#chengyang

chengyang looks so fine here im devastated

Song Lan is well within his rights to string Xue Yang up by his toes. But Jiang Cheng is not righteous, and he's never claimed to be in the first place.

Song Lan’s jaw clenches. “He’s a murderer and a psychopath,” he spits, his sword still held up and ready. “I heard he was slated for execution a year ago, and then I saw him as I was passing through Yunmeng. He should not be alive.”

Jiang Cheng supposes that Song Lan is right about all of those things and then discards the thought immediately.

The sword that the rogue cultivator wields—Jiang Cheng recognizes it. Fuxue is not, perhaps, as famous as Shanghua or even his Sandu, but it’s still recognizable in the cultivation world. It's the sword of Baixue Temple’s most famous cultivator—Song Lan, courtesy name Song Zichen.

The second thing that gives him pause is the expression on Xue Yang’s face. He doesn’t look scared, per say. Jiang Cheng isn’t sure if Xue Yang can even feel fear. But he looks more focused than usual, utterly intent, with a frown that feels so out of place on Xue Yang. He’s not actually enjoying himself, though Jiang Cheng supposes it makes enough sense. Song Lan looks like he’s aiming to kill.

“What’s the meaning of this?” he shouts, loud enough to carry over the clash of blades.

As with most things I post, mind the tags.

Xue Yang's opinions on love are clear, at least to him. To love something is to own it. To love someone is to devote oneself to them entirely. It's the story of all the things [and people] he's loved over the course of his life, and how Xue Yang loves Jiang Cheng in his own way. Alternatively, Xue Yang is a slightly toxic simp, but it's okay, because what else did anyone expect from the murderous demonic cultivator? Besides. Jiang Cheng's into it.

“I want to bring you,” repeats Jiang Wanyin, “but that edges dangerously close to declaring hostilities with Lanling Jin. So instead, will you guard Lotus Pier until I get back?”

specifically with 'you broke me.'

fhskjgskh LOL????

Hm, a secret story about Promise Me You'll Lie to Me...hm. I don't quite have any deleted scenes or really any secret stories, so instead...

“I am Wei Wuxian—” the ghost starts, but Jiang Cheng’s had enough. With a sharp motion, he sends Sandu spearing forward. He trusts Xue Yang’s judgement that it’s a Devastation-level ghost, and he trusts that Xue Yang got everyone in the immediate area out of the way. It’s why Lotus Pier had been so quiet and empty. Xue Yang, despite loudly proclaiming to anyone who would hear that Yunmeng Jiang is not his sect and Jiang Cheng not his sect leader, he still protected the place in his absence. For that, Jiang Chang is grateful.

And because Lotus Pier is so quiet and empty, he can afford to start a fight.

The ghost dodges Sandu sharply, dancing backward in a familiar motion that plucks at long-buried memories in Jiang Cheng’s brain—memories of training together at the Cloud Recesses, memories of battles during the Sunshot Campaign, memories of exhibition matches even afterward—and Jiang Cheng grits his teeth.

“Xue Yang, back me up,” he says sharply, and Xue Yang makes an amused noise in his throat. But he hears the rattling of bamboo and then the clear, haunting notes of Xue Yang’s paixiao.

There have always been bodies at the bottom of the lake. They’ve been there for hundreds of years, corpses from every generation that sets foot in Yunmeng from battles fought to accidental drownings. But the Wen sect dumped the bodies of those they slaughtered, too, into the lake—and so Jiang Cheng knows that Xue Yang has no shortage of resentful energy.

^ A snippet from The Ghost of Yunmeng, the in-progress sequel ;)

“What did you say your name was again?” says Jiang Cheng, picking at his rice. He isn’t really hungry, but he did invite the cultivator in with an offer of food. An offer the cultivator hadn’t been supposed to take, but what’s done is done.

“Xue Yang, courtesy name Chengmei,” says the cultivator. He smiles like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. It’s a very pretty courtesy name, Jiang Cheng supposes, but the effect is ruined by his eyes in the low light—they seem almost luminous, like the eyes of a cat in the night time. Jiang Cheng briefly considers that he’s playing host to a cat demon and that he’ll wake up to all his pillows slashed. Or worse.