TFOD Chapter 121

Lan Wangji said to Wei Wuxian, “Wait for me.”

Wei Wuxian said, “How about I go in with you?”

Shaking his head, Lan Wangji said, “If you go in, he’ll be even angrier.”

Wei Wuxian thought about it and agreed. Lan Qiren looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack whenever he saw him, like a candle flickering in the wind. Even his breathing was heavier than usual. It would be best to let him not see him and not get irritated.

Lan Wangji looked at him, as if he wanted to say something, but Wei Wuxian immediately said, “Okay, okay, I understand. No rushing, no loud noises, no doing this or that, right? Don’t worry, this time I came back with you, I will definitely be careful, very careful, and not break any of the Lan clan rules carved on your family precepts stone. As much as possible.”

Without any hesitation, Lan Wangji said, “It’s okay. Even if you do break them…”

Wei Wuxian said keenly, “Hm?”

Lan Wangji seemed to have just realized that what he blurted out was inappropriate. He turned his head away for a moment, then turned back, and said sternly, “…Nothing.”

Wei Wuxian was bewildered, “What did you just say, even if you break them, what?”

Knowing he was asking on purpose, Lan Wangji repeated with a straight face, “You wait for me outside.”

Wei Wuxian waved his hand, “Fine, I’ll wait, so fierce. I’m going to play with your rabbits.”

And so, Lan Wangji went alone to face Lan Qiren’s flying spittle, while Wei Wuxian was dragged on a wild run by Little Apple. Since entering the Cloud Recesses, Little Apple seemed particularly excited, full of bovine energy, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t hold it back, being dragged all the way to that lush green meadow.

In the meadow, there were over a hundred round balls of white fluff, their pink three-lobed mouths twitching, occasionally shaking their long ears, the ears showing pink underneath. Little Apple pushed its way into their midst, finding a place for itself.

Wei Wuxian squatted down, casually grabbing a rabbit, scratching its belly, and thinking to himself, “Were there this many last time I came? Is this one male or female? Oh…male.”

Thinking of this, Wei Wuxian realized that he had never paid attention to whether Little Apple was a mare or a gelding. So he couldn’t help but glance over there. But before he could get a good look, he suddenly heard movement and turned to see what was happening.

A petite girl carrying a small basket was hesitating whether to approach. When she saw Wei Wuxian suddenly turn around and look at her, she was at a loss, her face flushed with embarrassment.

The girl was wearing the Gusu Lan Sect’s uniform, with a neatly worn forehead ribbon. Wei Wuxian thought to himself, “This is incredible! I actually bumped into a live one!”

This was a female cultivator. A Gusu Lan Sect female cultivator.

The Gusu Lan Sect was known for its rigidity. The rules of separating men and women were unnecessary to mention, constantly repeated like scriptures ten thousand times into the ears of their disciples since they were young. The study areas and rest areas for male and female cultivators were strictly separated, never stepping out of bounds. Even night hunts were basically separated by gender, either all male or all female, and there were usually no mixed-gender groups, which was rigid to an absurd degree. When Wei Wuxian was studying at the Cloud Recesses, he had barely ever seen a girl, and seriously doubted whether female cultivators really existed there. Several times he seemed to have heard the sounds of female cultivators reading, and curiously tried to go see them, but was immediately discovered by the keen-eyed patrolling disciples, who then called Lan Wangji. After a few such times, Wei Wuxian’s enthusiasm was exhausted, and he gave up on exploring.

But now, he had bumped into a live female cultivator in the Cloud Recesses for the first time. Live! Female cultivator!

Wei Wuxian straightened up instantly, his eyes shining. He was about to go over there, but Little Apple suddenly stood up, almost bumping into him, and rushed to the girl’s side.

Wei Wuxian: “?”

After getting to the girl, it lowered its head, gently and willingly offering its donkey head and ears to her hands.

Wei Wuxian: “???”

The girl, her face red, looked at Wei Wuxian, paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes, vaguely feeling that she looked somewhat familiar. After a moment, he suddenly remembered, wasn’t this the round-faced girl he had met on the road after leaving Mo Village, and had seen briefly at Dafan Mountain?

Even if it was a completely unfamiliar woman, he could immediately start chatting and joking around, let alone a young girl he had seen a few times who seemed kind. So he waved at her, and said, “It’s you!”

The girl was clearly also impressed by him, whether his face was clean or not. She fidgeted for a while, wringing the hands that were holding the basket, and said in a muffled voice, “It’s me…”

Wei Wuxian tossed away the rabbit he had just used to determine the gender of, put his hands behind his back, walked two steps closer to her, glanced at the carrots and greens in her basket, and smiled, “Came to feed the rabbits?”

The girl nodded. Since Lan Wangji was not here, and Wei Wuxian had nothing to do, he got interested and said, “Do you want me to help?”

The girl was at a loss for what to do, finally nodded, and Wei Wuxian took out a carrot. The two of them squatted down together on the grass. Little Apple stuck its head into the basket, rummaged around, didn’t find any apples, reluctantly picked out a carrot, and chewed on it.

The carrots in the basket were very fresh. Wei Wuxian took a bite out of one first, then put it to a rabbit’s mouth, and asked, “Have you been feeding these rabbits all the time?”

The girl said, “No… I’ve only been feeding them recently… When Hanguang-Jun is here, Hanguang-Jun takes care of them. When he is not here, Young Master Lan Sizhui and others take care of them. If they are not here either, we come to help…”

Wei Wuxian thought to himself, “How does Lan Zhan feed the rabbits? How old was he when he started keeping them? Does he also come here with a little basket like this?”

Driving the excessively adorable images from his mind, Wei Wuxian asked again, “Are you a disciple of the Gusu Lan Sect now?”

The girl said shyly, “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Gusu Lan Sect is good. When did that happen?”

The girl stroked the fluffy white rabbit, and said, “Not long after the Dafan Mountain incident…”

Just then, both of them heard the faint sound of boots stepping on the grass. Wei Wuxian looked back and sure enough, Lan Wangji was walking towards them.

The girl panicked, immediately stood up, and respectfully bowed, “Hanguang-Jun.”

Lan Wangji nodded slightly. Wei Wuxian, however, was still sitting on the grass, smiling at him. The girl seemed very afraid of Lan Wangji—which was normal, no junior of that age wasn’t afraid of Lan Wangji. She frantically picked up her skirt and ran away. Wei Wuxian called after her several times, “Girl, little sister! Your basket! Hey, Little Apple! Little Apple come back! Why are you running too! Little Apple!”

No one or donkey was stopped by his calls. Wei Wuxian had no choice but to poke at the few remaining carrots in the basket, and said to Lan Wangji, “Lan Zhan, you scared her away.”

If Lan Wangji didn’t want someone to hear his footsteps, how could he have let both of them hear?

Wei Wuxian smiled and offered him a carrot, “Want to eat? You feed the rabbits, I’ll feed you.”

“…” Lan Wangji looked down at him, and said, “Get up.”

Wei Wuxian threw the carrot behind him, lazily stretched out a hand, and said, “Pull me up.”

After a moment, Lan Wangji reached out to pull him up, but Wei Wuxian suddenly exerted force and pulled him down instead.

Their territory taken over by strange people, a group of rabbits ran around aimlessly, as if facing a great enemy. Those that were more familiar with Lan Wangji even stood up and pawed at him, as if worried about why their master suddenly fell down. Lan Wangji gently shooed them away, and calmly said, “Cloud Recesses’ family precepts, number seven, do not disturb female cultivators.”

Wei Wuxian said, “You said that even if I did break them, it would be okay.”

Lan Wangji said, “I did not.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why are you like this? Not finishing what you say is the same as not having said it? Where is Hanguang-Jun, the man of his word?”

Lan Wangji said, ” ‘Everyday’.”

Wei Wuxian touched his face, and said with pity, “Did your uncle scold you just now? Tell me, let your brother feel sorry for you.”

The topic changed so abruptly and deliberately, Lan Wangji didn’t expose him, and said, “No.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Really not? Then what did he say to you?”

Lan Wangji hugged him, without any change in expression, and said, “Nothing much. It’s not easy for everyone to gather, there will be a family banquet tomorrow.”

Wei Wuxian smiled, “Family banquet? Okay, okay, I will definitely behave well, and won’t embarrass you.” Suddenly thinking of Lan Xichen, he asked, “Where’s your brother?”

After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji said, “I’ll go see him later.”

Zewu-Jun had been in seclusion all day recently, so Lan Wangji must be going to have a heart-to-heart talk with him. Wei Wuxian wrapped his arms around Lan Wangji, and gently patted his back. After a while, he said, “Speaking of which, why haven’t I seen Sizhui and the others this time?”

If it was in the past, these juniors would have gathered around him noisily at the gate. Hearing him mention Sizhui and the others, Lan Wangji’s brows relaxed slightly, “I will take you to see them.”

When he took Wei Wuxian to find Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, and the others, the juniors only shouted with joy a few times, but made no other movements. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to make more movements, but they really couldn’t.

More than a dozen people were all standing upside down under the eaves of the corridor. They had all taken off their outer robes, wearing white light shirts, with their heads down and their feet up. There were several pieces of white paper spread out on the ground in front of them, with an ink stone. Their left hands were on the ground, and their right hands were holding a brush, struggling to write dense black characters on the paper.

Because they couldn’t let their forehead ribbons fall to the ground, they were all biting the tails of their forehead ribbons with sweat all over their faces, therefore unable to speak. The so-called “shouted a few times,” was just a series of excited “wu wu wus” with shining eyes.

Looking at these trembling, shaky bodies, Wei Wuxian said, “Why must they stand upside down?”

Lan Wangji said, “Punishment.”

Wei Wuxian said, “I know it’s punishment. I see it, they are copying the Lan clan precepts. I can even recite the *Rules and Principles* by heart. What did they do to get punished?”

Lan Wangji said quietly, “Exceeding the set time limit to return to Cloud Recesses.”

Wei Wuxian: “Oh.”

Lan Wangji: “Went on a night hunt with the Ghost General.”

Wei Wuxian: “Hey! You guys are really brave.”

Lan Wangji: “Third offense.”

Wei Wuxian stroked his chin, thinking that it was no wonder Lan Qiren, who hated evil as much as his did, would punish them like this. But having them stand upside down while copying was already very lenient.

After walking around the group of teenagers, scanning them a few times, and doing a quick check, Lan Wangji said to one of them, “Your characters. Not upright.”

That teenager, biting his forehead ribbon, said with tears in his eyes, “Yes. Hanguang-Jun. I’ll copy this page again.”

The others who were not called out passed the inspection, and all breathed a sigh of relief. As they left the corridor, Wei Wuxian, remembering his own difficult times when he had to copy, felt a sense of shared suffering, and said, “Just maintaining that position is hard enough, I’m not even sure I could write while standing upside down. Even if I were sitting, I might not be able to write neatly.”

Lan Wangji glanced at him and said, “Indeed.”

Wei Wuxian knew that he was also remembering the days when he was watching over him copying. He said, “Did you also copy like this when you were punished as a child?”

Lan Wangji said, “Never.”

That was also true. Wei Wuxian thought to himself, Lan Wangji had been a role model among the aristocratic disciples since he was young, his words and actions as standard as if measured with a ruler. How could he make a mistake? And since he didn’t make mistakes, how could he get punished?

He smiled and said, “I thought you got your terrifying arm strength from training like that.”

Lan Wangji said, “Not punished. But it was also trained like that.”

Wei Wuxian asked curiously, “If you weren’t punished, why did you stand upside down for no reason?”

Lan Wangji said without looking to the side, “To calm my mind.”

Wei Wuxian leaned closer to his ear, and said with a teasing tone, “Then what is it that makes the ice-cold Hanguang-Jun’s heart restless?”

Lan Wangji looked at him, but didn’t speak. Wei Wuxian was smug in his heart, and said, “If that’s the case, you’ve been training your arm strength since you were little, does that mean you can do anything while standing upside down?”

Lan Wangji said, “Mm.”

Seeing him lower his eyes, as if answering a little bashfully, Wei Wuxian’s mouth became even more unbridled, “Even doing me upside down?”

Lan Wangji said, “Try it.”

Wei Wuxian: “Hahahaha…what did you say?”

Lan Wangji: “Try it tonight.”

Wei Wuxian: “…”