Despite the author's claims that everyone else besides Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji is straight, there is still some subtext between certain characters.
Any details which describe the Official Couple Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian's relationship goes to the Ship Tease section.
- Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian (ChengXian) have the childhood buddies-turned-enemies-turned-strangers thing going on. While their relationship is strictly platonic, it's not that difficult to see some aspects of their relationship in a romantic context if you look at them from a certain angle:
- Jiang Cheng has a dark obsession with Wei Wuxian even during the time he's dead, to the point of hanging on to Chenqing and capturing other demonic cultivators just because they might be him.
- While Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji's mutual animosity over Wei Wuxian qualifies mainly for a Friend Versus Lover situation, their friction can come off as a Cock Fight over Wei Wuxian's affections, with Jiang Cheng acting as the bitter ex and Lan Wangji being Wei Wuxian's current flame. It helps that Jiang Cheng is canonically envious of their relationship because in his mind, Lan Wangji is "stealing" Wei Wuxian from him. It's also established that in the finale, Jiang Cheng decides to let go of Wei Wuxian and let him be happy with Lan Wangji, an act that could easily be seen in a romantic light.
- The Venerated Triad of Nie Mingjue, Lan Xichen, and Jin Guangyao are often talked about as a set since their sworn brotherhood is so central to the plot.
- Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao (XiYao) are the closest out of the trio: Jin Guangyao shows nothing but respect for Lan Xichen, that even when the latter is being held hostage by him, Jin Guangyao treats Lan Xichen with the utmost respect despite, you know, being a villain. Lan Xichen is also the only character to not hold Jin Guangyao's past against him and give him constant respect and protection as a brother, and tends to shield Jin Guangyao as well. The donghua also adds a scene after the Twin Jades' parents' backstory reveal where Lan Xichen explains how he he was saved by Jin Guangyao during the Sunshot Campaign, directly comparing the two relationships (as well as Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian's) and making it seem like Lan Xichen holds similar affection to Jin Guangyao that his father held for his mother. In the end, despite stabbing at the climax due to a trick by Nie Huaisang, Lan Xichen secludes himself out of grief over Jin Guangyao's death and betrayal.
- Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao's dynamic (NieYao). Jin Guangyao started out under the Nie Clan's flag, and climbed the ranks to become Nie Mingjue's assistant. He was all-around very good, to the point that Nie Mingjue personally recommended Jin Guangyao to the Jin Clan in hopes that Jin Guangyao would gain his father's recognition (being illegitimate and all). Then Nie Mingjue caught Jin Guangyao killing the Bad Boss who's been stealing Jin Guangyao's war credit, and being the Knight Templar he was (to put it mildly) disappointed. The swearing of their brotherhood provided Nie Mingjue an excuse to monitor Jin Guangyao, but the friction between them, as well as the pressure Jin Guangyao was facing from his father too, got to the point where Jin Guangyao made his choice, and dismembered Nie Mingjue and scattered him across half of current northern China.
- While the least explored out of the trio, Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen (NieLan) seemed to have a close relationship even before becoming sworn brothers. This is further evidenced by how Nie Mingjue never lost his temper at Lan Xichen, the latter's close relationship with the younger Nie brother Nie Huaisang, and how Nie Mingjue is able to recognize him just by the sound of his flute even as a headless fierce corpse that Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian combined were having trouble subduing.
- The "Poisonous Friends" extra chapter shows how creepily well Jin Guangyao got along with Xue Yang during the Time Skip, back when the latter was a guest disciple of the Lanling Jin clan.
- Both Xue Yang and Song Lan have a strong fixation on Xiao Xingchen, for different reasons:
- Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang lived together for several years, and after the former's death the latter spent years trying to revive him. Xue Yang gets especially angered when Xiao Xingchen's sword is taken from him, demanding it be returned to him and he held onto the last candy the latter ever gave to him despite it now being too hard and blackened to eat. The donghua teases the relationship more with Xue Yang after being captured by Xiao Xingchen leaning over so he's whispering in his ear and saying that they will meet again. A donghua-only scene also has Xue Yang desperately grasping at the spirit energy leaving the Xiao Xingchen's body after the latter's death, and even attempting to stop the blood flowing from Xiao Xingchen's neck, although it's already too late. The camera shifts to Xue Yang's perspective as it's clear he's doing everything he can to not cry and he actually looks at his bloodied hands in genuine horror knowing Xiao Xingchen's death is his fault.
- Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen were incredibly close, knowing the other like the back of their hands and traveling the world together. They had dreams of forming a sect together that valued common ideals over blood ties. Xiao Xingchen even willingly gave up his eyes for Song Lan despite the two falling out soon afterwards. Song Lan then travelled for years in order to find Xiao Xingchen again to apologize. When Xiao Xingchen was tricked into killing him, Song Lan decided not to pass his sword to Xiao Xingchen to spare him the pain of knowing what he has done. When he did find out, Xiao Xingchen killed himself. After the entire Yi City arc, Song Lan returns to his travels with Xiao Xingchen's spirit in a pouch, alongside their two swords strapped to his back.
- The junior cultivators bond with each other throughout the story especially when they get together to investigate Yi City, with the main trio in particular having chummy scenes (or at least snappy moments that could be mistaken for romantic tension):
- Lan Sizhui and Jin Ling, as the juniors with the most plot importance, share a few tense scenes together, such as their argument over Wei Wuxian while eating dinner and Jin Ling feeling mortified after shoving Lan Sizhui harder than he intended to when confronting Wen Ning on the boat (this is also the only time in the novel Lan Sizhui refers to him by birth name and not Young Master Jin). The two become close enough in the epilogue that Lan Wangji observes Lan Sizhui incorporating some of the Yunmeng Jiang techniques into his sword fighting, which Wei Wuxian speculates is from practising with Jin Ling during night hunts. The donghua adds more Belligerent Sexual Tension fuel by having a drunk Jin Ling mockingly call Lan Sizhui a stickler for rules and the latter specifically going after him during the brawl at Burial Mounds.
- Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi are close to one another and are usually seen together since they're always paired up for cultivation duties, leading to a lot of impressive teamwork especially in the donghua. The fact they would have likely grown up together makes good fuel for Childhood Friend Romance theories. The two are frequently shown to be concerned or protective of each other, and Lan Sizhui usually knows how to handle Lan Jingyi's rowdiness (such as shoving a chicken wing in his mouth to keep him quiet).
- Jin Ling and Lan Jingyi have their fair share of amusing interactions in the book, with their frequent snipes at one another come off as Belligerent Sexual Tension. The donghua adds in more interactions between the two of them at Mount Dafan, which primarily comprises squabbling (plus an actual sword fight) one commonly sees from such belligerent romantic tension. The donghua also seems fond of them turning to each other for a Security Cling, with both the main series and The Founder of Diabolism Q having them hug each other out of fear when a ghost (or what they think is one) appears, only to immediately separate out of embarrassment after realizing what they've done (with even blushing included in the latter). In the audio drama, there's an additional scene where Jin Ling is about to go back home after the Yi City incident and Lan Sizhui reassures a disappointed Lan Jingyi that they can always visit him at Golden Carp Tower, and both boys respond in tsundere-fashion.Lan Sizhui: Jingyi, there's no need to be sad. We can go to Golden Carp Tower to visit Young Master Jin when we have time, or go night-hunt together.
Lan Jingyi: Wh... Who is sad? [to Jin Ling] Um... Can we go visit Golden Carp Tower next time?
Jin Ling: G... Go if you want. No one will stop you.
