TFOD Chapter 15

Lan Wangji didn’t look at Wei Wuxian. He nodded in greeting and said in a calm voice, “Guiding the soul is first, suppression is second, and annihilation is third. First, use the sentiments of their parents, spouse, and children to move them, fulfilling their wishes from life and dissolving their obsessions. If that doesn’t work, suppress them. If they are guilty of heinous crimes and their resentment doesn’t dissipate, then root them out, allowing no existence. The actions of the cultivation world should strictly adhere to this order and must not err.”

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief. They were thanking the heavens and the earth in their hearts. Luckily, the old man had picked Lan Wangji. Otherwise, if it had been their turn, they would have inevitably missed one or two things or made mistakes in the order. Lan Qiren nodded with satisfaction and said, “Not a single word out of place.” After a pause, he added, “Whether it is cultivation or being a person, you must be this thorough. If you get some false reputation just from subduing a few low-level mountain spirits and ghosts in your own territory, or you become complacent, arrogant, or unruly, you will eventually bring shame upon yourself.”

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow and glanced at Lan Wangji’s profile. He thought to himself, “So, this old man is coming for me. He made his good student listen to the lesson together to make me look bad.”

He said, “I have a question.”

Lan Qiren said, “Speak.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Although it is said that ‘guiding the soul’ is the first priority, ‘guiding the soul’ is often impossible. ‘Fulfilling their wishes from life and dissolving their obsessions’ sounds easy, but if this obsession is for a new set of clothes, that’s fine, but what if it’s to kill everyone in their enemy’s family to avenge a grievance?”

Lan Wangji said, “Therefore, guiding the soul is the main objective, suppression is secondary, and annihilation is necessary.”

Wei Wuxian smiled slightly and said, “A waste of resources.” After a pause, he said, “I didn’t not know the answer just now. I was just considering a fourth path.”

Lan Qiren said, “I’ve never heard of a fourth path.”

Wei Wuxian said, “It’s certain that this executioner who died a violent death will become a fierce corpse. Since he beheaded more than a hundred people in life, why not dig up the graves of those hundred people and stir their resentment to gather a hundred heads to fight against this fierce corpse…”

Lan Wangji finally turned to look at him, but his brows were slightly furrowed and his expression was very cold. Lan Qiren’s beard trembled, and he shouted, “Ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth!”

Everyone in the classroom was shocked. Lan Qiren stood up abruptly and said, “Subduing demons, exorcising evil, and eliminating ghosts and fiends is all for the sake of guiding souls! Not only do you not consider the way of guiding souls, you want to stir their resentment? That is putting the cart before the horse and disregarding the most basic of human ethics!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Anyway, there are some things that cannot be guided, why not make use of them? Even Yu the Great knew that blocking was a poor strategy and dredging was the best. Suppression is blocking, is it not the worse strategy…” Lan Qiren threw a book at him, and he dodged it by a fraction of an inch, his expression unchanged. He continued talking nonsense, “Spiritual energy is also qi, resentment energy is also qi. Spiritual energy is stored in the dantian and can be used to move mountains and fill seas. Why can’t resentment energy be used by people?”

Lan Qiren threw another book, and said sternly, “Then I’ll ask you again! How can you guarantee that these resentful energies will be used by you and not harm others?”

Wei Wuxian dodged as he said, “Haven’t thought it through yet!”

Lan Qiren was furious. “If you were to figure it out, no one from the cultivation world would let you live. Get out!”

Wei Wuxian couldn’t have asked for better. He scrambled out immediately.

He wandered around Cloud Recesses, admiring flowers and grass for half a day. The others finished their lessons, and it was only after much searching that they finally found him on a high wall. Wei Wuxian was sitting on the green tiles of the wall, a blade of orchid grass between his teeth, his right hand supporting his cheek, one leg propped up, and the other leg dangling down, swinging gently. The people below pointed at him and said, “Brother Wei! I admire you. He told you to get out, and you actually got out! Hahahaha…”

“He was stunned for a long time after you left, and his face was turning green!”

Wei Wuxian, with the grass in his mouth, shouted down, “I answer every question, and if he tells me to get out, I get out. What else does he want from me?”

Nie Huaisang said, “Why does that old man Lan seem particularly harsh on you, calling you out to scold you.”

Jiang Cheng snorted, “He deserved it. What kind of answer was that? It’s fine to say that kind of nonsense at home, but he actually dared to say it in front of Lan Qiren. He’s courting death!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Anyway, he doesn’t like whatever answer I give, so I might as well say whatever I want. Besides, I didn’t curse him. I was just giving an honest answer.”

Nie Huaisang thought for a while, and revealed an envious and yearning expression. He said, “Actually, what Brother Wei said was very interesting. Spiritual energy needs to be cultivated, struggling so hard to form a golden core. For someone with my talent, it’s like I was gnawed on by a dog in my mother’s womb, I don’t know how many years it would take. But resentment energy is from those fierce ghosts and evil spirits. If it could be used just like that, how wonderful that would be.”

The so-called golden core was a core formed in a cultivator’s body after reaching a certain level of cultivation, which could store and utilize spiritual energy. After forming a core, cultivation ability would rapidly improve, and only then could one cultivate more profoundly and reach the peak, otherwise they could only be considered a low-level cultivator. If a disciple of a prominent family formed a core too late in life, it would be utterly shameful, but Nie Huaisang did not feel ashamed in the least. Wei Wuxian also chuckled and said, “Right? If we can use it, why not?”

Jiang Cheng warned, “Enough. You can say whatever you want, but don’t take that evil path.”

Wei Wuxian laughed and said, “I’m not going to abandon the broad sunny road to take that narrow, treacherous bridge. If it were so easy, people would have already taken it. Don’t worry, he just asked the question and I just said the answer. Hey, are you guys coming? Before curfew, let’s go catch some pheasants.”

Jiang Cheng rebuked, “Catch what pheasants? Where would you get pheasants here! You should go transcribe the *Rules of Propriety* first. Lan Qiren told me to tell you to copy the *On Righteousness* section of *Rules of Propriety* three times, so that you can learn what is called the Way of Heaven and human ethics.”

*Rules of Propriety* was the Lan Clan’s family precepts. Their family precepts were too long, so after Lan Qiren’s revisions, it had become a thick compilation. The *On Righteousness* section and the *On Rites* section took up four fifths of the entire book. Wei Wuxian spat out the blade of grass, dusted off the ash on his boots, and said, “Copy it three times? I would be able to ascend to the heavens after doing it once. I’m not a Lan family member, nor do I plan to marry into the Lan family, so why should I copy their family precepts. I won’t copy it.”

Nie Huaisang hurriedly said, “I’ll copy it for you! I’ll copy it for you!”

Wei Wuxian said, “You’re being overly helpful, so there’s something you want from me, right? Tell me.”

Nie Huaisang said, “It’s like this. Brother Wei, that old man Lan has a bad habit, he…”

He stopped mid-sentence, coughed, and then opened his folding fan, retreating to the side. Wei Wuxian knew that something was wrong. He turned his head and saw that Lan Wangji was standing under a lush ancient tree with his sword, Bichen, on his back, staring at them from afar. He was like jade tree, bathed in dappled shadows of leaves and sunlight. His gaze, however, wasn’t very friendly. Being stared at by him felt like falling into an ice cave. Everyone realized that they had just been talking loudly in the air, and the noise must have attracted him, so they consciously shut their mouths. Wei Wuxian, however, jumped down and greeted him, “Brother Wangji!”

Lan Wangji turned around and left. Wei Wuxian cheerfully chased after him, shouting, “Brother Wangji, wait for me!”

The white robe flashed behind the tree, and he was gone in an instant. It was obvious that Lan Wangji didn’t want to talk to him. Wei Wuxian, having been given the cold shoulder, turned back and complained to the others, “He’s ignoring me.”

“Yeah,” Nie Huaisang said, “It seems like he really dislikes you, Brother Wei. Lan Wangji usually… no, he’s never been this rude.”

Wei Wuxian said, “That’s being disliked? I originally wanted to admit my mistake to him.”

Jiang Cheng mocked him. “It’s too late to admit your mistake now! He’s definitely like his uncle and thinks that you are full of evil, are a bad seed, and not worth his attention.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t care. He made a “heh” sound and said, “So he’s not paying me any attention? Is he beautiful, huh?” Then he thought about it and remembered that he was indeed beautiful, and then he dismissively threw that little bit of a pout behind his mind.

Three days later, Wei Wuxian finally found out what Lan Qiren’s bad habit was.

Lan Qiren’s lectures were extremely long-winded, and on top of that, they all had to be recited from memory for the exam. The transitions, sphere of influence, sayings of famous people, and family trees of generations of cultivation families…

Listening to it was like hearing a heavenly scripture, and remembering it was like being sold into slavery. Nie Huaisang, after copying the *On Righteousness* section twice for Wei Wuxian, begged him before the exam, “Please, Brother Wei, this is my third year in Gusu. If my grade is still below B, my big brother will really break my legs! What is this thing about distinguishing between the main line and branch line, the ancestral family and the separated family? Us disciples from prestigious families can’t even figure out our own family relationships. If they’re more than two degrees removed, we just randomly call them aunts, uncles, and cousins. Who has extra brainpower to remember other people’s families?”

The consequence of flying notes all over the place for cheating was that Lan Wangji suddenly intervened during the test and caught several of the troublemakers. Lan Qiren was furious and sent letters of complaint to each of the major families. He was furious in his heart. Initially, even though these disciples of the great families couldn’t sit still, at least no one had started a trend and they were barely staying glued to their seats. However, after Wei Ying arrived, those young people with wicked intentions but lacking in courage were emboldened by his instigation and provocation. Night excursions became common as did drinking alcohol. This corrupt influence was growing steadily. This Wei Ying was exactly as he had expected, truly the number one menace of the mortal world!

Jiang Fengmian replied, “Ying has always been like that. I’m troubling Master Lan with his discipline.”

And so, Wei Wuxian was punished again.

Originally, he didn’t take it seriously. It was just copying books. He never lacked people to help him copy. Who knew that this time, Nie Huaisang would say, “Brother Wei, I can’t help you. You can just take your time.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why?”

Nie Huaisang said, “Old… Master Lan said that this time, you have to copy the *On Righteousness* and the *On Rites* sections together.”

The *On Rites* section was the most tedious of the twelve sections of the Lan family precepts. It was full of quotations and long-winded, and had countless obscure characters. Copying it once was already boring, and after copying it ten times, one might ascend to the heavens. Nie Huaisang said, “He also said that during your punishment, you are not allowed to hang around with anyone else, and no one can help you copy for you.”

Wei Wuxian said in surprise, “How would he know whether or not someone else was copying for me? Could it be that he would have someone watch me while I copy?”

Jiang Cheng said, “That’s exactly what it’s like.”

“…” Wei Wuxian said, “What did you say?”

Jiang Cheng said, “He won’t let you leave each day. You have to go to the Lan’s library to copy and reflect on your mistakes for a month. Of course, someone will be watching you. As for who that is, I don’t think I need to say it, right?”

In the library.

A green mat, a wooden desk. Two candle stands, two people. One sat upright, and the other, Wei Wuxian, had already copied more than ten pages of the *On Rites* section. His head was dizzy, and he was bored. He put down his pen to get some air and glanced across at the other person.

When they were in Yunmeng, a lot of girls in the Jiang family had envied him for being able to study and learn with Lan Wangji, saying that the Gusu Lan Sect had produced handsome men from generation to generation, and the Lan brothers, both twins of this generation, were even more exceptional. Wei Wuxian had not had time to look at his face carefully before, but now he looked at him and thought wildly, “He is quite good-looking. Both his appearance and demeanor are impeccable. But, I really wish those girls could all come and see for themselves. If you have a perpetual frown and face like you’re attending a funeral, no matter how good-looking you are, it can’t save you.”

Lan Wangji was re-transcribing ancient texts from the Lan family’s library that were too old to be easily viewed by outsiders. His brushstrokes were steady and slow, and his writing was neat and elegant. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but blurt out sincerely, “Beautiful writing! Top quality.”

Lan Wangji didn’t react.

Wei Wuxian had been quiet for this long, and he was getting restless. He thought, “This person is so dull. I have to sit facing him for several hours each day, for a month. Isn’t this going to kill me?”

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but lean forward a little.