Wei Wuxian opened his eyes from where he rested near Yanling Daoren and Suibian. 

He saw all the cultivators gathered in the room, though they couldn't see him, with him...being dead and all. Even so, he felt restless, seeing many faces that had besieged him, and some that hadn't. 

They were all riveted to the massive visual images of his memories playing before them, his innermost feelings and thoughts on display. 

'How had Chenqing made this possible with his power?' Wei Wuxian wondered. Chenqing, or Yanling Daoren was certainly powerful. 

It was an interesting use of his abilities but Wei Wuxian wished his memories weren't being used. He didn't have the energy to be angry. He was just so tired. Drained. 

Wei Wuxian found his eyes wandering over to look at Lan Xuan, the eldest brother of Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan, if he recalled Yanling Daoren's words correctly. 

Wei Wuxian froze when he locked eyes with Lan Xuan, when said person looked up from where he sat beside Lan Zhan. 

If he had a heart, it would be racing in his chest at this very moment, from anxiety or nervousness, Wei Wuxian wasn't sure. 

'Hello, Wei Wuxian,' Lan Xuan sent him a gentle smile. There was nothing in his eyes, not hatred, malice, no negative emotion aimed at him, no blame in his eyes. 

For some reason, Wei Wuxian felt like he wanted to cry seeing that. Lan Xuan...just seemed so open and kind. If he's been by Lan Wangji's side since he was young, then why did Lan Xuan not hate him too? After all, he believed Lan Zhan had hated him, though Yanling Daoren and Suibian say otherwise. 

Lan Xuan seemed to have a temperament, much like Lan Xichen

, but it was more in a way, even with that kindness, there was a hidden kind of strength and determination. 

'Apologies, I would stand to come over and greet you properly for the first time, but I fear that you would not yet like for me to do so and the others would see and wonder what I was doing, Lan Wangji especially.' Lan Xuan gave an apologetic smile this time. 

Wei Wuxian blinked. "How are you speaking to me?" 

Lan Xuan chuckled lightly under his breath. 'Thanks to Yanling Daoren who created a link between the four of us.' 

"Ah, I see." Wei Wuxian nodded. 

'How are you feeling right now?" Lan Xuan inquired softly. 

Wei Wuxian shrugged, not looking at him. What could he say, really? There was too much for him to put into words.

Wei Wuxian could feel Lan Xuan studying him quietly. 

Wei Wuxian felt bad for being a little rude when he decided to close his eyes and turn his back to lay back down to rest his weary soul, but Lan Xuan didn't say another word.

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Lan Xuan watched Wei Wuxian carefully, quietly. The other had been through quite a lot. He worried for Wei Wuxian, and he worried for his brother.

Lan Xuan looked at Lan Wangji, studying him carefully. His brother's eyes were red rimmed from crying and his hands were balled into tightly clenched fists, his robes crumpled beneath white knuckles from his grip. He held himself so rigid, so still, but when he looked at his brother's back, Lan Xuan felt he could see the weight of the world trying to crush him, as if a huge boulder weighed on his shoulders. 

The depth and weight of his love, like a bottomless ocean. Lan Xuan knew how devoted his brother was when he gave his heart away, and he knew the guilt Lan Wangji was harboring, thinking he failed Wei Ying. And he knew Wei Wuxian believed his brother hated him. All the misunderstandings...

It would be a cruel lie, to tell Lan Wangji otherwise, for his brother would not believe him. But if Lan Wangji had failed him, it wasn't entirely his fault. It was all of their faults. 

Lan Xuan sighed, focusing on the memory viewing. 

Wen Ning had carried Wei Wuxian back to the Burial Mounds in an unconscious state, from the shock and trauma, away from the Jins who had ambushed him, now focused on the body of Jin Zixuan.

And now, in the memory, Wei Wuxian was waking up in his cave, on the stone bed, blurry eyed and exhausted, his mind miles away and yet to catch up to what happened. 

Wen Ning and Wen Qing stood side by side. Lan Xuan's stomach dropped, screaming this is wrong, this is wrong! 

It was all wrong, none of this should have ever happened, and he could only watch with the rest of them as a mere spectator for events that had already come to pass.

Lan Xuan pushed down his icy wrath, not wanting to freeze this entire room, encasing them all in ice. 

Wei Wuxian screamed, curling in on himself when the full weight of what had happened surfaced in his mind, crying, "What do I do?! Someone please tell me, what do I do?!"

Wen Qing spoke, telling him what had happened while he had been unconscious and what Jin Guangshan was up to. 

Lan Xuan couldn't bear to look but forced himself to, knowing somehow that this would be one of things that broke Wei Wuxian, so soon after Jin Zixuan.

Wen Qing immobilized Wei Wuxian with her needles, confessing that she and her brother were turning themselves in for his sake. 

Wei Wuxian was forced to let them go, struggling against his sluggish limbs not doing what he wanted, as the needles Wen Qing used forced him to lose consciousness once again, he screamed for them until he lost the fight and fell asleep. 

Lan Xuan's heart ached for him, and he felt fierce, chilling rage on Wei Wuxian's behalf, as well as his brother. 

He had a calmer, kinder temperament usually but he had his limits, which were met harshly, at all the unjustly actions Jin Guangshan, Jin Guangyao and the others had also participated in, allowing them to get away with it and do as they pleased and the Wen Remnants unjust massacre of innocents and the disrespect of their lives as well as their deaths with no proper burial.

It was sickening. For all those that claimed to uphold righteousness...that was so far beneath it was despicable.

As they had all condemned Wei Wuxian, they too would learn that their actions had consequences, that they would be held accountable. 

Generally this should be the duty of the Chief Cultivator, but all this took place because of Wen Ruohan, how the position came to be. Which was Jin Guangshan, who didn't even deserve the title. And his scheming son Jin Guangyao, who probably also wanted the position. 

Lan Xuan would not allow them to get away with what they had done and he knew Yanling Daoren and Suibian felt the same way, as they had already tormented Jin Guangshan quite a bit. 

There was a small break from the memory viewing, to let everyone pull themselves together and have a moment to breathe (for those that deserve it) before continuing on.

Lan Xuan murmured quietly to Lan Wangji. "I am going to speak with Yanling Daoren and Suibian. I will return shortly."

Lan Wangji flicked his golden eyes towards him and nodded.

Lan Xuan gathered to his feet gracefully, walking to the opposite side of the room, where they were farthest away from the cultivators. 

He felt eyes on him, but paid no mind to them.

Lan Xuan slowed to a stop before them, and before Wei Wuxian where he was resting. Lan Xuan put up an icy white film behind him, not caring if they found it suspicious. 

He was more worried for Wei Wuxian.

He wondered, since he too, was a spirit in a way, despite being able to solidify his body like the other two because of his power, he wondered if his healing abilities would be able to help Wei Wuxian. He couldn't see visible wounds on the others soul, but he could sense them like angry gaping wounds, but Wei Wuxian himself, seemed numbed to his own pain this way now, unaware of the state he was really in. He didn't approach sooner because he wasn't certain how he would react, because he doesn't know Lan Xuan. The other two couldn't fully sense Wei Wuxian's condition so they had no clue. Lan Xuan couldn't put it off any longer. 

"What are you doing?" Suibian stepped forward. 

Lan Xuan glanced at him and Yanling Daoren. "I'm helping him, you can't see or sense it, but I can and I feel the pain of Wei Wuxian's soul. I can feel his pain, I can hear it in silent screams. Wei Wuxian himself seems to not know, or his soul has numbed itself to the pain and is overcome with exhaustion, his spirit sleeping, trying to recuperate."

They both paled, becoming increasingly worried, glancing at each other and then at Wei Wuxian. 

Lan Xuan sighed, "I waited, letting him rest some, because I thought it was best for now, but.." Lan Xuan shook his head, eyes serious when he looked at them. "He needs help now. I can't let him suffer like this."

He knelt slowly, and placed his hand gently on Wei Wuxian's shoulder and woke him.

Wei Wuxian failed, panicking, Lan Xuan took his time to soothe him and calm him down, waiting for the other to look at him and when he did, Lan Xuan gave him the same gentle smile.

He spoke slowly, but this time, out loud, knowing there was a barrier and no one could see or hear what he was saying. 

"It's alright, Wei Wuxian. I just want to use my abilities to heal you. Please," Lan Xuan beseeched the other softly, eyes pleading, and hands held out before him, in a non-threading gesture. 

"Why?" Wei Wuxian croaked. 

"Because I want to, because you need it, and because it's the right thing to do." Lan Xuan was unwavering.

Wei Wuxian looked at him for a moment before sighing and nodding. 

Lan Xuan offered his palms out, and Wei Wuxian placed his own on top, allowing Lan Xuan to grasp his hands and begin healing.

Wei Wuxian felt warmth emanating from Lan Xuan, and watched with interest as Lan Xuan's hands glowed with a soft blue light, that traveled across Wei Wuxian, seeming to enveloping him in a warm, soft cocoon.

"That's incredible," Suibian murmured from the side, obviously watching. 

The pain Wei Wuxian had been feeling, the weary exhaustion of his spirit, the despairing agony, slowly became like an echo, as Lan Xuan healed him. 

Wei Wuxian felt awed and intrigued, as he studied Lan Xuan whose eyes were closed in concentration. Lan Wangji's eldest brother who had a kind, gentle, and righteous soul, but also, steel and determination, and a cold wrath churning beneath the surface, meaning that if he felt in his way that it was right, he wouldn't hesitate to take vengeance and use violence especially when he fiercely loves someone. A warring personality. He could feel the essence of who Lan Xuan was, someone through the connection of the healing. 

After a long moment, Lan Xuan pulled away and opened his eyes, which were sparkling with a smile as he quietly inquired how Wei Wuxian felt. 

Wei Wuxian paused, pondering. He felt much better, and any physical sensation he'd felt through his form was gone. So was the exhaustion. 

He nodded, "I feel much better. Thank you." Lan Xuan smiled, "Good. I'm glad I could help."

Though there were unspoken words Wei Wuxian didn't say aloud. Just because the pain is gone, his traumas would linger. Wounds that would scar over but never truly fade, and in this single moment, Wei Wuxian would be honest with himself. He felt much better, but he was very far off from being okay, in his mind, and non-beating heart. But none of that was Lan Xuan's fault and the other really did heal the wounds that had seemed to linger and fester from the place he had been before he managed to come back here. 

Wei Wuxian had a feeling Lan Xuan knew what he didn't say, for the sad smile he gifted him with before heading back to sit with Lan Zhan, but then halted and came back towards him, but he spoke to Suibian and Yanling Daoren.

"I think they've seen enough." He spoke quietly, glancing down at Wei Wuxian once. 

He was telling them for Wei Wuxian's sake. 

But Suibian and Yanling Daoren already knew that. They were too caught up in their hurt and anger on his behalf, on their guilt of believing they failed him too, he knew, and wanted to show the other cultivators that they were the ones in the wrong but they were his memories, those were private moments, private thoughts and feelings none of them had any right to. 

They didn't need to see what happened next after Wen Ning and Wen Qing left, how Wei Wuxian chased after them long after they were gone in pouring rain, and falling many times, they didn't need to see him arrive too late, after pausing after one glimpse of his Shijie whose heart he had broken..

And everything that came after. Shijie dying in his place, taking a sword meant to steal his life, and never hearing what her last words to him were going to be as he watched the life bleed from her eyes, her blood dripping into his face, and hearing Jiang Cheng's heartbreaking scream blend with his own.

And then the memories of breaking the stygian tiger seal, knowing he would die, knowing they all wanted him dead anyway, so what had been the point? He'd failed everyone, failed himself, failed the Wen Remnants. What more did they want? Were they internally gloating as they watched him suffer in his memories? 

They had no right to witness his memories, the darkest hours of his life, under their judging eyes with their self righteous proclamations, on who he was, on all his so called evil deeds. 

"It doesn't matter at this point, they have already seen everything else, they might as well watch it all the way through to the end." Wei Wuxian muttered, failing to keep some of his anger and bitterness from his voice, seeing the Suibian and Yanling Daoren flinch slightly. 

Yanling Daoren looked at Wei Wuxian, his expression solemn. "He's right. We will find a different way to continue. I'm sorry I-"

Wei Wuxian shook his head, holding up his hand. "Stop. It's not really you that I am angry with, I know you meant well. If I was my normal self, I could simply shrug it off...but I'm..." Wei Wuxian growled in frustration, unable to find the words he wanted to say when he would normally always know what to say. 

Lan Xuan gently placed his hand on Wei Wuxian's. 

"It's alright. They understand. And anyway, I think I know what we can do. I have a plan, and with your permission, I think this one will work much better, and quicker." Lan Xuan smiled and then proceeded to explain his plan to the three of them. 

Using his abilities, combined with Yanling Daoren's, they would have the other cultivators put under a talisman that Wei Wuxian had created long ago and forgot about, similar to empathy, but instead it would be a created, or fabricated world in their minds while they would be unconscious, and they would live through Wei Wuxian memories still, but in a different sense, it wouldn't be Wei Wuxian, it would be them, they would be placed in the same scenes, faced with the same decisions as Wei Wuxian once was, but free to make their own choices that would decide the outcome of their fate, the same as Wei Wuxian's, or worse. Because there was no positive outcome. 

It would be like choosing between two evils, and picking the one you deemed lesser of the two choices, for the sake of themselves or for the sake of others. 

And while unconscious, they would be wrapped in a light cocoon of color that would white. It would change to red or violet, depending on their outcomes to the meager choices they were faced with, meaning terribly wrong, and violet. It would be like they switched places with Wei Wuxian, going through the same things, having the same choices, and Wei Wuxian being the one cornering them in their mind as they had cornered him in life, Wei Wuxian would represent the cultivators who besieged and killed him and the Wen Remnants, while the others would be in his position, living through his actions. 

"It's similar to viewing your memories, but it will be a swap of positions, a change of perspective. While unconscious, in their minds, in the scenes of your past, they will face them as you did, faced with the options, same choices." 

Wei Wuxian made a face, thinking it over. 

"I don't recall creating such a talisman, but there were many I created and cast aside and I know they all had their pickings of what they wanted with my things after my death. Very well. I agree with this plan. As long as I don't have to see all those things again or have it on display like that."

Lan Xuan nodded. "You won't and it won't be. We won't be able to see what's happening in their minds, the only indication of their choices will be the colors surrounding them, and their reactions once the wake from the stimulation."

Wei Wuxian's shoulders drooped with relief. "Thank you," he murmured, "it was too-" too painful to hear those things in his sleep, to remember it all again.

Lan Xuan nodded in understanding. "I know, which is why I proposed this idea. Now we just have to put it in motion and see the after effects." 

Lan Xuan had a hard glint in his eyes, and a smile that said many unspoken things. 

"They will learn to walk a mile in your shoes, in a matter of moments." 

"This should be interesting," Wei Wuxian couldn't help but muse out loud, watching and watching for Lan Xuan's plan to start. 

Lan Xuan strode back to his seat next to Lan Wangji but stayed standing, and addressed them all. 

Yanling Daoren drew up beside Lan Xuan, and Suibian stood behind, with Wei Wuxian, though no one could see him. 

"There's been a change of plans," Lan Xuan spoke, in his usual tone, soft but firm. In his hand, he held a talisman he had procured from his sleeves, having sense there would be an occasion he may need it, and luckily for him, it was his own clan who had taken this talisman to lock it away, after studying it for sometime, deciding they would not need to use it, unlike some of Wei Wuxian's other inventions which they gladly used without remorse. 

"This was a talisman invented by none other than Wei Wuxian, a talisman which my clan took, and locked away after deciding they did not need to use it. It's similar to empathy in a way, puts the one it's being used on to sleep, and while asleep will undergo a simulation of sorts, designed by the one who uses it, and the other will be placed in scenarios they live out in their minds and make choices that will decided the outcome, if there even is a choice. 

So instead of simply showing you his memories, you are going to live them, really live them inside your mind and it's going to feel real, and feel it as if you were him, but it will be you, individually, faced with what he faced and forced to choose between the choices he had, if there were any." Lan Xuan finished.

"You can make us do that!" Someone shouted boldly.

Lan Xuan turned toward the voice, his smile still present on his face, but there was a noticeable chill around him now. "I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that, would you please repeat what you said?" 

The room was completely silent. He met the eyes of Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen, they were watching him. Lan Xuan tried to convey to them, not to worry as he spoke, after that dissenting voice shouted. 

"Hmm, no? Well, that's odd, I must have imagined a pesky voice talking back as if they're in charge, and forgot the situation they were in, where they have no room to speak at all, even after all Suibian and Yanling Daoren have showed you," Lan Xuan tsked in his smooth melodic voice, "that won't do. If I hear one more word, the next person to speak like that, I'll turn into an ice statue. Now, let us continue." Lan Xuan finished, and activated the talisman. 

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