Jiang Cheng's Honest Feelings (Xicheng)

Chapter 1: The Bell

Sorting through the pile of messages he'd recently received, many of them were from the Yao sect where there had recently been a large infestation of fierce corpses. They had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, their origin had yet to be found. The Yao's territory had long since been one of the most uneventful, a place where families with small children moved due to how calm and safe it was. As soon as he was made aware of this problem, sect leader Lan had sent his brother and brother-in-law to quickly take care of it. With the Yiling Patriarch on the case they were sure to not only solve the current issue, but also its root cause to ensure that no civilians were injured.

As such he did not really need to look at those messages further. But that did not change the fact that he would open, and read, every single letter they had sent. Just in case there was one containing a different request, so far there had been nothing. It was a monotonous job of opening message after message, all with similar contents.

cling cling cling

The light and cheerful sound of a bell could be heard throughout the cloud recesses. Lan Xichen took a break to go check it out. It wasn't against the rule to have a bell of course, but he felt it was his duty to keep the peace. If this continued it would surely annoy his very easily aggravated uncle and so the letters could wait. Exiting Hanshi he could already tell where the sound was probably coming from based on the loud talking that could be heard from his brother's place, Jingshi.

knock knock

"Come in" Wei Wuxian shouted, inviting him inside. Opening the door he was met by far more people than he had expected. Crowded around a small table was not only Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, who was holding a strange device on behalf of his husband, there was also their son Lan Sizhui and his friends Lan Jingyi and Jin Ling. Standing back looking over the youngster dressed in yellow was a handsome man dressed in violet. His arms were crossed to show his disinterest in what was going on by the table. It was Jiang Wanyin, the sect leader of the Jiang sect, a person capable of making Lan Xichen's heart race just by his mere presence. Seeing sect leader Lan enter Jingshi, he uncrossed his arms and bowed towards the newcomer.

pling pling pling

The sound of the bell didn't seem to come from here. Or perhaps it did. Somehow the sound was the same volume as it had been when he first had heard it back in Hanshi. Even so, there was a voice in the back of his mind telling him that the new tiny silver bell attached to the Jiang's hip must be its source. Sect leader Jiang was well aware of the Gusu-rules, as well as the temper of Lan Qiren, as such there was no longer a need for Lan Xichen to warn the owner of said bell.

After returning the Jiang's greeting, Lan Xichen walked up to the table to find out how the trip to the Yao sect had gone. Wei Wuxian's report was rather strange, and not just in the usual way where the man failed to focus on what was really important and instead rambled on about whatever part caught his fancy.

From what his brother-in-law said none of the fierce corpses had apparently possessed a soul, making it impossible for him to use Empathy, or in any other way find out what reason they were there for. But despite this setback Lan Xichen did not need to worry about the citizens of the Yao sect because as they cut down their foes the two cultivators had found a cave from which they assumed the corpses had originated.

Inside said cave had been boxes upon boxes of identical items, probably the abandoned stock for some store. But what kind of store they did not know. There was everything from large pieces of furniture to small knick-knacks. Some of which was currently scattered across Jingshi's table.

"You allowed your husband to steal?" Lan Xichen questioned his brother as he looked over to the item Lan Wangji was holding. It was a small metal box with a round piece of glass attached to one side. Lan Xichen had never seen anything like it before.

"I left payment" Despite having been married for years Lan Wangji was still stuck in the honeymoon phase of his relationship. Anything his spouse might want, wish for, or need he would provide. No matter the cost, apparently he wasn't even beyond stealing.

Lan Xichen sighed, he really didn't think leaving money would change the fact that what they had done was theft. But it was definitely better than him just letting the Wei take whatever he wanted. Hopefully the victim felt they were fairly compensated for their loss.

The Wei's explanation of their trip had mainly focused on the items of the cave, what he hadn't mentioned was the reason for them being at the cave in the first place. "What about the fierce corpses?"

"From the looks of it they came from the cave, there were claw marks and such from newly awoken fierce corpses at the entrance. But there was no telling why, perhaps someone was throwing out a large number of bodies and thought the cave was a good hiding spot? Whatever the reason, there shouldn't be any more of them. We told the cultivators in charge of the nearby city to keep watch for the next couple of weeks, just in case" Wei Wuxian explained before turning back to the table. There was apparently nothing else to tell.

Having received the report Lan Xichen had nothing else to do and should have returned to the large amount of work still waiting for him at Hanshi, but there was something still keeping him around.

"Did he bring anything interesting?"

"How am I supposed to know? I'm just here to watch over my nephew, make sure none of Wei Ying's weird stuff is dangerous" Jiang Wanyin huffed.

"Really? Then is that your award for being the most protective uncle?" Lan Xichen asked, pointing at the tiny silver bell which was attached by a thin thread attached to one of the Jiang's belts.

pling pling pling

Even this close to it he was not able to tell if the sound came from this bell or another one. Having been found out, sect leader Jiang smiled at him. Lan Xichen had managed to break through the 'I don't care'-facade.

"Sect leader Lan is as perspective as always. Yes, this is one of the things my brother brought back. Apparently it's a bell which rings differently depending on your emotions. Wei Ying said 'it might help me be less angry if I heard an annoying sound whenever I get mad' Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. But it was a well-known fact that he had a short temper and it wasn't uncommon for careless cultivators to get shouted at.

"You kept it though" Lan Xichen pointed out. He could have very easily dismissed his brother's gift, but there it was. Perhaps the Jiang was more self-conscious about his temper than sect leader Lan had thought.

"Mm. More difficult to..." Jiang Cheng started mumbling, making his words too faint for the Lan to make them out.

"What did you say?"

"Being short-tempered makes it more difficult to attract a potential cultivation partner" the Jiang said, slightly louder but still at a volume where Lan Xichen had to lean in to make out what he was saying.

pling pling pling

It didn't make it easier to make out the words that the sound of the bell was going crazy. Would the bell always be this loud? It hadn't been before. Perhaps it was best to warn him regardless, something like this would drive Lan Qiren up the walls.

"About the bell..."

"You want one as well, Zewu-jun?" Wei Wuxian interrupted, holding out a similar looking silver bell. Perhaps the one he had heard wasn't Jiang Cheng's. Looking down he found that Wei Wuxian too had a bell attached at his hip.

"No, I'm fine" Lan Huan immediately declined the offer. He did not want his feelings to be made public for all to hear. Both the Jiang brothers were open books, their emotions immediately apparent from just a glance at their facial expressions. But as a Lan, he had grown up being told it was better to keep such things hidden, it kept things peaceful.

Plus he could easily tell what he was feeling from the rapid sound of his heartbeats in his ear. For such emotions to be known by all would cause nothing but trouble. This was one of those times where secrecy was for the best. How awkward and difficult wouldn't his future work as a sect leader become if the Jiang found out about the indecent feelings he harbored.

Having assured that everything was alright, he decided to return to his work inside of Hanshi. Hurriedly he left before he found out that Wei Wuxian had brought some other strange gadget capable of revealing his less than calm insides. Sending one last glance at sect leader Jiang, he wished them all farewell.