Chapter Text
“Clan Leader, Hanguangjun. Let’s toast to you two.” Jin Zixun walks towards the brothers with a bottle of liquor held out in front of him.
“Zixun, Er-ge and Hanguang-jun come from Cloud Recess. Instead of drinking liquor you might-”
“Eh?” Jin Zixun exclaims, cutting off Jin Guangyao. “The Jin Clan and the Lan Clan are close friends. If you don’t drink, that means you look down on me. Let’s save the words Clan Leader. Don’t treat me as you would a stranger. One simple question. WIll you drink or not?” He fills a cup as he talks and holds it out to Lan Xichen. Lan Wangji shares a look with his brother and releases a soft breath and looks at the Jin as his eyes dilate slightly . Lan Xichen will have to talk to his brother later about disrespecting others, even if it’s only in his head.
Jin Guangyao steps forward quickly and lets out a nervous chuckle. “They still need to fly back tonight, Zixun. Drinking will affect that negatively.” Xichen stands gracefully and meets his sworn brother in front of his table.
Jin Zixun laughs. “Drinking two cups of liquor won’t hurt. Even if I drank eight jugs, I could still fly my sword.” He raises the cup in the air and spins to show it to the crowd.
The other cultivators in the room begin to chuckle as well. Jin Zixun smiles as he turns to Xichen and offers him the cup again. Xichen eyes it wearily, but he drinks it quickly and hands the cup back. Lan Wangji’s eyes narrow.
Jin Guangshan smirks as Zixun turns his attention to Lan Wangji. “Hanguang-jun, it’s your turn.” Lan Wangji’s glare intensifies, and he remains firmly seated in his chair. Nie Mingjue looks worriedly at Xichen. He knows that his friend is willing to play at politics for the safety of his Sect, but his little brother will not. This could get sticky.
Suddenly the cup of wine was snatched from Jin Zixun and returned empty almost instantly.
“I’ll drink for Lan Zhan if that’s okay.” We Wuxian smirked at the look of shock on the Jin boy’s face. Lan Zhan shifted slightly so Wuxian guessed that meant he was surprised too.
“When did you get here?” Jin Zixun spat.
“Just now.”
Jin Guangyao finally shook himself from his surprise. “Young Master Wei, why did you come so late? Here. Sit down, please.” He tries to steer Wei Wuxian to a seat, but he gets waved away.
“Don’t bother. I have something urgent to ask Young Master Jin Zixun.” He turns to the Jin in question. “Can I speak with you?”
“You can talk to me when our banquet is over.” says Jin Zixun.
“How long will it take?”
Zixun strokes his non-existent beard in contemplation. “Six to eight hours.” He glances at Wei Wuxian and notices his rising anger. “Or eight to ten hours maybe. Or maybe it will end tomorrow.”
“I’m afraid I can’t wait that long.” Wei Wuxian takes a step forward, entering Zixun’s space.
“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng hisses.
“Yeah?” Jin Zixun sneers at him. “Well it’s not up to you.”
“Young Master Wei,” calls Jin Guangyao. “What do you need from Jin Zixun? Is it that urgent?”
“Extremely urgent,” Wuxian says through his teeth.
Jin Zixun scoffs and rolls his eyes as he turns around and raises his liquor bottle at Lan Xichen once more. “Come, let’s drink again.”
“Fine, I’ll just say it here.” Wei Wuxian crosses his arms over his chest and drills his gaze through the back of Zixun’s skull. “Young Master Jin Zixun, Do you know a person called Wen Ning?”
Lan Wangji blinked in surprise at the sudden topic, and Jiang Cheng stood abruptly and looks concerned as his gaze bounces between the two people in front of him.
Jin Zixun pauses. “No.”
“You definitely know a person called Wen Ning. One month ago you were hunting a Bat King in Ganquan. You took a group of the Wen Remnants away. Their leader was Wen Ning.”
“I said I don’t know him. I am too busy to remember the name of a Wen-Dog bastard.”
Jin Guangyao flinched, and Lan Xichen stepped closer to him.
“Fine, then let me explain it to you. You couldn’t capture the prey you were hunting, so you grabbed the Wen disciples that came to see what the commotion was. You forced them to wear my Stygian lure flags and used them as live bait. They were afraid to do it. One of them stood up and argued with you with a stutter. He was Wen Ning. During the tarriance the creature got away. So you beat the Wen Disciples severely and took them away. They haven’t been seen since then. Besides you, I really don’t know who to ask.”
“Wei Wuxian, what do you mean? Do you want me to hand them over? Do you want to stand up for those bastards?”
“It doesn’t concern you whether I want to speak up for them or step on them. Just hand them over,” he grinds out.
“Wei Wuxian, do you really think you are so invincible that no one dares to offend you? Do you want to overturn the heavens? Leave, before I show you how worthless you are.” Jin Zixun has long since gone red in the face.
Wei Wuxian scoffs in surprise. “Are you comparing yourself to the heavens? With all due respect, you really are thick skinned,” he laughs.
Jin Guangshan laughs. “It’s not a big deal. You, teenagers, get angry so easily. But Young Master Wei, frankly speaking, today, you disrupt the private banquet of the Jin Clan of Lanling. Isn’t it improper?”
Wei Wuxian turns to Jin Guangshan and bows shallowly. “Apologies Clan Leader Jin. I did not intend to mess with the banquet. However, the lives taken by Young Master Jin Zixun are uncertain so far. I’m afraid that we can’t save them if we wait any later. I am grateful to one of them, who saved my life. I have no reason to stand by. Please forgive me. I’ll repay you in the future.”
“Why can’t you delay it? Come sit. I’ll chat with you slowly.” Jin Guanghsan says as he motions towards a seat on the dias beside him.
Jiang Cheng runs up to him. “Wei Wuxian, what are you trying to do?”
“That’s kind of you, Clan Leader Jin, but I won’t sit. This can’t wait, please solve it soon.” Wei Wuxian says as he finally rises from his bow.
“You are anxious. I’m more anxious. Calm down. Talking about this we still have some problems yet to be solved. Since you are here, let’s take this chance to tackle them together.” Sect Leader Jin smiles greedily at Wei Wuxian.
“Tackle what?” he asks suspiciously.
“Young Master Wei, I mentioned it to you a few times before. Don’t you remember? In the Sunshot Campaign, you fought like a demon, and used one thing.”
“Ah, the Stygian Tiger Amulet? Is there a problem?” Wei Wuxian asks with a raised eyebrow.
“It is extremely similar to the Yin Iron. You used it on the battlefield. It is very powerful. Besides, it hurt a lot of cultivators accidently.” Bullshit
Wei Wuxian’s mood darkened. “Please get to the point.”
“This is the point! Among the four shards of the Yin Irons, three were destroyed. One is missing. Regardless of how your Stygian Tiger Amulet was forged, it’s power is too strong for just one master. Such an important thing is held in your hands alone. I’m afraid-”
“Clan Leader Jin, are you hinting at something?” Wei Wuxian growled. “Alright, please allow me to ask another question. Do you think that without the Wen Clan of Qishan the Jin Clan is supposed to take its place naturally?” Jin Guangshan opened his mouth to speak, but Wuxian kept going. “So everything should be handed over to you and everyone should follow your order?” He turns to look at the rest of the crowd and motions behind himself at the Jin on the dias. “Look how the Jin Clan of Lanling is acting. I almost thought it was the reign of the Wen Clan again.”
“Wei Wuxian, what are you talking about?” Jin Zixun demanded.
“What? Did I say something wrong?” Wei Wuxian asks as he turns to stare at the Jin Sect Leader rather than the inconsequential Jin who stands before him. Jin Guangshan said nothing. Wei Wuxian huffed and turned back to the Jin that spoke. “I could take what you did as revenge but now that water is back under the bridge, you still force people to be your bait. If they refuse, you beat and bully them. What’s the difference between you and the Wen Clan?”
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan warned. He glanced quickly between Wei Wuxian and the Jin guards that Jin Guangshan had just motioned towards.
“Of course it’s different! The Wen Clan does evil things. This is what they deserve,” Jin Zixun spat.
Wei Wuxian looked at the boy in front of him in complete disbelief. “You should punish the people who bit you. Wen Qing and Wen Ning have never gotten their hands bloody. Or do you want to execute a collective punishment?”
“It is righteous for anyone to punish the Wen Clan.” Zixun exclaimed proudly. “Why the hell should we talk sense into them? It’s a pity that I killed so few of them.”
Stepping into Jin Zixun’s space, Wei Wuxian’s eyes glaze a dazzling red. “You even kill the innocent so easily. Then if I kill you today, will that too be justified?”
“You-”
Wei Wuxian grips Chenqing and darkness explodes from the contact. Instantly, Lan Wangji and Jin Zixuan are on their feet. The rest of the room follows soon after and draws their swords.
Four young cultivators enter the room speaking quietly to each other and go mostly unnoticed. (Nie Huaisung sees all) They stop in their tracks and fall silent when they hear Sect Leader Jiang shout angrily, “Wei Wuxian!”
“Wei Ying.” Wuxian blinks and the red leaves his eyes, but his grip remains. He clutches Chenqing so tightly that his hands are shaking and his knuckles have gone white. If she were any other flute, she would have snapped cleanly in half by now.
“Wei Wuxian! How dare you act this way in front of me!” Jin Guangshan bellows. His face has gone red and he glares down at the demonic cultivator. “Who do you think you are?!”
The red returns to Wei Wuxian’s eyes and he uses Chenqing to point at Jin Zixun. “If I, Wei Wuxian, wish to kill someone, who can stop me? Who dares to stop me?!”
“Baba!”
Sizhui rushed forward and stood between his dad and the irrelevant Jin. "Baba we've talked about this," Sizhui said as he grabbed the end of Chenqing. He heard the room collectively gasp and turned to look at all of the cultivators standing with ther swords raised in his Baba’s direction. "Wait,” he said uneasily. “What’s going on?"
The resentful energy began to fade as one word cycled through Wei Wuxian’s mind. Baba. For some reason, this random boy was calling him Baba and Chenqing was allowing him to hold her without lashing out. His eyes widened even further as another boy came up to his side and shoved Jin Zixun so hard he fell over.
"If you were disrespecting my uncle, I'll break your legs!" He shouted.
Wei Wuxian was starting to feel dizzy. Baba and Uncle?
Sizhui began to grow worried as Wuxian stayed silent. It was never a natural occurrence of his. "A-Die, what's wrong with Baba?"
Now Wei Wuxian was definitely going to pass out, because that's Lan Zhan the kid is looking at. Lan Zhan, who paled, then blushed at the words, and if he wasn't so disoriented, Wei Wuxian would have been delighted by the unexpected reaction.
"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF ALL THIS RUCKUS?!" shouted Jin Guangshan.
The young man in yellow squared off his shoulders and absolutely glared at the raised dias. "Who the hell do you think you are? Why are you in my seat, and how dare you raise your voice at your sect leader?"
Jin Guangshan blinked in shock, then rose with a roar of indignation. He opened his mouth, presumably to bellow some insult, when someone beat him to it.
“Father, perhaps we should all calm down and-”
As soon as Jin Guangyao spoke, all hell broke loose. As one, all of the newcomers drew their swords and moved in a tight formation around Wei Wuxian, as if they intended to defend him. The first boy reached behind him with the hand not holding his sword and offered Chenqing back to him.
At the sudden display of aggression, many of the cultivators in the room gripped their swords harder. Jin Guangyao stepped back in surprise at the sudden reaction, and didn't say another word.
"Wei Qianbei, how's he still alive? What's going on?"
"Wait a second Jingyi," said Sizhui. "Look around you. Something's different."
"What the hell are you on about Sizhui?" Snapped Jin Ling.
Sizhui slowly lowered his sword as reality began to sink in. "I- I think we're in the past."