Chapter Text
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Wei Wuxian never once thought where he ended up after dying. He stopped caring long ago, does it really matter? At the end of day you're still dead anyway.
All his life, he did his best to live without regret, didn't even care for the crowded, broad road and instead chose to walk the single-plank bridge into the night. But in the end he's left with the never-ending; what if, what if, what if echo in his head with each of his mistakes.
Too many.
Lotus Pier burns to the ground.
His fault.
The death of Yi furen and Uncle Jiang.
His fault.
Jin Zixuan death.
Another life, his fault.
Wen Qing, Wen Ning, all the Wen walking to their death.
For what? To protect him.
His fault.
Then His Shijie die in his arm, his Shijie.
Why? His fault. Why her?
IS HIS FAULT.
Give her back, please, please, give her back!
Give his Shijie back!
You're better off dead.
He laughed, and laughed. Until his eyes blurred with hot tears and his face. The burn of it cannot compare to the scorching fire in his lung. Strangling him. He could hardly breathe.
Wei Wuxian parted his lips, chest heavily and breath ragging. He let out a silent scream.
Amidst the raging flames, his numb body was torn into pieces by the hands of the ghosts he had risen from death. He let them claim what little was left of his life with open arms.
They want it? Then take it.
This, this useless life of his.
Wei Wuxian lost all of his strength and sagged like a puppet with its strings cut. He could feel how his beating heart slowed down.
Wei Wuxian took a shallow breath.
His clouded eyes gaze up at the sky, all he saw was the dark clouds- not a ray of sunlight. He slowly shut his eyes in surrender. A single drop of tear slides down and disappears quietly into the soil.
His mind wandered, since he's dying will he meet the Old lady Meng?(1) Will he get to drink the forgotten soup so he can cross-over Naihe bridge?
If so. Perhaps, it is not that bad.
Wei Wuxian should know better though. His life has never been easy, not even after death.
As soon as he opened his eyes, what he saw was a gloomy, barren space with just a few withered trees. The ground underneath him is so dry there's cracks to it.
Wei Wuxian fixed his gaze on the horizon, face blank. Strangely his head is clear and uncluttered by the screams and whispers of some faceless ghosts for the first time in a very long time. Perhaps since he lost his golden core, even his body felt light, as if he could float any second, not weighed down by guilt the size of towering mountains.
Lips pressed into a thin line, Wei Wuxian cautiously swapped his gaze around. This place is not that much different from the Burial Mounds.
The corner of his mouth twisted up bitterly.
Who knows, this may be the entrance to hell. If that's the case, he should then start walking. He couldn’t possibly have Yanlou Wang(2) waiting for him, can he? Don't want Lord Yama to think of him as someone with ill manners.
More than anything, he's curious. He wants to know which hell, this one below here or the one above the living, is the worst. Once he made up his mind, Wei Wuxian lifted his feet but as soon as he took a step, a small but deep voice came from behind him.
"Trust me, you don't want to go in that direction,” it said.
Wei Wuxian stilled. "Oh?"
"And why exactly?" He asked, voice calm. Like the stilledness of a lake deep within the mountains, yet beneath the surface, violent vortex were swirling.
"Because it isn't a place for you, not yet" Came the reply and Wei Wuxian couldn't help but lift a brow, uncertainty appears in his silver eyes.
He mutters, "Not yet, you said.."
How is that possible? Isn't the fact that he's dead justification enough? Does he need another reason? Instantly, something flashed across his mind and his silver eyes dulled.
So, he is not welcome even in hell. Even after death, there's still no place for him.
A chuckle forced its way of his throat harshly, getting louder with each passing second until it turned into a laugh, startling the creature behind. It stops mid-way of licking its paw to look up in stunned silence.
His laugh was full of mockery, wrapped with bitterness. Hidden beneath is full of dejection.
Xiao Mao dropped his paw, his green eyes brilliant and keen, staring unblinkingly at the person in front of him, who slowly turned around. A pair of silver eyes clashed with gold.
Wei Wuxian's laugh came to an abrupt halt but the corner of his mouth still curled as if he couldn’t quite make himself smile and didn't know what expression to make.
Wei Wuxian didn't even react after discovering a talking black cat behind him. Nothing can surprise him at this point, not anymore.
"I'm dead, if I'm not going to hell where should I go?" He asks slowly, emphasizing each word as if he were speaking with some small child. Of course, not without some mockery, particularly the next sentence.
"Or do you mean to tell me, I'm going to heaven?" And that's absurd.
Wei Wuxian would never believe it, him? Going to heaven? What a joke, it's as implausible as when someone told him Lan Wangji willingly broke the rule.
Don't make him laugh.
However.
"No, neither." Xiao Mao answered, maintaining eye contact while carefully choosing the way to break the news to the infamous Yiling Lǎozǔ.
Of course he knows this person, how could he not. The heavens were in turmoil due to his wrongly done destiny. Thus making his destiny worse than death itself and before anyone realized, Wei Wuxian had faced loss after loss, destruction left, tragic right.
Whether it had been someone else, Xiao Mao wondered if they would have survived half of what Wei Wuxian had to go through.
It wasn't supposed to happen.
From the very beginning, one's fate and destiny are determined according to the good and bad one makes throughout a lifetime. This world is not as unjust as everyone believes, there's always prizes to pay in exchange for something. Same with compensation, it goes both ways.
Shangdi(3) ensured it.
However, while this person killed hundreds, he also rescued thousands more. Wei Wuxian shouldn't have endured half of what he endured due to the erred made by Xianren in heaven.
Shangdi issues decreed to find a means to aid him as atonement but how can it be so simple when damage had been done? Naturally no one dared to say it aloud and all the involved Xianren(4) scramble to their feet in an attempt to find solutions.
Which is why Xiao Mao is here but he can't really tell Wei Wuxian all that. Can he?
"There's a mission from the heavens and we don't see anyone more fitting that the fearsome Yiling Lǎozǔ himself," he explained. Just how he was instructed while cautiously observing for any sign of emotion on that pretty face and sure enough, Wei Xuxian's face morphed into scowl.
"Mission you say? did I look like I care about whatever mission you're talking about?" Wei Wuxian scoffed.
"I'm dead and I'm happy being dead."
Yes, indeed. It's better this way. Regardless of whatever Xianren and the higher-ups wanted him to do, he didn't care. He wants to be dead, to be left alone. He is tired, he has had enough.
"Not even if your wish were to come true if you complete the missions?" Xiao Mao ponders.
"No." Wei Wuxian refused without hesitation. What wish, he doesn't have any desire to live, therefore how can he still have any wish?
"You can go back to the living world though! You can start-"
"It's still a no." Wei Wuxian cut the creature off, he didn't give Xiao Mao any chance to continue. His silver eyes are icy. His jaws taut.
"Although.."
"Didn't I say no?" Wei Wuxian's brows furrowed in annoyance as his voice took on an impatient tone. Xiao Mao straightened up ever-so-slightly in response.
He shifted his paws on restless, Xiao Mao never thought Wei Wuxian would flat-out decline. Why would humans decline a decree from heaven? Most of them would have been happy just hearing from a divine being. The wish alone should have been enough to seal the deals.
But he forgot. Here, standing is front of him is not just normal human,
This is Yiling Laozu, who commands death with just a snap of his fingers.
Xiao Mao urged, "Anything, you can wish for anything. Don't you have any wish?"
"I thought I'd make myself clear." Wei Wuxian says this much, so why is it so difficult to understand. Does he need to spell out as well? Wei Wuxian raised his arm to cross it across his chest
"If you have nothing else to say, then leave me alone."
"What about your sister!?" Xiao Mao blurted out desperately. Sharp silver-colored eyes widened and he knew it was the only chance.
"Don't you want to save her? If you complete the mission you can save your sister."
Perplexed, Wei Wuxian slowly unfolds his crossed arm. Ears ringing with only one sentence and nothing else. You can save your sister.
He can save Shijie, Shijie, Shijie.
"I.. can save Shijie?" Wei Wuxian whispers softly. His voice cracked in the middle.
"Yes! yes, you can" Xiao Mao enthusiasts nodded. Eyes shining.
"I.. can really save Shijie? I can save her?" Wei Wuxian kept repeating like a mantra, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he just heard.
With each repeated syllable, his heart began to bloom with hope and when it really sunk in, his silver eyes blaze to life. Wei Wuxian rushed forward and shook Xiao Mao. Every ounce of his body boiled with impatience.
"Tell me right now, quick! Tell me, what do I have to do? How can I save Shijie?" He demanded.
He'll do anything. Whatever those Xianren want, be it walk through fire or take thunder strikes. He'll do it right away.
For his Shijie, anything.
"Missions, complete the missions." Xiao Mao answered.
“Missions, right mission.” Wei Wuxian nodded his head furiously, his eyes wide. “What do I have to do?”
"In every world, a person needs you to help fulfill his wish and every time you do, you'll receive life force and with that life force you can exchange it for your sister's life." Xiao Mao explained in a rush. As if he's afraid if he's not fast enough Wei Wuxian would refuse.
"I'll do it." Wei Wuxian said, voice firm and determined. There's only one answer and he doesn't want to wait, can't wait.
He'll save his Shijie, no matter what.
"Great!" Xiao Mao almost burst into tears of ecstasy, he's just some small Xianren in the heaven realm so when higher up made mistakes, is always the one below that suffers.
And this time, he's the one with bad luck. On the surface he's here on a mission but the truth is that he is merely a scapegoat. If he couldn't complete the mission by assisting Wei Wuxian he doesn't know how angry Shangdi would be.
By that time, would he then still have a place in Heaven?
Not to mention, this situation had never occurred before, thus there's no case study for him.
Xiao Mao is going in blindly.
And he hopes he makes it out alive.
"Let's get started"
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The second time Wei Wuxian gained consciousness, he noticed he was lying on something soft. So soft and comfortable he doesn't want to move an inch.
He let out a soft sign, sinking into whatever he's laying on top with a blissful face. Ready to fall back to sleep but then he remembered the reason why he was here, he shot up wide-awake; only to meet with darkness.
Wei Wuxian looked around, adjusting his eyes to the darkness as best as he could. A faint moonbeam shone through the large window helped.
Where's he?
Where is this place?
Suddenly everything lit up brightly and he squinted his eyes. Wei Wuxian scans the surrounding area, taking in the sign of an unfamiliar room with furniture he knew of but never seen before. What he could tell however is that it was made of finest quality.
The space beside him dipped from the extra weight. His eyes flickered to the feline cat. Wei Wuxian lifted an eyebrow.
"So what now," he asked. Then another question. “Where are we?”
"Since we're stuck with each other. Laozu, you can call me Xiao Mao." Xiao Mao suggested. Since everyone was so rushed he didn't have time to introduce himself. Now is the time for it.
"Then Xiao Mao, tell me. What do I have to do?" While asking, his eyes couldn't help but shift to check things around him. Interests peep up the more he looked.
On the table, a small box with a blazing red symbol shone brightly : 01.56
Wei Wuxian wondered what it meant.
“This body name is Mo Xuanyu, his wish is to finish college and to get along with his husband.”
Wei Wuxian blinked.
“Husband…” He murmured, once the words registered in his mind, Wei Wuxian screeched, “He has a husband?”
The owner of this body is a cut-sleeve?!
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