Chapter Text
It was hard to think back to the first time that Hua Cheng had met the Patriarch. He had been visited by the ghost for the majority of his life and then repeated in his afterlife. He knew it was sometime after being saved by His Highness, but whether or not it was before or after the Prince’s ascension alluded his mind. He just remembered being greeted by a boy that seemed around his age who helped him protect His Highness’s statue.
Hua Cheng really couldn’t remember if that was the first time he had met who he would later learn was the Patriarch, but it’s the first he remembered. To be fair he tried not to think about much of his time alive except for the time spent with His Highness, everything else wasn’t worth the trouble remembering.
The boy, who called himself Lan Ying, had helped him and was just a constant in his life for a long time. Hua Cheng didn’t think much of him for the longest time until he became a soldier. When he told Lan Ying, the youth had this expression that made him look much older. It was hard to describe and caught Hong Hong Er off guard. This person who he had believed to be his friend and had indulged him with his passion for the Crown Prince now looked disguised (horrified??) at the prospect of Hong Hong Er serving him.
If he truly was upset with Hong Hong Er, Lan Ying didn’t vocalize it. Not until Mu Qing kicked Hong Hong Er out of the army. Hong Hong Er was furious when he returned to the small shrine, furious at the world, especially Mu Qing, but he was also determined. He was going to get back into the army no matter what. It was his duty to serve his highness and no one, not even the general was going to stop him.
“Didi! You’ve returned!” Lan Ying greeted him by the statue he was sitting at the doorway barely underneath the shade of the roof. “I took great care of His Highness in your absence, though I am certain he noticed that you were gone!”
Hong Hong Er nodded and walked into the shrine. It was very small, barely having any room for one person let alone two, so Lan Ying stayed outside. Hong Hong Er smiled, Lan Ying did take care of the shrine well. He was a decent person, if not a little strange.
“What do you think?” Lan Ying grinned in the doorway, “Is he happy to see you?”
Hong Hong Er rolled his eyes.
“He’d be happier once he wins the war.” He knelt in front of the statue of His Highness. “That stupid Mu Qing won’t let me help him. That bastard servant doesn’t deserve to be that close with His Highness.”
Hong Hong Er fiddled with the red earring that he had gotten from His Highness when he first met him.
After a moment he heard Lan Ying speak, “Maybe it’s a good thing Mu Qing kicked you out.”
“What?” Hong Hong Er asked in a low voice as he clasped the bead in his hand and turned to the entrance of the shrine.
Lan Ying was still in the doorway. Hong Hong Er couldn’t read his expression. Though that could be due to the rage that was currently filling his small body. Lan Ying leaned against the doorway and said, “Now you can safely protect the shrine!”
“But I could be protecting His Highness!” Hong Hong Er cried as he stood up. Due to the small size of the shrine, Lan Ying and Hong Hong er were very close.
“Or you could die!” Lan Ying said firmly. A shiver went down Hong Hong Er’s back. Lan Ying’s eyes were cold. He looked completely different. He looked older.
After a moment of Hong Hong Er’s silence, Lan Ying sternly asked, “Why do you want to be a soldier so bad?”
“To serve—”
“You can help His Highness in better ways! You’re not any help to him dead!” Lan Ying interrupted Hong Hong Er before he could defend himself. “You’re too young to be risking your life for a war that your elders started! It’s not your burden, you shouldn’t have to bear that weight, you should be a child.”
Hong Hong Er froze. This wasn’t like Lan Ying, he was normally an annoyingly cheerful pushover. He definitely never talked like this. Suddenly Hong Hong Er felt like he was much younger than he was in Lan Ying’s presence.
“You only have so much time as a child, the moment you step foot on that battlefield you sacrifice it all and for what, power hungry cultivators who want a taste of immorality,” Lan Ying laughed. It was a cruel laugh. Hong Hong Er strank a little. Who was this person next to him? Lan Ying either didn’t notice Hong Hong Er’s change in attitude or didn’t care as he continued, “Or I guess in your case a stupid Prince who’s also too young to be fighting a war like this! He already sacrificed his own childhood, becoming a God at such a young age and starting this war, he wouldn’t want you making that sacrifice too.”
Lan Ying stopped. He took a deep breath and sighed. He looked away from Hong Hong Er. It was like he was a different person.
“Lan Ying?” Hong Hong Er asked after a moment when he could finally find his words again.
“What?!” Lan Ying turned to face Hong Hong Er. His eyes widened as if he had just realized what he had said. He muttered to himself, “Shit, I guess I’ve outed myself.”
Suddenly they were outside the shrine and Lan Ying was a lot taller than before. The young boy around Hong Hong Er’s age— fourteen years old—was at least in his twenties if not older. Hong Hong Er wouldn’t have been able to tell if he was older than that how old he would be. Lan Ying, or whoever he was, was wearing black robes, had his hair in a high ponytail tied with a red ribbon and had a white ribbon tied around his wrist that seemed very out of place.
“Well maybe a peer won’t convince you, but maybe a former, now dead, child soldier will,” Lan Ying said as he held his arms out before doing a quick bow at Hong Hong Er. “Let me enlighten you, Wei Wuxian, former Yiling Patriarch, now The Patriarch among the undead.”
“Why—” Hong Hong Er started to ask.
“Why have I been hanging around you, a mere mortal?” Lan–Wei Wuxian asked. Hong Hong Er nodded. The ghost smirked in a way that sent a chill down Hong Hong Er’s spine as he said, “Well, there are two possible reasons: one, I saw you, saw your fate, being born under the Star of Solitude and thought I’d watch you since you reminded me of myself when I was alive or two, I was bored.”
Hong Hong Er couldn’t help but roll his eyes. What a stupid thing to say to someone. Suddenly any fear that Hong Hong Er could have felt—but he didn’t of course, why would he be afraid of Lan Ying—was gone.
After the reveal Hong Hong Er’s routine changed. Instead of merely maintaining the shrine with Lan Ying, Wei Wuxian was trying to teach him. He was indeed a strange man. It started out as learning new ways to improve the shrine which of course was the only reason Hong Hong Er indulged Wei Wuxian when he tried to act like a mentor.
One of the clear memories from this time, which Hong Hong Er did not have many of—it was not because of Wei Wuxian, it’s just not a time he thinks fondly of—was one at a market. Wei Wuxian had dragged Hong Hong Er there for some reason, he couldn’t quite remember it only that he begrudgingly followed the ghost who apparently had money and lots of it. Where was this when they were struggling to find things for the shrine? They could have been buying things for it the last few years!
Wei Wuxian turned to him in the market and said,“Now if you are going to be disciple you have to remem–”
“I don’t want to be your disciple old man.” Hong Hong Er interrupted him.
Wei Wuxian stopped in his tracks causing Hong Hong Er to run into him. When Hong Hong Er was able to look up at the Patriarch he was making an offended face like he was an old lady that Hong Hong Er just cursed in front of. Hong Hong Er couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“And why wouldn’t you want to be my disciple? I have had many before and most of them turned out fine.” Wei Wuxian said before muttering, “We were never sure what happened with Jingyi, I’m pretty sure he was like that before he was my disciple.”
Hong Hong Er had no clue who that was or why it was important. He knew it probably wasn’t. Most things that Wei Wuxian would ramble about were not important, but what was in comparison to His Highness.
“Why would I want to be?” Hong Hong Er asked bluntly.
“Why would you want to be?” Wei Wuxian looked taken aback by the question, “Well, I am an infamous ghost who was feared in both of his lives.”
Both? More meaningless rambles.
“Who wouldn’t want me as a master?” Wei Wuxian boosted as he crossed his arms and pointed his flute at Hong Hong Er. He didn’t even know where the man had gotten it from. Quickly he turned away and said, “I guess you don’t want to know all the cultivation techniques I developed. Strange, I thought they could be useful in helping His Highness, but I guess you disagree.”
Hong Hong Er froze. For once Wei Wuxian was right. If he were to help His Highness, he needed to be stronger. If even a small part of Wei Wuxian’s stories were true then the man could help him get stronger.
But Wei Wuxian was against Hong Hong Er helping out His Highness right now. Despite the man not staying at the shrine anymore, he somehow knew every time that Hong Hong Er tried to sneak out to join the army. The man had some sort of ability that Hong Hong Er didn’t, but Hong Hong Er wasn’t sure why he would want to teach him it.
“And who would want me as a disciple?” Hong Hong Er tried to call Wei Wuxian’s bluff.
Wei Wuxian turned back around to face Hong Hong Er. He tilted his head. He looked confused. Hong Hong Er didn’t know why.
“Who wouldn’t want you as a disciple?” Wei Wuxian asked. Immediately Hong Hong Er could tell he regretted the question. Hong Hong Er could name quite a few people who wouldn’t want him as a disciple or student or didn’t think he should be someone’s disciple. There was the Guoshi in Xianle—His Highness’s teacher—that bastard Qi Rong, Mu Qing and Feng Xin, and his own family. The list was definitely longer than anyone who actually wanted to teach or help him. That list would be solely His Highness and maybe now Wei Wuxian, but Hong Hong Er doubted the man for some reason. Truthfully he wasn’t sure why. Wei Wuxian continued, “Don’t answer that. What I mean to say is, that, I would love to be your master. Honestly it’s been a while so I apologize if I am rusty, but I think it’s time for the Patriarch to teach again and you just happen to be here and know who I am. So what do you say?”
“Sure.” Hong Hong Er coldly replied before he was immediately swept into a gushy hug by Wei Wuxian. He quickly added, “It’s only to help His Highness.”
Wei Wuxian laughed, “I figured as much.”
That was the moment that Wei Wuxian became Laoshi to Hua Cheng. Not much really changed about their dynamic. Wei Wuxian didn’t change much, though Hong Hong Er did.
He learned some things, others he couldn’t quite grasp, not yet anyways. He was still a little young which was a fact that Hong Hong Er resented.
To Wei Wuxian’s disappointment, Hong Hong Er had no musical interest so they had to make due with other things like dice. Games were fun and kept Hong Hong Er’s interest so Wei Wuxian learned to adapt.
While Hong Hong Er did grow, his desire to serve His Highness did not change. It only got stronger. Every few weeks he would beg Laoshi to let him enlist and every time Laoshi would reprimand him and lecture him about dying. Laoshi acted as if he wasn’t dead himself. What was so bad about dying if you could come back as a ghost? Hong Hong Er didn’t see anything wrong with serving His Highness even if it meant sacrificing himself in the process. Nothing was too good for His Highness.
One day the two were sitting at a restaurant in a busy town. Hong Hong Er didn’t remember what the town name was, but he had figured out that it was somewhere that Laoshi felt at home. Laoshi hadn’t said this, but Hong Hong Er could tell that the man was more relaxed where they were.
This is why Hong Hong Er decided to ask the question that had been in the back of his mind for months. He asked, “What’s it like?”
“Huh?” Wei Wuxian turned back toward Hong Hong Er. He had been looking at a couple people in the crowd for a while. Laoshi had completely spaced out.
“What’s it like to be… to be dead?” Hong Hong Er clarified.
“Well, it’s not too bad.” Laoshi shrugged off the question then laughed, “It’s a lot better than the first time I was dead.”
“First time?” Hong Hong Er replied. He remembered that Laoshi had mentioned in passing about dying twice or living twice or something of that nature, but Hong Hong Er had always assumed it was just his Laoshi exaggerating.
“Long story, but it’s not important, well it probably is.” Laoshi said before he paused. He shifted in his seat. He continued, “My first death was horrific, still gives me nightmares even centuries later. I don’t remember being a ghost after that. I might have been too broken to reform. After a little over a decade I came back. That is when I truly got to live.”
Hong Hong Er leaned in. His Laoshi barely ever talked about his life. He had so many questions, but he would never admit that—especially to his Laoshi—so Hong Hong Er just absorbed what he could now.
“When I passed the second time, it was more peaceful. I was old, my husband, our son, and my family beside me.” Laoshi continued. He looked off into the distance for a moment, “That is a strange thing leaving someplace but you’re all alone, at least at first. Eventually my ghost formed and I was able to build up the strength to create a human form.”
Laoshi gestured to his body. Hong Hong Er couldn’t help but laugh.
“My husband had ascended to godhood, not unlike your prince. That was quite a reunion,” Laoshi said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Hong Hong Er questioned where this man was now. He felt angry at someone he had never met. If he did, he would do something—he wasn’t sure what yet—to hurt him for hurting Laoshi.
“Hey, I see your face, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but whatever it is, no.” Laoshi scolded him, “I can just tell that it’s not a good idea.”
Hong Hong Er couldn’t help but smile. Laoshi was either painfully oblivious or horrifyingly psychic. Hong Hong Er didn’t know which one was worse.
After a moment Hong Hong Er asked, “Is it lonely now?”
“It wasn’t for a while, not until…” Laoshi mumbled, “I guess it is now that everyone I knew is gone, but it’s nothing.Well, I guess it is something, but you get used to it with age. Well you might not since the only person you seem to care about is His Highness, whose ascension makes him different then the mere mortals I cared about in my life.”
Hong Hong Er blushed and looked away as Laoshi joked. It made his Laoshi laugh loudly, disrupting the mostly quiet environment of the restaurant. Deciding it was time to leave, Laoshi got up and began walking out of the restaurant. Hong Hong Er followed as quickly as he could. When he had caught up Laoshi continued, “You see those kids over there”
He pointed at three teenagers slightly older than Hong Hong Er was. They had been at the restaurant and had left a little bit before they did. There were two guys and a girl. The girl was caught between the two guys arguing. Hong Hong Er couldn’t tell what they were fighting about or why his Laoshi would care.
Hong Hong Er nodded. His Laoshi smiled.
“Yeah, the one with that is scowling and holding an arm out to protect the little girl? That’s my didi, or was, in my lifetime and the girl he’s protecting is our older sister,” Laoshi said. Hong Hong Er looked closer, the one guy and girl looked similar so it made sense they were related. He listened as Laoshi said “If my guess is correct, the boy he’s protecting her from was her husband.”
Why were they fighting then?
“They might get together in this life and if they do, they’ll have my nephew. Though it doesn’t always happen like that,” Laoshi said with a fondness in his voice. Suddenly he laughed, “Hell, my didi and jie don’t always even reincarnate as siblings half the time, but they always have that brother/sister bond. That much never changes.”
The two continued to walk past the three teenagers. Hong Hong Er paid them close attention. The third one, the one that Laoshi said was his sister’s husband seemed flustered which only seemed to enrage Laoshi’s didi. It was silly, but for some reason it made sense that his Laoshi knew these people during his life.
As they walked, his Laoshi continued talking, “At first you’ll think you’re crazy, noticing patterns that aren’t there, but then you slowly realize that they are indeed the same person you knew in your life. It gets easier to spot every time they reincarnate.”
“Do you ever talk to them?” Hong Hong Er asked.
“Sometimes.” Laoshi shrugged, “Sometimes I make an excuse to pass by them and act like a beggar or a priest, so they’ll talk to me. They don’t recognize me, but I can at least check up on them, see if this life’s treating them better than the one with me.”
There was silence. Hong Hong Er didn’t know what to say.
“Damn. That just sounded sad.” Laoshi tried to laugh off what he just said. It was an act that Hong Hong Er had noticed the past few months. The man tried to make a joke out of everything. It’s how he hid how he felt. Laoshi sighed, “Maybe Madam Yu was right, they’ve lived happy lives without me in them. I did manage to ruin everything, didn't I.”
Laoshi stopped and looked at his wrist that bore the white ribbon he muttered, “Ah, Lan Zhan would kill me if he heard me talk like this.”
Hong Hong Er made note of that. It was the first time he heard that name and at this point he could only make assumptions. The white ribbon finally had some information though, so he was getting somewhere.
“Laoshi shouldn’t be so hard on himself,” Hong Hong Er said slowly. It felt weird. He never talked like that, “He definitely has not ruined my life.”
It wasn’t quite a compliment, though it was probably the closest that Hong Hong Er would get to one. It was enough of one to get his Laoshi’s smile to return.
His Laoshi patted him on the head—which Hong Hong Er hated—and said softly, "You’re a sweet kid. Don’t ever let the world change that.”
It was only a few weeks after that conversation that Hong Hong Er would sneak his way back into His Highness’s army. He didn’t tell his Laoshi. Hong Hong Er wasn’t sure if he could go through with it if he saw the expression on his Laoshi’s face again. Even if he did go through with it after, his Laoshi would try to stop him again, possibly with force.
On rare occasions Hua Cheng wondered what would have happened if he had told Laoshi. Perhaps he wouldn’t have died so young. Though dying for His Highness was always worth it. He never regretted it.
His Laoshi wished he did, at least at first.