Chapter Text
Jiang Cheng really didn't know what to expect on the day of Jin Ling's arrival at Lotus Pier. Jin Ling was six months old and Jiang Cheng was adamant that he spend his time in Lotus Pier until his first birthday. Moving on, he thought perhaps there might be a delay and the Jin sect would use it as an excuse to not bring Jin Iing that day. There could suddenly be a storm and Jiang Cheng would be stuck with insufferable Jin disciples. But the whole thing was over, the Jin disciples had long left after dinner and now he was heading to bed.
He of course made a quick stop to Jin Ling's room and found him fast asleep. The nursemaid kept a tentative eye on him. As he exited the room a couple of his disciples came running towards him. They bow to him when they reach him.
"Sect Leader Jiang! We've been looking for you."
"Well go on, tell me what it is you be looking for me for, it better be important. Otherwise, I'll be heading to bed."
Though not really if something had caused his disciples to have spent time looking for him instead of handling it themselves it had to be important. Especially this late at night.
"There was a body found on the shallow part of the lake upon closer inspection we realized the person is still alive."
Well, that's weird. Jiang Cheng hadn’t heard of anybody traveling nearby, or that a boat had sunk.
"I still don't know how this needs my attention. Just take the person to a healer and get them situated."
The disciples look at each other. This causes him to raise his eyebrow.
"You'll want to see it yourself, Sect Master Jiang."
As they get close Jiang Cheng notices a crowd being held off some disciples, not allowing them to pass through. Once he steps through he notices the person laying on the ground is a woman. He rushes towards her and touches her wrist. She's ice-cold but her pulse is steady.
"Who found her?” He asked around him.
A man walks up and he notices that it's one of the local fishermen.
"I did, Sect leader Jiang. I was away from here fishing for my shop when I pulled my net up and she was caught with it. At first, I was frightened and believed I had just pulled up a corpse. But as I got close to her, her eyes opened as she coughed up water and simply passed out again."
"Okay, you may leave now."
He bows and leaves.
"Now, tell me what he doesn't know."
"They're on her back, Sect Leader."
Jiang Cheng gives them a confused look and starts to turn the woman over. She really is cold. He wouldn't be surprised if she never regains her warmth. As he lifts her he notices something attached to her back. He reaches out and tries to pull, only finding that he can't get it off her. He pulls it to the side but instead of coming off, whatever it is, it spreads out. And he’s confronted by a shiny blue color so deep it's almost purple. They appear to be-
"Wings. Sect Leader. She has wings."
He looks up with wide eyes and looks down again at the woman. Everything else about her looks human. Pale skin, long black hair, and her clothes seem typical of one belonging to the Sect family but none that he recognizes.
"Cover her with something and bring her back to the compound. Make sure no one sees the wing besides the ones here, understood. Find a doctor that isn't chatty and have them look over her."
The disciples nod and quickly get into action. Of all the many things he didn't expect, this is something out of the realm of possibilities. Looks like the thing keeping him up all night would not be Jin Ling.
As his disciples leave with the women he gives his attention to the crowd.
“Now! What are all of you looking at! It is late, go back to your homes. Worry not, the woman will be attended to soon.”
The crowd disperses and he makes his back to Lotus Pier and heads to the infirmary. Upon arriving he sees an old man checking over the woman. She’s laying on her back wings hidden.
“Is there anything you can tell me?” Jiang Cheng asked the doctor.
“Aside from nearly dying, this woman is in good health. Her breath and heartbeat are steady. And I didn’t find any external wounds on her. As for her, I can't believe I’m saying this, wings there’s no damage to them and I was to extend them and saw that they resemble butterfly wings. She should wake up in a couple of days, if she doesn’t please call me back.”
The doctor has a complicated look on his face.
“What is it?” I ask sounding impatient
“It’s just… she has no golden core, Sect Leader Jiang. Not even the remnants of one.”
Shocked, he looks back at the woman. It’s strange enough that she has wings but also not having a golden core! Just who is this woman?
The doctor began to collect his things to leave. Jiang Cheng turns back to him.
“Thank you for coming, here is some money for your service.”
The doctor shook his head and waved, “No need. After all, I wasn’t ever here.”
Understanding Jiang Cheng lets him leave.
He faces the woman once more.
‘What the hell am I supposed to do with you?’
She looks so peaceful. Having a closer look at her he can see that she is perhaps a similar age to himself, maybe a bit older. She’s sickly pale, her wet robes clinging to her. They are a pale green color with golden details, rather luxurious robes for someone found almost drowned in a lake. Were there people after her?
With a shake of his head, he leaves the infirmary and calls a female disciple over.
“Have some help you change her robes. There’s no point in having her here to recover if she just gets sick because of them. Once you’re done send her robes to be cleaned and have someone inform me of when she wakes up.”
The female disciple nods and calls over two other women. One leaves to get a change of dry robes and the other two head inside the infirmary. Seeing that that’s taken care of, Jiang Chang heads to his room. Hopefully that the mystery woman doesn’t give him too much of a headache.