Chapter Text
“This is where all the victims say they were. They all came here before they disappeared.”
The villager led them to a small clearing surrounded by luscious bushes and towering trees. Wei Wuxian, along with Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, Jin Ling, and Ouyang Zizhen, followed along.
Originally, Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi had planned to go on the night hunt with their friends (though Jin Ling might half-heartedly protest the title). But Wei Wuxian, who had been stuck in the Cloud Recesses while Lan Wangji was caught up with sect business on behalf of his still-in-seclusion brother and was unbearably bored, had overheard them planning the night hunt. He immediately ran up behind them and threw his arms around their shoulders.
“Ah, my favorite little Lans!” he had declared, going for casual and, unbeknownst to him, completely failing.
“I thought Hanguang Jun was your favorite Lan,” Lan Jingyi had snarked, half-heartedly shrugging at the arm over his shoulder.
“Ah, Lan Zhan is my favorite big Lan,” he said, winking at Jingyi, “and he is big indeed-“
Lan Jingyi had thrown off his arm at that. “I do not need to hear that!”
“-and you are my favorite little Lans!” Wei Wuxian had continued, ignoring Lan Jingyi and pulling him back in. He had also ignored the fact the Sizhui had grown to match his height in Mo Xuanyu’s body, while Jingyi had surpassed it. He had felt a touch of melancholy at that, an ever-present regret that he missed seeing the little A-Yuan turn into the mature Lan Sizhui. He had shaken it off. He had a habit of, as Lan Wangji put it, lingering on regrets that he were not his fault. He was working on that.
“So! What are my favorite little Lan’s planning?”
“We’ve received reports of disappearances in a village near the Gusu-Lanling border,” Sizhui had explained, seemingly content to have Wei Wuxian hands on him. “We’re meeting with Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen to investigate.”
Wei Wuxian had brightened further at the mention of his nephew. “A-Ling will be there? I haven’t seen him since the last discussion conference!” He had stared at Sizhui with a meaningful look. It hadn’t taken long for his darling son to figure it out.
“Would you like to come along?”
“Yes!” Wei Wuxian had exclaimed almost before Sizhui had finished asking. “Be right back!” he had said before running off as quickly as he had come.
Wei Wuxian walked ahead of the villager and stood in the middle of the clearing. He closed his eyes for a moment, then pursed his lips. “Hmmm. I don’t feel any resentful energy. If there is a spirit here, it’s not malicious. Had any of the victims been hurt?”
The villager shook his head. “They all came back a bit dazed, but unharmed. Some came back after just a couple of weeks, others were gone more than a month. Though,” he added with a thoughtful look, “they all said they had particularly vivid dreams of their childhoods in the few days after they returned.”
“So the spirit triggers old memories?” Jin Ling walked through the clearing, looking around.
“Kind of an odd thing for a spirit to do,” Lan Jingyi said with raised brows.
“There are some spirits that bring up painful memories to torment the victims,” Lan Sizhui said. “Were the victims distressed by the memories?”
“I don’t think so. My daughter’s friend was one of the victims. She said she had dreams of playing, nothing painful.”
“So a spirit that brings up good memories?” said Ouyang Zizhen, looking uncertain.
“I’m going to look around the surrounding area,” said Jin Ling, crossing the clearing and disappearing into the forest.
“I’ll come with you!” Ouyang Zizhen called, hurrying to catch up to him.
“Sizhui.” Wei Wixian turned to the junior. “Try using Inquiry. Jingyi, keep your sword ready.”
Sizhui swung his guqin off his back and sat down on the forest floor with the instrument on his lap. Jingyi stood a few steps away with his sword drawn.
With deft fingers, Sizhui plucked at the strings. At first, there seemed to be no response. Then, the strings vibrated slightly, as if they were lightly strummed.
Wei Wuxian frowned at that. Spirits that responded so quietly were usually weak, but this spirit had been taking people. Perhaps this wasn’t the spirit they were looking for.
Sizhui continued to play, though, and, after a few more exchanges, he looked up with a troubled look. “This spirit seems to have trouble answering simple questions. When I asked how old he was, he said he didn’t know. He couldn’t answer where he lived or where he was. He couldn’t give me a full name, just ‘A-Yi.’”
Wei Wuxian hummed thoughtfully. “Ask if he’s been taking people.”
Sizhui strummed the strings, getting a single light pluck in response. “Yes.”
“Why?”
Another strum of string in question, a longer response this time. “Lonely... friends... play.”
“That sounds like a kid,” Jingyi remarked.
“Ah!” Wei Wuxian came to a realization at those words. “It’s the spirit of a child. No wonder the strumming was so light…”
“But why is a child kidnapping people?” asked Jingyi. “What resentment could a kid have?”
“I don’t think it’s for any malicious reason,” Wei Wuxian speculated. “I still don’t feel resentful energy, even with the spirit here.”
“Well, the spirit said he’s lonely and he wants to play,” Sizhui said. “I think the spirit just wants a playmate. But, what is he doing to the victims in the time they’re gone?”
“Hmm.” Wei Wuxian tapped his nose on thought. “Maybe he pulls them into a dream? The spirit is probably too weak to hold them indefinitely.”
“Poor kid,” Jingyi said. “Now I feel bad for him. He wasn’t really causing any harm.”
“Well, we can’t let him continue to inconvenience people, no matter how much we sympathize with him.” Wei Wuxian pulled Chenqing out of his belt. He played a song of reassurance, calling to the spirit with a nostalgic melody. The spirit struggled, but inevitably responded to the music. He felt the spirit begin to fade.
Suddenly, the struggle came back with greater force and the spirit began to pull away from Wei Wuxian’s song. He played with greater force, pouring more energy into the music.
The spirit thrashed, slipping away for a moment. In that second, it flew at Sizhui and a flash of light surrounded the junior. Jingyi screamed his name but was pushed back by the flare. At that, Wei Wuxian changed his song from a lure to an order, fury gripping him as his son was obscured from his sight. The spirit didn’t have the strength to resist and, within a few moments, the spirit had faded away.
—
As soon as he felt the spirit vanish, Wei Wuxian lowered Chenqing and ran to where Sizhui had been. As the fog cleared away, he saw that, where Sizhui once was, only a pile of clothes remained. Fear gripped his heart and, with shaking hands, he reached toward the cloth. Before he touched the pile, the cloth shifted. He jerked his hands back as something wiggled. A little head rose out of the pile and a familiar face looked back at him.
“A-Yuan?!”
Jingyi groaned from where he had been thrown back. He sat up and looked toward Sizhui and Wei Wuxian. “What happened?!”
He blinked when he saw the child. “S-senior Wei. I’m not seeing things, am I? Sizhui is a kid?”
Wei Wuxian didn’t respond, thoughts in disarray in a rare bout of speechlessness. He stared at the little face, memories bubbling up. ‘ Xian-gege!’ ‘Can you grow brothers and sisters for me?’ ‘Silly Xian-gege, I’m not a radish!’
The child looked around, confused, before his eyes settled on Wei Wuxian and his eyes brightened with recognition. “Xian-gege!”
The familiar sound, unheard for years, startled Wei Wuxian out of his daze but he didn’t move, still at a loss in this unexpected situation. The child struggled, trying to get up from the tangle of clothes around him. After a few moments, he huffed and, plaintively this time, cried “Xian-gege, help!”
Wei Wuxian reached out at that and picked him up, tucking the cloth around him. “Ah, sorry A-Yuan. You surprised me.”
A-Yuan looked perplexed, clearly unsure of how he had ended up where he was. “We played hide-and-seek?”
“Uh-Yes! I couldn’t find you at all, so you win this round!”
A-Yuan beamed at that. When he looked around though, his smile faded. “Xian-gege, where are we?” His eyes landed on Jingyi. “Who is that?”
“Si-um...A-Yuan. Don’t you remember me?” asked Jingyi, cautiously coming closer.
A-Yuan shook his head, fists tightening in Wei Wuxian’s robes.
Wei Wuxian patted his back comfortingly. “That’s your Jingyi-gege, A-Yuan. He’s your friend.”
A-Yuan perked up. “I have a friend?”
Wei Wuxian’s heart clenched as he remembered the lonely little child in the Burial Mounds. He heard Jingyi get choked up and a glance in his direction showed him holding back tears.
“Yes, you’re my best friend!”
A-Yuan looked inordinately excited by that. “Xian-gege, I want to tell Ning-ge and Qing-jie!”
“Uh, I can call your Ning-ge but your Qing-jie is...away.”
A-Yuan teared up. “Away like a-Die and a-Niang?”
“No! We-we’re visiting Lan Zhan. You remember Rich-gege, right? Qing-jie didn’t come with us but Ning-ge is coming soon. Uh-“ Wei Wuxian fumbled with Chenqing for a moment. “Can you go to Jingyi-gege while I call Ning-ge?”
A-Yuan nodded hesitantly, then reached out for Jingyi, who took him with infinitely gentle hands. For a generally energetic young man prone to being unintentionally rough, he was very careful with delicate creatures like the bunnies at Cloud Recesses. He seemed to be treating A-Yuan with similar gentleness.
Wei Wuxian raised Chenqing, trilling a call to Wen Ning. As he lowered it, he heard footsteps returning to the clearing. Ouyang Zizhen came first, eyes going to A-Yuan immediately and widening. He gasped. “Who is this adorable creature?!”
A-Yuan looked at the new arrival with curiosity, then his face froze as his eyes moved to Jin Ling. Jin Ling looked startled at the child’s reaction and walked closer cautiously. He hadn’t even taken a few steps before a piercing scream rang through the air, startling everyone and prompting Wei Wuxian to look around for the threat as he clutched his dizi.
A-Yuan, in a blind panic, flung himself out of Jingyi’s arms toward Wei Wuxian. “Xian-gege, yellow people! Yellow people!”
‘ Fuck!’ Wei Wuxian realized what had set the child off. He caught A-Yuan before he could fall and the child clutched his robes, burying his face in his shoulder.
“Jin Ling, back up!” Wei Wuxian called out, uncharacteristically stern. Jin Ling scrambled to obey, stumbling back to the edge of the clearing.
“What’s going on?” Ouyang Zizhen asked, already confused by the child and further perplexed by how he reacted to Jin Ling. “Who’s the kid? Why is he afraid of Jin Ling?”
“That’s Sizhui,” Jingyi explained. “He was turned into a child by the spirit. But... he was fine just a moment ago, why is he suddenly upset?”
“I believe A-Yuan had told you all about his background, yes?” Wei Wuxian asked, knowing Sizhui had probably needed to explain his relationship to the Ghost General at some point.
The three juniors nodded.
“I think he’s mentally back to being a child, not just psychically. I’m guessing he’s about 4 right now, since he remembers me but not Jingyi. When he was at this age, I had only recently taken him out of the labor camp and settled in the Burial Mounds. The only Jins he had met were the ones in the camp. He was terrified of anyone in yellow robes.”
Jin Ling paled at that. Wei Wuxian knew that his nephew had a complicated relationship with his sect’s history. He had been told one thing growing up, then realized how much of it was untrue in recent years.
“Shh, A-Yuan, it’s okay, your Xian-gege is here.” He stroked the child’s back, trying to comfort him. “This gege is your friend, he won’t hurt you.”
A-Yuan shook his head, refusing to look up. “The yellow people hurt Ning-ge and Granny and-“
“Ah, those were the bad yellow people. Jin Ling is a good yellow person. He’s as sweet as a bunny, right, Jin Ling?”
Lan Jingyi snorted a laugh, while Jin Ling sputtered in protest. Ouyang Zizhen elbowed him.
“Yes,” Jin Ling said, obviously reluctant to agree to the comparison. Then, his face grew earnest. “I won’t hurt you or your family. I promise.”
Wei Wuxian’s heart warmed. “ Shijie, you would be so proud of Jin Ling. ”
A-Yuan peeked out, looking at Jin Ling warily. “Yellow-gege is my friend?”
“Yes.” Jin Ling was unfazed by the nickname.
A-Yuan’s eyes drifted to Ouyang Zizhen. “Are you my friend, too?”
Ouyang Zizhen looked suddenly overwhelmed. “Yes,” he said, sounding oddly winded.
Jingyi looked at him with a raised brow. “You okay?”
“No,” Ouyang Zizhen wheezed. “Little Sizhui is so cute, I’m going to die.”
“I’m not cute, I’m big!” A-Yuan protested.
“Oh no,” he stumbled back dramatically, hand over his heart. “I can’t take more, A-Yuan.”
Wei Wuxian laughed, delighted to hear A-Yuan giggle along with him. “Funny-gege, stop!”
Lan Jingyi gasped, looking affronted. “Why don’t I get a cute nickname?”
“Hey, I call you nicknames all the time!” Wei Wuxian protested.
“Those aren’t cute!”
“Excuse you, I’m adorable.”
“I’m sure that’s what Hanguang-jun tells you.”
“He does tell me that, as a matter of fact.”
“Ugh,” Jin Ling interrupted. “Can we not continue this conversation?”
A rustle and a soft voice distracted Wei Wuxian.
“Young Master Wei.”
“Wen Ning! Perfect timing. We have a little- very little - problem.” He gestured to the child in his arms.
A-Yuan squealed excitedly. “Ning-ge!”
Wen Ning looked as surprised as his stiffened face muscles allowed. “A-Yuan?”
The child reached out and Wen Ning took him.
“A spirit turned him into a child. It should be temporary, though…” Wei Wuxian looked around for the villager. “Where…?”
“He ran off when the spirit went to Sizhui.” Jingyi looked unimpressed, presumably at the villager’s cowardice.
“Whatever,” said Wei Wuxian. “We know where to look if we need more information from him. Let’s head back to Cloud Recesses. Are you two coming?” He directed the question at Jin Ling and Ouyang Zizhen.
“I’m coming,” Jin Ling said with no hesitation.
“Me, too. I’ll send my father a letter once we get there.” Ouyang Zizhen drew his sword and Jin Ling followed suit.
“Jingyi, do you think you can carry me and A-Yuan?” Wei Wuxian had been working on strengthening Mo Xuanyu’s weak core, but he was still unable to fly long distances, definitely not with extra weight.
“Um, I think so…” He sounded uncertain.
“We can stop and switch if we need to,” Ouyang Zizhen offered. Jin Ling nodded in agreement.
“Okay. Wen Ning, meet us there?”
Wen Ning nodded, handed A-Yuan back to Wei Wuxian, and disappeared back into the forest. The rest mounted their swords.
“A-Yuan, do you want to see your Rich-gege?” Wei Wuxian said as he stepped behind Jingyi.
“Yes!”
“Alright, off we go!”
They rose into the air and sped to the Cloud Recesses.