It's Jiang Cheng's turn to babysit. Because of course it's his turn to babysit the brats just when he absolutely has to visit Koi Tower on sect business. But Lan Wangji is off on a night hunt with his brother which is indefinitely more dangerous, so Jiang Cheng is stuck with the kids. He could have left the children back at Yunmeng Jiang with a couple of attendants, but he trusts literally no one to take care of his and Lan Wangji's spawn, and Madame Jin is growing impatient and wants to see Jin Ling so here they are.

On a boat ride to Lanling Jin.

With Lan Wangji's creepy ghost medium kid in tow.

He can already tell that this is not going to end well.

.

.

.

He courts danger anyway.

The ferry ride is mercifully uneventful, to Jiang Cheng's infinite relief.

The children do not fuss despite the long, monotonous trip. Jin Ling is drooling on his shoulder, completely knocked out by the swaying of the vessel in the waves. On the other hand, Lan Yuan is wide awake, taking in the sights with those clever mercurial eyes of his. The little boy's head turns this way and that, attention caught by every little moving thing. Butterflies, other boats, water lilies. Nothing escapes the boy gaze. Jiang Cheng wonders what goes through Lan Yuan's head sometimes before quickly backtracking and deciding that he's better off not knowing. In fact, he's better off not knowing what's going on with the Lan Sect as a whole.

The clingy child clutches the hem of his robes and follows him as they disembark.

There is a small contingent of servants dressed in bright yellow uniforms waiting for them. A couple of them brighten at the sight of Jin Ling. Jiang Cheng puts a proprietary hand over Jin Ling's back and glares at them menacingly until they bow their heads in submission.

"This place feels funny," Lan Yuan pulls a frown, tiny face scrunching. Jiang Cheng puts his other hand behind the boy's back and huddles him closer. "I don't like it."

"I'm sure it does," Jiang Cheng murmurs distractedly, watching like a hawk as the attendants tie the boat to the dock.

"I want to go home," Lan Yuan tugs insistently on Jiang Cheng's robe.

"You and me both, kid," Jiang Cheng replies with weariness. "But we just rode two hours on a boat and you puked on me twice so we're both not getting what we want."

Did Lan Wangji care to mention that his kid got seasick before they disembarked? Of course not. Jiang Cheng had to find out about that lovely little trait when they were well away from Lotus Pier.

"Right this way, Sect Leader Jiang," a servant bows and gestures forward. "Sect Leader Jin will see you in the Peony Pavilion."

Nodding imperiously, Jiang Cheng readjusts his hold on Jin Ling and ensures that Lan Yuan is still firmly attached to his side before following the servant through the numerous pavilions and courtyards leading to the heart of Koi Tower.

Koi Tower is just as ostentatious as when he first stepped foot into this place at a tender age of five for the first of many intersect unification playdates with Jin Zixuan. Even with Jin Guangyao taking over after Jin Guangshan's death, the decorations are just as gaudy if not more so. As if on cue, the attendant begins to drone on and on about the new renovations to the residence that have occurred and the new installations that are still in the process of being built. He's been treated to the same spiel every time he steps foot in Koi Tower and he vaguely wonders if the servants ever get bored of it.

Jin Ling fusses against his shoulder, drowsy little murmurs escaping his lips. The attendant stops and begins to fret over the Lanling Jin heir. Jiang Cheng clutches his nephew closer to his body and waves off the attendant impatiently with his other hand. The attendant is not deterred in the slightest and begins offering all manners of refreshments or perhaps a room for the young heir to rest in before their meeting with the sect leader. It takes Jiang Cheng an embarrassingly long time to finally get the groveling man to back off and back to leading them to their destination.

Shifting Jin Ling higher up on his shoulder with one arm, his other hand closes over thin air at his side.

Jiang Cheng pauses, grasping futilely around his leg for a few moments before he looks down. Lan Yuan is nowhere to be seen.

Jiang Cheng swears he turned his back for just one second. Just one. Cold sweat gathers on the back of his neck. Frantically, he turns around in a circle, trying to spot the missing child but the little brat has completely disappeared. How can such a tiny little being be so stealthy and elude him so quickly?

"Lan Yuan!" Jiang Cheng shouts, frightening the servant to a standstill again and causing Jin Ling to startle awake and scream his displeasure into his ear. "Lan Yuan! Where are you? Come out here now!"

No answer.

"Lan Yuan!" Jiang Cheng screams with a touch more desperation in his voice that he will never admit to. "This isn't funny! Come here this instant or I am telling your father!"

He realizes how ridiculous he sounds as soon as the words leave his mouth.

Fuck.

This is bad. This is really, really bad.

Lan Wangji is going to kill him if he loses his kid in this godforsaken place.

"You there!" Jiang Cheng snags the robes of the squirrely attendant who immediately whimpers under his scathing glower. "Have you seen a little kid about this tall? Super creepy stare?"

The servant quivers under his glare and fervently shakes his head. "N-No, Sect Leader Jiang. I-I haven't seen any children wandering around."

Fuck.

Jin Guangyao is getting ready for his meeting with the Jiang Sect Leader. The caustic man is bringing his nephew and he's obligated to see the child at least once while they visit. He holds no ire against the innocent child but he sees the opponent he could become. There are factions within his Lanling Jin. Many see Jin Ling as the true heir of the sect and they see him an usurper to the throne.

There are still quite a few years before the Jin child poses a threat but until then he must display a veneer of benevolence.

Composing himself, he scrutinizes his expression in the large bronze mirror. Cold dark eyes reflect at him. Arranging his expression into something less cunning and more amicable, he straightens.

"Who are you?"

Stopping short, he turns around and see a small child standing behind him. Jin Guangyao does a doubletake. He does not recognize this child and Jin Guangyao knows every single person in Koi Tower down to the last attendant. The Sect Leader squints critically at the little boy rocking on his heels in front of him. How did he even get here?

Ever since Jin Guangyao came into power, he had installed various security measures around his personal quarters. His wing has a befuddling array set up around it so that anyone without a token pass will not be able to enter. His own personal rooms, especially the one he is in right now, is even more heavily warded, ensuring that no one except for him and the people he has explicitly granted access to are able to step foot in his chambers.

But this child looks around the room with open curiosity like he doesn't know what an impossibility he is.

"Who are you?" the child repeats, staring up at him with gray eyes the color of ash.

For some reason, a shiver runs down Jin Guangyao's spine before pausing. There's something… off about this child. He can't put his finger on it but something inside him is telling him that this child is a threat which is highly unordinary.

Regardless, the child should not be here. He needs to get rid of him. He then notices that the little one is dressed in Gusu Lan white. There is no forehead ribbon meaning the child has yet to form a golden core and start cultivation training. If need be, Jin Guangyao can crush this child before anyone is the wiser but not before ascertaining which minor branch whelped him.

Jin Guangyao plasters on a gentle smile.

"Hello there, little one," he kneels down to the child's height and offers his hand. "Where did you come from? Are you lost?"

The child tilts his head, glances down at his proffered hand, and then looks up at something past his shoulder. Confused, Jin Guangyao turns around but he sees no one behind him. When he turns back, the child is standing a couple of steps closer, almost uncomfortably close. Their faces are mere centimeters apart as the child's steely gray eyes bore into his own. Jin Guangyao resists the urge to flinch and merely cranes his head farther back.

Whoever raised this child clearly did not instill in him the meaning of personal space.

"Who are you?" the child asks again for the third time in a sweet milky voice.

"My name is Jin Guangyao, little one," he replies, maintaining that same genial smile. "I'm the Sect Leader of Lanling Jin."

"You're A-Ling's uncle then?" the boy says in a curious tone and then squints thoughtfully at him. "You don't look like it."

"You know, it's not very polite to ask someone's name without giving your own," Jin Guangyao adopts a scolding tone but the child remains largely unchastised. His little head tilts and once again, he glances at something past Jin Guangyao's shoulder. Once again, Jin Guangyao turns to look behind him and again, there is no one there. Nothing but his own reflection in the large bronze mirror.

When he turns back, the child has now stepped back a couple of paces until he is out of arm's reach. What the-? How did he move so fast?

"A-Yuan's name is A-Yuan," the child introduces as he scrutinizes a box on one of the shelves. "I'm from Gusu Lan."

Jin Guangyao's eyes widen in recognition. He knows this child. Lan Xichen had mentioned the child in fond tones. His sworn brother's little nephew. His hands relax by his sides and he adopts an infinitely kinder mien. This is Lan Xichen's kin. He cannot lay a hand on Lan Xichen's nephew but that doesn't mean he isn't going to keep the increasingly unsettling child under a watchful eye.

"What's this?" A-Yuan asks and presses his face into the bronze mirror. His palms are flat against the cool surface right next to his round cheeks. Under Jin Guangyao's fascinated gaze, the boy's face scrunches in a look of intense concentration. "… Hello? Do… I know you?"

The question is not directed at him. Instead, it looks like the child is having a conversation with something beyond the mirror. Little lashes flutter closed as the child presses his cheek further into the mirror's smooth surface. After a moment of tense silence, Lan Yuan nods knowingly.

Jin Guangyao doesn't know what the child could possibly be listening to but something that feels like his self-preservation tells him it must be stopped. Immediately.

"Alright, time to go find your caretaker," Jin Guangyao is quick to pluck the wayward child up into his arms and march them out of the room. The child squirms uncomfortably in his arms before settling into the crook of his neck with an unhappy frown.

"I was talking to someone," Lan Yuan pouts. Jin Guangyao looks down at the child and into his frankly sinister looking silver eyes. The Jin Sect leader feels a disquieting coldness settle over him as if the child were staring directly in his very soul. As if all his sins were laid bare before those uncanny eyes. For a brief split second, Jin Guangyao feels the need to snap the child's neck and get rid of the body as swiftly as possible, Lan Xichen's nephew be damned.

"Who-?" Jin Guangyao begins to ask before he is interrupted.

"A-Yuan!" Sect Leader Jiang is speeding down the corridor with an irate Jin Ling gumming vehemently at his shoulder. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

"Uncle Jiang Cheng," Lan Yuan shouts in joy and wiggles violently out of Jin Guangyao's arms. Instantly Lan Yuan transforms back into a harmless child and runs full speed at the man. The child collides so hard into Jiang Cheng's leg that he bounces back with a little 'oof!' and has to be steadied by the Jiang Cheng's firm yet careful hand against his back.

"You know you're not supposed to be walking around without me," Jiang Cheng scolds and finally the child looks repentant. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry, Uncle," Lan Yuan apologizes with the saddest pair of puppy dog eyes Jin Guangyao has ever seen. Jiang Cheng finally notices Jin Guangyao and hastily urges Lan Yuan behind him. The child makes a sound of protest before cowing under Jiang Cheng's reprimanding scowl.

"Sect Leader Jin," Jiang Cheng greets, setting down Jin Ling in order to bow properly to his fellow sect leader. The boy immediately fusses, arms shooting up to be held again but Jiang Cheng ignores him. "I apologize for Lan Yuan's behavior. I hope he hasn't been causing too much trouble."

"It's perfectly alright, Sect Leader Jiang," Jin Guangyao waves him off with a pleasant smile. "I was just getting to know young A-Yuan. He's been nothing but polite." And utterly creepy but Jin Guangyao tactfully does not mention this.

Jin Guangyao reaches for his nephew but before he is able to make contact, Lan Yuan quickly snatches Jin Ling's hand and drags him toward the nearest patch of flowers. His nephew goes without complaint leaving Jin Guangyao holding thin air.

He would have thought the move deliberate had it not come from a child barely a third of his size.

"A-Yuan!" Jiang Cheng shouts after the child but the two little ones cannot hear him over the sounds of their shrieking laughter as they gallivant through the flowers and undoubtedly proceed to completely demolish them. He turns back to the Jin Sect Leader with an apologetic expression. "He's usually not this rude."

"I'm not offended," Jin Guangyao assures him. "He's just a child, after all. Moreover he is my sworn brother's nephew. I'm sure he will grow into a fine cultivator in the future."

Jin Guangyao thinks he must have been overthinking it but he swears he hears Jiang Cheng whisper under his breath, "By the heavens, I hope not."

He cannot shake the strange feeling of unease.

The sun is setting by the time they are done with their meeting. Madam Jin had passed through and doted over both the children, plying them with sweets and toys till their arms grew full of fancies. She reprimands Jiang Cheng for not coming more often and coos at Jin Ling and Lan Yuan in turns. Jin Guangyao makes a few more attempts of holding his nephew but the children evade him like it's a game of tag.

"Thank you for hosting us, Sect Leader Jin," Jiang Cheng says as he cradles both sleepy children in his arms. They are both past their afternoon nap time and he needs to return to Lotus Pier soon so Lan Wangji can pick up Lan Yuan.

"It was no trouble at all," Jin Guangyao offers a short bow. "Sect Leader Jiang is welcome any time at Koi Tower."

"Do you hear that?" Lan Yuan suddenly pipes up.

Both Sect Leaders turn to the child who looks completely captivated by something in the far distance. Jiang Cheng can feel sweat gathering at the back of his neck. As if charmed by a spell, they look toward where Lan Yuan is looking.

There is nothing there.

No sounds.

It is utterly…

Silent.

"I don't hear-," Jin Guangyao starts.

"Quiet," Lan Yuan shushes him with a small finger to his own mouth.

"A-Yuan," Jiang Cheng scolds. "That is not polite at all. Be more respectful of your elders."

"It's fine, Sect Leader," Jin Guangyao waves him off before locking eyes with the little one. "What do I have to be quiet, A-Yuan?"

The child's head tilts.

"You don't hear it?" Lan Yuan asks him in lieu of answering his question.

"Don't mind him," Jiang Cheng hurriedly answers, the strained smile on his face growing more forced, "He says weird things sometimes. He doesn't mean anything by it."

The child is undeterred however and stares up at Jin Guangyao with a distressed demeanor.

"You really don't hear it?" Lan Yuan frowns in disappointment. "It's so loud."

The Jin Sect Leader pretends to strain his ears but he hears nothing.

"I'm sorry, A-Yuan," Jin Guangyao says in contrite. "I really don't hear anything."

"Maybe you just are listening enough," Lan Yuan wisely advises. "You have to listen harder. And then you will know."

"I'll try my best," Jin Guangyao promises with no intention of keeping said promise. He will however be keeping a closer eye on the Lan Sect child.

As the trio are leaving, Jin Guangyao finally hears it.

A baby's loud wails of agony.

Lan Wangji comes back to Lan Yuan bawling his eyes out while Jiang Cheng awkwardly pats the kid's back. The Jiang Sect Leader looks immensely uncomfortable, soothing his child with futile petting motions. It would be amusing if Lan Wangji's parental senses weren't on high alert.

"A-Yuan is going to be fine," the Sect Leader tries to comfort. "I'm sure you'll get to see Jin Ling just as much as you do now."

Jiang Cheng is murmuring condolences, but the child is inconsolable, merely crying louder at his words. When Jiang Cheng notices Lan Wangji's presence, the relief is palpable on his expression. He stands up and tries to disentangle the despondent child from around his legs but the little limpet clings on tighter.

Lan Wangji's expression must be enough of a question because the sect leader merely pulls a face and offers the leg Lan Yuan is clutching onto. Lan Wangji quickly plucks his child off the sect leader and into his arms. Lan Yuan winds his arms around his father's neck, nearly strangling him with his grip. He runs a soothing hand over his son's back in rhythmic motions as the child sniffles pitifully into his shoulder.

Lan Wangji pins the Jiang Sect Leader with his golden gaze while Jiang Cheng sighs wearily.

"Apparently your kid was permanently banned from Koi Towers," Jiang Cheng massages his forehead in aggravation.

Lan Wangji pauses.

"What."

"It's not A-Yuan's fault," Lan Yuan sobs miserably into his tight scrunched up fists. "A-Yuan was a good boy! A-Yuan didn't do anything wrong!"

Lan Wangji pats his child's back soothingly as the child buries his reddened face into his neck. This will not do.

"Hold him for me," Lan Wangji presses his child back into Jiang Cheng's arms.

"What, why?" Jiang Cheng splutters nonplussed as he scrambles to properly hold Lan Yuan.

"Going to Koi Tower," Lan Wangji says determinedly, drawing out his sword and throwing it on the ground to mount.

"What?" Jiang Cheng shrills and quickly shifts Lan Yuan to one arm so he can grab onto the hem of Lan Wangji's robe. He misses because of course, he misses. Slippery overprotective bastard. "Oh no you don't!"

"Do not stop me," Lan Wangji intones with the gravitas of a man on a fucking mission.

"Are you insane?" Jiang Cheng swears.

"I will trouble you to take care of A-Yuan until I return."

"The fuck you will! Get back here!"

"Please do not swear in front of my child."

"Lan Wangji!"

To this day, Lan Sizhui is not allowed to step foot within Koi Tower.

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