It was the same ever story as always, ever since. And it would always end the same, with Jin Guangyao saying it's not his fault and that he thoroughly had 'no choice'. Unfortunately, on the very day he caught everyone with a sour tongue and without morals to have a long talk with him, and too many from the group, all except one, were on the plan of finishing off with Jin Guangyao as soon as possible, his nephew even prepared himself to be the new ruler, mentally.
"Er ge, you know I used to be once a kind man" Jin Guangyao spoke and a ache was felt in the other man's heart. How good it was back then, in the times in what he was the one despairful as his brother was in the Wen campaign and Gusu was peak ruins, Jin Guangyao to host him as his guest and friend, how good it was to have a person like him as a great friend. But those times were gone, and no one knew it better than the Gusu Lan leader; Xichen groaned softly. A rain started to fall from the lazy leaves of the trees above that coveted the land they were passing, which was mostly made by forest.
"I think we should find somewhere to stay at, it's going to rain soon" Nie Huaisang said from the back and tried to push the watery raindrops away with his fan, act that just made Jiang Cheng take his fan without a word, and Nie Huaisang didn't complain about it, he had nothing to complain about.
"Agree" said Lan Xichen shortly as he watched himself and the group making there way to the closest village which was, based on what Wangji approximated, 10 minutes away..and it was getting more rainier and also colder already,and everyone was now shivering.
They were a little sooner to arrive to the village, it's red streets covered in light and full with people who were buying and selling in a warm, quiet atmosphere, rarely found lately in villages. Jin Guangyao and the others had a quick pace, and walking around, then stopping to look for the closest place, a man with a pale white face and yellowed teeth approached them in great distress.
"Good afternoon, my lords. You must be looking for accommodation?" the man asked with a soft voice. He was doing accommodation, no reason else he came by to ask, no normal people who doesn't have an interest do that.
"Indeed... 4 rooms, do you have?" Lan Xichen asked, looking the man in the eyes with a soft gaze, as always.
"Yes, my lord. You may follow me" said he and the group followed him inside, and the rooms were shown. They were plain, but looking clean and well, and everything was then said and some silver coins were given out, time in what, after a afternoon greet and a 'thank you, my lords', the man had departed.
"How are we supposed to stay in the rooms?" Jin Ling asked in a sour tone. He himself never liked to share even a bowl of food with anyone, let alone a bed, and everyone was aware.
"I was thinking about master Wei to share a room with Wangji, San Ge to share a room with Jiang Wanyin, Jin Ling should stay by himself cause he doesn't really like to share beds, and I might stay with A-Yao, if nobody else wants to take care of his wounds" Xichen said, his back supposedly supporting to the back of the wall in front of the group of rooms. Everyone agreed, why wouldn't they, after all? And then everyone departed into there rooms, and everything went quite motionless and quiet without Wei Wuxian screaming "Lan Zhan" over and over or the damp sound of Nie Huaisang's fan fluttering trough the air.
"Er ge" Jin Guangyao said as he sat down, the pain from his arm too heavy to endure. It was heavily sliced due of a mistake the Ghost General, who departed right before they left Jinlintai, made.
"A-Yao, I'm preparing the medicines just now, be patient,please."
"No, Er ge, I just wanted to tell you that I am really grateful for having you as one of my sworn brothers" Jin Guangyao said, and that was all he genuinely felt like saying, that was what he had on his soul as a stone set laid on his back and hurt to hold it. Lan Xichen heard many things about the other until them, words of dignity, kind words, soft words, words of gratefulness about his skills, but never things about being grateful for their aquitanceship, and that quite threw him off guard for a second, but he redeemed, and the paste he was going to use on the would was yet to be done then. So then, Lan Xichen approached his friend then took his own sword out, and without a word, started slicing pieces out of the hanfu's sleeve before that taking off Nie Huaisang's overrobe who was not dared to be hurt or cut in any way.
After the cutting on the sleeve, our cut sleeve Jin Guangyao let out some groans as the fruitful and embalming cream was applied to his wounds. It was genuinely some medicine plants mixed with water, but still pretty efficient. And after the groans, as the appliance ended up in the zones with deeper cuts, there came soft moans, cause it hurt, like lemon zest on a fresh cut or elsewhere with open wound.
"Er ge, it hurts" was all that Jin Guangyao could say without realizing how wrong his words sounded. For him or for Xichen they might not have been understood weird, but perhaps somebody heard them and that would have not been the best thing to happen, especially since he had been groaning for the past 15 minutes. But it hurt.. It hurtled really much.
And Jin Guangyao liked the pain
