Sixteen years can do a lot to a person, Xichen mused.
Sixteen years shaped Wangji into a new jade. Now, his brother was a different person, questioning his own principles and morality often.
Sixteen years closed off Xichen himself. Now, his smiles no longer held the same warmth, and were only there as mollifiers.
Sixteen years turned Lan Jingyi into a un-Lan Lan. Now, the boy bounced around, slightly more controlled, but Jingyi all the same.
Sixteen years turned Wen Yuan into Lan Sizhui. Now, the junior didn't know his past, and lived his life just like a disciple of the Gusu Lan Sect.
At this point, everyone in Cloud Recesses was used to the melody played right before nine, coming from the Hanshi. It spoke of melancholy and longing, of loss and grief. Liebing's notes turned Xuemi's story into a tune that Xichen blew into the xiao every night.
It was right after lunch when Wangji came back with the junior disciples, an unconscious Mo Xuanyu, and a veiled lady dressed in vibrant red.
With a spiritually-infused headband on her forehead.
Hope controlled Lan Xichen for two milliseconds before he shoved it away. "Wangji. This is…"
Wangji didn't answer, and turned his head back. "Go to your quarters. Take him to the Jingshi. Do not be late for dinner."
The juniors bowed at the instructions and left, eager to get some rest. Lan Qingxue, who had been standing dutifully beside Xichen, immediately went to Sizhui's side, fussing over him. As the next "Lady of White", this translated to stiffly signing to Jingyi about the night hunt (not trusting her dear A-Yuan to be truthful about his injuries, even though Lying is forbidden), and not-so discreetly eyeing him for injuries.
Wangji turned back to his brother. "Xiongzhang."
Perhaps the Hanshi would be a better place to discuss this.
Xichen nodded, then promptly walked off.
Xuemi raised an eyebrow at Wangji, and Wangji- didn't sigh, but came close. "Your death has… affected brother."
I can see that, she thought bitterly, as she walked after Xichen.
The three of them were seated at the table in the Hanshi, Xichen pouring tea, out of courtesy more than anything else. Xuemi hadn't taken off her veil yet.
Abruptly, Xichen set the teapot down. "I've waited long enough, Wangji."
Lan Wangji avoided Lan Xichen's eyes, and instead locked them with Lin Xuemi's.
Slowly, but almost… hesitantly, Xuemi peeled off the veil and let it fall in a heap of silk.
Xichen's face became bleached white in shock and eyes wide open in fury.
Suddenly, Shuoyue was in his hands with the blade drawn, sitting on her neck. "Who are you? How dare you wear her face?"
"Xiongzhang!"
Xuemi stared at the gleaming blade of Shuoyue miserably, recalling how they were parted the last time.
Xuemi heard the whoosh of a blade and turned around, seeing it come for Lan Xichen. Xichen wasn't sluggish enough to not notice the puppet coming towards him, but Xuemi wasn't concerned about that. She stepped in front of Xichen and successfully blocked the blade, then killed the puppet.
But she misjudged how quickly Xichen would react when he turned around.
Xichen had only heard the blade, and turned around, Shuoyue at the ready. But Xuemi was already in front of him, and his reflexes were too slow.
The sword stabbed into Xuemi's chest.
She felt it, and saw the tip protrude from her chest. Her breath left her, and blood immediately spread from the center of the stab wound. Pain burst through her body and more blood flowed freely out of her mouth. The sword was pulled out, but the damage had been done.
Unwittingly, a tear escaped her eye.
"This blade…" she whispered sorrowfully. Her blood had long been wiped off, but the energy thrumming through it was the same. "A-Huan, do you blame yourself?"
The sword fell from his limp hand and clattered first on the table, then the ground, shattering Lan Xichen's cup. The dark tea pooled on the white wood, some of it dripping off, staining the carpet.
The Lan Sect leader stared numbly at his hands, not at all the calm and graceful figure of the Gusu Lan clan. "Yes."
Xuemi stood up slowly and walked over to Xichen's side, enfolding him in a warm, soothing hug.
But unlike their previous hugs, nothing was awkward about this. Both of them wanted to feel the comfort of each other, and after sixteen years apart, they would not be denied.
Soft sobs echoed around the Hanshi, but otherwise, the Cloud Recesses was silent, like it was holding its breath, giving the two of them the time they needed.
The scent of tea leaves enveloped the two of them as they sat there, in each other's arms, crying.
They stayed like that for a good fifteen minutes before they untangled themselves, wiping their own tears.
Excessive emotion is forbidden, but Wangji won't say anything. (Xichen and Xuemi will still copy that rule fifty times, later.)
"I'm sorry." Xichen mumbled. "If I just looked before I stabbed, if my reflexes were just a bit quicker, if I had enough spiritual energy to heal your wound-"
"Shh." Xuemi shushed him. "None of it was your fault, understand? When I went to block it for you, I knew full well the consequences. Besides, I think my death was fated."
At Xichen's confusion, she laughed a little and explained. "I have always wondered why I remembered my previous life, while no one else has. I think it has to do with my blood… my first death was in preparation for my second."
She ticked them off her fingers. "Immortal, mortal, demon. My first life was obviously mortal- I wasn't involved in cultivation. I think my second life was the demonic one. Now, the resentful energy is no longer repressing my core like it was in my second life."
Wangji frowned. "But the blood bait still worked."
Xuemi laughed again, but this time it was sad. "Something must keep those three lives tied together."
"Three lives…" Xichen murmured.
She gave a watery chuckle. "I suppose my curse has a blessing hidden in it. The yang in the yin."
"You laugh so much more often now." Xichen remarked.
Xuemi smiled. "Only in front of you. Don't you dare expose me, I have a reputation to uphold."
Wangji would've rolled his eyes if the rules didn't stop him from doing that.
The Lady of White wiped away the melancholy tears staining Xichen's beautiful, yet broken face. "It's a good thing that our faces don't get messed up by crying. Dinner time is nearing; come on."
Later, Xuemi will enter the familiar dining hall with her bright red robes and veil. No one will whisper, because Talking during meals is forbidden, but afterwards, in the dormitories, the eight juniors at Mo village will spread the story of the return of the famed Lady of White, even though Gossip is forbidden.
The news will not leave the gates of the Cloud Recesses...
Yet.
Evocation was definitely not going to plan.
The Elders were all lying unconscious around the Mingshi. There were some juniors around, but they could only do so much, except for tending to the wounded. Even Lan Qiren was passed out.
Xuemi was frantically playing Rest to calm the sword spirit (with Shuanghu; the juniors had given the Hengxiao back to her (with reverence)), but she only had so much spiritual energy left. She couldn't stop the resentful energy from flinging Jingyi and Sizhui out of the Mingshi, throwing them unceremoniously at the feet of two figures.
Soon, those two figures barged in. They turned out to be Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.
Quickly, Wei Wuxian took out his bamboo dizi, but it was just as out of tune as before. It even got Lan Qiren to wake up, groan out "Stop playing", and make him faint again, despite Wangji frantically trying to mask the flute with his guqin.
Eventually, the trio worked. The sword spirit calmed down enough so that the people in the room were no longer constantly in danger of death.
Or qi deviation, when taking into account Wei Wuxian's playing.
It was easy to draw the conclusion that the sword had been tainted with Wei Wuxian's Stygian Tiger Seal. But from what she heard, the Seal had been destroyed at the Bloodbath of Nightless City.
That could only mean that the Seal had been reforged.
"No."
"A-Huan, be reasonable. The fifth shard of Yin Iron is still at large, in Xue Yang's hand. Wangji, Wuxian and I are a formidable team."
"Wangji and Wuxian can go themselves."
Both of them had slipped into the familiar address after trying to matchmake the two of them for forever, but that wasn't important right now.
"A-Huan, I have to take my revenge."
"Wangji can take it for you."
"It won't be the same."
"Is there really a difference, Xiao Xue?"
"Yes!"
"What if something happens?"
Xuemi ground her teeth. Xichen was proving to be much harder to convince than his brother. "Something can happen anytime."
Xichen wasn't budging. "I'll prevent it."
"You didn't prevent it once. It will happen a second time, inevitably."
"I can do it, as long as you stay here! Under my protection!"
"So you'll keep me locked up? Is that what you want to do?"
Xichen flinched, and Xuemi nearly regretted her words, but A-Huan had to know.
"Your father made a mistake, locking your mother up in the Gentian House. Look where it got the family. Your mother died. Your father died. Your Uncle was left to raise you and Wangji. And even though the two of you are close, it will never be that brotherly relationship that the Yunmeng Jiang siblings used to have, or the Nie siblings, before…"
Before Nie Mingjue died.
Her voice cracked a bit in the next sentence. "A-Huan, you have to learn to let me go. To trust me to handle myself."
It was a good thing that they put silencing wards outside the Hanshi before they had this discussion, because suddenly, Lan Xichen brought his fist down on the table they were sitting at. He didn't crack it, but he came close.
Xuemi wondered sadly how many times he had done this, in the sixteen years she wasn't here.
Xichen breathed in heavily and closed his eyes, then spoke one word. "Go."
The next day, when they left the Cloud Recesses to go northwest, Lan Xichen wasn't at the gate to see them off.
"This one greets Sect Leader Jin."
Xuemi stood reluctantly at the top of the steps in Carp Tower, bowing to Jin Guangshan out of everyone. This was all Wei Wuxian's fault.
On their way northwest, Wei Wuxian decided that they would help exorcise any evil beings along the way. It was all fine, until they crossed into Lanling Jin territory.
Stupid politics.
So, for the second time in her lives, she unwillingly handed in a night hunt report at Carp Tower, and ran into Sect Leader Jin, again.
Worse, Jin Zixun was with him this time.
At least Wangji and Wei Wuxian were accompanying her, though the latter wore a mask. In the same thread, Xuemi kept her veil on.
It didn't stop Jin Guangshan's lustful look as he took the report from her hands.
Wangji's eyes hardened into orbs of amber.
The Jin Sect Leader smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "Would you three like to stay in Carp Tower for the night?"
A chill ran down Xuemi's spine at the very thought. She bowed again. "These unworthy ones would prefer not to bother His Excellency. These ones will take their leave now."
The three of them turned around to leave, but the Jin disciples blocked their path.
Jin Zixun marched up to them. "I don't believe that my uncle made it clear. We insist."
Wei Wuxian gulped as he just realized the mess he got them into.
Dinner was not quiet, much to Xuemi and Wangji's displeasure. The servants bustled around, and the Jin disciples were very chatty. Wangji, Xuemi and Wei Wuxian were at one table. For once, even Wei Wuxian didn't talk.
When the three of them were shown to their rooms, they discovered that they were on opposite sides of the tower.
Wangji immediately stated that he and Wei Ying can share a bed, and Xuemi will take the other one. It proved to be the right course of action at night, when Jin Guangshan opened the door, saw the other two, and left.
They were stuck for one day.
Two.
Three.
They were basically being held prisoner, so Xuemi offered an ultimatum. Jin Guangshan would let Wangji and Mo Xuanyu go, and she would remain at Carp Tower.
Alone.
"Lin-jie!" Wangji protested, but she used the Lan silencing spell on him, shooting him a glare. Jin Guangshan was obviously delighted, and agreed immediately.
Later, when they went back to their room to pack, Xuemi released the silencing spell. As a result, Wei Wuxian started objecting.
"A-Yi! You can't stay here alone!"
Xuemi looked at them both dead in the eye. "And the matter can't be delayed any longer. Wuxian, Wangji, you two must find him. For all we know, Sect Leader Jin is the one who got Xue Yang to reforge the seal."
"But-"
"No. It can't wait any longer. We've wasted three days. Both of you, resolve the matter quickly. If anything happens, I will send a message butterfly to you. I will find a way to get myself out of here."
Wangji clearly wanted to argue further, but he knew that they couldn't afford the Stygian Tiger Seal to be left alone. With a heavy heart, both of them walked out of Lanling Jin's territory.
That evening, Xuemi made sure to set a barrier at her door, and was thankful for it when she heard Jin Guangshan's swearing outside her door. She had also overheard Jin Guangshan talking with a suspicious individual, but she would file that information for later.
In the morning, she was also thankful for her early wake-up time, and had breakfast much, much earlier than the others.
That morning, she also managed to enlist some maids to bring meals to her room, claiming that she would feel uncomfortable leaving (which wasn't a lie).
Two days later, she saw her opening. Jin Guangshan was stuck in a meeting with the elders. Xuemi hastily scribbled a note and left it on her desk, making up some things about emergencies.
Emergencies are a matter of opinion. The Stygian Tiger Seal can be considered an emergency, so she's not lying.
As soon as she left Carp Tower, she drew Lengyue (also handed back to her) with a twitch of her fingers, and sped to Qinghe.