Fandom Power Vacuum (The Untamed / MDZS) [MxM]

[Arabella Cauwell]

Title: Power Vacuum
Fandom: The Untamed, Mo Dao Zu Shi, Chinese Drama, Wuxia, Asian Drama
Main Pairing: MXM – Lan Xichen x Jiang Cheng, Lan Zhan x Wei Wuxian
Summary: Post Canon - Jiang Cheng gets kidnapped near Gusu property and its up to Xichen and an elite team of cultivators to find out why and by who.
Will Xichen and co be able to find him? Will Jiang Cheng escape himself? Only time will tell.​

~

Jiang Cheng pressed his fingers to his temples for the hundredth time that week. Headache’s, like his work load, were becoming more frequent since a month ago when Jin Guangyao died after having his evil plan revealed to literally all of the major cultivation leaders at the time.

Not that he wanted to think about that, or even had the leisure to when his plate was so full keeping Jin Ling’s position as the obvious heir to the Jin Clan safe, while doing his best to keep his own afloat. And the thanks that he got for his efforts was Jin Ling suddenly rebelling and using Jiang Cheng’s distracting schedule to sneak and do God knows what with the Juniors from Gusu.

At first Jiang Cheng had let this go, but as his work was quickly becoming something rather insurmountable, he decided that personally tracking and checking on Jin Ling to make sure he was safe would be a more peaceful option to drowning in the Yungmeng river’s worth of paper work he had to get done.

And so the next time he saw Jiang Cheng slip out, he signaled quite dramatically in sign language for his men not to follow him, and slipped out to track his wayward nephew, as he had done before with his former adopted brother upon occasion, many years before.

He had been plenty of places on his own, both before and after the Guangyao incident, and frankly was a bit annoyed when some of his men tried to protest.

He was a grown man and therefore was obviously able to protect himself. But Jin Ling was a different story. He was still practically a child, and way too overconfident in his abilities. Jiang Cheng had no idea where he’d gotten that from…probably his father’s side.

As suspected Jin Ling made his way up to Gusu. He must have been expecting to talk or deal with Wei Wuxian for some part of it, however, because he had left Fairy at home. Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. His formerly adopted brother was always so charismatic and popular. Of course he would somehow be able to get all the Juniors to look up to and listen to him, even to the point of Jin Ling leaving his best friend prior behind in the care of a Jiang sect member.

It was another grain of salt in a wound on Jiang Cheng that seemed like it would never heal.

He sighed as he came to the turn right before the entrance to Gusu. Frankly, he didn’t want any of the Lan guards to see him and go running to Lan Zhan, or worse Wei Wuxian, saying he was there. Jiang Cheng didn’t know how much clout Wei Ying had as the husband of Hanguang Jun, but he imagined it would be rather substantial. Especially when the other man got to charming everyone, and making friends as so easily came to him.

All Jiang Cheng needed was for someone to tell Wei Wuxian he was here and see his brother…former brother he should say, bounding down with a big dumb grin and insisting that Jiang Cheng had come for him and that all of the bad things would go away and they’d be one big happy family again.

Jiang Cheng took a step back, realizing that rather than being afraid of Wei Wuxian doing that, he actually wanted him to. In fact, if he was being honest with himself he was more afraid that Wuxian wouldn’t. That outside of Jin Ling he’d never have family again.

Feeling embarrassed, although no one else could see him or hear his thoughts, Jiang Cheng took another step back, taking a deep breath as he realized how crazy he would look if he was found right now. He could blame the intense work, the lack of sleep, the trauma from finding out that Wei Wuxian had given him his own golden core, the unspoken reason that Jiang Cheng’s core had been taken in the first place, but honestly it was probably all of those things and more.

In order to stop himself from breaking down or thinking, he had jumped into working. It was necessary work to be sure, but how much longer could Jiang Cheng run from his problems?

His answer: as long as he had legs with which to do so.

Jiang Cheng turned around, satisfied that Jin Ling would be safe in Gusu, and begrudgingly knowing that was particularly because of Wei Wuxian. Whatever strange and convoluted methods his brother had, he was certainly good with children and had always brought them back alive...or at least mostly so.

Distracted by his thoughts Jiang Cheng began to head down the mountain before alarm bells began to ring in his mind. Something was off.

He tensed, one hand going to his sword hilt and the other bawling up into a fist, light sparks starting to emit from Zidian,

“Whoever you are I’m not in the mood for games, so either come out or crawl back into whatever holes you’ve come from.” he snapped.

Suddenly a rather large number of men in common clothing began to surround him. The path up and down the mountain was not particularly large, but it was apparently not steep enough on the sides or from above to prevent people from coming at him from all sides. Like locusts they swarmed, Men climbing up to him from below, or jumping down at him from above, popping out of bushes and from behind rocks.

At first Jiang Cheng fought valiantly. His sword and Zidian paired beautifully, throwing men every which way like the bearer was the god of lightning and thunder, Jiang Cheng’s face like that of an oncoming storm.

But there were many of them, their skills and weapons at odds with their attire, and Jiang Cheng had been so very tired as of late. He wasn’t at his top condition by any means and so his body began to respond to his lack of care, failing him though he stubbornly persisted in keeping it going until at last someone managed to get past his defenses and slam the hilt of a sword into the base of the back of his neck.

With the last of his energy he ripped off his hair piece and tossed it to the ground.

His eyes fluttered as another two men held him up, and a third threw him hap hazardously into a sack.

Though he could stop none of this, he fought for his eyes to remain open until there were no clues to see, and before he passed out he managed to growl out one last thing,

“I’m going to remember each and every one of your faces. And understand this: when I get away, because I will, I’m going to track down each and every one of you and make you pay for this. Just you wait.”

He wanted to ask who was behind it all. Who would dare come after a sect leader in the first place? How they knew he was there? But for now his questions would have to wait, for his body had finally won over his stubbornness.

Some of the attackers shivered, believing the man. Others pushed things along. They spoke of a great reward they would get for their efforts as some of them began to carry the man down the mountain.

One grumbled that they should have attacked him further down to save the effort. Others said that spot was the best. Some stayed to clean up the area. But what none of them cleaned was the Lotus Shaped Crown that Jiang Cheng had purposely dropped.

Some hadn’t seen it and others perhaps thought it might be a trap to give them an electric shock or send some kind of signal. So they left it there on the ground, lying half covered by tall grass.

It was a mistake they would eventually regret.

~

Jiang Cheng was not the only one somewhat put out by Jin Ling’s consistent appearance in Gusu. Lan Jingyi was also not entirely a fan. It wasn’t that he honestly minded Jin Ling himself, and it was nice that often Ouyang Zizhen came along as he was rather fun. But lately it just seemed like he and Sizhui were just not quite as close as they used to be.

He knew it was stupid to be jealous of something like that, but they had been something like brothers ever since they’d bonded as children. Jingyi would have been fine if it was just occasional, or even somewhat frequent, but lately it seemed like it was pretty much every day. Didn’t the kid have a clan to run? Shouldn’t he be there doing something Sect leader-y?

Not that Jingyi could talk about that point at the moment considering his own clan. Lan Xichen had holed himself up for a good month, and from what he could gather Lan Qiren and Hanguang Jun were filling in for him. He felt badly for Zewu Jun though, it must have been very devastating so send him into seclusion.

Jingyi let out a sigh as Jin Ling excitedly babbled to Sizhui about something or other. A bunch of the juniors were chatting and eating, breaking a good twenty Lan rules at the moment, but honestly with Wei Wuxian as an influence and Zewu Jun out of commission it was probably the best time to go a little wild…at least the Lan sects version of wild, which was probably akin to a parentally supervised party.

“Awe we’re out of snacks.” Some random other Junior complained.

Being a bit annoyed and deciding a little fresh air would do him good, Jingyi stood up from his spot next to Ouyang Zizhen,

“I’ll go and get it. My legs could do with a good stretch after sitting down for so long,” He offered avoiding eye contact with Sizhui and Jin Ling, but patting Zizhen on the shoulder, “want to come along?”

He didn’t mind going alone to be honest, but Zizhen would make it more fun and the added thought of Sizhui maybe feeling a little bit of what he’d felt about being replaced lately might also have had something to do with it. But for the moment he didn’t want to admit to that sort of pettiness. He just wanted a bit of a break and to bring back some snacks for his friends. Yep. Nothing strange about that, right?

He nodded to himself, a little self satisfied although he was a tad concerned about being caught,

‘Yep we’ll just make a quick trip of it. No one has to know anything about it either.’

Actually he could think of a few things, but he pushed them to the back of his mind. He was just worrying for nothing. The adults were too busy with Zewu Jun’s seclusion and their own responsibilities to notice him slip out of Gusu for snacks. The guards at the entrance would have just recently switched and it would be ages before they could go tell anyone about it, if they even bothered. Although he supposed he could say he was on an errand for Wei Wuxian. As long as he brought back a few jars of Emperor’s Smile he was sure that Hanguang Jun’s husband would cover for him. So all in all it seemed like a decent plan.

‘What could possibly go wrong?’ he thought to himself a bit amused by his own worries.

If only he’d known that his intuition was right after all.

 

[brilliantfraud]

There was a growing sense, among many of the junior Lan Clan members, that something was...amiss between Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui. Of course, they all knew that nothing at all could come between them. They were best friends and had been as long as Sizhui had been there. Even from the moment that Hanguang Jun had brought the sickly boy to Cloud Recesses, Sizhui had seemed to take to Jingyi. They had studied together, read together, traveled together, investigated a number of local haunting reports together. Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui were good together. For every rash decision Jingyi made, Sizhui was by his side to temper it. And for every time that Sizhui may have taken too long to consider the angles of a situation, Jingyi had been there to push him to action. It was just accepted that the two of them would always be friends and would always spend the majority of their time together.

Except that there were now two things wrong with that: Wei Wuxian had influenced Sizhui to be significantly more independent than he had once been. And also, Jin Ling was spending increasingly more and longer stints in Cloud Recesses. Who knew what the real reason was, but Ouyang Zizhen suspected that, like him, there were far more people his age here in Cloud Recesses than there were at home and Jin Ling had friends, now. More, anyway, than he'd had before. In addition, Zizhen had seen the kind of pressure that the Jiang Clan Leader was under, had seen the way that he had treated Jin Ling. It was no wonder, in his mind, that Jin Ling tried to escape here as often as possible.

But now, Zizhen was beginning to see cracks in Jingyi's armor. His jealousy was becoming harder and harder to hide as Sizhui sat across from Jin Ling, laughing and playing silly games with him very specifically. Jin Ling chattered away and while Zizhen found him amusing and fun to be around, it was clear, by Jingyi's somewhat sedate attitude, that he was less than amused by the whole thing.

It was no surprise, then, that when it was put on the table that someone should go fetch more snacks, that Jingyi volunteered. Zizhen saw a lot more than the other juniors gave him credit for--he could see that his friend needed some fresh air. And anyway, Jingyi lived there. It would be questioned significantly less why he was wandering around than it might have been if Zizhen had decided to go by himself. Still, he was pleased beyond reason to be asked to accompany him, and without a second thought, Zizhen pushed himself up from the table.

"Of course!" he said immediately, arching his back to stretch it out briefly. It was no mission of great importance, but Zizhen took it seriously nonetheless. Most of the Lan Clan juniors (and those who weren't Lan Clan) were breaking a number of rules behaving this way, which made this important enough in Zizhen's eyes.

Sizhui, who had been listening carefully to Jin Ling regale him of misadventure or another, noted his friends standing and immediately perked up. They had all been sitting and talking for a long time, and if Jingyi wanted to walk, Sizhui was disappointed to find that he had asked Zizhen instead of him. He and Jingyi had, after all, been friends for a very long time. Best friends--the absolute best, in Sizhui's opinion. They had been through a lot together. And it may have seemed silly, but he felt that the two of them were inseparable and he wanted to be his accomplice in this as he had been in so many other things.

But Sizhui wasn't the sort to let petty jealousies get in his way. Jingyi had other friends--Zizhen included. Just as Sizhui had Jin Ling and other members of the Lan Clan. Still, he thought that, perhaps, it would do all of them good to walk about and stretch their legs.

So he put his hands flat on the table and stood, smiling brightly.

"I'll come," he offered, smoothing out his robes and moving closer to Zizhen, who smiled back at him. Sizhui looked to Jin Ling and motioned. "Come with us. We've all been sitting a long time, I think it could be refreshing to walk."

Perhaps this was Sizhui's way of trying to bring the group together. It was unclear, but Sizhui knew the rules and he also happened to have a very close relationship with both Wei Wuxian and Hanguang Jun, which, at least in Zizhen's opinion, meant that he could basically get them out of any trouble they might accidentally get into at any point between here and their goal.

Zizhen glanced at Jingyi, as if to gauge his reaction. Nothing much could go wrong unless Hanguang Jun walked up on them and decided he wasn't in the mood to deal with the juniors or their occasionally rebellious attitudes. Certainly his punishments would be less than the Grand Master's. But Zizhen was more worried about a quarrel breaking out between Jingyi and Sizhui, something he hoped to avoid. All Zizhen needed was for them to cause a scene, draw the Lan Clan out, and then for it to be reported back to his father that he'd been breaking rules and causing trouble in Cloud Recesses. No matter how close Sizhui was to Hanguang Jun, Zizhen's father wouldn't stand for misbehavior of that kind. It already irked him enough that Zizhen continued to go to Cloud Recesses and spend time in and around Wei Wuxian's general vicinity.

For Sizhui's part, he seemed almost wholly unaware of Jingyi's annoyance. And he was just as eager to get out, especially with Jin Ling in tow.

"Hurry up," Zizhen insisted, elbowing Jingyi in the back. He was feeling strangely antsy to get out, get what they wanted, and get back. "We can be out of Cloud Recesses in twenty minutes if we're fast. Then we'll just have to worry about getting back in."

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

If Jingyi was feeling put out by Jin Ling’s presence, Jin Ling hadn’t noticed. He was too busy feeling the exact opposite of the other boy.

Jin Ling had grown up mainly raised by his Uncles, one that spoiled but isolated him, and had ended up being the mastermind behind his parent’s murder, and another who was overprotective, but acted like he didn’t care half of the time. His childhood and teen hood had consisted mostly of dealing with and associating with men older than himself and who resented him for being in charge of them.

The few people around his age that he’d generally been able to hangout with for even a short time had been mostly Jin’s that dissed him for being an orphan, when really they were jealous of his position within the clan. Most Jiang’s feared getting on the wrong side of his Uncle Jiang’s Zidian, and so they avoided him like the plague. This made for a very isolating childhood, until he’d somewhat bonded with Zizhen when his father came with sect work to discuss with Jiang Cheng.

But those visits were few and far between until Wei Wuxian had returned from the dead and all of the pieces fell into place so that Jin Ling finally had friends. Real friends. Not bought ones or kiss ups or acquaintances that he confused for them, but actual friends!

So while Jingyi was feeling like he was losing a friend, Jin Ling felt like he was gaining one. He’d gotten so obsessed with visiting the Lan’s that he hadn’t even minded leaving his Uncle Jiang Cheng with all of the work. To be fair he didn’t understand most of it yet, but a part of him was also annoyed that his Uncle was too stubborn, so much so that even when he clearly had wanted to make up with Wei Wuxian, he decided not to. He just left.

Well, Jin Ling thought to himself that Sect Leader Jiang deserved some karma. So if he was so keen on leaving family members, he shouldn’t mind too much if they left him now and again. And it wasn’t like he wasn’t going back. He just wanted to spend time with people his own age and enjoy his youth while he had it. He was sure his Uncle could never understand. Despite being a Jiang, Uncle Cheng seemed like he had been serious and overly concerned about others his whole life.

Jin Ling didn’t want to live like that. However many people said that he was Jiang Cheng’s mini-me, he was determined not to end up lonely and regretting like his Uncle clearly was. Instead he was going to make friends and have fun, while he was still young enough to have it. He didn’t care if someone took his position as head of the Jin clan. They certainly didn’t have a great track record for a happy life. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was his father’s legacy to him he wouldn’t have cared at all, and now amongst friends, in the small rebellion that was created by a Gusu party, it seemed less and less important. Besides Jiang Cheng could handle it, he always had after all.

Because he had not had a lot of friends growing up, he also had a lot of family stories that he never got to tell. In Sizhui he had found a very willing listener and so had set off to impress him with tales of some of his misadventures with one uncle or the other. He could still not hate Jin Guangyao, despite what he’d said and done, because it was hard to process so many good memories into bad ones, just because of a nasty revelation. If he’d learned anything from Wei Wuxian it was that people were not generally all black and white, mostly they were gray, and people took the bad with the good.

After a particularly good story Jin Ling paused hearing a food complaint. He nodded in agreement assuming that someone would call in a servant to handle such a thing, but was surprised when Lan Sizhui offered to go and even asked Zizhen. He glanced at Zizhen curiously. Was this a usual thing in other clans?

Jin Ling knew, by this point, that he had been rather spoiled in some ways by his Uncles. The Jin’s were pretty much the richest sect of them all, and so they had plenty of servants to handle such things as food runs. The Jiang’s were not exactly poor themselves, and although Jiang Cheng made quite a point of publically disciplining Jin Ling, he rarely was able to follow through with his threats. So while he had been told “Go get it yourself” quite a few times by his uncle, he’d never had to actually go through with it. Instead minutes later a servant or disciple would deliver it saying that his Uncle didn’t think going out so late was a very good idea, or similar. No one had actually meant it until now, but then again the Lan Sect was quite disciplined and seemed to raise their disciples strictly and to be independent. Maybe to Lan’s it was an honor to get the meal or something because of that?

Whatever the case Jin Ling listened as Sizhui offered to go as well and invited him. He smiled briefly, before he realized he was being to open and shook his head, getting up as he did so,

“Alright a walk does sound good about now, but I’m mostly coming to protect you three. I’ll not be carrying anything, but my sword back got it?” he said, acting every bit the Jin Jiang that he was, but secretly he was just nervous of spilling something and getting blamed if he tried it. He was not about to deal with embarrassment if he tripped on a potato or something and ended up rolling half down the mountain leading up to Gusu. Nope, he’d rather look stuck up.

~

Jingyi smiled as Zizhen agreed and was prepared to go right away, but before he could escape Sizhui not only offered himself to go, but also Jin Ling. Jingyi frowned, he couldn’t even escape the Jin boy just to pick up some food for an alcohol-less party, luck seriously wasn’t with him.

There was no good way to refuse without starting a fight right in front of the other juniors, so he shrugged and said,

“Alright then.”

But upon Jin Ling’s insistence that he wasn’t going to carry anything, Jingyi bristled. Did this guy seriously think he was some kind of prince or something?

“Don’t worry Mistress Jin, I have no intention of letting a girl hold anything in my presence. Lan’s are gentlemen after all!”

Jin Ling bristled at that and started saying,

“Why you little-“ before taking a deep breath and trying very hard not to tackle the other boy in anger.

Soon Zizhen was elbowing Jingyi in the back and he let himself move forward, now more determined to get it over with then he had been before,

“Alright, alright let’s get going then.”

The walk down to the Gusu exit/ entrance was not very long from the place they had come from. As JIngyi had suspected the men on guard looked less regal than usual, the obvious strain from the Lan Sect Leader having put himself into seclusion showing. A lot of the older Lan’s seemed tense, as if afraid that something was going to happen to Gusu if Lan Xichen continued to remain in a funk, while the younger generation took full advantage with a fervor that could only come with youth.

When the four got just past the exit the guards asked them what their business outside of Gusu could possibly be, considering the state of things. Jingyi almost said that they were going to escort Jin Ling home, but decided against it, since he was sure that Sizhui would protest and that might lead them into arguing in front of the guards and getting them into trouble. So he sighed and decided to go with the plan that made the most sense to him,

“Wei Wuxian asked us to bring him Emperor’s Smile and snacks from the nearest town, so we’re going to just head down, get the stuff, and come right back again if that’s alright with you.”

The guards glanced at each other as if talking to each other, before looking back, one of them saying,

“Why would he ask you kids to do it?”

Jingyi didn’t bat an eyelash at that one, he was honestly not the worst at lying when it came down to it, and under Wei Wuxian’s recent tutelage, he had gotten better,

“Honestly? Sizhui is kind of his son, Jin Ling is his nephew, and Zizhen and I are their friends, so we are just along for the ride. If you really want to know why he sent kids to get him alcohol why don’t you ask him? We can just stand here and wait if you want, but I do warn you, Hanguang Jun’s husband does not enjoy being kept waiting. I suppose if we are here too long he will probably just send for Wen Ning. Lucky you two, you may even get to see the ghost general.”

The guards shifted uncomfortably, before looking at each other a little uncertainly and then nodding,

“That hardly seems necessary.” One offered.

“We can’t leave our post until the change of the guards or an emergency anyway.”

“That’s too bad.” Jingyi lied, he had known that they couldn’t leave for something this low level way before he’d heard it from them.

“Well you lot best be heading off, we’ll expect you back as soon as possible. Otherwise one of us will be forced to leave our post either way.”

“Understood, see you in a bit.” He offered, before smiling triumphantly to Sizhui and then remembering that he wasn’t entirely happy with the other boy, before moving to direct his smile at Zizhen,

“Let’s go then.” He offered continuing forward until they were out of eye sight and hearing range of the two guards at which point he clapped Zizhen on the shoulder in a friendly manner,

“And that, my dear friend, is how you do that.” He bragged.

Jin Ling rolled his eyes,

“What, lie? Yes you’re particularly good at that from what I’ve seen.”

Jingyi folded his arms in front of him,

“About as good as you are at running away.” He retorted, tensing for a fight.

“I do not run away!” Jin Ling insisted.

These were the words that broke the damn of emotions that Jingyi had been holding back for quite some time. He concentrated on only blaming Jin Ling and thus his words were a bit harsh,

“Yes you do, and lately apparently that means running here! What, is running your own sect not important to you? Or is it that you’re scared? I guess that makes leaving everything to your Uncle, who I’m sure has his own Sect work, just fine, right?”

Something in the distance was moving in a rather strange way, and Jingyi’s eyes were almost drawn to it. Was it a moving sack or something? Before he could process this suddenly Jin Ling was in his face, blocking his thoughts and his view,

“What do you know about it then? Is anyone asking you to take over any Sects at your age? Wait no, of course not. That will never be your problem, will it? No one would ask the least worthy Lan such a thing. It must be nice not to have any expectations put on you, right? You can’t mess up when no one expects anything from you.”

Jingyi felt like he had been smacked. He knew he’d started this, but Jin Ling’s words were cruel and hit his weak spot. The boy really was half Jin, he knew where to hit to make the biggest mark. Ignoring his interest in what was happening in the distance Jingyi pulled his frame completely up straight, looking Jin Ling in the eyes,

“Are you stupid or just selfish? You come here on your high horse, judging other people, when you can’t even control your own emotions or think about how your actions affect anyone else. No, as long as you’re happy who cares about the happiness of people like your Uncle. You don’t care who you hurt or take advantage of or who you steal from do you?”

“How dare you call me a thief?! I’ve never stolen anything in my entire life! I can have anything I want, why on earth would I need to steal from you of all people?! Where is your evidence, huh?! What have I stolen then?!”

“My friend you jerk! You stole Sizhui! You couldn’t just ease your way in like a regular human being, could you?! No instead you just show up, all of the time, taking and taking and taking, until there was nothing left. So there I said it! Are you happy now?!” he replied getting ready to throw a punch at the rate the argument was escalating.

He was already regretting his words and actions, but his feelings were still sore from Jin Ling’s comment and he thought it might hurt both parties less if they just duked it out, rather than kept talking. Jin Ling already looked like he had taken a blow.

~
“I didn’t steal him, anyone could see that I couldn’t even if I wanted to you idiot! You and Sizhui are practically joined at the hip! All I wanted was friends and fun for once in my life! I didn’t know I had to walk on egg shells in the beginning of a friendship, because I’ve never had one until recently! So I’m sooo sorry that I didn’t check with you before befriending your best friend. I’ll make sure to give all of you and your friends all the space you need!”

At that Jin Ling began to walk down the mountain on his own this time. He was disgusted with himself and Jingyi for that matter, and hurt, though he was unwilling to accept that part. In fact, he was partially leaving because he was afraid he might cry if he stayed. He stomped his way forward until he suddenly tripped over something in the grass and fell down. Deeply embarrassed and now actively tearing, he felt around, determined to find and blame the object that had been in his path for how badly downhill the night had gone. His hands grasped it and his head tilted to the side when he realized that it looked very familiar. He was momentarily surprised out of his sad state when his mind grasped who it belonged to.

But what had his Uncle Jiang Cheng been doing at Gusu? If he was there wouldn’t he have dragged Jin Ling home at once? And most importantly, how had his Uncle, who was particularly obsessed with his personal accessories, lost his Lotus Crown in the first place?

Something wasn’t adding up and for some reason Jin Ling felt that he needed to figure it out immediately, even if it meant facing the Lan disciples only seconds after proving Jingyi right now that he thought about it. He had tried to run away and now even his Uncle’s jewelry was judging him for it. Well he wasn’t about to run away from this mystery at least. Not when he got the feeling it was important to figure it out.

 

[brilliantfraud]

It was natural for Lan Sizhui to expect the best of other people. Perhaps he could be considered gullible for that fact. But it remained that he cared for his friends very deeply, and the moment that they had headed down towards the road that led out of Cloud Recesses, Sizhui became acutely aware that something was not right between some of them. Particularly, Jingyi and Jin Ling. The two of them had never been the best of friends, certainly, but the more Jin Ling came to visit, the less and less Jingyi seemed to want to spend time with Sizhui while he was there. Zizhen, as he always was, associated with them all equally, and seemed to enjoy their company. Sizhui liked it when he came because he often managed to balance out the slight tension between Jingyi and Jin Ling. Sort of like a buffer, he always managed to make them laugh or distract them with a story of his ridiculous father.

This was a wholly different situation. The two of them were sniping at one another before they even left, and the moment that Jingyi talked his way around the guards, there was a fight opening right before him. Next to him, Zizhen was watching with the face of someone who neither knew what to do nor wanted to intervene, and when Jingyi and Jin Ling began shouting at one another, Zizhen grabbed Sizhui's upper arm, pulling him backwards ever so slightly.

"We should stay out of this," he suggested. Sizhui opened his mouth and then looked to Zizhen.

"We shouldn't let them fight," he insisted.

"Or we could let them fight and see who wins?" Zizhen offered lamely. It wasn't that he wasn't upset about his friends fighting. But he already knew Jingyi's trouble with Jin Ling and he knew Jin Ling could be an insufferable brat on occasion. So if they just fought and got it over with, perhaps--

But it was too late. Sizhui had already heard the subject of their disagreement. It was him. Jingyi felt that Jin Ling had stolen him. It was a surprise to him--such a surprise, in fact that he couldn't even intervene as he watched his two closest friends tear at one another's throats like wild animals. They were both being cruel, much more so than either of them were, at heart. Sizhui knew Jingyi to be fiercely protective and loyal, helpful and kind (when he wanted). And Jin Ling could be self-centered, but he knew that to be a cover for the fact that he was frightened of not being accepted. That he wanted friends who cared for him.

How had the night gone so wrong? Sizhui had hoped that they could all get their minds off the fact that Clan Leader Lan Xichen had sequestered himself. That they could spend time forgetting about that and enjoying one another's company. After all, Sizhui had, not terribly long ago, reconnected with Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning, and now, the two men he considered his family had been married. Things were going well, despite Lan Xichen, and having Jin Ling, Zizhen, and Jingyi all in one place...well, Sizhui had hoped for a better evening than this.

Zizhen winced when Jin Ling stormed off down the road. He exchanged a look with Sizhui, who knew, immediately, what to do. Zizhen stayed there with Jingyi to make sure he didn't do something rash--like follow behind and try to stir more trouble.

Sizhui hurried after his other friend.

"Jin Ling!" he called, trying to keep his voice somewhat low. Although they had gotten by the guards, he still didn't want to draw their attention down the path and to the petty fighting that had been happening. In the dark, it was hard to see Jin Ling, despite the pretty, shiny jewels and chains that he kept in his hair. Sizhui paused on the trail, searching ahead for him. "Jin Ling!"

Then, out of the corner of his eye, something caught his attention. Something further along the trail, where the path briefly doubled back before it wound around the mountain again. There was a group of men--it was difficult to make them out, but as the moon peeked out from behind the clouds, he knew what he was seeing.

There were men, holding some kind of a body between them. Or at least...that's what it looked like. It was a strange sight to see outside of Cloud Recesses at this time of night. And that was even in comparison to a group of bickering juniors who weren't that far behind. Sizhui couldn't see enough details of the men to make out who they were, but he was sure they were carrying a body. It was human shaped, dark, as if it was in a bag. Two of them held it suspended between them--they paused on the trail, appeared to glance around and then one of them disappeared into the higher grass and trees near the river.

Sizhui held his breath as he watched them lead a horse from the grass and haul the body up onto it. Like second nature, Sizhui opened his mouth to shout. But there was no telling who they were and he didn't want to jump to conclusions. Instead, he continued down the path, hoping to get to the fork in the road where he could see them better as they retreated. Perhaps he could get a look at what they were wearing or maybe he could hear what they were saying to one another. Anything, just a snippet would have been enough. Then he could report it to Hanguang Jun. Perhaps he would have some insight to why such a strange thing would be happening outside Cloud Recesses.

He was so distracted by what he was doing that as he rounded the path, he didn't notice Jin Ling on his hands and knees in the grass. Sizhui's knees ran right into him and with a yelp, he fell over him, landing painfully on his left hip.

"Aiya," he groaned, reaching up to straighten his headband as he looked back to see what he'd fallen over. His eyes widened and he sat up abruptly. "Jin Ling!"

Sizhui untangled his legs from his friend and he sat forward.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes catching the glimmer of something in his friend's hand. From where he sat, he couldn't be sure he recognized it. "What is that?"

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

When Jin Ling had turned and left, for a second Jingyi had considered stopping the other boy. He knew that despite Jin Ling’s posturing the boy was sensitive, and he had been so hurt by the others statement and his own jealousy’s that he had let his emotions get the better of him as well. His heart and brain warred, trying to figure out whether to apologize or not, but then Sizhui hurried after Jin Ling and Jingyi’s heart hardened a bit one again. After all Sizhui had made a choice after all, and it seemed that it was Jin Ling despite Jingyi’s very public angry confession.

He sighed, folding his arms in front of himself, shaking his head and saying out loud,

“I should have just punched him.”

Indeed, a physical altercation was certainly preferable to an emotional one, and with Jin Ling storming off like the little miss that he was, in Lan Jingyi’s mind, he certainly looked like the bad guy to anyone outside of the situation. That was probably why Sizhui had chosen him after all.

He glanced over as Zizhen wryly teasingly,

“In the market for a best friend by any chance?”

It wasn’t that he was completely giving up on Sizhui anyway, but maybe having more than one best friend was a good way to lessen jealousy between people. Maybe Sizhui wanted to branch out and experience someone new, rather than ‘the weakest Lan.’ Maybe Jin Ling matched him better or differently or something. Whatever reason he had Sizhui had chosen someone else and although it hurt Jingyi was going to have to respect that…or at least tolerate it somewhat.

He watched the road for a few minutes while trying to calm himself down, his feelings as mixed as his thoughts, before that nagging feeling came back at him,

“It’s taking them too long to return and we really should go get some refreshments like we promised. Those guards are not going to believe me if I don’t come back with alcohol for Wei Wuxian. So let’s go down and get it, if we pass Sizhui and Jin Ling we can just go around them if we have to, what do you say?”


~

Jin Ling had inspected the spot where he feel and he found something particularly interesting about the surrounding area and that was that there were no signs of foot prints or proof that anyone had been there. Perhaps this would not be suspicious to all cultivators, indeed some tended to travel on swords, or purposely covered their tracks when they left, but that was not something that his Uncle Jiang Cheng would ever have done.

For as long as Jin Ling could remember his uncle had always been forthright. He didn’t slink around or skulk, or hide, or any of that unless Uncle Wei Wuxian practically forced him into it. No, Jiang Cheng pretty much demanded acknowledgement. Even if he had followed and decided to leave, perhaps for political reasons, he would never cover his tracks as if he had done something bad or wrong. In fact, if ever found out, without bringing it up, he’d just blatantly justify his actions rather than hide the evidence. If anything he’d probably leave the proof if only so that Jin Ling would question him on it and thus walk into a trap of admitting where he was.

Thinking about this while looking for any proof of what game his Uncle might be playing, he didn’t notice Sizhui until the boy fell. Jin Ling’s eyes widened in surprise, particularly that Sizhui had come for him, but also that he’d hurt himself,

“Are you okay?”

Jin Ling reached over, his fingers reaching to help set his forehead protector, before remembering the significance and pulling his hand back quickly as if burnt, face turning red at the thought. His other hand clutched his uncle’s Lotus Crown as if trying to pull some of his Uncles strength from it,

“Sorry.” He said a little nervously in case Sizhui had noticed what he was about to do.

When Sizhui sat forward Jin Ling folded his legs, sitting there in the middle of the mountain road next to the other boy, his Uncle’s Lotus crown causing him to frown, but thankfully calm him down from the drama from before,

“I’m okay,” he said as Sizhui asked him about the accessory he was holding, “This? It’s my Uncle Jiang Cheng’s Lotus crown. I was heading down the mountain when I tripped on it, but what’s weird is that my Uncle is nowhere to be seen, and he’s pretty into his accessories so it’s not like he would just abandon one.”

He twirled the crown around his finger before pointing down at the ground with his other hand,

“Plus look at the ground, it’s like no one has traveled on it for a while, but my Uncle Cheng must have been on it to lose this and he’s not one to hide his tracks unless Uncle Wuxian insists on it. So now I’m wondering if he figured out where I went and decided to create an elaborate test or something for me. What do you think?” he questioned.

It wasn’t impossible for his Uncle to test him. In fact all of his Uncles had done so, from Jin Guangyao to Jiang Cheng to even Wei Wuxian. He supposed that would be the only logical explanation.

A few minutes later he looked up and saw Jingyi and Zizhen standing over them,

“What happened to you guys?” he questioned, a little tense, but not outright confrontational like before.

“Like you’d care.” Jin Ling snapped, referring to himself only. He was sure that the other would care if it was Sizhui, even if they weren’t currently on the same page as usual.

Jingyi threw his hands up in an attempt at appearing to surrender,

“Never mind the dramatics, we’re just coming through in an attempt to bypass you and head to the village,” Jingyi said and looked like he meant it, but he decided to teasingly add, “although it is a relief that you guys didn’t meet up with those men from before with the moving sack. Who knows what they might have unleashed from it if they had.”

Jin Ling frowned,

“A moving sack? What are you talking about, I didn’t see any men? If you’re making this up in an attempt to scare me it’s not going to work.”

Jingyi’s eyebrow rose,

“If I wanted to scare you I would hope I’d come up with something better than that. I’d have probably gone with a group of bloodthirsty ghosts or thieves and murderers, or something. Nope there really were a bunch of odd men with some kind of moving sack. I saw them briefly before but we were in the middle of an argument so I was more invested in that to be honest. But whatever animal they got it wasn’t a bunny I’ll tell you that.”

Jin Ling frowned, his eyebrows knitting together so tightly that there was barely any space between them and his vermillion mark almost all you could see in the middle,

“How do you know it wasn’t a bunny?”

“There’s no way it could be, it was huge. It looked like it was practically the size of a man.”

Jin Ling looked down at his Uncle’s Lotus crown and then turned to look at Sizhui concerned. Something about all of this was not sitting right. Could it be - ?

Biting his lip he shook his head. No, it was impossible for his Uncle to get into trouble right outside of Gusu. Surely the guards would hear it and even if not his Uncle was a great fighter. It would take more than a handful of common fighters to do any real damage to the Jiang Sect leader.

“That was a lot of men to bag a goat, or a deer though. They are probably going to have to hunt more if they want to feed all of them.” Jingyi went on, this time clearly oblivious to the problems he was creating inside Jin Ling’s mind and heart.

Of course even Jin Ling realized that Jingyi didn’t know he was holding his Uncle’s hairpiece, nor what he was thinking after all. Still, he was beginning to get a sinking feeling. He didn’t want to believe it, a part of him couldn’t, and yet the thought was right there on the edge of his mind waiting for a tipping point,

“You don’t think-” he began looking at Sizhui, but then shaking his head rather violently, “no, it couldn’t be. There’s no reason for someone to want my Uncle and he’s a sect leader, they’d have to be crazy to- No, this is probably just some kind of ruse or test, clearly. Well they’ll not trick me.”

Jin Ling stood up, offering his hand to Sizhui to help the other boy up. He took a deep breath and tried to convince himself not to process the conclusion he had decided on. He refused to believe such a thing. He had just seen Jiang Cheng right before sneaking out and the man was fine. He was obviously just paranoid and emotional due to Jingyi that was all. But despite his stubbornness and stance a part of him was filling up with dread, his hand clutching his Uncle’s Lotus crown nervously and finding only so much comfort in it.

“What about your Uncle?” Jingyi asked confused.

Jin Ling didn’t feel he owed the other boy any explainations, especially considering the argument that they’d just got into. He didn’t understand why the boy was suddenly acting so nice to him after arguing with him just a few minutes ago, but now that he paid attention he noticed that Jingyi still hadn’t looked Sizhui in his eyes, and there had been a little bit of venom behind the allegedly nonchalant words the other was saying. Clearly the situation wasn’t fixed, but it was obvious the other boy was at least trying and he was certainly keeping a respectful distance. Due to that Jin Ling thought, begrudgingly that he could try a little bit too, and so he stated,

“He was here and now he’s not. He even left his Lotus crown, which is unusual for him, but considering all of my Uncles have always loved testing me I figure it’s a test of some kind.”

Jingyi frowned,

“That seems odd, why would he test you when there was no obvious way of knowing that he was here?”

Jin Ling shrugged,

“Maybe that was the test,” he stated and then just in case he yelled, “UNCLE JIANG CHENG I FOUND YOUR HAIRPIECE YOU CAN COME OUT AND YELL AT ME NOW!”

Nothing happened so he frowned adding, “I guess that wasn’t it.”

Jingyi looked unsure,

“I don’t know your Uncles that well so I guess it could be a test, but it seems a bit odd to me…still it might be fun to figure it out.”

Jin Ling could tell that Jingyi was offering to help, without making it seem like it was help. It was something that he oddly appreciated, but still felt like a trap coming from someone he’d just gotten into a fight with a few minutes ago. But he did want to figure out this puzzle that was bothering him and if Jingyi was okay with helping he knew the other two would not be a problem.

“I guess I could tolerate you long enough to figure it out.”

“I can’t make the same promise, but I’ll try.” Jingyi retorted, but oddly both boys smiled a little, the words sounding harsh, but the tones kind and teasing.

They both felt that there was something more important to the situation before them then their petty arguments, although they could not admit as much and they knew that whatever the situation they needed to figure it out fast. If only they could put their finger on it.

 

[brilliantfraud]

Sitting up in the grass, still rubbing his head, Sizhui's eyes were down on the shiny crown in Jin Ling's hand. He only noticed that Jin Ling reached for his headband when the other boy pulled back. Sizhui was glad for the darkness because his entire face went pink at the suggestion, even though he didn't move away. He immediately shook his head quickly, not wanting Jin Ling to feel as though he had done something Sizhui would hold against him. He pushed himself up out of the grass so that they could see each other a little bit better by the moonlight.

"It's okay," he said in haste, and he adjusted the headband on his own.

He looked down at the crown in Jin Ling's hands as he began to reason out why it might be in the grass and the fact that the grass was undisturbed save for the place where they had both fallen down. Sizhui furrowed his brow in concern and confusion as he dusted off his white robes. In his head, he was still thinking about the men he had seen a bit earlier. That was where he'd been headed when he'd fallen over Jin Ling. It was the oddest thing he'd ever seen outside of Cloud Recesses, and that included when other teenagers came to study earlier in the year.

Typically speaking, people didn't linger around Cloud Recesses. There were guards to contend with, but also most people viewed it as sacred ground. It was just a place that someone with nefarious purposes probably didn't want to be. After all, with Hanguang Jun looking after things while their clan leader was secluded, it made things a little more intimidating. Sizhui may have viewed Lan Wangji has his elder brother and father figure, but he still had a healthy respect and fear of him.

Just as Sizhui was prepared to say something to Jin Ling about what he'd seen, Zizhen and Jingyi came back up the path and he closed his mouth, turning to watch them. Like him, Zizhen stood by, watching as the other two boys talked, coming to conclusions and discussing the possibility that Jiang Wanyin was just testing Jin Ling.

For Zizhen's part, that seemed a stretch. Who would throw their crown into the grass in the middle of the night just to be annoying? Certainly, he had heard of stranger things being done, but that seemed excessive. He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched Jin Ling and Jingyi talk, apparently making up halfway through their discussion. He didn't get it--petty arguments over whether or not they could both be friends with the same boy seemed silly to him, but then, Lan Clan had always seemed a little bit dramatic in his opinion.

"Good thing you two have decided to stop crying like a couple of girls," Zizhen said, grinning playfully.

Sizhui furrowed his brow, going to Jingyi's side and putting a hand on his arm. He hadn't forgotten what his friend had said, and Sizhui's heart hurt to think he had accidentally upset him. After all, they had been friends all of their lives, and Jingyi had always stuck up for him, no matter what.

"Stop it," he told Zizhen. Sizhui looked back to best friend. "We'll talk about this later, Jingyi."

Zizhen rolled his eyes and looked down the path.

"Are we going to go get the liquor or not? If we do, I'm drinking," he insisted.

"No," Sizhui insisted. "I saw the men with the bag, too. I think we should talk with Hanguang Jun about this. It's strange that your uncle would come here in the middle of the night and not make himself known. Why wouldn't he simply walk in and scold you?"

He furrowed his brow at Jin Ling. Everyone standing there with him knew that Jiang Wanyin had no qualms about shouting at Jin Ling, even in front of his friends, family, and strangers. Sizhui didn't want to say that out loud because he was sure it would embarrass Jin Ling or hurt his feelings. But it seemed strange to him that Jin Ling's uncle wouldn't simply walk to Cloud Recesses. He may not have been on perfect terms with Wei Wuxian, but he was still his brother. And now that Wei Wuxian had married Hanguang Jun, Jiang Wanyin would probably have been able to go inside, even if it went against Lan Clan rules to enter Cloud Recesses at night.

"If we don't go, those guards are going to think we lied to them," Zizhen complained. Sizhui looked back to him.

"We did lie," he said, pressing his lips together in concern about that. He may not have told the lie himself, but he was sure Hanguang Jun would be unhappy with him, regardless.

"Well...yes, but I mean don't you want to avoid getting beaten?" Zizhen said.

Taking a deep breath, Sizhui walked to Jin Ling, facing him directly. He reached up and put his hand on the crown that Jin Ling hand in his palm. Sizhui didn't take it, but there was enough earnest concern in his eyes to indicate that he did want to take it back to Cloud Recesses to show the others.

"Jin Ling," he said quietly. "If your uncle really was here just to test you, then this is all just a silly misunderstanding and you can take the crown back to him. But...if something happened, I think we should be sure Hanguang Jun and our clan leader know about it. Just in case. If it happened outside of Cloud Recesses, then Clan Leader Lan will want to take action immediately."

 

[Arabella Cauwell]

Jingyi snorted at Zizhen’s tease,

“I was not crying thank you very much, I simply gave you a business proposition which I’ve noticed that you’ve clearly ignored,” he said pointedly, before smirking a little, “although I will admit I may have overreacted a bit…apparently I’m not good with change for the most part and Gusu has been quite different as of late.”

Jin Ling rolled his eyes,

“You think Gusu is bad? Try being a Jin right about now.” Jin Ling retorted.

Not being able to resist Jingyi added,

“No thanks, I’ve never wanted to be a Jin and I’m not about to change that up now.”

To Zizhen Jin Ling retorted,

“Also if you ever say I cried like a girl again, I’ll make sure to bring you to tears with me Mr. Sentimental.” He said, pointing out one of his nicknames given to him by Wei Wuxian himself.

Jingyi looked down at Sizhui’s hand on his arm and felt comforted, as he always had when Sizhui was by his side. They were practically like twins before all this mess and so it was natural to be soothed by his presence. In fact, his whole body visibly relaxed at the contact as Sizhui admonished Zizhen and Zizhen gave it up in favor of insisting that they get liquor.

Jingyi was sort of with Zizhen to start. If Jin Ling thought his Uncle would do such a thing then who was he to disagree if you thought about it. But as usual Sizhui made a good point. Which meant that the other Juniors were going to be waiting a long time for those snacks and Jingyi was going to have nothing to bribe Wei Wuxian with.

Jingyi made a face. At this point he could only hope they weren’t blowing things out of proportion,

“Technically I lied, and I can do it again, but don’t worry Zizhen,” he teased putting a hand on the other boy’s shoulder, “I’ll take your beating for you since you’re so delicate.”

Jin Ling bit his lip. He knew that Sizhui was just trying to help, but what the Lan boy didn’t understand was that nothing could be wrong with his Uncle. Jin Ling had lost a lot of family, for one reason or other, throughout his life. But one person who was constant, always there…granted usually yelling, was his Uncle Jiang Cheng. He had a sinking feeling that if he went with Sizhui and looked into the Lotus Crown he wouldn’t be able to pretend it was alright. But he supposed that was a selfish thing to do. Still…his hand shook a little as Sizhui put his hand on it.

“He’s fine,” Jin Ling insisted, more to himself than to Sizhui, “he has to be.”

Jingyi’s eyebrow raised as he watched Jin Ling struggle. As much as he could use a break from the boy, or rather wanted one for Sizhui anyway, he could tell that Jin Ling thought that something was wrong as well. But he couldn’t admit it and that was more alarming to Jingyi then previous events.

“Of course your Uncle is fine Jin Ling. He must be really messing with you this time! But you know, if you are looking for a little revenge what better way than to get Wei Wuxian on your side right? Your Uncle would go nuts if he knew that Wei Wuxian figured out the plan for him, wouldn’t he?” Jingyi began, deciding that the best way to get Jin Ling to cooperate was to calm him and trick him rather than be straight forward.

Jin Ling nodded belatedly, feeling a bit more comfortable at the thought. He smiled slightly imagining his Uncle’s wrath after finding out that he didn’t play along with the test, but got Wei Wuxian to do it for him. Even better he had been trying to find a way to get his Uncle Jiang Cheng to talk to Wei Wuxian and finally end all of the miscommunication and resentment. Maybe this could be just the thing.

“I suppose they’d have to talk to each other if Wei Wuxian finds out the plan.” He said looking over at Sizhui for encouragement.

“Yes, I suppose he would, so come on Mistress Jin let’s go see one Uncle about the work of the other. You don’t think they’re in on it together already do you?” Jingyi teased leading Jin Ling back.

Jin Ling snorted,

“There’s no way!” he exclaimed amused with a laugh, his heart just a bit lighter as he walked.

Jingyi let out a little smile as he lead the group back into Gusu, explaining to the guards that they had to turn back due to a Sect Leader matter. As they made their way up the mountain and Jingyi tricked Jin Ling into some semblance of fake calm he thought to himself that it had been a very odd day indeed. He had started trying to chase the boy off and here he was helping him back in. He just hoped the day got less strange as it went, but from the looks of things that wasn’t very likely.

~

Up in the mountains of Gusu, in a residence that used to belong to Lan Zhan’s mother, sat one very bored former Yiling patriarch, twirling a flute with two fingers and wondering how long it was going to take his husband to come back to him.

Gusu was a beautiful place, but it was quiet and lonely when company was around, even the walls seemingly telling him to be good and behave. It was a stark contrast to the fun and freedom that he had grown up with as a Jiang. As much as he loved Lan Zhan he yearned to return to the cool, Lotus filled waters of the Pier. To see the friendly faces and play around to his heart’s content.

There were things he could not have now perhaps, the kind smile of his elder sister, the compliments of his adoptive father, or even the gentle look of brotherly love that Jiang Cheng would give him without realizing that he was giving himself away. Those were all gone, all seemingly impossible to have again, but even the memory of it felt like it was something. The freedom. The adventure. The challenges.

As much as he loved the Lan’s most of them seemed never to really live, and after a month or so of living amongst them and trying hard to be good, his inner Jiang was dying to attempt something impossible. Anything really just to stop the monotony, from which only his time with Lan Zhan or amongst the juniors made it more tolerable. Lately he didn’t even have Lan Xichen to talk to ever since the big Jin Guangyao betrayal had caused the elder Lan to go into seclusion, and furthermore Lan Zhan had to pick up a decent amount of the work load, not to mention check on his brother as well, which made for more alone time for Wei Wuxian.

While pondering how much verbal abuse he would consider taking from Jiang Cheng just to attempt a visit to Lotus Pier a knock sounded on the outside of the door. Curious, bored, and in the mood for mischief or fun, he slid his way off of the window sill and walked over to the door opening it.

In front of him stood his four favorite Juniors. It was not too shocking of a site as of late to be sure, but he was confused as to why they all had such different expressions on their face. He was going to tease them about wanting to play when he spotted the Lotus Crown in Jin Ling’s hand. He frowned recognizing it,

“Well what mischief have you lot been up to then?” he asked teasingly, “mind you taking that Lotus Crown of all the options from Jiang Cheng was a very bad idea if you were trying to go for light pranking.”

Jin Ling frowned looking up at him,

“We didn’t prank Uncle Jiang Cheng, he’s trying to prank me…well probably more like test me anyway. He thought he was really clever leaving this for me to trip over down the Gusu mountain, but the joke is on him, because I’ve come to ask you to help figure out the answers to this elaborate plan. We’ll see what he has to say about that!”

Wei Wuxian frowned. Jin Ling wasn’t wrong to think that his Uncle’s would test him, but each one had always done it in a different way. Jin Guangyao had played with Jin Ling psychologically, so he might have believed it of him. In fact, Wei Wuxian would have probably set up some elaborate plan himself if he’d thought of it. But Jiang Cheng’s tests tended to be physical rather than psychological. And there was another problem to Jin Ling’s theory.

“Can I see that for a moment Jin Ling?” he questioned so far calmly. Jin Ling looked like he was going to refuse for a moment, but ultimately handed it over after a long pause. Wei Wuxian studied it and his face began to turn white. There was no way that Jiang Cheng would use such a precious Lotus crown just for a test. Not this one.

“Where did you find this?” Wei Wuxian snapped, his tone harsher than usual. He was normally very playful about these sort of things, but at that moment his face was as serious as Lan Qiren, which confused and even made Jingyi nervous.

“It was on the ground on one of the turns leading down the mountain path. I tripped over it.” Jin Ling said, blinking in surprise at the seriousness of Wei Wuxian’s facial expression.

Wei Wuxian didn’t understand how it could have gotten all the way to Gusu. That must have meant that Jiang Cheng had been there to be sure, but as far as he was aware there wasn’t any Sect Leader Meetings being hosted at the moment and if the Lotus Crown was on the ground, where was Jiang Cheng?

“Did you see your Uncle?”

“No.” Jin Ling said sulkily.

“Jin Ling, you and this crown are coming with me. The rest of you can come if you so wish, but Lan Zhan…and actually Xichen have to be made aware of this. There is no way that Jiang Cheng would use this particular Lotus Crown as bait for some kind of test.”

“Why not?!” Jin Ling questioned, his nerves coming out as anger, not dissimilar to his Uncle Jiang Cheng’s, “what’s so great about this particular Lotus Crown anyway?”

Wei Wuxian paused, looking Jin Ling in the eyes as he bluntly answered,

“This Lotus crown was given to him by Madam Yu. There’s no way he would use something his deceased mother gave him as bait.”

He let that sink into a horror stricken Jin Ling for a minute before adding,

“Now come along. Something tells me that whatever is going on with Jiang Cheng, we need to figure it out as soon as possible. If any of the rest of you have seen or heard anything you’d better explain it once we meet up with the other two.” He said briskly, signaling them to follow him.

The sooner they met up with the Twin Jades the better. After all Wei Wuxian would never allow something to happen to Jiang Cheng. Not on his watch.

A few minutes, that seemed like hours, later Wei Wuxian finally found himself in front of where Xichen had been trying to seclude himself and where Lan Zhan had to come in order to discuss Lan Sect business and try to coax him into rejoining the cultivation world again. He turned to the kids to indicate to continue following him, even as he did something that Lan Qiren would probably later have a heart attack knowing. He entered without preamble, or entrance, or trying to coax the other out. He knew that Lan’s were romantic and prone to huge bouts of seclusion. But if Jiang Cheng really had been harmed in Gusu territory they were going to have a whole lot more of an issue than entering ones personal Lan bubble.

“Lan Zhan, Zewu-Jun!” He called trying to figure out where exactly they were in the space, “we’ve got what looks like a very political and personal problem on our hands!”

While he waited for a response from the Twin Jades he turned back to the Juniors and questioned,

“Is there anything else I should know before we delve into this?”

Jin Ling nodded, full of nerves and fear about the whole business since Wei Wuxian explained the importance of the Lotus crown, but every detail might matter in the finding of the truth of what was going on with his Uncle Jiang Cheng,

“There weren’t any visible tracks or footprints on the ground around the crown.” He offered, somewhat softly, as Wei Wuxian nodded, thinking similarly to how Jin Ling had thought before, covering his tracks was not a very Jiang Cheng kind of activity.

Jingyi decided he should probably add what he saw, even if it might not have anything to do with it,

“I saw a ton of guys leaving with something large and somewhat moving in a sack if it helps…although I assume they were hunters of some kind. Either way they ought to get into trouble. Hunting is prohibited in Gusu after all.”

“What isn’t prohibited in Gusu?” Jin Ling said, trying to dispel some of his nervous energy by starting up a fight.

But Jingyi found this question to be something of a challenge and so he just thought it over while Wei Wuxian looked over at the other two boys,

“What about you two? Notice anything suspicious?” The Lan brothers could probably hear them already and he could always sum things up if he had to transmit the information to the others in his usual manner, but he couldn’t tell what he didn’t know so he waited for further information, even as he processed the possibilities of Jingyi’s hunters being something far more dangerous than the boys may have even thought.