Chapter Text
Throughout the silence, Wei Wuxian's multitude of hectic thoughts broke down into one. 'Xiao Xingchen's best friend, Song Lan?!'
Xiao Xingchen couldn't restrain his instinctive flinch at the term, self-deprecating thoughts quickly overtaking his former feelings of guilt. He covered up his arms, hands sinking into the white fabric, as if it would protect him from the emotions he so desperately tried to swallow down.
"The second question, who killed him?"
The spirit refused to reply, instead deciding to draw out the silence again. In the end, Wei Wuxian decided to try once more: "If, he doesn't want to answer it, then-"
Before he could continue, Lan Sizhui said, "Oh, it is here."
Many unconsciously inched closer in interest. There were some within the room who were painstakingly aware of the name about to be spoken aloud, whereas others were oblivious, and such, were undeniably both curious and anticipating what was to come as the scene rolled along, like scenes of a picture film within a camera.
However, one question had been crossing each individual's mind.
Just who had killed the famed Song Lan?
The notes were strummed, and all of a sudden, Lan Sizhui was recoiling back in horror, his face an ashen grey. "Impossible!"
"What did he say?"
"He said..." Lan Sizhui visibly gulped. "Xiao Xingchen."
Song Lan's head quickly snapped to the cultivator robed in white, precedently aware of his best friend's guilty thoughts. His demeanour faltered at the sight of Xiao Xingchen's head lowered in shame, hands attempting to scratch through his pale garment, as if it were an anchor chaining him in place to the ground beneath his feet.
He quickly brought the other into a tight embrace, hands gently running through soft hair as he whispered quiet promises. "It wasn't you, it wasn't your fault."
Xiao Xingchen allowed himself to fall further into his friend's arms, hiding his shamefully crying face from the prying eyes that bore holes through his chest.
Jin Ling crossed his arms with a scoff, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "You definitely played it wrong!"
Many within the crowd nodded in agreement, their gazes switching to and fro between the cuddling friends and horrific reveal on the screen.
"There's no way that Xiao Xingchen would do such a thing!"
"Of course. This is a young junior, of course. They could have interpreted it wrong."
"Yes, yes, that is very correct. See, even the Lans understand that it was incorrect."
In truth, a select few of the Lan disciples were pale from head to neck, for they had understood the spirit’s reply loud and clear.
Lan Sizhui shook his head solemnly. "But 'who are you' and 'who killed you' are the two most easiest and common questions of inquiry. Just now I even checked them before I played. I definitely did not play them wrong!"
Sweat could be seen dripping from Jin Ling's cheek. "Then you must've interpreted it wrong."
"The three characters of 'Xiao Xingchen' do not often appear even in inquiry. Even if he answered with a different name and I interpreted it wrong, it would not just so happen to be this name."
"...Song Lan went to find the missing Xiao Xingchen, yet Xiao Xingchen killed him..." Lan Sizhui remarked, his eyes blinking slowly in deep thought. "Why would he kill his friend?"
"Indeed," Xue Yang chuckled, his grin as wide as ever. "Why would Xiao Xingchen kill his beloved friend? Such horrific behaviour is beyond me!"
"Beyond you?" Wei Wuxian's gaze hardened, eyes haphazardly morphing into an icy frost. "Such deplorable behaviour is beyond you? Xue Yang, you are really-"
"Wei Ying, don't hit."
"...." With a click of his tongue, Wei Wuxian slumped back in his seat, his spouse's arms wrapped protectively around him as he fumed.
There was no guarantee that Xue Yang would leave this room with his remaining pinkie finger intact.
Wei Wuxian crossed his arms and spoke, "Let's put this aside for now."
"Sizhui, the third question: Who is controlling him?"
Lan Sizhui spoke slowly and articulately, interpreting each word individually. "The. Per. Son. Be. Hind. You."
All was silent.
All eyes immediately snapped over to the man dressed in black, leaning against the wall behind their persons. The man clicked his fingers, then cockily leaned his head on a hand with a smirk.
With a snap of his fingers, Song Lan leaped up from the spot, his eyes burning a crimson red as he lunged for the young cultivators, bloodlust swirling within his irises. Though he dashed past the group, instead heading straight for Wei Wuxian!
Lan Wangji instinctively inched forward, the urge to protect his husband as intense as the fire set aflame within his eyes. “Wei Ying!”
“Lan Zhan, I’m here, don’t worry.” Wei Wuxian placated, his hand tugging onto the Lan’s sleeve. “He didn’t really… do anything, he only wanted me to save Xiao Xingchen.”
“..truly?” Lan Wangji whispered.
“Truly.” Wei Wuxian nodded assertively, his contagious smile long since returned, “You’re so protective, Lan Zhan. But that’s what I love about you!”
“Love Wei Ying too.”
“Mmm~ I think I love you more, Lan Zhan.”
“No. Love Wei Ying lots.”
From within the corner, Jiang Cheng unconsciously shivered, feeling his hairs standing on end, “You know, I’d rather listen to Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao than those two. It’s giving me goosebumps.”
“They aren’t that bad, Sect Leader Jiang.” Lan Xichen remarked with a smile.
Jin Ling attempted to unsheathe Suihua, but before he could, Wei Wuxian raised his hands in a placating manner and interjected, "Don't move, don't cause trouble. In terms of swordsmanship, all of us combined aren't a match for this... Song Lan."
“Look.” Whispered Li Daiyu. “Huaisang, Song Lan looks smug.”
“What?!” Remarked Huaisang, dramatically gasping into his hands. “The cold, distant, emotionless Song Lan…. is actually laughing at us in our faces?!”
Luo Qingqing excitedly added, “The wonders happiness does to us… I mean, look at Lan Wangji.” All eyes went to the Lan, who was busy cuddling and flirting with his husband. “Then think back to how he was when they were teenagers.”
Every individual glanced to the ceiling, their thoughts trailing back to the previous episodes.
“Wei Ying!!”
“Piss off!”
“Grrr, Wei Ying, that demonic gremlin!!”
Luo Qingqing’s thought bubble suddenly exploded, just as many others’ did at the same time, “Isn’t that Lan Qiren? I don’t remember Lan Wangji being that hotheaded.”
“You’re right… Lan Qiren was practically growling at Wei Wuxian every time he so much as smiled, the poor kid.”
“I wonder who the true child was between the two of them…”
The man dressed in black heartily laughed, a sound that made the juniors individually shiver, and waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "The adults are speaking, you kids run along now."
Wei Wuxian spoke calmly, even as the fierce corpse loomed behind him, holding a sword to his neck. "Go outside for now. You won't be able to help even if you stay, at the moment. The corpse poisoning power should have settled by now. Just don't go around kicking it up. Keep your breath calm."
Jin Ling startled, before pursing his lips in an angry pout and storming out of the room.
Jiang Yanli cooed, “A-Ling, were you worried for your Uncle Wei? How cute of you.”
“Aww,” repeated Jin Zixuan, briefly wondering how his wife picked up on such details. Because he certainly didn’t.
"Sizhui," Wei Wuxian spoke. "You're the most mature one. Keep an eye on them; can you do that for me?"
"Yes." The youth replied.
"Don't be afraid."
Sizhui looked mildly surprised at Wei Wuxian's words, before his face broke into a fond smile. "I'm not... Senior, you really are quite like Hanguang-Jun."
Lan Wangji cocked an eyebrow in interest. He thinks Wei Ying and I are alike?
“I bet you it’s the motherly instinct they both have,” Commented Li Daiyu, resting her chin in a hand. “Because if it is, then I understand where he’s coming from.”
Wei Wuxian stared, shocked, as the Lan continued, "So long as one of you two are present, I know that there's no need to worry at all." He then turned to follow behind the group, closing the doors behind him with a click .
“What did I say?” Li Daiyu snickered.
'Am I really that similar to Lan Zhan?'
The man clothed in black snickered, throwing a small red pill into his mouth. "How touching."
“Indeed!” Wen Ruohan smiled in agreement. “How touching! Don’t you just love father-son bonding moments?”
“I do,” resolutely replied Li Daiyu. “Especially yours and Wei Wuxian’s…”
At the man’s bright grin, she couldn’t help but think, ‘ I hit the nail right on the head.’
Wei Wuxian deduced, "The antidote for corpse poisoning powder?"
“How’d he get that?” Yu Huizhong asked, his brows furrowed. “Could it be… he deliberately got poisoned so he could get close to Wei Wuxian?”
“No shit…” whispered a young Nie disciple in awe. “Never would I ever have thought that someone like Xiao Xingchen would even think of orchestrating such a cunning plan!”
"That's right. Much more effective than that terrifying bowl of congee you made, right? Plus, it's sweet."
Wei Wuxian crossed his arms with a huff, “He needs to learn to appreciate the food he’s given. So ungrateful…”
Wei Wuxian sighed, "You really put on a show back there. From courageously jumping out to fight those walking corpses outside to blocking a sword for Jin Ling, was it a show put on just for all of us?"
The man held a finger to his mouth, as if to shush him, before waving it left and right to indicate that he was wrong. "Not a show for 'all of you', but a show for just 'you'. I've heard much about you, Yiling Patriarch, but words can't compare to meeting you in person. They don't know your identity, do they? So I had to make them leave. Well? Aren't I considerate?"
Someone within the crowd gasped, pointing an accusing finger at the screen. “He knows! He knows it’s Wei Wuxian!”
“What do you think his aim was?”
“How did he know in the first place? If I was there, to be honest… that’d be the last conclusion I made.”
“But… to threaten the Yiling Patriarch like this… It’s like asking to die. This guy’s gotta be kinda dumb.”
“Well that’s definitely something , coming from you.”
Wei Wuxian idly brought his thumb to his mouth, chewing on the fingernail in concentration. "Are all the walking corpses in Yi city under your control?"
“ All of the walking corpses? Just how powerful is this man?!”
“Didn’t we already deduce that he’s Xiao Xingchen? Then why is he so evil?”
“Are you that dumb or are you just pretending?”
“If I was, then you’d find me acting quite similarly to yourself, haha!” The man quickly fistbumped with the one seated beside him.
“Tch. Old people..”
"Of course," he replied. "Ever since you lot arrived, I thought you were rather strange, so I decided to test you myself. As I thought, only the creator would be able to use a low level technique like summoning of painted eye with such power."
Wei Wuxian asked, "So, what is it that you want from me, taking all those children as hostages?"
“Perhaps he wants to become Wei Wuxian’s servant!” Someone deduced. “After all, every demonic cultivator respects the great Yiling Patriarch.”
“Excuse me, what?” Xue Yang remarked, his hands itching to punch something. “Please repeat what you just said.”
“Well, I thought that perhaps the man wanted to become Wei Wuxian’s ser-”
“Hey! Who said he wanted to?!” Xue Yang spat, expression enraged. “For all you know, he could beat up the Yiling Patriarch in seconds!”
Lan Wangji sent the delinquent a warning glare.
“Hahaha! Beat up the Yiling Patriarch?” Old Liu chuckled. “Old Chang, this kid sure does have a sense of humour, ahah!”
“Indeed, indeed!” Old Chang snickered. “Old Liu, it turns out that I’m secretly a disciple of the great Jun Wu, hahahah!”
“You have my respect, your highness! Bahahaha!”
“What a funny kid, ey?”
“A funny one indeed.”
"I just want you to help me with something, senior. A very small something." The man rummaged through his pocket before presenting an intricately-embroidered pouch to Wei Wuxian.
'A spirit trapping pouch?', Wei Wuxian thought, accepting the item as it was placed into his hands.
“Could it be…” Xiao Xingchen’s eyes widened. “No… he wouldn’t.”
Song Lan snidely commented, “Oh, he would.”