"The Lanling Jin, Yunmeng Jiang, and Qinghe Nie sects have arrived!"
Lan Yuan—courtesy name Lan Sizhui—was eager for the day to finally come. Although he wore a simple smile with well-knitted eyebrows and a pair of relaxed grey eyes, he had an immense yearn for the upcoming event later that day. It was finally the day where the young disciples of the big four clans would attend Cloud Recesses to inhabit a better learning environment.
Apparently, there was one Lan disciple who'd like to differ. "Ugh," Lan Jingyi had groaned. "We have to spend another year of Old Man Lan babbling on with the Wall of Disciplines." That peculiar 'Lan' was Sizhui's partner when going on night hunts. They were buddies, and many people mistaken them as twins at first sight.
Once they get a catch of their personality, it'll be simple to differ them.
"It's important to remember the Lan Sect rules though." Sizhui politely responded.
Jingyi rolled his eyes conspicuously. "Only you are looking forward to this, you goodie-two-shoes." After that statement, Jingyi had playfully shoved Sizhui by the shoulder. Sizhui had only laughed a bit at it.
"Yes, I'm a goodie-two-shoes."
"Well then," Jingyi sighed. "I can't say I'm not interested in the disciples that are staying for a year with us. Come on, let's go see them!" Sizhui almost yelped in surprise when Jingyi grabbed his hand and began dragging him towards the welcoming centre, where a massive pile of cultivators had grouped together. A great commotion was going on there, with few mutters of disappointment piping from left to right.
"What's going on?" Jingyi mumbled.
A great circle of audiences had surrounded the source, while the two GusuLan disciples couldn't see an inch. In fact, they were pushed outwards. It seemed that nobody wanted to bring them inside.
"Is that really him?"
"You mean that future sect leader?"
"Yeah. From Lanling Jin sect, I heard."
"That's him. The poor guy—has to deal with practically everything in his sect. And the disrespect is huge!"
"But he has his uncle to support him, right?"
"His uncle? Are you kidding me? Jiang Cheng doesn't lessen any of the kid's burden! He only multiplies it with his insults. 'Oi brat', he would say. And the kid would look so scared, as if he peed his pants!"
Laughter commentated around that specific group of cultivators, who extremely seemed like the gossip type. It struck a nerve on Sizhui, but he ignored it and pushed deeper into the crowd along with Jingyi, who looked just as confused. "Young futuristic sect leader? What the hell does that all mean?" Jingyi groaned. He made sure to stay close to Sizhui, who never knew how to stop. Indeed, they kept moving forward like a river stream dropping down a steep hill.
"Apparently, the future sect leader's uncle is... the Jiang sect leader, Jiang Cheng? According to the comments." Sizhui analyzed.
He gently pushed passerby's out of his path, similar to a bulldozer destroying everything within its radius. "I don't remember Jiang sect leader ever having a nephew." Jingyi babbled. "Oi, your adoptive-mom's step-brother is Jiang Cheng, right? Which means that the future Lanling Jin sect leader would be your adoptive mother's step-nephew."
Once Jingyi finished his statement, the two disciples had arrived at the midst of the commotion.
There was a patch of well-trimmed grass, with petite flowers swaying back and forth along with the beat of the breeze. The sun seemed to shine its ray of sunlight unto the patch, like heavens opening its gates for a new goddess. Indeed, it really was a goddess that was bestowed upon the grass. Sizhui's eyes lit up as he came in contact with swift locks of warm brown hair—which was tied up into a high ponytail. Nevertheless, the wavy strands would reach down to the cultivator's knees, quite the long length for a man. But in the cultivating world, it was important to keep their hair long.
An ornament of gold had kept up his hair, while a scarlet red vermillion mark was placed upon his forehead. The man's eyes were a warm colour of hazelnut brown, which entranced Sizhui to a never-ending ravine of euphoria. A clarity bell was attached to the cultivating guest's clothing waist, a similar colour to the Jiang sect leader's.
The man wore a robe of yellow, with the Lanling Jin sect symbol sewed onto the middle. A belt kept his waist to be slim and feminine-like as the man set a slender hand upon his hip. He wore a pair of dairy white loose pants, which seemed even as elegant as a bird's flapping wings. A pair of two red ribbons were hastened around the sides of his waist, with their tails flailing in the air like the GusuLan forehead ribbons.
His cheekbones were slim and seemed frail, while his cheeks were a good colour of paleness. A frown played on the man's peachy lips, which made Sizhui wonder what irritated him so much.
Either way, Sizhui was enchanted from the man just by the looks. And Sizhui rarely ever stared.
"Who's that?" Jingyi spouted. "He looks so mad."
A passerby of the commotion had patted Jingyi by the shoulder with a shocked expression. "You don't know who that is?" By the tone of his voice, even he had captured Sizhui's attention. "That teenage boy is Jin Ling, the future sect leader of Lanling Jin. Apparently, his father was slain by Ghost General Wen Ning, and his mother's death was because of Wen Ning as well. In the end, his guardian, Jin Guangyao was killed for doing illegal deeds! The boy can only rely on his last two uncles."
"Jin Ling," Sizhui muttered that name under his breath. It only fastened the relentless strokes at his heart. He could barely hide the blush creeping onto his cheeks.
"But isn't he just sixteen, around our age?" Jingyi pondered.
"He is, but there's nobody else up for the throne except him. In other words, he's the last of the royal bloodline for Lanling Jin." The passerby gossiped.
Sizhui's attention on the information had faded as he was furthermore enthralled by Jin Ling's appearance. The cultivator was only sixteen, and was looking like a goddess already! His thoughts had shattered when the future Lanling Jin sect leader had flickered his eyes at him. Sizhui found his heart tighten while his pants seemed to do the same. The sound of his heart thumping had resounded through his skull. He was almost about to faint, until-
"Tch," Jin Ling snarled.
"Tch?" Sizhui blinked. Indeed, the young Lanling Jin sect leader (in the future) had 'tch' at him.
"Did I forget to mention what a temper that Young Master Jin Ling has!" The passerby's voice had thundered towards Jingyi, seemingly to have captured Sizhui's attention for the time being as well. "It's practically inherited from his uncle! Although it's mainly because he had no mother to teach him."
Sizhui's heart softened when he noticed Jin Ling's fist by his side. His knuckles fumed disastrously with the colour white dancing beautifully, like beauteous fingers plucking the strings of a guqin.
Then, Jin Ling sauntered towards Sizhui. The sudden flare in his eyes had caught the GusuLan disciple off guard.
"Move." Jin Ling ordered.
The boy's voice had such an intense rivalry implanted that even Sizhui barely managed to stand upright. "You're blocking my way. So move. Get out of my sight." Jin Ling spat. He glared daggers at Sizhui, who sunk under the pressure.
"Of course, Young Master Jin Ling." He obeyed, straying to the side as commanded.
"Hey!" Jingyi bossed. "What gives you the right to speak that way to Sizhui!"
The ears of the nearby cultivators had stretched far and wide. They picked up the outrageous comment Jingyi had snarled, and immediately ventured into the battle.
"Yeah! What gives you the right to do that! Sizhui is far greater than what you'd ever become!"
"Just go home and cry to your nonexistent mother!"
"Attending Cloud Recesses won't change a thing to you! Don't bother learning! Just stay as a failure your entire life!"
Sizhui was about to stop the insults, but they kept on darting left to right. Up to bottom. In the end, there was a swarm of massive insults all thrown towards Jin Ling. Sizhui expected the cultivator to dodge them all, but instead, he took them head on! "Shut up already, you faggots!" Jin Ling bossed. "Don't expect me to go easy on you once I discover which sect you came from!"
"What are you going to do?"
"Break our legs? Hah! As if!"
"Tell your uncle to whip us? Unfortunately, I'm afraid that your uncle isn't your dog!"
"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" Jin Ling shrieked. His voice had toppled the rest by a mile, singularly deafening all the passerby's ears like slamming a drum against their eardrums. "JUST LET ME LEAVE ALREADY! FOR GODS SAKE!" A path had formed for him, almost as if the bystanders had feared that the young cultivator would deafen their ears furthermore.
And just like that, Jin Ling had sauntered past Sizhui with a sarcastic roll of the eyes. Then, his back vanished as the path he took was crowded with swarms of cultivators.
"What an incoherent brat!" Jingyi spat.
"Come on, Jingyi," Sizhui tried persuading. "Give the guy a chance."
"Huh?" Jingyi's eyes had widened to such an extent, his pupils almost fell out of his eye sockets. "Are you kidding me? That guy was so rude towards you, and you're not offended at the slightest?"
Sizhui shook his head. "I believe in giving others second chances."
"Of course," Jingyi sighed. "You are Old Man Lan's favourite disciple after all. Lan Sizhui, the most purest and polite GusuLan disciple out of them all. The young cultivator with a brimming future, including sharp stances, gorgeous calligraphy, rational personality, flawless features, and a calm smile that can shut down any anger in its path. Well, it certainly didn't work on Young Mistress Jin Ling there, did it?"
"Jingyi!" Sizhui sternly sighed. "You shouldn't call someone as 'Young Mistress' just because you don't like them."
Suddenly, another rush of uproar in the commotion had formed. That time, with Sizhui as the source. The crowd which had momentarily dispersed since the exited Young Master Jin Ling—had reformed once the cultivators caught a glance of the handsome GusuLan disciple under their radar.
"Woah! Is that Lan Sizhui? The Sizhui?"
"Yes! Yes, he is!"
"I heard that he's Lan Qiren's new favourite disciple, ever since HanGuang-Jun had decided to place the Yiling Patriarch under his wing."
"But that face! I can bet you a million dollars that girls over the world would fawn all day for him."
"It must be lucky to be born in the GusuLan."
"That's true. If I was born in the GusuLan sect, I wouldn't have to worry about my mother screaming at me to bleach my acne away."
"Bleach your acne? Oh come on? My parents literally threaten to kill me if they could just see a place without my fat ass ruining the pic!"
"Either way, Young Master Sizhui is extremely skilled in sword skills. I heard that HanGuang-Jun and the Yiling Patriarch personally taught him a little quarrel, and ever since, Sizhui had been massively practicing his swordsmanship!"
"I suppose you can say he fell in love with his sword! What a lucky sword!"
Sizhui winced at all the comments thrown around and about. He really didn't enjoy the topic of gossip. It was just time where people can fool around with rumours that have wrapped them around its finger. Like that snake who purposely misled the two main characters, Adam and Eve, into eating the apples from the forbidden tree.
"It's so loud, my head is starting to spin." Jingyi collapsed in Sizhui's wide open arms.
"If only he's like when bickering with his seniors." Sizhui sighed, proceeding to drag his friend out of the commotion field by his arms. It took some time for the crowd to clear out. Everyone were so concentrated on taking a look on whether or not if Sizhui really did have a handsome face—by the time the swarm of cultivators had dispersed to their sleeping quarters—the afternoon had already arrived. The sun's original yolk yellow colour had descended into a lighter gold, shimmering its ray amongst the reflecting waters from GusuLan.
Finally, Sizhui managed to drag Jingyi towards his room. The noise level had gone lower, and so, Jingyi could stand upright. "Thanks for catching me there, bud!" Jingyi shoved a thumbs-up.
"It's peculiar how you're fine when arguing on a louder scale." Sizhui mumbled.
"It's not like I'm tricking you so I can brag about getting dragged by the 'GusuLan role model' Sizhui." Jingyi nervously remarked. "Of course." Sizhui sarcastically exclaimed.
He hid the temptation to roll his eyes and bicker with his friend. Sizhui had a reputation to protect. Although he really was a lover of the swordsmanship, all the rumours of becoming third to HanGuang-Jun was just massive bull. Sizhui had trained day to night, and by the time he'd come to realize it, he already surpassed the other disciples. As he come to think of it, only when Lan Qiren found the young cultivator pursuing his studies and working hard on training, was when he became the new role model and the new favourite student.
"It's already afternoon. Let's go grab lunch before training." Sizhui suggested.
Jingyi had gladly took his offer, before sighing, "but the food we have is so plain and..."
"And?" Sizhui arched an eyebrow. "Green." Jingyi continued.
Sizhui wore a calm smile as he responded, "only vegetables can produce a good nutritional body. We eat greenery in order to increase the vitamins within our body and create a good healthy system, which rapidly increases our chance of stability when performing cultivation acts."
"You sound exactly like ZeWu-Jun, not gonna lie." Jingyi sighed.
"My uncle?" Sizhui asked. "Yes, he's your uncle, at least ever since you were adopted by HanGuang-Jun." Jingyi had spat out facts from left to right. Top to bottom. "So, you inherited Lan Wangji's swordsmanship skills. Then, you inherited Lan Xichen's calm and welcoming personality. What's next? Lan Qiren's strict policies with the GusuLan rules?" Jingyi groaned.
"It was only a coincidence that I took after their traits." Sizhui laughed. The sound winding out of his throat was like a voice that a goddess has kissed. That fact had only pressurized Jingyi further.
"Anyways," Jingyi sighed. "What's for lunch?"