TFOD Chapter 21

The heads of the cultivation clans often travel for night hunts with a large entourage and quite a spectacle. However, Lan Wangji always preferred to travel alone, and since this arm was strange and possibly dangerous, he worried he might harm others if he brought anyone else. So he didn’t bring any disciples from his family or sect, only Wei Wuxian. He also kept an even closer eye on him.

Wei Wuxian originally planned to find a chance to slip away when they went down the mountain, but after several attempts to escape along the way, he was always caught by Lan Wangji, who would simply grab him by the collar with one hand and bring him back. He changed his strategy, trying his best to stick close to Lan Wangji, especially at night. He would unfailingly climb into Lan Wangji’s bed, hoping that Lan Wangji would find him so disgusting that he would quickly just chop him away with his sword. But no matter how much Wei Wuxian acted wildly, Lan Wangji remained unmoved. As soon as Wei Wuxian crawled into his blankets, he would gently push Wei Wuxian, causing his whole body to stiffen. Then, he would tuck Wei Wuxian into another set of blankets, forcing him into a proper sleeping posture until daybreak. After suffering several times, Wei Wuxian would wake up with aches and pains all over, groaning miserably. He couldn’t help but think, “This guy has grown up, and he’s way less fun than before. Before, when I teased him, he would still get shy, and it was so fun to watch. But now, not only is he completely unfazed, but he’s also learned how to counterattack. It’s outrageous!”

Following the guidance of the left hand, the two traveled northwest. Every day, they played a piece of “Rest” together to temporarily soothe its rage and murderous intent. When they reached the area near Qinghe, the hand, which had maintained its pointing gesture for a long time, suddenly changed. It retracted its index finger, making a fist.

This indicated that what the hand was guiding them to was nearby.

As they traveled and inquired, they came to a small town in Qinghe. It was daytime, and the streets were bustling with people. Wei Wuxian was shuffling behind Lan Wangji when a pungent, suffocating scent of cosmetics hit him.

Accustomed to the light sandalwood fragrance of Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian blurted out after being assaulted by the odor, “What are you selling? What is that smell?”

The fragrance was coming from a traveling quack doctor, dressed in a Taoist robe with a face that screamed “scam artist”. He was carrying a box and peddling small trinkets to passersby. When he heard someone ask, he happily said, “I sell everything! Lipsticks and face powder, great quality and low prices. Would you like to take a look, young master?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Sure, let me see.”

The doctor said, “Buying it for your lady at home?”

Wei Wuxian smiled, “I’m buying it for myself.”

“…” The doctor’s smile froze, thinking, “Is he making fun of me?!”

Before he could react, the other young man came back, expressionless and said, “If you’re not buying, don’t make trouble.”

This man was exceptionally handsome and elegant, dressed in white with a snow-white headband. His eyes were light colored, and a long sword hung at his waist. The doctor was a fake Taoist and only had a superficial understanding of the cultivation sects. He recognized the Gusu Lan family crest and dared not cause trouble, so he quickly picked up his box and ran forward. Wei Wuxian said, “Why are you running? I really want to buy it!”

Lan Wangji said, “Do you have money to buy it?”

Wei Wuxian said, “If I don’t have money, then you give it to me.” As he spoke, he reached into Lan Wangji’s robes. He didn’t expect to actually find anything, but sure enough, he pulled out a delicate, small, and heavy money pouch.

This was definitely not something Lan Wangji would carry, but so many unbelievable things had happened with Lan Wangji in the past few days that Wei Wuxian was no longer surprised. He took the pouch and walked away. As expected, Lan Wangji let him take it, let him go, without a word of complaint. If he hadn’t thought he had a little understanding of Lan Wangji’s character and integrity, and if Hanguang-Jun’s reputation hadn’t been so frighteningly good, he would have almost suspected that there was some tangled relationship between Lan Wangji and Mo Xuanyu.

Otherwise, why could he tolerate this after he had already gone so far?!

After walking a distance, Wei Wuxian inadvertently looked back and saw that Lan Wangji had been left far behind. He was still standing in the same spot, looking in his direction.

Wei Wuxian’s pace involuntarily slowed down.

For some reason, he vaguely felt that he shouldn’t walk so fast and leave Lan Wangji behind like that.

At this moment, someone beside him called out, “The Yi Ling Patriarch, five coins for one, ten coins for three!”

Wei Wuxian: “Who?!”

He quickly looked to see who was selling him, and it was indeed the same traveling quack doctor. He had put away his low-quality lipsticks and face powder and was now holding a stack of talismans with fierce and menacing-looking gods on them, saying, “Five coins for one, ten coins for three! You won’t lose out on this deal! Three is good. Put one on the front door, one in the living room, and one at the head of the bed. It’s full of evil and sinister energy, using evil to fight evil, poison to counter poison, guaranteeing that no demons or monsters will dare come close!”

Wei Wuxian said, “What a load of bull! If it’s so effective, why are you selling each one for five coins?!”

The doctor said, “Why are you here again? Buy it or go away. If you want to pay fifty coins each for these, I’d be happy.”

Wei Wuxian flipped through the stack of “Yi Ling Patriarch’s Evil-Suppressing Talismans” and simply couldn’t accept that this blue-faced, fanged, bulging-eyed, veiny brute was supposed to be him.

He argued, “Wei Wuxian is a well-known beauty, what is this you’ve drawn?! If you haven’t seen the real thing, don’t just draw anything and mislead people.”

The doctor was about to speak when Wei Wuxian suddenly felt a gust of wind behind him and dodged.

He dodged it, but the doctor was kicked out by the force, crashing into a nearby stall with spinning toys. They were a flurry of people trying to pick everything up. The doctor was about to yell, but when he saw that the one who kicked him was a young man in glittering gold, obviously wealthy and noble, his anger subsided. Then, when he looked closer and saw that the other’s chest was embroidered with golden stars and white peonies, he completely lost his courage. But he was still unwilling to have been kicked for no reason, so he weakly said, “Why did you kick me?”

The young man was Jin Ling. He folded his arms and coldly said, “Kick you? Anyone who dares mention ‘Wei Wuxian’ in front of me should be kneeling and thanking me for not killing them, and you’re shouting his name in the streets. You’re courting death!”

Wei Wuxian hadn’t expected Jin Ling to appear here, and he certainly didn’t expect him to be so arrogant. He thought, “I don’t know what’s wrong with this kid’s personality. He’s got a bad temper, is full of aggression, and is spoiled and arrogant. He has learned all of his uncle and father’s bad traits but none of his mother’s good ones. If I don’t give him a talking to, he’s going to suffer sooner or later.” Seeing that Jin Ling seemed to be still angry, taking two steps towards the man on the ground, he interjected, “Jin Ling!”

The doctor didn’t dare to speak, his eyes full of gratitude. Jin Ling turned towards Wei Wuxian, sneering, “You haven’t run away yet? Good.”

Wei Wuxian laughed, “Oh my, I really don’t know who it was last time that was pinned to the ground, unable to get up?”

Jin Ling chuckled and blew a short whistle. Wei Wuxian was confused at first, but a moment later, a series of heavy, coarse panting sounds came from a distance.

He turned his head and saw a black-maned spirit dog, half the height of a man, emerge from the corner of the street and charge directly towards him. The cries on the long street grew louder and closer: “A rabid dog is biting people!”

Wei Wuxian’s face turned pale, and he turned to run.

It was shameful to admit, but the Yi Ling Patriarch, who was known for being invincible, was actually afraid of dogs. This was unavoidable. When he was young, before Jiang Fengmian took him home, he had lived wildly on the streets and often had to fight dogs for food. After many chases and bites, he suffered many losses and gradually became terrified of dogs of all shapes and sizes. Jiang Cheng had mocked him for it more than once. It was not only embarrassing, but no one would believe it, so it was not widely known. Wei Wuxian was almost scared to death when he suddenly caught sight of a tall, white figure. He called out, with all his might, “Lan Zhan, save me!”

Jin Ling caught up to them and was shocked when he saw Lan Wangji, “How did this crazy guy end up with him again?!” Lan Wangji was stern and unsmiling, and even many of his peers in the cultivation world were wary of him. His intimidation was even greater than Lan Qiren’s back then. The dog had been well-trained and was not ordinary. It was very intelligent and seemed to know that it couldn’t run wild in front of this person. It barked a few times, tucked its tail between its legs, and hid behind Jin Ling instead.

This black-maned spirit dog was a rare breed that Jin Guangyao had sent to Jin Ling. Ordinarily, if people heard it was a gift from Lianfang-Zun, they wouldn’t dare to be disrespectful. But Lan Wangji was not an ordinary person. He didn’t care who gave the gift or who let the dog loose. He would punish them accordingly without hesitation. Jin Ling was caught chasing after people in the streets with the dog, and his heart went cold. He thought, “I’m doomed. He’ll definitely kill my spirit dog that I trained so hard for and then give me a severe lecture!”

However, Wei Wuxian ducked into Lan Wangji’s arms, hiding behind him, wishing he could climb up his tall, upright figure all the way to the sky. Lan Wangji seemed to freeze when Wei Wuxian wrapped his arms around him. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jin Ling blew two more short whistles, and, taking his black-maned spirit dog, ran away in a panic.

The doctor on the ground struggled to his feet, still shaken, “The world is going downhill, and the younger generation of these cultivation families is truly outrageous!”

When Wei Wuxian heard the dog’s bark disappear, he came out from behind Lan Wangji, and agreed, as if it was nothing, “Indeed, the world is going downhill, people’s hearts are no longer honest.”

The doctor now saw him as a savior, and repeatedly agreed. To express his gratitude, he threw the stack of “Yi Ling Patriarch’s Evil-Suppressing Talismans” into Wei Wuxian’s hands as if it was a hot potato, “Brother, thank you for your help just now! Consider this a token of my gratitude. If you sell these for a reduced price, three coins each, you can still make 300 coins.”

Lan Wangji glanced at the blue-faced, fanged brute in the painting, making no comment. Wei Wuxian was at a loss, as his price was getting lower and lower, “Is this a thank you gift? If you really want to thank me, draw me more handsome! … Wait, don’t go, I have something to ask you. Since you are in the area, have you heard any strange things or seen any anomalies?”

The doctor said, “Strange things? You’ve come to the right person. I’ve been stationed here for many years, they call me the Qinghe Encyclopedia. What kind of strange things are you looking for?”

Wei Wuxian said, “For example, demons causing trouble, dismemberment cases, family massacres?”

The doctor said, “There are none of those here, but if you go five or six miles ahead, there’s a mountain ridge called Xinglu Ridge, and I advise you not to go.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why?”

The doctor said, “This Xinglu Ridge has another nickname, called ‘Man-Eating Ridge’, need I say more?”