I Don't Love You

Chapter 5: Still

The words that came out from Zewu-jun's mouth haunted him. He couldn't shake it out of his mind even as he desperately trying to look for his uncle. Something was wrong and he knew it. He knew it from the moment Uncle Wei told him excuses last night and how Zewu-jun kept observing his uncle from afar. Something had gone wrong but he didn't know anything about it. No one told him a thing at all.

Each step he took turn quicker; he was running to where his uncle could be while trying to ignore the uneasiness in his heart. The questions in his mind kept running wild, no matter how hard he tried to calm it down. Everything still bothered him.

It bothered him because he was left all alone in the dark and no one was there to share light to him. Not even his first uncle.

He kept running until he stopped a couple of feet away from his uncle's private chamber. Sweats rolled down his forehead as he tried to compose himself and catch his breaths. He straightened his back and combed his hair roughly with his fingers. The robes didn't have any creases and the sword on his side stood still. He should look good in front of his uncle.

Jin Ling should look composed like he usually did and not add into his uncle's worry despite the uneasiness in his heart. He took a deep breath before he stepped forward and knocked on the closed door. Then, he waited for an answer.

The guards weren't where they were supposed to be, he could only assume that his uncle had sent them away or they were patrolling the area. He waited for a while as he looked around the surrounding, thinking where else his uncle could be. Jin Ling had checked the study room but it was empty. From the look of it, his uncle hadn't been there last night too.

He remembered how often his uncle took him there when he was a kid to study or just accompany him while doing paperwork. Whenever uncle took him there, he would always fall asleep for hours and wake up resting on his uncle's chest. Uncle would still be reading or writing something on the paper for his sect's business. The room would always be a mess whenever they were done for the day but uncle left it like that. He would always tell the servants to not clean it, saying:

"Leave it there. I'll deal with it myself."

When he found the room was not in a mess, he knew that uncle wasn't there before or after. This was why he was standing outside his uncle's chamber, waiting for what seemed like forever to him.

The sound of the door creaking stopped his mind from wandering and made him looked up. The person who opened the door was wearing the Jiang's sect purple robes with his long hair tied into a ponytail but left good chunks on both sides in the front. He smiled at the sight of him and bowed slightly. It was aunt physician Wen Qing's brother, uncle Wen Ning.

"Sect Leader Jin," Wen Ning called and stepped aside, allowing the younger man to come in. Jin Ling stepped in and gave his respect.

Wen Ning directed him towards the inner chamber and opened the door. Jin Ling saw his uncle and the lady physician Wen Qing by his side, helping him changing into his purple robes. When his uncle noticed him, they both just stood still staring at each other as if they lost their words.

"Jin Ling, what are you doing in here?" Jiang Wanyin asked, raising his right hand and slipping into the robes.

He stood still, unable to find the words he once had in his mouth. The look on his uncle's face wasn't something he used to see. The ashen looked and hoarse voice, was everything well with his uncle?

"Uncle, is everything alright? You look pale and tired."

The dark color under his uncle's eyes gave it away. Jin Ling wasn't going to say anything about it but lately, his uncle did look more tired than usual. Was from hosting the meetings for a few days?