Letting go of self-restraint 5 - Great happiness in a small package

Chapter 44

Jiang Cheng had been standing on the edge of a pier with Wen Ning and looking at the calm water when suddenly, there had been a bright light in the sky. It had been quite far away but it was undeniable that it had been a distress signal flare. A cultivar must have been calling for help. Although it had been too small to tell which sect it had belonged to, the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader had immediately sprung to action.

He had apologized to Wen Ning and left him alone on the pier. When someone was using a flare, they must have been in a grave situation, nothing for a frail and gentle Omega like his husband. However, Wen Ning had not let himself to be deterred so easily and followed him, listing arguments why having a doctor could be beneficial after a fight. In the end, Jiang Cheng had given in and they both flew away at maximum speed he could accomplish with two people riding his sword.

The Yunmeng Jiang sect leader could not be sure from where exactly the signal flare had been fired, its light had long gone out. He however continued flying, taking his best guess for the direction of Yiling and the Burial Mounds. He hoped that he was not too far off or too late. Or that someone had actually been closer and had already helped to whomever had been in peril. It was bugging him that he could not tell which sect the flare had belonged to.

As it did not make sense to go blindly search the whole area of the Burial Mounds, Jiang Cheng decided to head directly for Yiling. If there had been any unusual activity which required intervention of a cultivator, the townspeople would hopefully know about it and would be able to point him in the correct direction.

What was making him even more jittery and worried was the fact that Jiang Yanli had written him earlier in the week, announcing that she, Jin Zixuan and Jin Ling would be arriving to Lotus Pier tomorrow. He knew that they should be in Yiling right about now, taking one last stop before reaching their destination. They always travelled like this, Jiang Cheng was fairly sure he was not mistaken.

He did not even want to think about the possibility that the signal flare had been their call for help. However, he could not outright cross it out either, not before he confirmed the opposite was true.

The Yunmeng Jiang sect leader and Wen Ning whom he carried on his sword approached the city and the first thing they noticed was ruckus and people running around with torches and shouting something. He wondered if what had happened had actually happened here. Then, Wen Ning tugged at his robe and whispered into his ear; well, more like shouted to be precise, he would have not heard him otherwise: "Down there!"

Jiang Cheng followed the pointed finger with his eyes and saw four figures standing in front of the biggest inn in town. That would not have been anything unusual if two of those figures were not wearing pristine white of the Gusu Lan sect. Jiang Cheng manoeuvred his sword closer to them. When he and Wen Ning stood on the ground, he quickly checked the whole group and confirmed his suspicion: they were Lan Xichen, Lan Wangji, Nie Huisang and Wei Wuxian here.

"Strange, I cannot see A-Yuan anywhere. Where could the child be? Wei Wuxian would have never agreed to separate from him outside of the Cloud Recesses. And why is he looking like that? What is wrong?" Then it was finally starting to down on him: "Oh... That must be it, the emergency. Is Wei Wuxian crying? He is barely managing to stand on his feet, Lan Wangji is probably supporting more of his weight than not. What are they doing here? And where the heck is A-Yuan...? Do not tell, he is not with them?"

He hurried his steps and joined the small group. Just as he had suspected from further away, Wei Wuxian was indeed crying in the arms of his husband, inconsolably so. And he was holding what Jiang Cheng immediately recognized as A-Yuan's outer robe. A whole-body shock came over him and he stopped just short of running into the group.

"If A-Yuan is not with them and Wei Wuxian is this distressed, that must mean only one thing..."

He never got to remain in the dark for longer. Purple robes with red embroidery flashed around him and before he knew it, Wen Ning was already holding Wei Wuxian's arms in his own and asking: "What happened? Young Master Wei, is he alright?"

The group was silent for a short moment, all looking visibly shaken. Then, Nie Huisang cleared his throat and answered with deep regret coating his voice: "A-Yuan has gone missing about 20 minutes ago. We have already looked everywhere and even the town's people are helping with the search. But we still cannot find him..."

Jiang Cheng's eyes went wide and they snapped to look at his weeping and for the most part catatonic brother. He understood now. Of course Wei Wuxian would be completely heartbroken if A-Yuan was nowhere to be found. "I am surprised that he had even agreed to come here in the first place. I wonder why they had come to Yiling. Were they perhaps headed towards Lotus Pier for a surprise visit? They could have written a letter for me to get everything ready..."

Jiang Cheng stopped his thoughts abruptly and internally scolded himself. This was no time for sulking, his nephew had gone missing. He had to go help with the search immediately! They needed all hands they could find. Now he understood why a signal flare had been used. This was a dire situation indeed, a toddler was missing, in an unfamiliar town and in the middle of the night.

He abruptly marched closer to the group, finally letting them know about his presence: "We will help with the search. Where have you seen him last time?"

Nie Huisang turned to him and his appearance shocked the Yunmeng Jiang sect leader to his core. He had never seen the Qinghe Nie sect heir this distressed and even with unshed tears in his eyes. He was looking very apologetic as well and Jiang Cheng wondered what was the story behind this sudden disappearance of his nephew. He however swallowed any more questions for now and waited for Nie Huisang to reply to his already asked one.

The Qinghe Nie sect heir was just opening his mouth to answer when another person run out of the inn and joined their small group, surprising them and demanding the same information as he had just now: "What are you guys doing here? And what is going on?"

"Oh, great! Of course, it must be Jin Zixuan who is coming to meddle into things uninvited." The Yunmeng Jiang sect leader grumbled internally. Everything was becoming more and more chaotic by the second and Jiang Cheng's head was starting to hurt.