Thread by @ImaginarySnow_

#Xicheng Post Guanyin Temple AU — where Jiang Cheng had stayed behind, met Lan Xichen in an inn and woke up naked with a Gusu Lan Jade Token beside him.

CW: Angst | Smut | Mpreg | Long Thread
Collab with @wxyz_xicheng
Ships: Platonic #Sangcheng | #JinLing

Jiang Cheng stared at the disciples running in and out of the temple, they were shouting left and right, asking for questions on what to do next or how they would proceed.

He had stayed behind since Yunping is near Yunmeng which meant he needed to oversee the handling of the aftermath but also because the other two sect leaders of the major sects are currently...indisposed.

This wasn't even new to him, it was always like this. Him being left to—

handle the aftermath was a responsibility he always did before.

"Forget it. It's all in the past now. Let's not mention it again."

Jiang Cheng shook his head and cleared all his thoughts. He needed to finish these fast so he could go home to Lotus Pier where his nephew awaits.

He had sent Jin Ling to Lotus Pier since Lanling Jin is currently in disarray, which is another one of his agenda because he's gonna make sure Jin Ling gets Lanling Jin after this.

Jiang Cheng sighed, the light of the sun slowly disappearing. It seems they wouldn't be able to—

settle everything tonight, he might get back to Lotus Pier tomorrow after lunch.

With this in mind, Jiang Cheng had found an inn to stay at. His SIC had arranged everything leaving him time to take a rest—on the way to his room, he noticed a figure walking unsteadily.

He instantly approached the white-robed man and held his elbow to support him. The man didn't even notice him as he continue going towards a room.

"Zewu-jun."

Jiang Cheng called, that startled the man awake. Golden Brown eyes meeting Amethyst ones.

"Jiang Wanyin?"

Jiang Cheng nodded and helped Lan Xichen towards his room, when the man turned to leave Lan Xichen instantly grabbed his arm.

"Please stay, maybe for tea? as a repayment, for helping me." The man rambled, his eyes staring straight at him. Jiang Cheng felt uneasy, he knew what—

those eyes read. The man had the biggest awakening of his life. Everything he knew had crumbled to the ground.

Jiang Cheng knew how it felt. He knew it best. He kept saying as he had accepted the man's offer, had sat on the chair and watched as Lan Xichen struggled on pouring—

tea. His hand was shaking, his usual smiling face gone, his eyes blank, he's a shell of a broken man. Just like him.

"It's all in the past now."

He inhaled and overlapped Lan Xichen's hand with his own, guiding him on pouring the tea. The man didn't say anything and let him.

They sat in silence after but his hand were still on Lan Xichen's on top of the table. No one touched the tea.

"Jiang Wanyin, How." Lan Xichen asked, his hand moving so now their fingers are intertwined with each other. He had gripped them tightly as if grounding himself with—

Jiang Cheng's presence. He knew what the man was asking, so he sighed.

"My brother asked me to forget the past. Maybe that's how." He answered, tightening his hold over their hands.

"Can you?"

"I'm letting go. Everything that happened. I'm letting it all go. I'm too busy."

Lan Xichen chuckled, the first of the night.

"I see."

"What about you?" Jiang Cheng braved the waters.

"I don't know anything anymore." Lan Xichen said darkly. The words familiar to someone they both knew well.

"I feel like nothing makes sense anymore. Everything I knew was—

wrong, was false. My judgement, my knowledge, my sight, everything is wrong. Nothing is real anymore. It's like I was living in a mirage, in an illusion and now I'm awake." He gripped Jiang Cheng's fingers tight to the point where it's starting to hurt.

"But I'm real. I'm here."

Lan Xichen snapped his eyes towards those amethyst orbs, they looked magnificent as always, strong as if it never faltered, firm as if it didn't shed tears earlier and determined.

Even as a teenager, he was already caught by this man's eyes, he had watch it change year after—

year, Jiang Cheng's growth and presence were all etched on his eyes, his emotions released only by those amethyst orbs.

They said his eyes were always angry but he knew that was not the case as right at this moment, there it was—his eyes casted the truth right in front of him.

Jiang Wanyin wasn't an illusion, He's real. He's right there.

and Lan Xichen wants.

He wants to see his reflection on those eyes. He wants the truth of those eyes. He wants Jiang Wanyin.

The man who had always been true both to himself and to others.