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„Welcome Sect Leader Jiang, we‘ve been waiting for your arrival, we are very honoured you were able to come in person.“
Jiang Cheng stepped down Sandu and nodded towards the disciple that came to pick him up, „The pleasure is mine.“
It was the first time the Jiang Sect Leader had been visiting Cloud Recesses in months, he usually tried to avoid coming here, out of … reasons, but today he had to visit in order to sign some rather important agreements between both sects and he couldn‘t afford offending Grandmaster Lan. So here he was.
„Let me lead you to the reception hall“
„Thanks“
Jiang Cheng followed the Lan disciple along the path, had he seen this one before? Probably at one of the last discussion conferences. It wasn’t one of Jin Ling’s little friends though, he would recognise them - especially the loud kid, Lan Jingyi. Still, this polite Lan had held up very well until now, no flinching, not obviously acting all scared around Sandu Shengshou, Jiang Cheng felt safe enough to ask, „Are Hanguang-jun and his spouse around right now?“
The disciple shook his head, „No, they aren‘t, they‘ve been sent out on a mission.“
„Is that so“, good thing, at least Jiang Cheng didn‘t have to worry about running into them today. He really wasn‘t in the mood to deal with potential mentally exhausting situations.
He didn‘t worry about his meeting with the Grandmaster, Lan Qiren had always acted highly professional, his no-nonsense attitude helped achieving great results within a short time, without having to worry about somehow getting tricked into unfavourable agreements (unlike so many other clans tried to - unsuccessfully of course).
Jiang Cheng liked the Grandmaster, it would be a lie to say the man was his first Lan choice though. Meetings with Zewu-jun used to be the most refreshing and soothing.
The Lan Sect Leader had always been respectful and gentle towards Jiang Cheng, disregarding all the rumours and prejudices - something only a handful of people had been doing, especially after the Sunshot Campaign.
Jiang Cheng used to admire how all the things Zewu-jun had gone through had not changed a thing about his gentle attitude.
Well, turns out even Zewu-jun had a breaking point and Jiang Cheng witnessed it a few months ago at Guanyin Temple.
Admittedly, he was kind of dealing with his own emotional damage at the time being.
He could have very well used some time for seclusion himself, but other than Lan Xichen, Jiang Cheng did not have the luxury of a family to have his back - even if he was well aware that the Jiang disciples would give their lives for Lotus Pier in a heartbeat. But oh well, trust issues were just another point on Jiang Cheng‘s long list of imperfections.
And then there was also Jin Ling‘s new position as the Jin Sect Leader. All those power hungry wolves would not hesitate to rip his precious nephew apart if Jiang Cheng would just disappear - not over Jiang Cheng’s dead body!
So here he was, dealing with sect matters as if nothing ever happened.
„Sect Leader Jiang, we‘ve arrived“, Jiang Cheng snapped out of his thoughts, he hadn‘t paid attention to where he was going - it wasn‘t really necessary though, he knew his way around Cloud Recesses well enough by now.
The disciple opened up the doors to the reception hall „I‘ll serve you some tea right away, esteemed Sect Leader.“
True to his words a steaming hot cup of tea was placed in front of Jiang Cheng moments after. The disciple stalled for a moment, he obviously wanted to say something - so he was a bit nervous after all, Jiang Cheng suppressed his urge to either smile or glare at the poor kid.
„Sect Leader Jiang, our greatest apologies, unfortunately it will take the Gransmaster a moment to arrive, he had to attend an emergency - of course he‘ll be here as soon as possible.“
Jiang Cheng sighed - that was a first for the Lan Sect.
„That is alright, is it known how long the emergency will take the Grandmaster?“
The disciple shook his head „We assume he will arrive any moment.“
„Understood.“
Well, that was a bummer, Jiang Cheng had hoped to be back at Lotus Pier in the early evening - he was a busy man after all - but he understood the necessity of attending emergencies, he could wait, especially if it didn‘t take long -
- turns out it did take long, or at least longer than expected. An hour (and multiple cups of tea) later another disciple arrived.
„Greetings, Sect Leader Jiang“, he bowed respectfully, „our sincere apologies, but it seems like the emergency is a bit more severe than initially expected, the Grandmaster asked to re-schedule the meeting to after lunch.“
Dang it. Jiang Cheng sighed inwardly. „Understood, may I leave the reception hall in the meanwhile?“
„Of course!“
Shortly after that Jiang Cheng found himself strolling through Cloud Recesses, he should have taken some paperwork with him … or sent his Second in Hand.
Whatever, emergencies were emergencies, he had experienced his fair share of them in the past and probably would continue to do so.
Maybe the free time in the eery atmosphere of Cloud Recesses and it‘s beautiful scenery could help Jiang Cheng to get out of his headspace for a bit.
He found himself taking a random path, overlooking a meadow not too far away from a waterfall, he could hear the faint crashing sounds of the water already. It was nice.
His mind inevitably wandered back to the time he studied here, it hadn’t been that long since those days, but felt like several lifetimes ago … times were so much easier back then.
When closing his eyes, Jiang Cheng could almost see Wei Wuxian and himself walking along the path, laughing, bickering. Or just Jiang Cheng by himself, because Wei Wuxian had to serve some kind of punishment for whatever he did that day …
„Lan Huan!“ - no shouting in Cloud Recesses … didn‘t Jiang Cheng know that voice from somewhere?
„LAN HUAN!!“
Jiang Cheng blinked his eyes open again, only to see something small and white speeding in his direction, crashing directly into his chest, taking away his breath for a second. It regained it‘s composure quickly and wrapped itself around Jiang Cheng‘s arm.
And hear him out, normally he would immediately get rid of it, or at least check out what it actually was - but he was too shocked to do so.
He wiped his eyes in disbelief, but it wasn‘t a hallucination. The person shouting in Cloud Recesses wasn‘t just anyone, but the Grandmaster himself - Lan Qiren.
Lan Qiren, who was sprinting, SPRINTING, towards Jiang Cheng‘s direction.
Jiang Cheng considered his mind playing tricks on him, because Lan Qiren running and shouting in Cloud Recesses couldn‘t be real.
The Grandmaster came to a halt in front of Jiang Cheng with a crazed expression, his whole being focused on the white something around the Jiang Sect Leader‘s arm. Finally Jiang Cheng‘s gaze wandered to it as well, what was that? A white snake?
The little snake watched him with big brown eyes, they felt somewhat familiar, but did snakes normally have brown doe eyes? It also had a little snout, two knobs on its head and a tuft of silvery blue mane. Jiang Cheng felt a talon dig into his arms and finally it clicked.
„Is this a dra-“
Before he could finish Lan Qiren grabbed him by the arm and pulled him along.
—
Jiang Cheng found himself in what he knew was the Hanshi. He was seated at a low table opposite of Lan Qiren, dragon happily nuzzling against his arm.
Way too many questions raced through the Jiang Sect Leader‘s head like -
‚Where the hell did the dragon come from‘,
‚Why were they in the Hanshi and more importantly, wasn‘t Zewu-jun supposed to be secluded in here? WHERE was he?‘
But nobody broke the silence. The Grandmaster was obviously contemplating about what and how much he should reveal, Jiang Cheng did not dare to interrupt his thoughts.
At some point Lan Qiren seemed to have come to a conclusion as he hardened his face and was just about to start speaking when - poof - the dragon poofed into little clouds and materialised a bigger body.
Jiang Cheng‘s eyes widened comically, the mythical creature had changed into a small, about four to five years old child.
The child seemed to either not notice or simply not care about the change of it’s form as it continued sitting in Jiang Cheng‘s lap, hugging his arm. It looked up to Jiang Cheng with it‘s big brown eyes.
Jiang Cheng stared back into those hazel eyes and all those wild thoughts abruptly came to a halt. He knew right from the start that he recognised those eyes, but it did not make sense before - not that it made sense now - but this child looked way too familiar and didn‘t Lan Qiren shout after ‚Lan Huan‘ before? Jiang Cheng knew only one man with that name.
His gaze wandered towards Lan Qiren - the latter facepalmed.
Jiang Cheng was aware that he didn‘t really need to ask anymore, but this was just too absurd.
„Grandmaster, is this …?“
Lan Qiren sighed and nodded „Yes, this is my nephew, Zewu-jun.“
__
Jiang Cheng observed the child with sharp eyes. Lan Huan - still sitting on Jiang Cheng’s lap - took a few sips of tea with all the poise and elegance a boy of his age could muster, typically Lan.
„We don’t know why or how it happened … but the disciple supposed to bring him his daily meals found Lan Huan crying in his child form yesterday morning. Upon my arriving he had transformed to the dragon form several times. It goes without saying that our most skilled healers immediately examined him. They couldn’t find anything concrete though. There was nothing like a curse or spell. Lately his condition hasn‘t been the best, seclusion hasn‘t treated him as well as we would have hoped. So our current suspicion is that he had a mini qi-deviation which has lead him to losing control over his core.“
Jiang Cheng pondered over it for a bit „If that’s the case, why does he turn into a dragon?“
Lan Qiren sighed, he didn’t really want to tell the other Sect Leader too much, but did not exactly have another choice left anymore, „It is said that our ancestors had dragon blood in their veins, there hasn‘t been any concrete proof for that in the last few generations, but seeing a-Huan’s current predicament, it‘s most likely true. We are currently searching for a way to turn a-Huan back into his normal adult form … but it’s not that easy, as we aren’t aware what’s exactly wrong. Wangji and his … spouse … are currently out researching the matter, we can only hope they find something.“
They fell back into silence, it was the Grandmaster who broke it again.
„I‘m worried for my nephew and the sect. The whole matter is currently held under covers. There are already so many eyes watching a-Huan unfavourably because of the matter with Jin Guangyao and the seclusion. Not just from the outside, but also the elders within the sect. I fear it would cause unease and fear if the disciples found out. Only a handful of trusted sect members know about it at the moment, I don‘t know how long I can hide a-Huan‘s condition though. He behaves well in his human form, but he‘s hard to control once transformed…“
„Maybe I can help“, Jiang Cheng cursed himself, why did he have to run his mouth and pry into another sect‘s business?! Well, it was too late to take it back now.
„The healers back at my clan are specialised in core research, perhaps they would be able to find out more about Zewu-jun‘s condition. And even if they won‘t find out anything new, Zewu-jun could at least stay unrecognised in Yunmeng.“
„Taking a-Huan to Yunmeng…“, Lan Qiren seemed to be lost in his thoughts again.
On one hand it was a high risk to get another sect involved in this matter, but Jiang Wanyin had always been a dutiful and trustworthy person - and not to talk about the longtime crush Lan Huan seemed to have on the grumpy man. Maybe it would do Lan Huan some good to be out of Gusu too.
„Sect Leader Jiang, by taking a-Huan to Yunmeng with you, you would do us a huge favour. We would of course stay in constant touch with each other and if the burden is too high for you to carry, just say so and we will immediately rush to Lotus Pier to pick my nephew up again. It also goes without saying that we’ll get him, should we find anything out about his condition.“
Now Jiang Cheng was surprised, he did offer to help but assumed Lan Qiren would prefer his nephew to stay in Gusu, he would be damned to take his words back though.
„Sect Leader Jiang, I know my trust in you has never been let down so far, but please be aware that this whole situation his highly confidential.“
„Of course.“
—
It was several hours - and a long long list of instructions from Lan Qiren - later, when Jiang Cheng finally got ready for his way home.
The sun had already set, soon the clock would hit nine and the Lan disciples go to bed. Lan Qiren had suggested to wait until then to sneak out of Cloud Recesses, Jiang Cheng thought it was a good plan.
Ideally Lan Huan, the boy did neither recognise his courtesy name nor title yet, would fall asleep by nine, making things easier, but only a few minutes before the bed time he still seemed pretty energised, constantly changing forms. Jiang Cheng sighed, the journey home would probably not end up being as easy as he initially assumed.
Shortly after nine they made their way through and out of Cloud Recesses, Lan Huan in dragon form curled around Jiang Cheng‘s arm. No one said a word until they had long left the gates.
„We are here, Sect Leader Jiang, it‘s time for a temporary farewell.“
Jiang Cheng nodded „If anything happens I‘ll make sure to inform you immediately, you‘ll of course receive regular updates anyway.“
„Thank you, I hope this will help, Lan Huan deserves better …“, as if sensing the heavy atmosphere Lan Huan raised his head towards his uncle.
The latter patted his nephew „A-Huan, you will be leaving with Sect Leader Jiang for a while, please behave. If you don’t want to stay in Lotus Pier, let him know, we will come and pick you up immediately, understood?“ The dragon’s head bopped up and down.
„Good, both of you, have a save trip. A-Huan, get healthy quickly.“
With that Jiang Cheng took off.
—
It was already the break of dawn when Sect Leader and dragon finally arrived back at Lotus Pier.
The trip was exhausting, Jiang Cheng was so ready to go to bed. He definitely underestimated the times Lan Xichen … Lan Huan … would change forms. It would have been ok on land, but they were mid-air. So he constantly had to turn around to fish the little dragon out of the air or to make sure he had a tight hold on Lan Huan when he transformed back into his child form. It probably would not have been too amazing for the relationship of both sects if Jiang Cheng dropped the other Sect Leader out of hundreds of metres high in the air.
Jiang Cheng strut into Lotus Pier without much ceremony, there weren‘t many people awake at this time of the day, or rather night, anyways. He briefly instructed one of the servants „I‘m back, please get a hot bath and a light meal prepared … not spicy.“
He immediately headed to his quarters afterwards. The little dragon poofed into child form again as soon as they arrived. „Welcome to Lotus Pier, the journey was exhausting, huh? You could have done me the favour and sleep a bit.“
The boy looked down with glassy eyes „I‘m sorry“
„No worries, we‘ll eat something, wash up the travel dust and go to sleep, sounds like a plan?“
Lan Huan nodded, his behaviour was flawless but he seemed to be a shy kid.
An hour later they finally laid in bed. Jiang Cheng briefly thought about letting the child sleep in a guest room, but immediately discarded the idea. If going by the amount Lan Huan changed form mid-air, stress seemed to be a big trigger for the transformations. He was not cruel enough to let a little stressed child be all alone in a unfamiliar place - especially if said child changed into a dragon at the random.
The exhaustion of the last few hours quickly caught up to Lan Huan, he was fast asleep in no time. Jiang Cheng would have been happy about it - if not for Lan Huan changing form again.
Lan Xichen. Jiang Cheng was now laying in bed with freaking Lan Xichen - not the cute child or dragon, but the man!
So this was real. This child really was the Lan Sect Leader - and he was here to possibly get better - which was Jiang Cheng‘s very own fault, or rather offer.
He gazed at the jade like features of the other man, so with a relaxed mind he changed back into adult form. Jiang Cheng sighed, wasn‘t it unfair how handsome Lan Xichen was?! How was Jiang Cheng supposed to sleep right next to a beauty like that?! … A good start would be to calm down his fast beating heart.
__
It was late in morning when Jiang Cheng awoke from a surprisingly restful sleep. Lan Huan was already up, gazing out of the window with a serious expression that seemed way too old for a boy of four or five years - to which he apparently transformed back after waking up.
„Young Master Lan, good morning, have you been awake for long?“, Jiang Cheng stretched like a cat and let out a rather undignified yawn.
The boy watched him with big eyes, Jiang Cheng noted that Lan Huan seemed to like doing that a lot.
„I have been awake for … a while“, Jiang Cheng got out of bed and went over to the little boy.
„Why didn‘t you say anything? I would have gotten up“ - poof, there was a dragon sitting in front of the Jiang Sect Leader again. So getting told he did something „wrong“ apparently stressed Lan Huan.
„I didn’t mean to reprimand you, Young Master Lan, but you must be hungry by now … and also bored. We’ll get dressed now, grab some breakfast afterwards and then we’ll pay the healers a visit, ok?“
The dragon nodded.
__
Jiang Zhi cursed under her breath „Come on little one, you are doing so good, let‘s not transform back until I‘ve finished examining you, ok?“ - poof - „Maybe it would help if the esteemed Sect Leader could help this old lady out, the child is obviously attached to you.“
Jiang Cheng, who had been giving his Second in Hand instructions until a moment ago, went over to his healer and Lan Huan.
„How can I help?“, „Calm him down, he is scared of me - do I look that menacing? Why do children not like me, huh?!“
Jiang Cheng sat down next to Lan Huan „Don‘t be scared of her, she‘s our best healer, you know? She helped me out many many times before, do you want to guess where she studied medicine back when she was younger?“
Lan Huan seemed to ponder over his answer earnestly before answering uncertainly, „Maybe in Gusu?“
The healer nodded „That‘s right, I‘ve been studying there for two long years, I learned quite a lot.“
Lan Huan brightened up „I live in Cloud Recesses! My father is the Sect Leader!“
Jiang Zhi grinned „Then it’s quite the honour for me to be able to examine you today, isn‘t it, Little Master?“
The boy didn’t say anything about it anymore but his smile betrayed his feelings. The child was proud of his sect, wasn’t he? Jiang Cheng couldn’t say anything against it, remembering back to the days he could not await to lead his sect on his own. He wanted to console Lan Huan as well as his own inner child - who would have known both of them had to take on that mantle way earlier than expected.
He shook his head to get rid of these thoughts and watched as the healer sent waves of energy through Lan Huan to prod at his core. Talking had helped to calm the child down, at least he didn’t transform for the moment.
„All done, Young Master“, Jiang Zhi stepped back and exchanged a few words with another healer, both of their faces seemed rather somber.
„From what we‘ve gathered from the Lan medical‘s report as well as our own results, we think the following case might be the matter. As a result from huge grieve and or stress, Sect Leader Lan’s spiritual energy seemed to have worked against his own core, causing him a mini qi-deviation. It looks like his energy is still all over the place, responding to whenever he is stressed. Sect Leader, as you reported earlier you’ve seen it quite a few times yourself - when Zewu-jun gets stressed he transforms. However, we do think that he should be able to get back to normal once he’s mentally stable enough again and able to control his energy properly“
Jiang Cheng nodded „Alright, thank you. Please prepare an detailed report for the Grandmaster. How do you recommend me to handle the situation for the time being?“
„Honestly? We will prepare some daily medicine for him to help getting his energy under control. Other than that avoid stressful situations and just … treat him like the child he is at the moment. I, personally, think it’s a good thing he is here for the healing process. Gusu Lan Sect can be quite … stifling.“
„Got it. Alright, Young Master Lan, it seems like you’ll be staying with me for quite a bit. I cleared my schedule for today, so we can take our time to explore Lotus Pier and get to know the disciples and servants. I’ll warn you right now - they might get a bit excited when they meet you, other than the Lan disciples we do not have three … or four thousands of rules, so they will probably be louder than what you are used to. If they get too wild or overwhelming let me know, I’ll make sure to calm them down, ok?“
Lan Huan nodded.
„Also - and that point is very important - it is a secret that you are part of the Lan Sect, don‘t tell them, promise?“
„Promise“
„Good … we‘ll better get you into some Jiang clothes, they‘ll know immediately otherwise.“
Jiang Zhi stepped forward with a bundle of small clothes „Already prepared“.
Jiang Cheng took them, grateful his disciples were so thoughtful. „Ok, I‘ll help you dress today, but don‘t worry, our clothes are more practical than the ones of your sect, you‘ll be able to run around much easier.“
„But running is forbidden.“
Jiang Cheng put a hand on Lan Huan‘s head, getting a Lan child, furthermore the Lan heir, to just be a child would probably be harder than expected - unless the kid was Lan Jingyi of course.
„Those are the rules that apply back in Gusu. In Lotus Pier you are allowed to run, be loud and have fun … don’t worry, I think you will be able to get used to us quickly.“
Jiang Cheng helped Lan Huan into the clothes, they fit very well.
Jiang Zhi peeked over Jiang Cheng‘s shoulder „Wooow, look how handsome you are in purple, Young Master!“, Lan Huan‘s cheeks got all red and he stared at the floor, „Thank you“
„Young Master Lan, we need to put your forehead ribbon down as well, can you take it off yourself?“
The child nodded and tried to unwind the ribbon’s knot. Emphasis on tried. The knot just did not come apart, regardless how much the small hands pulled on it. Jiang Cheng sent his mental apologies to Lan Qiren - hopefully the old man would forgive him for what he was about to do.
„Young Master Lan, I know that your forehead ribbon is sacred and only to be touched by family and spouses … but you can basically consider the inhabitants of Lotus Pier your family as long as you are staying with us, ok? Do you want me to help you take it down?“
Lan Huan hesitated first but ultimately nodded, „Please help me.“
It only took Jiang Cheng a moment for the ribbon to come loose around Lan Huan‘s head. If the latter's cheeks had been red before, they now seemed to be aflame. Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but smile at the cute child.
He put the ribbon into a little pouch and fastened it on Lan Huan’s belt, „Look, you are still having it with you all the time. We are all set - before I forget it, how do you want me to address you, we can’t use your surname.“
„You … you could maybe call me a-Huan?“ - there was the blush again and poof - also a little dragon.
„Alright, a-Huan“
They waited until Lan Huan transformed back into his human form the next time before they took off.
Jiang Cheng offered the young child his hand out of reflex, he had done that thousands of times back when Jin Ling still was little. Lan Huan stared at the offered hand for a long moment before hesitantly taking it. A sweet smile spread on the kid’s face. Jiang Cheng probably wasn’t the only one who didn’t exactly get pampered by his parents as a child.
—
Jiang Cheng made sure to show Lan Huan each and every bit of Lotus Pier, his rebuilt home deserved all the attention possible and going by the big eyes and excited look on the child‘s face, Lan Huan seemed to enjoy it a lot.
They visited the piers, looked at the sparkling water that surrounded the Jiang Sect‘s home. They went to the throne hall, guest quarters, kitchen, training grounds, and so on.
As previously assumed the Jiang Sect‘s inhabitants were thrilled about their guest. Jiang Cheng introduced Lan Huan as little dragon child he found on his way back home from Gusu. The kid would stay at Lotus Pier until they found out where it belonged to.
Lan Huan changed forms multiple times. Especially the disciples were much wilder than what he was used to, even if they were all immediately enamoured with the cute kid.
When Jiang Cheng noticed his disciples overwhelmed Lan Huan, he shooed them away and took the little Lan Sect Leader to a calmer place next.
After hours they sat down at one of the pavilions, there was a slight summer breeze carrying the faint scent of the first lotus blossoms.
Lan Huan took a deep breath, „Sect Leader Jiang, the lotus blossoms smell so good.“
Jiang Cheng’s gaze wandered over the lake, there would be a lot more blossoms to come in the next weeks. Their scent felt like home to him. „They do, don‘t they?“
The child nodded „They remind me of someone I really like, but I can’t remember who it was.“
„I‘m sure it will come back to you at the right time“, Jiang Cheng‘s mind drifted … Lan Xichen liked someone smelling like lotus? Who could that be, someone from Lotus Pier?! He sure as hell hadn‘t heard anything about that before, but the women in Yunmeng were beautiful, so it wouldn‘t be a surprise. He didn‘t like that idea though - he wasn‘t sure why - so he sealed it into a little box and put it away onto his ever growing pile of unpleasant thoughts. They could hunt him again later, in sleepless nights or on bad days.
But not today, today was a good day, a really peaceful day.
Lan Huan yawned, exhausted from the previous night and all of today‘s impressions.
„Let‘s have some tea and rest a bit afterwards, hm? By the way, I saw the kitchen staff prepare some sweets earlier, would you like to have some?“
Lan Huan’s eyes glimmered at the word „sweets“, it was gone in a second but Jiang Cheng noticed nonetheless.
Shortly after a servant arrived with tea and said sweets. The boy‘s energy seemed to be instantly restored by the assortment of cakes and sweet buns.
„Go ahead and eat some.“
Lan Huan tried a lotus paste filled bun, his eyes sparkled again - look look, the Lan Sect Leader had a sweet tooth. Jiang Cheng mentally noted that down for later.
__
The day went by in the blink of an eye, even though it wasn‘t particularly eventful, at least not for Jiang Cheng.
They ate their dinner, extra mild for Lan Huan, took a bath and got ready for bed.
„Right, a-Huan, I wanted to ask you were you want to sleep during your stay. We were at the guest quarters before, was there a room you liked particularly? Do you want to sleep there?“
The child stared at the floor „…“ poof, the dragon sat in front of Jiang Cheng.
The latter sighed, „a-Huan, if you want something, let me know, I can still say no if don‘t allow it. You don‘t have to be nervous or scared. And now, let me know - do you want to sleep in one of the guest rooms?“ - the dragon shook his little head.
„Do you want to keep on staying here, in this room?“ - the dragon nodded and proceeded to fly around Jiang Cheng for a few times before landing on him.
The sect leader shook his head, „Silly little dragon. I warn you right now though - I toss and turn in my sleep and often have nightmares. Do you still want to stay here?“
The dragon snaked itself around Jiang Cheng‘s arm - that was certainly answer enough.
It wasn‘t like Jiang Cheng really minded someone sleeping in the same bed as him, he could still clearly remember all those nights Wei Wuxian snuck into his bed as a child and teenager. Or how Jin Ling somehow always ended up in his bed when staying at Lotus Pier.
However, he hoped Lan Huan wouldn‘t transform into his adult form whilst sleeping, it was bad for his heart. Whatever. If it helped the the Lan Sect Leader to get back to normal Jiang Cheng could and would endure sleeping next to a beauty.
Speaking of beauty, Jiang Cheng held his arm up and looked at Lan Huan‘s scales in the candle light. They were pretty, shimmering like white gems. Who would have thought the Lan‘s had such a secret, huh?
He went over to his bed and placed the dragon on top of it, „I still have some paperwork left to do, I‘ll be at the desk over there, let me know if you need anything. I’m pretty sure I’ll finish up and follow you to bed soon.“
The little dragon looked up at him, blinking slowly. Lan Huan was tired, wasn’t he? „Sleep well, little one“, Jiang Cheng patted Lan Huan’s head and went to his desk.
There was so much correspondence left to do, even though his Second in Hand had already done the biggest part of Jiang Cheng‘s work for the last two days.
The letters were categorised in three stacks, really important, important, bullshit. Jiang Cheng was contemplating hard wether he should begin with „very important“ or „bullshit“ - both of them were probably on the same level taxing. He grabbed the first letter from the „bullshit“ stack -Yao Sect- ugh. He should have started with the „very important“ stack.
He was halfway through the letter (and many silent curses later), when a small weight settled in his lap. Jiang Cheng looked down to see the little dragon laying there all coiled up.
„Do you keep me company? Thank you, a-Huan“ Jiang Cheng continued reading the letter, feeling much calmer than he did a moment before.
The bliss only lasted for a few minutes though.
This time Lan Huan seemed to really have fallen asleep - he transformed again, back into his adult form.
Jiang Cheng looked down, heart beating wildly, there was freaking Lan Xichen sleeping peacefully in his lap! Lan Qiren would probably spit blood if he could see his nephew like that! Which kind of situation was that?! And why was he so worked up?!!
Jiang Cheng looked down at Lan Xichen’s face, it seemed peaceful, mesmerising - no, not mesmerising!! What was wrong with him?!
He shook his head, he had to move the other man, he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his work otherwise.
He gently lifted Lan Xichen‘s head to slip out from underneath, but didn‘t succeed. Strong - stronger than expected - arms circled around Jiang Cheng’s waist, the Lan Sect Leader grumbled something unintelligible. Jiang Cheng was trapped in the hold of this way too attractive man. This would probably get to be a very long night with very little work to be finished … he shouldn’t have allowed Lan Xichen to sleep here after all!
__
„Sect Leader Jiang“, Jiang Cheng jerked awake, a small hand was laying on his shoulder.
He was still sitting at the low table, two finished, one almost finished stack of sect correspondence in front of him. It took him a few moments to gain back his bearings - apparently he slept in whilst doing his work, nothing that hasn’t happened before, but was pretty rare nowadays, especially considering that Lan Xichen had slept in his his lap. How the hell did he even manage to sleep in?! Jiang Cheng looked to the side where the child was standing, „Good morning, I‘m sorry for waking you up …“
Jiang Cheng shook his head, argh, everything hurt, he wasn‘t twenty anymore, he should pay more attention to sleep in a proper position, „Good morning a-Huan, no need to worry, I told you to wake me up after all … sorry for making you sleep here with me instead of the bed.“
Lan Huan smiled „I slept very well.“ - Of course he did. Jiang Cheng got up, groaned, his neck definitely hurt the most, and made his way to the window to let some fresh air inside. The sun hadn‘t even risen yet, his face fell … oh god, did he have to get up with the Lan times now? What a nightmare. However, it definitely was a good thing that Lan Huan woke him up instead of sitting around waiting all alone, it could be considered a first step in the healing process.
__
The plan for today was to work out a functional routine. Whilst Jiang Cheng wished to be there as much for Lan Huan as possible, it was not realistic to drop all of his work out of nowhere.
They got ready, ate their breakfast and collected Lan Huan‘s medicine from the infirmary.
Jiang Cheng had to suppress a laughter at the face the boy made when he swallowed the bitter concoction - Lan Huan really had a sweet tooth.
Afterwards Jiang Cheng was able to finish the leftover correspondence, Lan Huan drew in the meanwhile, until it was time for the disciple‘s morning training.
When the Jiang Sect Leader and Lan child stepped onto the training ground, all eyes were on them, or rather on the cute boy. Lan Huan immediately changed into his dragon form, which did decidedly not help. „Look how adorable he is!“, „I wanna pet him so bad“, Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes at his disciples.
„Oi! You aren’t here to scare the poor child, but to train your forms! I‘ll give you five seconds to start!“
The disciples grumbled, but quickly got into formation, especially when Jiang Cheng began to count down.
„Three, two, one!!“
Jiang Cheng‘s Second in Hand was there to watch over the training as well, „Sect Leader, good morning, I thought you’d still take some time off?“, his gaze wandered pointedly towards the little dragon twisted around Jiang Cheng‘s right thigh.
„No, a-Huan is going to stay here for quite a while, I cannot let the sect down in the meantime.“
„You wouldn‘t let it down, even if you‘d took a whole year off!“
Jiang Cheng waved him off, „Forget it, you won‘t get rid off me that easily. We need to figure out a proper routine though, I cannot let the little one be alone for too long.“
The Second in Hand, Jiang Li, smiled warily, „Sect Leader, I would NEVER wish to get rid off you and trust me that‘s not a lie.“
Jiang Li was a capable man, one of Jiang Cheng‘s very first disciples to join the sect after Lotus Pier‘s fall. He was the son of a former disciple, someone who lost his family in the massacre as well. His quick learning and excellent sword skills made his presence one of the „pillars“ Lotus Pier was rebuilt on. He was level-headed and therefore able to calm his Sect Leader down on more occasions than Jiang Cheng actually liked to admit.
Jiang Li bent down to Lan Huan, „Hello little dragon, we‘ve seen each other briefly at the infirmary the day before. My name is Jiang Li, it’s nice to meet you.“ The little dragon poofed back into his human form. Lan Huan was still holding on to Jiang Cheng, but quickly let go in order to bow respectfully. „Hello Second in Hand Jiang, it’s nice to meet you too!“, he quickly clang to Jiang Cheng’s side again, it made Jiang Li laugh out loud.
„You are polite little one, aren’t you?“, he turned back to Jiang Cheng, „Do you already have a plan regarding the routine in mind?“
Jiang Cheng nodded, „Yes, I thought it would be a good idea if a-Huan and I would head to the training grounds in the morning after breakfast. He could stay with me for the senior disciple’s training. If it works out I’d like him to join the training and studies of the little ones afterwards - in the meanwhile I could attend the sect matters as usual. We’d meet again for lunch. Afterwards he could either play with the other kids or join me whilst I’ll be doing paperwork. I’d like to spend some time with him in the late afternoon and evening. Meaning that I won’t be going on any nighthunts that don’t strictly require my presence for the foreseeable time. I have to rely on you to do that instead of me.“
Jiang Li nodded, „The plan sounds solid to me, we can adjust it further along the way if needed“, he smiled, „That routine reminds me of the days Sect Leader Jin still stayed at Lotus Pier.“
Jiang Cheng averted his eyes, he might have based the routine on the system he worked out all those years ago, just that he didn‘t have as much spare time to share for his nephew. He would make things different with a-Ling now, but back then times were still a lot more difficult. He shook himself out of these thoughts and turned to Lan Huan, „What do you think of the plan, can we try it out?“, „Alright.“
And thus Lan Huan‘s daily life at Lotus Pier began.
__
Lan Huan was a good kid, the longer he stayed, the more he unbent, he was getting louder and sometimes even a teeny tiny bit mischievous - of course still within the Lan way.
It wasn’t a surprise for Jiang Cheng that Lan Huan would get along well with the other kids - and even less of a surprise that the disciples got all excited as soon as they came in contact with the kid, or even better, the dragon.
However, what did take Jiang Cheng by surprise was that Lan Huan still liked to stay with him the best. Whilst never complaining in the morning when it was time to separate, the dragon child would always cling harder to Jiang Cheng and sometimes even make grumpy faces. Though, when it was time to meet again for lunch, Lan Huan would always get excited.
Instead of playing with the other kids or disciples, the boy preferred to spend the afternoons in Jiang Cheng‘s office. He kept quiet, not disturbing Jiang Cheng‘s work - and he also had his very own correspondence to do. Each day Lan Qiren would write a letter for Lan Huan, so that the boy knew that his family still thought about him. Lan Huan took a lot of time and care to answer his uncle, he wrote about the things he did that day and drew pictures, which definitely didn’t look like they were done by a five years old. Jiang Cheng assumed it was muscle memory.
Afters spending hours in the office, both of them were always happy when Jiang Cheng announced that he was done with his paperwork, meaning that they could spend the rest of the day doing something more fun.
For example swimming in the lakes to combat the summer heat.
The first time they tried that out was rather involuntary, at least from Jiang Cheng‘s side.
He had just finished his office work, so they decided to take some afternoon tea outside in one of his favourite floating pavilions. Lan Huan had transformed into his dragon form before and was happily weaving his way through the air. It was nice. Jiang Cheng closed his eyes to take a few calming breaths - when he suddenly heard a splash.
His eyes shot open, immediately searching for the little dragon. Lan Huan was nowhere in sight. The only thing left were ripples at the lake from where Jiang Cheng heard the splash.
In no time the calm was broken, several disciples ran towards the pier, shouting Lan Huan‘s name. Jiang Cheng wasted no time, he threw off his belt, outer robe and sword in a swift move, pulled off his boots in the speed of lightening and dove into the lake.
His eyes searched frantically for the little dragon, panic arose inside him - until Lan Huan passed by him with all the grace of a water-snake.
Jiang Cheng swam back to the surface of the water. He wasn‘t sure how to feel - relieved, like an idiot or really angry. Next to him the little dragon broke through the water‘s surface as well, he flew a few circles in the air before diving back into the cool lake.
Jiang Cheng turned towards the shore, all the disciples that were in complete alarm mere seconds ago were now trying to stifle their laughter. He harrumphed and swam back to the shore, his mood was too good for a furious outburst. So he settled onto glaring at them - at least they had the curtesy to immediately hand him a towel to dry off.
He sat down on the shore and watched the dragon happily playing in the water, soon joined by several disciples who wanted to cool down as well.
When Lan Huan was finally finished playing, Jiang Cheng still scolded the dragon to not do something potentially dangerous without informing him first, after all there had been several people drowning in the waters of Yunmeng before.
Lan Huan got stressed enough to transform back into his child form after that, Jiang Cheng felt guilty about it.
„A-Huan, can you swim in human form as well?“, the boy shook his head. „See, what would Grandmaster Lan say if you drowned at Lotus Pier, huh? He would be devastated.“
„I‘m sorry.“
„All good now, just inform me the next time beforehand … so, it is dangerous not knowing how to swim when staying at Lotus Pier, should I teach you?“
Lan Huan‘s eyes sparkled when he looked back at Jiang Cheng. They had been swimming almost every day afterwards.
__
There was another thing Jiang Cheng quickly noticed about Lan Huan, the child loved good food - and the cooks at Lotus Pier were more than happy to provide.
Jiang Cheng wasn‘t exactly sure why, but his kitchen staff had always served up way more food than he could eat (he banned the little voice that repeatedly told him ‚maybe they care about you‘ out of his mind), but ever since Lan Huan began staying they went all over the top.
When he asked them why they cooked so much they told him off. („Let us show our gratitude to the Young Master! After all our Sect Leader has been a good boy not skipping meals anymore ever since little Huan began living here. Also, look how much he enjoys our food!“)
It was true though, Lan Huan ate or at least tasted everything offered - probably bored from the rather plain Lan food he was used to.
One thing Jiang Cheng still had to smile about was the first time Lan Huan accidentally tried some of his spicy food.
The cooks made sure to only offer the child mild or at least milder food - the same thing wasn‘t the case for Jiang Cheng. He was used to spicy food, loved spicy food. So there was always something spicy to eat for him.
Well, Lan Huan initially didn‘t know about it. So he tried a bite of Jiang Cheng‘s spicy fish.
Jiang Cheng swore he still wanted to warn the child, but it was too late.
Lan Huan‘s whole face got red, ears got red, neck got red. He coughed until he was finally able to quell the burn on his tongue with a sweet bun.
The Jiang Sect Leader was about to apologise to the little dragon child when Lan Huan looked up at Jiang Cheng, again the sparkling eyes, and asked if he could try the spicy fish again.
The amount of mild food had been getting less by day afterwards.
__
Beginning the forth week of Lan Huan‘s stay things got busier at Lotus Pier.
The reason for that was a festival. Said festival was founded by the townsfolk in order to celebrate the re-building of Lotus Pier. Jiang Cheng didn’t know how to feel about it for the first few times it took place, but seeing his disciples and people genuinely enjoying it, he couldn’t help but allowing it to take place.
It was good that Lotus Pier was able to celebrate festivals again.
Whilst the stalls and general entertainment of the festival were organised by the commoners, the Jiang disciples were responsible for the security - they still helped with the preparations though.
It was on more than one occasion that Jiang Cheng headed into town to help as well. Lan Huan accompanied him, fascinated by the surroundings and people, even if he transformed way more often than he did back at Lotus Pier itself.
Of course Jiang Cheng wasn‘t spared from his paperwork during that time. He still had to sit in his office for hours, at least accompanied by his little dragon friend.
It was at one of these sessions he received a letter from the Jin Sect.
He already had an inkling about what was written inside before even opening it. His heart still hurt when he finally finished reading it‘s content. It seemed like this would be the first time since the festival took place that Jiang Cheng would have to attend it without Jin Ling.
It was bound to happen, no surprise. Things had changed after the fiasco at Guanyin Temple.
His baby nephew was now the leader of that horrible Jin Sect. Whilst Jiang Cheng tried to visit Koi Tower as much as possible, especially right after things went down, he had to constantly keep a watch not to overstep, lest he wanted the whole cultivation world think he was intending to seize the power - like the Wen Sect and also Jin Sect before.
However, Jin Ling hadn‘t even had the chance to visit Lotus Pier once ever since. Over were the days of shared custody, the boy had to stay with his people.
And now he wrote that he was too busy to come to join the festival.
Jiang Cheng gripped the letter tightly, a sudden bout of loneliness overcoming him like dark waves at a raging sea, pulling him down the surface.
His gaze blurred, thoughts running wild - when suddenly small arms wrapped around him.
„Sect Leader Jiang, are you alright?“
Jiang Cheng looked down at Lan Huan, who stared back at him with worried eyes.
„I am alright, sorry to make you worry, a-Huan,“ he returned the hug, „my nephew wrote me that he would not be able to join the festival this year … it‘s the first time he can’t come.“
Lan Huan patted Jiang Cheng with his little hands, „But you are not alone, I will come with you!“
It made Jiang Cheng smile, the raging sea stilled from one moment to another, he was not alone.
„You are right, thank you.“
With that Lan Huan went back to work on his painting. Humming happily.
__
The following days were busy enough, they went by in a blur and without even noticing it the festival approached.
The actual day was really hot and sunny, promising the perfect weather in evening.
Jiang Cheng had to attend the festivities in the morning and afternoon for the bit more formal part, he decided to leave Lan Huan with his disciples for the time being, just like he did back when Jin Ling was smaller - there was no need to bore the child.
The disciples did their job well, making Lan Huan even more excited about the event than he had been anyways.
When Jiang Cheng arrived back in Lotus Pier Lan Huan was already waiting for him near the gates. „Can we go now too?!“
The sun was already about to set and Jiang Cheng was finished with today‘s work, so he nodded. „We can go now,“ he turned towards the disciples that had huddled behind the next corner to observe them, „You can go too, I can‘t believe you sent a-Huan to ask me!“
The disciples immediately started to swarm out, snickering, „But Sect Leader, you are way softer with Young Master Huan than with us!“
Jiang Cheng huffed, „You better behave right now or I‘ll make you run laps instead of allowing you to go have fun!“
„Nooooo, Sect Leader! We‘ll be behaving, we‘ll be be behaving, have mercy with us!“
There was no heat in Jiang Cheng‘s threats and his disciples were well aware about it, but today he would let it slide.
Lan Huan tucked on Jiang Cheng‘s sleeve, „Can we leave too?“
Jiang Cheng smiled, „Alright.“ - So they made their way out of Lotus Pier.
The townsfolk had built up the first stalls right outside the gates, many of them were there all around the year, but today there were definitely way more than usual.
There were stalls with all kind of foods, liquors, games and trinkets following along the docks. Everything was decorated with colourful lanterns, which were reflected down in the lake water, giving the illusion of millions of twinkling lights. By now the lotus also stood in full bloom.
Jiang Cheng was proud to admit that this scenery was a sight to behold and being the good kid he was, Lan Huan didn‘t know on which side to look first, trying to take in all of it at once.
They stopped at several stalls, ate spicy meat skewers and sweet buns. Watched dancers and listened to music.
It was nice, really nice.
Who would have thought that Lan Huan, who was sent to Lotus Pier to heal, was now the one that saved Jiang Cheng from feeling lonely.
At some point the streets got more and more crowded. Jiang Cheng didn‘t notice it first, but Lan Huan‘s small hand began clasping his own tighter and tighter. He looked down to the boy, only to see Lan Huan‘s face looking all pinched.
Jiang Cheng felt sorry for not taking note of the boy‘s stress earlier, but noticed at the same time that Lan Huan hadn‘t transformed back into his dragon form - he actually did that rarely now. It seemed like Lan Huan was on a very good way to get better again!
Jiang Cheng grabbed Lan Huan under the arms and lifted him up on his shoulders in one swift move. The child made a surprised sound, an immediately latched onto Jiang Cheng‘s head to hold on.
„A-Huan, didn‘t we agree on you telling me when something is wrong?“
Lan Huan confirmed it with a hum, „I‘m sorry … I can see everything from up here! There are so many lights, it‘s pretty!!“
They walked along the docks a bit longer, occasionally halting to taste some more food or to speak a word or two with the townsfolk.
„Sect Leader Jiang!! What a cute boy you‘ve got with you!“, Jiang Cheng turned towards one of the stall owners, it was an old man that had been selling goods ever since Jiang Cheng was a kid.
„He is the son of a friend of mine.“
„And there I thought you secretly had a child! Where‘s your nephew today? I haven‘t seen him! Even though he is always so flashy in all the Jin Sect gold.“
Jiang Cheng made a pained face, until now he had almost forgotten about his nephew missing, „Jin Sect is too busy for festivals at Lotus Pier, maybe he can come next year again…“
„Oh … that‘s a shame, I bet he‘s sad about not being able to be here. I‘m happy you still got someone with you to celebrate though, Sect Leader,“ he looked up to Lan Huan and grinned. „Little master, thank you for keeping our Sect Leader company, take this as sign of my gratitude!“
He handed Lan Huan a big skewer of tanghulu, Jiang Cheng tried to pay him, but the old man didn‘t take any money for it. In the end Jiang Cheng let it go.
„Is it delicious, a-Huan?“
„Yes! Very!“ Jiang Cheng smiled, after all he knew well about the boy‘s sweet tooth.
They had a genuinely good time, but at some point Jiang Cheng could tell that Lan Huan was tired, as he kept on drooping. It was probably time to head back home.
__
That night it took no time for Lan Huan to sleep in, transforming into his adult form. By now Jiang Cheng had somewhat gotten used to it.
He whispered towards the other man, „You didn‘t transform into your dragon form a single time today, that’s awesome … I think it won‘t take a long time for you to be able to go back to Cloud Recesses anymore. I won‘t lie though, it makes me kind of sad … I should probably thank you for keeping me company, not just today but also during the last weeks.“
He drifted off to sleep soon as well, feeling like strong arms held him until the next morning.
__
After the festival things slowed down at Lotus Pier again.
There were more peaceful days in which Lan Huan continued to transform less an less. It went without saying that Lan Qiren was very happy to hear about this progress.
Until their peace got disturbed - by no other than Jin Ling himself.
It was a normal morning like every other, the disciples had just finished their morning training, when Jiang Li approached them with a huge smile. „Sect Leader, you‘ve got a very special surprise guest waiting for you in the reception hall.“
Jiang Cheng looked at him sceptically for a moment, until recognition hit him. There was only one ‚special’ guest who would come to visit him. He wasted no time to dismiss his disciples and hurry towards the reception hall - and who was there, but his beloved haughty nephew.
„A-Ling!! What are you doing here?“
Jin Ling tried to suppress his smile, „What, am I not allowed to see my grumpy uncle anymore?“
„Tsk, now you remember that you have a grumpy uncle, huh?! Have you eaten already? Look at how pale you are!“
Jin Ling groaned, „You are the one to talk! Why do you even look so well rested, I’m not used to seeing you without heavy eye-bags, is it only me who is left with tons of annoying paperwork now?“
Jiang Cheng glared at him without the slightest bit of heat, „I wish there wasn‘t any paperwork left for me, but that‘s what comes with being a sect leader. Now come, let’s head to the kitchen, they’ll get all excited to see you again … oh! Before I forget it, a-Ling, thats a-Huan.“
Both of them turned towards Lan Huan who had been following Jiang Cheng and was now standing a few feet away from the uncle-nephew-duo.
Worry immediately washed over Jiang Cheng, he was so focused on Jin Ling that he hadn‘t paid any attention to the little boy, he ran towards him.
Lan Huan stood there, shell-shocked, he looked at Jin Ling with horrified eyes. Suddenly he began poofing into his dragon form, back into human form, back into dragon form, back into human form - he was completely out of control.
„A-Huan!!“, what got the boy so stressed … seeing Jin Ling?! Jiang Cheng turned to his nephew, „I’m sorry, a-Ling, it seems I am stuck with an emergency here, I’ll talk to you later, please make yourself at home in the meanwhile. Jiang Li!!“
In a matter of seconds his Second in Hand was standing right next to him, he looked worried at the still form changing Lan Huan. „What‘s going on?! Shall I call the healers?“
Jiang Cheng lifted Lan Huan into his arms, „Send Jiang Zhi into my quarters immediately, I need you to take over the sect matters for today!“
With that he headed out. Lan Huan kept on changing until they arrived - and here Jiang Cheng was happy about the Lan Sect Leader’s condition improving.
„It’s alright, a-Huan, I am here for you, everything is alright.“
Jiang Zhi arrived shortly after, Lan Huan had somewhat calmed down, but still kept on transforming. His forehead was sweaty, eyes filled with tears. She immediately felt for his core, face serious, „If it wasn’t obvious enough, Sect Leader Lan is having a panic attack. It was very likely triggered by seeing a-Lin-… Sect Leader Jin. I need you to transfer some energy to him, lest we want him to qi-deviate. I’ll go and get him some medicine.“
Jiang Cheng began transferring energy to Lan Huan right away, patted Lan Huan‘s sweaty hair, or mane, whichever form the latter was taking on at the moment.
Slowly but surely Lan Huan stopped transforming as frequently, his eyes unfocused, exhausted.
Jiang Zhi returned only a few minutes later and made the boy drink some bitter medicine, Lan Huan didn‘t even make a face at that, which worried Jiang Cheng more than it should have.
The medicine knocked Lan Huan out, he fell into a slumber shortly after.
„Well … I haven‘t been part at the happenings in Guanyin temple. But from what I‘ve heard Zewu-jun helped greatly to take Jin Guangyao down. He went in seclusion afterwards, I think we‘ve got the trauma that causes him to transform into his dragon form right there … he‘ll be sleeping for now, but it‘d be better to keep a close watch at him for the time being.“
Jiang Cheng nodded, feeling very much exhausted himself. „I‘ll stay with him, I‘ll let you know once he wakes up again.“
The healer nodded before leaving the room.
Jiang Cheng laid down in the bed next to Lan Huan. He was to blame for the stress the other had to go through. Truth to be told, he didn‘t even think about the Lan Sect Leader when he heard that his nephew was at Lotus Pier … he just wanted to see A-Ling.
In hindsight he should have considered the emotional impact certain people would make on Lan Huan.
Jiang Cheng didn‘t know how long he was laying next to the child - apparently Lan Huan was stressed enough to not even transform back into his adult form when asleep - when he heard a soft knock on the door.
He got up making as little noise as possible and opened up the door. His heart warmed when he saw Jin Ling standing in front of it with a worried expression.
Jiang Cheng mouthed an „outside“, before going back to check on the dragon child. As the kid still seemed fast asleep, he took the door outside to the adjoining dock, where his nephew was already waiting for him.
They sat down together in practiced unison until Jin Ling finally couldn‘t wait anymore, „Uncle! What’s going on?! Is the child alright?!“
„Shush! He‘s asleep, we have to make sure to keep it that way for now.“
Jin Ling looked dejected, „Sorry.“
Jiang Cheng sighed, „He‘s been knocked out with Aunty Zhi‘s medicine, I bet it will take him a few hours to wake up again. Other than that I hope he‘s alright …“
Both of them stared at the lake water, not quite sure of what to say, until Jin Ling couldn‘t take it anymore, „Who is that kid?! Is he dangerous?! He transformed into a dragon, didn‘t he?! Are you safe?“
Jing Cheng thought about it for a minute, the situation was highly confidential - Lan Qiren reminded him multiple times - but this was Jin Ling, his only ‚real‘ family that was still left. Jin Ling who didn‘t let it on, but was actually super worried (Jiang Cheng knew, after all he was the same) and Jiang Cheng needed some advice - screw it.
„No word to anyone.“
„Huh?“
„I want you to promise me that no one will hear about what I am going to tell you, not even Lan Sizhui, not even Lan Jingyi - promise me you won‘t tell a single soul.“
Jin Ling seemed confused about it, but agreed anyways, „Alright, promised.“
So Jiang Cheng told Jin Ling about Lan Xichen‘s condition. Told him that the other man was at Lotus Pier to heal. Told him that the kid had actually been doing quite well until today.
Jin Ling listened to the whole story attentively, thinking about what was said carefully, „So you are telling me that the little kid is actually Zewu-jun?“, „Yes“, „And that his condition had improved until he saw me today?“, „… also yes“.
The teenager‘s face pinched, „Well, that is actually quite disheartening.“
Jiang Cheng shook his head and put a calming hand on his nephew’s shoulder, „I actually don‘t think that he got this panic attack because of you … or let‘s say, not because he blames you. I rather assume that you‘ve reminded him on Guanyin Temple, on Jin Guangyao. From what I‘ve seen, he is quite self sacrificing. Thinking he has to shoulder Nie Mingjue's death and all the crimes of Jin Guangyao himself.“
A-Ling smiled, „It‘s kind of hard to not think like that at times … but we couldn‘t tell either, could we? At least to me everything came as a huge shock …“
„Do you think I would have let you stay close to that fucker if I knew about what he was doing? Nope, definitely not“, Jiang Cheng got agitated solely from talking about it, cursing the former Jin Sect Leader for putting his important people into so much pain.
„Maybe it would help if you told him. I mean Zewu-jun.“
The older man‘s gaze wandered towards his nephew, „Why would he want to talk about it, it‘s obviously painful to him … I also think that he doesn’t have recollection of his memories in his child form.“
Jin Ling groaned, wholeheartedly, as if carrying all of the weight in the world on his shoulders, „Uncle, I know this concept might seem foreign to you, but most people do actually feel better when they can talk about their problems with someone else, you know, sharing their burden.“
Jiang Cheng stared at his nephew for a long time, not quite sure wether to feel offended or actually admitting that Jin Ling could be right. Just because he kept his most vulnerable feelings close to his heart didn‘t mean other people would have to do that as well.
„But the memory recollection might actually make things difficult“, Jin Ling continued without waiting for his uncle‘s thoughts on the matter, „on the other hand it could also make it easier. Uncle, why don‘t you try just telling him about what you think about the whole situation, who knows, maybe it might help.“
„When the heck did you become so insightful, brat?!“ Jiang Cheng wasn‘t going to lie, maybe talking would really help the other. Jin Ling did mature quite a lot, didn‘t he?
They fell into silence, both caught up in their own thoughts. It was time for a change of subject.
„By the way, what was your actual reason for your visit? Not that you aren‘t welcome, but I‘m just surprised.“
Jiang Cheng watched as the wise and adult Jin Sect Leader turned back into his young brat-self, thank goodness, it was so weird to see a-Ling all grown up.
„Can‘t I just come by to visit you once in a while?!“ - Jiang Cheng raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow.
„Alright! Someone told me that you‘ve been seen with a small kid recently - even on the festival! OUR festival! I was not allowed to go there! I might have gotten jel- curious about who it was. But there is no need to talk about it anymore since I‘ve already found out.“
A warm feeling spread in Jiang Cheng‘s chest, his nephew cared after all, „Brat … how long are you going to stay?“
Jin Ling‘s glare, which somehow seemed way too familiar to Jiang Cheng, transformed into a pout, „I have to go back soon. I kind of snuck out.“
„You did what?!“
„Don‘t give me that look. I am always trapped in Koi Tower. Those stupid elders haven‘t let me come here ever since I took over the sect. I feel tired, stressed and homesick.“
Jin Ling felt homesick - in Koi Tower, his ‚home‘.
A mix of worry, anger and guilt bubbled up within Jiang Cheng‘s stomach, Jin Ling had to carry a burden he was to young for and now he was finally able to leave for a few hours and Jiang Cheng couldn‘t even spend all the time with him.
„A-Ling, I‘ll notice when Lan Xichen wakes up from here. Won‘t you tell me about all your latest achievements?“
They stayed out at the dock for another few hours before Jin Ling reluctantly declared that it was probably time to head back to Koi Tower. Jiang Cheng sent him to the kitchens to stock the boy up with as much Yunmeng food as possible - so that a-Ling could at least taste „home“ when back at Jin Sect.
Afterwards Jiang Cheng headed back to his quarters. Lan Huan was still sleeping, not transformed into his adult form but at least with a calmed down breath. Upon a quick check Jiang Cheng could determine with relief that the Lan Sect Leader’s energy flow seemed somewhat normal again as well.
Jiang Cheng sat down next to the child. At some point Lan Huan opened up his eyes blearily, closed them again immediately. This was a good chance, „Lan Huan, I want to tell you something.“ Lan Huan didn’t react much besides blinking slowly. That was alright, it gave Jiang Cheng the chance to talk without interruption - he was bad enough with heart-to-heart talks anyways.
„I want to tell you a story about a Sect Leader, his name is Zewu-jun. He's an admirable man, patient and gentle. I've known him for years and throughout all this time he's not once lost his calm with me, treated me with respect when barely anyone else did. His cultivation is outstanding, he's the most eligible bachelor of our time - compared to me who’s even got blacklisted by the matchmakers … whatever.
Zewu-jun had two close friends, sworn brothers even.
One of them was really strong and convinced in his beliefs, the other sly but constantly disadvantaged because of his birth status. Zewu-jun trusted both of them with his life.
At some point the ‚strong friend‘ noticed that the ‚sly friend‘ made use of shady methods, but Zewu-jun believed in the good side of the ‚sly friend‘, even or especially, when the ‚strong friend‘ died of sickness.
They went through hard times together, strengthening their friendship.
However, not a long time ago it got revealed that the ‚sly friend‘ really used lots of dirty tricks for his personal gain, hurting many people along the way - he even was responsible for the ‚strong friend‘s‘ death, with a method he learnt from Zewu-jun‘s sect‘s forbidden scripts.
After the revelation Zewu-jun almost killed the ‚sly friend‘ - but in the very end it was the ‚sly friend‘ who gave up his life to save Zewu-jun.
Zewu-jun has been really really sad about it ever since. He blames himself for everything that has happened, for all the people that had died along the way. Blames himself that he didn‘t see behind the ‚sly friend‘s‘ mask. That he couldn‘t prevent the death of both of his dear sworn-brothers.“
Jiang Cheng‘s gaze wandered to Lan Huan‘s face, the kid laid there emotionless, eyes empty, it made him shudder.
„But a-Huan, do you want to know what I think about Zewu-jun? I think he is not responsible for his ‚sly friend’s’ crimes. Neither is he responsible for the ‚strong friend‘s‘, nor for all the other people‘s deaths. He trusted his best friend and got betrayed by him, I know that feeling, it hurts.
Yes, Zewu-jun might have been too naive, too gullible towards the ‚sly friend’, but not because he wanted to hurt anyone. I think he should also remember the fact that most of the other people around weren‘t able to see behind the ‚sly friend‘s‘ mask as well, me included.“
Tears began running down Lan Huan‘s doe eyes, „But if Zewu-jun had noticed, so many people would still be alive! Da-ge would be alive!! Maybe even a-Yao would be.“
Oh, Jiang Cheng was careful to not use any names, at least unconsciously Lan Huan definitely remembered. It still made him grimace, he knew those self-blaming thoughts all too well.
„They could be alive - but Zewu-jun could very likely be dead as well. A-Huan, we cannot change the past, trust me, I would do things differently if I could, but in the end all we can do is live on.“
Lan Huan began to aggressively rub his eyes, „But moving on is so hard, how is Zewu-jun supposed to do that if he misses is friends so bad! If he rather would be with them instead all alone?!“
Jiang Cheng pulled the kid in his arms, since when did he even become so freaking affectionate?
„I‘m not the one who should give people advice about moving on, because I don‘t know how to do that either. All I know is that I feel bitter and I don’t want Zewu-jun to experience this same kind of feeling. It’s ok for Zewu-jun to miss his friends … even that horrible ‚sly friend’, they were important for him. But Zewu-jun should be aware that he isn’t all alone, he has a family, a sect that really loves him a lot. He even has me …“
Lan Huan didn‘t say anything anymore but stayed in the Jiang Sect Leader‘s arms until he fell asleep again.
Jiang Cheng wasn‘t sure if this kind of draining talk really was the best way to heal, but he hoped it at least somewhat helped.
__
The next morning arrived soon and Lan Huan was feeling much better again.
(Jiang Zhi still made sure he drank some extra medicine)
They went on with their daily routine as if nothing happened and thankfully Lan Huan‘s condition seemed to improve again.
However, there was a thing that had changed greatly.
Their nights weren‘t as calm as they used to be anymore, as Lan Huan constantly woke up from ‚nightmares‘ - which actually turned out to be memories. Jiang Cheng gave his best to soothe the boy through all of them. He assumed, hoped, that this was one of the last healing stages.
If he had doubts about the healing process, all of them got blown away on one particular night. They had gotten ready as usual, sleeping in with the soothing sound of the lake water and chirping of crickets. Something that Jiang Cheng long had noticed was that he barely had any bad dreams ever since Lan Huan arrived. This night, however, he dreamt of the past, the burning of Lotus Pier, how his core got destroyed, twisting and kicking in pain - until a calming hand stroked over his hair, whispering about how everything was alright, Jiang Cheng was alright, not alone.
His eyes barely opened, but he still met Lan Xichen‘s deep hazel ones.
Lan Xichen was awake - in his adult form!
Jiang Cheng didn‘t register more though, as he immediately fell back into a deep slumber again, soothed by the other man.
Of course Lan Huan was back into his child form again the next morning, but Jiang Cheng was still more than exited to let Lan Qiren know about the amazing progress in his next letter.
__
They had another few peaceful days at Lotus Pier with steady improvements. It was save to say that the boy was as good as healed - Jiang Cheng as well as his healers assumed that it would only take one final push for Lan Huan to really go all back into his adult form.
What the push actually was, was another question though.
__
Summer had proceeded to its peak by know, whilst the air was normally hot and humid in Lotus Pier, it felt especially muggy today. There was most likely an thunderstorm about to approach and it was already close.
The disciples were getting everything ready to retreat into the building‘s save walls. Boats and ships were tightly secured to the docks. The bustling stalls outside had long closed down for today.
Jiang Cheng looked up the sky with a huge frown, the wind picked up heavily, „We should head inside now, a-Huan, I think this storm is about to start very soon.“
As if on cue a big droplet landed right on Lan Huan’s forehead, the boy grimaced at it adorably.
„Sect Leader, Young Master Huan,“ both of them turned towards Jiang Li, „What‘s up?“
Jiang Li‘s expression was severe, it was a stark contrast to his normally calm features, „We‘ve got guests - we aren‘t quite sure wether to let them in or not though …“
Jiang Cheng sighed, it had only been a matter of time until they would come, „If our esteemed guests are Hanguang-Jun and Wei Wuxian, then send them in the reception hall, I‘ll be there shortly.“
„Are you sure? We can send them back as well.“ Another big droplet landed on Jiang Cheng, he had expected them to come, it was time to get over with it.
„No, let them in, they probably have a reason to be here. Let‘s get going before it actually begins storming.“
After their parting with the Second in Hand, Jiang Cheng took Lan Huan‘s hand in his own and guided him into the room next to the reception hall. There was a brief flash, the first thunder rumbled. What a well fitting weather for their special guests.
„a-Huan, the guests I am about to meet are most likely here for you. I will talk to them first, but they‘ll ultimately want to see you. We cannot repeat the situation we had with Jin Ling the other day. So if you don‘t want to meet them, let me know right away, if you feel stressed, let me know right away, got it?“
„Got it, thank you.“
Jiang Cheng smiled briefly before rightening himself - another flash, thunder followed seconds after, he put on his best severe face, his guests should know better than to annoy him when he was like that.
He stomped into the reception hall, making sure to put on an air of self-assurance he didn‘t actually posses, he really didn‘t want to meet any of them today, neither Wei Wuxian nor Lan Wangji.
A moment later Jiang Li guided both of them inside.
„Good evening, Hanguang-jun, Wei Wuxian, welcome to Lotus Pier. I see you‘ve brought good weather with you.“
Both of them bowed before Lan Wangji spoke up, „Good evening, Sect Leader Jiang, I‘m sorry for visiting unannounced, but we are here to check up on my brother.“
Jiang Cheng nodded, Lan Wangji didn‘t beat around the bush, this was fine with Jiang Cheng, it only meant he didn‘t have to do that either, „I thought so. I‘ll get him in a moment, but let me set this straight beforehand. Zewu-jun still hasn’t healed completely, he hasn’t regained his memories back yet. Don’t make him uncomfortable by acting overly familiar. If you notice him to get too nervous, don’t push on. If he prefers not wanting to talk to you, leave him be, it might be very well that your presence could trigger bad memories. Understood?“
„Understood.“
„Alright“, Jiang Cheng made his way back to Lan Huan, the kid was already standing right behind the door, nervously stepping from one foot to the other - but not transforming.
„a-Huan, are you ready?“, Lan Huan nodded. He held his hand out for Jiang Cheng to take - which the latter did without hesitation, maybe Lan Wangji would get mad about it, all the better.
They made their way back to their guests and Jiang Cheng practically felt how Lan Wangji‘s gaze bore into their joined hands, afterwards he zoomed in on Lan Huan‘s Jiang outfit.
Jiang Cheng found the satisfaction he gained from that frankly said worrying.
„The outfit … a-Zhan! He looks so cute in purple!“, all their gazes landed on Wei Wuxian, who had been suspiciously quiet until now. He effectively broke the tension in the room with it though, of course he did, for once Jiang Cheng felt glad about it.
Lan Huan still seemed fine, and being the responsible little guy he was, he bowed respectfully to their guests, „Hello Master Lan, Master Wei, it‘s nice to meet you again.“
Had they met ever since Lan Huan’s ‚condition’? Oh right, Grandmaster Lan told him they were on a special mission for research. They most likely saw Lan Huan before. Maybe they found something regarding the research and that was the reason for their sudden arrival.
Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian greeted the kid back, before they carefully began asking how Lan Huan was doing. They whole exchange went on much smoother than Jiang Cheng initially expected it to go.
They sat down together for some tea and snacks, which Wei Wuxian practically inhaled, whilst telling all about the research travel. Each word was chosen with care, probing at the boundaries of how much Lan Huan and also Jiang Cheng could take.
At some point they came down to the real reason of their visit though, „Even though we didn‘t find an exact remedy for Lan Huan, we did find out some interesting cures that would be worth trying. Especially seeing how well he is doing now, Grandmaster Lan did not exaggerate - a-Huan hasn‘t transformed once since we‘ve arrived, that’s amazing, right Lan Zhan?“
„Mn“, Lan Wangji nodded, „we are incredibly thankful to the Jiang Sect for helping us. Please have this as a token of our Sect‘s gratitude.“ He pushed a chest in front of Jiang Cheng.
„That‘s very generous of you, but not needed. It was a pleasure to assist you, especially since Lan Huan is an extremely well behaved child.“
„We insist on you taking it. If possible we‘d like to speak to your healer about bro- Lan Huan‘s exact condition again. We plan on taking him back to Cloud Recesses tomorrow in the early morning.“
„Wha-“
„NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!“
Thunder rumbled, it was save to say all four of them were equally shocked. Jiang Cheng and Lan Huan from learning the boy had to leave, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian from Lan Huan’s sudden outburst.
„NO! NO! NO!!! I DON‘T WANT TO GO BACK!!“, thunder rumbled.
Lan Huan stood up and poofed into his dragon form for the first time since Jin Ling’s visited. Changed back immediately, big fat tears began to gather in his eyes, „I don’t want to go back to Gusu, I want to stay here!!“ He transformed back into his dragon form again and bolted out of the reception hall without any warning.
The three adults needed a second to register what exactly just had happened before leaping up as well.
Jiang Cheng roared, „Look what you did! I told you to go slow with him!! Why didn‘t you talk to me about this first?!“
„Sect Leader Jiang, he is my brother! The Sect Leader of Gusu Lan! Our disciples and elders start to get suspicious, he’s been away for too long!“
„But he isn‘t back to normal yet!! I‘ll be going after him, ALONE. I understand where you are coming from, but give us some time to speak - I will not accept ‚no’ for an answer.“
With that Jiang Cheng bolted out as well, glad that he didn’t hear footsteps behind him.
A disciple came running towards him „Sect Leader! Is Young Master Huan with you?! It think I just saw him flying towards the forrest!“
Jiang Cheng cursed, „I‘ll be going after him, did he head in a specific direction?!“
The disciple shook his head, „No, he just went straight, truthfully, he was so quick I wasn‘t even sure if it really was him!“
This only made Jiang Cheng curse more. He jumped onto Sandu and followed the direction. The rain was still pouring heavily, he was soaked within seconds. The sky had darkened from the black clouds before, but by now the sun was about to set as well. Worry grew within Jiang Cheng, hopefully he would find Lan Huan as soon as possible, hopefully Lan Huan was alright!
Jiang Cheng followed a track of snapped branches, first on Sandu, when the foliage became to thick by foot.
It took him thirty long minutes until he arrived at a clearing. Soft whimpering could be heard and Jiang Cheng felt relief flooding him. „Lan Huan, are you here?“
„I’m a-Huan!!“
Even in a situation like this, Jiang Cheng couldn‘t help but smile about it, „a-Huan, come here please.“
A moment later Lan Huan crawled out from behind a tree. Good thing he didn’t wear Lan clothing today, because he wasn’t just soaked but also covered in dirt. There were a few scratches on his cheeks as well. He went towards Jiang Cheng but poofed into his dragon form along the way.
Jiang Cheng picked him up carefully. „Hey buddy, you gave all us quite the shock, are you aware of that? You can‘t just run away like that.“ He felt for the child‘s energy it was going wild, but nothing compared to the ‚Jin Ling incident‘.
Jiang Cheng patted the dragon‘s silvery mane, the cool scales. „You are alright, a-Huan, you are alright, I am here with you.“ Lan Huan changed back into his child form again. „I don‘t … I don‘t want to go back home to Cloud Recesses. I don‘t want to feel lonely. I don‘t want to feel judged.“
„a-Huan, if you don‘t want to go back home, I won‘t force you. I really like you being here at Lotus Pier with me. You can stay as long as you want to.“
Lan Huan sobbed, „And what if I healed?“
„You can stay.“
„And what if I would be back into Zewu-jun‘s body again?“, Jiang Cheng‘s heart ached for the other … maybe he was partly responsible for him not being completely healed yet after all.
He let soothing energy flow into Lan Huan. „You can stay here, even if you go back into your normal body. You have to deal with your uncle though.“
Lan Huan let out a wet laugh at that.
The rain still hadn‘t let up yet but at least the thunderstorm had passed. Jiang Cheng frowned, it was time to head back to Lotus Pier.
„For now we have to talk to your brother first though. I hate to admit it, because we aren‘t exactly on good terms, but he is worried sick abou-“
„SECT LEADER JIANG! BEHIND YOU!!“, Jiang Cheng whipped around the same time Lan Huan began shouting. He pulled the boy with him.
They were able to dodge the incoming attack, but it was a close thing.
He cursed to heaven and hell as he pulled Lan Huan behind him. Jiang Cheng had definitely been too engrossed in talking to the little Lan Sect Leader, otherwise he would have never let any demon come that close to them.
In front of them stood a giant black snake demon, it‘s eyes glowed in an unnatural green light. Jiang Cheng had seen it before. About half a year ago they had a night hunt organised to take it down. Only to learn that their opponent was way more ferocious than initially assumed. They had chased after it for hours - when it suddenly vanished. Jiang Sect‘s best disciples were searching for it for weeks after, without the slightest bit of a trace. Since the demon was heavily injured they had hoped it had laid down to die somewhere - which it clearly hadn‘t.
It didn‘t seem the slightest bit weaker, actually the contrary. Dang it, dang it, dang it.
Jiang Cheng was self aware enough to determine that he couldn‘t just take it down alone, not if he had to look out for Lan Huan as well. There was also another thing he noticed pretty fast, the snake demon didn‘t actually care about him - it was after Lan Huan.
Or more like after Lan Huan‘s energy, which still hadn‘t entirely calmed down. With it‘s size and condition Jiang Cheng assumed that it had eaten more than one smaller demon to recover.
They had probably walked into it‘s hiding spot. Drawn to Lan Huan‘s pure energy it decided to come out for it‘s next feast. Well, not under Jiang Cheng’s watch.
Fighting was too risky right now, they had to retreat. Which was actually easier said than done, because it was too fast, Jiang Cheng constantly had to defend himself, but mainly Lan Huan, from poisonous fangs. This wasn’t working.
„Lan Huan! I will distract it with Zidian!! Maybe we can find a good opening to escape through the foliage - flying on Sandu doesn’t really work right now!“
Lan Huan’s eyes were big, he was clearly panicked and poof - he changed forms. This wasn‘t good at all! Jiang Cheng looked back to the demon, it clearly had taken notice of the form changing as well, as it‘s attacks become more ferocious. This was it - they couldn’t stay a second longer.
He picked the boy up and began running, they didn‘t come far though, as Lan Huan changed back again. Jiang Cheng was surprised for the slightest bit of a second - which the demon immediately used to it’s advantage. Pain exploded on Jiang Chengs back, as it’s tail hit him, Lan Huan shrieked in shock.
Jiang Cheng groaned, „This won‘t do, a-Huan, please run ahead, just straight, get help - I will hold it back.“
Not awaiting an answer Jiang Cheng fully concentrated on the snake demon, hoping Lan Huan would run.
Zidian hit it‘s giant body, it didn‘t seem to be bothered about it. He hit again, this time it roared in pain. Again, it roared. This was good! Jiang Cheng had been eyeing the spot underneath it‘s head for quite a while, it was where they hurt it in the previous night hunt.
Maybe they really could do it! If he could just wind Zidian around it’s neck like this. Finally he had a hold on the beast!
However, his high spirits immediately dampened when he took a look back into Lan Huan‘s direction. The boy was still standing there, clutching his robes, not having moved even a millimetre. He just stared at Jiang Cheng and the demon.
„RUN!!!!“, suddenly Lan Huan snapped out of it. Not just Lan Huan though, but also the snake.
In a particularly forceful move it broke itself free, hurling Jiang Cheng in the air. Pain exploded as his already hurt back and head crashed into a tree. Jiang Cheng’s vision swam, please a-Huan run! Please be safe!
„WANYIN!!!“
The snake demon was now right in front of him, snapping for him.
Please be safe.
The last thing Jiang Cheng saw before passing out were big talons and shimmering white scales.
__
Jiang Cheng had a dream, in that dream he got carried through the skies. Not by Sandu, but something else, Jiang Cheng felt very save though, as if being cradled by a loved person.
At some point they went down, landed and from one second to another all the calmness was gone. People shouted in alarm, one voice reminded him suspiciously of Jiang Li, another one of Wei Wuxian, how was that even possible?
Next thing the being under him changed forms and Jiang Cheng found himself leaning against a warm chest. There was a steady thud-thud. It was quick - it shouldn’t be so quick! Calm down.
The hold on him him tightened, “Bring me to Jiang Zhi! Quickly!!“
__
Jiang Cheng blinked his eyes open to warm daylight. Too bright! He closed them again, groaned. His head hurt so bad, it felt as if was split open! He moved - forget the head, his back was feeling worse.
„Don’t move too much, Sect Leader, you‘ll only hurt yourself.“
Well, Jiang Cheng had figured out as much himself, thanks. He used all his strength to finally crack his eyes open again.
On a stool next to him sat Jiang Zhi, „How are you feeling, Sect Leader?“
Jiang Cheng groaned again, „Bad, everything hurts. Or more like my head is about to explode and my back about to snap.“
Jiang Zhi smiled slightly, „No surprise. You are concussed and your back is contused.“
She got up and went to get something, „Here, I have some medicine prepared for you, it is real bitter, see it as a punishment for getting hurt and giving all of your disciples a huge shock.“
The women wasted no time to feed it to Jiang Cheng, ‚bitter‘ was the understatement of the year, the stuff was straight up nasty.
„Don‘t look that pained, it will help you. In combination with your spiritual energy you should be healed within a few days. You need to rest though.“
Jiang Cheng nodded, bad idea. He put a hand on his forehead as if being able to ease the pain that way, it didn‘t work.
„How did I even get back to Lotus Pier?“
At seeing the mischievous twinkle in her eyes, Jiang Cheng regretted asking Jiang Zhi.
„You know, it was really spectacular. When the first disciple shouted ‚There is a huge dragon coming towards us‘ we were confused. All disciples got out and into formation to defend Lotus Pier in case of emergency - even Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji did. Well, we quickly realised that the dragon didn’t seem to be aggressive. It landed right in front of the gates, making no move to attack us, the contrary actually, it held something in it’s talon, our esteemed Sect Leader to be exact. At that point chaos broke loose, we were all quite disturbed by seeing you in that condition - passed out and bloodied, held by a huge dragon. Jiang Li had an inkling what was going on and tried calming the disciples down, so did Wei Wuxian. In the end the dragon - just like he did in his child form - transformed. And lo and behold, Zewu-jun was standing in front of us, carrying you like a princess.”
Jiang Cheng groaned, why did she have to say it like that. Belated he realised that that really wasn’t the point of the story. He shot up, only to fall back groaning, everything hurt.
„Did you say Zewu-jun was able to transform back again?!“
Jiang Zhi nodded, visibly amused. „Yes, he is quite the majestic dragon. I don‘t know what exactly happened, but he saved you from that damned snake demon we lost in that previous nighthunt. Maybe the need to defend you gave him the final push to want to get back to his adult form.“
„That‘s good, that‘s good. What about the snake demon?“
„Apparently he made minced snake meat out of it, romantic huh?“
Jiang Cheng glared at her, „Where is he now?“
At that the healer‘s eyebrows lifted, „He‘s sleeping right next to you, how did you not notice?“
Jiang Cheng got as red as a tomato, he hadn‘t paid attention to his surroundings until now, to focused on the pounding in his head and Jiang Zhi‘s stories. And truth to be told, he was so used to Lan Xichen sleeping in his bed for the past weeks that he hadn‘t even registered the man next to him.
His gaze wandered to Lan Xichen, the man was out like a light bulb.
„Sect Leader Lan had refused to leave your side even for a second. He wanted to make sure you were alright first, he barely let me examine himself. His spiritual energy is pretty much depleted, but he will recover it in no time, other than that he is perfectly fine. He needs to rest though, just as you do - both of you had been sleeping next to each other like babies for the last day, frankly, it looked adorable“, Jiang Zhi ducked her head just in time to dodge the pillow that was aimed at her. She snickered and got up to pick up the pillow.
„Jiang Li has taken over the sect for now, you know that he‘s always doing a great job, just let him take care of things a little longer, he wants to show you how capable he is after all - and you need to rest.“
She stuffed the pillow back under Jiang Cheng‘s head. „He‘s also taking care of our guests, which translates to, he holds Wei Wuxian plus husband back from storming your quarters to make sure you and Lan Xichen are alright. Wei Wuxian is really able to make a-Li lose his calm, I‘ve never seen that before - it‘s hilarious.“
„Out of all people of course it had to be Wei Wuxian who made him lose his calm.“
„Don‘t think too much about Wei Wuxian, he‘s actually pretty well behaved. He doesn’t have the easiest time here either, he is worried about both of you, but the disciples are quite dedicated to make sure he doesn’t have the slightest bit of a chance to bother you. And now enough chatting, do you want to stay here next to Zewu-jun or shall we get another bed prepared for you?“
„It‘s alright, I‘ll stay here.“
Jiang Zhi got up nodding, „Alright, water is right here in case you get thirsty. If you need anything else, shout for us immediately.“
With that she got up and left the room. Jiang Cheng‘s gaze wandered from the ceiling towards Lan Xichen. The man was barely making any sounds, but the blanket moved up and down rhythmically with his breathing, everything was alright.
Jiang Cheng blinked once, twice, before exhaustion caught up to him and he fell back into a dreamless sleep.
__
The next time he woke up he immediately checked the space besides him, Lan Xichen was gone.
Jiang Cheng sat up, noticing with delight that his head and back barely hurt anymore, Jiang Zhi wasn‘t his best healer for no reason. He looked around the room, until his eyes landed on the other Sect Leader.
Lan Xichen sat there, back ramrod straight, staring out the window with a serious expression that fit his adult form much better than his child form.
Jiang Cheng got out of his bed, „Haven‘t I told you to wake me up once you're awake?“
Lan Xichen looked at him with a sheepish smile, „You did, didn‘t you?“
There was an uncomfortable tension building up between them, which Jiang Cheng didn‘t like at all, why were things so awkward from one second to another. „Zewju-jun, how are you feeling?“
The other man‘s smile dropped at once, he looked like a beaten puppy, „Aren‘t we closer by now, you know, you used to call me a-Huan.“
Jiang Cheng snorted, „I sure did, but ‚a-Huan‘ was an about five years old child. But we could start off with Wanyin and Xichen, if you’d like to.“
The smile was back on Lan Xichen’s face, „That would be very nice … regarding your question, I am feeling quite well, I still haven‘t gotten my head around everything that has happened though.“
„It‘s a bit much, huh? … Would you like to go outside to talk for a bit, my nephew told me that it helps from time to time.“
„That sounds like a lovely idea.“
They walked outside, they could have opted for one of the floating pavilions, but ultimately sat down at the much less comfortable pier straight in front of Jiang Cheng‘s room.
The sun had already set, but the sky was clear and the stars bright. It was an enjoyable summer night, no traces left from the thunderstorm the day before.
„Summer at Lotus Pier is something else, I really chose a great time to stay here.“
Jiang Cheng let his feet dangle down the pier, „It‘s the season for lotus, you really chose a great time … even though it‘s hot and humid.“
Lan Xichen smiled and changed from sitting properly into letting his feet dangle as well, he smiled looking down at them - cute. „You were kind enough to teach me how to swim that helped a lot.“
„Tsk, only after you almost gave me a heart attack, the Grandmaster would have skinned me alive if you‘d have drowned here. It looked pretty cool how you wiggled your way through the water though, can you still transform into a dragon?“
„Honestly, I don‘t know, I haven‘t had the chance to try it out yet … and I am also not sure if I really want to, I think it‘s pretty weird.“
„Jiang Zhi said you were a ‚majestic‘ dragon though, I think I have the right to see that too.“
Lan Xichen‘s cheeks were dusted in a light pink, „If Jiang Zhi said so I‘ll probably have to try at some point.“
They sat out there for a while in complete silence, silence at least between the two of them, because Lotus Pier was still busy at that time.
„Did you mean what you said?“, Lan Xichen asked in a very quiet voice.
„I say a lot of things, please elaborate a bit further.“
„Did you mean it when you said that I could stay here regardless of my form or age?“
Oh, so Lan Xichen meant that conversation, it probably was more important for him than Jiang Cheng had been aware until now. „Yes, I meant what I said.“
„But why?“
„Why I would let you stay here?“, Lan Xichen nodded, „Because you are very pleasant to be around. Not gonna lie, you were the cutest kid, much more well behaved than a certain nephew of mine.“
„And what about my adult form?“
Jiang Cheng gave it a thought, „Just as I said, you‘ve always been pleasant to be around. If I had to rank the Lans, you‘d most likely make the first place on my favourites list.“
The other man snickered at that, „Only ‚most likely‘, who are my rivals?“
„Of course the Grandmaster and the loud boy.“
„Really, you‘d put Lan Jingyi in front of me?! You know what, I am feeling hurt about that.“
Jiang Cheng had to laugh at that as well, „I can‘t help it, that boy is hilarious.“
Both of them looked back at the lake in silence, smiles on their faces, until Lan Xichen turned more somber again.
„What if … what if I said that I‘ve liked you for years and that that feeling only got stronger after you‘ve cared for me for the last months?“
Hold your horses!! Jiang Cheng‘s head whipped around so quick that the lingering effects of his concussion made him nauseous for a moment. Lan Xichen‘s hand hovered awkwardly over Jiang Cheng‘s back in a move to sooth him, pulled it back though, he couldn‘t afford to overstep any further.
In the meanwhile Jiang Cheng‘s thoughts raced - Lan Xichen, Zewu-jun, the Sect Leader of Gusu Lan, most eligible bachelor of the whole cultivation world had just confessed to him, Jiang Cheng. The unlikeable Jiang Sect Leader, feared for his temper and arrogance. This was simply unbelievable! How would the people react to them being an item? How would their respective sects react? Would Jin Ling be ok with it? How was he supposed to ever face the Grandmaster again?! - Oh, and maybe he should also think about how he actually felt about Lan Xichen.
To engrossed in his own mind Jiang Cheng didn‘t notice the tension growing, frankly, he also didn‘t know how to react properly.
However, at some point Lan Xichen couldn‘t take the silence anymore.
„Jiang Wanyin, it is alright. Please don‘t think too hard about it. I am sorry for dropping this on you out of nowhere, but my confession was long overdue, so I don‘t regret it. Of course I‘d be overjoyed if you‘d returned my feelings … but you don‘t have to. It will take me some time, but I will get over it and maybe we could start over as friends at some point, or not if you don’t want to. I … I think I’ll have to excuse myself now.“
Lan Xichen was about to stand up to flee retreat, when a shaky hand grabbed his robes to pull him back down again.
„Please be patient with me, I really don‘t know how to do this“, he still held on to Lan Xichen‘s robes, „Listen, I‘ve never even considered that there was a possibility of the two of us being together before. There are so many things we have to consider, like, how are we going fulfil our roles as Sect Leaders? How will the other clans react? How will our clans react? What about heirs, I cannot bear children for you, Xichen.“
The other man became hopeful at that, maybe he stood a chance. „I know what you mean, understand your concerns … but I‘ve been living for others for long enough, I finally want to have something that makes me happy. I‘ve failed enough people“, Jiang Cheng‘s face became grim at that, but Lan Xichen waved it off, „Many of my own sect’s elders don’t even trust me anymore, but honestly, I don‘t care about my reputation anymore, as long as I don‘t bring you down. As for children, why ruling them out already? I think we are both capable men, we‘ll figure out the rest along the way … at least if you‘d give me or rather us the chance to.“
Jiang Cheng averted his eyes, his face was a red as a tomato. „If it‘s with you, am willing to try. But we need to take it slow, give me time, I‘m not used to … love related stuff.“
Lan Xichen beamed at him, „So you give me the permission to court you?!“
„Yes, you have to deal with the Grandmaster though.“
„I will!“
If the sun would never rise up again, Jiang Cheng would be alright, because Lan Xichen’s smile was brighter than any morning light, Jiang Cheng felt kind of bubbly about it.
Lan Xichen gently pried Jiang Cheng‘s fingers open from where they still grabbed onto his robes. Intertwined them with his own and placed a feathery kiss on Jiang Cheng’s knuckles. The latter‘s face got bright red again.
It felt nice though, warm, save - maybe Jiang Cheng could get used to it quicker than initially expected.
They sat out there for a long time, saying nothing, just holding hands, enjoying the moment.
It was Lan Xichen who broke the silence after a long time, „I am so happy you accepted my confession, it would have been horrible if not, after all you‘ve touched my forehead ribbon already.“
Jiang Cheng glared at him, the effect was lost by his pout. „You know what, maybe I have to rethink this after all.“
„Wanyiiin, please don‘t!“
- 10 years later -
There was a huge majestical dragon heading towards Lotus Pier. It‘s beautiful white scales shimmered in the sun light. The people payed it no mind though, too used to seeing it already.
It dove down into the sparkling lake water, snaking it‘s way through it, emerging at the Jiang family’s personal pier, placing it‘s big head right next to the already waiting Jiang Sect Leader on the sun warmed wooden planks.
Skilled hands began to pet it‘s silvery blue mane, brown eyes closed in bliss.
Jiang Cheng smiled, he loved this dragon, had been soaring through the skies on it‘s back countless times before.
He loved this dragon, but even more the beautiful man it turned into.
Lan Xichen transformed from his dragon into his human form again, immediately pulling his husband into a long, deep kiss.
Jiang Cheng hit his chest without force, „Stupid, you‘re all wet, why do you always land in the lake instead of in front of the gates, or at least on the pier, huh?“
Lan Xichen laughed, „Isn‘t it because I love the warm waters of Yunmeng so much? I am just so glad to be back again.“
He hugged Jiang Cheng close, breathed in his beloved’s scent in like a starving man. „You know, darling, every time I come back from Cloud Recesses I have to think of how much you saved me back then.“
Jiang Cheng hugged him back, the one that got saved wasn‘t actually the small scared dragon child, but Jiang Cheng himself. He hadn‘t realised before, how lonely he felt, even though there were constantly people that cared for him around, like Jiang Zhi, Jiang Li … his disciples.
Always short of drowning, until Lan Huan arrived. The child was bright, the man it finally returned into even brighter. It took Jiang Cheng a lot of time to figure out what falling in love really meant, only to learn that he had already been irrevocably in love with Lan Huan to the point of no returning for years.
They had to figure a lot of things out to make their relationship work. Lan Huan stepped down from his position at Cloud Recesses, still returning there every other week to assist the sect though. He wore Jiang robes, the only thing reminding of his birth sect was his forehead ribbon.
It took them a long way, but it was worth it. What they now had was beautiful, something younger Jiang Cheng always yearned for and now that he had it, he wasn‘t willing to ever going back to those dark days again.
He smiled up to Lan Xichen, his husband, „Welcome home, a-Huan.“
„My love, I am home.“
— FIN —