Jiang Cheng's Honest Feelings (Xicheng)

Chapter 4: Thief

Lan Huan gave Jiang Wanyin an apologetic smile as he called for the visitor to enter. Hesitantly the door opened a little.

"Uncle? I know you need to rest, but I came to return your amulet, just in case" Having just lost one valuable item he wasn't stoked to keep such an expensive belonging. What if he lost this too? Feeling the worried stare of his guest, who only now found out that the man he was meeting might not be feeling well, Lan Xichen responded to put both of their concerns to rest.

"I'm doing just fine. Sizhui, you may enter."

Opening the door fully, the two Lans entered. Surprised to see sect leader Lan had a guest they both hesitated before then bowing to show sect leader Jiang respect. Seeing that his uncle was busy, Lan Sizhui walked over and returned the amulet so that they didn't need to disturb them for much longer.

"Did you find it?" They had returned a lot sooner than Lan Xichen had expected. Hopefully this meant the problem had been resolved.

"No. But when I talked to senior Wei he mentioned that apparently there are things disappearing" Lan Sizhui explained. Seeing Lan Xichen's confused expression, the other Lan decided to elaborate.

"He means there's a thief who stole from senior Wei and Hanguang-jun. They probably stole Sizhui's keystone as well" His keystone was the thing he had lost? No wonder he was being so apologetic earlier. With a keystone, anyone could walk in or out of the cloud recesses freely. It would be a catastrophe if it ends up in the wrong hands. Only the most trusted people were allowed one.

Visitors without a keystone and without high enough authority to create their own passageway, couldn't make it through the seal which surrounded the entirety of the Cloud Recesses. To enter they would need to talk to the guards stationed by the entrance to be allowed inside. So for Lan Sizhui to have lost it was really bad. Still, to think he dared tell Lan Zhan about losing such an important item. Lan Xichen thanked his former self for handing his nephew the jade amulet.

"Would a thief dare to steal from Hanguang-jun and the Yiling Patriarch? No one would be both dumb enough to attempt it and yet be capable enough to pull it off. There has to be something else going on. All we know right now is that things are disappearing" Lan Sizhui held his parents in high regards, and not without reason. The two cultivators were a very powerful duo who would likely rock the cultivation world if it wasn't for the fact that they chose to frolic around enjoying married life, rocking the bed rather than the world.

"Alright, until we figure out what is going on I'll get you a new keystone" Lan Xichen had wondered why Lan Sizhui had refused to travel to the Yao sect with his parents, apparently this had been the reason. If he were to go with them he would need to reveal that he didn't have his keystone. "...and Sizhui" Lan Xichen caught his nephew's attention before they left Hanshi "next time you get yourself into trouble, come talk to me okay?"

"Of course, thank you uncle. For everything" he smiled as he wished sect leader Lan goodbye. Hanshi fell silent once more. Well, almost silent.

"Sect leader Jiang, you don't happen to know anything about this thief do you?" Lan Xichen asked after the two Lans had left. It wasn't like he could completely ignore the way the Jiang's bell had started acting up the moment the theft had been mentioned.

pling pling pling

"I- Um..." Reaching down into his pockets, sect leader Jiang retrieved a small stone which he then placed on the table. It was a deep shade of dark blue with streaks of purple. The swirly pattern on the top of the keystone was one sect leader Lan would be able to recognize anywhere. That keystone undoubtedly belonged to his nephew. "I might have borrowed it" He averted his gaze to avoid looking at Lan Xichen's face. He didn't want to see the disappointment which sect leader Lan must feel after having caught his fellow sect leader stealing from his disciple. And it wasn't just any one of his disciples, it was his nephew.

"Really?" Lan Xichen asked. It seemed like sect leader Jiang wasn't aware of the fact that Lan Sizhui had in fact lent out the keystone before it had supposedly gotten stolen. Jiang Wanyin was taking the blame for something he hadn't done. Seeing that his nephew had come into possession of such a valuable thing he had probably intended on finding its owner and handing it back without anyone finding out who had taken it. But in doing so he had worried not only his own nephew, but sect leader Lan's as well.

"Yes" Sect leader Jiang was clearly ashamed as he admitted to have stolen. But he still held firm, he was the thief, not Jin Rulan. Lan Xichen fought hard not to smile. The way Jiang Cheng was working so hard to protect his nephew was very admirable. He was protecting someone he loved. Would he one day protect his future cultivation partner in such a way? Lan Xichen could feel that familiar jealousy creep in. He didn't particularly like the cold and disgusting emotion as it made its way towards his heart. Shaking it away he turned to sect leader Jiang.

"In that case I suppose a punishment is in order" He pulled out a pen and paper and placed it in front of Jiang Wanyin. "You know the drill, write the rule you've broken. Let's say... a hundred times"

"Only a hundred?" It was a rather lenient punishment for such a severe crime.

"Yes, since you came forward yourself I don't believe anything more would be appropriate." Lan Xichen wasn't much for punishments just for the sake of punishment. As long as the person understood what they had done wrong and wouldn't repeat it, the punishment had served its purpose.

"And to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future, I will get sect leader Jiang your own keystone." Seemed like the one in need of a more severe punishment was Sect leader Lan himself as he had not learned his lesson. Despite having been far too trusting in the past he still couldn't help himself from repeating his previous actions. He wanted to believe in the people he cared about so badly. Perhaps this was a flaw he would simply have to live with, because if the punishment he'd already received wasn't enough then nothing was.

"What? You can't just hand them out like that!" The Jiang's head flung up and the hand which had begun writing suddenly stopped at the absurd proposition. Not even every Lan had a keystone and the amount of non-Lans with owned one could be counted on one hand. For him to be added among them was a ridiculous idea, especially after having admitted to stealing inside the Cloud Recesses.

"I will get you your own keystone." Lan Xichen reiterated. He was not about to go back on this decision. "Or do you think it's a better idea to have sect leader Jiang stealing from my disciples if he ever needs to get outside again?" With that he couldn't argue and so Lan Huan had gotten his way. Sitting down once more Lan Xichen sipped his tea as the Jiang continued to write.

His eyebrows were wrinkled in concentration as he aimed to write as neatly as possible. Lan Xichen had seen what the Jiang's natural handwriting looked like, crooked and all over the place. But all of his correspondence was like well crafted pieces of art. Most people probably assumed him to just be naturally gifted with pretty handwriting, but Lan Xichen knew how much effort the Jiang put into appearing as skilled as possible. The same way he did everything else. It didn't matter what, Jiang Wanyin always pushed himself to be better, strived to become the best.

Even now when he was writing his punishment, a letter only Lan Xichen would ever see, did he put all of his effort into each and every stroke. His eyes were focused, all his attention was on the words he wrote. And all of sect leader Lan's attention was on the Jiang. Admiring him as he completed the punishment he'd been given.