Fated (Wangxian)

#41#

“My Wei Ying- he could command the dead and the resentment energy ever since...he was- just a child,” Lan Zhan whispered, golden eyes glistening with pain for the innocent child who not only had to witness his parents unnatural death but also their bodies' petrifying transformation into the walking corpses at such a young age.

“It might be a reason, Wangji. Maybe Wei Wuxian always had this unique ability to control resentment energy and therefore once he discovered his ability, he started practicing demonic cultivation,” Lan Xichen added in his calm voice, solemnly

Scenes of how little Wei Ying survived on the streets of Yiling, escaping from bad people, begging and picking food from garbage bins, being mistreated and mocked for his ugly fragile body and unkept appearance, being called useless and abandoned by anyone he ever tried to talk or smiled accidently flashed in front of their eyes.

Heard him talking to the ants and tiny insects, the imaginative stories of his parents celebrating his birthday when he turned three years old while he sat on a tree, curled up near the trunk to spend the harsh cold nights of winter, shivering in thin torn clothes.

As the time kept passing, Lan brothers realized that Little Wei Ying had truly forgotten how and when his parents died. He believed wholeheartedly that he was three years old when they last celebrated his birthday with the best spicy tanghulu specially made by his baba for him.

They witnessed Wei Ying celebrating his birthday for turning six years old when in reality he turned five, sitting all alone in an alley, close to a garbage bin in which he found some discarded clothes and a few meat buns and was happily thanking anyone who passed by for their gift. Followed by a scene of their short fated encounter when a seven years old Lan Zhan gave a small rattle drum to five years old Wei Ying, bringing a bright smile on his cute face that soon turned into a disheartened one, when Lan Xichen called for his didi, making Lan Zhan exit the alley quickly before little Wei Ying could even thank him.

While the present Lan Zhan glared at Lan Xichen for his interruption in the past, they learned the origin of Ying's extreme fear of dogs, a scene where he was bitten mercilessly and cruelly by a pack of savage wild dogs whom he fought against for a piece of bread fallen on the street.

"..."

"..."

"It's too- I can't-anymore, Xiongzhang. My Ying’er, he suffered so much and I couldn’t save him. If only we had brought him with us to Cloud Recesses that day... n-none of this would’ve happened. I'll never forgive myself for leaving my Ying'er a-alone when he needed his soulmate the most!!" Lan Zhan gasped out, eyes welling up with burning hot tears and heart aching physically as he watched his beloved suffering so much.

 
While Lan Zhan cried in distress, Lan Xichen could do little to help his baby brother for he himself was feeling no different, watching and intuitionally knowing...that the memories weren’t going to get any better.

Scenes changed, Wei Ying was found by Yunmeng Jiang Clan Leader, Jiang Fengmian and was brought to Lotus Pier.

On the surface, Wei Ying was adopted son of Sect Leader Jiang but in reality, Lan brothers saw how he was treated even worse than a servant. Wei Ying was never formally adopted into the family, not allowed to wear the Jiang clan’s purple robes, was treated as an outcast on the orders of Sect Leader’s wife, Yu Ziyuan, who hated Wei Ying, used to hit him daily with her Zidian (whose single thunder like strike could render anyone motionless for weeks), since she wanted him gone from their life.

Still, little Wei Ying never complained. He felt grateful to Jiang Fengmian for allowing him to live in the Lotus Pier, considered him as a father figure, his children Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng as his siblings but the same could not be said for them. At most, the only bit of warmth he ever received was from his shijie, Jiang Yanli, who gave him a little care, love and support of a weak helpless elder sister.

Scenes shifted... Wei Ying reluctantly entered Cloud Recesses to attend the guest lectures. His exciting encounter with the famous, stoic disciplinarian, Lan Wangji on the very first day, their first sword-fight, first quarrel, and his first time calling Second Young Master Lan by his birth name, “Lan Zhan!”

Time passed, showing how Wei Ying absolutely enjoyed his time in Cloud Recesses despite all his grumblings, breaking rules, avoiding Lan Qiren’s boring lectures, teasing and tricking Lan Zhan to grab his attention, bring a reaction on his always stoic face and to make friends with him.

They saw a seventeen year old strict Lan Zhan catching Wei Ying and his friends drinking Emperor’s Smile in Cloud Recesses but before Lan Zhan could report them, Wei Ying quickly cast a spell on him, hypnotizing Lan Zhan and making him have a taste of Emperor’s smile, mischievously.

Although Wei Ying's intentions were only to escape from the punishment along with getting a chance to have a heart-to-heart talk with Lan Zhan, his plans went down the drain when Lan Zhan ended up making him extremely exhausted because of his weird drunk behaviour.

They saw Wei Ying gasping for breath as he manoeuvred drunk Lan Zhan's stiff heavy as a block of iron like body to the bed again and again, trying to make him fall asleep while escaping from Lan Zhan's ceaseless attempts at opening his robes, licking, and biting his skin like an angry child throwing tantrums that finally ended with Wei Ying letting a childish Lan Zhan bite his neck and lying next to him to keep him on the bed.
 

"…"

"…"
 

"What- did I- just- watch?? Wangji?!!! Wa- was that really you?!” Lan Xichen looked at his baby brother in disbelief but the second he noticed Lan Zhan's blushed pink ear lobes, he felt as if he had seen enough and needed to wash off that fragment of memory from his mind that clearly wasn't meant for his eyes...

"Wangji- does not remember it..." Lan Zhan mumbled, feeling ecstatic, upset, and embarrassed at the same time.

"Well, now you will," Lan Xichen said, rubbing his eyes before adding, "And Yingying will remember it too."

While Lan Xichen tried to unsee what he just saw and Lan Wangji noting it all down to discuss with his soulmate, they saw Lan Zhan and his Wei Ying's another fated meeting with Elder Lan Yi in the sacred cave of the cold pond, their dangerously eventful journey to search all the pieces of Yin Iron, their parting with Lan Zhan returning to Cloud Recesses, leaving an informed Wei Ying behind who returned to the Lotus pier, feeling upset and gloomy because of Lan Zhan’s cold behavior.

"...As expected from the stoic Wangji," Lan Xichen muttered, not even trying to hide his annoyance

The scenes changed to Qishan Wen’s indoctrination campaign where they saw Wen Chao locking Wei Ying in a dark cell along with a giant menacing hungry dog, larger than the size of an elephant, to punish him for protecting Lan Zhan from Wen Chao's offensive behaviour.

Golden eyes widened with fear, heart filled with dread for his Wei Ying, Lan Zhan instinctively moved forward to shield him and protect him from the deadly attacks of the beast, forgetting again that it was just a memory of the past.

Unable to do anything, Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen shed tears of helplessness as they heard the cheerful and brave Wei Ying’s terrified screams and cries for help, heartbreaking pleas, request to release him from that cell but to no avail.

"Is this...how huge the bloodhounds are of the dark forest?!" Lan Xichen asked, controlling his emotions

"No. About the size of a horse."

"A h-horse?! Disciples that came back said they were not bigger than a wild boar. If they are still growing in size then we need to be prepared for this- giant creature too," Lan Xichen said, watching the horrifying scene of Wei Ying fighting for his life alone against that monstrous dog.

It was then, they saw and understood Wei Ying's gratefulness towards Wen siblings, Wen Qing and Wen Ning who saved him, but sighed with frustration when instead of using their medicinal herbs for treating his serious injuries, Wei Ying kept it safely for Lan Zhan’s broken leg.

*Don't forget to vote!*