What if Mei Nianquing was the one who became Bai Wuxiang instead of Jun Wu?
So I just came across a fanart of Mei Nianquing on twitter today and it's the AU that Junwu and Mei Nianquing decided to commit war crimes together (the art it's super beautiful but I kinda lost it or else I would put the credit here 🥲). And it got me thinking about some reverse AU shit: what if our beloved guoshi was turned into Bai Wuxiang?
We all know that Guoshi was very fond of his highness, perhaps worshiping him a little.
And after the whole bridge plan failed, Jun Wu, His Highness the glorious sun of Wuyong, was suddenly treated like garbage.
This made Guoshi feel betrayed and he had started to have some dark thoughts about how things might have turned out different if they hadn't gone with the whole save-everyone thing. He also thinks it's unfair how other gods get worshipped while they ain't do shit.
So the AU would go like this: During the period in which Jun Wu was first kicked out of heaven after the whole bridge plan fell apart, he was treated worse than dirt and suffered a lot from the hands of Wuyong people, the very people he had given up everything to save. He even got stabbed to mush which caused Mei Nianquing to be deeply traumatized upon seeing his beloved prince laying there half-dead. This is like the ultimate betrayal and it's so painful to watch for Mei Nianquing, so he decided to do anything he can to help His Highness ascend again. Finally tired of the pain, one day, the prince just whispered that he wanted everything to end and wished that everybody would go to hell. Mei Nianquing actually took this to heart and started to think about human sacrifice to silence the mountain.
He would quietly arrange the sacrifice ritual, trapped people who had stabbed his prince, then enchanted them to go with him to mount TongLu. His plan was found out by the other vassals and they tried to stop him but failed and was accidentally pushed into the kiln with the Wuyong people. Mei Nianquing then created three paper dolls to replace the missing vassals to keep the prince from suspecting him.
The mountain stopped, and people started to worship Jun Wu again, which got him to ascend again. Mei Nianquing was happy, but he couldn't stand the fake welcome-back smiles of the other gods when Jun Wu came back. They were the one who caused his prince to descend after all. So Mei Nianquing slowly killed them one by one to avenge Jun Wu. Jun Wu, of course, went out on an investigation but couldn't find out anything and was completely unaware of the real culprit right beside him.
Mei Nianquing's plan worked, for a while, but then Jun Wu started to see how weird Mei Nianquing and the rest of his vassals were acting. So one night he decided to spy on his guoshi and find out about the whole human sacrifice plan. Shocked, Jun Wu couldn't believe that his soft and gentle guoshi could commit such a cold hearted crime. He later confronted Mei Nianquing at the mount of the kiln. Mei Nianquing admitted his crimes, but said that it was necessary for Jun Wu's ascension and he never regretted anything (except maybe a little regret for the death of his three dear friends). They fought. Mei Nianquing lost and got pushed into the kiln. Jun Wu tried to catch him but it was too late. He left Tong Lu with a heavy heart.
Mei Nianquing, however, didn't die. He became the first Devastation, and released the Human Face Disease to wipe out Wuyong. He felt like he was betrayed by the god that he once worshipped, and swore to destroy everything that Jun Wu held dear. After Wuyong was annihilated, he hid for centuries to escape the heaven's government as well as waiting for the perfect time to strike again. Then he met Xie Lian and noticed how Jun Wu seemed to favor this boy. Mei Nianquing also saw a lot of resemblances between Jun Wu and Xie Lian, which made him more determined to ruin Xie Lian's life. He blended into Xian Le kingdom, became the guoshi, taught and treated Xie Lian like a beloved student. Jun Wu did notice the strange familiarity he felt with the Xian Le guoshi, but looking at how well the guoshi treated Xie Lian, he kept his suspicion to himself. However, just to be safe, he made sure that Xie Lian ascended as early as possible.
Guoshi slowly took control of the kingdom behind the shadow. He then caused the rift between Xian Le, and planned the accident at the gate which later caused the civil war to break out. Just as he thought, Xie Lian came down to help his people. Guoshi then faked his death and put on the Bai Wuxiang mask, taunted and made Xie Lian life miserable more than dead.
This time when the Human Face Disease was about to be released upon Yong An (right after Wuming's death), Jun Wu actually came down and fought Bai Wuxiang himself. However, upon discovering the true identity of Bai Wuxiang, Jun Wu's guilt and feelings for Mei Nianquing made him unable to kill the guoshi, thus giving Mei Nianquing the chance to escape. He came back to mountain TongLu and entered a deep sleep there to heal himself and plot the next revengex which led to the events in the book.
And maybe in the end Jun Wu was forced to confront his once-faithful-follower-turned-his-worst-enemy and heal their broken bond.
Should I write a 30K slow burn friends-to-enemies-to-lovers about this?
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