#-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ (VERSE) ᵗʰⁱʳᵗᵉᵉⁿ ʸᵉᵃʳˢ ᵒᶠ ʷᵃⁱᵗⁱⁿᵍ

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @dreams-of-fate Xiao Lou ; ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀʟʟ

   IT WAS SUCH A SMALL little farming town, hardly even worth stopping through. They didn’t need help either, he had made sure, but there was a waterfall and a river that ran through the woods nearby. He was tempted to go seek it out, to sit and play Inquiry, to see if he could somehow pull Wei Wuxian’s soul to the song with the water. It was a ridiculous notion, but he’s played it in stranger places. Thirteen years of searching, he should let the understanding and realization settle that he won’t hear anything. But he refuses to give up. Stubborn to a fault. 

   He was about ask for directions toward the Waterfall River when he felt someone bump into him, knocking Bichen roughly against the Guqin strapped to his back. He shifts and turns, casting a glance over his shoulder at the strange man. He gives a small incline of his head, a steady blink and then moves to take a step back away from them.

[guqinstrings]

   IT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY his appearance which caught his eyes. Beneath the to thin, to pale form, there had been the sight of black and red robes, of that red ribbon in messy hair and the briefest flashes of grey eyes in pain. Rarely one to insert himself into other peoples domestic problems, when he came close enough to get a look at the younger man, he had quickly realized secondly that this wasn’t something he could walk away from. They were not Wei Wuxian, that much was undoubtedly clear, they also didn’t deserve to be shoved around like this. 

   Do not bully the weak. 

   The guards, apparently, decide to tell him politely to mind his own business and as much as he would agree to some regard that they were correct–his moral compass had been a bit cracked. Turning a blind eye, refusing to help where he could, that had caused him to lose someone he shouldn’t have been willing to lose. The world is not black and white, it’s not strictly good and evil. There are shades of grey in this life. 

   “I will not ask a second time.” Are the words that slip from his mouth, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watches the guards still yanking the man around by his hair. From where he stood he could see the hesitation, the way their fingers tightened in that mangy hair, and steadily he took a step toward them in what was certainly a threatening manner. They flinch, he moves closer and by the time he is within reach of the other man the guards hands have released him entirely. Fearfully. 

   Lan Wangji briefly glanced toward the man before snapping his gaze up to the men who had harmed him. He steps over the beaten body, stands in front of them and continues to remain an immovable force. 

   “Leave.” 

   They seem torn, hesitant, as if they can’t return without the man on the ground or are rather unwilling to. Still, the option was to go through him or retreat and attempting to do the first would definitely end in them getting beaten severely. He would not aim to kill them, but he would not go easy on them either. A statement clear in the golden gaze he pinned them with. 

   When they turn and run, Lan Wangji watches them retreat back into the Village, leaving him and the beaten man on the ground alone. He waits a few minutes longer, to make sure they don’t come back with help, before turning away from the Village walls to look at the young man on the ground once more. 

   Now what did he do?

@guqinstrings sent a meme: (in defense of Mo Xuanyu): “let them go.”

•---------• 𓆩⟡𓆪 •---------• 𓆩⟡𓆪 •---------• 𓆩⟡𓆪 •---------•

The gate was left open. Open for anyone to come or leave. Mo Xuanyu can't pass that opportunity. Not that he knows where to go, but anywhere is better than Mo Manor. The young man bolted, running as fast as his weak body can. Of course he is detected almost immediately and the Mo guards are after him like dogs hunting a rabbit. By pure luck, he is almost out of the village when he feels someone tackle him. He hits the ground with a loud thud, the guard on top of him. For a moment he can't breathe, darkness clouding the edges of his vision, pain spreading through his chest and abdomen. Mo Xuanyu whines pitifully. He is not a strong man, nor a brave one. Crazed and a little dimwitted, quick to please and show his belly to anyone who raises their voice.

Before he can fully comprehend what just happened, he is dragged up by his hair, making him cry out, tears now streaming down his sunken cheeks. "Don't hurt me! Don't hurt me! I'll come! I'll come! Don't hurt me!" he cries out over and over, but the guards don't seem to listen to his pitiful pleading and are about to strike him when another voice is heard. Someone is demanding that they let him go. Who would dare to go against guard wearing the Mo Family Crest?

There's another pull on his hair, tugging his head back, but he manages to see the stranger: tall and white with a forehead ribbon. A Lan Cultivator! There's a flicker of hope in Xuanyu's chest. Perhaps he won't get beaten this time? He'll get beaten once he returns to Mo Manor, but one beating less is always good, even if another one will come soon.

However, they don't let him go. Instead one of the guards huffs and glares at the Lan Cultivator, Mo Xuanyu didn't get a good enough look to see who it might be. "This is none of your business, Lan-gongzi. This mutt belongs to the Mo family. He's crazy and escaped. We need to bring him back for other's safety." One look at the malnourished, dirty youth is enough to tell anyone with half a mind that there's nothing dangerous with him. Crazy or not, he doesn't look like he would have the strength to even hurt a child.

"L-Lan-g-" he starts, but his hair gets pulled so hard he can feel blood trickling down his scalp and the rest dies out in yet another pitiful whine. Please, help me, he silently pleads.

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @adversitybloomed ; ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀʟʟ

   THE LAST TIME they had encountered each other, names had not been shared. After several glances at each other, the feeling of staring at two dead people, he had given a vague warning and then left her there. It was easier than trying to communicate with someone, and he was never one to actively seek conversation with people. There’s only been one person he has ever chased in his entire life, and Lan Wangji failed him not only once but three times. She was, perhaps, too young to remember all of that. It’s hard to say, she looks young though, perhaps around Lan Sizhui’s age. 

   Now, having run into each other again, the Jiang Cultivator–he can’t help the way his light gaze searches around for her Sect Leader. A man he wants nothing to do with. When he doesn’t see any sign of him he slides his gaze back over toward her. Undoubtedly, if she bears the title of Jiang Cultivator, she recognizes the robes of the Gusu Lan Sect. He pressed his lips together and averted his gaze from her once more. 

   “Lan Wangji.” He states with some reluctance. 

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @tiianwens ; ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀʟʟ

   THE INN THAT he was staying at was located in Lanling, close to Gusu and yet still further from where he was actually traveling to. Over the past thirteen years, Lan Wangji had been everywhere he could be, seeking new places to play Inquiry at while chasing chaos. To certain points, he is always reluctant to return to the Cloud Recesses, but knowing he has to in between travels he makes the journey back. Sometimes, they send him back out with the Juniors, to which he has to bring them home–other times he can manage to leave without them. 

   Despite how often Inquiry’s notes falls from his fingers, he never gets an answer from the person he seeks one from. 

   The tea is warm and he had just finished a small bowl of rice with vegetables. Lan Wangji was considering where to head next and his thoughts kept drifting toward Yiling. He’s been there enough that he knows playing Inquiry in such a place doesn’t work for what he wants, but he still finds himself drawn toward it. Haunted by ghosts and memories. Movement across from him has his golden gaze flickering up from the cup in front of him, soft lips pressing together in a thin line as a familiar man seats himself across from him. 

   Silence. He’s tempted to get up and simply leave, but he hasn’t finished his tea. 

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @tiianwens inquired ; ❛  watch out!  ❜

   THERE IS A PROBLEM that comes with the title of APPEARING AMONGST CHAOS. Of chasing any and every single ounce of chaos. With chasing ghosts that don’t answer Inquiry or perhaps even exist at all. As selfless as the world seems to believe him to be, to the point of pinning the title HANGUANG-JUN on him, there is always an underlying, alternative motive to the things that anyone does. Especially Lan Wangji. 

   The problem of appearing amongst chaos, is that one day it very well might get him killed. When the Juniors aren’t with him, Lan Wangji is perhaps no better than a rogue cultivator, wandering around without aid and throwing Bichen and Wangji at anything deemed a problem. Walking Corpses, Fierce Corpses, Water Ghouls, Demons, Demonic Spirits, if it was labeled a problem it didn’t matter how difficult the problem was deemed to be–he threw himself at it. Even if he cannot handle it, even if it poses a problem, even if he might need help. He takes it on himself without hesitation. 

   There is a good list of Lan Sect Rules he breaks doing that.

   The problem that he’s appeared amongst was actually unknown. He spoke to a few villagers, collected what information he could without using too many words, and tried to deduce what it was from that. He was never good at talking, at working information out of people and for that he definitely was going to get himself in trouble. Like he did now. 

   What he had believed to be nothing more than a restless ghost, something he could play Cleansing for and send to their eternal rest, turned into something much more fierce. A spirit that seemed to be bathed in resentful energy, angry and irate, unwilling to move on but rather be consumed by their negative emotions and the resentful energy. Spirit turns to demon–and demons require a much different intervention method. 

   If suppression does not work, destruction is next. 

   What he does not expect is in the middle of the fight with this creature that he was most certainly not winning against–is to be smacked into. A lot has happened in his long years as a cultivator, a lot of strange things have happened. He’s had people hide behind him, he’d protected someone against his own Sect, he’s used himself as a shield–he has never had someone bodily try to move him out of the way. 

   “... ! ” 

   It certainly surprises him, it certainly catches him off guard, it absolutely has him giving pause. Enough that he is actually capable of being moved out of the way before the creature would have more than likely sunk its arm into his chest. His feet plant firmly onto the ground, his arm moves to grab at the robes of the man that touched him and moves him out of the way instead. Shoving him behind Lan Wangji he throws Bichen and the spirit sword flies through the air chasing the target. While Bichen aimed at the spirit he pulls Wangji from his back and yanks on the strings of the Guqin, throwing a powerful wave of spiritual energy through the strings at the enemy. 

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @xiianxias Wei Peng Xi inquired ; ❛  here, you look like you're freezing.  ❜

   THEY’RE OUT TOGETHER WALKING, he had been invalid by Wei Peng Xi for a walk and after a bit of deliberation, thinking it through, he had agreed. What sort of harm could a walk cause? So he had agreed and he had moved with Wei Peng Xi along the street beside him. Crowds made Lan Wangji uncomfortable, he wasn’t overly fond of places with a lot of people, so he stayed a bit closer to Wei Peng Xi than perhaps he expected him to. He stayed beside him until they reached the stall that Wei Peng Xi was intending and they got a few Taro Buns and tea. Taro Buns, Lan Wangji has noticed, seemed to be his favorite food. 

   After getting the food and drink they made their way a bit out of the town in Bai’an until they reached a river that seemed to run along the side of it. A rather beautiful area with plenty of growing flowers and an open enough area that the sun hit the river at just the right angle to get that sparkling light dancing along the water. He glanced at Wei Peng Xi and watch the way his face seemed to lit up excitedly at the area and motioned for Lan Wangji to move closer to the water with him. 

   He sat across from Wei Peng Xi and looked at the Taro Buns, taking one when it was offered to him and adjusting the warm food in his hand. They weren’t his favorite type of food, but the Cloud Recesses had a rather bland diet. Most of it was medicinal soups or rice and vegetables. It was certainly food that no one else would eat, but the Lans were rather specific in their diet and the things they put inside their bodies. One of the rules on the Wall of Discipline was about having no more than three bowls, after all. However, one didn’t reject food either when it was given, and declining a gift was rude as well. So while he sat there he silently ate the Taro Bun and let Wei Peng Xi fill the silence if he wanted to. If he had to answer, he stopped eating and made sure his throat was clear before speaking and then continuing. 

   When they finished eating he washed his hands in the river and dried them with a cloth before sitting back down across from Wei Peng Xi. To fill the silence himself this time he flipped his Guqin Wangji onto his lap and rested his fingers elegantly over the strings. Breathing steadily he began to work his fingers across the strings, playing one of the random pieces from Gusu that he learned from a composition book. It was rather cold in Bai’an, even as he played his fingers could feel the bite of the cold air, but it wasn’t anything compared to the Mountain Settlement of the Cloud Recesses. The entire point of the Cold Springs was to be cold. Lan Wangji had plenty of training to be cold and moving past it, cultivation helped too. One's Golden Core can warm their body with Spiritual Energy. 

   It does still surprise him when Wei Peng Xi moves and drops his cloak around Lan Wangji’s shoulders. 

   His fingers miss a chord on the Guqin, throwing the piece he was playing off. He stills the vibration of the strings with his hand and moves to take the cloak back off. 

   “I am fine, you will get colder quicker than I.” Which was probably true, considering Lan Wangji’s cultivation level had to be much higher than the others. He’s never seen him cultivate anything at all, though that didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t a cultivator. He tugs the cloak from his shoulders and tries to hand it back to Wei Peng Xi. “Put it back on. I’ll play something different for you, if you were bored.”

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @ghostly-valley Wen Kexing ; ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀʟʟ

   IF YOU WANT TO LOOK FOR A GHOST does it not make sense to be drawn to a place called Ghost Valley? In the thirteen years he has chased chaos, that he has searched for signs of Wei Wuxian, he had never been to a place like this. Had never even heard of it until he started picking up the sounds of rumors. Ghost Valley was apparently near the Burial Mounds, which wasn’t surprising considering what it was, but more further and deeper in than Lan Wangji had ever wondered. Have ever dared to wander. To the point it connected to a place called Qingya Mountain.

   He makes it as far as the dense bamboo forest, the only real sign of life he’s noticed, before he can sense someone near him. His left hand tucked behind his back, his body still relaxed and Lan Wangji turned his head subtly in the direction of the presence he felt. Thirteen years ago he had spent prolonged amounts of time around a man who carried resentful energy in him like a dense dark energy, he’s not afraid of what this place held or even the threat it clearly wanted to attempt to present to him. 

   The last thing he would let this place do is attempt to chase him off. 

   “I am not here to cause trouble.” Though he was not opposed to causing trouble if he had to, or fighting against it. A careful breath is taken and he tracks the movement through the bamboo. “I’m looking for–something.” Someone, something, the answer was the same regardless of how he worded it. At the end of the meaning, he was still searching and it was unlikely that he would actually manage to find answers here. Still, it doesn’t stop him from trying. From hoping that he’ll get some form of answer, find anything related to Wei Wuxian.

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @youthslost Nie Huaisang ; ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀʟʟ

   THERE IS A CERTAIN LEVEL of familiarity that comes with growing up when your brothers are best friends with each other. For the two of them, it meant in some people's eyes, they were childhood friends. However, to be childhood friends, the word friend needs to be given, and Lan Wangji would never place that title on Nie Huaisang’s head. They’re not friends, he’s never had friends. Even the other children in the Sect when he was little had kept their distance from him. The cold, emotionless, perfect student of the Cloud Recesses. However, with Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue as close as they were, Nie Huaisang and him had spent time together often.

   After Nie Mingjue passed, his brother’s visits to Qinghe had diminished quite a bit. Nie Huaisang visited the Cloud Recesses more than his brother visited the Unclean Realm. Lan Wangji himself, when he passes through Qinghe, he doesn’t usually stop to visit. He’d been intending to do the same thing this time, move through chasing the chaos the Cultivation World accused him of doing. However, he had run into Nie Huaisang in the forest that bordered the Unclean Realm and after a very long time of just staring at each other–he ended up here. 

   Here being what looked like some sort of bird sanctuary with the offer of tea. 

   Truly Lan Wangji isn’t good with people, he might manage words better than he actually manages social situations. Which means, for once, Nie Huaisang has him at a loss. Awkwardly his gaze shifts around the room, glancing from the table being set with tea to the birds that were around the place. Sliding his bright gaze back over it landed on Nie Huaisang. “You do not have to.” Force himself to have tea with him, out of respect and being polite. Out of familiarity for each other. “I was only passing through.”

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @mythvoiced Jiang Wanyin ; ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀʟʟ

   IT WOULD SEEM THAT despite all attempts, he can’t entirely avoid Jiang Wanyin even if he wants to. How very odd, when they were teenagers he barely ever saw him, but when he actively attempts to stay away from Yunmeng, he still runs into him. Technically, Yiling is close to Yunmeng, so it does seem reasonable that Jiang Wanyin would be here. However, considering the fact that this was where Wei Wuxian spent his last final year, where he died, he thought Jiang Wanyin would avoid it. Or maybe, that was why he wasn’t. 

   Maybe he was here for the same reason Lan Wangji was. Chasing ghosts. 

   Inquiry, when he has played it here, it hasn’t called his soul. Still, he always comes back to try because this was where he died. The places of death tend to be the easiest ones to summon a specific soul. They tend to linger where they died, after all. He blinks at the purple clad cultivator across from him, a steady breath pulled into his lungs and then Lan Wangji goes to step around him. 

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @xiianxias Wei Peng Xi inquired ; [ injury ] sender cleans receiver's wound and patches it up

   IT’S NOT OFTEN that Hanguang-Jun get’s hurt, that something happens enough for him to even be worried about the wounds that he gets in battle. Of course it’s not impossible, especially when he wanders alone and doesn’t bring any of the Juniors with him. It’s one of the things that Lan Sizhui dislikes and worries about, the amount of times that Lan Wangji willingly wanders on his own uncaring about his own wellbeing as much as others do. 

   However, he had not expected to run into an enemy as dangerous as he had, and one who had intended to cause him as much harm as they were. The enemy that Lan Wangji had gone against had been another cultivator but one who was a criminal at the same time. Although no one’s cultivation could rival Lan Wangji’s own, there are still those who can fight him, who play dirty, and can hurt him. Which had been what happened with the man that he had gone up against. 

   Taking hostages, playing dirty, attempting to distract him and partly working. 

   His wounds were not horrible, they certainly weren’t life threatening, and his spiritual energy was high enough that eventually the wounds would heal perfectly fine on their own. They still hurt of course, they still pained him to move. The wounds bled and his white robes were strained a dark red in places that were obviously noticeable. He truly, however, wasn’t that concerned about them if he was honest. He had hardly even spared them a thought as he walked back to the inn in Bai’an. 

   At least, until he ran into Wei Peng Xi on the way and the man had given him such a look of horror that it seemed as if he resembled more of a murder scene than a high leveled cultivator from a distinguished Sect in the Mountains. 

   The last thing that he truly expected however was to have the long sleeve of his robe grabbed and himself pulled into the inn that he was staying at. Lan Wangji always stayed at the same inn, he enjoyed the tea that they sold but they were also familiar with him and the way he liked things. It was convenient to stay in familiar places, where he usually ends up with the same room and it makes it easy for Wei Peng Xi to find him. 

   Once inside the room he finds himself seated at the familiar tea table, his gaze briefly drifting toward the items decorated across it before quickly returning to the person in the room with him. As he watches Wei Peng Xi, the other fetches a first aid kit from inside his Qiankun Pouch on the table and then returns to sitting across from him again. 

   They have now, however, reached a problem. 

   Hesitation fills his voice and face as he lowers his gaze down toward a corner of Wei Peng Xi’s shoulder rather than his face. “You realize, if you truly intend to do this, I will have to remove my clothing–correct?” He asked, a bit of pink coloring the tips of his ears. “You do not have to do something so dirty if you truly do not wish to. The wounds will heal on their own.” They’re not so terrible that they will not mend after a few days. He has had worse, like those lashing that his Sect had given to him. 

   The last thing Wei Peng Xi needed to do for someone like him was dirty his hands cleaning the bloody and disgusting wounds on his body. He doesn’t need to be made uncomfortable by another man stripping in front of him. Worst case scenario, Lan Wangji would clean the wounds he could reach on his own rather than troubling the other. 

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @battleguqin inquired ; [touch ] sender letting receiver know they're there through simple touch

   THE RABBITS ARE BOTH A GOOD AND SAD MEMORY, which was a rather strange thing to think about. How something can bring someone so much comfort and happiness as much as it hurts them at the same time. When he was a teenager, Wei Wuxian had climbed through the window of the library and jokingly held up to rabbits as a gift he said. When reminded that pets were forbidden in the Cloud Recesses, he threatened to go and have them butchered in Caiyi Town to be eaten and that had sent his heart into a race of fear. 

   He doesn’t know if at that moment he kept the rabbits because Wei Wuxian gave them to him, or because he didn’t want to see the cute creatures die. He begged Lan Xichen to let him keep them because Wei Wuxian had given him to them. That had been the only thing he had ever asked his brother for, to let him keep and raise the rabbits in the Cloud Recesses, and Lan Xichen had let him. Had fought their Uncle for him to have the right to raise them. 

   Now the rabbits brought him joy, taking care of them let him remember Wei Wuxian, those days where things seemed so much easier. Where Wei Wuxian was at his happiest, fooling around and running around, tormenting him sure but doing it with such a wide smile on his face and that bright laughter of happiness. He was so happy. Now the rabbits remind him that he’s gone too, just as the rabbits age and die. 

   There were so many of them now too, hundreds of little rabbits running around in the pasture behind the Jingshi. They were quite docile and happy, they didn’t fear the Lans that took care of them but especially Lan Wangji and Lan Sizhui, who had often when he was little found himself buried in a pile of them. Those are days he truly wishes that Wei Wuxian could have seen, could have been a part of. There were so many of Lan Sizhui’s childhood that Lan Wangji wishes Wei Wuxian could have seen. Just as he wishes he could see the person the boy has become. 

   Lan Wangji was incredibly proud of him. 

   His thoughts of such fleeting days and useful hopes were interrupted at the feeling of a hand grasping at the long white sleeves of his hanfu and giving it a light tug. There was only one person that dared to do that, the same one that would hide behind them when he was little. He turned his head to look beside him and took in the form of Lan Sizhui along with the basket of leafy greens he had in his other hand. He gave the boy a small hum and turned his bright gaze back over toward the little rabbits gathering around the both of them now. 

   “Have you come to feed the rabbits?” He was fine, though he appreciated the warmth and comfort that Lan Sizhui was clearly trying to offer him. 

[guqinstrings]

♡

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @cuckoo-among-beasts inquired ; from here.

what ʟᴀɴ ᴢʜᴀɴ thinks of ɴɪᴇ ʜᴜᴀɪꜱᴀɴɢ

○○○○○ | ATTRACTION ●○○○○ | AFFECTION ●●○○○ | INTEREST ●●○○○ | LOYALTY ●●○○○ | TRUST

LOW | ●●●●● | HIGH

Lan Wangji's opinion of Nie Huaisang is very conflicted. The trust, although low seeming is born from years of being in forced proximity to each other through their brothers shared friendship. Lan Wangji feels, to some degree, he understands and knows Nie Huaisang. However, he doesn't fool himself into thinking he knows him well. He just knows him enough to be confident in his understanding and even belief in the other man.

Lan Wangji's ability to push people away, appear very cold and shut himself away, accompanied with Nie Huaisang's personality to back down easily is undoubtably what kept them from forming any sort of friendship. However, there is still that bond from years of being near each other that definitely forms some sort of olive branch which is where the trust, loyalty and interest grows from. Lan Wangji does not believe Nie Huaisang is an idiot, he doesn't believe he's just a coward. Any person who can keep a position of Sect Leader and keep that Sect flourishing is not just a placeholder.

[guqinstrings]

♡ - from wpx / @xiianxias !

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @xiianxias Wei Peng Xi inquired ; from here.

what ʟᴀɴ ᴢʜᴀɴ thinks of ᴡᴇɪ ᴘᴇɴɢ xɪ

●●○○○ | ATTRACTION ●○○○○ | AFFECTION ●●●●○ | INTEREST ●●●○○ | LOYALTY ●●○○○ | TRUST

LOW | ●●●●● | HIGH

For Lan Wangji trust and attraction go hand in hand for someone of the romantic aspect of things. For friendship, affection and trust walk the same rope since attraction wouldn't even be on the list. Lan Wangji is a naturally loyal person, as a cultivator he serves the people in need though his loyalty will always be first and foremost to his own Sect and Gusu (only topped by Wei Wuxian when he's alive). For Wei Peng Xi, even when he learns he's a Prince, his loyalty will still remain with the Lan Sect. Truthfully, it wouldn't change his opinion of him much at all. Though out of respect he would attempt to change how he refers to him as, calling him Taizi Dianxia, unless Wei Peng Xi corrected him.

Wei Peng Xi reminds him a lot of Wei Wuxian in terms of his personality (which we have labeled as the Sunshine) which is where his interest in the Crown Prince comes from. His curiosity to understand him and see just how much he is like Wei Wuxian has started to turn more into just seeing Wei Peng Xi and the type of person that he is. Though guilty he does still find himself comparing the two of them in his head. Rather hard not to when you spend 13 years searching for someone in anything.

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @xiianxias Wei Peng Xi inquired ; [ CLEAR ]: the sender firmly and clearly tells the threat that they are no longer allowed in the premises nor anywhere near the receiver. HEROIC INTERVENTION. ( A PROMPT LIST! )

   IN THE TIME HE HAS SPENT with Wei Peng Xi, which wasn’t that grand, Lan Wangji has learned he is a very opinionated person. They don’t spend a lot of time together, Lan Wangi tries to keep himself moving along rather than constantly staying in this one town. He definitely visits more than he should, that much he was very aware of. It was like a pull he was trying to fight again, constantly telling himself he shouldn’t be spending his time here but wanting to at the same time. 

   There wasn’t any reason for him to be here anyway, it wasn’t as if Wei Wuxian had ever been this far out as far as he was aware. It takes him a while to get here, even by flying on his sword, and the first time he ended up here had been entirely by chance. Searching some rumors he heard, and then running into the man with the very bright smile. 

   Wei Peng Xi was–someone that has already started to work his way  beneath Lan Wangji’s skin. He’s felt oddly over him, to the point that one of the last times he ran into him he had actually carried him up to his hotel room and started taking care of him. Since then, he’s started spending a bit longer with Lan Wangi, oddly enough, staying later when he spends time with him in his inn room and even having meals with him. He doesn’t know what the other is up to, what he’s thinking, but he fills the silence Lan Wangji doesn’t know how to and it keeps him at ease. 

   He doesn’t appear to expect Lan Wangji to talk, to entertain him, to give lengthy responses to anything he says. A lot of people do. They expect that a full grown man can hold a conversation, communicate with more than one syllable sounds, to have an opinion and voice it. Then when he doesn’t, they assume he’s arrogant, conceited and selfish. Yet, Wei Peng Xi seems to hold a different opinion, doesn’t seem to force conversation on him and just flows into another topic when Lan Wangji doesn’t offer much to say. 

   There are topics he can talk over, he’s given details of the Cloud Recesses and what it’s like. He’s talked about playing the Guqin and even played for him. Though he is silent, he’s never without thoughts of words, even if he doesn’t give much. Each word he does speak though, whatever he describes or talks about, Wei Peng Xi seems to hang onto every single word with entertainment. He enjoys what he talks about, Lan Wangji thinks, and it’s weird. 

   Very few people listen so hard when he talks. 

   Despite the visits he has, the places that he goes, the distraction that Wei Peng Xi has proven to be–Lan Wangji still, without fail, continues to play Inquiry every single night. He picks different places to do it within Bai’an, not wanting to stay in one specific place when that had failed before. The capital was a rather large place, and playing at the inn can disrupt other peoples' rest. So he tries to pick other places where he feels he won’t be in the way or burdening others, especially with how long he can sit and play it for. 

   There had been some sort of street festival today, which meant a lot of people were visiting and had gotten drunk. To stay out of the way, he had actually decided to stay at the inn and play tonight, sitting on the balcony with the Guqin in his lap. It was still early, there were people wandering around the streets still and a loud, rowdy group in the main room of the inn dining and drinking. He had eaten earlier, there was still some tea on the table and he’s been playing for at least a stick of incense time. Each spirit he pulled in wasn’t what he wanted or interesting to talk to. His questions were always met with no or I don’t know like always. 

   Still, he played, and hadn’t noticed when he started to draw the attention of the people below him in the street. 

   It was the red object that came hurling at his head that alerted Lan Wangji to the people watching him. He stilled Wangji’s strings and pulled the Guqin back, making the fruit miss his Guqin but land on his lap and robes instead. The red smear that spread across his robes draws a slight frown on his face, lips slightly parting and then he gently sets his Guqin aside as he climbs to his feet. Moving over to the railing he leaned over it and looked down at the people. Laughing, falling over each other, not as young as one would expect such rude people to be. 

   Watching as they lean back one of them points up at him, whispers to their friend, and break into another round of laughter. He doesn’t ever spare people like them any attention, doing so just fuels them  he feels. It always seems like a waste of effort to bother with such things, he never really spares effort in defending himself. It brings him back to that terrible day in Lanling where Jin Zixun harassed him over drinking alcohol. 

   His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted the movement of soft blue robes, quick and clearly agitated. Blinking softly he took in the sight of Wei Peng Xi, wasn’t he supposed to be heading back to his estate? His hair had been left down today, a small braid in the side, he had thought earlier it looked quite nice on him and he still thought that. From a distance, it looked even more soft, the gentle matching ribbon in the back adding to the style. 

   They seemed quite irritated and he actually grasped the banister on the balcony to flip himself over it, landing fluidly and gracefully on his feet. Shaking his robes out neatly he tucked his left hand behind his back and made his way over toward Wei Peng Xi as he seemed to snap at the laughing men yet without losing a single bit of decorum. “Those who show such disrespect to someone who has done nothing but be honorable and respectful do not deserve to continue to be here.” He seemed quite upset for some reason. “Get out of Bai’an. You are not allowed back here or anywhere near Hanguang-Jun.”  

   With the hand that wasn’t tucked behind his back he reached out for Wei Peng Xi, gently grasping the other’s elbow and tugging him slightly back. “Wei Peng Xi.” His name, just his name, they’ve been simply addressing each other as Lan-Xiong and Wei-Xiong, or no name at all. It sounds odd to actually say his name. Yet, Lan Wangji didn’t back down. Instead waiting until the other’s gaze snapped over toward him. He probably looks ridiculous with tomato splattered across his normally white and pristine robes.

   “It’s fine.” He states, and what he doesn’t add is he’s used to it.

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @xiianxias Wei Peng Xi inquired ;

in retrospect, perhaps it wasn't the most intelligent decision wèi péng xī has ever made --- by now, he ought to know better than to go gallivanting about the marketplace during a downpour, but in his defense, wèi shān lóng had been gone for so long, stomping out a rebellion in the western state. he deserved a welcome-home gift of his favorite wine, even if it meant his big brother had to run out in the rain to get it ! ... and ... even if it means that said big brother has a cold now, even though he's stubbornly insisting that he's fine --- despite his inability to make it more than a few minutes between sniffles or coughs, or his reluctance to part with his heavy outer robes despite mild weather. it's not that bad ! it's really not !

"lan-gōngzǐ !" in spite of himself, wèi péng xī's voice cracks on the second syllable, and he wrinkles his nose in distaste. maybe it's ... a bit worse than he thought. even so, the crown prince is good-natured enough to laugh off his misfortune, trotting over to his new acquaintance's side eagerly in order to make a proper greeting.

"we meet again," he continues, cheeks punctuated with adorable dimples as he smiles brightly at the other. it's hard to not be fascinated by lan wangji; in his whole life, wèi péng xī has never met anyone half as taciturn as him. "you're here again today ! is it coincidence, or is it my good fortune ?"

   IN LAN WANGJI’S ENTIRE LIFE no one has ever turned his head and held his attention like Wei Wuxian. At fifteen, the teenager had caught his attention and in even less time that it felt it should be possible, he had taken his heart. The way he smiled, pushed beyond the walls he threw up, his smile and radiant personality. He had grabbed his heart and then, he’d assumed, taken it to the grave with him. That was what he had assumed and it felt it made sense. He’d given everything for him, even when his feelings were shoved back at him, he’d still continued to give. 

   However, inexplicably, he finds his mind and his attention wandering as of late. Specifically to a single man that he for some reason continues to wander into in the market streets. He doesn’t understand it. Never, since Wei Wuxian’s death, has his mind wandered toward anyone else. So much of him blamed the world for what happened to Wei Wuxian, and so much of his heart had still felt held captive by him. Squeezed of its life and ripped open. To the point he chases chaos from one end of the world to the next, searching for signs of him, playing Inquiry, anything. 

   And yet. 

   The young man who had finally given him a name, Wei Peng Xi, reminds him frightfully of the man the world killed. Another Wei, another bright spirited young man, with delicate features and a warming smile. There’s a thought that runs through his head, that he has a problem, and he doesn’t know what to do with these–feelings that the man is instilling in him. Stirring up and shaking like a hornets nest, shoving it at him whenever he smiles at him and talks to him. 

   To place it all in a single word–he would label it as afraid. Not a lot can shake Lan Wangji, can unnerve him or make him react. Wei Wuxian had been the one who could easily do it, and then after he was gone, it was just Lan Sizhui. And all the little boy did was make him happy, without even knowing it or trying. Anyone else got the same, emotionless and cold expressions they expected from Hanguang-Jun. 

   Now there was this man. 

   Aside from his name, and the fact they keep running into each other, Lan Wangji doesn’t know anything about him. He’s noticed things about him though, like when he was in the market he always drifted toward the taro buns and watched them longingly. He seems to enjoy the smell of qingxiang tea, as if he wanted to stop and drink it. But what he really noticed, and he hates himself for it, is the way that the other laughs. Loud, with his entire body, like he can’t control it and it lights his eyes up with the brightest expression. 

   Wei Peng Xi clearly enjoys people, he clearly loves hanging out with people and spending time with them. He flourishes under attention, when being talked to and engaging in people. When someone gives him a little attention, he’s seen the way Wei Peng Xi smiles with such a heartwarming expression and if they’re upset eases into comforting them. He wants to please people, wants to be seen and form connections. 

   He knows another person who was like that, and Lan Wangji learned through years of being with him what a smile can hide. If Wei Peng Xi was like that or not, that he can’t say and Lans don’t make assumptions. 

   The weather today hadn’t been very good, and he’d taken to spending most of it inside an inn. He doesn’t enjoy traversing in the rain if he’s not in a hurry, so he had a room at the inn and was enjoying quite a bit of tea. He had, however, stepped outside for a bit of fresh air,just attempting to breathe and clear his head. 

   Of course that didn’t work. 

   He hears the shout of his name and the voice that carried it. Immediately his back stiffened slightly and his head turned to the side, spotting the man that rushed up toward him clearly breathing heavily. The crack of his voice, the lack of color in his face, yet the sight pink on his cheeks. How long had he been spending time in the rain? How cold was he? Was he running a fever? He pressed his lips together and turned to face Wei Peng Xi more directly. 

   Was it a coincidence or was he here searching for him? Perhaps the most frightful thought of that was that he didn’t know the answer. 

   “Mn…” 

   What Lan Wangji did know was that the young man clearly couldn’t spend any more time in the rain. He shifted slightly and reached his right hand out. His fingers wrapped around Wei Peng Xi’s right wrist and then gave a tug, wordlessly pulling him inside the inn he had just stepped outside of. Part of being a Lan was their superior strength, born from years of doing handstands while copying the rules. Something Lan Wangji had done for training and not punishment. It was easy to manipulate the other man, to tug him along with him, through the inn despite the stares it earned him. 

   He guides the other over toward the stairs and then turns slightly, casting his gaze along his body. Definitely feverish, weak even perhaps, a developing cold. Perhaps stairs would be quite difficult? With that thought he pulls the other a bit closer toward him and then flawlessly sweeps his arm underneath his legs while supporting his back. Quickly he lifts him up into his arms and then carries him up the stairs toward the second floor. 

   Lan Wangji’s room was down the hall and he made his way over toward it. Using his foot he pushes the door open, steps inside and carries him over toward the bed. With a gentleness only two people have ever received from him, he sets him down on the bed. 

   “I will get you tea.”

[guqinstrings]

-ˋˏ🌥 ┈┈ @lighteningandlotus ; ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇʀ ᴄᴀʟʟ

   ALTHOUGH HIS DISTASTE FOR THIS MAN is palpable, his respect for him lacking, Lan Wangji can still admit that he is a Sect Leader and some level of respect must be given. Which is why, whenever he runs into him, Lan Wangji bites his tongue. It’s not a solution to his burning resentment, but it keeps him from causing trouble for the Lan Sect. Which he knows, rightfully, he has done enough of and cannot risk causing anymore. Running amongst chaos, chasing ghosts, longing and hurting. One can ache and still not cause problems for others, unless you’re Jiang Wanyin. 

   The Sect Leader of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect has indeed suffered, that is not something he would ever take from the man. He has lost more in this life than anyone should, and he has crawled from the ashes rebuilding his Sect with a baby strapped to his chest. It is impressive, he won’t take that from him. However, so far lost in his grief, drowning in his own anger and suffering, he fails to see it in those around him. And that is undoubtedly part of what led to the downfall of the man the Cultivation World claims he struck himself. 

   There’s a line from a poetry book he read once that he felt fit the man. 

ɴᴏ ᴏɴᴇ ꜱᴇᴇꜱ ᴍʏ ᴛᴇᴀʀꜱ. ᴡʜᴏ ᴄᴀɴ ɪ ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴡʜɪᴄʜ ᴀᴄʜᴇꜱ ᴍᴏʀᴇ? ᴍʏ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ᴏʀ ᴍʏ ʙᴏᴅʏ ᴡᴀꜱᴛɪɴɢ ᴀᴡᴀʏ? ʏᴇᴛ, ᴏɴʟʏ ᴛʜᴇ ʙɪʀᴅꜱ ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴ. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ꜰʟɪɢʜᴛ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋɴᴇꜱꜱ. ʟᴜᴄᴋʏ ʙɪʀᴅꜱ, ʜᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴅɪꜱᴛᴀɴᴛ, ꜰʟʏ ʜᴏᴍᴇ.

   The man across from him probably has never read a poetry book in his entire life. Their paths cross yet the words they share between each other are never spoken. With the looks that Jiang Wanyin gives him, Lan Wangji gets the distinct impression he loathes, resents and dislikes him just as much as Lan Wangji feels toward him. He acknowledges the other man with only his eyes before going to step around him.