By the time the night fell, the trio would be together. And Jin Ling was stuck back in the Koi tower. So very stuck. Sandu Shengshou had decided to pay him a visit. Ever since Jin GuangYao died, Jiang Cheng's visits to Lanling Jin sect had increased. Some feared it was for power and some feared he wanted to merge both sects.

But the Sect leader Jiang had different motives all together.

To scold Jin Ling!

Jin Ling went to night hunt with others without informing Jiang Cheng and he was  furious.
If Jiang Cheng absolutely had to, he would admit that Jin GuangYao was a good uncle to A-Ling.
A good husband to Lady Qin Su and a good Leader to Lan Ling.

How the fate twisted.

"Jiujiu!" Jin Ling was happy to see his uncle after a week. The Lan Ling sect was his home sure, but his real home was with his Uncle. With his family.

"A-Ling! Why did you go to night hunt without informing me? Do you want me to break your leg?"
What a pleasant greeting.

"You were going to scold me anyway, so I decided to leave." Jin Ling was long used to his Uncle's greetings.

"Jiujiu don't forget I'm a sect leader now. You can't talk to me like that."

if only he knew how it was for Jiang Cheng. It was the exact reason Jiang Cheng was worried.
He had been there. He had experienced every glory of contempt first hand.

youngest leader, an easy target and an easy victim.

If Jiang Cheng could, he would give his own life to bring back his (JL) parents and keep the boy sheltered forever. He had suffered from those sneer but would bet his soul to not let A-Ling go through the same experience.

But that was it, a wishful thinking. He could control the actions but not the words.

"Even if you become the Chief Cultivator, I would still break your leg."

"Jiujiu!" Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng were so done with each other but that was also their pleasure.
That was their life. That was their family.

. . .

"Why are you restless? Did something happen?" 

Jiang Cheng eyed the little leader , sitting across him. They were both sitting in the main pavilion of Koi tower with refreshments and no guards. Jin Ling was obviously fidgeting. Did he cause any trouble among Sects?

"It's nothing." Jin Ling would get an other scolding so he didn't say anything.

Jiang Cheng sighed to himself.  If he kept scolding the little man, he would grow out of it. Jiang Cheng knew that but what could he do? Despite that Jiang Cheng made sure that Jin Ling wouldn't be deprived of Love because Jiang Cheng knew how it felt to be loveless.

"A-Ling, I'm not mad. Tell me what happened? Did you cause trouble anywhere?"
Jiang Cheng's tone softened.

"Of course not, Jiujiu." After clearing his mind, Jin ling decided to be brave.

"Jiujiu, do you know of Zao clan? The core physicians during Wen Mao reign -- Uncle!!"

Jiang Cheng had stopped breathing.
The core melting hand!  It wasn't Zao Zhulian that terrified him, it was his hopes, his dreams, his reasons to live  crushing before his eyes without a warning. He remembered those days he was tortured at Lotus Pier. At his own home. He rebuild that place but those memories will haunt him forever. It was his home but it was also the place where the blood of his family was spent prodigiously.

The sounds of whips and blades. The sound of screams and pain. The sound of cracking bones and nails. And the smell of blood masking the lotus fragrance.

Nobody could escape the horrors of the past.

And if he hadn't sacrificed himself, it would be Wei Wuxian going through all that that...Not that it changed anything, he still went through hell. Jiang Cheng couldn't protect him. Maybe the mockery he was facing was for the best? Being accused of stealing a golden core, Nobody would even know that he sacrificed himself for his brother. He would take his secret to the grave.

"Jiujiu! Breathe! Somebody help us!" Jin Ling was crying, he was scared. It reminded him of the past when Sandu Shengshou would break down, alone in the room while holding him (JL). It would make him scared. Seeing the strongest man he knew broke into a helpless child.

"A-ling, move! you're stepping onto my robes." Jiang Cheng stabilized his breathing and himself. Seeing his little man cry like a baby reminded him of the past.

He remembered how he used to struggle with A-Ling when he cried.
Jin GuangYao was good with kids. He would play with both Jin Ling and Jin Rusong. Leading both kids through pavilions, playing hide and seek in the gardens and having picnic together with Lady Qin Su under the clear sky.

Jin Rusong was his only cousin and his only friend. He was younger than Jin Ling but both were together like Twin Peonies.

Then A-Song died.

He wiped Jin Ling's tears, "Sect leaders don't cry."

Jin Ling hugged his uncle so tight that Jiang Cheng thought, his bones would break.

"Don't scare me uncle."

Wish he could guarantee that. Jiang Cheng had prepared himself to die over and over.
He let Zidian familiarize with A-Ling. If war suddenly hit them. At least Jin ling would be safe.

"What kind of a leader are you? Man up!"
Jiang Cheng broke free of his tight embrace and patted his head.

"Now tell me, how do you know of Zao clan? "

"The night-hunt, we ran into Zao clan and they are suffering from a curse placed by Yanling Daoran." 

Jin ling elaborated all the incident in the manner they happened, not including Lan Jingyi's odd behavior.

"A-ling, It was not the curse of Yanling Daoren but of a Thousand Swords. And just like Qi deviation, it has no cure. It's just their fate."

Thousands swords was a technique that required the sacrifice of Golden core. It was so powerful that it could wipe out a whole clan but with great power comes a great price.  Yanling Daoran was righteous man tainted by the Lihua Spirit but he was powerful enough to kill a clan.

Thousands swords were forged purely out of Golden core and once the golden core left the body, it became a empty shell for spirits to take over.

Zao clan would keep suffering for their crimes because they stole the golden core of thousands of people to kill Yanling Daoran.

And those thousands of people will come to take revenge.

"Jiujiu, I need to inform my friends." Jin ling said and ran away to find his friends. Jiang Cheng was caught off by 'friends' .
He felt proud and happy but mostly scared. The friend he lost will remain forever with him.

                                                                                          . . .

Ouyang Zizhen was in a very awkward position. He came to destination of their night-hunt. And was welcomed by uncanny gaze of the Zao Clan and his friend. Unaware of declaration of love by ignorant Jingyi himself. Why were everyone staring at him?

"Um... Whatever you think I did was probably Jin Ling."

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(Sorry for grammatical errors and thank you for reading)