Restart | Xue Yang

Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Mo Dao Zu Shi and The Untamed do not belong to me. The settings, characters, and plot belong, respectively, to Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and the screenwriters of The Untamed. Here, only the plot of this fanfiction and my four OCs, Huang Minghui / Lan Minghui, Lan Biyun, Li Xingsi / Wei Xingsi, and Bai Yilian / Nie Yilian, are my creations. And an important reminder that this ISN'T REAL; please value your lives and do not try to get hit by a car to get this sort of adventure.

As the group made their way over to Yueyang without Wen Qing, who left and presumably returned to the Nightless City, Lan Minghui began to become more and more apprehensive. This would be where they met Xue Yang.

"Hey," Wei Xingsi murmured to Lan Minghui as they walked. "You nervous about seeing Xue Yang?"

Lan Minghui nodded in response, her throat feeling tight with anxiety.

"I know that you're really worried about seeing him again after so long," Wei Xingsi said. "But hey, if you managed to change anything so far, this must be it. You changed Xue Yang for the better; you gave him a happier beginning, a caring upbringing that he wanted but never had in the original story, and let him know that someone cares about him.

"Sorry, that wasn't good. You know that I suck with advice and just words in general."

"Not true," Lan Minghui shook her head. "Xingsi, you do know how to make people feel better even if you believe that you don't have the ability to do so. Part of it is also my problem, since I'm strongly pessimistic and rarely see the bright side, but even if I struggle with seeing the good parts, you know how to make it better. Plus, there's a good part of life right here."

Grinning, Lan Minghui pointed at Wei Xingsi.

"Shut it, Minghui," Wei Xingsi huffed, shoving her in the shoulder, though not harshly. Leaning closer and whispering in her friend's year, she laughed, "If you continue like this, you'll probably manage to sweet talk Lan Qiren into letting Xue Yang marry you even if Xue Yang massacres the Yueyang Chang Clan."

"Shush, you," Lan Minghui grumbled. "You seem keen on getting people together. What about yourself?"

***************

Upon Wei Wuxian's insistence and suggestion, they entered a tavern in Yueyang to scrounge up some information about where the Yin Iron could be.

As they sat down, Wei Wuxian whispered, "I'm gonna give him all my money so we can get as much info as possible!"

Jiang Cheng glared at him. "Just so you know, Wei Wuxian, no one is going to bother to cover your expenses for this trip! Please use your brain and save some of it?"

Just then, a waiter approached their table. "Welcome, young masters and young ladies! How may we serve you today?"

Wei Wuxian eagerly slid out two silver ingots from his wallet, presenting them to the waiter. "Two jars of the best liquor you have here, please!"

Nie Yilian, who also appeared to be hungry, also requested something, "And a serving of osmanthus cake, please!"

"Of course," the waiter said, hurrying off to get their orders.

"What now?" Nie Huaisang muttered once the waiter was out of earshot.

"Leave the talking to me," Wei Wuxian declared in a self-certain tone. "Just listen carefully."

When the waiter returned with the liquor and the osmanthus cakes on hand, Wei Wuxian eagerly accepted one of the jars, taking a big swig out of it before asking, "Hey, what's worth checking out here in Yueyang?"

"Well, that depends on what you really mean by that."

"I mean interesting things going on around here lately," Wei Wuxian specified.

"Clarify your definition of 'interesting'."

"Like, walking corpses or fierce corpses, ghosts, monsters, you know? Uncommon, slightly terrifying events that cultivators deal with?"

"Oh! In that case, I'd say that there have been an abnormal amount of walking corpses lately," he said.

Before anyone could reply, a man who appeared to be the waiter's boss shouted, "What are you doing? Hurry up and continue with your work!"

Seeing that, Lan Biyun quickly slapped down a gold piece in front of the waiter, nodding at him to go on.

Instantly, the young waiter's boss's expression morphed from an impatient, angry one to one of delight.

"Nice job! Take care of them, okay?"

Lan Minghui shook her head in amusement as Jiang Cheng spoke up. "Why hasn't the residential cultivation sect in this area done anything?"

The waiter seemed to be stuck on whether he should or shouldn't say what was on his mind.

"Well..." he said awkwardly. "Okay, hear me out. Seeing that all of you here seem to be cultivators, I don't mean any disrespect, but it really... um, it sometimes appears that the Yueyang Chang Clan... that they... don't really care about us, the common folk."

Ha, you sure got that right, Lan Minghui thought angrily as she flicked the tassel hanging off of Huari. If they did, A-Yang would have all five fingers on his left hand intact.

"But either way," he continued quickly, "The Yueyang Chang Clan has been oddly secluded and quiet lately. Anyways, looks like I should go. Hope you found this information helpful!"

As he left their table, Wei Wuxian began to speak. "So, from what he told us, I—"

Lan Biyun suddenly raised a hand, cutting him off.

"Wei-gongzi, I apologize for my sudden interruption, but I felt that it was compulsory to let everyone here know that I feel like someone's been watching us since we came in here," Lan Biyun whispered. Her head turned ever so slightly towards the table diagonal left from theirs, which was occupied by only one person.

That person sat in a slightly slouched, notice-me-not position, wearing a hooded cloak that obscured most of their face. Seeing the sword lying on the table, Lan Minghui assumed that they were a cultivator. The sword... Upon closer inspection, Lan Minghui thought that it was strangely familiar. Long, slender, jagged, a silver color emitting a dark glow... Jiangzai?

"Biyun..." Lan Minghui whispered, tapping her sister on the shoulder. "That sword is Jiangzai!"

"You don't think..." Lan Biyun breathed softly, turning to face her sister.

"Xue Yang?" they said at the same time.

At the sound of the name, the person sitting nearby had a slight reaction, whipping their head around and staring at them for a second before grabbing their sword and dashing out of the tavern.

"Let's go," Lan Wangji decided, picking up his sword and standing up.

"Wait, what's going on?" Wei Wuxian asked, though he, too, stood up.

"Long story short, a former shidi of mine who left the clan," Lan Minghui answered, trying to keep her voice even as snakes squirmed in her stomach and her heart pounding against her ribs.

"Huaisang, hurry up and decide," Nie Yilian urged her brother. "Are you coming or not?"

Nie Huaisang seemed to contemplate his choices.

"I... I think I'll go back to Qinghe," he decided in the end. "Yilian, are you—?"

"Yes, I'm going with them," Nie Yilian confirmed. "Save travels on your trip back to Qinghe."

"You too," Nie Huaisang said, an expression of worry forming as Nie Yilian exited.

Please let this turn out all right, Lan Minghui thought wishfully as she dashed out of the tavern after who she assumed to be Xue Yang.