It felt like he was waking up to a dream; Wei Wuxian could hear the cheerful chirping of birdsong, and the air was fresh and fragrant, quite unlike the constant reek in Burial Mounds. The mattress under him was much more comfortable than anything he had slept on in recent times, and he snuggled further under the soft, warm blankets.
He knew it couldn't be real, and surely Wen Qing would smack him on the head any moment now, bringing him back to the unpleasant reality of life in the Burial Mounds, and demanding that he eat something. But he was too comfortable. He would enjoy this while he could.
After snoozing for an indeterminate amount of time, and having no-one come to harass him back into the waking world, he blearily opened his eyes. What met his sight made him sit up in shock, wide awake.
He was definitely not in Burial Mounds anymore. The room was neat, too tidy by his standards. Bright sunlight could be seen behind the paper of the large windows. On the wall was a lone scroll with some calligraphic art. Beside it were empty brackets that was evidently for swords. In the corner was a basin of water, which stood besides some white robes hanging on a rack. There was a low table in the centre of the room, atop which sat a golden ornament besides some books. Along a wall was a guqin on a small table, and a pile of scrolls.
The furnishings had reminded him of the Cloud Recesses, and the robes had confirmed his suspicions. Had Lan Wangji managed to capture him and take him back to Gusu after all? He rubbed his forehead, confused.
What was he doing before sleeping? Ah, those teleportation arrays. He had been working madly for a few days now, and had honestly lost track of how long he'd been holed up in his cave. He must've fallen asleep over his experiments, and Lan Wangji must have taken advantage of his unconscious state and taken him back here.
He looked down at himself, and saw he was in white inner robes. It appeared someone had even changed him while he was out of it. How shameless! He was going to tease Lan Wangji so badly about this!
While looking at his attire, he noticed his hands. Lifting them in front of his face, he stared at the pale hands. There were some wrinkles, and turning his hands around, his fingers and palms looked different. It was like looking at hands that didn't even belong to him. How long had he been asleep? Had something happened with his array?
A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Ah..." his voice sounded strange. What had happened!? "What do you want?" He panicked. Yeah, that was definitely not his own voice!
"Uncle, are you well?" The man outside the room asked in concern. Who was it? The voice sounded so familiar...
"Uh... ah... wait a moment!" He commanded.
If whoever out there knew that the Yiling Patriarch was here, there was no escaping. However, with the strange circumstances, the hands, the voice... he had to know. With shaky steps, he slowly approached the basin in the corner.
Heart beating fast, he was afraid to look but knew that he needed to.
Holding his breath, he leaned over and looked into the basin. Looking back at him was the face of his ex-teacher. He stepped back with a yelp.
If he had somehow taken Lan Qiren's place, did that mean Lan Qiren was in his place in the Burial Mounds?
He gulped. He hoped that Lan Qiren did not give his body a heart attack.
Lan Qiren woke up to what seemed to be a nightmare. He felt exhausted, despite just waking up from sleep. His back was sore from lying on a hard surface. He appeared to be in a dark cave. He could see a mess of wooden bits and papers strewn everywhere; on a rock table, all over the floors, on what looked like a bed but was nothing more than a raised rocky surface with a thin sheet spread over it. There were papers covering the walls, a mixture of strange talismans and artwork. The painter needed to refine their skills, if that image of an angry-looking bearded man was anything to judge by.
What smelt like rotting flesh permeated the air, and it took all of his Gusu Lan discipline not to scrunch his nose at the stench. How did he get to this place? Had he been kidnapped? He could not have been abducted by spirits in the Cloud Recesses, but he was not naive enough to think the Gusu Lan Sect, despite their pristine reputation, had not garnered human enemies.
However, what was worse than the confusion at the situation, and being kept in this messy cave with the awful stench, was the lingering resentful energy in the air. Lan Qiren hurried to sit up in a lotus position, legs crossed and wrists resting on his knees, and closed his eyes to gather some spiritual energy to disperse the resentful energies around him.
He gasped aloud. His golden core... there was something wrong with him! Who had tampered with his core? He could not deal with the resentful energy in his current state, he needed to get out of this place!
As he struggled to his feet, a female yelled from outside the cave.
"Wei Wuxian! If you don't come out this instant, I will go in there and drag you out!" She sounded livid.
Was the Yiling Patriarch here? Was that who had taken him? The boy he remembered was definitely skilled enough to be able to abduct him from the safety of Cloud Recesses. He looked more closely at his surroundings, sure that he hadn't missed Wei Wuxian when he had looked before. He walked cautiously around the cave, careful not to step on any of the items. If these items belonged to Wei Wuxian, accidentally stepping on one of his belongings might be hazardous to his health.
Now that he was on his feet and inspecting the cave, he could see to the side of a cave was a pool surrounded by talismans. The pool was filled with a dark liquid that looked like blood. Just what had the Yiling Patriarch been up to?
The demonic cultivator was nowhere in sight. He frowned when his eyes fell upon Suibian on the floor, amongst a bunch of wooden parts and talismans. That boy had absolutely no respect for his spiritual weapon at all! He couldn't stand the sight of such disrespect for the spiritual weapon, and picked it up to lean it against the cave wall. He continued making his way around the cave. On a closer look at the bed, he saw the famed Chenqing. Wei Wuxian was clearly not here. Where could he have gone without his weapons? That girl was going to come in here any moment now, and Lan Qiren could see there was no hiding in the cave.
As though conjured by his thoughts, he heard quick footsteps entering the cave, and was shocked to see a young, frail-looking girl striding towards him, grabbing his arm in a firm grip.
"Wei Wuxian! You've been cooped up in here for three days now, A-Yuan is almost in tears! Come out and eat something before I immobilise you and feed you myself!"
Lan Qiren could only gape. The impropriety... how dare she make physical contact with him like this!
... What did this girl just call him?
He was too stunned to fight against the girl's strong pull, and followed her out of the cave. The moment he stepped outside the cave, a dirty toddler rushed at him and clutched his legs. Wide, teary eyes looked up at him.
"Xian-gege! I missed you!"
Lan Qiren had definitely woken up to a nightmare.