TFOD Chapter 33

This time, Wei Wuxian didn’t close his eyes all night. He stayed awake, forcing himself until before dawn on the second day. He felt the soreness and numbness in his body had passed, and his limbs could move. Calmly and unhurriedly, he took off his own top inside the covers and threw it onto the floor.

Then, he pulled down Lan Wangji’s belt and forcibly stripped down the top part of his robe. Originally, he also wanted to take off all his clothes, but when he had stripped halfway, he saw the brand below Lan Wangji’s collarbone. Wei Wuxian was slightly stunned and involuntarily stopped. He also recalled the disciplinary whip scars on his back and knew that this was inappropriate. He wanted to immediately pull Lan Wangji’s clothes back up. Just as he hesitated, Lan Wangji seemed to feel the coldness, slightly moved, and furrowed his brow as he slowly opened his eyes.

As soon as he opened them, he rolled off the bed.

It really couldn’t be blamed on the elegant Hanguang-Jun for being too startled to be even slightly elegant anymore. Which man, waking up the morning after being drunk, would see another man lying naked next to him, with his own top half stripped, and the two of them pressed together under the same blanket, in the same bed. There would be no time to be elegant.

Wei Wuxian half-covered his chest with the blanket, only revealing his bare and smooth shoulders. Lan Wangji said, “You…”

Wei Wuxian hummed with a nasal tone, “Mm?”

Lan Wangji said, “Last night, I…”

Wei Wuxian blinked his left eye at him, propped his cheek with one hand, and smiled strangely, “Last night, you were so unrestrained, Hanguang-Jun.”

“…”

Wei Wuxian said, “You don’t remember anything about what happened last night?”

It seemed he really didn’t remember. Lan Wangji’s face had turned pale.

It was better that he didn’t remember. Otherwise, if Lan Wangji remembered that he had secretly gone out in the middle of the night to summon Wen Ning, and asked about it, it would be awkward for Wei Wuxian whether he lied or told the truth.

Having tried to tease him unsuccessfully and ended up with his own foot in his mouth so many times, Wei Wuxian had finally regained some of his former imposing manner and turned the tables. Although he wanted to press his advantage, he still wanted to trick Lan Wangji into drinking and having fun next time. He couldn’t let him develop a complex, and become wary from now on. Seeing that it was enough, Wei Wuxian lifted the blanket and showed him his neatly arranged pants and boots that he hadn’t taken off, “Such a chaste man! Hanguang-Jun, I just took off our clothes as a joke. Your pure body is still intact and hasn’t been defiled, so please relax!”

Lan Wangji froze on the spot, not yet answering. In the middle of the room, there came a sound of porcelain shattering.

This sound was not unfamiliar, as it was the second time they had heard it. Again, it was the Evil Sealing Bag being pressed under the table that was acting up, overturning the teapot and teacups. This time, it was even more intense, all three of them at once. Last night, one of them was drunk and out of it, and the other was so exhausted, so naturally they had put the harmony playing out of their minds again. Wei Wuxian was worried that Lan Wangji would be too shocked and impulsively lose control, and stab him to death on the spot on the bed, so he quickly said, “Business, let’s do our business first.”

He grabbed a piece of clothing, put it on, and rolled off the bed. He reached out to Lan Wangji who had just stood up, intending to pull him up, but the way he did it, it looked like he was going to rip his clothes off. Lan Wangji hadn’t recovered yet, and took a step back. He stumbled over something under his feet, and looked down to see that it was his Bichen sword, which had been lying on the floor all night.

By now, the string on the bag had been loosened, and a pale white hand had already crawled halfway out of the small mouth of the bag. Wei Wuxian reached into Lan Wangji’s half-open robe and rummaged around, pulling out a flute. He said, “Hanguang-Jun, don’t be afraid. I’m not going to do anything to you. It’s just that you took my flute last night, and I have to take it back.” He considerately helped pull his clothes back up to his shoulders and fastened his belt.

Lan Wangji looked at him with a complicated expression, seemingly wanting to ask about the details of last night when he was drunk. But, he was in the habit of doing business first, so he forcefully held back, composed himself, and brought out the guqin. Three Evil Sealing Bags, one sealed the left arm, one sealed the legs, and one sealed the torso. These three parts could already make up most of a body. They influenced each other, and the resentment grew exponentially, making it more difficult to deal with than before. They played “Rest” three times in a row before the agitation gradually subsided.

Wei Wuxian put away the flute, and was about to tidy up the pieces of corpses that were scattered all over the floor when suddenly he let out a sound of surprise, “Good brother, you’ve trained well.”

The ribbon on the shroud that was covering the torso had come loose. The collar was pulled askew, revealing the firm and powerful body of a young man, with broad shoulders, narrow waist, and clear abdominal muscles. He was strong but not exaggerated, exactly the kind of masculine physique that countless men dreamed of having. Looking at him from all angles, Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but pat his abs twice. “Hanguang-Jun, look at him. If he were alive, if I hit him with a palm, it would probably be bounced back and hurt me. How did he train like this?”

Lan Wangji’s eyebrows seemed to twitch slightly. He didn’t say a word. Who knew, Wei Wuxian patted him twice again, and he finally expressionlessly grabbed the Evil Sealing Bag and silently started sealing up the corpse. Wei Wuxian hurriedly moved out of the way. After a while, Lan Wangji had sealed the limbs back up completely and even tied several dead knots. Wei Wuxian didn’t notice anything strange. He looked down at his own body’s build, raised an eyebrow, tied his belt, and was once again presentable.

He glanced at Lan Wangji, who was still looking at him intentionally or unintentionally after putting away the bag, his eyes seemingly full of unspoken words. He deliberately said, “Hanguang-Jun, why are you looking at me like that? You’re still worried? Trust me. I really didn’t do anything to you last night. Of course, you didn’t do anything to me, either.”

Lan Wangji pondered for a moment, seeming to have made some decision, and said in a low voice, “Last night, besides grabbing the flute, I…”

Wei Wuxian said, “You? You did something else, right? You didn’t do anything, just said a lot of words.”

Lan Wangji’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly on his pale neck, “…What words?”

Wei Wuxian said, “They weren’t anything important. Just, um, for example, that you really like…”

Lan Wangji’s eyes froze.

Wei Wuxian said, “Really like rabbits.”

“…”

Lan Wangji closed his eyes and turned his head away. Wei Wuxian considerately said, “It’s okay! Rabbits are so cute, who doesn’t like them. I like them too, I like eating them hahahahahaha! Come on Hanguang-Jun, you drank so much last night… well, not a lot, but since you were so drunk last night, you must be feeling a little unwell this morning. Go wash your face, drink some water, and sit for a bit. When you’re feeling better, we can set off again. This time, we’ll head southwest. I’ll go downstairs to buy breakfast. I won’t bother you.”

He was about to go out when Lan Wangji said coldly, “Wait.”

Wei Wuxian turned his head, “What?”

Lan Wangji stared at him for a long time. Finally, he said, “Do you have money?”

Wei Wuxian laughed, “Yes! Do you think I don’t know where you keep your money. I’ll bring you some breakfast too, okay? Hanguang-Jun, take your time, no rush.”

Walking out of the room, he closed the door and stood in the hallway, laughing silently with his hands over his mouth for a good while.

Lan Wangji seemed to have been hit hard, and stayed alone in the room. He didn’t come out for quite a while. While waiting for him, Wei Wuxian leisurely went downstairs, left the inn, and walked around on the street a few times. He randomly bought some food and sat on the steps, eating while basking in the sun. After a while, a group of thirteen- or fourteen-year-old children ran past on the street.

The little kid at the front ran very fast, holding a long string in his hand. At the end of the string, a kite was flying up and down, not too high. The kids behind him held toy bows, and yelled as they tried to shoot the kite with their little arrows.

Wei Wuxian used to love this game as well. Archery was a required skill for all disciples of the cultivation clans, but most of them didn’t like to shoot at targets, and instead preferred to shoot at monsters and ghosts when night-hunting, and they also liked to shoot at kites like this. Everyone would have a kite, and whoever could fly it the highest, the furthest, and shoot the most accurately, would be the winner. This game was originally only popular among younger disciples of the cultivation clans. After it spread, the children of common families also liked it. But their little arrows were nowhere near as powerful as the arrows of the skilled disciples of the cultivation families.

Back in Lotus Pier, when Wei Wuxian played kite-shooting with the Jiang Clan disciples, he won many times. Jiang Cheng would always come in second. His kite would either fly too far for the arrow to reach, or when it did, it wouldn’t be as far as Wei Wuxian’s kite. Their two kites were one size larger than the others. They were made into the shape of a flying demon beast, with vibrant, flamboyant colors. Their mouths were wide open, and they had several sharp tails swaying in the wind. From far away, they looked very lifelike, not very ferocious, but instead rather cute and clumsy. Jiang Fengmian had personally crafted the frames, and then Jiang Yanli had painted them. So every time they went out to play with the kites, they had a feeling of pride.

Thinking of this, Wei Wuxian had a faint smile on his face, and he couldn’t help but look up to see what the kite that the children were flying looked like. He only saw that it was all golden, a large, round piece. He wondered, “What is that? A flatbread? Or some kind of monster I don’t know?”

Just then, a gust of wind came. The kite wasn’t flying very high, and it wasn’t in an open space either. After one gust, it fell down. One of the kids shouted, “Oh no, the sun has fallen down!”

Wei Wuxian instantly understood. These kids were probably playing a game imitating the Sunshot Campaign.

This was Liyang. Back when the Qishan Wen Clan was at its peak, they were domineering everywhere, and Liyang was not far from Qishan. The local people were bound to have suffered from them, either from the monsters that they didn’t keep locked up properly, or from the overbearing cultivators of their clan. After the Sunshot Campaign, the Wen clan was crushed by the combined forces of all the clans. Their century-old foundation collapsed in an instant. Many places surrounding the Qishan area enjoyed celebrating the destruction of the Wen Clan, which even evolved into a tradition. This game could probably be considered one of them.

The children stopped chasing and gathered together, scratching their heads and starting to discuss, “What do we do? We haven’t shot down the sun yet, and it fell down by itself. Who will be the boss now?”

One kid raised his hand, “Of course it’s me! I’m Jin Guangyao, I killed the Wen family’s great villain!”

Wei Wuxian sat on the steps in front of the inn, watching with great interest.

In this kind of game, the now infinitely glorious Immortal Supervisor Lianfang-Zun was, of course, the most popular character. Although his background was embarrassing, it was precisely because of this that his achievement of climbing to a high position was even more impressive. He had infiltrated and blended in during the Sunshot Campaign for many years. He had the entire Qishan Wen clan completely fooled, leaking countless secrets without their knowledge. After the Sunshot Campaign, with all kinds of flattery and clever methods, he had ultimately become the Immortal Supervisor and the number one cultivator of all clans. Such a life could be described as legendary. If he were playing, he would also want to be Jin Guangyao and give it a try. Choosing this kid to be the boss was very reasonable!

Another kid protested, “I’m Nie Mingjue, I won the most battles and captured the most prisoners, I should be the boss!”

“Jin Guangyao” said, “But I’m the Immortal Supervisor!”

“Nie Mingjue” raised his fist. “What if you’re the Immortal Supervisor, you’re still my third brother. Wouldn’t you run away with your tail between your legs if you saw me?”

“Jin Guangyao” was very cooperative and in character, shrinking his shoulders as he ran away. Another kid said, “You short-lived ghost.”

Since they chose to play a certain clan leader, they naturally had some admiration for that clan leader. “Nie Mingjue” got angry, “Jin Zixuan, you died even earlier than me, even more short-lived!”

“Jin Zixuan” refused to admit defeat. “What if I’m short-lived? I’m still number three!”

“Being number three is just being number three in the looks department!”

At this moment, a kid seemed tired of running and standing. He also scooted to the side of the steps, sat next to Wei Wuxian, waved his hand, and played peacemaker. “Okay, okay, stop arguing. I’m the Yiling Patriarch, and I’m the most powerful. I guess I’ll have to be the boss.”

Wei Wuxian: “…”

He looked down. Sure enough, this kid had a small, thin wooden stick tucked into his waist, probably playing Chenqing.

Only kids like this would be so naive to not care about good or evil, just argue about their battle power, and be willing to play the Yiling Patriarch.

Another kid said, “That’s not right, I’m the Holy Hand of the Three Poisons, I’m the most powerful.”

“Yiling Patriarch” knew him well and said, “Jiang Cheng, what do you have that can compare to me? You always lose to me, how can you be embarrassed to say that you’re the most powerful? Shameless.”

“Jiang Cheng” said, “Humph, I can’t compare to you? Do you remember how you died?”

The faint smile on Wei Wuxian’s face instantly crumbled.

It was like he had been suddenly pricked by a poisonous needle. A slight stinging pain spread all over his body.

The “Yiling Patriarch” next to him clapped his hands and said, “Look at me! Chenqing on the left, the Tiger Seal on the right, plus a Ghost General, I’m invincible! Hahahaha…” He held up a stick in his left hand, a rock in his right, and laughed wildly for a moment. “Wen Ning, come out!” A kid raised his hand from the back of the crowd and said weakly, “I’m here… um… I wanted to say… at the time of the Sunshot Campaign, I wasn’t dead yet…”

Wei Wuxian felt that he had to interrupt them.

He said, “Fellow clan leaders, can I ask a question?”

These kids had never been interrupted by adults when they played this game, let alone with a serious question instead of scolding. “Yiling Patriarch” looked at him strangely and warily, “What do you want to ask?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Why aren’t there any people from the Gusu Lan Clan?”

“There is.”

“Where?”

“Yiling Patriarch” pointed at a child who hadn’t said a single word from beginning to end, “That’s him.”

Wei Wuxian looked at him. Sure enough, this child’s features were very delicate. It was clear at first glance that he was a handsome boy. He had a white string tied around his smooth forehead, as an imitation of a headband. He asked, “Who is he?”

“Yiling Patriarch” wrinkled his face in disgust, “Lan Wangji!”

…Okay. These kids had grasped the essence. To play Lan Wangji, you really should shut your mouth and not speak!

Suddenly, the corners of Wei Wuxian’s mouth turned up again.

The poisonous needle had been pulled out and tossed to an unknown corner. All of the pain had been completely swept away. Wei Wuxian murmured to himself, “How strange. How can someone so quiet always make me so happy?”

When Lan Wangji came downstairs, he saw Wei Wuxian sitting on the steps, surrounded by a group of kids sharing steamed buns. Wei Wuxian was eating a bun and instructing two kids who were standing back to back in front of him, “…Now, in front of you are tens of thousands of Wen clan cultivators, all fully armed, and they’ve completely surrounded you, eyes sharp, that’s right like that. Okay, Lan Wangji, pay attention, you’re not your usual self, you’re covered in blood! You have a very heavy killing intent! Your eyes are fierce! Wei Wuxian, get closer to him, can you twirl the flute? Let me see you twirl it, with one hand. Be more dashing, do you know what dashing is? Come here, I’ll teach you.” “Wei Wuxian” said “oh” and handed him a small, thin wooden stick. Wei Wuxian very skillfully twirled the “Chenqing” between his fingers, and it flew around, attracting all the kids to crowd around, exclaiming with wonder.

Lan Wangji: “…”

He silently walked closer. When Wei Wuxian saw that he had arrived, he patted the dust off his bottom, and said goodbye to the kids. It took him some effort to stand up and walk while smiling, as if he was poisoned.

Lan Wangji: “…”

Wei Wuxian: “Hahahaha, I’m sorry Hanguang-Jun, I gave your breakfast to them, we can just buy more later.”

Lan Wangji: “Mm.”

Wei Wuxian: “How was it? Weren’t those two kids cute? The one with the string tied around his head, can you guess who he was imitating? Hahahaha…”

After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji finally couldn’t help it anymore, and asked, “…What exactly else did I do last night?”

It definitely wasn’t that simple. Otherwise, why would Wei Wuxian still be laughing so hard?

Wei Wuxian waved his hands repeatedly, “No, no, no, no, no. You didn’t do anything. I was just bored, hahahahahaha… okay, ahem, Hanguang-Jun, I need to talk business now.”

Lan Wangji said, “Talk.”

Wei Wuxian said very seriously, “The coffin banging in the Chang Clan’s graveyard has been silent for ten years, and has suddenly started up again. This definitely isn’t a coincidence, there must be a reason for it.”

Lan Wangji said, “What do you think the reason is?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Good question. I think the reason is that that torso was dug up.”

Lan Wangji said, “Mm.”

His focused expression made Wei Wuxian recall his serious face when he was drunk last night, when he had held onto two of Wei Wuxian’s fingers. He painfully suppressed the urge to laugh and said seriously, “I think that dismemberment isn’t just a method of revenge and venting hatred, but is a vicious method of suppression. The person who dismembered the body deliberately selected places where strange occurrences are happening, to place the pieces of the corpse.”

Lan Wangji said, “Using poison against poison, mutual restraint, maintaining balance.”

Wei Wuxian said, “That’s right. So when the grave robber dug out the torso yesterday, with nothing to suppress the Chang family’s resentful spirits, the coffin banging started up again. It’s the same principle as the Nie Clan’s Sabre Hall in Qinghe suppressing the sabre spirits and wall corpses. Perhaps they even learned the method from the Nie Clan’s Sabre Hall. It seems this person has close ties with both the Qinghe Nie Clan and the Gusu Lan Clan. He probably isn’t an easy target.”

Lan Wangji said, “There aren’t many people like that.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Mm. He’s gradually surfacing. And since the other party has begun moving the corpse, it means that he, or they, are already anxious. They’re bound to have more movements soon. Even if we don’t go looking for them, they’ll come looking for us. After searching around, sooner or later, more clues will surface. Moreover, good brother’s hand will point us in the right direction. However, we probably have to move faster too. There’s only one right hand and a head left. We must also try our best to get there before they do.”

The two of them headed southwest. This time, the left hand was pointing to Shu Dong, which was covered in fog.

A ghost city where the locals were terrified of even going near.