With all of the hot weather, it is time to spend some cooler evenings reading shorter stories. Here are a few more tales you can spend some of your time reading. Some of these are from the Collection titled Tales from the Burial Mounds.

a child of the burial mounds by MichelleFeather

4k words

“Do you trust me?”

The room was silent as his words processed in their minds.

“Of course Sizhui.”

“Always.”

He turned his head over his shoulder, watching as the pair’s eyes widened.

“No one will get away with this.”

In which Lan Sizhui leaves the Cloud Recesses for a while, after both of his fathers are ambushed and nearly killed. Post-canon.

tiny gentians by humancorn

1k words

“I see you still have a little shadow following you around, Wangji.”

In which Lan Wangji must come to terms with the consequences of scolding a 5 year old Wei Ying. Cloud Recesses Study Arc.

A Quiet Life of Leisure by nirejseki

8k words

“What do you mean Yueheng-xiong is gone?” Lan Qiren asked when he found out. “He normally logs all his travel well in advance of leaving the sect, and he hasn’t registered anything like that for this time. The Cloud Recesses is only so large, surely he’s just hidden himself somewhere you haven’t checked?”

“No, Sect Leader, he left,” the disciple said stubbornly. “I checked with the gate guards and everything. They said he looked like he was following some sort of compass.”

In which Wei Ying is rescued in Yiling by a decidedly different sort of Lan after his parents do not return from a nighthunt. Sort-of follows canon to a point in the Sunshot campaign, without the pining and obliviousness between the two main characters.

The frosty blade, as yet untried by Ashura

10k words [Must have an account with Archive of Our Own in order to read. An invitation is readily provided on the website.]

The child was quiet at last. He was perched on Song Lan’s knees, babbling half-coherently to himself in a burbling little sing-song. He was also chewing on the edges of Song Lan’s guan, covering it in child-slobber and greasy fingerprints.

It would probably not be wearable again. But since it was already a lost cause, he might as well sacrifice it now. It was only an ornament, after all, and what was one more sacrifice—such a small one!—in light of everything?

What was an ornament in light of so many lives, changed and lost and offered again? In light of love, and hatred, and second chances?

"Tell me again why we're doing this?" Nie Mingjue grumbled as he leaned on a fencepost. "What even is the point? We hunt actual ghosts and monsters for a living."

"Because Huan-ge has never been to one and wants the experience," Meng Yao said, idly checking his email on his phone. "And none of us can say no to him."

"You least of all," Nie Huaisang added with a smirk as he poked his brother in the side with the paper fan that was part of his costume.

Mingjue muttered something under his breath that probably involved a few creative curse words, then folded his arms and looked away, face red.

Huaisang and Meng Yao glanced sidelong at each other, then both had to bite their tongues to keep from snickering. It really was too easy to pick on Da-ge about his helplessness in the face of his boyfriend's enthusiasm.

Though... now that they thought of it...

Huaisang took out his phone and checked for any new texts, as did Meng Yao.

Nothing.

"Da-ge, have you heard from him yet?"

"It's not like him at all to be this la-"

"Sorry!" Lan Huan's voice called from the entrance to the haunted house grounds before Meng Yao could finish or Mingjue could answer. "Something came up at the school that needed approval, and A-Zhan had already left."

None of the three ghost hunters already waiting could help their amusement. They'd all seen just how much Lan Zhan was tying himself in knots over tonight, given it was both his husband's birthday and the anniversary of their engagement.

"It's fine," Nie Mingjue said, holding out Lan Huan's ticket. "They're going to be open all night so we've got plenty o-"

A chaotic chorus of screams suddenly exploded from the house. Given they'd been waiting around for a little over an hour, they could tell that the flood of people bolting from every possible exit -doors and windows both- weren't acting according to the schedule.

Especially since some of them were clearly the house's actors.

"What th-"

Fog erupted from the windows in the shapes of snarling packs of dogs, but they didn't run far before swirling up the sides of the house to coalesce into a shrieking ghost.

"Oh." They all turned their heads in Lan Huan's direction to see his expression of excitement quickly fall into a mix of concern and disappointment. "That one's real, isn't it?"

Mingjue pressed his mouth into a thin line.

Meng Yao and Huaisang looked at each other and shook their heads.

Then all three silently drew their weapons -or in Huaisang's case, his talisman beads- from the between spaces in their clothing.

- wei wuxian takes lan wangji to a petting zoo one day expecting him to only mildly enjoy it but he ends up being absolutely Enamoured by the rabbits and that's when wei wuxian realizes he likes lan wangji

- lan wangji realizes he likes wei wuxian two months after that fateful day in the library when he runs up to lan wangji in the hallway after his art class proudly presenting a very nice drawing of a rabbit very cheerily telling him "look lan zhan! I made it for you!"

- lan wangji comes to the hospital every day for 13 months and plays the guqin for wei wuxian....

- mo xuanyu basically saves wei wuxians life by donating blood and lan wangji is so thankful that he saved The Boy Of His Dreams that he makes mo xuanyu a little thank you card and mo xuanyu is so absolutely thrown and touched that lan "cold as ice" wangji with a bad case of resting bitch face did such a sweet thing

- before they start dating wei wuxian comes to school one fine winter day in a mesh shirt no jacket in sight and he tries to be all "I'm not cold I don't FEEL temperature that's how punk I am" but he's Visibly shivering so lan wangji takes his big blue cardigan and wraps it around wei wuxians shoulders and they both sit there faces so red they match wei wuxians hair ribbon

- after they start dating jiang cheng corners lan wangji after school one day to make sure lan wangji knows that if he Ever hurts his older brother jiang cheng will break his legs so throughly they'll never heal

- they'll sit in the back of class and lan wangji will press soft kisses all over wei wuxians face and neck while wei wuxian just giggles and squeals "hehe lan zhan that tickles!! lan zhan stoooooop hehe lan zhaaaaaan!"

- their first kiss is two days after they start dating when they're working on homework and lan wangji looks up to like. ask to use wei wuxians pencil sharpener but there's a piece of hair falling over his face so wei wuxian reaches forward and brushes it behind his ear and lan wangji just takes a deep breath and carefully sets all his school work to the side and asks wei wuxian if he can kiss him. it is messy and wetter than they thought it would be and wei wuxian is giggling and they don't know what to do with their hands but it's okay that it's not perfect, they have plenty of time to practice

I've been reading a lot more short stories lately; stories with only a few chapters and 10k words or less. Here are a few to read over the remaining nights of summer. Note that some of these tales are darker, so be sure to check tags.

Break my heart myself by Sesugi

Mature 7 chapters 7k words

Wei Wuxian walks away from Lan Zhan, leading Little Apple. He returns after being found near death. Things are not all right for a while thereafter.

There are triggers listed in the Additional Tags. Pay attention. The story does end on a hopeful note, but it takes a bit to get there.

from the middle, this time with a plan by ShippersList

1 chapter 8k words

Wen Xu awakens, not to the afterlife, but to a time years before his death at the hands of Nie Mingjue. He decides to live this time around.

For those of us who believe that time-travel fix-it stories do not have to hover around Wangxian to be satisfying.

He Lian Xin: Lan-er-furen by Sa_To_Ri_SadlyWithoutExclamationMarks

7 chapters 5k words

Wei Wuxian dies during the siege. And his spirit sticks around long enough to bring A-Yuan to Gusu with a letter from He Lianxin, Lan Zhan's "wife".

People wonder but eventually accept.

Confirmation appears in a follow-up Epilogue.

And We Shall Not Go Gently by brysbeddixt

1 chapter 3k words

This is a brief snippet into a Zhancheng AU, beginning with a demand from a "diplomatic party" of Jin and Lan that gets stopped in its tracks. The rest takes place in the Jiang receiving hall. Pre-Zhancheng pairing, with Wei Wuxian and the Wen in Lotus Pier.

There is another work listed under the series title Of Our Own . I really enjoyed this relatively unique pair.

of night and light, and the half-light by stiltonbasket

1 chapter 2k words

A poignant discussion about mortality as seen through Lan Sizhui's eyes when he notes a white hair on his Father who has turned fifty-two.

This is part of Author stiltonbasket's Two Moons and a Fortnight series. . [Note that the series is restricted to registered users of AO3. An invitation link is provided on the home page of AO3]

Curse The GusuLan Elders! by JaenysBloodcourt

2 chapters 8k words

While Lan Zhan and Sizhui go on a night hut, Gusu Lan elders seize Wei Wuxian and hold a staged trial, followed by the use of the discipline whip. Rescued by Lan Xichen, he knows he's not going to live long enough to see Lan Zhan's return. He convinces Lan Xichen to work on a ritual that does not lead to his recovery but does send himself back in time. Things change, and two years after, Lan Zhan returns to the Burial Mounds.

Time travel fix-it 5 chapters (complete) 28k words

[Must have an account with Archive of Our Own in order to read. An invitation is readily provided on the website.]

Wangji steps right up to the bed to take Wei Wuxian’s hand like he’s handling a rare book. Jiang Yanli leans forward to whisper in his ear; Wangji nods and says, “Wei Ying need not worry. I am here now.”

The broad contentment suffused with love that blooms across Wei Wuxian’s young face is entirely too big an expression for it—his very countenance softens, tension easing out of his shoulders.

“So you are, now,” he says, smiling and Lan Qiren watches in mute awe. He’s never seen any delirium quite like this; the thing in his mind’s eye begins to take on a little more definition. “I had a very strange dream today, you know. I dreamed that Shijie and Yu-furen and Jiang-shushu were all alive.”

The Jiang siblings flinch and Jiang Fengmian crosses the room to put his arms around his children, exhaustion written across every cun of his expression. This is certainly only a small sample of what they’ve been dealing with for three days now.

Wangji does not flinch. Instead, he considers this. “Why was it strange?”

Cangse Sanren’s son smiles at Lan Qiren’s nephew, a cheery expression contrasting his rumpled robes and his pallid face. Qi pulses through the room, warm and pillowy. “I don’t actually remember it happening. I’ve never fallen ill enough to be tended by Shijie before the guest lectures.”

Autumn River begins with Lan Qiren and his two nephews travelling to a decidedly off-kilter Lotus Pier at the request of Jiang Fengmian. The three are brought to the room of a delirious Wei Wuxian, who has been calling for them for three days. He calls Lan Qiren "Shufu" with relief when he hears his voice. A voice that he shouldn't know, as Lan Qiren knows that this is the first time they've met.

What follows are conversations, demonstrations of power, revelations, a settling of Wei Wuxian's relationships at Lotus Pier and the beginnings of a betrothal. The world is not yet set to rights, but Wei Wuxian is not going to be alone in working to that end.