𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝑭𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝟏𝟕 - 𝑼𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒅𝒆𝒃𝒖𝒕

Looking himself at in the mirror, Wei Wuxian was currently sitting on a surprisingly decent low-stylist chair with a long black cape covering his upper body and legs. It was a little uncomfortable and odd having his arms covered and underneath the fabric, but his priorities were not there.

An older woman standing behind his chair, with whom he was already familiar due to her regularly squatting with Madam Jiang and the other neighbors, gently pulled out the hair tie holding his hair in a low ponytail.

"Oh my, You have a lot of hair-" She said, clearly not accustomed to seeing a man with such graciously long hair before. Wei Ying chuckled as he looked at her reflection in the mirror, and glanced to the side. "I'll take that as a compliment." He playfully answered, while she separated his hair into two parts, and gently straightened them out in front of his shoulders with her hands.

"Have you ever cut your hair before?" She asked curiously, and to her surprise, he shook his head. "This would be my first time." He admitted, his smile revealing a hint of determination mixed with hesitation.

"Dear heavens- that is a rare occurrence for men these days." She commented, which once again reinforced his hypothesis of this being the future rather than a completely different universe. If that is the case, then he technically never left his world, but simply awoke in a different time frame - and that would for example explain the strong cultural links between this modern China and the ancient China he originally comes from, such as the painting on Madam Jiang's restaurant wall.

The only problem in this hypothesis is the absence of cultivation, the inexistence of the golden core, and of ghosts and monsters in this world. Then again, to understand that, he would need to understand the history of this country and analyze if, why, and how things changed in spiritual matters. 

"How would you like to cut it? Do you have an idea?" The woman's voice forced him out of his profound trance, and he stared at his reflection in doubt. He was not certain about what he should do, but fortunately, the hairdresser understood that immediately. After all, someone who's never cut their hair before will inevitably have this kind of uncertainty. Moreover, despite seemingly willing to move forward with it, the hint of hesitation on Wei Wuxian's expression was enough for her to take a step back and try out a different direction first.

"Wei Ying, first I'd like to know. Is there a particular reason why you want to cut your hair?" She asked with a rather gentle tone, hoping to help him figure out his mind with complete certainty. Hair could always grow back, but his case seemed particularly delicate - as if it had a symbolic meaning to it. She did not know what, but she could simply tell by his reaction.

Wei Ying looked at her a little surprised, considering how she almost figured out the whole purpose of this, even without knowing his story.

"And don't say it's because you simply need a haircut, because I am not buying that" she added with a chuckle, which somehow put him at ease. He could easily open up about his reasons without mentioning his true origins, and perhaps that would indeed help him.

"My hair....holds too many memories." He finally admitted, his eyes looking at nothing in particular. "....But in order to move forward, I need to let go of them first."

He said after a brief pause, and it looks like he had uttered the actual reason out loud for the first time. The hairdresser listened attentively and hummed a little while in thought.

"And is your hair the only trace of your past?" She asked him, almost as if she already knew the answer. "No." He replied but looked up at the mirror to face her. "But it's a big part of it." This time, he sounded more confident and nodded. That's all she was hoping to see.