狐死兔泣 | Companion

by thelastdboy

Summary:

The three months trapped inside the Burial Mounds passed in the blink of an eye and when Wei Wuxian crawled out of his own personal hell, he wasn't alone anymore. Beside him, there was a little black fox.

Weeks after Wei Wuxian's death in the Siege of the Burial Mounds, the fox suddenly reappeared in Gusu to watch over a recently renamed Lan Yuan. As Lan Wangji somehow found himself co-parenting the child with a fox, he soon realized that the creature was more than just a spiritual companion.

Notes:

狐死兔泣 (tù sǐ hú bēi):
literally “the fox grieves when the rabbit dies”.
figurative "to have sympathy with a like-minded person in distress/someone in a similar situation."

Chapter 1

Notes:

Content Warnings (click to expand)

Canon-typical violence, canon minor character deaths, canon non-consensual kiss, canon major character death (Wei Wuxian).

The three months inside the Burial Mounds passed in a blur.

By the time Wei Wuxian managed to fight his way out of his personal hell, by the time he managed to literally crawl out, he wasn’t alone anymore. Instead, beside him, there was a small black fox. It looked exactly as half-starved and ragged as he did, half an ear missing and more than a few wounds still open and bleeding.

If he was being honest, Wei Wuxian had expected the fox to make a run for it the moment they were out. However, to his bafflement, the fox stayed right where it was – beside him. It growled a little and remained skittish, but it stayed.

After a short search, Wei Wuxian found a cave close to the Burial Mounds. It was located close to a shallow stream and offered enough shelter for him to feel comfortable to rest there a few days. He needed to regain some of his strength after everything that happened. As exhausted as he was, he could do little else but curl up and pass out. In the beginning, he was even too exhausted to dream. However, once he managed to hunt himself some food and actually fell asleep instead of falling unconscious, dreams came and with them; nightmares. Soon enough he woke up screaming and lashed out. Through it all, the fox remained beside him.

Once he regained a sense of his surroundings and calmed down somewhat, the fox carefully approached him. After a brief moment of hesitation, it fell down beside him and curled up against his chest, pressing close and making small little fox noises. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but huff out a small laugh, reaching out to stroke the fox’s matted fur with trembling fingers. He was sure the both of them made for a pitiful sight, but he didn’t care. From that moment onwards, he felt as though he wasn’t alone in this world anymore. He felt as though they had become a pack. These days, he felt more animal than person either way.

The next day, Wei Wuxian helped the fox clean its fur. He made sure to clean its wounds and after he went hunting again, fed it some fish he caught in the river. At night, the two of them curled up in the cave again. That night, he didn’t suffer any nightmares.

Of course, they couldn’t remain in the cave forever. Wei Wuxian needed to return to the world of the living, the world of the humans for good. There was revenge that needed to be taken.

The hunter, who had trapped the fox and later thrown it into the Burial Mounds once it got a few good bites in, was unfortunately long since dead.

The Qishan Wen Clan however, still needed to be taken down.

And so, they started their mission. Wei Wuxian summoned spirits and corpses and let them purge their resentful energy by killing Wens. It was revenge for them all. Already, the war had left so many restless dead in their wake that Wei Wuxian had no problem finding willing soldiers for himself.

Once they had decimated the first supervisory office, Wei Wuxian and the fox not only raided the pantry, but also the wardrobe and infirmary. Wei Wuxian found himself a new set of dark robes and a dachang that was more than a little too big for him, but it would do. He didn’t want anymore to see just how little there was left of him. He also found a beautiful silver collar. It was probably meant for a dog, but it was too beautiful for those horrid creatures anyways, so he fastened it around the fox’s neck instead. In the same drawer, he also found a silver guan with a similar design and though it was a bit of a hassle and he had always preferred simple ribbons to intricate guans, Wei Wuxian started wearing it. Him and the fox, they belonged together, and he wanted people to know it. They were a part of each other.

Now that they had regained some of their strength and could blend in a little easier back into society, Wei Wuxian and the fox continued their attacks on various supervisory offices and Wen outposts and finally tracked down Wen Chao and his entourage. Wei Wuxian could feel nothing else but vicious satisfaction as he watched the man cower in fear at the sight of him, as he watched him being torn apart piece by piece by corpses Wen Chao himself had been responsible for.

Unfortunately, that was when Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan tracked them down as well.

It became clear soon enough that neither of them was particularly fond of his new companion. If Wei Wuxian was being honest, it hurt his feelings a little bit, but he wouldn’t let himself be parted from his fox. Xiao-huli and him had been through so much together. No one would ever be able to understand just what the two of them had survived together.

So, the fox continued to be his companion even as they joined the Sunshot Campaign.

Xiao-huli proofed himself incredibly helpful to Wei Wuxian soon enough, because it was a convenient excuse why he wasn’t flying on his sword anymore and why he insisted to walk everywhere. Obviously, he needed to walk! His fox needed to walk too! How silly would he look, if he was holding an unhappy fox in his arms while flying?

Just like Wei Wuxian, his fox wasn’t exactly popular with the other cultivators around. Wei Wuxian heard them talk about it, heard them spread all sorts of nasty rumours about it. They said that it was an undead demonic fox. That it was a cursed fox that would give anyone all sorts of diseases if they got too close. All those rumours only isolated him further, but Wei Wuxian didn’t mind. It only helped him keep his secrets and he didn’t need anyone’s company either way. All he needed was his little fox, he thought to himself, as they curled up next to each other every night.

“Don’t listen to them, alright?” Wei Wuxian reassured the fox one night. The animal blinked up at him as though it understood him. “We both know their rumours are nothing more than that – rumours,” he said and the fox slowly blinked at him, reassuring him in turn.

“Actually, how about we lean into it a little, hm?” Wei Wuxian then asked the fox, petting its head affectionately. He hummed in consideration for a moment, then he said: “how about we practise a fearful entrance? I’m thinking dense black smoke, glowing red eyes, green flames, the entire spiel and with you by my side, what do you say?” The fox merely pressed its head against his hand, asking for more pets.

Just like this, the Sunshot Campaign passed.

When Wei Wuxian returned to Yunmeng, the fox remained beside him. Unfortunately, the new Jiang disciples weren’t exactly fond of it either, but at least they didn’t badmouth his companion where he could hear it. It wasn’t like Wei Wuxian knew what to do with those new disciples either way. He couldn’t really connect with them. He couldn’t really reconnect with Lotus Pier either, feeling like a stranger in his own home. He felt strange, almost untethered. Though while he was untethered, at least he had companionship and his Ghost Girls liked the fox just fine!

When it was time for the Crowd Hunt at Phoenix Mountain, the fox was there as well and for some reason, it didn’t do anything while someone kissed a blindfolded Wei Wuxian. Maybe the fox sensed the other person’s embarrassment and decided not to make a scene. Afterwards though, as Wei Wuxian leaned against the tree where he had been kissed, panting, and feeling a little dizzy, the fox chattered at him in concern. Wei Wuxian let himself slide down onto the floor and reached out to stroke the fox’s soft fur, already feeling calmer for it.

“Fuck,” Wei Wuxian hissed out. “What just happened?” he couldn’t help but ask himself and helplessly touched his lips, which still tingled from the kiss. His first kiss. Stolen. And he would never learn who the thief was, he thought a little forlornly. All what was left was the knowledge of the stolen peony, he had kept in his lapel, and the hint of a familiar smell that still lingered in the air.

Wei Wuxian took a few moments to calm himself down and then quickly pushed thoughts of the kiss to the back of his mind. Before he knew it, he was thrown into chaos again either way. A little while after the crowd hunt, Wen Qing appeared in Yiling all of a sudden. She begged him to help her search for her brother. When they finally found Wen Ning, it was too late. They loaded Wen Ning’s body up into a cart, stole all the horses of the prison camp and then, Wei Wuxian led Wen Qing and the around fifty others of her clan into the Burial Mounds, promising that he would find a way to return Wen Ning’s consciousness.

Even then, the fox was there beside him. It looked at Wei Wuxian unhappily as they approached the Burial Mounds, but in the end, it didn’t hesitate to step over the threshold, following Wei Wuxian back into their own personal hell.

It was easier this time around. With the Wens for company. With the Burial Mounds half-tamed already.

They found shelter in the area surrounding the freshly-named Demon-Subdue Cave and slowly, but surely, they started building themselves a life here. Wei Wuxian made himself at home in the cave and stayed there, even as they started building small huts and houses, which the Wens all happily moved into. There would have been enough room for him as well, but at the same time, Wei Wuxian didn’t really feel as if he had a place there. The Wens were still so skittish of him and he knew they slept a little easier with a little more distance between them and him. The Demon-Subdue Cave though was his. It was the place where he had died and where he had been reborn. It was the place where a feral fox had become his closest friend. It was the place, where even now, the fox and him curled up at night and found solace in each other’s company.

As sad as it was, Wei Wuxian felt as if there was not one person out there in this big wide world that would ever understand him as well as his fox did. They were cut from the same cloth, two sides of a single coin and for the time being, that was enough.

To Wei Wuxian’s surprise, the Wens warmed up to Xiao-huli soon enough. The fox helped them hunt for game further down the mountain and always made sure to warn them when danger was nearby. Of course, the Wens’ hearts also melted at its cuteness and the fox never had to worry about going hungry; someone was always throwing him some scraps from their own meal. As for Xiao-huli itself, the fox certainly had its own favourites amongst the Wens. It liked Wen Ning especially. Probably because of how still and gentle he was. Whenever Wei Wuxian wasn’t around to pet his companion, it made its way over to Wen Ning, batted its figurative eyelashes and immediately got all the pets it wanted. Wen Ning was also the best cook among them all and never able to deny the fox anything, so it always managed to get additional treats out of him too. One day, Wen Ning even carefully combed the fox’s fur until it was all silky and soft and in turn, the fox curled up in his lap happily. Wei Wuxian wasn’t jealous. He wasn’t.

The fox also absolutely adored Wen Yuan. When it came to other people, the fox had clear boundaries it wasn’t shy to reinforce. However, when it came to Wen Yuan, the fox let everything slide. No matter how roughly or awkwardly the toddler handled the fox, it never snapped at him and simply surrendered to its fate. More often than not, Wen Yuan treated the fox like a toy and carried it around like a sack of radishes, which the fox endured with a resigned but content expression.

For Wei Wuxian and Xiao-huli, the Burial Mounds had once been their own personal hell. However, now that they had found their refuge here with the Wens, now that they were slowly cleansing the resentful energy and building a small village here, they found a home for themselves.

It felt too good to be true.

It was too good to be true.

They got two years. Two good years. They didn’t exactly have a great time, but they were surviving. Their little settlement became self-sufficient and they grew into something that could almost be described as a family. Then, things started going wrong.

It started with the invitation to Jin Ling’s one-hundred days celebration. Then, the ambush at Qiongqi-dao. Jin Zixuan’s death. Wen Qing and Wen Ning turning themselves in to save them all – a sacrifice in vain. The clans declaring that they would kill the remaining Wens and Wei Wuxian regardless. Wei Wuxian striking back in his despair, inciting the Bloodbath at Nightless City.

And then–

Wei Wuxian wasn’t exactly sure. Things kept on happening. One thing after another. Everything happened too rapidly, he hardly managed to keep up. It was months that felt like days that felt like hours. He never even had enough time to mourn Wen Qing and Wen Ning as they deserved. They had become true friends in the years they had lived here together; the siblings of his heart.

During all of that confusion and all of that pain and suffering, the fox stayed beside him. Even when the cultivators of the four major clans finally assembled at the foot of the Burial Mounds to lay siege on them, Xiao-huli was there.

In the end, it was Wei Wuxian who made them separate.

In the end, it was Wei Wuxian who couldn’t bear the thought of Xiao Yuan being slain with the rest of them once he had destroyed the Yin Tiger Tally. He couldn’t bear the thought of someone killing Xiao-huli either, knowing that they would probably make a pelt of it, treating it even more cruelly in death than the rest of them.  

He hid Wen Yuan inside a hollowed-out tree and asked Xiao-huli to keep watch over the boy. Unhappily, the fox curled up in Wen Yuan’s lap, whining all the while. Wei Wuxian knew that the chances were slim that they would survive, but he trusted Xiao-huli. If there was any hope for them at all, his fox would find a way for them to live.

Wei Wuxian pressed a soft kiss to Wen Yuan’s forehead, glad that the boy remained asleep for now. Then, he petted Xiao-huli for the last time as well.

“I’m sorry, Xiao-huli, and thank you,” he told the fox. “Please watch over him for now,” he asked and the fox returned his gaze with determination.

Then, Wei Wuxian left. He didn’t look back once.

Back at the settlement, the massacre had already begun. Jiang Cheng must have shown the clans how to safely enter the Burial Mounds, Wei Wuxian realized bitterly. His former clan leader had led his disciples and their allies up the small path into their village.

Wei Wuxian didn’t allow himself to look too closely at those who had already fallen. Not after he had almost tripped over Wen-popo’s body. Someone had bludgeoned her head in.

Instead, he made his way to the Demon-Subdue Cave, playing Chenqing all the while and keeping everyone away from himself for now. There was one last thing he needed to do. Under no circumstances could he let the clans get a hold of the Yin Tiger Tally. There was not one person in the world he trusted with it and so, the only way forwards was to destroy it, which he did. He unleashed a maelstrom of resentful energy, which erupted all around them, once again corrupting their carefully-cleansed surroundings. Corpses appeared out of every corner. A sword was aimed at him. Something bit off his fingers. Claws dragged him to the ground. His chest was pierced by a blade. Blood spilled from his lips.

He was dead before he knew it.

Notes:

Hehe, I am back already! Buckle up for more angst!

Chapter 2

Notes:

Content Warnings (click to expand)

Injury recovery, chronic pain, injured animal in distress, referenced self-harm (the branding scene).

Lan Wangji woke suddenly. It was still in the middle of the night and initially, he wasn’t sure what exactly woke him.

Unfortunately, these days, that wasn’t a rare occurrence for him. It has only been a few weeks since he received his punishment and he still didn’t manage to sleep more than a few hours in one go. Lan Wangji’s wounds weren’t healing well at all and the pain often kept him up until he lost consciousness from exhaustion. Dragging his broken body to the Burial Mounds to retrieve Wen Yuan, now Lan Yuan, certainly hadn’t helped either.

For a few moments, he simply breathed and circulated his meagre spiritual energy. He assumed that it was the pain that woke him, but then, suddenly, he heard it. A strange scratching noise. After some moments, Lan Wangji realized that it came from the back door of the Jingshi and he frowned where he laid on his stomach. It almost sounded as though something was scratching on his door. The noise remained persistent too and eventually, Lan Wangji decided that he should investigate.

Getting up was extremely strenuous, but Lan Wangji already had practise. After all, he needed to get up every day to care for Lan Yuan. If not for the child, he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to fight on, to keep on living at all. But Lan Yuan needed him. So, he got up. Every day.

Lan Wangji breathed out deeply and centred himself for a moment. Still, the scratching noise persisted and Lan Wangji shuffled with slow steps towards the back door, breathing heavily by the time he arrived. He leaned against the door for a moment, gathering his strength. All the while, the scratching continued. Now that Lan Wangji was here and could see through the silk screen of the door, he thought that it might have been an animal that was attempting to gain his attention. He also felt a faint spiritual energy signature. How peculiar.

Finally, Lan Wangji opened the door. Immediately, a strange shadow darted into the Jingshi. Lan Wangji turned, his eyes following the shadow and then despite the missing collar, he recognised it for what it was. Wei Ying’s fox.

The animal had disappeared after the Siege on the Burial Mounds and Lan Wangji had shamefully assumed that just like Wei Ying, it must have been torn apart completely in the massacre. Not even a body left to bury. The creature had always been incredibly loyal to Wei Ying, so Lan Wangji hadn’t even considered the fact that it would have left Wei Ying in his final moments. Not even in a situation like the siege.

As Lan Wangji regarded the fox, a strange mixture of hope and grief overcame him. For a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder whether maybe Wei Ying had survived after all, that he had managed to flee just like the fox, but no.

Wei Ying was dead.

There was no way the clans would have allowed for Wei Ying to have survived the Siege on the Burial Mounds. Not after everything that had happened. Not after the lengths they had already gone to, all the innocent people they had murdered.

Wei Ying was dead, but his fox had survived somehow.

Right now, the fox was frantically running around the Jingshi, searching for something. Finally, it found Lan Yuan lying in Lan Wangji’s bed. The boy was frowning unhappily in his restless sleep. His fever had recently broken, but during the past couple of days, he had been terribly confused. His memories seemed to mix and disappear rapidly and he spent his days clinging to Lan Wangji, crying, confused. Right now, he still recognized Lan Wangji, but he couldn’t tell from where he recognised Lan Wangji from. The entire situation was horribly distressing for the child and Lan Wangji himself felt completely helpless, not knowing how to deal with it. As scared as the child was, especially of being alone, naturally Lan Wangji let him sleep beside him.

Once the fox found Lan Yuan, it whined and immediately ran over to the bed. The fox attempted to jump and get up on the bed, but failed to do so. It was then that Lan Wangji realized just how sorry of a state the creature was in. The fox had always reminded Lan Wangji a little of roadkill and he had never begrudged those, who had murmured behind Wei Ying’s back that the fox was one of his corpses. Shamefully, he had thought the same at first. However, now the fox looked much worse. Its fur was completely matted with dried blood and both its hind legs were clearly injured, which is why it didn’t even manage to jump up on Lan Wangji’s low bed. Lan Wangji wondered how the fox had even managed to make it here, all the way from Yiling…

“Xiao-hei, let me take a look at you,” Lan Wangji said quietly, awkwardly shuffling closer to the bed again. However, the fox only growled at him and desperately attempted to get up on the bed again. Lan Wangji couldn’t help but worry that it would hurt itself further in the attempt, so he carefully helped the fox climb up on the bed, ignoring how much it made the wounds on his back hurt. Once up on the bed, the fox immediately shuffled closer to Lan Yuan, curling up beside the boy. Even while he slept, Lan Yuan turned towards the fox and started cuddling it. The boy signed contently, the frown on his face finally disappearing and his sleep turning more peaceful.

Lan Wangji exhaled deeply as he looked at the both of them. At this point, the exhaustion was already threatening to pull him under again. He had walked across the Jingshi twice and lifted the fox. That was already too much for him. His shoulders were shaking and his back hurt. Awkwardly, Lan Wangji managed to sit down on the edge of the bed. The entire time, the fox had its intelligent eyes fixed on him while remaining curled up in Lan Yuan’s arms. At least it didn’t growl at him again, though the sight of it, with his dirty, bloody fur on Lan Wangji’s white bed sheets made his stomach turn a little. He hoped it wasn’t carrying any pests. A bath was desperately needed, but he was tired and he was sure the fox would not allow itself to be bathed by him.

After he had recovered enough strength, Lan Wangji carefully laid down on the bed as well. He rested on his stomach and turned his head so that he could look at Lan Yuan and the fox. For a few tense minutes, Lan Wangji and the fox kept staring at each other, seeming at an impasse, but then, the fox flicked its half-bitten ear, closed its eyes, and fell asleep. Just like that. Lan Wangji looked at it for a little while longer, but eventually, he couldn’t keep his eyes open either. From one moment to the next, he fell asleep.

The next day was a slow one for Lan Wangji. Last night’s work-out had worsened his pain and so he shuffled through the Jingshi slowly, going through his routine with measured movements. Lan Yuan was used to these kind of days and he was an exceptionally well-behaved child either way, so it wasn’t too much of an issue for him. He was also thoroughly distracted by the fox, which behaved very gently towards the child.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as though Lan Yuan remembered the fox, though there seemed to be some instinctual trust there. The child wasn’t shy about touching or cuddling the animal at all, despite how filthy it still was. Lan Wangji though… He had to admit that the creature looked even worse in daylight than it had at night and he couldn’t tolerate it in its home like this for much longer.

The best time to give the fox a bath had been last night, the second-best time was now, Lan Wangji decided. The fox disagreed. However, it seemed to be able to understand human speech and once Lan Wangji had made it clear that a bath and injury treatment were his conditions for the fox being allowed to stay with Lan Yuan, it acquiesced.

Over the years, Lan Wangji had taken care of various injured rabbits and had acquired quite the skillset and medical supplies for small animals. He felt ready to take care of the fox and the fox itself accepted this treatment with the grim acceptance of a hardened soldier. It only growled at Lan Wangji every now and then and then quickly quieted down again when Lan Yuan appeared to comfort the fox.

The injuries on its hind legs proofed themselves to be the most extensive, seeming almost like human bite wounds. Still, they were treatable and Lan Wangji carefully sewed some of the larger wounds closed and carefully wrapped the fox’s legs in bandages. Luckily, it didn’t seem to have any pests, no flees or anything else, so that was a worry assuaged.

At the end of the entire ordeal, the fox was lying on Lan Wangji’s bed again, clean and with its legs bandaged, while Lan Yuan gently petted its head. The fox still didn’t really look great, but then again, it had never really looked great. There had always been something rough and ragged about it. Its fur had never been shining and with its half-missing ear and its half-starved build, it had always looked half-dead.

Like this, their cohabitation began.

Twice a day, Lan Wangji opened the back door and watched as the fox disappeared into the bamboo grove behind the Jingshi for a full shichen to take care of all of its fox needs. After the fox had started staying with them, Lan Wangji also requested additional rations from the kitchen, which were happily provided. Everyone probably assumed that he had regained his will to live, while really, he just wanted to keep the fox fed well, because apparently it didn’t hunt its own food, always wolfing down whatever scraps Lan Wangji threw him. Once again, he couldn’t help but wonder how the fox had survived after the Siege on the Burial Mounds and how it had lived when Wei Ying had still been alive. Had Wei Ying also fed the fox? Was it unable to hunt and had therefore imprinted on Wei Ying for that reason? Either way, Lan Wangji was glad to provide food for the fox. Especially since that meant his rabbits were safe.

Slowly, him, the fox and Lan Yuan settled into a routine together. Somehow, the fox found a new place here and Lan Wangji, despite himself, found himself enjoying its company. The fox itself took longer to warm up to him. It took many weeks, but after one unfortunate night when Lan Wangji ended up drunk and branded himself with a Wen iron he found in their storage, the fox seemed to drop its guard around Lan Wangji. The next morning, Lan Wangji woke for the first time with the fox curled up against his side. When he reached out to carefully stroke its fur, the fox still growled at him, but that growling seemed habitual and after a few moments, it stopped and the fox instead leaned into his touch.

From that day onwards, things continued to change between them as they continued their life together.

Now, the fox started sleeping rolled up between Lan Yuan and Lan Wangji. Every now and then, it started accepting it when Lan Wangji petted the fox gently. Soon, Lan Wangji realized that the fox was most agreeable on those days when he himself wasn’t doing well. It almost seemed as if it was looking out for him, attempting to cheer him up by giving in to his affection and even demanding it sometimes.

Eventually, the fox even accepted it when Lan Wangji offered to comb out its fur. It didn’t exactly seem too happy about the ordeal and more than few growls were directed at Lan Wangji, but after Lan Wangji had worked a fine brush through its matted fur for a full shichen, its fur looked as shiny as never before. It wasn’t the only change the fox went through either. As time passed and Lan Yuan grew taller, the fox changed as well. It no longer looked half-starved and gained some healthy weight. With its fur combed out and shiny as well, it could almost be called a handsome fox, in a roguish sort of way.

Lan Wangji knew that the fox was special. It must have been a spiritual creature of some kind, though he couldn’t figure out the specifics yet. He knew it was sentient and could understand human speech, but that was about all he had managed to learn about the fox.

However, a little less than one year after the fox had started living with them, Lan Wangji learned just how special the fox truly was.

Lan Wangji has always been a private person, who didn’t share his thoughts with others. However, exactly one year after Wei Ying’s death, Lan Wangji found himself all alone at home for the night. Lan Yuan was staying with a friend, a distant cousin of Lan Wangji, because Lan Wangji had known that tonight would be challenging.

He sat on the front porch of the Jingshi, looking down at the small pond in front of the house, lost in his grief. Eventually, the fox appeared beside him. It had left earlier that evening, disappearing into the back hills. Lan Wangji had assumed that he would be alone all night, but now, the fox was here. It sat down next to him and then shuffled closer, a little awkwardly, as if to comfort him. After a few moments, it carefully leaned against his side.

That was when Lan Wangji broke.

For years, Lan Wangji had kept all of his thoughts to himself. It had started after his mother’s death and intensified after the Cloud Recesses burned. All of his pain and grief – he kept it all bottled up, but now, all of it was overflowing. He just couldn’t keep it to himself anymore. Every little piece of himself, he shared with the fox. He told it about his mother and how she had died imprisoned. He told the fox about how he grew up, about the pressure of being the Second Jade of Lan. He told the fox about Wei Ying, about how they had met and how Lan Wangji had found himself reluctantly falling in love. He told the fox everything and the fox listened. It listened intently, never once averting its attention, keeping its eyes on Lan Wangji the entire night and not judging him for a single word he said.

After that night, their relationship transformed once again. It was different now. Very different. The fox started sticking to Lan Wangji’s side in the same manner it had stuck to Wei Ying’s side. Of course, at the same time, it continued keeping watch over Lan Yuan. Some days, Lan Wangji almost felt as if he was co-parenting the child together with the fox.

Two years later, Lan Wangji’s seclusion came to an end. His back had healed as well as it could and it was time to return to the world and he wasn’t alone. The fox rejoined the world as well.

Unfortunately, no matter how beautifully its fur shined these days and no matter how much healthier it looked after having put on weight, the animal remained quite recognizable. Everyone easily identified it as Wei Ying’s fox. To say that certain members of the clan were displeased by its appearance was a gross understatement. Several senior clan members including his uncle turned almost apoplectic at the sight of the animal. However, at the end of the day, there was really nothing anyone could do. Lan Wangji had served his punishment as ordered and killing was forbidden within the Cloud Recesses. Sure, people disliked the fox, but there wasn’t anything concrete they could blame the animal for. 

In the end, the fox even submitted itself to an examination which not only revealed that it wasn’t harbouring any resentful energy inside of itself at all, but also that there seemed to be a well of spiritual energy at its core. Though Lan Wangji knew that the fox was a spiritual companion, that had still been a surprise. It had also caused some academic interest within the Lan Clan and caused his uncle and the others to admit defeat. They couldn’t think up a single reason why the fox should be harmed or forced to leave. Since it wasn’t harmful and more akin to a spirit than an animal, they couldn’t interfere. Especially, since it couldn’t really be considered a pet either.

With everything resolved, Lan Wangji started going on night-hunts again. Lan Yuan was old enough to attend classes and soon moved into the disciple dormitories, being both delighted at being able to spend more time with his friends and sad that he wouldn’t see Lan Wangji and the fox as often anymore. He was a good boy though and always told them how glad he was that they went night-hunting together, that they had each other for company.

The fox accompanying him on his night-hunts was very welcome. However, there was one problem. Transportation. When the fox had accompanied Wei Ying in the past, it had been different. Wei Ying had simply chosen not to use his sword to fly, citing the fox’s comfort as a reason why he always preferred to travel by foot or on horse. Lan Wangji found that incredibly inconvenient though and with Lan Yuan still in his care, he always wanted to be able to return to the Cloud Recesses as quickly as possible. So, he spoke to the seamstresses of the Lan Clan and they found a solution together. They created a custom-made qiankun bag he could strap to his chest, similar to how one might carry a baby. The fox fit into the bag comfortably without impending Lan Wangji’s movement and seemed to be thrilled by this development, asking Lan Wangji to carry him around when they weren’t even flying. It took to flying incredibly well too, seeming to love it. It often poked its head out of the opening of the qiankun bag and closed its eyes in bliss as they met strong winds high above the clouds. Seeing that, Lan Wangji couldn’t help but wonder why Wei Ying had never flown with the fox, considering how much it seemed to love the experience. He was sure that Wei Ying could have created something similar to the qiankun bag too, so maybe there was a different reason why Wei Ying had avoided using his sword after all…?

In this way, Lan Wangji settled into his new life.

On most days, he wasn’t exactly feeling much. His grief remained settled inside his ribcage, piercing him day by day and yet growing a little easier with each passing day as well. Outside of that, things were going well though. Lan Yuan was growing up into a kind young man and most importantly, he grew up being happy. Lan Wangji was incredibly proud of him. He just wished that Wei Ying and the Wens could have gotten the chance to see him grow and hoped that they were at peace as Lan Wangji and his fox watched over the last Wen.

Notes:

You know it's a succesful Lan Wangji chapter when there's not a single line of dialogue lol

Just realized this is my 30th work on AO3 - very wild. I also have an important exam tomorrow and I'm posting this instead of doing some last-minute cramming, so please, wish me luck.

I don't know yet how long this story is going to be. It could be finished after four chapters, but it could also be longer. It all depends on how motivated I am to tie up all loose ends!

Until next time!

Chapter 3

Notes:

Content Warnings (click to expand)

Xue Yang tricking Xiao Xingchen into killing the people of Yi Cheng, canon-typical violence, minor character death, major character (animal) injury.

Lan Wangji could have never imagined that their time together would come to an end so quickly. Only five years after Wei Ying’s death.

Lan Wangji and his fox were night-hunting in Jin territory. As it was with the major clans, smaller night-hunts were often ignored and left to rogue cultivators, since there was neither prestige nor money to earn from them, which in turn meant that rogue cultivators too often ignored those hunts. Those kinds of night-hunts were exactly the kind Lan Wangji and his fox most often completed. Neither of them was interested in prestige or money. For them, the satisfaction of completing a night-hunt was enough, no matter how easily things were resolved in the end.

Lan Wangji quickly noticed that the fox was somewhat disquieted since they arrived on Jin territory. He could relate to the feeling himself and would have preferred not to be this close to Lanling either, but if they wouldn’t take care of this night-hunt, no one would. Just hoping someone else might pass by and take care of it just wasn’t a risk Lan Wangji was willing to take.

Still, he worried about his fox. The creature seemed to grow more and more anxious the longer they stayed here. Sometimes, Lan Wangji felt as though it was searching for something. Not for the first time he wished that they could communicate better. If only the fox could tell him what was going on. For now, though, they took care of a few hopping corpses together. They were easily eliminated, but Lan Wangji quickly realized that all of them seemed to be coming from the same direction. Maybe a grave site nearby had been disturbed? He decided to follow the trail and soon, they found themselves inside a small town, which had been famous for its coffin production not too long ago and was aptly named Yi Cheng.

It was clear that the town had fallen into disarray a while back. Currently, the entire town was overrun with the fierce corpses and Lan Wangji felt ice cold anger at the sight, because they weren’t regular fierce corpses. No, someone was clearly controlling them. How was something like this was allowed to happen without anyone interfering? This amount of controlled fierce corpses should have gotten noticed sooner. Someone should have noticed that Yi Cheng had been overrun by them. Were the Jins truly so preoccupied inside their golden tower that they had no idea what was happening in the middle of their territory?

At the sight of the fierce corpses, the fox growled next to Lan Wangji, which made him focus back on the hunt. Who was controlling all these corpses? Had someone created them on purpose and if so, why?

A moment later, they heard a quiet tapping sound, which was clearly meant to attract their attention. In one of the back alleys of the town, a girl was hidden out of sight of the fierce corpses and was gesturing at them to get their attention. Her eyes were milky white, but she was definitely able to see them. The fox immediately made its way over to her and Lan Wangji followed after a moment of hesitation. He wondered why she was alone in such a town and whether this was a trap. However, his caution seemed to be misguided.

The girl introduced herself as A-Qing and quickly explained what had happened to her and Yi Cheng. A young and recently outcast Jin disciple named Xue Yang seemed to be responsible for what was happening here. He had tricked Xiao Xingchen into killing living people by infecting them with corpse poison had and started to hunt A-Qing when she discovered what was happening. The people who had been killed were used to create the fierce corpses. Xue Yang had just summoned a fresh wave of them to go after her after she had managed to run off.

Before dealing with the fierce corpses, Lan Wangji helped A-Qing hide herself and handed her a signal flare and some talismans so that she could defend herself should she be discovered. Then, he rose to one of the roofs and summoned Wangji. He started with Cleansing, infusing a great deal of spiritual energy into the song in order to swiftly deal with the fierce corpses. Of course, his playing immediately drew Xue Yang’s attention to him and the man appeared with a menacing grin on his face.

To Lan Wangji’s horror, Xue Yang carried a restored half of the Yin Tiger Tally in his hands.

Xue Yang himself seemed to be in the mood for talking, asking him insistently why he was here and how he had found this place, but once he realized that Lan Wangji wasn’t interested in talking with him, he was quick to charge. Their fight began in earnest and Lan Wangji was so focussed on it that he didn’t realize that his fox had disappeared from this side.

Out of every alley in the town, fierce corpses started appearing. There was no doubt about it that they had once been the innocent inhabitants of Yi Cheng before Xue Yang had used the Yin Tiger Tally on them. Once all of the fierce corpses had been assembled on the streets below them, Xue Yang lifted the Yin Tiger Tally into the air.

Then, a scream unlike anything Lan Wangji had ever heard rang out, freezing them all into place. Even the fierce corpses froze where they stood.

The scream echoed off every wall in the town, growing louder and louder and sounding as if someone was brutally tortured. It took a while until Lan Wangji found the source of the scream and he tensed when he realized that it was his fox. The fox was down on the streets, surrounded by fierce corpses and a thick mist of resentful energy. As suddenly as the scream had started, it quieted again and then, the resentful energy around the fox thickened before shooting towards Xue Yang. He stood no chance against it. Before he could take another breath, the resentful energy enveloped the Yin Tiger Tally in his hand and made it explode into a thousand tiny pieces. The shrapnel of it pierced Xue Yang’s body from top to bottom and he dropped to the ground, dead, a moment later. Another moment passed and utter chaos broke out as the fierce corpses on the streets went berserk now that Xue Yang wasn’t controlling them anymore. Lan Wangji immediately focussed his attention on playing Wangji again. He sent Bichen out as well.

The fox. He could not see his fox anymore inside the chaos down below.

Xue Yang’s mangled corpse rolled from the roof where it laid down onto the street and the fierce corpses immediately went and tore it apart. It appeased their rage somewhat, but the levels of resentful energy remained high and Lan Wangji felt as though the fight lasted a small eternity. He still couldn’t see his fox anywhere and he felt panic rising inside of him.

Suddenly, Lan Wangji wasn’t fighting on his own anymore. Two more swords joined Bichen: Shanghua and Fuxue. The two swords danced through the air beautifully, always anticipating each other’s movements and perfectly in-sync. They left an ice-cold gust of wind in their wake and snow flowers slowly falling to the ground. With their help, the tide slowly turned in their favour. Yi Cheng wasn’t the same as the Burial Mounds. Despite Xue Yang’s efforts, there wasn’t an endless supply of fierce corpses or resentful energy here. It took a long time, but finally, the last fierce corpse fell and the last wisp of resentful energy was dissipated by a powerful strum of his qin.

Lan Wangji immediately returned Wangji to is qiankun sleeve and jumped down from the roof into the sea of bodies below. There was still no sign of his fox and all he could do was search the mountains of bodies on the streets, desperate to find something, anything.

There was no trace of the fox.

No matter how many bodies Lan Wangji moved to the side, he couldn’t find anything and his search was becoming more and more frantic. “Xiao-hei,” he called out. “Xiao-hei, where are you?”

There was no reply.

In the meantime, A-Qing had reappeared from her hiding spot and after a tearful reunion with Xiao Xingchen and an introduction to Song Zichen, the three of them joined his search as well, taking note of his clear desperation.

Eventually, Lan Wangji caught sight of a small black paw peeking out from beneath a small mountain of corpses. Immediately he moved towards it, pulling away the corpses with single-minded focus until he could finally free his fox.

The sight that greeted him wasn’t a pretty one.

For now, Xiao-hei was still alive. However, the fox’s breathing was laboured. With gentle movements, Lan Wangji pulled the fox into his lap and immediately started pouring all of his remaining spiritual energy into the animal. There wasn’t much he could do about all of the blood loss, but still, he couldn’t help but cling on to the hope that he would be able to fight the inevitable.

The fox’s entire body was littered with wounds, chunks of fur missing where corpses had clawed and bitten at it. Lan Wangji couldn’t help but marvel how the fox was even alive at all at this point, how it had managed to endure everything that happened.

It was only now that Lan Wangji thought back to the battle, thought back to the fox’s scream and the Yin Tiger Tally being destroyed and killing Xue Yang in the process. Somehow, the fox had controlled the resentful energy and saved them all and now, it was dying in Lan Wangji’s arms.

“Xiao-hei, please, hold on…” Lan Wangji found himself begging. The fox nuzzled against his stomach tiredly and whined pitifully, telling Lan Wangji in its own way that it wasn’t ready to die either.

Unfortunately, no matter how little he wanted it to be true, their time was running out.

Notes:

Sorry not sorry :D

(Please trust that there will be a happy end!)

Notes:

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