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Jin Ling’s jiujiu had never had many friends. Well, he had never had ANY friends if he was being honest. But his jiujiu wasn’t alone. He had all his sect disciples following him and loving him, he had a good relationship with the other sect leaders, ones of mutual respect even with the Headshaker. And he had his family, Jin Ling.
Jin Ling doesn’t know when the shift occurred, it probably started that night in Guanlin temple, maybe a bit before that. His jiujiu had become harsher, stricter and generally less fun to be around. Always pushing and pushing himself, working longer hours, taking less and less breaks, and he expected the same from the people around him. So he pushed and pushed his disciples harder and harder until they admired him, but didn’t seek him out for fear of having to train more. He was stricter and had less patience with the other sect leaders, especially Nie Huaisang, which resulted in him being isolated in conferences, being avoided for fear of being ridiculed and humiliated for a simple mistake. And he spent less time with Jin Ling. Jin Ling knew his jiujiu had tried to seek him out, but everytime they spoke, jiujiu would ask him about the sect and lecture him and Jin Ling wanted to get away from all that when he was with family, so he sought out his friends or Wei Wuxian, who only asked him how the sect was going and didn’t push further, when he had free time.
Jin Ling didn’t realise how isolated his jiujiu had become, or how hard he was pushing himself, until his jiujiu had gone on a nighthunt, alone, exhausted, and no one had noticed when he didn’t come back after a week too long, then two weeks two long, until a Jiang disciple had asked Jin Ling if his uncle was with him, since he was going to Lanling after the nighthunt.
Jin Ling had forgotten about it. He had been in Gusu since he managed to delegate his work for a few days and had forgotten his jiujiu was supposed to be in Lanling when he had come back.
Jin Ling didn’t know where his uncle had gone, but he had probably gone to another sect if the nighthunt had taken longer.
So Jin Ling sent a letter to Gusu and a letter to Qinghe, but both said Jiang Cheng hadn’t gone.
Jin Ling then started searching for his uncle in every minor sect he knew his uncle might have gone to.
Until he flew over a strange part of the forest in the area his jiujiu had hunted in.
From up in the sky, the forest had died in the shape of an enormous circle. Jin Ling wondered how no one had noticed it and reported it, but maybe the damage was from when his jiujiu had fought whatever was here.
There hadn’t been any more reports of something going wrong in that area, whether it be an attack on people or livestock, so Jin Ling figured his jiujiu had subdued whatever had attacked previously. Now that he thought about it, maybe his jiujiu had stayed in the area to help the people. He had dismissed that idea earlier since it had been a few weeks since the hunt was finished, however, seeing the amount of damage, maybe he had chosen to stay longer to help more.
Jin Ling flew to the nearest village he saw and landed near the entrance. The village was quiet. Too quiet for a village that had just been saved from a vicious yao.
He cautiously entered the village and called out for anyone.
He went deeper and deeper in the village before noticing that a lot of people were together on top of a hill.
Jin Ling didn’t think twice before heading up towards them. Not noticing his outfit being the only one with color until he was talking to the people.
Jin Ling paid his respects to the tomb in front of him and asked the people who had been buried on that day.
Strangely, none of the villagers knew the man’s name, which was why the grave was left unnamed, with the only thing written that he had been a hero who had saved the village. That's why they had buried him on the top of that hill. So he could reach the afterlife faster.
The man had been a cultivator but hadn’t named his sect upon arriving at the village, so the people assumed he was a rogue cultivator.
The people spoke of him as someone driven, polite and generous. Someone who had offered to help with rebuilding after seeing the damage that had been done to the village by the yao. Unfortunately, he had never been able to help because he had suffered a grievous injury while fighting the yao. He had succeeded in killing the yao and saved the village. The villagers had tried to heal the man, sending urgent requests for help to the sects nearby yet receiving no answer.
They had managed to keep him alive and even get him to regain consciousness after a week, yet when asked if there was anyone they could reach to help him, the man had said there was no one like that. The villagers had spent weeks trying to nurse the man back to health, but he had succumbed to his injuries in the night. Alone in the dark of the empty room he was being treated in.
They had kept only two things the man had asked them to keep and give to the first cultivator who would walk in the village again. The villagers weren’t sure what they meant, but it was a small thing to do for someone who had given his life for the village.
Jin Ling was the first cultivator they had seen since the man had died.
They gave both objects to him.
A Yunmeng Jiang spiritual bell and
And Zidian.
The man who had no one to call on his deathbed, the man who believed no one would answer if he called, had been his jiujiu.
The man who had died so alone and isolated was Jin Ling’s jiujiu. The man who had raised him, who had given his life and lived for him, had died alone in an unnamed village. With no help from all the sects the village had reached out to. Without anyone in the cultivation world noticing he was not of this world anymore.
Jin Ling begged the village to let him bring his jiujiu home. The man did have a family that loved him and did have disciples waiting for him to come back.
Although funerals were a quiet affair, Jin Ling had never seen one as silent as his jiujiu’s.
All the familiar faces around him told the same story of someone who felt guilty for a man’s lonesome death. A story he knew was also found on his own.