Past is set in stone, only your feelings may change

Sword skill

Wei Wuxian was still out of his depths after Lan Zhan had just given him his token so nonchalantly, as if it really did not mean anything to him. However, for Wei Wuxian, it was a great source of distress. Why would Lan Zhan give him his precious jade token like that? Did he not need it? And did he realize that giving someone his personal pass to Cloud Recesses could cause him much trouble? What if Wei Wuxian, or more precisely Mo Xuanyu in Lan Zhan's eyes, decided to misuse it and bring enemies to the Cloud Recesses? It was outright irresponsible.

And all the more because of the underlying meaning that Wei Wuxian saw clearly. It would be the same as if someone from the Yunmeng Jiang sect had given out their clarity bell. Although they could surely get another one without much troubles. It was precious and should only ever be given to those the owner trusted unconditionally as it would make them an honorary member of the Yunmeng Jiang sect.

He had been pretty much sure that the same applied when it came to the jade tokens of the Gusu Lan sect. But how come that Lan Zahn would just give it to him like this? To a stranger he could not be sure had good intentions? He was the evil Yiling Patriarch; he could have abused the trust in a blink of an eye. Of course he never actually would, but that was beside the point as no one in the cultivation world would believe that statement.

Or could he be mistaken? Perhaps it was not the same as with the Yunmeng Jiang sect clarity bells when it came to the jade tokens of the Gusu Lan sect? Yes, that must have been it, he was just reading too much into this.

He had been so deep in his spiralling thoughts that his breath was taken away in shock when he finally looked up from the token in his hand and saw Lan Zhan. The Second Jade had gotten dressed in the meantime which was only good. Seeing him naked was making Wei Wuxian feel all funny inside and he did not want to examine that feeling too closely.

Lan Zhan was just picking up his sword and when he stood up, a similar image suddenly flashed in front of Wei Wuxian's eyes. He had once seen Lan Zhan like this, with his long wet hair falling down his back and holding his sword with so much grace.

He found himself back in their younger days. When he had been sneaking over the wall of the Cloud Recessed with a jar of Emperor's smile one evening. It has started raining and he had thought that no one would be around. Well, he had found out that he had been mistaken. Lan Zhan had suddenly landed on the roof in front of him, just as that very first time when Wei Wuxian had seen him.

He had learned his lesson and had tried to get away in order to avoid being dragged in front of Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen again and having his jar of Emperor's Smile confiscated. He had known it would be ultimately pointless as he would be punished regardless, but he had at least wanted to drink his wine before it would happen. And so he had tried to run away.

Just as the first time this had happened, Lan Zhan had blocked his escape route and everything escalated in a sword fight under the rain. It had been beautiful, exciting and the best fight Wei Wuxian had ever experienced, perhaps with the exception of his first duel with the Second Jade. Lan Zhan was as skilled as always, perfectly matching his every move as if he had known what Wei Wuxian had been about to do even before he would actually move. Lan Zhan was so skilled it had taken his breath away.