ARCHIVE OF DIXING | English 镇魂 Guardian Fanworks Directory

Shen Wei liked the color green. It came in many different shades and blanketed him and his cottage in a vibrant mirage that he would never tire of seeing day after day. He knew the parrot green of the plants he added to his stews, the forest green of the ones he used to make medications, and the olive green he knew to avoid in the poisonous stems. 

It was this discernment of green that led him to realize there were discordant tones in the plants by the river. They had congealed splotches of dark red on them, and seemed to be emitting a strange, pungent odor. Shen Wei took out his dagger and walked slowly towards the plants, preparing to see a large animal of some sort. 

What he saw instead was a man.

Or: Shen Wei finds an injured man by his home and decides to take him in, not being able to fortell all the differences it will bring into his life.

“Shen-laoshi really knows how to play you like a piano,” says Da Qing, lying in Zhao Yunlan’s lap and pawing absently at the line of yarn as it’s tugged and twined around the needles.

“You’re so full of shit,” replies Zhao Yunlan. The cat snorts, a surprisingly human sound.

“Am I? Look at him – attended one meeting and immediately pinpointed your failing. And took steps to correct it, to your benefit. You’d never even consider taking up something so ridiculous otherwise – but if Shen-laoshi gave it to you? You’d do exactly what you’re doing, treasuring it.”

Zhao Yunlan looks down at his work. It’s just a long, rectangular strip of stitches, more regular in size and tension near the needles than at the start. “I’m not treasuring anything. It’s just convenient.”

If Heipaoshi would not outright ask for a seat at the table, then by god, Zhao Yunlan was going to pull the fucking chair out himself. There was only the matter of paws and not apposable thumbs standing in his way. But then, he’d never of made Chief of the SID if he wasn’t adaptable.

"How come you never do the laundry?" Ye Zun asks, frustration palpable in the way the freshly dried and folded clothes float down to form a pile.

“How do we stop it?”

“Abilities like this aren’t permanent. Either it will wear off in time, or…”

Kunlun looks at him, eyes sharp. “Or?”

Shen Wei forces himself not to look away. Not to drop his gaze like a boy, like a coward. “Or when it has run its course,” he says.

Had absolutely all the sacrifices really been necessary?
As Lin Jing walked the path ahead, perhaps the answers he didn't expect were exactly the ones he needed to find. Fake monk or not, he believed what he believed, and redemption was not a negotiable commodity. Sometimes all it took was a hand to reach out and change the course of everything.
That sense of unfairness had seeped into him.
...
Gui Mian sat up, resting his head in his hands and he tried to settle his breathing. Months of nights that were often filled with nightmares were taking its toll. Something needed to change. There was only one thing that he could think of that would calm him. He needed to see Lin Jing again.

Five first meetings.

Or: Shen Wei had to resist temptations for far too long. Zhao Yunlan makes it up to him.

"Do you look at this sort of thing often?" Shen Wei asked.

Zhao Yunlan shrugged. "When I was single, sure. A man has needs, after all, and it gets boring just using your imagination all the time. Not as often now that you're here, though," he added, squeezing Shen Wei's hand. Shen Wei pulled his hand away, unwilling to be so easily mollified. But as he did so a memory drifted up from the long-ago past...

Will the light hold on? Will it stay? He didn't want the dark to come just yet. He wanted the sky to shine more. He wanted to tuck away that last light to some place only he knew of.

Them in evening and rain with things left unsaid.

Back in the future, in the world where Shen Wei is wrapped with mysteries – which are rapidly unravelling, now – Shen Wei is so hungry for his touches. For every pat, every nudge, every palm on his shoulder or knee to his knee.

This man, though, behaves like no one has ever touched him. When Zhao Yunlan reaches for him he leans away, wide-eyed and reticent. Not afraid, he thinks. Shen Wei must know how strong he is, all the powers at his command. But – unfamiliar. Almost like a feral cat, who doesn’t know how to trust, much less how to enjoy.

Zhao Yunlan cannot help but bring his hands to his chest and press the cell phone against his heart. Ah, Shen Wei, Shen Wei!... Every detail of his is perfect... Can there be greater grace than having him by his side? Da Qing snorts again in annoyance. Zhao Yunlan is about to throw the phone at him when an incoming call interrupts. For a second, he thinks it might be his dear baobei, but he stops when he sees it is his mother.
Finally! His dear Empress deigns to return his call.
However, it is not her voice that he hears on the other end.
It is labored breathing...
"Ma?"
A high-pitched giggle answers his question.
He has heard that way of laughing before...
From someone who is supposed to be dead.
"Who is there? If you have done something to her..."
"Kunlun..."
Only one being has said his name with that almost mocking cadence.
Impossible.
"Gui Mian."

just some mess

“Two!” says Zhao Yunlan, inanely, looking from the dicks to Shen Wei’s face and seeing guarded uncertainty there. He takes control of himself, suppressing his playful instincts. “Xiao Wei, either take off those pants or put them on, but don’t just – stand there, like you want me to conduct an exam. I never want to see you take off your clothes again as if you expect me to judge you. I’ll never do that. I don’t need to see any part of you I haven’t seen to know that I love it just as much as I love you.”

He probably would have hit the floor ass-first if it weren’t for Shen Wei, looming up out of nowhere. Like a dog that inexorably turns to face its master, Shen Wei always seems to know when he’s about to arrive. So instead he face-plants against Shen Wei’s chest, miserable, hurting, and lets Shen Wei catch him. Which he does with alacrity, arms around Zhao Yunlan’s shoulders and waist, holding him up for a moment before slowly lowering him to the ground.

Or: Following the tense resolution of a case involving SID members' kidnappings, Zhao Yunlan deals with the fall-out. Fortunately he has Shen Wei there to help.

In which a threesome really is the solution to all the world's problems. Literally.

The last thing Wei feels before drifting off is Kunlun's even breath against his collarbone. The first thing he feels when his eyes blink open to the earliest rays of the golden sunrise— He frowns in sleepy confusion and takes a closer look to make sure that it's really Kunlun's knee in the crook of his neck. It is.

The meadow is so much more spacious than a bed, but they didn't lose each other in it — they're still embracing, but somehow they got themselves turned around. Kunlun's robes have bunched up as well; Wei can't resist kissing the exposed skin, soft and lazy, barely more than a breath.

Hei Pao Shi, though. He is firm, blunt, and commanding, where Shen Wei is polite and flexible. He says very little, but he openly displays abilities capable of levelling buildings and tearing apart streets. He smells of frost and ozone, and he blends into the heart of thunderstorms like he’s some elder god, like he was birthed from the chaos and now holds it in his hands.

Zhao Yunlan wants him.

Or: Zhao Yunlan discovers that Hei Pao Shi is a traditionalist.

Just few more days, Zhao Yunlan thought as he swept the back of his wrist harshly against his face. Maybe just in few days, he could meet him again.

AKA Zhao Yunlan grieving.

Shen Wei sighed.

Just ten more minutes, then he would drag Zhao Yunlan to sleep properly in bed.

But till then, he wanted to just stay like this.

 ..

AKA Shen Wei finds Zhao Yunlan nodding off on couch again and instead of just watching him from a distance, he lets himself be close.