Chapter 24 - Malice

Jiang Cheng added, "Lend me your dog." Jin Ling pulled himself out of the daze. He hesitated for a moment and only whistled after Jiang Cheng shot him two lightning-sharp beams from his eyes.

It was clear that Jin Ling didn't want to send Wei Wuxian off to his doom, particularly not after just having been saved by him, but Jiang Cheng's expression truly was terrifying.

"I wonder if using Zidian so much has fused his personality with it. Look, his eyes are practically crackling with purple electricity." a cultivator speculated.

"He was born with that personality, actually." Wei Wuxian muttered. "He inherited it from Madam Yu."

"Madam Yu?" asked Sizhui. "Is that...oh." Sect Leader Jiang's eyes were shooting sparks again so he wisely shut his mouth.

The dog dashed over in just a few leaps. Wei WuXian, body as stiff as an iron board, could only be dragged forward, walking one step at a time. Jiang Cheng found an empty room and threw Wei WuXian inside, closing the door behind him. The dog followed them inside and sat by the door. Wei WuXian had his eyes tightly locked on it, afraid that it would pounce on him at the next possible moment. Remembering how he had been controlled in just a short amount of time, he exclaimed in his heart that Jiang Cheng really knew the best way to deal with him.

Wei Wuxian gave a muffled wail. "And now everyone knows the best way to deal with me... Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, what will I do if after this everyone comes at me with a dog???"

Lan Wangji stroked his husband's hair tenderly. He said in a low and dark voice, "Do not worry. I will fight all of them for you and lock them away forever."

Wei Wuxian's fluttering heart-rate slowed and he resolved not to ever be separated from Lan Wangj's side. In all honesty, he had already resolved to do that long ago.

Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng slowly sat down by the table and poured himself a cup of tea. For a moment, no one spoke a word. The cup of tea was still steaming hot. Without having a single sip of it, he hurled it onto the ground.

The whole audience jolted in their seats. Jingyi privately felt very sorry for Jin Ling for having been raised by such a scary person, but he didn't dare say that out loud - even if Hanguang Jun or Zewu Jun didn't punish him, Sect Leader Jiang would squish him to pulp. He couldn't imagine how stressful it would be to always hang around someone who hurls cups of tea onto the ground out of the blue when they're feeling emotional - or perhaps he was just used to Hanguang Jun and Zewu Jun's composed personalities.

Jiang Cheng pulled a curt smile on his face, "... Don't you have anything to say to me?" Growing up, Jiang Cheng had seen Wei WuXian's awful state countless times as he ran away from dogs. Others may have believed him if he denied it, but, in front of someone who knew him so thoroughly, it'd be impossible to argue.

It was easy for many people to forget that Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin had been as close as brothers before -  particularly with their relationship being as frosty as it was now. But of course, if they had grown up together, Jiang Cheng would know about Wei Wuxian's fear of dogs and have seen for himself his reactions to them.

"So, Sect Leader Jiang definitely, definitely knows now?" wondered Jingyi. "Oh no..."

"I've  never seen anyone who reacts as badly to dogs as Wei Wuxian." Jin Ling said. "Of course Uncle knows it's him."

He said this dismissively, but was feeling guilty - if it wasn't for Fairy and him running away, Senior Wei wouldn't have been in this terrible situation. He hoped that his uncle hadn't had time to torture Senior Wei before Jin Ling had lured him away...

This was an obstacle harder to overcome than Zidian. With a sincere tone, Wei WuXian replied: "I don't know what to say to you."

Jiang Cheng whispered: "You really don't learn, do you?"

Ever since long ago, their conversations had been full of retorting and arguing. Wei WuXiang blurted out with thinking: "And you have not made any progress either..."

The room held its breath. Did Wei Wuxian really not have any instinct for self preservation? They might have had the type of relationship before where they could playfully banter with each other, but that clearly wasn't the situation now.

Jin Ling felt chills at the way his uncle whispered, combined with that manic expression. He only whispered like that when he was really, really  angry, and when his uncle got into that mood, he wouldn't be able to control himself from doing something extremely cruel. And sure enough-

Jiang Cheng laughed from the anger, "Sure, then let's see which of us is the one who hasn't made any progress." Remaining seated at the table, he shouted in a commanding way. The dog stood up immediately! Being in the same room as it already made Wei WuXian sweat in uneasiness. Seeing that the large, snarling dog closed in on him in less than a second, his ears were full of its low howls and his entire body numbed.

Lan Wangji enveloped Wei Wuxian's newly trembling body securely in his arms, and glared vindictively at Jiang Cheng. How dare he hurt his Wei Ying like that? After this, Lan Wangji was going to give Jiang Cheng a taste of what it felt like to be hunted and tormented - he might have to punish himself for breaking the rule of "No submitting to means of revenge.", but it was really more like justice.

He had forgotten about much of his early years of wandering on the streets. The only things he still remembered was the terror he felt as he was chased by dogs and the slicing pain of teeth and claws digging into his flesh. The fear that had been planted deep within his heart couldn't be overcome or eased no how he tried.

Even the more anti-Wei Wuxian cultivators frowned at Jiang Cheng after seeing that. Taking advantage of somebody's childhood trauma was seriously below the belt.

With so many disgusted looks thrown his way, Jiang Cheng struggled to maintain his rigidly uncaring expression. It was hard though, when inside he was equally as disgusted with himself. What he'd done was cruel, utterly immoral - and he had broken his childhood promise to Wei Wuxian to always chase dogs from him.

At the time he'd thought it to be vengeance for Wei Wuxian breaking his promise to always be by Jiang Cheng's side - but it turned out that Wei Wuxian had never really broken that promise either, with the whole golden core swap. Shame spread throughout his whole body, and suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to disappear.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng glanced sideway at him, "Whose name did you call?" Wei WuXian was in such a state of distress that he couldn't remember whether or not he called someone's name at all. He only managed to pull himself together after Jiang Cheng commanded the dog to back away.

The audience looked in dismay at the state Wei Wuxian was in, particularly the juniors, to whom Wei Wuxian was one of the most powerful, resilient and perpetually care-free cultivators they'd ever known.

Lan Xichen glanced at Wei Wuxian, worried. Getting incapacitated so easily by a dog was a dangerous chink in his "Yiling Patriarch" armour. It was all well and good when this was not well known except by people close to him, who wouldn't take advantage of it (apart from, apparently, Jiang Cheng in a murderous mood). However, the cultivators gathered here would most definitely take advantage of this later. He'd have to work with Wangji and perhaps Young Master Jin to find a solution - perhaps a dog-repellent, or slowly building his confidence around dogs to overcome his past trauma - without, of course, traumatising him further in the process.

After a moment of hesitation, he abruptly turned his head away. On the other hand, Jiang Cheng left his seat. There was a whip attached beside his waist. With one hand on it, he bent down to look at Wei WuXian's face. After a pause, he straightened up and asked, "Speaking of it, since when have you been so close to Lan WangJi?" Wei WuXian immediately understood whose name he had unconsciously called out.

Lan Xichen's worried, deep-in-thought face shifted into a soft smile. Young Master Wei  may not have known it back then, but they were the most adorable couple. It brought him immense gratification to hear that Wangji was the first person Young Master Wei called to /

Lan Wangji's face puckered momentarily. His Wei Ying had called for him when he was in need for help, and he hadn't been there to rescue him from his vengeful and out-of-control shidi. What sort of husband was he??

Wei Wuxian saw his partner's downcast and brooding face, and was quick to reassure him. "Lan Zhan, it's alright, there's no way you could have found me, back then! And it all ended up alright, I had a bit of a scare and then Jin Ling rescued me, right Jin Ling?"

Jin Ling huffed, his face tinged with pink. "I-I was just paying off my debt, it's not like I went out of my way just to rescue you, or anything-" He cut himself off when he realised that he had, in fact, gone quite out of his way to rescue Senior Wei and flushed even more profusely red.

Jiang Cheng smiled menacingly, "It really is quite curious how far he went to protect you, back on Dafan Mountain."

"Oh, is he figuring it out?" gasped a cultivator from the Ouyang sect, a bit older than Zizhen.

"Well, it's fairly obvious." Zizhen replied, rolling his eyes. "It only took me about 3 days, and Sect Leader Jiang is Senior Wei's martial brother. He'd have to be really thick to not realise-"

A moment later, he corrected himself, "No. You weren't necessarily the one whom Lan WangJi was protecting. After all, the GusuLan Sect couldn't have forgotten what you did with that loyal dog of yours. How could someone so celebrated for his righteousness tolerate the likes of you? Maybe he's familiar with this body that you stole instead."

"...so, does that mean he's really thick?" muttered Jingyi. He knew that Jiang Cheng had the inhuman hearing skills that come with being an experienced cultivator, but he couldn't help but let the snide remark slip out after the insinuations he was making about Hanguang Jun.

Was Jiang Cheng really implying that Hanguang Jun, the most refined and distinguished cultivator, had had some sort of relationship with Mo Xuanyu?

Even Lan Xichen, who was normally extremely cordial and friendly towards Jiang Cheng was frowning slightly at the offence towards his younger brother, which made Jiang Cheng's wrench even more. Everyone around him looked fed up and disgusted with him.

Was this was it felt like to be Wei Wuxian after he became a demonic cultivator?

"Lan Wangji..." Jiang Cheng began stiffly, but sincerely. "Please accept my apologies. That remark was uncouth and inappropriate, even if I did not really believe it myself. I know that you would never have done anything like that with anyone... apart from Wei Wuxian".

Wei Wuxian gave a pfft of surprise and amusement, then grinned widely at him. Lan Wangji looked slightly taken aback, but graciously inclined his head in acceptance of the apology.

His words were cruel and sinister. Every sentence seemed well-meaning on the surface, but was actually derogatory. Wei WuXian couldn't bear with it any longer, "Watch your language."

Jiang Cheng sulked. "I just apologised."

"Go back in time and apologise again." snorted Wei Wuxian.

Meanwhile the juniors cheered, "Go Senior Wei!" "Defend Hanguang Jun's honour!"

Jiang Cheng responded, "I've never cared for such things, don't you remember?"

Wei WuXian mocked, "Oh, right."

Nie Huaisang watched the interactions between his former best friends with a tinge of sadness in his heart. Their banter was just a mockery of the way they used to argue. Before, it looked fiery and angrier on the outside, but was actually built on a strong foundation of care for one another.

Now, they exchanged retorts coldly, the bond between them so disjointed, it made him wonder if it would ever be the same again. He really hoped so. Now, with all the misunderstandings between them slowly being cleared up (and hopefully even more cleared up after this re-telling of the past), - perhaps it was possible!

Nie Huaisang, being the nostalgic person he was, couldn't help but think back on the good ol'days when it was just the three of them messing around in the back hills of the Cloud Recesses. He had thoroughly enjoyed the flashback to their teen years, but that had only lasted a short while.

Jiang Cheng snorted, "So you think that you're qualified to make me watch my language. Do you still remember? Last time, on Dafan Mountain, did you watch your language when talking to Jin Ling?" Wei WuXian's face stiffened.

It was clear that this was still bothering Wei Wuxian, because he didn't try to reply or argue back against that.

Having regained the upper hand in the conversation, Jiang Cheng looked satisfied again. He sneered, "'I suppose that you didn't have a mother to teach you.' Now, you really know where it hurts the most, don't you? The person who caused Jin Ling to be criticized behind his back in such a way is nobody else but you. You're quite the forgetful old man, aren't you? Have you forgotten the things you said and the promises you made? Then, do you still remember how his parents died?!"

Jin Ling's face went pale. The cultivators murmured amongst themselves, for once agreeing with Jiang Cheng.

Wei WuXian immediately raised his head, "I haven't forgotten! It's just that..." Yet, he just couldn't find the right words to put after it. Jiang Cheng interrupted, "It's just what? You can't say it? Don't worry, you can go back to Lotus Pier and say your excuses while kneeling in front of my parents' graves."

"He's going to bring Wei Wuxian back to Lotus Pier??"

Wei WuXian calmed himself down and searched as fast as he could for a way out of the situation at hand. Although he had always dreamed of returning to Lotus Pier once more, he didn't want to go back to the tattered one nowadays!

The Jiang disciples looked slightly offended by this.

"Actually, Wei-qianbei the Lotus Pier nowadays is perfectly whole and functioning." A female Jiang disciple said haughtily.

"Maybe even better-" the young disciple who began this sentence trailed off at the sharp looks he was getting from Wei Wuxian and Jiang Wanyin.

"You can't say that, you haven't even seen the one from before." Wei Wuxian said critically. "Jiang Cheng and I are probably the only ones who can make a sound judgement on that."

The cultivators froze, suddenly realising that Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian really were the only members of the original Jiang sect that were still alive today. Sure, some outer disciples did escape, but those had been the ones with the least experience and time inside Lotus Pier, and had probably been raised in the surrounding town and villages.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps approached, and the door was pounded on loudly. Jin Ling shouted from outside, "Uncle!" Jiang Cheng raised his voice, "Didn't I tell you to stay where you were? Why did you come here?" Jin Ling, "Uncle, I have something really important to tell you."

Guilt bubbled inside Jin Ling's chest. It had taken him some time to work up the courage and come up with a sufficient excuse in order to rescue Senior Wei, and he was glad that he did it eventually - but  he had felt like such a terrible nephew to lie so directly to his face. He had spoken lies before, of course, but never such a big one before. And soon, that lie was about to be exposed to everyone.

Jiang Cheng, "If there's something important, why didn't you decide to speak up when I was scolding you?" "I didn't want to say it exactly because you kept on scolding me! Are you gonna listen or not? If not, I'm just not gonna say it!" Jin Ling replied in an angry voice. Jiang Cheng opened the door with a fuming look on his face, "Tell me, then get out!"

The cultivators chuckled amongst themselves. "They really are very similar, huh?"

"Their temperaments and mannerisms are almost identical."

"He might as well be his father!"

Hearing that last comment, both Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling went dark red.

As soon as the wooden door opened, Jin Ling stepped inside. He had already changed into a new set of the white uniform. "I really did encounter something troublesome today. I think I might have ran into Wen Ning!" Jiang Cheng's brow twitched. With a hostile expression, he placed his hand on his sword at once, "Where? When?!"

"Wen Ning??" "Really??" Whispers circulated the room, stirring more guilt in his belly. Why did people believe him so easily? Now it would be more embarrassing when his lies were revealed.

On the other hand, his friends could tell just from one look at his face that he was completely fabricating this whole tale, and were shooting amused glances at him.

Jin Ling told him, "It was this afternoon. There's a worn-down house about a dozen miles south of here. I went because I heard that something strange had happened there, but who could have guessed that there was a fierce corpse hiding inside."

"Nice details." joked Jingyi, while the cultivators around him gasped like human sheep, copying each other.

Jing Ling's word sounded quite believable. However, in Wei WuXian's ears, all those sentences were nonsense. He knew precisely where Jin Ling was this afternoon. Moreover, if Wen Ning hid himself, unless he summoned him on purpose, there'd be no way that a junior would find him so easily.

"...what?" the cultivators looked at each other, slightly embarrassed at how easily they had all decided to collectively believe Jin Ling's story. It was made even more embarrassing as they heard Wei Wuxian's logic on how he knew Jin Ling's story was false - they had all just watched Jin Ling be dug out of the wall of the stone bunker. Of course he wouldn't have had time to be in the opposite direction, investigating a house with a fierce corpse inside!

Jiang Cheng huffed, ignoring Jin Ling's panicked and guilty glance towards him. He didn't really blame Jin Ling for lying (at least it wasn't out of a selfish reason or for fun), but he still couldn't help but feel a pang of betrayal. Then again, it's not like Jin Ling could have reasoned with his still-maddened self back then.

Jiang Cheng, "Why didn't you say so earlier?!"

Jin Ling, "I wasn't certain. The corpse moved at a really fast speed and ran away as soon as I entered. I only saw a blurry figure. But I heard the chain noises he made on Dafan Mountain, which was why I suspected that it might have been him. If you didn't scold me like that, I would have told you right after I came back. If he ran away and you can't catch him, it'd be because of your bad temper, not me."

The cultivators now were silently appreciating Jin Ling's ability to conjure such details and deliver them so well, Jiang Cheng didn't even have a thought of suspicion in his mind.  Jin Ling even managed to pull off sounding like he was in his usual hot temper, with the pointed accusations towards Jiang Cheng.

He still wanted to peek inside, but Jiang Cheng was so angered that he slammed the door right in front of his face. Through the closed door, Jiang Cheng shouted, "I'll deal with you later. Get lost!" Jin Ling replied with an "oh," and his footsteps faded into the distance. Seeing Jiang Cheng turn around, Wei WuXian immediately pulled a mixed expression of "I'm so shocked," "my secret has been disclosed," and "what do I do now that Wen Ning had been found."

Jiang Cheng suddenly gave a snicker, to the surprise of everyone else. It was true that most the audience was laughing at Wei Wuxian's over-the-top falsely dismayed expression, but Jiang Cheng didn't seem to be the type to laugh and encourage such ridiculous behaviour.

It was just that Jiang Cheng couldn't believe that he'd been so blinded with anger at the mention of Wen Ning that at the time he hadn't even looked properly at his shixiong's face. If he had registered how ridiculously fake that expression was, he would have known something was up.

Jin Ling was actually quite clever. Knowing that Jiang Cheng hated Wen Ning more than anything, he made up such a smooth lie with the previous knowledge he had. Jiang Cheng knew that the YiLing Patriarch and the Ghost General often appeared together, so he already suspected that Wen Ning was in the area. Having heard Jin Ling's words, he was already mostly convinced, and Wei WuXian's expression convinced him even further. On top of that, he burst into fury whenever he heard the mention of Wen Ning's name. With his eyes blinded by wrath, how could he still have doubted?

Jin Ling resisted the urge to beam smugly. It wasn't generally a good thing to be talented at lying, but he had spent a while thinking of the perfect story to distract his uncle with, and it delighted him that his moment of genius hadn't gone unnoticed by Uncle Wei!

Jiang Cheng was scowling again at how a 16 year-old kid was able to outsmart him, just by knowing what would make him burst into fury.

The hostility that built in his chest was almost making him explode. He flicked his whip, hitting the ground beside Wei WuXian, and spoke through clenched teeth, "You really take this obeying dog of yours everywhere, don't you?!"

Giggles bubbled from the audience at how Jiang Cheng, true to the predictions of Jin Ling and Senior Wei, was this overcome with anger.

Wei WuXian spoke, "He's been dead since a long time ago, and I've died once as well. What else do you want?!"

Jiang Cheng pointed the whip at him, "So what? My hatred would persist, even if he dies thousands of times! He didn't perish back then. Very well! I shall destroy him today, with my own hands. I'm going to burn him right now, and scatter his ashes right in front of your face!"

Most of the cultivators didn't seem to find anything wrong with Jiang Cheng's words, but the juniors stared at the image of Jiang Cheng in shock. Sizhui, who knew Wen Ning best, felt personally angry on his behalf. How could Sect Leader Jiang not see what a kind and sweet person Wen Ning was?? What had Wen Ning even done to evoke the evoke wrath of Sect Leader Jiang, anyway? It wasn't like he had participated in any of the major battles as a Wen while he was alive, and as the Ghost General, he hadn't directly harmed anyone apart from those Jin disciples including...Jin Zixuan.

Sizhui immediately felt cold and looked at Jin Ling, who had also clearly just remembered this and had conflicting emotions running across his face.

Sizhui still didn't entirely know what had happened that day on Qiongqi Road for Wen Ning to kill Jin Zixuan like that - but he knew, from the bottom of his heart, that Wen Ning was a good person and would never have purposefully done such a thing out of malice or ill-intent.

He slammed the door shut behind him and walked toward the main hall, ordering Jin Ling, "You keep a close eye on him. Don't believe or listen to anything he says! Don't let him make any sound. If he dares to whistle or play his flute, block his mouth first. If it doesn't work, just slice off his hand or cut off his tongue!"

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow. He had only just now recognised the 'slice off his hand' reference. Back then, Jiang Cheng had protested so strongly against his mother to convince her not to cut off Wei Wuxian's hand. Now...

Wei WuXian knew that Jiang Cheng spoke these words especially for him to hear, threatening him against doing anything. The reason why Jiang Cheng didn't bring him along was so that he didn't use the opportunity to control Wen Ning. Jin Ling replied in a nonchalant tone, "I know. Of course I'll be able to watch him. Uncle, why did you shut yourself inside along with that damn cut-sleeve? What did he do this time?"

"Nice control of tone. And changing of the subject. You really have a natural talent for this sort of thing." Wei Wuxian praised Jin Ling, to his confused happiness.

"Did you actually think he was Mo Xuanyu all that time, though?" a junior disciple asked Jin Ling curiously.

"Of course not! Well, yeah, at first, but I suspected pretty quickly that he wasn't who he said he was. I'm not an idiot."

Wei Wuxian pouted. "And I thought I was doing a good job acting like a lunatic."

"You were too good at it." muttered Jin Ling.

Jiang Cheng answered, "This isn't a question you should ask. Remember to watch him properly. If I return to see that he disappeared, I'll break your leg for sure!" After a few more questions about the exact location, he left with half of the disciples and went to chase the nonexistent Wen Ning.

Jiang Cheng ground his teeth. He hated looking inferior or stupid, especially in front of others, and here he was being made fun of for going to chase a nonexistent Wen Ning, in front of the whole cultivation world. Unlike Wei Wuxian, his skin wasn't nearly thick enough for this.

After some time of waiting, Jin Ling's arrogant voice travelled through, "You go stand over there. You, go wait on the side. All of you go stand in front of the main entrance. I'm gonna go inside and meet him." None of the disciples dared to disobey. In a short while, the door had been opened again and Jin Ling stuck his head in, eyes darting around the room. Wei WuXian sat up straight. Jin Ling put a finger in front of his lips, walked in quietly, put his hand on Zidian, then whispered something. Zidian could only work if it recognized its owner. Jiang Cheng had probably allowed it to recognise Jin Ling.

Many members of the audience who understood how the ownership of a magical item worked raised their eyebrows in surprise. It showed quite a lot of trust on Jiang Cheng's part to allow his prized spiritual weapon, Zidian, to recognise this impetuous young 16-year old boy as one of its masters. Or perhaps Jiang Cheng just liked to take precautions in case Jin Ling ever needed to wield Zidian in self defence.

"Hmph. I'm reconsidering changing that now." grumbled Jiang Cheng, but without real threat in his voice.

The electric currents went out at once, and it transformed into a silver ring embedded with a purple crystal, lying on top of Jin Ling's fair-colored palms. Jin Ling said in a quiet voice, "Let's go."

The audience couldn't help but admire Jin Ling's boldness to directly disobey his uncle and personally disable the Zidian's bindings that his uncle put around Wei Wuxian. Sizhui gave Jin Ling a rare high five out of delight, and Jingyi clapped him appreciatively on the back.

After the senseless orders, the YunmengJiang Sect's disciples had been scattered all over the place. The two stealthily flipped over the window and the walls. Having left the shop, they sprinted without making any noise. As they entered a forest, Wei WuXian heard something strange coming from behind him. Turning around, he was almost scared to death, "Why is it coming along as well?! Tell it to go away!"

The cultivators laughed again. It seemed that the appearance of a dog and Wei Wuxian's immediate panicking would become a running joke throughout the whole re-telling.

The Jiang disciples who had meant to guard the place to prevent Wei Wuxian from escaping felt a bit chagrinned to see so clearly Jin Ling and Wei Wuxian flipping over the walls right under their noses, but they felt better about it now that they were secretly rooting for Senior Wei to escape.

Jin Ling whistled twice, and the dog rolled out its long tongue. Whimpering softly, its pointy ears twitched, and it ran away disheartenedly. Jin Ling sneered in contempt, "Such a loser. Fairy never bites. It just looks scary. It's a spiritual dog trained to only bite evil beings. Did you really think that it's just a regular dog?"

Wei WuXian, "Hold on. What did you call it?" Jin Ling, "Fairy. Its name." Wei WuXian, "You named a dog something like this?!" Jing Ling replied assuredly, "What's wrong with this name? When it was younger, it was called Little Fairy. Now that it grew up, I can't keep on calling it that." Wei WuXian refused, "No. No. No. The point isn't whether it's little or not! ... Who in the world taught you such a way of naming?!"

No one apart from Jiang Cheng, who had a dark feeling of foreboding, knew where Wei Wuxian was going with this. Surely Jin Ling was just a prissy kid who liked cute-sounding names?

Without doubt, it must have been his uncle. In the past, Jiang Cheng also had a few puppies. The names he chose were things like 'Jasmine', 'Princess', 'Love', and so on, which sounded like the names of expensive girls in brothels.

"WEI WUXIAN!!!" Jiang Cheng roared, his face the colour of jujubes. The room was silent at first, then laughter broke out.

"No wayyy, that can't be true!!"

Even Lan Xichen's mouth was twitching as he restrained a smile.

Jin Ling continued, "True men don't care for such trifles. Why are you stressing over such details? Okay! Stop. Now that you offended my uncle, you're already half dead. Now, I'm letting you go. We're even."

Wei WuXian asked, "Do you know why your uncle wants me?"

Jin Ling answered, "Yeah. He believes that you're Wei WuXian." Wei WuXian thought, 'This time, it's not merely 'suspect' anymore. He's got the right person.' He asked again, "Then, what about you? Don't you suspect it as well?" Jin Ling, "It's not the first time my uncle did such a thing. He has never let any of them go, even if it was possible that he caught the wrong ones. But, if Zidian couldn't draw out your spirit, I'm just gonna trust that you're not. Besides, he wasn't a cut-sleeve, but you even dared to harass..."

"Looks like my impersonation of Mo Xuanyu wasn't too bad after all!" Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. "Although it did turn out I wasn't actually faking the being a cut-sleeve part..." He winked at Lan Wangji, who gave a very soft, but affectionate laugh.

Hearing the laugh, Lan Xichen had to restrain himself from wriggling in an un-sect-leaderly way in his seat. He loved how Wei Wuxian was able to extract even a casual laugh out of his little brother - something he'd only managed to do maybe one or two times in his entire life. Seeing Wangji happy and in love made him the happiest big brother in the world.

With a disgusted look, he stopped before mentioning who Wei WuXian harassed and made a fanning gesture as if he was shooing away flies. "Anyways, from now on, you have nothing to do with the LanlingJin Sect anymore! If you're gonna go at it again, don't find anyone from my sect! Or else, I won't let you off!"

Wei Wuxian snorted. "As if I'd ever want to date any one from your sect. What type of  taste do you think I have?"

Jin Chan humphed, muttering under his breath that he wouldn't want to get with anyone like Wei Wuxian anyway, to cover up his embarrassment.

Having finished speaking, Jin Ling spun around to leave. After walking a few steps, he turned to him again, "What are you doing still standing there? Go. Are you waiting for my uncle to come and get you? Let me tell you— don't think that I'll be grateful just because you saved me. Don't expect me to say anything cringe worthy either." Wei WuXian put his hands behind his back and walked over, "Young man, there are two cringe worthy phrases in one's life that must be said, no matter what."

Jin Ling asked, "Which two?"

Wei WuXian replied, "'Thank you', and 'I'm sorry'."

Jin Ling taunted, "What can anybody do to me if I don't say them?"

Wei WuXian, "Someday, you'll say those words in tears."

No one knew quite what to say to that. With Wei Wuxian looking the most serious they'd ever seen him, they got the impression that there was a deeper meaning or story behind his words.

Lan Wangji glanced at his beloved in worry. He didn't know what Wei Wuxian was referencing here, and judging by the way he avoided his eyes, it was probably a personal story. It saddened him that he didn't yet share all of Wei Wuxian's burdens and troubles, but he understood that some things took time to talk about.

Jin Ling made a spitting noise, just as Wei WuXian suddenly spoke to him, "I'm sorry." Jin Ling paused, "What?" Wei WuXian, "I'm sorry for the words I said to you on Dafan Mountain." It wasn't the first time that Jin Ling was told he had 'no mother to teach him', but it was the first time someone apologized to him in such a serious way. With an 'I'm sorry' shoved right into his face, he didn't know why, but he suddenly felt a bit uneasy.

Everyone was gaping at the board. Wei Wuxian apologising so seriously made the matter seem a lot more deep that they'd previously thought. The juniors, who had very rarely seen Senior Wei without a grin on his face, respected him all the more for apologising to Jin Ling. Even though Senior Wei hadn't even known it was Jin Ling then, so he didn't realise how hurtful the words would be to him.

Jin Ling blushed again recalling this memory, and at the clumsy way he'd handled the apology. In his defence though, not one person had ever apologised to him before about something nasty he'd said, so he hadn't had much experience.

He wildly waved his arms around, "It's nothing. You weren't the first person to say so, anyways. It's true that I had no mother to teach me. However, I won't be inferior to anyone because of this! In fact, I'm gonna open you eyes and make you see that I am a lot stronger than all of you!" Wei WuXian smiled.

As he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed, "Jiang Cheng? You!" Jin Ling was already feeling guilty since he stole Zidian and let Wei WuXian go.

Jiang Cheng, though he knew that he hadn't even been there and that Wei Wuxian was just fooling around (again by that melodramatic expression on his face), hmphed and muttered, "As he should!"

Hearing the name, he whirled around to look. Using the chance, Wei WuXian hit Jin Ling's neck, forming a blade with his hand. He laid Jin Ling flat on the ground, rolled up the bottom of his trousers, and examined the Curse Mark on his leg.

The members of the audience blinked rapidly, trying to keep up with what was going on. First they were looking for Jiang Cheng, then realised Wei Wuxian was just tricking Jin Ling, then he had done something to Jin Ling in order to look at the Curse Mark on his leg??

The amount of deception in just the previous few events were hard to follow by the cultivators.

Meanwhile, Jin Ling gave a small 'oh'. He hadn't actually gotten to know why Wei Wuxian had randomly attacked him (he assumed it was some random, rude prank of his), but the reason turned out to be significantly... nicer than he had thought - he was just checking on his Curse Mark, which he still mysteriously couldn't remember ever having.

He tried a few methods, but none of them made it fade. After a moment, he sighed, knowing that it'd be difficult. However, although there were some curse marks that he was unable to remove, he could transfer them to his own body.

"What?!" Jin Ling yelped. "You-you what??"

Jiang Cheng for once had no retort, staring at the picture in shock and slight guilt.

"No way...Wei Wuxian cares that much about the little Jin heir??" several cultivators said in a hush among themselves. Something wasn't adding up. Either Wei Wuxian had some ulterior motive or the stories about him being utterly immoral and evil weren't true. More and more cultivators were beginning towards the latter option.

Wei Wuxian touched two fingers to the blackened skin. Jin Ling was shivering, as if he was having a nightmare.

"Senior Wei, what did you do to him, with that chop on the shoulder?"

Wei Wuxian raised his hands defensively, "Nothing!! It just an acupuncture point that temporarily paralyses your muscles and shocks you into falling unconscious. It's not some devious demonic trick or anything!"

"What have you seen?" he murmured. Suddenly the scene rippled and faded to black, jeering voices echoed from nowhere.

"Orphan boy! You haven't got parents!"

"Your parents abandoned you!"

"Your mum was so bad, even your dad didn't like her!"

Jin Ling was struck with a sudden bout of déjà vu. Wasn't this..wasn't this from a dream of his?? Did Wei Wuxian actually crash into his dream? He felt quite violated.

Others stared at the black rippling screen in shock. What was going on? Where were the ignorant and heartless bullies saying such horrible things to Jin Ling?

The scene rematerialised into a faintly sunny day on an unfamiliar pier. A very small Jin Ling, possibly around 5 or 6 years old stood alone at one end, and was throwing a candied hawthorn stick towards the ones jeering at him.

Jingyi, Sizhui and Zizhen all gasped at the same time. "Is that... a toddler Jin Ling??"

Jin Ling's face was solid scarlet. "What is this?! Why is it showing you this?!!! This never happened, it's just a weird vision I had-"

"Awww, you were so cute as a little kid, Jin Ling!!' cooed Sizhui, to Jin Ling's mortification.

It was indeed a very strange sight, with Jin Ling's round, chubby cheeks and huge, glistening eyes staring up at them. It was still clearly Jin Ling, but he looked so much more innocent and sweet as an infant than he did now, as a temperamental teenager.

Wei Wuxian stood on the pier as well, but it wasn't his 'normal' Mo XuanYu form. Instead, he looked to be extremely tall, his hair was down, his eyes a richer violet colour and his face seemed sharper and more angular.

The juniors stared at this person for a while before recognising it as an older version of the teen Wei Wuxian from the Cloud Recesses.

"Senior Wei, is that you??" Sizhui gasped.

"Why do you look so tall and..." Jingyi paused. He was about to say 'scary', but at the same time he wasn't scared of that Wei Wuxian - He just had an intimidating aura.

Wei Wuxian gave a long 'hmmmm', but didn't reply, seeminly unwilling to look at the picture of himself.

"That's what Wei Wuxian looked like after he became known as the Yiling Patriarch." A cultivator supplied for him. "He's wearing those robes. The long grey one with red cuffs, and his hair is out."

"Oh." Jingyi said. He understood now - there was something about Senior Wei's gaunt and sharp facial features that gave him a distinctly different look to his rounder, exuberant teenage face. Doubtfully, he looked into Senior Wei's "Yiling Patriarch" face, trying still unsuccessfully to imagine it commanding a demon army.

This form of Wei Wuxian stared at Jin Ling with a complicated expression.

"Jin Ling?" he whispered.

The scene flashed back to the previous gloomy dark one, with Jin ling lying on the ground. The black curse mark was slowly leeching out of Jin Ling's leg and onto Wei Wuxian's.

The audience gasped. Wei Wuxian really was transferring such a vindictive looking Curse Mark onto himself??

Lan Wangji sighed, but wasn't surprised. Firstly, he had deduced it before, when he had first seen the Curse Mark on Wei Ying's leg, and secondly, it was just the sort of dumb, self-sacrificing thing that he would do to protect the ones he loved.

Back in the new scene, Wei Wuxian and the young Jin Ling knelt in a small temple, in front of a portrait of Jiang Yanli and Jin Zixuan.

"Who are you?" asked Jin Ling, his voice high-pitched.

Jin Ling's friends squealed again, while Jin Ling cringed.

"I can't believe I get to hear what a baby Jin Ling sounds like!!" Sizhui exclaimed happily.

"It's okay, we'll get to hear what you sounded like as a baby soon enough too..." added Wei Wuxian, to the confusion of most cultivators.

"I'm...hmm... your uncle." Wei Wuxian replied in a soothing voice.

"My uncle?? Then, have you seen my mother and father?"

"Of course I have."

Wei Wuxian said defensively, "I technically am your uncle, even when the vision put me in my original form, through your mother's side. I suppose it made me look like that because that's what I'm technically my real form, and that's how old I would've been when Jin Ling was 6."

"Would've been?? Oh." Jingyi suddenly couldn't speak. This form of Wei Wuxian had died when Jin Ling was only around 1 or 2 years old...

Lan Wangji was rigid as well. The last time he'd laid eyes on Wei Ying looking like that, was that very last day, passing spiritual energy to him while he pushed him away, fighting 33 of the elders he grew up with and respected to keep him safe - and afterwards learning that while he was recovering from his punishment, Wei Ying had been killed. Learning that he'd never again be able to talk to him, be with him, kiss him - or even just see him again.

He had clung onto that last memory of Wei Ying for as long as it could stay clear in his mind, and then he had submitted at last to the pain and turned to the Emperor's Smile that Wei Ying had loved so much. Seeing that form of Wei Ying again sent phantom pains shooting through his heart again.

He turned abruptly to gaze intensely into Wei Ying's new face, the familiar beautiful soul through his lively grey eyes. His heart rate slowed and his resolve solidified further. He could never lose his Wei Ying again.

Jin Ling squealed with delight, then suddenly sat back down, his enthusiasm suddenly fading. "They all say my mother was a bad person..."

"Don't listen to that rubbish, Jin Ling. Your mother was good. She was the best." Wei Wuxian patted Jin Ling's head gently, a soft smile on his face.

Jiang Cheng recognised that smile. It was the same smile both himself and Wei Wuxian wore every time they spoke to or spoke about their sister. All these years later, Wei Wuxian still wore the same smile when recalling her.

Jiang Cheng suddenly felt the urge to cry or just to scream. Yes, his jie was the best. More than the best - the kindest, the wisest, the strongest... This show about the past had better spend time capturing that goodness and making sure every single person in the cultivation knew how perfect his sister was.

"And my father?"

Wei Wuxian's smile immediately fell into a grimace. He pulled it back into a strained smile, seemingly with effort. "Your father... loved your mother very much."

There were snorts and snickers around the room at Wei Wuxian's transparent struggle to reassure Jin Ling that his parents were good without outright lying.

But how could that be true? Did Jin Zixuan really love Jiang Yanli that much? Considering the last scene from Wei Wuxian's time in the Cloud Recesses, where Jin Zixuan told everyone he 'didn't care for her', it didn't seem like they had a good relationship.

But Jin Ling got the impression that Wei Wuxian wasn't lying. Loving his mother was clearly the best compliment that Wei Wuxian could offer Jin Zixuan - but it would be enough for him if it was true.

Shaky and faded visions flitted past the board - evidently Wei Wuxian's flashbacks - inside another vision. There was Jin Zixuan in the library saying "Is there anything about her that can make me happy?"

Jin Ling's friend sent concerned looks at him. Whispered criticisms towards Jin Zixuan drifted throughout the room. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng clenched their fists - this memory still stirred anger in them, despite both their sister and her husband being long gone.

Then a camp in a battlefield. "For such a noble lady, are you trying to steal credit from even a lowly maid?" Jin Zixuan was holding Jiang Yanli's wrist in an aggressive way, before Wei Wuxian materialised and sent him flying with a ferocious punch.

Wei Wuxian glowered. "Ah, I remember that. I nearly lost all hope for that peacock then."

"What happened??" Jin Ling asked urgently. Many cultivators secretly wanted to know the gossip too, being intrigued by this new fight between Jin Zixuan and Wei Wuxian. Who was this lowly maid? What did Jin Zixuan mean by Jiang Yanli 'stealing credit'? Surely that seemed extremely out of character?

Wei Wuxian looked uncomfortably at Jiang Cheng. "Tell you later. It's a really long story, and it's not entirely favourable to your father. Though I do suppose," he conceded with an eye-roll, "that this was when your father first realised what a good person your mother was and fell in love with her."

Jin Ling was feeling worried, but a hopeful warmth bloomed in his chest, and he smiled in anticipation.

Then, lastly, on a verdant mountain, Jin Zixuan blushing while watching Jiang Yanli, who stood in front of Wei Wuxian, facing dozens of cultivators. The flashbacks faded slowly to black.

"Wait, wait-"

"What was that last scene??"

"Phoenix Mountain Hunt, I think." Wei Wuxian said. "I hope they show that more carefully later, because what shijie did for me there - I-I've always remembered."

Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to question him immediately on what happened, but he was interrupted by angry voices from other cultivators who had been on the Phoenix Mountain Hunt.

"The Phoenix Mountain Hunt?  The same Phoenix Mountain Hunt that you singlehandedly hogged 1/3  of all our prey in the first 10 minutes? Leaving barely any for the rest of us cultivators??"

Wei Wuxian snorted. "Not this argument again. It wasn't hogging. The prey was there, I took as many as I could for the Jiang sect. Don't see your problem with it."

"You-!"

"Wow, you captured 1/3 of the prey by yourself??" Jingyi exlaimed, impressed. "How?"

"Well-"

"He cheated, obviously!" roared a Jin cultivator who'd felt particularly belittled by Wei Wuxian that day.

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes, then replied properly to Jingyi, "You'll probably see soon enough for yourself and then you can make a proper judgement, okay?"