Jiang Cheng and Lan XiChen open their eyes almost simultaneously; the only difference is that one is beaming while the other is distraught.

"Zewu Jun, what happened!?" Lan Bao enquires, making Jiang Cheng look at the older Jade, who he had expected to have contacted his brother as well.

"Were you unable to contact him?" Elder Bao guesses.

"It's not that," Zewu Jun pauses and closes his eyes, "Wangji is not willing to let us touch his core. He says that he will not allow it."

"Fuck!" Jiang Cheng exclaims, but almost immediately bows to the physician and apologizes before continuing, "But why? What is he afraid of?"

Zewu Jun shakes his head, "I don't know. Wangji has never done anything to shame our clan. He has always been an epitome of courage, loyalty, and bravery. What could be making him so apprehensive is beyond me!" The older Jade looks at the physician, "Elder, what should we do now?"

Lan Bao contemplates for a few moments before looking at Jiang Cheng, "Were you able to get through to the Yiling patriarch?" he questions; Jiang Cheng nods, "Yes, I told him everything you had asked me to convey to him, Elder."

"Did he have any questions?"

Jiang Cheng shakes his head, "Well, not exactly... "

"Please elaborate," The old man urges.

"Well, all he was interested in was Hanguang Jun's condition. And when I told him that Hanguang Jun was physically fine, he looked relieved."

The physician nods and looks at Zewu Jun. "Don't lose hope, Zewu Jun. Hanguang Jun cares for and values Wei WuXian, and we already know that they are soulmates," he pauses and looks at Jiang Cheng, "plus, Clan Leader Jiang was able to convince Yiling patriarch to cooperate. From what I saw at the cave, the man is very resourceful. I believe he has it in him to make Lan Wangji understand that what we suggest must be done."

 "Do you really think so, Elder?" The older Jade asks hopefully, and the physician nods, "Have faith, Zewu Jun. Love is the most powerful weapon there is. Now let us give them some time. And let us ready ourselves, for the road to healing them would drain you both as well.

The two clan leaders nod. "Just tell us what needs doing, Elder, and we will do it." They reply.

"The first thing we need to do is to form a link between the two of you." The Elder suggests, making color drains from Jiang Cheng's face, "What!?"

*******

Wei Ying opens his eyes and finds himself in cloud ressess. More specifically, the cold cave. The place where Lan Zhan and himself had seen the one and only Lady Elder of Lan sect, when he was still a student. 

His eyes fall first on the white rabbits and then on Lan Zhan, who had appeared there out of thin air. 

 "Lan Zhan!" Wei Ying exclaims excitedly and runs to his husband; he wraps his arms around the light bearer and buries his face in the older man's neck. 

Lan Zhan returns the embrace, "I was looking for you, Wei Ying." He pauses and leans back just enough to look at his husband's face, "Are you cold?"

Wei Ying nods. "How did you know?" He asks, bewildered. For as far as the Yiling patriarch could remember, he had never told Lan Zhan that he did not like cold weather. 

Lan Zhan feels confused as well, "I just knew it." he replies, "Let's get out of water." he suggests, holding Wei Ying's wrist, and walking towards a relatively dry patch of land. 

"Sit." Lan Zhan instructs, almost pushing Wei Ying to the floor. 

"Join me, husband." Wei Ying demands, batting his long lashes, patting the space next to him. 

"Don't you want to get out of here?" Lan Zhan enquires, his eyes narrow at Wei Ying, who is smiling up at him. 

"Hanguang Jun, now why would I want to do that?" he asks, quirking his brow, "I am in a cold secluded place with my scorching hot husband, who I have missed." Wei Ying winks at his husband and bites his lower lip seductively; he lies down on the cold floor, "Hanguang Jun, let's enjoy this moment before it gets taken away from us." He whispers, opening his arms, beckoning Lan Zhan to join him. 

Lan Zhan stands frozen on the spot. His eyes rake over Wei Ying's uninjured body, and he realizes that they are dreaming. 

'Why are we here?' the light bearer wonders, taking a step towards his husband. But before Lan Zhan can join Wei Ying, the men hear one loud splash shortly followed by the other.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying sits up and joins his husband, "It's the time when we met..."

"When we acquired the first piece of Yin iron." Lan Zhan interrupts, pointing towards their younger selves.

 "You will tie the headband around me in a bit." Wei Ying recalls, moving closer to Lan Zhan.

"Mn." The older man nods, wrapping his arms around Wei Ying's middle, "Wei Ying, I missed you." The light bearer kisses the shell of his husband's ear. 

"We are married, you don't have to give me a reason for touching me, Hanguang Jun." Wei Ying replies, his eyes follow their younger selves as they approach the revered woman and receive the cursed object. 

"I wish I hadn't accepted it that day." Lan Zhan says wishful. 

"How would that have helped?"

"I don't know... things changed after that... " Lan Zhan replies, remorse tainting his voice. 

"Forget about the past, Hanguang Jun. We can't change it. All we can do is hope for a better future and do our best to make it happen." Wei Ying suggests, bringing up Lan Zhan's palm to his cheek, "You are so hot," he mutters under his breath. 

"Mn?"

"I mean, your hands are warm." Wei Ying elaborates and kisses Lan Zhan's wrist, "Once we are back, I want you to tie me up again, just like that." He says, pointing at their younger selves. 

"Wei Ying?"

"Mn?"

"You know that something is making us see our past, right?" 

"Yes, I have figured out as much, Lan Zhan. But there is more to it than that. We are being shown things that our minds have forgotten."

"Or those we were made to forget." Lan Zhan adds, feeling guilty. 

Wei Ying turns in his arms, "Why are you like this!? Why don't you believe me when I tell you that I love you. Maybe I have always loved you. You know how stupid I was back then."

"You love me now, " Lan Zhan states, "but back then... " He trails off when they hear their younger selves argue. 

Both of them watch as the younger Lan Zhan drags his companion through the cold pond, searching for an exit. 

"Lan Zhan, I don't remember this, do you?" Wei Ying asks his husband, who shakes his head, "All I remember is tumbling out of the cave with you on top of me." Lan Zhan recalls. 

"Maybe this is why we are here. I reckon something else happened here that we forgot about." Wei Ying guesses. 

'But I did not take advantage of Wei Ying here. I don't remember doing anything...' Lan Zhan wonders, looking at Wei Ying guiltily. "Maybe." Lan Zhan nods, agreeing with his husband. 

The cultivators watch as their younger selves find a dry patch of land just like they had done minutes before.

"I wonder what we did here?" Wei Ying wonders aloud, mischievously winking at Lan Zhan. He had figured out that all the memories that were lost had certain common elements; all of them were times they had gotten intimate with each other. 

Lan Zhan suddenly stands up. For he too had figured out what they might see next; the thought of what he might have done; how far he might have gone, scares the light bearer. "We must leave!" Lan Zhan urges, trying to turn away from Wei Ying, but the younger had already anticipated his move this time around. He turns swiftly and plasters himself to his husband. He bites the shell of Lan Zhan's ear and whispers, "I want to see what you did; what I did. I want to know and remember everything we did, and I want you to do it to me all over again."

Lan Zhan struggles to free himself, but the younger's hold on him tightens; he pulls the light bearer closer, "Don't you dare leave me like you did before, or I will flirt with all the girls and boys from all the sects, irrespective of whether they are in a relationship or not. Do you understand, Hanguang Jun?" Wei Ying pauses and loosens his grip on his husband and kisses the corner of his lips, "Now be good, alright?"

Lan Zhan feels turned on. He likes it when Wei Ying is demanding; he gives in, "Ok, but promise me that whatever happens, you will not hate me."

"Deal." Wei Ying smiles, and the cultivators look at the things unfold in front of them. 

Minutes tick by, and Wei Ying watches himself get pulled into Lan Zhan's lap. 

 The chaste way in which the young Lan Zhan tries to warm him up and the innocent kisses that follow move the Yiling patriarch to the core. 

Meanwhile, Lan Zhan's eyes widen in surprise, for this time, it had been Wei Ying and not him, that had initiated the kiss. He was glad that, for once, he had not taken advantage of Wei Ying. 

'I was so fucking stupid back then! I clearly had feelings for Lan Zhan since then and failed to realize it. Like a fool, I thought that my feelings were a result of something magical. Damn it, Wei Ying!' The Yiling patriarch curses his younger self. 

As their younger selves fall asleep, Wei Ying turns to Lan Zhan once again, "Lan Zhan, I need to talk to you." He says, squatting down and pulling Lan Zhan next to him. 

Lan Zhan doesn't resist. He had decided that whatever it was that Wei Ying wanted to tell him, he would listen. 

Wei Ying holds his husband's hands in his, "Lan Zhan, Jiang Cheng visited me." He says calmly. 

Lan Zhan's body stiffens, "Brother visited me as well."

"Good. So you know what is expected of us, right?" Wei Ying looks at Lan Zhan and nods. 

"I can't do it, Wei Ying." Lan Zhan replies and looks away from his husband, "I can't let anyone in. I can't let anyone see it."

*****

"Elder, what do you mean by forming a link?" Jiang Cheng asks, fearing the worse.

"It's simple. All you have to do is open your minds and hearts to each other, so that your cores can communicate with each other. Once your cores get acquainted, you will be able to feel things together. Think of it as temporary merging of cores."

As the physician continues to speak, Jiang Cheng's heart starts racing faster and faster.

"Once your cores have merged, you will link with Lan Wangji and Wei Ying; direct your combined energies into Wei Ying's body, and from where it will flow into their combined core. Thus, both Lan Wangji and Wei WuXian will easily be able to latch on to it and begin the healing process."

As soon as the old man has finished explaining, Zewu Jun voices his query, "Elder, you mentioned that we would need all the higher level cultivators to help us with this. I was wondering what you meant by that?"

"Ah, yes, I almost forgot about that," The old man says, stroking his pale white beard, "Since Lan Wangji's core is heavily damaged, I am afraid that even your combined cores may not be sufficient to heal it. And even if it does, it may weaken you both." The old man's face turns serious, "It may even damage your cores permanently."

"I don't care if it does. I owe it to Wangji. He and Master Wei are in this state because of me." Zewu Jun blurts out; guilt washes over him in waves.

"That's all good, but are you sure you are willing to damage Clan leader Jiang's core as well. Please remember, the core that runs through him belongs to the Yiling patriarch." Lan Bao reminds the guilt-ridden man.

Lan XiChen realizes what he had said, and he immediately looks at Jiang Cheng, intending to apologize for his mindless offer. But to his surprise, Jiang Cheng had a dazed look in his eyes as if lost in thought.

Lan XiChen wonders if had hurt Jiang Cheng's feelings. The truth, however, was that Jiang had spaced out after coming to know that for the plan to work, his feelings would have to be exposed to Lan XiChen; it had made him miss everything that Zewu Jun had just suggested.

"Jiang Cheng?" The older Jade calls, dragging Jiang Cheng out of his reprieve, "Yes?" The younger man asks, feeling scared and apprehensive of the results that the temporary core merging may cause.

"What's the matter?" Zewu Jun asks, but Jiang Cheng doesn't respond. Instead, he looks at the physician and enquires, "Elder, when you say that we have to open our minds and hearts, what exactly do you mean?"

{Note :- My apologies for the late update and thank you for your continued support ❤

Please point out my errors if you come across any.

Extra Info :-
Putting it here since not many read announcements and may of you are not following me.
Past few days I have been super busy and right now I an not feeling well (cough and cold... runny nose is an inconvenience when one is trying to draft... Lol)
My eye situation has not improved, but not worsened either, so I will try and update as and when I can.
For those who are reading, 'Mine' I will try to update it in a day days. I will also slowly start updating The Fine print and Us and Them. As for destinies, it will take a little more time... (science fiction is a challenge and I want to do justice to it, so it will be a little delayed)

That's it for now.

Please Vote for this update if you have enjoyed it.

Thank you for reading.
Have a nice day.}