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Chapter Text

Wuxian woke up to someone searching through his robes.

He scrambled several miles back and braced himself-

"SHIT YOU'RE ALIVE I'M SO SORRY!!"

Wuxian looked to see a boy 2 years younger than him sitting and leaning away from him. He wore ragged robes- at first Wuxian thought it was the Wen Sect robes, but dismissed the idea because they were missing the now-hated insignia of the red sun and the base color was light gray, not white. His hair was combed but really could use a thorough wash, and his wide black eyes really did look terrified that the thing he'd thought was a corpse had suddenly started moving.

Wuxian suddenly remembered everything... the attack in the woods, the fight he'd had no hope of winning, Wen Chao's taunting and... being thrown into the Burial Mounds...

"Yup I'm alive...." Wuxian muttered. His head hurt like fucking hell and it felt like he'd broken every bone in his body, but he was still breathing. "No thanks to that fucking Wen asshole..."

"I'm sorry I was scavenging I thought you had no use for your stuff anymore I'm really sorry!!"

"Scavenging?"

The boy nodded and explained, "Usually the dead bodies Wen Chao throws in here still have useful shit on them- pocket knives, matches, paper to burn, maybe some outer robes for extra bedding and blankets. Guy's stupid enough to not search them thoroughly before chucking people in here. So I make the most of it and bring whatever's useful to my camp."

"...how long have you been here for?"

"2 months."

"2 months?!" Wuxian echoed. "How the fuck are you still alive?!"

The boy shrugged. He nodded around the piles of rot and decayed life matter and replied, "I found a stream and even though birds are rare, there are plenty of rats around here."

Wuxian grimaced at the implication, but he was quickly distracted by the pain that shot through every inch of his body, causing him to groan.

"Oh crap- I forgot you were thrown down a cliff, you gotta be hurting all over," the boy realized. He reached forward, then paused and asked, "Do you want me to have a look at you? I have some skills in medicine."

"...okay," Wuxian decided resignedly. "Is there anything else I can do...?"

The boy set to work at once, asking Wuxian to shift around and checking for open wounds. He'd soon found a really bad gash on Wuxian's leg and hurried away to get distilled water and some washed cloth, returning in half an hour.

"I know the broken bones really hurt but we gotta make sure you don't get infected," he explained. "Herbs are rare in this hellhole, if you get infected we're in real trouble."

"Ugh, whatever," Wuxian muttered. "All I really care about is whether Wen Qing and Wen Ning can stop Jiang Cheng from doing anything stupid-"

"You've met Qing-jie and Ning-xiong?! How are they- are they okay?!"

Wuxian gave the boy a weird look.

The boy seemed to realize what he'd said, and he covered his mouth in horror and fear, his black eyes widening. He demanded, "You knew who I was from the start didn't you?! You said that to test me!!"

"I don't even know your name, why would I test you? I'm clever but I'm not a fucking god," Wuxian retorted. He leaned forward to study the boy closely... now that he was looking for it, he could definitely see an echo of Wen Ning's fine, delicate features in the boy's face, and the tiny holes in the boy's robes that were an imprint of embroidery strings that had been pulled out... the base color of the robes were white, they were just so dirty they looked light gray. And if he was related to Wen Qing, his skills in medicine made sense...

The boy shuffled a few steps back and balled up his fists, ready to fight. He threatened, "Don't... don't come any closer! If you kill me, I'll haunt you forever as a fierce ghost!"

Wuxian tried to hold back his bitter amusement in light of the real defiant fear in the boy's eyes, but ended up losing it anyway.

"Why are you laughing?!"

"You think I can kill you?! I thought you had some skills in medicine..." Wuxian sighed and leaned back on his elbows, shutting his eyes and reminding, "I don't have a golden core anymore... I can't fight. I'm useless."

"I don't have mine anymore either, so yeah you could strangle me."

"...you don't have a core either?"

The boy held out a shaking hand.

Wuxian carefully put 2 fingers on the boy's wrist.

His eyes widened when he really didn't feel the telltale spiritual energy running through the boy's system.

"You said "anymore"- who took your core?" he asked.

The boy snorted and replied, "That dog of Wen Chao's. Wen Zhuliu."

"...aren't you a Wen??"

"Oi!" the boy protested. "Do I have to be nice to the assholes who threw me in here just because we have the same surname?? They don't deserve to have the same surname as my dad! If I ever get out of here I'll chase Wen Zhuliu and Wen Chao to the corners of the Earth and torture them to death!"

Wuxian chuckled and remarked, "That's something I'd be down to help you with." He grinned. "Hey, how about this- if either of us manage to find a way out of this hellhole, we'll take the other with us and make Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu pay together?"

The boy chuckled too. He replied, "We'll see."

"Okay but what I meant was if you're a Wen, why the fuck are you here? Is Wen Chao such a bastard that he kills his own family? And I forgot to ask, what's your name?" Wuxian added as the boy opened his mouth.

The boy answered, "My name's Wen Kexing. And... well I've never really been considered "part of the family". I'm from the side family Dafan Wen. I was supposed to be my dad Wen Ruyu's apprentice, but he died when I was a kid- he and Mom both did, I think it was something about their friendship with the Laoling Qin Sect."

Wuxian nodded. He'd heard of the Laoling Qin Sect- it was 1 of the newer minor sects. In sharp contrast to his younger brother Qin Cangye, the former sect leader Qin Huaizhang had been outspoken and stubborn, leading to multiple clashes with the Wen Sect until... Qishan Wen had done what they did best to dissenters.

"So after I became an orphan, Wen Chao and most of the rest of the Wen Sect treated me like a servant- only Qing-jie and Ning-xiong were nice to me in the whole sect. The Qishan Wens even beat me sometimes, if I was ever caught trying to talk to someone who wasn't a Wen. Most of the people from the other sects despised me too- but there was this guy from the Qin Sect that was really nice to me."

"Zhou Zishu."

"He saw me getting bullied by a bunch of Wen disciples and jumped in to stop them- he even fought 1 of them when the guy wouldn't back off. Then he turned to me and asked me if I was okay. He stayed and talked to me for hours, until he got called away. I think it may have been the best time I'd had since my parents passed."

The impatient side of Wuxian was wondering if he really needed to know all this, but the kinder side of him acknowledged that Kexing probably hadn't had anyone to talk to in ages now- of course he was keen to ramble on to the first person he ran into.

The kinder side of him won, and Wuxian kept listening silently.

"So when I heard Wen Ruohan wanted to exterminate the Laoling Qin Sect, I saved him. I saw him herding an 11-year-old- okay well he was carrying the kid unconscious but details. Point is I saw him running away, so I helped hide him from the Wen soldiers."

"I really had no clue the kid with him was the sect leader's son."

"So you rescued the son of Sect Leader Qin accidentally?" Wuxian concluded. "When Wen Ruohan wanted to exterminate the sect? And that's why he had Wen Zhuliu take out your golden core and throw you in here?"

"Yup."

"...holy shit," Wuxian murmured. I hope I don't see Wen Qing and Wen Ning here anytime soon. As long as they and Jiang Cheng don't get caught it should be okay...

"What about you?"

"Ah?" Wuxian asked, snapping back to reality by Kexing's question.

"Who are you? What did you get thrown down here for?"

Wuxian considered his situation, then shrugged- wasn't like Kexing had shown him any hostility and if he was on good terms with Wen Qing and Wen Ning hopefully they shared a moral compass. He began, "I'm Wei Wuxian of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect-"

"Wei Wuxian?! The 4th best-looking cultivator in the sects?!"

"...why is this the first thing you think of when you hear my name, do you realize what situation we're in right now," Wuxian stated flatly.

Kexing laughed and reassured, "Relax, I wouldn't touch you even if you were the best-looking of all the sects. My heart was stolen by Zhou Zishu ages ago, I only want him in this life."

I didn't ask but I'm glad you're so devoted. Wuxian swallowed those words and continued, "If you were already here 2 months ago you wouldn't know, but the Yunmeng Jiang Sect was... was massacred by..."

He found himself unable to continue. His hands were turning white, he was shaking, he was gonna throw up. Images began filling Wuxian's head- of the dead bodies of the couple that'd raised him, the shidis he'd trained alongside for nearly 8 years. Of the place that'd taken him in and given him happiness burning and going up in flames, of Jiang Cheng wailing for the parents that could never-

"Shit- hey! Wei Wuxian!"

Something shook his shoulder, causing Wuxian to shriek, "OW!!"

"Sorry," Kexing apologized, and he meant it- the guilt in his eyes wasn't hard to notice, and his voice had turned serious and gentle. "Hey- I got the big picture of what happened, you don't need to keep going. How about you fill me in on the details some other day? Meanwhile I can take you to where I've set up camp- basically the only place close to being clean in this dump. I also keep more medical supplies there so it'd be easier to heal you if I can reach them without running back and forth all the time."

Wuxian laughed quietly and agreed, "Okay. Don't have another choice."

"This might hurt, hold it in for a bit."

Despite his bones and muscles screaming in protest at being moved, Wuxian let Kexing lift him onto his back and carry him to whatever shelter this hell would have to offer.

Chapter Text

It had only been 4 days, but the cave had already changed hugely.

The obvious was that there was a second pile of washed robes in the corner serving as a makeshift bed, and a Wei Wuxian lying in it all day.

Then there was the pile of paper next to Wuxian that he often fiddled around with. Wuxian had been scandalized to learn the "papers to burn" Kexing had referred to had been talismans from dead cultivator's bodies, uncommon as they were. Kexing had confusedly pointed out that talismans couldn't be used without a golden core anyway, may as well burn them so they had some use in this place.

"How the fuck did none of them blow up in your face?!" Wuxian had demanded when he learned this.

"Some did, but the explosion wasn't too bad because I was throwing them in 1 at a time," Kexing had replied with a shrug. "What did you think that huge dent in the corner is?"

Wuxian had sighed and asked to have any future talismans or talisman paper Kexing found, despite Kexing repeating his point about the core. He also asked to halve his own portion so he could keep 1 of the rats he was allotted per day uncooked and warm.

"I have a use for all these things," he had insisted. "I promise- I'll tell you when I have something to show for it so I don't end up letting you down."

As it turned out, Kexing would find out sooner than that, when he came back from foraging the dead bodies of the Burial Mounds and hunting for rats and birds a few days later.

"SHIT!!"

KABOOM!!

Kexing's eyes widened as he heard an explosion from inside the cave. He dropped everything he was holding and ran inside, yelling, "A-XIAN!!"

When he arrived, however, he was relieved to see Wuxian looked mostly unharmed. He was staring at the corner of the cave in shock, which was now a blackened mess.

He murmured, "Amazing... not even a hair left. It all turned to ashes." He bowed. "Sorry about that, little buddy- you were dead before the explosion anyway, I hope you don't mind-"

"A-Xian??"

Wuxian turned and smiled when he saw Kexing. He waved cheerfully and greeted, "Hello A-Xing! Ah... sorry for the mess, I didn't think it'd cause such a big explosion... haha..."

"Are you okay?!" Kexing asked, kneeling next to Wuxian to check his injuries. "What the fuck happened?!"

"I'm okay! And... well..."

"..."

Wuxian sighed and decided, "I guess I can tell you exactly what I've been up to. Jeez... I was hoping I could give you a good surprise, not a bad one..."

Kexing waited patiently for an explanation.

"You know how you remarked that I was healing way faster than was natural the other day?"

"Yeah?"

" I've been experimenting with replacing spiritual energy with resentful energy ."

"...explain."

Wuxian shrugged and replied, "I don't know what there is to explain. Spiritual energy is energy, and resentful energy is energy. Both can be used if bonded to properly- spiritual energy is more intuitive to the sects because it naturally bonds with the golden core, and resentful energy requires the user to make deals and bond with an outside force. But if done properly, it can do everything spiritual energy can- strengthen the body, activate talismans, and be used in training methods. And there's plenty of resentful energy to go around here."

Kexing frowned and asked, "But isn't that super dangerous?"

Wuxian laughed. He replied way too easily, "Of course it is! But how else are 2 boys with no golden cores gonna get outta here? By climbing?"

The mention of escape suddenly roused Kexing's suspicions, and he couldn't help but ask, "How long were you gonna keep this a secret from me? Until the day you left?"

"Huh?" The implication took a minute to settle for Wuxian. His eyes widened and he reassured, "Oh that's what you're- of course not!! I told you, I was gonna tell you when I had something to show for it! Look at the progress I've made in the past 4 days- the best I can do is blow up a dead rat in the corner. I don't even know if this is gonna work, the last time I brought this up I had a book chucked at my face." He chuckled. "Oh god that feels like years ago... another lifetime..."

"..."

"...but yeah, I never tried it before- never had to. I didn't wanna get your hopes up only to dash them on the ground. My benchmark was when my bones healed completely- if resentful energy could help me heal with no backlash, I'd consider that a sign that it really can be used like spiritual energy and tell you what I was doing."

"...uh huh," Kexing murmured, only half-convinced.

Wuxian was a teeny bit offended that Kexing was this reluctant to believe him, but realized it was only reasonable. He was a Jiang disciple- Kexing's sect had technically destroyed his home. This boy had been willing to risk his life for someone who'd stopped to protect and talk to him once - he'd been bullied and ignored his whole life. Of course he didn't trust Wuxian when all he had were words.

Deciding to give Kexing a concrete insurance, Wuxian smiled brightly and offered, "How about this? As an apology for not telling you what I was doing and scaring you today, I'll teach you everything I've figured out thus far. Then we can figure out how to use resentful energy properly together- that way I couldn't leave you in this dump even if I wanted to."

Kexing's eyes widened. He pointed at himself and checked cautiously, "You'll... teach me?"

"Yup!"

"But..." Kexing ducked his head ashamedly and mumbled, "I only learned a few tricks from Mom and Dad before they were killed, I never got proper training.... I'm only a servant boy, I'm not a real disciple..."

"...A-Xing."

"Huh?"

"Do you know who my parents were?"

Kexing shook his head.

Wuxian sighed. He remarked, "How do you know stuff like I'm the 4th best-looking cultivator in the sects but not who my parents are? Where you choose to put focus on is weird..."

Kexing laughed. "I bet your dad was a really renowned cultivator, and that's how he became friends with Sect Leader Jiang," he guessed. "And your mom must've been a beautiful lady from a rich or reputable family, or a great cultivator like Madam Yu."

Wuxian laughed too this time. He corrected, "Kinda right. My dad was friends with Uncle Jiang, and probably knew some cultivation, though I'm not sure how much. And my mom was a great cultivator- disciple of the famous Baoshan Sanren. And I bet she was a great beauty to produce a son like me. But you left out 1 key detail."

" My dad stayed as Jiang Fengmian's servant until he left the sect ."

Processing...

Processing...

"Your dad was a servant ?" Kexing echoed disbelievingly.

"Yup," Wuxian replied. "He was closer to Uncle Jiang than most servants, from what I understand- Auntie Yu didn't like people talking about my parents around Lotus Pier, so I know really less about them than you'd expect, but I know that. I know he promised to help Uncle Jiang manage the sect like I promised Jiang Cheng to be the Twin Prides of Yunmeng with him, and did for a long time until my mom came into the picture. But even when he eloped with Mom, he was only known to the outside world as Jiang Fengmian's faithful servant."

"You're messing with me."

"Nope. You can ask anyone in the cultivation world after we get out- my dad's name was Wei Changze, and my mom was Cangse Sanren," Wuxian insisted. "A-Xing- if you think you can't learn cultivation because you're "only a servant boy", where does that leave me as the son of a servant?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Kexing yelped hastily. "I just... I..."

"..."

"I guess you have a point."

"So!" Wuxian declared brightly, grinning widely. "Energy is blind to status- if I can do it, so can you! Forget about the servant boy nonsense- when we get out, I'll bring you back to the Yunmeng Jiang Sect with Shijie and Jiang Cheng, and you can join the sect as a proper disciple!"

"You're willing to do that?"

"Of course! You saved my life- that counts as going through life and death together." Wuxian paused, then added, "Unless you have other plans."

"...will I be able to see A-Xu?"

"Definitely! I could even be your wingman- god knows Jiang Cheng's never gonna let me be his, he's way too serious and prim."

Kexing smiled. He asked eagerly, "When do we start then?"

"How about now?" Wuxian suggested. He took a pile of unactivated arrays from his corner and began, "Now, this should be an easy one to start with..."

Chapter Text

In less than 2 weeks, Wuxian was well enough to walk again.

Kexing had strongly advised him to rest, but the boy had huffily retorted that he'd sneak out to check it out while Kexing wasn't in the cave, so Kexing had relented and taken him to see the barrier that surrounded the Burial Mounds.

Now they were there- the giant wall of red, darker colored symbols floating in the translucent shape. It seemed to stretch to the skies, way higher than the black, smoky darts of resentful energy were able to reach as they rammed themselves into the wall over and over again.

"Woah..." Wuxian murmured as he moved closer, his silver eyes widening in amazement as he stared at the barrier. "This looks..."

"Ack- A-Xian careful!!"

Kexing had grabbed Wuxian and pulled him back just as his finger had touched the barrier, sending ripples across the red surface.

Wuxian turned to him and prompted quizzically, "A-Xing?"

"That thing burns you when you touch it with your bare hands for too long," Kexing explained. "I tried that and my whole hand turned red."

"Is that why you're making gloves?"

Kexing nodded.

Wuxian sighed. He corrected, "Gloves won't matter. I've heard stories of how this barrier came to be- it was built by the Wen Sect after they failed to purify the resentful energy in the Mounds. It's not sensitive to physical touch, it's sensitive to energy."

"...but we don't have cores."

"All living creatures have energy, it doesn't have to be either spiritual or resentful." Wuxian picked up a stone and continued, "For example this inanimate stone shouldn't have any energy unless someone purposefully put some in it. So it should be able to pass through the barrier- watch this!"

Wuxian chucked the stone through the barrier.

It passed through without a problem.

"Oh..." Kexing realized. "Then if we find a way to get rid of our energy, we can pass through! Is there a way to do that?"

Wuxian laughed and replied half-jokingly, "Of course there is. If we die, we won't have any energy."

Kexing rolled his eyes and shoved Wuxian in the shoulder, retorting, "Fuck off."

"Really! That would do it!"

"Then we wouldn't be able to move unless we're imbued with resentful energy, we wouldn't be able to get out that way either!"

A laugh. "How clever of you to be able to reach that conclusion."

"A-Xian!!"

"Okay okay, I'll be serious now," Wuxian reassured and sure enough, the playfulness on his face vanished as soon as the last word had left him. He moved closer to examine the barrier... he could feel the warm energy pulsing from it, the strength that the barrier held- of course it was strong, the whole Wen Sect had banded together to make it and it was holding in hundreds of fierce corpses. It had to be strong, or it would have toppled over centuries ago.

Wuxian recollected everything he knew about energy in his head- resentful, spiritual, any type of energy. Much like the barrier held no sway over the physical realm, he didn't think there was a way for objects that were 100% physical to break it. The darts of pure resentful energy weren't having any success either- the only thing their attempts accomplished was force them to rebound, whizz around the air in aimless circles a few times, then try again so the cycle repeated. And each time it did, the symbols glowed, and the wall seemed to strengthen again.

But those were small darts, each barely the size of Wuxian's hand- they were pure resentful energy, sure, but didn't pack enough of a punch. No, they would need something with much more power... something much bigger...

He sighed and concluded, half to himself, "There's no other way."

" We gotta use the fierce corpses ."

"...use the fierce corpses?" Kexing echoed confusedly. 

Wuxian nodded and explained, "Fierce corpses can't feel pain- or if they can, they ignore it and keep pressing on. They should be able to ignore the sting from the barrier and keep punching it until it breaks. And they're powered fully by resentful energy, much more than a regular human has spiritual energy- 1, that means they should be able to affect a barrier that detects things based on energy and 2, they should carry enough resentful energy throughout their whole body to make a real difference- unlike those little things up there."

"But how do you expect them to all conveniently gather at the same place at the same time to punch the thing you want them to punch?"

"Summoning," Wuxian replied, as if he wasn't making all of this up on the fly. "We gotta lure all the fierce corpses of the Burial Mounds here and get them to punch the same spot."

"How can you be so sure they won't attack us?"

"If we can control resentful energy, they'll remain under our control and won't attack us- that's the plan at least," Wuxian mused. "We're already learning how to use resentful energy so it's the best one we have."

Kexing nodded. It sounded like a plan to him... but then he turned to look at the mess of symbols floating in red energy again, and another question occurred to him.

"How can you be sure they'll be able to break through?" he asked. "The barrier looks so thick and it stings, can they really punch through it?"

This question really did give Wuxian pause. He began looking at the barrier again. The red energy looked almost solid, and when he held a hand as close to the surface as he dared, he could feel the air stopping around it. This thing was probably as strong as a real concrete wall, if not more... punching through it wasn't gonna be an easy task. A fierce corpse would be several times stronger than those wisps, but... would it be enough?

He looked over his shoulder at the Burial Mounds, at the shapes moving a safe distance away from him and Kexing. He hadn't been here long, nor had he really seen the Mounds like Kexing had, but he had heard the groans in the night, the stumbling and shaking that their aimless shambling caused, and read about the abundance of corpses the place housed. There were enough of them here to form their own clan... surely, all together...

"Well if we get all the corpses of the Mounds I'm sure they can do it," Wuxian concluded. "Fierce corpses are inhumanly strong, and from what I've heard, there are hundreds-"

"A-Xian!! Over here!!"

Wuxian hurried over where Kexing was kneeling.

"Feel this bit of the barrier- but not for too long," Kexing pointed out, placing a hand against the patch for a few seconds before shrinking back. "Am I imagining it or does it feel way thinner than the rest of the barrier?"

Wuxian tried it and in the few seconds he pressed his hand against the mess of symbols, he really did feel that the aura of warmth supporting the barrier was weaker. He murmured thoughtfully, "It kinda does..."

"It is , right?! You think it's a way out?!" Kexing asked excitedly.

"A weak point," Wuxian corrected. "That could turn into a way out if we're smart about it. If we wanna create a hole in the barrier big enough for a human to go through, this spot would be our best bet."

A wide grin spread across Kexing's face. He crowed, "Then we can get out soon!! There's hope, we can leave!!"

"Don't celebrate too soon," Wuxian warned. "Remember, this barrier can't be broken by force- no spiritual energy here, so resentful energy is the only thing that can break it. And our progress in harnessing resentful energy isn't enough to break it yet." He smirked. "But just you wait."

" With both of us working together, I'm sure we'll be out in no time ."

Chapter Text

The sound of the guqin filled the air.

2 boys were sitting side by side at a lake, playing the guqin with their eyes closed. The first was taller, a white ribbon tied around his forehead, his flowing white robes decorated with light blue accents. The second was wearing white robes too, but his were much more dominated by a dark sapphire blue color, and he didn't have a ribbon around his forehead.

It was the second boy that stopped playing first and burst out, "Am I doing this right?!"

The first boy's hand stilled on the guqin and he nodded, amber eyes opening.

"Then why isn't it working?!" the second boy demanded, his black eyes glaring at the pond in front of him. "Why can't I hear him?!"

"...it's your first try."

"That shouldn't matter if I'm doing it right!" Zishu snapped. His voice rose as he continued, "If I'm doing it right, I should be there! He should hear the music, he should be hearing my voice- EVEN IF HE DOESN'T WANNA TALK TO ME ANYMORE I SHOULD BE FEELING HIS PRESENCE!!"

"Shouting is forbidden in Cloud Recesses."

"How about you get into my head and understand how I'm feeling before you yell at me for breaking a stupid rule on a stone wall?!"

"I already understand !"

There was a rare tone of anger in Wangji's voice.

"...I'm sorry," Zishu mumbled, bowing his head. "I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that- I forgot. You're also looking for someone... I don't suppose you heard from Young Master Wei this time?"

Even though it pained Wangji, he had to shake his head.

"I see..." Zishu tried to put on an optimistic and comforting tone as he declared, "I guess this just means we gotta keep trying, yeah? We can't give up after less than a month of playing for them!"

"...mn."

"We gotta be patient. We gotta wait for them to want to talk- or maybe they've not completely settled into the spirit realm yet, and that's why we can't reach them!" A pause. "Or..."

"..."

"Maybe... we're wrong," Zishu mused. "Maybe we're wrong and actually they're not dead, they're fine!"

It sounded like wishful thinking.

Zishu knew this, but he continued, "Maybe they escaped the Wens and are laying low until it's safe to come out! Maybe they tricked them- Wen Kexing seems like the type to have tricks up his sleeve and you know how clever Young Master Wei is! Maybe they're okay!"

"Where are they then? Why can't we find them?"

"...I don't know," Zishu admitted, lowering his head. "I really don't."

"..."

"Fucking idiot," Zishu muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Who the hell asks someone to save his acquaintances after getting captured, shouldn't the top priority be escaping yourself?! If you'd left something other than my location I'd know where to find you!"

Wangji said nothing, but patted Zishu's back awkwardly yet comfortingly.

It had been over a month since Zishu had last seen Kexing. A month and a week to be precise.

It wasn't the first time Zishu had ventured out of his hiding spot, so he knew what to do. He knew to disguise himself and Jiuxiao, molding the shape of their features and sticking on a thin layer of fake skin so it looked natural. He knew to hide Yiguo in the basket he carried on his back, under some leaves they'd managed to scavenge- Yiguo was a spiritual dog, the puppy knew to stay quiet when told. He knew to never let go of Jiuxiao's hand no matter what happened.

And he knew to never show the Baiyi sword Huaizhang had given him in the chaos unless their identities were already known.

"And what can I get for you, Young Masters?"

"What's on your recommended?"

"Ah well- we've had a new shipment of wine! We know in Gusu you have your Emperor's Smile- well here we have our Cedar Crest!"

"Ah haha... we're really sorry, but Lan disciples don't drink. We'd be happy to try your vegetarian dishes though!"

Zishu stopped and peered into the entrance of the inn.

A group of boys in white robes were sitting at a table. They all carried swords and wore forehead ribbons, all sitting prim and proper.

Lan disciples.

Jiuxiao tugged Zishu's sleeve lightly. "Shixiong?" he whispered.

Zishu nodded at the disciples and murmured, "Follow me."

He led Jiuxiao into the inn and sat down at the nearest empty table to the Lans. He whispered to Jiuxiao, "Order something so we don't seem suspicious, but nothing too expensive. And something that can be eaten quickly."

"You're not gonna?"

"I'll go with whatever you pick."

Jiuxiao frowned and looked at the Lans again. He asked under his breath, "Why can't we simply talk to them??"

"We're on the run. We gotta be careful."

"Hello, what can I get ya?"

As Jiuxiao made the order, Zishu watched the Lans carefully. He was grateful to notice that they cast their eyes around the room occasionally, as though looking for something.

Making sure the Lans were looking in his direction, Zishu tapped the side of the table in a really specific pattern- one he knew Gusu Lan would recognize.

Sure enough, one of the disciples at the table froze, then tapped out a reply.

I see you.

Zishu tilted the hat on his head in such a way that without the context, it would look like he was only adjusting it.

Throughout the quick meal he and Jiuxiao had, Zishu could feel the Lan disciples keeping a close eye on him. Even as he left the inn with Jiuxiao, he could feel their gazes boring into him.

He turned, passed the hat stall and went into a nearby alley.

As he expected, he was soon joined by 3 of the Lan disciples from earlier. 1 of them bowed and asked, "I'm Lan Zemin. Who are you and how do you know the Gusu Lan's secret code?"

Zishu took off his disguise and replied, "I only know a few words- enough to attract someone else's attention."

The disciples nodded their greetings, one adding, "Young Master Zhou."

"And... the kid next to you..." another asked. "Is that Qin Jiuxiao?"

Jiuxiao nodded, pulling off his disguise too. He bowed to the Lan disciples, who returned it with another nod.

"Why are you at Puyang?" Zishu asked. "It's not close to Gusu."

"Oh, that," Zemin explained. "We were looking for Young Master Wei in Hubei 2 days ago when Hanguang Jun spotted a weird symbol on the wall. He told us to split off from the group at once to head to Puyang and look for you and Young Master Qin while he and the others kept looking."

"...can I see this carving?"

Zemin offered up a drawing.

Just as I thought, Zishu thought, looking over the familiar strokes and shapes. It was the Qin Sect's own secret language. He wasn't surprised Wangji had recognized it. While Cangye was friends with Jin Guangshan, Huaizhang had been friends with the Lan Sect's Qingheng Jun before the man's seclusion. As such, there had been something of a skill exchange- Huaizhang had been taught the Lan Sect's secret code and in return, he taught Qingheng Jun the Qin Sect's secret language, though the passing down of this knowledge was limited to the main family in the Lan Sect.

Zishu though, being the eldest disciple of the Qin Sect itself, read it easily.

In Puyang. Help.       -Xing

Zishu frowned. He didn't know who'd survived the massacre of the Qin Sect, but surely if they had and were in Puyang too, they'd have tried to contact him by now? And this had been found in Hubei... that was miles away. And who even had the name Xing-

Hold up.

Xing.

Wen Kexing .

"It was him," Zishu muttered, his eyes widening. "I taught him some words just in case, it must've been him..."

"...what?"

"Where's Wen Kexing?!" Zishu demanded. "Did you see him- did he say anything?! Where is he, is he hurt?!"

"Wen Kexing?? Who's that??"

They had tried following the marks, but much like any sign of Wei Wuxian had vanished after the burning of Lotus Pier, the marks, the only sign of Wen Kexing anyone had been able to find, had vanished around the edges of Hubei. The Lan disciples were searching the area furiously, both for Wei Wuxian and Wen Kexing, but they kept turning up empty.

Not like Inquiry was yielding Wangji and Zishu any better results.

"Shixiong!!"

An 11-year-old was running up the path to them, followed by Lan Xichen.

"Jiuxiao," Zishu greeted.

"Xiongzhang," Wangji also greeted.

Xichen nodded at Wangji in greeting.

"Shixiong!" Jiuxiao burst out. "Uncle Cang and Su-jie are okay- Uncle Cang's sent a reply!"

"Really?! Where are they?!"

"Uncle Cang said Sect Leader Jin's hiding them- he was in a tower under the Jin Sect's name, but he's heading to the Golden Carp Tower now. It was written in our sect's language and he and Su-jie both signed the letter, it really was them!!"

"And Madam Qin? Is she with them?"

Jiuxiao replied, "No, Uncle Cang said she didn't wanna go to the Golden Carp Tower so she ran back to her hometown. But she and Bicao sent Uncle Cang a message and last he heard, she arrived safely too!"

Zishu let out a quiet, relieved laugh. At least there was 1 piece of good news in the mountain of despair- at least his Shifu's younger brother was safe. At least Jiuxiao hadn't lost any more family members- at least his young shidi wouldn't be inheriting the sect at the tender age of 11.

"Wangji, Young Master Zhou," Xichen added. "Ours and Young Master Qin's presences are being requested at the Golden Carp Tower."

"What? Why?"

"The sects are rebelling against the Wens."

Chapter Text

The groaning of raised corpses startled Wuxian.

He ran back to where he knew Kexing was as fast as he could. Usually he and Kexing were able to avoid them well enough, but the corpses were also usually pretty quiet- something must have happened to cause such a stir.

He arrived to see Kexing surrounded by a large group of fierce corpses. He was trying his best to fight them off, but he held no weapon, and Wuxian couldn't tell if the wisps of black smoke around his hands were listening to him or not-

"A-XING!"

Kexing turned to look in his direction, but immediately had to turn back to block a fist coming for his head.

Wuxian watched anxiously, trying to think of some way he could help. He could run back and get some sigils- but that would take too long- he could jump into the crowd and pull Kexing away- but those fierce corpses would overwhelm them, he couldn't confidently control that amount of resentment yet-

Another idea occurred to him.

Wuxian began whistling a tune.

He didn't really remember where he'd first heard it either. All he knew was that it gave him a strange but welcome sense of peace- like a lullaby that let him know it was all gonna be okay. Hopefully it would have the same effect even when channeling resentment energy.

Sure enough, the corpses faltered, though only for a moment as Wuxian felt his as-of-yet unstable connection to resentment ebb again.

This moment was enough for Kexing to break out and hurry to Wuxian's side. He cast a look over his shoulder, "A-Xian-"

"Save your breath! Come on!"

With that, Wuxian ran, dragging Kexing along by the wrist.

He didn't dare stop until the roars had faded into the distance, once again becoming the background of their prison. He flopped onto the ground, gasping for breath.

I really am weaker than before , Wuxian thought, a helpless, bittersweet sort of smile gracing his face. Even if asked to make the choice a million times again, he would've done the same each time... it was just a bit funny that after years of being the best fighter in Yunmeng, he was now tired out from running such a small distance.

"A-Xian, are you okay?"

Wuxian looked up to see Kexing staring at him in concern.

He smiled and replied, "I'm fine." He sat up gingerly. "I should be asking you that instead. You good?"

"I... I'm fine."

Something in Kexing's tone discouraged Wuxian from believing him. He gave the younger boy a piercing stare and asked, "If you're fine, why do you look like that?"

Kexing mumbled something he couldn't hear.

"I didn't catch that, say it again."

"I..." A sigh. "I summoned those corpses to me... on purpose."

"...you summoned them there on purpose?" Wuxian echoed. "Did you want them to attack you??"

Kexing nodded. "I went to where they often wander and made as much noise as I could," he explained. "They-"

"Why?!"

Kexing blinked a few times. He stammered, "To... to practice?"

"There are other less dangerous ways to practice!! Do you know what would've happened if I'd been even a moment slower?! You could've been ripped to shreds if your control had faltered even for a second- fierce corpses no longer have the intelligence to be reasoned with and they're way stronger than a human! Do not mess with them if you don't have a backup plan- especially when your method of using resentment is so hands-on!"

"I- you said this is risky anyway!"

"RISKY IS DIFFERENT FROM CERTAIN DEATH, WEN KEXING!"

"I-!"

"This is uncharted territory we're going through- risks are obviously inevitable but they have to be calculated ones! We have to weigh the costs and benefits before trying things and what you did today was way more costly than it was beneficial!"

"Okay okay! You're..."

Wuxian glared at him and snapped, "What? What is it?!"

"...you're starting to sound like Qing-jie."

Wuxian's anger vanished at once. He suddenly noticed Kexing was staring at the ground, the look on his face turning into something more... melancholic. It had been nearly 3 months since Kexing had fallen in after all... he must miss his family. He must be itching to get out, to build up his bond with resentment energy so he could get out sooner...

"Ya know, now that I've had time to think about it... I think they were thinking of you."

Kexing jolted. He looked up at Wuxian to see a sympathetic smile... one that reminded him of Wen Ning. He knew what Wuxian meant to say- they both knew what Kexing was thinking of- but he still asked, "Who?"

"Wen Qing and Wen Ning." Wuxian sighed and leaned back. He closed his eyes and recalled, "I only stayed with them for a week or so, but... for some of it, Jiang Cheng was so hurt he couldn't feed himself. He refused to let Wen Qing or Wen Ning help him, so I did. One time, Wen Qing walked in on us, and she gave a quiet chuckle. I asked her what she was thinking, and she said something like, "Nothing, you just... reminded me of someone." And then she seemed too sad to say more, so I left her alone."

"A-Xing, how are you feeling?"

A quiet groan greeted Wen Qing's question.

Wen Qing chuckled. She pushed the door open fully and sat down on the bed next to Kexing, who had his face buried in the pillow. "Well?" she prompted, setting down the tray in her hands on the bedside table. "Didn't I tell you going to the creek on a rainy day was a bad idea? Then you fell into the water and got a fever."

"Ning-xiong didn't get sick..."

"Because he wasn't the idiot who decided it was a good idea to run carelessly across a thin log over running water."

"Qing-jie!!"

Wen Qing rolled her eyes. "Okay okay... I didn't come here to make fun of you." She picked up the bowl on the tray and offered, "Come on. Have something to eat."

Kexing shook his head, refusing to look up. "Don't wanna," he muttered. "I'm not hungry."

"You haven't eaten for the past 12 hours and you're not hungry? As if," Wen Qing scoffed. She scooped up a spoonful of soup and held it near Kexing's head. "Come on. You need to eat to get better."

"Mn."

"A-Xing. Turn around and eat your food."

"No."

"A-Xing, come on."

Kexing rolled over so he was facing the wall.

"Wen Kexing."

Kexing mumbled a half-hearted protest and rested his head on his comparatively colder arm.

Wen Qing sighed. She coaxed, "A-Xing, turn around and face me. You need to eat to get better. You won't feel so shitty when you get better, and after you get better, A-Ning and I can take you to fly kites."

That made Kexing perk up. "Really?" he checked.

"Really. A-Ning even said there's a new bird's nest that he can take us to go see. But only if you get better first," Wen Qing added sternly.

"Okay Qing-jie! I'll listen to you!" Kexing gave Wen Qing a sweet, innocent smile and asked, "Qing-jie, can you feed me?"

Wen Qing laughed and scooped another spoonful of soup. "Okay okay fine. You silly kid," she retorted teasingly. "I'll feed you. Say ah."

"And then another time, I was training with my golden core suppressed. Just... just to see if I could do it," Wuxian recalled. He chuckled. "I dislocated my shoulder. When Wen Qing said she was gonna put it back, Wen Ning held out an arm and offered to let me hold it. I was gonna say no need anyway, but Wen Qing asked who he thought I was and told him to quit it."

"Jie!! JIE!!"

"A-Ning? Is something..."

Wen Qing trailed off when she saw Wen Ning carrying Kexing on his shoulders. The younger had his head buried in Wen Ning's hair, taking deep gasping breaths to regulate the pain.

"...Wen Chao again?"

Wen Ning nodded. "He wanted A-Xing to pick something up for him and while A-Xing's back was turned, he kicked A-Xing in the lower leg."

Wen Qing swore under her breath, but conceded, "At least he didn't shove his head towards a stone pillar this time. Let me look at him."

Wen Ning carefully set Kexing down.

Wen Qing examined the injured knee carefully.

"It's gonna be bruised tomorrow for sure," she concluded. "And the bone's also out of its socket." She rolled up her sleeves. "I'm gonna shove it back then put some ointment on it-"

Kexing drew back. He laughed and dismissed awkwardly, "Ah haha- Qing-jie it doesn't hurt that badly, you can leave it- OW!"

"Jie!!"

"Doesn't hurt that badly, huh?" Wen Qing retorted, keeping her finger on Kexing's disjointed knee. "I'm not pushing down that hard- this is what walking is gonna feel like for you if you don't let me fix it, do you wanna tell me again whether or not it hurts?"

"But snapping it back hurts!!"

"Oh yeah? Wen Kexing, which hurts more, a permanently dislocated knee or the quick shove to put it back?" Wen Qing retorted sternly. "Come on, don't be a baby. Hold it in."

Kexing closed his eyes and braced himself.

"A-Xing." A hand took his and suddenly he was holding someone's arm. "You can hold me if it's gonna help."

Recognizing Wen Ning's voice, Kexing held on gladly.

"Okay? 1, 2, 3!"

"OW!"

Both Kexing and Wen Ning had yelped at the same time.

Wen Qing huffed. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah..." Kexing turned to Wen Ning and asked guiltily, "Ning-xiong, are you okay? I didn't think I'd grip you that hard..."

"Ah... I'm okay, A-Xing." Wen Ning flinched as he rubbed the now-red area of his arm gingerly. He muttered, "Jeez... I didn't know you were that strong..."

"Do you want me to look at you next?"

"Ah uh- no it's fine!"

Wen Qing gave a puff of laughter, shook her head and murmured something under her breath fondly.

"...they've always been like this," Kexing murmured, giving a quiet chuckle. "Qing-jie has always liked to act stern and tough when her heart is soft. And Ning-xiong has always been too nice for his own good."

"..."

"I guess it makes sense. They got there even before I did... Qing-jie was 7, and Ning-xiong was only 4. And then 3 years later I got there too. If Ning-xiong wasn't as gentle and kind as he is, I think my and Qing-jie's hearts would have frozen over years ago. If Qing-jie wasn't as tough as she is..." A quiet chuckle. "I think Ning-xiong and I wouldn't be alive today at all."

Wuxian sighed. "I get it," he added. "I got people out there I wanna check on too. Jiang Cheng, Shijie, Huaisang, Lan Zhan, everyone in the Jiang Sect- hell, I even wanna check on Wen Ning and Wen Qing like you do, though I guess you're more nervous about those 2 specifically. I really, really do get it."

Of course Kexing knew that. He knew just as he was worried about his cousins, A-Xu, Jiuxiao and his Dafan Wen clan, Wuxian had people outside he cared about- even more people than Kexing did.

He nodded.

"But rushing your connection with resentment energy is only gonna hurt us. You could've been killed earlier, and as you so rightfully observed when we were by the barrier, if you die you can't leave. I don't know how to bring people's souls back- once you're dead, no one can help you and you can't help anyone. Understood?"

"..."

"..."

"...understood."

"We've already made great progress over these past 3 weeks," Wuxian pointed out gently. He stood up and offered him a helping hand. "Come on. Get up, and let's keep training. But we're gonna take it at our own pace in a less dangerous way, okay?"

Kexing hesitated, then smiled and let Wuxian help him up.

Chapter Text

There were a lot more people in the Golden Carp Tower than usual.

All the sects were here. The Nie brothers, Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen, Jin Guangshan and Jin Zixuan- even Jiang Cheng was there, and as beleaguered and exhausted and unwell as he looked, a steel, angry determination shone in his eyes and the new ring on his finger.

Usually in these sorts of big settings, Lan Wangji preferred to stay in his little corner, responding if approached and speaking only when he was spoken to. It simply wasn't his kinda thing- these situations much more suited the friendly and extroverted Lan Xichen than the closed-off and socially awkward Lan Wangji.

But today, he was actively mingling in the crowd, paying attention to every face he saw and every figure. This was the most obvious chance he had... there was no way he would miss this. They had hurt him too much, taken too much away from him- he'd risked getting swallowed by a water abyss to save a Lan disciple he'd barely known and been branded trying to defend an acquaintance- this was his family. This was the sect that had raised him, surely he would be here?

Yes, Lan Wangji thought to himself in the crowd of strangers. Wei Wuxian had to be here.

Zishu on the other hand was looking around the crowd carefully for another face.

It was stupid to be looking for him here, he knew that. The sects would never in a million years let a Wen join their efforts to "shoot down the sun", Dafan Wen or otherwise. Maybe he could get away with not being recognized as a servant, but the second he let slip, the second his name was said, he'd be run out of the conference room with swords- if not killed.

But... Zishu had taught him the basics of disguising himself, during the 3 months they had been hiding from Qishan Wen together. And he really did hate the Qishan Wens more than anyone in the world, after years of being beaten down by them before finally... whatever they had done to him, Zishu didn't know- all he knew was it couldn't have been good.

Would that be enough for Wen Kexing to try?

"Wei Ying!"

Zishu turned when he heard Wangji's exclamation and saw the Second Jade of Lan run off.

Worried by this, he followed Wangji out of the hall.

They halted in the gardens. Zishu was several paces away, hidden from view, and Wangji caught up to a boy in black and purple robes and a ponytail. He tapped the boy's shoulder and called again, "Wei Ying!"

The boy turned around confusedly and opened his mouth-

Wangji bowed deeply and apologized, "Wrong person. Sorry."

The boy nodded and scuttled off.

Leaving Wangji standing alone in the otherwise empty garden.

Wangji lowered his head and though he couldn't read Wangji like Xichen could, Zishu could see the sadness and disappointment on his posture.

He took a few steps closer to Wangji and called, "Young Master Lan?"

Wangji jolted and looked up.

Zishu sighed. He comforted, "I'm sure Young Master Wei will arrive soon. The Qishan Wens have done him too much harm for him to miss this."

"But if..."

"No buts or ifs. Wei Wuxian will find a way to join the Sunshot Campaign, he'd never let the Wens get away with burning down Lotus Pier." Zishu paused, then asked, "Have you spoken to Young Mas- Sect Leader Jiang?"

Wangji nodded.

"What did he say?"

"...he's looking too. No result."

Zishu hid his doubts and even though he knew how hollow the words sounded, he insisted, "Wei Wuxian will show up. Give him time."

"...Wen Kexing will show up too."

The "thanks for trying" went unspoken, but Zishu heard it in Wangji's attempt to echo his reassurance.

He nodded and decided, "Let's go back. Maybe they've arrived."

Wangji went back inside with Zishu, both ready to offer their assistance in shooting down the red sun.

Chapter Text

Demonic cultivation was going shockingly well for both boys.

Only a month later, they had figured out how to change light cultivation talismans so resentful energy could safely activate them. Wuxian had been able to command his first group of fierce corpses. They even had weapons now- Wuxian had found an old flute and refashioned it into the sleek black Chenqing, while Kexing made himself a fan out of spare wood and papers they found scavenging.

Today, they were doing something they often did by now- testing their skills. There were many boulders around the Mounds that were roughly human-sized, so it wasn't hard for them to map out points that corresponded to points in the human body- practicing lethal and non-lethal damage, control over their weapons in combat without having to risk any injury to the other person.

"Okay." Wuxian pointed at a bit on the rock and suggested, "Try here. Put in... 20% strength this time."

Kexing sent his fan out.

With the black smoke swirling around it like a second hand, the fan really did manage to make a light cut on the rock where he had directed it.

The problem came after, when the fan kept swirling in the air and refused to return to Kexing.

"Shit- A-XIAN CAREFUL!!"

Wuxian dodged swiftly and grabbed his flute from his waist. He began playing, hiding behind the rocks.

The fan turned in a few more aimless circles, then dropped to the floor.

"..."

"..."

"...whew," Wuxian murmured. "Thank god." He put his flute away. "Okay I think that's enough for today."

"A-Xian I'm sorry-"

"Don't worry about it," Wuxian reassured, putting a hand on Kexing's shoulder. "It's only been a month or so- we have plenty of time to-"

"JIE-JIE!! JIE-JIE!!"

Wuxian and Kexing exchanged a look. That sounded too real to be the whispers in resentful energy, and too young- the girl who was speaking couldn't be more than 3 years old.

They ran off in the direction of the wailing together.

They soon found the source at the bottom of a tall cliff, where the sky overhead was covered by a barrier.

Lying before them was a teenage girl- she couldn't be older than 16 years old. She had her arm wrapped around a toddler, who was wailing "Jie-jie" over and over again, but uninjured- clearly the girl had been holding her in the fall and shielded her from the impact with her own body.

The girl was the first to notice Wuxian and Kexing. She tugged the toddler lightly, flinching in pain all the while- she was covered in blood, her joints were at awkward angles and her eyes were slightly unfocused, half-dazed.

The toddler stopped wailing. She turned to look in the same direction as the girl and jolted when she saw Wuxian and Kexing. She huddled close to the girl, though whether she was trying to protect the girl or seeking protection was unclear.

"...what are you?" the girl whispered. "Do you live here?"

Seeing that Wuxian was too shocked to say anything- this was the first person he'd seen fall into the Mounds after all- Kexing replied only half-jokingly, "Yeah. We're the ghosts that haunt these Mounds."

The girl seemed to get the joke, and she laughed. She murmured, patting the younger's head, "Ghost, human, it makes no difference. I don't have much of a choice... I don't have much longer to live. I have to hand my sister off to someone."

"Hand your sister off?"

The girl nodded. She pushed the younger girl towards the pair gently and explained, "My name is Gu Qingzhao, from the Linfen Gu Sect. We swore our allegiance to the main sects in the Sunshot Campaign and now... the Wens have made us feel the consequences of that."

Wuxian flinched, knowing too well what that meant.

The younger girl tugged at Qingzhao's sleeve and called, "Jie-jie..."

Qingzhao smiled and petted the girl's head. She murmured, "Mei-mei, Jie-jie can't take care of you any longer. Follow these boys, okay? They'll take care of you until Auntie and your shijies find you." She looked up at Wuxian and Kexing and checked, "You promise that, right?"

Kexing put a hand on the girl's head, and when she didn't resist, he promised, "We'll take care of her."

"Thank you..."

"Excuse me, but you said... the Sunshot Campaign?" Wuxian asked, anxious to know what was happening with the main sects- what was happening with the Jiang Sect.

Qingzhao nodded her eyes glinting with determination. Her breaths were getting shallow, but she still gasped, "Down with the Wens! Down with the red sun! Down with... the Wen dogs..."

Her eyes closed, and her body fell limp.

"JIE-JIE!!" the younger girl wailed. She began shaking Qingzhao desperately, wailing, "JIE-JIE- JIE-JIE!! WAKE UP- WAKE UP!!"

Kexing kneeled down next to the younger girl and pulled her into a hug, letting her scream and cry and continue to tug fruitlessly at the dead body.

After a slight lull, Wuxian got down next to the pair and added his promise to Kexing's by murmuring, "Rest in peace. Your sister will be safe- we will bring her with us when we find a way to leave."

"..."

Wuxian turned to Kexing and pointed out softly, ""Down with the red sun," she said. If my guess is right... Yunmeng Jiang, Gusu Lan, Qinghe Nie and Lanling Jin are leading a siege against Qishan Wen."

Kexing huffed quietly- disdainfully. He replied, "That's nothing to do with me. I don't give a shit if Wen Ruohan and his followers live or die- in fact, it's best if the Qishan Wens all end their miserable lives and their bodies are torn apart by dogs."

Wuxian nodded. He mused, "True. Why get upset over the people who never showed you kindness simply because you share a surname?"

Kexing returned the nod before turning to the young girl, who was still crying her eyes out. He patted her head gently and asked, "Do you mind telling me your name, little girl?"

"...A-Xiang."

"Is your full name Gu Xiang?"

The girl nodded, wiping her eyes and sniffling as she held her dead sister's hand.

"Okay. A-Xiang- I'll call you that because that's how you introduced yourself," Kexing replied, soothing her head gently. "From now on, stay close to us. We'll protect you."

"And Jie-jie?"

"Jie-jie..."

Thankfully, Wuxian took over, promising, "We'll take your Jie-jie back to the cave. And, when you're ready..."

"...Jie-jie?"

"We'll give Young Lady Gu a proper, respectful send off."

Gu Xiang looked at Qingzhao and hugged her arm, mumbling, "Jie-jie..."

"A-Xing, you carry A-Xiang. I'll carry Young Lady Gu on my back."

That was exactly what they did, laying the teenage girl to rest in the back areas of the cave and taking in the toddler that had lost her sister too young.

Chapter Text

The sound of a flute filled and swirled in the air of the Burial Mounds.

A boy stood at the top of a cliff, playing a dark-colored flute. His silver eyes were narrowed at the mass of bodies below, crawling over each other in their hurry to get to the red barrier that surrounded the Mounds. Thousands of undead fists punched at the same time, causing the wall to quake, bright, lighter-colored ripples spreading across the red surface.

It shook in time with the flute- fast, shrill and somewhat aggressive, determination hardening every note. Wisps of black smoke swirled around the clearing in time to the music, some going into the heads of the corpses, and the chorus of roars, groans and punches felt like a backing track. For now, Wei Wuxian was standing on the cliff and trying to break the barrier that surrounded the Burial Mounds, using his skill alone to command the tens of thousands below.

But he wouldn't be alone for long.

Wuxian had told Kexing that he would get started on breaking the barrier while Kexing worked on his disguise and made sure A-Xiang was properly secured. He should be here any moment now, then all of them could leave this forsaken place together. 2 months of hard work, waiting, training, the fire of vengeance burning inside them every day and night...

It was about time.

The cracks were starting to become visible now, if Wuxian narrowed his eyes... or maybe his hope was making him see things. Either way Wuxian quickened the pace of his flute, spiking the aggression in the fierce corpses more to give them more strength-

A hand tapped his shoulder.

Wuxian jumped and when he didn't recognize the face standing behind him, he stepped back and readied-

"Eh- A-Xian!! Hold your fire, it's me!!"

"...A-Xing?"

The figure laughed and flicked the side of his face, revealing that the features Wuxian could barely see in the dark were a mask. He stuck the layer of skin on properly as he teased, "A-Xian, you've known me for 2 months already- why so jumpy?"

"Fuck off," Wuxian retorted, laughing. "When you said you knew how to disguise yourself I didn't know you were that good."

"Do I look handsome?"

"My answer doesn't matter, the only person you really want the opinion of is Zhou Zishu."

Even in the dark and with a layer of skin covering his face, Kexing's blush was visible. He coughed and collected himself fast though, and fanned himself as he replied, "True. Which is why I'm asking now, I wanna look my best when I see him again."

"I think you look fine, don't stress about it," Wuxian reassured. He nodded at the basket on Kexing's back. "She's asleep?"

Kexing smiled. He cracked the lid of the basket open and asked, "Well? How about it A-Xiang, are you asleep?"

"...nearly?"

Wuxian snorted in spite of himself.

Kexing laughed and replied, "Just don't poke your head out until I or Xian Ge-ge say so, okay?"

"Okay~!"

Kexing shut the basket lid again.

"How did A-Xiang react to your disguise, by the way?"

"She watched me put on every piece of it herself- I had her watch so that she knew it was still me. She's seen creepier." Kexing looked over at the wailing crowd of fierce corpses and asked, "They're still not done?"

"It's barely been half an hour. Give them some time."

Kexing snorted. He took some walnuts out of his robes and declared, "I'm gonna help them."

Before Wuxian could ask how, black energy gathered in Kexing's other palm. He held that before the walnuts and slowly but surely, the dark energy began flowing towards the walnuts.

Then they launched off like projectiles.

Wuxian couldn't see the small brown objects from this distance, but after a few throws, an obvious, glowing crack appeared in the barrier, and it soon shattered into a large gaping hole.

Amidst the roars and cries of the fierce corpses, Wuxian turned to Kexing and praised, "Well done."

"Thank you. Well done to you too for breaking down the barrier enough that that worked." Kexing turned to the gathering of corpses and added, "And well done to all our big brothers and sisters too! Thank you!"

He got several groans as a reply- if that could be considered a reply. More likely than not that had simply been coincidence.

Wuxian laughed, partially in amusement at his friend's antics and partially in a strange sort of triumph he hadn't felt before. "We did it!" he exclaimed. "We broke the barrier, we did it!! We really did!"

Kexing turned so Wuxian could see that even under the disguise, he was grinning widely, his eyes were shining with the same triumph. "No one's ever come out of the Burial Mounds alive," he murmured. "Well... I guess we're ghosts then, coming back to the living world. I can't wait to see their faces when we appear before them!"

That did remind Wuxian of something. They had discussed this before- their plans after getting out were vague, only knowing for sure that they wanted to help with this rebellion against Qishan Wen... but they knew Kexing couldn't show his face or say his real name. They knew and had discussed in great detail the measures to keep him safe before they could be sure Dafan wasn't being lumped in with Qishan.

"Remember- after we get out, I'll get you a place in the Yunmeng Jiang Sect as the guy who saved my life. To everyone but me and A-Xiang, your name is Zhen Yan, not Wen Kexing- if I ever call you with Xing in public, ignore me until I get it right. You're not to go anywhere dangerous without me, and that includes places where people may ask you too many questions, or places that are emotionally important to you- in case you can't hold it in and let slip. Got all that?"

Kexing laughed. He replied, "Relax. I know the stakes better than anyone, I'll keep my mouth shut."

Wuxian nodded. He did believe that Kexing knew... being despised had been the younger boy's reality growing up after all. He must know.

Roars and groans made them turn, and Kexing and Wuxian realized all the fierce corpses were filing out of the Burial Mounds too.

"...should we stop them?" Kexing asked, his tone betraying how little he cared about the sight before him.

Wuxian chuckled darkly. He waved a hand and replied, "Nah... I bet Qishan Wen would love to meet them. Let's not deny them the pleasure."

Kexing chuckled. He checked the basket on his back one more time, then put a hand on Wuxian's arm and checked, "Ready to go home?"

"Ready."

Chapter Text

Shooting the sun was no easy task.

Wangji had learned that pretty early on, and was still learning it now. Being surrounded by Wen Sect cultivators with his older brother at his side, fighting back for once wasn't where he would've envisioned himself being less than a year ago but there he was. It was a difficult fight, red robes and blood being everywhere he turned, but it was freeing, in a way.

The sects were clashing with Qishan Wen at Jiangling. It was a critical fight- while not a main camp, Jiangling was the furthest the sects'd gotten, and being defeated here would give Qishan Wen precedent to pursue them further, eating away at the territory they'd taken and all their hard work.

Wangji deflected several swords with Bichen. The slashing of the weapon as it threw them off created a ripple of spiritual energy, forcing some stumble back. Others though recovered fast, and gave a rallying cry as they launched another group attack.

Wangji frowned as he directed Bichen to block them. He'd admit this wasn't ideal... in this situation- surrounded on all sides- Wangji would've much rather used his guqin, but that had been broken earlier in the fight. The strings had all been destroyed, and Wangji had been forced to abandon it for mobility. He was already badly injured, the fight having dragged on for at least the few hours-

Someone slashed him across the back.

Unable to take it any longer, Wangji fell to one knee and coughed up blood.

"Wangji!!"

Wangji felt arms around him and before he could protest, he was lifted into the air, landing in a different, more remote corner of the field.

He looked up to see Xichen's worried face staring back at him. The elder's eyes were wide, more horrified than Wangji had seen them as he held him. The hand that grasped Wangji's hand was as pale as his face, and Xichen's voice was hoarse with the same fear, calling out again, "Wangji!"

Wangji gasped, "Xiongzhang..."

"Wangji how are you?? Does it hurt??"

"Behind... you..."

Xichen whirled around and at the same time, his sword Shuoyue flew from his side to behind them.

It was just in time to block a Qishan Wen sword heading for them.

Shuoyue continued blocking as best it could while not being directly wielded by its master. As the strange fight waged on behind them, Xichen turned back to Wangji and comforted more himself than Wangji, "That's okay! I can't use spiritual energy to help you because I need to support Shuoyue, but I can still bandage you! All I need is something...! Some... something to-"

Wangji gave a smile only Xichen could see, meaning to reassure his brother that even if he couldn't be saved, he was glad to have fought to the last. He murmured, "Xiongzhang..."

"Wangji don't speak- don't waste energy! You'll be okay- you have to be, I can't lose you as well as Father!!"

"Xiong-"

A blur of white and dark blue leaped in front of the brothers.

"Take care of your brother, I'll take it from here!"

Zhou Zishu was trying his best to fight off the Qishan cultivators for them, his sword creating clashes of metal as it met the weapons of Qishan.

"Thank you Young Master Zhou!" Xichen called, the relief almost painful to hear. He sat Wangji up and put his hands on Wangji's back. "Your spiritual energy is low- I'll give you some before we return to battle."

Before Wangji could say anything, he could feel the warmth of external spiritual energy being infused into his veins- Xichen had already started.

Usually Wangji would close his eyes and concentrate as to absorb the spiritual energy better, but now he watched the battle anxiously. Over the past few months, ever since Zishu had arrived at Cloud Recess for safety, he and Wangji had grown close, bonding over their grief and shared desire to see justice enacted upon Qishan Wen. He considered Zhou Zishu one of his very few real friends now, and was really worried for the boy's life.

Zishu was by no means a bad fighter, but he was fighting at least 10 cultivators all by himself, and was already heavily wounded by the long and difficult fight. He was forced on the defense now, not having even one opportunity to attack. His trusty sword Baiyi was bending under the pressure, stubbornly staying intact as its rebound threw off the weapons pressing on it-

A Wen cultivator lunged for Zishu from behind, sword first.

"Zishu-!"

Something white flashed by the cultivator, twirling in a circle around Zishu but never touching him.

As Zishu looked around confusedly, the Qishan Wen cultivators around him all fell onto their backs silently, their throats slit cleanly.

At the same time, flute music started filling the air.

Before anyone could look around for its source, a horde of corpses crashed onto the field, roaring like animals and stumbling over each other, black wisps swirling around them. Everyone was on their guard in a second, prepared for whatever trick the Wens were using, but to their utter surprise the corpses grabbed the Qishan Wen cultivators and restrained them.

One such cultivator had gotten too close to Xichen and Wangji for comfort and instead of restrainment, that one was lifted into the air by his throat.

The cultivator's eyes widened as he struggled, beating the hand holding him up. He cried, "Nie Yaozu?! No- you're a ghost- NO ONE EVER COMES OUTTA THE MOUNDS ALIVE, YOU'RE A GHOST- YOU'RE A GHOST!!"

He was met with a silent glare.

"I WAS FOLLOWING ORDERS- DON'T KILL ME, I WAS FOLLOWING-"

Crack!

Wangji, Xichen and Zishu flinched at the loud crack of the neck as the cultivator fell limp forever.

As panicked screams came from the Qishan Wen cultivators, confused yells spread throughout the others.

"What's going on?!"

"Who's playing the flute?!"

"Gusu Lan- you're good at instruments, is this your doing?!"

"Are you stupid?! If we had such an efficient method why wouldn't we use it on the Wens sooner?!"

"Ridiculous!" Wangji spat under his breath at the endorsement of such a crooked method.

Xichen was much more polite, calling, "Our music can't control fierce corpses, this isn't us!"

"Look!! Over there- look who that is!!"

Chapter Text

Standing on the roof were two boys. The first was a stranger to everyone in the clearing. He was wearing red robes- dark red, ragged and worn and a bit big for him. He carried a basket on his back, and held something in his hand that no one could see properly yet.

The second was a figure familiar to everyone, and it was him the flute music was coming from.

Wangji moved forward, gasping under his breath, "Wei Ying!"

Wuxian ignored everyone's shock, continuing to play so the fierce corpses were held in place, freezing the Wen sect cultivators.

The boy next to him stepped forward, and gasps of shock mingled with the flute already in the air.

He was holding the heads of Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu.

"HEAR ME, QISHAN WEN! WEN CHAO AND WEN ZHULIU ARE DEAD- IF YOU SURRENDER NOW, WE CAN SPARE YOUR MISERABLE LIVES!"

It was the middle of the night.

Two people were running, but not for long. They came across an abandoned temple and the smaller of the pair collapsed on the ground. He gasped, "I... I can't run! I can't run anymore!"

The taller turned and protested, "But we have to run, they-"

"Oh to hell with that!" the smaller snapped, glaring at him. "If I say I can't run... I can't run!" He waved a hand at the taller vaguely. "Here- carry me. Carry me and keep running, you-"

Flute music filled the air.

"AHHH!!" The smaller let out a screech of terror and demanded, "WEN ZHULIU YOU CARRY ME AWAY FROM THOSE TWO LUNATICS RIGHT NOW!!"

The taller reached for his hand-

A chain shot out of the top balcony and lassoed his hand.

Wen Zhuliu was pulled to the side, slammed against the wall, then brought to a halt under the balcony of the temple. He struggled, trying to break free and get back to Wen Chao, but resentful energy surrounded the chains and kept him restrained.

"Going somewhere, Young Masters?"

Standing on the balcony behind them were two figures. Two boys Wen Chao had personally thrown into the Burial Mounds, two people he had never thought he'd see again but whose mere shape now brought him terror...

"WEI WUXIAN!! WEN KEXING!!"

The older of the pair, Wei Wuxian laughed and tightened his grip on the chains. He returned, "That's right, Young Master! Those are our names- don't wear them out!"

The younger, Wen Kexing took the basket off his back and peered inside.

Gu Xiang was inside, not reacting at all to Kexing lifting the lid to check, but regular breaths told Kexing she was simply asleep. Of course- her bedtime had been hours ago.

Kexing smiled and closed the lid again. Wuxian had stuck a talisman on the basket... as long as the lid stayed shut, Gu Xiang wouldn't hear a thing. He'd told her to wait for him to open the lid, that she'd be let out when it was safe...

He'd left out that the spectacle to follow wasn't for young children.

Meanwhile, Wuxian'd jumped off the balcony and moved forward.

"Don't... don't come any closer!!" Wen Chao gasped, stumbling back. He tripped and fell onto his back and cried, "What do you want?!"

"Don't you remember us, Wen Chao?" Wuxian hissed, a satisfaction in his voice. "We both said it. Neither of us went through the soul-calming ritual of the sects due to low birth..."

" We promised we'd come back as fierce ghosts to haunt you ."

Wen Chao whimpered and shook his head. He cried quietly, "Dad..."

Wuxian smirked. He turned to Kexing and asked, "We decided we'd each take a scumbag- I decide the fate of Wen Zhuliu, you decide the fate of Wen Chao. So... how should he die?"

Kexing landed on the lower level and walked towards Wen Chao.

Realizing Kexing was gonna go for the show not tell approach, Wuxian nodded and kept watching.

Wen Chao scrambled back. He stammered, "Don't... don't come any closer!! You... you servant boy!!"

"...servant boy?" Kexing echoed darkly, pausing in his steps. "Even now, Wen Chao... servant boy, huh?"

"Do you think you still have any power over me now?"

Wen Zhuliu struggled.

Wuxian tightened the chains. He snarled, "Your turn will come soon. But first, I want you to watch Wen Chao suffer right in front of you."

" I want you to know that you can't save him now ."

Kexing smirked. He bent down to look Wen Chao in the eyes and murmured, "Remember Qishan, Young Master Wen? When you loved to humiliate me for your amusement... pulling my hair, ordering me to bark like a dog in front of your concubines and kicking me so hard my bones broke when I refused? Remember the time you nearly poked my eyes out because you claimed I had brought you the wrong color robes?"

"What are you talking about?! I- I... I NEVER DID ANY OF THAT!!"

"...of course you don't. But I do. So... I want you to get down on your knees and bark like a dog. Then I want you to gouge your own eyes out."

"Like hell!! You- OW!!"

The black smoke had gathered around his ankle and snapped it.

Kexing mused, "There are so many bones in the human body, Young Master Wen... 260, is it? I can break them, one by one... so painful..."

"You asshole- son of a whore!! Son of a bitch, son of a weak whining little-"

A sharp scream and the river of blood told Wuxian that Kexing had ripped the skin on Wen Chao's arm clean off, exposing the delicate muscle and even some bone underneath.

"AIEEEE!!"

"Insult either of my parents again and I will make sure you die in the worst, most torturous way I can come up with," Kexing hissed, his eyes glowing red. "There's way worse I can do than what I'm doing now so be grateful."

Wen Chao sat there for a while, gasping in pain, before he kneeled, eyes still carefully fixed on Kexing.

Then he suddenly made a desperate, insane grab for Kexing.

Kexing dodged and called, "A-Xian!"

Wuxian released Zhuliu and began playing the flute.

Zhuliu roared, lunging at Kexing. It was a struggle, especially through the black smoke, but he got the servant boy at last. He grabbed his face, pulling out the eyes just like the boy'd wanted Wen Chao to do to himself- he was gonna tear this insolent servant to shreds, he was gonna-

"AIEEEE!!"

The smoke cleared and Zhuliu stepped back, horrified.

The face he was holding wasn't Kexing's, it was Wen Chao's. A bloodied face that screamed in pain and horror, its eyes fallen on the floor to leave empty, red sockets on the face.

And the blood was on Zhuliu's hands.

"WEN ZHULIU!!" Wen Chao screamed. "WEN ZHULIU YOU BASTARD!!"

A slow clapping. "Beautiful, beautiful work there, Wen Zhuliu!"

Kexing and Wuxian were standing on the balcony again, unharmed.

Zhuliu stared at them. He'd done exactly what they'd wanted... fallen right into their trap. That awful turncoat servant had wanted to make Wen Chao gouge his eyes out... and he had done it instead. In one instant, months of trying to protect this brat had gone to waste. He had hurt the family he'd sworn absolute loyalty to... he...

He laughed, half-insane from guilt.

Kexing turned to Wuxian and remarked, "Looks like Wen Zhuliu's a bit gone too. Nice work. Two birds with one stone."

Wuxian smirked and murmured, "Watch me."

Then he began playing again.

Zhuliu gasped, staring at his hands. These hands... they were the ones that took Wen Chao's eyes. They had hurt his master... they were horrible, they deserved to die, they deserved to be...

Eaten.

Yeah.

That was how he was gonna punish these hands for hurting his master.

He put his fist in his mouth and began to push it further in.

An odd, twisted delight sprung up in Wuxian and Kexing at the sight. Wen Zhuliu, about to die by the same hand that had taken Jiang Cheng's and Kexing's golden cores, and the cores of so many others... ended the paths of so many promising cultivators...

It felt fitting.

As the choking noise began, Wen Chao frowned and asked, "Wait- what's going on? What are you doing?"

Wen Zhuliu ignored him. He couldn't hear him... the hand was going further in, the air he was taking in was decreasing... and his throat... felt...

He collapsed on the floor, hand still shoved deep down his throat- alive, but choking. Not alive for much longer.

"Oi?! Wen Zhuliu- WEN ZHULIU WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU WHAT'S THAT DISGUSTING NOISE?!"

Black smoke completely surrounded Wen Zhuliu, freezing him solid.

Wuxian lowered his flute at last, smiling to himself. He murmured, "Let's keep him in this state- can't have him dying yet. He won't see, but he can still hear Wen Chao's screams."

Kexing chuckled. "Really impressive, A-Xian," he murmured.

"Thank you." Wuxian took a step back and added, "The floor's yours, A-Xing.”

Kexing nodded and leaped down.

Wen Chao turned upon hearing him land. He tried, "Wen... Zhuliu...?"

"Ah-ah. Try again."

"YOU-"

"Yes, me, Young Master Wen. How about it? What say you to the other half of my request, now that your protector did half of it for you?"

"IN YOUR DREAMS!!"

"Is that so, Young Master?" Kexing hummed, looking at the black smoke surrounding his white fan. He smiled callously and mused, "Well then..."

" Let's see how painful it feels to have your body broken, shall we ?"

"You insolent- I- AIEEE!!"

Sharp and painful cracks broke the near continuous screaming. At some point, the screams turned to begs, but the cracks continued, blood as red as Qishan Wen's sun running on the floor.

Hours later, it was over. Wen Chao's body had given in to his injuries and he lay broken and mangled on the floor. Wen Zhuliu lay beside him, allowed to die at long last. And on Wuxian and Kexing's faces was a mixture of disgust at the sight and delight that justice had been served on the pair.

"...we should go," Wuxian murmured.

"Yeah." An idea struck Kexing, and he kneeled down next to Wen Chao and Zhuliu's bodies. He took out a knife as he added, "Give me a second."

Wuxian watched as Kexing cut off Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu's heads. Maybe he should be worried that he didn't feel anything at the sight, but... maybe he shouldn't. They had been awful when they'd been alive. Why should he care that their corpses were desecrated?

"There," Kexing finished, tying the heads's hair together in a knot. "A nice surprise for the sects."

"What, isn't my return a good enough surprise for them?"

Kexing shoved him lightly- Wuxian appreciated that he used the elbow instead of the hand. "You know what I meant," he retorted.

Wuxian laughed too. "Yeah," he replied, the grin on his face a bit more... callous than usual. "I'm sure this'll make a lovely surprise for everyone who's suffered at these bastard's hands."

Chapter Text

The banquet that night was unbelievably lavish.

There were things to celebrate after all- big things. Not only were the youngest son of Sect Leader Wen and Qishan Wen's scariest soldier dead, the eldest disciple of Yunmeng Jiang had come back in one piece. The war was far from won, but it felt like they'd scored a huge victory tonight.

"Mn- this is way better than cooked rats on a stick!" Wuxian exclaimed, smiling as he scarfed down the pork in front of him like he hadn't had a good meal in months.

"Cooked rats on a stick?" Jiang Cheng echoed incredulously.

Wuxian shrugged. He replied, "I mostly had that for the last 2 months. Birds didn't come by the Burial Mounds much so we had them"- he counted on his fingers- "once every 2 weeks?" He clapped Kexing on the back. "If it wasn't for A- Yan-xiong, I wouldn't have had even that!"

Wuxian had introduced Kexing as Zhen Yan with little incident. No one had pointed out or noticed that he was wearing a disguise, and "the guy who saved Wuxian's life" really was enough to satisfy most people. Jiang Cheng and Yanli had even let Kexing sit with them at the front as thanks for taking care of Wuxian.

"Oh A-Xian- you poor thing!" Yanli poured another bowl of lotus rib soup and put it in front of Wuxian, offering, "Here- drink up."

"Thank you Shijie!! Can Yan-xiong have some too?"

Kexing smiled and nodded his thanks as Yanli poured a bowl of soup for him, trying to come across as a polite gentleman rather than a shy boy who had no clue what to do. He added, "Thank you, Young Lady Jiang."

Then he turned to the young girl on his lap and held a spoonful to her mouth. He cooed, "Come on- we'll share. A-Xiang, say ah."

"Ah!"

"Good girl- be careful, it's hot."

The man at the front cleared his throat. Wearing golden robes, a pompous face, expensive headdress- this had to be Jin Guangshan, leader of the Jins.

"I would like to propose a toast to Young Masters Wei and Zhen," he declared. "To their health, for bringing us the heads of our enemies!"

"Toast!"

"Yeah! Toast!"

Many of the cultivators in the hall raised their cups to the pair.

Wuxian laughed, waving them all off- Kexing was too taken aback to speak. "They were our enemies too!" Wuxian dismissed. "We were avenging our personal grudges as well- though we're really happy to have helped everyone as a result!"

"Help you did, Young Master Wei, Young Master Zhen," Nie Mingjue praised. "Many of us are glad to see justice served to that disgusting brat and his guard dog."

"Yeah!" Sect Leader Yao chimed in. "Young Master Wei and Young Master Zhen really are the rising heroes of our age! A toast!"

Wuxian smiled politely and toasted along with Kexing. He almost looked around for Lan Wangji before scolding himself- both Jades of Lan had been heavily injured in today's combat and taken to mediation, probably taking a quick plain meal and going to sleep right after. Wuxian could always visit his friend tomorrow.

"Yes, though..." Guangshan turned his attention to Gu Xiang, who clung Kexing tighter as a response. The Jin sect leader asked, "If I may, Young Master Zhen, who's the little girl?"

"Oh- her," Kexing realized. He patted the young girl's head and replied, "This is Gu Xiang-"

"Gu Xiang?!"

An exclamation had come from where the minor sects were sitting- from the table of mostly girls wearing purple and cyan robes. The small flag flying at the corner of the desk signaled this was the Linfen Gu sect.

"That's Gu Xiang?!" a cultivator repeated. "What about Qingzhao- she was captured too, did you see her?!"

"We ran into Young Lady Gu Qingzhao in the Burial Mounds and... she..."

"..."

"She handed her sister to us in her last moments."

A cultivator stood up and bowed. She introduced, "I'm Gu Fenfang- Qingzhao was my brother's daughter, and so is Gu Xiang. Thank you for taking care of her for us these 2 months."

Kexing's breath hitched, and he exchanged a look with Wuxian. Of course... how had neither of them thought of this? Gu Xiang had another home waiting for her... a family...

It was time she went back.

"...Young Master Zhen?"

"Oh... sorry." Kexing dipped his head and with obvious reluctance, turned to Gu Xiang. He put the young girl on the floor and ushered, "Go on. See that big sister over there? That's your aunt. It's... it's time you go back."

"NO!"

To everyone's surprise, Gu Xiang climbed back into Kexing's lap and hugged him tightly, pouting.

Kexing was really taken aback, and took half a minute to recover.

When he did, he patted Gu Xiang's head and repeated, "A-Xiang, that's your family. It's time for you to go home- don't you wanna go home?"

"Wanna stay with Xing Ge-ge!!"

"Eh- A-Xiang!!" Wuxian interrupted. In a whisper, he added, "I thought we told you to not call A-Xing Xing Ge-ge in public! Just call him Ge-ge, okay?"

Gu Xiang stared up at him with wide, round eyes and repeated, "Wanna stay with Ge-ge. Don't take me from Ge-ge."

"A-Xiang!" Kexing scolded gently, not sure whether to laugh or cry at the silly but loyal little girl.

Wuxian snorted, then covered his mouth with his hand. He teased, "A dad at such a young age- really amazing, Yan-xiong."

"Wei Wuxian, shut the fuck up."

"Gu Xiang," Fenfang tried again. "Come here- come to your auntie."

Gu Xiang shook her head and clung to Kexing even tighter.

"How about this?" Kexing suggested. "Since A-Xiang clearly isn't leaving me and I don't wanna break up your family, I'll stay with you instead of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect."

"Nonsense!!" a Gu cultivator burst out. "Over two thirds of the Gu Sect is female, the rest being our relatives and close friends- how could a male outsider come to live with us?!"

"Relax, I won't ask about your sect's training methods- I'd just be there to help take care of A-Xiang. I also promise I won't try anything with your sect's disciples. I don't swing that way and besides- my heart already belongs to someone special. I don't want anyone else aside from him."

Everyone followed Kexing's gaze to see he was looking at the Laoling Qin Sect- though who he was looking at no one but Wuxian could tell.

That didn't stop the whispers.

"Does he like Qin Su? The sect leader's daughter?"

"Idiot! His whole point was he doesn't like girls and he said "him"- obviously he's talking about a boy!"

"He's a cutsleeve?!"

"But there're a lot of guys in the Laoling Qin sect! Who could he like?"

The Laoling Qin sect seemed really flustered by the sudden attention. Qin Cangye coughed awkwardly as his disciples exchanged equally curious whispers and looks, and the boy sitting by Cangye tugged the sleeve of the disciple next to him.

The disciple- Zhou Zishu pulled him close and whispered something while ignoring the other sects, determined not to be dragged into this.

Wuxian was way too close to bursting into laughter again, but he still whispered, "Way to go, A-Xing. Claiming your beloved in front of all the sects. How bold."

"AHEM!"

Jiang Cheng'd had enough of this and coughed really loudly. He bowed to the Linfen Gu Sect and offered, "If your sect isn't willing to take Young Master Zhen in and Gu Xiang isn't willing to leave him, then may I suggest visiting hours? The Linfen Gu Sect is free to visit Yunmeng Jiang whenever they please, and this will hold after the war when Lotus Pier is repaired. And if you change your minds about taking Young Master Zhen in, feel free to let us know."

Fenfang hesitated, then bowed and sat down huffily.

Guangshan laughed- whether he was trying to defuse some of the tension or glad everything had been resolved, no one could tell. "A wise decision, Sect Leader Jiang. Kids will be kids, I guess... though to have survived the Burial Mounds, she must be a tough kid." He raised his wine glass and declared, "Here's to no one ever having to go through what these young heroes have again!"

"I'll drink to that, Sect Leader Jin," Kexing agreed, smiling and raising his cup too. "Here's to the success of the Sunshot Campaign, and being able to see Wen Ruohan's head leave his body soon."

That seemed to make Jin Guangshan even happier. He laughed and drank to Kexing's words. "Well said, well said!" he exclaimed. "Soon, all the Wen dogs will be dead, and the cultivation world will be returned to the way it should be!"

"...all of them, Sect Leader Jin?"

"Of course! Qishan, Dafan- none of their guilty heads will escape!"

Kexing froze.

Even though he'd agreed to wait and check if his clan was being lumped in with Qishan, he hadn't believed they would be. Why would he? He hadn't seen any of his family, the faces from his infancy or the robes of his small clan, on the battlefield... he'd assumed they would've stayed out of the conflict, following their motto of hurting no one. It was what they would do- what they'd always done. Not a person from or outside the sects had died at Dafan Wen's hands.

He loathed that his clan was being lumped in with Qishan's cruelty.

While Kexing was seeing red, his knuckles clenched tightly around the cup, Wuxian was watching.

He watched Jiang Cheng's eyes narrow, and the smile on Yanli's face falter. He watched Sect Leader Nie and Lan Qiren nod, he watched Sect Leader Yao enthusiastically offer his voice in full support.

And most of all, he watched the disciple he'd identified as Zhou Zishu.

Zishu's brows furrowed, the previous second-hand embarrassment in his black eyes hardening into a cold, icy disdain. He was silent, but Wuxian could tell he was displeased. The boy next to him frowned too and with a look of indignance, opened his mouth.

Qin Cangye stopped him and after snapping something Wuxian couldn't hear, stood up and declared, "Well said, Sect Leader Jin!"

Kexing whirled around to look at the Qin table. He saw Cangye standing, Jiuxiao fuming and Zishu staring at the table stoically, his knuckles white.

Realizing he had to stop this, Wuxian proclaimed, "Qishan Wen is the real culprit and should be punished. Let's hope that after Qishan is gone we can live in peace and harmony together."

Jin Guangshan's subtle eye twitch and the various looks shot at him, including Kexing, Jiang Cheng and Zishu, told Wuxian that his emphasis hadn't gone unheard.

Before anyone could agree or pile on him, Huaisang called out, "Wei-xiong is right!! Peace and harmony!! All our families safe, no longer worrying about unjust treatment, all the cultivation world supporting each other like brothers! That'd be nice, right people?"

Cheers and laughter rose as everyone raised their glasses.

Wuxian raised his glass too, smiling and talking to the people he'd missed so dearly.

But throughout the banquet, whenever he had time to spare, he looked at Kexing. Jin Guangshan and the rest had proven something that night.

Wen Kexing, the servant boy everyone hated, would have to stay buried in the Mounds.

Chapter Text

It was late at night by the time the banquet was over and everyone retired to their rooms.

"Oh thank god," Kexing muttered as he and Wuxian sat outside under the moon, 2 small cups in front of them filled with wine. "I don't need to be Zhen Yan anymore."

Wuxian chuckled. He pointed out, "You're still wearing that mask."

"Because this is a public space. All I meant is you don't have to call me Yan-xiong anymore."

"You chose that name yourself."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it, just means I hate it the least," Kexing retorted. "It's not only the name- the whole banquet was so stuffy, so many names I've already forgotten, and I had to smile and be polite to a lot of people that really hate the real me- and oh my god, that Jin Guangshan! Does he ever shut up?!"

A laugh. "Yeah- after like 3 hours."

"Everything he said was such a waste of breath- so tacky and pompous!"

"He's a politician, what do you expect? And Jin Guangshan was only obvious because he was sitting at the head of the hall- Sect Leader Yao and Sect Leader Qin and the rest of them said a lot of pointless shit too."

"I'm starting to think these banquets aren't as cracked up to be as Wen Chao made them sound- wait no, he loved wasting his breath, he'd fit right in." Kexing pulled a face and asked, "A-Xian, how do you stand it?"

"Was it really that bad?"

Kexing paused to think, then smiled. He replied, "The food was good. And I liked that I got to see A-Xu again, even if it was from a distance. And your Shijie was really nice!"

"She's the nicest person in the world," Wuxian agreed, smiling. "Hey- I'm taking that to mean you like her, so what about Jiang Cheng?"

"Him?"

"Mn hm."

"...he's okay. Teeny bit uptight and a really bad temper though."

Wuxian laughed.

"Excuse me- Young Master Wei."

A cultivator roughly their age had approached them.

Kexing's breath hitched and he turned away, trying to not let the cultivator see his face even though his features had all been changed and shifted.

Wuxian didn't remark on it. He nodded his acknowledgement and asked, "What is it?"

The cultivator bowed and introduced, "My name is Zhou Zishu."

Already knew that, Wuxian thought, shooting Kexing a slightly worried look out of the corner of his eyes.

"I wanna ask... among the bodies in the Burial Mounds... did you see someone with the Wen Sect uniform?"

Wuxian huffed, knowing precisely who he was asking for and still rattled by what'd happened earlier. "Why does it matter?" he snapped. "He can't hurt you anymore, can he?"

"Young Master Wei, you misunderstand me. I'm looking for this boy because he saved my and my shidi's life. He's my friend." A deep breath. "And if the Burial Mounds is a dead end, I'll keep looking. Until I find him.”

"And what then?"

"A-Xian!"

Wuxian ignored Kexing's protest. He pressed on, "Bring him to Laoling? Young Master Zhou, you're aware that your sect leader agreed with Jin Guangshan earlier, right? Qishan, Dafan- he doesn't care. No one does."

Kexing lowered his gaze, realizing that Wuxian was right.

Zishu frowned too. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd never thought of that... Wuxian had a good point. If his search led him to a still-living Wen Kexing, what would he do? Where would be safe for him? All the places he knew, Qin Cangye did too. Running from both the sects and Qishan... when the almost-certain result was death, the chance was too small, the risk too big. And could he ask Kexing to ignore his own family in face of-

He froze, staring at Kexing's head with widening eyes, all his previous thoughts leaving him.

Kexing jolted and took the clasp in his hair out, hiding it in his hands and sleeves. Fuck! Idiot- how could you have forgotten to hide the gift your parents gave you?!

"...Young Master Zhen."

"P- present."

"Where did you get that hair clasp?"

Kexing shrugged, staring at the floor.

"You've disguised yourself."

Kexing laughed nervously and murmured, "You must be very skilled to spot that, Young Master Zhou. A capable and beautiful guy... I'm starting to like you more and more."

"Disguise is 1 of the key pillars of the Laoling Qin Sect, Young Master Zhen- this is nothing," Zishu dismissed. "And please don't flirt with me when I'm talking about serious business."

"Serious business, you call it?" Kexing echoed. He sat up properly and fanned himself, trying to regain some composure. "I think flirting with you is serious business. It's related to my happiness in the future after all."

Zishu glared at him, then added, "Young Lady Gu called you Xing Ge-ge earlier- what was with that?"

"Nothing- silly girl didn't know what she was talking about."

"Even if it was nonsense, she wouldn't have pulled it out of nowhere."

"..."

"Young Master Zhen," Zishu insisted, taking a step forward. "The boy I'm asking after is called Wen Kexing, and when he left secret messages for the sects, he sighed them with Xing . No one knows what happened to him- it's only a guess that he was in the Burial Mounds. So I wanna hear the truth."

"What's your relationship to him ?"

"...why are you asking after a Wen? The Wens are our enemies- all of them are no-good bastards that terrorized the cultivation world for ages. If one got thrown into the Burial Mounds, he must've gotten what he deserved."

Wuxian glared at Kexing for a brief second before realizing he was being as harsh as possible on himself to throw Zishu off the scent.

Sure enough, Zishu's face darkened. His voice was like the calm before the storm as he snarled, "I'm asking after someone from the Dafan Wen Clan- the part of the sect that focuses on healing and helping, the peaceful part that never did anyone any wrong. That comment is right when placed on the Qishan Wens, but couldn't be more wrong for the Dafan Wens."

"I-"

"Me and my shidi- late Sect Leader Qin's son- wouldn't be alive without him. And he was just as much of a victim of Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu as all of us- even more than us, he was abused by the Qishan Wens for years with nowhere else to go! Young Master Zhen... I'd strongly advise you to judge people by their actions rather than whose blood runs in their veins."

Kexing knew he should be trying to come up with something clever, but he couldn't- his mind was blank. Zishu had taken him utterly aback... even in death, Zishu was trying to protect him, scolding Zhen Yan harshly for speaking against him. There was real anger in his eyes, real reason to think that Zishu still cared about him...

Zishu took a deep breath. No one was sure if he was talking to himself or Kexing as he muttered, "I'm sorry I ever thought you might be him in disguise, if only for a minute."

Kexing huffed, deciding to act indignant- best to throw him off even more. He put on his best offended voice as he asked, "How could he be abused by the Wens if he was a Wen himself? Don't fall for the lies of a snake, A-Xu- maybe he was trying to get close to you because of your beauty."

Wuxian suddenly had the urge to laugh despite the atmosphere.

Zishu clearly had no such urge- clearly Kexing had succeeded in angering him further. He snapped, "Don't call me A-Xu- you don't deserve to use my birth name if this is how you judge people. I told you- Qishan Wen and Dafan Wen are utterly different. He was treated as a servant boy in the sect, how well do you think he'd have fared under the arrogant and cruel Wen Chao?!"

"So you pity him- then pity him like you'd pity a worm, why get so worked up over a dead Wen dog?"

"WEN KEXING WAS A PERSON AND HE DESERVES AS MUCH RESPECT!"

"I...!"

Kexing found that he had no more awful words to say- and thank god, because Zishu was ready to pull out Baiyi and challenge him to a duel if he said another harsh word.

Wuxian meanwhile could tell this had gone on for too long. Kexing wouldn't be able to bear this for much longer- Zishu's words would mean too much to him because of his feelings, he'd crack sooner rather than later- and the less people knew he was a Wen the better, the stakes of Kexing's identity being exposed were too-

"I found a body that matches your description!"

Both Kexing and Zishu turned to him.

Wuxian swallowed his nervousness and continued, "A- Yan-xiong picked that hair clasp from that body. In the Mounds. I... I think he was dead for 2 months when I found him. Not sure, there was a lot of blood."

"2 months... from when you went missing..." Zishu echoed. He nodded, pain clear in his shuddering breath. "That... sounds like him. Thank you for telling me, Young Master Wei."

Kexing was really tempted to simply tell Zishu who he really was.

"You're... welcome...?"

"Young Master Wei... Sect Leader Jiang said it was Wen Ning and Wen Qing who saved you, yeah?"

Not sure what Zishu was getting at, Wuxian nodded.

Zishu shot Kexing a glare. He requested, "Please make sure Young Master Zhen gives the hair clasp he took to Wen Qing or Wen Ning. It is... was a gift to the idiot from his parents. It should not be in the possession of someone who thinks he got what he deserved ."

Kexing put on his best face- his best smile. He took the hair clasp from his sleeve and offered it to Zishu. He half-joked, "You can have it, if you like it. It'd suit you pretty well."

...Wuxian wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh, tell the truth or facepalm.

Zishu took a step back, looking as offended as if Kexing had offered him an explosive. He replied coldly, "I don't deserve to have it- and you don't deserve to give it away to anyone. I'm not asking you to give it to Wen Qing and Wen Ning as a gift, I'm telling you to return a sentimental item to a deceased person's family members- as would any decent person. If I see that clasp on your head again, I'll take it from you and give it to them myself."

With that, Zishu stormed off.

Once he was out of sight, Kexing's smile dropped, and Wuxian looked to him. "Yan-xiong?" he prompted- in case Zishu was close enough to hear.

"...let him forget," Kexing murmured. He slipped the hair clasp into the cloth around his waist. "I'll keep it here instead. So it's out of sight... it was stupid of me to forget about it."

"Are you okay?"

Kexing didn't hear him- he wasn't hearing anything but Zishu's words echoing in his ears. He stared after the boy with a faint, bittersweet smile. He murmured quietly, "You really are one of a kind, aren't you? Zhou Zishu..."

"...A-Xing."

Kexing jolted at the call, but quickly reassured, "Huh- oh! I'm okay- really! He's just... well..."

"..."

"Never mind." Kexing laughed quietly and got up, taking a deep breath. "It's getting late isn't it? Let's go back inside- I'm sleepy! Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day of training!"

Wuxian wanted to press Kexing further, but decided it could wait for when he was more ready, so he followed Kexing into the Yunmeng Jiang Sect's tents for the night.

Chapter Text

The Sunshot Campaign was going well, in Wei Wuxian's opinion.

The loss of his golden core hadn't made him weaker. In fact, he was a great helping hand in the Sunshot Campaign, able to command masses of fierce corpses no less in number than the very armies he was facing. The news about Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu's deaths had also spread, and now the names Wei Wuxian and Zhen Yan alone were enough to strike fear into most Qishan Wen soldiers's hearts, allowing half the battle to be won before it even began.

Today, they were celebrating yet another huge victory at Wuxian and Kexing's hands.

"To our young hero, Wei Wuxian of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect!"

Wuxian smiled and raised his glass in thanks to the cultivator that had spoken. Jiang Cheng was in the seat next to him, Yanli was busying herself with the food, and Kexing was on the other side of the room, receiving some praise of his own in between taking care of A-Xiang. All that was missing was one person, someone he had only caught a few glimpses of and exchanged a few scant words with since coming back...

"You've really done something amazing today, Young Master Wei! A whole wing wiped out in a single battle!" another cultivator praised.

"Just doing my best like everyone else here, and it's not like I did it alone. Not that big of a deal."

"Not that big of a deal! Listen to him- too humble for his own good! I doubt anyone else- in our ranks or theirs- could've done what they did today!"

"Yeah! It was so cool- all you and Young Master Zhen had on you were a flute and a fan! And not a scratch on you! You really are one of our strongest soldiers, Young Master Wei!"

"Thank you- you're too kind."

A figure in white robes caught his eye.

Wuxian broke from the crowd and put an arm around Wangji's shoulder. He greeted, "Lan Zhan~!"

"Wei Ying."

"What's with the long face? We wiped out a big chunk of Qishan's forces today! Celebrate with us!"

Wangji pushed Wuxian's arm off, frowning. His amber eyes and quiet voice were dead serious, aimed directly at Wuxian, as he requested, "Wei Ying, a word with you. Outside."

He began leaving the room without waiting for Wuxian's reply.

Curious as to what Wangji wanted, Wuxian followed him.

They walked until the chatter of the banquet was out of earshot, until the tent it was being held in was out of sight. They walked until nothing was around them but trees and bushes, a secluded little alcove that hid them from the rest of the world.

Seeing that Wangji had stopped in his tracks, Wuxian leaned against a tree and asked, "So. What was it that you wanted to say to me, Lan Zhan?"

"Stay away from Young Master Zhen."

The smile vanished off Wuxian's face at once. He stood up properly and demanded, "What ?!"

"He's a bad influence. Stay away."

"And why do you care who I associate myself with, Second Master Lan?!"

Wangji gave him an unreadable look. The tone was no help either- his voice was even as he replied, "He is going down a crooked path. If you cannot convince him to turn back, then you should not join him."

Wuxian stared at Wangji in disbelief. So that was what this was about... not "congratulations", not "good job", not even "thank you for trying your best". It was a lecture in right and wrong- something of the like Lan Qiren would recite back in Cloud Recess, or even Lan Wangji himself might say, when he caught Wuxian slacking off in his punishment of copying rules.

But they weren't stupid teenagers anymore. Nor was this a small issue like breaking curfew.

A laugh escaped him. "A crooked path, Young Master Lan?"

Something flashed across Wangji's eyes, but Wuxian couldn't tell what- nor did he care, really. Probably just anger or something like that.

"Crooked according to who?" he shot back. "That stuffy place that punishes you for breathing too loudly? Any path that isn't a tightrope is too crooked for them! Sure what we're doing is a little macabre, but we're helping you guys in the end. Look at what we managed today! I for one don't see what's wrong with helping even if the method is a little bit weird, and it seems like no one does either!"

"Right and wrong isn't determined by what everyone else thinks."

"Really now? Aren't you basing your judgment of my path on what your uncle deems right or wrong- what your ancestors and the rest of the cultivation world have been deeming right or wrong? And if it isn't that, then what makes this path crooked?"

"This path destroys the body, but even more so the heart!"

"Who cares about our hearts?!"

"..."

It was then that Wuxian realized he'd gone too far. Sure people might not care, but that was a pretty unsavory thing he'd asked Wangji to admit. It was one thing to believe something, another thing entirely to admit it to oneself or aloud for the whole world to hear. At this point, all he was doing was blurting out the first retort that came to mind, unwilling to let Wangji win this argument.

He sighed, trying to cool down.

Meanwhile, Wangji's stare continued to bore into him, waiting for him to speak- to justify himself.

"Lan Wangji," Wuxian began at last. "I know what Cloud Recess tells you- what you've been hearing your whole life. I know that you've been taught there's a big difference between your spiritual energy and my resentful energy- that using resentful energy is taking advantage of others' negative emotions. But it's not like ignoring or suppressing the negative emotions can make them go away. My path is just using what's available anyway- just like you use the spiritual energy that exists in the world around us. I promise I am as sane as I was when I started using this method. Besides, you can't deny that it works! Just look at the results! Look at what Yan-xiong and I've accomplished!"

"It causes much bloodshed."

Wuxian scoffed. "Yeah?" he muttered. "Well mercy wasn't on their agenda when they massacred Lotus Pier, was it- or even when they burned down Cloud Recess? Why should I show mercy to the guys who would only take advantage of that?"

"Come back to Gusu with me."

Wuxian took a few steps back as Wangji moved closer to him. "Why?" he asked warily.

"I..."

Wuxian waited for a response, but Wangji seemed to have lost his tongue. He kept his amber gaze lowered and shuffled his feet. If Wuxian hadn't known better, he would've said Wangji was anxious.

"Well?" Wuxian pressed, his tone biting, his silver gaze sharpening. "I'm waiting, Young Master Lan. Why do you wanna bring me to Gusu?"

A light exhale. "I wanna help you."

Indignance surged through Wuxian's veins- sure, logically he knew that Wangji simply didn't know. He didn't know Wuxian had given away his golden core, he didn't know Wuxian could never cultivate the light path again, he didn't know what Wuxian and A-Xing had been through together in the Burial Mounds, that Wuxian saw a piece of himself in his friend and confidant- he didn't know that if he tried to dispel all the resentful energy from Wuxian, more likely than not he would end up killing him.

But he was still mad. He was mad that Wangji wasn't accepting the path he had chosen for himself, he was mad Wangji was so blinded by his teachings that he couldn't see what Wuxian had accomplished with his innovation- how was helping them win the war and free the cultivation world from oppression bad, how was anything he was doing bad?! He was mad that Wangji couldn't just be happy for him like Jiang Cheng was.

And for some reason, the thought that Wangji didn't or couldn't understand him made it hurt even more.

"I can handle it," he stated coolly, in a tone that left no room for argument. "Thank you for your concern, Second Young Master Lan."

He left before Wangji had a chance to argue with him further.

Wangji wanted to run after Wuxian and plead for him to stay, but he found himself staring after the boy with longing so strong it hurt instead.

He didn't understand. He had wanted, longed for Wuxian to come back... and the miracle had happened. Why did Wuxian have to throw this miracle away? Why couldn't he go back to how he used to be, why did he have to make himself miserable? Wangji had noticed how much easier Wuxian was to anger, that his way of socializing had lost some of its old sincerity and cheerfulness- its spark. His path was clearly making him worse, but for some reason- maybe he was still grieving, maybe resentment had that much of a hold on his mind- for some reason he couldn't see it! Why did he have to be a hero, why couldn't he just be ?! And why was everyone, instead of telling him how dangerous this was, encouraging him?!

It felt like the world had turned upside down. Something that had been wrong and harmful was now suddenly a mark of genius, the spot of sunshine and color in the clouds of Gusu had suddenly become a ball of sadness and rage, being the hero suddenly meant causing unnecessary bloodshed and destroying oneself-

"Wangji?"

Wangji jolted. He turned around to see his elder brother and Zishu walk out of the trees.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not long," Zishu replied. "We noticed that Young Master Wei came back alone, so we thought we should go and look for you."

Wangji hadn't even realized he had been standing here alone for so long that Wuxian'd had time to get back to and be noticed at the banquet.

"Wangji," Xichen began, stepping forward. "You went to talk to Young Master Wei, didn't you?"

Wangji bowed his head.

"Young Master Lan?" Zishu prompted.

"...I wish to bring a person back to Cloud Recess and hide him there."

Zishu frowned and turned to Xichen, apparently confused.

Xichen on the other hand sighed and put a hand on Wangji's shoulder. "Maybe after the war, Wangji," he comforted. "We still have many more days and years together. You have plenty of time to talk to him."

"Right," Zishu added. "At least Young Master Wei did come back... you still have chances to talk to him and make him understand why you're worried. Just let him cool down for now, and find another chance to talk to him about the resentment stuff."

Wangji shrugged, not completely able to shake his concerns off.

"Come on, Wangji- you've vanished for long enough. Let's head back-"

"I don't feel like attending," Wangji hastily corrected. This celebration just made the pit in his stomach worse- why were they celebrating that Wei Ying was walking down such a dark path? Didn't they care about him ?

Zishu gave him a sympathetic look, and Xichen nodded. "We'll have food sent to your room then," Xichen decided. "See you later."

Wangji nodded back and left for his room in an uneasy silence.

Chapter Text

The first time it ever occurred to Wei Wuxian that he might have a crush on Lan Wangji was thanks to A-Xing.

It'd started with Wuxian comforting Jiang Yanli after the Jin Zixuan incident, trying to help her forget the asshole who'd insulted her twice now but for some reason Yanli was still insistent was the love of her life.

"He's just a guy Shijie!! There are a million people out there way better than him!!" Wuxian insisted. "He's had years to change his damn mind- if he can't appreciate you by now he doesn't deserve you! Forget him!!"

"But..." Yanli wiped her eyes. She barely managed, "But I..."

"Young Lady Jiang," Kexing added. "I haven't known you for long, but A-Xian is right. You are a kind and loving lady and you did not deserve to be yelled at or humiliated like that. Set your standards higher than that asshole peacock. You can and will find someone who deserves you more."

Yanli chuckled quietly, wiping her eyes again. "Thank you, Young Master Zhen," she murmured.

"I know it might be hard, but your engagement has been called off. There's no need to cling to someone who doesn't treat you well."

"Yeah Shijie," Wuxian added. "Forget him! Once everything has settled, Jiang Cheng and I'll find you someone who's a million times better! People will be queuing up to meet-"

"A-Xian. Young Master Zhen. I'd like a moment alone, if you don't mind."

"But Shijie-"

"A-Xian, I'm okay- really. Go outside."

"Shijie-!"

Kexing pulled Wuxian towards the tent entrance by the sleeve. "I heard that the Baling Ouyang Sect managed to get their hands on something sweet, Young Lady Jiang," he offered. "Should we get some for you?"

"That would be nice, thank you."

Once they were out of earshot of the tent, Wuxian let out a string of angry curses, all directed at Jin Zixuan, who was notably nowhere in sight.

"Whoa, easy there," Kexing pacified, soothing Wuxian's back. "Calm-"

"That peacock doesn't realize how lucky he is!!" Wuxian fumed. "Shijie is the most amazing woman in the world- any guy would be lucky to have her remember his name! And yet he spurns her affections again and again- taking someone else's credit! As if Shijie would do something as low and shameful as that!!"

"Jin Zixuan really did misjudge Young Lady Jiang on that."

"Right??" A huff. "It's fine if he simply has bad taste, but accusing Shijie of something she didn't do when all she wanted was to be nice? If it wasn't for Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangshan the fucking asshole wouldn't have walked away from that so easily!"

"As much as I hate to agree with him, Jiang Wanyin has a point. That's bad for the war. Once the war's over, you can beat him until he's bedridden."

A tired sigh. "I just really don't get what Shijie sees in him. There are so many guys out there who would treat her better than that stupid peacock but no. Apparently he's her soulmate. Apparently that arrogant entitled show-off is the one for her."

Kexing hummed, tapping his fan against his chin. "Love can make people act in strange ways," he mused.

At that moment, a flash of white caught their eyes.

Wuxian and Kexing turned in that direction to see Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen passing by, discussing something under their breaths.

"Speaking of love making people act weird," Kexing muttered.

Wuxian however, smiled and waved. "Hey! Lan Zhan!" he called.

Wangji paused and turned to look at Wuxian. For a moment, tenderness and tension intermingled in the air, as Wangji gazed back at the smile and the still bright silver eyes.

Then his amber eyes landed on the flute hanging from Wuxian's waist, and he turned and left.

Once Lan Wangji had left, Wuxian's smile faded. He lowered his head and exhaled sadly. "Of course... the hell was I expecting...?" he mumbled.

Kexing sighed. "Really wish you could take your own advice sometimes, A-Xian," he remarked.

"Huh?"

"Your crush on Lan Wangji. If he isn't willing to see past his old-fashioned teachings to understand you forget him! It's not the end of the world!"

"...I don't have a crush on Lan Zhan. What're you talking about?"

Kexing blinked a few times, then shrugged and muttered, "Whatever you say, A-Xian."

But now that the idea had entered his head, Wuxian couldn't shake it.

It was currently early morning, and Wuxian was still lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, the words Kexing had said today ringing in his head and making his thoughts run amok.

"Whatever you say, A-Xian."

The hell was that supposed to mean? Did that imply Kexing thought he had a crush? But why would the idea have even occurred to him- did Wuxian act like he had a crush?? No, he couldn't be- right? At least it hadn't been on purpose... he didn't have a crush. He really didn't have a crush, he would've known if he had one right??

How did people act when they had a crush anyway? Wuxian thought about the times he had teased Jiang Cheng and Yanli when someone had caught their eyes- but they were different, Wuxian reminded himself. One was the future sect leader, the other was the dignified eldest daughter of Madam Yu. They had to be serious, whereas Wuxian could afford to goof off. That was the only reason there was so much difference in the way they acted. Wei Wuxian was simply Like That, it meant nothing.

...right?

Now that Wuxian was thinking about this, was he like that with everyone? With A-Xing? With Shijie? With Jiang Cheng? And did it even matter if he wasn't? After all, people were treated according to their personalities and everyone had different personalities- like he didn't roughhouse with Shijie like he did with Jiang Cheng. That was all there was to it right- right???

Wuxian groaned and buried his face in his pillow.

This wouldn't do. He was going round and round in circles.

He needed a second opinion.

He crawled out of bed to the boy sleeping on the opposite side of the tent and shook him until he moved.

"Oi! A-Xing!"

"What...?!"

"Do I have a crush on Lan Zhan?"

"...my friend, my dude, my brother, Wei Wuxian...!!" Kexing groaned. "It's 3 am...!!"

"I know! But do I have a crush on Lan Zhan?!"

"The fact you're awake at this hour considering this tells me you 100% have a crush."

"I-!"

Kexing looked up to see Wuxian was dead serious, wide awake.

He sighed and prompted, "Oi."

"Mn?"

"Why are you thinking about this?"

"...I can't shake what you said earlier. Why did you say I have a crush?"

"Why do you think I said that?"

"The way I act? But I'm just Like That!" Wuxian protested as soon as Kexing opened his mouth to answer. "Aren't I?? I'm just Like That with everyone! Lan Zhan's not- I don't treat Lan Zhan that differently do I??"

"I don't know. All I know is that you don't act like that with me. Or Jiang Wanyin. Or Young Lady Jiang. Or Nie Huaisang. Or Lan Xichen. Or-"

"Okay, what do I specifically do that makes you think I have a crush??"

"Have you heard yourself?? The way you call for Lan Wangji whenever you see him- like "Lan Zhan~! Lan-""

"We...!"

Kexing gave him a look when he trailed off. "You what?" he asked.

...Wuxian had been about to say "we're friends", but in light of their recent disagreements over Wuxian's cultivation path, he realized he wasn't sure if that was true anymore.

At least Kexing seemed to realize Wuxian didn't know how to finish his sentence. He sat up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, and asked, "Would you go up to Lan Qiren just to talk to him?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would I talk to someone just to get scolded?"

"Exactly. Yet from what you've told me yourself, you try to get Lan Wangji's attention whenever you can- both back in Gusu and now. Even if it meant you getting into trouble." Kexing shifted in his place and added, "When you insist on getting someone's attention even though you know you're gonna be poorly received, there's 2 reasons why."

Wuxian chuckled and replied, "I do it because I think it's fun to get a reaction out of him. Did you know- when he blushes his cheeks stay the exact same color, it's only the ears that go red! Isn't that interesting?"

"Congratulations. You picked the "I have a crush" reaction before I even said it."

"Ah?!"

"The other option was gonna be hate, in which case the reason would've been you take joy in seeing them angry or upset."

"I don't take joy in that!" Wuxian protested. "I've seen him really upset before and all I wanted to do was cheer him up! Take his mind off things, comfort him- something more heartfelt. I only mess with him when things aren't that serious, when we can afford to have a good laugh."

Kexing smiled, as if he had been proven right about something, and pointed out, "Well there you go. Haven't you heard that one of the surest signs of affection for someone is wanting to see them smile?"

"Okay but that just means I care about him! At the time of the Xuanwu Cave we were friends- at least I considered him a friend- and it's normal to care about your friends! Right??"

"Doesn't explain the provoking and teasing that led us onto that subject to begin with. There's also you giving him and only him gifts before like the portrait you drew yourself- do you realize how much dedication it takes to make a good portrait?"

"That means nothing, I was messing with him!"

"Were you? Or were you looking for an excuse to stare at him and take in his beauty? Like "I'm not staring at him, I'm observing!! It's for a project, I swear!"" A laugh. "If I could get away with it, I'd so do that with A-Xu."

"But Lan Zhan is so pretty that anyone would wanna catch a few more glimpses- and he is objectively pretty, he ranks 2nd on the list of the best-looking cultivators!!"

"Look A-Xian, I don't know if this is because my heart already belongs to someone else... but Lan Wangji is not that attractive. I personally really don't feel the urge to stare at or draw him, and I haven't heard of anyone else but you doing this."

"Okay, but painting someone's portrait isn't immediately-"

"Have you painted Jiang Wanyin's portrait before? Young Lady Jiang? Literally any other of your friends?"

"..."

"See? You're clearly giving him special treatment- you see him differently than you see any of us. It's not like he asked for more attention or for you to draw his portrait. Haven't you ever asked yourself why you act the way you do around him, what keeps drawing you to him- what makes you look for him in the crowd?"

Wuxian considered those words carefully. Indeed he had never asked himself that question- it hadn't even occurred to him, despite Jiang Cheng's constant exasperation at his behavior regarding Lan Wangji. After all, he often simply did without thinking things through... and now that Kexing was bringing all this up, at minimum it didn't sound like utter nonsense...

"And now you care about his opinion- if you didn't care, you wouldn't be arguing with him so often," Kexing pointed out. He sighed. "As much as it pains me to say it, that's also a sign. Just look at the way Young Lady Jiang got upset over the peacock."

Wuxian thought about the scene today- how Yanli had cried over Jin Zixuan's words. Then he remembered how he'd sulked for the whole banquet after Lan Wangji had first told him to stop demonic cultivation- he'd even left early, having no more heart to interact with others.

"...sure. I guess."

"I could see caring about someone's opinion and wanting to cheer them up as platonic but messing with and provoking him the way you do? The special treatment, the extra attention you pay to him? I would never ever act like that around a boy unless that boy is Zhou Zishu, and I-"

"-you love him, I know I know." Wuxian sighed and asked, "Why does everything you talk about go back to him somehow?"

"Because I-"

"Wait, hold on, I think I can guess the answer. Forget I asked."

Kexing laughed.

Wuxian huffed and flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling, every word they'd discussed repeating themself in his mind.

"So~ any conclusions on Lan Wangji on your end?"

"I..." Wuxian paused, then sighed and put an arm over his eyes. He mumbled, "I still gotta think about it."

"You still gotta think about it??" Clicking of the tongue. "Wen Kexing... looks like you've found the densest person in all the cultivation world..."

"Fuck off."

Kexing laughingly dodged the half-hearted swing Wuxian took at him and lay down to go back to sleep.

Wuxian meanwhile lay awake for much longer, the same thoughts turning in his head.

I don't have a crush, right?? That's impossible, it'd never work, it's stupid... but since when were emotions compatible with intelligence? And A-Xing raised a lotta good points, I... argghhh!! I can't really have a crush on Lan Wangji can I?! Can I?!

...

...can I?

Chapter Text

Usually, when Kexing was alone in the tent, Wuxian'd give a knock on the nearby tent pole before going in- in case Kexing had his disguise off and had to brace himself for some reason.

This time however, Wuxian burst in without any warning at all, calling worriedly, "Yan-xiong!"

"GO AWAY!"

Wuxian flinched.

Kexing was lying face down on the bed. His hands were gripping the edge of the pillow his face was buried in tightly- Wuxian suspected it'd only take one more trigger for Kexing to rip the whole thing to shreds in anger. He was shaking- in anger or from sobbing, Wuxian had no idea.

He turned around and drew an array on the tent entrance. It was a blocking array- now he could ensure some privacy for both of them.

Then he sat down on the edge of the bed and prompted, "A-Xing?"

"..."

"A-Xing, talk to me? Please?"

"...I wanna stab him. So bad."

"A-Xing-"

"We're letting him stay." Kexing looked up at Wuxian and laughed, tears in his eyes. He repeated, "We're letting him stay. The Core-melter's brother, the man who threatened to burn my whole family if they didn't hand me over to Qishan Wen for safekeeping!! That man! We're letting that man stay we're letting that man free ARE THEY FUCKING CRAZY?!"

"A-Xing, take a deep breath-"

"TAKE A DEEP BREATH?!"

"A-Xing!"

"THE MAN WHO FORCED ME TO GO TO QISHAN AND SUFFER-"

"A-Xing!!" Wuxian interrupted, covering Kexing's mouth. "A-Xing softer they'll hear you- they'll kill you!! For your own sake be quiet!!"

Kexing glared at him.

Then the glare softened into pain, and Kexing buried his face in the pillow.

Wuxian didn't know what to do other than pat Kexing's back gently.

A month ago, in a battle camp several provinces away, their forces had captured a man fleeing the battlefield in Wen robes- the brother of Wen (formerly Zhao) Zhuliu, Zhao Jing. At first, he was gonna go with all the other prisoners of war, if not outright killed by Nie Mingjue's saber.

But then he'd said he had insider info. He had troop movements, where Wen Ruohan's lair was, and most importantly to everyone, fragments of the scroll his brother had used to develop the Core-melting technique. He knew where Wen Zhuliu had hidden those fragments and after the sects had won the day, he would get them for the sects and offer the precious knowledge up to them.

Everyone had been skeptical at first- hadn't he been too fast to betray the sect his brother had given his life for? But then his information had worked- they scored a key victory in that area against Qishan Wen because of the military details he'd given up, field information their spy stuck in Wen Ruohan's base didn't have. So although Nie Mingjue still didn't like or trust the man due to his apparent lack of loyalty to his indebters, Jin Guangshan had ordered that Zhao Jing was given better treatment and no longer considered a prisoner of the sects, but an informant.

Kexing was not happy about this.

"...I don't like this either, A-Xing," Wuxian admitted quietly.

A quiet sob.

Wuxian put a hand on his own chest- where less than 2 years ago, he would've felt warm spiritual energy swirling inside him.

Instead, now he only felt the cool murmurings of resentful energy- a feeling that brushed against his hand like sandpaper, then was smoothed over by viscous liquid. An empty hole that had been unnaturally refilled... a gap that wouldn't be there if it hadn't been for the Core-melting Hand. One that he, Kexing and many unfortunate "rebels" shared. And now...

"They're clearly only keeping him because of the whole Core-melting Hand thing. God knows we don't need a second Core-melter in the world."

Kexing shook his head.

"Looks like someone's shaping up to replace Qishan Wen as leader of the cultivation world- Core-melter and all," Wuxian mused, laughing bitterly. "The Jins were always arrogant, always assholes... but I never took them to be morally corrupt. Or I guess it's more fair to say Jin Guangshan's morally corrupt, he's the one who made the decision. I wonder if the rest of the Jin Sect are happy with him now... and I wonder what the peacock thinks about this whole-"

"A-Xian."

Wuxian stopped speaking.

"Please. No more."

"...okay. I won't."

The silence grew. Wuxian wondered if Kexing was gonna say anything. He wondered what Kexing had been referring to when he'd said Zhao Jing had threatened his family. He wondered if Kexing wanted to tell him, or if he only wanted to be held-

"It was maybe 2 weeks after my parents were killed. I was only 5."

Wuxian listened silently.

"Looking back on it, it was such a peaceful day," Kexing murmured. "I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it because of my parents, but Granny was singing me a soothing song. Sishu was replacing the flowers they had set up for my parents, a table with white ribbons and no faces. The sun was helping to dry the herbs, Ming Ge-ge was washing some clothes, Auntie Xiu was mending or sewing something and Shao-ge was working in the fields... it was so sunny and peaceful."

"Then Zhao Jing came in with the troops. He surrounded the settlement like we were his enemies, like we weren't also Wens- there were spears pointed, swords unsheathed, whips and sabers and daggers and... and they were all being pointed at us. That's why I've never considered Qishan Wen family, and know that they don't consider us family either."

"..."

"Zhao Jing then ordered, "The son of Wen Ruyu and Gu Miaomiao will step forward now."" Kexing chuckled, shaking his head. He murmured, "I was too scared to move, and under that kind of situation, no one wanted to push me forward- Granny even covered my face with her sleeve to protect me from whatever that was."

"He then said, "Sect Leader Wen has ordered that the son of Wen Ruyu and Gu Miaomiao is to be raised at Qishan by his cousins Wen Qing and Wen Ning." Sishu stepped forward and said there was no need to trouble Qing-jie and Ning-xiong, they could raise me-"

"Zhao Jing ordered that the guards grab and whip him."

"Everyone panicked- of course they did, Sishu had just got into an accident while picking herbs, he couldn't be handled like that. People tried to stop the guards, but Zhao Jing ordered them to be grabbed too and said that he was to bring me back even if it meant everyone there had to be punished, even if the whole settlement had to be burned..."

Wuxian listened, horrified, his heart breaking for his friend. He imagined the 5-year-old boy watching his family getting detained around him, simply for trying to reason with the man, to keep their family together... the screams of panic and pain, and a threat to burn down his home...

"So I ran forward and cried that I'd go." Kexing wiped his eyes and continued, "I screamed that I'd go, I was sobbing, begging him to let them go, I'd go anywhere as long as my family was never hurt again..."

"He looked at me for a long time, then said to put me in the cart. I didn't resist... but it wasn't enough. He still punished Sishu and everyone that tried to stop Qishan from taking me with whips- said they deserved it for not understanding their situation, for being insolent to the most powerful clan in the cultivation world."

"To this day, I still remember the screams I heard as I was taken away."

Wuxian pulled Kexing into a hug.

Kexing laughed bitterly and muttered, "But no. But now he's done one thing- one good thing in all the decades of his life and suddenly! Suddenly the sects accept him! Suddenly he's a hero, suddenly he's an ally, suddenly he's a good man! Meanwhile my parents are gonna be labeled as villains because my dad was a Wen, my family are evil because they're Wens, I'm the devil incarnate because I'm a Wen and a demonic cultivator- WHEN WE NEVER HURT ANYONE!! HOW THE FUCK IS THAT FAIR, HOW ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH IS THAT RIGHT?!"

"...it's not," Wuxian murmured. "I'm so sorry, A-Xing."

No more words were exchanged for a long time. Kexing sobbed, in hatred of the man, in pain for the 10 years spent being relentlessly bullied at Qishan, in guilt of half his clan being whipped because they had tried to defend him. And Wuxian held him like an older brother- like Wen Qing and Wen Ning used to do- sympathy in the gentle hand soothing his back.

Wuxian stood up at last, the hand on Kexing's back the last to let go. He pushed Kexing down gently and advised, "Rest. That's the only thing you can do about this right now."

Kexing opened his mouth to protest, but he knew Wuxian was right... he was an outsider to the sects. A regular disciple, adopted into Yunmeng Jiang under unusual circumstances. It was hopeless and foolish to think that he could have any influence over a main sect leader's decision.

He rolled over, turning to the wall so no one could see his face.

The sound of a flute filled the tent.

Kexing closed his eyes. He knew this was Wuxian's music... but it didn't have its usual purpose of destruction, of war and rage and revenge. The melody he played now was slow, calming... meant to draw on good memories and flood the listener with a sense of peace. Ease the mind.

Trying to help him rest.

With the image of that peace before he had been taken away, the last he'd spent with his clan still in his head, Kexing drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

In between battles and strategy meetings, taking a walk with a friend was a good way to relax.

"Oh thank god," Wuxian muttered, waving his arms like a windmill. He leaned back, feeling a few points along his spine snap into place. "That meeting lasted so long. I know they're necessary but my god do I feel stiff."

Kexing gave him a look of disdain and remarked, "Unrefined."

Wuxian clicked his tongue and flicked his sleeve into Kexing's face, causing the latter to laugh and dodge.

"Shut up," Wuxian retorted. "You can be so pretentious sometimes- you know, back in the Burial Mounds, we both saw each other before either of us had time to get ready right? We have also both heard each other swear up a storm because of that one tiny thing that broke the camel's back. Neither of us have the right to call the other unrefined anymore."

"At least I don't-"

"Woof! Woof!"

A brown puppy was bounding towards them.

Wuxian let out an unholy screech, moving way faster than anyone had seen as he bolted up the nearest tree.

Kexing on the other hand grinned widely and kneeled down in front of the dog so they were at eye level. He cooed, "Yiguo~! You're okay! Silly puppy- how have you been?"

"A-XING WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN!!!"

"Eh- it's okay!" Kexing returned, petting the dog's head affectionately. "Look- he's grown! You're a brave and strong pupper aren't you now?"

"BRAVE AND STRONG?! BRAVE AND STRONG ENOUGH TO RIP YOU TO SHREDS!!"

"Aw come on- Yiguo would never! Right silly puppy?"

Yiguo barked and knocked Kexing over, licking his face affectionately.

Kexing giggled, swatting the dog playfully. "Down boy!" he commanded. "Down-"

"A-XING!! HELP!! THERE'S A DOG- JIANG CHENG!! JIANG CHENG HELP- THERE'S A DOG AND IT'S ATTACKING A-XING!! IS ANYONE THERE- HELP!!"

"What are you talking about?" Kexing asked, finally deciding to look at the boy clinging to the tree for dear life. "Yiguo's greeting me- he hasn't seen me in a while, of course he's more enthusiastic than usual. And what happened to not calling me A-Xing in public?"

"THERE'S A DOG- JIANG CHENG!! JIANG CHENG WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU HELP!!!"

"...A-Xian are you scared?"

"JIANG CHENG!!"

"Okay got it- A-Xian!" Kexing called, picking Yiguo up. "I'll bring him someplace else! Don't worry!"

"A-XING WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IT'S GONNA BITE YOU!!"

Kexing ignored him, carrying the puppy away from the tree Wuxian was clinging to. 

He stopped after the tree had been out of sight for a while, in a field a good distance from camp- but still close enough to get there in good time if something happened. The field was open, good for spotting any approaching figures, and the grass was green and smelled nice here.

"That should be far enough," he remarked. He set Yiguo down and petted the puppy's head. "You like this spot Yiguo? You don't mind sitting here with me for a while?"

Yiguo barked, wagging his tail.

"Did you miss me? I bet you missed me, Yiguo! Who's the best dog in the world, hm?"

Yiguo jumped around, giving another bark and licking Kexing's hand.

Kexing giggled. "A-Xing missed you too!" he returned. "A-Xu took care of you, didn't he? I can't believe you're alive- I thought you'd died for sure!"

Yiguo put his paws on Kexing's shoulders, trying to lick his face- but the dog's weight and the missing golden core meant Kexing fell backwards onto the grass.

"Okay, you can't do that anymore, you're too big and heavy! Yiguo! Yiguo are you listening- hey! Down!"

Yiguo backed off and gave him a confused whine.

Kexing ruffled the fur behind the puppy's ear. Yiguo looked almost sad now... was it because Kexing hadn't seen those droopy eyes in so long? Because Kexing had scolded him? Or... was Yiguo able to sense that...

"It's fine. I've been through some stuff and changed a bit, but I've survived- it's still me." The brief tender note in Kexing's voice turned into something more triumphant. "And you should have seen me when A-Xian and I first got out! The look on that-"

"Yiguo!"

The puppy sat up primly and barked, wagging its tail even harder.

Kexing also sat up as properly as he could and brushed all the grass out of his hair, trying to look dignified. He grinned at the boys that had arrived- specifically the taller of the pair- and greeted, "A- Young Master Zhou~!"

Zishu didn't seem the least bit pleased to see Zhen Yan and Yiguo together. He ordered sharply, "Yiguo! Here!"

Yiguo whined and looked back and forth between Zishu and Kexing.

"Yiguo! Now!"

"Eh, Young Master Zhou~!" Kexing called back teasingly. "You're being way too scary- that's not how you talk to a dog! Watch this."

He leaned closer to the puppy and whispered so only it could hear, "Yiguo. Go to A-Xu. A-Xing knows you're a loyal puppy but I'm in disguise- no one can know who I am right now. Keep following him. Go."

Yiguo let out a bark and ran to Zishu.

Zishu's face seemed to darken even more. He opened his mouth to say something, but the younger boy by his side- Qin Jiuxiao- beat him to it. He exclaimed indignantly, "What do you do to Yiguo? Stay away from him!!"

"What would I do to such a cute puppy?"

"He-!"

"Jiuxiao! Forget it," Zishu reprimanded. He dipped his head at Kexing coolly and apologized, "I'm sorry for letting my dog be a bother."

"He wasn't a bother at all!" Kexing replied cheerfully. "Hey Yiguo- you live at Laoling Qin now, yeah? I'll come visit you another day!"

"Absolutely not!" Zishu snapped before anyone else could speak.

"Why not?"

"You don't have the right!!" Jiuxiao burst out. "Change your opinion on the Dafan Wens then we'll talk!!"

Kexing knew the answer, but he asked anyway, "What does this have to do with the Wen dogs?"

"This dog's owner is from Dafan Wen!! Shixiong may have been the one who found it, but he gave it to Kexing-ge years ago so it could protect him! The dog isn't Shixiong's and Shixiong never saw it that way, he was only keeping him to give him back!"

"QIN JIUXIAO!"

Jiuxiao whirled around to look at Zishu. His mouth had opened to protest, but on seeing the complicated mix of emotions flashing through the older's black eyes, he left the words unsaid.

"...A-Xu?"

"I told you not to call me that." Zishu took a deep breath and continued in a calmer voice, "Jiuxiao is right. This dog isn't really mine- the person he bonded with is Wen Kexing, and I had intended to keep him until Wen Kexing came back. If- since he's not..."

"..."

"The least you could do is leave his memory alone."

Yiguo whimpered.

Zishu picked up the dog and smoothed his head to comfort him.

The sight reminded Kexing of their current situation, and he realized he had to say something to dissipate the grief in the atmosphere- any more of this tenderness, and his heart would break, revealing his true face.

"Eh- Young Master Zhou! If the puppy's owner's dead, can I have him instead? He's so cute!"

"You don't deserve to!" Zishu thundered. He turned and stormed off. "We're going! Now!"

Yiguo let Zishu carry him away, casting a look over the boy's shoulder at Kexing and giving a barely audible, confused whine.

Jiuxiao shot Kexing a glare before following.

Kexing sighed, staring after them for a while, reflecting on what'd happened.

Then he went back to the tree Wuxian had been clinging onto.

He got there to find that the boy had hopped off, pacing under the tree. He seemed frazzled, muttering something under his breath as he paced, holding his head in his hand.

"...A-Xian?"

"A-Xing!!" Wuxian ran over to Kexing and began looking him over, rambling, "Are you okay- did the monster bite you?? I'm sorry I couldn't do anything I just froze up I-"

"A-Xian, calm down," Kexing pacified, putting his hands on Wuxian's arms. "That dog used to be my pet. I thought he died in the carnage but A-Xu kept him safe! And he still recognizes me!"

"...you used to have a pet dog?"

"Kinda?"

"Oh my god... why are both my little brothers lunatics?!"

"Huh?"

"You and Jiang Cheng!! Why do you both like those monsters so much!!" Wuxian beat a hand against his chest and let out a relieved sigh. He gasped, "I thought my heart was gonna beat outta my chest oh my god!!"

Kexing laughed at the extremity of the reaction. He replied teasingly, "Because they're adorable! This is one thing I can agree with Jiang Wanyin on- didn't you see Yiguo earlier? The fluffy little paws and droopy eyes- so cute!"

"Cute?! I saw the little monster and no sane person would think that's cute!! Brave and strong... yeah strong enough to knock you over!"

Kexing chuckled.

"By the way, what did you mean kinda?"

"A-Xu gave the dog to me," Kexing explained. "He said he saw some disciples were about to cook the poor thing in a pot and asked to have it instead. He was about to ask former Sect Leader Qin if he could keep it but ran into me on the way and decided I needed a guard dog. So he had Yiguo bond with me instead so it could protect me from bullies."

Wuxian nodded, before frowning and shuddering. "Dogs are the biggest bullies," he muttered. "Scary, merciless monsters."

Kexing chuckled. He teased, "Dogs are such cute little angels~ the fearless and daring Wei Wuxian, scared of a little floof ball!"

"...none of those mutts that tried to steal my food on the street looked like angels. Big sharp teeth, snarling... one of them nearly took my arm off!!"

Kexing suddenly remembered Wuxian mentioning that he had lost his parents at a young age and had been forced to wander the streets until he was 9. Sure some dogs were small and cute, but other breeds that were big and intimidating... and if those tried to fight a weakened 9-year-old for food...

"Ah... okay, I get it now. I won't tease you anymore," Kexing promised. "And I won't tell anyone about this."

Wuxian huffed.

"Besides, you don't have to be afraid of any dogs with me around! Dogs tend to like me, and now that I know you're afraid of them, I won't let them anywhere near you."

"Alright, that's enough," Wuxian returned, flicking him on the head lightly. "You're starting to sound like Jiang Cheng, you know."

Kexing scrunched up his nose, mostly as a joke, and remarked, "Ew."

A laugh. "Just don't let your little mutt near me and we're good."

"Yiguo's not a mutt, he's a beautiful little angel!"

Wuxian rolled his eyes in a good-natured sort of way and started down the path to the camps. "Come on." He pointed out, "Let's head back. I'm sure Jiang Cheng's wondering where we fucked off to."

Kexing chuckled, but as they passed by Laoling Qin's camps on their way, he couldn't help but let his gaze linger there a little longer.