Work Text:
They're near the forest's border when they're assailed by a dozen fierce corpses. Thankful for his own foresight earlier in insisting Jin Ling remained a good distance behind, Jiang Cheng gets to work with Zidian, though he often finds himself reprimanding his nephew for trying to get closer. He's foght a lot worse and needs no help, although he's satisfied in how far along Jin Ling's archery skills have come: his nephew manages to deal with a third of the monsters, while Jiang Cheng felt no need to avoid arrows.
Once the corpses are dealt with, Jiang Cheng signals Jin Ling to get closer, while he tries, squinting under the moonlight, to find tracks or any hints of where so many monsters had come from.
"Uncle?" His nephew's concerned tone makes Jiang Cheng stop and turn to him. "Why did you always pause before attacking? We could see them all under the moonlight. Did you see anything else?"
Jiang Cheng freezes for a moment, feeling some of his motivation to extend the night hunt dissipate. "No," he says, starting to walk back to the nearby village. "I was paying attention not to get ambushed, but I didn't see anything else." He sighs; though the moonlight was bright, he could see a few clouds starting to gather. "Even so, we should go back; we return next evening if there's still a sign of anything else unusual."
Jin Ling nods and starts following him. Next time, Jiang Cheng would need to be more careful, or else he might not accept the same excuse. Though the worst day of his life was more than a decade ago, Jiang Cheng doubts he'd ever stop trying to find a familiar glint in any monster's eyes.
Then again, if his eyes couldn't find it, Zidian would.