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Carved from solid mountain rock, the Unclean Realm was surrounded by high peaks covered in snow most of the year and deep valleys where trees grew, and rivers flowed into blue lakes like arteries into a heart. The location of the Unclean Realm was hard to reach for non-cultivators and it’s deserted, and dark terrains allowed the Nie an advantage for defense and attack.
The walls surrounding the Unclean Realm were tall and impenetrable and its disciples were known for resembling the architecture of their home as much as it’s weather. The people of Qinghe Nie were strong and able to stand the humid temperatures of the summer as well as the freezing weather of the winter. They were also joyous and grateful people who rejoiced on the warm sunny days and the rain that filled the rivers and made the vegetation of the valleys around the Realm greener.
Being the middle of autumn, the weather was cold enough to give anyone without a golden core a red nose and cheeks if they decided to stay more than a couple of minutes without a coat.
Being a militarized cultivation clan, the disciples prided themselves into the honor of being loyal, bowing respectfully to their leader and standing as firm as the two statues of the guardians and founders that towered above any other monument and house inside the walls.
At the feet of one of these unmovable guardians carved into stone, a small child clad in a thick fur coat, danced as he followed the lines carved in the stone and metals of the statue with his cold fingers. He was too young to understand what the inscriptions meant. Being honest, between the difficult words they used, to the intricate storytelling they carried, Nie Huaisang couldn’t be bothered to figure them out. Still, he was not young enough to not remember the stories his father used to tell him about the origins of the Nie clan and the many reasons why he must feel proud of his heritage and their position as one of the strongest and venerated clans of the cultivation world.
Nie Huaisang felt proud of it indeed, although he did not get why their ancestors considered lifting such heavy and dangerous things to be something they wanted to do for the rest of their lives. Nie Huaisang did not have a saber to call his yet, and he knew he wouldn't be getting one that was half as heavy as his brother had received at his age. The wooden practice sabers were heavy enough to tired him whenever he had to practice his forms, he was definitively not excited to get a "real" one just yet as proud as he was of his heritage.
“Start!” A strong voice from behind the second young master of Qinghe Nie yelled and Nie Huaisang watched as the afternoon training started.
Hiding once again behind the great statue of his ancestor, he observed as the disciples started the drills and exercises, wielding their sabers in perfect form to the orders of the General commanding that afternoon’s training.
The General in question looked at the child, and laughed quietly under her breath when, upon feeling himself observed, the second young master quickly hid behind the statue, leaving a piece of the long fur coat he was wrapped around to be seen.
At 10 years of age, Nie Huaisang had already started the training appropriate for his age and status, simple forms and calligraphy intertwined with history classes and diplomacy lessons, all of them proper for a young master. The classes with renewed tutors to help the second young master shape his cultivation were dropped before they even started upon the knowledge that Nie Huaisang’s golden core was not developed at all.
It was not something that shocked anyone in the Nie family. After all, Nie Huaisang’s mother had not been a cultivator and while it was evident that a golden core would eventually appear, it was very slowly making its way into glorious existence and manifesting through Nie Huaisang’s qi. Still, the medics had reassured that if the second young master put enough thought into training once it developed, he would definitively become a formidable and strong cultivator.
Nie Huaisang crunched down on the floor and turned to the intricate gold characters again. One of them, he recognized as a word he had learnt in his calligraphy lessons.
“Honor”
Although he didn’t understand what it actually meant, he traced each stroke on the stone, the coldness and roughness of the rock scratching his index finger softly.
“Honor”
That was a word often spoken by the general at training, it was also a word he had seen in many of the papers and scrolls his brother read.
Nie Huaisang scrunched his nose, he hadn’t spoken to his brother in three days, when Nie Huaisang had breakfast and his brother tea before Nie Huaisang’s classes started. It had been one full year since their father’s passing and Nie Mingjue had taken over as Clan Leader, since then, Nie Mingjue had been extremely busy, between meetings, traveling, night hunts and training. The only time Nie Huaisang saw his brother was sometimes at breakfast and at night when Nie Mingjue would enter his rooms and tell him a story.
It was Nie Huaisang’s favorite time of the day, sometimes the story was about the origins of the Nie, some others was about a magical animal who had a quest, and others Nie Huaisang was the one telling the story to an attentive Nie Mingjue, who always smiled and listened to his little brother with enthusiasm, leaving only after kissing Nie Huaisang’s forehead and wishing him a good night.
Three nights ago, thought, Nie Mingjue had not come to his room to tell him a story.
It was not unusual these days, but still Nie Huaisang had fallen asleep waiting for him and on the next morning, a servant informed him that his brother had already left on a trip to visit the Clan Leader of the Jiang sect, and that meant that Nie Huaisang would have to wait at least three more days to see his brother again.
“Young master!” A familiar voice yelled from across the training ground and Nie Huaisang promptly let go of the rock statue to get up from the cold floor and see Nie Suji, one of his caretakers, approaching him with a worried look on her young face.
“There you are! You must not sit out here in the cold, or you will get sick, remember?”
Nie Huaisang looked down to the spot he had been sitting on, the coat around him was long enough to trail behind him and serve as a cushion for his behind while he was sitting, he had not felt the cold at all. Still, he justified himself: “I was waiting for Dage”
The caretaker gave him a sad smile and she approached closer to grab his hand and take him inside. “Yes, well” She took a moment to sweep the dust the fur coat had gathered with her hand. “Clan Leader Nie will arrive in two more days, remember? Oh! Don’t look so sad, young master, I am sure Clan Leader Nie will bring you something from his travels to Yunmeng”
That last part did make Nie Huaisang happy. Last time Dage had to leave, he had been gone for a whole week for a cultivation conference in LanLing Jin and had brought him a beautiful painting of a landscape. It quickly became one of Nie Huaisang’s favorite things!
Suddenly Nie Huaisang had an idea: Dage’s birthday was in seven more days, last year Dage was too busy to even celebrate, between taking care of their agonizing father to the elders following him around, anticipating what was bound to happen (and did happen days after), the only thing Nie Mingjue had to make him smile for his birthday was the little painting Nie Huaisang had made, an ink drawing of them both with their father and Baxia. Nie Mingjue would be happy if this time, Nie Huaisang gave him something special, and that word that he had seen on the stone, that was everywhere and identified them as a Clan certainly sounded like something special enough to be worthy of Nie Mingjue’s birthday.
“A-Suji” Nie Huaisang asked her when they were inside the Nie family siheyuan. “What means honor?”
It took the girl a few moments to answer, then, she stopped folding the clothes that lied on a basket on Nie Huaisang’s bed and went to sit next to him.
“Hmm, what means honor…” She repeated in thought.
Nie Suji was not a scholar, her parents were cultivators of the Clan and her brother a servant inside the Nie Residence, she had a golden core and had started training with the youngest cultivators, although her interest lied more in teaching and reading rather than wielding the saber like her mother. Still, she was familiar enough with her lessons and the speeches of General Nie LiZhang to answer the young child in front of her.
“Honor is a quality that drives a person to act righteously, and morally. You can also treat another person with honor if that is what you mean”
The child scrunched his nose and after a moment he carefully asked, “How would one do that?”
Ah, little Nie Huaisang must have listened to General Nie LiZhang too while sitting on the training grounds, her constant use of her favorite word must have picked on her young master’s curiosity. “Well, to honor someone is to treat them with admiration and respect, to—uh, look up to someone, yes!”
Then she decided to risk upsetting her young master a little in favor of helping him understand the concept better.
“Like Clan Leader Nie looked up to your father and you look up to him”
She thanked the gods that instead of upsetting the young child at the mention of his diseased father, the child looked up in interest.
“You mean, to love them?”
Nie Suji opened and closed her mouth, she didn’t know if those two things could be put into the same category, but she supposed that she loved her parents and respected them, and that made her want to bring honor to them by doing a good job and becoming the first caretaker and teacher of the Second young master himself, that would certainly gain her a spot as an admired scholar!
“Yes, something like that” She smiled and Nie Huaisang nodded with determination.
The young master of Qinghe Nie did not ask any more questions, and instead listened to the story Nie Suji told him, falling asleep before the sun had fully hidden behind the great mountains that surrounded their home.
To Nie Huaisang it was obvious that to give his brother honor for his birthday, he needed to find something that let him know how much Nie Huaisang loved him. That was the first hiccup, nothing he could think of could possibly begin to show his brother how much Nie Huaisang loved him, a drawing was not enough, words were not enough, a figurine was not it either, maybe if Nie Huaisang was strong enough he could bring his brother one of the trees they used to sit under on that cliff that oversaw Nie Huaisang’s favorite place in the whole world, he would go there often with his Dage before…before that night…
Nie Huaisang tried not to think much about that night, he remembers the screams and yelling, the way his brother had yelled “Huaisang, run!” and the blood…the blood on his father and then the blood on his brother and—
A happy chirping distracted Nie Huaisang, he had not noticed his breathing had accelerated from the memories, he was sad and he wanted his brother back now! And…
There was that chirping again.
Nie Huaisang turned around and was met with a tiny bird perched on his window. A little fluffy bird with feathers that looked red and purple, chirping peacefully, and looking at him with interest. Nie Huaisang had never seen a bird like it before, it was so beautiful!
He seemed to be a stranger to humans, or at least to small ones, for it didn’t leave when Nie Huaisang came closer to it, instead moving its tiny feathered head with curiosity. Nie Huaisang didn’t remember seeing it in any of the bird scroll’s illustrations in the old Nie library, it must be a new species, something so rare and beautiful that was deserving of being his dage’s birthday present!
When Nie Huaisang was six, Nie Mingjue taught him a simple method to catch birds, involving twigs and string. He quickly made his way to one of the studies near his room to look around for the appropriate materials, unfortunately, by the time Nie Huaisang returned, the purple bird was gone. Still, hopeful that it would return after his day’s lessons, he left a little bit of the seeds the messenger birds in the aviary ate on his desk and promptly left before his history teacher got upset again for his lateness.
In winter, the sun over the Unclean Realm set earlier and the nights were cold enough for Nie Huaisang to sleep under at least three thick blankets, his home was kept warm and illuminated by spells and patrolling guards always kept a close look on the doors of the Nie Family residence. Nie Huaisang’s room was in the far corner of the residence, close to a wall of trees and rocks that surrounded the inside of the building, outside there was a hall and after it a balcony where Nie Huaisang liked to watch the disciples come and go as he drew, lying on the floor under the shade of the roof in the summer days.
When Nie Huaisang went to sleep, Nie Suji closed the windows while the other servants dressed Nie Huaisang in his night clothes, he was tired from training forms and didn’t even check if the seeds were on the desk, surely it wouldn’t even matter as someone cleaned his rooms every day. When all the candles were blown away, though, Nie Huaisang heard it again. The chirping was low and barely audible from the blowing wind, but Nie Huaisang didn’t waste a minute to get up and open the window using a step. the bird didn’t go inside though, only dust and leaves and Nie Huaisang coughed but saw it, perched on a branch in front of him, tiny form fluffed up in an attempt to keep itself warm. It wouldn’t last the night!
He needed to be fast, thankfully the servants hadn’t cleaned up the bag of seeds on his desk and he grabbed it, climbed up the frame of the window and managed to open it. He lifted one of his hands and offered the seeds up to the bird. Scared and cold, the animal scurried from Nie Huaisang who stretched further into the branches of the old tree.
That is when Nie Huaisang stumbled and hit the wooden latch keeping the window open, the same one he hadn’t secured given his lack of strength and his hurry to help his feathered friend. Fear crept up from his feet to his head in the seconds Nie Huaisang felt his equilibrium leave him, he let go of the seeds in an attempt to grab a branch, the outer frame of the window, anything! But he was too small to reach them.
He didn’t scream as he fell, too surprised and scared. He felt cold on his back when he hit the ground covered in grass and leaves, he felt as if his tummy and lungs were punched and he tried to cough but couldn’t, he breathed harshly but did not get up.
From above him, branches and leaves fell down like rain, he must have hit them on the way down. He couldn’t see the bird, had it flown away scared? Will it tell Nie Suji to come help Nie Huaisang? Dage…he couldn’t bring Dage his honor gift for his birthday and now everything was cold and wet and Nie Huaisang couldn’t even cry because his back hurt too much… he closed his eyes for a moment.
Nie LiZhang was forty seven years old and had been a disciple of the Nie since she was five and if there was one thing she was sure of, was that she didn’t understand why the elders thought it was a good idea to bother an obviously tired fifteen-year-old Clan Leader who most likely had to spend more than ten hours sitting next to annoying old prissy men who refused to listen to logical conclusions.
To Nie LiZhang, Commanding General of the Unclean Realm, it did not matter that Clan Leader Nie Mingjue acted as if he was thirty, underneath it all she saw an exhausted teen who couldn’t even grow facial hair yet, who longed to spend time at the forge and read stories to a ten year old who held onto his every word and understood why the rabbit had decided to take a nap instead of continuing the race.
“How is the progress of the disciples?” Yes, Clan Leader Nie Mingjue’s voice was still going through that natural tone change, but the boy Infront of her sounded like he had not slept in two months and had yelled for at least two hours.
“Perfect as usual, I’m sure Clan Leader Nie would love to attend tomorrow’s training to make sure of it”. She continued before he could answer, “Although it’s late now, I imagine it must have been twice as tiring to have to listen to Clan Leader Jin talk for two days straight”
“You have no idea”
Nie LiZhang did have an idea, she could go as far as to describe how it sounded when that man opened his mouth: like a chicken inside a wooden box that has yet to eat after three days and would like everyone to know about it.
They made their way towards the main family residence, the patrolling guards standing straighter in attention to their leader.
“Did Nie Huaisang assist to all his classes?”
“I am informed that he did, he even watched the evening training for a while” She informed dutifully.
Next to her, Nie Mingjue beamed at her, he even smiled slightly. “Really?”
Between the dancing and singing, he definitively did watch them for a while, that was until the caretaker had taken him away. If she was honest, Nie LiZhang was getting worried about Nie Huaisang standing in the cold weather for a long period of time. She still remembers the illness that took his mother away, Nie Huaisang had been barely spared of the same fate.
“Yes” She nodded and followed Nie Mingjue until the teen arrived at the door of his chambers, servants already making their way to prepare the amenities their leader might need before bed. Nie LiZhang was about to bid him a goodnight and leave to her own chambers when she noticed the worried look on Nie Mingjue.
It was as if something was pulling at Nie Mingjue’s heart. He had to depart so late at night three days ago that he hadn’t even been able to say goodbye to his brother. It was an urgent matter regarding a series of border towns that were known for selling processed metals and minerals that were attacked by a particularly strange evil spirit. Thankfully, the Nie had been able to help and Nie Mingjue was able to make sure Clan Leader Jin didn’t try to take advantage of the vulnerability of those towns to take them under his influence along with the metals and minerals they commercialized. In all, it had been a successful couple of days, he had even bought something that he knew Nie Huaisang would appreciate.
It was late, Nie Huaisang was most likely asleep, still, Nie Mingjue opened the door to his didi’s chambers and walked through them until he got to his room. He wanted to apologize, even if it was too late for a bedtime story, he was sure that his didi would appreciate it if he came by quicky to bid him goodnight.
There was also something, a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him walk faster towards Nie Huaisang’s room. When it was in sight, Nie Mingjue’s blood went cold.
“Nie Huaisang?!” He yelled. He was probably in another room, perhaps in a corner, waiting to scare his brother and…His didi’s bed was empty, so was his room. Something was not right. Nie Mingjue turned and called for his brother’s caretaker.
Nie Suji’s face paled and she ran to check underneath the pile of blankets Nie Huaisang slept under to keep warm, the girl was so shocked she tripped over the edge of one of them and promptly fell, Nie Mingjue moved to help her but Nie LiZhang was closer and she quickly aided her up as the poor girl attempted to reach the bed to make sure Nie Huaisang wasn’t simply hiding underneath it.
“I—I read him a story and wished him good night, he--” Nie Suji started crying. “I blew out the candles!”
Nie Mingjue approached her to try and reassure her, but he couldn’t speak, he was trying to be calm even when his mind was screaming, his hands shaking. What if…What if Huaisang had been taken or--
Next to them, Nie LiZhang stayed calm and began giving orders to the disciples that had already arrived. “Guards! Close all the exits, no one leaves. Search every room, pay special attention to the library and the aviary and…”
Nie Mingjue’s mind was running like a wild horse, he couldn’t lose his didi, his everything, he—wait. Focus.
The unclean Realm was an impenetrable fortress, designed to stop anyone that tried to enter without authorization, the family residence was built in a way that would confuse anyone that was not part of the guard. It was impossible for someone to have simply taken Nie Huaisang away, besides his brother’s bed clearly indicated that he got out of it by himself.
Nie Mingjue looked around, focusing on every detail about the room he was in. His eyes stopped on the window frame. Nie Mingjue made his way towards the window next to the small desk where Nie Huaisang loved to paint and identified the little bird seeds on the floor, he crouched down to grab them and when he got up, he saw the bird trap he had taught Nie Huaisang to make when his mother had just died in an attempt to comfort the small child and to comfort himself after losing her too, it was unfinished. A pile of more seeds in disarray greeted him, along with a couple more, scattered across the table and on the floor under the desk.
It was so obvious!
“Call Nie Daiyu right away!” Nie Mingjue barked as he pulled the window open, breaking the wood in his desperation, before grabbing Baxia from his back and jumping down. He hovered over the pile of branches, that only confirmed that something had fallen over them and went directly towards the ground.
It didn’t take him long to find Nie Huaisang underneath the pile of leaves and branches, underrobes torn from them and skin cold to the touch. Nie Mingjue touched his Didi face as he tried to feel a pulse, a breath, anything!
When he found it, he immediately burst into tears, but then was not the time. More disciples made their way towards Nie Mingjue as he tried to wake his brother by calling his name. The fall must have caused a concussion, his left hand was lying underneath him in an awkward angle and Nie Mingjue was scared to even lift him. He looked so delicate and oh so breakable and if he died it would be Nie Mingjue’s fault. No, he couldn’t let him die.
There was a faint bluish tint to Nie Huaisang’s lips and his breathing was slow and constricted. He lifted him up, ignoring the worried calls of the disciples around him, all of them looking at him with wide eyes, in shock. Nie Mingjue ignored them and wrapped his brother around his own cloak and flew upwards on Baxia. Just in time, Nie Daiyu arrived to take Nie Huaisang from his arms in a quick motion, her experience dealing with injuries and children alike made her focused and efficient in these situations.
Nie Mingjue could only watch as the expert healers took his little brother away, he knew he wouldn’t be able to help much, with Nie Huaisang’s golden core being as underdeveloped as it was. Nie Mingjue’s curled his shaky hands into fists, he knew he needed to be patient and wait.
When Nie Huaisang woke up he was warm. He was snuggled underneath thick blankets and there was something heavy over his left shoulder. After a moment he felt the need to move and he tried to wiggle out of the soft cocoon but whatever was on his left side wouldn’t bulge, he tried harder and that earned him a sting on his arm like he had been burned and he whined, next to him, part of the weight over his arm stirred and Nie Huaisang saw his brother, Guan off his head and braids in disarray but his Dage nonetheless.
“Nie Huaisang, does it hurt?” He asked and Nie Huaisang almost didnt even notice his brother’s worried face because he was finally home!
“Dage! You are back home” He squeaked and tried once again to wiggle out of the bed, except this time his brother gently held him down. Oh…so it was not a nightmare, he had actually fallen two floors down trying to get Dage’s present, the little purple bird and then, he failed.
Next to him, Nie Mingjue gently combed his brother’s head with his fingers “I am back home” He said and his voice was full of relief and happiness, except that relief lasted nothing when he saw the tears running down his little brother’s round cheeks.
“I fell” He sobbed and Nie Mingjue freed the bandaged shoulder and arm so his brother could lean on him, crying and hiccupping and probably hurting his already tender ribs in the process. That couldn’t be good, so Nie Mingjue slowly helped his brother recline on the bed, sitting on the edge of it.
“Didi, don’t cry, you are alright. I am here and you are fine. We found you just in time before—” he didn’t finish the sentence. He couldnt think about what would have happened if Nie Mingjue had not decided to check on his brother, he couldn’t burden Nie Huaisang with the knowledge that Nie Mingjue’s worst nightmare had appeared before him when he found his brother on the ground, pale and cold, that the faint heartbeat and the difficult breathing had him crying and thanking whoever was listening for not taking his didi away.
Nie Huaisang kept crying though, and Nie Mingjue felt his own tears star to manifest in his own eyes because he was immune to anything but Nie Huaisang’s pain. It was not his fault, he felt raw emotion and just as he was forward with his words, and actions, he was forward with his feelings. He had always been.
After minutes, Nie Huaisang seemed to calm down enough to look up at Nie Mingjue from where he had been plastered against his shoulder, grabbing onto Nie Mingjue’s robes like his life depended on it.
“Dage, I wanted to bring you honor for your birthday and I failed. I am sorry”
Nie Mingjue blinked the tears away, before wiping them with his sleeve, the decorated silk scratched his skin slightly. He stared at Nie Huaisang and after a few moments, he realized that what his brother had said, didn't make any sense, specially since Nie Huaisang, at ten years of age, was already bringing him honor enough by staying put in his classes and eating all the vegetables on his plate.
“Didi. What are you talking about?”
The pout Nie Huaisang made was genuine and Nie Mingjue quickly grabbed his good hand in comfort before his brother started crying again.
“Last time you were sad” He said as an affirmation and Nie Mingjue waited for him to elaborate. After some silence, Nie Huaisang continued: “On your last birthday you were sad” Ah. “This time, I wanted to give you something that would make you smile. I saw the word honor; it is everywhere inside our home, and I thought it was important and that you would be happy if I gave you that for your birthday”
Of course. Honor is who they were. Honor is what moved them, but beyond that was loyalty and respect.
“Honor means that you love someone, and I love you, Dage” Nie Huaisang interrupted his inner monologue, and he finally understood what Nie Huaisang was about.
The calloused hand grabbing Nie Huaisang’s tightened and Nie Mingjue was never good when it came to fighting back tears. “Didi” He said and Nie Huaisang listened, face red and eyes wide. “I don’t need you to give me anything I already know that”
The truth was, Nie Huaisang didnt remember his older brother holding a finger towards his tiny hands, amazed by the small being lying on the crib, babbling, and lifting his arms in curiosity towards his gege. He didn’t remember sterile bandages and worried glances from every experienced healer in Qinghe. He didn’t remember the mourning and Nie Mingjue’s second mother’s cold body being wrapped in white clothes as Nie Mingjue quietly spied on the door and listened to Nie Daiyu tell their father that most likely Nie Huaisang was to follow his mother’s faith. Nie Huaisang didnt remember his brother beside him, awake all night cradling him, talking nonsense, wiping his mouth and eyes clear when the worst of the cough shook Nie Huaisang’s frail body.
Nie Mingjue remembered all this, he remembered the fear when he realized that death could take his brother, his didi, away. Just like it took his second mother, he remembered crying quietly as Nie Huaisang held onto him, body too hot and eyes too watery.
Perhaps the promise was sealed since the moment of Nie Huaisang’s birth, because Nie Mingjue knew that that night when he hid his brother and himself underneath his bed with Baxia held firmly in his right hand as he shielded Nie Huaisang with his own body, hands trembling but eyes unblinking, was not the first time he promised to care and protect him for as long as he lived.
What Nie Huaisang remembered was his dage helping him braid his hair for his five-birthday celebration, he remembered long walks around Qinghe riding on his father’s shoulders or his brother’s back, painting next to his brother while Nie Mingjue carved something from a piece of wood, usually a deformed bird or wild animal for Nie Huaisang. He remembered his father happily receiving every single drawing Huaisang made, saving them and even showing them off to his generals, his Dage nodding next to him when father talked about how much his youngest had improved, eyes proud.
He remembered his brother being beside him always.
Nie Huaisang also remembered the noise, things being thrown around and into walls, the angry screaming and worst of all, the heavy footsteps making their way towards Nie Huaisang’s rooms.
That night, Nie huaisang had been terrified, it had been three months since his father’s saber had shattered in that cursed night hunt, the angry outbursts kept getting stronger and more erratic until one night his father, exasperated at his youngest and his inability to cultivate, tried slapping him only to be met by Nie Mingjue making his way between him and his didi, stopping his father’s blow and yelling “Huaisang, run!”.
Nie Huaisang had ran as fast as he could, hiding underneath his bed and staying there despite the yelling and the noise until, an incense stick later, his brother had also made his way towards his room looking for him.
“Nie Huaisang!” His name had come in an almost hysterical scream from his brother’s lips and Nie Huaisang had poked his head from under the bed as an answer. He was then swept from the floor and into his brother’s arms who quickly carried him off to his own chambers, depositing once again under the bed, holding his little brother close to his chest with one arm as he held Baxia with the other, placing the blade in front of them protectively and holding him close when he realized his Didi was crying uncontrollably after looking up towards his older brother and catching sight of the large bloody bruise on the side of his face.
“It is alright” Nie Mingjue had reassured him and even if his voiced had trembled, Nie Huaisang had believed him.
Their father had died a week later, his Dage had become Clan Leader the next day at fourteen years of age. Both remembered their father as the man he was, an inspiring leader and loving father, a loving husband and a Nie worthy of honor.
So no, Nie Mingjue did not need a gift, and Nie Huaisang understood that he didn’t need to remind his brother that his didi loved him more than anything, still it was unfair for him that his dage would spend the most important day in the whole world doing nothing but reading boring papers.
“I have an idea” Nie Mingjue said once both had eaten something and once his brother had been checked again by Nie Daiyu.“I think I have figured out what would be the perfect birthday gift”
Nie Huaisang perked up at that and he nodded expectantly, swallowing the last spoonful of broth, and chewing at the spoon as he looked up to his brother.
Nie Mingjue smiled. “mm, what about I help you catch that little bird, eh?”
Nie Huaisang huffed and placed the spoon inside the empty bowl. “But Dage!” He whined dramatically. “It is your day, not mine, it is supposed to be special for you”
“It will be special alright” Nie Mingjue answered. “I get to spend it with my little brother”
Nie Huaisang smiled wide.