[曦澄 | XiCheng]: The Fear Of Falling In Love [~PART 1~]

[3.] The lonely summer.

From then on, the days were the same, and the nights were the same. They would go about their days with their respective tasks; Lan Xichen - dealing with Clan affairs, and Jiang Cheng – mostly training and going hunting with some of the Gusu Clan disciples.

Both the servants and the disciples were whispering, secretly, commenting on their Masters' marriage arrangement – it was very plain to see that they were deeply unhappy. Some of them had hoped that things would be just like they were with Hanguang-Jun and Wei Qianbei, that the Masters would become cultivation partners and become closer in time, but Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng were simply polite to each other, spending time together just for meals, and sharing the bed at night just to sleep in.

In midsummer, Zewu-Jun had to travel away for a military Clan Conference, and then join the armies on the battlefield, and his husband would have joined him, but Sandu Shengshou was suddenly taken ill. He obstinately refused any kind of doctors, and said he just needed rest, and Lan Huan left him be, frowning and deeply disappointed.

Jiang Cheng would spend weeks in bed, having nothing better to do anyway, wondering whether his husband even thought of him sometimes, remembered him; whether he might die on the battlefield, so that he could be finally free of this misery. But no, Zewu-Jun was one of the most powerful cultivators in the world. To kill him, one most probably had to use deceit and betrayal. 

He sighed, daydreaming – what was it like to be hugged by someone so strong? What was he like underneath the clothes? Would he ever taste Zewu-Jun's kisses? At least once?

He shook his head and looked out of the window, brushing tears away. It wasn't a good idea to think such thoughts. 

Those were childish, impossible dreams.

Time passed, and Lan Xichen returned home; he was still the same, only now looked more pale and exhausted, somehow spent. His usual mild smile rarely touched his lips now, and he would shun everyone, most of his time alone, in meditation, and in silence. Jiang Wanyin was getting paler and thinner too, and the housekeeper – now worried for him more that for her Master Lan – suggested some physical activity might cheer him up. 

So another hunt was organized, to the great pleasure of all of the Gusu Lan disciples, who were really pitying their new Master.