shidi - younger martial brother
Jingshi - Lan Wangji's bedroom, transliterated as 'quiet room'
xiaojie - to have a xiaojie temper means to act like a princess. Jin Ling is often described as such.
Under Wei Wuxian's instruction, both Jin Ling and Master Hu rapidly improved their sword techniques.
Sparring with them surrounded by the familiar landscape of Yunmeng, he could convince himself he was back in his previous life, teaching each shidi a new technique to impress Uncle Jiang. There were moments where he felt energetic and carefree, as though he was sixteen again.
But as the months went on and both boys progressed, he needed to ask them to limit the spiritual energy they used so he could keep up with them. Some days, his spiritual energy drained so quickly he could only instruct them verbally. The teenage Wei Wuxian of yesterday would have felt his heart ache at the reminder he could no longer wield his sword with the excellence that was meant to bring astonishment to many eyes. The adult Wei Wuxian of today felt his heart ache at the reminder he could never go back to being the mischievous teenager yet to know sacrifice and loss.
As he left the Jingshi he now shared with Lan Zhan and walked towards the secluded area of woods where Sizhui waited for him among the other GusuLan juniors, warmth blossomed in his chest. The past was the past, no matter how many times he relived or rewrote it in his head. The past led him to where he was now, a – literally – new life with the people he loved. He had found happiness despite his past.
He looked up to see Jin Ling approaching the group from a different direction.
Jin Ling had been practising his one-on-two technique against Wei Wuxian and Master Hu for the past few months. Due to Wei Wuxian's limited spiritual energy, Jin Ling had only been able to practise his techniques by limiting his own. He had been itching to wield Suihua in its full golden brilliance, testing out his new techniques for real. He and Wei Wuxian had agreed this would be the day.
'A-Ling, Sizhui, Jingyi, warm yourselves up and get ready for a one-on-two.' Lan Zhan, you know I have a bad memory. Please get here soon before I have to admit I can't remember anyone else's names.
After completing their warm-up routines, they raised their swords and began to spar.
Naturally, they were arranged with Sizhui and Jingyi split up at right-angles to Jin Ling. This position allowed the Lan boys to avoid one another's swords, while Jin Ling worked to prevent either of them getting behind him.
Wei Wuxian had taught him well. He resisted the impulse to be the impatient attacker, instead using sweeping cuts to keep himself safe from attacks from both sides. He was analysing their patterns, looking for the right moment to follow up a parry with an attack.
But no matter which way he moved, he could not find a moment where he could make an attack without opening himself up to the other attacker. Both Sizhui and Jingyi were well-trained fighters, forcing him to fight defensively with everything he had.
They at a tenuous stalemate. One wrong miscalculated move, and the Lan boys would gain the absolute upper hand.
'Stop.' The three of them withdrew their swords. Jin Ling panted, 'This is impossible!'
Wei Wuxian said, 'Have you forgotten these guys were trained by Lan Zhan? The fact you can hold your own against two of them is impressive. You'd easily destroy a pair of LanlingJin kids.'
'But Jin Chan always has at least three others with him! What's the use if I could only fight two?'
Wei Wuxian grinned, 'Now this is something you'll have to figure out for yourself.'
'You, and you,' Wei Wuxian pointed out two random GusuLan juniors, 'join Sizhui and Jingyi and fight Jin Ling.'
'What, no, I can't—' Jin Ling could only stop protesting and raise his sword to defend himself as the boys descended upon him.
It didn't take long for the GusuLan boys to gain the absolute upper hand. No matter how Jin Ling blocked their swords or which way he dodged, there was always an opening for one of them to deliver a fatal attack.
Jin Ling yelled for the boys to stop, took a moment to catch his breath and turned to Wei Wuxian. 'If you insist it's possible to fight one-on-four, then you do it!'
'A-Ling xiaojie, calm down…' Wei Wuxian's face lit up as he saw Lan Wangji approaching the woods. 'Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan! I need you to help with something!'
'Yes?' Lan Wangji asked.
Wei Wuxian counted ten GusuLan boys. 'Fight him.'
'Hanguang-Jun…' The boys turned to Lan Wangji. They knew better than anyone the brilliance with which he wielded Bichen, but he was still one person and Wei Wuxian had counted ten of them…
Lan Wangji only nodded.
A nod was all it took for the wide-eyed GusuLan juniors to draw their swords and begin their attack. Bichen's icy blue glare slashed out like lightening, fending off the swords of the four foremost juniors. As they staggered back, the other juniors moved around them, intended to surround Lan Wangji. No matter how skilled the fighter, being surrounded by ten trained fighters was a death sentence.
Noticing their intent, Lan Wangji began to step backwards, moving away from the group before they could surround him.
'Running away? That's the strategy?' Jin Ling exclaimed, 'That's not winning!'
Wei Wuxian shook his head, 'Keep watching.'
Lan Wangji hadn't been running away aimlessly. As he backed up onto the narrow mountain path, the juniors were no longer able to surround him. Forced to approach him one by one, they found themselves at a terrible disadvantage as Lan Wangji flung them off the mountain path to the clearing below.
Fortunately, the fall was only around two or three metres and Wei Wuxian had already set up ghosts at the bottom to catch them to break their fall.
As the GusuLan boys awkwardly stood up, dusting off their robes and sheathing their swords, Wei Wuxian addressed the group, 'what did you learn today?'
'Hanguang-Jun is amazing!' One boy exclaimed.
'Hanguang-Jun is amazing. And he's mine.' Wei Wuxian wrapped his arms around Lan Wangji, planting a kiss on his cheek as the boys cringed and looked away. Wei Wuxian asked, 'but what did you learn today?'
'If you back up onto a narrow mountain path, a group of fighters will be forced to fight you one-by-one, significantly increasing your chances of survival in an ambush,' Lan Jingyi answered, looking proud of himself.
'Jingyi gets a Yi.' Ignoring Lan Jingyi's indignant look at being given a 'good' grade for what he felt was an 'excellent' answer, Wei Wuxian continued to ask the group, 'Who can give me an answer deserving a Jia?'
'It does not have to be a mountain path, any narrow path like a bridge or even a hallway will serve the same purpose. Not,' Lan Sizhui hastily added, glancing at Hanguang-Jun, 'that anyone should be fighting anyone in a hallway.'
'Finally a Jia!' Wei Wuxian announced, stepping forward to ruffle Lan Sizhui's hair to his protests. 'Sizhui never disappoints.'
The cultivation world follows the Ten Heavenly Stems system for grading - Jia is the best grade you can get, followed by Yi then Bing then Ding then... can't remember.