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Wei WuXian was rolling around on the grass and playing with Lan Zhan’s rabbits when he was startled by approaching footsteps.

It was surprising enough that Jin Ling took the initiative to visit the Cloud Recesses, but he actually did so with Jiang Cheng in tow. Wei WuXian didn’t know how long they’ve already been here or been looking for him, but Jiang Cheng’s face was guarded against old memories, scowling and refusing to see anything nostalgic about it. His steps were bordering on aggressive, and Jin Ling was obviously annoyed because he had to take quicker steps to keep up with him.

Wei WuXian couldn’t help that his eyes strayed naturally lower, to their legs; but Fairy’s not there. He let out a breath of relief, and only then stood up from his defensive crouch, brushing the back of his robe. Wei WuXian noted with glee that one of the rabbits, a fat white one with calm eyes, had not hopped away, but remained by his feet like it was willing to be a footrest. Wei WuXian idly thought about bringing a chair out one time and resting his feet on the rabbit like he was imagining.

“Here you are!” Jiang Cheng said. His tone was an accusation. They stopped in front of him, neither too far away nor too near. Wei WuXian mourned the lack of seats, because now he couldn’t offer them any like a good host should. “Those Lan juniors told us you were at the library! Did you ask them to cover for you!?”

“Hmm?” Wei WuXian tilted his head. “I’d have to know you were visiting first, and I didn’t. I also won’t stop you from visiting. Maybe your face scared them?” The kids must have assumed that these two were here to cause trouble for Wei WuXian. The concern (and the rule breaking for him) was touching. Although Jiang Cheng would obviously only be mad about it.

Jin Ling sighed. He was carrying one of those narrow official-looking boxes under his arm, the type where they keep scrolls. It was probably some sort of official message. Wei WuXian wondered if Jiang Cheng actually went to all the trouble to officially kick him out of the YunmengJiang Sect for good.

Wei WuXian brought his hands up. “Hey now, isn’t this too excessive?” Pretended to be kicked out once, and then kicked out for real, and now they were making it even more official on top of all that, thirteen years and some after the fact?

Jin Ling only looked up with a little frown, opening the box gingerly and showing that it was holding a scroll. Wei WuXian was even more frightened.

“Here,” Jin Ling said. He used that princess tone he only sometimes used now, tilting his chin up, eyes set determinedly maybe to a spot two feet away from Wei WuXian in a show of aggressive shyness. “You should read it.”

Wei WuXian had erected a barrier in front of him with his crossed arms. Jiang Cheng scoffed with no grace, took the bamboo scroll and shoved it mercilessly at Wei WuXian. With no choice about the matter, Wei WuXian sighed and whined as he unrolled it. The calligraphy inside was good, but Wei WuXian frowned as he read, parsing through all the lofty wording.

“This… the LanlingJin Sect’s reparations…?”

“To further stabilize the situation and remove any trace of unrest, the sect is taking responsibility for what Jin GuangYao did,” Jin Ling said. Even that sounded like an official line. “So of course, with Mo XuanYu’s matter, too.”

Wei WuXian paused. Then he said, uncertainly, “What does this mean exactly?”

“Mo XuanYu is taken back by the LanlingJin Sect, and the sect acknowledges that it has done wrong to listen to baseless rumors,” the busybody Jiang Cheng explained for Jin Ling. “Of course, with Mo XuanYu’s suicide, this is too late. But at least it clears his name and the sect still lists him as a disciple. You bring this and hang this notice in the Mo family home.”

Mo XuanYu’s ‘suicide.’ It was accurate, but at the same time wrong. The idea of bringing this to the empty Mo family home to clear Mo XuanYu’s name was somehow sad. It wasn’t going to save anyone, but it was a formal resolution he couldn’t begrudge his host body, either. Wei WuXian frowned as something occurred to him.

“Mo XuanYu committed suicide, but…” Wei WuXian tapped his chest once. “Mo XuanYu is here?”

“Caught that, didn’t you?” Jiang Cheng sneered, adjusting his stance. He narrowed his eyes as if daring Wei WuXian to disagree. “That’s my idea, actually. This time, of course the LanlingJin Sect needs friends. It would be good to know that one of its disciples who’s also from the Jin clan is actually cultivation partners with that HanGuang-Jun. If the sect is in trouble, we will need to trouble you.”

“I would have meddled anyway,” Wei WuXian complained good-naturedly. He turned towards Jin Ling and couldn’t help teasing, “Who was it who refused and said they didn’t need help?”

Jin Ling reddened a bit as he huffed. “Well, this and that are different!”

So he could only ask for help in a roundabout way. If people offered him help directly, his pride couldn’t take it, Wei WuXian thought with glee. So immature!

Or, alternatively, Jin Ling could only extend his help disguised as coercion. The wording of the official message was carefully chosen so the elders of the clan would have nothing to complain about. The blame was heaped on Jin GuangYao, and the sect wouldn’t miss whatever amount they decide to give as recompense when it was going to gain a useful connection with the GusuLan Sect. It was even a connection by marriage in all the ways that mattered.

But the important point was that Jin Ling, with Jiang Cheng’s help, was able to push for the change he wanted. Wei WuXian felt a bit of pride.

“And so,” Jiang Cheng concluded, “you need to leave the Cloud Recesses.”

Whatever good feeling was arising disappeared like mist.

The argument started with Jiang Cheng’s carelessly chosen words.

Leaving the Cloud Recesses on a night hunt without Lan WangJi was still good. Wei WuXian liked the feeling of being able to stretch his legs. But he’d only just returned a day or two ago, and Wei WuXian has gotten used to some of the simple luxuries of the Cloud Recesses: the bath, HanGuang-Jun’s room. HanGuang-Jun’s bed. And because Lan WangJi had been on business for his uncle, that’s two days where they put “every day is every day” on hold. They’d come up with a system so they could still keep the promise while making it a bit flexible for the things that could keep them apart at night. But now the interest would keep piling up. Never mind how Wei WuXian himself would be feeling lonely; he was afraid of the state his hips would be in later.

So Wei WuXian decided it was in his best interest to refuse. “No! Not going!”

“This is official business you need to be doing anyway, you irresponsible ‘young master,’” Jiang Cheng said, crossing his arms in that pose he liked to adopt when he was giving a lecture. It was already twenty years too late, not that there was a time when that pose worked. “It’s all well and good to cut yourself off from worldly affairs, but you should have done it properly. For instance, the Mo Village.”

Wei WuXian didn’t even flinch, only whined again, “Not going!”

“The Mo family was a pretty important one in that village, so their story became widespread in that area at least. We don’t want them badmouthing cultivators for what happened to Mo XuanYu. It’s already strange that a home that had a cultivator would meet such an end, and the official statement regarding that was handled by the GusuLan Sect a bit hastily. In short: they didn’t answer anything.”

“Isn’t it fine the way it is?” It was an honest, very reasonable complaint. Jiang Cheng treated it like air.

“And another thing: apparently the Mo family was left without an heir. No one to take on the name or collect its fortune or manage its business.” Jiang Cheng jabbed a finger at his chest rudely, forcing Wei WuXian to take an unsteady step back. “This is your chance. Mo XuanYu’s rich, so now you’re rich. Go back to his village and get your affairs in order.”

It was pretty easy for Jiang Cheng to say, since he’d been born into wealth and only thought of it as normal to have. But Wei WuXian was at a loss about what to do and could only admit his ignorance. Any business they try to hand over to him would go bankrupt from mismanagement. And he was only interested in cultivating with Lan WangJi.

“Well, it’s that…” Wei WuXian scratched his cheek. “I don’t really know how to handle money.”

“…You’re a kept woman,” Jiang Cheng accused, to which Wei WuXian could only shrug.

“Aren’t you ashamed not to bring any dowry?” Jin Ling put in, exasperated. “If he’d taken a real wife, HanGuang-Jun would have her dowry, and someone to continue his family line and manage his household for him. He gets none of that with you. Are you just going to let that continue?”

“Lan Zhan never complained about it,” Wei WuXian said peevishly. And anyway, weren’t there Two Jades of Lan? Zewu-Jun might still find somebody, once he was past his mourning period. Wei WuXian hoped that might happen within the next few decades or so.

“HanGuang-Jun’s not going to complain, but other people will still talk about it. Do you really want them to think he’s pitiful to end up with you?”

Wei WuXian could have never acted the way he did all the time if he cared about what other people thought, but that did make him pause. Of course, Lan Zhan would only set that matter aside and might never bring it up with him. Lan Zhan wasn’t one to care overly much about his reputation. But the thought of someone badmouthing Lan Zhan for settling with a man, and a villainous and penniless one at that, someone who, as Jin Ling said, couldn’t bring in any dowry, wasn’t particularly nice. If he thought about it hard enough, it made something in his stomach flip uncomfortably.

Maybe it was because Lan Zhan was a particularly good person, while Wei WuXian himself could hardly give anything. Lan QiRen obviously thought it was a bad deal, and he’d been acting more like a bitter mother-in-law lately. Maybe that point was also something he was dissatisfied with? Lan Zhan had been the one to adjust to Wei WuXian’s own careless lifestyle, and Wei WuXian hardly had to do anything. Lan Zhan gave him tasty meals. Even with their “every day is every day,” he didn’t need to take the initiative.

Wei WuXian disregarded the uncle and nephew pair in front of him as he fretted, pacing. The lone rabbit that had stayed with him hopped after, stopping at times when he turned back before nipping after his heels again. When Wei WuXian remained silent, Jiang Cheng looked at Jin Ling, impressed.

“I wouldn’t have thought a brat could win an argument against someone with no sense of shame.”

“I’ve had three whole years to learn,” Jin Ling said with dignity.

Jiang Cheng paused. He said, stiffly, “I’ve known him for more than ten years.” Jin Ling’s small sound of assent, unimpressed but tactful enough not to comment, still managed to freeze the air around them. When Wei WuXian turned back towards them, he was surprised to see the silent war that seemed to be going on.

In any case, the two’s visit to the Cloud Recesses soon ended, and Wei WuXian was left to dejectedly go back inside the main building with the scroll, which he’d failed to feed to the rabbit.

Lan WangJi was standing on the steps, waiting for him.

--

“I think Jin Ling’s become too much for Jiang Cheng to handle,” Wei WuXian opened. The smile on his face was practiced and easy.

Lan WangJi studied him for a moment. Then he simply nodded, and they walked in together.

Wei WuXian looked at the side profile of Lan WangJi’s face. It was as beautiful as when they were young and always antagonizing each other, with the type of calm maturity and grace that made him seem both forbidding and unreasonably handsome. But there was a hint of something that slightly softened his features, and his pale eyes didn’t seem cold. He sure didn’t seem unhappy, but…

“Did you know about Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling’s visit?”

“Uncle was informed,” Lan WangJi answered immediately. This meant Lan Zhan probably knew what they talked about, too. Lan WangJi confirmed this by next saying, “Leave in the morning.”

Wei WuXian carefully removed any trace of plaintiveness from his voice. “You’re coming?”

“Mm.”

This was one thing that didn’t change about Lan Zhan. He really didn’t waste any words! Wei WuXian smiled happily, bringing his arm around Lan Zhan’s back and pressing his cheek against Lan Zhan’s upper arm. It was a very solid arm, muscled rather than soft under the white robes, but it didn’t feel wrong to squeeze out some comfort this way.

Lan WangJi gave the hair hanging over the side of Wei WuXian’s face a slight tweak.

They didn’t talk about it again over dinner, which they ate in the privacy of Lan Zhan’s room, and that night, Wei WuXian didn’t need to avoid thinking; Lan-er-gege was too distracting.

They left together the next morning. It was too early for Wei WuXian, but apparently Lan QiRen had some words for them. He nagged for so long Wei WuXian couldn’t stop yawning, until Lan QiRen finally grew annoyed and kicked them off the mountain, but not without more parting words. Being a teacher, Old Lan probably never ran out of words to say.

Bichen unsheathed on its own, hovering in front of them. Lan WangJi simply picked up Wei WuXian with an arm around his middle and stepped on the flat of the blade. Bichen seemed to flash with a pure light as it rose in the air. With him dangling from Lan WangJi’s arm like a carpet roll, Wei WuXian was in a more secure hold than if Lan WangJi held onto the back of his collar, but Wei WuXian couldn’t help but have some misgivings. He did want things to be finished quickly though, and with Wei WuXian’s level of cultivation, he still couldn’t manage to fly on his own sword for the distance they needed.

Because it was too early, Wei WuXian soon found himself drifting off again. He woke up when Lan Wangji started bringing them lower to the ground. There was hardly any mist here, and the sun was already high in the sky. Lan WangJi took them to a plain just before they reached a small village so they could walk the rest of the way.

The village was probably made up of around ten families, and it had only one noodle stand for travelers. The cloth banner in front had a stylized drawing rather than calligraphy; it looked pretty modest and comfortable. Wei WuXian chatted with the stall owner while they ate. The village women looked at Lan WangJi with shocked faces at first, and then with almost greedy looks, but in the end they were too embarrassed to go nearer.

“Lan Zhan…” Wei WuXian leaned his weight on his arms above the counter. “Is the Lan Sect famous in this area?”

“Few cultivators must have passed here.” Meaning any cultivators passing by was a newsworthy event. But Wei WuXian had the suspicion that the reactions just now had more to do with Lan WangJi’s good looks.

After that, he didn’t try to delay them much, and obediently held on to Lan WangJi when it was time to leave. Before, when Wei WuXian had first been brought struggling to the Cloud Recesses in Mo XuanYu’s body, they had taken a more circuitous route because of the juniors and Little Apple. Even with Lan WangJi’s prodigious arm strength, carrying a braying donkey in one arm and Wei WuXian in the other while riding Bichen was probably too much for him to handle, and anyway the juniors would cry if that really happened. It had taken them what must have been two weeks of steady travel to just reach the foot of the mountains. Now, with only the two of them, it seemed like they would manage the trip in a day or two at most.

Lan WangJi explained that they were expected in Mo Village. Apparently, as soon as things had been decided, which they had been as early as a month ago, Jiang Cheng had gotten messengers to inform the village of what was happening. As part of the LanlingJin Sect’s so-called reparations, the Jin clan had already sent someone ahead to revive and manage the Mo family business in place of Mo XuanYu, so Mo XuanYu only needed to show his face: a type of useless figurehead.

It was only a symbolic visit. The most important thing was the scroll Wei WuXian was carrying with him.

But perhaps sensing that Wei WuXian’s mood was not quite right, Lan WangJi took the initiative to check them in an inn outside Mo Village even before evening came. Wei WuXian frowned up at the still bright sky but didn’t protest, following after Lan WangJi.

The people of this area favored sweet sauces and heavier foods, which was a big change from the Cloud Recesses’ tasteless porridge or even Lan Zhan’s cooking. When they finally ate dinner, Wei WuXian sampled everything, but most of the dishes were too sweet for his taste. Lan Zhan seemed to be content with a bowl of soup.

The whole time, Wei WuXian chattered about senseless things and made jokes. Lan WangJi watched him with a calm expression, but all at once, Wei WuXian felt guilty. After all, he didn’t mean to hide something from Lan WangJi.

“Lan Zhan, it’s just that I’ve been thinking a bit,” Wei WuXian explained. “You must have noticed in the past year, but Mo XuanYu’s… I mean this body’s cultivation base isn’t that bad. If anything, there’s a lot to work with.” It was like working with a sheet of blank paper, with how low the cultivation initially was, but the quality of the paper was still good. Sometimes it felt like Wei WuXian was only remembering how things went in his old body, and his cultivation could vastly improve. However, the body was part of the reason why things could be so easy. Wei WuXian took a breath, and ate a bit more first before continuing, “I’m thinking that Mo XuanYu harmed his own cultivation.”

“Because of Jin GuangYao?”

“Probably Jin GuangYao didn’t coach him, he did it on his own. After Jin GuangYao flattered him and made him feel needed, Mo XuanYu stayed close to him. Since Jin GuangYao had become an important person for him, he must have wished there was no question about who should be the next head. Or he might even have sensed that it was dangerous to reach a high level of cultivation.”

Thus, Mo XuanYu reached a bottleneck and couldn’t break through. Perhaps Mo XuanYu thought that it was enough to just have enough cultivation to not get kicked out of the sect and stay by Jin GuangYao’s side. But Jin GuangYao wasn’t content with that childish offer. For him, Mo Xuanyu was still a threat.

“If Jin GuangYao knew his real potential, I think he would have taken a surer step against him.” Wei WuXian leaned his chin on his hand. “What do you think, Lan Zhan? Did Jin GuangYao stop at throwing him out because he didn’t know, or was it out of a little bit of affection for him?”

If it was the former, then Mo XuanYu was truly pitiful.

Lan WangJi was quiet for a moment. Then he simply said, “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you wouldn’t guess. HanGuang-Jun is always a gentleman,” Wei WuXian teased, poking at Lan WangJi’s bowl with his pair of chopsticks. He didn’t expect for Lan WangJi to suddenly reach out and grab his hand, pressing on his wrist subconsciously. Wei WuXian dropped his chopsticks, which clattered onto the table after splashing up some sauce from a platter, but Lan WangJi didn’t pay that any mind.

“But because he drove away that person, you could come back.” Hearing those words delivered in a flat tone, Wei WuXian could only blink at him. Lan Zhan added softly, Even if it is improper, I’m thankful.

“Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan…” Wei WuXian laughed. “Of course I’m also thankful. It’s like I said, I was just thinking.”

Seeing that Wei WuXian was hovering awkwardly on his knees, arm stretched over the table and his other hand on the table’s edge for support, Lan WangJi let go of his hand. Wei WuXian slouched back into a loose sitting position. Lan WangJi said, “You’ve already helped him before.”

“How so?”

“The Mo family’s abuse.”

Wei WuXian wasn’t surprised that Lan Zhan knew about it. SiZhui must have told him some of the details, or even afterwards, the GusuLan Sect might have looked into what had caused the disturbance in Mo Village, and consequently found some things about the Mo family.

“That’s the other thing!” Now that his hands were free, Wei WuXian picked up a fruit and idly played with it after taking a bite. “Don’t know what I would have done if not for that plot with the hand. When Mo XuanYu had succeeded in calling me back, and I had to get his revenge for him or face a curse backlash, that kind of thing was really terrifying.” Wei WuXian said this with a delighted face; he’d always forgotten the danger after it had passed, so now he could casually talk about it. “If the hand hadn’t been there at the same time, what was I supposed to do?”

Lan Zhan’s eyes flashed with a strange light.

“The only condition was for his relatives to die?”

“Hmm, well, now I’m not sure.” Wei WuXian let the fruit roll across the table, and settled his gaze on the bowl of soup Lan WangJi had set aside, where the dumpling he had earlier failed to fish out had turned a bit bloated.

“Getting rid of the cause of his resentment was the most direct approach, and it worked at the time so there was no need to question it, but it might have been that he could have settled for something different. But then, his mother had died, so he might have wanted their deaths the most.”

If at the time, there had been no hand, and only Wei WuXian against these vicious but soft Mo family members, Wei WuXian wasn’t sure he could have kept playing the villain. To begin with, a cultivator shouldn’t even contemplate going against a normal human being. It was one thing to scare them or destroy the Mo family’s compound, but Wei WuXian wasn’t sure if he could have killed them outright even if it was to save his soul. He could only silently thank that friend of theirs for being so thorough.

Lan WangJi seemed to understand this, and let out a soft unhappy breath. “Wei Ying,” he said. “Even then, at that time, I would have been there.” It sounded almost petulant, and Lan WangJi was sitting so straight, his pose perfect, that Wei WuXian could only laugh.

Urged by his curiosity, he pressed forward and asked, “Would you have killed them?”

In the silence that followed, Lan WangJi picked up his cup and drank. Wei WuXian sobered up a little from the amusement, realizing why Lan Zhan wasn’t answering. He remembered the lashes that had fallen on Lan WangJi’s back, and he said, laughing a bit forcefully, “All right, it was an unfair question. We don’t have to talk about it anymore.”

The problem wasn’t even that the Mo family had been wiped out by him indirectly; Wei WuXian was guilty of even more things. But Wei WuXian wasn’t sure if what he’s done so far can pay back what was lost. Mo XuanYu’s wish had nothing to do with Jin GuangYao, so maybe he wouldn’t have wanted to see Jin GuangYao harmed. But that was what happened later.

In the end, Mo XuanYu lost his life, and Wei WuXian gained a lot. He wondered if this chance Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling brought him was sufficient.

Things like paying back and thanking people, those were things that he couldn’t stop thinking about.

“Wei Ying,” Lan WangJi called again. Wei WuXian only shook his head, pulling his lips up in his customary grin to show him nothing was wrong.

Echoing Lan WangJi’s words from before, and thinking that line was somehow amazing when Lan WangJi said it, Wei WuXian said, “I’m here.”

--

“Hey, Lan Zhan,” Wei WuXian asked the next morning, tilting his head in a perplexed slant. “We’re already close to the village and all, but doesn’t everyone know about me being the YiLing Patriarch by now? Won’t that make this meaningless?”

“Mm.” The soft sound seemed like a simple acknowledgement that he heard Wei WuXian, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Unbothered, Wei WuXian continued.

“At least, with the Mo family’s money, I think his remaining relatives won’t be willing to let go, even if they don’t carry the Mo surname. They’ll question me as Mo XuanYu.” We might need to stay in Mo Village a bit longer. The words weren’t directly said, but he knew Lan WangJi understood.

“Mm.”

Wei WuXian almost laughed out loud; what did it say when Lan WangJi was ambivalent, but the ‘bride,’ who had to be dragged in, already wanted to go back to the Cloud Recesses?

He’d been spoiled, Wei WuXian thought. It was different when Lan Zhan’s preparing meals for you, preparing a bath for you. The jingshi was also a tasteful room; the big windows let in the breeze in the summer, and in the winter, the cold air and warm blankets and Lan WangJi’s lap as a pillow made for a comfortable contrast.

Then he’d play boyish pranks with the excuse that it was to get rid of the cold. He’d laugh when he saw Lan QiRen’s beard quivering, and the juniors being lively.

But it was still months before winter anyway. The weather wasn’t particularly cold, and they were instead at the dirt path to Mo Village.

“Wei Ying is forgetting something,” Lan Zhan suddenly said.

“Huh?” Any time someone brought up his admittedly faulty memory, Wei WuXian still felt very surprised, as if he was being accused of something, so he naturally acted out his innocence. He pointed at himself, wide-eyed, but Lan WangJi didn’t even roll his eyes or snort the way Jiang Cheng would have. He only nodded.

“If they know you’re the YiLing Patriarch, they’ll be accommodating.”

“Hm? …Oh. You mean they’d be afraid?” Wei WuXian hadn’t considered that. But, it was actually reasonable! If the YiLing Patriarch showed up in someone else’s body at your doorstep, saying he was the heir to the family fortune… well, there may still be some unwillingness, but what if the YiLing Patriarch stole your body instead or sent ghosts or corpses after you if you didn’t agree?

Putting it that way, they had no choice but to be accommodating.

Lan WangJi was not in fact expressing any distaste about it. Instead, he seemed a bit… pleased, in that quiet, confusing way where his face was still neutral but faint calming qi floated above his body. It was like a thread of emotion abruptly snapped so his mind remained pristine, and the qi floated light as a spider’s web until it dissipated. But for just a moment, there was still that sense of glee, which Wei WuXian might have missed if he hadn’t been concentrating on Lan WangJi right then.

He hadn’t known Lan Zhan had the capacity to be mischievous. At least not outside of when he was drunk. Wei WuXian had to admit he was beginning to see where Lan QiRen was going with him being a bad influence.

The sun was high enough in the sky that Wei WuXian could feel its sting on his skin. When the Mo Village appeared up ahead, he was a bit taken aback to see that there was a small crowd in front: curious onlookers who’d actually waited and dawdled around the village entrance, and a man in finer clothes who looked out of place enough that this must be the person sent by the LanlingJin Sect.

Having sharper eyes, the person from the LanlingJin Sect was the first to react, standing to attention and giving a small bow. The people around him started reacting, too, pulling at some of their absent-minded companions until all of them were staring at them openly.

Lan WangJi at least didn’t look travelworn at all, although he exerted the most effort to fly them most of the way. Bichen was now in its sheath, almost unobtrusive at his waist, while his guqin was wrapped in cloth on his back. Lan WangJi’s robes were clean to the point of unnaturalness, slightly tinted with the morning light like the body of a pearl.

Some of the villagers might have seen Lan WangJi before, as the GusuLan Sect handled what happened in Mo Village. But he must still be an awe-inspiring presence. Mo XuanYu, of course, was an even more familiar face for them, since Mo XuanYu lived in their village when he was young. Even if Mo XuanYu ended up locked indoors, he’d still grown up here, so they must know his face.

“Hey!” Wei WuXian called, waving one of his arms. “Good—”

Panic, as sudden as if someone had splashed a pail of dirty water at some pigeons in the yard. After the initial stares, there was a scramble to get away, until the entrance was empty of everyone except the Jin clan’s man.

Wei WuXian put his hand down with only a little awkwardness. He inched close to Lan WangJi, bumping his arm in comfort.

“Lan Zhan, don’t be offended,” Wei WuXian said. “Lan Zhan’s very pretty. Very handsome. They’re just intimidated.”

“Mm.”

“Really, what’s their story? Coming out to see, but they won’t even stay around to greet us! They could have just stayed in their homes if they were afraid.” Wei WuXian had to wonder at what even drew them here. If anyone ended up having nightmares, Wei WuXian was sure he was going to be blamed for deliberately sending them because they met his eyes. This was the power of gossip.

Lan WangJi frowned a bit in thought.

The man sent by the LanlingJin Sect greeted them and introduced himself as Zhang Guo, an outer disciple. He had one foot firmly planted on the mundane world, and often got sent to deal with matters such as this. His face was already showing signs of aging, which marked him as a late bloomer or someone quite low in cultivation. He called Wei WuXian ‘Young Master Mo,’ as if there was still any need for subterfuge.

“One of the most widely accepted stories here is that Young Master Mo is the YiLing Patriarch’s reincarnation, born when the YiLing Patriarch died,” Zhang Guo later told them. “The years don’t add up, but the villagers choose to overlook it. There are some who believe that the YiLing Patriarch split his soul in half and put one half in an infant, so if anything happened to him, he could return by following the other half of his soul.”

“They thought I created my own backup body?” Split your soul in half and put half in a different person? Only an idiot would willingly do that!

But that outlandish theory could very well be the product of their guilt. If they thought he was Mo XuanYu all that time Mo XuanYu had been in their village, then that meant they had been bullying the YiLing Patriarch from the start, so he must have a grievance with them.

They must have thought enough of the crazy Mo XuanYu’s mannerisms remained that they were right about their theory, hence the mad scramble to get away.

“So they were confirming it…” Never mind that they all assumed wrongly, gawking like that would still hurt a person. Wei WuXian pouted, and pulled at Lan Zhan’s and the other man’s sleeves. Lan WangJi looked at him with extreme patience. “I wasn’t evil to that extent, was I?”

“This way, sirs.” The worldly outer disciple smoothly dodged having to answer by pretending he didn’t hear.

By that point, they reached the Mo family home. Wei WuXian could only remember the storehouse from his short stay here, but to his surprise, there was only an empty yard with scruffy grass where he thought the storehouse had been. It was dilapidated, to be sure, but not like it was going to crumble to nothing in a few years! Did he misremember it? Looking at where his gaze was, Zhang Guo was quick to explain: “The relatives who had taken over this home after the Mo family passed away had had some changes made soon after the incident. The main building itself supposedly remains the same.”

“Hmm.”

Wei WuXian of course had only the vaguest memory of that building’s East Hall and the courtyard. Looking around, there actually weren’t any people around. Even the servant girl (Ah Ding?) wasn’t up and about doing chores, but it could have been that she was dismissed from service. But where were these esteemed relatives?

“Hearing that the Young Master Mo was returning to the village, they promised to hand over the business as it was and gave me leave to look over the account books. As for the people themselves, they had an urgent matter to attend to that couldn’t be delayed.”

In other words, they chose to run away?

“But in fact, Young Master Mo’s visit may not be the only thing that made them leave,” Zhang Guo continued to explain.

According to the family that had been previously living here, the house was haunted.

It was the standard story. Noises of steps and creaking in the night. The family couldn’t take it anymore and thought Mo XuanYu had left a curse somehow. All cultivation tools that they could find were disposed of, and the storehouse summarily taken down, though they didn’t dare use the piece of land that was opened up for anything else.

Still the noises continued. The oldest among them, a grandmother who had just reached fifty years, fell ill the next year, but the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong. The whole village was talking about a spiritual disease.

“Was it?” Wei WuXian asked curiously, but Zhang Guo frowned.

“There was no mark of any curse.” Many cultivators didn’t take the common people’s talk of hauntings seriously unless there was proof of some sort. Otherwise, if they investigated every single complaint that reached them, they would be wasting their time chasing after false rumors. It was easier and more profitable to night-hunt monsters and walking corpses, and if they wanted prestige, they had to go after larger prey. Without seeing any curse mark, Zhang Guo must have dismissed their story immediately. Someone could get sick because they lacked sleep or were careless with their body. It was an easier explanation than some ghost.

“But… there does seem to be something strange about the house,” he admitted after a moment, when it seemed Wei WuXian’s interest was taking some time to wane.

“Oh?”

Zhang Guo led them to a table and spread out a map of the compound. The building was turned to grids and lines on the paper. He pointed first at the library on the paper to show where they were, and then pointed at where the main building was connected to a smaller building by a walkway. Just off the walkway was a small room or gazebo. On the paper, it was simply a box, so it was hard to judge whether it was meant to be a room or an open-air structure where one could sit and appreciate the garden.

“This was Young Master Mo’s childhood room. It seems his grandfather didn’t want to offend the Jin clan, but also didn’t want to anger his eldest daughter. That’s why Young Master Mo was placed in a room near the servants’ quarters instead, but not in the servants’ quarters.

“Although Young Master Mo’s relatives never touched it, this room has disappeared.”

--

“What do you think, Lan Zhan?”

They wasted no time visiting that walkway next, leaving Zhang Guo to do whatever with the accounts. Wei WuXian had a feeling that they were being humored, like children sent off with a puzzle as distraction. He wasn’t offended, but he felt like these were on Jiang Cheng’s instructions: ‘Find him something to play with, preferably a murder.’

As unsurprising as it was, he was really out of place in the Mo family home, and the Mo family wasn’t even here anymore.

The outdoor walkway that connected the servants’ quarters to the main building was evenly pillared. To the left and right was grass and trees, asymmetrical enough that they weren’t simply mirror images of each other, not an easy illusion to break. The walkway should have had a path branching off here according to the map, but there was no path. The ground was undisturbed and looked to be that way for several years. The bushes were wild and the grass was untrimmed.

Looking further, Mo XuanYu’s room really wasn’t there.

“A ghost… or the house itself?” Wei WuXian touched his chin. “Is the point to erase Mo XuanYu’s existence in the house?” But if that were the case, the hauntings should have stopped when the storehouse and his meager few possessions were destroyed.

And if ‘it’ had hidden the room, the room itself and anything in it couldn’t be destroyed as well. Although Young Master Mo’s relatives never touched it, this room has disappeared. It seemed more accurate to say that because the room disappeared, they couldn’t touch it.

Wei WuXian wasn’t clear on what occurred first, whether it was the room disappearing or the noises at night. If it was the room disappearing, then ‘it’ did seem to have protection in mind. Or maybe it was ‘keep the room safe and drive away the people.’

“Ah, but we shouldn’t forget that this was a house with a cultivator…”

An ordinary family with a child who became a cultivator. Even if they didn’t pick up any useful knowledge or had too little spiritual energy to join the ranks of cultivators, they would still be acutely conscious of that world. Hence, they assumed that incidents like this would bring a cultivator to their doorstep. But ‘it’ had continued being willful. If ‘it’ was the ghost of a person who died here, then the point seemed to be to attract cultivators, which made this seem closer to a trap than anything.

“Zhang Guo must have come here to confirm this himself,” Wei WuXian said, tapping one of the very solid and real pillars. “So, his appearance didn’t trigger anything?”

They stood several steps away from where the room was supposed to be. There didn’t seem to be any sinister energy, but it was still early; they had to wait for night to come.

“First, liberate,” Lan WangJi said. Wei WuXian nodded.

This meant they had time to kill. The two left the quiet walkway, Wei WuXian in better spirits after realizing that the particulars of the Mo family business really had nothing to do with him, and he was probably free to while away the time solving just this one mystery before leaving.

Without the servants or relatives, Zhang Guo prepared for food to be delivered for lunch. It arrived promptly, delivered no doubt by the bravest men of the village. Seeing the mountain of food being set on the table, Wei WuXian could only blurt out, “Are they bribing me?” He laughed, holding on to his stomach and leaning on Lan WangJi for support. The men fled.

“Ah, sorry, Lan Zhan.” Wei WuXian wiped at the corner of his eye. “I’ll behave from now on.” They had already been left alone with all the food though, so it was an empty promise.

After eating, Wei WuXian explored the rest of the compound, and next pulled Lan WangJi to the baths, where they had to heat up the water themselves. Wei WuXian found where they kept fresh towels and rooted around for new bath items. Then he excitedly had Lan WangJI take off his clothes and sit down so he could scrub his back.

Lan WangJi’s back was still the same mess of scars, but at least they seem to have been tended to carefully after he got them; the scars didn’t impede his movements at all. Wei WuXian was diligent, scrubbing along the scars to avoid pulling them. When it looked like Lan WangJi was falling asleep, he sneaked to a corner to grab a pail, and upended the pail of water over Lan WangJi’s head.

Without even a sputter or a look of annoyance, Lan WangJi simply flicked water away from his eyes, and calmly advanced on Wei WuXian, who was too surprised to react. He dropped the empty pail. WangJi-xiong’s eyes… ah, yes, maybe this was too provoking. For some reason, Lan WangJi seemed to have been provoked in that direction. Wei WuXian, who had expected nothing more than splashing each other with water for a bit and going about with the rest of their bath, shuttled through his apologies. Lan WangJi picked him up and dropped him in the bathtub.

--

“Lan Zhan’s too impulsive,” Wei WuXian complained, still happy to pretend he’d been wronged. In a new set of robes from a qiankun pouch, Lan WangJi looked immaculate again. Only his forehead ribbon looked a little wrinkled.

Wei WuXian moved his eyes away from that forehead ribbon and scratched at his slightly itchy neck. “Good thing we’re not actually late to anything,” he added.

Earlier, they declined Zhang Guo’s invitation to dine outside, and simply ate what was left of lunch; Wei WuXian didn’t like wasting food. At least Zhang Guo wasn’t close enough to them to identify that content look on Lan WangJi’s face. Even Wei WuXian was starting to be able to openly read him, which made him a bit nervous about what others could see. Thus, he felt relieved when Zhang Guo did not ask questions before leaving. After clearing up the plates, they left for the guest room and chatted idly.

When the candle burned down to almost nothing, Wei WuXian left with Lan WangJi to check the walkway to the servants’ quarters.

There was a slight breeze, and the buzz of insects. Wei WuXian stopped at the entrance of the servants’ quarters, at the right-hand side where Mo XuanYu’s room should have been. He looked at Lan WangJi. Lan WangJi walked to the side farther from Mo XuanYu’s room.

Wei WuXian softly instructed: “Count the number of steps you take from here to the main building.”

They stepped forward together.

When they reached the end, Wei WuXian said, “Twenty.”

Lan WangJi: “Twenty eight.”

Wei WuXian touched his chin. “Then,” he said, “maybe the room is in the main building.” A ghost that could heavily distort space was rare indeed, so the trick was likely only this — shifting the space a little, so there were now eight steps missing here, and eight extra steps inside the main building. Looking at it that way, the identity of the ghost might have just been carelessly revealed.

The person who was most bothered by the insult of housing the young Mo XuanYu near the servants, it could only be the second young mistress of Mo. That’s why this room was important, but the storehouse hadn’t been. The impression of this room had stayed with her even in death.

Not much later, they found the second young mistress of Mo walking down the hallway inside, a longish piece of white cloth looped around her neck loosely. Wei WuXian saw that Mo XuanYu’s features resembled hers by more than half. But her mouth was a thin line, and with her narrowed eyes, she looked more annoyed than thoughtful. She was walking with deliberate, noisy steps around the house, but seeing Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi entering through the door, she stopped. Her eyes flew open.

Wei WuXian had seen his share of expressive ghosts before, so the second young mistress of Mo was hardly unique. But the look on her face was new; the initial shock was quickly replaced by familiarity, adoration, and some measure of hope. After that pause, she proceeded to walk towards them slowly. Without a trace of suspicion, only as if she couldn’t believe her eyes, breathless and anticipatory.

“Yu-er,” she said, and Wei WuXian froze. He glanced at Lan WangJi, who remained by his side, motionless. “You came back?”

While Wei WuXian was temporarily at a loss, the woman continued, “It’s good that you came to resolve this. You, as a cultivator, the only thing you lacked was opportunity. What cutsleeve penchant, everything will be forgotten if you show them your skill. Will you exorcise this ghost?” She paused, and added with a faint smile, “This child should hurry and give his mother rest.”

Usually, Wei WuXian’s soul could easily be identified by dead souls as the YiLing Patriarch. This came from the techniques he practiced, the traces of which couldn’t be washed clean by a single reincarnation. But Mo XuanYu’s mother was treating him as her own child, simply because he was in Mo XuanYu’s body. So it was that, she wanted to give some sort of chance to Mo XuanYu, even using her life for it. Right now, Wei WuXian didn’t know if she was really unaware or pretending.

Wei WuXian fished inside his robe, and took out the scroll from Jin Ling. Quietly, he spread it out. He said, “Can I hang this inside my room?”

Lan WangJi didn’t protest the lie.

The two men and one ghost entered the previously hidden room that had been squeezed into the main building. The room looked a bit empty, with only the bed, a thick folded up quilt, and some small furniture. There was a little toy drum. None of the things inside were cultivation tools. It seemed this was really just Mo XuanYu’s childhood room.

Wei WuXian showed the second young mistress of Mo the scroll. She traced the words written on it, and with the same fingers traced the side of Wei WuXian’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Wei WuXian said, almost soundlessly, to this woman who wasn’t his mother. “And thank you.”

Lan WangJi pulled the cloth from the quqin and set the instrument down on a low table. He started playing a song. It didn’t strictly need an accompaniment, but swallowing, Wei WuXian took the flute from his belt and put it to his mouth. The melody was soft and pleasing, coaxing and peaceful. It was a simple song to send someone off.

The second young mistress of Mo listened with a smile. And then, as quiet as a breath, she disappeared. What immediately followed was a jarring feeling of being dropped from a certain height. Wei WuXian braced his knees, but the floor was almost immediately stable. The guqin continued playing until the last notes vibrated in the air.

“Back in the garden,” Lan WangJi guessed.

They opened the door with some difficulty. Before, it had been easy to open, but now the rusty hinges seemed stuck. Finally managing to open the door without damaging it, they saw that there was a path of loose white stones that led back to the walkway. Although it was secluded, the room actually seemed a bit restful. Maybe Mo XuanYu hadn’t been too sad growing up here.

Wei WuXian sighed. “So she was waiting all that time.” It was the reverse of what had happened to him as a kid, waiting before the city gates for his parents to come back. With this pair of mother and son, it was Mo XuanYu’s mother who had waited. “I thought maybe she only wanted him to elevate her status, but she was his mother after all. It seemed very…” Wei WuXian tried to find a word that fit. “Normal.”

Wei WuXian stretched his arms above his head. It hadn’t seemed too long, but the dull ache in his neck told him that they must have spent some time inside that room. He followed Lan WangJi, dragging his feet a bit on the way back to the guest room. Lan WangJi’s straight back looked very elegant. There was something about the atmosphere that made Wei WuXian want to close the distance between them so he could press his face against that back.

“What about Lan Zhan’s mother?” It was strange to think of her as his mother-in-law, instead of the always present Lan QiRen. Towards this person who seemed like a distant existence, Wei WuXian felt a little curious.

“Strong-willed, fickle, disorganized,” Lan WangJi started listing words that weren’t bad but weren’t particularly flattering about his mother. Wei WuXian was speechless. “Lonely.”

“Lonely, huh…”

“Mm.”

Looking at Lan Zhan’s back, for some reason, he wished they could get back to the room sooner, and he started quickening his steps. But he wasn’t sad, exactly. In fact, there was a bit of an uplifting feeling. Life was just like this, Wei WuXian thought. Parting, you wish you could meet again. And meeting again, you become greedy for every little thing. It was impossible to only think of repaying Mo XuanYu.

And so: I’m thankful. Just that.

“Lan Zhan…”

“I’m here.”

With those words steadily returned to him, Wei WuXian could only smile. “Yeah.”

--

In the end, they had to stay in Mo Village for more than a week. Wei WuXian was bored with the delay, but Zhang Guo had him reading things and sitting down to decide what to do with the Mo family home. It wouldn’t do to leave the house unoccupied. They could call the relatives back, or rent the house to someone else. There was also the matter of how to use the funds sent over by the LanlingJin Sect. Whatever was done still needed Wei WuXian’s approval.

Wei WuXian turned to Lan WangJi. More interested in night-hunts and conversing with spirits, Lan WangJi wasn’t much help either in a matter of logistics.

Trusting that Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng found them a capable man, Wei WuXian left most of it up to Zhang Guo to take care of. They decided to give the Mo family’s house to the cultivator family who was willing to get assigned to that area. At this point, only a cultivator family would likely not get scared away by the house’s reputation. The only condition was for them to leave Mo XuanYu’s room as it was, which also meant they couldn’t sell the house.

Meanwhile, the valuables kept in the storerooms were going to be sold. The money from there would go to the business, while the LanlingJin Sect’s funds would be used to improve the condition of the village. With the LanlingJin Sect openly helping, the villagers would once again start to have a good opinion of the sect. Jiang Cheng would have to be pleased with this progress.

Finally, Wei WuXian could throw himself at Lan Zhan’s lap and show him the fruits of two weeks of house arrest. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, look! It’s money. Supposedly.” Or at least it was a sheet of paper that was promising him a lot of money and jade. He folded it up and shoved it inside a qiankun pouch, grinning as he thought of presenting this to Lan QiRen as his ‘dowry.’ “Should we celebrate with some wine? I really feel like drinking Emperor’s Smile!”

“Going back?”

“That’s right!”

It was decided just like that, with only Zhang Guo to see them off and a quick letter sent to Jin Ling. This kind of freedom was still the best. Wei WuXian stretched his limbs, feeling like he needed to climb a tree or two if he wanted to calm down. They kept walking, neither of them thinking of getting on Bichen just then. Wei WuXian walked backwards so he could face Lan WangJi.

“Do you think Jin Ling knew?” Wei WuXian asked, remembering the second young mistress of Mo. Mo XuanYu was still JIn Ling’s uncle after all. Maybe Jin Ling had felt some sense of duty towards this youngest uncle of his, and when he found out about the second mistress of Mo, sent Wei WuXian so ‘Mo XuanYu’ could save her from turning into a vengeful ghost. “Well, either way, he’s grown up a bit, hasn’t he?”

There was pride in Wei WuXian’s voice as he said it with an exaggerated pose. At that, Lan WangJi actually snorted.

Wei WuXian pretended to be offended. “Lan Zhan, don’t be mean! I think I’m a better influence than Jiang Cheng.”

Lan WangJi gave him a look that seemed to say ‘Don’t be so proud.’ Wei WuXian laughed. Lan WangJi had been so tolerant, Wei WuXian had almost forgotten that he could also look like this. He glibly admitted that it wasn’t all because of him, and faced forward again, slowing down his steps until he could walk alongside Lan WangJi.

The late afternoon sun gave the trees lining the path soft edges. The path stretched ahead. At the end of it, Wei WuXian didn’t imagine anything more poetic than a jar of Emperor’s Smile. They were simply going home.