TFOD Chapter 104

Entering the room, he closed the door behind him. Wei Wuxian leaned against the doorframe, and after hearing Lan Wangji’s soft closing of the door outside, he immediately raised his hand and slapped himself on the cheek.

He heavily sat down on the wooden cot, burying his still-burning face into his palms. The heat did not subside even after a long while. Both his face and his body felt hot. He picked up the teapot on the table and splashed the water on his head and face, but it had no effect. He was now covered in the scent of Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian knew that if he continued to stay here, thinking that Lan Wangji was just a wall away, and thinking about what they had been doing not long ago, he would not have a moment of peace tonight. He definitely could not stay in this place tonight.

He pushed open the wooden window, stepped onto the window frame, and leaped out lightly, like a black cat, landing silently on a street outside the inn.

The night was deep, and there was no one on the street, which was convenient for Wei Wuxian to run wildly alone.

He stopped after running past the wall that Lan Wangji had scribbled on when he was drunk.

The wall was covered with messy rabbits, pheasants, and little heads. Looking at it, Wei Wuxian remembered the way Lan Wangji had focused when drawing them, and the way he had pulled him to admire them after he was done, and he couldn’t help but curl the corners of his mouth.

An unparalleled regret surged into his heart.

If only he hadn’t acted so recklessly when he was drunk.

At least now he could pretend to be incredibly upright and single-minded, shamelessly hanging around on Lan Wangji’s bed, squeezing next to him to pretend to sleep or fall asleep peacefully, instead of having a sleepless night and rushing out of the inn to run wildly down the street like a headless fly.

Wei Wuxian reached out, brushing over the two little heads on the wall that were kissing with pouting lips, and then moved to the “Lan Wangji was here” written above. These sentences had to be erased, but before erasing them, he traced the trajectory of these three characters with his fingertip, over the name “Lan Wangji.”

Once, twice, three times.

The more he traced, the more reluctant he was to let go.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound. It was the middle of the night, and he became alert. He rounded the corner of the wall and saw a black-clad figure crouching on the wall, using a small rasp to carefully scrape away the scribbled marks on the wall.

Wei Wuxian: “…”

Wen Ning turned his head, his face covered in white dust, and said, “Young Master, why are you here?”

Wei Wuxian asked, “What are you doing?”

“Oh.” Wen Ning said, “I saw that Young Master Lan wrote so much, and if the people here see it tomorrow, it might cause them trouble, so I’m erasing some of it…” He paused, then asked strangely, “Where is Young Master Lan?”

Wei Wuxian lowered his head and said, “He’s resting. I came out for a stroll.”

Wen Ning sensed that his mood was off and stopped what he was doing. He said, “Young Master, is something wrong?”

He took a few steps closer to Wei Wuxian and suddenly froze, taking several steps back. Wei Wuxian was stunned. “What are you doing now?”

Wen Ning looked frightened and quickly waved his hands, “No, no, nothing!”

Wei Wuxian could tell that he was embarrassed. He glanced casually and noticed several red marks on his wrist, where Lan Wangji had grabbed him when he pressed him onto the bed. Touching his lips, they were still slightly red and swollen. At the time, they were hugging and rolling around on the cot, completely out of their minds, wishing they could be fused together. Lan Wangji had been biting and nibbling on him, so his neck must have also been a mess. If Wen Ning had any color in his face, it would probably be so red it was dripping blood. Wei Wuxian didn’t know what to say, “You…sigh!”

He sat down by the corner of the wall and sighed, “I want to drink.”

Wen Ning immediately said, “I’ll go buy some.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Come back! Why are you running?”

Wen Ning came back, “Looking for wine…”

Wei Wuxian said, “I’m talking about you… I just said it casually, you actually went to look for it. You’re not really my servant.”

Wen Ning said, “I know.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Besides, do you have any money?”

Wen Ning said, “No…”

Wei Wuxian said, “See! I knew it!”

Wen Ning said enviously, “But, Young Master Lan has a lot… a lot of money… it’s so good.”

“Sigh.” Wei Wuxian knocked the back of his head against the wall a few times, sighing repeatedly, “Forget it. I’m never drinking again.”

Wen Ning was stunned, “Why?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Drinking ruins things. I’m going to quit.”

Wen Ning’s mouth twitched. Wei Wuxian said, “What do you mean by that? Don’t you believe me?”

Wen Ning mumbled, “No, no… But, back then, didn’t your sister try everything to make you quit drinking, but it didn’t work…”

“Haha, haha.” Wei Wuxian remembered, “Wasn’t her method to stick needles into me every three days?”

After laughing, Wei Wuxian suddenly said, “Wen Ning, have you ever thought about what you are going to do after all these messy things are over?”

Wen Ning was stunned, “What to do?”

Now, Wen Ning had almost no close relatives left in this world, not even many acquaintances. He had never been good at making decisions for himself, and he had no decisiveness. He was either following behind Wen Qing or behind Wei Wuxian. Apart from that, he probably didn’t know where to go or where he could go. But Wei Wuxian always hoped that he could find his own path. But saying it made it sound like he was driving him away.

Thinking about it again, Wen Ning didn’t know where to go, but did he know? When he was with Lan Wangji, he hadn’t thought about this question at all, naturally thinking that it would always be like this, without change. But after tonight, maybe he and Lan Wangji would never be able to return to that kind of relationship. Leaving Lan Wangji and wandering freely around the world alone didn’t seem impossible.

But there was a voice in Wei Wuxian’s heart that was clearly telling him: It wasn’t possible.

What he had said nonsense on Jinlin Tower had really come true. The current Wei Wuxian could not do without Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian let out a long sigh, saying with a lifeless tone, “I want to drink.”

The more he thought about it, the more depressed and frustrated he became. His unvented anxiety finally turned into a full burst of anger. He jumped up and said, “Damn it. Wen Ning, let’s go!”

Wen Ning asked, “Where to?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Let’s go find some trouble!”