Once upon a lifetime

Bound - Part three

"I see." Silence followed.

"What, are you not going to offer? Must I really take the initiative?" Wei Wuxian sighed dramatically, stepping forward and reaching to untie the ribbon from Lan Wangji's head.

"You— what are you doing?" Before he could even finish, Wei Wuxian had already firmly tied their wrists together with the sacred ribbon like it was an ordinary scrap of fabric.

"Look," he said cheekily, raising their linked hands in the air. "Now we're matching!"

Lan Wangji wasn't sure whether he should be astounded, enraged, embarrassed, or all three at once when Wei Wuxian pulled him forward by their connected arms towards the guqin.

"Lan Zhan, what kind of guqin is this? It doesn't let strangers approach it. There must be some powerful wards surrounding it."

"This guqin is a rare masterpiece and is enhanced by power. It will attack anyone who is not a member of the Lan Clan," Lan Wangji explained. "Therefore, considering how this cave is underneath the cold pond and with such a guqin within, it must belong to an ancestor of the Lan Clan."

"Come," he said as he pulled Wei Wuxian along. He brought them to the guqin and sat down before it, placing Bichen beside his crossed legs.

"Lan Zhan, you're going to play? It's not often I hear you play your guqin. I'm so excited!"

Lan Wangji tentatively placed his hands on the strings, examining their flexibility and strength. "Mn."

"I've heard that the Lan Clan practise a song that allows them to communicate with spirits. A skill that only members of the clan can execute: talking to the deceased through strings," said Wei Wuxian thoughtfully. "Surely your ancestors have left something for you. Why don't you ask the spirits?"

"Very well," said Lan Wangji. His fingers expertly plucked the strings, wringing out a beautiful and calming melody within the silence of the cave. Wei Wuxian hadn't even realised the soft smile that pulled at his lips as he watched Lan Wangji play, content to listen as wistful memories were brought to the forefront of his mind.

The man's long hair appeared to flow behind him as if a breeze had swept it along with the wind; his cold, indifferent visage seemed to be lit with a multitude of emotions — emotions Wei Wuxian recalled seeing on Lan Wangji a few times in his last life, though he could not name — and he appeared to be the very epitome of beauty at that moment; if Wei Wuxian were to ever meet a god, it was the example of Lan Wangji that he imagined them to be.

He was snapped out of his daze-like reverie by Lan Wangji's head snapping up as the song came to an abrupt halt. "It's her," he murmured.

"Who?" said Wei Wuxian innocently.

"She belongs to my clan. Her name is—" But before he could continue, he was interrupted by a mirage of voices that echoed off the walls of the cave, multiplying in both volume and number.

"The Wen Clan of Qishan. The Lan Clan of Gusu."

Lan Wangji sat up as if struck, and he didn't think twice before grabbing Bichen and pushing Wei Wuxian behind him, his sword raised in a protective stance. "Who's there?"

At that moment, Wei Wuxian felt a small flutter in his chest. As he watched Lan Wangji take action swiftly — as he watched Lan Wangji unconsciously take him by the hand, enunciating their joined wrists — as he watched Lan Wangji look at him as if he'd just offered him the stars — his breath stuttered. The thundering voices were drowned out by the thumps of his palpitating heart.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"The Jiang Clan of Yunmeng. The Jin Clan of Lanling. The Nie Clan of Qinghe. Kill all the gentry and destroy the Yin iron!"