Chapter Text
Sizhui is a remarkable youth. He has Lan Zhan’s innate sense of justice and Zewu-jun’s temperament; the best of the Twin Jades and none of their flaws. Of his fellow disciples, the one Wei Wuxian had called Da-Ge in jest is also remarkable for his bluntness.
These two youths now come to his defence against Jiang Cheng who, being unsatisfied with the results of whipping him with Zidian, is threatening to take him back to Lotus Pier for ‘interrogation’ unless he removes his mask. Of the two, Wei Wuxian prefers the former; it would buy him time to escape, and even if he can’t manage that, he might be able to limit the exposure of his identity to a smaller group of people, perhaps even to Jiang Cheng alone and he’s pretty sure that Jiang Cheng would not kill him right away.
Just as he prepares to accept the second option, Jin Ling starts whispering to Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian catches a few words here and there – his errant nephew clearly used to speaking in the manner of his loud, pompous Jin relatives – namely “kicked out” and “insane” and “lewd”, and as he watches, Jiang Cheng’s upper lip curls in disgust. Whatever it is Jin Ling is saying, it is working.
When Jin Ling’s tale comes to an end, Jiang Cheng addresses not him but the Lan clan disciples. “Your clan certainly has changed,” he says “to be defending such a person. Keep him, if you like.” With an exaggerated swish of his robes, Jiang Cheng storms off with Jin Ling following close behind.
Luckily, the Lan clan disciples do not take this as an order. They politely warn him about the dangers of using demonic cultivation, advise him to stick to the path of swordsmanship and bid him farewell, and Wei Wuxian is once again left with only Little Apple as a companion.
Being alive is tiring.
A little gratitude would have been nice. Hadn’t he saved them from the Dancing Fairy illusion? And for all of their bluster about demonic cultivation, hadn’t their lives been saved by a surprisingly-not-dead Wen Ning? Jiang Cheng is wrong; these youths are so painfully typical of the Lan clan.
If only-
Wei Wuxian stops that train of thought.
He wants fewer entanglements with his previous life than he’s already racked up. The last thing he needs right now is Lan Zhan’s well-meaning but frustratingly persistent interference in his cultivation again.
All the same, it would have been nice to see him too.
Without any demonic cultivators to lead him astray, he’s probably on his way to becoming a second Lan Qiren, Wei Wuxian tells himself, and that’s probably for the best. Who knows, he might have grown a beard now.
*
Trouble, it seems, is never far away.
Wei Wuxian is on his way to Tanzhou for the lantern festival when, in Yueyang, he runs into Sizhui, Jingyi, Jin Ling and a flock of young disciples from various clans. He tells himself that it is none of his business, but in the end it seems too much of an odd occurrence that all of these clans would allow their disciples to nighthunt together. He inserts himself in their midst despite their protests and, with a few pointed questions, figures out the Lan clan’s disciples have been led here by the ghostly arm from Mo’s Mansion, that the Jin clan disciples are following a trail of cat killings and the Ouyang clan disciples are here because of their proximity to Tanzhou.
His instincts tell him to join them, so he does.
It is lucky that he does. The trail leads them to Coffin Town, which is crawling with puppets and has been turned into a trap from which none of them can escape. Wei Wuxian manages to keep the puppets and a surprisingly-not-dead Xue Yang at bay, but it is not a solution and as time ticks by, the likelihood of one of the youths being injured or killed grows ever larger. Desperate, he turns to Sizhui and says “You had better send a message to your Hanguang-jun for help.”
“Hanguang-jun?” Sizhui sounds incredulous.
“Yes, him!” It is either that Sizhui does not understand the severity of the trouble they are in, or that Lan Zhan has changed so much over the years that even his own clan’s disciples are afraid to ask for help from the one man whose entire reputation was once based on his willingness to help people. He doubts it is the latter. And while the help of any cultivator should do, he trusts no one other than Lan Zhan to figure out that the manipulator of these puppets is not him. “The Second Jade of Gusu, Lan Wangji. Dresses in white like he’s permanently at a funeral, with a bitter expression to match.”
Jingyi shakes his head at him. “Just when I think you’re not crazy after all, you say things like this,” he says, which prompts Jin Ling to add “Why do you think xiao-shushu sent him away?”
Wei Wuxian has neither the time nor patience to argue with them. “Look, are you going to call him or not?”
Sizhui is the one to answer him. “Hanguang-jun is dead.”