Chapter Text
"Oi Wei Wuxian! Can you just hurry the fuck up!?" Jiang Cheng yelled from outside Wei Wuxian's room. "We are leaving soon! Get your ass out here before I kick you!"
Wei Wuxian huffed, Jiang Cheng always did have a temper and it seemed like today was no exception. He was currently in the midst of putting on his Yunmeng Jiang head disciple uniform.
It’s been a long while since I wore this outfit. How very nostalgic.
When Wei Wuxian destroyed the half of the Yin Tiger Tally, he died. Well, he expected that he would but what he did not expect that he would wake up in his fifteen-year-old body in Lotus Pier. It had been five days and in that period, he had learned a few things. One, he was in some sort of time rewind. That means, he still had his golden core and he was ecstatic to be able to wield Suibian again. Oh, how he had missed the feeling of using his precious sword!
Two, it wasn't exactly the same world that he knew of. It was almost similar but there was one important peculiar addition that made him uneasy. It was a little hard for him to accept but the only explanation he could think of was that he was living in another reality. A parallel world.
"Wei! Wu! Xian!" His train of thoughts were cut off with Jiang Cheng’s voice once again.
"Okay! I’m coming! I'm coming!" Wei Wuxian said quickly putting on his outer robe, wrapping his belt around and slipping his hair into a high ponytail.
"What the hell is wrong with you these days?" Jiang Cheng said with disdain when he finally walked out the door.
Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes, he had gotten used to all this by now. After all, this was how Jiang Cheng acted around him in the past. Before their fall out. Before the siege. Before the... He didn't want to think about it again. "Why are you so cranky anyway?" He asked instead.
"Because we're fucking late!" Jiang Cheng replied simply which, okay fair point to be grumpy. Only that, they weren’t,
"We're not." Wei Wuxian argued. "There are still half incense stick time* before we are to depart. In fact, we are early. It takes only-"He was cut off mid-sentence as Jiang Cheng elbowed him.
"Can’t you not be a smartass for once?" Jiang Cheng grumbled, deeply annoyed with him.
There it was. The peculiar addition to the world. Wei Wuxian caught a whiff of a soured note of some spicy scent in the air and wrinkled his nose. The scent made him feel uneasy. Bothered.
Wei Wuxian turned to face Jiang Cheng. "Do you smell something?" He sniffed the air.
"Yeah, I fucking do," Jiang Cheng glared at Wei Wuxian. Of course he did, he was the source of that smell. It was his pheromones flaring due to his annoyance. But Wei Wuxian could not possibly smell them, that was why he was so careless about it.
“It smelled like shit.” Wei Wuxian commented. “Did you forget to wash you ass after using the latrine this morning?” He asked with a grin.
Jiang Cheng kicked his shin, “Fuck you! It must be coming from you then!”
Wei Wuxian turned his head to sniff his clothing, “No, it’s not. I smell good.” He said confidently.
Jiang Cheng scowled at him before pushing him to move forward, "Can you just shut the fuck up and walk faster! Jiejie is waiting!"
Jiejie. Shijie. Jiang Yanli. Wei Wuxian moved his feet faster at the mention of her name. His heart felt lighter at the sound of her name. The good thing though was that he could see her standing near the entrance, her face lit up at the sight of him. She was alive and well. "Shijie!" He ran up to her side.
"A-xian." She said with a soft smile. "Are you ready to go?"
"Shijie, can I not go?" Wei Wuxian whined. "I want to stay here with you!" He said grabbing onto her arm tightly, leaning his head on her shoulder. His martial sister smelled good like flower.
"Stay your head!" Jiang Cheng snapped at him. “Stop clinging on A-jie like a fucking toddler.”
Wei Wuxian huffed, "Oh, fuck you. "
"A-xian." Jiang Yanli gently scolded him. She gave him a stern look. "Language."
"Screw you." Wei Wuxian amended, still glaring at Jiang Cheng. Then he turned back to Jiang Yanli and smiled sweetly as if he had done something he could be proud of.
Jiang Cheng growled, "You shi-" he paused, noticing that his sister directed him a look, "Poop head."
"Poop head? Really?" Wei Wuxian laughed loudly. The angry smell hit Wei Wuxian's nose again. He frowned, irritated with it. "Ugh." He grunted quietly.
"A-Cheng, you should control your pheromones." Jiang Yanli admonished lightly.
Jiang Cheng scowled at her and muttered "But he is being such an ass!"
"As an alpha, you shouldn't just flare your pheromones whenever you are upset, A-Cheng. It's not appropriate." Jiang Yanli reminded. "Especially when there’s omega around." She reminded.
"But he's a beta." Jiang Cheng grumbled.
And again, this was the peculiar addition to this world. Wei Wuxian had yet to grasp this concept of alpha, omega and beta fully. It was a foreign and confusing notion to him. However, like Jiang Cheng said, he is a beta. Therefore, the deviation of this universe was not something that should have huge impact to his current life because he is practically the 'normal' people and pheromones has no effect on betas like him since a beta can't even smell those hormonal scents.
But what was the smell he had been smelling then? Did his nose get oversensitive?
"Your sister is right, A-Cheng." Jiang Fengmian chimed in as he appeared behind Jiang Cheng. "You need to work on controlling your temper. You are the heir of Yunmeng Jiang. You ought to act more refined."
Jiang Cheng lowered his head, "Yes, Diē."
"Good." Jiang Fengmian smiled. “Your mother went for a night hunt so she couldn’t send you off,” he informed. Then, he placed a hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder, “But, we expect that you won’t fail your exam."
Jiang Cheng looked down, biting his lip and nodded stiffly. "I won't."
"A-Ying, please look after A-Cheng while you both in Gusu." Jiang Fengmian told Wei Wuxian. "And please, stay out of trouble." He said with an emphasize.
Wei Wuxian gave him a bow and smiled. "Of course, Jiang Shusu." He said earnestly. The last time he saw Jiang Fengmian in his past life, he was lying on the floor with Yu Ziyuan, lifeless in their own pool of blood next to hundreds of his juniors’ corpses. Wei Wuxian would never forget that moment and how his whole life changed drastically afterwards. Now that his uncle is alive again, he promised himself to treat the elder with more respect.
"Here, take these." Jiang Yanli said warmly, stuffing some packed snacks onto their hands. " Remember to take care of each other and try not to fight too often, okay?"
"Aiyo, Shijie, you're too generous." Wei Wuxian beamed at her. "Don't worry about this brat. I'll take care of him. I am his Shixiong after all." He said, grinning widely.
Jiang Cheng's eyerolls was almost audible. "It probably be me taking care of your troublemaker ass and cleaning up after your mess." He grumbled.
"We'll see about that." Wei Wuxian smirked.
"That's enough of bickering. The boat is waiting. We'll see you both again next year then." Jiang Fengmian said, smiling gently at them.
And with that, Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng set for their journey to Gusu Lan sect. (Once again.)
Gusu. Cloud Recesses. It had been many years since Wei Wuxian set his foot in this place. As much as he tried his best not to be bothered by the memories that flooded him, he couldn’t help feel nostalgic. He felt even more sentimental when he heard the same babbles from Nie Huaisang when they grouped up the next morning after they arrived there.
“…Next year, I’m going to Yunmeng to study! Nobody can hold me back!” Nie Huaisang declared.
“Nobody would hold you back. Your older brother would just break your legs.” Jiang Cheng stated causing Nie Huaisang to pout at once.
Wei Wuxian laughed, shaking his head. “To be honest, Gusu is quite fun as well.” He said truthfully. Looking back, it was really quite fun. He had to admit though, he was a mischievous kid once. Now, not so much. His soul had matured since he had lived through war, massacre, bloodbath and death. Those experiences had permanently changed him. He just couldn’t act as frivolous and carefree as he was once as a youth despite being in his youthful body again. And he planned to stay out of trouble this time around.
Nie Huaisang spoke, “Wei-xiong, listen to a sincere advice of mine. The Cloud Recesses is nothing like Lotus Pier. On this trip to Gusu, remember that there’s one person whom you shouldn’t provoke.”
Wei Wuxian nodded, "Yeah, you shouldn’t provoke Lan Zhan.”
“You know of him?” Nie Huaisang asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Yeah. I know him.” Wei Wuxian blurted before he could stop himself.
“Stop bullshitting.” Jiang Cheng scorned him. “How could you know him when you never even met him? Such a liar.”
Wei Wuxian had enough times of people accusing him of lying (and all kind of bad deeds really) in his lifetime. So, hearing that had ruffled his feathers and he felt challenged to prove his innocence. “He’s handsome, his brows straight as sword, light golden eyes, taller than me by about one cun** and he has broad shoulder. White from top to bottom, wearing a forehead ribbon.” He described without blinking.
Nie Huaisang let out a gasp of surprise. "Oh wow! How accurate, Wei-xiong! I didn't know that you met him before. But he had been doing secluded meditation for the past few days. You just came yesterday; when did you have the chance to see him?" He questioned, fanning himself.
Oh shit.
"Uh... Well..." Wei Wuxian started, thinking for a moment how to answer. The first time he met Lan Wangji, they fought on the rooftop the night before the official lesson day (which was today). But that was in the past life. And since he had decided to behave, he didn’t sneak out to the town to buy Emporer Smile this time, that fight never happen. So, technically, he shouldn't have met Lan Wangji yet. "In my dreams?" He answered lamely. He could practically hear Jiang Cheng rolling his eyes behind him while Nie Huaisang cackled at his answer.
"That makes sense! That make so much sense! After all, he is the number two among the most desirable young alphas in the rank." Nie Huaisang gushed, "Not only omegas want him, even betas are crazy for his looks." He then added scandalously, "I heard he is a dominant, too." He then giggled.
Before Wei Wuxian could question what the fuck Nie Huaisang had just insinuated, Lan Wangji appeared in their line of sight, walking towards the lesson hall with an aura of grace and dominance.
Wei Wuxian had seen and interact with Lan Wangji countless of times before to a point that they even had seen each other at their worst state. However, seeing this younger- looking Lan Wangji now felt entirely different. Not only he could feel that his heart rate went up a notch or two, he couldn't stop himself from staring at the man, forgetting how to blink.
Lan Wangji always had this gravitational pull towards his attention but, whatever he was feeling at the moment was something new. It felt like the law of attraction had amplified by tenfold, causing the atoms in the air to clash and the temperature to rise. In fact, his entire being seemed to become hot and sweaty like a boiling oil pot. His skin itched and he almost wanted to scratch it off.
When Lan Wangji walked past them, a familiar fresh sandalwood mixed with jasmine assaulted his senses and the scent enveloped him instantly, sending shivers up his spine. His mouth tasted dry all of a sudden and suddenly there was a knot in his throat.
Lan Wangji probably heard him gasped because he halted that instance and glanced over at Wei Wuxian, his golden gaze lingering for longer than necessary.
Under Lan Wangji intense gaze, Wei Wuxian thought his knees were going to give out any minute, but somehow, he managed to stay standing by grabbing on Jiang Cheng's arm.
Lan Wangji’s brows creased slightly as he stared sharply at where Wei Wuxian was touching Jiang Cheng for moment before he looked away and continued to walk.
Jiang Cheng glared at Wei Wuxian, "The hell? Why are you suddenly latching on me? Get your hands off!" He hissed harshly, shaking off Wei Wuxian's grip.
Wei Wuxian shook his head furiously, trying to get rid of the daze that was still clinging onto his addled brain. He let go of Jiang Cheng's arm, ignoring his complaints. "Sorry! I might have low sugar level or something. I was dizzy for a moment."
"Yeah right! You just gobbled up some buns an hour ago!" Jiang Cheng scoffed. "Let's just go in now. The lesson is about to start."
Wei Wuxian just hummed his agreement; he had no desire to retort as his mind was filled with the weird sensation he just felt.
Meanwhile Nie Huaisang had one of his eyebrows raised, looking amusedly at Wei Wuxian behind his fan. He seemed to pick up on the unusual change of Wei Wuxian's behavior after seeing Lan Wangji and not to forget how the latter, who was well-known for his cold personality and indifference, stopped in his track to look at the former. He grinned as he thought of how interesting this year would be.
The long and boring lesson started but Wei Wuxian was already lost in his thoughts. He looked back at the last time he saw the Second Jade of Lan. They fought each other during the night of Pledge Rally which he had massacred thousands of people in his grief-fueled and crazed rampage. He had murdered cultivators from many sects, including those from this very sect he was currently in. The scene played in front of Wei Wuxian's vision again and he shot up from his seat, shaking with a mixture of panic and dread. He was sweating profusely and breathing heavily, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Wei Wuxian! What are you doing?!" Lan Qiren barked.
"I need to go." Was all he said before he bolted out of his classroom without looking back.
He ran for all he was worth through Cloud Recesses and ended up collapsing to his knees when he reached a clearing deep inside the back hill. Tears were flowing freely now and Wei Wuxian sobbed, curling into himself. He thought he could forget the past and start anew. He promised to stay out of trouble but he couldn't shake of the ghosts of the past from creeping into his conscience and corrupting his mind.
He didn't deserve this second chance of life he had now. Not after what he did in the past. He tried to hold on to reality, to remember that he could change the past. He could prevent all this. But that still would not erase the fact that he had murdered people in cold blood or caused the death of people around him. Guilt and grief were consuming him whole.
He couldn't breathe, everything was spinning around him, pain stabbing his heart and his brain felt fuzzy. He clutched his chest, hoping for relief, but nothing came to him.
He could barely register when someone picked him up and cradled his body against his chest protectively. A soothing scent was enveloping him and calming him down greatly. The pain gradually disappeared and he could breathe again. He nuzzled his nose closer to the broad chest.
Ah.. Someone is here for me... I am not alone anymore.
With that thought, he closed his eyes and let unconsciousness take him.