#liji

Li Jie saying 'I don't even know his name' as he sets out to follow the calling in his heart is so important and dear to me. He doesn't give for granted that what he'll find will be his Ji Ling. But it doesn't matter to him because he's always been willing to follow him come hell and high water. And after Li Jie went on his own self discovery journey he understands that what Ji Ling needs to do is the same. Li Jie will still wait him at the door when he comes back with an answer. Just like how Ji Ling didn't tell Li Jie his origins and let him find that answer for himself despite having a solid idea of who he could be. It's just... The trust and respect and love of wanting someone to fully self-realize instead of telling them who they're supposed to be, whether the mask fits or not. To Ji Ling that was perhaps the greatest act of care, given how he never had the opportunity to live his life as himself. And I think post-canon Li Jie understands that. He knows that freedom is what Ji Ling needs the most now. From a duty that chained him his entire life, but also freedom as in the liberty of choice. "Ji Ling" was a name bestowed to him, and despite changing the characters that compose that name to have a less impersonal meaning, it was still an identity that didn't fully belong to him. But now, he has the chance to make that choice, to name himself, to be free and to be happy. Nothing is chaining him anymore. Li Jie knows he might never come back, and he doesn't intend to bring him back, either. either. Instead, Li Jie sets out to find him. Not as a commander seeking directions from his Sect Leader, not as the product of a dead man's obsession. But as a friend. After grieving him and thinking he'd lost him forever, only to be told he'd come back to life but not in Li Jie's lifetime, Li Jie's heart longs for that reunion, but there's no innate pull telling him the right way anymore. That string was cut. This is a new beginning, and what awaits him might be a completely new person. One that Li Jie wants to get to know. To Yuan Wuhuo, he claimed that following Ji Ling was a choice he made of his own free will, and this resolve now proves how genuine those feelings are. With no compulsion to protect, what is left is just love. The love that was always there, but now it's free, too, to come to the surface. And it's an act of love, too, wanting to meet him where he's found a comfortable nook for himself, one that truly belongs to him, whoever he is now, this time for real