Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

Music And Memories Part 14

That voice, the way he's talking, and that smell: it's a combination of strong black coffee and pungent dry tobacco. Not cheap cigarettes either, but proper cigars. The posh kind, the ones that Jiang Fengmian loved. That Jiang Cheng indulged in because the habit reminded him of his dad.

Mo XuanYu...no!

Not Mo XuanYu.

Wei WuXian.

Wei Ying!

He's Wei Ying. He knows that as a fact, just like he knows water is clear, fire is orange and he is without a doubt, Wei WuXian. It's as easy as that.

When he opens his eyes and sees the usual rage colouring his adopted brother's fierce expression, the memories come crashing down on him one by one, a constant connected stream of awareness. The headache is so much worse though, more painful than it's ever been, and Wei Ying massages his temple with one hand while holding onto the wall with the other. Things aren't looking good.

"Jiang Cheng!" Wei Ying suddenly shouts with a dawning realisation, as he begins making sense of what he's seeing in his mind. "You were there that night! I remember!" He says that eagerly, hopeful that the issues with his memories have improved. He can feel the trickle of something warm rolling down the back of his neck, and hoping it's sweat, he ignores it for now.

"Oh, that's unfortunate," Jin GuangYao mutters, staring at his own nails as if he's bored. He looks up at Wei Ying, an open and wide smile on his face that manages to look regretful at the same time. "There might have been a chance that you could've survived this if you'd just kept your mouth shut. Now, you're going to wind up being another statistic."

"Wei WuXian? Didi, YOUR Wei WuXian?" XiChen looks completely bowled over, not knowing how to make sense of any of this.

Lan Zhan gives him a curt nod. Then, catching his captors unaware while they're distracted, in a magnificent unparalleled move of supreme strength, he pulls back his arms and uses the created momentum to body slam Su Minshan and Xue Yang together, face first. The ugly crunch of broken bones and spurting blood is a shocker and as they slump to the floor in an unmoving crumpled heap of unconscious bodies, Lan Zhan calmly steps over them wanting to reach Wei Ying. There's a golden fire blazing in his eyes as he stares in front of him, pausing because there's one problem: Jiang WanYin is standing in his way.

It's a stalemate. No one so much as twitches.

Lan Zhan stares him down, seeing the violence in his amethyst eyes. This is the man who watched Zhao Zhuliu attack his own brother, Lan Zhan's beloved, and did nothing. Just stood there and watched. But as much as Lan Zhan wants to tear him apart limb from limb, right now he's closer to Wei Ying than Lan Zhan is. Patience is the key. Lan Zhan only has to wait for his opportunity. When it comes, he's going to have to be fast.

There are five people in this small room, close enough to hurt each other. Lan XiChen is standing by the safe near the back wall, Jin GuangYao in front of him but also at Lan Zhan's right, body tilted to keep an eye on the hostiles, Jiang WanYin in front of him and to the right a little, while Wei Ying is leaning against the side wall, in front but to the left.

XiChen breaks the silence. "Can someone please explain what's going on?" He demands, sounding close to breaking. "Didn't you say Wei WuXian was dead? I thought he was Mo XuanYu!" His honey-coloured eyes are full of accusations towards Jin GuangYao. When he glances towards Wei Ying, it changes to an expression of hurt and regret.

"Hey, in my defence," Wei Ying gasps, trying to keep the pain contained in between blinking fast, "I had amnesia."

The past tense used makes Lan Zhan's face light up, full of hope. "What do you remember?"