Chapter Text
The Cloud Recesses had never seemed so quiet as after Wei Ying’s departure, and never had the quiet around Lan Wangji felt less in tune with what he felt.
He did not return to the Guest Lectures. On the day Wei Ying departed Lan Wangji had allowed himself a couple of hours of meditation before he set himself to work. He pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and thought over everything that had led to the incident. Shufu’s initial unfounded dislike on simply hearing his name, singling Wei Ying out in that first day of class, doing nothing to correct the ill-spirited gossip that built up as he continued to shine despite that. Shufu doing nothing to correct his own behaviour and thoughts while constantly finding faults with Wei Ying’s. Deliberately curtailing Wei Ying’s learning, speaking ill of his parents, refusing to recognise the good and condemning every perceived fault in him. Lan Wangji willed himself to remain calm as he noted down the extensive list in his neat calligraphy, finally acknowledging the source of his rising discomfort since the start of the lectures. Never mind the outrage at what they had witnessed that afternoon.
He reviewed his list to ensure it was as comprehensive as he could make it, listing the corresponding precepts that had been broken beside each grievance. With it completed to his satisfaction he carried it to the Hanshi. As expected Xiongzhang and Shufu were within sharing their usual post-dinner tea although with little of the calm that usually accompanied it. Xiongzhang was brittle with barely concealed tension and Shufu did not look to have fully recovered from his shameful display earlier. Which was probably for the best; there was little point in him settling down before hearing what Lan Wangji had to say.
Xichen gave a start as he crossed the threshold “Wangji, we missed you at the evening meal.”
“Mnn, I apologise. I was busy with a matter of some urgency.” He knelt with the utmost propriety and presented his list.
“Wangji, what is this?” Xiongzhang was audibly worried now.
“A detailed account of recent infractions I have been made aware of. As Head of Discipline only among the juniors and guest disciples the necessary punishments for them are beyond my purview.”
Xiongzhang glanced over the lengthy list before letting it drop and closing his eyes in a desperate bid to keep a hold of his patience, a gesture the likes of which Lan Wangji hadn’t witnessed since the last negotiations with Jin Guangshan.
“Xichen?” Uncle demanded gruffly, snatching the paper out of his hand when Xiongzhang declined to respond. Both his frown and the splotchy redness of his face only intensified the further he read.
“Wangji! What is the meaning of this?”
“The meaning was intended to be clear. The precepts have been ignored, harm has occurred, surely punishment and meditation upon the rule-breaking that took place is to follow?”
“Wangji! You sit there and put forth such disgraceful nonsense without even the decency to show remorse?
Carefully maintaining perfect posture he turned to face his spluttering Shufu, eyes kept lowered in what surely looked like respect. “The precepts are to be upheld by all in the Lan sect. This has not been adhered to. This Wangji feels great remorse that this has been the case.”
“You dare to be so unfilial? Are you so desperate to meet with the discipline rulers!?”
“This one is happy to serve punishment for errors made. As any other Lan would be once made aware of their errors.” Xiongzhang gave out a soft noise.
Lan Wangji kept his gaze trained on the matting and so could only guess at what kept his Uncle from raising a similar commotion to the uproar outside the library pavilion.
“Wangji. These are serious claims.” Ah, that was Xiongzhang’s best negotiation voice, there was surely some frantic placating taking place outside of Lan Wangji’s eyeline.
“Mnn. I would not have troubled you without due consideration.”
“I will make sure to review them with care. Will you give us time to do so before any decisions are made?”
“As Xiongzhang wishes.” He had little hope that the situation would play out in the way he would wish, but he took comfort from having made his point as emphatically as possible. He took his leave with another perfectly executed bow.
Lan Wangi found himself tasked with copying out the entirety of Virtue and Conduct three times- with all entries regarding filial piety to be copied ten times - a penalty lenient enough that Xiongzhang must have intervened against Uncle’s harsher suggestions.
The argument and Wei Ying’s subsequent departure was widely- and wildly- talked about amongst the guest disciples (and somewhat more discreetly between the Sect ones) but was never officially addressed by either the Elders or Lecturers, leaving people to draw their own conclusions over what had taken place and who was in the right. Lan Wangji suspected he had forced his Uncle into a deadlock, knowing that his own misconduct would be examined if he spoke out unfairly against Wei Ying but outright rejecting the idea that any of Lan Wangji’s criticisms could be valid. Shufu had certainly taken to pointing out numerous perceived faults of Lan Wangji’s whenever they happened to be within earshot of each other while also refusing to acknowledge or speak directly to him. He couldn’t help thinking that was rather ill-advised on his Uncle’s part, as Lan Wangji himself had much more practise with passive aggressively ignoring others, and his own pointed silence in return seemed to infuriate Shufu to a much greater degree. It was somewhat embarrassing to have this familial dispute played out in front of the curious gazes of everyone attending the lectures but also less embarrassing that giving tacit approval to what had occurred, so Lan Wangji found it in him to rise to the occasion.
Needless to say returning to the lectures seemed a waste of everyone’s time and patience, and no-one was mourning his absence there. While others had rarely sought out his company before, their distinct avoidance was even more noticeable after his recent glut of socialisation alongside Wei Ying. Lan Wangji soon found himself retreating into old habits. Even after he had (easily) completed his copying punishment he still often studied alone in the library, taking some solace in continuing the research Wei Ying had encouraged him to explore. He spent a lot of time practicing his guqin, trying not to think about the piece Wei Ying had been so pleased with developing but never had the chance to share with him. He let himself wander the back hills and furthest reaches of Cloud Recesses, wondering occasionally whether he should check on the integrity of the perimeter wards.
Once he came across Nie Huaisang suspiciously close to the bounds laid out for Guest Disciples, but his usual affected startle was curiously absent and he even invited Lan Wangji to join him as he sat beside the brook. He accepted without really knowing why and they spent several pleasant minutes in silence before the Nie heir spoke. “Wei-xiong liked this spot you know. He told me it reminded him of life on the mountain.” He slipped off without another word, leaving Lan Wangji contemplating the gentle babble of water over the stony riverbed, the sunlight reflecting brightly off its ever-changing surface.
Xiongzhang approached with him with the kind of wariness usually reserved for experimental talismans. Which was ridiculous, he had already let Shufu know exactly what he thought of his behaviour and so Lan Wangji had little reason to explode. Letting Jin Zixun know that he was not qualified to speak to him the second the idiot had tried to open his foolish mouth didn’t count, as that was surely what everyone felt upon being unlucky enough to interact with him.
As the days turned into weeks and little improved in the ongoing stalemate between Lan Wangji and his uncle, Xiongzhang started to gain an air of desperation. His polite smiles and gentle tones may have appeared unchanged to everyone else, but Lan Wangji was starting to see the strain behind them breaking though. It was not an easy situation for him, either as a Sect Leader mediating between prominent clan members or as a filial nephew and brother stuck in between family.
So, he was unsurprised to find himself summoned to his brother’s office and assigned a night hunt that would take him outside of Cloud Recesses tracking an unknown quantity further into Gusu. There had been reports of people unaccountably going missing from some of the more obscure settlements, spread wide enough that it was uncertain but not impossible that they could be connected. Something with the power and scope to impact such a large area would surely have left more traces of itself, but if the Lan sect were to carry out their due diligence then it should be investigated fully. He idly wondered how inappropriately happy Xiongzhang had been to see this appear on his desk; it couldn’t have been more tailored-made to keep Lan Wangji easily occupied long enough for Shufu to possibly relent a little. But he was happy to acquiesce and ensure that the matter was properly settled and the citizens of Gusu protected to the best of their sect’s ability.
Several days and several settlements later and Lan Wangji had made surprisingly little headway into definitively identifying the situation one way or another. The little he could glean from the remote villages he had visited was that yes people had indeed gone missing, that no bodies or signs of a struggle had been found and that very little seemed to connect those who had disappeared. They had all been outside when it occurred rather than taken from their homes but apart from that they were different ages, different occupations, married and unmarried, and spread out across the local area in no pattern he could clearly discern. Well-established forests featured heavily in this part of Gusu and there was a sizable river making its way from north to south across it, but nothing specifically pointed to either of these habitats or common yao found in them.
He rose on the fourth morning deciding a change of approach was in order. If scouting for information had proved fruitless then a more active search was needed. He set out from his sparse camp that morning towards his best approximation of a focal point for the incidents, this time stopping every half an hour to take readings of the resentful energy in the area. It was a laborious and time-consuming way to go about things, but probably the best way to rule out that there wasn’t anything significantly dangerous enough to leave civilians at risk if the Lan chose not to pursue this further.
He had registered nothing substantial for the first half of the day, as to be expected, but the first reading after for a quick lunch showed the resentment rising, although not to concerning levels. He carried onwards, attempting it again another few miles further into the forest to find that it had continued to rise steadily, roughly in the direction of the north-east if he had interpreted it correctly. Perhaps there truly was something behind all the seemingly disparate incidents, that had somehow managed to conceal itself effectively until now.
He moved forward with more wariness now, drawing Bichen and keeping his senses attuned to any spiritual activity taking place around him. There would always be naturally occurring spiritual fluctuations waning and waxing, but this should hopefully provide some warning before anything powerful was able to make its way close by.
He had just stepped into one of the frequent glades scattered throughout the woods when he felt a spike of spiritual power on the edge of his awareness. It didn’t feel resentful, and could be caused by any number of things, but Lan Wangji paused to try and take stock. As far as he could tell it was strong and seemed to be getting closer. He glanced around to see if there was any coverage or tactical advantage to be found nearby but they seemed limited unless he wanted to retreat into the treetops. He was considering the merits of this when a voice came out of seemingly nowhere.
“Hello Lan-er-gongzi.”
On moment the clearing was empty, the next Wei Ying somehow stood before him. He was stunningly beautiful. The previously gentle wind picked up, sending the veil of Wei Ying’s weimao and the long tails of his hair ribbon dancing up and away in the dappled sunlight. Lan Wangji felt like he could barely breathe.
This shouldn’t be a surprise. He had seen this face every day for months on end, there should be nothing novel about the warmth of Wei Ying’s eyes, the perfect curve of his cheek or the laughing smile of his mouth.
But coming across him so unexpectedly like this, Wei Ying’s presence hit him all at once with the force of a blow to the head, knocking the sense out of him. Or knocking the sense into him perhaps, hundreds of thoughts and moments rushing together and replaying in his mind with brutal clarity as he could no longer avoid the screaming realisation. How had he gone on for so long wilfully ignoring that his world was being thrown into disarray? Was he really so stubborn as to not even let himself acknowledge what had been taking place?
Yes, actually, unfortunately that sounded frustratingly like him.
“Lan-xiong? Lan-er-gege? Lan Zhan?!” Oh, yes, Wei Ying was expecting a response, and looking increasingly concerned. He managed a nod in acknowledgement.
“Aiyah Lan Zhan you had me worried there, what’s going on behind that handsome face of yours eh?” Lan Wangji could not possibly express what was taking place in his mind currently, even if he’d had any inclination to do so, and he hastily settled on the first thought that was both true and unlikely to throw him into emotional turmoil.
“It is good to see you Wei Ying.”
“Ok now I know you’re not yourself, the great Lan-er-gongzi surely wouldn’t be moved to miss this one after barely three weeks!” That teasing smile was once again splashed across his face as if he’d never had a care in the word, no shadow of their last meeting hanging over him.
“Ridiculous” he murmured, not quite having regained a firm hold over his own thoughts and not entirely certain if he was referring to Wei Ying and himself with that last statement.
“You wouldn’t recognise me if I wasn’t!” Fine, Wei Ying was going to decide that for him. On to more important matters
“Are you well Wei Ying?”
“Oh I’m fine, I’m fine,” he waved off airily, “just getting on by you know. But what are you doing out here of all places?”
“I am following reports of missing people in the area. We at first thought there must be mundane causes, but I have started finding signs of unusual resentment in the area.”
Wei Ying’s face was always so expressive, and as he spoke Lan Wangji could almost see the switch from eagerly interested to something akin to bashful. He detachedly registered that the fact he took such detailed interest in Wei Ying’s face was another blindingly obvious tip-off, and one that he surely should have taken more notice of.
“Ah, well, in that case I might know something about that. Tell me again what you know so far?” Lan Wangji managed to hold on to his coherence long enough to explain and then Wei Ying was jumping on to his sword and telling him to follow. How could Lan Wangji do anything else?
Wei Ying took them up over the tree-line, heading in a similar direction to the one Lan Wangji had been aiming towards but slightly more towards the river if Lan Wangji had understood his maps correctly. As they flew further the sense of strong resentful started to press upon his spiritual cognition, but Wei Ying did not slow down and Lan Wangji trusted his guidance. By the time they came into land the air around them was thick with it, Wei Ying giving a shake as if he felt it physically.
“Don’t worry, it’s constrained.” Was all the explanation he gave before pulling Lan Wangji towards the jutting edge of a gorge sticking out above the river.
Lan Wangji had dealt with innumerable water ghouls, drowned spirits and yao that made the ever-dangerous waterways and bodies of water their miserable home. But he had never seen anything of the size and sheer strength of the awful creature that writhed down below them, churning up the blackened water as its countless rotting limbs flailed around it. He dragged the two of them back instinctively.
“Lan Zhan, look, it’s ok, well it’s not ok, this thing should never be allowed to exist but for now I’ve got it restrained in this section of the river, and I included a cloaking element to the wards so it doesn’t even know we’re here, it won’t react to us.”
“Is that truly…?” It seemed too implausible to voice out loud, but what else could it plausibly be?
“A Waterborne Abyss? Yeah, I think so, I’ve never seen one before but it’s got all the makings of one hasn’t it?
Lan Wangji didn’t know where to begin. “Wei Ying. How?”
“How did it end up here? That’s what I’ve been wondering too, even those disappearances you mentioned don’t account for something of this size.”
“No, you misunderstand me. How did you manage to restrain something like this?”
“Ah, well this was a tough one, I won’t lie. I was approaching from the east following some requests that sound quite similar to yours actually, maybe this counts as us finally night-hunting together? I’ve been working on a few tracking devices lately and this was my first proper chance to test them out. I thought I must have messed up the sensitivity ranges as they kept pointing to something ridiculously powerful but then I was flying across the river and suddenly something tried to drag me down into it. I wasn’t close mind you, I was quite high up at this point and it still had the reach for it. I managed to wriggle my way out but then obviously I had to do something about the monstrosity just waiting to get anyone unlucky enough to get close.” Wei Ying always talked with his hands as well as his words, and at this he gestured dismissively, as if anyone could be expected to take on one of the most dangerous known resentful creatures alone.
“First it made sense to leave myself less of a target, so I used some cloaking talismans so I could get close without it realising. After watching it for a while it seemed to be moving further downriver, and that didn’t seem to bode well for anybody, so I decided to try and keep it fixed in one place. I scouted further downriver until it narrowed a little, and that’s where I set up wards blocking resentful energy. They’re a bit of a patch-job from a few others I’ve seen but they’re working so far. Like I’ve said I linked them in with some cloaking and dampening elements so hopefully it’s less likely to react if someone gets too close, and I was just figuring out where to set up a maze array in case anyone does come near when I ran into you.”
How many times was Wei Ying going to render Lan Wangji speechless? Somehow his brilliance and beauty and absolutely ridiculous but stunningly effective approach to all things seemed to rob the already few words out of Lan Wangji’s mouth. At his prolonged silence Wei Ying started to look uneasy, the happy confidence draining out of his stance a little.
“What, do you think I should have gone about it another way?” How did Lan Wangji find himself so skilled in some areas and apparently so completely incompetent at making himself understood?
“Wei Ying, you have to know this is brilliant. I can’t think of anything you could have done differently, and I couldn’t have thought up what you’ve achieved in the first place. Not one in a hundred cultivators could have managed this, not one in a thousand in all likelihood. But you should not…”
“Should not have what, Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying declared, a hint of steel coming into his voice and manner, “Should not have interfered in Sect business? Do you know how many lives I can trace back to this monstrosity in just the last week? I’m glad they finally got around to sending you but not everyone can wait for Sects to decide they’re a priority!”
“You should not have had to face this alone.” Wei Ying’s face softened again into something warmer. “This was a powerful foe; it would have been prudent to have had backup.”
“Well, you know me Lan Zhan, I can handle myself.” Wei Ying settled back into his teasing manner, his serious tone flung aside now it was clear that Lan Wangji was concerned merely for his own safety, a thing he disregarded with worrying ease. Something in Lan Wangji flashed hot and angry.
“You could have been hurt.” Wei Ying’s mouth dropped open. “You could have been seriously injured and nobody would have known.”
“Ah, but who would want to know Lan Zhan?”
The answer flowed out of him as easily as breathing. “I would.”
Wei Ying didn’t seem to have a ready answer to that, and for once Lan Wangji wasn’t the only one left struggling for words. Lan Wangji took the opportunity to let him know just how great a tragedy he’d averted with his actions.
“This river runs down to Caiyi lake. If it had continued unchecked it would have preyed upon the whole town, the fishing boats and the river merchants there. You’ve saved untold lives with what you’ve accomplished here.” Lan Wangji offered a bow of thanks on behalf of all of Gusu Lan.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying squeaked, pulling him out of his bow and proceeding to flap his arms around red-faced, as if he could waft Lan Wangji’s words away with his flailing hands. Lan Wangji tried not to notice how well the blush suited him and continued.
“The site will have to be drained and the core of abyss exposed, but that can be done relatively easily by diverting the river path, the Lan have the resources to carry that out quickly.”
“Are the Lan going to want anything to do with a hunt I’ve been involved in?” Lan Wangji hoped his stare conveyed his disbelief that Wei Ying even had to ask, but decided to verbalise it to leave no chance of misunderstanding.
“There is a catastrophically powerful resentful creature on lands under Gusu Lan’s protection, of course the Lan will be involved in subduing it once it is made known to them. Your involvement would not alter that fact either way, but there are many in the sect who would see association with your work as a further incentive rather than a discouragement.”
Wei Ying blew an escaping lock of hair out of his eyes in apparent defeat “I don’t know what’s happened to you recently Wangji-xiong, you keep saying all these outrageous things with a straight face. Where did you learn all this?”
“Wei Ying is a great teacher.” That earned him a snort of laughter this time.
Oh, he wanted this. He wanted the chance to make Wei Ying laugh, to see more of his brilliance in action, to be alongside him as he casually carried out legendary feats of cultivation instead of catching up to him out of pure luck. He wanted to watch the red rise in his cheeks as he was complimented and fly out behind him as his bright ribbon fluttered.
There were certain procedures that needed to be followed, as he had said there was no way Gusu Lan would leave this unresolved once they knew but they would need to be informed. But beyond that he had no pressing reason for returning to Cloud Recesses, in fact had every reason not to be there until his Uncle finally ate his words. And he had always been told to take on every opportunity to expand his learning and skills…
“Wei Ying, do you remember Xiongzhang saying you could act as my training partner when you first arrived?”
Wei Ying sent him a bemused look. “Yes, now you mention it. Didn’t get very far with that did we? We never even had the chance to spar together in the end, very rude of you to deprive us of that you know.”
“We were interrupted. How would you feel about re-locating our training to a less theoretical setting?” As he watched a smirk grew on Wei Ying’s face, a similar glimmer appearing in his eyes as Lan Wangji had spotted on first introducing him to the library pavilion.
“Then this laoshi looks forward to working with Lan-er-gongzi. As a wise instructor once told me, I make no promises to go easy on you!” Wei Ying’s laughter rolled over him and Lan Wangji let himself break out into an easy smile of his own.