[♪♫♬]

[one_note]

[after Yi City and the second time Wei Wuxian gets Lan Wangji drunk, it takes about a day for them to reach the Garden of Annual blossoms. this curious incident takes place in the space of that day.

outside of appeasing the corpse pieces they've been collecting each night, it's not uncommon for Lan Wangji to take the time to practice on the guqin. he doesn't play entire songs, since he's not trying to interact with any spirits at the moment, but safely broken-up sections of Inquiry and Empathy (was Empathy always a musical technique? it is in this timeline, shut up) and the other songs he uses for battle hum through the walls of the rest stop they've paused at on the road.

it's partway through a passage of Empathy that there's a notable shriek of strings, and then silence; when Wei Wuxian goes to check, he'll find Lan Wangji half-collapsed over the instrument, his breathing harsh and a strange fluctuation of energy around him.

a qi deviation...? oh no.]

Comments

[one_note]

[SOMETHING SLAMS INTO THE FLOOR OF THE JINGSHI FROM UNDERNEATH]

[weiyingdown]

[u-under

neath...

he tries to leave the bedroom to go back out to the main area again]

[one_note]

[it's rocking the whole building.

WHAM

WHAM

WHAM]

[weiyingdown]

CALM DOWN!

[goes back to the secret compartments, opens up the first, and the second, and digs a little ways in the second compartment to make sure there isn't a third secret compartment

WE ARE JUST BEING THOROUGH HERE]

[one_note]

[THERE IS NO THIRD COMPARTMENT OVER THERE, WEI WUXIAN!]

[weiyingdown]

[WELL THERE WAS A SECOND ONE SO IT WAS A REASONABLE DOUBLE-CHECK!!!

he's running back to the bedroom to look for secret compartments and doors in there, which mostly means he's making a mess of everything again by pulling it all out in his search.]

[one_note]

[there's some kind of wardrobe and drawers with the clothes, the bed, and the table with the incense burner and incense box; what is he messing with exactly?]

[weiyingdown]

[he is starting with the wardrobe because it looks most likely to have a secret trap door]

[one_note]

[no, but Bichen has been thrown in there and is lying at the bottom, unsheathed. that's weird.]

[weiyingdown]

[that IS weird. he takes Bichen out of the wardrobe and loops it into his belt, careful not to stab himself. checking the drawers for the sheath next...? and also trap doors.

is something still slamming into the floor or did it stop when he yelled at it]

[one_note]

[something is still slamming the floor, but it's pretty irregular now. the drawers don't yield anything except yet another Lan sect ribbon, only notable because it doesn't try to tie him up instantly]

[weiyingdown]

[that ribbon can stay where it is.

closes the drawers and checks under the bed to see if there's anything under there]

[one_note]

[oh.

THERE'S the trapdoor.]

[weiyingdown]

[he IS going to crawl under the bed to open the trap door, but he's going to make faces about it. does anything immediately jump out at him or is he allowed to safely peer inside before jumping in?]

[one_note]

[he can peer in.

it's dark.]

[weiyingdown]

[i have a convenient sword that kinda glows in the dark sometimes!

he inches himself into the dark legs-first, trying to see if he can touch the bottom or if it's much further down than that. he'll keep inching until he's hanging by his fingers, if needed]

[one_note]

[it's deeper than he's tall, but Bichen faintly illuminates that the floor's not far below.

he can hear that angry thumping not too far off.]

[weiyingdown]

[lets himself drop to the floor. WHICH WAY TO THE ANGRY THUMPING? does it look like a tunnel or a big cave from down here, or something else?]

[one_note]

[from what he can make out in his poor light, it's some kind of squared-off dirt tunnel, like a much larger and more extensive version of the compartment under the floorboards. if he advances far enough he'll realize that the tunnel soon splits. it's hard to tell which direction the thumping is coming from exactly.]

[weiyingdown]

[goes with a guess, then, and picks the right side to go down]

[one_note]

[the thumping gets a little fainter, but he hears a faint, effortful coughing ahead instead]

[weiyingdown]

[continues forward, picking up the pace as much as he can while still being wrapped in way too many ribbons]

[one_note]

[he hits a small side chamber. Lan Wangji is here, sans weapon and ribbon and outer robe, leaned against the wall like he's been injured. he straightens noticeably when a beribboned Wei Wuxian walks in on him, though, his eyes widening]

[weiyingdown]

[most of those ribbons are hidden under a Lan sect robe. which probably doesn't make this situation less weird to see, visually, with two whole eyes.]

Lan Zhan? What are you doing all the way down here?

[one_note]

Wei Ying...?

[there's a trace of uncertainty for, obvious reasons,]