TFOD Chapter 97

Wen Ning quickly fell silent. Amid the sounds of the water flowing as the oars pushed the boat, Wei Wuxian opened his eyes with a splitting headache.

He was leaning entirely on Lan Wangji, and realized that they were no longer at Lotus Pier. For a long while, he couldn’t figure out what was going on, until he saw the specks of blood on Lan Wangji’s left sleeve, like plum blossoms scattered on snow. It was then that he recalled what had happened before he passed out. His face twisted into a truly terrible expression as he suddenly sat up. Lan Wangji reached out to support him, but Wei Wuxian’s ears were still ringing, and a bloody taste filled his chest, making him extremely uncomfortable.

Afraid that he would throw up blood again on Lan Wangji, who was so fond of cleanliness, he hurriedly waved his hands, turned aside, and leaned against the boat’s edge to endure the feeling. Knowing that he wasn’t feeling well, Lan Wangji remained silent and didn’t ask any questions, placing a hand on his back and gently channeling a stream of spiritual energy into him.

After the metallic taste in his throat subsided, Wei Wuxian turned back and asked Lan Wangji to remove his hand. After sitting quietly for a moment, he finally ventured, “Hanguang-Jun, how did we get out?”

Wen Ning looked immediately anxious and stopped rowing. As promised, Lan Wangji didn’t mention anything about what he had revealed, but also didn’t lie or fabricate anything. He simply said, “We fought a battle.”

Wei Wuxian pulled out a hand to rub his chest, as if trying to dispel the pent-up feeling. After a moment, he couldn’t help but exclaim, “I knew Jiang Cheng wouldn’t let us go that easily. That little brat… it’s just outrageous!”

Lan Wangji’s eyebrows furrowed, and he said in a deep voice, “Don’t mention him.”

Hearing the unpleasant tone of his voice, Wei Wuxian paused slightly and immediately said, “Okay, I won’t mention him.”

After considering for a moment, he continued, “Um, Hanguang-Jun, please don’t mind what he said.”

Lan Wangji asked, “Which part?”

Wei Wuxian’s eyelid twitched, “All of it. That kid has been like that since he was young. When he gets angry, he speaks without thinking, and says the most horrible things, disregarding all manners and upbringing. As long as he can make others feel bad, he’ll say all sorts of nonsense. He hasn’t improved at all over the years. You really shouldn’t take it to heart.”

As he spoke, he secretly watched Lan Wangji’s expression, and his heart slowly sank.

Wei Wuxian thought, or rather, hoped, that Lan Wangji wouldn’t take those words to heart. But unexpectedly, Lan Wangji’s face didn’t look good, and he didn’t even say a single “mm.”

It seemed that Lan Wangji was even more displeased with Jiang Cheng’s harsh words than he had anticipated. Perhaps he simply disliked Jiang Cheng as a person, or perhaps… he was particularly intolerant of being called “indecent,” “shameless,” and “a mess of a person.” After all, the Gusu Lan Sect’s family motto was “elegance,” and Hanguang-Jun himself had never been associated with those words.

Although over the past few days, he felt that Lan Wangji seemed to think quite highly of him and treated him differently, he didn’t dare guess just how much he “valued” him, and whether this “different” treatment was really what he thought it was. Wei Wuxian never considered confidence a bad thing, and was often proud and unrestrained because of it. It was said that the Yi Ling Patriarch was often found playing amidst a sea of beautiful women, but in reality, he had never experienced this kind of flustered feeling. He used to think that Lan Wangji was very easy to read, but now he couldn’t figure him out. He was afraid that he was just indulging in wishful thinking, and being overconfident.

Lan Wangji remained silent, and Wei Wuxian originally wanted to use his best skill of joking to gloss over the situation. But he was afraid that forcing a laugh would lead to embarrassment, so after a brief hesitation, he abruptly said, “Where are we going?”

The topic change was very abrupt, but Lan Wangji cooperated and replied, “Where do you want to go?”

Wei Wuxian rubbed the back of his head and said, “Ze Wu-Jun’s safety is still unknown, and we don’t know what those people are planning. Why don’t we go to Lanling first…” Suddenly, he thought of something and said, “No, let’s not go to Lanling first, let’s go to Yunping City.”

Lan Wangji said, “Yunping City?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Yes. Yunmeng’s Yunping City. I told you before, right? At Golden Carp Tower, in the secret room of the Fragrant Hall, I saw my manuscripts. Along with my manuscripts was a land deed for a place in Yunping City. The Lanling Jin Sect is rich and powerful. I think if there wasn’t some kind of hidden reason, Jin Guangyao wouldn’t have kept that land deed so carefully. Maybe there will be something there.”

Lan Wangji nodded. At this moment, Wen Ning said, “Young Master, is Yunping City in this direction?”

Wei Wuxian exclaimed, “What?!”

Both he and Lan Wangji were sitting with their backs to the stern, so they hadn’t noticed Wen Ning all this time. The sudden voice coming from behind the boat startled him so much that he rolled away, turning back and asking in shock, “How are you here?!”

Wen Ning tilted his head, looking blank, “Me? I’ve been here all along.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Then why didn’t you say anything?”

Wen Ning said, “I saw you and Hanguang-Jun talking, so I didn’t…”

Wei Wuxian said, “Then you should have made a noise??”

Wen Ning raised his oar, explaining, “Young Master, I’ve been rowing the boat, making noises the entire time, didn’t you hear it?”

“…” Wei Wuxian waved his hand, saying, “I wasn’t paying attention. Forget it, don’t row anymore. The current is strong here at night, we’ll go fast enough without rowing.”

Having grown up in Yunmeng, he was naturally familiar with the waters and knew them like the back of his hand. Wen Ning complied, put down the oar, and sat stiffly at the stern, about six feet away from Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. When they arrived at Lotus Pier, it was around the time of Yin, the early morning, and after all the commotion, the sky was now a pale blue. The outlines of the mountains and waters on the two shores finally revealed themselves.

After looking around, Wei Wuxian suddenly said, “I’m hungry.”

Lan Wangji raised his eyes. Of course, Wei Wuxian wasn’t hungry at all, he had just eaten three cakes from a stall outside Lotus Pier a short while ago. But Lan Wangji had only eaten one. Moreover, that was the only thing he had eaten for the past two days. Wei Wuxian was concerned about this, and seeing the desolate path ahead, he knew that it would probably take a long time before they found a town where they could rest and eat.

Lan Wangji pondered, “Pull ashore?”

Wei Wuxian said, “There’s no one on the shore nearby, but I know a place we can go.”

Wen Ning quickly picked up the oar and rowed in the direction he indicated. Not long after, the ferry turned into a tributary, and after rowing for a while, entered a lotus lake.

The lotus leaves in the lake were scattered at different heights, like canopies. The slender ferry cut through the dense lotus branches, rowing deeper into the lotus pond. From above, it would seem that the ferry had created a trail of swaying green leaves. As they traveled amongst the swaying green canopies and parted a wide lotus leaf, they suddenly spotted one plump lotus seedpod after another hidden underneath, giving them the feeling of discovering a small treasure. Just as Wei Wuxian was smiling and reaching out to pick one, Lan Wangji suddenly said, “Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “What is it?”

Lan Wangji said, “Does this lotus pond have an owner?”

Wei Wuxian looked completely innocent, “Of course not.”

Of course, it did. Ever since he was eleven years old, Wei Wuxian had often stolen lotus seedpods and water caltrops from various lakes in Yunmeng. He had given up this practice for many years now, but now that he needed some food to continue their journey, he had no choice but to return to his old ways.

Lan Wangji said in a low voice, “I heard that all the lotus ponds in this area have owners.”

“…” Wei Wuxian said, “Hahahaha, is that so? What a pity. You hear a lot of things, I’ve never heard that. Let’s go then.”

Now that he was exposed, he naturally felt embarrassed to have Lan Wangji do such a mischievous thing with him. How could the dignified Hanguang-Jun go steal lotus seedpods? It just didn’t seem right. Just as he awkwardly reached for the oar, Lan Wangji raised his hand and took down a lotus seedpod himself.

He handed the lotus seedpod to Wei Wuxian and said, “Don’t do this again.”