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Jiang Cheng knows that his parents are fighting. He doesn’t quite understand what they are fighting about what with the way they seated him at the very entrance of the room while they are sitting at the far end, but he has seen enough of their fights in his life that he intimately knows what they are doing.
His parents keep looking over at him, his mother even outright pointing at him, and Jiang Cheng knows that it can only spell trouble.
He has seen Nie Mingjue arrive a few sichen back and with how his parents are reacting it’s not just a social call.
It’s more likely that Jiang Cheng has done something to offend Nie Huaisang while they were studying in the Cloud Recesses and now Nie Mingjue is back to ask for retribution.
Jiang Cheng feels a headache coming and he desperately wants to slump over but he knows that if he does that his mother will have his head.
So he keeps sitting where he is, his back ramrod straight and pretends that he doesn’t almost feel sick with uncertainty over whatever it is his parents are fighting about.
Maybe they are debating if they should offer him as tribute to Nie Mingjue just so that he won’t declare war on Yunmeng Jiang and maybe even that wouldn’t be so bad.
At least like that Jiang Cheng could leave here.
“Come here,” his mother finally snaps after what feels like an hour of waiting and Jiang Cheng gets up on wobbly legs.
“Mother, father,” he greets them, his head bowed low and awaiting whatever is going to come his way.
“Sect Leader Nie wants to go on a night hunt with you,” Yu Ziyuan tells him and Jiang Cheng almost flinches with surprise.
“It would be my honour,” he then formally says, hoping that neither of his parents noticed but when he dares to look at him, both of them already look disappointed.
“Telling you to not mess this up is probably asking too much of you already,” Jiang Fengmian muses, his gaze disinterested and not even on Jiang Cheng. “I guess the only thing we can really ask of you is to not die.”
“For once in your life show that you are the heir of this Clan,” Yu Ziyuan adds and Jiang Cheng frowns in confusion.
“What is it you want me to do?” he asks because there are a few ways he can mess a night hunt up but he has a spotless record so far and so he doesn’t quite understand what his parents want from him.
“Just don’t embarrasses us. Or yourself, if you can manage it,” Jiang Fengmian says, waving his hand in a clear dismissal and with one last confused look at his mother Jiang Cheng leaves.
His mother wasn’t even looking at him at the end there so it’s not like he is any wiser about the true reason of Nie Mingjue’s visit and the night hunt but it’s not as if Jiang Cheng can ask the other man.
That would mean losing face for his Sect and he was clearly instructed not to do that.
So Jiang Cheng prepares like he would for any night hunt and just hopes that there isn’t something specific he requires and then goes to the front gates, hoping that they are meeting now rather than in the middle of the night.
His father’s second in command nods at him when he passes him so at least Jiang Cheng knows that he’s not entirely messing this up already.
And really, Nie Mingjue is waiting at the front gates for him, clearly dressed for a night hunt as well.
Jiang Cheng hasn’t ever seen him outside of his formal robes and like this Nie Mingjue seems closer to Jiang Cheng’s age than his father’s and Jiang Cheng realizes with a start that Nie Mingjue isn’t even that much older than him.
They are barely a handful of years apart but with his usual demeanour it’s easy to forget.
“Nie-zongzhu,” Jiang Cheng greets him when he finally reaches him and he bows, lower than his status demands.
He wouldn’t want to fuck this up immediately.
“No need for that,” Nie Mingjue says, as he lifts him out of his bow with a hand on his arms. “Please. We’re going on a night hunt together. There’s no need for these formalities.”
Jiang Cheng does straighten up but Nie Mingjue’s words hardly make sense. From what Jiang Cheng has learned night hunts are the most formal events of them all if another Sect joins in on them and usually they give Jiang Cheng more of a headache than any conference ever could.
“If you say so,” Jiang Cheng gives back and he’s more confused than ever when Nie Mingjue gives him a small smile.
“These are your lands; I hope you know of a good hunting spot or two?” Nie Mingjue asks, and he seems to be honest about it, too, as if it means nothing to him to give the reigns to Jiang Cheng for this night.
And indeed, Jiang Cheng has heard about something.
“A village not far off has been complaining about their live stock going missing. Two nights ago a farmer joined the animals as well,” Jiang Cheng explained. “We sent out a group but they couldn’t find anything, so maybe that can be our first stop?”
“Excellent,” Nie Mingjue declares and then holds out his hand, clearly waiting for Jiang Cheng to lead the way. “After you.”
Jiang Cheng gives him another confused look and Nie Mingjue follows him readily.
He even tries to make small talk and Jiang Cheng is beyond confused by all of this—especially his parents’ cryptic words—but he tries to keep his mind on the night hunt.
This is more important than puzzling out what kind of power games they are playing. If they die during this night hunt due to being careless then it won’t matter anymore, anyway.
So Jiang Cheng tries to be polite but still keep his answers as short as possible and eventually Nie Mingjue seems to catch up.
“You’re not much of a talker, are you?” he asks, that same small smile still playing around his mouth and Jiang Cheng shrugs, keeping his eyes peeled for any potential threats.
“I’m not as brilliant as Wei Wuxian, I do actually have to concentrate on what I’m doing, most of the time,” Jiang Cheng admits and then startles when he realizes just how easy it was to admit that to Nie Mingjue.
“It’s better that way anyway,” Nie Mingjue easily says, apparently not even judging Jiang Cheng for his words. “It allows your teammates to be less stressed, knowing that you keep a watchful eye on everything.”
The praise comes just as easy to Nie Mingjue as the admission had come to Jiang Cheng and it’s even more of a reason why it leaves Jiang Cheng absolutely flabbergasted.
“Thank you, I guess,” he eventually stammers out when Nie Mingjue has long walked past him, but the other man doesn’t seem to mind his little fumble.
“Are there any ideas on what could be tormenting the village?” Nie Mingjue asks, bringing the conversation back on track and Jiang Cheng recounts what the group before them had already learned and what the villagers had told them in the first place.
“That’s not much,” Nie Mingjue mutters when Jiang Cheng falls silent.
“I apologize for the lack of preparation,” Jiang Cheng gets out, bowing his head in apology but Nie Mingjue immediately shakes his head.
“First of all, stop being so formal with me. Second, this was without prior notice so I wouldn’t expect you to be perfectly prepared anyway. And third, this is much more fun, wouldn’t you say? At least like this we get to do the leg work and figure it out for ourselves. I always find these kind of night hunts to be much more satisfying in the end.”
Jiang Cheng can only stare at Nie Mingjue.
He doesn’t make any sense to him at all; Jiang Cheng’s father is always adamant that only the slaying is left to do when he joins in on a night hunt, citing that everything else is beneath a busy and important Sect Leader.
Jiang Cheng never quite agreed with him on that, though, and so it comes as quite the surprise that apparently Nie Mingjue thinks differently as well.
When Nie Mingjue shoots a questioning glance over his shoulder, Jiang Cheng rushes to his side, embarrassed at being caught off guard like that yet again but luckily Nie Mingjue doesn’t mention it again.
They keep on chatting on their way to the village but it seems as if Nie Mingjue is very conscious of what kind of questions he asks Jiang Cheng because the topics stay light and Nie Mingjue mostly asks yes or no questions.
Jiang Cheng is strangely touched by his consideration.
Once they reach the village all traces of playfulness leave Nie Mingjue though, because he turns back into a Sect Leader in an instant. His presence in the village can’t be ignored, but he’s not overbearing and he doesn’t snap at the people once, not even when the widow of the missing farmer cries on his robes.
Jiang Cheng doesn’t know what to do with that at all, so he tries to keep in the background, tries to stay as unobtrusive as he can while he listens carefully to everything the people tell Nie Mingjue.
When everyone finally leaves again Nie Mingjue and Jiang Cheng share one look and then march off to the east side of the village, clearly coming to an understanding that this is the direction their prey is hiding in.
“Be prepared,” Nie Mingjue quietly says as he draws Baxia and Jiang Cheng is quick to follow his lead, Sandu almost singing in his hand with excitement.
They still don’t have that much of a clearer picture of what might be waiting for them, because apart from the direction, the reports vary too much to piece together a consistent picture but Jiang Cheng is confident that nothing can happen to him with Nie Mingjue at his side.
He is an accomplished Sect Leader who has seen his fair share of fights, so a little night hunt surely means nothing to him.
They come across the creature almost entirely on accident and it’s hard to say who is more startled; the yao or they.
They all get their bearings back at the same time though and from then on it’s pure chaos.
The yao is fast and vicious and it only gets worse when they realize that it can extend it’s extremities seemingly at will.
“Watch out,” Nie Mingjue pants when they get a rare moment to regroup and then he points to the yao’s left side. “You go there, I will distract it. Everything is vulnerable at the belly and the neck. Try your luck.”
Jiang Cheng wants to question Nie Mingjue, wants to tell him to be careful and what if he gets hurt, but if he’s being honest, it’s much more likely that he will get hurt and he doesn’t actually want to distract Nie Mingjue so he bites his tongue and simply nods.
Nie Mingjue lowly counts to three, the watchful eyes of the yao still on them and then they spring into action.
Jiang Cheng loses track of Nie Mingjue fast; it almost seems as if the yao has eyes on its back as well and the only thing left to do for Jiang Cheng is to trust his instincts. He jumps and darts between the yao’s arms and legs, waiting for an opening, watching for any kind of weak spot.
It takes him a while—maybe a little while too long—but as soon as he sees it, Sandu flies forward and Jiang Cheng’s aim is true.
The yao stumbles and shudders and Nie Mingjue takes the opportunity to cut off its head for good measure as well.
It gives a wet thud when the body and the head fall to the ground and Jiang Cheng is left panting, staring at their kill.
“Good work,” Nie Mingjue says, but his voice sounds strained and Jiang Cheng whirls around to him.
“You’re hurt!”
Nie Mingjue might be clad in the darker colours of his Sect but the wet sheen of blood cannot be hidden even by that and Jiang Cheng is at his side just a moment later.
“Fuck, I’m so sorry,” Jiang Cheng mutters, guiding Nie Mingjue to sit down where he stands.
“What are you sorry for?” Nie Mingjue wants to know, even as he presses a hand to his still bleeding side.
“I should have—if I had been faster—”
“Then I would still have gotten hurt. Wanyin, these things happen. Sometimes it’s a lack of skill and sometimes it’s just bad luck. This was the latter, and there was actually nothing you could have done. You performed admirably and carried out your task perfectly. Without you, I might have ended up dead,” Nie Mingjue then admits and Jiang Cheng sits down right next to him.
A small part of him had been convinced that this night hunt would end with him getting hurt, because he’s the heir, he’s the inexperienced one of the two of them, and it wouldn’t even have surprised him if Nie Mingjue had gotten hurt because he had to save Jiang Cheng.
But for this to happen—
“Stop thinking about it,” Nie Mingjue chides him and gently flicks his head. “It happened. Now, what we need is a safe spot to rest and maybe something to bandage me up with.”
“I have that,” Jiang Cheng says and pats his pouch, because he always carries everything he needs for first aid with him.
Wei Wuxian is prone to reckless actions and they leave him hurt more often than not, even though he tries to play his injuries down. Jiang Cheng got pretty good at administering first aid over the years.
“And I think we passed a cave there,” he then adds and points into the direction from which they came.
The village is too far away, especially considering that Nie Mingjue is still bleeding and they might have to spend the rest of the night there.
“Alright, then, help me up,” Nie Mingjue says, holding his hand out for Jiang Cheng expectantly, who immediately pulls him up.
Nie Mingjue hisses but doesn’t comment on it otherwise and then he follows Jiang Cheng to the cave without complaint.
It’s not really a cave, Jiang Cheng realizes when they reach it, but at least it’s deep enough to give them at least some kind of cover and that really has to be enough for now.
“Do you feel dizzy, hot or cold, is your heartrate elevated?” Jiang Cheng asks his usual battery of questions and he reaches out for Nie Mingjue’s wrist to check the flow of his qi without thinking.
He only stops when Nie Mingjue won’t stop staring at him.
“You are really good at this,” Nie Mingjue says as he offers Jiang Cheng his wrist and Jiang Cheng shrugs.
“Wei Wuxian,” he says in explanation, though he can’t deny that the healing aspect of it all had always been alluring to him.
He isn’t allowed anywhere near the infirmary of course, and everything he knows is second hand knowledge from his sister or from when he himself got hurt, but this is something he enjoys doing.
“A whole many things seem to be because of him,” Nie Mingjue mutters and Jiang Cheng can’t parse out his tone at all.
“He’s my brother,” he simply says even though everything is much more complicated than that. “Your qi is fine,” Jiang Cheng then says and Nie Mingjue narrows his eyes at him.
“Is it?” he challenges him and Jiang Cheng frowns at him.
“There is a disturbance but it’s—” he huffs when he doesn’t know how to explain it. “It feels well-worn, like something you have been dealing with for years now. So it’s hardly my place to comment on it. I just meant that there was no new imbalance due to the yao.”
Nie Mingjue hums at his words and Jiang Cheng busies himself with getting the bandages out of his pouch.
“I think you’ll need to take off your robes for this,” he says and only after the words left his mouth does he realize just how that sounds. “I just mean—”
“I do understand, Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue says, though there is a teasing glint in his eyes. “Though you could just say if you want to see me undressed,” he adds with a wink and Jiang Cheng mouth drops open.
“Sect Leader Nie,” he hisses in outrage, because if Nie Mingjue propositions everyone like that then his regard for him just plummeted.
“Alright, we’re not at the joking stage of this courtship yet, I apologize,” Nie Mingjue says, and he does seem honestly sorry as well but Jiang Cheng is stuck on that one word.
“Courtship? What courtship?” he demands to know, a slight panic in his tone.
“Ours?” Nie Mingjue carefully gives back, clearly picking up on the fact that Jiang Cheng is this close to being completely panicked.
“Ours?” Jiang Cheng repeats, because this doesn’t make sense at all.
His parents would have said. They would have mentioned this, if this was supposed to be part of a courtship. Jiang Cheng thinks back to the conversation they had right before they left and nothing they said indicated a courtship between him and Nie Mingjue!
Jiang Cheng had thought they were afraid he would shame them all by being his usual incompetent self and for a split second he had even considered if he was supposed to get rid of Nie Mingjue but a courtship? That preposterous thought had never even crossed his mind!
“Wanyin, did your parents not mention this to you? Are you not here willingly?” Nie Mingjue asks and Jiang Cheng can’t think about this right now, so he busies himself with the bandages and Nie Mingjue’s still bleeding side.
“Arms up,” he instructs and Nie Mingjue seems to understand that he needs a moment because he does as he is told.
Jiang Cheng swiftly and expertly bandages the still sluggishly bleeding wound but it’s not as deep as he feared and there are no signs of poison, so it’s just a flesh wound that will heal soon, given Nie Mingjue’s high cultivation.
But that also means that five minutes later all the supplies are packed away and Nie Mingjue is dressed again and there is time to talk.
“Wanyin,” Nie Mingjue starts and reaches out for Jiang Cheng’s hand. “Did your parents not tell you?”
“No,” Jiang Cheng bites out, remembering what his parents said to him right before they left.
It stings, when he realizes what happened.
“They don’t think you’ll still be interested in me once we finish this hunt, so they didn’t say anything at all,” Jiang Cheng whispers, avoiding his eyes. “I’m not good enough after all. You should have asked to court Wei Wuxian.”
“I asked for you,” Nie Mingjue decisively says. “Because you caught my eye at the Cloud Recesses, despite the fact that I only saw you when I dropped Huaisang off and picked him up again. You stayed in my mind after; not your brother and not anyone else. You left a pretty memorable impression.”
“You mean I was loud and rude and angry and you took note of that,” Jiang Cheng shoots back because he knows how this goes.
He has heard about his flaws enough times after all.
“And then I decided that I wanted to know you better, that I wanted to court you. Because apart from those things, I also noticed how you didn’t shove Wei Wuxian off, how you took care too keep Huaisang out of the way so he wouldn’t get caught up in your little fight and how you were mindful of your surroundings the entire time. When Huaisang told me about how you’re the only reason he managed to pass this time, that didn’t really come as a surprise but intrigued me even more,” Nie Mingjue admits and Jiang Cheng can feel himself blush.
“He’s brilliant,” Jiang Cheng blurts out. “Just lazy. I barely did anything.”
“Don’t play your achievement down. I can’t get him to study, so clearly you can do more than even I can.”
“You have to give him incentives,” Jiang Cheng admits with a wince.
“You mean I have to bribe him to study.”
Jiang Cheng shrugs, momentarily relaxing but then he meets Nie Mingjue’s intense gaze again and the nervousness is back.
“You’re here because you want to court me,” Jiang Cheng repeats, even though the words still don’t make any sense to him but Nie Mingjue immediately nods.
“I sent several letters first, but I guess you never received them. So I decided to simply show up. Sometimes you have to be a bit daring, you know.”
“My parents, they don’t think you’ll want to continue this afterwards,” Jiang Cheng mutters and Nie Mingjue reaches for his hand and threads their fingers together.
“Well, they are wrong. Because right now I want this more than ever. If you are amenable to this, of course. If you don’t want this, then that’s a different matter altogether.”
“I just—I didn’t know that was a possibility until now,” Jiang Cheng admits, though deep down he knows what his answer will be.
“And now that you do know? What are you leaning towards?” Nie Mingjue asks, clearly knowing what Jiang Cheng is thinking and Jiang Cheng wonders how it is that Nie Mingjue understands him so effortlessly.
“I am leaning towards agreeing to this courtship. It’s still—it’s so we get to know each other better, right?”
“Yes,” Nie Mingjue says and then he raises their hands so he can press a kiss to the back of Jiang Cheng’s. “And I would be honoured to get to know you better.”
“The honour would be mine,” Jiang Cheng replies, aware that his face has to be bright red, but Nie Mingjue doesn’t seem to mind, not if his smile is any indication.
This isn’t how Jiang Cheng imagined this night hunt—or Nie Mingjue’s visit—to go but he can’t say that he minds.
In fact, he’s looking forward to what else this visit brings.