Chapter Text
"Nie Huaisang!"
Jiang Cheng shouted as he sat up from the table he had been sleeping on, breathing heavily as he did so. Feeling disoriented from waking up so abruptly, Jiang Cheng looked around in a daze before focusing his gaze at the scenery of the Lotus Pier from the window next to him.
The bright yet warm glow of sunlight that covered the landscape indicated that it was morning, at 9 AM to be precise, as that was Jiang Cheng's standard waking hour, no matter how late he sleeps the night before. Speaking of which, just how late did he sleep last night that made him do so on his table instead of his bed? Jiang Cheng scratched his head with a feeling of mild irritation as he turned to look down on his table, trying to remember what he had been working on late last night before he fell asleep.
As usual, it was his sect's paperwork, thankfully all done and sorted out into neat stacks before he fell asleep... all, but one piece of paper that sat amongst the stacks of paper.
It was a letter. A letter of invitation.
A letter of invitation to the Carp Tower of the Lanling Jin Sect tonight.
To be a part of 'the gathering of Cultivation leaders who will decide on the list of tasks for Nie Huaisang in order to prove himself worthy of the Chief Cultivator title'.
Jiang Cheng's brows furrowed as he glanced down at the letter, remembering how this was the piece of paper that kept him stumped last night, about how he could do nothing by stare blankly at it until he fell asleep with nothing but confusion in his mind that had tired him out.
Nie Huaisang... a man who has given him many mixed feelings comparable to the feelings Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling give him... was that why he had that damned dream last night?
That damned dream that replayed a memory about how Nie Huaisang had invaded his thoughts and desires as he complied a list of requirements for a lover?
Jiang Cheng would have banged a fist on the table in frustration if it wasn't for the stacks of paperwork that he didn't want to topple and mess up, so he just crumpled the letter up in his hands instead and tossed it across the room. Of course he'd be coming for the gathering tonight, but that would only be more out of formality as the sect leader of the Yunmeng Jiang Sect, otherwise he would rather stay at home in the Lotus Pier.
... its not that he detested Nie Huaisang or anything. On the contrary, he has appreciated Nie Huaisang for a long time, as that man was one of the few people whom he does not consider to be a threat or an annoyance, perhaps even more... but he'd rather not think about that too much. That was all in the past, he tells himself.
But things have happened. Many things have happened. Things that drastically changed the status quo that Jiang Cheng had been keeping to for the last thirteen years, where the once reviled Wei Wuxian is back from the dead and wasn't a threat, where the once-thought respectable (even if he is still a son of a prostitute) Chief Cultivator Jin Guangyao was disgraced and killed unceremoniously, where Jin Ling was now leader of the Lanling Jin Sect with massive responsibilities despite his young age... and now the infamous head-shaker Nie Huaisang is aiming for the currently vacant position of Chief Cultivator, and no one is taking it as a complete joke.
Sure, one can assume that after the tyranny of the Wens and the vile deceptions of Jin Guangyao, people would be open to the idea of a weak-willed and weak-skilled Chief Cultivator whom they can't feel threatened by... but Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel perplexed to the point of irritation over the matter, mostly at how he has this irrational feeling of anxiety that there was more to this situation then meets the eye... and that there was more to Nie Huaisang himself that meets the eye.
Whatever happened to the 'useless' and 'unambitious' Nie Huaisang that he remembered from so long ago? Why is he making a move so big so suddenly? The Chief Cultivator title wasn't something trivial, so Huaisang surely wasn't ignorant about what he was getting himself into if he's aiming for it....
... and that was why Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel suspicious. After the huge events and the drastic changes that came with them that happened just three months ago, Jiang Cheng couldn't be sure about what he thought he knew about other people now, and it didn't help that Nie Huaisang was exactly an open book of a person when he thought about it. Well, he has not made any direct contact with Huaisang for so many years after all, so who knows how much that man had changed during that time.
All Jiang Cheng could think about right now, was what Nie Huaisang could be up to in all this... perhaps deep down, he didn't want to acknowledge the possibility that the Nie Huaisang whom he once thought as precious could be as sinister and power-hungry as Jin Guangyao was... as that wasn't the Nie Huaisang he knew and... and....
"Good morning, Sect Leader!"
Jiang Cheng's thoughts were cut short with that loud and sudden morning call, and he turned to his room's door to face the one who called for him, not that he didn't recognise his annoyingly loud secretary and personal attendant.
"Jiang Gouxie... how many times have I told you to knock when wanting to reach me in my quarters?" Jiang Cheng grumbled as he clutched his forehead due to a headache coming on from his disciple's loud call.
"Ah, terribly sorry, sect leader...." Gouxie apologised, a common statement that he often starts many conversations with Jiang Cheng with. "... but I thought this would be pretty important... if you are in a mood for any meetings in the morning."
"A meeting? Who's wanting to meet me?" Jiang Cheng raised an eyebrow in curiosity. He's already annoyed by the thought of someone wanting to meet him so early in the morning, but again, as sect leader, he's obliged to respond to any direct call for him out of formality, no matter how annoying he'd find it to be.
"The sect leader of the Qinghe Nie Sect, Nie Huaisang... but he did add that you are free to come meet him at any time you wish to, so long as its within the morning. He's aware that you'd have just awoken at this hour."
Jiang Cheng's eyes widened. Nie Huaisang? Here? Now?! Jiang Cheng's mind raced with many questions as to what Huaisang's intentions were for wanting to meet him, though all those questions pretty much came to the conclusion quickly that Nie Huaisang most likely wanted something from him, again. And with that conclusion, Jiang Cheng's confusion quickly turned into irritation. Have you grown up or not?! Yelled Jiang Cheng in his thoughts. What more can I give you!?
"Where is he currently?" Jiang Cheng asked with a tone of voice that sounded as though he was trying to hold back his growing aggression with badly-feigned calmness.
"Oh, he's right...." Gouxie replied as he turned his head behind him, which promptly cut his words short. "... where did he go to?" Inquired the Jiang disciple to another person who was apparently behind him.
"Just let me speak to your sect leader." A monotonous grumble was the response Gouxie got, which was promptly followed by a Nie disciple, with the recognisable greenish uniform and yellow trims, rudely shoving his way past the Jiang disciple. Mildly intrigued at seeing a new face, and one from Nie Huaisang's own sect to boot, Jiang Cheng got up from the table he was seated at and made his way towards the doorway where the two disciples were standing at.
"The Sect Leader Nie is not with you right now?" Jiang Cheng inquired of the Nie disciple.
The Nie disciple gives a small nod that could hardly be recognised as a nod due to how slouched forward the disciple was standing. "Young master Nie has gone to the small pavilion at the edge of the pier... he wants the meeting with you to be there."
"Small pavilion at the edge of the pier... isn't that my private study...?" Jiang Cheng states in his widely-recognised threatening tone of voice as he flicks an eye over to Gouxie, a look which made his disciple tremble almost immediately.
"I thought he was following me because I told him that I'd lead you to your quarters, sect leader! I wasn't aware that he went elsewhere along the way!" Gouxie explained in a panicked tone of voice while the Nie disciple watched the commotion with what could be described as morbid intrigue.
Jiang Cheng grabbed his Gouxie by the collar and gave his disciple a eye-to-eye glare that wordlessly screamed 'DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN' before letting Gouxie go in a shove that staggered him backwards.
"Go train your damn eyes right now by keeping an eye on the Nie disciple while I go and meet with sect leader Nie... I will break your legs if I find this disciple in a place he ought not to be in!" Jiang Cheng ordered loudly as he shoved his way past the disciples to storm off to where Nie Huaisang wanted to meet him at, the conversation with the disciples having soured his mood up very badly, so much so that he doesn't even bother to acknowledge the "Yes, sect leader!" that sounded behind him.
As Jiang Cheng stormed across the Lotus Pier, many thoughts about Nie Huaisang raced through his mind again, none of them pleasant predictably. If Nie Huaisang had been deliberately trying to rile Jiang Cheng up, he had succeeded. While the conflict of thoughts over Nie Huaisang that plagued Jiang Cheng's mind ever since he had woken up wasn't directly Huaisang's fault, the fact that Nie Huaisang had visited the Lotus Pier unannounced, called for a meeting with Jiang Cheng so early in the morning, walk into Jiang Cheng's private study without anyone's permission or knowledge, and still having the gall to ask for the meeting to take place in the very room he invaded... suffice to say, Jiang Cheng had a very bad need to punch Nie Huaisang hard, if he somehow had enough restraint to not throw Huaisang straight into the pier first. Rubbing his ring Zidian as he walked, Jiang Cheng's thoughts of violence were very much growing from consideration into absolution the more he stewed in his rage.
When Jiang Cheng is in a very bad mood, almost anything would make him feel even madder, particularly when things are not in the order that he'd wanted them to be. For instance, when he reached his private study where Nie Huaisang wanted to meet him at, he quickly noticed that Huaisang had left the door slightly opened, which prompted him to shove the door open with a loud bang in a fit of rage, followed by slamming it behind him with another loud bang so that it was shut tightly as it ought to be. Once inside, Jiang Cheng saw that the papers on his study table had been flipped through, as the single neat stack that he had put them in yesterday were now two neat stacks, prompting Jiang Cheng to furiously flip through the two stacks to ensure that nothing else had been placed out of order, before aggressively combining the two stacks into one, after which he fiercely slams the stack of papers on his table.
And then Jiang Cheng looks up, and there Nie Huaisang was, standing at his private study's window with his back turned towards him, looking out at the Lotus Pier's scenery with an atmosphere of calmness and tranquility around him, as though he didn't notice Jiang Cheng's loud and furious entrance... but Huaisang quickly showed his awareness of his surroundings by slowly turning to the irate Jiang Cheng, while still delicately holding onto his ever-present fan that elegantly covers the bottom half of his face in a manner that gave the effeminate man an air of mystery and charm.... "Jiang-xiong...."
Nie Huaisang's near-casual calmness however only served to agitate Jiang Cheng more. Is Nie Huaisang dense?! Or is he deliberately trying to rile him up even more!? One after all does not simply intrude upon the infamously foul-tempered Sandu Shengshou's time and privacy so callously without expecting to get a broken leg at the very least. These thoughts ran through Jiang Cheng's mind as he, in his rage, stormed up to Nie Huaisang and grabbed him by the neck, pushing the smaller man's back up against the pavilion's window... if the window had been a bit longer vertically, Huaisang would be finding himself dangled above the Pier by the neck.
But Jiang Cheng wasn't intending to push Nie Huaisang into the Pier... not without punching him first at least, was what Jiang Cheng thought in his greatly agitated state of mind as he raised his free hand as a fist, ready to strike down on Nie Huaisang at any time....
"J-Jiang-xiong!!! I'm sorry!!! I didn't mean to annoy you this much!!! Please listen to what I have to offer at least!!!"
Nie Huaisang's desperate, almost-pathetic cry struck a chord in Jiang Cheng's heart the second he heard it, way faster then it took him to even properly process the whole plea in his mind... but it seemed to have turned something off, or on, in the irate man's agitated mind suddenly, in a way that perplexed the said man himself.
Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed as he looked down at Nie Huaisang who was at his mercy at the moment... which would mark the first time in many years that Jiang Cheng got to take a close look at Huaisang so up close and personal. The last time he got to do that was... during their time together in the Cloud Recesses, before they parted ways due to the war against the Wens. Ever since then, they have not been able to make any direct contact for so long....
But even then, Nie Huaisang hadn't seem to change much the more Jiang Cheng examined him closely. Sure Huaisang's hair was longer then it was before, and he might be a little bit taller then he was before... but other then that, he was no different from the Nie Huaisang that Jiang Cheng knew during their days in the Cloud Recesses. Short for a man of his age, a slim figure that seemed almost weak and delicate, a beautiful face that was now enhanced by his longer hair, effeminate mannerisms, a soft and gentle tone of voice that never seemed to break even when raised to a cry, a cry that is almost always asking for a favour in a way that is rather endearing... was this why Jiang Cheng found it hard to ever say no to Nie Huaisang back when they were young...?
Without realising it, Jiang Cheng had slowly lowered his fist down, as well as his loosening his grip on Nie Huaisang's neck, along with lessening the force he was using to back Huaisang against the window... he just can't. He just couldn't. He just wouldn't. Even if Nie Huaisang did agitate Jiang Cheng to near-violent levels of rage within the short span of half-an-hour... even if Huaisang technically does deserve a smack at least... Jiang Cheng just couldn't find the will to go through with it.
But despite his unwillingness to rage at Nie Huaisang to its fullest extent, Jiang Cheng's anger and irritation over the situation has not simmered down completely, and his irrational incapability of using total violence on Huaisang only served to frustrate and confuse him further. Never before has someone outside of Jiang Cheng's direct family been able to make him relent against his rage against them so quickly and so abruptly... so much so that it actually alarmed him.
Fully releasing Nie Huaisang's neck, Jiang Cheng turned away in a huff as he tried to avoid eye contact with Huaisang, having looked at him enough for the time being. "Stop calling me that pet name. We are no longer kids."
Nie Huaisang coughed softly and rubbed his sore neck to massage it as he took several slow and steady gasps of air before responding. "But are we not friends? Or... acquaintances at least...? Its not like we broke off contact with each other officially... we just... had been distracted by other things back then." Huaisang stated in a tone of voice that sounded like a plea. A plea for maintaining their previous friendship despite the many years of separation due to their own matters.
Jiang Cheng knew that for the most part, his reasons for failing to maintain contact with Nie Huaisang had nothing to do with Huaisang directly... but he also knew that, deep down, he had also chosen to distance himself from Huaisang for his own reasons. But if Jiang Cheng's lack of ability to stay angry at Nie Huaisang right now is of any indication, there was something inside him that just couldn't let go of the other man completely.
And Jiang Cheng didn't like to be reminded of that. "Please consider being professional at least as you are a sect leader... and possibly even the future Chief Cultivator, if your current exploits are of any indication. I am only here out of obligation as a sect leader myself since you called for a meeting with me, and nothing more."
Nie Huaisang's brows furrowed a little, and he sighed softly behind his fan. "I assume you've received the invitation letter, Jiang Wanyin?"
"Yes." Replied Jiang Cheng bluntly as he crossed his arms. "Is your meeting with me here and now in regards to that letter? If so, I am going to come for this gathering regarding your tasks to prove yourself as someone worthy of the Chief Cultivator title... again, mostly out of obligation, and nothing more."
Nie Huaisang nods with gently closed eyes as he seemed to be in thought behind his fan. "But that is not what I am here for."
Jiang Cheng couldn't help but want to let out a groan for seeing that coming from a mile away. Of course Nie Huaisang wouldn't just be here for something that was already covered in the letter! Of course Nie Huaisang would only be here because he wanted a favour from him! If there was one thing about Nie Huaisang that he felt the least tolerant towards, it would be the fact that Huaisang always seemed to want something from him. "Hmph. Want do you want this time?"
Nie Huaisang closed his fan while his eyes looked downwards on the floor, as though he was contemplating how to word his request, before finally looking up at Jiang Cheng face-to-face after a minute. "I want you to be the cultivator in charge of me in my tasks for the Chief Cultivator title."
Jiang Cheng's eyes narrowed at Nie Huaisang's request. So after many years of separation, Nie Huaisang comes to visit him directly just to ask him for a favour, and its an extremely big one to boot, if it is exactly as Huaisang had worded it. Jiang Cheng guessed he shouldn't be surprised considering that this was Nie Huaisang after all. "What are the details of your requests?"
"Its nothing too difficult, you'll just be following me around as I go perform these tasks, where you'll assess my credibility, moderate my actions, and ultimately decide on whether I've legitimately accomplished the tasks given to me." Nie Huaisang explained straightforwardly. "It has been planned for the gathering to assign a cultivator to watch me anyways, so I thought I'd go ahead and ask you to volunteer for this role."
Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel that there was more to Nie Huaisang's demands then he was letting on, so he decided to inquire more about the details to see if he can make Huaisang reveal any hidden agendas. "Why me? Are there not other cultivators who would entertain your requests at a whim?"
"Please, Wanyin...." Nie Huaisang said in a pleading tone of voice that tried to sound reasonable. "Lan Xichen is... still in his self-imposed isolation... I don't want to disturb Lan Wangji or Wei Wuxian as they... you know, would rather be together... and Jin Ling is young and probably busy trying to repair his sect's damaged reputation and assets... and of course I can't choose anyone from my sect so as to prevent biased judgements...."
Jiang Cheng could see what Nie Huaisang was getting at. Ever since the fall of Jin Guangyao three months ago, two sects out of the Four Great Clans, Jiang Cheng's Yunmeng Jiang sect and Nie Huaisang's Qinghe Nie sect, are the only ones that are still fully operational and in good order, thus if there's anyone who has the time, the freedom, the capability, and most importantly, the credibility to keep an eye on Nie Huaisang in his ambitious quest for the Chief Cultivator title, it would be Jiang Cheng.
The more Jiang Cheng thought about how much sense it makes, the more willing he was to take up Nie Huaisang's request... in fact he was already thinking about all the possible benefits that he and his sect would be getting if he goes through with this deal. For one, its about time the Yunmeng Jiang sect tried to aim for something ambitious after a... period of relative stagnation due to some personal issues of his. So if Nie Huaisang was going to be the next Chief Cultivator, Jiang Cheng might as well try to gain some favour from him for the benefit of his sect... as much as the thought of working to gain favour from Huaisang sounded extremely wrong to him.
...and while he didn't acknowledge it, Jiang Cheng saw this deal as an opportunity as well to keep an eye on Nie Huaisang as a person as well. After being plagued by his dream last night of Nie Huaisang's desirability and his paranoid fears in the morning of just how much Huaisang could have changed since the last time they've properly interacted, Jiang Cheng felt that it was to his best interest to put Huaisang under observation so as to make sure that Huaisang wasn't potentially as ruthless in his ambitions as Jin Guangyao... after all, the wounds of Jin Guangyao's crimes were still not fully healed even after three months... so the last thing anyone would want now is to fall for the deceit of another manipulative Chief Cultivator, or would-be Chief Cultivator.
Jiang Cheng examined Nie Huaisang again, who was now nervously fanning himself while giving Jiang Cheng a look that seemed to be begging the taller man to at least give his request some thought... that look that always unconditionally opened something up within Jiang Cheng regardless of whether he liked the request or not, that look that had abruptly cut his intentions of violence towards Huaisang short just a few minutes ago.
Jiang Cheng immediately looked away from Nie Huaisang, not wanting to see that face any further at the moment as he felt that seeing it was affecting his thought process in some way... though it'd be nice wouldn't it, to spend more time with a dear friend from many years ago? Asked Jiang Cheng's subconsciousness to himself. A dear friend who has a special place in your heart and mind that you cannot or will not acknowledge....
Jiang Cheng shook his head aggressively before scratching his head in irritation as he tried to get those subconscious thoughts out of his mind. This deal is strictly business! Nothing less, and nothing more! And Jiang Cheng wanted to keep it that way, telling himself that his past relationship with Nie Huaisang is nothing more then a minor detail in this matter, and it would be damning if he allows it to influence and affect his planned role that requires objectivity.
"Do... I take that as a 'no'...?" Nie Huaisang asked meekly, having gotten worried after watching Jiang Cheng wordlessly get agitated by his thoughts for about a good full minute.
Jiang Cheng stopped his current actions upon hearing Nie Huaisang's question, his narrowed eyes slowly turning to gaze at the other man with a look of grim menace that made Huaisang tense up a little.
"No." Jiang Cheng stated bluntly. Deciding that the best way to drown out his unnecessary thoughts about Nie Huaisang for now was to speak and interact with the other in a cold and distant manner where he will try to keep this deal between them strictly as business matters, and nothing more. "I've considered your request, and I... accept it. I will volunteer myself in the gathering tonight to be the cultivator in charge of you as you set about achieving your tasks to prove yourself as... ugh, Chief Cultivator."
Nie Huaisang's face instantly lit up at Jiang Cheng's agreement to his request. "Thank you, Jiang-xiong! I knew that I could always count on you!"
Argh. Not this look of Nie Huaisang when he's happy! Not that tone of voice of his when he's overjoyed! Jiang Cheng immediately averted his eyes from Huaisang again. "I told you, stop calling me that! You are so aggravating that I don't know why people think that its a good idea to even let you take a shot at becoming Chief Cultivator in the first place!"
Jiang Cheng then grabbed Nie Huaisang on the shoulder and dragged the smaller and lighter man to stand in front of him with his back towards Jiang Cheng. "We will discuss the details over our roles in this matter at the guest's pavilion! I don't want you in my private study any longer! Now get out of here! I will be following behind you to make sure that you don't wander off somewhere else that I've not given you permission to go to!" With that, Jiang Cheng shoved Nie Huaisang forward to prompt the other to walk immediately, which Huaisang did so after a small stumble.
As Nie Huaisang walked out of the private study and down the Lotus Pier, Jiang Cheng followed close behind him, his eyes gazing down at the shorter man as he wondered, deep down inside, just what is going on in Huaisang's head in all of this.
So far, Jiang Cheng had been more focused on his own thoughts and matters during the deal with Nie Huaisang as those were things that needed more attention so as to be able to make his final decision. But now that those were more or less out of the way for now, his attention is now focused on Huaisang, again, mainly on what the other man is is trying to achieve in all of this. Nie Huaisang is aiming for the Chief Cultivator position of course, but why?
Why a position so important and so influential? Just what kind of end goal does Nie Huaisang have in mind to want to gain a position like that? Has Huaisang really become a person with that great an ambition after all these years? And if so, what else about the man could have changed with it?
Is Jiang Cheng still dealing with the same Nie Huaisang that he knew of from many years ago? Or is he actually dealing with a drastically different man who is merely using their past connections to gain leverage with him? Is this the same Nie Huaisang he knew and... and....
DAMMIT. Jiang Cheng thought. A thought that he kept repeating in his mind over and over as his questions over Nie Huaisang circled back again and again to that one same question that ends with a word he cannot and refuses to recognise. So much so that throughout the walk down the Lotus Pier, Jiang Cheng was in a constant state of brooding and grumbling to himself.
Just what is going through your mind, Nie Huaisang...?
..........
Nie Huaisang fanned himself with the cool morning air as he walked down the Lotus Pier, periodically flicking his eyes back to steal glances at the man who was following behind him, the man who was in a state of brooding and grumbling to himself.
Just what is going through your mind, Jiang Cheng? Thought Nie Huaisang. He has several theories, though none of them are particularly pleasant in his predictions.
Well, Nie Huaisang would agree that he did put Jiang Cheng in a bad mood for asking him for a meeting in the morning, right after the hour that Jiang Cheng had woken up in. And he further aggravated it by going into Jiang Cheng's private study without permission... well, he didn't know initially that the rather isolated pavilion that was sitting on the edge of the Lotus Pier was Jiang Cheng's private study, only figuring out what it was after he had looked through the stack of papers inside it out of curiosity....
... well, maybe he shouldn't have done that as that also made Jiang Cheng's anger worsen, or at least, he should have kept the stack of papers in one stack as it originally was, rather then divide them into two stacks based on public matters and internal affairs. Guess Jiang Cheng prefers to keep his papers in a single, less space-consuming stack. Nie Huaisang will bear that in mind for... future reference.
But regardless of how bad Jiang Cheng's mood was due to his antics, Nie Huaisang felt that he has achieved some significant results in the discussion just now. The main achievement is that Huaisang has gotten Jiang Cheng to agree to be the cultivator in charge of him in Huaisang's tasks to prove himself for the Chief Cultivator position, as he is confident that, as unpopular and infamous Jiang Cheng might be for his foul temperament, no one would disagree that the man is trustworthy and reliable enough at heart for the task.
... a trustworthy and reliable man that Nie Huaisang hopes that he himself can still trust and rely upon for the expected ordeals ahead. If Jiang Cheng's reaction to Nie Huaisang's aggravating stunts this morning is of any indication, Huaisang still had a place somewhere in Jiang Cheng's heart that he could turn to. A place that made the angered man in the most potentially violent of states simmer down abruptly when Huaisang pleaded for mercy.
Well, its not exactly a good test to begin with as acknowledged by Nie Huaisang himself, as his actions to irritate Jiang Cheng were on a pretty mundane and minor level that could be easily gotten over with and put aside after some time, assuming that Jiang Cheng can and will get over small slights against him. But then there's the fact that Jiang Cheng still did grab Huaisang by the neck and almost nearly hit him....
Nie Huaisang gently rubbed his neck, still feeling that it was sore from the tight grip that was on it. Huaisang had worried that all those years spent apart from Jiang Cheng had made Jiang Cheng distant from him, distant enough that Jiang Cheng would think about and consider violent actions towards Huaisang as an option, even if he had it coming. And even if Jiang Cheng relented at the end... he was close, so very close, to doing something real harsh to Nie Huaisang.
While that was... troubling to say the least, Nie Huaisang held on to the hope that was given to him by Jiang Cheng's small act of mercy in his relenting of his violent intentions. The hope that Jiang Cheng still remembered Nie Huaisang as a friend despite their many years without direct contact. The hope that Jiang Cheng would still be willing to patiently hear out Nie Huaisang as he did so many years ago. The hope that Jiang Cheng would willingly welcome Nie Huaisang back into his life after so many years apart.
The hope that... Jiang Cheng still had a place for Nie Huaisang in his life. Even after so many years.
Nie Huaisang glanced back at Jiang Cheng, this time for a full minute as opposed to the quick few seconds that he did initially, before turning his eyes away to keep his gaze on the path with a soft sigh behind his fan, and he continued his way forward.