𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓 𝐒𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓━━━J. Cheng

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻

011—Love, Marry, Jiang Cheng

After another few months of hanging around the trio, [First Name] finally had some people to talk to after months of being ignored by her fellow disciples. However, compared to her old friends, the other disciples, she seemed to get along well with the three disciples from the two sects.

If it was about literature, she would talk to Nie Sect's young master. If it was about cultivation she would talk with the two from Jiang Sect. The more and more she conversed with them, the more she finally felt comfortable. Especially with the young master of Jiang Sect. [First Name] still showed a bit of nervousness and awkwardness when talking to him, but compared to the time when they just started being friends, she was now calmer and more open.

However, time just flew so fast. One day, just when she came back to Cloud Recesses after a night hunt, she heard the news about Wei Wuxian causing trouble late. It was already late and the moon had already appeared in the night sky, lighting up the surroundings with its dim moonlight. She still had dirty blood on her robes and her hair was messy from running, just to catch up to Wei Wuxian, who apparently, had been decided to be sent back to Yunmeng.

Hunting zombies the whole night, going back to Cloud Recesses from a faraway mountain, and then running back down the mountain, she was already exhausted. 

Her forehead was wet and beads of sweat rolled down her face while panting heavily, she propped herself up with her hands on her knees. Her eyes were blurry but she could make out two figures ahead. And she was familiar with one of them. [First Name] took a deep breath and called out, "Wuxian! Wait, wait!" she started running again in order to catch up. 

The two figures turned and Wei Wuxian's eyes brightened while his eyebrows rose, "Hm? [First Name]-jie. what's up?" earlier, when the Sect Leader picked him up, he wanted to find [First Name] in order to tell her something. However, she heard that she was currently out of Gusu for night hunting. So in the end, he gave up and left.

[First Name]'s posture was inelegant and she was panting tiredly. Only when she noticed who the other man was did she straighten her back and calm her breathing. "Ah, nice to meet you Sect Leader Jiang." she cupped her hands and bowed. Jiang Fengmian is the sect leader of Yunmeng's Jiang Sect. Jiang Cheng's father and the one who adopted Wei Wuxian. It only took a quick glance at the older man when she found a bit of resemblance to her friend. She also heard that the sect leader came so she immediately recognized him.

Jiang Fengmian smiled amiably, "Are you A-Ying's friend?" he paused for a moment and whispered, 'ah' as if realizing something. He continued smiling but this time, it was gentler, "Oh, do you want to bid farewell first?" 

'... Resemblances with Jiang Cheng...?' she started doubting her previous thoughts. The two were really different from each other. 

[First Name] cleared her thoughts and replied immediately, "I just rushed here after hearing the news that he's coming back so uh..." A hint of hesitation and awkwardness was in her voice but Jiang Fengmian replied calmly, "Alright. A-Ying, I'll wait for you in the town. Take your time to talk, don't worry."

Wei Wuxian smiled at the response and beamed happily, "Thank you, uncle!" While she sighed in relief, "I only have a few things to say so I'll try not to make Sect Leader Jiang wait for too long."

One last time before he continued his way down the mountain, Jiang Fengmian turned and smiled at the two, "Mn, alright." 

The two stared at the elegant back of the sect leader, watching him in silence. Only after he was out of sight did [First Name] say something. "Wanyin's dad is so nice... He reminds me of Xichen-xiong." Wei Wuxian glanced at the dazed Lan from the corner of his eyes. He paused momentarily and then he turned his body and faced her with a teasing grin, "Uncle would be a great father-in-law, don't you think?"

As she was gazing in the direction where the sect leader left and was in a trance, it took [First Name] a while to comprehend what Wei Wuxian had just told her. She looked at him with a bewildered expression and expressed her confusion, "Father in what? Sect Leader Jiang? Huh?" A teasing smirk was playing on his lips as he circled around her, "What, you love Jiang Cheng don't you? Don't you wanna marry him?" he laughed, stopping right behind [First Name] as he whispered those specific words in her ears. 

'Love.'

'Marry.' 

'Jiang Cheng.'

She didn't care about the other words, only those three were stuck in her brain and as if she had overheated, her mind went blank for a few moments. Her throat was dry and her heart was pounding so hard, who knows if Wei Wuxian could hear her heartbeats as well. Surrounded by trees, a  light gush of wind caused the leaves to rustle gently, creating a tranquil noise of nature. Wei Wuxian stared at the Lan who froze in her spot and waited patiently for her response.

"... Love him? In-law... As in, love, romantic love? The kind of love do couples have? Then you're wrong, Jiang Cheng and I aren't a couple so I don't love him." 

"Yeah, that's it. Romantic love. It's not necessary to be a couple to like someone romantically. I even know some married couples that don't really love each other."

She was about to think about it again but she finally controlled her thoughts and calmed herself, "Wuxian, why are you even bringing up this topic of love...?" [First Name] only wanted to properly say her farewells but both of them ended up with this kind of topic. 

"This disciple here has been a bystander since the very start. It's frustrating to see that both of you aren't progressing and you're not even aware of your own feelings." he sighed distressedly, "Since I'm about to leave anyway, I might as well make it clear to you." [First Name] looked at him with a  puzzled expression, "My feelings?" After thinking about it, she realized that she always felt strange and unfamiliar emotions whenever she was around the young master. Her eyebrows creased and a frown formed on her face as she looked at Wei Wuxian uncertainly, "... Then what does it mean to like someone?"

Wei Wuxian laughed. His light and easygoing voice was only heard by [First Name] in this vast, empty forest. He smiled brightly, "Who knows. I haven't fallen in love yet myself, how am I supposed to know?" he laughed again. He was curious about it too. Falling in love was a stranger to him.

After laughing to his heart's content, he looked at her with his free and casual countenance. "You have a year, [First Name]. You love Jiang Cheng, I and Huaisang are both aware of that. Hah, maybe even Zewu-jun and Lan Zhan know about it. You two are the only ones oblivious to that. Next time we meet, both of you should've progressed a lot, alright? A year is a long time, you know? Huaisang is equally frustrated when watching you two so don't stress him out too much." he briefly chuckled before he turned around and started walking away.

By the time [First Name] woke up from her reverie, Wei Wuxian was already out of her sight and she was left all alone. She slowly lowered her outstretched hand towards where he left and sighed deeply with a troubled face. Just like that time, when she realized that she had been acting strange and her body and voice reacted strangely around Jiang Cheng, she was completely confused about her own feelings. 

But strangely, she felt calm and relieved. She finally knew what this feeling was. Even after months of contemplating it, she never really arrived at a reasonable conclusion. 

"... Love..."

Fengmian is a DILF. Ziyuan is a MILF. Jiang Family is so hot, ugh. No words can describe how much I envy Jin Zixuan, so lucky of him to marry Yanli...

Anyways, I hope that I'm not rushing things out. [First Name] fell for Wanyin in Chapter One and she realized it after ten chapters. Is the pacing normal? Too fast or too slow? Ahhhhh-

Published: February 5, 2022