[For as much as Wei Wuxian likes to complain even now about Jiang Cheng's bad attitude, the truth is he's the last person to criticize him in earnest. Wei Wuxian knows, in some ways even more than Jin Ling, exactly how much Jiang Cheng has had to balance. He was there for some of it, and the cause of most of it.]
I don't blame him. [It's said almost as softly as Jin Ling's words, quiet in a way that has nothing to do with how tired he is. They weren't family anymore, not in any way they can acknowledge at least. They weren't friends and could barely pass for allies. They were neutral at best, able to part without violence though it was hardly as though any warmth lingered between them. At least not from Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian loves him. Will always love him. For Jiang Cheng's sake he'll stay away and hope his once shidi can find the peace he so desperately deserves.
And even if it's a pain in the ass, he can't help but smile at the echoes of his brother that he sees in Jin Ling. Stubborn and proud, unwilling to ask for help. But so big-hearted he doesn't know what to do with it. Though with Jin Ling, there's a softer edge, a thinner barrier of self defense, and a soft kindness in his eyes no matter how he tries to conceal it that can only have come from Shijie.
His train of thought has him melancholic and he shakes it off, pushing those things aside. There's no use dwelling on such things right now.]
When we find an inn and you get some rest, you don't have to wait for me. It's going to be a few days before I can go, right? I won't keep you.
[It's one thing for the cultivation world to see him as a bad influence on Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji's reputation could withstand it, and he knew how to silence that kind of talk. Jin Ling is still a kid in so many ways, and Wei Wuxian knows that there are those within and outside of the Jin Sect who would see him fail in order to vie for power of their own. He won't make it easier for them by giving them reason to throw Jin Ling's acquaintance with the Yiling Patriarch into the spotlight.]
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I don't blame him. [It's said almost as softly as Jin Ling's words, quiet in a way that has nothing to do with how tired he is. They weren't family anymore, not in any way they can acknowledge at least. They weren't friends and could barely pass for allies. They were neutral at best, able to part without violence though it was hardly as though any warmth lingered between them. At least not from Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian loves him. Will always love him. For Jiang Cheng's sake he'll stay away and hope his once shidi can find the peace he so desperately deserves.
And even if it's a pain in the ass, he can't help but smile at the echoes of his brother that he sees in Jin Ling. Stubborn and proud, unwilling to ask for help. But so big-hearted he doesn't know what to do with it. Though with Jin Ling, there's a softer edge, a thinner barrier of self defense, and a soft kindness in his eyes no matter how he tries to conceal it that can only have come from Shijie.
His train of thought has him melancholic and he shakes it off, pushing those things aside. There's no use dwelling on such things right now.]
When we find an inn and you get some rest, you don't have to wait for me. It's going to be a few days before I can go, right? I won't keep you.
[It's one thing for the cultivation world to see him as a bad influence on Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji's reputation could withstand it, and he knew how to silence that kind of talk. Jin Ling is still a kid in so many ways, and Wei Wuxian knows that there are those within and outside of the Jin Sect who would see him fail in order to vie for power of their own. He won't make it easier for them by giving them reason to throw Jin Ling's acquaintance with the Yiling Patriarch into the spotlight.]