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Snow On The Stone, Cracks In The Ice
Sep. 11th, 2020 05:00 pmWhat is the 52nd rule of the Gusu Lan?
Lan Zhan knew the answer. It was one of the most basic precepts out of the three thousand that were etched across the great walls of Cloud Recesses. You did not show mercy to monsters, you fulfilled the clan motto of Be Righteous. Like resentful energy strikes at the the hearts of those who wield it, disrupting their temperment, so too did evil people corrupt the righteous. Influence was influence, whether it was power for cultivation or the sly words of a friend's voice in one's ear.
Do not befriend evil.
As he knelt straight on his knees, with rigid back and arms locked before him, Lan Zhan pondered what made man evil. He held the traditional Gusu Lan discipline whip in his hands, outstretched, as if offering it to his uncle, waiting for the Grandmaster Lan to free him from his punishment.
He knew the whip for it for what it was: a warning. That they were concerned he was going astray, led by the wicked Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian. He did not need the promise spelled out in its weight against his palms. If you walk this road with him, you will not be spared discipline. The Second Jade of Lan will bleed, same as any other Lan who would dare violate one of the most closely held precepts of the Gusu Lan.
I'll follow my single plank bridge to its dark end!
It had been the last thing that he had heard from the lips of Wei Wuxian himself, even if he was not speaking to Lan Zhan specifically. He was, perhaps, reassuring himself. That his path was narrow, but it was his to walk and he had chosen it, as he carried the child A-Yuan away with him to their shabby home and their near-barren land. Back to where a fierce corpse served tea and made medicine alongside his sister.
Leave the broad, crowded road for other people!
The hours passed as Lan Zhan contemplated the events of the day in relation to the 52nd rule. Could a man that kind to children be evil? Jin Guangshan was good to his legitimate son, but a monster to those he sired satiating his yawning appetite for young women. Was he evil? He saw some people as objects, did that not make him evil? Lan Xichen would still break bread with him, was not that befriending evil? Yet, Wei Wuxian had gone against this 'righteous' Sect Leader and saved the lives of the last of the Dafan Wen. How could Wei Wuxian be evil, when he acted to preserve life instead of end it? Wei Wuxian did not see the remnants of the Dafan Wen as objects, when clearly, they were little better than cattle to the Lanling Jin.
What is black, and what is white?
Wei Ying had asked Lan Zhan about absolutes before he had ridden away in his first act of defiance against the Great Sects. Did this not obligate him to give Wei Ying his friendship, still as steadfast as the mountains of Gusu, and let him know that there was someone who was still ready to help him should he finally turn away from wicked cultivation? That was not befriending evil; Wei Ying had been his friend for years now. He was troubled, certainly, and something was wrong with his cultivation -- but he was not evil. No one watched over a hardscrabble village like he did and be utterly corrupted.
You may leave now.
The thoughts had not resolved themselves, even as night came and Lan Zhan was relieved of his punishment. The discipline whip returned to its place in the hall, a reminder for all who would trespass against righteousness. He was cold and damp, and his legs ached. Despite all the creaks and complaints of his flesh, his mind still ran circles, again and again. Maybe his bright, easy path was not so broad. Perhaps it was not so bright or easy, either.
There were too many questions, and not enough answers. He would go to the jingshi, and meditate on it there before resting. Maybe then, he would come to a suitable answer for what being Wei Ying's friend really meant, for Lan Zhan himself and for the Gusu Lan.
Lan Zhan knew the answer. It was one of the most basic precepts out of the three thousand that were etched across the great walls of Cloud Recesses. You did not show mercy to monsters, you fulfilled the clan motto of Be Righteous. Like resentful energy strikes at the the hearts of those who wield it, disrupting their temperment, so too did evil people corrupt the righteous. Influence was influence, whether it was power for cultivation or the sly words of a friend's voice in one's ear.
Do not befriend evil.
As he knelt straight on his knees, with rigid back and arms locked before him, Lan Zhan pondered what made man evil. He held the traditional Gusu Lan discipline whip in his hands, outstretched, as if offering it to his uncle, waiting for the Grandmaster Lan to free him from his punishment.
He knew the whip for it for what it was: a warning. That they were concerned he was going astray, led by the wicked Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian. He did not need the promise spelled out in its weight against his palms. If you walk this road with him, you will not be spared discipline. The Second Jade of Lan will bleed, same as any other Lan who would dare violate one of the most closely held precepts of the Gusu Lan.
I'll follow my single plank bridge to its dark end!
It had been the last thing that he had heard from the lips of Wei Wuxian himself, even if he was not speaking to Lan Zhan specifically. He was, perhaps, reassuring himself. That his path was narrow, but it was his to walk and he had chosen it, as he carried the child A-Yuan away with him to their shabby home and their near-barren land. Back to where a fierce corpse served tea and made medicine alongside his sister.
Leave the broad, crowded road for other people!
The hours passed as Lan Zhan contemplated the events of the day in relation to the 52nd rule. Could a man that kind to children be evil? Jin Guangshan was good to his legitimate son, but a monster to those he sired satiating his yawning appetite for young women. Was he evil? He saw some people as objects, did that not make him evil? Lan Xichen would still break bread with him, was not that befriending evil? Yet, Wei Wuxian had gone against this 'righteous' Sect Leader and saved the lives of the last of the Dafan Wen. How could Wei Wuxian be evil, when he acted to preserve life instead of end it? Wei Wuxian did not see the remnants of the Dafan Wen as objects, when clearly, they were little better than cattle to the Lanling Jin.
What is black, and what is white?
Wei Ying had asked Lan Zhan about absolutes before he had ridden away in his first act of defiance against the Great Sects. Did this not obligate him to give Wei Ying his friendship, still as steadfast as the mountains of Gusu, and let him know that there was someone who was still ready to help him should he finally turn away from wicked cultivation? That was not befriending evil; Wei Ying had been his friend for years now. He was troubled, certainly, and something was wrong with his cultivation -- but he was not evil. No one watched over a hardscrabble village like he did and be utterly corrupted.
You may leave now.
The thoughts had not resolved themselves, even as night came and Lan Zhan was relieved of his punishment. The discipline whip returned to its place in the hall, a reminder for all who would trespass against righteousness. He was cold and damp, and his legs ached. Despite all the creaks and complaints of his flesh, his mind still ran circles, again and again. Maybe his bright, easy path was not so broad. Perhaps it was not so bright or easy, either.
There were too many questions, and not enough answers. He would go to the jingshi, and meditate on it there before resting. Maybe then, he would come to a suitable answer for what being Wei Ying's friend really meant, for Lan Zhan himself and for the Gusu Lan.
