Work Text:
Fan Wujiu is a simple man. He likes chinese compasses and calligraphy. He’s better than most when it comes to sword fighting. He’s more aggressive than most prefer, but he’s himself and that’s all that matters.
Fan Wujiu is a simple man, but when he’s with Xie Bi’an, his world feels complete.
They’re two sides of the same coin. Xie Bi’an’s eyes sparkle at the prospect of drawing and he fawns over decorated umbrellas. His poetry, words weaved into art, is one of the most beautiful things Fan Wujiu has ever read. He’s gentle, docile, and better than Wujiu could ever be.
For as long as he could remember, they were always together.. They ate together, played together, and were rarely seen apart. Where there was Xie Bi’an, there was Fan Wujiu. And where there was Fan Wujiu, there was Xie Bi’an.
The bond between them isn’t fireworks or burning passion. It’s casual. It’s the satisfaction of picking the right key on the first try or putting the perfect amount of salt on your food. They don’t shape their actions based on each other. They simply just click.
They take the exam together, and are able to start new, successful lives as government workers. Of course they succeeded - why wouldn't they?
Nothing changes in their relationship. They’re still as close as ever. The only thing that changes is that they offer each other advice on assignments.
Time passes. Memories blur. But despite time, there is one thing that Fan Wujiu remembers clearly, and that’s the night at the tavern.
They didn’t do anything. They were innocent. They were observers. The most Bi’an had done was politely ask for the man to quiet down, and all Wujiu did was shout at the brat to mind his snarky words. But when the bruised figure of the local governor's son points a sprained finger at them as his father arrives, he knows everything is going downhill.
“Who did it?” They asked over and over again, as if his answer would change. “Was it you or Xie Bi’an?”
“Neither of us,” Fan Wujiu argued back angrily, “We haven’t done a thing.”
There’s whispers around the office. Ten days.
In court, Xie Bi’an ‘admits’ to the crime of assaulting the governor’s son. Wujiu can already hear the whispers.
Poor, sweet Xie Bi’an had committed a heinous crime. That disgraceful Fan Wujiu probably coerced him into it.
The two of them make eye contact as Wujiu insists it was him and only him instead.
It’s their first argument.
“Why won’t you let me do this for you?!”
“Because if either one of us deserves to be punished, it’s me! I’m not going to let you ruin your life because I decided to insult someone!”
Instead of an immediate punishment like the two of them expected, they’re told to apprehend the true assailant.
He writes a letter to Bi’an asking for them to meet at Nantai Bridge. It’s the first letter he’s written to him in a long time. They never had a need for written words before.
But there’s just something about the assault that makes him too afraid to talk to his closest companion.
Fan Wujiu is a coward, and he knows it.
Dreary, dark clouds hung in the grey sky on the day they met under Nantai Bridge. Something in his gut screams at him that they need to leave, he needs to leave. But Fan Wujiu ignores it in favor of listening to every single word leaving the mouth of his sworn brother.
“Wujiu, it was me who attacked him that night.”
“Mhm.”
“I’m going to tell them the truth.”
“Mhm.”
“You cannot interfere with this. I am only doing what is right.”
“Mhm.”
“I- Are you even listening?!”
“Are you confessing because you truly were the one who attacked him that night, or because you’re prioritizing ‘justice’ over yourself?”
“...Wujiu.”
“You’re doing exactly what they want. Let’s face it- The assailant was probably a drunkard who’s left town already.”
Bi’an looks at him with tired eyes and Wujiu gives him a fed up smile in return.
Bi’an sees the light sprinkling of water coming from above and tells Wujiu to wait under the bridge. That they’ll continue their conversation after Bi’an fetches an umbrella.
Wujiu stares at the water pooling around his feet. The image of a letter to the local governor with enough details to make him look guilty drifts through his head.
He could leave, he thinks vaguely. Numbly. The rain had gotten heavier, the water already halfway to his knees.
He could leave, he thinks vaguely, faintly registering the fear swelling in his stomach at the sound of thunder clashing against his eardrums.
He could leave, he thinks vaguely, thinking of a kind, gentle man who loved drawing and umbrellas. Who loved him.
But Bi’an did tell him to stay under the bridge, didn’t he?
The water has come up to his waist. Fear and dread fester in his stomach, heart nearly pounding out of his rib cage. Where was Bi’an? Didn’t he say he was coming with an umbrella? Where was he? Why wasn’t he here yet? Did he abandon him?
Was Wujiu going to die alone?
Something selfish curls in his heart.
Bi’an left on purpose, didn’t he? Told him to wait under the bridge so he would drown to death due to his unwavering loyalty.
It didn’t matter whether Bi’an wanted him dead or not. Wujiu would wait for him, even if it meant drowning. For Fan Wujiu was a simple man, but for Xie Bi’an, he would do anything.
Fan Wujiu remembers pain. He remembers tears leaking from his eyes as he let his last breath slip from his lips, only managing to push his hand above the surface of the water in a desperate plea for help. He remembers thunder, drowning out any cries he hoped to get out.
But he’s not gone.
Fan Wujiu finds himself under the very same bridge he died at. He simply sits there, staring at the vacant spot where he once waited. Slowly, but surely, he pieces himself back together and remembers.
A familiar figure in white appears, clutching a dark umbrella in one hand and thick rope in the other. He tries to call out for him, tries to scream at him to not waste his life like this.
Fan Wujiu watches Xie Bi’an, his sworn brother, his closest companion, hang himself, and he can do nothing to stop him.
Fan Wujiu screams, and the world doesn’t answer.
Fan Wujiu pulls Xie Bi’an’s soul back together. He arranges the pieces, forms them into the man he once knew, and tucks both of them away into the black umbrella set where he once waited. A merchant passes under the bridge only a few hours after Bi’an hangs himself.
The merchant only bothers to pick up the umbrella. Wujiu can’t help the twisted sneer that leaves him when Bi’an’s body is left hanging there, can’t help the disgust that fills him as their umbrella is put on display inside the merchant’s house.
“This is our fate, isn’t it?” Bi’an sighs to him one day, voice faint. Drifting.
“Not if I have anything to say about it.”
As it turns out, Bi’an’s sighing and Wujiu’s remarks could be heard by those outside the umbrella. The umbrella is taken away by a taoist he can’t recognize. How long had it been? How long had they wasted away in that damned house, put on display like a sad toy?
He’s the one who pulled him into the umbrella, yet he’s the one who’s complaining. Bi’an simply stayed quiet, like he had always been these days.
They eventually end up on a ship. From what little information he can gather, they’re heading to a place called… Oletus Manor? He doesn’t care.
As long as they’re together, Fan Wujiu doesn’t care. So when their mixed distress of being surrounded by so much water and so much cold and wet and water he’s drowning i can’t reach him i cant cant im sorry sends the ship away to a place never to be seen again, he doesn’t even bat an eye.
If you had the opportunity to change your fate, would you?
...Of course.
How would you change it?
Wujiu would make sure he and Bi’an were still alive and together. What else would he want?
How interesting… Come to Oletus Manor. There, your wish will be granted.
Fan Wujiu is a simple man. He likes chinese compasses and calligraphy. He’s better than most when it comes to sword fighting. He’s more aggressive than most prefer, but he’s himself and that’s all that matters.
Fan Wujiu is a simple man, but for Xie Bi’an, he would do absolutely anything.
They arrive at Oletus Manor, and Fan Wujiu is happier than he’s been for a long time. He has a body, he can move and talk and finally breathe. He feels alive .
Fan Wujiu is happy, but he is also a monster. He ruthlessly hunts down people for the sickening sake of entertainment. He laughs at anyone who gets in his way, destroys and destroys and destroys because it’s the only thing he’s good at nowadays.
Fan Wujiu is a monster, but he is not alone. He can finally see Bi’an, can feel him and touch him. He is a monster, but Xie Bi’an is one too. They’re finally together again. Their inhuman bodies or cruel purpose doesn’t matter.
For the first time since Fan Wujiu watched their lives fall apart, the waves of self loathing stop lapping at his feet.