the thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break
by Rose Thorne
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with The Untamed, and make no money writing fanfiction.
Chapter Ten
Lan Wangji can't help but notice that Xichen's attention is on Wei Ying, as popo and Wen Qing keep putting food in his bowl and bullying him to eat more. Where normally Wei Ying would be endearingly dramatic about it, for the amusement of all, today he eats quietly, accepting their cajoling without complaint.
A-Yuan is the one to ease Wei Ying from the odd quiet, holding up his chopsticks with a bit of food.
"Xian-gege eat!" he demands. "Xian-gege too skinny."
The delivery is a mix of popo and Wen Qing while also being completely A-Yuan, and Wei Ying laughs with the rest of the Wens before eating the morsel of food and reaching forward to pinch the boy's cheek.
"All right, A-Yuan, I'm eating. I promise. You eat yours, and I'll eat mine."
The interaction leaves Xichen smiling in amusement, but there are other emotions under the surface, questions Lan Wangji knows he wants to ask but is holding back. He knows eventually he'll have to answer some of them, but for now he joins the others in adding food to Wei Ying's bowl.
His zhiji gives him a look of mock betrayal, then holds out his chopsticks with a bite of food and an expectant look that Lan Wangji indulges, taking the bite of food. But then he feeds Wei Ying with his own chopsticks, something that makes some Wens chuckle and Wei Ying blush. He doesn't look at Xichen to see his reaction.
Lunch is over too soon, and Wen Qing plops A-Yuan into Wei Ying's lap.
"Nap time for little boys," she jokes.
"Xianxian isn't little," Wei Ying chirps. "Xianxian is three."
Wen Qing rolls her eyes at the game.
"Brat," she says, but fails to hide a smile. "Go on, then."
Lan Wangji touches his shoulder before he can move to get up.
"Would you like me to play for you until you sleep?"
He is gifted with an adoring smile.
"We'll be fine. Spend time with your brother."
Wei Ying nods to Zewu-Jun.
"I hope you don't need to leave too quickly."
Xichen smiles, clearly picking up on his meaning.
"No, I'll still be here later. I hope to spend some time getting to know the people here."
Wei Ying nods, though his expression briefly dips into a sort of knowing pity at what he likely knows they will learn, then takes a breath that's half yawn. He stands, hefting A-Yuan.
"Aiya… I guess A-Yuan and I get to try out the new bed first. Time for little radishes to sleep."
He heads off through the interior passage to the cave, and A-Yuan's response echoes.
"Xian-gege is a radish too? Can A-Yuan call you Luobo-gege?"
The echoing of Wei Ying's laughter is almost musical.
Unfortunately, with Wei Ying gone, Xichen's questioning gaze turns to Lan Wangji. He meets his brother's gaze stoically, intending to answer questions, but he will not offer information.
"Everyone seemed insistent on urging Wuxian to eat," XiChen finally says.
It isn't a question, but Wen Qing answers anyway.
"It took a while to get food growing. We didn't have a lot. That idiot kept slipping his rations to A-Yuan. We're breaking him of that, now that there's enough food."
It surprises Lan Wangji when his brother looks alarmed at that.
"But he can no longer practice inedia," he breathes. "How badly has his health been impacted?"
Wen Qing glances at Lan Wangji, her gaze pointed, and he knows she is asking how much Xichen knows.
"Wei Ying told xiongzhang he no longer has a golden core," he tells her. "That he did not have one when Wen Chao threw him here, and throughout the war."
A bit of tension leaves her frame, and she turns to Xichen. The explanation is clear enough for her to understand Wei Ying didn't reveal his sacrifice and her hand in it.
"This is not the first time in his life he has faced extreme malnourishment, and each subsequent time impacts his health more drastically. He is more susceptible to illness, doubly so without a golden core."
"This isn't the first time?" Xichen echoes. "Wuxian has starved before?"
This time it's a question, so Lan Wangji answers.
"After his parents died, before Jiang Fengmian found him, Wei Ying spent several years homeless as a child, here in Yiling in fact. And then Burial Mounds, the three months he was missing. He told you of the resentful energy—not much grows here naturally."
Xichen closes his eyes, and Lan Wangji is reminded how much his brother's face expresses the emotion he feels. He can see Xichen understands exactly how poorly Wei Ying is doing, if only one aspect of it. He knows his brother will learn worse, as he did.
"He has no core to cleanse the resentful energy that infiltrates his body, which is as much a pressing matter as the starvation," Wen Qing continues. "Only a few days ago he leeched resentful energy from a plot of land so it could be farmed safely. If not for Lan Wangji's help, he'd still be working on it, and barely functional when he wasn't."
"Truly," jifu adds, having wandered over, "when he told us we were in Burial Mounds, we thought we had been led to our deaths anyway."
"But that boy told us we could survive," popo says. "He's made sure of it, but it costs him. And we can't even stop him because otherwise things would be worse. Aiya, he's barely grown, but he's suffered so much."
The aunties and uncles have pulled chairs close, and he can see Xichen studying them, finding only faces ruddy from farming, many middle aged or older. Many are nodding their agreement with popo.
"And he brought a-Ning back to us," one of the aunties—Chuntao, if Lan Wangji's memory serves—adds. "He tries so hard."
"We can never repay him," Meilin-yi says softly. "But we can try to help him, to make him healthier. Do more of the work so he can rest."
"He is truly blessed to have your care," Xichen says.
His comment is met with discomfort in the faces around them.
"It's kind of you to say so, Zewu-Jin," jifu offers. "But if not for having saved us, he could go home and live in peace. We are blessed by his righteousness, but he is condemned to this."
Lan Wangji has not been amongst the Wen remnants away from Wei Ying much, so this is the first he's heard of it. But this, at least, he can ease in them, if only through acknowledging the cultivation world politics in play.
"No," he says. "Sect Leader Jin wants the amulet. Wei Ying would have been cast out, or worse, regardless."
Xichen winces but doesn't correct him. Wen Qing's face goes carefully blank.
"Only those who do not seek power are fit to be entrusted with it," she says, a variation on the teachings of Zhuangzi. "Wen Ruohan sought the yin iron and look what came of that."
"The yin iron piece hidden at Dafan Mountain was in our goddess statue," popo tells Xichen. "She came to life and started stealing souls when he removed it. A-Qing and a-Ning lost their parents that day."
"A-Ning lost part of his soul that day," Wen Qing whispers.
Wen Ning puts his hand on his sister's shoulder in comfort, and she reaches up to place hers over it.
Xichen already looks overwhelmed, but there is so much more to tell him, including what Lan Wangji failed to report regarding the Dafan Wens during the journey he and Wei Ying undertook.
"I did not have the opportunity to report before the attack on Cloud Recesses. Wei Ying and I had to reseal the statue—Wen Ruohan sought to use it as a weapon, along with the people he had turned into puppets. These people."
The memory of a chain around Wei Ying's throat, of him going limp… Though it had turned out to be a ruse, the bruising around his neck had been dark enough to make clear how close he had been to death.
Truly, that Wei Ying had killed one of Wen Ruohan's owls had likely made him a target well before Indoctrination.
"My family was held hostage to force my cooperation," Wen Qing tells him.
Xichen sighs softly, looking around at the group as though just realizing how few of them there are, how many must have perished under Wen Ruohan or in misguided vengeance after the war.
"I wish I could change what has already happened, but we can only move forward. If you are amenable, I would like to learn more about your treatment in the labor camps."
This has been something Lan Wangji has dreaded to learn more of, as he knows from what little he saw at Qiongqi Path that their treatment was inhuman—beyond inhumane.
Stories are told haltingly. Of screams in the night. Of beatings and torture and rotten food. Of the young women disappearing one by one—dead, raped or sold to brothels, no one knew. Of the children succumbing to illness one by one. Of others disappearing. Of brazen murder, bodies dumped into a ravine, the one where Wei Ying and Wen Qing had found Wen Ning. Of degradation and hopelessness, of waiting for death.
Of groups being taken by a smiling man "for interrogation," and never returning.
"Some were Qishan Wen," a-Ning breaks in. "Others were Dafan."
Some of the Wens have scars to show Xichen, evidence of their time abused in the labor camp. Lash mark scars on backs and legs and arms. An uncle's broken arm that had partially healed wrong and required Wen Qing to rebreak to set and heal properly. A brand mark burned in the shape of a peony on the shoulder of one of the aunties.
The brand is especially shocking, harkening to the treatment by Wen Chao's mistress, the scar in the shape of a sun on Wei Ying's chest. That the Jins have resorted to the same type of cruelty, even ignoring the apparent genocide of the Wens, shows Lan Wangji they are too far down the same path as Wen Ruohan, and he hopes his brother is coming to the same conclusion.
Aunties and uncles wander in and out during stories, some getting back to work after telling their piece, some helping Wen Ning clean up after lunch. Some leave for a bit, overcome by emotion, and return to tell more. Others go back to the fields, or to work with the dyes. These are tales they have experienced; they don't need to hear them retold.
The horror of their accumulated stories, and the fact that all clans are complicit in failing to oversee or regulate, just trusting the Jin at their word… It's overwhelming.
Eventually, only popo, jifu, Wen Qing, and Wen Ning remain in the communal hall, the others having returned to their chores, or to handle the emotions brought up by reliving their trauma privately.
"Wuxian saw this?" XiChen finally asks softly, his jaw taut.
"He saw enough," jifu says. "Not all of it, but he saw the bodies. We weren't allowed to bury them. He probably guessed much of the rest."
Xichen only nods, looking devastated. Whether at the betrayal of being lied to by the Jins—or one in particular—or devastation at the souls not put to rest, Lan Wangji didn't know. Or perhaps it was having to see the effects on the living souls forced to take refuge on a mountain that was a mass grave.
It could also be his culpability as a sect leader, of one of the remaining four great sects in not establishing a way to monitor the work camps, something that should have been done regardless of the need to rebuild.
Likely, all of it weighed on his brother.
"We were told the civilians would be watched over at Qiongqi Path. That only those who took part in the war would be executed," Xichen says softly.
He sounds lost, and Lan Wangji wonders who told him this—he thinks it is likely it was Jin Guangyao. Xichen wouldn't look as though he felt betrayed had he only been lied to by Jin Guangshan.
"They lied," Lan Wangji tells him bluntly. "Wei Ying and I saw Jin Zixun using fleeing civilians in chains as target practice. Women, children, old men… When we confronted him, he claimed the Lan and Nie sect leaders had agreed anyone concerned with yin iron should not be alive."
He watches Xichen close his eyes again, watches shame cross his face—the same shame he has felt, a necessary shame.
"'Captured soldiers should be treated kindly and kept,'" he murmurs, quoting Sun Tzu. "That civilians would be treated with such cruelty…"
His voice is hoarse, as he seems to recognize the immorality of what was allowed to occur, that perhaps the warning against becoming one's enemy has been disregarded too easily, and something akin to the depravity of Wen Ruohan has taken hold, unchecked until Wei Ying's actions.
And Wei Ying has been painted as the villain, the subject of a vicious rumor campaign including accusations of grave robbing, kidnapping, and cannibalism, the source of all ills, when he is simply farming and trying to survive.
The anger Lan Wangji felt in the tea house threatens to rise to the surface again, the slander against his zhiji, his husband, someone who upholds the values of justice and righteousness at the cost of his freedom and reputation, absolutely unacceptable.
"Their camps were just a way to kill us more slowly, outside the view of the other sects," Wen Qing comments. "A-Ning was pierced though with a defaced Qishan Wen flag and tossed down a ravine to rest among the bodies of others killed. He was still alive when we got there, but his spiritual cognition was gone. The guards killed were those who participated in his murder."
"I d-don't remember killing anyone," Wen Ning admits. "Nothing between p-passing out from pain and waking up here. It's just a b-blank space in my memory."
"There were at least fifty bodies down there," Wen Qing whispers. "Wei Wuxian waded into the water with me, and we checked each one until I found him."
Xichen winces, his fist clenched under the table. He knows, likely, that their testimonies will mean little in terms of seeking justice. The winners of the war would decide the narrative of the labor camps, and the Jins had plenty of time since Wei Ying's actions to erase evidence of their crimes.
That night in the rain, Wei Ying's expression had been of a man disillusioned, a man who could take no more of the established order if it meant tolerating injustice. And if he had spent that time wading in fetid water tainted by corpses, seeking the body of the man he owed his life to, his friend, knowing that man was almost certainly dead… Lan Wangji could understand what would lead him to turn his back on the cultivation world that had allowed such an atrocity.
What use had Wei Ying for orthodoxy after that?
"They decided all Wens were responsible for the war," jifu said, his voice tired. "Children like A-Yuan, grandparents like popo… Everyone. If not for young master Wei, we would be gone as well, and no one would think to care. He came to rescue a-Ning, and what he saw led him to decide he would leave none of us in that place."
"Wen Ning rescued Jiang Cheng after the fall of Lotus Pier, and likely prevented Wei Ying's death during indoctrination," Lan Wangji explains.
"During indoctrination?" Xichen asks.
"Wen Chao p-put him in the dungeon with a d-direwolf," Wen Ning supplies haltingly.
Lan Wangji goes cold—not a mere dog, but a direwolf? That Wei Ying survived long enough for aid to come is a miracle. He wonders how badly his husband was injured, but knows the herbs and energy boosting medicine at least left no scarring; he has mapped each of Wei Ying's scars each night, and none seem to correspond with the rips that had been in his robes that day.
But back then, Wei Ying had a strong golden core.
"They did not expect him to survive the night," Lan Wangji manages, though his calm is forced. "He believes he was intended to be an example, a warning to the rest of us."
"Wen Chao did intend that," Wen Qing acknowledges, lips pursed. "He was furious he survived. I knew a-Ning had intervened, but not that Wei Wuxian had been locked in with that beast until later."
Xichen is quiet for a bit, pale and clearly digesting the information. Lan Wangji is certain he knows this only scratches the surface of Wei Ying's trauma, especially as xiongzhang is unaware Wei Ying is terrified of dogs, that he is revisiting his earlier feelings of having failed him—he has felt all of this himself. He still feels it.
"Then it seems Wuxian owes a life debt to Wen QiongLin," Xichen finally comments. "Which would usually expire upon death, but he remains spiritually conscious."
Wen Qing draws in a sharp breath at the ramifications; though Xichen doesn't have all the information—particularly regarding the surgery she had performed to transplant Wei Ying's golden core to Jiang Cheng, which she seems to believe cancels out any such debt—Lan Wangji agrees with his brother's assessment.
"Further, as Wuxian was at the very least betrothed to Wangji at the time, the life debt is also his."
While Lan Wangji fully expected this statement, it's clear the Wens did not. Wen Qing looks overwhelmed, and Wen Ning seems confused. Jifu and popo look as though they might cry. They know what is meant here, know that this is a statement of responsibility. Xichen is condoning his support and protection of the Dafan Wens.
"Gusu Lan as a whole must recognize the life debt," Xichen continues. "And as sect leader, I consider it valid. You saved my brother's husband, and his family."
The wording almost implies the Lan clan as a whole owes a life debt, which goes beyond what he expected—it offers an extra measure of protection. But Lan Wangji sees some of the logic his brother is going for and decides to add to it.
"Given that Wen Ning rescued Jiang Cheng from Wen Chao at Lotus Pier, and he and Wen Qing sheltered the Jiang siblings and Wei Ying at the Yiling Indoctrination Bureau, it is likely the Jiangs also owe a life debt."
Xichen smiles at him, his eyes shrewd, calculating in a way Lan Wangji rarely sees from him. He wonders if the betrayal his brother feels over the lies he has been fed by a trusted friend has sharpened him in this way, leading him to think deviously where he usually would not.
"Of course, since Lady Jiang is to be wed to Jin Zixuan, that would extend the life debt to him. And if Nie Huaisang aided in protecting the Dafan Wens during the incident you mentioned, Wen Qing and Wen Ning similarly owe him a life debt."
Wen Qing has been staring open-mouthed, but she seems to catch on quickly. Popo and jifu clearly understand and are overwhelmed. Wen Ning looks confused but seems content to listen and let his sister explain later.
"You're proposing there exists a life debt among eight people?" she asks.
"I'm only summarizing what has occurred," Xichen answers congenially. "I could hardly propose such a thing in the current political climate. It would undermine the Chief Cultivator. As a sect leader, that would be irresponsible of me."
The smile on Wen Qing's face is almost wicked.
"It seems like a matter between the eight of us," she says. "What an auspicious number. Perhaps you would be willing to send a letter to Lady Jiang for me, Zewu-Jun? In the current political climate, anything from Yiling to Lady Jiang would garner red flags…"
"Of course. I need to send a missive to Sect Leader Jiang anyway on behalf of Wangji and Wuxian, and I'm sure he would be willing to deliver a letter to his sister."
Wen Qing rises and bows to him, then to Lan Wangji.
"Thank you. I will excuse myself to compose the letter. I'm sure Hanguang-Jun would be happy to give you a tour of our humble home."
Popo and jifu excuse themselves to work on their projects—popo to aid in the dyeing, and jifu to work on his next carpentry project—so overcome with gratitude they almost kowtow to Xichen before they leave. Xichen, unsurprisingly, urges them not to bow; Lan Wangji knows this is partly out of guilt. Wen Qing tells Wen Ning to help with the dyeing project and move the dye vats outside before leaving as well, presumably to compose the letter.
Lan Wangji leads his brother from the hall, and around the various vegetable patches, explaining abundance of radishes nearly ready for harvest, showing him the new field with its newly sown crop of tomatoes, squash, beans, carrots, beets, peppers—for Wei Ying, he explains—and a small herb patch.
"Wangji, though the answer is obvious to me, questions will be asked about the validity of the marriage," xiongzhang says during a lull.
He knows he is specifically thinking of shufu, but also likely of other elders who will oppose his marriage. Short of Wei Ying's death, there is nothing they can do—and he will ensure the former does not occur.
"It has been consummated," he replies, and is kind enough not to add 'repeatedly' or 'enthusiastically' to the assertion, however true they are. "It cannot be annulled."
Xichen smiles and nods, and Lan Wangji leads the way back toward the settlement so he can see the structures the Wens have built and live in.
"Honestly, the closeness I witnessed between you two made that clear," Xichen admits. "You are rarely so free with touch, Wangji, and the intimacy you share is undeniable."
He can feel his ears heat at his brother's unabashed comments; this is not a discussion he expected to have, but it is undeniable that touch has become an added and welcome part of his relationship with Wei Ying. He would touch him always if it were practical.
"We are happy, xiongzhang," he says softly. "Despite the difficulties faced here, we are happy together. I know the elders and shufu will likely not be pleased with our union. If it becomes necessary for me to break with Gusu Lan—"
"Never," Xichen interrupts, his tone forceful. "No, Wangji, didi… I will not allow them to cast you out. You have a responsibility to your spouse, one recognized by Lan Yi herself. You will always be welcome in the Cloud Recesses."
Lan Wangji nods, grateful for his brother's support. He knows he and Wei Ying, and likely the Wens as well, will have a supportive voice at Cloud Recesses.
"I will, of course, visit as much as I am able," Xichen continues. "And if shufu insists on coming, it will be with my escort, so you may rest easy on that matter. You will probably want some of your personal items from the jingshi, as well."
Rarely does Lan Wangji feel choked up, but Xichen's dedication to his happiness is something that has often overwhelmed him.
"Xiongzhang, I—"
He stops when the sound of loud crying fills the air, coming from the Demon-Slaughtering Cave. Lan Wangji immediately recognizes A-Yuan's wailing—A-Yuan, who should be napping with Wei Ying. He breaks into a run.
Chuntao, the name I gave a random auntie, means spring peach.
I headcanon that popo and jifu are basically the Dafan Wen elders at this point, thus why they stay for the entire discussion. Can you imagine being lxc and being shown undeniable proof that you've been lied to by your sworn brother—oh wait, that's canon. But this discussion had to be had without wwx present for a variety of reasons, especially from lwj's perspective. Basically, wwx has enough burdening him, and lwj feels it's his turn to shoulder some of it (and high time the rest of the cultivation world shouldered some of it as well).
Also, there's just a lot of philosophical aspects here, including Laozi, Confucius, Mozi, Sun Tzu, Mencius, etc. A lot of ancient Chinese philosophy is rather anti-war (coming from multiple periods involving warring states) or even advocates overthrowing rulers who are cruel to the people. The included Sun Tzu quote referenced by lxc was basically to convince captured soldiers to fight for your side (especially charioteers) through kind treatment, so while it doesn't technically apply to civilians one could imagine you'd want civilians to be willing to provide for troops. I'm really just starting to delve into it all.