiu are both thinking of it, the last time one of them was here without an invitation. They are both also thinking of the person missing from this scene.)

Jiujiu takes a deep breath and visibly forces himself to calm down. The lightning at his fingertips dies.
‘We need your help,’ he says, as though the words are teeth being pulled from his gums.
Hanguang-jun halts ahead of them, just before the gates.

He doesn’t say a word, but the look he levels at jiujiu clearly says ‘why would I ever help YOU? How dare you have the audacity to even ask me.’
Jiujiu snaps.
‘You’re such a sanctimonious asshole!’
Jl, both guards, and even the young boy trailing behind hgj, all gasp.

Hgj raises an eyebrow, unmoved and unimpressed by jiujiu’s outburst.
Hgj inclines his head, and even jl at 7 years old can tell it’s meant to be mocking. He can tell it’s insultingly shallow.

‘Good bye, Sect Leader Jiang.’ Hgh firmly turns his back on them and continues walking past the gates. ‘Do not return without an invitation.’

Jiujiu actually lashes out with zidian at that, but hgj is quick to block the attack with his sword. Zidian wraps around hgj’s sword like an electric eel, locking them in a stalemate.
‘My Shijie let him choose Jin Ling’s courtesy name, did you know that?’

Jl can only blink in bewilderment because it seems like something totally unrelated for jiujiu to bring up! What does his courtesy name have to do with anything? And who’s ‘he’ anyway? Who chose his courtesy name?

It’s HIS name, shouldn’t he know who gave it to him? He always assumed it was his parents, but what jiujiu said makes him think that that might not be the case.
Hgj looks a bit confused too.

(aaaand now I have to go to the dentist, more later)

(Dentist went well 👍)
(Also, here's link to the beginning if anyone is just coming across this:

https://twitter.com/greenteafiend1/status/1346209525129351169

)

‘She let him pick,’ jiujiu repeats, ‘because she loved him, and she loved her son, even though he wasn’t born yet. He was—he was so excited to meet him. Do you know what he picked?’
Hgj remains stony faced and tight-lipped so jiujiu goes on without his input.

‘Jin. Ru. LAN.’ Jiujiu pronounces every syllable slowly and carefully.

Lan… Lan as in the Gusu Lan Clan? It’s the first time it occurs to jl that the Lan of his courtesy name and the Lan Clan of Gusu might be more than a coincidence. Did the mysterious person his jiujiu is going on about name him for the Lan Clan? Why?

For some reason, hearing this puts an emotion on hgj’s face that isn’t blankness ranging towards mild disdain—he looks distressed.

‘Who do you think he named him for, huh? All these years you’ve behaved like his fucking widower, so the LEAST you can do is help his youngest living relation.’ Jiujiu recalls zidian and lets go of hgj’s sword.

The traces of distress on hgj’s face smooth out, and his expression goes back to being a blank mask. He lowers his sword, but doesn’t put it away.
‘What help does Young Master Jin require?’ he asks, looking at jl.

‘What help does Young Master Jin require?’ he asks, looking at jl. His golden gaze feels heavy, especially because jl himself has no idea what he supposedly needs help with.

‘Jin Ling has been cursed and musical cultivation can help,’ explains jiujiu. ‘Will you help, or are you going to make me go to fucking Moling Su?’

CURSED? Did jiujiu just say—had he been—
‘I’m cursed!?’ jl cries.
Jl stumbles forward and grabs at jiujiu’s sleeve.
‘Is that true?’
Jl’s face starts to heat up and his lower lip starts to wobble. His heart pounds and his fingers feel cold—is that the curse?

One of his uncles who died when he was a baby was cursed—the one-hundred hole curse. One of jl’s older cousins had shown him drawings of the affliction, and he’d had nightmares about it for weeks.

He can’t help but think about it now. It’s been nearly a year, but he can still picture in his mind’s eye the agonized expression on the person’s face, and the horrifying holes carved into their torso—

(Jl doesn’t know, but his jiujiu had nearly whipped that older jin cousin of his with zidian when he figured out the reason why jl kept having recurring nightmares, and kept showing up at his rooms late in the night with tears streaming down his cheeks.

In the end it was xiao shushu who oversaw the punishment. The jin cousin in question, in hindsight, probably would have preferred the whipping compared to what xiao shushu did.)

—would that happen to him?
Were excruciating holes going to begin opening on his body with no way of stopping it? Would he bleed to death?

He doesn’t want to die! He especially doesn’t want to die because of a horrible curse! He hasn’t even done anything to anyone! Why would anyone curse him?

Jl tugs plaintively at jiujiu’s sleeve.
His breath hitches and tears spill down his cheeks.
He didn’t mean to start crying—he isn’t a baby anymore—but he’s afraid, and he can’t help it.
‘Jiujiu, a-am I going to d-die?’

‘A-ling, no,’ says jiujiu fiercely, and then he crouches down and hugs jl very tightly. Jl clings back, wrapping his arms around jiujiu’s neck as he tries not to sob. ‘No,’ jiujiu repeats, ‘Nothing will happen to you, I won’t allow it. You’re going to be fine. Stop crying.’

Jiujiu hates it when he cries.
‘I c-can’t help it! I d-don’t wanna be cursed!’ jl chokes out, pressing his face into jiujiu’s neck.
Usually jiujiu would chastise him and tell him to pull himself together in the face of such an undignified display.

Especially given that they have an audience, but this time jiujiu just hugs him and pats his back until he calms down enough to control himself. Jiujiu gives him one last squeeze before letting him go so he can stand, but keeps an arm around jl’s shoulders.

Jl isn’t a baby, he can definitely stand on his own without support, but he’s glad for the arm around his shoulders anyway. He shuffles a fraction closer to jiujiu and keeps a hold of his sleeve.

‘Don’t go to Moling Su,’ says hgj suddenly. ‘We’ll help.’

‘Come,’ hgj bids, and then he turns to continue making his way gracefully into Cloud Recesses.
Jiujiu picks him up and carries him, following hgj’s lead. Jl would normally insist he can walk himself but this time he doesn’t mind.

They pause at one point so hgj can say something in a low voice to the boy who has been shadowing him. He touches the boy’s head affectionately, and then the boy bows and heads in a different direction.

Hgj takes them to a fancy room, and they all sit around a table.
‘Tell me what you know,’ he says to jiujiu.

‘No offence, but is literally ANYONE else available to deal with this matter?’ says jiujiu rudely.
Hgj’s lips purse in displeasure.
‘You said you required the assistance of a musical cultivator.’ Hgj gives jiujiu a flat look that says “here I am.”

Jiujiu seems to hesitate, but ultimately he draws the letter from the man out of his Qiankun pouch.
‘Before I let you see this, I need your word you won’t run off and do something rash. I need your word that you’ll help a-Ling first.’

Hgj’s eyes narrow suspiciously.
‘For someone begging a favour, Sect Leader Jiang is making many demands,’ he says flatly.
Jiujiu lets out a laugh that verges on hysterical.
‘And I’m not even finished yet. I have to leave a-Ling in your care, and you have to keep it a secret.’

Jl can only stare at jiujiu in shocked betrayal.
‘You’re going to abandon me here?’
‘It’s hardly abandoning if I come back for you later,’ jiujiu retorts.
‘You do not plan on overseeing the removal of the curse?’ asks hgj with a disapproving frown.

‘Not if you can spare me, and if you’re confident in your success.’
‘Explain.’
Jiujiu sighs, and hands over the letter.

When jiujiu had read this letter, he’d had a very… EXTREME reaction. Jl watches hgj carefully from the safety of being tucked up beside jiujiu as hgj unfolds the letter, wishing he could read it for himself if only to see what the big deal was.

Hgj reads the first few characters—jl can tell because his eyes barely skim the page—and then his body freezes stock still, while his eyes get larger and wider. It takes a heaving, stuttering breath to unfreeze him, and then he goes back to the beginning of the letter.

The hand holding the letter clenches hard enough to wrinkle the paper, and hgj’s other hand shakes as he presses his fingertips to the page, mouthing the words as he touches them.
(Here is the letter again if you want to give it a second read)

https://twitter.com/greenteafiend1/status/1352945685788729350

“It’s me…” mouths hgj, and then something that must be a name, but jl can’t quite parse it from lipreading.
‘Wei Ying is alive?’ A whole world of hope and desolation is packed into those words. Hgj’s eyes actually look shiny with emotion—like he might cry!

Jl can only stare with morbid fascination because he’s never seen an adult man cry before. Grandmother cries a lot, but grandfather doesn’t, and xiao shushu doesn’t, and jiujiu CERTAINLY doesn’t.

Hgj is getting teary eyed over a man called Wei Ying whom he clearly believed to be dead. It isn't hard for jl to make the connection between ‘Wei Ying,’ the emaciated man locked in the room he’d been visiting.

But why did hgj, and probably jiujiu too, think he was dead? Why is he hidden away? How did he know about the curse jl is apparently afflicted with? Jl wants to ask—he thinks he has a right to know. He decides he can politely wait until hgj isn’t on the verge of weeping though.

In the end hgj’s eyes remain a bit shiny, but the tears don’t spill. He devours the rest of the letter like it contains cultivation secrets on how to achieve instant immortality, impatiently turning over both pages to make sure there isn’t anything written on the back of them.

‘Where is he now?’ hgj demands.
Jiujiu grimaces.
‘You LEFT HIM there?’ hgj correctly deduces, very loudly and very unhappily.

Hgj looks about 2 seconds away from leaping out the door and onto his sword.
‘I’ll go back for him as soon as you break the curse on a-Ling!’ jiujiu retorts defensively. ‘Do you really think he’d leave with a-Ling’s life at stake?’

Hgj seems to consider that statement for a moment, and must deem it true because the tightly coiled tension in his body suddenly releases, and he stops looking like he will fly away at any given moment.

‘When you go for him, I’m coming with you,’ he says stubbornly.
Jiujiu throws up his hands in exasperation.
‘Fine! Do as you please! Can we focus on breaking the curse now?’

That’s when there comes a knock at the door, and then a man who looks remarkably like hgj enters the room, flanked by the boy from earlier—hgj must have sent him to fetch this person.
‘Sect Leader Jiang,’ he says, and then he smiles. ‘To what do we owe the pleasure?’

‘Sect Leader Lan, my nephew has been cursed,’ says jiujiu. He holds out a hand towards hgj, clearly gesturing that he wants the letter back, presumably so Sect Leader Lan can look at it, but hgj ignores him and folds the first sheaf neatly to hide it in his sleeve.

‘Seriously?’ says jiujiu, affronted, while hgj hands over the second page directly to his brother. They look so alike that jl wonders if they are twins. The only difference between them seems to be that one smiles, and the other does not.

Sect Leader Lan reads quickly. ‘A counter melody for a curse,’ he murmurs. ‘Cleverly done. Who wrote this?’
Jiujiu and hgj look at each other. Jiujiu squints, hgj gives him the most minute shake of his head, and then they both say nothing.

Sect Leader Lan reads quickly. ‘A counter melody for a curse,’ he murmurs. ‘Cleverly done. Who wrote this?’
Jiujiu and hgj look at each other. Jiujiu squints, hgj gives him the most minute shake of his head, and then they both say nothing for an awkward beat.

Sect Leader Lan’s smile doesn’t so much as flicker.
‘Well then,’ he says, ‘may I suggest we take Young Master Jin to the medical pavilion, and see what can be done?’
That’s when things begin to progress very quickly.

Jiujiu carries him to another building, and then there are even more people in flowing white robes fussing around him, holding his wrist and poking at him with their spiritual energy, speaking very quickly in low voices so jl can’t catch what they are saying.

‘a-Ling,’ says jiujiu, kneeling by his side to take his hand, the Lan cultivators momentarily held back.
‘Sect Leader Lan is going to remove the curse.’
Jl darts a glance the man, and the smile he gives jl is reassuring.

‘I might not be here when you wake,' jiujiu continues, 'but I promise that I will return for you. Be good, okay?’
‘What? But jiujiu—’
Jl feels a tiny prick on the side of his neck, and then everything fades away…

When jl wakes again, he has no idea how much time has passed. He’s been laid down in an unfamiliar bed, inside an unfamiliar room, and covered with an unfamiliar blanket. He knows immediately that he’s still in Cloud Recesses.

The colours are all wrong; white and grey and blue where he’s used to being enveloped in the warm golden glow of koi tower. Even the smells here are wrong, all cool and floral when he’s used to grandmother’s incense and grandfather’s expensive perfumes.

The door slides open, and it’s the young boy from before, the one around jl’s age that was walking with hgj.
‘Oh, you’re awake,’ he says.

‘Where’s jiuji—I mean, tell me where sect leader jiang is,’ jl demands. He wants to stand up so he can loom better, but when he gets to his feet, his legs give out from under him, and he crashes to the floor.

‘You mustn’t exert yourself, you’re still recovering,’ says the boy, rushing over to help jl get back up on the bed. Jl wants to tell the boy that he can’t tell him what to do, and not touch him, but he inexplicably lacks the strength to get up himself, so he says nothing.

His body feels like it weighs a ton, and by the time he and boy have managed to get him settled on the bed again, jl feels tired enough to fall back to sleep.
‘What—what happened? Why do I feel like this?’

‘I’ll get Zewu Jun,’ says the boy, and in a blink, he’s gone. Getting up and falling and trying to get back into bed really took it out of jl, so it only takes minutes for him to fall into a doze.
He stirs a little when zewu-jun takes his wrist to pass him spiritual energy.

His groggy mind gets the impression of a tall person with warm hands bending over him.
‘Jiujiu?’ he murmurs.
A warm hand brushed his hair away from his forehead.
‘Rest.’
Jl falls deeper into sleep.

The second time he wakes is because of a commotion. The sound of it washes over him, and it makes his brain a few minutes to wake up properly to parse it all.

‘Sect Leader Jiang! I must INSIST that you allow one of the medics to examine you, you aren’t in any condition to—’
‘Not until I see my nephew.’
‘He is FINE,’ this voice sounds exasperated, like they have repeated themselves many times.

‘His spiritual reserves were exhausted, but he is resting, and he will recover—’
‘Tell me where he is.’
‘Did you not hear me say that he’s RESTING?’
‘a-LING!’
Jl hears a scuffle, the sound of doors being thrown open, and the murmur of more voices trying to calm jiujiu.

‘How many fucking room does this—a-LING! Where are you?! Out of my way!’
Jl only has enough time to sit up and rub at his sleepy eyes before his door rattles. A second later it is pushed open violently.
Jiujiu stands in the doorway looking murderous, chest heaving.

There is also a gaping stab wound leaking copious amounts of blood in his side.
‘Jiujiu!’ jl cries horrified.

‘a-Ling,’ jiujiu crosses the room to him in 3 ground eating strides as if he isn’t actively bleeding out. ‘Are you alright?’
‘I feel fine,’ jl answers, surprised to find that it’s true—the weakness from before is gone. ‘But jiujiu, what about you?’

Jiujiu smiles, and completely disregards jl’s question.
‘That’s good,’ he says, and then his eyes roll into the back of his head, and he faints dead away.

Here’s the beginning of the thread:

https://twitter.com/greenteafiend1/status/1346209525129351169

And next up, here is what Jin Ling missed while he was unconscious:

In the end it took several powerful lan cultivators—including lxc and lqr—working in tandem for a full day and night to lift the curse on him.

It was an extremely powerful, complicated curse, and once jl was finally free of it, jc and lwj set out for Koi Tower together without a word to anyone.

After their departure, lxc and lqr did some research in the forbidden section of their library on the curse in question because it bore some uncanny resemblances to lan cultivation techniques. Forbidden ones...

Whoever cast the curse must have had access to the forbidden section of the library at some point. (Wonder who that could have been, hmmmmm lol)

Meanwhile at Koi Tower, lwj and jc managed to get into Koi Tower alright without anyone noticing their presence. They sneak down to the tapestry jl has shown jc just a few days earlier, and make their way down the tiny hidden passageway.

When they get to the small grate overlooking that awful, tiny room, wwx is inside. He’s unconscious on the floor, and lwj gasps audibly at how emaciated he is. They were meant to do this carefully, break in and take wwx away with everyone none the wiser, but that doesn’t happen.

Lwj may….... lose his shit little? In a rage induced trance, with no thoughts spared for being quiet or stealthy, lwj draws bichen and mutilates the metal grate. After that, he punches it so hard that it comes off flying, and crashes into the opposite wall with a huge boom.

It falls to the ground with a damning clatter, thankfully not on wwx.
‘What are you doing?!’ jc hisses, but lwj isn’t listening to him—all his attention is focused on wwx, who is blinking awake because of the ruckus.

Wwx tries to sit up, only to hiss in pain and fall back, clutching at his arm.
‘Lan Zhan?’ he says weakly, blinking like he can’t believe his eyes.
Lwj leaps the distance between them, landing at wwx’s side.
‘Wei Ying,’ he says, falling to his knees.

‘What are you doing here?’ wwx asks, as lwj tenderly brushes wwx’s dirty matted hair away from his face.
‘You’re injured. Is it just your arm?’lwj asks, disregarding wwx’s question.

His hands ghost over wwx’s person, checking for injuries, while jc splutters indignantly about lwj being overly familiar, and failing to follow the plan they’d agreed to.

‘Are you really here? You shouldn’t be,’ says wwx, reaching out and batting at the parts of lwj he can reach as if to check that he’s solid, or maybe to weakly try and push him away.

Lwj catches wwx’s hand in both of his and holds it to his chest.
‘I’m here.’ They stare into each other’s eyes...

Wwx shakes his head helplessly. ‘You know I can’t leave. The curse on a-Ling—’
‘Your nephew is safe. The curse is lifted,’ interrupts lwj.
‘One of us is going to have to carry him,' says jc. It's clear that wwx is incapable of moving himself. 'I think—’

Before jc can say what he thinks, lwj slides one arm behind wwx’s head, and the other beneath his knees to lift him into his arms.
Wwx lets out a little yelp of surprise.
‘I could walk,’ he protests unconvincingly. He is ignored.

Jc takes the lead by unspoken agreement, zidian unspooling at his side, and he kicks down the door. He puts a little too much juice into it, expecting the door to be reinforced with talismans at the very least, but really is just a simple locked door, so it explodes outwards.

It drives home for jc just how trapped wwx must have been with that curse on jl hanging over his head—any cultivator with the barest modicum of ability would have been more than a match for a door like that, let alone a cultivator with wwx’s talent.

They run, trying to find their way out. They encounter xue yang in room filled with torture paraphenalia. The sight of the room, of xy standing inside with that crazed smile, makes wwx let out a tiny fearful whimper.

Lwj holds wwx even closer, and wwx doesn’t protest, going so far as to hide his face in lwj’s neck. He’s shaking. The implications are obvious. The look lwj gives xy is pure violence.

‘Go. I’ll take care of him,’ says jc. It’s only right—jc has a lot of experience putting down rabid demonic cultivators.
And then he fights for his life. He beats xy, but not before xy manages to stab him a little bit.

The rest of the jin cultivators he encounters are no match for him, and he manages to get out of Koi Tower and catch up to lwj and wwx on his sword.

The stab wound isn’t deep—it’s the kind of thing his level of cultivation should have no problem closing up, but about halfway back to Cloud Recesses the wound begins to tingle, and then it begins to burn.

Jc knows the blade must have been poisoned, but there’s nothing to be done until they reach cloud recesses, so he forces himself on. His mind gets foggier, and the wound burns brighter the more time passes.

When they finally arrive he forces himself into jl’s sickroom to double check that the curse was unsuccessful, and then—embarrassingly—he faints.

With yesterday's update, I accidentally missed a tweet just after lqj and wwx looked into each other's eyes 😫😫:

‘I’M HERE TOO,’ says jc loudly, disliking the tone lwj is setting. He leaps down. ‘We need to leave seeing as Hanguang-jun here probably alerted every single person in Koi Tower of our presence.’

and now back to jl!

He's just witnessed his jiujiu faint:

‘Jiujiu!’ jl cries, scrambling up from his bed to rush to jiujiu’s side. It’s terrifying how still and quiet jiujiu is, jl has never seen him like this—vulnerable. He hates it.
‘Jiujiu, wake up!’ he cries, gripping jiujiu’s sleeve and shaking him.

A Lan healer kneels by jiujiu’s other side and takes him by the wrist; whatever he feels makes him frown.
‘What is it!? What’s wrong with him?’ jl demands.

Another Lan tries to murmur to jl comfortingly, tries to ease him away from jiujiu, but jl refuses to go easily. He screams bloody murder in fact, and clings to jiujiu as if they’re to be dragged away to slaughter.

The next person to appear at the door is a surprise—it’s the man! He still looks dreadful—dreadfully thin, dreadfully unkempt, and dreadfully tired—but he makes his way into the room despite looking like he might keel over any second. It's such a surprise jl quietens.

Right on his heels is hgj. He looks fretful, hands outstretched after the man as if he’s preparing himself for the man to swoon into his arms at any moment.
‘Wei Ying,’ hgj says, voice tight.
‘I’m fine,’ says the man. Hgj frowns, but doesn't stop him from going to jiujiu's side.

‘The blade that made this injury was saturated with resentful energy, and it’s infected the wound,’ says wwx grimly. ‘Let me siphon a little off, and then he should be able to heal himself.’
The Lan medics look to hgj, who nods, so they step back from jiujiu.

‘What are you going to do?’ asks jl. His voice comes out childishly shaky and plaintive.
The man looks at him, and his expression softens.
‘I’m going to make sure he’ll be okay, a-Ling’ he says. And then he whistles a haunting, lilting tune.

Black wisps of smoke rise from jiujiu’s wound, and curl towards the man. Before the wisps can touch him, hgj has his guqin out and is playing a counter melody that seems to make the black wisps melt into nothingness.

After a few minutes, the man stops.
‘There, that should do it,’ he says weakly, beginning to stand. He doesn’t quite manage it. Instead, hgj’s closeness and attentiveness are rewarded when the man actually goes and swoons into his arms.

Hgj carries the man away without a backwards glance, and jl wants to protest—where are they going?!—but jiujiu stirs, and then jl is instead occupied with crying all over him.
‘What’s wrong with you? Making such a fuss,’ says jiujiu gruffly, but he pats jl’s back.

‘Jiujiu you’re BLEEDING! A LOT!’ jl protests, trying his best to stop sniffing. He pulls back and rubs at his face. ‘You wouldn’t wake up!’
‘Young master is correct,’ interjects one of the Lan healers.

‘It would be best if you allowed one of us to tend to you,’ he continued.
The other Lan once again tried to distract jl, tried to get him to leave them alone to work, but jl stubbornly clung like a limpet.

In the end, they remove jiujiu to his own sickroom and let jl accompany him there. Once jiujiu’s stab wound is bandaged, jl lets him up on the bed to snuggle into his side like he used to when he was very small.

The summer storms of Lotus Pier used to frighten him when he was a baby. Jl isn’t a baby anymore, and he definitely isn’t afraid. He’s only gripped jiujiu’s sleeve so tightly to make sure he doesn’t run off again.

‘Jiujiu, who was the man? Hanguang Jun called him Wei Ying. How do you know him? Did you save him?’
Jiujiu pauses stroking jl’s hair abruptly. The silence between them is heavy.
‘Jiujiu?’ jl prompts, preparing to repeat himself.

Jiujiu sighs.
‘I’ll explain later.’

Later, jl wakes up alone in bed to find out that jiujiu left Cloud Recesses due to some urgent sect business. Jl is so angry about being left behind that he marches off in high dudgeon to definitely not cry alone where no one can see him.

(He was asleep when jc carefully maneuvered himself out of his grasp without waking him. Jc replaced himself with a pillow, touched jl’s cheek, and pressed a brief kiss to his forehead before leaving.)

(He didn’t like leaving jl alone in Cloud Recesses, but he would be safe there while jc sorted out the absolute cluster-fuck that was jin sect politics at the moment. His first intended stop was Qinghe—nhs deserved to know what killed his brother.)

So jl marches off into Cloud Reccesses with no clue of where he’s going, stomping and angrily swiping at his eyes because they keep leaking annoyingly, when he sees the man—Wei Ying—in the distance.

Instinctively, jl quickly hides behind a nearby pillar. When he peeks around the corner, he can see that wy seems to be looking around himself—checking to make sure that there’s no one else around. Once he's satisfied, wy slinks beyond a line of trees. It's extremely sneaky.

Intrigued, jl follows.

Wy walks for a long time. He goes on and on, deeper into the forest, for so long that jl almost gives up and decides to turn back. The reason he doesn’t is twofold—wy keeps stopping to lean against trees, panting for breath despite their slow pace.

It makes jl worry, and think he ought to keep an eye on him. The second reason he follows is that when he looks back, weighing up whether to turn back or not, all he sees are trees, trees, and more trees—he has no idea how to get back.

‘This should be far enough,’ wy mutters to himself eventually, sitting heavily on the trunk of a fallen tree. Jl hides himself nearby to watch. Wy pulls an object from within his sleeve, and it takes jl a moment to recognise it.

A dizi.

Jl is disappointed—how boring that wy came all the way out here just to play a dizi. Didn’t he know he could have just played it in Cloud Recesses? The lans may have a lot of rules, but music certainly wasn’t against any of them.

When wy brought the instrument to his lips, jl revised that thought however. Playing the dizi wasn’t against the rules, but maybe it would be if the lan heard wy buterching it like this. The notes were all over the place!

Jl put his hands over his ears, and was about to jump out of his hiding spot to beg wy to stop, when something else jumped out of the forest first.

(Wow, this thread has really taken on a life of its own 😅😅Thanks for reading along and making it this far!! and here’s the top of the thread if you’re just tuning in now

https://twitter.com/greenteafiend1/status/1346209525129351169

)

Jl halts at the last moment and stays crouched in the bush. At first, he thinks it’s just a man. A man who probably heard wy’s terrible music, and felt compelled to tell him to knock it off and spare everyone.

But then jl hears the clanging of chains despite wy’s song. There are manacles around the man’s wrists, and rusted chains trailing behind him as he walks. Black veins spider up the man’s arms from wrist to elbow.

His gait is unsteady and uneven, and it makes his hair sway with each stumbling step he takes. Through that dark curtain, jl catches a glimpse of totally black eyes. Dead, unseeing eyes.

Jl has never seen a fierce corpse before. He’s never seen a demonic cultivator at work either, but he knows that they’re awful people who seek terrible power through evil means—it’s a lesson jiujiu had personally drilled into his head.

Jl stands frozen, watching as a person he trusted, a person he considered perhaps his only true friend, performs the same kind of wicked tricks that killed his mother and father.

The corpse comes to halt in front of wy, standing obediently still. Finally, wy stops playing the damn dizi. He tucks it into his belt, and starts talking to the fierce corpse as if it isn’t a dead person that can’t hear him.
‘I’m sorry I took so long, Wen Ning,’ he murmurs.

Jl knows that name. He KNOWS that name.

Wy reaches up and caresses the corpse’s face, fingers delving back to cup its skull, while jl inwardly reels.
‘You’ll feel much better without these,’ wy mutters to himself, pulling a lethally long needle out of the corpse’s head. Wy lets it drop to the forest floor carelessly.

‘I mean, you’ll still be dead, but at least you’ll be more you,’ wy continues, yanking out another needle from the other side, and discarding it as well.
The corpse blinks, and the black recedes from the sclera, as consciousness seems to take root.

‘Is that better?’ asks wy.
‘Master Wei?’ the corpse says hoarsely, and jl finally clicks.

Wei.

WEI.

There’s one infamous man with that surname, a man who can summon corpses to do his bidding. The man who bid the very corpse he's talking so gently to, to kill jl’s father.

Jl feels like his heart might beat out of his chest. He steps out of his hiding place, compelled by the rage saturating every particle of his being. His hands curl into fists, and they shake where he holds them at his side.

He feels so stupid. So betrayed.

‘What happened? Where is everyone else? The last thing I remember…’ the ghost general trails off when he notices jl marching towards them. Jl is so angry he doesn’t know what he’s going to do when he reaches them.

Wwx notices wn’s stare, and follows it until he sees jl too.
‘a-Ling?’ He takes in jl’s expression, and whatever he sees makes him look concerned. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘You!’ You’re the reason my parents are dead! Jl wants to scream. His breathing is too choppy to get the words out. He pushes wwx with all the strength he can muster, and it actually makes wwx stagger a little.

‘You’re Wei Wuxian!’ he manages to spit out.
Wwx cringes, and scratches the side of the nose nervously.
‘Ah, yes. That’s me.’

For some reason this reaction just makes jl angrier, and he leaps forward and tries to pummel wwx with his fists. Wwx makes no move to stop him, he just lets jl hit him, wincing a little, until the ghost general catches him by the wrists.

He holds jl back gingerly, his hands cold and clammy, and jl SCREAMS. No matter how hard he struggles, he can’t escape; the ghost general’s grip is unyielding. These were the hands that had killed his father—had punched right through him. Would that happen to him?

He begins to panic. He yanks his wrists even harder, twisting and straining and crying and screaming.
‘Wen Ning, let him go.’
‘But, Master Wei—’
‘He’s afraid. He’ll hurt himself. Just—Please, let him go. It’s fine.’

The ghost general lets go just as jl gives another almighty tug, which results in him tumbling to the forest floor.
Wwx kneels down in front of him, and jl scrubs furiously at his wet eyes.
‘Why?!’ jl snarls, gathering up all his strength to push wwx again.

‘Why! Why did you kill them?’
Wwx lets out a sigh that sounds exhausted, and he looks down, like he’s ashamed to meet jl’s eye. He sniffs, and scrubs a hand brusquely over his eyes. Is wwx… crying?

‘I’m sorry, Jin Ling,’ he says, looking up. His eyes are wet. ‘If I could give my life to bring theirs back, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I don’t have many regrets, but what happened to your parents… I will always regret that.’

For some reason, hearing that hurts. It hurts in a different way, to hear wwx say sorry. To hear that he regrets it. To see tears in his eyes. The reality of wwx—the one jl knows from secret visits—versus the image of him that jl has been fed, doesn’t match.

The thin man in front of him with wet, bloodshot eyes, thin wrists, and shaky hands, doesn’t fit the role of the Yiling Patriarch; power hungry, demonic cultivator. The dissonance is jarring. Bitter.

It would be easier, less confusing, less painful for jl to reconcile, if wwx fit his expectations. If wwx were someone he could easily hate and condemn. But he isn’t. Jl should want wwx dead, should never want to see him again, but he doesn’t.

Jl means to hit wwx some more, and he does manage to thump his fists few times against wwx’s chest, but then he finds his hands bunching in the front of wwx’s robes, clinging like that grip is the only thing tethering him to reality.

Wwx settles a careful hand on jl’s back, the lightest pressure, and it shatters him. He was already crying, but that kind, careful touch sets him off in earnest.
‘I thought you were my friend. I wanted a friend,’ jl sobs.

‘I’m sorry,’ says wwx, letting jl cry into his shoulder. He rubs jl’s back between his shoulder blades, and Jl is too tired and wrung out to reject the comfort.

It takes a while, but eventually jl cries himself out.
‘You should go,’ says wwx over jl’s head.
‘You’ll be alright?’ asks the Ghost General, sounding very concerned.
‘Yeah, we’ll be fine.’

‘I’ll take my leave,’ says the Ghost General softly.
‘There’s no need for that,’ says wwx, sounding exasperated. Jl looks up in time to see that the Ghost General is bowing very low. A second later then he melts into the forest, disappearing just as suddenly as he had appeared.

For a while, everything is quiet. Jl sniffs every so often and clings to wwx’s robes, and wwx pats his back. Jl feels sad and drained. Also hungry—his tummy rumbles.
‘Let’s head back?’ says wwx softly.

Jl nods. They pull away from each other and get up and begin to walk. The distance feels much farther than jl remembers, and he’s getting tired, which seems to make him trip up on roots and stray branches with increased frequency.

When wwx offers him his hand the first time, jl turns his nose up at it. He isn’t a baby, he can walk himself. But then it begins to get dark out, and colder, and he’s beginning to feel REALLY tired, so the second time wwx offers he takes it.

Wwx still stops every so often to catch his breath with his other hand braced against a tree, but this time around, jl doesn’t mind because he’s tired too.
‘How far are we?’ jl asks, dragging his feet despite his best efforts to keep going because they feel so heavy.

‘Not far, I think,’ wwx answers.
The next time jl trips, he doesn’t get up. He’s beat. He wants to lay down and close his eyes so badly that the thought of getting up and walking some more has him dangerously close to tears again.

Before that can happen, wwx scoops him up and carries him. Jl pillows his head on wwx’s bony shoulder and lets his eyelids close.

He’s halfway to drifting off when he hears something whistling through the air.
‘Wei Ying!’
Jl recognises the voice—it’s hgj. He decides he can’t be bothered lifting his head or opening his eyes for hgj.

‘Lan Zhan,’ wwx sounds relieved. ‘Can you take him? He’s only a baby, but he’s pretty heavy.’
‘Not a baby,’ jl protests sleepily without opening his eyes.
He doesn’t protest when wwx hands him over to hgj—hgj feels strong like jiujiu. (Strong unlike wwx). Plus he smells nice.

‘He reminds me so much of Jiang Cheng,’ wwx says wistfully, passing a gentle hand over jl’s hair.
‘Wei Ying, you disappeared,’ says hgj disapprovingly.
‘I know. Let’s just get back and get him to bed, okay? Then we can talk.’

The warmth of hgj’s body and the evenness of his footfalls lulls jl into a proper slumber, and he doesn’t stir when he’s deposited into a bed.

Here's the beginning of the thread if you're just tuning in!

https://twitter.com/greenteafiend1/status/1346209525129351169

Hoping to wrap this up soon-ish 🤞🤞🤞🤞

While jl is asleep:

Wwx watches lwj put jl to bed like he has experience wrangling small humans. He makes sure jl is lying comfortably on his back, smooths his messy hair away from his face, and pulls the covers up to his chin.

It fills wwx with so much tenderness that he can barely stand to watch. In fact, wwx can barely stand to STAND fullstop—lwj had given him broth earlier, but the walk, and summoning wn, and carrying jl has really taken it out of him.

Outside jl’s room, he sways on his feet as the world around him briefly swims. These dizzy spells are a frequent occurrence—wwx is used to leaning against something solid until it passes.

This time, lwj makes himself someone solid for him. He presses himself to wwx’s side, and wraps an arm around his shoulders.
‘Ah, Lan Zhan, that isn’t necessary,’ says wwx, making no move to put any distance between them. Lwj feels warm and solid.

It’s nice, it feels SO nice, but at the same time, it really drives home how different wwx is compared to how he used to be. He and lwj used to be about the same size, and wwx used to be his equal in strength.

That isn’t the case anymore. Both of them have changed over the years. Lan Zhan appears to have grown into all of his potential.

That isn’t the case anymore. Both of them have changed over the years. Lan Zhan appears to have grown into all of his potential, whereas wwx basically looks like he’s spent 7 years being intermittently starved, tortured and locked away.

Lwj bends and shifts closer, and suddenly, wwx finds himself swept up in lwj’s strong arms.
‘Lan Zhan,’ wwx sighs, but he doesn’t even bother trying to resist. He’s too dizzy, and it’s not like he doesn’t want to be held. He may be a tiny bit 🤏 touch-starved.

Lwj takes him back to the rooms they’ve been staying in—are they lwj’s personal rooms? Wwx isn’t sure—and deposits him on the bed. Wwx sees a pot of tea on the table and it gives him a little pang of guilt.

He’d asked for it to get lwj to leave him alone so he could sneak out and see to wn. It’ll be too cold to drink now, though.

Gosh it’s been so long since I updated this thread! Please forgive me
Here’s the top for those just tuning in:

https://twitter.com/greenteafiend1/status/1346209525129351169

‘You don’t need to trouble yourself for me, Lan Zhan. Your healers have done enough,’ says wwx.
‘I will draw you a bath,’ says lwj, infuriatingly implacable.

Wwx let’s it happen. A hot bath sounds heavenly; it’s been YEARS since he’s had the pleasure. His fingers are clumsy with impatience on the knots holding his robes closed.

'Do you need help?’ asks lwj softly, appearing silently behind the privacy screen. He;s finished filling the tub.

‘Lan Zhan!’ wwx splutters. ‘How can you—I’d never ask that of you!’ he cries.
‘Why not?’ asks lwj, eyes steely. What a change 7 years has wrought. Wwx can’t imagine the lwj he remembers from their youth offering to help him undress. Wwx is almost tempted to say “shameless.”

‘It’s beneath you. I can manage,’ wwx says. That’s the moment the knot finally gives way, proving wwx’s point. Lwj makes no move to leave him to it even though his robe is open.
‘Are you planning to stay and watch?’ asks wwx, expecting that comment to scare lwj off.

‘If Wei Ying doesn’t mind, yes,’ says lwj.
Wwx’s shrugs off his robe, leaving himself in only a pair of thin pants. He knows it’s not a pretty sight—he’s very thin, and his skin is marred with half-healed cuts and bruises, as well as scars.

He watches lwj take in the sight of him—watches lwj see what he’s become. Lwj’s lips purse and his expression sours. It’s the reaction wwx was expecting—was aiming for, even—but it still stings.

‘I’m not as pretty as I used to be. Hanguang-jun need not force himself. I won’t run off again if that’s what you’re worried about. At least, without telling you I’m running off first.’
‘Let me wash your hair,’ lwj replies.

‘What?’ says wwx, caught wrong-footed. Lwj keeps saying and doing things he really never would have expected.
‘Oh, because of my arm?’ The Lan medics had really done wonders for the injury, but wwx didn’t think he could lift it over his head.

‘It’s okay, I’ll just dunk my head—’
‘Not because of your arm,’ lwj interrupts.
‘What? But then why—?’
‘Because I want to.’

Wwx finds that he is powerless to do anything other than acquiesce, which is how he finds himself sitting in a hot bath, with lwj’s long elegant fingers working soap into the terrible mess that is his hair.

The hot water and lwj’s gentle, dexterous hands are a potent combination that leave wwx reduced to putty. In the end, lwj not only helps him wash his hair, but shaves his face, and helps him out of the tub too.

He dries wwx off with a towel, and dresses him deftly in something clean and soft, and of high quality, and wwx let's it happen.

‘Why are you doing this?’ mumbles wwx drowsily as lwj leads him to the bed and presses him to sit down.
‘Doing what?’ asks lwj. He hands wwx a bowl of soup kept hot with a warming talisman. ‘Eat this,’ he orders.

‘You—you’re taking care of me,’ says wwx.
‘Are you asking why I am caring for you?’ asks lwj. With a mouthful of hot soup, wwx nods.
‘Because I want to,’ lwj answers.
‘But why?’ asks wwx.

Lwj stills, and he gets an intense look in his eyes. ‘Do you really not know?’ he asks. Those soft words—the way lwj is looking at him—it’s a bit much, and wwx gaze drops to the warm bowl in his hand.

‘It’s—it’s been 7 years,’ wwx says weakly.
‘Finishing eating. Then we’ll talk,’ says lwj.

Wwx finishes eating. Lwj takes the empty bowl from him to set aside, and returns with a jar of oil, a comb and a cushion. This time wwx gives in before lwj even has to ask, sliding to the floor to sit on the cushion.

Lwj sits on the bed behind him. Wwx hears the soft click of the bottle opening, and then lwj rubbing his palms together. Lwj gathers up his hair and works the oil into it. It smells nice. After that begins to comb out wwx’s hair carefully.

The way lwj is treating him, it’s so careful and tender that it makes wwx feel like crying.

‘What will you do now?’ lwj asks as he combs.
Wwx shrugs. ‘Infringe on the hospitality of Cloud Recesses for as long as you can stand me to, and then I’ll make myself scarce, I suppose.’

It was good of them to let their healers tend to him, and good of lwj to tend to him like this too, and wwx doesn’t want to wear out his welcome.

Lwj’s hands pause in wwx’s hair.
‘You wish to make yourself scarce?’
‘Wouldn’t that be for the best? I’m meant to be dead. It’s going to be an unpleasant surprise to a lot of people when they find out otherwise.’

‘It wasn't an unpleasant surprise for me,’ says lwj quietly.

‘Lan Zhan,’ says wwx helplessly.
‘It was a miracle. My deepest wish come true,’ lwj continues.

There is silence between them at that proclamation. Wwx feels lwj part his hair into 3 sections, and begin to braid. When he’s done he ties off the end, and stands from the bed. He walks around wwx, and kneels in front of him.

‘Wei Ying,’ he says, eyes filled with emotion. ‘If you wish to leave for your own sake, I won’t stop you. But you must know, I would not choose to let you out of my sight.’
Wwx feels like the world around him is spinning.

‘Lan Zhan, you—you want to keep me? Here?’ he blurts.
Lwj nods.

‘For… for punishment?’ Even as wwx says it, he knows it isn’t true. The way lwj is looking at him, kneeling before him. His careful, gentle touches...
Lwj doesn’t want to punish him.

‘No,’ says lwj. The tension between them is choking in its intensity, but wwx finds he can’t look away from lwj’s face.

‘Then… then what for?’ he asks.
Lwj takes wwx’s hands in his, and stares at him steadily.

His thumbs press gently over wwx’s knuckles, caressing like wwx is something delicate. Something precious.
‘I don’t understand,’ says wwx. His voice wobbles dangerously.

‘You once vowed to stand with justice and live with no regrets. Wei Ying, I have regretted that I did not stand with you.’
Wwx can’t believe what he’s hearing.

‘No—that’s not—it isn’t—’ he stammers, trying desperately to gather his thoughts. He blinks rapidly against a sudden welling of wetness in his eyes.

Lwj patiently holds his hands while he fights the strange urge to cry.
‘You hated me,’ are the words wwx finally manages to dredge up. ‘You hated my cultivation, you hated what I was doing. You thought it was harming my temperament. You thought it was evil. You weren’t wrong—’

‘I didn’t hate you,’ lwj interrupts. His eyes are blazing with emotion. ‘I’ve never hated you. I hated that you suffered. I hated that you were in danger. I never thought I’d have another chance to protect you, like I wanted to back then.'

Lwj kneels up, and leans in even closer. He presses their joined hands to his chest; he feels solid and warm beneath wwx’s palms.
‘Wei Ying, please. Let me,’ he beseeches.

Wei Ying is only human. It’s been a cold, lonely, 7 years, full of torture and empty of warmth or affection. Lwj—good, steady, beautiful, Hanguang-jun—saying such things to him, swearing to protect him, touching him with his strong hands, it’s a little overwhelming.

‘Okay, if you insist,’ wwx manages to choke out, and then the dam bursts and he finds himself crying.

He doesn’t know why exactly he’s crying—it could be for all the people he lost, for the past 7 years he lived even though he shouldn’t have, or because of lwj’s care and kindness towards him—but he finds that once he gets going he can’t stop.

It’s a deluge that’s been a long time coming—he can’t remember the last time he cried like this. It’s cathartic, like every tear shed is somehow cleansing him.

Lwj pulls wwx into his arms.
‘I’ve got you,’ he whispers into wwx’s hair.
He holds him, warm and tight, and safe.