𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐃𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 !!
❤︎
y/n - your name
w/n - weapon's name
r/n - reincarnated name
❤︎
THE LAN CLAN WAS ALWAYS KNOW TO BE UPRIGHT, DILIGENT, AND DISCIPLINED, AND ITS DISCIPLES TOOK PRIDE IN THAT.
that was until, the birth of lan y/n.
he was the estranged third brother of the twin jades of lan, more specifically, the youngest of all three. he was said to be of average height, with a slender and almost feminine form, with bright and childish features. he shared the golden eyes of his older brothers, and their long, silk-like black hair. he was considered a beauty by all who laid eyes on him, a diamond in the rough that stood out amongst the sea of jades and other gems.
but why was he estranged you ask?
because he was a ruiner. ever since he was a child, he brought death and misfortune everywhere he walked, and unless he was feeling under the weather, no one was safe to be around him. so at a very young age, he was forced to stay hidden in a secret house, tucked away somewhere deep within the forests in the cloud recesses, where he could harm no one.
at one point, his brothers were allowed to visit him, but they stopped, once the child began to grow older. the elders feared that as he grew up, his devastating power would only grow as well. every elder in the clan feared him, every member, senior and junior alike.
all except one; lan xiao. he took care of the boy and grew to see him as his son. he was the only one who could keep him company during his days of loneliness.
but until his fifteenth birthday, he showed no signs of his wicked abilities. the seniors finally allowed him to study along with all the other clan members, under the condition that he was to be put in his uncle, lan qiren's class. he was in the same batch of students as his second brother, lan wangji.
he became well renowned by the other clans after a rumor was spread following the year lan y/n was finally allowed to wander about the cloud recesses.
the crimson ruiner; he who brings death, misery, and suffering.
the mystery of how such an evil being came into existence was never known, especially one that hailed from the dignified gusu lan clan.
roughly a year later, during the sunshot campaign, his name became etched into people's minds, as he rose to power alongside the yiling patriarch, wei wuxian. the mere mention of his name could strike fear into anyone who heard it.
lan y/n was a demonic cultivator, and he remained loyal to wei wuxian, even long after they died.
despite being the worst thing to have ever happened upon the gusu lan clan, there were still some in the clan who loved lan y/n more than anything, to the point where they would do the unspeakable just so they could be reunited with him.
"please, god, a-y/n, deserved a better childhood more than anything. he deserved better guidance. he deserved so much, yet we deprived him of everything." an old man, an elder to the gusu lan clan, wept inside a dusty old shrine, the same one where they trapped the youngest lan. he was always close to him, always taking care of him especially when he became trapped inside the chrysanthemum house. there was no one closer to the young boy more than this old man.
in his arms, was a sleeping child, a boy, his grandson. he finally found a way to reincarnate the soul of the dead into the body of a living being, so long as the living was pure and untouched.
and what was purer than an innocent child?
the old man kissed the boy on the forehead, and tears began to fall from his eyes once more. he placed the boy on the empty altar, watching with saddened eyes as the child continued sleeping despite what the old man had in mind for him. "forgive me, my child, i just wish to see my boy again." this ritual that he was about to perform would be the most forbidden ritual, not only in the lan clan but in the entire cultivation world, for it would mean forsaking an innocent soul for the sake of a tainted one.
it was selfish, but the old man wanted a second chance at giving his boy a better life since he failed to do so in his previous one.
a soft and gentle breeze blew through the open shrine, and moonlight poured into the room as the old man painted a summoning circle in the center of the room, using cinnabar that was mixed with a few more... elements. he made sure to do everything perfectly, as even the tiniest of mistakes could cost the death of the child and the loss of the soul being summoned.
after he was finished, the boy began to wake up. "grandfather? what are you doing?" the boy asked between yawns. he brought a hand up to his eye as he tried to rub the sleep off of them. "come here, my boy. sit down, here, on the center." the old man ushers. the boy sleepily obeys and stands up, walking over to the center of the summoning circle. "promise me, that you won't leave the circle, all right?" the little boy lazily nodded and sat down. the old man took that as a chance to begin.
"return, beloved soul. let my voice be your guide and this sacrificial body as your entryway back to this world."
the old man chanted, over and over again. he painted the boy's forehead with a certain symbol before he sat outside the summoning circle, beginning to chant once more.
the circle he painted, along with the symbols surrounding it, began to glow in an eerie red aura. a malevolent atmosphere began to surround the old man and the shrine, but the old man continued chanting bravely. he couldn't give up, not when he's come this far.
sweat dripped down the old man's cheek, and as he continued chanting, blood began to pour from his eyes as the dark atmosphere was getting heavier by the second. by now, he couldn't see anything, as a dark cloud of smoke had draped around the shrine, clouding his vision. he could hear the child beginning to complain and cry loudly about how scared he was, but the old man continued pushing onwards. he wasn't going to give up.
"return to us, the soul of the deceased! accept this sacrifice and walk upon this earth once more!!"
as the old man finished those words, a large blast of spiritual energy surged throughout the shrine, and possibly, all over the mountain. the old man collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily. he noticed the smoke had begun to fade away, and the sound of the boy's wails was no longer.
clenching his teeth, the old man forced himself to stand, but all he could do was crawl. it didn't matter to the old man how, he just wanted to reach the boy. he crawled towards the child, the symbols he painted on the floor were smudged away as the painting material stuck to his white robes.
he reached the boy and gasped in shock. when the boy had opened his eyes, the old man was met with a pair of glimmering golden orbs, exactly like his son's. what was strange to the old man, was the pair of jagged scars running across the boy's lips, in the same position as the scars on lan y/n's lips on his previous life. the boy curiously tried to reach out to the old man. still in a state of shock, the old man couldn't react.
he only did when the boy had suddenly crawled onto his back and began tugging at his white hair. "fùqīn! fùqīn!" the boy babbled excitedly, laughing as he continued to tug at the old man's hair.
while it was supposed to be painful, since the boy was actually quite strong, the old man couldn't feel the pain. he could only feel... happiness.
he embraced the small child in his arms. "my boy." he cried. "welcome home."
lan r/n was quiet as he led the way for the two cultivators who followed after him. they were flying above a bustling town, with people chattering and exchanging goods down below them. it was the sound of peace. the young lan suddenly took notice of a ruckus going on down below, and he raised a brow at the sight of a young man riding on a donkey while chasing after a fat man. "shixiong, is something wrong?" the older glanced over his shoulder to meet the eyes of his junior, lan sizhui, who was looking at him with worry.
he smiled brightly, although it wasn't shown much due to the veil that covered his mouth. "nothing much. i was only interested in the commotion going on down there. things like that are usually seen in plays." he chuckled, motioning towards the man on the donkey and the fat man. "it looks like it's straight out of a children's storybook." sizhui and jingyi shared a look at their senior's fond smile.
"in any case, we'll be arriving soon, so jingyi, be on your best behavior, all right?" the said junior jolted in surprise. "what's that supposed to mean?" he asked, which only served to amuse his senior.
when they arrived at the mo manor, a few servants were quick to welcome them with bright smiles. smiles that were so fake, lan r/n felt like throwing up. if there was anything he hated, it was fake people. he pulled out a paper fan from the inside of his sleeve, and he immediately began to fan himself, feeling a little bit stressed at the overwhelming amount of servants surrounding the inside of the tea room.
"please, young cultivators, sit, sit." a woman wearing what seemed to be, her shiniest accessories, ushered the cultivators to their seats. she was a little aged, with her hair slightly graying, and a few wrinkles lining up her forehead and cheeks. she wore a lot of accessories that were bright and far too shiny for lan r/n's liking. but what really caught his attention was her smile.
fake and forced smiles were never a good sight for women, especially the elderly. y/n didn't touch the tea he was served, he simply fanned his face slowly, allowing the veil he wore to flutter ever so slightly.
he continued to fan himself as he listened to the madam of the mo manor drone on and on about her son wanting to be a cultivator, and how she was so honored to have them all there to protect them and everything. lan r/n shut his fan and placed it on the table, loud enough to gain the woman's attention. he was never really the patient one. "madam mo, i heard you say that the hills near mo village were troubled by fierce corpses? can you tell me when did they start?" r/n politely asks.
the woman seemed offended when he cut her off but chose not to say anything, for fear of ruining her chances at having her son study under the prestigious gusu lan clan... "they've only started recently. some even started causing trouble in the village. several other cultivators came here these past few weeks, on a, what do they call them, night hunt?" the woman replied. lan r/n opened his fan again and closed his eyes as he listened.
lan sizhui looked at his senior as if he was asking for permission. the senior nodded his head. "madam mo, cultivators travel far and wide to banish evil. these beings often appear at night, hence the term." the woman was awed at his explanation. "the areas specified for night hunts are not playgrounds, so be sure that your people stay far away from those locations." lan r/n reminded, and the woman nodded. "i see."
she began to smile again, which made lan r/n cringe internally. "to be honest, my only son has had an aspiring wish to purge all evil ever since he was young. he has proper etiquette and extraordinary talent. he would be a very promising cultivator... if only he had the opportunity." lan r/n mentally rolled his eyes. it was painfully obvious to the cultivator that the woman desperately wanted her family to be involved in cultivation.
he huffed. 'i suppose there's no harm in playing along.' he thought. he opened his golden eyes and looked at the woman. "i see. then, i shall be the judge of that. if he proves himself to me, i will recommend him to join the gusu lan education program." right now, lan r/n just wanted her to shut up about her son, and he would literally say anything. he was sure he wouldn't regret saying those empty words.
the doors suddenly burst open, revealing the fat man lan r/n saw earlier while traveling through the village, the one who was being chased by the man in the donkey. "mom! that annoying mo xuanyu!" the fat man wailed. lan r/n felt his eyebrow twitch.
this fat man is actually her son? how can a child look as old as their parent? lan r/n fanned himself again as he tried to hide his confusion. the fat young man began crying to his mother, complaining about some lunatic.
the mother quickly shushed him after she took a glance at the three cultivators, the two younger ones watched them with curious eyes, while lan r/n gave her an unimpressed look. she chuckled nervously and faced them again. "pardon us, cultivators." she apologized with a sweet voice before turning to glare at her son. "a-yuan! mind your manners!" she quietly hissed.
lan r/n turned his attention to the door, where he could see a loud commotion going on outside. "wait! you can't go in!" one cried. "go away!" another one exclaimed. lan r/n chuckled shortly as he watched another servant try to tame a donkey, while two other servants tried to chase after a young man dressed in black.
the young man in black was laughing with child-like innocence, one that lan r/n felt strangely familiar to. "no, no! i wanna play! i wanna play!" the young man whined as he ran around. "come and catch me! come and catch me!" the young man in black laughed as he entered the tea room, but tripped over the short wood that blocked the foot of the entrance.
lan r/n reached out a hand and caught the young man before he fell. when he looked at him, lan r/n was surprised when noticed the terrible makeup on the man's face, making him look like some kind of hanged ghost. the man seemed to stare at his face for a moment before his lips settled on a smirk, which made the lan raise a brow. "are you all-"
lan r/n was quickly cut off with a giggle. he was pushed back by the man in black, who neared his face towards him to the point where their noses were touching. "are you the one who hid my stuff away?" he asked. the young lan juniors were both shocked at what they were witnessing. no one had ever been so bold towards their senior before.
lan r/n looked uncomfortable as he was practically being pinned down by the young man's piercing gaze.
"huh? what's this you're wearing?" lan r/n was about to pull the crazy man's hand away, but it was too late, the dark-clothed man had already lifted the veil he wore. "please stop.." lan r/n whimpered, trying to tug the stranger's hand away from his veil.
only a few were able to catch what lied underneath the white veil, notably, lan sizhui, and madam mo who nearly screeched at the sight of the scar. jingyi was far too upset with the dark-haired lunatic's violation of personal space to even care what was underneath the veil.
lan r/n's lips trembled as the lunatic's eyes traced the deep scars that ran down his lips.
"hey! get away from our shixiong!" jingyi yelled as he pushed the man away, and into the arms of two servants. but the lunatic was quick to recover from that tense moment earlier, as he once again, tried to get away from the servants. he began to climb one of the wooden pillars. "i'm not leaving!" he whined, digging his nails onto the wood of the pillar. "i'm not leaving! i'm not leaving!" he whined again, stubbornly shaking his head like a little boy.
meanwhile, the senior disciple was trying to recover from his shock as he was being comforted by sizhui. "it's all right shixiong, just please calm down." the younger lan said as he rubbed circles on the older's back. lan r/n was trying to calm down his rapidly beating heartbeat. if he were the same person in his last life, he probably would've been proud of the scar that was on his lips, but in his second life, not so much.
( 𝖾𝖽𝗂𝗍𝖾𝖽 | ✓ )
( words: 2000+ )