TFOD Chapter 119
by VolareOn a mountaintop, a group of villagers, holding torches and farm tools as weapons, slowly surrounded a patch of woods.
There was a wild graveyard on this mountain. In recent months, it had become quite restless. The villagers below had been constantly harassed by the lonely ghosts from the graveyard. Finally, unable to endure it any longer, they had invited several cultivators passing through the area to come together to eliminate the source of the trouble.
As dusk fell, the chirping of insects was clear. The half-man high weeds rustled from time to time as if unknown things were lurking within, waiting to strike at any moment. Yet, when they nervously parted the weeds and illuminated them with the torches, it was often a false alarm.
Those few cultivators, holding long swords, led the villagers, cautiously traversing the grass and entering the forest.
The forest was where the wild graveyard was located. The broken tombstones, whether of stone or wood, were crooked and toppled, and the yin wind was chilling. The cultivators exchanged a look, took out talismans, and prepared to start cleansing the evil. Seeing their composed expressions, the situation shouldn’t be too difficult, and several villagers breathed a sigh of relief.
But before their relief could fully settle, they suddenly heard a loud “thud,” and a mangled corpse landed on a small earth mound in front of them.
The villager closest to that mound let out a scream, threw away his torch, and scrambled away. Immediately after, a second, third, and fourth bloody corpse also fell, as if a rain of corpses had descended from the sky, constantly thudding. Shouts erupted in the forest. The cultivators had never seen such a sight. Shocked, they hadn’t lost their courage. The leader shouted, “Don’t run! Don’t panic! It’s just a small evil spirit…”
Before he could finish speaking, it was as if someone had choked him, and his voice stopped abruptly.
He saw a tree.
A person sat on the tree, a piece of black clothing hanging down, a slender black boot lightly swinging, so relaxed, so carefree.
At the waist of this person was a dark, gloomy flute, and below the flute hung a tassel of blood-red color, also swaying gently with the movement of his leg.
The faces of the cultivators instantly changed color.
The villagers had already lost their footing. Hearing his loud shout, they had just taken a pill of reassurance. But who knew that they would see the faces of the few cultivators all turn white? They turned around and ran, as swift as the wind, instantly rushing out of the forest and down the mountain, leaving them behind. They all guessed that there must be some extraordinary evil spirit on this mountain, something that even these cultivators couldn’t handle. In an instant, their souls scattered, and they fled in all directions. One villager, who was slower, fell behind and tripped, covering his mouth with mud. Just as he thought he was doomed, he suddenly saw a young man in white standing in front of him, and his eyes lit up involuntarily.
This man had a long sword hanging at his waist, and his whole body seemed to be covered with a layer of hazy white light. In the dim forest, he appeared ethereal and divine, not of this mortal world. He immediately begged for help, “Young master! This young master! Help, there’s a ghost, quickly, quickly, get rid of this demon…”
Before he could finish speaking, another corpse fell in front of him. That face, with blood gushing from all seven orifices, directly met his gaze.
Just as this villager was about to faint from fright, the man said one word to him, “Go.”
Although it was just one word, the villager felt a sense of inexplicable peace, as if he had received a decree of immunity. Suddenly, a burst of strength surged within him, and he scrambled up, fleeing without looking back.
This man in white looked at the bloodied corpses crawling all over the forest, seemingly unsure of what to make of the scene. He looked up, and the black-clad figure, who had been sitting on the tree, also jumped down lightly, instantly appearing in front of him. Then, he pinned him against a tree, whispering, “Oh, isn’t this the pure and noble Hanguang-Jun, Lan Wangji? What brings you to my territory?”
Around them were bloodied corpses, either blankly or ferociously trying to crawl. This person stretched out one hand to support himself on the trunk of the tree, and Lan Wangji was trapped between his body and the tree, expressionless.
The person then said, “Since you’ve delivered yourself to my door, then I’ll just… hey, hey, hey!”
Lan Wangji locked both his wrists with one hand.
The situation reversed, and the black-clad person, who was now being restrained, said in surprise, “Heavens, Hanguang-Jun, you’re too amazing! I can’t believe it, it’s shocking, incredible! You actually subdued me with one hand. I have no way to resist! What a terrifying man!”
Lan Wangji: “…”
His hand tightened involuntarily. The other’s surprise turned into panic: “Ah, it hurts. Let me go, Hanguang-Jun. I won’t dare again next time. Please don’t grab me like this. And please, please, don’t tie me up, and definitely don’t press me to the ground…”
Seeing that his words and actions were becoming more and more exaggerated, Lan Wangji’s brow twitched. He finally spoke, interrupting, “…Stop playing around.”
Wei Wuxian, who was busy begging for mercy, said in surprise, “Why? I haven’t finished begging yet.”
“…” Lan Wangji said, “You beg for mercy every day. Stop playing around.”
Wei Wuxian moved closer to him, whispering, “Isn’t this what you wanted?… Every day is every day.”
His face came extremely close, as if he was about to kiss Lan Wangji, but he was still unwilling to make the final contact. The space between their lips always remained at a hair’s breadth, like a passionate and unruly butterfly that lightly fluttered over an elegant flower petal, just about to land and kiss. After teasing like this for a while, Lan Wangji’s light-colored eyes flickered and moved slightly, as if finally unable to restrain himself, the flower petal was about to reach out to touch the wings of the butterfly. But Wei Wuxian abruptly tilted his head back, avoiding his lips.
He raised an eyebrow and said, “Call me ‘brother.'”
Lan Wangji: “…”
Wei Wuxian said, “Call me brother. If you call me brother, I’ll give you a kiss.”
“…” Lan Wangji’s lips moved slightly.
In his entire life, he had never used this soft and tender address for anyone else, even with Lan Xichen, he had only ever called him “older brother” in a formal tone. Wei Wuxian coaxed, “Just say it once. I’ve called you so many times. After the kiss, we can do other things.”
Even though Lan Wangji was about to say it, after hearing this sentence from Wei Wuxian, he was defeated. He ultimately couldn’t say it. After holding it in for a while, he only managed to say one sentence: “…Shameless!”
Wei Wuxian said, “Aren’t you tired of grabbing me with one hand? It’s so inconvenient to only have one hand to do things.”
Calming himself, Lan Wangji said, as if very politely, “Then, may I ask, what should I do?”
Wei Wuxian said, “I’ll teach you. Why don’t you take off your headband and tie my hands up, that would be much more convenient, wouldn’t it?”
Lan Wangji silently looked at the smiling him for a moment, then slowly removed his forehead ribbon, unfolding it for Wei Wuxian to see.
Then, with lightning speed, he tied a knot in his two hands, heavily pressing them onto the top of his head, securing them. Then he buried his head in the space between his neck and shoulders. Just then, a cry suddenly came from the grass.
The two instantly separated. Lan Wangji placed his hand on the hilt of Bichen, but he didn’t draw his sword rashly because that cry was quite clear and delicate, obviously from a small child. If he were to accidentally injure a passerby, it would be terrible. The grass that was half the height of a person rustled, and the traces of movement in the grass grew further and further away, looking as if someone was running away. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji chased after it for a few steps, and below the slope came a woman’s voice, full of joy, “MianMian, are you alright! How can you run around in a place like this? You scared your mother half to death!”
Wei Wuxian was stunned, “MianMian?”
Just as he felt that this name was very familiar, he must have heard it somewhere before, another man’s voice scolded, “I told you not to run around while night-hunting, but you still charged forward alone. If you get eaten by a ghost, what would your mother and I do! …MianMian? What’s wrong? Why do you look like this?” The last sentence was probably to the woman, “QingYang, look, did something happen to MianMian? Why does she look like this, did she see something she shouldn’t have seen up there?”
…She certainly saw… something she shouldn’t have seen.
Lan Wangji glanced at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian looked back innocently, mouthing, “What a sin!”
He clearly didn’t feel any remorse or guilt for corrupting a child. Lan Wangji shook his head, and the two of them left the graveyard together, turning down the slope. The three people below looked at them with surprise and wariness. The man and woman were a couple, both squatting on the ground, and in the middle stood a small girl with two buns, who was about ten years old. The woman was a rather pretty young woman. She wore a sword at her waist, and when she first saw Wei Wuxian, she immediately drew it, the sword pointed at him as she shouted, “Who are you!”
Wei Wuxian said, “No matter who I am, at least I’m a person, not something else.”
The woman was about to speak, but she saw Lan Wangji behind Wei Wuxian. She was immediately stunned, and said, “Hanguang-Jun?”
Lan Wangji wasn’t wearing his headband, and for a moment, she dared not confirm. If it weren’t for that unforgettable face, she would probably have hesitated for a while. She moved her gaze back to Wei Wuxian, and after a moment of bewilderment, she said, “Then, then you are, you are…”
The news of the Yi Ling Patriarch’s return to the world had already spread, and since he was with Lan Wangji now, it must be him. It wasn’t strange that she recognized him. When Wei Wuxian saw that she was faintly excited, and that her face was somewhat familiar, he thought, “Could this lady know me? Do I have a grudge with her? Have I offended her? That’s not right, I don’t know a girl called QingYang… Ah, MianMian!”
Wei Wuxian suddenly realized, “You’re MianMian?”
The man glared at him, “Why are you calling my daughter by her name?”
It turned out that the little girl who had run away earlier and had accidentally stumbled upon them was MianMian’s daughter, whose name was also MianMian. Wei Wuxian found it quite amusing, “One big MianMian, one little MianMian.”
Lan Wangji nodded to the woman as a show of courtesy, saying, “Miss Luo.”
The woman brushed the loose hair from her cheek behind her ear, returning the courtesy, “Hanguang-Jun.” Then she looked at Wei Wuxian, and said, “Young Master Wei.”
Wei Wuxian smiled at the woman, “Miss Luo. Oh, now I know what your name is.”
Luo Qingyang smiled with slight bashfulness, as if thinking about old times, she was very embarrassed, pulling the man up, “This is my husband.”
The man realized they were not villains, his expression eased, he exchanged a few pleasantries. Wei Wuxian casually asked, “May I ask, which family does this gentleman belong to, and which sect?”
The man said very frankly, “I don’t belong to any family.”
Luo Qingyang looked at her husband, and smiled, “My husband isn’t a cultivator, he used to be a merchant. However, he’s willing to go night-hunting with me…”
An ordinary person, and a man at that, was willing to give up his original stable life, not afraid of wandering, and unafraid of danger. He was willing to travel around with his wife. It was truly remarkable and Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but feel respect.
He said, “You’ve also come here to night-hunt?”
Luo Qingyang nodded, “That’s right. I heard that there were wild graveyard evil spirits wreaking havoc on this mountain, disturbing the local people and causing them great suffering, so I came here to see if there was anything I could help with. Have the two of you taken care of it?”
If Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had already dealt with it, then there would be no need for others to interfere. Wei Wuxian, however, said, “You’ve been deceived by those villagers.”
Luo Qingyang was taken aback, “What do you mean by that?”
Wei Wuxian said, “They claimed that the evil spirits were creating trouble out of nowhere, but they had actually dug up the graves and carelessly thrown away the dead’s bones themselves, which is why they were attacked by the owners of the graves.”
Luo Qingyang’s husband asked doubtfully, “Is that so? But even if they were retaliating, they didn’t have to kill several people, did they?”
Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji exchanged a look, and Wei Wuxian said, “That’s also fake. No one died at all. We investigated, only a few villagers who dug up the graves were frightened by the ghosts and were bedridden for a while. And one of them ran away too hastily and broke his leg. Other than that, there were no casualties. The story about several lives was something they made up to make it sound more alarming.”
Luo Qingyang said to her husband, “It’s like that? That’s so shameless!”
Luo Qingyang sighed, “Oh, these people…” As if remembering something from the past, she shook her head, saying, “It’s like that everywhere.”
Wei Wuxian said, “I just scared them. After this, they shouldn’t dare to come up here to dig up graves. The evil spirits naturally won’t go looking for their trouble. It’s resolved.”
Luo Qingyang said, “But if they invite other cultivators to forcibly suppress them…”
Wei Wuxian smiled and said, “I showed my face.”
Luo Qingyang understood. The Yi Ling Patriarch had already shown his face. After the cultivators saw him, they would definitely spread the news. Others would think that he had already claimed this area as his own territory. Which cultivator would have the audacity to come up here and provoke him?
Luo Qingyang smiled and said, “I see. I saw how scared MianMian was just now, I thought she had encountered some kind of evil spirit. If I have been impolite, please don’t mind it.”
Wei Wuxian thought, “No, no, no. Maybe we’re the ones who were being impolite.” On his face, he said seriously, “Not at all. If we scared little MianMian, please don’t mind it as well.”
Luo Qingyang’s husband picked up his daughter. MianMian sat on her father’s arm, her cheeks puffed out as she glared at Wei Wuxian, her expression both angry and shy, and somewhat embarrassed to speak. When Wei Wuxian saw that she was wearing a light scarlet dress, her face was as fair as jade, and her eyes were like purple-black crystal grapes, he really wanted to pinch her cheeks. However, with her father glaring at him by her side, he only pinched her small braid, placed his hands behind his back, and smiled, “MianMian really looks just like Miss Luo did when she was little.”
Lan Wangji glanced at him, but said nothing. Luo Qingyang was amused, and smiling gently, she said, “Young Master Wei, are you not feeling guilty when you say that? Do you really remember what I looked like when I was little?”
This gentle smile faintly overlapped with that little girl in the scarlet gauze dress from back then. Wei Wuxian didn’t feel the slightest bit ashamed, and said, “Of course, I remember! There’s not much difference from now. By the way, how old is she? I’ll give her some evil-suppressing money.”
Luo Qingyang and her husband quickly declined, “No, no need.”
Wei Wuxian said with a smile, “Yes, yes, I will. It’s not like I’m the one paying for it. Haha.”
The couple paused slightly, not understanding, but Lan Wangji had already consciously placed something in Wei Wuxian’s hand. Wei Wuxian took the few heavy coins from his hand and insisted on giving them to MianMian. Luo Qingyang, seeing that she couldn’t refuse, said to her daughter, “MianMian, quickly thank Hanguang-Jun and Young Master Wei.”
MianMian said, “Thank you Hanguang-Jun.”
Wei Wuxian said, “MianMian, I’m the one who gave it to you, why aren’t you thanking me?”
MianMian angrily glared at him. No matter how he teased her, she just wouldn’t talk to him. She just lowered her head to pull out a small, exquisite pouch hanging on a red string around her neck and carefully placed the evil-suppressing money inside it. Not long after, they went down the mountain. Wei Wuxian had to say goodbye to them with considerable regret, and went with Lan Wangji down another path.
After their figures disappeared, Luo Qingyang scolded her daughter, “MianMian. That’s so rude. He’s the benefactor who saved your mother’s life from before.”
Her husband was shocked, “Really?! MianMian, did you hear that? Look how rude you were!”
MianMian pouted, “I… I don’t like him.”
Luo Qingyang said, “You child, if you disliked him, you would have thrown the evil-suppressing money away long ago.”
MianMian buried her red, flushed face in her father’s chest, and whined, “He did bad things!”
Luo Qingyang couldn’t help but laugh. Just as she was about to say something, her husband said, strangely, “Qingyang, I’ve heard you mention Hanguang-Jun before, I remember that he’s a great figure from a prominent family. Why would he appear in such a small place, hunting such small prey?”
Luo Qingyang patiently explained to her husband, “This Hanguang-Jun is different from other famous scholars. He always goes wherever there is trouble. As long as there are evil spirits causing trouble and harming people, no matter the rank of the night hunting object, or how big or small the reward is, he will go to help.”
Her husband nodded, “He’s truly a noble man.” He asked nervously and doubtfully, “What about that Young Master Wei? You said he saved your life, but I don’t seem to have ever heard you mention him? When did you encounter danger to your life before?!”
Luo Qingyang hugged MianMian, and in her eyes, an unusual glow flickered as she smiled, “That Young Master Wei…”
On another road, Wei Wuxian said to Lan Wangji, “I never thought that a little girl from back then, her daughter is also a little girl now!”
Lan Wangji said, “Mm.”
Wei Wuxian said, “But this isn’t fair. She should’ve clearly seen you doing bad things to me, so why did she like me less?”
Before Lan Wangji could respond, Wei Wuxian made a circle and faced Lan Wangji, walking backwards, saying, “Oh, I see. Actually, she must like me in her heart. Just like a certain someone from back then.”
Lan Wangji dusted off the non-existent dust on his sleeve and said calmly, “Please hand me back the headband, Wei Yuandao.”
Hearing this unfamiliar name, Wei Wuxian was stunned. After a moment, he chuckled, “I knew it, Second Young Master Lan, so you are jealous, aren’t you?”
Lan Wangji lowered his eyelashes. Wei Wuxian stood in front of him, one hand around his waist, and one hand raising his chin. He said seriously, “Be honest. How many years have you been drinking this vinegar? Why do you hide it so well, I can’t even smell the sourness.”
Lan Wangji habitually cooperated with him, lifting his face up. Suddenly, he felt an unruly hand slip into his chest. He looked down, but Wei Wuxian’s hand had already retreated, holding something. He said with feigned surprise, “What’s this?”
It was Lan Wangji’s money pouch.
Wei Wuxian, with his right hand, made the exquisite little money pouch fly and spin in the air. He pointed at it with his left hand and said, “Hanguang-Jun, Hanguang-Jun, to take something without asking is to steal. What did they call you back then? The offspring of a renowned family? A model for other aristocratic children? What a model indeed. You secretly drink heavy vinegar, stole a pouch from a little girl that was given to me, and use it as your own money pouch. No wonder, after I woke up, I couldn’t find it anywhere. If it weren’t for the fact that the small pouch hanging on little MianMian’s chest was exactly the same as this one, I wouldn’t have remembered. You, tsk, tsk. Tell me, how did you manage to take it off me when I was unconscious? For how long did you touch it?”
A faint wave of emotion flashed across Lan Wangji’s face. He reached out to grab it, but Wei Wuxian tossed the money pouch, dodged his hand, and took two steps back, saying, “Are you going to start grabbing when you can’t argue with me? What are you so shy about? You’re even shy about this. I finally understand why I’m not shy. We’re truly a match made in heaven, it must be because all my shyness went to you, you’re keeping it for me.”
Lan Wangji’s earlobes were flushed a light pink, but his face was still tightly tense. He struck out with great speed, but Wei Wuxian’s feet were even faster, making it so he could see him, but couldn’t catch him, saying, “You wanted to give me your money pouch yourself before, why aren’t you giving it to me now? Look at you, not only do you steal things, you steal pleasure, and you go back on your word, you’re rotten to the core.”
Lan Wangji lunged, finally caught him, and held him tightly in his arms, explaining, “We’ve bowed to each other three times, we’re already… husband and wife, it’s not stealing pleasure.”
Wei Wuxian said, “Even between husband and wife, you can’t always use force on me like this. You always need me to beg you, but you never stop. If you turn out like this, the ancestors of the Gusu Lan Sect are going to be so angry…”
Unable to endure it any longer, Lan Wangji forcefully stopped his mouth with a kiss.