#echodoctor

No, the biggest problem was that he was masquerading as the wife of Lianfeng-zun, Chief Cultivator. And that actually wouldn’t be so much of a problem, except that said Chief Cultivator was apparently an absolute psychopath with a collection of grisly trophies that said wife had apparently found right before deciding to end her life in favor of revenge.

Revenge which Wei Wuxian was massively underqualified to undertake.

Demonic cultivation or not, he’d probably need an army to undertake it, she wanted him to kill the Chief Cultivator, but if he didn’t do it, his soul would be forfeit.

Great.

“I need help,” he decided.

Qin Su, as his summoner was apparently called, was very fond of veils, which Wei Wuxian now greatly appreciated as a fine trait in a woman, and had a low voice, which he also appreciated; no one questioned it when he asked for ink and paper for correspondence. Something he was allowed, apparently, unlike the ability to leave – that had been the first thing he’d tried, of course. 

Unfortunately, Qin Su had apparently lost a son (her husband had killed her son, to be clear, there’d been evidence aplenty in the treasure room Wei Wuxian had woken up in, and honestly the “summon an evil spirit for vengeance” thing would be totally understandable if she hadn’t chosen to summon him) and she’d taken it sufficient badly in public, or was said to have, that her husband had decided to restrict her to the inside of Koi Tower out of fear for her safety, and to enforce the restriction with guards.

Fucking psychopath. 

Wei Wuxian sat in front of the paper and stared at it.

The simple fact of the matter was, he had been dead for sixteen years.

Wen Ning, who’d been his right hand, had died before he had, and resentful energy, while still available (and how, that treasure room was reeking with it), was no substitute for a person. The cultivation world had turned against him, leaving him without friends or allies to call on...was there someone who he might try to write to? Someone who would  still answer his request if absolutely need be? And if so, who was it? 

The Jin sect belonged to Lianfeng-zun, who he was trying to escape, and he had no idea if Jin Ling had survived the man’s apparently bloody reign since there was neither hide nor hair of a fifteen year old anywhere he could see. The Nie sect had once been reliable, always determined to destroy evil and enact justice, but Nie Mingjue was dead (a fact Wei Wuxian became aware of once he found that his head was in the treasure room sans body) and who knew the state of the sect now - especially since if he remembered correctly, Nie Huaisang had been fairly close to Meng Yao before he became Jin Guangyao, and might be close to him still. No, asking him was too much of a risk.  

The Lan sect…  

Lan Wangji would believe him, he thought. Lan Wangji had believed in him back then, and tried to help him, even at the end of it all. But it was Lan Xichen who was the sect leader, not Lan Wangji, and Lianfeng-zun was Lan Xichen’s sworn brother. Who could tell which of the two Jades of Lan would receive his letter?

No.

There was only one option.

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath beneath his veil, closed his eyes for a moment to gather strength, and wrote –

Jiang Cheng, I need your help.

-

“Why are we rushing?” Jin Ling complained, though he looked more bemused than anything else. “Jiujiu, you don’t even like to go to Koi Tower, you never go to Koi Tower –”

“I go twice a year and you know it,” Jiang Cheng snapped, his fingers still tightly clutching the letter that had been delivered by urgent post.

“Yes, twice a year, the absolute bare minimum you have to visit,” Jin Ling said. He wasn’t wrong, either. “Who’s the letter from?”

“I already told you, it’s from Madame Jin.”

“I didn’t realize you were serious,” Jin Ling said. “I’ve never known you to be close to her. Just – tell me this isn’t like the Mo Xuanyu thing, okay? She’s pretty, sure, but she’s not that pretty…”

“Mo Xuanyu?” Jiang Cheng asked, only half paying attention. They were almost there. Soon, he’d know the truth, he’d know if – but how could it be anything but the truth? Who else would know to use those old codes, the ones they came up with as children, giggling together in their rooms at the Lotus Pier? No one yet living could know them, only him –

Soon.

“You know, my uncle, the weird one – turns out he was a pervert that became fixated on Madame Jin –”

“What does that have to do with me...” Jiang Cheng trailed off and turned to glare. “Don’t be absurd!”

Jin Ling didn’t have the courtesy to look abashed. “I was just checking –”

They walked in through the doors of the Fragrant Palace. Qin Su was seated in her normal place, delicate as a flower in a dress of pale rose and a dusty veil hung over her face with a diadem, matching earrings, everything a proper noble lady should be, and at first Jiang Cheng thought that he must have been mistaken, hallucinating, something –

And then she turns to look at him and above the veil he saw those eyes and he knew.

-

“I’ll write to Lan Wangji once we’re back at the Lotus Pier,” Jiang Cheng said.

“Good idea,” the carpet they were currently smuggling out of Lanling said. “Lan Zhan will definitely help! I just couldn’t guarantee he’d come for Qin Su, you understand…”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t,” Jin Ling said, kicking his heels. He’d had rather a nasty shock, finding out firstly that Wei Wuxian had been summoned back, secondly that it was his aunt that had done the summoning, thirdly that she’d done it to stop his little uncle, who was apparently evil, and lastly that his beloved jiujiu was responding to Wei Wuxian’s return by helping him rather than killing him – but he was young and recovered easily from shock, and by now he was more caught up in the drama and adventure of it all. “Hanguang-jun never comes to Lanling. Not once.”

“That’s true,” Jiang Cheng said. “Not even for discussion conferences. It would have been noticed.”

“Why? Does he know about Lianfeng-zun –”

“No, he would have said something, he’s stupidly righteous like that,” Jiang Cheng said. “It was because of you, you idiot.”

“…oh.”

“Why does no one ever tell me these things?” Jin Ling complained.

-

“Why did you come help me, Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asked much later. “You didn’t ask any questions, you didn’t doubt, you just – you hate me. For what I did at the Nightless City, to shijie, for abandoning you…I know you hate me. Why did you come?”