The Temple of Guanyin (MDZS AU)✅

Beginnings of Truth

Wei Wuxian's eyes widened to the size of saucers. Careless- how the hell could he have been so careless? His heart clenched looking at his nephew under the equivalent of medieval gunpoint. Jin Ling had turned deathly pale, his face painted in shock.

As he stayed trapped in his villainous uncle's knife-point stronghold, all he could think of was how utterly foolish he was. How many times did he wish to be fooled? The rational part of his brain told him to think, to plot and get his way out of this sticky situation, but the other half screamed in defeat. Waiting for and wanting help. What more can I do anyway? His parents were dead, and he had next to no friends- no one to live for in retrospect. But- Unbidden, an image of a smiling Sizhui, a grinning Jingyi and a blushing Ouyang Zizhen flashed before him. Them. His first friends, even if he'd never admit it. But his life had been hell, anyway. Now the scene of Uncle Wei defending him, of Uncle Jiang handing him fairy and playing with him, teaching him materialised before him. Never mind...

"Let. Him. Go." Wei Wuxian gritted out every word. Fury emanated off him in waves. His dove-gray eyes darkened to the point they were black, and then they morphed. His eyes burned crimson red, and his expression hardened. Eerily, Mo Xuanyu's body resembled Wei Wuxian's original body, and Jin Guangyao could have sworn he saw him morphing. But if there was one thing that stayed the same, it was his unmistakable power. Involuntarily, he took a step forward, and the ground trembled in response.

The grip on Rulan tightened, and to all of their surprises, Jin Guangyao didn't cower this time. Too late, Lan Xichen thought, even if you manage to stand your ground now, you'll face young Master Wei's wrath later.

"No. Another step closer, Wei Wuxian, and your beloved disciple's head might go rolling to the ground." Meng Yao grinned, perfectly embodying the essence of "I became insane, with long periods of horrible sanity," blood half-crusted on his face, streaked with dirt and grime, robes disheveled and loose. Mania glinted in his eyes, but an air of chaste composure overtook him, and even if he wasn't sane, his eyes dimmed with severity. Knowing Meng Yao he wouldn't do anything hastily. His grip on the knife steadied, and he barely inched it away. Never before in his life had Wei Wuxian ever wanted to punch someone in the face so badly. Meng Yao's knuckles turned white.

"I won't do anything," his voice reminded Lan Xichen of hot and drying coals, "if you don't move." Lan Xichen wanted to laugh and cry simultaneously. Really? That was the best he could come up with? How in the name of Hell, had he come to trust this man? Unbidden, something whispered, love. But the truth was far simpler than that. He'd imagined in this man something he could protect, unlike his little brother, who'd always been self-sufficient. Who had never allowed him to take care of him, not after that fateful day. He still remembered a little boy kneeling before a garden of dead gentians, a house of overgrown thorns, eyes brimming with so much ferocity it scared the hell out of him. His brother took after their father. Their love could span centuries, and endure infinity in a blink of an eye. But while his father's love had been obsessive, Lan Zhan waited. Lan Xichen had yearned for family for so long he threw caution to the wind, giving his trust to this- he didn't know what to say, but to him easily, hoping that somehow, he'd be able to protect him. The way he couldn't with Wangji.

 In reality, though, all he'd ever done was cover up this vile man's tracks. He'd stood up for him, trusted him, believed in him, affirmed him. Just for the semblance of what he'd wished he and his brother would have had. Stupid. Utterly stupid, and foolish. But at least...He thought back to another, far more muscular, far taller man who'd loathed the filthy, short cockroach in front of him now, at least he'd been real. Even if he'd the oddest ways of showing it. But Wangji...he'd let Wangji down, in too many ways to count. He'd failed to believe him, to help him those days back in Nightless City. If he'd just done something...maybe they wouldn't have got to where they were today. Maybe didi and Wei Wuxian would have been happily married by now, maybe Nie Mingjue would still have been alive. But...If only...