Get Your Hands Off My Man (Xicheng)

Chapter 7: Staying Behind

With Lan Xichen gone Jiang Cheng was left to ponder. Stabilizing his "injured" leg he laid down on the bed once more. His mind filled with a lot of questions, all of which lacked answers.

What had just happened? His mouth was still filled with the salty taste from before so it wasn't like he had just imagined the whole thing. But why?

What had urged Lan Xichen to do such a thing?

Did it hold any significance? What, if any, bearing did this have on their practically non-existent relationship?

Did it even matter that it was Jiang Cheng? Perhaps any cultivator willing to do what he would have been just as good. Someone like the worm... Jiang Cheng hoped that wasn't the case. He didn't really care for what purpose Lan Xichen had done it, but as long as the worm couldn't replace him, he would be content.

He just wanted the whirl of questions in his head to end. It didn't need to have meant anything, as long as he was on the same page as Zewu-jun. As long as he knew were they stood going forward he'd be alright.

Yes, there was still that voice in the back of his mind, telling him he wasn't. How could the future sect leader Jiang be happy to be treated like nothing more than a way of relieving the Lan's tension?

Speaking of tension, Jiang Cheng wouldn't be able to relieve any of his own. He'd really been looking forward to slaying some fierce corpses. To compete with his brother on who could take down the most, a game he was sure he had the skills necessary to win. But with his leg the way it was that wouldn't be possible. He would be stuck inside this tent until tomorrow morning when he would have to walk all the way back to the Cloud Recesses, where he'd be stuck in a classroom once more.

Jiang Cheng sighed, feeling like he'd lost out on something fun. But this loss did not weigh too heavily on his heart. For as much as he was sad about not getting to brandish Sandu he felt like his previous flute lesson more than made up for it.

Outside he could hear the footsteps of disciples all lining up to prepare for heading further into the woods, towards where the fierce corpses were said to roam. Lan Xichen's voice could be heard calling out orders to the disciples to make sure everyone was present and properly prepared.

Perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that one was missing.

"Hey brother, how are you holding up?" Having slipped away for a moment Wei Wuxian had snuck inside Zewu-jun's tent to check up on his injured brother. But taking just a single look at his face was all it took for him to tell that there was no issue going on here. "If Zewu-jun patched you up already you should just come along and have some fun with me and Huaisang"

"Don't have Lan Xichen catch you saying something like that. Tonight is not for playing around" Jiang Cheng scolded his brother. The surrounding towns had been demolished by the large horde and if tonight's night hunt didn't diminish their numbers it could pose an even greater threat in the future. As much as Jiang Cheng was looking forward to slaying corpses he was also very aware of the seriousness of it all. Wei Ying should head back so that he doesn't slow down the others.

"Even if I play around I will still be the one to slay the most" Wei Wuxian boasted, confident in his abilities. Not that he was wrong, his skills were high enough that he would likely be one of the cultivators whose contribution would have the greatest impact after today's night hunt. That is if he made it there on time.

"Only because I'm not there to beat your score" Jiang Cheng retorted.

"Yeah, but little Chengcheng prefer to stay in Zewu-jun's bed doesn't he?" Wei Ying said with a baby voice.

"I don't. This place is just closer to the infirmary than our tent and if I leave now everyone will question whether I was hurt in the first place" Jiang Cheng said. He did not want people to think he was as bad as the worm.

"Oh come on, you can't hide anything from me. It doesn't matter how much you try and deny it. I know you loved being held by Zewu-jun, you little perv. Only reason you're still here pretending is so that he'll carry you home too, isn't it?" the man taunted.

"Yeah, you caught me" Jiang Cheng conceded. Wei Ying eyed his little brother suspiciously, it wasn't unreasonable for his brother to give in but right now he had done so too quickly. It had been a bit too easy, as though there was something else he was hiding. But he had run out of time to further question his brother.

"Wei Ying!" a loud voice rang silencing every single cultivator outside the tent. Jiang Cheng too was flabbergasted by what he had just heard.

"I suppose that's my queue" Wei Wuxian said with a grin. Jiang Cheng didn't know how he'd managed to get the Lan to call him by his given name. But this meant the Wei had no leg to stand on when it came to complaining about Jiang Cheng trying to get closer to Zewu-jun. After giving his brother a small bow as a farewell Wei Ying slipped outside and joined the group with a cheerful "Present!" Soon after the sound of marching feet could be heard throughout the forest as they made their way to start their night hunt. Leaving behind nothing but silence.

Had this been during the day Jiang Cheng would have been devastatingly bored, but seeing that it was night there was a very obvious way to pass the time.

Time to go to bed.

And so the Jiang snuggled up in the covers which still held some of the Lan's scent. Laying down felt like being embraced by Zewu-jun himself and soon he was whisked off to sleep. Jiang Cheng didn't know how long it had been but he was suddenly awoken by an audible crack as a stick outside got snapped in half. Jiang Cheng wasn't the only one who had stayed behind.

All Jiang Cheng's senses were on high alert as he held his breath. Staying as still as he possibly could he could hear soft footsteps approaching. They were definitely sneaking this way. Seeing that there were only two "injured" people it only made sense for the man outside to be the worm. Was he going to pick a fight? Jiang Cheng was physically both bigger and stronger than him so up till this point the short man hadn't even dared to do as much as threaten him back. Instead his only tactic to fight back had been for his flirting with the Lan get more and more blatant.

The Nie had no shame and as such his favorite weapon of choice was the Jiang's jealousy. A punch was a lot less effective and brought along a lot more danger than "accidentally" touching Zewu-jun's hand did. However right now Jiang Cheng very much held the upper hand.

He was the one who had a stomach full of Lan Xichen's juices.

Perhaps the worm assumed that the Jiang really was injured and was coming to take advantage of it? In that case Jiang Cheng would use it to his benefit, continuing to lay down he raised the tied up leg and turned his head towards the opening in the tent. Putting on one of his darkest glares he was prepared to greet his guest.