TFOD Chapter 45

He hadn’t really expected Lan Wangji to keep him company, so he tilted his head back and finished the cup of wine himself. Who knew that Lan Wangji, watching him, would remain silent for a while, then suddenly lightly lift his sleeve, reach out and pour himself a cup of wine as well. He steadied it for a moment, raised the cup and slowly drank it down.

Wei Wuxian was a bit surprised and said, “Hanguang-Jun, you’re too considerate, really drinking with me?”

Last time they drank, Wei Wuxian hadn’t paid close attention to his expression, but this time he was particularly observant.

Lan Wangji’s eyes were closed while he drank, his brow slightly furrowed. He finished the cup, subtly pursed his lips, and then opened his eyes. A faint layer of moisture would appear in his gaze.

Wei Wuxian leaned on the table, resting his cheek on his hand, and began to count silently. Sure enough, by the eighth count, Lan Wangji put down his cup, supported his forehead, and closed his eyes—and fell asleep.

Wei Wuxian was completely convinced: he really did fall asleep before getting drunk!

A strange sense of eagerness rose in his heart. He finished the remaining wine in the pot in one gulp, stood up, and walked around the private room with his hands behind his back. After a while, he went to Lan Wangji’s side, leaned down, and whispered in his ear, “Lan Zhan?”

There was no response. Wei Wuxian said again, “Brother Wangji?”

Lan Wangji’s right hand supported his forehead, his breathing very steady and gentle.

His face and the hand supporting his forehead were both flawless and white, like beautiful jade.

The faint sandalwood scent emanating from him was originally cold and somewhat desolate. But now, the sandalwood was infused with the aroma of wine. In the cold fragrance, there was a hint of warmth, as if a slightly tipsy sweetness had been added, which was actually a bit intoxicating.

Wei Wuxian leaned closer, and this scent lingered in his breath. He involuntarily leaned down even lower, getting closer. He vaguely thought, “Strange… why does it feel a little hot?”

In the midst of the scent of wine and sandalwood, his face was drawing closer and closer, yet he was completely unaware. His voice also deepened, carrying a hint of teasing, as he murmured, “Lan er… ge…”

Suddenly, a voice came softly, “Young Master…”

Wei Wuxian’s face was already close to Lan Wangji’s, and the “brother” was about to slip from his lips. He was startled awake by the sound, his foot slipped, and he almost fell over.

He immediately shielded Lan Wangji behind him, turned around, and faced the wooden window from where the voice had come.

The wooden window was tapped carefully, and another small voice floated in through the crack in the window, “Young Master…”

Only then did Wei Wuxian realize that his heart was beating a bit fast. He secretly thought it was strange, calmed himself down, walked over, and suddenly propped open the window. He saw a man in black hooked onto the eaves, hanging upside down outside the window, preparing to knock again. Wei Wuxian suddenly opened the window, hitting the man’s head. He made a small “ah” sound and supported the window leaf with both hands, face to face with Wei Wuxian.

A cold night breeze rushed through the window. Wen Ning’s eyes were open, the white was no longer dead, and he had a pair of quiet, black pupils.

The two of them just stared at each other for a while, one standing and the other hanging upside down.

Wei Wuxian said, “Come down.”

Wen Ning lost his grip on the eaves, fell down, and landed heavily on the ground below.

Wei Wuxian wiped away a nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead.

He thought, “This place was chosen perfectly!”

Luckily, he had chosen this tavern. For the sake of peace and quiet, the wooden window of this private room faced a small grove instead of the street. Wei Wuxian picked up a prop rod and braced the wooden window open. He leaned his upper body out of the window and looked down. Wen Ning’s body was heavy and lifeless, making a human-shaped pit in the ground. He was lying in the pit, still staring at him.

Wei Wuxian lowered his voice and shouted at him, “I told you to come down, not go down. ‘Come’, understand?”

Wen Ning looked up at him, climbed out of the pit, patted the dirt off his body, and quickly said, “Oh. I’m coming.”

After saying that, he hugged a pillar, preparing to climb up along it. Wei Wuxian said, “Stop! Stay there, I’ll come to you.”

He returned to Lan Wangji’s side and whispered in his ear, “Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan, please sleep a little longer. I’ll be right back. Be a good boy, okay?”

After saying that, his hand felt a bit itchy, and he couldn’t help but use his fingertip to brush Lan Wangji’s eyelashes.

Lan Wangji’s long lashes trembled slightly at his touch, his brow slightly furrowed, a bit restless. Wei Wuxian retracted his claws, leaped out of the window, and landed on the ground after a few jumps on the eaves and branches. As soon as he turned around, Wen Ning knelt down in front of him.

Wei Wuxian said, “What are you doing?”

Wen Ning didn’t say anything, his head lowered. Wei Wuxian said, “Do you have to talk to me like this?”

Wen Ning said in a low voice, “Young Master, I’m sorry.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Fine.”

After saying that, he also knelt down in front of Wen Ning. Wen Ning was startled and immediately kowtowed to him. Wei Wuxian also immediately kowtowed back. Wen Ning was so frightened that he quickly jumped up. Only then did Wei Wuxian stand up, patting the dust off his hem, and said, “Isn’t it better to speak with your back straight like this?”

Wen Ning lowered his head and didn’t dare to speak. Wei Wuxian asked, “When did you regain your senses?”

Wen Ning replied, “Just now.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “Do you remember what happened when the skull-piercing nails were in your head?”

Wen Ning replied, “I remember some things… some things I don’t.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “What do you remember?”

Wen Ning said, “I remember being chained in a dark place, and it seemed like someone came to check on me occasionally.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “Do you remember who it was?”

Wen Ning said, “I don’t remember. I only know that someone was nailing things into my head.”

Wei Wuxian said, “It should be Xue Yang. He controlled Song Lan with skull-piercing nails too. He used to be a guest of the Lanling Jin Sect. I just don’t know if he did this on his own or with the authorization of the Lanling Jin Sect.” He thought for a moment and added, “It should be with the authorization of the Lanling Jin Sect. Back then, they publicly announced that you had been reduced to ashes. Without the Lanling Jin Sect meddling, he wouldn’t have been able to deceive everyone alone.”

“What happened later? How did you go to Dafan Mountain?”

Wen Ning said, “Later, I don’t know how much time had passed, but I suddenly heard clapping and heard you, Young Master, say ‘still not awake’, so I… broke free of the chains and rushed out…”

That was the order Wei Wuxian gave to the three fierce corpses at the Mo Family Manor.

In the past, the Yi Ling Patriarch had given countless orders to the Ghost General, so Wen Ning heard the first order Wei Wuxian gave after returning to the world.

So, in his confused state, Wen Ning began to follow the guidance of his own kind and Wei Wuxian’s orders. And the Lanling Jin Sect also understood that the matter of hiding the Ghost General couldn’t be made public. Otherwise, the news would not only damage their family reputation, but would also cause panic. Therefore, even if Wen Ning had escaped, they didn’t dare to openly pursue and arrest him, being very cautious. Wen Ning wandered aimlessly, finally catching up with Wei Wuxian’s flute call on Dafan Mountain and successfully joining him.

Wei Wuxian sighed, and said, “Your ‘I don’t know how much time had passed’ was actually more than a dozen years.”

After a pause, he said, “But I’m about the same. Do you want me to tell you about what’s happened these past few years?”

Wen Ning replied, “I’ve heard some things.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “What have you heard?”

Wen Ning said, “I heard that the Burial Mounds are gone, and that people… everyone is gone.”

Actually, Wei Wuxian originally wanted to tell him some harmless and funny anecdotes, such as how the Lan family’s rules had changed from three thousand to four thousand, but who knew that Wen Ning would speak so heavily. He couldn’t help but fall silent.

But heavy as it was, Wen Ning’s tone wasn’t mournful, as if he had known this all along. In fact, he really had known it all along. More than a dozen years ago, the worst outcome had been predicted countless times.

After a moment of silence, Wei Wuxian said, “What else have you heard?”

Wen Ning softly said, “Jiang Cheng, Sect Leader Jiang, led people to surround and exterminate the Burial Mounds. And killed you.”

Wei Wuxian said, “I have to clarify, it wasn’t him who killed me. I died from the backlash.”

Wen Ning finally raised his eyes to look directly at him and said, “But, Sect Leader Jiang, he clearly…”

Wei Wuxian said, “People can’t possibly walk safely on a single-log bridge for a lifetime. There’s nothing that can be done about it.”

Wen Ning seemed like he wanted to sigh, but he had no breath to sigh with. Wei Wuxian said, “Alright, let’s not talk about him anymore. Have you heard anything else?”

“Yes.” Wen Ning looked at him and said, “Young Master Wei, you died a miserable death.”

“…” Seeing how miserable he looked, Wei Wuxian said, “Sigh, didn’t you hear any good news?”

Wen Ning said with a frown, “Yeah. There really wasn’t any.”

“…” Wei Wuxian was speechless.

Just then, there was a loud sound of porcelain shattering from the hall downstairs. Lan Sizhui’s voice followed, “Weren’t we just talking about Xue Yang? Why are we arguing about this?”

Jin Ling angrily said, “We were talking about Xue Yang, am I wrong? What did Xue Yang do? He was an inhumane monster, and Wei Ying was even more disgusting! What do you mean ‘we can’t generalize’? These demonic paths should be killed, eliminated, and wiped out completely!”

Wen Ning moved, but Wei Wuxian waved his hand to signal him to stop. Lan Jingyi’s voice joined the argument, “Why are you so angry? Sizhui didn’t say Wei Wuxian shouldn’t be killed, he just said not all demonic cultivators are like Xue Yang. Do you have to throw things around? I haven’t finished eating that yet…”

Jin Ling sneered, “Didn’t he also say, ‘the creator of this path may not have intended to use it for evil’? Who is this ‘creator of this path’? Tell me, besides Wei Ying, who else is there! It’s baffling. You Gusu Lan Sect is also a prestigious family. Back then, didn’t a lot of your family members die at Wei Ying’s hands? Did you have a headache from killing the walking corpses and his lackeys? Why is your, Lan Yuan’s, stance so strange? From what you just said, did you intend to absolve Wei Ying!”

Lan Yuan was Lan Sizhui’s given name. He defended himself, “I’m not trying to absolve him. I’m just suggesting that we should not jump to conclusions before we understand the whole story. Before coming to Yi City, didn’t many people claim that Chang Ping of the Leyang Chang family was killed by Daoist Xiao Xingchen for revenge? But what is the truth?”

Jin Ling said, “Whether Chang Ping was killed by Daoist Xiao Xingchen or not, no one saw it with their own eyes. Everyone was just guessing, what is the truth? But Wei Ying ambushed and killed at Qiongqi Path, he bloodied Nightless City. In those two battles, many cultivators died at his hands, at the hands of Wen Ning, and under the Yin Tiger Seal! That is the undeniable truth that countless people saw, there’s no way to quibble with that! And he incited Wen Ning to kill my father, and caused the death of my mother. I will never forget those things!”

If Wen Ning had any blood in his face, it would be gone now.

He said softly, “…The son of Miss Jiang?”

Wei Wuxian didn’t move.

Jin Ling continued, “My uncle grew up with him, my grandfather treated him like his own son, my grandmother was not bad to him either, but what did he do? He caused Lotus Pier to become the demon’s den of the Wen Clan, caused the Yunmeng Jiang Clan to fall to pieces, caused my grandparents and parents to die! Now I am the only one left with my uncle! He was reaping what he sowed and creating waves only to die with a mangled body! What about the facts isn’t clear? What is there to absolve!”

He was aggressive, and Lan Sizhui didn’t respond. After a while, another young man said, “Why are you arguing about this? Let’s not bring it up anymore, okay? We’re eating, the food will get cold.”

Judging from the voice, it was the “romantic fool” that Wei Wuxian had teased. Another person echoed, “Zizhen is right, stop arguing. Sizhui just spoke carelessly, he didn’t think much about it. Young Master Jin, sit down, let’s eat together.”

“Yeah, we all just came out of Yi City, we’ve been through life and death together… why argue over such an unintentional mistake?”

Jin Ling snorted. Only then did Lan Sizhui speak, still polite, “I’m sorry, it was my carelessness. Young Master Jin, please sit. If we keep arguing, it would be bad if we attracted Hanguang-Jun down here.”

Mentioning Hanguang-Jun was indeed effective. Jin Ling immediately stopped snorting. There was the sound of chairs and tables moving, it seemed that he had sat down. The hall was noisy again. The voices of the young people quickly faded away amidst the clinking of cups, plates, and chopsticks. Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning were still quietly standing in the small grove, both of them with grave expressions.

After a moment of silence, Wen Ning knelt down again silently. It was after a long time that Wei Wuxian noticed his movements. He waved his hand vaguely, and said, “It’s not your fault.”

Wen Ning was just about to speak when he suddenly looked behind Wei Wuxian with a slight pause. Wei Wuxian was about to turn around to look when he saw a figure in white pass him, raise a foot, and kick Wen Ning’s shoulder.

Wen Ning was kicked, and a human-shaped pit was once again pressed into the ground.

Wei Wuxian hurriedly grabbed Lan Wangji, who was going to kick him again, saying repeatedly, “Hanguang-Jun, Hanguang-Jun! Calm down!”

It seemed that the “sleep” time had passed and the “drunk” time had arrived, and Lan Wangji had found his way out.

This situation was strangely familiar, history was indeed surprisingly similar. Only this time, Lan Wangji seemed even more normal than last time, his boots weren’t on the wrong feet, and even when he was making such a rude action of kicking Wen Ning, his face was still more and more solemn and righteous, leaving no room for criticism. After being grabbed by Wei Wuxian, he flicked his sleeves, nodded, and stood there with an air of pride, no longer kicking him as ordered. Wei Wuxian took the time to ask Wen Ning, “Are you alright?”

Wen Ning replied, “I’m fine.”

Wei Wuxian said, “If you’re fine, then get up! What are you still kneeling for?”

Wen Ning got up. After hesitating for a moment, he said, “Young Master Lan.”

Lan Wangji frowned, covered his ears, turned his back to Wen Ning, and faced Wei Wuxian, using his body to block his sight.

Wen Ning: “…”

Wei Wuxian said, “It’s best if you don’t stand here, Lan Zhan, uh, doesn’t like to see you.”

Wen Ning asked, “…What’s wrong with Young Master Lan?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Nothing. He’s just drunk.”

“Ah?” Wen Ning was dazed and seemed to find this fact difficult to accept. After a long while, he finally said, “Then… what should we do?”

Wei Wuxian said, “What else can we do? I’ll take him inside and throw him onto the bed to sleep.”

Lan Wangji said, “Okay.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Huh? Weren’t you covering your ears? How can you hear me talking?”

This time, Lan Wangji didn’t answer. He still covered his ears tightly as if he wasn’t the one who just interrupted. Wei Wuxian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and said to Wen Ning, “Be careful.”

Wen Ning nodded. He couldn’t help but take another look at Lan Wangji. He was about to leave when Wei Wuxian called him back again, saying, “Wen Ning. You… you should go find a place to hide.”

Wen Ning was startled. Wei Wuxian said, “You’ve died twice. You should rest well.”

After he had left, Wei Wuxian took Lan Wangji’s hands from covering his ears, and said, “Okay, let’s go. You can’t hear any sound, and can’t see anyone now.”

Only then did Lan Wangji release his hands. His light-colored eyes stared straight at him.

This gaze was too clear and righteous. The desire to misbehave surged in Wei Wuxian’s heart. It was as if something in his body had been ignited. He smiled wickedly and said, “Lan Zhan, is it still the case that if I ask you something, you’ll answer it? If I ask you to do something, you’ll do it?”

Lan Wangji said, “Mm.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Take off your forehead ribbon.”

Lan Wangji indeed reached behind his head, slowly untied the band, and took off the white forehead ribbon with cloud patterns embroidered on it.

Wei Wuxian held the forehead ribbon in his hand, looking at it over and over again, saying, “There’s nothing special about it, I thought it hid some earth-shattering secret. Then why were you so angry when I took it off before?” Could it be that Lan Wangji back then simply disliked him, disliked everything about his actions?

Suddenly, he felt his wrist tighten. He saw Lan Wangji use the forehead ribbon to tie his two hands together, starting to slowly and methodically tie a knot.

Wei Wuxian said, “What are you doing?”

He wanted to see what Lan Wangji was going to do, so he let him continue. Lan Wangji tied his hands tightly. First, he tied a slipknot, then after thinking about it, as if he didn’t think it was appropriate, he untied it and changed it to a knot that would not come loose. He thought about it again, and still didn’t think it was appropriate, so he tied another one.

The Gusu Lan Sect’s forehead ribbons had trailing tassels, which fluttered elegantly when one moved, so they were also very long. Lan Wangji tied seven or eight knots that wouldn’t come loose, forming an ugly knot, and only then did he stop with satisfaction.

Wei Wuxian said, “Hey, do you even want this forehead ribbon anymore?”

Lan Wangji’s brow relaxed. He grabbed the other end of the forehead ribbon, pulled up Wei Wuxian’s hand, and held it in front of him as if admiring his great masterpiece. Wei Wuxian’s hand was being held up. He thought, “I look like a prisoner… No, why am I playing along with him like this? Shouldn’t it be me who’s messing with him?”

Suddenly, he was startled awake. Wei Wuxian said, “Untie me.”

Lan Wangji happily reached out and, using the same trick, also went for his collar and belt. Wei Wuxian said, “Not untie that! Untie this, untie what you tied me up with, this forehead ribbon.”

If Lan Wangji were to tie his hands and take off all his clothes, that would truly be a scary sight!

Lan Wangji heard his request and his brow furrowed again, remaining motionless for a long while. Wei Wuxian held up his hand for him to see and coaxed, “Weren’t you going to listen to me? Untie this for your brother. Be good.”

Lan Wangji glanced at him, calmly looked away, as if he didn’t understand what he was saying and needed to think about it for a while. Wei Wuxian shouted, “Oh, I get it! You’re very energetic when I ask you to tie me up, but when I ask you to untie me, you can’t understand, right?”

The Lan family’s forehead ribbons and the material used for their clothes were all very similar. Although they appeared to be light and airy, they were actually very sturdy. Lan Wangji had tied them very tightly and had used a long string of knots that would not come loose. Wei Wuxian couldn’t break free even after twisting and turning. He thought, “I’ve really shot myself in the foot this time. It’s a good thing it’s just a forehead ribbon and not some kind of immortal binding rope, otherwise, he would have tied me up like a dumpling.”

While looking into the distance, Lan Wangji also held the end of the forehead ribbon, pulling and shaking it, seemingly playing with it happily. Wei Wuxian pleaded, “Untie me, okay? Hanguang-Jun, you’re such an immortal person, how can you do such a thing? What are you going to do by tying me up? It’s not good, what if someone sees us? Hmm?”

After hearing the last sentence, Lan Wangji pulled him and started walking towards the grove.

Wei Wuxian staggered as he was dragged along, saying, “Hey, hey, wait a minute. What I meant was that it would be bad if other people saw us, not that I wanted you to show this to others. Hey! Are you pretending not to understand? You’re doing this on purpose, right? You only understand what you want to understand, don’t you? Lan Zhan, Lan Wangji!”

Before his voice faded, Lan Wangji had already dragged him out of the grove, back to the street, and into the hall of the tavern from the first floor again.

The group of younger disciples were still eating, drinking, and playing. Although there was a small unpleasantness just now, young people always quickly forget about unpleasant things. They were happily playing drinking games. Some of the bolder younger disciples of the Lan family wanted to secretly drink. They always had someone on the lookout at the second floor’s stairs, watching to make sure Lan Wangji didn’t find them. No one had expected that Lan Wangji would suddenly drag Wei Wuxian in from the door that they weren’t watching. When they turned their heads, each of them was stunned.

With a series of clangs, Lan Jingyi threw himself at the wine cups on the table, knocking over several plates and bowls along the way. He didn’t hide anything at all. On the contrary, it made the objects he was trying to hide more noticeable. Lan Sizhui stood up and said, “H-Hanguang-Jun, how did you come back in from this side…”

Wei Wuxian laughed, “Haha, your Hanguang-Jun got hot from sitting, so he came out to get some air and went on a spontaneous patrol. Look, as expected, he caught you guys drinking wine in secret.”

In his heart, he was praying that Lan Zhan would just directly drag him upstairs and not talk to anyone or make any unnecessary actions. As long as he continued to maintain his cold and aloof demeanor, no one would find anything amiss.

Just as he thought this, Lan Wangji pulled him to the table where the younger disciples were.

Lan Sizhui was shocked and said, “Hanguang-Jun, your forehead ribbon…”

Before he could finish, he saw Wei Wuxian’s hand.

Hanguang-Jun’s forehead ribbon was tied to Wei Wuxian’s wrist.

As if he wasn’t attracting enough attention already, Lan Wangji held the end of the forehead ribbon, pulled up Wei Wuxian’s hand, and showed it to everyone.