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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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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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a faint wind blows conflicting scents into his face: a bloody note from below, and fresher air from above.]
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What, you don't know which way to go? That's easy, go up.
[he gives the little rabbit a nudge with his foot, urging it towards the upward-sloping path.
that is not the path that he takes. he only spends a few moments contemplating each road before heading down the path that leads, well, down.]
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You're not going to like anything down here, little one.
[but he doesn't stop it from tagging along either. this is Lan Wangji's...something...obviously. and he seems fond enough of the rabbits that they wouldn't be in danger, regardless of the places they go.
it's fine. probably.]
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it's a long walk. it's boring. the bloody smell gets stronger, and there's a sound like fire crackling.]
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having just a rabbit for company is really boring, okay?]
Hey! Is anyone there?
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well.
he comes to an abrupt halt, so viscerally thrown back into his own memories of the last time he was at the Burial Mounds that he has to tell himself this isn't real, this isn't really real a few times in his head before he pulls himself together.
even then, it's difficult.
when he moves again his steps are more hesitant, more cautious, on guard against any surprise attacks. he's still looking for people, though, despite knowing that there probably isn't anyone alive here.]
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it presses down on you the further in you go, a nearly physical weight, not quite the rolling boil of resentful energy but something that's cousin to it, that could become it if left to fester]
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he pauses near a burnt tree at the wave of emotion for him, though. that's new, and he doesn't know what to do with it.]
Lan Zhan?
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