Chapter Text
Lan Wangji never makes it back to Gusu.
After leaving Lotus Pier, leaving a piece of himself behind as well, he travels to Lanling with Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yanli.
Although their journey is uneventful, Lan Wangji can’t shake off the sensation of an oncoming storm. A feeling of foreboding he can’t quite ignore.
Ru Shi must feel it too, because she doesn’t prod him about it, and she spends the whole trip moping below deck.
As soon as they dock, Lan Wangji takes his leave, and he won’t admit how much he’s taken off-guard by Jiang Yanli’s warm goodbye. She gently pats his shoulder while she wishes him a good journey. She, like Wei Wuxian, tells him they’ll meet again soon.
Lan Wangji is so flustered that he forgets to reply to her and just turns and leaves.
The next time he sees Wei Wuxian, he will need to ask him to extend his apologies to his sister.
Except–
He receives the news when he is halfway to Gusu.
Lotus Pier has been destroyed.
He doesn’t even think about it: he turns around and rushes back to Lanling. It’s too late to help, but maybe they’ll have some information there. It’s too late to help, but he can’t just go back to Gusu without finding out what happened to Wei Wuxian.
And, he reasons with himself, maybe, after what happened, he will meet his brother there.
He is not wrong: the attack on the Yunmeng Jiang Clan is the final blow that pushes the other cultivation families to join together with the purpose of overthrowing the Qinshan Wen Sect.
When he finally arrives in Lanling, all the surviving Clan Leaders – the ones accounted for at least – have already reunited there.
When his brother sees him, he quickly walks towards him, and for a moment Lan Wangji thinks he’s going to hug him.
“Wangji,” Lan Xichen says with wonder in his voice. “We thought you were still in Yunmeng when...”
“I was on my way back to Gusu. Brother, what happened?”
Lan Xichen shakes his head. “We don’t know. The Wen Sect announced the Clan Leader’s death and declared Yunmeng under their jurisdiction.”
It’s like the world stops around Lan Wangji. Jiang Fengmian… dead? And Yu Ziyuan. He didn’t like her, but to think of her body, still and lifeless… Golden dust scattered around them. And what happened to the siblings? What happened to…
Lan Wangji feels sick in the stomach.
He asks anyway. “Wei Ying?”
“I’m sorry, Wangji.”
No.
No, he can’t accept it.
Wei Wuxian is still alive, if not for himself, to keep his siblings alive.
Unless Lan Wangji can hold his cold, lifeless body in his arms, unless he can see the absence of Qing Shan beside him, he won’t accept any other possibility.
And so begins what will become known as the Sunshot Campaign.
The three remaining great cultivation families – Lanling Jin, Qinghe Nie, Gusu Lan – join together in council and start planning to take back both Qinghe and Gusu.
And then –
Suddenly one day, one of the Jin Clan’s guards bursts into the war room, out of breath, informing them that Jiang Yanli has just arrived at Koi Tower’s gates.
Lan Wangji and Ru Shi are the first to arrive there. They didn't waste even a moment to look at each other as they were already running out of the room and towards the gates.
There is a dark, tall figure standing beside Jiang Yanli, and a tiny speck of hope sparks in Lan Wangji’s chest. He feels crushed when he realises that beside the man there is a white swan: Song Zichen’s daemon.
As Lan Wangji rushes closer, he notices Song Zichen’s guilty expression and the fact that Jiang Yanli is hugging Li Rong, holding him tight against her chest, her face stricken by tears.
No.
Please, no.
Lan Wangji throws away all propriety and doesn’t even acknowledge Song Zichen’s presence. He lowers himself next to Jiang Yanli. Waiting. Dreading.
She lifts her face to look at Lan Wangji. She grasps his hand.
Lan Wangji tries to swallow the lump that has formed in his throat. “Wei Ying?” he asks with a trembling voice.
Jiang Yanli shakes her head, pressing her lips together in an attempt to stop her tears. “They sent me away.” She cries harder. “He promised we would always stay together. Why did he send me away?”
Alive.
Lan Wangji takes what feels like the first breath since the moment the Jin guard burst into the war room.
He wants to ask her more questions, demand some answers, but the moment he goes to open his mouth, Ru Shi pulls at the hem of his sleeve and shakes her head. “She’s too distraught, A-Zhan. They’re alive. That’s enough for now.”
It is not enough for Lan Wangji, but he acquiesces anyway and silently stays with her until the other cultivators start to arrive.
Jin Zixuan is the first one to reach them, and Lan Wangji cedes his spot to him, letting him crouch in front of Jiang Yanli and take her hands.
Lan Wangji isn’t interested in listening to what they’re murmuring to each other, so he takes a step back and, feeling guilty for his previous disregard, finally bows to Song Zichen, who immediately bows back to him.
“Lan’er-gongzi. Clan Leaders.” Song Zichen greets Lan Wangji and the people behind him. “I am Song Lan, courtesy name Zichen. I came here fulfilling my promise to Wei-gongzi and Jiang-gongzi to bring Jiang-guniang safely here to you.”
Hearing his words, Jin Zixuan shoots up. “You know what happened to them?”
Song Zichen shakes his head. “I only know a little bit. They were hiding in Yiling when they saved my life. I’m sure Jiang-guniang will be able to tell you everything you need to know.” He bows once again. “I must take my leave now.”
He turns towards Jiang Yanli and gives her a deeper bow than the one that he gave to any of them. “I deeply apologise for going against your will.”
Jiang Yanli, who seems to have finally stopped sobbing, stands up and bows back to him. “You have nothing to apologise for, Song-gongzi. I thank you for escorting me here.”
Song Zichen slowly rises from his bow and gives her one last nod. Then he turns around and leaves.
Although she’s clearly exhausted, Jiang Yanli refuses to wait until the next day to tell them everything she knows about the attack on Lotus Pier, so they bring her to the war room and sit her down.
She starts her story from the moment she said goodbye to Lan Wangji. She tells them how she and her father found Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin drifting on a boat, bound together by Zidian. How Jiang Fengmian left her with them before rushing back to Yunmeng. How Lotus Pier was destroyed. How the three of them had to run away, how Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin went back to Lotus Pier and saw the dead bodies of her parents and ended up being sheltered by two Wen siblings in a Supervision Office in Yiling. How they drugged her and sent her away.
That night, Lan Wangji lies awake in the room that’s been assigned to him. There is a tightness in his chest that he can’t overcome in any way. He lets Ru Shi nestle under his arm, in a way that reminds him of the time when she did the same thing with Wei Wuxian in Yunmeng.
It almost makes it worse.
He feels a deep and heavy sadness in his heart, weighing on his chest and making it hard to breathe.
How he wishes he was brave enough to tell Wei Wuxian how he felt about him when he still had the chance. That day at the dock might be the last time he will ever see him and he didn’t tell him how much he loves him.
Lan Wangji closes his eyes, and the memory of Wei Wuxian’s brief touch crashes into him like a flood. He recalls the way Wei Wuxian’s thumb brushed across his mouth, caressing him, teasing him.
Without realising, he lifts a hand and retraces the same path across his lips. He dreams of what it would be like to feel Wei Wuxian’s touch on his skin, on other parts of his body.
A sob escapes his throat and he breaks down crying. What is the point of dreaming? By now, he might be dead.
That is the first night Lan Wangji spends playing Inquiry. No one replies.
The next morning, he leaves his room with a renewed determination to defeat the Wen Sect. He starts to push for an attack. He knows Wei Wuxian is alive.
Maybe he’s been captured. Maybe he’s still hiding in Yiling.
He doesn’t care how many pitying glances his brother sends him everyday. He only needs to find Wei Wuxian.
Nothing else matters. As long as the sea is bound to wash upon the sand, Wei Wuxian’s words echo in his mind. Nothing else matters.
And just when he is this close to going and looking for him himself, Jiang Wanyin arrives in Lanling.
Alone.