Restart | Xue Yang

Chapter 17

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.

Night had fallen outside, rendering the world nearly pitch-black. A few lanterns shone faintly here and there, their golden-orange glow lighting the way.

Xue Yang had already run a considerable distance ahead of them, making it difficult for them to catch up.

"Where did he go?" Nie Yilian cried as she ran, her eyes scanning her surroundings agitatedly.

As they slowed down, catching their breaths and searching for any possible sign of Xue Yang, Jiang Cheng spoke up.

"Lan-er-guniang, what's going on? Why are we chasing after this... this Xue Yang?"

Lan Minghui breathed in and out, answering Jiang Cheng's question. "Xue Yang was a former shidi of mine, a guest disciple who I brought back to the Cloud Recesses from Kuizhou. A little while back, about two or three years ago, he left the Gusu Lan Clan, saying that he felt like life in the Cloud Recesses felt very stifling due to the amount of rules. Later, I found out that he had been recruited by the Qishan Wen Clan as a guest disciple."

"What is he doing here?"

"I think I know what he's doing and where he is," Lan Minghui smiled painfully. "Follow me."

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

They arrived at the Yueyang Chang Clan's residence, the location eerily silent. Even if the Yueyang Chang Clan's status was quite the stretch from the status of one of the five major clans, it was no small clan; there were at least a good forty-something people who resided in the manor.

"Should we go in?" Nie Yilian suggested hesitantly.

Before anyone could respond, they caught sound of someone's footsteps approaching from another direction.

"Hide!" Lan Wangji commanded, pulling the two people closest to him (Wei Wuxian and Lan Biyun) behind a nearby vendor stand closed for the night.

The rest of the group followed suit, crouching behind the stand and carefully listening for the footsteps, their weapons ready to be unsheathed at any moment in the case of a fight.

The footsteps got closer and closer, eventually stopping nearby. Peeking out from behind the stand, Lan Minghui took a look at who it was.

It was the same person from the inn, though he had now removed his cloak, revealing handsome, yet child-like features. Despite his young appearance, he was very tall, with a sword in his hand and a dagger tucked in his belt.

Lan Minghui felt her heart beat rapidly, as though she had run thousands of li in a second. Xue Yang!

"Wangji," Lan Minghui called, glancing at her brother. "I'll be right back."

Lan Wangji's eyebrows furrowed, catching his sister by the wrist as she stood up. "Minghui—"

"I can handle him on my own if he does anything," Lan Minghui persuaded her brother, even though a voice at the back of her mind whispered, Could you? What if you don't have the stomach to fight back?

Shaking her head slightly and forcing the negative emotions away, Lan Minghui pulled her hand out of Lan Wangji's grasp, quietly walking to where Xue Yang stood at the front of the Yueyang Chang Clan's manor's gates.

"A-Yang," Lan Minghui called, her voice shaking slightly.

Xue Yang turned around in shock, his dark eyes widening in surprise and the light of them changing from a conflicted, nervous, and angry light to a stunned, possibly guilty or frightened one.

He backed away slowly, his hand reaching for the hilt of his sword. "No... I... This can't..."

"A-Yang, don't run!" Lan Minghui cried, striding forward. "It's me, Minghui!

"I was the one that gave you that dagger you have with you, the day that you left the Cloud Recesses!

"Do you remember that time when you had an idea for a talisman in the middle of the night and just couldn't wait to tell me about it so we ended up working on it over the night, causing us to be late for class and got punished by Shufu to write the rules while doing handstands?

"Don't you remember when I asked you to pass the soy sauce for the xiaolongbao that time when we were at the inn in Guangling, because I was scared that Wangji would take mine?

"You once said, 'If I could eat one thing for the rest of my life, it would be sugar paintings.' I tried to argue that Huangqiao sesame cakes with sweet osmanthus filling were better, and that evening, we spent the entire time we planned for studying having a debate over which of them were better instead.

"Don't leave again, please. I haven't seen you for years. I miss you."

As the distance between Lan Minghui and Xue Yang closed as she continuously walked forward, Xue Yang felt his mind clear itself of anything thought unrelated to the girl dressed in shades of snow in front of him. Quietly, he heard himself speak.

"Jiejie... I'm sorry."

Lan Minghui wrapped her arms around him, letting him sink into the embrace.

"It's not your fault," she replied, her voice faltering as tears rolled down her face. "You were the one who said that there was another reason behind you joining the Qishan Wen Clan."

As they let go of each other, Lan Minghui looked at Xue Yang. Contrary to his appearance back at the Cloud Recesses, Xue Yang now dressed in black; that and his height aside, nothing had changed, though the air about him had also changed slightly. His midnight black hair, trailing down his back, was pulled up in a ponytail, the odd strands hanging down by his eyes. Despite his usual sneering, sadistic gaze, Lan Minghui was met with a bittersweet (and longing?) one.

"I'm overjoyed to see you back," Lan Minghui continued, smiling up at him. "You grew so much! I'm never going to be able to make fun of you for your height ever again..."

"Are you disappointed in me, Jiejie?" Xue Yang asked, his head lowering, seeming ashamed to meet his former shijie's eyes. "I... Despite everything I said about the Yueyang Chang Clan and what they did, I still came back for revenge. And... what's worse is that it was slow revenge, too... Using the Yin Iron on one of them every night since I came here when they refused to tell me where Chang Ping is."

I guess.. maybe bringing him back to Gusu wasn't for nothing.

Lan Minghui sighed. "I'm not proud of what you did, A-Yang. But it's good that you admitted your wrongs."

After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "Why don't you come with us? We're locating and taking the Yin Iron before Wen Ruohan gets to them."

"Jiejie, I genuinely don't want anything to do with Wen Ruohan and the Qishan Wen Clan, but... I'm too ashamed to return to the Cloud Recesses and face Lan-xiansheng after all of this," Xue Yang admitted. "You know, Jiejie, you're seriously an angel with how kind you are."

Lan Minghui laughed softly. That's because it's you. "Such sweet words. In all seriousness, though, Shufu will eventually understand. Come with us. You'll be safe from the Wens."