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[♪♫♬]
[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.]
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.]
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What the...
[he frowns at the jar, contemplative. and then he takes another gulp to see if it happens again]
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--the ribbon's on Wei Ying's palm, and while that's good, while that's somewhere it belongs, you're not quite pleased with the image.
“So there really isn’t anything so special about it, is there? And I thought that it’s hiding some sort of a gigantic secret. Back then, though, why were you so mad when I took it off?”
You're not mad now, but it should look right. You reach down and wrap it around his wrists, drawing the first knot tight.
“What are you doing?? Wei Ying sounds startled, but lets you continue, without trying to take his hands back.
Hm. You don't feel like letting him get away again, to walk into forests and meet with the one you dislike. You retie the knot, tighter this time, and add another, and start on a third.
It's good now; indefinably satisfying.]
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[he puts the jar back where it was before. not because he isn't curious--he is, and this is kind of fun--but it isn't doing anything to help him get out of here]
Tying me up can't possible be that fun. I should teach him how to have some real fun sometime.
[getting up, he goes to inspect the messy books and scrolls]
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the scrolls are just HELLA DISORGANIZED, it seems? everything seems to be there but some are out of order and some have been shoved in upside down or sideways. there's also a faint rustling coming from behind some of them, in the corner of the shelf.]
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[he highly contemplates going back to the alcohol and just drinking it all instead of dealing with this
so instead of doing anything at all to organize the shelves, he searches out the rustling sound and pulls away the books from there to see what's behind them]
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Where are you going, little guy? Lan Zhan will be upset if I let you out. Come to think of it, are you supposed to be in here to begin with?
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[there's nowhere for the little bunny to go in the room, so he sets it down to see where it tries to scramble off to.
with one eye on the bunny, he picks up the books he moved and puts them on their proper place on the bookshelf. there, it's a start?]
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the bunny hops over to the Jingshi's door, but since it's shut tight it just kind of crouches there, nosing at it.]
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ugh fine, he gets to work reorganizing the scrolls and books so that it's less messy. but he's grumbling under his breath the whole time that he does it, and scolds the rabbit.]
Did you mess all of this up? I should cook you!
[he stops at a random book and flips through it to see if it has anything interesting in it]
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Although his words could be applied to everyone in the room, it was a warning directed at Wei Wuxian. Lan QiRen spoke, “Wei Ying.”
Wei WuXian answered, “Here.”
“Let me ask you. Are yao, demons, ghosts, and monsters the same things?”
Wei WuXian smiled, “No.”
“Why not? How are they differentiated?”
“Yao are formed from living, non-human beings; demons are formed from living humans; ghosts are formed from dead humans; monsters are formed from dead, non-human beings.”
“‘Yao’ and ‘monsters’ are often confused. What is an example that distinguishes the two?”
“That’s easy.” Wei WuXian pointed at the viridian tree outside of the room and replied, “For example, a living tree was tainted with the energy of books, cultivated into a conscious being, and causes mischief, it would be a ‘yao’. If I took an axe and cut it in the middle, so that only a dead tree-stump was left, and then it cultivates into a being, it would be a ‘monster.’”
“What was the profession of the progenitor of the QingheNie Sect?”
“A butcher.”
“The heraldry of the LanlingJin Sect is a white peony. Which type of white peony is it?”
“Sparks Amidst Snow.”
“Who was the first in the cultivation world to focus on the rise of his clan rather than his sect?”
“The progenitor of the QishanWen Sect, Wen Mao.”
it's written out, not a memory, but it's kind of a confusing thing to find in what looks like regular study materials? it looks like the whole book is that sort of account, too!]
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puts it back on the shelf
he does not need to re-read Lan QiRen giving a lecture]
Aren't there any memories without me in them? I didn't think we were that close in the past.
[out of curiosity (he can't help it) he picks up a scroll closer to the end--surely that's more recent in Lan Wangji's memory, and not something he would have been around for]
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[he's having a qi deviation, he's probably not okay]
[puts the book back and then goes to grab the rabbit now that things are NEAT and ORDERLY]
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you can retrieve the bunny easily.]
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he rubs at his chest, like doing so will make that feeling go away. with the rabbit still scruffed, he goes to the bedroom door and tries to open it to toss the rabbit inside]
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the bedroom is in total disarray and white ribbons are everywhere, strung from floor to ceiling and between every wall in a confusing web.]
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He doesn't even need this many ribbons.
[reaching out to...grab one?]
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[dropping the rabbit and nudging it into the room with his foot. if that doesn't work, then he's not going to push further.
once the rabbit's down, he uses his free hand to try and untie that knot]
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the bunny just beelines back for the main door also]
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okay fine, the ribbon is coming with then! he leaves the door to the bedroom slightly ajar in his hurry to get away from it and prevent being tied up by sentient ribbons in the bedroom. that would be awkward, and he has things to do!
casually wrapping the ribbon around his wrist so it doesn't dangle, he goes to the main door and opens it for the rabbit. and also follows it out.]
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but he can see the tiny black body of the rabbit more clearly than he can see the road, an unerring black dot showing him where to step.]
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