(align:"=><=")+(box:"X")[#SONG LAN'S HORRIBLE DAY
]<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/d0/d9/0e/d0d90eb064ed76cd7b90b332ecf6867e.jpg">
[[***What is this?***]]
It is a beautiful morning, and Song Lan arrives at Yi City.
Inquiring about the whereabouts of Xiao Xingchen, he is led to a run-down yizhuang, where he finally finds his long-lost friend.
But... Gasp! There is a man talking with him. And this man is non other than the dastardly Xue Yang!
He is so overcome with shock and fury, that he can't react before the murderer leaves the house for a grocery run.
What should Song Lan do?
[[Go talk to Xiao Xingchen.]]
[[Follow Xue Yang.]]Song Lan rejoins his long-lost friend, and gives him a terrible warning. That man, the stranger he's been living with all this while, is none other than... Xue Yang!
[[Xiao Xingchen is aghast!]]
[[...Xiao Xingchen sheepishly admits he is aware of that]]Xue Yang is walking back with a basket full of vegetables when Song Lan crosses his path. He overcomes his surprise in seconds flat; then leaves the basket by a tree and starts a conversation while reaching for his sword. Song Lan knows he shouldn't listen to a word from his venomous tongue, but...
[[What if he has something interesting to say?]]
[[Never mind. Less talk-y, more fight-y!]]Xiao Xingchen is horrified when he hears. Chengmei, his good friend for the last three years, is Xue Yang! It is unbeliavable...
But time is running short, and it is time to make a decision.
[[Staying to confront Xue Yang]]
[[Grab a-Qing and run for your lives!]]How surprising! Apparently, three years is a long time and Xiao Xingchen is not an idiot. He put the pieces together without Xue Yang realising, and decided to keep it to himself. As expected, Song Lan isn't exactly happy...
(align:"=><=")+(bg:white)[<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27531391">Keep reading</a>]
Wanna try a different timeline? [[Go back]] to the beginning.Xue Yang arrives home with his basket full of vegetables. Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan are waiting for him...
(align:"=><=")+(bg:white)[<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27609497">Keep reading</a>]
Wanna try a different timeline? [[Go back]] to the beginning.The two daoshi and a-Qing escape Yi City in a hurry. Not a word, not a letter left behind. Who knows what Xue Yang will think when he gets back home? Who know what he'll do...
(align:"=><=")+(bg:white)[<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052361">Keep reading</a>]
Wanna try a different timeline? [[Go back]] to the beginning.Song Lan parries and listens. Turns out the monster //does// have something to say! Even if it's a terrible kind of emotional blackmail, the damage he can do left unchecked is devastating. And right now, his death won't be an absolute advantatge either... What's poor Song Lan to do, but follow his game?
(align:"=><=")+(bg:white)[<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28960944/chapters/71066484">Keep reading</a>]
Wanna try a different timeline? [[Go back]] to the beginning.A terrible clashing of swords ensues! The rage-filled daozhang has the upperhand, but Xue Yang's teasing words cut deeper than his blade. What an exciting and dreadful battle! Will the murderer's dirty tricks overcome the might of Song Lan? Will good prevail over evil? Who will win?
[[No, yes. Song Lan, of course!]]
[[Yes, no. Xue Yang, of course!]]With a swift move, Song Lan stabs his foe cleanly through the heart. The young murderer falls heavy on the ground, barely registering hurried steps coming in their direction.
//Huh//, thinks Xue Yang, //it seems Daozhang heard us after all...//
(align:"=><=")+(bg:white)[<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27105409">Keep reading</a>]
Wanna try a different timeline? [[Go back]] to the beginning.Painfully words tearing into his heart, Song Lan missteps and is immediately bombarded by a mist of corpse powder. Right as he opens his mouth to cough it out, his tongue is cut out in a well-practiced slash! And before he can process the whole thing, Xiao Xingchen's sword is pircing through his chest. Wide-eyed, he can but faintly wail at his long-lost friend. Oh, the tragedy!
Xiao-daozhang is clueless at first. But the truth comes eventually out! And he's so overcome with grief and guilt, coupled with the shock of discovering his companion's //true// identity, that he cuts his own throat.
Xue Yang is there to bare witness...
[[...and can only watch in horror as his friend takes his life.]]
[[...and immediately springs to action. Close the wound! Don't you dare die on me, Daozhang!]]Before Xue Yang can fully register what's going on, Xiao Xingchen lies still on the ground, blood cascading from his jade-white neck and staining his spotless robes. Rather surprised by his own grief, the murderer quickly finds solace in denial. He's the greatest demonic cultivator alive, after all! What's a little resurrection to him? He'll have Daozhang by his side in no time at all!
...will he?
[[No, he won't. Every attempt is a disaster.]]
[[Yes, in fact. And it is also a disaster.]]Xue Yang keeps a deeply unhappy Xiao Xingchen from dying, and then from killing himself again. Well, that is certainly not healthy...
(align:"=><=")+(bg:white)[<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/38398348/chapters/95958151">Keep reading</a>]
Wanna try a different timeline? [[Go back]] to the beginning.The shattered pieces of Xiao Xingchen's soul aren't strong enough, //willing enough// to be brought back to life. Xue Yang tries time and again, tries tirelessly, until he finally accepts there is no way out of this loss.
There are no more decisions to be made. Nothing can undo the damage.
At this point, you have followed verbatim the canon events of Mo Dao Zu Shi. You know the story already (or, if you don't, what are you doing here?? Go read the thing>w<), so why not try again with a different turn of events?
[[Go back]] The resurrection ritual is a success! Sure, Daozhang comes back a bit weird and amnesiac, but all's good that's good for me.
Excep all's not good, not at all...
(align:"=><=")+(bg:white)[<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26879725">Keep reading</a>]
Wanna try a different timeline? [[Go back]] to the beginning.SONG LAN'S HORRIBLE DAY is an interactive timeline of events of the Yi City arc of Mo Dao Zu Shi; particularly, all the possible outcomes that were imagined and written by Archive of Our Own's artist [<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lise/pseuds/Lise">Lise</a>].
I read them, enjoyed them deeply and got mightily confused at some point, so this guideline came to life. I invite you to follow the timeline: every choice has consequences and leads to a different story. Some are sad, some are less sad, and all of them are marvelous.
Wanna give it a try? [[Go back]] to the beginning.
All credit goes to them who deserve it: Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and Lise.