Mura

So I made this, in theory so I can freely post threadfic without worrying about clogging up anyone's local timeline. If you follow, you know what you're getting.

That is, if I can kickstart my brain into writing, of course 🥲

Testing this bridge thing...

Jiang Cheng schooled his features. Wei Wuxian was hardly helpless. But of course, these days if someone did attack him, he was most likely to use resentful energy and raise whatever corpses were nearby, he had stopped caring Suibian long ago. Since their duel, Jiang Cheng had done a lot of thinking and he’d come to believe that Wei Wuxian’s use (or perhaps abuse was a better word) was damaging his meridians, potentially good golden core as well. It all just fit.

But that was not the most immediate concern.

“That’s why I brought my men, out of uniform,” he told Wei Wuxian. “They can travel with you, or close enough to assist if necessary. They have signal flares. I’ll give you signal flares too. I’ll have more people watching. I’ll be watching for them too. Just please don’t do anything to ruin this.”

Wei Wuxian took another long moment to think about it. Then, “Fine, I’ll do it your way. I hope you don’t get me killed, Jiang Cheng.”

Jiang Cheng let out a sigh of relief.

“We can discuss it, with them, at Jinlintai,” Jiang Cheng said, making his voice even and hoping Wei Wuxian didn’t insist on hearing it all here and now. “But for now, you need to not do anything to make it worse.”

Wei Wuxian looked at him silently for awhile, frowning slightly. Eventually he let out a sigh and some of the tension drained from his shoulders.

“Okay, but if I send Wen Ning back—“

“Gongzi, no!” Wen Ning exclaimed, the first words he’d uttered.

Wei Wuxian held up his hand. Wen Ning frowned but didn’t say more.

“If I do send him back and some enterprising fellow decides to come at me with enough people to make it a problem, then what? I won’t just not defend myself.”

Wei Wuxian frowned but he didn’t immediately rebute Jiang Cheng. After a moment, he let out a breath.

“Do you really think it can work?”

And Jiang Cheng heard it. The hope in his voice. It tore at Jiang Cheng’s heart. He said only thing he could.

“I don’t know. Maybe. But not if you start by showing up with him.”

“I can’t just abandon everyone at the Burial Mounds, you know that.”

“I know. And we’ve been discussing that, Jin Zixuan has some ideas.”

Personally, he thought Jin Zixuan was pragmatic and politically savvy, and he thought his proposals just might work. So did Nie Huaisang. He knew Wei Wuxian wouldn’t necessarily like those ideas, but the only way to resolve the situation was with compromise on both sides. But he knew he wasn’t the right person to present them to Wei Wuxian.

They had all agreed that person should be Jiang Yanli.

“Wei Wuxian, at this point you need to try to make people see you as less of a threat—“

“Why?”

“Because Jiejie hopes to have you in her life again! And in her son’s life. And that won’t happen if things go on as they are!” He paused to take a deep breath. He hoped his voice was calmer. “Jin Zixuan had to do a lot talking to convince his father to allow you to be invited. It probably only worked because Jin Guangshan is ecstatic to have good first grandson. But unless you make an effort to not do anything to put anyone’s back up, your being there will only make things worse.”

There was some truth to that of course. Jiang Cheng had thought long and hard about how to avoid anything like Wen Chao’s assault on Lotus Pier from ever happening again. Some of it had to do with putting in place better protocols in case of an attack, and also on building up an intelligence network, something his mother had been in favor of but his father had considered distasteful. But he’d certainly come to the conclusion that deterring anyone from even considering it was one of his berth options going forward. Yunmeng Jiang was still recovering, most of its numbers made up of a ragtag mix of rogue cultivators and others whose clans had been wiped out by Wen Ruohan, and everyone knew it. The best tool Jiang Cheng had at good disposal, until he he could build up his clan’s strength to something approaching what it had been, was his own reputation. He was admired for his bravery and tenaciousness, but he was also known for his single-minded pursuit of vengeance for his family, and for his ruthlessness in achieving that.

Jiang Cheng had concluded that leaning into that reputation, making people afraid or at least apprehensive of crossing him, was an integral part of keeping Yunmeng Jiang, and anyone he cared about, safe.

Still, he couldn’t allow to let his reputation shift from someone you don’t cross to imminent threat to the rest of the cultivation world. Which was largely why Wei Wuxian’s refusal to back down after the incident at Qionqi Path over a year ago had put him in an untenable position. Wei Wuxian knew that, he had been the one to suggest Jiang Cheng should duel and then renounce him in front of the whole world.

Jiang Cheng had a fine needle to thread, and Wei Wuxian seemed to understand that. But he seemed completely incapable or unwilling to realize the same applied to him.

“And why would I do that?” Wei Wuxian asked, crossing his arms stubbornly. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly the cultivation world's most beloved person right now, especially at Lanling Jin. I brought Wen Ning in case anyone gets funny ideas.”

“Wei Wuxian, you can’t just show up at Jinlintai with him!” Jiang Cheng realized he was close to sitting. He rubbed a hand over his face and lowered his voice. “Jiejie and Jin Zixuan and I have a plan on how to move forward, and it starts with you, at Jin Ling’s one month celebration, nit raising anyone’s hackles, refraining from telling anyone that no one can stop you from killing anyones, and most certainly not reminding people that you can command armies of fierce corpses.”

“I need people to be afraid to move against me, Jiang Cheng. You of all people should understand that. Isn’t Sandu Shengshou’s reputation something you cultivate for the same reason?”

Jiang Cheng flew out of Lotus Pier with a handful of Jiang disciples, including the one that had reported Wei Wuxian’s activities. On his orders, he was the only one in purple Jiang robes. They caught sight of Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning a day’s walk north of Yiling, on foot. Jiang Cheng and his disciples spiraled in to descend some way ahead of him.

Jiang Cheng stepped off Sandu and sheathed the sword in one fluid motion. Wei Wuxian had stopped when he noticed them.

“Wei Wuxian, just what the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Jiang Cheng called out angrily as he strode back down the road to meet him.

Things happened very fast then. Wen Ning rushed forward to block his path. Jiang Cheng parried and stepped around the fierce corpse. Barely breaking stride he continued towards Wei Wuxian.

“Don’t you have a brain? You’re going to ruin—“

“Wen Ning, stop!”

At Wei Wuxian’s words, Jiang Cheng paused to look back. Behind him, Wen Ning was poised to attack, arm raised and palm held out as if to strike. The Jiang disciples were all rushing towards them in alarm.

Jiang Cheng frowned and turned back. “What the hell is this? Your pet corpse is attacking me now?”

Wei Wuxian let out a breath then waved a hand dismissively. “He reacted because you came at me aggressively. Don’t worry, I have him under control.”

Wei Wuxian addressed the fierce corpse. “It’s fine, Wen Ning, stand down. Jiang Cheng and his guys don’t mean me harm, do you, Jiang Cheng?”

Jiang Cheng let out an exhale and signaled his disciples to stop and sheath their swords. They did, but still fingered their hilts uneasily. Wen Ning relaxed, apparently appeased.

This was exactly why what Wei Wuxian was doing was a bad idea. Wei Wuxian had reacted to stop Wen Ning’s attack immediately, because he knew Jiang Cheng wouldn’t actually mean him harm. But what if it had been anyone else?

Or what if Wei Wuxian’s control simply slipped? He frowned. It could be disastrous.

“What are you doing here, Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian asked him.

“Stopping you from making a boneheaded move. You need to send him back, I’m just relieved you didn’t get far enough for anyone to notice.”

Wei Wuxian is having complicated feelings about Jiang Cheng…

“People are talking about you,” Wei Wuxian said, looking straight ahead.

“Oh?” He could practically hear Jiang Cheng raise his eyebrow.

“About you and Nie Huaisang. That say your sworn brotherhood isn’t exactly brotherly.”

Jiang Cheng snorted. Wei Wuxian waited, but Jiang Cheng didn’t say anything.

“You’re not denying it. You’re not even getting angry,” he couldn’t keep the accusatory tone out of his voice as he finally turned to face Jiang Cheng. “Is it true?”

“So what if it is?” Jiang Cheng’s time was even but there was a tinge of red on his cheeks.

“Seriously? You and Nie Huaisang?”

“I thought you two were friends,” Jiang Cheng answered sarcastically.

“We are, but he’s so,” Wei Wuxian waved a hand. “You know. He gets around.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes flashed with anger. “So what?”

“So you don’t! You’ve never even kissed anyone!”

“And how would you know that?”

“Well, maybe I don’t know what you’ve done since I left, but before that—“

He was interrupted by Jiang Cheng’s laughter. Wei Wuxian stated at him.

“Who? When?”

“The Cloud Recesses. Not that it’s any of your business.”

Wei Wuxian frowned then his eyes widened. “You and him… back then? You never said anything!”

“It wasn’t any of your business.”

“But he doesn’t even fit most of your bullshit requirements!”

Jiang Cheng actually threw back his head and laughed.

It was during the month before Jin Ling’s birth that the subject first came up and their plan began to take shape.

As the birth approached, Jiang Cheng had been spending more and more time at Jinlintai. He was aware some found his obvious concern excessive, but frankly he didn’t care. The doctors all said she and the baby were fine, and she looked radiant and happy. But his sister had never been physically strong and he couldn’t help being anxious about the coming ordeal. Even if he couldn’t actually do anything to help, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her.

It was on the first day of one of his visits that the subject came up. The siblings had been having tea when Jin Zixuan came in. He touched Yanli’s face tenderly before sitting, and then the two of them shared a look heavy with meaning.

“A-Cheng, there’s something Zixuan and I have been meaning to talk to you about,” she said. “We think our baby’s one month celebration would be a good time to reintroduce A-Xian to society. If we manage it correctly, maybe it can be the first step to making it safe for him to go home to Lotus Pier.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyes darted towards Jin Zixuan. He managed to keep his voice steady and derisive as he replied. “Letting him go home? He’s cast out. There is no going home for him.”

Jiang Yanli gave him a frank look. She reached over and took her husband’s hand before speaking. “A-Cheng, Zixuan knows. I told him. He understands.”

“Wei Wuxian is doing what?” Jiang Cheng asked, his voice seething with rage.

The Jiang disciple, dressed in plain clothes as disguise, bowed low. “He’s on his way to your nephew’s one month celebration, zongzhu. And he… he’s bringing the Ghost General.”

Jiang Cheng ground his teeth in frustration and rage. They had a plan, his sister, Jin Zixuan and him. Invite Wei Wuxian to the celebration. Let people see him at the happy occasion, being completely unthreatening. It would be a start to rehabilitating his image among the cultivation clans.

It was a great plan.

But he would ruin it if he showed up at Jinlintai with his pet fierce corpse.

Jiang Cheng had to stop him.

I should maybe change icon to NOT cql sangcheng. Maybe.

So I made this, in theory so I can freely post threadfic without worrying about clogging up anyone's local timeline. If you follow, you know what you're getting.

That is, if I can kickstart my brain into writing, of course 🥲

I want to try a threadfic 🥺

So this is working! I'm going to wait and see how much Railway charges for usage in a month. If it's reasonable, I'll keep and basically... will use it for like threadfics, or in general for when I don't want to worry about clogging up local timelines. If you follow this account, you know what you're in for.

Another test

Another test

hi

Testing...