Work Text:
他到乱葬岗已晚，心悦之人早已离世。
这一生无法相随，那就下一世。
下一世不许，就下一世。
一定... 一定...
There in the muck, half covered by mud, face down and stiff, while Lan Zhan was cradling a dying child to his chest, he stumbled over the body of the man he loved.
A-Yuan was feverish, weak and fading fast, but Lan Zhan couldn't move.
Not when this was Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian, the Yiling Laozu and the knower of Lan Zhan's inner heart. He was dead and his body broken, left for the animals without even a burial. Lan Zhan wept at the indignity of it, wept as the pain in his heart rapidly overtook the pain that lanced through his back. He tried to pull Wei Ying's lifeless body out of the mud, but he was too weak.
The thirty three strikes had sapped too much of his strength.
Lan Zhan stumbled to his feet, carrying A-Yuan.
"阿苑，再撑一下。 A-Yuan, please hold on," he whispered, tears landing on the child's bloodless face.
"求你，再撑一下。Please, just a little longer," Lan Zhan took a staggering step away from the body.
He had scarcely made it down the hill when he realized the child in his arms was no longer warm.
---
For the second time that day, Lan Zhan fell to his knees and wept.
---
On the far side of Lotus Lakes, people gossiped about how the Second Jade of Gusu Lan had purchased red robes made of the finest silk, a beautiful embroidered silk red veil, and matching robes for a child. They wondered why he had bought all the wine in the town, after all, weren't the disciples of Gusu Lan forbidden for drinking?
How strange, they whispered, that Hanguang-jun was buying so much red, as if for a wedding.
---
The pain in his back was barely noticeable.
He was numb. So numb.
Wei Ying was gone.
A-Yuan was gone.
He had lost the chance to be with them in this life.
Lan Zhan went about his plan methodically and carefully.
Only the best silk, only the finest boat for Wei Ying and A-Yuan.
He moved, almost like a puppet controlled by a master, his actions mechanical as he bathed and washed them. He perfumed them with oils to keep the insects away, and then dressed them with the reverence they should have been afforded when they were still alive.
Lan Zhan carefully placed Wei Ying on the boat, upon red sheets, surrounded by rapeseed flowers. Then in his arms, he laid the tiny body of Wen Yuan, the child he had failed to save. If Lan Zhan didn't know any better, he might think they were merely asleep.
Wei Ying still carried a hint of a smile on his lips, as if laughing at Lan Zhan for being so serious.
Lan Zhan climbed aboard the boat as well. He pushed the boat away from the river bank, setting them afloat on the vast expanses of Lotus Lakes.
Wei Ying would have wanted to be buried here, among the lotuses he loved to eat, surrounded by the waters he played in as a child. It was a pity that Wen Yuan had never gotten the chance to know it like Wei Ying did. Lan Zhan knew the child would have loved it here.
Lan Zhan uncorked the first wine bottle.
"魏婴， 阿苑，我对不住你们。 Wei Ying, A-Yuan, I cannot face you," he said, pouring the wine around the two of them.
He drenched their robes with the sweet smelling wine, then uncorked the second bottle.
"无能相助，不配宽容。 I could not help you, I do not deserve forgiveness." He emptied the second bottle over himself.
The last bottle, he poured first into a shallow dish.
"若天地所许，若魏婴、阿苑所愿，下一世，我娶定你，我当你爹。If heaven and earth permits it. If Wei Ying and A-Yuan are willing. I will marry you, I will be a father." Lan Zhan pressed the edge of the dish to Wei Ying's rouged lips. The wine dribbled into a mouth that once brought happiness to Lan Zhan's life.
Lan Zhan brought the dish to his own lips and took a sip.
"下一世，我们当一家人。In the next life, let's be a family," Lan Zhan whispered as he struck his flint.
The wine caught fire first, lighting a merry blaze at his feet.
The rapeseed flowers, full of oil, caught next, turning the boat into an inferno.
Lan Zhan closed his eyes, and laid down next to Wei Ying.
"隔岸见。I'll see you on the other side."