The wings are clearly visible. Growing long, flight-capable feathers out of his arms had meant that Jin Zixuan had taken to wearing robes with shorter sleeves. Wen Ning can gawk all he wants as they walk to their destination. Though any outright staring will earn him a hefty eye roll.
Jin Zixuan is not in the habit of looking down at the ground as he walks, especially when he's on the lookout for potential attackers. So the withering plants go unnoticed by him as well. He focuses on getting them back to his residence, figuring it will be a safe place.
"It's... fine. It's understandable for you to be confused, showing up in the middle of things as you have. Normally they give a presentation to teach you everything you need to know." Or at least set you on the beginning of the path. There still had been much that Jin Zixuan had had to figure out for himself.
Finally, they reach their destination-- a fancy looking house in a nicer quarter of the residential district of the Haven. Inside the doors, the foyer is clean and neatly decorated, with the sigils of a lotus and a peony hanging on the wall along with some framed photos. Jin Zixuan busies himself with securing the door, before gesturing for Wen Ning to follow him deeper into the house.
Once they reach the courtyard, dark and shadowed with an empty, haunting fountain positioned in the middle of it, it becomes clear that all is not right in this nightmarish mirror of the place Jin Zixuan and his family call home.
Bodies are strewn about the courtyard, lying motionless on the ground in pools of blood. Even from a distance, it's clear who they are.
Jiang Cheng. Jiang Yanli. Jin Ling.
Jin Zixuan freezes in place, struck dumb by the shock of seeing his loved ones (and Jiang Cheng) so brutally murdered.
cw: dead bodies
Jin Zixuan is not in the habit of looking down at the ground as he walks, especially when he's on the lookout for potential attackers. So the withering plants go unnoticed by him as well. He focuses on getting them back to his residence, figuring it will be a safe place.
"It's... fine. It's understandable for you to be confused, showing up in the middle of things as you have. Normally they give a presentation to teach you everything you need to know." Or at least set you on the beginning of the path. There still had been much that Jin Zixuan had had to figure out for himself.
Finally, they reach their destination-- a fancy looking house in a nicer quarter of the residential district of the Haven. Inside the doors, the foyer is clean and neatly decorated, with the sigils of a lotus and a peony hanging on the wall along with some framed photos. Jin Zixuan busies himself with securing the door, before gesturing for Wen Ning to follow him deeper into the house.
Once they reach the courtyard, dark and shadowed with an empty, haunting fountain positioned in the middle of it, it becomes clear that all is not right in this nightmarish mirror of the place Jin Zixuan and his family call home.
Bodies are strewn about the courtyard, lying motionless on the ground in pools of blood. Even from a distance, it's clear who they are.
Jiang Cheng. Jiang Yanli. Jin Ling.
Jin Zixuan freezes in place, struck dumb by the shock of seeing his loved ones (and Jiang Cheng) so brutally murdered.