[Group SangXuan]

There were baskets of flowers in their hands instead of Sabers. The Disciples were striding around the Unclean Realm, doing last minute preparations. Despite the commotion outside, The Woshi was silent.

He had to act spineless to keep an eye on Jin GuangYao and unconsciously dragged Lan Xichen along. But despite being called the Head Shaker, Nie Huaisang had always been good with dealing with Sect Issues. Even though their wedding was just 2 days from now, on the Waxing Crescent, Nie Huaisang didn't say much to Mo XuanYu. It was as if he was waiting for something or someone.

This time even the fragrance of paint wasn't enough to sooth Mo XuanYu. There were so many things clattering his brain and he felt in war with his own emotions. Of course he loved Nie Huaisang, that was why he even sacrificed his soul.

Even though he was getting the love of his life all to himself, Mo XuanYu felt nothing but despair. He never hoped let alone imagined the day but it was going to happen and just two days from now.

"Sang-Xi." Mo Xuanyu scribbled another array on the paper but even that didn't fit the description of what he needed. He discarded it along with rows of other crumpled paper.

"Hm?" Nie Huaisang didn't even look up from his scriptures, from fast few days he didn't even call his name. Mo XuanYu felt like stabbing himself once more.

"Are you doing this out of pity?" He had finally asked the question what was lingering in his mind for long. It was the pity that made Jin GuangYao accept Mo Xuanyu in to the Koi Tower. It was the pity which made Madam Mo give them space and it was pity that Mo XuanYu sacrificed himself.

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[Flashback: Mo XuanYu]

The one and only happy memory of his childhood was with his Mother. She was the ordinary servant at the Mo Village but her beauty was of no match. All the servants even Madam Mo was sometimes jealous of her striking beauty. And that was what caught Jin GuangShan's attention. Even after Mo XuanYu was born, Jin Guangshan didn't forget about her beauty and recruited Mo XuanYu as one of the Lanlin Disciple.

The servant was promoted to being Second Lady of Mo and she was highly respected. Even Madam Mo had to respect her after all, as long as she was the Lover of Jin GuangShan, the Mo Village was granted many privileges.

Mo XuanYu's childhood was epitome of happiness, he found himself running around the pavilion with Mo Ziyuan -- his cousin, along with A-Ding and A-Tong. Mo XuanYu even inherited his mother's beauty.

When Mo Xuanyu was recruited by Jin GuangShan, it was Jin GuangYao who was sent to fetch him. And their first encounter happened at the Mo Village. His smiling face was etched into Mo XuanYu's mind, and it was indeed a beautiful smile.

Jin GuangYao treated Mo XuanYu especially nice, the disciples thought maybe it was a pity since they both were half brothers but things were different in Jin GuangYao's mind.

" A- Yu, are you still practicing with Jian?" Jin GuangYao would often check on him while practicing. His pace was slower than the rest and his body was feeble than the others.

"Yao-ge! I was just.." Mo Xuanyu sighed and continued ,

"The others wielded their blades today, and I haven't even properly cultivated a core let alone wield a blade."

Jin GuangYao smiled and took the Katana from his hand,

"A- Yu, everyone has their own pace, you needn't rush things." Jin GuangYao led him to the open garden and they sat there.

"I'm sure, I must have said it many times by now.." Jin GuangYao chuckled as he poured Mo Xuanyu some tea,

"I have the weakest core out of all."

"That's not true Yao-ge!" Mo XuanYu exclaimed. Jin GuangYao chuckled again and passed him the tea cup.

"A- Yu, it is very true. Have you seen me wield my saber inside the palace?" He stared at the tea cup with longing. Jin GuangYao had a saber - HenSheng -  instead of a blade because it was given to him by Nie Mingjue, his Da-ge.

"A- Yu, let me show you something. "

Mo Xuanyu gulped down his tea, after that they both entered the secret chamber of Jin GuangYao.

"I had no idea you had a place like this in the tower." Mo Xuanyu was amazed at the collection he had. All the old blades and sabers, even the treasured items were kept there.

"Every man has a little past time. " Jin GuangYao smiled and lead him to the scriptures on the table.

Jin GuangYao was skipping through scriptures to find something for Mo Xuanyu and Mo XuanYu was busy examining the room. His eyes fell on the peculiar blade,

"Sui..bian.. Suibian! " Mo Xuanyu laughed a little at the name of the blade.

"That is the blade of Yiling Laozu." Jin GuangYao guided him.

"Really? When I was little I always thought that Yiling Laozu was a god and couldn't be killed. But in the end he died by his own Shidi." Mo XuanYu grabbed the Suibian and traced his fingers on the carving, he tried to unsheath it but it didn't budge.

"The Sword has sealed itself." Jin GuangYao informed, still skipping through scriptures.

"What?? but that means.. wouldn't it ... how???" Mo Xuanyu had never heard of a sword sealing before. Since he was studying blades currently, he had looked up into the history of a lot of blades and sabers.

When a cultivator dies, the sword loses the spirit as the core cultivating it also dies. It becomes an ordinary blade without any spiritual powers but the fact that Suibian had sealed itself meant it still had spiritual power or maybe the Core cultivating it hadn't die completely.

Even Shuoyue lost its spirit when Jin Zixuan died. But it regained the spirit when Jin Ling cultivated a core.

Jin GuangYao took the Suibian from him and placed it back to its place,

"I do miss the touch of saber, Da-ge."

Mo XuanYao was confused, Jin GuangYao was talking to himself? Jin Guangyao gathered his attention back to the scriptures,

"What do you think of these?"

"What are these?"

"The scriptures of Yiling Laozu."

Mo XuanYu almost retraced his hand but after looking over the smiling face of Jin GuangYao he took the scriptures and skimmed through them. His mind was quickly consumed by wonder. He almost doubted if these belonged to Yiling Patriarch.

"If disciples had these, the cultivation would thrive tremendously." Mo Xuanyu was beyond impressed. The possibilities were countless. The world was missing on such great inventions.

"And Yiling Loazu did it all without relying on his core." Most of the inventions had no fusion of spiritual energy or whatsoever, so Jin GuangYao assumed. He patted his shoulder and showered him with a smile. Maybe it was his way to cheer his little brother?

Mo Xuanyu got up and hugged him tight in excitement,

"You're the best Yao-ge."

He quickly broke the hug and begun to read all the scriptures one by one. Mo Xuanyu was thrilled and wished he had met the Yiling Patriarch in person.

Days went by and Mo Xuanyu found himself in the bed room of Jin GuangYao reading through the Yiling Patriarch's scripters. Lady Qin Su didn't mind much as she would spend most of her time with Jin Rulan and Jin Rusong.

The happiness didn't last for long when the rumors started to circulate about the two. Jin GuangYao didn't pay much attention to them as he was already used to being talked about, but he was worried about Mo Xuanyu so he kept him where they rumors were least expected to reach.

Jin Guangshan on the other hand, made sure that Mo XuanYu would get extra attention and love. It was his way to look down on Jin GuangYao. He would purposely send Jin GuangYao to send treasures for Lady Mo. Even if he had sent just the half of the what he was sending to Lady Mo, Meng Shi would've been alive.

When Jin GuangYao tried his best to move on with his life, the people purposely provoked him, and everything terrorized him, his wife or sister, his son, his father , his Da- ge and now his half brother.

No matter how much he tried to run and escape, the things would always play out the way he hated most. What did he really want? Just a genuine praise for being who he was? Was that too much to ask?

. . .

"Oh! he gave you those scriptures without batting an eye and here I had to make tea for him everyday just to let him grace me with his presence." the boy laughed as he strolled towards Mo XuanYu. He held Jiangzai over his shoulder and carried a smirk on his face.

"Cheng Mei." Mo Xuanyu jolted a little. Cheng Mei was the most prominent disciple of them all. He never spent time or trained with others not even talked to them. It was as if he was in a world different from theirs.

"So did you really seduce him? and here I thought he liked the feisty ones, poor Chifeng Zun." Cheng Mei laughed again as he twirled Jiangzai in the air.

"What are you trying to say?" If Mo Xuanyu had to be honest, Xue Yang terrified him. He had the aura of a devil.

"I'll tell you if you let me have a look at those." Cheng Mei placed his arm around Mo Xuanyu who squinted in response. He gripped on the scriptures tight to not let them go.

"What are you doing to A- Yu, Cheng Mei?" Jin GuangYao called from the entrance. Xue Yang removed his arm and gave his iconic smirk. Mo Xuanyu hid behind Jin GuangYao and he only patted him a little.

"Why don't you call me A- Yang as well I'm sure we're pretty close ourselves?" Xue Yang laughed, almost at himself.

Jin Guangyao sighed again,

"Flattery doesn't suit you Cheng Mei."

"It sure does suit you Lianfeng-Zun." The smirk on his face only grew bigger.

Jin Guangyao was aware of Xue Yang's personality and it was easier for him to work with him without plastering a fake smile on his face. Zewu-Jun, Chifeng Zun, Huaisang, Mo Xuanyu and even Cheng Mei had witnessed his genuine smile but not all could differentiate it from the fake one.

Xue Yang unsheathed Jiangzai and Mo Xuanyu started trembling in fear. Everyone were aware how bizarre Xue Yang could be and nobody dared to go on his bad side. Mo Xuanyu captured Jin GuangYao in a hug out of fear but Xue Yang only smirked.

"What are you doing A-Yu???"

Jin GuangYao shouted. Mo Xuanyu had never heard him raise his voice, all the disciples outside came rushing in and saw Mo XuanYu clutched tightly to LianFang-Zun. They gasped, rumors were true! Mo Xuanyu was a cut sleeve!

They dragged him away from Jin GuangYao, Mo Xuanyu was shocked for the first time ever he had not seen a smile on his face but the tears. Xue Yang patted the shoulders of Jin GuangYao but he didn't stop smirking.

"He's aware that I'm married yet he..."

Mo XuanYu was stunned. The words left his tongue and tears filled his eyes. He couldn't believe at the sight. They tricked him! He tricked him!

Without even knowing the cause, Mo Xuanyu was kicked out of the Koi Tower.

. . .

"And I polished Jiangzai for nothing, you have gotten soft Lianfang zun." Cheng Mei wiped Jiangzai, hoping he would get to use it on Mo Xuanyu. Jin GuangYao was the type of person who would wipe away all the hurdles in his path instead of facing them but he didn't even hurt a hair on his (MXY) head. Maybe he did wish for peace?

"You're going to use Jiangzai very soon." Jin GuangYao stated as he picked up the scripture dropped by Yiling Patriarch.

Few days later, Jin GuangShan died.

. . .

Lady Mo was thrown into the donkey shed along with her son. The moment their treasure was cut off her pride was rolled through the mud. The real colors of all the people soon appeared on their faces as they were drinking vinegar for far too long. Mo Xuanyu told his mother about what really happened but she only shouted at him,

"How could you do that your mother?" Lady Mo blamed Mo Xuanyu for their current state. Not only he wasted his time reading the Yiling Patriarch's scriptures but also didn't cultivate a core.

Mo Xuanyu wasn't able to process who Jin GuangYao really was and now his own mother was upset from him.

Suddenly dropping into the donkey shed from luxurious life was a big blow, on top of that people taunted her along with her son.

Mo Xuanyu tried his best to stable her mother but she was pushed into madness. One day she covered her face with the powder which was gifted to her from Jin GuangShan himself. She made herself like a hanged ghost when she truly hanged herself to death.

It was traumatizing.

[Flashback ends]

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Mo Xuanyu didn't notice when Nie Huaisang was already in front of him. He cupped his face and wiped tears from his face. Mo Xuanyu didn't mean to cry but recalling all the things had made him even more bitter.

Nie Huaisang smiled and with the delicate hands, he joint their lips together.

"I do love you, Mo Xuanyu."

That was all it took to cover all his scars. 

*Jian - sword

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Sorry for errors and thank you for reading.