Fluffy WangXian Oneshots Book Two

Come Back To Gusu With Me Part 25

As soon as Wei Ying says that, Jiang Cheng freezes. For the first time, there's a flash of fear in his eyes.

“How did you know I was coming here?”

“Friends. You would know if you had any.” The barb slips out of his mouth before he can stop it, and Wei Ying reminds himself to try and be kind if all else fails. He tries again, half of his brain here and present, half focused on locating A-Yuan. Huaisang’s message came a little bit too late. Otherwise, Wei Ying never would have brought the child here with them. But with Lan Zhan drunk, it seemed like the best idea to get him away from people because nobody knows as well as Wei Ying how much of a menace Lan Zhan can be. “I thought MingJue-Ge was helping you,” he says carefully, thinking about his options if things get ugly. Chenqing isn't here, nor Suibian. But then again, he can whistle if it comes down to it.

He hadn't mentioned it to Lan Zhan before, when they were talking about this area and the benefits of being close to the Cloud Recesses but not actually in it. Resentment energy is regularly cleansed from the Lan base every day, more often when lessons are taught for this practice. But out here? The world is full of Resentment energy, from those who are honestly wronged and those who think they are. The best example is right in front of him.

But Wei Ying is confident of his own abilities, and besides, physical weapons are not the only way to fight. That's the most common mistake in the Cultivation World of today.

Jiang Cheng scowls. “Do you have any idea what they put me through? At first, they tortured me, withholding food, water, and sleep. And once I realised that cooperation was the only way, that's when they started training me. I was expected to beat my anger out on wooden dummies. But then, I'm sure it was Huaisang’s fault, because then they made me write down all about my feelings. That was difficult.”

“Therapy often is,” Wei Ying agrees.

“You think I went through with that?” He smiles with all his teeth. “I made up so much bullshit, definitely falsely blaming my mother. It had to be believable.”

“Did it work?” Wei Ying can't afford to look away from Jiang Cheng, but the bush closest to him on the left, rustles. Ah…he's found A-Yuan. Wei Ying shifts from one foot to the other, a minute change in his stance that allows him to move ever so slightly towards it. He can't just do it all in one go because it would alert Jiang Cheng of someone that Wei Ying wants to protect. The aim is to put himself in between A-Yuan and the very real threat.

“No,” Jiang Cheng replies, sounding morose. “They decided to bring in Lan mind doctors. Hours…we wasted hours every day with pointless questions, all nonsense. Who cares about music or reading or poetry? Those are all so lame. Finally, I told them about my ultimate goal.”

“Immortality?” Wei Ying asks him, remembering that it was the reason Jiang Cheng had come to the Cloud Recesses in the first place.

“Yes. I promise I'll leave you alone if you just tell me about the last step.” Jiang Cheng’s eyes are wild-looking and unfocused suddenly.

He's lying. That is both sad and unfortunate. The second problem here is that Wei Ying truly had no idea he was close to that, every cultivator’s ideal, ultimate goal. Bearing that in mind, he still has no idea what to tell Jiang Cheng.

“How far did you get?” He asks, hoping to get some clarity on the procedure. Maybe he can make up something believable and pacify Jiang Cheng for now.

“I became one with the universe. I could feel it. The veil between myself and all else was shimmering on the verge of evaporation. Had I managed to do that, I wouldn't be here, begging you for scraps!”