Once they arrived at the town they hovered at the sky and Jiang Cheng gasped seeing the view from below. It was a small village but it was rich with agricultural landscape, he could see a small pond and the houses where he usually see only on the TV shows are tourist spots are really beautiful.
“Definitely looks better than in TV” he murmured.
“What is a TV?” Lan Xichen quip behind him.
“You are not gonna make me explain this aren’t you?” Jiang Cheng huffed, shoulder slumped looking at him with a small frown.
Lan Xichen laughed at seeing his expression and hummed. “Hmm.. But Officer Jiang tells me a lot of very entertaining stories. I find myself enjoying it” they slowly descended to the ground and Lan XiChen helped Jiang Cheng hoped off the sword before following him taking shoyue back to it’s sheathe they started to walk towards the village.
“You are the very first person who said that to me, I’m not even attempting to humour you, I’m actually a very boring person”
“I am not so sure of that, you seemed to be a very passionate person” Lan Xichen looked at him with that usual smile on his face and Jiang Cheng was surprised to hear that, unable to reply so Lan Xichen continued. “We might need to walk for a bit before reaching the village”
“Why didn’t we just went straight there?”
"I don’t want to frighten them, they seemed a little put off with people like us" he sighed looking ahead of the road. "And after what happened last night they might become more cautious" Lan Xichen added and Jiang Cheng nodded in understanding, of course they wouldn’t trust anyone who just suddenly showed up in their place. The two walked in silence observing their surroundings and once they saw the gate from the distance, he also noticrd the small houses and the people immediately looked at their direction when they approached the small gates. He could feel their stares on him and this feeling brought a familiarity to Jiang Cheng whenever he goes out in patrol or just walking with his uniform on he always get this kind of stare.
"What do we do now?" Jiang Cheng asked and Lan XiChen hummed thoughtfully.
"We ask questions"
"Great.. At least something I could be of help" Jiang Cheng looked around observing the people trying to look for anyone who could help them, it didn’t take a while for him to spot someone. "We should ask that girl" Jiang Cheng pointed at a girl who was spreading some fabric to dry under the sun. "She might give us some interesting information"
Lan Xichen nodded and they slowly approached the young woman. "Hello good Morning" Lan Xichen greeted with a polite tone and a smile, Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but think anyone would trust the man after seeing that expression.
"Hello Young Masters" she made a small bow and smiled back at him "Are you two lost?"
"Oh no, we aren't.. We specifically visited” Lan Xichen continued carefully “We’ve heard great things about this place and figured we could probably see it ourselves.”
“We heard about what happened last night and we just wanted to ask some questions” Jiang Cheng asked without further ado which made the young lady’s breath hitch. Lan Xichen’s eyes also widened for a bit glancing at Jiang Cheng, surprised at how bold he was on approaching the girl. He was trying to make her comfortable first and Jiang Cheng just immediately... The young woman now looked cautious.
“Last night?” She asked.
“Yeah we heard about it, So we are here to help” he supplied.
“I.. I dont know anything about that” she looked down biting her lower lip clearly avoiding to answer their questions any further.
Jiang Cheng slowly took a step forward shielding her from prying eyes “Look, I know you must be scared, a lot of things must have happened and its hard to talk to some strangers I get that” his voice started to become a bit more gentle. "But we are here to help, this gentleman here" he gestured towards Lan Xichen "Is very strong, he visited this place to make sure everyone is alright. To keep you safe and your village right?” He turned to Lan Xichen who nodded.
“Yes, Gusu Lan will protect you and your village”
"I.." She was still a little wary as she glaced at the two men.
"We don’t need much, just a very few questions and if you can answer honestly? Anything that you can give will be of great help"
"Im not sure.." She held the fabric on her hands tightly.
"Look, you don’t want these things to happen again right?" a nod. "You wanted everyone in the village to be safe right?" a nod. "That’s great, so if you could fill us out some of the things that happened we will ensure that your village will be in safety"
After a few moments of silence she finally decided and nodded at them. "Alright"
“That’s great”
.
.
After a few minutes of coaxing and a bag of snacks the young woman provided them the information they needed, she was brief and careful while talking, thankfully Lan Xichen was able to ease her worry and gave her a protection charm as thank you and they parted ways. They left the village and headed to the nearest town.
“How did you do that?” Lan Xichen asked.
“Did what?” Jiang Cheng raised a brow.
"Convincing her to talk? Even for me who converse a lot sometimes cant persuade someone, also you knew exactly who to ask"
"Ah.. Well it comes in the job I guess.. She kept glancing at us, while other people gave us nasty looks, she kept chewing her lower lip and she looked anxious, like someone who wanted to say something.. And well I just nudged the right words, I saw that she had a sibling inside the house. She seemed to be a person who wanted to keep her family safe"
"That’s really amazing Officer Jiang"
"Not really, I’ve been doing this job for god knows how long I have no choice but to learn even though i don’t like talking to people" he huffed.
"What if they don't cooperate?"
"I could always use my fist" Jiang Cheng raised his fist showing it to Lan Xichen.
Lan Xichen stared at him for a moment before he bursts out laughing, the corner of his eyes crinkling while bringing his sleeve up to cover his mouth.
“I don’t usually condone violence but that’s a funny answer”
“Yeah sure” Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes as they continued walking. When they arrived at the town Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened seeing the place and the people around, he felt like he was part of the production team of a xianxia drama. Rows and rows of stalls and vendors are calling out to them. Jiang Cheng of course explored, it would be a shame not too it’s once in a life time experience after all. So while passing by some stalls he looked around and stopped at a certain stall while he looked at the charms and accessories picking up a bracelet with golden beads.
"Do you like that?" Lan Xichen walked behind him peeking at the item he picked.
“Ah.. No I just think it would suit my nephew” Jiang Cheng murmured before placing the item back and turned to Lan Xichen “Let’s go” he started walking leaving Lan Xichen who eyed the item. Seeing that the other is not following him Jiang Cheng turned around to call out for him however before he could open his mouth he bumped into someone and it was quite hard too he felt hard body behind him which definitely makes the person who he bumped with seems to be strong since they were able to hold their ground not moving an inch.
"Shit sorry!" Jiang Cheng said.
"Move away kid!"
Jiang Cheng tried to move however his belts got stuck into something, he figured it might be some accessories or chains base on the sound and with hi back pressed against the person he squirmed "Im trying! And dont call me a kid!" Jiang Cheng growled before he felt a hand on his waist
"Stop squirming!" The man behind him growled back tightening his hold on his waist. Jiang Cheng froze at that, his fist clenching he gritted his teeth. Oh no, how dare this person touch him?!
"Dont touch me!" Jiang Cheng twisted his upper body and brought his elbow to hit his face.
“You little!-“ A loud groan was heard and the man growled as they scuffle for a bit before a familiar voice interrupted them.
"Dage?"
Wait! Hold up! ... Dage?!
Jiang Cheng struggled to look back and his eyes widened for a moment when he finally realized who was the man behind him.
This is.. Nie Mingjue!
"Xichen"
"What are you doing here?" Lan Xichen smiled as he approached them.
"Im supposed to visit you, I heard you are back and wanted to make sure you are alright" Nie Mingjue responded and that earned a small smile on Lan Xichen’s lips
"I am doing well, thank you, you even have to travel this far I’m glad to see you”
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and frowned as he looked at the exchange between the two men who forgot he was actually here in the first place so he cleared his throat "Uh.. I hate to interrupt this reunion but just reminding you that we are still joined on the hip"
"Oh! Here let me help" Lan Xichen immediately started to slowly untangle the strings and belts that was stuck on Nie Mingjue’s belt buckles. “I told you to reconsider using these buckles Dage” Lan Xichen murmured.
“What’s wrong with it? like them”
“Yes but we would like to avoid incidents like this” Lan Xichen tugged the belts a little hard to emphasise what he meant and chuckled, after a few moment he was able to disentangle them.
“Thanks.. So you mean this always happens?” Jiang Cheng asked taking a step back and fixing his robe.
"Sometimes.." Lan Xichen gave a small smile.
"You know this kid?" Nie Mingjue pointed at Jiang Cheng with a small frown taking a step back as well and glaring at the younger male. "He elbowed me" he gestured at the slight bruise on his jaw.
"You are touching my waist!" Jiang Cheng hissed at him.
"Because you are moving too much!"
Lan Xichen sighed and shook his head, it seems that they would get along just fine. "Yes.. this is Young Master Jiang Cheng, he is helping me investigate an incident that happened on the nearby village" Lan Xichen explained.
"Oh.. Im Nie Mingjue" he offered a small bow and Jiang Cheng returned the gesture but Nie Mingjue is already paying attention to Lan Xichen “Well if you dont mind I can come with you two"
Lan Xichen glanced at Jiang Cheng for a while before he finally nodded. "I dont see why not? but we should eat first"
.
.
.
Half an hour later they already found themselves eating together, Jiang Cheng busied himself with his food because he was hungry as fuck but at the same time listening to Nie Mingjue and Lan XiChen’s conversation.
"You mean to say last night there were eight farmers that were attacked but they only found 7 bodies?" Nie Mingjue asked.
Lan Xichen nodded “The young woman informed us she saw them bag seven corpses all looked mangled up they also lost their tongues and their eye, these people were missing for a few days and their bodies showed up in the field out of nowhere, the village were frightened and kept the incident to themselves afraid that whoever killed these people might come back for them”
“I dont understand why this attack is happening it seems very random, there is no motive behind it” Nie Mingjue set his cup down.
"This person is trying to lure us out, they attacked when your Brother is away, whatever they wanted to achieve on that night did not happen, but they can’t risk going back near Cloud Recesses so.. They probably lured us out here to investigate” Jiang Cheng shrugged finishing his bowl food. “This dish is really delicious by the way”
Nie Mingjue raised his brow and looked at Jiang Cheng for a while before he pointed at him "You are smart, I like this kid"
"Im not a kid! I’m fucking twenty seven years old! I can add more bruises on your face.. Old man" Jiang Cheng glared and Nie Mingjue chuckled, clearly amused.
"Let's see about that"
Lan Xichen watched the exchange silently and shook his head lightly. The two had been bickering for a while but it seems that Nie Mingjue had taken a liking to Jiang Cheng, which is a very rare occurrence when he met new people. Nie Mingjue after all is a very critical person and always puts his guard up. Well it’s good that the two are getting along just fine then. He reached out for his tea as he observed the two, who right now was comparing their food bickering which taste better. He just observed them silently, trying to focus on his meal, talking is prohibited when taking meals after all.
However his gaze will would always drift to Jiang Cheng.
The way he talked, the way his hand does some gesture, when his lips parted for a huff and small pout that the man barely notice he was doing, and also those long lashes every time he blinks. Lastly his grey eyes that seems to be full of life, those pair of beautiful grey eyes that’s currently staring at him.
Wait? Staring? Lan Xichen immediately looked away and decided to focus on his bowl even though its already empty. He lifted his head to meet Nie Mingjue’s gaze and he smiled at his friend, they exchanged a look that was broken by the loud clatter of Jiang Cheng’s bowl on the table.
"Alright im done." Jiang Cheng declared setting his chopsticks down before he reached out for the bottle of wine pouring the contents on his cup before drinking them in one huge gulp. "Ha! That was nice.. It tastes great"
"Emperor smile is the best wine in Gusu.." Lan Xichen proudly supplied.
“Wei Ying would love this” Jiang Cheng lifted the bottle examining it for a while before he slowly placed the bottle down and started tapping his finger on the table to get Nie Mingjue’s attention.
“Someone keeps glancing this way.. Its a little suspicious” he murmured.
"Where?" Nie Mingjue whispered shoving a food on his mouth.
"3 o'clock" Jiang Cheng murmured.
"A what?"
"Shit.. I meant to your right" Jiang Cheng corrected mentally reminding himself not to use jargon words in this place. Shaking his head he once again poured wine on his cup as Nie Mingjue shifted lightly to take a glance.
"I did notice them too" Lan Xichen said and gestured towards his left where another man is sitting, Jiang Cheng glanced just in time for them to look away.
"I guess we aren't alone then" Nie Mingjue shrugged.
"Lets go?" Jiang Cheng asked and Lan XiChen nodded placing some silvers on the table as payment as they all stood up to leave the establishment.
They started to walk around the town and they immediately noticed the two figures following them and honestly Jiang Cheng expected them to be at least not being too obvious because fuck him they are doing a poor job of tailing someone!
They are probably some baits. But then again Jiang Cheng cant remember this happening on the book.
Did the plot completely changed?!
It was chapter 6 when he left so this is chapter 7...from the original plot he recalled that this is the part where Lan Xichen is supposed to be staying in Cloud Recesses looking after Meng Yao! Building connection and romantic adventure with his supposed to be partner! Then Nie Mingjue would arrive and the two were introduced to each other! How come he met Nie Mingjue first?!
Jiang Cheng noticed that they rounded a corner and waited for those two to follow them and it didn't take long enough for the two unknown men to round on the same corner and they were immediately being taken down by Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue.
Jiang Cheng stood there trying to process what the fuck just happened because that was too fast!
The two men is now tied together struggling on the ground as they glared
"Why are you following us?" Lan Xichen asked and they refused to answer, even attempting to kick Lan Xichen.
“He is asking you, why are you following us? Who are you?” Nie Mingjue intimidated them with a raise of his voice but Jiang Cheng had other plans so he moved punching one of them in the gut.
“Oi! Just answer!”
“You.. Didnt have to punch them, we can just ask questions” Lan Xichen murmured a strained smile on his lips, even Nie Mingjue is a little taken back.
“Sometimes for people like this you have to punch first then ask questions” Jiang Cheng shrugged, However the man still refused to answer him. "Tight lips" Jiang Cheng murmured.
"What do you want from me?" Lan Xichen asked another question and it earned a chuckle from one of the men.
"You? Nah not anymore but this guy here.. Yes" he gestured at Jiang Cheng "He is wh--gh!" the man did not finish his words when his companion elbowed him.
"Shut up!" he hissed at the other.
Jiang Cheng reached out to smack the head of the one that suddenly interrupted them "Asshole stop interrupting him! Go on, what do you want from me?"
"As if Ill tell you that!" sneered changing his mind on being cooperative.
Jiang Cheng reached down and smacked his head as well "Bastard if you start speaking finish it!" he clicked his tongue.
"Is he always like this?" Nie Mingjue asked raising a brow and gesturing to Lan Xichen who only smiled at him.
"This is the first time I’ve seen this side of him, he wasn’t joking when he said he earlier he would use his fist earlier, just let him be”
After a few minutes of interrogation there was still no answer from the two "They aren't talking anymore I guess that's it, you can... Take them if you like, whatever your rule is here" Jiang Cheng sighed.
Lan Xichen looked at Nie Mingjue and the two of them nodded deciding to take the men with them back to cloud recesses. Nie Mingjue easily hauled the two on their feet and dragged them as they returned to cloud recesses. They were met with the disciples and Lan XiChen gave instructions to lock the two men away.
Once the two were settled they headed towards the main hall where Meng Yao is waiting for them, upon seeing the three he immediately approached Lan Xichen.
“Are you alright?”
Lan Xichen nodded placing a small pat on his shoulder to assure him “I’m fine don’t worry.. By the way I don’t think you met him yet, this is Nie Mingjue a good friend of mine” Lan Xichen introduced Nie Mingjue.
Nie Mingjue gave a small courtesy bow and so did Meng Yao.
“This is Meng Yao, he is was the one who saved my life, I am very grateful to him” Lan Xichen smiled.
“Glad you picked this guy up” Nie Mingjue gestured to Lan Xichen.
Jiang Cheng stood silently on the side observing the three as they talked. Well damn these two already met and he was feeling a little anxious now, on the original novel Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao will have a misunderstanding soon and... Nie Mingjue would die. Jiang Cheng didn’t know what to do, from here on it seems that the story is progressing accordingly. But! There is a big but, he was confused what the man meant earlier, they said they were after him?
Why him? What role does he play now in this story?
Base on the original story their goal is to break the seal of the curse on Lan Xichen. Unleash that darkness in him and extract that specific energy but didn’t stated why. The reason why they need it, there’s something more in this story of course, damn plot holes everywhere too! Thats why Jiang Cheng got pissed at the supposed to be ending.
With his involvement like Wei Ying said he probably changed the course of the story. He sighed and excused himself leaving the three to catch up as he started walking around.
Did he really do the right thing of coming back here? He could be just messing on the time line and make things worse. Until now he was unsure of his purpose, why is he exactly here?
“Officer Jiang” Lan Xichen called out and Jiang Cheng flinched before he turned to look at him.
“You surprised me.. Anyways you can just call me Jiang Cheng” he murmured and shrugged.
“Is something bothering you Jiang Cheng?”
“A lot actually but I rather keep it to myself... But why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be talking with your friends?”
“Aren’t I talking to my friend now?” Lan Xichen raised one elegant brow.
“You mean.. Us? Come on we just met for like what? Two days?” Jiang Cheng chuckled. “Don’t get too attached” he shook his head and crossed his arms.
“But I consider you as my friend”
“You barely knew me Lan Xichen” Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.
“Well I supposed its not too late to get to know you better?” Lan Xichen smiled and approached him taking a step closer.
Jiang Cheng frowned and raised a brow. Hold on! Lan Xichen should be doing all the getting to know stuff with Meng Yao! Not him! What the hell?! “I told you before i am not interesting enough to know”
“And I will continue to remind you that you aren’t.. You are very interesting Jiang Cheng” Lan Xichen now stood in front of him, stepping into his personal space, Jiang Cheng should shove him away but for some reason he couldn’t move. “These past few months had been really.. Hard but I’m slowly moving forward, and for some reason your sudden appearance meant something... I feel at ease with you” Lan Xichen glanced at Jiang Cheng reaching out and plucking a leaf that got stuck on Jiang Cheng’s hair, smiling at him before his finger brushed against his ear and he showed the leaf to the other man.
“It got stuck” he murmured and Jiang Cheng looked at it before he could feel the heat on the tips of his ear.
“Erm.. Thanks” he looked away and stayed still, wait his face feels so hot, goddammit! Why is he so close anyways!--
“Jiang Cheng I.. Jiang Cheng?!”
Lan Xichen’s alarmed voice made Jiang Cheng turn his head towards him and blinked “You are.. disappearing..” Lan Xichen tried to reach out for his hand but it went through his transparent form.
Jiang Cheng looked down and his hand and sighed oh well.. "I think its.. Finish, im about to leave.." he murmured.
“What do you mean by finish?!” Lan Xichen looked panicked and worried.
“It’s fine, it’s just me.. Going back to my world”
"Are you coming back?" Lan Xichen finally calmed down and looked at him.
"Im not sure--"
"I will wait for you.. Please come back"...
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Thank you for still reading this work! Slowly building up the updates of my fics thanks so much everyone!
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