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“We’re almost at the haunted house!” Ouyang Zizhen announced cheerfully.
Wei Wuxian walked with a spring in his step, Lil’ Apple on one side and the steady presence of Lan Wangji on the other. Ahead of him, his four favorite juniors walked and happily chatted together.
“You don’t have to announce it to the whole world,” grumbled Jin Ling, who had been visiting Cloud Recesses for ‘official sect business’.
“Who is around to hear besides us?” Ouyang Zizhen visited Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi at Cloud Recesses whenever possible, so he’d become a near permanent fixture in their night hunting party. After all, who could object to a night hunt that fostered ties between clans and gave the young ones a chance to practice their skills?
“Maybe whatever took the little kid,” Jin Ling suggested. “Maybe you’ll attract it’s attention.” Despite himself, Lan Jingyi shivered.
“You’re still scared of spirits? How are you ever supposed to night hunt?” Jin Ling turned on him.
“I’m not scared— I just have a healthy respect for them,” Lan Jingyi protested.
“Right,” Jin Ling said skeptically.
“Knock it off you two, we have to be ready for whatever we find,” Lan Sizhui said, easily cutting off the argument. Wei Wuxian smiled; sometimes, he was so much like Lan Wangji it hurt. A slightly more verbose Lan Wangji to be sure, but evidence of his influence was everywhere in Lan Sizhui’s demeanor.
Ouyang Zizhen held up a hand and stopped. They crowded around him to peer down the steep hill that led to the burned farmhouse.
“Who has gone missing?” Wei Wuxian asked. Time to see if these juniors remembered what was going on.
“The innkeeper who submitted the report told us that anyone who entered this house never returned. His grandson went playing over here and never returned, his son-in-law went to go find the boy and never returned, as such no one has attempted to clean up the wreck,” Ouyang Zizhen said.
“What caused the fire?” Wei Wuxian quizzed.
“Unknown,” Lan Jingyi piped up, “but we know that the fire killed the woman who lived here and her kids.”
“Hmm. And what might be found inside?” Wei Wuxian continued.
“A resentful spirit? A resentful corpse?” Jin Ling responded.
“The only way to find out is to go inside!” Wei Wuxian finished gleefully. It really was fun teaching the next generation, imparting his wisdom through questions and all that. Their little group walked towards the house and Wei Wuxian slung an arm around Lan Wangji’s waist, content.
“What...just happened?” Lan Jingyi sputtered. Lan Sizhui looked up from securing the spirit capture bag.
“Wei-qianbei and Hanguang-Jun led the resentful spirit to my spirit capture pouch?”
“No, that,” Lan Jingyi pointed to the center of the room where dark wisps of resentful energy dissipated to reveal two toddlers sitting stock still in the center of the room, swathed in too-big clothes.
“They look like Hanguang-Jun and Senior Wei,” Ouyang Zizhen said, laughing nervously.
“Yeah,” Lan Sizhui muttered faintly.
“It’s definitely them,” Ouyang Zizhen said as one all in white reached up to rearrange his forehead ribbon with more seriousness than he would ever expect of a toddler.
“This is all my fault, if I hadn’t tripped over the possessed corpse and fallen on Hanguang-Jun then they could’ve avoided all that resentful energy in time,” Jin Ling muttered morosely, refusing to look at the two toddlers.
“Well I dispatched the fierce corpse and that released the spirit. So it’s my fault too,” Ouyang Zizhen said earnestly. “Best not to beat yourself up over it.”
“But...but...how?” demanded Lan Jingyi, for once in his life at a loss for words.
“Well, we know that the resentful spirit died because she ran into her burning house to rescue her children. Maybe her desire to find her kids was so powerful it transformed Wei-qianbei and Hanguang-Jun into kids when it passed through them,” Lan Sizhui suggested.
“I’ve never heard of such a thing happening,” Ouyang Zizhen said skeptically.
“Do you have a better idea?”
“How are you so accepting?” Lan Jingyi shouted. “Hanguang-Jun is a baby!”
“Panicking won’t help.”
“What will?”
“We need to get them back to Cloud Recesses. Someone there will know what to do,” Lan Sizhui suggested.
“Okay, let’s do that.” The four young men looked awkwardly at their erstwhile mentors who stared back at them, one with a serious expression and one with an innocent smile that promised trouble.
“None of us knows how to deal with kids,” Jin Ling muttered from his hunched over position, head buried in his hands.
“I sort of remember my little sister when she was a baby,” Ouyang Zizhen offered. They looked at him eagerly.
“So what do we do?”
“Little kids need to be watched constantly,” he said with more confidence than he actually felt. “And then mostly they’re fine till they cry and scream and then you have to find out what they want and give it to them.”
“I can’t imagine Hanguang-Jun screaming,” Lan Jingyi said.
“Senior Wei would though,” Ouyang Zizhen retorted.
“How old do you think they are now?” Lan Sizhui asked, carefully approaching the two who looked at him with something resembling recognition in their eyes.
“Two?” Lan Jingyi suggested.
“Nah, they look older,” Ouyang Zizhen replied.
“It doesn’t matter, does it?” Jin Ling demanded. “We just need to get them to Cloud Recesses as soon as possible.”
“Hanguang-Jun, are you in there?” Lan Jingyi asked, crouching down beside Lan Sizhui.
“Of course he’s in there idiot,” Jin Ling said, standing up and straightening his shoulders. Lan Sizhui shot him a warning look.
“We apologize for talking over you two, but can you understand what we’ve been saying?” he asked. Wei Wuxian shrugged and reached to grab Lan Wangji’s hand.
“Wei Ying is hungry,” Lan Wangji announced imperiously.
“Do we have any food?” Lan Sizhui asked. The other three shook their heads.
“We don’t have any food right now but if you come with us we can get some when we reach the inn,” Ouyang Zizhen suggested. Lan Wangji mumbled something unintelligible in Wei Wuxian’s ear and, when he nodded ever so slightly, Lan Wangji turned back and nodded too.
“Let’s go then. The house is safe now for the villagers to come clean up and deal with the bodies,” Jin Ling said, hand clenching his sword tightly and studiously avoiding looking at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.
“C’mon then,” Lan Jingyi said, turning to leave the burnt house. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji stood up to follow, eager at the promise of food. Lan Jingyi turned back around quickly at the sound of a cut-off cry and a thump. Lan Wangji had tripped over the too-long fabric of his robes. He snickered for a moment then guiltily slapped a hand over his mouth as he realized he had just laughed at the great Hanguang-Jun.
“Oh right,” Lan Sizhui sighed. “Maybe we should tie the clothes up with their belts? And roll up their sleeves? That way they can walk.”
“Right, you can do that,” Jin Ling graciously offered.
“Why me?”
“You know them best.”
“That just makes this situation even weirder,” Lan Sizhui muttered, but he did as he suggested, setting Lan Wangji, who had what seemed to be tears brimming in his eyes, upright. At least his seniors could now move. Ouyang Zizhen carefully picked up Chenqing and Bichen, both having fallen to the side while Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were turned into children.
“Mine!” Wei Wuxian suddenly yelled, pointing at the dizi. Ouyang Zizhen shrugged and gave it to him. Wei Wuxian carefully tucked the dizi, which was almost as long as he was, into his belt, while wrapping a stubby arm around Lan Wangji’s waist. In turn, Lan Wangji held out his hand for his sword.
“I don’t think you’ll be able to hold it. It’s heavy,” Lan Sizhui warned him. When he received a stubborn glare Ouyang Zizhen handed over the sword. Lan Wangji nearly toppled once more under the weight and it was only Wei Wuxian’s arm around his waist that saved him.
“Look, Wei-qianbei is hungry, right? If you want food we need to get going,” Lan Jingyi offered, “but we can’t move if you insist on holding the sword, so why don’t you let Sizhui put it in his qiankun pouch for safekeeping?” Wei Wuxian whispered something in Lan Wangji’s ear and the stubborn look receded from his eyes. Lan Wangji nodded and gestured to the sword mutinously. Lan Sizhui carefully placed it in his pouch, along with their outer robes, now much too big and heavy.
“I’ll take very good care of it and give it back to you as soon as possible. I promise,” Lan Sizhui said with all the gravity of someone raised in the Lan clan.
“Can we go now? Who knows what will happen if they’re in this state for too long!” Jin Ling said. “And what if we’re too late? Uncle— I mean Sect Leader Jiang will actually break my legs this time if I return from a night hunt that got Senior Wei turned into a baby.”
“I think we’re ready,” Lan Sizhui said, placing a placating hand on Jin Ling’s shoulder, heading off the pending freak-out. The four juniors looked at each other in shared resolution, before closing ranks around the toddlers that were also their seniors and herding them out of the house which had caused so much trouble.
They made it back to the road before Lan Sizhui felt someone tugging on his robes. He looked down to see Wei Wuxian clinging to him, his lower lip wobbling.
“Tired,” he complained. Their group stopped walking.
“Wei-qianbei, we’ve only just started walking, how can you be tired already?” Lan Jingyi asked, “Hanguang-Jun isn’t.” Wei Wuxian dropped to the ground and crossed his arms stubbornly. Beside him, Lan Wangji looked at the juniors, then at Wei Wuxian, and finally sat gracefully on the ground beside him, mirroring Wei Wuxian’s pose.
“Look at their tiny legs! It makes sense that they can’t walk far,” Ouyang Zizhen said. “I remember my little sister was carried around a lot.”
“Are you suggesting we carry them?” Jin Ling asked incredulously.
“We need to make it to the village somehow,” Ouyang Zizhen said. This time, it was Lan Sizhui who looked like he was about to freak out and Jin Ling punched him in the shoulder.
“It could be worse, they could need to pee,” he said.
“Don’t say stuff like that! You’ll make it happen,” Lan Jingyi exclaimed. Lan Sizhui took a deep breath.
“We need to move on. I guess we’ll have to carry them,” he said. No one made a move to pick up the two on the ground, who were playing with some rocks on the path.
“Could we fly back on our swords instead?” Ouyang Zizhen asked.
“Do you want to fly high above the ground while holding a toddler?” Lan Jingyi asked. “Plus, Lil’ Apple is nowhere to be found and Wei-qianbei is going to be very mad if we leave him behind.”
“Good points. It’s just that carrying them seems so undignified,” Ouyang Zizhen said. They all knew that Lan Wangji hated being touched by anyone save Wei Wuxian, his shameless husband.
“Maybe if we’re lucky they’ll never remember!” Jin Ling said finally. He bent over and picked up Wei Wuxian who promptly kicked him for separating him from Lan Wangji.
“Hey, watch it! I’m trying to help you,” Jin Ling hissed.
“Lan Jingyi, pick up Hanguang-Jun,” he said. “We’ll all trade off when they get too heavy.” Lan Jingyi swallowed audibly and nodded.
“Sorry, Hanguang-Jun,” he said before picking him up. Lan Wangji glared at him and pointed at Wei Wuxian.
“Wei Ying,” he said.
“Um, yes. That’s him.” Lan Wangji continued to stare meaningfully at him.
“What do you want?”
“Wei Ying.”
“Look, he’s just over there. I can't carry both of you so you’re going to have to deal with being two feet apart,” he reasoned, “so let’s go.” Lan Jingyi started to walk off. After a moment, the rest followed.
They walked for an hour in near silence, the awkwardness slowly dissipating as they traded off carrying the kids periodically.
“This isn't so bad,” Lan Jingyi muttered under his breath every so often. “We can deal with this. Yes, we can.” No one bothered to silence him. A rustling came from the brushes to the right side of the path. They froze.
“What—what was that?” Ouyang Zizhen asked nervously, hand tightening on his sword.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Lan Sizhui said, re-adjusting his grip on Wei Wuxian.
“Of course. We’re the only ones here,” Ouyang Zizhen reassured himself. They continued on, hearing a rustling every so often...as if they were being followed.
“That’s it, I’m going to see what’s what,” Jin Ling declared. “Lan Jingyi, hold Hanguang-Jun,” he dropped the Chief Cultivator in Lan Jingyi’s arms before storming off into the bushes.
“Should we wait for him?” Ouyang Zizhen asked.
“He’ll catch up,” Lan Jingyi waved his free hand dramatically. “We’re only an hour and a half away from the village.” The distraction made him forget that paying attention to the ground was a good idea. His foot hooked under a root and he overbalanced, falling to the ground.
“Don’t crush Hanguang-Jun!” Lan Sizhui yelled.
“Ow. He’s okay,” Lan Jingyi told him, sitting up and gesturing to Lan Wangji whose fall had been cushioned by Lan Jingyi’s chest.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian cried, wriggling in Lan Sizhui’s arms. He put him down and Wei Wuxian toddled as fast as he could over to Lan Wangji.
“I’m too clumsy,” Lan Jingyi said, despondent.
“At least he’s okay,” Lan Sizhui comforted as he helped Lan Jingyi up. They saw Wei Wuxian fussing over Lan Wangji.
“Yeah, at least you didn’t fall on him,” Ouyang Zizhen agreed.
“How is that any consolation?” Lan Jingyi moaned, “I still dropped him.”
“What’s the matter now?” Jin Ling called, emerging from the bushes on the side of the path, his back to them.
“Nothing!” Lan Jingyi said quickly.
“Then hurry up and help me get this stupid donkey on the path, it’s been following us.”
“Lil’ Apple?” Lan Sizhui exclaimed. “I was wondering where it bolted off to.”
“Apple!” Wei Wuxian yelled, holding out his hand.
“No. There's no apple. It’s just your donkey,” Lan Sizhui explained. Wei Wuxian frowned.
“Donkey?”
“You’re welcome,” Jin Ling huffed, gesturing to the donkey while pulling a twig out of his hair. Wei Wuxian giggled.
“Lan Zhan, donkey!”
“Mn.”
“They can ride on his back and we’ll make it to the village way quicker!” Lan Sizhui said.
“Good. I don’t know if I’d trust myself to carry Hanguang-Jun again,” Lan Jingyi sighed.
“Look, you two can ride on the donkey together,” Ouyang Zizhen crouched down to look Lan Zangji and Wei Wuxian in the eye.
“Okay!” Wei Wuxian said, excited once more. He pulled Lan Wangji along with him as he ran towards the donkey.
“Hey wait, Lil’ Apple could kick you!” Ouyang Zizhen exclaimed, rushing after them. He grabbed each by their collars just before Wei Wuxian could pat the donkey’s leg. “Slowly!”
“Good save,” Lan Sizhui said.
Ouyang Zizhen lifted them both on Lil’ Apple.
“You better move or else I’ll break your legs,” Jin Ling hissed in the donkey’s ear. It stared back at him sullenly and pawed the ground.
“Go, donkey! Apple!” Wei Wuxian commanded loudly from behind Lan Wangji, who flinched at the shouting. Lil’ Apple began to run.
“Wooooooooh!” The shocked juniors heard two excited screams.
“Did Hanguang-Jun just whoop?” Lan Jingyi said, frozen in place.
“No, that's impossible,” Lan Sizhui shook his head.
“Haha, right. I must’ve misheard.”
“What are you waiting for? After that donkey!” Jin Ling said, thinking that at least he had his priorities straight as he was already sprinting with Ouyang Zizhen toward the toddlers.
His shout startled Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi out of their shock and they ran to catch up.
By the time they reached the donkey, Wei Wuxian was smiling innocently at them.
“Again?”
“No!” Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui responded at the same time. Lan Jingyi snorted.
“I’ll take the reins,” he offered, picking them up and tugging on Lil’ Apple’s harness.
“Don’t fall this time,” Ouyang Zizhen counselled him.
“It’s not like I did it on purpose.”
“Will someone please tell me what you all mean by fall?” Jin Ling asked.
“Nevermind,” Lan Jingyi said hurriedly. It was already embarrassing enough.
“Jingyi tripped over a tree root while carrying Hanguang-Jun who fell on top of him,” Ouyang Zizhen said cheerfully. Traitor, Lan Jingyi thought.
“Everyone's tripping over Hanguang-Jun today,” Lan Sizhui observed wryly.
“Crash!” Wei Wuxian interjected.
“Indeed.”
“Behold, our destination for the night,” Lan Jingyi told the two kids a short time later. Wei Wuxian startled awake from where he had been napping on Lan Wangji’s shoulder and looked around. They were on the outskirts of the small village, streets more or less deserted in the fading light of the day.
“Food?”
“Yes, we’ll get a meal there,” Ouyang Zizhen said.
“How are we doing this?” Lan Sizhui asked the group.
“Doing what?” asked Lan Jingyi.
“We can’t let anyone else know of Wei-qianbei and Hanguang-Jun’s...altered state. Imagine if word got out that the Chief Cultivator and the infamous Yilling Patriarch were transformed into toddlers! So two of us have to sneak them into their room while the other two go report to the family.”
“That makes sense,” said Lan Jingyi.
“We need a distraction,” Jin Ling said slowly. “What if I tell the story of how we dealt with the resentful spirit, but bluntly inform the innkeeper that we couldn’t save those who went to investigate the burned house, one of which was his grandson. Then the two of you can sneak them upstairs.”
“That’s too callous,” Lan Sizhui shook his head. “You sneak them up with Ouyang Zizhen while Lan Jingyi and I deliver the news. With tact. The news we deliver will be distracting enough without being rude.” Jin Ling rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” he said. “But you guys need to come up with an excuse for why our party is down two members.”
“Easy enough, just tell them that Hanguang-Jun and Senior Wei had other business to attend to,” Ouyang Zizhen said.
“Clever,” said Lan Jingyi.
“Wei Ying is hungry,” Lan Wangji said.
“We’ll get food very soon,” Lan Jingyi promised.
While the other two went inside, Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen placed Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji on the ground and hitched Lil’ Apple to his post.
“Be very quiet. We have to sneak upstairs to your room, but not look like we’re sneaking,” Ouyang Zizhen told them solemnly. Lan Wangji nodded and nudged Wei Wuxian till he nodded as well, sparing a single glance from the fascinating ant he had just found crawling on the ground.
“It’s been five minutes since they went in. Let’s go,” Jin Ling said. Ouyang Zizhen nodded, then they each picked up a kid and quickly walked into the inn. A few empty tables were arranged around the large ground floor. At the other end of the room, a small counter served food and tea and alcohol. Jin Ling saw the white clad backs of the two Lan juniors talking to the server before he rushed off. Lan Jingyi not so subtly made eye contact with them and waved his hand in a hurry-up motion. They made it to the bottom of the stairs that led to their rooms before another server approached them, eyeing the two toddlers in too-big undershirts.
“Cultivators, do you need anything?” she asked, bowing.
“Have a large meal for six people sent up to the largest room and make sure no one disturbs us,” Ouyang Zizhen said.
“Do you need anything specific for... your children?” she continued.
“Hi!” Wei Wuxian said brightly.
“Hello, little one,” she cooed. “What’s your name?”
“Wei-”
“No no, we’ve got it,” Jin Ling said hurriedly. Balancing Wei Wuxian on one hip and reaching for his money pouch in a pocket, he blindly took out a gold ingot and pressed it into her hand. “Remember, no one is to disturb us.”
“Oh— yes,” the server said, staring wide-eyed at the golden ingot in her hand. “I’ll have the best food in the house sent up!” she promised, tucking the ingot away after biting it firmly to test its quality. She bowed deeply before hurrying off.
As they walked up the stairs, Ouyang Zizhen said, “That’s probably more money than she’s ever seen in her life.”
“I didn’t have time to find the exact amount to pay her! It’s no big deal anyways,” Jin Ling dismissed it. Ouyang Zizhen sighed and hitched Lan Wangji higher on his hip. They made their way to the room that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had rented for themselves and set the two on the bed.
“Finally,” Jin Ling muttered. “Watching kids is exhausting!”
“Let’s hope they can be changed back when we get back to Cloud Recesses,” Ouyang Zizhen said as he stretched and his back cracked with an audible pop.
“Yeah,” Jin Ling agreed, his good mood from arriving at a resting place dampened.
“Good evening, cultivators!” the innkeeper greeted the Lan disciples once the server had ushered them into the back room. Lan Sizhui saw the guarded hope in his eyes and sighed. One of his least favorite parts of going on night-hunts was having to deliver news of those who could not be saved.
“Good evening,” Lan Sizhui said. The innkeeper sat at the table with three women, presumably his wife and daughters. All four were looking at him eagerly. Lan Sizhui swallowed, reminding himself of why he had insisted they deliver the news instead of their companions. Lan Sizhui assumed the woman with the most sleep-deprived eyes and a red nose from crying was the mother of the child they’d found and the wife of the man. He directed his words to her.
“As requested, we went night hunting near the house,” he began, best to keep things simple. “Inside, we found the body of a young boy. When my fellow disciple,” Lan Sizhui gestured towards Lan Jingyi, “went to investigate, we encountered a powerful resentful spirit, screaming and asking us to let her save her children . We subdued her and captured her soul. It will be properly put to rest at Cloud Recesses. Afterwards, we found the body of a grown man.” Much more had happened after that, but Lan Sizhui figured they didn’t need to know about the spirit initially possessing the corpse of the man and they definitely did not need to know about what had happened to Wei-qianbei and Hanguang-Jun.
One of the women let out a sob and buried her head in her hands.
“So my husband and son are...gone?” she asked in a broken voice.
“Yes. They died a few days before we got there. There was nothing we could do to save them,” Lan Jingyi said awkwardly. “But the house is safe now, so you may send people to retrieve the bodies and repair the damage.”
“Why did they die?” The widow’s sister asked. “What have we ever done to that poor family? We were friends!”
“Can you explain more about what happened the night of the fire?” Lan Sizhui asked gently, sympathy in his voice.
The innkeeper took a deep breath. “Tan Peizhi continued living there even after her husband died, raising her two sons. Our families were friends, and we were having dinner there. The fire started by accident, a spark from the fireplace or something. We all rushed out, then realized Tan Peizhi’s sons were still inside, sleeping in the loft. The house was really burning and I— I held her back. There was no way she could save her kids,” the innkeeper said quietly, eyes distant.
“But she broke away,” his wife continued for him, “‘Let me save my children!’ she said. She ran in and that was the last we saw of her.”
Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi looked at each other solemnly.
“It is likely that Tan Peizhi died with her wish to find her children unfulfilled. This desire was so strong she became a resentful spirit. When the boy wandered to the house, perhaps she mistook him for her child and accidentally killed him with the massive amounts of resentful energy she had gathered. Then, just like we were attacked, his father came to find him and died because she thought he was trying to take her child away from her,” Lan Sizhui said. The family listened in puzzled silence. Resentful energy was, after all, something spoken of in whispers and gossip of those rumored to practice demonic cultivation. It was unusual for non-cultivators to ever encounter it.
“A least nothing like this will happen again,” the new widow said, focusing on what she could comprehend—that her husband and son were never coming back. She wiped blotchy eyes. “Thank you, cultivators, for letting us know what happened and dealing with Tan Peizhi’s spirit.”
“We don’t have much money, but still…” the innkeeper started to say.
“No! No money necessary, we’ll just stay here for the night and move on,” Lan Jingyi interjected.
“Ah, are you sure?”
“We have skills to deal with such situations. It’s only right that we use them to help others,” he explained. Lan Sizhui nodded in agreement. Hanguang-Jun himself had gravely told them, and their fellow Lan juniors, this many times.
“We’ll be upstairs,” Lan Sizhui said.
“If you say so,” the innkeeper agreed, reluctantly. “A-Chen, show them to their rooms,” he told the server who had been listening intently, inconspicuous against a wall.
The room Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had claimed for themselves before the disastrous night hunt was the biggest, so they all gathered in there to eat the large meal both servers brought up.
“I’m exhausted,” Lan Jingyi announced. He picked up his chopsticks and began to shovel rice into his mouth.
“Me, too,” Ouyang Zizhen agreed. He looked over at Lan Wangji who was enthusiastically inhaling a bowl of soup. Wei Wuxian ate his own bowl at a slightly more sedate pace, methodically slurping its contents.
“I’ve never seen Hanguang-Jun eat so fast before,” Jin Ling commented. “I didn’t even know he was capable of eating so messily.” To emphasize the difference between them, Jin Ling primly popped a dumpling into his mouth.
“Hey, Hanguang-Jun can do anything!” Lan Jingyi defended. “Even eat messily.” At the mention of his title, Lan Wangji looked at them and put the now-empty bowl of soup down. Wei Wuxian paused his crusade to decimate at least half the food at the table to wipe a drop of soup from the corner of Lan Wangji’s mouth.
“Ugh, even as little kids they’re disgustingly domestic,” Jin Ling muttered.
“No talking during mealtimes,” Lan Wangji said. Jin Ling sputtered.
For the most part they ate in silence. Wei Wuxian occasionally demanded more spice than anyone thought his little body could tolerate, and gleefully suffered the consequences when they let him in order to forestall a fuss. Ouyang Zizhen managed to spill his cup of tea all over Lan Wangji’s sleeve and was thoroughly cowed by the intense glare he received. Lan Jingyi definitely did not smile at how cute little Wei Wuxian looked when he seriously shoved a dumpling into Lan Wangji’s mouth. Lan Sizhui broke the no-talking rule to comment on the fact that, all things considered, they were doing pretty well at this whole business of supervising their de-aged mentors.
When most of the food was gone and they all sat around the table with their hunger satiated, Wei Wuxian stood up and announced, “I have to go pee!” He began to toddle towards the door, dragging Lan Wangji with him.
Lan Jingyi groaned. “I suppose one of us should accompany them to make sure no one sees them,” he said. The four of them looked at each other, waging a war with their stares, waiting for someone to volunteer.
“Let’s draw chopsticks,” Ouyang Zizhen suggested, “whoever gets the messiest one has to do it.”
“That’s fair,” Lan Sizhui proclaimed.
“But whoever holds them will be able to feel which one has the most stuff on it,” Jin Ling pointed out.
“I have an idea!” Lan Jingyi announced. “Hanguang-Jun, will you please come over here and help us?” Lan Wangji immediately turned around and walked towards them. “He’s the fairest,” Lan Jingyi explained.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian whined.
“Please hold these chopsticks for us,” Lan Jingyi said. Lan Wangji nodded and carefully held the bundle in his little hands. The Juniors drew the sticks and compared them.
“Hey, Jin Ling, looks like you’re the lucky winner!” Ouyang Zizhen said. Jin Ling groaned as he looked at the damp wooden chopstick with a few sticky grains of crushed rice packed into a crack in the wood. He angrily thought about the too-generous tip he had given the server earlier. They’d better invest in some good-quality chopsticks with it—he made a mental note to tell the innkeeper so before they left.
“Fine,” he mumbled. “Come on then, let’s go,” he told Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, sliding the door open and marching out. Lan Jingyi laughed and Lan Sizhui punched him lightly on the shoulder.
“I’ll go tell a server that we’re done while they’re gone,” Ouyang Zizhen volunteered. Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui nodded and began to stack the empty bowls and plates into neat piles.
By the time the meal was cleared away and an even more disgruntled Jin Ling had returned with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in town, Lan Wangji was yawning audibly.
“It’s nearly nine,” Lan Sizhui said.
“Time to sleep,” Lan Wangji announced. He walked over to the bed in the corner of the room and laid down on his back. He was asleep within seconds.
“That was easy,” Ouyang Zizhen said. “Lan sect bedtimes come in handy.”
“I’m not tired,” Wei Wuxian declared mischievously.
“Don’t you want to keep Hanguang-Jun company?” Lan Jingyi asked. Wei Wuxian tilted his head consideringly.
“Yes,” he said after a moment, “but not now. Not sleepy.”
“If you don’t go to sleep, Hanguang-Jun will be lonely,” Lan Jingyi said, trying again.
“Oh,” said Wei Wuxian. He made a show of considering this, then stood up and climbed into the bed. “Night!” The juniors watched as Wei Wuxian threw himself over Lan Wangji and fell still.
“Well, it’s time for us to sleep too,” Lan Sizhui said quietly. Lan Jingyi nodded.
“They should be good for the night here,” Jin Ling said. “Zizhen, do you remember if your sister had to be watched while sleeping?”
“Ah no, I never went to her room at night. Why would I know? I think if they’re sleeping we don’t have to worry.”
“That makes sense,” Jin Ling decided. They left the room. In the corridor, they bid their good nights and split ways.
Jin Ling couldn’t sleep. He rolled to the other side in his narrow, lumpy bed. If he’d known how uncomfortable it would be, he would've suggested camping out.
“Zizhen?” he said. No answer. “Are you awake?”
“No. Go to sleep.” His voice was muffled.
“What if they can’t be turned back?”
“They will be.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“How can they not be? We’ll bring them to Cloud Recesses by tomorrow evening and someone there will know what to do.”
“But-”
“Chances are the resentful spirit would have gotten one of us anyways.”
“I should’ve watched out, I should’ve-” Jin Ling broke off. Why was he telling this to Ouyang Zizhen? In the dark it was almost easy to voice his concerns, but he was a Sect Leader now, he couldn’t show any vulnerability.
“Go to sleep, Jin Ling,” Ouyang Zizhen said softly. Jin Ling nodded though no one could see it and rolled over to face the wall.
It seemed like no time had passed before he heard a large crash and sat up in bed with a jolt.
“What was that?” he demanded.
“Let’s go find out,” Ouyang Zizhen said. They got out of bed and rushed into the corridor. Ouyang Zizhen collided with another body in the dark.
“Ow!” exclaimed the voice of Lan Sizhui.
“Sorry!” Ouyang Zizhen said. He offered a hand and helped Lan Sizhui up.
“We’d better check on Hanguang-Jun and Senior Wei,” Jin Ling said. They rushed to their room and opened the door. The covers of the bed were tossed back, and the room was empty.
Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui spoke at the same time. “Oh, no,” Lan Sizhui said.
Jin Ling’s response was much more resigned. “Of course.”
They ran down the stairs to find the source of the crash. The common room was dark, but the kitchen door was ajar. They made their way through the door to see three large, overturned jars of wine rolling around on the ground, one leaking on the floor. They followed the trail with their eyes and gasped.
In front of a shelf near the back of the kitchen, Wei Wuxian was struggling to lift a large jar of the Emperor's Smile up to his lips while Lan Wangji helped him by supporting the bottom of the jar. Wei Wuxian’s little throat bobbed as he swallowed a gulp of wine and promptly began to cough.
“What are you doing?” Jin Ling hissed. Lan Wangji turned to look at him incredulously.
“Wei Ying was thirsty,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Jin Ling groaned and crumpled to the ground, head in hands. It was a stance he found himself in way too much recently.
“I give up! I’m done,” he muttered. Ouyang Zizhen patted his shoulder sympathetically.
“Hanguang-Jun, why would you think this was a good idea?” Lan Jingyi demanded. Lan Wangji did not deign to respond. Instead he helped Wei Wuxian lower the jar to the ground and began to rub Wei Wuxian’s back as he continued to hack from the burn of the alcohol his little body couldn’t tolerate like his adult one could.
“We have to get out of here before anyone else comes to investigate,” Ouyang Zizhen said.
“Wei-qianbei, Hanguang-Jun, please come back to your rooms,” Lan Sizhui requested, crouching down to their level.
“I’m not done,” Wei Wuxian slurred, recovering from the coughing fit and struggling to lift the jar once more. Lan Sizhui snatched it out of his hands.
“Give-” he hiccuped “-back!”
“No. Like it or not, you’re a kid and your little body can’t tolerate alcohol!” Lan Sizhui retorted. Wei Wuxian blinked at him, uncomprehending.
“Look, you want more?” Jin Ling offered, getting up to grab the jar from Lan Sizhui. “You have to come with us.” Wei Wuxian unsteadily got up, using Lan Wangji as a support and lurched over to reach for the jar. He promptly fell flat on his butt and began to sniffle. Lan Wangji crawled over to him.
“Just pick them up, we’ve got to clean up this mess before anyone notices it,” Ouyang Zizhen suggested. Lan Sizhui sighed.
“Hanguang-Jun, Wei-qianbei, I apologise,” he said and unceremoniously hefted Wei Wuxian into his arms. Lan Jingyi picked up Lan Wangji and they ran out of the room.
“I’m surprised no one else woke up,” Ouyang Zizhen said, beginning to re-stack the overturned wine jars. Jin Ling got up to help him.
“That’s a good thing. How are we supposed to explain a drunk toddler?”
“True.” They heard a wail coming from above. Jin Ling looked down and realized he was still holding the jar of the Emperor's Smile in his hands.
“Oh no, he’s going to be even more upset!” Just then, the door to the kitchen opened further and the innkeeper’s wife entered. Ouyang Zizhen and Jin Ling turned around to stare at her, frozen in place.
“What’s going on here? I heard a crash and then a scream!” she asked.
“I was thirsty,” Jin Ling borrowed Lan Wangji’s explanation, brandishing the large, open jar of the Emperor's Smile that was certainly meant for storage and not individual drinking. She frowned.
“It was dark; I stubbed my toe,” Ouyang Zizhen said. She looked between them skeptically. “I have very sensitive toes," he added.
“We’ll pay, of course! Add any damage to our tab,” Jin Ling offered. Money solved most problems after all.
“But—”
“Goodnight!” Ouyang Zizhen said, taking Jin Ling by the wrist and dragging him past the confused women.
“Unhand me,” Jin Ling hissed, “I’m the Jin Sect Leader!”
“And it’s a good thing she doesn’t know that,” Ouyang Zizhen said. But he released his grip. “You would have dragged things out.”
“Would not!”
“Would too!”
“Whatever,” Jin Ling hissed, “let’s go back upstairs and see what horror my drunk Uncle has caused.”
“Uncle?” Ouyang Zizhen teased. “Since when did you start calling him that?”
“Shut up,” Jin Ling said. He must be more tired than he thought to slip up in such a way. “Also you stubbed your toe? Seriously?”
“Short notice,” Ouyang Zizhen muttered.
Come morning, they ate breakfast, after which Jin Ling paid their tab and engaged in a heated conversation with the innkeeper. Together they managed to sneak Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian—who was whining about his achy head—outside and onto Lil’ Apple. The innkeeper stopped Lan Sizhui before he left the building.
“Are you sure Tan Peizhi’s house is safe?”
“Yes, and rest assured, we will sooth her spirit at Cloud Recesses.”
The innkeeper shifted from foot to foot.
“Is there anything else you would like to ask?” Lan Sizhui queried politely.
“Will...will my son-in-law and grandchild become resentful spirits like her?”
“It’s unlikely. The child is too weak and we only sensed one spirit, that of Tan Peizhi, in the house. So my guess would be your son-in-law didn’t die with any strong resentments.”
“Oh.”
“But of course, send a report if anything strange happens again.”
“The sooner, the better!” Lan Jingyi interjected. Lan Sizhui coughed pointedly.
“Thank you, young cultivators,” he said gravely as he bowed. Lan Sizhui nodded and turned away.
“We should be able to make it to Cloud Recesses within a day,” Lan Jingyi said.
“One day too long,” said Ouyang Zizhen wearily as he pushed Wei Wuxian back into Lil’ Apple’s saddle, preventing him from falling after all his squirming.
“Owww,” Wei Wuxian whined.
“It’s your own fault,” Jin Ling snorted. Lan Wangji glared at him. “You helped him!” he continued, “So it’s your fault too.”
“Well, we did leave them unattended,” Lan Jingyi pointed out. “We are supposed to watch them till we can hand them off to someone who knows how to fix them, so it’s also our fault.”
“It’s everybody’s fault! Can we please move on before any other disasters happen?” Lan Sizhui asked. Bickering, they set out on the road.
Wei Wuxian only vomited once. Jin Ling counted it as a win when he managed to jump out of the way in time.
After skirting around Caiyi Town to avoid being seen, they crested the final rise and saw the road which led to Cloud Recesses’s main entrance.
“Took us long enough,” Jin Ling said. “It would have been so much easier to fly on our swords.”
“So, what do we do now? Who do we go see to fix the problem . . . and how do we do so without being seen?” Ouyang Zizhen asked.
“Zewu-Jun is slowly coming out of seclusion, I’ve visited him a few times with Hanguang-Jun,” Lan Sizhui began. “Besides Hanguang-Jun and Wei-qianbei of course, he’s the most skilled cultivator I know. Also we can trust him because Hanguang-Jun is his brother. So all we have to do is sneak into Cloud Recesses and make it to his house without being seen.”
“You make it sound so easy,” Jin Ling said.
“It will be. I know a way to get to the Jingshi without being spotted and from there it should be easy to go find Zewu-Jun,” Lan Sizhui said.
“Why would you know that?” Jin Ling demanded.
“Wei-qianbei showed me and Jingyi numerous ways to sneak out. He said it was very important knowledge to have. I’m sure he won’t mind you and Ouyang Zizhen learning one way; this is an emergency after all.”
“You hear that Wei-qianbei? We’re going to put the skills you taught us to good use and you and Hanguang-Jun will be back to normal in no time!” Lan Jingyi said, turning to the two toddlers sitting on Lil’ Apple, peeking out from their outer robes which the juniors had decided to use as blankets as they ascended the mountain and the air grew colder. Wei Wuxian smiled for the first time during his miserable, hungover ride on Lil’ Apple.
“Sneaky!” he proclaimed. Lan Wangji looked at him fondly.
“Mn.”
Lan Jingyi took the lead as they skirted the main entrance completely and went south, through the trees which lined the southern border of Cloud Recesses. Eventually, they reached the wards which cut off the back hills from any intrusion from the outside, and from casual entry from the main areas of Cloud Recesses. Technically.
“Wei-qianbei modified this area so that members of Lan clan and those they give permission to can enter more discreetly than jumping over a wall and onto a roof or coming in through the main gates,” Lan Jingyi said.
“But why would he even need to make a backdoor? He’s married to Hanguang-Jun!” Ouyang Zizhen asked. Lan Sizhui turned to him, placing a hand on each shoulder, he looked into Ouyang Zizhen’s eyes.
“You don’t want to know,” he said seriously.
“Oh.” Ouyang Zizhen glanced at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, who were paying attention only to each other even as toddlers.
Jin Ling gagged, “Enough talking, please. Let’s just go.”
Lan Sizhui took Jin Ling’s hand while Lan Jingyi took Ouyang Zizhen’s hand in one of his and held Lil’ Apple’s reins in the other. The wards parted to let them through.
They soon passed the Jingshi, which Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji both looked at with recognition and longing.
“Not yet, we have to go get Zewu-Jun to turn you back to normal,” Ouyang Zizhen counselled. He looked around curiously. He was friendly with some Lan sect juniors to be sure, but he had never been further in Coud Recesses than the dormitories and the main hall where most meals were served. He certainly had never thought he’d go near the off-limits back hills of Cloud Recesses.
Lan Xichen’s quarters were set behind a grove of tall trees, right by a burbling stream and bordered by a carefully tended garden.
“Are you sure we won’t be disturbing him?” Ouyang Zizhen asked.
“Of course we’ll disturb him, but it’s necessary!” Lan Jingyi responded resolutely. He wasn’t nervous, he wasn’t.
They approached the entrance.
“Jin Ling, you can let go of my hand now,” Lan Sizhui said mildly. Jin Ling looked down and realized he had forgotten to let go of Lan Sizhui’s hand, which was now held in a nervous grip. He felt himself blushing and let go of it like it was a hot coal. He looked into the distance awkwardly. Lan Sizhui had the grace not to show the amusement Jin Ling was sure he felt at his expense, merely shaking his hand slightly to restore circulation.
They took Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji down from Lil’ Apple and gathered in front of the entrance. Lan Sizhui looked at each of them in turn before turning and knocking on the door.
No answer.
“Zewu-Jun? It’s Lan Sizhui. This disciple must talk to you about an urgent matter,” he called. They heard faint shuffling from within and the door slid open. There stood the First Jade of Lan, looking drawn and worn but otherwise composed. He raised an eyebrow as he took in the sight of the four young men gathered in front of his house.
“What is the matter?”
Lan Sizhui lowered his eyes and stepped to the side so that Lan Xichen could see the two kids hidden behind them. The sect leader’s face went blank and he blinked once, twice, three times before speaking.
“Who are these children?”
“H-hanguang-Jun and Wei-qianbei,” Lan Jingyi stuttered.
“Excuse me?”
“Wewerenighthuntingbuttheresentfullspiritattackedthemanditsomehowtransformedthemintolittlekids—” Lan Jingyi paused his incomprehensible explanation to take a deep breath “—andwedon’tknowwhattodosowebroughtthemtoyoubecauseyou’llknowhowtofixthisright?”
“Calm down, Jingyi,” Lan Xichen said more sharply than either of the two Lan juniors had ever heard him speak. He looked at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji once again. Wei Wuxian waved.
“I suppose you all had better come in before someone sees you,” Lan Xichen sighed as he stepped to the side and gestured for them to enter. “I expect a full explanation.”
Lan Xichen sat blank faced as he listened to the junior’s report on what happened. Lan Xichen had poured tea for all of them and had only fully choked on it once, when Lan Jingyi told him how Wei Wuxian managed to get drunk.
When they were done explaining the situation, he closed his eyes and the silence was palpable.
“I have never heard of such a thing happening due to resentful energy,” Lan Xichen said. “It does seem likely that such was her desire to recover her children that it caused Wangji and Wei Wuxian to regress in age. They are more powerful than the man who died searching for his missing child so they weren’t...killed...and the fact that they are cultivators must have influenced what happened.”
“So how do we fix this?” Jin Ling interrupted. Lan Xichen raised an eyebrow which conveyed a world of meaning. Jin Ling looked down, embarrassed once again.
“May I see the spirit capture pouch you have contained Tan Peizhi in?” he asked. Lan Sizhui reached into his robes and handed the embroidered pouch over. Lan Xichen held it in his hand and closed his eyes.
“Her spirit is restless, unfulfilled. The only way to put her to rest is to fulfill her wish.”
“But her children are dead,” Lan Jingyi said.
“That may be,” Lan Xichen responded. He looked consideringly at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, the former idly playing with the latter’s hair. “Wei Wuxian, Wangji, come here.” Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian looked at him in concert and stood up to approach him. Lan Xichen gently took one of each of their hands and placed them over the spirit capture bag. It immediately began to vibrate violently in their hands. Lan Xichen barely managed to save it from dropping to the floor.
“As I thought, Tan Peizhi’s spirit thinks of them as her children.” The juniors stared at him, puzzled. Lan Xichen looked up at them. “What is the first way to deal with a resentful spirit?”
“Liberate; find a way to fulfill the spirit’s wish so it can move on,” Lan Sizhui said confidently. It was after all part of one of the first lessons about resentful spirits they learned.
“Correct. As you say they were transformed when Tan Peizhi’s spirit passed through them, it stands to reason that if she passes through them once more her will on them will be released and Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji will return to normal,” Lan Xichen said.
“Will it work?” Ouyang Zizhen asked eagerly.
“There is a chance. I would remind you that nothing like this has happened before,” Lan Xichen responded.
“Zewu-Jun, can we do this now?” Lan Jingyi asked eagerly.
Lan Xichen inclined his head.
“I shall fetch Leibing. You four must stand in the four directions, at the ready. This house is warded, but one cannot be too careful.” Lan Xichen gracefully left the main room they were gathered in, but the four juniors remained seated.
Ouyang Zizhen looked at Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, who stood to the side, seemingly listening. “Don't worry, seniors, you’ll be back to normal in no time!”
Wei Wuxian smiled at him and toddled over to pat his thigh consolingly.
Lan Xichen returned, turning Leibing over in his hands. He said quietly, “It’s been a long time since I’ve played you.” His smile was sad and reminded Jin Ling of that disaster at Guanyin Temple over a year ago. “Take your positions,” Lan Xichen told them firmly. The juniors scrambled to stand up.
“Wangji, Wei Wuxian, you must stand still so that I may help you.” They both nodded solemnly, wide-eyed. Lan Xichen looked around and saw that the four juniors were in place. He undid the spirit capture pouch with hands that shook ever so slightly. Immediately, dark smoke rose up and out of the pouch. It coalesced into a vaguely humanoid form with long arms and a head that swiveled around eagerly.
“Let me save my children,” the spirit hissed. Her words sent a chill through everyone present. Lan Xichen began to play a melody on his flute that Lan Sizhui recognized to be Release, blue-tinted energy gathering and swirling over his xiao.
The spirit advanced towards Lan Xichen and hissed, “No.” She extended an arm and attempted to swat Liebing from Lan Xichen’s mouth but the energy blocked her, knocking the spirit back. She looked around the room and the juniors tensed, hands on their swords and ready to draw at the slightest provocation.
"There are your children!" Lan Jingyi yelled, pointing at the toddlers. Two dents where her eyes would be glowed a faint orange as they caught on their small forms of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, who stood very still, dwarfed in size by the resentful spirit.
“My children?” she asked, her chilling voice suddenly turning gentle. Wei Wuxian clutched closer to Lan Wangji while brandishing his dizi he had stubbornly refused to give up in front of them. She advanced towards them and Wei Wuxian began to wail. Lan Xichen didn’t have time to worry while the situation was reaching its riskiest moment. He emptied his mind of all thoughts save playing the song that would soothe and release the spirit. Though it had been a while, it was a familiar practice for him, and not hard to do.
“No, no, hush!” the spirit said, surging forward, two arms elongating even further to encircle Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji in a hug. Wei Wuxian immediately stopped crying, and smiled.
“Your mother is here,” the spirit said gently, losing her form as she enveloped the two, smoke obscuring them from view. Lan Xichen continued to play, worry creeping in—what if he had just made a horrible mistake?
“Safe now,” she breathed, then a head formed and looked at Lan Xichen. “Thank you.” She twirled into a small cyclone, letting the blue energy wrap itself in tendrils around her. A dance of bright blue and smoke gray. She dissipated into the ether.
Lan Xichen lowered the xiao from his lips and stared eagerly at the spot where the spirit of Tan Piezi had vanished. There lay the adult forms of Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. He smiled, more widely than he had for over a year. Lan Wangji raised his head, slowly taking in his surroundings.
“Mother?” he said softly. Lan Xichen gasped slightly at that word, and blinked suspicious wetness from his eyes as memories of their mother and Lan Wangji as a toddler threatened to take over the present.
“Hey, Lan Zhan, I just had the strangest dream. . . of my mother giving me a hug. Haven't had one of those in years,” Wei Wuxian said from his sprawl on the floor, hand reaching blindly to rest on Lan Wangji’s arm.
“Mn,” Lan Wangji responded slowly. Lan Xichen cleared his throat. Wei Wuxian looked up and took in his surroundings.
“You guys are okay!” Jin Ling exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air. He looked around self consciously but no one paid him any mind, too occupied with their own happiness. Lan Jingyi was smiling widely, bouncing up and down. Lan Sizhui looked relieved and somewhat apprehensive. Ouyang Zizhen was busy wiping sweat off his forehead.
“Hey, why’re we all here in Zewu-Jun’s house?” Wei Wuxian demanded. “In our under-robes too?” he added as an afterthought. “I thought we were out night hunting.”
“Senior Wei, do you remember anything about the last two days?” Jin Ling asked nervously. Wei Wuxian frowned.
“It’s all hazy— I feel like I got blackout drunk. Lan Zhan, this must be what you feel like after you drink!” Lan Wangji rolled his eyes and stood up.
“Night hunting,” he prompted.
“About that-” Lan Xichen said.
“Well you see Hanguang-Jun…you two kind of…” Lan Sizhui began.
“Got turned into little kids,” Jin Ling finished.
“Yeah,” Ouyang Zizhen nodded.
“And then, Wei-qianbei, you got drunk,” Lan Jingyi added.
“What?” Wei Wuxian asked. “I managed to get drunk as a tiny child? That’s awesome.”
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji said reprovingly.
“Right, how were we, uh, turned into kids?”
“Remember that spirit we were going to subdue? Well it passed through you two after Jin Ling knocked Hanguang-Jun into it’s path and it transformed you into tiny tiny toddlers. We had to sneak you into the inn for the night then take you back to Cloud Recesses and Zewu-Jun came up with the idea to let the spirit think you guys were her kids and when her desire to save her kids was fulfilled you were transformed back,” Ouyang Zizhen informed them.
“Good thinking!” Wei Wuxian said brightly. Too brightly, as if this whole scenario delighted him.
“Sorry,” Jin Ling muttered through gritted teeth. Wei Wuxian patted him on the shoulder with a smile.
“Now you’ll have to tell us all about what we were like as kids. Was Lan Zhan super cute? I’ll bet he was.” Wei Wuxian elbowed his husband in the ribs and Lan Wangji huffed.
“You both looked very cute,” Lan Xichen told them seriously.
“And how did we get back?”
“Uh, well, we took turns carrying you guys and then once Jin Ling found Lil’ Apple you both rode on the donkey,” Lan Sizhui said. Wei Wuxian looked at Lan Wangji and began to laugh, draping himself over his back.
“Who knows about this?” Lan Wangji asked solemnly, ear tips coloring red.
“No one not in this room!” Lan Jingyi promised. “We were all very sneaky and no one was the wiser when we stopped for the night at the inn.”
“Mn.”
“This phenomenon must be researched and analysed thoroughly,” Wei Wuxian decided, controlling his mirth. One of his few entertainments in Cloud Recesses was researching resentful energy and organizing scraps of his notes that survived from his previous life. “That means I’ll need full accounts from all of you,” he said, making eye contact with each of the juniors.
“Of course,” Lan Sizhui said. “Oh yes, your robes are on Lil’ Apple and Bichen is in my qiankun pouch!” he said, breaking the silence. Lan Sizhui reached into the pouch and carefully presented the sword to Lan Wangji.
“Well, no permanent harm done. Go and refresh yourselves from your journey. Dinner starts soon,” Lan Xichen announced, smiling once again. The juniors nodded and bowed to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji. To their surprise, Wei Wuxian bowed back with a flourish and Lan Wangi inclined his head minutely.
“Thank you for taking care of our younger selves,” Wei Wuxian said. Lan Jingyi stared at them, still processing the fact that Hanguang-Jun had basically bowed to them. Well not really, but for him it was a lot.
“Well we couldn’t leave someone behind!” he said after a moment. His fellow juniors nodded in agreement before bowing themselves and hurrying out of the house. Once outside, they looked at one another. The invisible tension that had permeated their group dissipated now that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were restored to their proper form.
“So that happened,” Ouyang Zizhen said.
The silence lingered amongst them for a moment before Jin Ling grimaced and said, “Can we pretend it didn’t?”