Painting Red✓ [XiCheng] | Editing

01 Jiang Cheng

Jiang Cheng wasn't quite certain how it started.

He just went out one day and received both awestruck and disbelieving gazes from... everyone. It only stopped when he threw a cloak around him before entering an inn.

The attention never bothered him, though. He'd experienced worse, after all. The whispers, however, hit a lot different.

It irked him.

"What do you think will Gusu offer Yunmeng this time, now that said alliance is strengthened?"

Strengthened alliance? Jiang Cheng wasn't aware that he ever acquainted with any other sects more than he'd allow himself to.

"What alliance? How come Sect Leader Jiang opened Yunmeng for deeper relations without me knowing?"

"Aiya! You haven't been listening to the news, have you? GusuLan Sect's Sect Leader had sworn a brotherhood oath with Sect Leader Jiang!"

It was disturbing, his skin crawling. Sect Leader Lan? Brotherhood? Said man wasn't even his friend!

Jiang Cheng was not going to deny Lan Xichen's constant presence in Lotus Pier, and he definitely knew it was inevitable for people to talk, but he never expected rumors to go this bad!

"Who would believe you! There wasn't even a single occasion these past days to signify of any oath-taking ceremony that happened!"

It was true. It had been peaceful lately. Everyone was too busy trying to recover to host any celebration aside from the mandatory occasions: conferences and regional festivals. There hadn't even been any wedding around. Only Sect Leader Yao was vain enough to celebrate his birthday loudly amidst the solemn silence.

"I'm telling you the truth. The ceremony took place privately, but my nephew, who was a cultivator of the Lan Sect, had a glimpse of the event when he was passing by with his friends. He said they were drinking and reciting vows to each other. Even those disciples from Lotus Pier confirmed their brotherhood!"

Jiang Cheng stood up and left the inn when it became too much. Not knowing what to feel about it, he simply deemed it ridiculous and moved on.

Only, it didn't stop outside.

True to the gossipmonger's claims, his disciples really did think he had some sort of a relationship with Lan Xichen.

Well, they were civil with each other, if that was any sign of relations.

Lan Xichen's visits were of him trying to re-acquaint with the outside world. After all, said man had just ended his seclusion. Jiang Cheng had no reason to push him away when he had nowhere else to go to. Not when Qinghe and Lanling still held shadows over his heart.

He said he had grown fond of the lakes and the lotuses, so Jiang Cheng said nothing when he began to hoard them to Gusu.

It was profit, anyway.

But then the rumors never ceased.

"It's true! They are sworn brothers! I was there when ZeWu-jun and Sect Leader drank their cups and recited their brotherhood oaths because I happened to pass by."

No, Ya Wangka. Sect Leader Lan was trying to learn the Yunmeng dialect so he invited me for lotus tea and recited Yunmeng poems with me.

"Of course! Or how else could anyone explain why ZeWu-jun kept on visiting Lotus Pier daily? Sect Leader Jiang would even gift him with lotus products!"

No, Fu Tanka. Sect Leader Lan is a regular customer. He is profit.

"After that, Lan Sect went all out with their trading products! Just look at the stalls in Yunmeng. They're overflowing with Gusu products! Is this the benefit of brotherhood?"

No, Tang Nanmo. Those were Sect Leader Lan's extra payments for the lotus he hoarded off to Gusu. I refused to accept so he gave them to the townsmen.

Dwelling in those rumors came with incredulity. Bad reputation was one thing, but this-something like this was another.

Of course, he didn't have the power to silence every mouth. He could control Lotus Pier, but he could never touch the things outside its walls.

Jiang Cheng endured for a few days, then he found that he couldn't even care anymore.

His indifference surprised him at first, because it reached a point where he found himself withdrawing from the world, but he eventually embraced it in favor of peace.

He was glad he did, because it proved to be more useful at keeping a certain Wei off the radar than a dog ever could.

Wei Wuxian had been very uncomfortable when Jiang Cheng never gave out any reaction to his shenanigans. The face he made was enough motivation for Jiang Cheng to not pretend to be fazed until Wei Wuxian just gave up, horrified.

One thing he learned: One has to be as boring as they can to get rid of Wei Wuxian, which merely meant developing a type of tolerance that could rival that of Sect Leader Lan.

Perhaps it scared Jin Ling too because the brat suddenly became more well-behaved and clingy which would have been cute if he wasn't sixteen freakin' years old already.

It did confuse him that Jin Ling would keep on coming back to him when he clearly remembered his nephew refusing to be coddled any further, so much that it had been an argument multiples of times. Moreover, the brat had found a safe haven for himself in someone's else's wing.

Jiang Cheng had seen the way A-Ling chased after that warmth, and the fact that he knew why made him approve. He eventually relented and let the kid go.

He had initially struggled to grasp the fact that A-Ling was Jin Ling now and all grown up, but he did manage to come into terms with it. And it was surprising to realize how easy he accepted it.

Things were certainly more peaceful on his part since then.

Almost-if he had to consider his... rather unsettling dreams as matters of concern.

Nightmares were certainly nothing new and was definitely nothing surprising for a sinful man like Sandu Shengshou. It was a prize he had to pay for the conscience he decided to abandon.

With how recurring it had been throughout the days of lost innocence, he'd think he would eventually grow numb to it. And he did, actually.

He could remember a certain turning point in his life when the nightmares didn't make him scream anymore, when it didn't make him shake and shiver in his waking, when it stopped staining his eyes with tears the next morning. It was a point where he had learned to fend off himself from his inner demons in his sleep, where he had been able to always console himself by simply remembering that it was nothing but a dream.

Until it wasn't.

He began to feel them yet again, but this time, it wasn't the same fear, pain, grief, anguish.

This time, it was a chill.

He could still manage, however. It usually only affected him at the bare minimum, a lot less like how he had been before. It didn't hinder the peace he would soon find as soon as he left any remnants of night and sleep.

It wasn't a problem.

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Revision: Oct. 15, 2021
Edit: Unedited/Unfinalized