"I already stopped the bleeding, so please dress the wound for now. He'll wake up any time."
As Cale continues to talk to the Elder, Jiang Cheng glares at Su She from afar as he grits his teeth.
"A-Cheng."
Jiang Cheng was cut off from his glare when he heard his older sister calling for him.
"Shijie..."
Jiang Yanli sighs, relieved that atleast nothing happened to her younger brother.
Though she was now worried to both Weis again, since they both have a knack for attracting problems left and right.
"What happened?" Jiang Yanli asks, though there's a sharp tone at the end of her sentence.
"That's what I wanted to ask him." Jiang Cheng answers before walking towards to where Su She is, grabbing him by the collar and glared.
"Su She, is it? What happened inside that lake?" He threatened making the other Lans look at each other before speaking.
"Fighting inside Cloud Recesses is forbidden!"
Jiang Cheng scoffs, "Fighting? I haven't swung my fist yet, aren't I?!"
"Jiang-xiong..." The newly arrived Nie Huaisang tries to reason.
"Tell me what happened inside that lake!"
Su She flinched, before sputtering words that were almost incomprehensible.
"I don't k-know! After Wei Wuxian a-and I were plunged deep down the l-lake, the w-waterborne abyss o-only attacked him! I tried to pull him w-with me I s-swear!"
Before Jiang Cheng could tell how absurd his claim, Cale had come closer and held the younger by the shoulder.
"Calm down. It was my fault that the Waterborne Abyss attacked A-Ying."
Fault? How is that incident his fault?
Jiang Cheng's fists were coiled, the ugly feeling inside him kept swirling that he's afraid it will burst out anytime.
He let go of Su She's collar, burying his anger deep inside.
"Return to your rooms." Lan Xichen then says, making the Lan disciples and Nie Huaisang follow him with no questions asked.
"We should rest too." Cale says, which made the Jiang siblings frown as they eye how pale the redhead is.
Jiang Yanli inched closer to Cale before forcefully slamming her fist on his back.
"You should cough the blood out, A-Xun." She says with a menacing smile, making Cale choke from the rising blood on his throat and coughed painfully.
Cale kept coughing as Jiang Yanli kept pounding her fist on the redhead's back, making Lan Xichen hesitant whether he should stop the two or even help the girl in patting Cale's back.
"S-shijie spare me some slack." Cale pleads.
"Is it all out now?"
Cale feels like he should answer the question carefully.
"...N-noㅡack!"
Who the hell was he kidding? Jiang Yanli would slap his back no matter what answer he gave!
He coughed out the last chunk of blood that was peacefully resting in his chest before heaving a deep sigh, still shuddering at how vicious the girl is.
"There."
Before Cale could speak, a pie was then shoved to his mouth.
"Human! Have some apple pie, you must be hungry!"
"Have some blueberry pie, gege. I bought it earlier before we exterminate the water ghouls. It's a little soggy but it's still tasty."
Cale's reddish-brown eyes started to shake as he stared at Jiang Cheng who was taller than him.
The redhead started trembling unknowingly as he started chewing the soggy pie in his mouth.
"Why are you looking at me like you saw a ghost?"
Maybe because Cale did.
"Nothing. I was just caught off guard with you shoving a pie in my mouth."
He was also caught off guard on how similar Jiang Cheng and Raon is, even though he already knew their similarities and differences.
"Well, get used to it."
Cale almost laughed out loud, "I'm looking forward to it."
Indeed, Cale is looking forward to it.
"Shijie, A-Cheng, Xichen-ge."
He looked towards the three of them, burying the memory that kept resurfacing in his mind as he stopped comparing these three people to the family he once had in his previous life as Cale Henituse.
"Cover me? Just for two days."
It seems that Cale needs to prepare something in case they go into a full war with how the Qishan Wen is acting. He hopes it's just him overthinking, but there's nothing to lose if he prepares something regarding his people's safety.
"Where are you going?" Lan Xichen asks.
Cale looks away from afar, eyeing a certain land.
"To Lotus Pier."
✶⊶⊷⊶⊷❍⊶⊷⊶⊷✶
"The Qishan Wen had always been acting high and mighty in the cultivation world."
As Cale sips his tea, he grimaced to himself at how bitter it is before looking at Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan.
"Now tell us why you're here and not taking classes in Gusu." Madam Yu demands.
Cale settles his cup with a thud, the chinaware creating a small sound of cracking.
"They have been too arrogant, I must say. So maybe it'll be alright if I build something in Lotus Pier to defend ourselves."
Madam Yu's left eyebrow was raised, quite surprised and not at the same time by seeing the face the redhead was making.
Jiang Fengmian sighs, "Who are you deceiveing this time?"
Cale places a hand above his chest and acted like he's hurt.
"Aiya Sect Leader, you wound me." Cale smiles before his gaze turned into a sharp one.
"Of course it's the sun."
It's the Sect Leader's turn to have his eyebrow quirk up.
"What did even the sun do to anger you, oh Little Genius of Yunmeng?"
Cale scowls, "Quit it, old man. And for your information, those damn bastards chased away a Waterborne Abyss in Caiyi Town."
The air around Madam Yu and Sect Leader Jiang turned grim as they looked at the redhead.
"Who was hurt?"
The look on Cale's face turned grim before his lips turned into a lopsided smile, "My little brother."
The air around the three of them turned menacing as the servants backed away in fear.
"What is your plan, Wei Xun?" Sect Leader Jiang asks.
"If the sun's rays are scalding, we pray to the Gods to cover it with a cloud."
That was the common practice in the world they are living in.
"But if it still managed to get through, let's extinguish it into the coldest river filled with lotuses. After all, that damn sun is just a feeble ball of gas that was showered with farcical flames of the past."
Madam Yu hums in agreement, "The sun has been up for far too long."
Then Sect Leader Jiang also nods before drinking his tea, "Should we place a moon in the sky instead?"
The look that was being shared between the couple felt ominous, making Cale shiver as he drank the remaining bitter tea in one go.
"Anyways, I'll send the blueprints as soon as I'm done making them. For now, let's see if the Wens are really trying to start something."
As he bows to the older people in front of him, he whipped out a teleprtation talisman and activated it.
By the time Cale opens his eyes, he was greeted by a sight that makes him want to walk away and just sleep in his room.
"Jiang Cheng, stop strangling your shixiong before I bash both of your heads to each other!"
Cale to Wens:
You better watch out~
You better not cry~
You better not hide cause I'm telling you why
*insert scamming smile*
Wei Xianghuan is coming~
To town~