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Jin Ling totally forgot about the "no pets at Cloud Recesses" rule, okay? His Lan peers are always going on about the bunnies, so how was he to remember? It's absolutely not that he's trying to guilt his friends into visiting more often by getting them attached to select members of Fairy's litter!
"Spiritual dogs are very useful," he tells Ouyang Zizhen, who is already crouched in the kennel letting the pups climb all over him. Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi are still hanging back but Jin Ling knows it's only a matter of time. The pups are really cute. "You've seen what a help Fairy is to me on night hunts. And the earlier one bonds with their dog, the better. I might be willing to part with one or two of them, once they're a little older, for my friends."
"I would be honored," Ouyang Zizhen tells him seriously, letting one of the more adventurous puppies gnaw on his pinky. "Only nobody in Baling Ouyang knows anything about training spiritual dogs."
Lan Jingyi meanwhile has turned pleading eyes on Lan Sizhui. "It won't hurt just to say hi, Sizhui!"
Lan Sizhui sighs. "You're going to get attached—and then what? We can't bring one home."
Jin Ling smirks. Ouyang Zizhen has just provided the perfect opening for the second part of his plan. "I've been working with the cultivator who helped me with Fairy to develop a program here in Jinlin Tower for the training of spiritual dogs."
He's really proud of this one—it's a project entirely his own, not inherited from anyone on either side of his family. Sure Fairy was a gift from Jin Guangyao, and sure Jiang Cheng helped him take care of her at first, but the main trainers were he and Lu Yanjie, a woman who has made spiritual dogs her life's work.
If he does this one thing right, Jin Ling thinks, he will have left behind a better legacy than at least two generations of his predecessors.
"We would be happy to help," he continues, then glances sidelong at where Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui have both edged further into the kennel and tentatively offered their hands to be sniffed. "The dogs could live here permanently, while they're being trained. They'd need frequent visits for proper bonding, though. And training is as much a matter of training the human as the dog, you know."
Lan Jingyi has crept close enough now that Jin Ling grabs him by the arm and drags him down. "Sit down properly, would you? Both of you!" he demands.
The Lans acquiesce and Jin Ling puts two small puppies each on their laps. Lan Jingyi lets out a little squeak at the cuteness, and Lan Sizhui's whole face softens further. They pet the pups gently.
"Their ears are so soft," Lan Jingyi croons. "How are they this soft?"
"Don't think I don't know what you're doing," Lan Sizhui tells Jin Ling, but he's smiling, so Jin Ling thinks this might just work. And even if it doesn't, he's got his friends with him right now, and the puppies are adorable, and Fairy is lazy and happy, a warm solid presence at his back.
The puppies on Ouyang Zizhen's lap start fussing, so he lets them go and they head to their mother. He shifts to lie with his head on one of Jin Ling's knees. Jin Ling doesn't startle at it, and only stiffens for a little, before relaxing again and turning his attention to the pups.
"I think my father will support it," Ouyang Zizhen says, voice soft. He reaches one hand to a puppy on Lan Sizhui's lap. "I'll talk to him."
For now, Jin Ling thinks, looking around at his friends both human and canine, this is enough.