(Inspired by Alabaster Dawn)
It's the end of the world. Demons and ghosts run rampant. The heavens have abandoned them. Barely any of humanity is left, whether a regular person or a cultivator. Lan Wangji is forced to turn to the one person who might be able to help them rebuild - The Yiling Patriarch.
The Yiling Patriarch is a man with a fearsome reputation, and he has been reviled for as long as Lan Wangji has been alive. If the legends are to be believed, he resides in the sealed-off burial mounds with his chosen army of powerful cultivators. It's even rumored that all of these cultivators are the final remnants of the wicked Wen Clan that once brought devastation upon the Four Great Sects.
Lan Wangji is almost terrified to seek him out, because what if the legends are all true? What if he puts what remains of his clan in even worse danger?
But he does. It's- he's- their last hope. He can't give up on it yet.
He travels with the group of remaining Lan's he found after disaster struck (including LQR, LXC, and LJY) to the fabled town of Yiling. It's deserted. Everyone who lived there once is gone, and has been for a while- maybe since the curse first landed upon their world. The dead roam the streets. The houses that remain are decayed or damaged enough to nearly cave in on themselves.
They claw their way through the abandoned city, fighting off the dead and their spirits, until they reach the wrought iron gates that separate the Yiling Burial Mounds from the rest of the cultivation world. The many seals that keep the Yiling Patriarch stuck inside still hold firm, despite the years since they were last reinforced. Lan Wangji is surprised to see them there. He'd thought they would have been destroyed or faded long ago.
He steadies himself and pushes the gate open. It swings open at his touch, as if it were waiting for him. He brushes the thought aside.
The moment the remaining Lans step inside, something feels very different.
The air is lighter, free from the constant stench of decay he's gotten used to since the disaster. It's brighter here, too - an artificial sun sparkles in the sky, golden instead of the darkened red thing it had become. It's like stepping into an alternate plane of existence. He'd always expected the home of the vile Yiling Patriarch to be worse than the world outside, even when he started this journey. He stops in place for a moment, breathing it in as the other Lans file in behind him. It feels like… the world before the disaster.
He gathers himself. He starts up the hill. He's taken by surprise yet again when he finds other people living there, precious few of them cultivators. They seem… happy. They have enough food in their bellies. They have clothes on their backs. They have a community. The stories had gotten Lan Wangji believing that if anyone lived on the burial grounds, it would be an army of powerful cultivators preparing for the day they would one day break free from the seals that kept them imprisoned to rule the cultivation world once again.
This, clearly, couldn't be further from the truth.
A man comes down from the town as they approach. His hands are behind his head, and he's wearing a smile that seems like it might never leave his face. His robes are black and dark red, and his long hair is down. He walks with a swagger.
His smile widens when he sees Lan Wangji. He tilts his head- teasing, smiling, but in a way that feels almost dangerous, as if he's ready to fight at a moment's notice. He asks: "Now, what did I do to deserve this honor?"
He is the Yiling Patriarch.
They've found him, at long last.
Lan Wangji doesn't remember passing out. All he knows is that one moment he's on his feet, and the next he's waking up in a warm bed. The exhaustion from the long journey must have gotten to him.
It takes him far too long to realize the (ever-so-pretty) Yiling Patriarch is in the room, draped across a chair as he waits for him to wake up. He smiles at him when he does get up, his eyes crinkling with mirth. He doesn't give Lan Wangji a moment to recover before he speaks.
"So!" He claps his hands together, snapping Lan Wangji's attention to him. "Your family and I talked while you were out. I can help you out." Lan Wangji's heart skips a beat. Hope spreads its wings in his chest. "It'll take time, but I can do it. And I will!"
His heart sinks like a stone. Of course. When making a deal with the devil, there's always going to be a price. Why wasn't he more prepared for that? Did he really think the Yiling Patriarch was going to help them out of the goodness of his heart?
The Yiling Patriarch grins in the sharp way he does when he doesn't actually expect someone to agree. He levels a finger at Lan Wangji's chest. "You have to marry me."
…Now, that's barely a price at all. "Mn. I will do it."
The Yiling Patriarch freezes in place. "What."
"I will marry you," Lan Wangji clarifies.
"Wait- what? No, that's-"
The Yiling Patriarch freezes for a beat too long before he says. "Wei Wuxian? I-"
"Wei Wuxian will be my wife."
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