ARCHIVE OF DIXING | English 镇魂 Guardian Fanworks Directory

The first time Da Qing meets Zhao Yunlan, he's twelve years old.

"Oh, Shen Wei," the man said. "I promise you I'm real. Just - slightly out of time. Again."

Shen Wei blinked rapidly, but still didn't drop his dao. "Out of time, you say."

A wink and a smirk, with a familiar warmth behind it - Kunlun had teased him just like this. "What, you thought a time traveller could only travel once?"

Who else could she ask? Not Zhao Yunlan, who was part of the whole mess. Not the elders of any of the three tribes, when they were the ones who needed convincing the most. Not the Haixing minister, who had every interest in fostering good relations with the Yashou but no experience and no standing with them yet.

Once the initial clean-up is over and Dragon City’s authorities begin reasserting control, Chu Shuzhi isn’t surprised by Ye Huo bumping his shoulder as they leave the SID for the night and saying, “I’m not joining the SID.”

Zhao Yunlan gets an intriguing delivery and Shen Wei listens in.

Shen Wei receives a parcel from ten thousand years ago.

Zhu Hong backed away from the portal. It might not be Li Qian at all, but a lookalike. It might be a trap. She gathered red Snake power in her hands. “Tell me what happened to you.”

What if Shen Wei had been in Haixing when Team Ye Zun slandered Chu Shuzhi online?

The Envoy is back, he’s alive! Everything is better—brighter—as it should be. Regrets on Chu Shuzhi’s part would be an utter betrayal, unworthy. Chu Shuzhi knows the score. He was only ever first aid for Zhao Yunlan. Only a prop to keep him going. They’d never talked about what they were doing, and Zhao Yunlan’s heart had always been faithful. He’s worn the Envoy’s pendant twenty-four/seven.

Shen Wei reached across and gripped Zhao Yunlan’s shoulder to anchor him in the here-and-now. He shouldn’t try to stop the time travel. He couldn’t. But letting Zhao Yunlan go was a steep price, even for the integrity of all of history. Wherever you go, I’ll be with you, he thought, willing it so, though there were no guarantees. Who knew what the Hallows would do?

Freshly arrived from Dixing, Shen Wei knows almost nothing about modern Haixing culture -- just that he hates the clothing, and fears everything else.

(Or, how an ancient Dixing warrior famous for wearing only black ended up with a wardrobe full of bespoke royal blue suits.)

"Ye Zun's warmth was too much for him to handle, but as soon as he stepped away from him he felt the need to go back, to drown in that blotch of darkness. It reminded him of the smoke burning down his throat every time he took a drag on his favourite cigarettes, that awful sensation he both hated and craved."
or
Zhao Yunlan's consciousness somehow manages to enter the Pillar. He meets Ye Zun, a figure made of swirling smoke. They talk, they play. It distracts Zhao Yunlan, it entertains Ye Zun. The latter has a personal vendetta against his brother and is searching for someone. Both don't realise Zhao Yunlan is that someone.

Little did Zhao Yunlan know that Shen Wei’s power can affect someone from afar. 

"It hurts to be something
It's worse to be nothing with you"

Zhao Yunlan didn't get sick anymore. So what was this odd itching feeling between his shoulder blades?

"You okay? You look like a dog with fleas," Da Qing commented, hopping up on the table and eyeing him, his tail twitching.

**

"Something is happening in the mountains. Manipulating the feng shui. We will have to go in person, to be certain."

Static electricity built in the air, making their hair stand on end, and then disappeared abruptly.

After all this, the two men who stepped forward through the smoke were, to Wu Xie's eyes, surprisingly normal.

Zhang Qiling was staring at them with great intensity, and then made an odd gesture, a kind of archaic bow, it seemed to Wu Xie. More surprisingly, one of the two men acknowledged it, returning what was clearly a matching but different gesture. "Do you know them?"

The two men were looking at them—especially Zhang Qiling—with interest, and the one with glasses answered, "We haven't met, but you recognize us."

He's never believed in red strings of fate tying people together, least of all for himself.

Kunlun jun stepping out from Shen Wei's painting

High holy hell, Zhao Yunlan hated this version of himself.

This version of himself was a dick!

After dying, Zhao Yunlan wakes up in a world he barely recognizes.

At least fixing this terrible version of his life gives him something to do while he tries to find out just what happened to Shen Wei.