Reliving Our Fears

Chapter 16: The Future

The only sounds that filled the inn were the clacks of Mo Xuanyu's chopsticks against his porcelain bowl and the swishing sound of Wei Wuxian's 'Emperor's Smile'. After an extended silence, Mo Xuanyu places his chopsticks down neatly against the bowl, clearing his throat awkwardly, breaking the atmosphere.

Mo Xuanyu's hair was tied in a messy bun with a golden-colored ribbon. Loose strands hung down his face, highlighting his doe-shaped eyes. There was a little powder on his skin, making his skin glow slightly paler than usual. The reason for this change in appearance was simple. Because Mo Xuanyu had put Wei Wuxian's soul into a copy of his own body, they now look identical. To avoid weird looks, Mo Xuanyu summoned money from what appeared to be nothing (bless him) and bought some things to disguise his looks and book a room in a fancy inn. After a bit of trial and error, he and Wei Wuxian could now pass as identical twins instead of copies of each other. 

"Ah, Wei Ying!" Mo Xuanyu smiled, "Wait, can I call you that?" Looking up from his jar of wine, Wei Wuxian shrugged. "Why not?" 

Grinning from ear to ear, Mo Xuanyu whooped in joy. He quickly regained his composure, relaxing slightly into his back. Looking slightly nervous, he placed a hand behind his neck, smiling awkwardly. "Sooo," Mo Xuanyu started, stretching out the 'o', "I feel as if you have quite a few questions..." Trailing off uncertain, he looked up at Wei Wuxian to read his expression.

Wei Wuxian put down his 'Emperor's Smile', a smirk forming on his face. "Naturally, when somebody is in a situation like mine, they would have a couple of queries, yes?" Eyes widening, Mo Xuanyu immediately nodded. "Sorry if I startled you, Wei Ying! What do you want to know?"

Wei Wuxian's answer was immediate, as if he has been awaiting an opportunity like this, "Why did you come down and visit me? What made this time different from all the other times I died?" Mo Xuanyu tensed slightly like a child caught spilling ink over their parents' robes. "You remember when I told you about me accidentally deleting all the other existing 'Wei Yings'?" Wei Wuxian raised his eyebrows, indicating for him to continue. "Well, I came down for two reasons. Firstly, you started treating the resurrections like a curse instead of a blessing. I didn't want you to get the idea so I came down to explain it to you. Secondly, I kinda got kicked out of the realm for deities after deleting all the 'Wei Yings' from existence." Seeing Wei Wuxian's expression, he quickly added on, "There are hierarchies in the deity society. I won't bore you with the politics and everything but let's just say my superiors weren't very happy."

Wei Wuxian nodded, taking all of this information in. His predicament was very peculiar. Any normal person would have simply given up all hope of figuring out what was happening. Not Wei Wuxian. Ever since the downfall of his parents, he has always prepared for the worst but hoped for the best. Such strange occurrences shouldn't even surprise him at this point. 

"Second question," Wei Wuxian sighed, opening another jar of wine, "What do you mean by 'finding my happy ending'?" Mo Xuanyu hesitated for a second but started speaking without nervousness. "Well, my main goal here is to make sure you are happy by the end of your life ...and get back into my realm but the latter isn't important right now. I've watched over you in many different universes so I have a rough idea what a happy ending should be."

"Go on," Wei Wuxian urges. Mo Xuanyu swallows before replying, "Wei Ying, I would love to help in any way I can but I've already angered my superiors enough. I can't tell you too much to alter this timeline. I can't help you that much either. I have to focus all my energy on bringing back all the 'Wei Yings' from every universe. I'm sorry..." 

Wei Wuxian would have been extremely pissed off if it wasn't for the genuine guilt in Mo Xuanyu's voice. Holding back a very disappointed huff, he tried his luck. "Could you give me a small rundown of the major events that should happen for my happy ending? Please? It doesn't have to be too specific." Mo Xuanyu could already feel himself drowning in guilt. At last, he gave in. "Fine. But nothing too specific, okay?" With Wei Wuxian's agreement, he inhaled and exhaled deeply and began.

"One to two hours after your revival, Lan-er-gonzi will receive his 33 lashes of the discipline whip followed by 3 years of seclusion. While this is happening, a certain person will be planning the death of Nie Mingjue. After his death, his brother will start planning to get revenge. In the background, a murderer called Xue Yang will be up to trouble. Jin Guangyao is related to everything,"

Wei Wuxian sits in shock as he takes in the news. Mo Xuanyu sheepishly adds, "My apologies, Wei Ying. That's all I can tell you."

Blinking out of his daze, Wei Wuxian looked determined. "Thank you, Mo Xuanyu," he praised, much to Mo Xuanyu's joy, "Now I know exactly what to do. I can work with this information. Make some sort of plan. Not only am I going to get my 'happy ending', but I might also even be able to stop some tragedies on the way!" Mo Xuanyu beams in happiness to have assisted in some fashion. 

"One more question," Wei Wuxian adds, "What happened to the other Wei Wuxians? What became of them?"