Growing Pains from Growing Family

Chapter 7: Ice Cream

By the time Jiang Cheng realized the ramifications of moaning it was already too late. They had all heard him, all four of them. Unable to keep a straight face anymore Lan Xichen's expression flickered between confusion and a wide-eyed expression Jiang Cheng assumed was surprise. His actions had very much been out of a left field as he began to moan and groan in a way he never had before.

Even as the scraping of metal had stopped Jiang Cheng did not, he had already made his choice and it was time to stick to it. His entire face tinted red as a deep sense of shame welled up in him. This was the kind of shit he complained at Wei Ying for doing and now he was using it as a reference, mimicking his brother's late night cries as he continued making the improper noises to try and scare the juniors away.

"D-don't look at me like that" He stammered in between moans, holding a hand up to stop Lan Xichen from seeing his face. With how indecent he was sounding Jiang Cheng could only imagine what he must look like right now. No one should see sect leader Jiang looking this vulnerable, least of all sect leader Lan. Jiang Cheng did not want to ruin Lan Xichen's image of him as a strong and capable man. Not long after hiding his face Jiang Cheng could feel the bed shift underneath him. Lan Xichen had gotten up from the bed.

"Jiang Cheng" Butterflies filled his stomach at the use of his given name. Moving his hand away slightly he saw that the Lan was standing in between the Jiang and the door. If the youngsters decided to risk it by walking in on them all they would see would be the back of Lan Wangji's snow-white robes as its wearer leaned over the person on the bed.

Which wouldn't happen. Being too caught up in the anxiety-filled awkwardness Jiang Cheng's moaning had caused the two cultivators to completely miss the conversation going on in the hall outside of their room.

After his uncle's show had begun Jin Ling's hands had frozen in place, unable to continue the work they had been doing.

"No way we're going in there" Lan Jingyi stated the obvious, as if the two cultivators beside him wasn't currently living in a nightmare from which they wanted to wake up. They would both rather go eat ten bowls of Wei Wuxian's home cooked congee than go inside that room right now.

After waiting a while without receiving a snarky response from his yellow robed friend Lan Jingyi finally picked up on the tense atmosphere. Neither of his companions were moving, and from the looks of it, they both really needed to get out of here. "Hey Sizhui, how about we go have some ice cream? It's Jin Rulan's treat" Lan Jingyi said putting his arm around the Lan's shoulder.

"No It's not!" Having managed to get the Jin out of his trance like state he needed to continue distracting him until they got out of the inn. If not the Jin might go back to being quiet again and for as much as he complained about the Jin's loud mouth he still preferred that over the silence.

"You always brag about how rich you are and yet you can't even afford three ice creams?" he taunted.

"Pah, of course I can." Jin Ling was offended, with the Jin sect's money he could afford to buy all the ice cream in the world if he wanted. "A-Yuan, you can have as much ice cream as you want. It's on me." Two sets of footsteps could be heard as the Jin led the sad Lan away from the disturbing noises which would come to haunt their nightmares. "You however need to pay for yourself" Jin Ling uttered before storming off together with Lan Sizhui who was obediently going along wherever the Jin led him.

Lan Jingyi didn't mind buying his own dessert, he'd not only managed to get the Jin back to his old self, but had also gotten both of his companions out of this place. But just because he could buy his own desert didn't mean he wasn't going to try and get it for free.

"Cheapskate!" he shouted as he rushed to catch up with his friends.