[ open post: Lan Wangji and guests ]

[lightbearinglord]

In the wake of his disorienting and unpleasant stint in Gu Xiang's body, Lan Wangji has done his utmost to resume and enjoy all of his usual pursuits. He has, he believes, thoroughly made up for his lapse in his promise to Wei Ying. He has wielded kitchen knives, his ink brush, and Bichen with precision and enthusiasm. He has sunk into long, restorative shichen of meditation. He has, at Claudius' behest, thoroughly perused Emily Post's instructions regarding how to conduct oneself as the best man at a wedding.

There is the matter of his qin, too. The discovery of the spirit in Gideon's sword struck Lan Wangji with greater surprise than he might have expected. Such things were once commonplace for him; he hardly went two weeks, before he came to this place, without finding himself called to some night-hunt. He does not like to believe that he could become complacent, and he has always practiced diligently, but still.

The tableau is a familiar one: a certain parlor near the entryway of the mansion, one that often houses this particular cultivator along with his spiritual instrument. Wangji is balanced on a table at the center of the room, polished black wood gleaming and strings freshly tuned, and Lan Wangji sits cross-legged before it. He is not actually playing it at this precise moment, however, because he currently has guests. A small white rabbit sits next to the qin, munching his way through a piece of lettuce. An equally small brown rabbit is perched in the crook of Lan Wangji's elbow, eyeing his brother with some envy. Ostensibly, the rabbits are in trouble, because they have recently laid waste to Lan Wangji's copy of Emma. It is impossible to tell, because Lan Wangji is petting Danding's head with exactly as much solemn focus as always.

Comments

[onthewillowsthere]

"It is a presence?" He doesn't entirely understand, but he sits attentively, back perfectly straight.

[lightbearinglord]

"In a sense. It is impossible to define, by its nature." Lan Wangji considers how best to phrase this. Danding's chin is tucked against his knee, and Xiaoxue is quietly grooming himself. "Everything flows from it. Qi, yin and yang, beauty and ugliness, strength and weakness."

[onthewillowsthere]

"That is like the Holy Spirit."

[lightbearinglord]

"The Holy Spirit?" Lan Wangji prompts.

[onthewillowsthere]

"The Holy Spirit is a presence that emanates from God. It is what allows men to perform miracles and be filled with charisms. The fire inside my body is from the Holy Ghost. It is of a substance with God and Christ."

[lightbearinglord]

"Tao emanates from nothing but itself. It simply is." A pause. He is taking Galahad's words seriously, as little as he believes the truth of them. "It nourishes the ten thousand things, and yet is not their lord. It has no aim; it is very small."

[onthewillowsthere]

It makes him think of himself telling Gideon how he looked for small choices, small purposes. To be a life-giving force, in communion with all things, but to be equally very small, with no great desires -- it would be nice, to be holy, to matter, but for that mattering to be beneath the notice of most people.

"How is it honored?" he asks.

[lightbearinglord]

"Stillness. Meditation. Self-cultivation." There are a hundred possible answers he could give. "Laozi taught that the three treasures are compassion, simplicity, and humility."

[onthewillowsthere]

Galahad nods.

[lightbearinglord]

"From compassion comes courage. From simplicity comes generosity. From humility comes leadership." In his lap, Xiaoxue is also settling and beginning to doze a little. He pets the rabbit's cheek lightly, not enough to stir him back to wakefulness, only enough to soothe him.

[onthewillowsthere]

These are teachings, not Lan Wangji's own words, Galahad thinks. He listens quietly. It feels important that Lan Wangji would share his own scriptures and rules, knowing that Galahad doesn't believe them -- it's important for him to hear.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji takes a little pause after that. He could, theoretically, simply recite the entirety of the Tao Te Ching, but if Galahad truly wants to pursue that, the mansion library will most likely offer up a copy to him. "These teachings, and those of the Buddha, are the foundation of my cultivation," he says, then, at length. "My clan was founded by Lan An, who was once a renowned monk."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Did you know him? Or was it before your time?"

[lightbearinglord]

"He lived several hundred years before my time. He left his temple and resumed a worldly life to pursue music. When he met his fated cultivation partner, he founded the Gusu Lan clan." The faintest hint of a smile pulls at Lan Wangji's mouth. Long ago, Wei Ying and his friends teased him about this story, asking how such a romantic ancestor could produce such an unromantic descendant.

[onthewillowsthere]

"His cultivation partner?"

[lightbearinglord]

"As Wei Ying is to me." Another short pause. Lan Wangji wants to describe this accurately. Once, he was terrified to love in the way that he does. He saw what it did to his father, the way the elders spoke of his parents. It means something to him to think of his ancestor in this way now. "We are married; we share life and death. We walk the same path and seek the same truths. Wherever our path leads, we will find that end together."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Is cultivation love?"

[lightbearinglord]

"No." He has known too many cruel and powerful cultivators to mistake the two. "Most cultivation is undertaken in solitude."

[onthewillowsthere]

"What is cultivation?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Cultivation is the practice of gathering and refining qi." For Galahad, and because he is caught in the rhythm of their exchange, Lan Wangji doesn't succumb to any of his occasional irritation at having to explain this yet again. "Meditation and discipline strengthen one's spiritual power."

[onthewillowsthere]

"If qi is like breath, how can it be refined?"

[lightbearinglord]

"With patience and practice, it is possible to expand the capacity of one's lungs, to breathe more deeply and for longer. In the same way, through meditation, it is possible to expand the capacity of one's meridians, and ultimately to form a golden core that acts as a permanent store of spiritual power."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Is spiritual power what lets you fly on your sword?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Yes. Bichen has its own qi, and it answers to me."

[onthewillowsthere]

"Can a person like me learn cultivation?" It's not something he wants to learn: he's just trying to be clear on what kind of person can do so.