The whole WangXian fiasco must have been so weird and shocking to an ordinary cultivator like
Most likely after the events leading to his death, the story of Wei Wuxian's first life had been widely talked about and rewritten. People loved to gossip, too, so the story could have gotten even more skewed as years passed.
So imagine you were an everyday cultivator. You think you know things, such as:
Hanguang-jun! Is the esteemed hero! So good! So pure! Handsome poster boy of the cultivation world! He is a war hero and one of the great movers who led cultivators to victory against the Wens! He is someone every cultivator son hopes to be! Sects sent marriage proposals to him for their daughters but got rejected but that's cool man s'cool
And there was the arrogant villain, ex-Jiang Sect Golden Boy then Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian. He's remembered for when he was still part of the Jiang Sect. Cultivators would think back and think they never liked him even then after all. Sure he was good, but he was also kinda cocky, so no surprise he ended up defecting. It was said he wanted to rebuild the Wen Sect, so good thing he died before that happened.
Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian were peers and even classmates for a time, but it's said they also bickered all the time even then. Didn't seem like they got along, and why would they? Hanguang-jun is so pure, and Wei Wuxian was a villain from the start.
During the war, it was also said that Hanguang-jun was one of the very few people who could control Wei Wuxian. Poor Hanguang-jun, he just can't resist correcting a rebel. The cultivation world is lucky to have him, keeping bad people in their place.
Alas! In the end, not even Hanguang-jun could stop Wei Wuxian. They faced off in Bu Ye Tian and there Wei Wuxian died, but unfortunately not before the cultivation world suffered huge losses, too. They said it was all his fault, and that was not difficult to believe. He was an evil cultivator, after all.
The cultivation world found some peace for a time, but suddenly news come in: the Yiling Patriarch is back! Not only that, but all this time it was thought that Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian did not get along. But then, more strange news from Lanling: not only was Hanguang-jun there with the villainous Yiling Patriarch, but also
Eh? Hanguang-jun? Our Hanguang-jun, the Hanguang-jun? They even said Hanguang-jun helped Wei Wuxian escape capture!
Hanguang-jun! How could you?
But then uh, what-- what is happening?
Seriously though, what is happening? Is Wei Wuxian not the villain this time around? Does he-- not want innocent cultivators dead?
What! Chief Cultivator Jin was the villain? He had the Yin Tiger Seal all along??
As if this wasn't difficult enough to swallow, Hanguang-jun and Wei Wuxian continue to stay together and even weirder rumors and things start to spread and they
Sure, Hanguang-jun became chief cultivator and Wei Wuxian was seen travelling on his own, but that did not really last long, did it? In no time they are seen together again and--
They are what now? Cultivation partners???????
