TFOD Chapter 71

After descending the mountain path and taking a hidden side route to leave Cloud Recesses, they traveled further and further away until they had completely left the area where the Gusu Lan Sect disciples were active. Suddenly, Wei Wuxian said, “Oh dear, my stomach hurts.”

Lan Wangji immediately stopped and said, “Rest, change the dressing.”

Wei Wuxian said, “No need. I’ll be fine once I sit down.”

Lan Wangji said, “You sit.”

Wei Wuxian made a face and said, “But the motion of getting on the donkey is too big, I’m afraid it will pull my wound.”

His wound had long healed; this was clearly just an excuse. Lan Wangji stopped, turned around, looked at him, and suddenly reached out, avoiding his injured area, and hugged his waist. He lightly lifted him and placed him on Little Apple’s back.

One of them rode the donkey, the other walked beside them. Wei Wuxian sat on Little Apple’s back, his eyes curving into crescents as he laughed. Lan Wangji asked, “What is it?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Nothing.”

It was as if he had done something mischievous, and he felt a little smug inside.

Although he didn’t remember many things from his childhood, one scene was always vaguely imprinted in his mind.

A small path, a small, speckled donkey, and three people. A man in black gently lifted a woman in white, picked her up, and placed her on the back of the little speckled donkey, then lifted a small child high and carried him on his shoulders.

He was that small child who couldn’t even reach someone’s knees. Sitting on the black-clad man’s shoulders, he suddenly became very tall and imposing. He would grab the man’s hair one moment and rub his face the next, his legs kicking non-stop, making babbling sounds. The woman in white swayed on the donkey’s back, watching them, seemingly smiling. The man, on the other hand, remained silent, not liking to talk, only lifting him a little higher to make him sit more securely, holding the donkey’s reins with one hand. The three of them squeezed onto the small path, slowly walking forward.

This was one of his few memories.

Those were his father and mother.

Wei Wuxian said, “Lan Zhan, why don’t you hold the reins for a bit?”

Lan Wangji asked, “Why?”

Little Apple was very clever, it wasn’t as if it didn’t know how to follow behind people. Wei Wuxian said, “Just humor me, hold them for a bit.”

Although he still didn’t understand why Wei Wuxian was smiling so brightly, Lan Wangji still complied and picked up Little Apple’s reins, holding them in his hand.

Wei Wuxian muttered to himself, “Hmm. All that’s missing is a little one.”

Lan Wangji asked, “What?”

Wei Wuxian was secretly pleased and said, “Nothing much. Lan Zhan, you’re really a good person.”

They were heading to Yiling, where the future was clearly uncertain, and the odds seemed unfavorable. However, Wei Wuxian couldn’t feel nervous at all. Riding on a little speckled donkey, with Lan Wangji leading the way with the reins, his heart was light and carefree as if he were floating on clouds. He felt that even if a crowd of large and small cultivation families suddenly appeared from the side of the road, it wouldn’t be a big deal, other than being a nuisance and spoiling the mood. He even had the leisure to admire the moonlit fields, and he pulled out the bamboo flute from his waist. Naturally, he played a melody.

The flute notes were clear and resonant, and Lan Wangji’s steps faltered slightly. Wei Wuxian’s heart suddenly lit up.

He said, “Lan Zhan! I’m asking you, that song you sang to me at the bottom of the Xuanwu Cave in Muxi Mountain, what was its name?”

Lan Wangji looked at him and asked, “Why do you suddenly remember to ask this?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Just tell me, what’s its name? I think I’ve figured out how you recognized me.”

That night on Dafan Mountain, the tune he had played as if possessed was precisely the melody that Lan Wangji had softly sung beside him when he had a low fever and was semi-conscious at the bottom of the Xuanwu Cave in Muxi Mountain!

Lan Wangji remained silent. Wei Wuxian urged, “Speak up, what song is it? Who composed it?”

Lan Wangji replied, “I did.”

Wei Wuxian said, “You composed it?!”

Lan Wangji said, “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian had originally thought that the song was some kind of secret, unshared tune of the Gusu Lan Sect, but unexpectedly it was like this. He was both surprised and happy. It was not necessary to mention what he was surprised about, but he could not explain what he was happy about. He tentatively asked, “If you really recognized me like that, that means—you’ve never let anyone else hear this song?”

Lan Wangji replied, “Never.”

Wei Wuxian was so happy that he kicked Little Apple hard. Little Apple cried out in anger, as if trying to kick him off, but Lan Wangji quickly tightened the reins. Wei Wuxian hugged Little Apple’s neck and said, “It’s okay, it’s just in its nature, it only does this for a short while. Let’s continue. Then what is its name?”

Lan Wangji asked, “What do you think?”

Wei Wuxian said, “What do you mean, what do I think? Does it even have a name?” He muttered in his heart, *Could it be that Lan Zhan’s naming style is the same as Jiang Cheng’s? Impossible!* He said, “Are you asking for my opinion? I think it might be good to call it…”

After over eighty carefully chosen names were rejected by Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian’s excitement finally gradually waned.

To avoid bumping into cultivators searching for them on the main roads, the two of them chose to travel on remote rural paths. After traveling for a day, Wei Wuxian felt slightly tired and thirsty. He noticed a farmer’s house by the side of the road, so Lan Wangji reined in Little Apple.

There was no answer when they knocked on the door, and when they pushed it again, the door actually opened on its own. In the center of the courtyard was a handmade wooden table, and on it sat a basin of unhulled beans. By the earthen wall, there was a tall stack of straw, with a rake sticking out of it. Small chickens pecked at the ground, running around.

Wei Wuxian saw a few melons piled up in the corner of the courtyard. He walked over, picked one up, and said in a serious tone, “The owner isn’t here, so let’s help ourselves, Hanguang-Jun.”

Lan Wangji was about to take out some silver and place it on the table when the sound of footsteps came from outside the wall. There were two sets of footsteps, one following the other, indicating that the owners were returning home. For some reason, the moment he heard the footsteps, Wei Wuxian immediately pulled Lan Wangji behind the straw stack.

Fortunately, Lan Wangji had always been calm and composed, so he didn’t make a sound when Wei Wuxian suddenly pulled him. But he was obviously confused as to why they were hiding. Wei Wuxian also thought, “That’s right, why are we hiding? The villagers in this rural area won’t recognize us. It would be fine to just say that we are here to buy food, right? Perhaps it’s because I’ve done too many bad things. I’m just used to it.”

However, this pull of his had caused Lan Wangji to be pinned down onto the soft straw pile. This half-forced position created a strange sense of excitement within him. He simply decided not to get up and put on a solemn expression, raising his index finger to signal Lan Wangji not to make a sound. Then, pretending that this was unavoidable, he rested comfortably on top of him, feeling an unspeakable joy in his heart.

The sound of wooden stools being moved came from the courtyard. The two farmer owners seemed to be sitting down at the small wooden table. A female voice said, “Second brother, let me hold him.”

Upon hearing the words “second brother”, Lan Wangji paused slightly.

At this moment, a male voice said, “You can just shell the beans.” Then, there was the sound of a child’s soft babbling in his sleep.

It seemed that this was a young married couple. The wife was preparing dinner, while the husband was holding their sleeping child.

Wei Wuxian smiled at Lan Wangji and winked his left eye. He whispered, “How coincidental, one of the owners of this farm is also a ‘second brother’.”

The end of his sentence rose in a teasing tone. Lan Wangji swept a deep gaze over him and turned his head away. Wei Wuxian felt a surge of pleasure and leaned close to his ear, softly calling, “Lan Second Brother.”

Lan Wangji’s breathing seemed to pause for a moment, and the gaze he turned towards Wei Wuxian seemed to carry a warning.

In the courtyard, the wife chuckled and said, “You’re not good at holding him. If you wake him up, won’t I have to be the one to coax him back to sleep?”

The husband said, “He was playing like crazy today. He’s exhausted, he won’t wake up now.”

The wife continued to snap the beans with her hands as she said, “Second brother, you really have to teach A-Bao better. He’s only four years old and he’s already like this. How will he be when he grows up? He’s already made other kids cry a few times. They said they don’t want to play with him anymore.”

The husband said, “But they still play with him every time. They say they don’t want to but in their hearts, they obviously still want to play with him.”

Wei Wuxian chuckled and said, “Lan Second Brother, what are your thoughts on that sentence? Do you agree?”

Lan Wangji said, “Don’t speak.”

Their volume was so low that ordinary people would not be able to hear them. While the young couple was chatting casually, Wei Wuxian had already leaned close to Lan Wangji’s ear and relentlessly called “Lan Second Brother” seven or eight times in a light and soft voice. Lan Wangji seemed to have finally reached his limit and suddenly flipped over.

His movements were both fast and steady. The straw stack did not move, but Wei Wuxian was now pinned beneath him.

Lan Wangji said in a low voice, “Call me again, and I’ll silence you.”

Wei Wuxian reached out towards his face. Lan Wangji instantly grabbed his wrist. Wei Wuxian said seriously, “Hanguang-Jun, there’s straw on your forehead.”

Upon hearing this, Lan Wangji slowly released his hand. Wei Wuxian helped him remove the tiny piece of straw and held it up in front of his eyes, saying smugly, “See, I didn’t lie to you.”

Before he could be smug for long, he heard the young wife say, “But even so, we can’t let A-Bao bully others, right?”

Her husband casually said, “Let him be, little boys are like that, they only bully the ones they like. They just want others to look at him.”

Upon hearing this, Wei Wuxian’s smile froze.

At this time, it seemed that the young child had woken up and was babbling a few words in a childish voice. The couple quickly went to coax him. After a while, the child fell asleep again. The young woman said, “Second brother, I was telling you earlier to teach A-Bao properly, it’s not just because of that, but also because things haven’t been peaceful recently, you need to make sure that he doesn’t go wandering around and comes home earlier every day.”

The husband said, “I know. Is it because of the old graves being dug up near the village these past few days?”

The wife said, “I heard it’s not just around our village, but also that many ancestral graves in the city have had problems. It’s too strange. A-Bao should play at home more, don’t always go out.”

The husband said, “Yeah. When I heard about the digging of graves I thought of him. Sure enough, the rumors have spread throughout the city.”

Wei Wuxian could do nothing but feel helpless about the fact that he and “digging graves” had been linked together. Honestly speaking, he had done a lot of such things in the past. The most famous instance was during the middle of the Sunshot Campaign, where he dug up all the tombs of the past generations of the Qishan Wen Clan, turning all the corpses into fierce corpses. And whenever he killed a Wen Clan cultivator, he would also refine them into puppets, then drive them to slaughter their own relatives and friends. During the Sunshot Campaign, these deeds were considered inspiring and praiseworthy. However, the longer the Sunshot Campaign had passed, the more others became terrified and disgusted when they mentioned it again. Not only others, but even he himself felt that he had gone too far when he thought about it later. Added to the fact that his identity had just been exposed a few days ago, he couldn’t blame people for thinking it was the Yi Ling Patriarch who was digging up graves everywhere when they heard it happening.