Jiang Cheng arrived at the new house they bought, shutting the door of his car he went to the trunk to retrieve his stuff, carrying the boxes he blinked as he looked around. Wei Wuxian is already cleaning the front yard and he can make out the figure of his sister inside, over all it seems to be a very good day and the weather for once is in their favour. Jiang Cheng heard a familiar voice, it was none other than his favourite nephew Jin Ling, the seven years old boy ran and barrelled straight to his leg.
"Uncle!"
"A-Ling, dont cling to your Uncle he is carrying something heavy" Jiang Yanli called out stepping outside the porch as she beckoned for her son and Jin Ling immediately ran back to her side.
Wei Wuxian approached him taking the other box on his arms with a smirk. "What do you think?" he gestured to the house.
"Not bad.. A little creepy but it seems fine" Jiang Cheng looked at the two story house, at first glance it looks old but some renovation must have happened to it because it looked a little modernised, the doors were replaced and the roof as well, Though he could see the old carvings on the window sill, as they walked inside he saw the faded paint which hid a left over wallpapers. Seems like a lot of work needs to be done in this house.
The siblings along with Jin Ling moved here trying to start over.
When the fire consumed their old residents it killed a lot of people including their parents and Jin Zixuan trying to save his wife and son. They decided to move away from that place. It was a horrible night in which Jiang Cheng still get some nightmares, he couldn't function for a few days taking in the loss but when he looked at his siblings he knew he had to do something. They decided to sell the old house, all of them couldn't bear to live on that same place that keeps haunting them. Thankfully Wei Wuxian found a deal for this house, the location is really good, it is near the station he works, near the Hospital Jiang Yanli works and the only thing they need to do is transfer Jin Ling to the nearest school, when everything had been finalised they all decided it was time to move.
The next few days is a little hassle all the moving of furniture and repainting the walls specially dealing with Wei Wuxian and his picky weird ass taste, they argued for a lot for the color and arrangement of the living room. The good part is that they are all having fun, he could feel that they are starting to slowly cope and move on.
After working the entire morning it was late in the afternoon when Jiang Cheng took the box of used paint and rolls into the storage room located on the second floor. Once he entered the small room he dumped the paints and brushes, then the lights flicked off and on, reaching out he twisted the bulb slotting it in place however he noticed a small knob on the ceiling.
What the fuck?
Jiang Cheng stared at it for a moment before he heard Jiang Yanli's voice
"A-Cheng can you please come down"
Jiang Cheng paused for a moment and frowned, hearing Jiang Yanli's voice calling him the second time around he finally responded.
"Just a minute Sis!" he called back before reaching out for the knob, he pulled it down winching at the creaking noise it made was shocked to see a ladder cascaded down.
There is an attic?! They were not informed about this at all.
He hesitated for a moment, but better to check first and make sure its safe. Places like these are very suspicious and his instincts tells him to check on it, its not everyday you see an attic which the dealer forgot to mention to them. He pulled out his phone turning the flashlight on he climb upstairs and pushed away some cobwebs out of his way...
Ugh.
The room is a little large, vacant with one big window that was covered with old curtain, However as he flashed his light around the room it wasn't that vacant at all.
There is a small bed and a table at the corner of the room, Jiang Cheng slowly walked further cringing as he heard a mice pass by behind him.
"Damn... "He murmured.
He swears if he sees a dead body here he will leave this place ASAP with his siblings. Thankfully thats not the case here.
The place is very dusty, it seems that no one used it for a long time, the house from what he heard from Wei Wuxian had been abandoned for years, people who bought the place didn't last long, leaving the property after a few months and selling it again.
Jiang Cheng went to the window and tugged the dusty curtains, covering his nose as the dust filtered through the room, the afternoon sun casted a small light around him and Jiang Cheng looked around. It's not that bad actually If he could clean this, Jin Ling could use this place as a playroom or Wei Wuxian could use this too.. He better tell his siblings about it.
He walked back to the bed that was on the tucked on the corner, it accumulated some dust and dirt, thankfully there was no dead body on it lying around. Jiang Cheng glanced at the small bedside table there are papers littered everywhere in the floor, on top of the table there is a box the lid is covered with dust as well but what caught his attention is beside the table there was another curtain which seems to be covering a furniture?Jiang Cheng reached out to the curtain tugging it the heavy fabric fell on the floor with a thud creating a wisp of dust around him
"Fuck!" JC hissed covering his nose before coming face to face with a large mirror.
The woodwork on the frame is elegant and very detailed, cloud pattern were carved on the top in some sort of a insignia the mirror is a little dusty and it was fucking huge.. Full length and very wide.. It looks like a fucking door.
How the hell did this thing even fit here?! He glanced at the small door leading to the attic before stepping closer. he inspected the mirror hands reaching out to touch the frame, it looks very inviting that he couldn't help but admire it the surface is smooth and--
"Jiang Cheng!"
"Shit! Ow!" JC jumped up and hissed looking at his finger he saw a small but deep cut.
Squinting he saw a chipped wood on the frame it had a stain of his blood, forget about the smooth woodwork!
"Coming down!" he hollered and pressed his finger on his shirt before glancing at the box. With a huff he grabbed it as well and went down, pushing the ladder up he closed the door and he went downstairs to meet his siblings.
"The hell happened to you?" Wei Wuxian asked with wide eyes seeing Jiang Cheng who was covered with slight dust and hair that was pretty tousled up.
"I saw a damn attic"
"Eh?! Really?!" Wei Wuxian looked at him, clearly surprised. So he didn't know about it as well.
"Yup, pretty big area"
"Jiang Cheng, what is that?" Wei Wuxian pointed at the box that Jiang Cheng settled on the counter
"Some shit I found"
"A-Cheng what happened to your finger?" Jiang Yanli rushed to him with a cloth tending to his wound.
"Ah, I found a huge ass mirror there, scraped my finger on the frame, no big deal" he gave her a reassuring smile but she only shook her head.
"Still, stay put for a moment" Jiang Cheng stayed still while Jiang Yanli retrieved their first aid kit, rushing back to him she started to tend on the small wound, nothing to fuss about really.. But Jiang Cheng knew she would argue so he allowed her to apply some medication, beside him Wei Wuxian started to take some interest on the box.
"What is this?" Wei Wuxian looked at the box poking it before Jiang Cheng slapped his hand away
"Hands off! We don't know the contents of that yet" he hissed.
"Sure, sure Officer"
Once the bandaid is carefully placed on his finger he smiled and thanked his sister before he took the box, eyeing it carefully.
"Do you think someone died here and left this cursed items?" Wei Wuxian asked. "You said there is a mirror? Sounds fishy.. You know those stuff you see on movies.. Strange things starts happening when they find some cursed items on the attic"
"Dont be ridiculous there is no such thing, stop watching horror films its definitely making you stupid and I checked upstairs there seems to be no sign of any murder whatsoever.. Ill clean it up tomorrow" Jiang Cheng carried the box with him and headed outside, he sat down on the wooden steps on their porch, Jiang Cheng removed the lid.
"A-Ling! Can you bring Uncle's purple box here the one on the coffee table?" He called out, before crossing his arms eyeing the contents. It took a few minutes before Jin Ling opened the door and he dumped the box beside him.
"Thanks" Jiang Cheng reached out to pat his head.
"What's that Uncle?"
"I dont know, I'm checking it"
Jin Ling sat beside him and looked at him as he went through the box. There are papers and drawings inside it, Jin Ling also started reaching inside the box taking out a paper with a sketch of an old small cottage, the boy slowly read the writings at the bottom of the paper.
"Hanshi"
Jiang Cheng took the paper and observed the drawing, it was good.. Really detailed, the gentian garden and the white stone paths on the patches of green grasses looks very real,The cottage looks cozy and pretty inviting.
"Cloud.... Re?"
Jiang Cheng turned to Jin Ling who was unravelling a scroll and a beautiful painting of a mountain is displayed before his eyes. "Cloud Recesses... Woah"
"That looks beautiful" Jiang Yanli commented as she joined their small perch on the porch looking at the papers and sketches. "Who made it?"
"There is no signature.. No date as well.. Weird"
"There are a lot of drawings" she hummed picking up another paper, this one is a portrait. "This one says Nie Mingjue" she showed him a portrait of a handsome male, the hair style and robes seems to be from ancient years.
Jiang Cheng glanced at the portrait before he picked up a book, it had a plain blue cover and nothing special is written outside, he flipped on the pages and saw the same illustrations he saw earlier however this time there are written words on this pages.
"It seems to be some illustrations for this book... A novel I guess" Jiang Cheng placed the book down and picked up another portrait. The name on the paper says Lan Xichen, this portait is very beautiful though...
"Oh, Like characters? They look very beautiful" she smiled.
"These are useless.." Jiang Cheng muttered.
"Dont throw it away, its a shame it looks beautiful, the artist must have spent some time making them" she smiled and Jiang Cheng sighed he shrugged before arranging the papers and scrolls on the new box, dumping the book on top of it as well.
He threw the old box away before he carried the new one inside.
"Jiang Cheng change your dusty clothes then we can have dinner" Wei Wuxian set the plates on the table before helping Jin Ling up to wash his hands.
"Sure" Jiang Cheng headed upstairs towards his room, once he arrived he placed the box on the table, changing his clothes before He joined his siblings for dinner.
It was nice to have evenings like this where they just chat and plan their day ahead such as the task for tomorrow, Wei Wuxian would take care of the porch, Jiang Cheng will clean the attic while Jiang Yanli and Jin Ling will complete their groceries.
After their dinner Jiang Cheng checked his phone and responded to some few messages from his co workers, some of them had been asking how he had was doing and giving him updates of what's happening at the station, He was currently on leave used all 21 days to relax and think things through. He was stressed from the last case they closed and it was followed by accident on their residence, he was tired.
Shaking his head he headed to his room, Jiang Cheng glanced at the box and picked up the scrolled paper where the painting of this Lan Xichen is stashed. He is not sure if this guy is fictional or based on real person but the amount of care and details of this painting compared to the others is very different.
The guy was handsome too.. Sharp jaws and kind eyes, a beautiful smile.. Yep definitely fiction, hell as if someone as handsome like this exists in the real world? He doubts that. He was simply etheral.
Contemplating for a moment he decided to grab the book. He flipped the first page looking for a title but there was none.
So Jiang Cheng proceeded to read the story, the main character is Lan Xichen that should be obvious by now considering the writer had drawn him very beautifully amongst the other characters. That night Jiang Cheng decided to just read for a bit a chapter or two if its interesting before retiring to bed. The story isn't that boring but it wasn't that exciting either.Clearly whoever wrote this is someone who didn't think much of how the readers would react. Jiang Cheng thought that maybe the writer is writing for themselves, since they left it without any title or perhaps the book is unfinished. Who knows?
Back to the book Jiang Cheng had reached chapter 3 by now and it had been the usual Xianxia genre, he used to read these kind of novels back in highschool and as far as he understood the story is about Lan Xichen who is Gusu Lan's Sect Leader, at young age lost both his parents.. His Uncle raised him and his Brother, Lan Wangji, as the story progressed and each chapter he finished He had reached the part where Cloud Recesses burned by an unknown group of Sect.
JC, gripped the book tightly, clearing his head from seeing a different memory.
He is really starting to hate fire.
He returned his attention back to the book, these unknown individuals caught Gusu by surprise. they could not find the identeties of the invaders as they do not have any distinct robes, they only wore red robes that does not belong to any sect. Lan Xichen barely managed to escape, he was injured as he ran away and just when he was about to faint, he met a certain someone.
Meng Yao.
The guy saved Lan Xichen, seeing his weak body on the woods, the young man helped him, housed him stayed with him and nursed him back to health. They stayed together for a few months until their hiding place were found out, Lan Xichen fought and Meng Yao saved him once again injuring him in the process and thats where Jiang Cheng noticed something.
Is this Meng Yao guy... The other male lead? Wait hold up! Is this genre is what he think it is?!
God damn why isnt there a warning on this thing!
He groaned. The thing is when he gets invested with something he wont stop until he finishes it. And honestly the book was interesting for him so far now that it reached this part, so regardless of the genre Jiang Cheng continued to read it.
And so Jiang Cheng pulled out an all nighter.
.
.
"You look like shit" Wei Wuxian commented from the table once Jiang Cheng appeared to join them for breakfast.
"A-Xian language" Jiang Yanli frowned from the kitchen gesturing at Jin Ling who was waiting for their breakfast and listening to their conversation
"Sorry.." Wei Wuxian chuckled before glancing at Jiang Cheng "Did you even sleep?"
"No... Yes? A bit yeah" Jiang Cheng moved and grabbed a cup, looking through the cupboard for some coffee.
"What happened to you? You are supposed to be on leave, that means relaxing" Wei Wuxian raised a brow at him.
"I finished a book"
"Book?" Wei Wuxian raised a brow and Jiang Yanli turned to face him.
"Oh the book from the attic?" Jiang YanLi asked handing Wei Wuxian the rice and plate of hotdogs glancing at Jiang Cheng "Is it that good?"
"It was.. Kinda okay".. Jiang Cheng shrugged and replied BUT Okay that was a lie, it was good BUT... "But the ending sucks, im just frustrated and annoyed" He blowed the steam off from his cup before taking a small sip. "You know I spent hours of reading it and it gave me just a shit ending..—"
"A-Cheng language" Jiang Yanli huffed.
"Sorry.. Anyways im not even sure if its finished or not cause there still lots of blank pages but.. It just ends"
"Now im curious! Can I borrow it?!" WWX smiled, curiosity dancing on his eyes. "If you pulled an all nighter for this it might be pretty good huh?"
Jiang Cheng stared at him for a moment and shrugged. "In my room" setting his cup down he helped Jiang Yanli setting up the table while Jin Ling played with his toys, Wei Wuxian is gone in a flash.
"A-Ling put your toys away lets eat breakfast first" he chided and sat down taking another sip from his coffee.
Wei Wuxian returned and sat beside him, book at hand he started flipping through it. "So how did it end?"
"The fu—you wanted me to spoil it for you?"
"So I know what to expect" he chuckled.
"Well the main character went to seclusion" Jiang Cheng placed his cup down before he started to reach out for the plate of rice.
"Then?" Wei Wuxian urged him
"Thats it"
"What do you mean by thats it?" Wei Wuxian raised a brow and Jiang Cheng sighed placing the eggs on his plate. "Thats it! That's literally the ending, are you getting now why im pissed? That was such a.. I dont know he didn't deserve all of it"
"Wow I would seriously bone this guy" Wei Wuxian flipped the book showing him a sketch of Lan Wangji.
"Dont be such a creep" Jiang Cheng frowned and shook his head. "Its fictional a character you cant bone him"
"My imaginations had no limit, try exploring yours too"
"Boys.. Eat first" Jiang Yanli shook her head and the two could only shrug before they started eating. The breakfast is well spent and once they are done Jiang Cheng washed the dishes while Wei Wuxian lounged on the couch reading, when Jiang Cheng was done he walked by the couch to smack his brother on the head.
"The yard" he hissed.
"Ow! I know! Let me finish another chapter kay!"
"Whatever" Jiang Cheng headed to the storage room he grabbed a broom, cloth, a map and other cleaning tools he needed before he pulled the ladder down, he climbed up to the attic and placed all his tools.
"Damn.. Well better start working"
He removed the dusty curtains and beddings shoving it on the trash. He adjusted his facemask and groaned, there is so much work that needs to be done but this would be quick as long as he dont get too distracted.
After an hour he was already making some progress. The only thing that was left is the mirror, He took the cloth and started wiping it clean, being careful with the wood work.. Just in case. Once it was done he observed it carefully. Its still a mystery to him how this thing ended up here, he was actually contemplating of getting rid of it or keeping it.
Suddenly he heard some creaking from the floorboards and he looked around.. The air became a bit more colder, making the hair on his nape stand.
"Fuck!" JC stepped back when he saw a bird flying around his head. "What the—" he looked around and he didn't see anything that could make a bird suddenly appearing out of nowhere!
The window is closed!
Taking a few step back, the bird made a few noises before it flew past him and headed straight to the mirror where it disappeared.
".. Shi.. What the hell?"
Jiang Cheng stared at his reflection on the mirror which started to become a little blurry. he stared at the mirror carefully before he slowly took a step forward and reached out to it pressing his palm against the smooth surface.
Was that his imagination?
He started tapping it putting both of his palm, before clicking his tongue. What was he even thinking? "What bullsh--?!"
Jiang Cheng weren't able to finish his cuss when suddenly he felt nothing but air against his palms and gravity took over as he fell forward. He tumbled and rolled on the ground with a loud noise, he couldn't help but groan as he slowly sat up.
"Ugh!"
Did he hit his nose?! What the hell just happened?! He looked up and frowned when his sight were covered with hair.
Hair?
Jiang Cheng raked his hands on his head and finally discovered the long strands of hair he had. He immediately stood up and looked at himself. He was still wearing his shirt and jeans, nothing changed from his appearance aside from his long hair which is starting to get annoying by the way.
Jiang Cheng removed his facemask and looked around.
Holy.. It was NOT his attic! It looks like a room a big one at that, he turned around and saw the very same mirror he had and this time he finally saw his appearance. Nothing much changed really.. Just the hair and... And did he get taller or?
Wait hold up! What the fuck is happening here?! Did he knocked himself and started dreaming? That should be it right? There is no possible explanation for this!
"fuck.. Fuck. Wait.. What the hell" JC started pacing around went to tap the mirror, nothing happened.
"This fucking hair--" he hissed and gathered his hair in a messy bun. He grabbed the white ribbon laying neatly on the table. He tied his hair up and sighed before crossing his arms. Alright, if he slap himself so hard.. Would he wake up?
Jiang Cheng started looking around the room, it gives such an ancient aura vibes.. Those rooms he often sees on TV dramas. But there is no time to waste here admiring the interior of the house, he should investigate! Jiang Cheng started walking and While he was looking at the shelves of books he felt a cold metal pressed against his neck.
Now this is something Jiang Cheng is used too, facing face to face with a gun is nothing new for a cop, however when he glanced down he saw a blade.
"Dont move, Who are you? Identify yourself, how did you get inside my room?" A deep voice stated and judging by the distance of his voice the weapon he is holding..
A sword? Who uses a fuckin sword now a days?
Jiang Cheng took a deep breath and stayed still, he slowly raised both if his hands in surrender, before he faced the man and his eyes widened.
"You've got to be shitting me" he murmured.
Across him is a tall and handsome male, he was wearing a white robe and despite the lack of accessories on his hair Jiang Cheng is certain he looks like the character he saw on the book he read last night. There is no mistaking it, this person is...
Lan Xichen.