Tiêu đề C6: Golden ✅

“A-Sang has been acting strangely. Have you noticed, Brother?” A-Yao asks once. Xichen can only nod. He makes it a goal to speak to the young man and see if there is anything he can do. The next day, the Unclean Realm explodes into a shower of debris and dust. Sect Leader Nie Huaisang cannot be found among the rubble. His soul is lost, scattered, along with his body. Inquiry does not reach him, no matter how many times Xichen tries to amend for his careless timing. He should have visited A-Sang sooner. He should have done something. There are too many questions and even more casualties. Qinghe Nie Sect is almost non-existent and no one is left to lead their people into security. The destruction of their base not only killed their leader but a majority of their cultivators. It is unthinkable how anyone could have planned this. Inhuman. Everything is falling. Xichen does not know which piece to pick up first. It is difficult to tell if this dream is now travelling in seconds or years or an infinity. Xichen is trying his best understand A-Sang's death. He needs answers, both for A-Sang and Mingjue-xiong. He must let them rest. Through the blurs and the voices he cannot make out, Xichen ends up in his room. He stands in the darkness, the voices in his head no longer audible. He is alone and this room is too small. Suffocating. He cannot rest. He has not slept for days, he thinks. Xichen grabs a book, desperate for any form of distraction. Something falls out of it. A torn page. He picks it up. Everything shatters with each character he reads. The silence is gone, replaced by these words he cannot, cannot fit into his questions. He asks why, why, why and all he has is this letter that rips apart everything he has ever believed in. Why, why, why. I will be dead by the time you find this. Why. Jin Guangyao killed my brother. I have always known. I have been trying for years to reveal him and avenge Brother but nothing is working. I have tried so hard, too hard. He is growing suspicious of my actions and I fear my time is running out.
Lan Xichen, do not trust him. He has killed your sworn brother, he has killed his father, his wife, and his son. He will kill me soon. Open your eyes and see him for the man that he is. Xichen drops the letter. He awakes. The sun is the first thing he sees, peaking out through the clouds that covered it yesterday. His body is stiff and his back is aching, though Xichen stays where he is. Somehow, he has managed to sleep. After that dream, he wishes he hadn't. He casts a quick glance at the clock. Eight AM. Three hours of sleep is more than what he normally gets and he has grown accustomed to the tired weight in his body, anyway. The dreams, however... Can he say he has grown used to them, when it is all he thinks about as he is getting ready for work? He recalls that Nie Huaisang is also alive in this lifetime. Is he happy? Xichen tries his best to forget about it when he has finished dressing. Nie Mingjue, Nie Huaisang, Jin Guangyao... Whatever happened in the past should stay in the past. They are not weighed down by their past lives. He should stay away. He should stop thinking about them. Easier said than done, but at least the trip to his library is quick. There are no Jiang Chengs glaring at him this morning and the elevator thankfully does not break while he is inside. Even if it does, it will be easier to fix it without the officer scrutinising his every move. The weather is also better than yesterday. It is still cold, though the temperature does not affect his body either way. Xichen spares a moment to glance up at the sky, wondering if this sunshine will last until the afternoon. He hopes spring will arrive soon. The winter has always felt lonelier for him. Most of the people he walks past look tired, unhappy to be in the cold rather than in the confines of their bed. While he is tired, he is grateful for any form of distraction to make these repetitive days pass by. Opening up this library is more an act of desperation rather than a job. Xichen rounds the last corner. He can see his library at the end of this street, but stops when he hears noises coming from an alleyway. Frowning, he turns to it. They sound like... children? He walks towards the sounds, craning his head around the brick wall.
There are four of them. One is being pushed around while the other three are jeering and calling him names. It is only when the lone kid falls to the floor that Xichen catches a glimpse of his face. Jin Ling. Xichen steps out, deliberately coughing. Almost immediately, all of their heads snap up to look at him. The other kids are already starting to back away from Jin Ling. So young and ignorant; scared of getting into trouble despite creating it in the first place. “I wonder how Officer Jiang will react if he finds out his nephew has been attacked,” Xichen says out loud. He does not miss the way Jin Ling's eyes widen at him, sheer horror at the idea of his uncle finding out. As expected, the other kids are running away before he manages to finish that sentence. Xichen sighs, shaking his head. He feels quite sorry for them. Children like that have not grown up with the right form of guidance to direct them towards good or bad. “Are you okay?” he asks Jin Ling, offering a hand. “Don't move so much, you are hurt.” The young teenager's bottom lip trembles as he swats Xichen's hand away. Despite his warnings, Jin Ling pushes himself off the ground, clutching his head. It is bleeding—and quite a lot at that. He must have hit his head on the ground when he fell. “I don't need your help!” he says, wiping his head in a hopeless attempt to stop the bleeding. Of course, with all head wounds, they do not really stop bleeding, especially not with Jin Ling's flimsy hands. “You are bleeding everywhere.” Still, Jin Ling shakes his head. “You're that criminal with the cookies!” Criminal with the cookies. Amazing. At least the addition of cookies somewhat makes this funny rather than the way Jiang Cheng calls him. Although, Xichen must admit there is not much improvement. Jin Ling glares at him again, though it is hard to see when half his head is now covered in blood. He juts his chin and spins around, making for a dramatic exit. And then starts to sway. The child groans, clutching his head.