Two worlds apart

Have I always been part of this story?

But JIang Cheng could not exactly say he regretted it because ..

His gaze shifted to Lan Xichen.

He met Lan Xichen here, this man who made him feel somewhat alive again. Someone who treasured him and showed him how it feels like to be loved, it was different from his family who he grew up with, these feelings were different.

Jiang Cheng blinked when he felt Lan Xichen's hand on his own, slowly stroking his palm as he smiled at him "No matter what it is A-Cheng I will be here for you"

"Thanks"

They both heard footsteps and saw Lan Qiren and Lan Wangji, this time they did not let go of their hands that were hidden under the table.

Lan Wangji pretended that he did not notice that as he and his uncle sat down and placed several books and scrolls into the table.

"Let's start by going through this, find anything that mentioned Yunmeng Jiang sect" Lan Qiren said as he sat down.

"Yunmeng Jiang sect? Isn't that the sect that perished a long time ago?" Lan Xichen asked as he picked one of the scrolls.

Jiang Cheng raised a brow and also picked a book, looking through the contents while listening to their discussion while Lan Qiren spoke.

"Yes, that sect perished after the war with the Wens, there was very little information about them, as far as I know when the Wens ruled, they had every sect burn their records. Thankfully we have our own copies that survived, and the other sects remade their records."

"Awful" Lan Wangji quipped.

"Only Yunmeng Jiang had a crest that symbolizes a lotus" Lan Qiren added as he went through the archived list of sects registered in the Jianghu. "These records were from almost a hundred years ago, we have to read back before and during the Sunshot campaign"

Lan Xichen nodded as he continued looking through the scroll, being too careful not to damage it, Yunmeng JIang.. Lan Xichen only heard it in passing and never really paid attention to that. Now that his uncle brought it up, JIang Cheng's surname is the same as the sect. But what connection could JIang Cheng have to a sect that perished a hundred years ago?

They continued their search in silence, checking each book and scrolls that Lan Qiren brought out; they were close to stopping for the day until finally.

"Here" Lan Wangji placed the book in the middle and pointed to a sect crest that resembled the pendant, under the crest is the name Yunmeng Jiang Sect, its location in Yunmeng, Lotus Pier and a brief description of the sect. However the rest of the page was torn, they are unable to read the rest of the information.

"Is that always torn?" Jiang Cheng asked, pointing at the torn page.

"Yes" Lan Qiren said with a small frown. "Some of the pages were damaged or was smudged, I believe it was due to our ancestors trying to save these copies during the attack"

Jiang Cheng stared at the torn page with a small frown, what a coincidence that it happened to be that page. There was something off about this, why is there very little information about this sect? It suddenly made Jiang Cheng recall what Su She said.

I can't be in a sect who buries and hides information of the past and removes the terrible deeds they have done.

He knew that Su She was trying to bait him but what if.. What if that bastard is right? What if the Lans are hiding more than their generational curse? Why were they cursed in the first place?

They spent another hour looking through the records, after the discovery Lan Wangji made which led them to nothing and they thought they already reached a dead end however Lan Xichen suddenly perked up.