[♪♫♬]

[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]

[there aren't really any branches so catching up with the rabbit at some point seems hopeful, anyway

he emerges into a larger cave. the light is brighter here, and there is a lake in the middle...it's very like the Tortoise of Slaughter's cave, but strangely compressed. the beast itself isn't here, but there's a stone platformin the middle of the water with a body laid out upon it, covered with a white sheet. Lan Wangji -- a fifteen-year-old Lan Wangji -- is knelt on the shore, playing the guqin softly.]

[weiyingdown]

[Tiny! Lan! Zhan!]

[weiyingdown]

[he's...concerned and curious about the body, too, but between the body and fifteen-year-old Lan Wangji, only one can have a conversation with him. so he approaches the teenager on the shore, being careful not to startle him]

[one_note]

[he keeps playing, but]

Wei Ying.

[weiyingdown]

[taking a seat next to him on the shore]

What are you doing in this cave all by yourself, Lan Zhan?

[one_note]

My father is dead.

[weiyingdown]

[his eyes wander to the body covered by the sheet]

...I'm sorry.

Are you keeping him company, then?

[one_note]

Mn.

[the body's just a body. that soft, time-dulled grief permeates the air here, too.]

[weiyingdown]

[there's a fuzzy memory in his mind, of a similar cave and a mention of a dying father. back then, Lan Wangji told him to stop talking. there's a moment when he contemplates just not talking and being nothing more than a quiet presence beside him.

and then that moment passes and he figures he'll stop talking when Lan Wangji tells him to stop]

You don't want to bring his body up?--I know, I know, you don't need to answer that. It seems like everything here has a place that it's supposed to be. That's fine, I won't tell you to move. But if you keep sitting here your feet will fall asleep.

[one_note]

[he looks...slightly discomfited...but doesn't tell him to stop...?]

[weiyingdown]

I doubt your father would want you cooped up in here for too long either.

[a pause, a little less flippant with his words when he goes on]

Not that I know what he'd want for you. I'm sure in that regard, you would know better than me. It just seems like the obvious thing to say about a parent who loves their child, that's all.

[one_note]

[there's a faint rough edge to his words this time]

...who will keep vigil for him...if I leave?

[weiyingdown]

You can still keep vigil for him if we bring him up. That was the Cloud Recesses outside, wasn't it? Don't you have a place for him there?

[one_note]

...I do not know.

[weiyingdown]

Hmm...

[it would be bad, probably, to climb out of a cave with a dead body and not know where to put it]

If you're actually interested, do you want me to go and take a look?

[one_note]

[he's quiet for a long time, picking out the notes on his guqin, before finally jerking out a single nod]

[weiyingdown]

[a smile breaks onto his face as he leaps back onto his feet, pleased with what he feels like is his impending success]

I promise you won't regret it. Don't move, okay?

[he heads back to the cave entrance to look for a nice, non-cave place to put a body]

[one_note]

[the rabbit toddles out with him, into the grey sunlight '-'

is there anywhere he's looking in particular?]

[weiyingdown]

[he hops back onto the path he was taking, only to almost instantly wander off of it again. he's in search of a place that's out of the way, for privacy, but also that looks nice. with everything as gray as it is, the niceness will vary, but most places are better than a cave.

the half-formed thought in his mind is a pond similar to the lake in the cave. not all ponds are going to have convenient stone platforms for bodies, but. if Lan Wangji was satisfied enough with the platform in the cave, then something similar above ground should be just as suitable. anything vaguely reminiscent of that will catch his eye]

[one_note]

[there's always the cold springs...?]

[weiyingdown]

[that is a place off the beaten path and no one else appears to be here except for Lan Wangji, so it's not like anyone else is going to use them...

> TO THE COLD SPRINGS!]

[one_note]

[THEY LOOK NORMAL! no naked lan zhans or naked anyone else.

finding a place to put the body might be an issue, though, unless you want to just sink it in there]

[weiyingdown]

[water makes bodies squishy, let's not do that

after walking around and confirming that there is no place to put a body in the springs proper, he looks for a nice flat spot overlooking the springs from the cliffs above. he gets a little picky and wanders around to make sure he can find something with a view overlooking the springs and a bit of the waterways and buildings that are nearby]

[one_note]

[he can find one, quiet and tree-shaded. the rabbit follows him as he goes, pasuing now and again to nibble at grass seed.]

[weiyingdown]

[turning to the rabbit to get a second opinion]

What do you think? This seems like a good place.