A reader transmigrates into jc after they died in an accident. He's in a child version of him and doesn't remember the detail of mdzs, the system won't let him remember yet, but he does know that he's not the original jc. No one noticed because jc doesn't have another choice but to follow jc canon personality, as he cannot be ooc. He does win some ooc pass, but he decides to keep them for more strategic moments of the story. He wants to fix some parts that could have been /so easily/ avoided if everyone had decided that communication was a useful thing to do.
So, everything goes rather well and follows canon until the dreaded moment of losing his golden core. This is something he knew would happen but still ended up being painful as hell, even seeing his parent dead was seriously upsetting (having gotten attached to them despite himself).
Yet he his rather calm when wwx and WN saved him from the wens, because jc isn't og!jc, not being able to cultivate anymore (especially since he knew it would happen) is something he had already somewhat made peace with even before it happened. He already knew.
wwx is really worried, because /how/ can his jc be /this calm/ at the idea of not having a core anymore?!? He still tries to reassure him with false promise, terrified by this calm shidi of his, even more when he has a smile showing he know wwx doesn't know what to do either and that he’s just spilling bullshit to reassure the both of them.
Jc won't even let the it of transferring golden core bloom in wwx mind and politely thanks wq for hiding them and healing his other wounds. This also surprised wwx, because he would never have expected for his shidi to act like this with a wen after what happened, or maybe was it just because they helped?
Then they started travelling around, obviously unable to go back to lp. wwx tries to find way to build back a golden core, even though it is impossible. After some time of finding nothing, while jc does know how he could, but still isn’t sure if he wants to try.
He has to take back lp and rebuilt it, but he cannot do this very well without any way to cultivate it. Then one day when they are staying in a cave far from the town filled with wens, wwx calls out to him. “Do you think using... never mind, you won’t agree” he started, before mumbling the end of it.
“Were you talking about your idea of using demonic cultivation?” he asks, a little smile on his face at how surprised wwx was. Maybe he had not expected for jc to both remember and even seem alright with using it.
jc ends up convincing to go to the burial mounds, trying to “just guess” where they could start better. wwx isn’t so sure about it, but with how confident jc seems to be about this, he helps him fly there.
They are here for months of wwx wrecking his brain to help jc, motivated by the idea that he would be able to cultivate again, in a way. He even creates the Stygian Tiger Seal, although he makes jc promise that he will use it only in desperate times, because he cannot tell how powerful this weapon is exactly. Jc agrees, but mostly because he knows what this can do and doesn’t want to use it carelessly.
They suddenly make both their appearance, ready to help in the sunshot campaign, in which jc prove himself to be really powerful with his new way of cultivating, wwc close behind to protect him from criticism. They don’t tell anyone about his missing golden core, as this is not something he wants to be known and tries ignoring what people say about his new way of cultivating.
“Let them talk” had once said jc as wwx was getting worked up about what one of the sect leaders had said about him, “Their words mean nothing, it won’t stop me from rebuilding Lotus Pier and pulling back up the sect”.
Once the sunshot campaign is won, and his sister married (which jzx better take good care of her, otherwise he better expect one angry sect leader at the step of Koi Tower), he does just that, rebuilding the whole of lp with the help of wwx.
After the campaign was over jc also slowed down on how much he was using demonic cultivation. One canon dead wwx was enough to know what could happen, he didn’t believe himself to be better. Yet it was still clearly taking a toll on him, wwx starting to regret letting him do this.
He agreed on letting lwj play Song of Clarity for him, which was something the lan had been insisting on doing for a long time, clearly not approving of the new path he was taking. Lwj visits were frequent, jc looking from the side wwx getting friendlier with him, making him ach a bit despite being happy to see them finally getting closer.
Yet after sometimes it is a bit hard for lwj to come often, as cr is also being rebuilt, lxc needing his brother’s help. It’s when they are visiting cr to give a hand and talk with the new sect leader that wwx suddenly asked if he can learn song of clarity. Even jc is surprised by the sudden request his shixiong makes, as this wasn’t something one should request, yet he doesn’t look anywhere near teasing, a serious look on his face.
He wants to help jc and he will find a way to help him not deteriorate with the demonic cultivation he was doing. Lqr clearly wants to refuse directly, yet it’s lwj who asks why he wants to learn it. It takes some time for wwx to explain he wants to be able to play it for jc. They back and forth a lot, mainly because they don’t understand why jc /won’t give up/ using demonic cultivation.
“It is the only way I can cultivate now, I do not have a golden core anymore” jc finally says as wwx and lqr were getting more heated by the second. This makes a heavy silence fall in the room, every lans looking shocked by the news, while wwx gives him a “is it alright to tell?” look.
They check to make sure, though they doubt anyone would lie about such a serious matter, and realise that /it is/ the only way he can cultivate. They by no means agree with it, but they can’t find it to force him to not cultivate anymore, especially as a sect leader. They reluctantly agreed, mostly because lwj had decided to side with wwx at some point, on the condition that wwx had to follow cr rules for the time he was here studying song of Clarity.
Jc sometimes barely believed it when he was told that /wwx/ was actually following rules, mostly too occupied with learning and practising. The first times he plays Song of Clarity, lwj is always near, just to make sure he does it right, until it is sure his good the intention wouldn’t cause for jc condition to get worst.
Soon he was able to play it alone for jc, probably more often than needed, but they both enjoyed the alone time it would give them. Something in jc was really happy to have these moments, where wwx thoughts were only on him. Yet when he realised, he had such thoughts, he tried pushing them away. He couldn’t start feeling things for him if it was only to have his heart broken later on.
The rescue of the wens finally came, something he had been wondering if it would still happen. At this point, he couldn’t tell what should stay canon and what would have been fully altered by him and his choices. He was surprised by the ooc moment he could have, only able to guess the system was allowing for a new type of character growth. After all, it had never /actually/ pushed for following the canon religiously. wwx was the one to be found by wq first, asked if he could help her to get back her family that had been taken captive by the Lanling Jin clan. As the discussion gets a bit more tense, wwx not really wanting to cause trouble by disrupting the llj clan. Jc suddenly appear, wondering what had kept wwx out for so long.
Wq is quick to ask him, unsure if seeking the sect leader's help would do anything, yet to both their surprise jc accept without much debate. Jc had always had a little soft spot for wn when he was reading and hoped they still had time to save him, as he couldn’t remember exactly how long after the campaign the rescue had been.
Jc and wwx then ague for a while, wq taking some rest in one of their room. “The other sect leaders are already wary of you because of your cultivation?! Why do you want to give them more reason to distrust you?” wwx ask, something twisting in jc’s guts because of how worried he sounded, as if this action alone was going to cause him to die or something.
“wq and her brother saved us when they could have simply let the wen find us again” he points out at some point, wwx unable to argue that. “Plus not every wen are horrible monster, do you think the old and the children are the one who burned down lotus pier?” he asked, playing on his knowledge of who exactly was wq family. Not anyone who had done anything wrong, other maybe than her to keep them safe.
“I will bring them back here and we will deal with the aftermath later”.
It was extremely reckless of him to do such a thing. Sure, jyl was married to the llj sect, but it didn’t mean he could just take away people they had decided to detain. Just thinking back to how they were most likely being treated was enough to want and help.
And they did, getting in without much care in the world, jc following wq as she looked around for wn, his guts twisting more and more as time passed and they couldn’t find him. Wwx was close by, glaring back at the cultivator trying to hide what they had done.
They were digging their hole, yet jc had to stay calm, knowing that killing them would do no good, stealing away prisoners was already too much. He was going to argue back at the bullshit they were saying, clearly not seeing these people as human, when a wail made him freeze. Oh. They were too late.
Jc was the first one to start running, follow closely behind by wwx, finding quite easily wq who was clutching her brother close to her, the scene making his heart cry. He clenched his fists, his breathing heavy.
Of course, they would be late.
He startles a bit when a hand grabbed his, wwx looking back at him worried. He tries to look calmer to reassure him, giving a small pat to his hand before joining wq, asking her if she could find the rest of her family, taking in his arms wn body.
The rest of their little visit went a bit less smoothly, the guard clearly understanding now what he was trying to do, which was not merely looking around. He /did/ ends up fighting with them, but to be fair, they were the one who started it, and he didn’t kill anyone.
Soon they were out with everyone and he was taking them back to lp, where he would have full control. He'd be curious to see who was ready to barge into his home to get them back. When they arrived, every disciple in lp was surprised by what their sect leader had just brought back, yet no one really dared to argue against it. If he was doing it there had to be a good reason, he wouldn’t be bringing in people from a clan that had burned down lp and killed many of their disciples if he didn’t have a reason.
Some of the wens were also clearly on edge, unsure why they were being brought here. Yet, if wq had sought their help, then they could most likely relax. They were led to some of the guest rooms to be able to rest, asking one of the healers to go and check on everyone’s wounds to help wq, she had to be tired too.
They took wn back to the study, both cultivators looking at him. “What do we do now?” wwx asked him, looking a bit worried at how tired his shidi was from all the travelling and the fight from earlier, not helping that he had to order everyone around to make sure things were going smoothly here too.
“Tomorrow we will most likely receive news from sect leader jgs” he points out, the idea already tiring him, “but that’s for tomorrow, right now our mind should be put on finding how to settle the wen in and what to do with... wn” he says, hesitating about the last part.
Could they manage to revive him the same way wwx had done it before? Would it work if it was here at lp and not the burial mounds? Wwx wanted to ask what he wanted to do with wn, but wq joined them before, making her presence known at the door. Jc let her in, making place so she can come and join them.
Wn looked a bit better, as he had been cleaned up from the mud a little bit, just enough for him not to look impossible to deal with. He could see the tears welling up at the corner of her eyes, making him look back at wn. He had used him as a fierce corps by accident, mostly because only fighting with a sword and no core wouldn't do go against more than one cultivator.
“I think we can do something for him," e said, hearing his name loudly whispered to his right. He decided to carefully explain is plan, acting as if it was an idea that had just bloomed in his mind and was not something he simply had known since forever that they could do that.
Then he saw the helpfulness in her eyes, feeling like this was enough for him not to give up. They talk some more before he just told her to go and sleep, he would make sure everyone was alright.
“jc! How do you plan on doing this?! By controlling him like a puppet" finally asked wwx when wq was gone, making him look back at him. “We will find a way, I just… know we can do it, we already managed to make so much with this, there is surely a way we can do it l". He couldn't tell /how/ they would do it, as the novel had never explicitly said it, but they had been experimenting and this would most likely end up working.
Wwx got closer to him, reaching for his hand “I don't want you overworking yourself, with your cultivation path it-
could be…” he had said worried, not daring to say what could happen.
Jc squeezed his hands reassuringly, offering a smile. “I won't overwork myself" he simply promised.
A promise that was a bit hard to follow when first thing happening the next day was a couple a llj cultivators at the door of lp demanding that he surrender the wens. He stays firm on his position and refuse, saying he will be taking them in due to debt needing to be paid to wq. He doesn't explain more on that, but it's clearly not pleasing.
The following days are tiring and messy, jc having to take care of anything coming from the other sect leader, looking over the small house that is being constructed for the wens, which is close enough to the centre of lp to not exclude them. All this while also working with wwx to see what they can do about wn.
It's not long before it is visibly all affecting him, wwx only growing more concerned about him because he wasn't trying to be more careful. At some point, jc is invited at kt with the other great clan leaders, to discuss the matter and see if they could settle everything with some talking. Jc knows it probably all to try and force him to give back the wens, but he won’t let jgs believe he can just make him do whatever he wants simply because he’s still rebuilding the ymj sect and because he’s young compared to all of them.
Wwx insists on coming with him, although he said he would prefer for his right-hand man to stay and makes sure everything is alright. “But who will play the song of clarity for you? And what if they are luring you in for a fight? If you use your cultivation, they will only use it against you”
Jc really wants to refuse, yet upon looking at his shixiong he cannot, the worry in his eyes too much. He has truly fallen too much for him and he doesn’t know what he’ll do about this. So, he accepts to let him come with him, asking some of his older disciples to make sure everything is going alright. Of course, he makes it really clear that the wens have to be treated correctly, just in case anyone was still unsure.
The first meeting is tense, jc sitting with his back straight, head high, wwx just the same slightly behind him. Nothing in his stance shows he will give even /one/ wen to them. Yet they try, but word will clearly not reach him. “But didn’t the wen destroy lotus pier?” jgs, whispers and nods coming soon after. “So you believe the olds and the sick were the one who burned down lotus pier? As if I haven’t already found back /who/ actually did it and taken care of that?”.
This statement sent a shiver down some of the leader's back, not sure what to think about the possibility of what jc might have done to these cultivators. “But can they be trusted?”.
“Are you perhaps implying I cannot make a judgement for myself? I have my reason to take them in and do not need to disclose them”
The meeting ends up on a rather tense note, everyone going back to their room to calm down a bit as things were clearly not going anywhere. This repeats itself many times, until jc finally suggests that he keeps them under close watch, not allowed to put a foot outside of lp and that they can even send someone to come of to verify that he’s not lying and that none of them are complotting against them.
“This sounds fair to me” comments lxc who hadn’t said much since this all had started, making wwx and jc a bit surprised, although it was good to have someone else seemingly on their sides. Soon it’s turn for nmj to accept the suggestion, following the step of his sworn brother despite his hatred of the wens., leaving jgs nearly no room to actually refuse. They go back to lp with lwj and jzx so take a first look at how things are doing. A weight does lift from jc shoulders when everything seems to be doing good, everyone working well together. It clearly is still a bit awkward between the jiang and the wens, but it is better than it was at first.
And this is how thing goes for the following months. Things settle down, the rebuilding of lp is coming to an end and the wens are fully settled in, some even helping around to do task with the disciple. The one to come the most is lwj, which jc doesn’t mind as he can push wwx a bit more towards him, so they can get closer.
Their friendship does seem to grow, but something seems to simply block at that and jc wonders if the story had changed for that. Was wangxian not the main couple anymore? This couldn’t be possible, could it?
He tries asking wwx about it, yet his shixiong only seems to get a bit tense at how insistent he had been in the last months to see them growing closer. “Why do you keep asking how things are doing between me and lwj?” he finally asked as he was putting away his guqin.
“Well, you’re been around him a lot lately, I was simply wondering”
“But you are the one always asking me to be with him!”. Jc doesn’t argue that, he might have often found reason to let wwx takes care of lwj because he had other things to do. Really lwj didn’t seem bothered by these decisions. “Do you hate being around lwj?” he asked, unsure if he might have read it wrong all this time.
“Well, no... he’s a good friend and more fun to be with than I thought, but... why does it seem like you are pushing me away?” he ask, something jc couldn’t decipher in his voice.
“I am not pushing you away” he tries, only to realise he might have been doing it despite himself. He wanted for wwx to be happy and his growing love would only get in the way eventually. “I just thought you might enjoy some time with someone else than me”.
“But I am good with you! I don’t need you to push me on someone else when I like being with you”.
Jc is a bit stunned by this, a little something in him swelling with hope he knew he shouldn’t have. Jc then took in a breath, a bit shakier than he wanted it to be, trying to argue that wwx wouldn’t be able to always be by his side one day.
“Are you planning on throwing me away one day?” he heard ask as he reopened his eyes after rubbing the tiredness out of them, surprised to see wwx so close to him now. He looks so pained at the idea of being pushed away, either now or in the future.
“of course not, it just... complicated,” he says, a hand suddenly grabbing his gently, something he found wwx had been doing a lot lately. “I can help you if it’s complicated” he hears, a reassuring smile on his shixiong lips, making jc want to be selfish a little bit and /actually/ confess right here and there, despite not being sure wwx would even reciprocate it.
“I want it to still be only the two of us like this forever” he finally hears whispered, wwx getting dangerously closer to him, “isn’t it what you also want to do?”.
He can feel wwx breath against his skin, his lips ô so close to his, he would barely need to move to close the gap. “Are you sure this is really what you want” manages to whisper jc, looking back into wwx eyes, feeling unsure if he was understanding it correctly. “As been for a long time” The closeness doesn’t really-
let him see the smile, but he can hear it and see it in his eyes.
Then jc decide to say ‘fuck it’ and simply closed the gap, receiving a delighted humming as wwx quickly replied. It’s a bit awkward at first, since jc has never done this before, but he quickly finds how it all works and just enjoys the kisses they are sharing.
“For how long as a-cheng felt like this?” he hears against his ear, his grip on wwx robe tightening a bit. “Sometimes” he answers, unsure exactly when he might have fallen in love with wwx, only to dismiss it as some kind of really close friendship he had with him. He knew he had started to notice around the sunshot campaign, when lwj had started to be a bit more around wwx.
“I am happy to hear it, I have love a-cheng for some time now” he hears, taking him aback as he had never realised, yet feeling really happy about it.
Oh well, jc wouldn’t mind if this new version of mdzs had him as the protagonist's new love interest, it could make for something more exciting.
====
(I think I'll finish it here, it has gotten really long and word is telling me it has already it 4k. At this point I might as well just make a fanfiction of something like that. + I wasn’t sure how I would play the whole jgy plan now, might retouch it later on)
love when Tumblr deletes your three paragraph post of unfiltered rage at someone saying mdzs wasn't that deep don't worry it's not high brow literature LIKE THAT'S WHAT SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE FOR PEOPLE TO WANT TO RESONATE AND DISSECT THEMES AND SYMBOLISM
ooooooh the strangling scene was ✨abusive✨ not because Jiang Cheng did a VIOLENCE noooooo it's because he was traumatized
let's compare mxtx a Chinese woman to FUCJING STEPHANIE MEYER AND LABEL MDZS TO HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY AS TWILIGHT
like the core themes that mxtx delivers is literally a unreliable narrator who not only omits information but sometimes straight up lies to you (re: Shen Qingqiu, Xie Lian and omg you'll never guess WEI WUXIAN)
Stop trusting the rumours surround the characters and whatever the protagonists tell you they're LYING!!!!!!!!!!!!
they know less than you do because We have some Some omniscience they have NONE
implying that not every scene in mdzs wasn't a pure showcase of character. Do you want to know the themes and symbolism behind Jiang Cheng being "Abusive"??
Him strangling Wei Wuxian right after watching his parents and sect get annihilated wasn't just an explosion of rage at whatever he believed (that if Wei Wuxian had kept his mouth shut the Jiang clan wouldn't have been massacred (false the Wen's believed that they were a threat and probably would have gone after them anyway they just went sooner rather than latwr because Wei Wuxian got their attention) and Jiang Cheng would not be an orphan anymore (EYE think he already was all things considered 👁️)). Jiang Cheng tried to kill Wei Wuxian in a fit of grief and I'm almost a hundred percent positive he would have killed himself immediately after too (haven't read the book in a while)
This shows us the characteristics of both of them
Wei Wuxian: Self sacrificial fool who would rather die than ever let his baby brother deal with anything difficult ever
Jiang Cheng: the most frustrated and overlooked "heir" to exist (ignore jgy) and just wanted to be loved
(I had more remember Tumblr deleted it)
You also Would have (tried to) strangled the person next to you after THAT
Probably, I don't know what it's like to watch my entire family die
Nah, I'm the most mentally stable individual to have ever lived
What if on some random night hunt, both wwx and jc get deaged to somewhere probably around the CR studies.
It is seriously troubling for everyone, especially the boy who still have their adult bodies. jc can tell this core isn't his. It being stronger was indeed a bit worrying when he wasn't explained what happened, but he somehow also could tell it /wasn't his/.
wwx on the other side saw his reflection in sandu and was shocked when he couldn't recognise himself but also felt much weaker than what he remembered "of the day before".
It takes a lot of calming down from the juniors and attempts at explaining who they are today (leaving the trauma on the side for now).
The thing is, they are still in the middle of solving some problems and the two "young" cultivators are more than happy to help despite being so troubled ("I trust we can fix it later" wwx said as jc rolled his eyes at his lack of care).
And this is how the juniors see for the first time what the duo was like before everything was shattered. They are so close to one another, fighting rather well despite the balance now being messed up (they somehow still manage to balance it well enough).
Back to the inn, everyone is surprised by how jc acts (even jl, who has only known jiujiu post-I-lost-everything-but-you). This is such a contrast from the fierce and severs looking sect leader they know (even tho the quartet has learned to know he can be nice and loving too).
wwx isn't 100% out of character, although he might be a bit less drunk than usual and a whole lot flirty with jc (which does make the juniors a bit unsure of what is happening.) of course, the ymj sect was immediately warned of what happened, so no one would be surprised of seeing their dear sect leader like this.
of course, lwj is also warned of the situation (as if they could let hgj in the dark about his husband). So while they all have that fun at the inn, you have ymj SIC and lwj on their way to them to make sure their respective reason of worries is alright.
meanwhile, the juniors are still stuck to deal with a wwx who is somehow more mischievous than before and a jc who is actually ready to /follow him/ in these ideas.
It is a strange evening for the juniors than to deal with these men who they look up to but are now basically around their age. But as no one has reached them yet for help, they decide that staying at the inn would be better. After all, it is close to where everything happened and they actually have yet to fully deal with what has been causing problems to this village.
They were going to take three rooms (thankfully to jl money, the juniors could share the biggest room here), but wwx asked why three when he and jc can share one. It takes a bit of arguing, only for jl to give in because he cannot argue against jiujiu telling him it would be stupid to spend on a room that isn't even needed.
So they now have two rooms and the juniors are a bit nervous about it.
What if they suddenly get back to normal in the middle of the night? Would they be alright in the same room?
"But don't you think senior way and sect leader jiang are strangely... very close to one another?" oyz ends up asking after a while.
Sure, they all had heard about how close the two had been in the past, but they felt like people had forgotten to tell them about how they seemed to flirt together?! This isn't right, especially since now, wwx is married to hgj!!
little did they know that wwx and jc had actually been pining for /years/ in the past.
it was Jiang "I am not enough he can find better" Cheng and Wei "I know jc doesn't see me as a servant but I still cannot be his for this reason" Ying being an absolute idiot. They had experienced together, mostly because they trusted each other in trying those, hiding behind it only being experiments and everyone does that yes, it wasn't because they were in love with each other.
These are the same idiots who most likely still had romantic love for each other, but had too much baggage at this point to go on with it.
But now you have them away from anything that could have been a cause of worries and a reminder of why they "couldn't". Sure, in their mind, it was only yesterday that yzy would have wiped wwx at the thought of his sleeping with her son, or that jfm was always putting wwx first.
But they also understood that now, no one would do such a thing. Now they would probably be side by side (and the role was probably reversed in the public eyes).
Now they were away and could a bit more easily indulge. especially in an inn.
They were happy to finally be in their room after checking out. Despite technically being the youngest of the group now, the juniors were still looking up for their opinions and also making sure they were alright. the duo was more than happy to finally be alone.
the moment they were in, wwx slapped a silencing talisman on the door, turning to jc with a grin, starting to tease him again about how he has been acting since earlier with the kids.
it ends up with them playfully arguing until jc finally pushes wwx to the bed and pins him down on it. It surprises them a bit all the ease it took jc to do it, after all, to them it wasn't so long ago that they were to the same strength, both physically and in cultivation. wwx laugh at this, since he was usually the one to pin jc down on a bed "A-cheng has gotten so strong" he praised with a grin.
jc shut him up with a kiss, wwx more than happy to indulge, pulling him closer.
It is a bit weird, since this is jc older body, while wwx simply did not have his at all. Yet it was as if they didn't care for any of it, as long as it was them it would always be alright (plus jc would lie if he said this body wasn't attractive too, even if differently).
(🌸NSFW-ISH to come)
hands soon start to roam over unfamiliar skin, slowly taking robes away so they can have direct access to the skin. fingers run over scares for which they do not know the history (and honestly they don't want to know right now).
After a while wwx ends up flipping them over, grinning when he is finally atop jc, kissing along his neck down his chest (giving some love to those harsh scars on his chest, feeling like he has an idea where they come from, yet he pushes it far away).
wwx in this body isn't as strong as jc, yet he lets him take over, letting wwx do as he wishes, more than happy that they can finally have this moment for them, knowing he will have all the time he wants to do whatever he wants with wwx too.
the night goes on like this, wwx taking all he wants and gladly letting jc take all he wants too.
To say the least, they didn't sleep much that night (which these older bodies do not seem to agree with).
when they meet again with the juniors, the group of young
(🌸 end)
man tries not to stare in disbelief and disapproval at the mark they may or may not have left visible on each other's neck (they might have gone a bit overboard with the knowledge of no one here to scold them). the lan juniors are a bit conflicted because they do not want for hgj to be destroyed by this (but lsz can easily see how happy this makes senior wei).
jl is in a way worried this will only end up hurting his jiujiu /again/. it is good to see him so happy, but what will it be like when they get back to normal? Will he be alone again?
and on the side oyz look about to go crazy over this new development.
it is so easy to catch on for the juniors, so of course, once they join the ymj SIC and lwj who are having tea downstairs at the inn while waiting for them, of course, they would notice it too (especially lwj, because he /knows/ he's not the one who put those mark here).
They know that both men had been deaged, but neither would have actually expected for something like this to happen. Sure, wwx and jc had a history of being really close, but none of them would have expected it to turn out like this. How could lwj have missed it in their youth?
it doesn't take long before the ymj SIC comes up to his sect leader, politely saluting him while presenting himself (he knows jc must have no idea who he is).
jc is a bit surprised by the action, still not used to the idea he was indeed a sect leader now (but also he had no memory of this man, had he been newer to LP?).
wwx give the man a glance, a bit unsure why /he/ wasn't the sic by jc sides (the juniors did tell them some of the history, but it never told him why he wasn't by jc sides anymore). then they looked at lwj who had approached wwx so suddenly, actually making him back off a little bit, not expecting for the man to come up to him so suddenly.
lwj clearly looks hurt for a moment, hand retracting as his eyes lingered on wwx neck and a couple of exposed marks. he looks displeased for a moment, yet no comments come and he goes back to his usual unexpressive face.
This does trouble wwx, looking back at the juniors who are greeting hgj politely. they have to explain again what happened the day before, saying they didn't have too much time to find out what happened since they had more pressing matters that they still hadn't fully taken care of yet.
"We are enough today that we can split, can't we?" jc asked. They were now 8, which included 2 that were actually older and more experimented now that they were both deaged.
"We could keep investigating here while you two go back to where everything happened" ljy suggested.
Every juniors agreed, not interested to be stuck in the weird and awkward situation that would happen once jc and wwx would go back to being close while lwj couldn't really do anything because this wasn't really the wwx he married (from what he understood, this wwx
was from a time when they barely even knew each other, he couldn't exactly expect wwx to accept so easily that they are husband now, doesn't stop from hurting when he sees what he sees).
