TFOD Chapter 17

To prevent the old fogey and young fogey from the Lan Clan from launching a midnight raid and dragging him out of bed for punishment, Wei Wuxian hugged his sword and slept for the night. Unexpectedly, the night was peaceful, and the next day, Nie Huaisang came looking for him, overjoyed: “Brother Wei, you’re truly in luck! The old man left for Qinghe last night to attend our clan’s conference. You don’t have to attend classes for the next few days!”

With the old one gone, the young one would be easy to deal with! Wei Wuxian scrambled out of bed, happily putting on his boots as he said, “Truly, luck is on my side, the heavens are helping me.”

Jiang Cheng, who was diligently wiping his sword on the side, poured cold water on him, “When he comes back, you won’t escape a beating.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why worry about what happens after death? Let’s have a few days of fun while we can. Let’s go, I refuse to believe we can’t find a few pheasants on this mountain of the Lan clan.”

The three of them put their arms around each other’s shoulders and were passing by the guest hall of Cloud Recesses when Wei Wuxian suddenly paused, saying “Huh?” and stopping in his tracks, he asked strangely, “Two young foggies… Lan Zhan!”

A few people walked out of the hall, and the two young men in the lead were the usual icy and elegant, dressed in the usual white robes, even the tassels on the backs of their swords swayed in the wind along with their sashes, only their auras and expressions were greatly different. Wei Wuxian immediately discerned that the one with the stern face was Lan Wangji, and the calm one had to be the other half of the Lan Twin Jades, Lan Xichen, also known as Ze Wu-Jun.

Lan Wangji saw Wei Wuxian, frowned, and gave him an “evil” glare, as if he would be defiled by looking at him for another moment. He shifted his gaze and looked into the distance. Lan Xichen smiled and asked, “Who might these two be?”

Jiang Cheng bowed respectfully and introduced himself, “Yunmeng Jiang Wanyin.”

Wei Wuxian also bowed, “Yunmeng Wei Wuxian.”

Lan Xichen returned the bow, and Nie Huaisang said in a mosquito-like voice, “Brother Xichen.”

Lan Xichen said, “Huaisang, I just came from Qinghe not too long ago, your elder brother was asking about your studies. How is it going? Will you be able to pass this year?”

Nie Huaisang said, “I probably will…” He looked like a wilted melon that had been hit by frost, turning to Wei Wuxian for help. Wei Wuxian giggled and asked, “Ze Wu-Jun, what are you all going to do?”

Lan Xichen said, “To eliminate water ghouls. We’re short on hands, so I came back to look for Wangji.”

Lan Wangji said coldly, “Brother, there’s no need to say more, time is of the essence, let us depart now.”

Wei Wuxian hurriedly said, “Slow down, slow down. I know how to catch water ghosts, Ze Wu-Jun, can you take us along?”

Lan Xichen smiled but didn’t answer, Lan Wangji said, “Not according to the rules.”

Wei Wuxian said, “What’s not according to the rules? We often catch water ghosts in Yunmeng. Besides, we don’t have to attend classes these next few days.”

Yunmeng had many lakes and rivers, and produced a lot of water ghouls. The Jiang family was indeed skilled at this. Jiang Cheng also wanted to make up for the face that the Yunmeng Jiang Sect had lost these past few days in the Lan family, so he said, “That’s right, Ze Wu-Jun, we will definitely be able to help.”

“There’s no need. The Gusu Lan Sect…” Lan Wangji hadn’t finished speaking when Lan Xichen said with a smile, “That’s good, then, thank you. Let’s get ready and depart together. Huaisang, would you like to go?”

Although Nie Huaisang wanted to join the fun, but the moment he met Lan Xichen, he remembered his own elder brother. Feeling apprehensive, he didn’t dare to play, saying, “I’m not going, I’m going back to study…” He hoped that Lan Xichen would say a few good words on his behalf to his elder brother next time. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng went back to their rooms to prepare.

Lan Wangji looked at the two of them from behind and frowned, puzzled: “Brother, why did you bring them along? Eliminating ghouls is not suitable for joking around.”

Lan Xichen said, “The head disciple and sole son of Sect Leader Jiang have a good reputation in Yunmeng. It’s not certain that they only know how to joke around.”

Lan Wangji didn’t agree, and his face was full of “I don’t dare to agree”.

Lan Xichen added, “Besides, isn’t it what you wanted?”

Lan Wangji was taken aback.

Lan Xichen said, “Looking at your expression, it seems like you somewhat wanted the head disciple of Sect Leader Jiang to come along, so that’s why I agreed.”

Before the hall, it was silent as if frozen.

After a long while, Lan Wangji said with difficulty, “There’s absolutely no such thing.”

He wanted to argue, but Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng had already returned with their swords on their backs with lightning speed. Lan Wangji could only shut his mouth, and the group departed on their swords.

The place where the water ghouls were causing trouble was called Caiyi Town, which was over twenty *li* away from Cloud Recesses.

Waterways interconnected in Caiyi Town. It was unclear whether the small town had a dense network of rivers or whether the houses hugged closely to the banks of the spider web-like waterways. White walls, gray tiles, and the waterways were crowded with boats, baskets and buckets, men and women. Flowers and vegetables, bamboo carvings and pastries, bean tea and silk, all were sold along the river.

Gusu was located in the Jiangnan region, so the sounds that entered the ear were all soft and gentle. Two boats bumped into each other, spilling a few jars of glutinous rice wine, even the way the two boatmen argued was like the singing of orioles. Yunmeng had many lakes, but there were few small towns like this with waterways. Wei Wuxian found it fascinating, and he bought two jars of glutinous rice wine, handing one to Jiang Cheng, saying, “The people of Gusu speak so sweetly. This isn’t a quarrel, if you go see how people in Yunmeng quarrel, it could scare them to death… Lan Zhan, why are you looking at me? It’s not that I’m being stingy and not buying it for you, it’s just that people from your sect aren’t allowed to drink.”

Without much delay, they took over a dozen thin small boats and headed towards where the water ghouls were gathering. Gradually, the houses on both banks became fewer and fewer, and the river became quiet. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng each occupied a boat, competing to see who could paddle faster while also listening to information about the water ghouls here.

This river led to a large lake ahead called Biling Lake. For decades, there had never been water ghouls causing trouble in Caiyi Town, but in recent months, people had been falling into the river and Biling Lake frequently, and cargo ships were also inexplicably sinking. A few days ago, Lan Xichen had set up a formation and cast nets here, and had thought that he would be able to catch one or two, but who would’ve expected that he would catch over a dozen water ghouls in a row. When the corpses’ faces were cleaned and taken to nearby towns for inquiry, many corpses had no one to claim them, and the locals didn’t recognize them. Yesterday, he set up a formation again, and actually caught quite a few more.

Wei Wuxian said, “To say that they drowned in other places and floated here, doesn’t seem likely. Water ghouls recognize their territory, usually only staying in the body of water where they drowned, rarely leaving.”

Lan Xichen nodded, “That’s right. So, I feel that this matter is not trivial, and I had Wangji come along to be prepared for anything unexpected.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Ze Wu-Jun, water ghouls are very clever. If we keep looking slowly by paddling like this, what if they hide at the bottom of the water and don’t come out? Won’t we be looking forever? What do we do if we can’t find them?”

Lan Wangji said, “Keep searching until we find them. It’s our duty.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Just use nets to catch them?”

Lan Xichen said, “That’s right. Does the Yunmeng Jiang Sect have other methods?”

Wei Wuxian smiled but didn’t answer. The Yunmeng Jiang Sect of course also used nets, but he relied on his good swimming skills, and always jumped into the river and dragged the water ghouls directly up. This method was too dangerous, and he definitely couldn’t use it in front of the people of the Lan Clan, or if it reached Lan Qiren’s ears, he would inevitably get another round of scolding. He changed the subject, “If there was something that could attract water ghouls to come by themselves, like fish bait, that would be great. Or something that could point out their location, like a compass.”

Jiang Cheng said, “Keep your head down and look at the water, concentrate on your search. Stop with your whimsical thoughts.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Cultivating immortality and flying on swords, that was once whimsical thinking too!”

He lowered his head and happened to see the bottom of the boat that Lan Wangji was riding on. An idea struck him, and he called out, “Lan Zhan, look at me!”

Lan Wangji was concentrating and on guard. When he heard that, he couldn’t help but look at him, only to see Wei Wuxian swing his bamboo pole, and *splash*, a pole of water splashed out. Lan Wangji tapped the ground with his foot, lightly jumping onto another boat, avoiding the splash of water. He was annoyed that he had indeed come to play and fool around, so he said, “Boring!”

Wei Wuxian instead kicked the side of the boat that Lan Wangji had been standing on. He used his bamboo pole to flip the boat over, exposing the bottom of the boat. And on the bottom of the wooden planks, there were actually three water ghouls with bloated faces and dead-white skin clinging tightly to it!

The disciples who were close immediately restrained these three. Lan Xichen smiled and said, “Young Master Wei, how did you know they were at the bottom of the boat?”

Wei Wuxian tapped the side of the boat, “Simple! The displacement is off. There was only one person standing on the boat just now, but the displacement was heavier than a boat with two people, so there must be something clinging to the bottom of the boat.”

Lan Xichen praised, “Indeed, very experienced.”

Wei Wuxian gently pushed the water with his bamboo pole, and the small boat sped up, and drew parallel to Lan Wangji. With the two boats next to each other, he said, “Lan Zhan, I didn’t mean to splash water at you just now. Water ghouls are very clever. If I said it out loud, they would’ve heard it and run away. Hey, pay attention to me. Look at me, Second Young Master Lan.”

Lan Wangji condescended to acknowledge him and glanced at him, saying, “Why did you come along?”

Wei Wuxian sincerely said, “I came to apologize to you. I was in the wrong last night, I was wrong.”

Lan Wangji’s brow twitched. He probably hadn’t forgotten how Wei Wuxian had “apologized” to him before. Wei Wuxian asked knowingly, “Why does your face look so bad? Don’t worry, today I really came to help.”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t take it anymore and said, “If you want to help, then stop talking nonsense, come over here!”

One of the disciples shouted, “The net moved!”

Sure enough, the net rope shook rapidly for a while. Wei Wuxian was invigorated, “They’re here, they’re here!”

Thick black hair like silk surged all over the sides of the dozen or so small boats, and pairs of pale white hands grabbed onto the sides of the boats. Lan Wangji drew his sword in a backhand, Bichen was unsheathed, and he sliced off the wrists of over a dozen hands on the left side of the boat, leaving only the hands whose fingers had dug deeply into the wood. He was just about to slash the right side when a flash of red light passed, and Wei Wuxian had already sheathed his sword.

The disturbances in the water ceased, and the net rope returned to calm. Wei Wuxian’s sword had been extremely fast, but Lan Wangji had already seen that the sword on his back had to be a top quality spiritual sword, so he asked with a solemn tone, “What is the name of this sword?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Anything.”

Lan Wangji looked at him. Wei Wuxian thought he hadn’t heard clearly, so he said it again, “Anything.”

Lan Wangji frowned and refused, “This sword has a spirit, to call it anything, is disrespectful.”

Wei Wuxian sighed, “Think outside the box. I’m not telling you to call it anything, but that the name of my sword is ‘Anything’. Look.” Saying this, he passed it over to let Lan Wangji clearly see the writing on the sword. Two ancient characters were engraved among the patterns on the sheath, indeed the characters for “Anything.”

Lan Wangji was speechless for a long while.

Wei Wuxian said considerately, “You don’t have to say it, I know, you must be wondering why it’s called this name? Everyone asks, is there any special meaning? Actually, there is no special meaning, it’s just when Uncle Jiang gave me the sword he asked what I wanted to call it? I thought of over twenty names then, but wasn’t satisfied with any, and I thought about just letting Uncle Jiang pick a name, so I answered ‘Anything!’. Who knew that when the sword was forged, these two characters would be on it. Uncle Jiang said, ‘Since that is the case, then the sword will be called anything.’ Actually, this name is not bad, right?”

Finally, Lan Wangji squeezed out two words from between his teeth, “….Ridiculous!”

Wei Wuxian put the sword on his shoulder and said, “You’re too boring. This name is so fun, you always fall for it, like a trap, haha!”

Just then, a long black shadow flashed by the small boats in the green lake. After Jiang Cheng finished slaying the water ghouls on his side, he was still on guard for any stragglers. When he saw the black shadow, he immediately shouted, “They’re here again!”