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Jin Ling could feel the panic mounting. An impossible wave of fierce corpses was coming from several sides. Uncle will kill me. It was supposed to be a simple night hunt. There was only supposed to be a few stray ghosts in the forest, it was supposed to be a safe area. Safe enough for him to have a stroll through. He didn’t know that there would be fierce corpses.
He was still on Lanling Jin territory, there shouldn’t be crazy pockets of violent supernatural hauntings around.
Were his cultivators too lazy to clean up?
Heads were going to roll.
That is if my head doesn’t roll first. He thought grimly, Suihua cutting through the nearest fierce corpse.
There were just too many, and they were closing on him too quickly.
A crackle of electricity whips in front of him. Zidian! His brain supplied with relief as he leapt backwards.
He really was going to die. It was debatable which death would be prefferable; by fierce corpse or death by Jiang Cheng's wrath.
“How the fuck did you find this mess, brat?” his uncle snarled at him. Sandu already out of his sheathe. Jin Ling decides to whimper later, and instead find a spot to stand his ground with enough distance between him and Jiang Cheng’s controlled chaos of a fighting style.
“I didn't do anything!” He replies, already on the defense, dreading the inevitable lecture of safety rules for night hunting. But before he could get another word out, he was thrown against a tree by a sneaky fierce corpse bastard, intent on giving him a concussion. He felt bile rise as his head spins, it was difficult to get his bearing.
“Stay down. Back to the tree. Redirect your energies. I don’t want you puking on me.” Jiang Cheng shouts out. He knew his uncle was more than enough to fight the fierce corpses that nearly overpowered him, decades of cultivation and leading campaigns clearly marking him as the vastly superior fighter.
Jin Ling regulates his breathing, trying his hardest to remember basic medical cultivation from a few summers ago.
A whoosh of displaced air startled him. Disorienting him for a few moments longer.
“I got this.” He hears Jiang Cheng growl.
“I know you do.” A voice he recognizes as Wei Wuxian replies easily.
Jin Ling had finally managed to blink all the spots away and push the nausea down to a manageable level. He was going to have concentrate a bit to properly heal. He was glad his uncle had Wei Wuxian around… just in case.
An eerie quiet settles, a building cacophony of nothingness that made Jin Ling’s hair stand on edge. He sits up slowly, pressing his back securely against the tree, ready to get back up.
“Stay.” Jiang Cheng orders. And Jin Ling would have protested his uncle speaking to him like he spoke to Fairy, if not for the weirdly comfortable sight that greeted his clearing vision.
Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian stood back to back, watchful eyes slowly surveying their surroundings. Jin Ling’s concussed brain provided him with the knowledge and certainty that in front of him stood the Twin Prides of Yunmeng. A duo that only one person had dared whisper of.
The memory was wispy and unreal, the way that snippets of his childhood often were. A drunken Jiang Cheng, a rare occurence that stood out in Jin Ling's memory, had murmured disjointed words of disappointment, disdain dripping off him. All Jin Ling could really make out were the "... Twin Prides of Yunmeng” said despairingly, his uncle looking more tired than he had ever seen him. He always thought that it was an unvoiced regret from his uncle at having once considered Wei Wuxian, his unnamed disgraced other “not-your-uncle”, a brother.
But now, as he notices small telling ticks in his uncle’s stance, Jin Ling wonders if it wasn’t regret at having the legend they wanted to build be unfairly unmade before it was even started. He was deeply familiar with Jiang Cheng’s body language, his uncle rarely using words to really communicate. There was hidden meaning in every frozen muscle and every wild movement. The adrenaline from a fight that would usually bring out his uncle’s more tense side was not present.
A rustle in the trees spurred them into action once more, twisting around each other in steps that were seamless and uncommonly… graceful. Not a word he would normally associate with Jiang Cheng.
But then again, maybe this was how his uncle was always meant to fight. His heart ached as he realized that this was the first time he had seen Jiang Cheng fight as he probably learnt to. Not with eyes at the back of his head, Zidian and Sandu twirling with manic energy that tinged his movements with madness. Not alone, with slain monsters at his feet as his only company. Not without his trusted counterpart, watching his back, a second pair of eyes for his blind spot.
Jin Ling watched as Wei Wuxian closed his eyes, confident as always as he brought Chenqing to his lips. But there was something about his stance that was also different. A little more relaxed than when he fought alone, a little more refined than when he fought with Hanguang Jun by his side.
They weaved together so effortlessly.
In no time the clearing was peaceful once more. A little messier than when it started, but with no sign of pending attacks.
Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng surveyed the area, before turning to each other. A barely perceptible nod and a smoothing of frown lines from his uncle was apparently all Wei Wuxian needed to break the silence.
“Clan Leader Jiang, I would be honoured if you would join me for a drink in town.” He executed a formal bow that was textbook perfect, something Jin Ling had never seen him do before. And apparently – neither had his uncle, who had an interesting expression cross his face.
“Tch. Stop pretending that you have the money for that Wei Wuxian.” Zidian sparked softly, not in the way that would normally have Jin Ling running for the hills. Just in the way that it usually does, when his uncle’s annoyance doesn’t cross his poker face but flowed through his body instead. “I can’t believe you’re trying to trick me into buying already.”
“Clan Leader Jiang!” Wei Wuxian fake gasps. “I would never, but maybe if you spot me this one, I can buy a round the next time we cross paths.” He quirks his head, his usual brand of mischief slowly making its way back to the surface once more.
“I swear I’ll break your fucking legs.”
Jin Ling squeaked in surprise. He had always understood those word as a show affection from his uncle, and he had always treasured and feared the instances that solicited the response. Unfortunately, his small noise of surprise had drawn his uncle’s attention to him.
“And you! Clan Leader Jin,” Jiang Cheng growls, Zidian sparking with bursts of electricity, “what the fuck did I tell you about night hunting without adequate back up.”
Jin Ling whips his head to Wei Wuxian for support, only to see his other uncle immediately look away, like he suddenly found the trees to be a fascinating object.
“But uncle!”
“Get over here brat.”
“Uncle!!” Jin Ling decided to risk his uncle's wrath, and hopped on his sword. He was pushing it with his currrent injury, but he did not want to be lectured just yet. Wei Wuxian's laughter accompanied his quick escape, as Jiang Cheng screamed out more threats.
He didn't even consider why his uncle didn't chase after him on his own sword.