if I had the strength
is a For Want Of A Nail Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi fanfic, written by agloeian on Archive of Our Own.
In this AU, Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli understand they're not properly equipped to help Wei Wuxian on the road to recovery from the trauma inflicted by the Sunshot Campaign — so they decide to send him to Gusu Lan under Lan Wangji's watch.
Wei Wuxian doesn't take it well. Then he stumbles upon a little house lost in a field of blue flowers...
Contains the following tropes
- Achievements in Ignorance: Gusu Lan managed to trap a Heavenly Official for several decades, and their Sect Leader later successfully romanced the goddess. Since she never told anyone of her true nature, they never actually knew what they did.
- And I Must Scream: Shun Lijuan was trapped in the house she died, unable to move on, unable to make herself heard, for a decade and a half. Her son and said son's friend are so horrified by her fate that they immediately work on freeing her.
- Angel Unaware: Shun Lijuan was a Heavenly Official sent on a mission in the Mortal Realm. Unfortunately, it worked against her as she couldn't explain her beloved Lan Weiwen that no, she wasn't a murderer, she was slaying a corrupted spirit.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Since Empathy carries an extremely high risk of spiritual hijacking or being driven to insanity, cultivators tend to balk at using it, and never when alone.
- Demonic Possession:
- Hinted to be why Shun Lijuan was accused from murder — she could slay the corrupted spirit, but she couldn't rescue its host.
- This is how Madam Lan is finally freed from the Gentian House, as Wei Wuxian willingly lets her slip inside his body to leave the wards. Since he actually consented and she quickly gave the body back to him, it was very much a benign example.
- Deus ex Machina: A literal example, since Shun Lijuan is a goddess — she grants Wei Wuxian a golden core back, as it's barely noticeable an effort for her, and she really wants for her younger son to be happy with his boyfriend.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Wei Wuxian's departure for the Cloud Recesses has strong vibes of a disturbed family member being forcefully locked away in a mental hospital or rehab — something that isn't helped by his siblings finding him drunk and telling him they asked for Lan Wangji to come and take him immediately after.
- Evil-Detecting Baby: Kids apparently are naturally attuned to negative energy — being near the Gentian House creeps Jingyi enough for him to go back to the nursery in spite of not liking it.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Wei Wuxian treats his siblings asking for Lan Wangji to try and help him as a punishment, and refuses to believe their reassurances that they only want for him to get better.
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Shun Lijuan went rather desperate to escape the Gentian House with time, as she couldn't go back to Heaven and was threatened with fading as her worshippers were forgetting her. After dying and being left alone for several years, her despair overwhelms Wei Wuxian to the point he almost injures himself as he's using Empathy to communicate with her ghost.
- Happily Adopted: In the last chapter, Jingyi officially becomes Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's ward.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Jingyi turns Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji as soggy as wet paper with his toddler enthusiasm and candor.
- Internal Reveal:
- Wei Wuxian is stunned to learn the late Madam Lan was locked away in the Cloud Recesses.
- Lan Wangji learns his beloved actually lost his golden core right after the problem is fixed.
- Interspecies Romance: Lan Weiwen was a human cultivator who fell in love with an undercover Heavenly Official, and later married her. When she remembers her, it seems the relationship was genuinely fond in spite of him accidentally imprisoning her forever in the Gentian House.
- Loophole Abuse: Madam Lan cannot leave the Gentian House, but other people can. When she slips within Wei Wuxian's body, the wards don't register her as "Shun Lijuan", finally allowing her to escape her prison.
- Named by the Adaptation: Madam Lan is identified as Shun Lijuan and Qingheng-jun as Lan Weiwen.
- Semi-Divine: Since their mother was a Heavenly Official, the Twin Jades of Lan technically are demi-gods. However, they are fully human if more talented and beautiful than many others.
- Sequel Hook: The story closes on Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji preparing themselves to be reunited with the Jiang siblings on the Phoenix Mountain hunt.
- Spotting the Thread: Vegetation near the Gentian House is wilting out of season. That combined to Jingyi's uneasiness allows Wei Wuxian to understand there is something wrong inside the house.
- Tough Love: Jiang Cheng cannot let his brother destroying himself by practicing demonic cultivation, so he forces him to leave for the Cloud Recesses in which Wei Wuxian will be forced to rest and heal — basically the xianxia equivalent of locking your sibling in rehab for his drinking problem.
