Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

Come Back To Gusu With Me Part 16

Frustration.

Disappointment.

Jiang Cheng ignores the beautiful scenery unfolding under his sword, flying faster than ever towards Gusu. It's a blur of green and white patches, the ratio of the two colours changing from more green to more white, the closer he gets. With the strength of his core, he's going to reach the Cloud Recesses in a few hours.

Last night, he'd dreamed of his parents. They were surrounded by a soft white light, and their faces were gentle and peaceful. Jiang Fengmian brought him into his arms and hugged him for a long time, while his mother stroked his hair, and they both looked so happy and proud of him.

Jiang Cheng had woken up earlier today, with warmth in his heart and eager anticipation, beating the Lans by getting up an hour earlier than them. He washed his face and changed into training robes, absolutely certain that the next few hours were going to change his life. The morning chill didn't bother him; he was too pumped up to start his cultivation. Sandu in his hands didn't do what he wanted - there was something missing, so he picked up Suibian and examined it again.

What was so different about it? Just the first touch made him excited, and though he regretted that it was Wei WuXian's sword that was going to help him, he also thought Wei WuXian owed this to him. His parents had died because of the stray his father had picked up off the streets and brought to live with them. Wei WuXian wouldn't even have had this sword if not for the benevolence of the Jiang Clan, so by rights, Jiang Cheng had the full authority as Clan leader to use it for his own personal gain. It was for the greater good, after all, the greater good being his Clan.

He began like last night when he worked his way through all the twenty-four sword forms, starting with the ones for babies and those new to the Jiang fighting style. The basics were underrated but so important for the development of the correct foundation. By the time the newbies mastered the simpler forms and moved onto the more complex manoeuvres, the already memorised foot positions were second nature to them, allowing better concentration upon the advanced techniques.

The same tingling thrill raced through his body, but Jiang Cheng couldn't figure out what was wrong. His core was behaving the same as yesterday, but less somehow. Maybe it was because the hour was too early and Jiang Cheng should power up, so to speak. So he had gone through all of the forms three times by midday, with no improvement. He was sweaty and disheartened and plain fed up. The shining gift was right there on the horizon last night, but in the light of the new day, it turned out to be just a shimmering mirage, conjured up by his hope and desire.

He meditated to wind down and settled upon asking Wei WuXian about how to cross that final barrier, the invisible wall holding him back.

Now, as the cold winds slam against his face, Jiang Cheng wonders about his core. Is it possible that Cangse Sanren's core was so powerful that she passed on the genetic traits of it to her son? If the core humming inside Jiang Cheng now is a product created by Baoshan Sanren, whose disciple was Cangse Sanren, then it explains why both Wei WuXian's core and Jiang Cheng's core are so strong. It must be because of something to do with that mountain, where Jiang Cheng had to visit with a blindfold on. That mountain must have particularly strong dragon lines to produce such vibrant, powerful cores, a place brimming with spiritual energy; and that means, Jiang Cheng cannot be blamed for previously having a weaker one before gaining this far superior golden core. He never had a chance to be better than Wei WuXian, who had an unfair advantage over him. Their competition was already slanted in Wei WuXian's favour from the start.

Yes, this is good reasoning.

The mountains of Gusu rise up like the Guardians of Winter, tall and imposing, solid white clad giants with cloaks of snow, especially higher up on the peaks shrouded by the clouds. Jiang Cheng lands at the base of the first mountain, grumpy because he had forgotten about the hundreds of stairs that lead up the path to the Ivory Pillars.