After both sides stayed still for a moment, Wei WuXian silently turned around and fled.

"Please, run quickly." muttered Sizhui.

"Why am I running away?" asked Wei Wuxian.

Having only managed a short distance, he heard a sizzling noise, and a purple electric current wrapped around his lower leg as if it was a snake. Numbness and pain surged through his body from bottom to top, and he fell at once, after a pull from behind. Then, someone picked him up with the back of his collar. Wei WuXian immediately tried to find the Spirit-Locking Bag, but the other grabbed it before him.

Everyone was shocked. This was the second time that Jiang Cheng whipped Wei Wuxian on screen.

"Why is a-cheng acting like that again?" asked Jiang Yanli, worriedly.

The juniors don't know what to say so they just stayed silent while avoiding their gazes.

Jiang Cheng walked a few steps while holding him, entered the nearest shop, and kicked open the wooden bolt that was already half-latched.

The owner was getting ready to close the shop for the night. Suddenly, seeing that a fancy-clothed, dark-faced young man kicked open the door and walked inside with someone in his hand, appearing as if he was going to disembowel the victim right here, the owner was so frightened that he couldn’t speak. A disciple went up and whispered a few things in his ear. With some silver pushed into his hands, he quickly fled to the back of the hall and never came out again. Without any further instructions, the Jiang Sect’s disciples instantly spread out from the inside to the outside, making it so that nothing could enter or escape the place.

"A-niang looked scary." said Jingyi.

"Jiang Cheng." muttered Wei Wuxian, he is worrying about the interaction that will happen between them in the screen.

Jin Ling stood on the side, seeming as if he wanted to say a few things, but was too shocked to do so. Jiang Cheng glowered at him, “I’ll take care of you later. Stay here!”

From the beginning of his memory until now, Jin Ling had never seen such a look on Jiang Cheng’s face before. This uncle of his who led the prominent YunmengJiang Sect ever since a young age had always been cold and dark. When he spoke, he was willing to neither show mercy nor do good. Yet, right now, although he was trying hard to suppress unnecessary facial expressions, his eyes were alarmingly intense.

"I agree. I never saw Jiang-xiong like that even though he is always mad at everything." said Nie Huaisang.

"But why though?" asked Jiang Yanli.

Although his face had always been clouded, marked with arrogance and satire, it seemed as if every corner of it had come alive. It was difficult to determine whether it was vengeful wrath, fathomless hatred, or raving ecstasy.

Jiang Cheng added, “Lend me your dog.”

"What?! Why are you asking for dog?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Shijie!" he shouted and ran to Jiang Yanli.

"He is using someone's childhood trauma." said Sizhui darkly.

Lan Wangji and others who came to like Wei Wuxian was glaring at Jiang Cheng.

Jin Ling pulled himself out of the daze. He hesitated for a moment and only whistled after Jiang Cheng shot him two lightning-sharp beams from his eyes. The dog dashed over in just a few leaps. Wei WuXian, body as stiff as an iron board, could only be dragged forward, walking one step at a time.

Jiang Cheng found an empty room and threw Wei WuXian inside, closing the door behind him. The dog followed them inside and sat by the door. Wei WuXian had his eyes tightly locked on it, afraid that it would pounce on him at the next possible moment. Remembering how he had been controlled in just a short amount of time, he exclaimed in his heart that Jiang Cheng really knew the best way to deal with him.

Feeling the glare, Jiang Cheng once again stirred in his sleep.

"Can you please stop glaring at my mother." said Jingyi.

"He is different from the future." he added.

Meanwhile, Jiang Cheng slowly sat down by the table and poured himself a cup of tea.

For a moment, no one spoke a word. The cup of tea was still steaming hot. Without having a single sip of it, he hurled it onto the ground.

"I can say he is a mad man." said a random cultivator.

"How could you say that?" Jingyi asked coldly.

"Who give you the right?" asked Jin Ling.

"Say who are in their right mind to hurled the cup of tea so suddenly?" asked the cultivator back.

Everyone agreed to him.

Jiang Cheng pulled a curt smile on his face, “… Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Growing up, Jiang Cheng had seen Wei WuXian’s awful state countless times as he ran away from dogs. Others may have believed him if he denied it, but, in front of someone who knew him so thoroughly, it’d be impossible to argue. This was an obstacle harder to overcome than Zidian.

With a sincere tone, Wei WuXian replied: “I don’t know what to say to you.”

Jiang Cheng whispered: “You really don’t learn, do you?”

Ever since long ago, their conversations had been full of retorting and arguing. Wei WuXian blurted out with thinking: “And you have not made any progress either…”

"Oh I don't think that's the right thing to say.' said Nie Huaisang.

"They're not like their past self anymore." commented MianMian.

Jiang Yanli was kinda sad because she always wanted that her brothers will always stay together in the future.

Jiang Cheng laughed from the anger, “Sure, then let’s see which of us is the one who hasn’t made any progress.”

Remaining seated at the table, he shouted in a commanding way. The dog stood up immediately!

"Jiang Cheng!" screamed Wei Wuxian.

"What?" asked Jiang Cheng grumpily as his sleep was disturb by his one and only brother.

With a sleepy eyes he looked at Wei Wuxian who is shivering in her sister's embrace, he stood up.

"What happened to you?" he asked angrily.

"You." said Wei Wuxian while pointing at him.

"Me what?" he asked.

"You're a traitor." Wei Wuxian said coldly.

Jiang Cheng looked at his sister who looked at him with a glare.

"A-jie?" he asked but his sister didn't respond to him.

He looked at his son for explanation but Jingyi only looked at him sadly.

Being in the same room as it already made Wei WuXian sweat in uneasiness. Seeing that the large, snarling dog closed in on him in less than a second, his ears were full of its low howls and his entire body numbed. He had forgotten about much of his early years of wandering on the streets. The only things he still remembered was the terror he felt as he was chased by dogs and the slicing pain of teeth and claws digging into his flesh. The fear that had been planted deep within his heart couldn’t be overcome or eased no how he tried.

Suddenly, Jiang Cheng glanced sideway at him, “Whose name did you call?”

Jiang Cheng finally looked at the screen and seeing the situation, he glared at his future self.

"A-xian, shijie is here. Shijie won't let that happen again." said Jiang Yanli softly.

"I hate you, Jiang Cheng." muttered Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng was still standing while watching the scene. He felt hurt by being glared by many people, but being glared by his sister hurts more than anything making him unable to move.

Wei WuXian was in such a state of distress that he couldn’t remember whether or not he called someone’s name at all. He only managed to pull himself together after Jiang Cheng commanded the dog to back away. After a moment of hesitation, he abruptly turned his head away. On the other hand, Jiang Cheng left his seat. There was a whip attached beside his waist. With one hand on it, he bent down to look at Wei WuXian’s face. After a pause, he straightened up and asked, “Speaking of it, since when have you been so close to Lan WangJi?”

Wei WuXian immediately understood whose name he had unconsciously called out.

"Lan Zhan." called Wei Wuxian and goes to his future husband who welcomed him with an open arm.

"I am here, Wei Ying." said Lan Wangji.

"Wanyin?" called Lan Xichen but the man didn't heard him at all.

Jiang Cheng smiled menacingly, “It really is quite curious how far he went to protect you, back on Dafan Mountain.”

A moment later, he corrected himself, “No. You weren’t necessarily the one whom Lan WangJi was protecting. After all, the GusuLan Sect couldn’t have forgotten what you did with that loyal dog of yours. How could someone so celebrated for his righteousness tolerate the likes of you? Maybe he’s familiar with this body that you stole instead.”

"How dare you?!" exclaimed Lan Qiren with the deadliest glare given to him.

"You dare to say something like that?" asked Sizhui angrily.

"How vulgar are you?" he asked in disbelief.

Jiang Cheng was frozen hearing his words but seeing that everyone in the place was looking at him with a glare, he felt so small that he seek someone who can defend him. He looked at Lan Xichen, his future husband but he is also glaring at him.

'Of course he will be mad at me, it was his brother after all.' he thought to himself.

"A-niang." called Jingyi and he looked at him.

Jingyi was shocked seeing that his mother's eyes was glistening and a tear rolled down from it.

He immediately hugged his mother, guiding him back to his seat while glaring at everyone including his most beloved cousin, Sizhui.

His words were cruel and sinister. Every sentence seemed well-meaning on the surface, but was actually derogatory. Wei WuXian couldn’t bear with it any longer, “Watch your language.”

Jiang Cheng responded, “I’ve never cared for such things, don’t you remember?”

Wei WuXian mocked, “Oh, right.”

Jiang Cheng snorted, “So you think that you’re qualified to make me watch my language. Do you still remember? Last time, on Dafan Mountain, did you watch your language when talking to Jin Ling?”

Wei WuXian’s face stiffened.

"He dared to bring that up." said Sizhui in disbelief.

"Why wouldn't he? Wei-daijiu also didn't watch his language." said Jingyi.

"It's because he doesn't know." said Sizhui.

"Even if he didn't know then saying such thing hurts the most because not all of us was raised with a family. Even if he doesn't know the man then he has no right to say something like that." said Jingyi angrily.

"It's not a-niang fault for not knowing." Sizhui defended.

"Not all the things that your mother say or do is right. You only think it was right because he is your mother." said Jingyi.

"Aren't you saying that because you're also defending your mother?" asked Sizhui.

"My a-niang might be saying like that because he was left alone. Do you even know everything that happened in the past that you can judge him?" asked Jingyi.

"You call yourself a righteous man but you didn't try to understand what a person would feel hearing you guys saying like that, seeing you guys glaring like that where in fact he has no idea for what is really happening." he added.

"And you Wei-daijiu, you called him traitor for letting you near a dog when he promised that he will always protect you from it but do you know that you are the first one to broke a promise?" he asked.

Everyone was silent while listening.

"A-die, all the people I expect to hate him while watching this scene but, not you. My father in my current timeline is the most loyal person in my mother's life and I was disappointed by you." he said while looking at the man.

"No one is allowed to go near my a-niang." he said and returned his attention to Jiang Cheng who is hiding his face in his son's embrace.

Having regained the upper hand in the conversation, Jiang Cheng looked satisfied again. He sneered, “‘I suppose that you didn’t have a mother to teach you.’ Now, you really know where it hurts the most, don’t you? The person who caused Jin Ling to be criticized behind his back in such a way is nobody else but you. You’re quite the forgetful old man, aren’t you? Have you forgotten the things you said and the promises you made? Then, do you still remember how his parents died?!”

Wei WuXian immediately raised his head, “I haven’t forgotten! It’s just that…”

"Just what really happened?" asked Jiang Yanli.

"Why don't you watch?" asked Jingyi.

"Don't talk like that to her." said Jin Ling.

"Why wouldn't I? Isn't she the person my a-niang loved the most?" asked Jingyi.

Jin Ling was silent while Jiang Yanli looking at Jiang Cheng who refused to face anyone.

Yet, he just couldn’t find the right words to put after it.

Jiang Cheng interrupted, “It’s just what? You can’t say it? Don’t worry, you can go back to Lotus Pier and say your excuses while kneeling in front of my parents’ graves.”

Wei WuXian calmed himself down and searched as fast as he could for a way out of the situation at hand. Although he had always dreamed of returning to Lotus Pier once more, he didn’t want to go back to the tattered one nowadays!

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Aren't you feeling betrayed by your brother?" asked Jingyi.

"Jingyi." warned Sizhui.

"What? Do you think I will stop defending my mother? Why are you warning me? You don't want him to hear such things? I just said what he felt earlier. You're impossible, Sizhui." said Jingyi.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps approached, and the door was pounded on loudly. Jin Ling shouted from outside, “Uncle!”

Jiang Cheng raised his voice, “Didn’t I tell you to stay where you were? Why did you come here?”

"What are you going to do, a-ling?" asked Jiang Yanli.

Jin Ling gave Jiang Cheng a look before responding.

"I might have lied to jiujiu that time." he said.

Jin Ling, “Uncle, I have something really important to tell you.”

Jiang Cheng, “If there’s something important, why didn’t you decide to speak up when I was scolding you?”

“I didn’t want to say it exactly because you kept on scolding me! Are you gonna listen or not? If not, I’m just not gonna say it!” Jin Ling replied in an angry voice.

"Why are talking to him like that?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"That's because Jin Ling got his attitude from you." said Zizhen.

Jiang Cheng opened the door with a fuming look on his face, “Tell me, then get out!”

As soon as the wooden door opened, Jin Ling stepped inside. He had already changed into a new set of the white uniform. “I really did encounter something troublesome today. I think I might have ran into Wen Ning!”

"Why is it my brother?" asked Wen Qing.

"Can't you just watch?" asked Jingyi.

"Show some respect, kid." said Wen Rouhan with a dark tone.

"Do you think I'm going to cower? Then you're wrong." said Jingyi.

"Un-lan, please stop." Jiang Cheng said softly.

"Just pay attention to the scene, not to people surrounding you." he added which make Jingyi nod.

Jiang Cheng’s brow twitched. With a hostile expression, he placed his hand on his sword at once, “Where? When?!”

Jin Ling told him, “It was this afternoon. There’s a worn-down house about a dozen miles south of here. I went because I heard that something strange had happened there, but who could have guessed that there was a fierce corpse hiding inside.”

"You're clearly lying." said Jin Zixuan making Jin Ling embarrass.

"I'm going to tell a-niang about this when we get back." said Jingyi making Jin Ling shiver.

"No, you won't." said Jin Ling.

"Lets see then." said Jingyi.

Jin Ling’s word sounded quite believable. However, in Wei WuXian’s ears, all those sentences were nonsense. He knew precisely where Jin Ling was this afternoon. Moreover, if Wen Ning hid himself, unless he summoned him on purpose, there’d be no way that a junior would find him so easily.

Jiang Cheng, “Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”

Jin Ling, “I wasn’t certain. The corpse moved at a really fast speed and ran away as soon as I entered. I only saw a blurry figure. But I heard the chain noises he made on Dafan Mountain, which was why I suspected that it might have been him. If you didn’t scold me like that, I would have told you right after I came back. If he ran away and you can’t catch him, it’d be because of your bad temper, not me.” He still wanted to peek inside, but Jiang Cheng was so angered that he slammed the door right in front of his face. Through the closed door, Jiang Cheng shouted, “I’ll deal with you later. Get lost!”

"Why did you lie though?" asked Jingyi.

"You'll know." said Jin Ling.

"You shouldn't talk to your jiujiu like that." said Jiang Yanli.

"Says the one who glared at his younger brother." mocked Jingyi.

"Un-lan." Jiang Cheng said angrily.

"Fine, I'll stop." Jingyi said while kissing his mother's forehead.

Jin Ling replied with an “oh,” and his footsteps faded into the distance. Seeing Jiang Cheng turn around, Wei WuXian immediately pulled a mixed expression of “I’m so shocked,” “my secret has been disclosed,” and “what do I do now that Wen Ning had been found.” Jin Ling was actually quite clever. Knowing that Jiang Cheng hated Wen Ning more than anything, he made up such a smooth lie with the previous knowledge he had. Jiang Cheng knew that the YiLing Patriarch and the Ghost General often appeared together, so he already suspected that Wen Ning was in the area. Having heard Jin Ling’s words, he was already mostly convinced, and Wei WuXian’s expression convinced him even further. On top of that, he burst into fury whenever he heard the mention of Wen Ning’s name. With his eyes blinded by wrath, how could he still have doubted? The hostility that built in his chest was almost making him explode. He flicked his whip, hitting the ground beside Wei WuXian, and spoke through clenched teeth, “You really take this obeying dog of yours everywhere, don’t you?!”

"My brother is no dog." said Wen Qing coldly while glaring at Jiang Cheng.

"Jiang Cheng." said Wei Wuxian angrily.

Jiang Cheng didn't spare him a look and focused himself on watching and understanding the scene.

"Wanyin." called Lan Xichen softly, he regretted glaring earlier at the man he loved the most.

Wei WuXian spoke, “He’s been dead since a long time ago, and I’ve died once as well. What else do you want?!”

Jiang Cheng pointed the whip at him, “So what? My hatred would persist, even if he dies thousands of times! He didn’t perish back then. Very well! I shall destroy him today, with my own hands. I’m going to burn him right now, and scatter his ashes right in front of your face!”

"What did my brother even do to him?" asked Wen Qing.

"My brother is innocent." she added.

"Wen-guniang, I suggest you should watch to further understand the situation." said Zizhen.

He slammed the door shut behind him and walked toward the main hall, ordering Jin Ling, “You keep a close eye on him. Don’t believe or listen to anything he says! Don’t let him make any sound. If he dares to whistle or play his flute, block his mouth first. If it doesn’t work, just slice off his hand or cut off his tongue!”

Wei WuXian knew that Jiang Cheng spoke these words especially for him to hear, threatening him against doing anything. The reason why Jiang Cheng didn’t bring him along was so that he didn’t use the opportunity to control Wen Ning. Jin Ling replied in a nonchalant tone, “I know. Of course I’ll be able to watch him. Uncle, why did you shut yourself inside along with that damn cut-sleeve? What did he do this time?”

"I did nothing." said Wei Wuxian.

"Why do you seems to hate Mo Xuanyu so much." he asked Jin Ling.

"You'll find it out yourself." said Jin Ling.

"You guys seems to hide a lot." said Wei Wuxian while looking at the four juniors.

Jiang Cheng answered, “This isn’t a question you should ask. Remember to watch him properly. If I return to see that he disappeared, I’ll break your leg for sure!” After a few more questions about the exact location, he left with half of the disciples and went to chase the nonexistent Wen Ning.

After some time of waiting, Jin Ling’s arrogant voice travelled through, “You go stand over there. You, go wait on the side. All of you go stand in front of the main entrance. I’m gonna go inside and meet him.”

"What are you planning to do?" asked Zizhen.

"Something you wouldn't expect." answered Jin Ling.

"I hope it's good." said Zizhen.

None of the disciples dared to disobey. In a short while, the door had been opened again and Jin Ling stuck his head in, eyes darting around the room. Wei WuXian sat up straight. Jin Ling put a finger in front of his lips, walked in quietly, put his hand on Zidian, then whispered something.

Zidian could only work if it recognized its owner. Jiang Cheng had probably allowed it to recognize Jin Ling. The electric currents went out at once, and it transformed into a silver ring embedded with a purple crystal, lying on top of Jin Ling’s fair-colored palms.

Jin Ling said in a quiet voice, “Let’s go.”

"I'll tell a-niang about this. I'm sure you're going to say a long farewell to your legs." said Jingyi.

"You won't do that." said Jin Ling.

"Are you sure?" asked Jingyi.

"I'll tell him that you're the reason why we end up here." said Jin Ling as if challenging Jingyi to say further.

"I am his only son, he won't do anything worse to me." said Jingyi.

"I don't think so." said Jin Ling.