TFOD Chapter 101

Lan Wangji calmly accepted his exaggerated praise. He pulled open Wei Wuxian’s sleeve and, while pouring all the stolen dates into it, said, “For you. All for you.”

Wei Wuxian cooperated, saying, “Thank you.”

However, Lan Wangji suddenly withdrew his hand. With a flick of his sleeve, a pile of dates fell out, rolling all over the floor. Wei Wuxian hurriedly bent down to pick them up, managing to collect a few, but unable to pick them all up. Lan Wangji said, “No more for you.”

He also snatched the hen that Wei Wuxian had tucked under his left arm, now holding one in each hand. Wei Wuxian pulled on the tail of his forehead ribbon, dragging him back and saying, “You were fine just now, why are you angry again?”

Lan Wangji glanced at him, saying, “Don’t pull.”

His tone didn’t sound very happy, and even had a hint of warning. Wei Wuxian involuntarily let go. Lan Wangji lowered his head, moving both stunned hens to his left hand, freeing up his right hand to adjust his forehead ribbon and hair. Wei Wuxian thought, “Before, he didn’t stop me no matter how much I played with his forehead ribbon, is he really angry today?”

He felt it was necessary to make amends, pointing at the hen and saying, “Never mind the dates, give me this one. Didn’t you say you’d give it to me?”

Lan Wangji raised his eyes, looking at him appraisingly. Wei Wuxian said sincerely, “I beg you, I really want it, please give it to me.”

Hearing this, Lan Wangji lowered his eyelids. After a long while, he finally handed back the hen he had taken from him. Wei Wuxian took it, picked up a date, wiped it on his chest, and took a bite, thinking that if Lan Zhan wanted to play, he would play along with him. “What next?” he asked.

The two of them walked to a wall. Lan Wangji looked left and right, confirming that no one was around, and drew Sweep Away the Dust from his waist. With a few dazzling flashes of blue light, he left a line of large characters on the wall. Wei Wuxian leaned over for a look and saw seven large characters written: “Lan Wangji was here.”

“…”

Lan Wangji sheathed Sweep Away the Dust, admiring his masterpiece. Even when drunk, his handwriting was still incomparably upright and proper. He seemed very satisfied, nodding his head. After a moment of contemplation, he raised his hand again. This time, however, he wasn’t writing, but drawing. Several sword strokes flashed, and a picture of two small figures kissing appeared on the wall. The style was meticulous, the content indecent, causing Wei Wuxian to slap his own forehead.

Stealing everywhere, causing trouble, writing and drawing nonsense… now he was certain: Lan Wangji was really repeating the things he had mentioned. There was absolutely no mistake, even the graffiti was similar!

He was both amused and exasperated: “But these are things I only did when I was twelve or thirteen years old!”

Lan Wangji became more and more enthusiastic, not content with drawing on just one wall, he wanted to continue on another. Seeing that the content he was drawing was becoming more and more bizarre, Wei Wuxian, while feeling sorry for Sweep Away the Dust, thought, “I’ll have to erase Lan Wangji’s name from the wall later. I can’t let others know who did this. No, no, I should just erase the entire wall.”

After a great deal of effort, Wei Wuxian finally pulled Lan Wangji back to the inn. He threw the two hens to the landlady, saying he had found them on the road, and went upstairs, closed the door, and turned around. Outside, in the dim night, he couldn’t see clearly, but once inside, under the lamplight, he saw that Lan Wangji’s clothes, face, and hair were covered in chicken feathers, bits of leaves, and powdery white wall dust, truly a mess. Wei Wuxian patted him clean while laughing, “You’re so dirty!”

Lan Wangji said, “Wash face.”

The first time he got drunk, Wei Wuxian washed his face, and Lan Wangji seemed to really like it. Sure enough, this time he asked for it again. Wei Wuxian originally wanted to wash him up anyway, but he was so dirty all over, just washing his face wouldn’t be enough. So, he said, “How about I give you a bath instead?”

Upon hearing this, Lan Wangji slightly widened his eyes. Wei Wuxian carefully observed his expression, and asked, “Do you want to?”

Lan Wangji immediately nodded, “Okay.”

Wei Wuxian thought, “Lan Zhan really likes being clean. I’ll just pour the bathwater for him, and he can do the rest himself.”

The inn’s staff were all women, so Wei Wuxian naturally wouldn’t let them do any difficult chores. Therefore, he told Lan Wangji to sit quietly in the room while he went downstairs to boil water, carrying it up bucket by bucket. After filling the tub, he tested the water temperature, and turned around to call Lan Wangji to take off his clothes, but when he turned his head, he saw that Lan Wangji had already taken off all his clothes by himself.

Although the two of them had been naked in the Cold Spring in Cloud Recesses when they were young, at that time, both of them were young and had no impure thoughts. The times before when he had stumbled upon Lan Wangji bathing, he had also not had any other thoughts. Moreover, both times, Lan Wangji’s body was mostly submerged in the water. Thus, at this moment, suddenly seeing a completely exposed Hanguang-Jun… he had to admit, Wei Wuxian was greatly shocked. For a moment, he didn’t know whether to follow his heart and brazenly look his fill, or whether he should cover Lan Wangji up and pretend to be a gentleman. His scalp tingled, and he involuntarily retreated. However, as he retreated, Lan Wangji kept advancing. Wei Wuxian had already backed himself into a corner, with no escape, and had no choice but to brace himself and watch as Lan Wangji, expressionless, came closer and closer. His defined Adam’s apple, fair skin, and smooth, beautiful muscle lines came into view, causing his eyes to flit away, and he unconsciously swallowed, feeling his mouth go dry.

Wei Wuxian bit his lip. Just as he was about to speak, Lan Wangji suddenly made a move, yanking his belt apart.

His face was still serious, but his actions were very rough. Wei Wuxian, not expecting him to suddenly do this, was startled and hurriedly said, “Stop, stop! I’m not going to bathe! I’m not going to bathe! You go ahead.”

Lan Wangji frowned slightly. Wei Wuxian said, “You take a bath first. I like, uh, big tubs. This tub is a bit small for two people.”

Lan Wangji indifferently glanced at the tub, confirming that it was indeed not large enough. Only then did he reluctantly stop, slowly stepping into the tub and immersing himself in the hot water.

Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Then you can soak slowly. I’m going out first.” As he was about to go out to get some fresh air and calm down, he heard a splash. He turned his head and said, “Why are you out again!”

Lan Wangji said with a cold face, “Not bathing anymore.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why? It’s dirty not to wash.”

Lan Wangji was sullen, not saying why. He walked towards the screen to put on the clothes he had taken off. Wei Wuxian quickly turned back, and roughly guessed why, and said, “Do you want me to wash you?”

Lan Wangji lowered his eyelids, neither admitting nor denying it.

Seeing him like this, Wei Wuxian’s heart inexplicably softened. He thought, “At most, I’ll just help him rub a little. I won’t do anything else.”

So he dragged Lan Wangji towards the tub and said, “Alright, I’ll help you wash, come here.”

Only then was Lan Wangji dragged back by him, soaking back into the water. Wei Wuxian also rolled up his sleeves and walked to the side of the wooden tub.

Lan Wangji had fair skin, and his black hair was shiny and lustrous, gently drifting on the surface of the water. In the midst of the swirling mist, he seemed like a handsome and beautiful immortal god, as cold as ice and as white as snow, in a heavenly pool. Wei Wuxian watched with pity, thinking that he should get some flower petals or something to float on the water, to make the scene even more beautiful. He picked up a wooden scoop from the tub and poured a thin stream of water over Lan Wangji’s head. Because Lan Wangji kept staring unblinkingly at Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian was worried that the water would get into his eyes and make him uncomfortable, and said, “Close your eyes.”

Lan Wangji ignored him, staring intently at him, as if afraid that if he blinked, Wei Wuxian would run away. Wei Wuxian reached out to close his eyes for him, so he buried the lower half of his face in the water, burbling a series of bubbles. Wei Wuxian chuckled, lightly pinching his cheek, and said, “Second brother, how old are you?”

He picked up the soapberry box and cloth, wiping down Lan Wangji’s face, and as he wiped, his movements suddenly froze.

Just now, Lan Wangji had taken off his forehead ribbon and hair band himself, and his black hair had fallen down to cover his upper body. But now, as he helped Lan Wangji brush his wet black hair behind his shoulders and wiped his chest, those thirty or so whip scars, and the brand on his chest, were clearly revealed.

Wei Wuxian took the cloth and turned to his back.

The whip scars extended from Lan Wangji’s back to his chest, shoulders, and arms, crawling across his expanse of fair and smooth skin. These scars, some shallow, some deep, some could be called hideous, harshly ruined what was originally a perfect male form.

He silently observed for a while, then dipped the cloth in water and wiped over the marks left by the whip. His touch was extremely gentle, as if not daring to hurt Lan Wangji. However, these were all old wounds, having long passed their most painful stage. Moreover, even if they were fresh wounds, with Lan Wangji’s personality, no matter how much pain he felt, he would definitely endure it and not make a sound, or show any sign of weakness.

Wei Wuxian really wanted to ask him now, what exactly had caused these scars. In the Gusu Lan Sect, only Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren were qualified to punish Lan Wangji with a disciplinary whip like this. What kind of deed had he done to make his closest brother, or the uncle who had raised him and always been proud of him, use such a harsh hand.

And there was also that Qishan Wen Sect brand, which he had no recollection of.

However, the words reached his lips, but he still held them back. If Lan Wangji didn’t want to talk about such things himself, then he wouldn’t ask. Moreover, although Lan Wangji would have no memory of it after sobering up, the fact that he had drunk in front of Wei Wuxian meant that he trusted him. If he took advantage of the situation and tried to pry out Lan Wangji’s secrets that he didn’t want others to know, wouldn’t he be utterly despicable?

He had spent most of the evening getting him drunk, going back and forth, but in the end, Wei Wuxian hadn’t asked him anything. It wasn’t that he had forgotten. He was always thinking about the reason he had gotten Lan Wangji drunk: to ask him, Hanguang-Jun, how do you really see me? But every time it reached his lips, he would find all kinds of excuses in his heart to gloss it over. What about, it’s not urgent, I should play with him some more before asking? What about, I can’t be so casual, I should ask him more formally while we are sitting down… But with all the excuses, dragged out to now, the real reason was probably because he was afraid.

He was afraid of hearing an answer that was different from what he was hoping for.

Lan Wangji’s arms were originally resting on the edge of the tub, but suddenly he turned his body. Only then did Wei Wuxian realize that he had started spacing out while washing him, and hadn’t moved for a long time, having rubbed the white skin on Lan Wangji’s back red, as if it had been beaten. He hurriedly stopped, saying, “Sorry, I zoned out. Does it hurt?”

His back was stinging from where Wei Wuxian had rubbed it, but Lan Wangji didn’t say anything, only shook his head. Seeing him sitting in the tub, so quiet and obedient, Wei Wuxian felt a wave of pity and flicked his fingers, intending to tickle his chin. But as his hand reached halfway, Lan Wangji suddenly grabbed his wrist.