Wei WuXian found an old incense burner in the treasure pavilion of the Cloud Recesses-the 'Chamber of Ancients.'
The incense burner had the body of a bear, nose of an elephant, eyes of a rhinoceros, tail of a bull, and limbs of a tiger. With its stomach as the main unit, it spouted soft smoke from its mouth after the incense was lit up.
In the Jingshi, Wei WuXian played with it for a while, "This thing looks kind of fun. It's got no killing intent or malicious energy, so it's definitely not something used to harm people. Lan Zhan, do you know what this is for?"
Lan WangJi shook his head. Wei WuXian sniffed the scent. He didn't find anything wrong with it either. Since neither of the two saw it as suspicious, they put the incense burner away and decided to investigate it further at some later date.
Yet before the two had laid down for long, they felt extremely tired and fell into a deep sleep. An unknown period of time later, Wei WuXian woke up and discovered that he and Lan WangJi weren't at the Jingshi of the Cloud Recesses, but rather amidst the wilderness of a forest.
Wei WuXian crawled up from the ground, "What's this place?"
Lan WangJi, "Not the real world."
Wei WuXian, "Not the real world? No way," he shook his sleeve, feeling it quite clearly, "What could this be if not reality?"
Lan WangJi didn't answer. He walked in silence towards a river and gestured for him to look down. Wei WuXian walked over and glanced at his reflection. He was immediately startled.
Reflected against the river's surface was how he looked in his past life!
Wei WuXian immediately looked up, "Because of the incense burner?"
Lan WangJi nodded, "Likely so."
After staring for a while at the familiar features in the water, Wei WuXian finally averted his gaze, "It's fine. I tested the incense burner. There's no resentful energy, so it's definitely not a weapon of evil. Some master probably made this either to cultivate or just for the sake amusement. Let's walk around for now and look into our situation."
And the two began to stroll within this forest that was an illusion or otherwise. Soon, a small, log cabin came into their view.
Wei WuXian saw the log cabin and exclaimed with a 'huh'. Lan WangJi, "Yes?"
Wei WuXian scrutinized the cabin, "The cabin looks a little familiar to me."
The cabin was a home that looked more than common, which was why even though he was suspicious, he couldn't determine if he'd seen it or not. At this point, the squeaks of the loom came from the cabin.
The two exchanged a glance with each other. Without more words, they approached together. But at the door of the cabin, as they looked inside, both of them stopped in surprise.
What was within the cabin was far from even the worst case scenario they imagined. There were neither villains nor beasts. In fact, there was only one person, and a person they were both rather familiar with, at that.
In the cabin sat a 'Lan WangJi'!
This 'Lan WangJi' had the same handsome features and the same tall build as the one beside Wei WuXian. The plain yet not at all crude garb of blue and white cotton, when over his body, seemed to become the heavenly robes of a renowned cultivator. At the side, the loom moved on its own like it was manoeuvred using a spell, squeaking as it weaved cotton. On the other hand, he himself sat at the side with a book in his hand, reading attentively.
The two had already walked in front of the door and even made quite some noise, while 'Lan WangJi' seemed as though he didn't notice anything. With a distant expression, he flipped over a page with fair, slim fingers.
