jianbing - traditional Chinese street food similar to crepes

Jinlin Tai - the Jin Sect's residence in Lanling

shidi - younger martial brother

A figure strolled through the streets of Yunmeng.

In one hand, he juggled five balls of greaseproof paper that once held the jianbing he bought from the street vendor. In his other hand was a stick of sugared haws.

At his waist hung a dark flute adorned with blood-red tassels.

When he saw a familiar golden-robed figure at a street vendor, he quickened his steps to catch up to him.

'A-Ling!'

As Jin Ling took over the jianbing, he turned to Wei Wuxian. 'What are you doing here?'

'I grew up here!' He retorted indignantly, 'What are you doing here?'

Jin Ling returned the same indignance. 'I grew up here too!'

'You're just here to get away from Jinlin Tai.' He bit off a haw.

'Why would I need to get away from Jinlin Tai?' Jin Ling protested. 'You're just here to get away from Cloud Recesses.'

'Why would I need to get away from Cloud Recesses?' Wei Wuxian countered. 'You're here because the kids bully you even though you're the Sect Leader.'

'And you're here because Sir Lan glares at you even though you're Hanguang-Jun's partner.'

Wei Wuxian sighed. 'Sounds like you and I understand each other too well.'

'A-Ling,' He added, 'How have you been? Really.'

Jin Ling didn't really want to talk about it, but Wei Wuxian had probably already guessed. 'Jin Chan and that lot were at it again this morning. You niang sheng mei niang yang.'

Wei Wuxian winced. He himself had once insulted Jin Ling the same way, not knowing who he was let alone the extent to which 'no mother to raise him right' hit him where it hurt.

'You niang sheng mei niang yang,' Jin Ling repeated the sentence bitterly. 'Now that I'm the Sect Leader, I can't even punch them. The seniors don't take me seriously as it is.'

Wei Wuxian grinned. 'See? I told you. You gotta beat up all the people you want while you're still young. Now you've missed the boat.'

That conversation took place only a year ago, but so much has changed. Seeing as it did little to cheer up the boy, Wei Wuxian suggested, 'how about challenging them to a sword fight? Show them who's the more talented cultivator.'

'What would I be proving anyway, the Sect Leader is a better swordsman than the juniors?'

As always, Wei Wuxian was full of ideas. 'Then take on them all at once.'

'How would I do that? There's four of them and one of me!'

Wei Wuxian grinned. 'I can teach you.'

'Was—' Was it also Hanguang-Jun who taught you that? Of course it wasn't Hanguang-Jun who taught him that. Of course it wasn't Hanguang-Jun who taught Wei Wuxian how to take other kids to the ground either. He felt foolish having believed that claim the first time. Jin Ling began again, 'You'll really teach me?'

'Of course. It'll let me put my sword skills to good use.'

Walking around for a while, they soon found a clearing with few passers-by.

'Let's see what you've got.' Wei Wuxian drew Suibian as Jin Ling drew Suihua.

Suibian was built for agility rather than strength. It suited Wei Wuxian then when speed was his forte, and it suited him now when he no longer had the spiritual energy to wield a heavier sword like Bichen. He fought defensively, conserving the little spiritual energy he still had access to.

He stopped. 'Were you ever taught by anyone other than your uncle?'

'Why? Are you saying he taught me badly?' Jin Ling lowered his sword.

Wei Wuxian shook his head. 'No, you just fight exactly like him. You both like to stab the stomach.'

Remembering how he stabbed him in the stomach at the bottom of Jinlin Tai, Jin Ling winced.

Wei Wuxian must have also remembered the scene, but he continued with his instruction. 'Your uncle taught you the foundations well, you just need to work on being less predictable with your attacks.'

They raised their sword to spar again, this time Jin Ling taking into account this advice.

'Very good—do you hear that?' Wei Wuxian lowered his sword.

Jin Ling drew back his sword just in time to avoid hitting Wei Wuxian who was no longer moving. 'Hear what?' If he concentrated, he did indeed hear growls from a distance.

'There shouldn't be corpses around here, especially not during the day.'

Sheathing their swords, they silently followed the sound of the growls.

In the middle of a clearing was a boy dressed in the uniform characteristic of YunmengJiang disciples, backing away from the ten or so corpses advancing towards him. He was frantically clapping at the corpses, as though he expected them to obey his commands. When he backed up against a tree, he clapped harder and faster.

Wei Wuxian immediately knew what was happening. 'Kill them.'

By the time Jin Ling dispatched all the corpses, the boy was crying on the ground with his arms over his head.

'Master Hu?' Jin Ling recognised the boy as one of the YunmengJiang juniors close to his age.

'Sect Leader Jin,' the boy sobbed, 'th- thank you.'

Wei Wuxian picked up the boy's sword and the papers that had been discarded on the ground. The papers could not be more familiar to him.

He passed the sword to the boy. 'You raised those corpses, didn't you?'

'I…' He knew it wasn't a question. 'Sect Leader Jin, is it… is it possible…'

'Is it possible if I don't report it to my uncle?' Though Jin Ling's attitude towards Demonic Cultivation had softened since he decided not to hate Wei Wuxian anymore, he had no reason to protect its practitioners let alone from his uncle.

The boy's shoulders sagged. They all knew Sect Leader Jiang would expel him if he found out, and as soon as he was expelled from the YunmengJiang Sect, no other cultivation sect would take him in.

Seeing his sobbing state having almost lost his life to the corpses he raised, Wei Wuxian could not help but feel sorry for him. Offering a hand, he pulled the boy up.

'Master Hu,' Wei Wuxian began as gently as he could, 'why are you attempting demonic cultivation out here on your own?'

'I'll never be as good as everyone else. I'm useless. Soon, Sect Leader Jiang will kick me out…'

'Who said that?' Wei Wuxian asked.

'Everyone. Everyone tells me I'm bad at everything, I should have never been recruited…'

'You don't need to take everything 'everyone' says to heart, Master Hu.' Wei Wuxian reasoned.

The boy sobbed. 'But it's true. So I thought, if I could control a few creatures into my net on a night-hunt, I could finally… ' He didn't need to finish his sentence.

'Let me make you a deal. We won't tell Sect Leader Jiang what we saw you doing today—'

'Really? You won't tell him?' The boy brightened.

'What? What do you mean we won't tell him?' Jin Ling screeched.

Wei Wuxian held up the papers. 'Be honest. Do you have any more of these at home?'

'No, there isn't. This is all I have…'

Flipping through the incomplete manuscript and having seen what the boy had done today, Wei Wuxian was pretty confident this was all the boy had.

Still, it was better to make sure. 'Are you sure? You know Sect Leader Jiang would let Sect Leader Jin search your room to find more evidence to incriminate you.'

'There—there really isn't any more. Sect Leader Jin, you and… Senior… can search my room all your want, just please don't tell Sect Leader Jiang. I'm begging you.'

Using a fire talisman, Wei Wuxian burned the manuscript. Better destroy everything he'd once written, before they fall into the hands of someone like Xue Yang again. He knew too well what demonic cultivation could do.

'No need.' Wei Wuxian used the same words Lan Wangji had once used with him, 'demonic cultivation harms the body and the heart. The founder of the path died from a backfire, did you know that?'

'I thought the Yiling Patriarch was killed by Sect Leader Jiang back then.' Master Hu, like many, believed the rumours. Jin Ling, too, had only just realised it wasn't the case.

'The Yiling Patriarch was not killed by Sect Leader Jiang. He died from a backfire. Promise us you won't ever touch the dangerous path again, and you'll destroy any manuscripts if you come across any.' It was interesting referring to himself in third person when people didn't know who he was.

'I promise. I swear.'

Wei Wuxian, 'alright. We won't report what we saw today to Sect Leader Jiang.'

Before Jin Ling could protest, Wei Wuxian turned to him. 'You wanted to learn how to fight against multiple fighters?' Wei Wuxian turned to Master Hu, 'unsheathe your sword, I've something to teach you both.'

'Fight me.' Wei Wuxian unsheathed Suibian, fighting both Jin Ling and Master Hu at the same time. With his previous core, he could have had them both on the ground in no time. But now, he only fought defensively, using minimal spiritual energy.

As he fought, he asked Jin Ling, 'do you see what I'm doing?'

'You're sweeping to keep yourself safe, and modifying your reflexes so you don't open yourself up to a second attacker.'

Wei Wuxian was impressed. 'Very good. Keep watching.' He blocked another attack.

-x-

'Stop!' Wei Wuxian yelled suddenly, staggering back from the two boys.

The boys withdrew their swords. 'Senior, are you okay?' Master Hu asked.

'I'm fine, I just don't have enough spiritual energy to last long.' Wei Wuxian sat down by a tree.

At Master Hu's puzzled expression, Wei Wuxian added, 'I'm not a cultivator, I don't have a core.'

'But your skill with the sword…'

Wei Wuxian grinned, 'no need for the flattery. I learned a few things from… a few books.'

He turned to Jin Ling, 'exchange a few moves, work out where Master Hu's weaknesses are and show me how you would exploit them to your advantage. I want you to use only 70% of your spiritual energy, focus on using your skills.'

Using only 70% of his spiritual energy, Jin Ling found Master Hu to be a somewhat challenging opponent. But by consciously analysing the boy's technique, he was still able to gain the upper hand each time.

'Very good,' Wei Wuxian praised. 'Now show Master Hu how he can improve his technique.'

For the rest of the afternoon, Wei Wuxian instructed the two boys from his position by the tree, occasionally getting up to demonstrate a technique.

He could see Master Hu gaining more confidence in his swordsmanship. 'You improved a lot today, Master Hu,' he complimented the boy, 'We can do this again sometime.'

'I would like that,' the boy said shyly, 'thank you Sect Leader Jin and thank you Senior… are you going to tell me who you are?'

Wei Wuxian grinned, 'nope!'

With a puzzled expression, Master Hu left for Lotus Pier.

Jin Ling turned to Wei Wuxian, 'Why did you agree not to tell Uncle about what he did?'

'You know your uncle would have kicked him out if he knew.'

'So? He'd be punished for breaking the rules.'

'He's not evil, A-Ling. He just needs someone to believe in him, to believe he has a place walking the nice, broad road among everyone else. We're giving him that chance.' The chance I once desperately wish I had.

'So you don't think he deserves to be punished?'

'What would you prefer? We train him to become a valuable disciple of the YunmengJiang Sect, or we get him kicked out to the streets where loneliness and desperation drives him mad as it did Xue Yang?'

Growing up with his uncle who punished him at every turn, Jin Ling never thought about why punishments needed to exist or who it benefited. 'You make a good point.'

Wei Wuxian laughed, 'I always make a good point. Wanna get dinner in Yunmeng before we both head home?'

-x-

Watching Jin Ling's chopsticks avoid the obscenely spicy dishes on the table, Wei Wuxian laughed.

'You are such a hypocrite. Sizhui and them say you make fun of them for their spice tolerance, but you clearly can't take much spice yourself.'

'You're the hypocrite! You were lecturing a kid against the dangers of the path you found yourself!' Jin Ling had been thinking this all afternoon.

Wei Wuxian protested, 'I did not found the path just to prove myself on a night-hunt!'

'Didn't you piss everyone off at a night-hunt competition by controlling one-third of the prey?' Even though the competition on Phoenix Mountain happened a year before he was even born, everyone knew about the way Wei Wuxian rigged a large competition using crooked means.

'I did,' Wei Wuxian admitted, 'but you know that's not why I founded the path.'

Jin Ling never actually knew why Wei Wuxian founded demonic cultivation. 'Was it because you could no longer be the best swordsman, without your core?'

'I chose to give up my core, A-Ling. I was prepared to live as a low-level cultivator. I founded the path because Wen Chao threw me into the Burial Mounds, and I had to find a way to survive and come back to take care of your stupid uncle.'

Imagining a Wei Wuxian barely older than he is now, injured and alone in the Burial Mounds surrounded by all sorts of creatures, Jin Ling shuddered.

Wei Wuxian sighed, 'thinking back, I probably shouldn't have.'

'Don't say that!' Jin Ling croaked, a little louder than he intended.

'If I died in the Burial Mounds then, you could have grown up in Jinlin Tai doted on by both of your parents.'

Of course, this was a dream Jin Ling had as long as he could remember. If only Wei Wuxian didn't exist. If only my grandfather hadn't taken him in. But the past year changed everything. Wei Wuxian saved his life too many times, and became the only adult in his life with whom he didn't feel the suffocating responsibility of a Sect Leader or the glares of being from the scorned LanlingJin Sect. He wanted to prove Wei Wuxian wrong.

He tried, 'They needed you in the Sunshot Campaign, did they not?'

'As valuable as I might have been, I was one person. The QishanWen Sect would have been defeated without me.'

Jin Ling tried again, 'what if you came back but you didn't…'

'If I didn't rescue the boy who risked his life to save my shidi from Wen Chao's grasp, and his sister who risked no less healing his injuries and transplanting the core so he could cultivate again?'

When he put it this say, Jin Ling couldn't help but feel guilty for how passionately he hated Wen Ning, and Wei Wuxian for defecting from the YunmengJiang Sect to protect him. Of course his uncle never told him why Wei Wuxian wanted to protect them in the first place.

Jin Ling tried again, 'There must have been a way…'

'I found a way to stop Su She before he cursed Jin Zixun, maybe everyone I tried to protect would still be here…' Wei Wuxian winced from the pain of the memories.

Wei Wuxian shook his head, 'let's not tear ourselves apart dwelling on what could have been.'

'Yeah, let's not.' Jin Ling agreed.

'No matter how skilled you think you are, you can't be everything for everyone, not on your own.' Wei Wuxian pulled out a cylinder. 'Which is why you're the only one I'm giving this.'

Jin Ling took the cylinder. 'Signal fireworks? Why are you giving it to me?'

'The GusuLan kids go out in a mob, with Lan Zhan and Wen Ning watching over them. You're the one with a history of getting yourself into trouble on your own, so I thought you should have it.'

Jin Ling protested, 'I could always signal Uncle.'

Wei Wuxian shook his head. 'I've been alive less than two years and I've personally seen you almost die how many times? Did you signal your uncle any of those times?'

'I…'

'I what?' Wei Wuxian stood up, 'well I need to head back before I miss curfew.'

'I want you to know you can call on me if you need me, A-Ling,' he added, before strolling out of the eatery into the evening.

This novella takes place after the events of the bonus chapters of Mo Dao Zu Shi - Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji live as a married couple in Cloud Recesses, the GusuLan juniors night-hunt with Wei Wuxian to Lan Qiren's irritation, and Jin Ling is a Sect Leader.

My short story Discussion Conference takes place a few weeks before the events of this novella. Check it out on my profile!