Chapter Warnings: Bullying and xenophobia, tense inter-Asian country relations
Gusu City was bustling as usual.
Pan Wukun walked through the streets, craving some food outside of the GusuLan sect's kitchens.
She had to admit that Wei Wuxian was right about the GusuLan sect's food being too bland. It wasn't too bad at first. But she craved outside food after some time. Excluding the mushrooms, she didn't like much else.
Pan Wukun spotted a conspicuous restaurant that she hadn't tried eating at yet.
Seated at a table by a waitress, Pan Wukun was shocked to see Vietnamese dishes listed on the menu.
The waitress rubbed her hands nervously as she saw Pan Wukun silently stare at the menu with intense concentration. "Is something wrong, sir?"
"Nothing's wrong. I just can't help but notice that these are dishes from Nanyue."[1]
The waitress's eyes lit up. "Oh yes! It's one of our specialties to serve dishes from Nanyue! The owner traveled there once and she absolutely loved the food! So she learned some of Nanyue's recipes! Have you traveled to Nanyue before, sir?"
"I am actually one of the Hundred Yue."
The waitress's mouth dropped open in wonder. "Wow! You're actually all the way from Nanyue? What are you doing this far up north?"
Just before Pan Wukun could respond, she was interrupted by a booming voice outside.
"Ha! See? I knew there was something off about him!"
A trio of guest disciples barged into the restaurant and stood in front of Pan Wukun's table.
Pan Wukun waved at the waitress to back away. She had no doubt that this could potentially turn ugly.
The other restaurant patrons noticed the tension in the air and left quickly, leaving their payment on their tables.
The guest disciples wore sect emblems that Pan Wukun didn't recognize. They must've been from minor sects.
"Never thought we'd see any cultivators from Nanyue around here!" The guest disciples laughed, towering over the still-seated Pan Wukun. "Look at how short he is! Barbarians from Nanyue really do run in smaller sizes!"
Pan Wukun sighed. "Can we handle this business later? I'm hungry and want to eat."
One of the guest disciples pounded his fist into Pan Wukun's table. "No! We speak right here and right now!"
The unruly guest disciples didn't even bother giving their names so Pan Wukun was just going to call them Bully#1, 2, and 3.
Bully#1 pointed an accusing finger at Pan Wukun. "You're not one of our countrymen. You're just an outsider! You must've cheated your way into the Cloud Recesses!"
Bully#2 pointed at Yuyun. "And why use a jian? Don't cultivators from Nanyue have their own type of sword?"[2]
Bully#3 said, "You're just some commoner drudged up from some backwater village!"
Pan Wukun was unfazed. "Yeah. So? It was commoners who gave me a good upbringing."
Bully#3 sniffed. "Not only are you a wild peasant, but you are also a barbarian from Nanyue."
Bully#2 growled. "How come you are the center of everyone's attention?! No one ever stops talking about the mysterious rogue cultivator who showed up at the Cloud Recesses one day and became a guest disciple!"
Pan Wukun kept her cool. "I'm still older than you though. It's not acceptable to be so rude to me."
Bully#1 scoffed. "It hardly matters since you're from Nanyue. You are inferior and we are superior."
Bully#2 jabbed Pan Wukun in the shoulder. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here after you insurgents broke away from the Emperor's rule many years ago."
"Especially after we shared our cultivation methods with you!" Bully#3 pointed out.
The bullies snickered. "You cultivators from Nanyue. You're just a bunch of ungrateful phony imitators!"
Bully#2 said, "Why do you even have a name in our language? Are you really trying that hard to be one of us? Doesn't change the fact that you're an uncivilized monkey."
Pan Wukun replied, "I haven't forgotten my roots. But my new name was given to me by someone I consider family."
Bully#3 raised an eyebrow. "Family? Whoever gave you your name just needed a groveling servant. No...you're even lower than a servant! You're an uncivilized beast!"
Bully#1 shook his head while clicking his tongue. "It's no wonder you're not in any sect. No one would ever accept someone like you."
Bully#1 looked at Pan Wukun with a condescending false pity. "No matter how hard you study cultivation...a monkey is still a monkey."
Bully#1 grabbed Pan Wukun's jacket collar, pulling her out of her seat. "So go back to your damp jungle! We don't need cultivators of your ilk here!"
Pan Wukun kept a neutral expression. "Look. I'm not planning to stay here forever. So please leave me be."
Bully#1 sneered. "Leave right now then! Your monkey parents must be missing you!"
Pan Wukun's hand shot out and harshly squeezed Bully#1's wrist, forcing him to let go of her collar. She pushed him away from her with a hard shove.
Bully#1 clutched his aching wrist and hissed. "Agh! Get him!"
Bully#3 struck Pan Wukun in the back with a chair.
Pan Wukun gritted her teeth and endured the pain, lifting her fist to hit Bully#3 behind her.
Bully#2 moved to attack Pan Wukun. "Damn you, Nanyue scum!"
No one reached for their swords, both sides knowing that a fatal cut would be a hassle to deal with.
As Pan Wukun and the bullies fought, they bumped into tables, making the dishes fall off.
The waiters and waitresses clutched their heads in panic. "The dishes!"
Pan Wukun caught the dishware and placed it safely out of the way.
The waiters and waitresses sighed in relief.
Pan Wukun leaped and landed behind Bully#1, twisting his arm behind his back.
"Agh! That hurts! That hurts!"
"You should know how grievous an offense it is to insult others' parents. Now apologize," Pan Wukun snarled.
"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Bully#1 apologized in tears.
"Now tell your friends to stop fighting me and I'll let go."
"Stop! Stop, both of you!" Bully#1 shouted. His friends listened.
"Good." Pan Wukun let go of Bully#1 and pushed him towards his friends.
She grabbed a broomstick and moved quickly to get behind the bullies, scoldingly smacking them in the ass.
They shrieked and clutched their throbbing butts.
"You! You'll pay for this! We'll tell Lan-xiansheng what you've done and he'll send you back to where you belong!" Bully#1 shouted.
The bullies ran off, rubbing their aching butts.
Pan Wukun didn't chase after the bullies. They were going to tattle to the GusuLan sect no matter what she did anyway.
Vietnam had broken away from China's control much earlier than in her world.
Pan Wukun made sure not to hurt those teenage boys too badly. She understood that they were just parroting what their bigoted families and sects taught them. Such xenophobic attitudes towards Vietnamese and other foreign cultivators were common within the cultivation world in China. Pan Heng had told her as such.
And Zhu He had treated her the same way before he redeemed himself to her.
But that didn't make it hurt any less...
"What's going on out here?" The restaurant owner appeared and her employees explained what happened.
Facing the restaurant owner and waiters, Pan Wukun's expression morphed from cold and fierce to gentle and apologetic. She held out some coins, "Sorry about the mess."
The restaurant owner waved a hand. "No! No! You did nothing wrong! It's those three scoundrels who need to pay up! You, on the other hand, saved the dishes and prevented anyone from getting hurt."
"Well...Do you need help cleaning up?" Pan Wukun asked.
"Nonsense! You're a customer! And a special one from Nanyue! You can have a complimentary dish whenever you wish! And let me know what you think! I hope to capture Nanyue's flavors authentically!"
Pan Wukun smiled. "Thank you! I'll come here to try your food another time!"
The restaurant owner's smile dropped. "Ah...you can't stay because those scoundrels are going to give you trouble with the GusuLan sect, aren't they?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Pan Wukun had no doubt those bullies would hold true to their promise and inform the GusuLan sect about her transgression.
She had no choice but to immediately return to the Cloud Recesses.
Walking away would just make her look suspicious.
Two GusuLan cultivators showed up in front of Pan Wukun once she reached the Cloud Recesses. They escorted her to a room where Lan Qiren and some senior disciples waited.
Lan Qiren looked disappointed. "What do you have to say for yourself, Pan Wukun?"
"I was defending my parents' honor, Lan-xiansheng."
Lan Qiren frowned. "Explain."
"Lan-xiansheng. You know I'm not the kind of person prone to violence. I only acted in self-defense." Pan Wukun gestured to the three bullies. "Those three called my parents monkeys and I could not allow such dishonor to go unpunished."
Bully#1 pointed an accusing finger at Pan Wukun. "He's lying! You know how cultivators from Nanyue are!"
The GusuLan sect cultivators discussed amongst themselves. "Wasn't Pan Wukun with Wei Wuxian when he smuggled in alcohol a while back? And he even got Wei Wuxian to lend the Library Pavilion's books to him without permission! Is it any surprise he'd do something like this?"
Pan Wukun's fists clenched on her knees.
It was her, a single Vietnamese rogue cultivator from Nanyue against three Chinese guest disciples with connections to cultivation sects.
She wasn't sure if helping out with the Waterborne Abyss and the infirmary was enough to keep her in the GusuLan sect's good graces.
But now Pan Wukun was out of options to make herself favorable to the GusuLan sect.
The three bullies looked at Pan Wukun smugly, knowing that there was nothing else she could do.
Lan Qiren sighed. "Pan Wukun. I have no choice but to expel you."
Pan Wukun's heart dropped. She opened her mouth but found that she couldn't say anything. She didn't want to be pathetic and beg when the GusuLan sect cultivators had already made up their minds. And she could not cry like a child in front of everyone and show weakness.
The doors to the room burst open.
Lan Wangji entered.
"Wangji?!" Lan Qiren called. "Who are these people you've brought?"
"Witnesses."
When Lan Wangji heard about the incident with Pan Wukun, he felt that something was off and rushed to the restaurant in Gusu City with some GusuLan sect cultivators to investigate what happened. The owner and staff were willing to give their testimonies, especially at the request of the GusuLan sect leader's youngest son. They also actually liked him, since he was well-mannered and paid them for their help even when they insisted that he didn't have to.
Lan Wangji and the other cultivators took the restaurant owner and some of the staff atop their swords to make it back to the Cloud Recesses in time for Pan Wukun's questioning.
The same waitress whom Pan Wukun met pointed a finger at the bullies. "It was them! Those three were harassing Pan Wukun! They attacked him first! He was just defending himself!"
The restaurant owner huffed. "Those three even destroyed property! They destroyed one chair. But Pan Wukun saved our dishware!"
The GusuLan sect cultivators murmured their thoughts on the new evidence.
"Pan Wukun is actually noble then!"
"But he's still from Nanyue..."
Lan Qiren's eyes narrowed at the three bullies, making them flinch.
"With this new evidence presented, Pan Wukun is no longer guilty."
Pan Wukun's stiff body relaxed.
Lan Qiren was resolute. "Pan Wukun stays. I refuse to bar a guest disciple because of their country of origin."
The bullies look at Lan Qiren in astonishment. "But Lan-xiansheng! You can't-"
"That is final!" Lan Qiren silenced the bullies with a stern glare. "And do not even think about continuing such unacceptable pursuits again."
The GusuLan sect cultivators glared at the bullies, warning them not to harass Pan Wukun or the restaurant staff from Gusu City. The sect will know.
The bullies were indignant but knew that anything else they said wouldn't change anything. They glared at Pan Wukun before leaving the room.
Lan Qiren stood up. "Pan Wukun, you are free to go. Everyone dismissed!"
Outside the meeting room, Pan Wukun thanked the restaurant workers and then approached Lan Wangji.
"Thank you for your help, Lan-er-gongzi."
Lan Wangji nodded. "Mn." Then he silently left.
Once Pan Wukun returned to her guest room, she collapsed to her knees and let out a breath of relief.
She could not have been more grateful for Lan Wangji's help.
She didn't realize he would even bother doing something like that for her.
He really was a beacon of justice, a "bearer of light".
No wonder Wei Wuxian fell in love with him.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Hanguang-jun!
"Did you hear? Pan Wukun's from Nanyue."
"What? Then how come his name is in our language?"
The atmosphere in the Cloud Recesses had changed significantly for Pan Wukun.
Everyone knew she was Vietnamese now.
Many of Pan Wukun's fellow guest disciples became reluctant to approach her. They shifted their eyes, not even looking at her!
Disheartened by this, Pan Wukun walked into the forest and sat down in a secluded glade. She held her head in her hands.
You don't belong here. Don't forget that, Pan Wukun thought to herself.
"Chun-ge..." Wei Wuxian called softly.
Pan Wukun didn't move, reluctant to face any form of rejection or disdain from Wei Wuxian. If he treated her differently because of where she was from, she could not bear it.
She heard the rustling of grass by her side, meaning that Wei Wuxian sat down next to her.
"I've never met someone from Nanyue before. I've never even met anyone from outside of my homeland."
Back at Lotus Pier, Wei Wuxian was taught that Nanyue was notorious for rebelling against the Emperor. So cultivators from his homeland often avoided and shunned cultivators from Nanyue.
"Wei Ying," Pan Wukun managed to say. "Does my being a foreigner affect my capabilities as a cultivator?"
"No! Of course not! I respect you as an equal no matter where you're from, Chun-ge!"
Wei Wuxian wrapped his arms around Pan Wukun in a hug.
Pan Wukun stiffened. But she did not express discomfort or push Wei Wuxian away.
Wei Wuxian's arms tightened around Pan Wukun. "I don't care if you're from Nanyue. I won't stop being friends with you over something like that, Chun-ge."
Pan Wukun sat in stunned silence. Then slowly, her arms moved to hug Wei Wuxian back.
She rested her chin on his shoulder. "...Thank you, Wei Ying."
Pan Wukun shut her eyes, resting in Wei Wuxian's warmth.
The two of them sat there, hugging each other for a long while.
Then Wei Wuxian gently pulled away to hold Pan Wukun's hands instead. "Chun-ge...how do you say 'We are friends' in your homeland's language?"
Pan Wukun didn't know how to write in Vietnamese. But she did know enough to at least speak it.
"Chúng ta là bạn."
Wei Wuxian held Pan Wukun's hands. He jumped up and down happily. "Chúng ta là bạn! Chúng ta là bạn!"
Pan Wukun's heart swelled with joy. Wei Wuxian still liked her even after finding out she was from Nanyue. Knowing that Mr. Main Protagonist didn't condemn people like her made her feel...safe.
Pan Wukun leaned close to Wei Wuxian with a sly smile. "Soooo...wanna know what your name is in my language?"
Wei Wuxian gasped. "Oooooh! Tell me! Tell me!"
"'Wei Wuxian' is 'Ngụy Vô Tiện' and 'Wei Ying' is 'Ngụy Anh'."
Pan Wukun helped Wei Wuxian pronounce his names in Vietnamese correctly as best as she could by repeating them. She even explained how each Vietnamese word corresponded with all the parts of his Chinese names.
"Ngụy is Wei.
Vô is Wu.
Tiện is Xian.
Anh is Ying."
Wei Wuxian clapped his hands. "Wow! It's so wonderful how we share languages with each other!"
Wei Wuxian looked at Pan Wukun curiously. "What about your name, Chun-ge? What is it in your language?"
"Well...I know that 'Pan' is 'Phan' and 'Wu' is 'Vô'. But I don't know what 'Kun' is in my language..."
At the shame on Pan Wukun's face, Wei Wuxian patted her shoulder reassuringly. "It's all right, Chun-ge! Translating isn't easy! What you know is already impressive enough!"
Pan Wukun nodded. "But...I do know the birth name my parents gave me. It's Thanh. And our family name is Huỳnh."
She had never told anyone but Pan Heng her Vietnamese name.
Wei Wuxian stood up and proudly shouted, "I, Ngụy Vô Tiện, am friends with Huỳnh Thanh!"[3]
Seeing Wei Wuxian grin and laugh as he said such words made Pan Wukun feel warm and fuzzy inside.
"Thank you, Wei Ying..." Pan Wukun whispered. She smiled softly at him. "I feel a lot better now."
Wei Wuxian beamed at her and laughed. "Come on! Let's go look for Little Carrot and Snowball together!"
Pan Wukun didn't argue, letting Wei Wuxian pull her along by the hand.
The three bullies grumbled and huffed.
"That damn Nanyue monkey!"
"Why would Lan-xiansheng and Lan-er-gongzi defend him?"
"The monkey must've blackmailed them!"
"We'll strike when his guard is down! Then we'll teach him a lesson he'll never forget!"
The bullies shuddered as an oppressive aura hit them from behind.
They turned around to see Lan Wangji.
"Lan-er-gongzi!"
Lan Wangji strode up to them imposingly.
"Do not insult people. Do not treat others with contempt. Do not bully the weak or make fun of others."
Lan Wangji had just stated three of the GusuLan sect's rules to make his point. He glared at the three bullies, making them flinch. "If you violate those rules once more, you will be sent to the ancestral hall to collect punishment."
The bullies trembled and gulped. "Y-yes, Lan-er-gongzi! We won't do anything like that again!"
They scrambled off.
Lan Wangji's anger was washed away by a sense of contentment. He had followed his sense of justice.
Pan Wukun would not be harassed and demeaned like that again.
No guest disciple was going to be degraded at the Cloud Recesses.
Not on Lan Wangji's watch.
Glossary
1. Nanyue or "Nam Viet" is what Vietnam was called in Ancient China. "Việt" is the Vietnamese pronunciation of Yue. The modern name of Vietnam derives from Nanyue, or Nam Việt, except reversed (Baiyue - Wikipedia).
2. Vietnamese use the kiếm instead of the jian as swords.
3. Family names also come first in Vietnam so that's why Wei Wuxian says it in that order.
A/N: The bullies' insults towards Pan Wukun's height and calling her a monkey are insults that the xenophobes amongst the Han Chinese use against Vietnamese people (Mandarin Chinese Profanity Against Vietnamese - Wikipedia).
In real life, Vietnam and China have a tense history since Vietnam used to be controlled by the ancient Chinese empire for around one thousand years. In the MDZS world, Vietnam broke out of China's control much earlier than in real life thanks to an alternate history caused by cultivation and supernatural existence.
There's going to be certain social dynamics at play when the main character isn't Han Chinese. If the bigots of the cultivation world are classist, sexist, and homophobic, you can bet that they're also xenophobic.
Pan Wukun is of the Vietnamese Kinh ethnicity, not Vietnamese Hoa (Chinese-Vietnamese or Chinese person living in/from Vietnam) so that also makes things harder for her. I guess since she's a Vietnamese person living in China right now, that makes her Gin or Jing too.
I thought it'd be cool for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to fall in love with a Vietnamese woman since that means their love is stronger than the prejudice the cultivation world and Chinese high society hold against Pan Wukun's people.
To be clear, this chapter is NOT an invitation to be Sinophobic/prejudiced against Chinese people. So don't promote such bigotry.
*I meant to update this on Dec 23. But I accidentally clicked the "post" button on AO3. So surprise update! Probably great for an early Christmas present lmao!*
Happy Holidays, everyone!