Chapter Text
Wei WuXian hadn’t meant to do it. He hadn’t meant to stumble upon a secret room at Unclean Realm while visiting Nie Huaisang. He hadn’t meant to activate a mysterious array that Sect leader Nie had drawn out on the floor (Or had he?) He did, however , deliberately read the open book spread out on the floor near the array. Time travel array. Wei WuXian remembers reading. Why was Nie Huaisang studying up on time travel arrays? Weren’t those forbidden? Of course he had found it interesting, but he knew there would be consequences that came with these types of spells. He wouldn’t...risk it...would he?
But the deed had been done and now he found himself lying on a bed in a room. His body felt different, weaker. And his head hurt like crazy. He sits up and looks around his surroundings. His flute, ChenQing, is on the bedside table next to him along with a Qiankun pouch that gave off dark energy. Had that been there when I came here? I don’t remember bringing it. He stands up and walks over to a water basin set down on the table and he freezes, staring at himself in the reflection of the water.
I’m back in my old body...but how ?
He tries to figure out what’s going on all while his head continues to throb. Just then he hears her. The sweet sound of her voice still continued to echo in his dreams, even after over thirteen years.
“A-Xian, are you awake?”
Wei WuXian felt like his heart had stopped.
Shijie…?
~
Jiang Cheng didn’t know what had happened. One minute he had been sitting at his desk and the next, he had a sharp burn in his core, so overwhelming that he felt himself double over and black out. Then he finds himself waking up in Unclean Realm. Was Nie Huaisang responsible? Was he planning something again? And getting me involved?
After Guanyin Temple, Jiang Cheng’s wariness of the Nie sect leader had grown significantly and though they still interacted with one another due to sect affairs, it felt nothing like their youthful and burden-free days at Cloud Recesses. He didn’t think it would ever be possible to feel like that again.
One reason was that they were both sect leaders now and the second reason was one they never spoke of, though it had slipped out more than once. Wei WuXian had been in Yunmeng several times according to Jiang Cheng’s spies but he never once ventured close to Lotus Pier nor did Jiang Cheng actively seek him out. He couldn’t find the courage to. Even after everything they’ve been through, even after so many truths had been revealed. It wasn’t easy. The lives that had been lost could not be revived.
Jiang Cheng takes a deep breath and stands up from the bed he had been sitting on.
“Young Master, the meeting will start soon.” A Jiang disciple calls from outside his door.
“What meeting?” He asks, still confused.
“For the Sunshot Campaign, of course.”
What…?
~
On second thoughts...maybe I did activate that array. Wei WuXian stares at the door, trying to calm himself down. Am I imagining things? Did I really activate that array on purpose because I wanted so badly to fix everything despite knowing he couldn’t? But with the power of that array..
“A-Xian?” A knock follows her voice this time. Wei WuXian can’t answer her. He finds his voice stuck in his throat. He stays quiet until he hears the sound of her footsteps walking away from the door. Then he sinks back into bed, sitting down slowly while gripping the side of it.
“ Fuck ,” he says outloud. “What did I do ?”
~
“Sect leader?” The Jiang disciple calls out for him again as Jiang Cheng tries to clear the thoughts whirling through his head.
What the hell just happened? I got sent back in time? Who would…
He pushes himself off the bed and stands up quickly. Ignoring the shaking in his wrists, he walks over to the door and pulls it open, startling the disciple to jump back from it.
“Where’s Wei WuXian’s room?” He asks, trying to keep his voice steady. The disciple blinks at him in confusion before telling him the location. Jiang Cheng stalks through the halls of Unclean Realm. He’s aware of disciples staring at him as he walks, so he drops the thunderous look from his face. He stops in front of the door of the man he had once hated (or he had told himself he hated for the past thirteen years), the man he wanted to be his brother again yet at the same time he couldn’t. The door opens before he even lifts his hand.
“Jiang Cheng?”
“Wei WuXian?”
Jiang Cheng stares. And Wei WuXian stares back.
Wei WuXian was back in his old body.
Something was definitely wrong.