Archive of Our Own

"Hey, Xuanyu," Wei Wuxian hummed. Mo Xuanyu blinked, the sect rules open in front of him -- he's got an examination in two days about the most common ones, and he felt only moderately ready.

"Yes?"

Wei Wuxian was wearing standard white Lan robes, small ornamental headpiece neatly tucked into his usual ponytail -- well, it was a half-ponytail, for once -- a stack of notes and brushes and talisman paper in his hands. "I'm off teaching class in half an hour, and I thought -- well, do you want to come too?"

"...the one about 'prevention and contamination of resentful energies' or something?"

Wei Wuxian beamed. "Yup! That one. Do you want to tag along? Considering I did promise to also teach you actual demonic cultivation -- it'll do the students good if they have a live example. And we can stay a bit longer in the classroom and I'll go over what you already know."

Mo Xuanyu blinked again. "Um. If it would be truly all right, I wouldn't be opposed to it...?" He flipped his book closed and stood, uncertain. "Do I...? Should I take something with me?"

"Any notes you have, if you would be willing."

Xuanyu nodded.

The class had been fairly entertaining, all things considered, the so-called 'students' a motley group of cultivators ranging between juniors and seniors of the sect, most of them sceptic but begrudgingly impressed by the Yiling Patriarch and his methods. Xuanyu had been surprised to find that one of the children he'd met on his first morning -- the gap-toothed one, who was called Lan Gang, which was just unfortunate in Xuanyu's opinion -- in the first row and eager.

Apparently the kid had snuck his way in on a technicality that he was accompanying his older brother, Lan Yazhu (current head disciple, roughly Mo Xuanyu's own age) in his free time and with permission of his older brother.

The current lesson was, in accordance with the incident over a week ago, about possessed animals or things and how to identify and neutralize them without outright killing if possible (some of the juniors shifted guiltily, Lan Yazhu amongst them). At some point the Sect Leader had joined the lesson, an amused smile on his face, and Wei Wuxian had merrily waved at him with a thumbs-up gesture. Afterwards the topic changed to something much less mundane, and to an in-depth explanation on how resentful energies could be cultivated in a body.

Xuanyu listened to the lesson intently, even taking notes about it, and soon it was over, everyone but him and Wei Wuxian leaving. Wei Wuxian grinned at him and took his stack of papers, dropping them down unceremoniously on the table next to Xuanyu's.

"Well," he asked. "What did you think?"

Xuanyu set his brush down (properly). He wanted to say that he'd never met such a chaotic teacher in his life, but felt that it might be a bad start, so he shrugged delicately. "Most of what you explained would have been much easier to accomplish if the disciples would use outright demonic cultivation -- or adjacent cultivation."

"Well, yes, but this is the Lan sect we're talking about; they're not going to use anything else but righteous cultivation." Wei Wuxian shrugged. "The fact that they're all listening intently is kind of a big win already."

He shuffled his papers around. "...you probably already know how to notice even faint traces of resentful energies in the air, or how to channel and hold them without being overwhelmed, or how to dispel them, huh? Today might've been pretty useless for you."

Mo Xuanyu flushed. "Ah. Well. I do, yes, but. It was still interesting. I probably wouldn't have thought about doing anything but using the resentful energies of the possessed beasts to overwhelm and counter them." He frowned. "My regular cultivation is kind of sub-par."

Wei Wuxian's eyes narrowed. "You started later than what would be ideal, so your core isn't as developed as it should be, but that is nothing that can't be fixed -- the Lan sect has songs and mediation techniques that can help you. Can you give me a run-down of what you're able to do? I'm sure that you can be technically accepted as an outer disciple -- you're already married in."

So Mo Xuanyu did. It felt strange, to talk about his own accomplishments, and he felt uncomfortably like a charity case; which is why, once he'd also admitted to not being able to hold his balance on his sword, he'd added that he understood almost all of the theory behind whichever subject he was lacking, and thus really, really didn't need to go to any lessons like an outer disciple.

How would that look, if one of Hanguang-Jun's husbands was so untalented at cultivating the orthodox path that he needed to be put into lessons for disciples much younger than him?

Wei Wuxian frowned at that. "There's nothing shameful about it, but I can see your point -- if Jin Guangshan thinks that we're not treating you appropriately he will find some way to twist it. I have good news, though: most of your worries can be mended if you cultivate your core enough. I have a feeling that you've been underselling yourself, too, so there's that."

Wei Wuxian smiled a small, wry smile. "It's no wonder demonic cultivation comes easy to you, though. Young Master Mo is an incredibly meticulous person who wants to understand everything to the smallest detail, is what this Wei has figured out. You are very sensitive to the flow or absence of qi in things. That translates well into demonic cultivation."

Mo Xuanyu stared.

Wei Wuxian blinked. "What?"

Mo Xuanyu, "How…?"

"Ah!" Wei Wuxian sniggered. "Aiya-! Most people like to forget it, but I was the head disciple of the Yunmeg Jiang sect once upon a time, and I earned that position."

Head disciple indeed; that was a scarily good impression Wei Wuxian had of Xuanyu's skill level.

"Still," Wei Wuxian continued. "Was there anything in particular that you would like to continue doing? I don't believe that Jin Guangshan had let you neatly finish and wrap up your lessons. I can't help you with everything, but I can try. Education is important, after all.

Xuanyu felt the need to ask: "That is a rule?"

"Oh, yeah. Number 1406 or 1407, I think. So?"

Well.

"You were working on your master thesis in arrays?!?" Wei Wuxian spluttered, head whipping around to eye Xuanyu critically -- they were walking back to the jingshi, and thus the older cultivator had to turn around and walk backwards, something Xuanyu was fairly sure was against the rules.

He nodded, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "I. I may have inconvenienced my masters with it, too, because I should have finished it at the beginning of the year, which we are well past now."

Wei Wuxian blanched. "Are you even listening to yourself? Inconvenienced my masters my ass; they're probably mourning your departure. Xuanyu! Didn't you say that you've only been at Koi Tower since you were fourteen? And you're what now, nineteen? Most cultivators who specialize on arrays or theoretical cultivation don't become masters well until they're in their thirties of forties. Actually, if we're on the topic, most cultivators don't focus on arrays!"

Mo Xuanyu frowned, kind of affronted, if only a little bit.

"You managed to create an array that revives the dead and binds one's soul to one's dead body when you were what, twenty? And designed the Stygian Tiger Seal with eighteen, nineteen?"

Wei Wuxian whined. "I'm a genius! That's different! All of this stuff comes -- naturally to me. I can't help it. You practically chose the most difficult branch of cultivation and thought, ah, yes, I shall master this in five years. Why not." He shook his head. "What is your master thesis, anyways?"

"I had to come up with a new array that can be used on night hunts, that isn't too similar to something already existing. My, uh. My masters wanted me to focus on something offensive since my cultivation is so weak, but I've. Not managed to come up with something offensive, yet. Most of my prototypes are defensive arrays carved into a... mask."

Wei Wuxian blinked as they rounded the corner into the garden of the jingshi. "Mask? Why a mask?"

Why a mask indeed? Xuanyu thought back to nights spent exploring Koi Tower under the cover of darkness and a concealed form, thought of his mother and her fondness for stage-plays that had inadvertently inspired him, thought of bringing honor back to his village and family before he'd found out what kind of a vixen his aunt was.

He tried formulating all of that into words. "My village… it's known for its theatrical plays and storytelling with intricate masks made out of stone or wood -- until a few decades ago, it was the main export from Mo Village. I'm, uh, fond of it."

Especially how, if one wore a well-crafted mask, other people could have difficulties telling if the actors were men or women, how people were always kept on swords' edge until the play was over. How you could be anyone in anonymity -- someone who was suave and successful and like Jin Zixuan and decidedly not meek and shy Mo Xuanyu, who was a walking, talking shameful failure.

"And I like carving them whenever I have some time."

Wei Wuxian nodded, as if all of it made an incredible amount of sense and wasn't another one of Xuanyu's peculiarities. "Do you have it with you? What does it do, then?"

Xuanyu nodded, a giddiness overcoming him now that he was sure that Wei Wuxian wouldn't laugh at him for his choice of medium (A-Ling had, at first, before he demanded to try it on with all his bossy grace while Rusong sat next to him, blinking confusedly). A smile twitched at the edge of his lips as they entered his room, Wei Wuxian respectfully waiting in the doorway for Xuanyu to take out his quiankun pouch where his two prototypes were being stored. He handed one to Wei Wuxian, a slight flush dusting his cheeks as he wrung his fingers together.

"It's, like I said earlier, a defensive application instead of an offensive one, but. Um. The array carved into the inside renders the wearer -- it's supposed to render the wearer invisible to anyone or anything that has a spiritual essence, as long as you feed it a sliver of your own qi."

Wei Wuxian whistled, impressed, and held the mask up to inspect the carvings. Xuanyu blinked. "Oh -- it also works with demonic cultivation, actually, you simply have to feed it a constant flow of energy."

Wei Wuxian nodded. "That's honestly impressive. Why didn't you submit this one?"

Mo Xuanyu's flush deepened. "It's not offensive."

Wei Wuxian scowled. "It's not... you know what? I'm going to show this to the Cloud Recesses' Array Master the next time I see her."

"Please don't?? It's not finished."

He blinked. "...okay. Point. Give me something of yours that is, and I can show her that instead. Like -- oh! That double-layered array that you sketched out for Zewu-Jun. He wanted to show it to the Master anyway, but it dried up because you drew it with tea."

Wei Wuxian was watching over the little group of children A-Yuan was friends with (soon-to-be junior disciples, actually), making sure that none of them left the edge of their little impromptu training ground; he was showing them how to focus their spiritual energy to enhance their eyesight and hearing -- something that was relatively harmless and easy to do for children, which he could furthermore demonstrate himself with the neat little addition that his eyes started glowing red, which was, in Lan Yi's own words, wicked!

(And also not taught until their second year as juniors, but like with most sect-born cultivator children, their parents sometimes started teaching them easy things much, much earlier. Not this particular trick though.)

Lan Gang -- who'd already gotten the hang of the technique a few minutes ago, was sidled up to Wei Wuxian, a small but proud grin on his adorable gap-toothed face. "An' older brother will zpend more time wi' the 'Word Mazzter from now on."

Wei Wuxian grinned. "Was the Sword Master finally convinced by Yazhu?"

A-Gang nodded. "'Word Mazzter zaid your praize waz not wi'out merit, 'Enior Wei."

Wei Wuxian grinned at him and they fell into silence for a few minutes, until one of Lan Yi's cousins threw up his hands with relish, effectively drawing the attention of everyone to him. The kid blushed and returned to his Lan-issued stoicism, but Wei Wuxian felt the need to give them their next instruction, now that everyone was on more-or-less the same page. He clapped his hands together and stood up with a flourish. "Alright! Now that everyone can activate the enhancements to some degree, lets test your practical skills; let's play tag! You got time until the bell signals the end of afternoon classes for the junior disciples -- scatter around the Cloud Recesses and hide from each other; the forest is forbidden, as is the women's wing and the guest disciple quarters."

Wei Wuxian glanced around seven eager faces. He grinned. "Everyone plays against everyone, and stealth is your friend here. Your objective is to tap each other out of the game by touch, and the winners are the one who makes it back to here first once the bell rung, and the one who managed to eliminate the most. And I'll know if you simply hide around the training field. Got it?"

A-Yuan and his friends all nodded.

"Good! Then… A-Gang, you're the first. Go find a hiding place, I'll send the next kid in a few moments."

Lan Gang stood up, bowed, and turned heel to briskly run-walk away into the direction of what Wei Wuxian thought was the Sword Master's training hall, a content smile on his face. Wei Wuxian snorted. Of course he would.

A-Yuan was next, because Wei Wuxian had no doubt that, if he were to send A-Yuan and A-Yi one after another they would team up, which went against the point of all of this; and also, he needed to talk to Lan Yi. The other children left, one after another, until only Lan Yi and the youngest kid remained, who shuffled his feet around a little.

Wei Wuxian smiled indulgently. "What is it, A-Chun?"

The kid glanced up at him. "...when will Hanguang-Jun be supervising us again?"

(Lan Yi had to bite back a laugh, the traitor.)

Wei Wuxian's grin turned wry. "Hanguang-Jun will only be allowed to supervise you again if there is no-one else available, kiddo. He is a... very busy man."

A-Chun nodded, and Wei Wuxian shooed him along. He turned around to Lan Yi, still muffling his smile behind his sleeve. "Hanguang-Jun isn't allowed to supervise us any more?"

Wei Wuxian shrugged. "Well, you know; it might have something to do with how it always ends in utter and complete chaos for everyone else but Lan Zhan or you kids. Apparently even I am a better choice than my husband." He sobered up. "Say, A-Yi? Is your aunt taking you home later or your parents?"

Lan Yi's expression soured. "Aunt is; mother and father left for a night hunt not even a week before we would've had our family day; I barely see them anyways, because they have so many duties."

Wei Wuxian winced. "Hey, they might still make it back on time, though."

A-Yi shrugged.

"...why?" He asked, after a moment.

A hum escaped Wei Wuxian's throat. "Mo Xuanyu, before he came to live with us, had been apprenticed to the Array Master of the Jin sect; he wants to continue his schooling."

"Arrays?" A un-Lan-ly gasp. "But they're so difficult!"

Wei Wuxian laughed. "I know, I know! But he's really good at them! Look here, I got one with me to show your aunt." He fished the talisman out of his pocket and showed it to a grumpy-looking Lan Yi, who had to concede, after a few seconds of staring, "okay, that looks really complicated, but also kind of awesome."

"I know, right? And now shoo, or you're gonna loose."

Lan Zhihao was a woman of great renown in the Lan sect for being the sect's first Array Master born into the sect since roughly four generations, as Wei Wuxian had found out, a fact in which she took great pride in. She was the older sister of A-Yi's mother, has no husband ("I have no time for a spouse, Wei Wuxian"), and was exasperated with her nephew for being uninterested in pursuing the art of arrays.

Wei Wuxian had spent many an evening with her while she grumbled over his journal-worth of arrays and talismans and sigils she had to proof-check before green-lighting some of them, like the Spirit Attraction Flags or the revised versions of the Compasses of Evil. There were other cultivators who could do the checking, of course, who worked with Lan Zhihao and were her disciples, more or less, or other masters of the craft but none of them had what it took to be Masters with a capital 'M'.

The woman had, once, remarked that it was a pity that Wei Wuxian was forbidden from uninterested in attaining a masters' seal in array-work or theoretical cultivation due to his status as a glorified prisoner the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. And then she'd shooed him out of her pavilion with annoyed remarks that he had to stop inventing new variations for already existing (demonic) arrays, because he was overworking her.

Wei Wuxian might've laughed sheepishly and left her a gift basket the next day as compensation.

Now; Wei Wuxian had no desire to give up his potential first (and only) disciple of demonic cultivation, but since Mo Xuanyu was only a hairsbreadth away from attaining mastery over the subject, he was willing to show his array to Lan Zhihao and work out a double custody arrangement or something.

(Also, he wanted another professional to gush over the precision.)

Lan Yi was tugging at his aunt's sleeves and pointing over to where Wei Wuxian was standing with A-Yuan; the other children were being led away by either their parents or their instructors -- it was a confusing time for them, where half of their agemates were already in junior classes and the other half had to wait for a year until they could join as well, and in which they had a surprisingly large amount of free time between lessons and other stuff that had to be filled meaningfully. The war had left a shortage of teachers and instructors in every field imaginable, and so the classes had to be shifted around, sometimes creatively.

This was also the reason of Wei Wuxian's ever-growing popularity as a babysitter.

Lan Zhihao had made her way over to Wei Wuxian, who motioned her to follow him -- not before sending the children off together, A-Yi no doubt informing A-Yuan of the reason. The Array Master inclined her head. "What?"

"You know about Mo Xuanyu, right?"

She smiled, somewhat pityingly. Wei Wuxian ignored the churning in his stomach that was caused by it. "Who doesn't, at this point -- he's passed the rule exam that has become mandatory because of some person a day ago."

Wei Wuxian nodded, still proud about that even though the exam only existed, as Lan Zhihao so generously implied, because of him and his well-known disregard for the rules. It wasn't one of his prouder moments, having to put new (potential) members of the Lan sect through it, thought he'd been proud at the examiner's incredulous face when Wei Wuxian had been the one being questioned. He does, contrary to popular opinion, know all of the sect rules in their order from the first to the last.

Lan Wangji had been an, ah, particularly enthusiastic teacher.

Wei Wuxian handed her the talisman paper.

"...Young Master Mo drew this?"

Wei Wuxian nodded. "From memory after having seen it in Koi Tower in the past. He's scarily efficient at arrays -- it barely took him a few minutes to sketch it out. You could probably activate it, too, with the intended effect."

She hummed. "This is double-layered, both layers being six-petaled -- I can discern the first layer, to keep hidden from sight, but I can't read the second one."

"To redirect one's attention elsewhere. They blend together perfectly. Lan Zh- Hanguang-Jun and I tried it out on the jingshi's main door; if we wouldn't have known that it was there, well. It disappeared. There was a smooth wall. There's a counter-key drawn on the backside which lets you add or subtract a spiritual signature of a specific person who then can see the door."

Lan Zhihao hummed again. "This is, indeed, impressive, I won't deny that, but how can you be sure that Young Master Mo didn't simply draw this so often that he memorized it?"

Wei Wuxian shook his head. "I quizzed him -- you know I'm good at them -- and it's probably inborn talent; we've got a whole stack of high-grade arrays laying around the jingshi now, some of which I'm sure are technically Jin sect secrets -- there's more, though." He grinned. "This was only to get you interested."

"Young Master Wei, you--" Lan Zhihao's expression lighted up. "-- truly know how to win the heart of a woman."

Wei Wuxian snorted. As if. He knew how to flirt, sure, but the only heart he's ever managed to win was Lan Zhan's, to his delight. The Array Master continued. "What more is there?"

Hook, line and sinker. Quite like the cat that caught the canary, his own face lit up in a devious grin. "I'm sure that you have a way of inquiring about the truth of this, but apparently Mo Xuanyu had been working on his master thesis before coming to the Cloud Recesses. I've seen his prototype."

Lan Zhihao froze.

She blinked. Hissed. "No way!"

Wei Wuxian nodded, smug.

"How --"

"Yu-ge is very, very good at arrays." A-Yuan said, startling both adults; he and A-Yi had rejoined them (had probably listened in on their discussion, too, even though it is against the rules). A-Yuan had an adorable frown on his face. "I tried to follow his explanation once, but I didn't understand anything. Even father had seemed confused."

Lan Wangji had been, in fact, confused. Wei Wuxian had just barely followed along on that particular tangent; Mo Xuanyu had been working on his mask, now that the possibility of attaining a master's seal was back on the table. It was worth it, in the end, though, because everything that got Xuanyu to open up was worth the effort.

Lan Zhihao blinked again, glanced down at the paper in her hands. "I... will write Master Zhou about this; tell Young Master Mo that I would be delighted to speak to him in two day's time, and to assess his experience and knowledge. I'm sure something can be done about his final exam."

Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan both nodded. "Will do, Array Master!"

"Mn!"

The meeting between Mo Xuanyu and the Lan sect Array Master had taken time from lunch 'till dinner and left both cultivators tired but happy -- Xuanyu was allowed to finish his master thesis in the coming weeks, and Lan Zhihao had personally demanded that a master's seal be prepared for him even before he handed his thesis in.

(Lan Xichen had positively beamed at her and commissioned one despite some of the elder's frowns. He is too young, one had protested, and Lan Xichen, in a near-perfect copy of his younger brother, had let his face go blank, unimpressed. Young Master Mo's talent speaks for itself, he'd said, and the elder that had been the previous Array Master had chuckled heartily and agreed. Jin Guangshan was a fool to let that boy go.

Oh, but wasn't that elder right about it.)

And as for Mo Xuanyu -- he'd beamed at Wei Wuxian and Hanguang-Jun when he'd made it back to the jingshi, and all three ate dinner together, as the other two cultivators had waited for their last housemate. Dinner had gone a little bit cold, but no-one could complain, considering the joyful air.

A tentative schedule was pushed into Mo Xuanyu's direction. "For you," Hanguang-Jun said. Mo Xuanyu glanced it over, after he'd put his chopsticks onto his bowl. "I'll accompany the Yiling Patriarch to his classes from now on?"

"Yeah, if you want."

Mo Xuanyu nodded. Other than that, his impromptu-schedule contained the following, written in Hanguang-Jun's neat cursive and in no particular order:

"The Array Master has told me to inform you that there will be one mandatory visit to her pavilion per week," Hanguang-Jun continued, "and other than that, Mo Xuanyu is free to pursue his own interests and research. A token will be given to you soon; with it comes permission to leave the Cloud Recesses for Caiyi Town and access to previously-withheld buildings and the back of the mountain."

A shaky nod. "Thank you, Hanguang-Jun, Yiling Patriarch. This one appreciates it."

Hanguang-Jun inclined his head, faintly. "Mn." He paused, before continuing, a slight waver to his voice. "Mo Xuanyu is welcome to continue accompany me in the mornings, if he would like, and may drop the honorific."

Xuanyu froze and suppressed a slight shiver, an uncertain gaze darting over to Wei Wuxian who was grinning, a soft expression in his eyes as he gazed at his (their) husband. Hanguang-Jun seemed uncharacteristically shy right now. "I do not... have many friends," he felt the need to explain.

Wei Wuxian, "most people are intimidated by Lan Zhan's presence."

Hanguang-Jun closed his eyes and exhaled softly. "Mn. It is not easy to be around me, if Mo Xuanyu hadn't noticed."

Mo Xuanyu felt his heart give at that, at the slight slump of impeccable shoulders, at the way Wei Wuxian's expression softened even more. He'd taken notice of the way some of the other cultivators shied away from him, of course he did, his first morning coming to mind -- it still left him reeling that so many wouldn't look past the icy exterior, because. Well. Hanguang-Jun was someone who seemed to feel so much, like Mo Xuanyu himself. He smiled slightly, a blush dusting across his cheeks. "Then, ah. I shall try to do so, though forgive me if I slip up, Lan Wangji."

Hanguang-Jun's eyes opened again, something dangerously soft in his barely-changed expression, a burden seemingly lifting from his shoulders. Wei Wuxian beamed at Xuanyu -- and Xuanyu was well and truly fucked, wasn't he?

I take after you, after all, huh, brother?