Taking roots after the misty rain

Ch-25

A sweltering breeze blew across the surface of lakes, lotus flowers danced along to its music. Servants and disciples dressed in shades of purple walked about on the wooden floors, some preferred to laze around and dive in a pond. 

A youth opened his eyes and found himself staring at the familiar ceiling of his room. He reached for the glass of water present every morning by his bedside and gulped it down. A strange thing caught his attention- a list of wedding gifts beside the mirror. And then, it all struck back to him. 

Everything, running about in the Cloud Recesses, the insufferable Wen indoctrination. Followed by the massacre of his Sect and parents, then ultimately he lost his golden Core. He remembered that Baoshan Sanren restored it for him, but his brother went missing for months soon after. And when Wen Ruohan fell from power, he lost his Shixiong completely. First to alcohol, then to those Wen remnants. 

It didn't stop there, it never did for him. He proceeded to lose his brother-in-law and sister and moments later, he was forced to kill his brother as well. But he couldn't do that, could he? So, Jiang Wanyin did the only thing he and the world could accept- He stabbed the cliff and injected it with spiritual energy, wishing it would fall. If his brother was destined to die, then let Jiang Cheng be there with him. 

As expected, the cliff broke. But, Jiang Wanyin was the only one who fell with it. His brother had long jumped off and despite Lan Wangji's attempts to stop him, Wei Wuxian still chose to die. What he didn't think would happen was Lan Wangji jumping with Wei Wuxian. It didn't matter, he had lost everything long ago. What was the point of continuing living? 

Jiang Cheng was kneeling on the ground, clutching his head in pain. He shakily got up and washed his face from a basin of water in front of his bed. He wiped away the tear streaks and fixed his hair. When he stepped out of his room, no one noticed his bloodshot eyes being filled with sadness instead of the indifferent anger they usually had. 

*-*-*

Under a golden canopy, Jin Zixuan opened his eyes. He scrambled to sit up and saw his chest in perfect condition, a wave of relief rushed through him. He was alive. But his room looked different. It lacked all traces of his married life. Not only was his wife absent, but so was everything else related to her. Almost. 

He saw a half-penned letter with an alluring pair of anklets beside it in a pouch. He picked up the letter to have a closer look at the words but saw a bunch of talismans spread out like a fan underneath it. Jin Zixuan had no clue about the creator except for the fact that it wasn't possibly him. He read the letter and caught a peculiar phrase: I am also sending you a batch of talismans made by Zixian recently. 

'Zixian? As in Jin Zixian? When the hell did she learn to make talismans? And since when were A-Li and I so close at this point? Since Zixian is still alive and in Koi Tower, then even the indoctrination is far away. What is going on?'

*-*-*

Jiang Yanli woke up in an uncannily familiar place. It was her room in Lotus Peir alright, but it was filled with unknown books and odd trinkets. All texts had to do with medicine, and the trinkets, mostly jewellery reminded her of someone she knew and loved so much that it hurt.