TFOD Chapter 60
by VolareLan Wangji said, “According to records, every time it appeared, it would eat at least two or three hundred people, and at most, an entire city or village. In the several times it caused chaos, it ate at least five thousand people alive.”
Wei Wuxian said, “Oh. It must be full.”
This demonic beast seemed to like to swallow people whole into its shell, perhaps it liked to store them up and enjoy them slowly. Maybe it was that four hundred years ago, it stored too much food in its shell, and still hasn’t digested it.
Lan Wangji ignored him. Wei Wuxian then said, “Speaking of eating, have you ever practiced abstaining from grains? With our level of cultivation, we can probably last for three or four days without eating or drinking. But if after three or four days, no one comes to save us, our physical strength, energy, and spiritual power will all start to weaken.”
If Wen Chao’s group just fled and then turned a blind eye, it would be fine. If we waited three or four days, maybe we would get reinforcements from other families. But I’m afraid that the Wen family will not only not help us, but also make things worse. The so-called “other families” only include the Gusu Lan Sect and the Yunmeng Jiang Sect. If the Wen family tries to hinder or obstruct, the time of “three or four days” might have to be doubled.
Wei Wuxian pulled back the branch and drew a rough map on the ground, connecting a few lines. He said, “Mount Muxi is closer to Gusu than to Yunmeng, so your family should be the first to arrive. Let’s wait patiently. Even if they don’t come, we only need to wait one or two more days at most, and Jiang Cheng will also be able to return to Lotus Pier. Jiang Cheng is quick-witted, and the Wen family won’t be able to stop him, there’s nothing to worry about.”
Lan Wangji lowered his eyes, looking listless, and said in a low voice, “They won’t come.”
Wei Wuxian said, “Huh?”
Lan Wangji said, “Cloud Recesses has been burned down.”
Wei Wuxian tentatively asked, “…Are the people still alive? Your uncle, your brother.”
He originally thought that even if the head of the Lan family, Lan Wangji’s father, was severely injured, there should still be Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen to manage the overall situation. However, Lan Wangji said woodenly, “Father is about to die. Elder brother is missing.”
The branch that Wei Wuxian was using to draw on the ground froze.
When they went up the mountain, that aristocratic young master had mentioned that the Lan family head was severely injured. But he hadn’t expected him to be so severely injured as to be “about to die.” Maybe Lan Wangji had just received the latest news these past two days, saying his father was dying.
Although the head of the Lan family had been in seclusion for years, and was indifferent to outside affairs, a father was still a father. And coupled with the fact that Lan Xichen was also missing, no wonder Lan Wangji had been so gloomy and unusually irritable today. Wei Wuxian immediately felt awkward, and didn’t know what to say.
Who knew, when he turned his head absentmindedly, he froze.
The firelight illuminated Lan Wangji’s face, making it look like warm jade, and it also clearly illuminated the tear stain on his cheek.
Wei Wuxian was stunned, thinking, “This is a disaster!”
Someone like Lan Wangji might only shed tears a few times in his entire life, and one of those few times had to be seen by him. He couldn’t stand seeing other people cry the most. He couldn’t stand seeing a woman’s tears; when he saw them, he would want to go up and coax her and tease her until she smiled through her tears. He especially couldn’t stand seeing a man’s tears. He had always felt that encountering the tears of a usually strong man was more terrifying than accidentally seeing a virtuous girl bathing. Yet he couldn’t go up and comfort him.
With the multiple blows of his family estate being burned down, his whole family being oppressed, his father on the brink of death, his elder brother missing, and his own injuries, any comfort would be pale and ineffective.
Wei Wuxian didn’t know where to put his hands and feet. He turned his head away. After a long while, he said, “That, Lan Zhan.”
Lan Wangji coldly said, “Shut up.”
Wei Wuxian shut up.
The firewood crackled as it burned.
Lan Wangji quietly said, “Wei Ying, you are really annoying.”
Wei Wuxian said, “Oh…”
He thought, “So many things have happened, and Lan Zhan’s heart is in a terrible mess, yet here I am, walking around in front of him. No wonder he’s so angry. His leg is injured and he doesn’t have the strength to hit me, so he can only bite me… I think I’d better leave him some peace and quiet.”
After a while, he still said, “Actually, I didn’t mean to annoy you… I just wanted to say, are you cold? Your clothes are dry, you can have my inner robe, I’ll keep the outer robe.”
The inner robe was his close-fitting garment, originally not suitable for Lan Wangji to wear, but his outer robe was already so dirty that it was unpresentable. People of the Gusu Lan Sect were naturally fond of cleanliness. Giving this kind of garment to Lan Wangji seemed a bit offensive. Lan Wangji didn’t speak, nor did he look at him. So, Wei Wuxian tossed the dried white inner robe to his side, put on his outer robe, and silently rolled away.
They waited for three days.
There was no sun or moon in the cave, and they knew it had been three days thanks to the Lan family’s outrageous daily routine; they automatically fell asleep when it was time, and automatically woke up when it was time. Therefore, they could calculate the time by seeing how many times Lan Wangji had slept.
With these three days of rest and recuperation, the injury on Lan Wangji’s leg had not worsened, and was slowly healing. Soon he began meditating and practicing his cultivation again.
These past few days, Wei Wuxian hadn’t been in front of him. When Lan Wangji regained his calm and adjusted his emotions, and returned to being the same Lan Zhan with no waves, no emotions, and no expressions, he then returned as if nothing had happened, shamelessly pretending that he hadn’t seen or heard anything that night, and with great sense of propriety, he no longer teased him for fun. When the two were together, they were neither warm nor cold, but were peaceful.
During this time, the two of them explored near the black pool several times. The Tortoise of Slaughter had already dragged all the corpses into its shell. The pitch-black, enormous tortoise shell floated on the water, like an indestructible giant warship. The first few times, they heard heavy chewing sounds coming from inside. The next few times, they didn’t hear anything, but instead heard sounds similar to snoring after falling asleep, like muffled thunder.
The two of them wondered if they could take advantage of the demonic beast’s sleep to sneak into the water and find an escape tunnel, but they would be detected by the demonic beast after wandering underwater for the duration of one incense stick. And even after searching many times, they still couldn’t find the tunnel that Jiang Cheng had mentioned. Wei Wuxian suspected that it was blocked by a part of the demonic beast’s body. He wanted to lure it out of the water again, but the demonic beast seemed to be tired after the big commotion, and didn’t like to move around much.
They picked up the scattered arrows, longbows, and iron brands on the shore. After bringing them back and counting, they had over a hundred arrows, more than thirty longbows, and more than a dozen iron brands.
At this time, it was already the fourth day.
Lan Wangji picked up a longbow with his left hand, carefully examining its material. He plucked the bowstring with his right hand, and it actually produced a clear metallic sound.
These were bows and arrows used by the cultivation families to hunt demons and ghosts at night. The materials used to make the bows and arrows were not ordinary. Lan Wangji took all the bowstrings off the bows, connecting them end to end, and formed a long string. He stretched the string tight with both hands, and with a sudden flick, the bowstring flew out like lightning. A flash of white light passed by, and a rock three zhang away was shattered into pieces.
Lan Wangji pulled back and retrieved the string. The bowstring made a sharp whistling sound in the air.
Wei Wuxian said, “String Killing Technique?”
The String Killing Technique was one of the secret techniques of the Gusu Lan Sect, created and passed down by Lan An’s granddaughter and the third-generation head of the family, Lan Yi. Lan Yi was also the only female head of the Gusu Lan Sect. She cultivated using the guqin, which had seven strings that could be quickly dismantled and reassembled. The seven strings, from thick to thin, could play a noble melody under her snow-white and soft fingertips one moment, and then in the next moment, they could cut through bone and flesh like mud, becoming deadly weapons in her hands.
Lan Yi created the String Killing Technique for the purpose of assassinating dissidents, so she was quite criticized. The Gusu Lan Sect also held a subtle opinion of this sect head. But it was undeniable that the String Killing Technique was the strongest and most versatile combat technique of the Gusu Lan Sect’s secret arts, whether for close or ranged combat.
Lan Wangji said, “Break through from the inside.”
The tortoise shell was as solid as a fortress, its surface extremely hard, seemingly impenetrable. But the more it was like this, the more vulnerable its body parts hidden inside the shell would likely be. Wei Wuxian had also thought about this these past few days, and he was clear in his heart.
What he was even clearer on was the current situation. After three days of recuperation, their current condition had just reached its peak. If they waited and dragged it out any longer, they would gradually decline. And now that the fourth day had passed, the people who were supposed to rescue them still had not come.
Instead of waiting to die, it was better to give it their all. If the two of them could work together and kill this Tortoise of Slaughter, they would be able to escape from the water tunnel at the bottom of the black pool.
Wei Wuxian said, “I agree, break through from the inside. But I have heard of your family’s String Killing Technique. Inside the tortoise shell, it’s too cramped and not conducive to your abilities, and coupled with the fact that your leg injury hasn’t healed, I’m afraid that its effectiveness will be discounted?”
This was the truth, and Lan Wangji understood. They both understood that charging forward and forcing themselves to do things that they weren’t capable of would only be a hindrance and have no other effect.
Wei Wuxian said, “Listen to me.”
A small portion of the Tortoise of Slaughter’s shell was still floating on the surface of the black pool.
Its four animal claws and head and tail were all retracted inside. There was one large opening in front, and five small openings on the left, right, and back. It was like an isolated island, a small mountain. The mountain was pitch-black, uneven, covered in moss, and hung with green, dark, long water plants.
Silently, Wei Wuxian, carrying a bundle of arrows and iron brands on his back, like a slender silver fish, submerged in the water in front of the Tortoise of Slaughter’s head opening.
Half of this opening was submerged in the black pool, so Wei Wuxian swam into it along the water. After passing through the head opening, he flipped over into the inside of the tortoise shell. Wei Wuxian landed on the “ground”, as if he had stepped into a thick layer of mud. The “mud” was soaked in water, and a pungent stench assaulted him, forcing him to almost curse aloud.
The stench was a combination of rotten and sickly sweet, reminding Wei Wuxian of a fat, dead rat he had seen by a lake in Yunmeng. He pinched his nose, thinking, “This damned place… Luckily, I didn’t let Lan Zhan come in. With how he doesn’t do manual labor, he would have thrown up immediately after smelling this odor. If he didn’t throw up, he’d be passed out from the stench.”
The Tortoise of Slaughter let out a slow, rumbling snore. Wei Wuxian held his breath and walked quietly. His feet sank deeper and deeper. After three steps, the muddy substance was already past his knees. There seemed to be some hard lumps in the mud and pool of water. Wei Wuxian bent down slightly, and after feeling around a few times, he suddenly touched something hairy.
It felt like human hair.
Wei Wuxian retracted his hand. He knew that these were the people who had been dragged in by the Tortoise of Slaughter. After feeling around again, he touched a boot. Half of the leg inside the boot had already rotted, becoming half flesh, half bone.
It seemed that this demonic beast was very untidy. The leftovers it hadn’t finished eating, or the parts it hadn’t had time to eat, would leak out from the gaps between its teeth, and would be spat out into the shell. Over hundreds of years, it had piled up into a thick layer. And right now, Wei Wuxian was standing in this corpse mud that was composed of broken limbs.
He had already been covered in grime these past few days, making him unrecognizable. Wei Wuxian didn’t care about getting any dirtier. He casually wiped his hands on his pants, and continued to walk forward.
The demonic beast’s snoring became louder and louder, the air currents became heavier, and the corpse mud beneath his feet also became thicker. Finally, his hand lightly touched the demonic beast’s uneven skin. He slowly continued to feel around along the skin. Indeed, the head and neck were covered in scales, and further down, the skin was rugged and hard, and the further down it went, the thinner and more vulnerable the skin became.
By this time, the corpse mud had reached Wei Wuxian’s waist. Most of the corpses here had not been eaten completely. The remaining bodies were all in large chunks. They shouldn’t be called corpse mud, but corpse heaps. Wei Wuxian reached behind him, ready to take down the arrows and iron brands, but he found that the iron brand was caught by something and couldn’t be taken out.
He gripped the long handle of the iron brand, and pulled it out with force. As he did so, the front end of the iron brand pulled out something from the corpse pile, making a soft “clang” sound.
Wei Wuxian froze immediately.
After a while, there was no movement around them, and the demonic beast had not attacked. He finally breathed a sigh of relief silently, thinking, “Just now, the iron brand seemed to have gotten stuck on something. Judging by the sound, it was also made of iron? And it’s very long, let’s see if it’s useful. I need weapons at hand, if it’s a high-grade spirit sword, that would be great!”
He reached out his hand and touched the object, which was long and dull, and its surface was covered in rust.
The moment he grabbed it, Wei Wuxian heard screams.
The screams were like a thousand people wailing in despair in his ears. Instantly, a chill climbed up his arm and spread throughout his entire body. Wei Wuxian shuddered and quickly retracted his hand, thinking, “What is that thing? The resentment is so strong!”
At this time, the surroundings suddenly became bright. A faint reddish-yellow light projected Wei Wuxian’s shadow, illuminating a pitch-black iron sword in front of him. This sword was diagonally inserted into the area where his shadow’s heart was.
But this was inside the Tortoise of Slaughter’s shell, how could there be light?
Wei Wuxian suddenly turned his head back, and sure enough, a pair of golden eyes were close at hand.
He had just realized that the muffled, rumbling snoring had disappeared. And the reddish-yellow light was coming from the Tortoise of Slaughter’s eyes!
The Tortoise of Slaughter bared its black and yellow fangs, and roared.
Wei Wuxian was standing in front of its fangs. The sound waves of the roar hit him head-on, making his ears almost burst and his entire body ache. Seeing it bite down, he quickly shoved the bundle of iron brands into its mouth. The timing and position of this shove were just right, not too much and not too little. It wedged the demonic beast’s upper and lower jaws open!
Taking advantage of the fact that the demonic beast couldn’t close its mouth, Wei Wuxian forcefully plunged a bundle of arrows into the weakest part of its skin. Although the arrows were thin, Wei Wuxian had bundled them together in groups of five. When they pierced the demonic beast’s flesh, he pushed them all the way in until the tail feathers were submerged. It was like stabbing in a poisonous needle. In its sudden pain, the Tortoise of Slaughter bent the iron brands that had been keeping its mouth open. The seven or eight iron brands that had been straight were bent into hooks by its powerful bite force. Wei Wuxian stabbed a few more bundles of arrows into its soft skin. This demonic beast, since its birth, had never suffered such a great loss. It was in so much pain that it went crazy. Its snake body thrashed about inside the tortoise shell, and its snake head slammed back and forth. The corpse piles also tumbled around like a landslide. Wei Wuxian was almost buried in the foul-smelling limbs. The Tortoise of Slaughter widened its eyes, its yellow eyes vicious, opening its mouth wide, as if it was trying to swallow mountains and rivers in one gulp. The corpse piles slid towards its mouth like a flood. Wei Wuxian struggled desperately against the tide, and suddenly grabbed an iron sword. He felt a chill in his heart, and that heart-wrenching, wailing scream rang in his ears again.
Wei Wuxian’s body had already been sucked into the Tortoise of Slaughter’s mouth. Seeing that the demonic beast was about to close its mouth, he grabbed the iron sword, and used the same trick, wedging it between the demonic beast’s upper and lower jaws.
The internal organs of these hundred-year-old demonic beasts were mostly corrosive. As soon as a person was swallowed, they would be melted into a wisp of smoke!
Wei Wuxian firmly grabbed the iron sword, like a thorn, wedging it in its mouth, unable to move up or down. The Tortoise of Slaughter slammed its head around for a while, but no matter what, it couldn’t swallow this thorn that wouldn’t let it close its mouth. However, it also didn’t want to let go. Finally, it rushed out!
It had been terrified by Wei Wuxian’s stabbing inside the tortoise shell, as if it wanted to escape from the shell completely. It desperately squeezed its body out, exposing the soft flesh that had been hiding and protecting within this layer of armor. Lan Wangji had already laid down the line at the head opening, waiting for a long time. As soon as the Tortoise of Slaughter rushed out, he pulled the line and plucked the string, the bowstring vibrated, cutting into the flesh!
This demonic beast was forced by the two of them to neither be able to go out nor in. It was a deformed demonic beast, not a real divine beast, and originally didn’t have much intelligence. The pain drove it completely crazy. It thrashed its head and tail around, charging and tumbling in the black pool, creating a huge vortex and huge waves. But no matter how crazy it became, one of the two of them was firmly stuck in its mouth, making it unable to bite or eat, and the other was using the string to tightly choke the vital parts where its skin was thinner, cutting into it inch by inch. The wounds cut deeper and deeper, and the blood flowed more and more!
Lan Wangji tightly gripped the bowstring, never letting go, and persevered for three hours.
After three hours, the Tortoise of Slaughter gradually stopped moving.
The demonic beast’s vitals had been cut by Lan Wangji’s bowstring until they were almost separated from the body. Due to the excessive force, his palms were also full of blood and scars. The enormous tortoise shell floated on the surface of the water. The water of the black pool had been dyed a visible purple-red. The bloody stench was as strong as a purgatory asura pool.
With a *plop*, Lan Wangji jumped into the water and swam to the vicinity of the snake’s head. The Tortoise of Slaughter’s eyes were still wide open, its pupils had already become unfocused, but its fangs were still tightly clenched.
Lan Wangji said, “Wei Ying!”
There was no sound coming from the demonic beast’s mouth.
Lan Wangji suddenly reached out, gripped the upper and lower teeth, and forcefully pried them apart. He was swimming in the water and had no way to brace himself. It took him a long while to pry them open. A pitch-black iron sword was stuck in the Tortoise of Slaughter’s mouth. Both the hilt and the tip of the sword were deeply embedded in its mouth, and the body of the sword was bent into an arc.
Wei Wuxian was curled up like a shrimp, his head lowered, his hands still tightly gripping the not-so-sharp blade of the iron sword, and he was about to slide into the Tortoise of Slaughter’s throat. Lan Wangji immediately grabbed his collar and pulled him out. As the Tortoise of Slaughter’s jaw opened, the iron sword slipped into the water and sank to the bottom of the pool.
Wei Wuxian’s eyes were tightly closed. He was slumped softly on Lan Wangji’s body, one of his arms draped over his shoulder. Lan Wangji held his waist and floated with him in the blood-filled water. He said, “Wei Ying!”
His hands trembled slightly, and he was about to reach out to touch Wei Wuxian’s face when Wei Wuxian suddenly shuddered, abruptly woke up, and said, “What happened? What happened? Is it dead? Is it dead?!”
He thrashed around a bit, causing both of their bodies to sink slightly in the water. Lan Wangji tightened his grip around his waist and said, “It’s dead!”
Wei Wuxian’s gaze was a bit lost, as if he was having some difficulty reacting. He thought for a while, and then said, “Dead? Dead… good! It’s dead. Just now it kept yelling while thrashing around, it made me pass out. Oh right, the tunnel! The tunnel under the water, let’s go quickly. Let’s go out from the water tunnel.”
Lan Wangji noticed that his reaction was strange and said, “What’s wrong with you?”
Wei Wuxian perked up and said, “Nothing’s wrong! Let’s go out quickly, no time to waste.”
It was indeed urgent. Lan Wangji nodded, “I’ll carry you.”
Wei Wuxian said, “No need…” Lan Wangji’s right hand was still like an iron hoop around his waist, not allowing any argument, and said, “Take a breath.”
Submerging in the water in this dazed state was likely to cause an accident. Wei Wuxian also didn’t like to show off, and nodded. He didn’t care about the dirty blood water, the two of them took a deep breath and submerged.
After a while, two water splashes broke the purple-red water surface, and the two of them emerged again.
Wei Wuxian spat out a mouthful of blood water with a “Pah”, wiped his face, which was now smeared with purple-red, making him look even more disheveled. He said, “What’s going on?! Why isn’t there a tunnel?!”
Jiang Cheng had indeed said that there was a water tunnel under the black pool that could accommodate five or six people at the same time, and that the other aristocratic young masters had indeed escaped through that tunnel. Wei Wuxian originally thought it was blocked by the Tortoise of Slaughter’s body, which was why they couldn’t find it, but now that the Tortoise of Slaughter’s corpse had been moved, there was no water tunnel at the spot where it had been previously.
Lan Wangji’s hair was dripping wet, and he didn’t answer. The two of them looked at each other, and they both thought of a terrifying possibility.
Perhaps… the Tortoise of Slaughter had thrashed its claws around in its agony and had collapsed the rocks underwater, or had kicked something, and had just happened to have blocked the only escape tunnel underwater…
Wei Wuxian broke free from Lan Wangji’s arm, and dove into the water. Lan Wangji followed. After searching thoroughly, they still couldn’t find a tunnel. Not even one that could accommodate one person.
Wei Wuxian said, “What do we do?”
After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji said, “Let’s go up first.”
Wei Wuxian waved his hand, saying, “…Let’s go up.”
The two of them were exhausted. They slowly swam to the shore and came out of the water, their whole bodies covered in bloody purple-red. Wei Wuxian took off his clothes, wrung them out, and shook them with force, unable to stop himself from cursing, “Is this messing with us? I was thinking that if no one came to save us, we wouldn’t even have the strength to fight, that’s why I came to fight it. And then, after finally killing it, that bastard tortoise crushed the tunnel. Dammit!”
Hearing the word “dammit”, Lan Wangji’s eyebrows twitched. He wanted to say something, but he held back.
Wei Wuxian was cursing while shaking his clothes with force, and suddenly, his legs gave out. Lan Wangji quickly rushed forward to support him. Wei Wuxian held his hand and said, “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I used up all my strength. Oh right, Lan Zhan, did you see a sword that I was holding in its mouth? Where is that sword?”
Lan Wangji said, “It sank to the bottom of the water. Why?”
Wei Wuxian said, “It sank? Forget it then.”
When he had held the sword tightly just now, he had kept hearing deafening screams, and he felt cold all over and dizzy. That iron sword must be something extraordinary. This Tortoise of Slaughter demonic beast had eaten at least five thousand people. When it dragged people fully into its shell, there must have been many who were still alive. That heavy sword was perhaps the relic of a cultivator who was swallowed. It had been hidden in the corpse pile of the tortoise shell for at least four hundred years, and was soaked in the deep resentment and pain of countless living and dead people. He had heard their screams.
Wei Wuxian had wanted to keep the sword and take a good look at this piece of iron, but since it had already sunk, and they were now trapped here and couldn’t get out, it was better to leave it for now. If he mentioned it too much, Lan Wangji would notice something, and it would only lead to disputes. Wei Wuxian waved his hand, thinking, “There really isn’t one good thing!”
He dragged his feet forward. Lan Wangji silently followed behind him. After walking two steps, Wei Wuxian’s legs gave out again.
Lan Wangji supported him again. This time, he put a hand on his forehead. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Wei Ying, you… are very hot.”
Wei Wuxian put his hand on his forehead and said, “You’re hot too.”
Lan Wangji took his hand away and said in a low voice, “That’s because your hand is cold.”
Wei Wuxian said, “It seems like I’m a bit dizzy.”
Four or five days ago, he had thrown all the crushed herbs from his sachet onto Lan Wangji’s leg. He only wiped the wound of the brand on his chest, and he hadn’t been resting these past few days. Just now, he had been in the corpse pool, tossing and turning. His condition had finally worsened.
Wei Wuxian had a fever.
After barely managing to walk for a while, Wei Wuxian became increasingly dizzy. He couldn’t walk any further, so he simply sat down on the spot and said in confusion, “Why is it so easy for me to get a fever? I haven’t had a fever for many years.”
Lan Wangji didn’t want to comment on his “so easy”, and said, “Lie down.”
Wei Wuxian did as he was told and lay down. Lan Wangji grabbed his hand and started transferring spiritual energy to him.
After lying down for a while, Wei Wuxian sat up again. Lan Wangji said, “Lie down properly.”
Wei Wuxian pulled back his hand, saying, “You don’t need to give me any, you don’t have much left yourself.”
Lan Wangji grabbed his hand again, repeating, “Lie down properly.”
A few days ago, Lan Wangji had no strength, so he was frightened and made to endure. Today, it was finally Wei Wuxian’s turn to have no strength and could only let Lan Wangji manipulate him.
But Wei Wuxian was the kind of person who couldn’t stand being idle, even when lying down. After a while, he started clamoring, “It’s too hard. It’s too hard.”
Lan Wangji said, “What do you want?”
Wei Wuxian said, “Change where I’m lying.”
Lan Wangji said, “Where else do you want to lie at this time?”
Wei Wuxian said, “Let me use your legs as a pillow, okay?”
Lan Wangji said expressionlessly, “Stop making trouble.”
Wei Wuxian said, “I’m serious. My head is so dizzy. You’re not a girl, what’s there to be afraid of by lending me your legs?”
Lan Wangji said, “Even if I’m not a girl, you can’t just lie down wherever you want.”
Seeing him frown, Wei Wuxian said, “I’m not making trouble, you stop making trouble. I don’t accept this, Lan Zhan, tell me, why?”
Lan Wangji said, “Why what?”
Wei Wuxian barely managed to flip over and lay on his stomach, saying, “Everyone else says I’m annoying, but they like me in their hearts. Why is it that when it’s your turn, you always have an unpleasant look on your face? We’ve been through life-and-death together, right? You’re unwilling to even lend your legs to me as a pillow, and you still want to lecture me. Are you seventy or eighty years old?”
Lan Wangji said in a low voice, “You’re delirious from your fever.”
Perhaps he was indeed delirious from his fever. After a while, Wei Wuxian fell asleep.
When he was asleep, he felt like he was lying in a good spot, as if he had really put his head on someone’s lap. A cool hand was on his forehead, making him very comfortable. He felt happy in his heart and rolled around joyfully, and no one reprimanded him. When he rolled onto the ground, he was gently patted on the head. He was picked up and continued to rest his head on someone’s lap.
But when he woke up, he was still lying on the ground. At most, his head was cushioned by a pile of leaves, making it a little more comfortable to sleep on. Lan Wangji was sitting far away from him, and had started a fire. The firelight illuminated his face like a beautiful jade, warm and elegant.
Wei Wuxian thought, “It really was a dream.”
Their self-rescue path had been cut off, and they were trapped in the underground cave. They could only wait for the Yunmeng Jiang Sect to come to their rescue. Two more days passed. In these two days, Wei Wuxian had a low fever, and would wake up, then sleep, then wake up again. It was all thanks to Lan Wangji intermittently transferring spiritual energy to him that he was barely able to maintain his current condition and not worsen.
Wei Wuxian said, “Ah. This is so boring.”
Wei Wuxian: “It’s really so boring.”
Wei Wuxian: “It’s too quiet.”
Wei Wuxian: “Aaaaah–”
Wei Wuxian: “I’m hungry. Lan Zhan, why don’t you get up and get some food? Get some of that tortoise meat.”
Wei Wuxian: “Forget it, I won’t eat it. The meat of this man-eating demonic beast must be smelly. You still shouldn’t move.”
Wei Wuxian: “Lan Zhan, why are you like this, so boring? Your mouth is closed, and your eyes are closed, you’re not talking to me, and you’re not looking at me. Are you practicing Zen? A monk? Oh, right, your ancestors were monks. I forgot.”
Lan Wangji said, “Be quiet. You still have a fever. Don’t talk. Save your strength.”
Wei Wuxian said, “You finally replied to me. How many days have we been waiting? Why hasn’t anyone come to save us yet?”
Lan Wangji said, “It hasn’t even been a day.”
Wei Wuxian covered his face and said, “Why is this so difficult? It must be because I’m with you. If Jiang Cheng had stayed here, even yelling at him would be more interesting than being with you like this. Jiang Cheng! Where the heck have you gone?! It’s almost been seven days!!!”
Lan Wangji poked a branch into the fire, and this poke actually brought out a burst of sword intent. Fire sparks flew everywhere. He coldly said, “Rest.”
Wei Wuxian curled into a shrimp ball again, his face facing him, saying, “Did you get it wrong? I just woke up, and you’re asking me to rest again. Do you really not want to see me awake?”
Lan Wangji withdrew the branch, straightened himself, and said, “You’re overthinking it.”
Wei Wuxian thought, “He’s impossible to persuade. He’s better than the Lan Zhan from a few days ago, whose face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, who spoke with emotion, and who would bite me when he was agitated. But that kind of Lan Zhan is not something you can encounter anytime, I’m afraid I won’t have the opportunity to see him again in the future.”
He said, “I’m so bored. Lan Zhan, let’s chat. You start.”
Lan Wangji said, “When did you usually sleep in the past?”
Wei Wuxian said, “You started with a question that is so boring. It’s dry and makes people very…unwilling to continue. But, I’ll give you the courtesy and continue. Let me tell you, in Lotus Pier, I’ve never slept before the hour of chou (1-3 am). I often stay up all night without sleeping.”
Lan Wangji said, “Careless. A bad habit.”
Wei Wuxian said, “Do you think everyone is like the people in your family?”
Lan Wangji said, “You should change it.”
Wei Wuxian covered his ears and said, “I’m sick. I have a fever, Second Brother Lan, can you say something nice? To coax this pitiful me?”
Lan Wangji kept his mouth shut, not saying a word. Wei Wuxian said, “You can’t say it? Okay, I knew it. If you can’t say it, can you sing? Is singing okay?”
He was just saying it casually, just to have a verbal sparring match with Lan Wangji to pass the time. He had no hope of him agreeing, but who knew, after a moment of silence, a low and gentle singing voice echoed softly in the empty cave.
Lan Wangji had actually started singing.
Wei Wuxian closed his eyes, turned over, spread his limbs, and said, “That’s nice.”
He said, “What’s the name of this song?”
Lan Wangji seemed to have said something in a low voice. Wei Wuxian opened his eyes and said, “What’s the name?”