Jiang Cheng's karma, part 1

A small group of cultivators from the Xian family from the Shaanxi province walked into the main courtyard, lead by Xian TingBa, the family leader. The family was small enough not to be a proper clan yet, but the family patriarch clearly wanted to increase his family's standing. He strode in, a tall, strong man, flanked by two of his sons, and trailed by yet another.

Pleasantries were exchanged, which, for Jiang Cheng, were slightly marred by the youngest son, standing respectfully just behind his father. The younger man had locked his gaze on Jiang Cheng, a small smile on his lips, and his eyes hadn't moved from Jiang Cheng the entire time. 

Jiang Cheng loathed him on sight, arrogant, young bastard that he was, with his perfect features and his tall, wide shouldered body, which the dark green robes he was wearing somehow only emphasised. Jiang Cheng looked at him coldly. What did he mean by that smile, it was almost giddy, Jiang Cheng scoffed in his mind. No, he didn't like this handsome newcomer one bit. Yet, his eyes... Jiang Cheng blinked.

"... And this is my youngest son, Xian TaoQi, master Cheng," Xian TingBa ended the introductions. Jiang Cheng had bowed to the two older sons with perfect politeness, his eyes only flicking to each of the three young men in turn when their proud father said their names.

Now Jiang Cheng snapped out of the battle of wills he had been having with Xian TaoQi, and bowed to him as perfunctorily as he dared. Xian TaoQi raised his eyebrows and bowed exaggeratedly deep, his eyes never leaving Jiang Cheng's, the small smile on his lips widening. Jiang Cheng could feel an angry flush spreading up from his neck.

"Clan leader Jiang, my pleasure," came an unexpectedly deep voice.

Jiang Cheng's hand tightened on his sword. The words were polite, but the almost caressing tone made them completely unacceptable. Who did the young pup think he was?! Did he think Jiang Cheng was as shameless as his brother Wei WuXian?

The thought of his brother's lavish wedding turned Jiang Cheng's mouth bitter. It had been a month since the ceremony and the talk hadn't died down yet. Whenever Jiang Cheng left Lotus Pier, all he heard was Lan WangJi this and Wei WuXian that, and how bold and shameless they were in celebrating their forbidden love so openly. Them and Lan WangJi's brother Lan XiChen with his younger partner Xie XiYue.

Jiang Cheng had gone to the wedding despite the still fraught relationship between him and Wei WuXian, knowing that Wei WuXian wouldn't forgive him if he didn't. Their relationship had been slowly improving since it had hit rock bottom when it become public knowledge at the Gunyin temple a year ago just what a selfless sacrifice Wei WuXian had made for Jiang Cheng. His hand clutched his chest briefly, remembering that his foster brother's golden core was what had made all his accomplishments possible for over fifteen years. Jiang Cheng's mouth turned down.

Wei WuXian. Jiang Cheng had been second best from the day his father had brought his old friend's orphaned son to live with them, all those years and years ago. Yet he had loved Wei WuXian like the brother he never had. Then came the dark years and Wei WuXian's descent into demonic cultivation, then his death. That was the last of a long list of blows that had left Jiang Cheng reeling. And now this.

The whole country knew that Jiang Cheng's brother was a shameless cut-sleeve now. Yet, Wei WuXian was utterly carefree, doting over his cold fish of a lover. Husband, Jiang Cheng reminded himself. The two had always been utterly shameless, even hugging and bowing to Jiang Cheng's parents in Lotus Pier, and then that confession at the Gunyin temple! Shameless!! 

It was usually only late at night when he retreated to his own, empty bed, that Jiang Cheng admitted to himself that he was envious. Outrageous though it was, Wei WuXian was happy and in love. Something Jiang Cheng had never had.

Jiang Cheng escaped his duties and the far too familiar look in Xian TaoQi's eyes as soon as he could and retreated to his quarters. He changed quickly into old, loose robes, and walked to a small courtyard on the western edge of Lotus Pier to practise with his Zidian. He lashed at the practise wooden dummy again and again and again, taking out his frustration on it. He stopped to take off his robes, and continued, now clad only in his trousers, his upper body gleaming with sweat under the full moon. Jiang Cheng didn't even know why he was so flustered. The eyes of the youngest son of the Xian family lingered in his mind, and Jiang Cheng grunted, and lashed harder, until his last lash made the dummy break in half.

"Impressive..." came a deep voice.

Jiang Cheng whirled around, the Zidian lashing out instinctively before he could stop it, and he only managed to curb its power at the last moment. The whip wound around the waist of the young man, Xian TaoQi, and tightened, harmless but unbreakable.

Xian TaoQi only raised an eyebrow, the same small, almost exultant smile on his lips that he had had before. "You caught me. I surrender. Have your way with me, I can't resist you."

"W-what? What are you talking about?" Jiang Cheng retracted Zidian, his face flushing again.

Xian TaoQi stepped closer and put his arm around Jiang Cheng's waist. "Very well, then, I will have my way with you, instead."

"What?!" Jiang Cheng got his answer when the arm around his waist pulled him closer and then the young pup was kissing him. Kissing! Him! This young man! How dared he... be so damn good at it? Jiang Cheng pushed Xian TaoQi away sharply, and wiped his lips vigorously . "How dare you! I am not a cut sleeve!"

"No?" The arm wound its way around his waist again, and Xian TaoQi brought his head closer. "Then why did you kiss me back?"

"I did not!" Jiang Cheng protested, an involuntary shiver running from his neck down his spine at the deep voice coming so close to his ear, Jiang Cheng could feel the warmth of his breath.

A chuckle came near his ear, then the lips grazed his neck, and Jiang Cheng froze. He opened his mouth to say something, he wasn't even sure what, but the lips found his again, and Jiang Cheng realised Xian TaoQi had been right. He was responding to the kiss. His conscious mind kept telling his arms to obey and push the man away, or hit him or something, but his traitorous limbs wound around Xian TaoQi muscular waist.

When Xian TaoQi finally pulled away, Jiang Cheng was panting, his carefully cultivated haughty demeanour crumbling to pieces under the warm, soft lips and the wet tongue that had somehow found its way in his mouth.

"You look delicious like this," Xian TaoQi murmured. "Panting, sweating... I have other ways to make you look like this... I'll come to your quarters after everyone is asleep," Xian TaoQi said, his voice low and amused, and there was something else, something that made Jiang Cheng's lower stomach clench.

"Don't you dare!" Jiang Cheng finally found his voice, but Xian TaoQi was already striding away, and only an amused chuckle trailed behind him.

A few hours later, Jiang Cheng had bathed and eaten, and he was seated behind his table in his rooms when the door slid open silently and Xian TaoQi stepped in. Jiang Cheng had been trying to concentrate on some overdue correspondence, but his mind kept going back to that kiss. How dared he! Jiang Cheng fumed, and his free hand rose involuntarily to touch his lips. His first kiss... taken by that insolent young man! He was startled out of his thoughts by the opening door. Jiang Cheng turned to look and gasped. "What are you doing here?!"

"You know the answer to that. I told you I was going to come." Xian TaoQi walked closer and Jiang Cheng sprang up.

"Leave at once, or I will shout for the guards."

Xian TaoQi stopped in front of him. "Is that what you really want? For me to leave?"

"I—"

"Jiang Cheng... I know I'm too brash, too quick, but we are visiting only for a few days and I can't risk losing you again. I have waited for you for too long for that."

"What are you talking about?! You've only known me for a few hours!" Jiang Cheng protested. Was the boy mad??

"I have loved you since I was twelve," Xian TaoQi said, looking both elated and nervous.

"Wh-what?!"

The words came tumbling from Xian TaoQi lips, like he had been bottling it all up for a long time. "You don't remember. I was just a child then, and you... It was just after your brother had died. We came to Lotus Pier to offer our support with the other clans and families. It was the first time my father had brought me with them on official cultivation business and I was so excited. And there you were. So young, so brave, so strong. And so alone. No one cared about you, they only cared about their own clans. You had lost your parents, your sister, your brother. You had to rebuild Lotus Pier and your clan and to raise your infant nephew. Yet there you stood. All on your own, terrified, grieving, and absolutely resolved to do your best. I couldn't take my eyes off you. I had never seen anyone so amazing."

Jiang Cheng sat down abruptly, the unfamiliar praise making his legs give out. But then the rest registered. His eyes were locked on Xian TaoQi's. Those eyes... "I— I remember." 

He remembered leaving the clan conference, gasping for air. It was all too much. But there was nowhere to go. And then... he was standing on a small bridge over a lotus pond, his back to it all, the deaths, the condolences, the demands, all of it weighing him down, when a small hand took his. Jiang Cheng had looked down, startled, and there he had been. This young boy, looking at him with compassion, his hand in his. The boy hadn't even said anything, he had just stood there, holding Jiang Cheng's hand. No one had ever held his hand before.

"That— that was you? You held my hand..."

"It was all that I could think to do. I was so nervous, I couldn't even speak. But you let me hold your hand," Xian TaoQi said, his smile lighting up his face.

"Well. You were a child. It would have been harsh..."

"When I left a few days later, I was inconsolable. I had been begging my father to let me stay as a disciple but he said I was too young. I gave you my rattle drum when I left," Xian TaoQi said wistfully. "You must have thought I was just a silly boy, but it was all I had to give. I always kept it with me because it was given to me by my younger sister. She died when I was five. She loved bunnies, like in the painting on that rattle. I saw you holding a white rabbit the day before we left, but you looked so sad that I didn't bother you then. But I thought you might like the rattle because--"

Jiang Cheng stood up as abruptly as he had sat down and went to the adjoining room. Xian TaoQi paled. Jiang Cheng was back in a flash, a rattle drum toy in his hand,  with a faded painting of two bunnies on both sides of the drum. Mutely, he offered it to Xian TaoQi.

"You kept it?" Xian TaoQi said, color coming back to his face and his eyes flooded with emotion. He took the rattle in his hands, his smile tender. "You've played with it. I'm glad."

"My brother... Wei WuXian brought rabbits to Cloud Recesses. After he died, I brought some here. Sometimes when it all felt too much... it helped... I mean the drum, just holding it helped. You... I remember you. But you never came back."

Xian TaoQi's face fell. "I kept begging my father... When I turned fifteen, he finally gave me his permission to come back and join you as a disciple. I was over the moon. I was going to see you again, and become a cultivator."

"What happened?"

"My mother fell ill. I was the youngest son, I had to take care of her. I wanted to, don't misunderstand. I loved my mother, she was funny and kind and an excellent cultivator, she taught me all I know. She died six months ago."

"I'm sorry," Jiang Cheng said simply. "You looked after for her for a long time."

"Ten years."

"So you know...!" Jiang Cheng said. Emotions flicked over his face. "Sacrifice," he whispered.

"Duty," Xian TaoQi replied softly.

Jiang Cheng was nodding now, flooded with unexplainable relief. "Loss."

"Loneliness."

"Yes, always alone."

Xian TaoQi stepped closer and his arms wound around Jiang Cheng again. "Not anymore."

Jiang Cheng stepped back, making the arm around his waist drop. He kept shaking his head. No. No no no...!  "This isn't happening! This can't happen!"

-- 

A/N:

Xian TaoQi is an original character and I've fancasted Huang Junjie in the role. His photo above next to Jiang Cheng's is from the ongoing series Dr Cutie, which is, sadly, a het show. It's subbed in English and the episodes published so far can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTB73Ibi_X3GDbKCVPo7-qObWsgXcfVx2

Huang Junjie is a few years younger in real life than Wang Zhuo Cheng, who plays Jiang Cheng in The Untamed, but in my fanfic Jiang Cheng is in his early thirties and Xian TaoQi is around 25. Not quite as scandalous as Lan XiChen and his husband, Xie XiYue, as Lan XiChen is about 35 and Xie XiYue is 18.

The family name 'Xian' means  'able and virtuous person' and 'TaoQi' means naughty. He must have been very naughty indeed when he was young to get such a courtesy name!

This side story will have 2 or 3 chapters in all.