The Founder of Diabolism

Chapter 10 Arrogance—Part Five</h3><p><span>Wen Ning’s head was slightly lowered and his arms hung down, as if he was a marionette waiting for the orders of his master.</span></p><p><span>His face was pale and delicate, and could be considered handsome in a melancholy sort of way. However, there were no pupils in his eyes, but only a flat cloud of white, along with a number of black, cracking lines which climbed up his face from his neck, so the melancholy turned into a frightening gloom. The lower hem and sleeves of his robe were ragged and torn, showing a pair of wrists that were the same ashen shade as his face, with black cuffs and chains on both his wrists and ankles. The tinkling sound was produced when he dragged the iron chains on the ground. If he stopped moving, everything would be silent again.</span></p><p><span>It wasn’t hard to guess why all of the cultivators were scared out of their wits. Wei WuXian wasn’t any calmer than any of them either. In fact, the storm in his chest had already crashed over the top of his head.</span></p><p><span>It wasn’t that Wen Ning shouldn’t be here, but that Wen Ning shouldn’t be in this world at all. He was turned into ashes even before the siege at Luanzang Hill.</span></p><p><span>Hearing the others call Wen Ning’s name, Jin Ling’s blade, which originally pointed at the direction of the soul-consuming goddess, couldn’t help but to turn toward another direction. Seeing that he was distracted, the soul-consuming goddess gladly extended her arm and picked him up.</span></p><p><span>As Wei WuXian saw her opened mouth approaching Jin Ling, he didn’t have time to be surprised. He raised the wooden flute again, hands slightly shaking, and therefore, the notes that he played also trembled. Aside from this, the flute was roughly crafted, so the sound produced could be described as coarse and unpleasant to the ear. With two notes, Wen Ning started to move.</span></p><p><span>Within the blink of an eye, he had already shifted in front of the soul-consuming goddess. Wen Ning used the side of his palm and gave a blow. The soul-consuming goddess’s neck cracked, and although her body didn’t move, her head was twisted around because of the force. She faced the direction of which her back originally faced, but kept on smiling. Wen Ning gave another blow with his hand, and the soul-consuming goddess’s right hand, which was holding Jin Ling, was cleanly cut off.</span></p><p><span>She bowed her head to look at the wrist which broke off sharply. Instead of turning her head toward the correct direction, her entire body turned around, so that she was facing Wen Ning with her face and her back. Wei WuXian didn’t dare to relax. He took a deep breath and commanded Wen Ning to fight. However, not long had passed, and he became even more shocked.</span></p><p><span>Low-level corpses were unable to think on their own and needed his orders to lead them. Powerful fierce corpses, on the other hand, were usually delirious or unconscious. Yet, Wen Ning’s case was different—he was created by Wei WuXian, which meant that he could easily be called the strongest fierce corpse in the current world. He was the only one who was capable of thought. Aside from not fearing injuries, fire, the cold, poison, and whatever living humans feared, he was the same as a one.</span></p><p><span>However, at that moment, Wen Ning clearly wasn’t conscious!</span></p><p><span>He was both shocked and doubtful as a few cries of alarm came threshing from the crowd. Using both his arms and legs, Wen Ning had secured the soul-consuming goddess on the ground. He picked up a rock which lay on the side, taller than the height of humans, and lifted it above the soul-consuming goddess. He started to slam it onto her with great force. Each strike sounded as loud as thunder, continuing until the stone body of the soul-consuming goddess was pounded to pieces!</span></p><p><span>Amid the white pile of rocks scattered on the ground, a marble-sized sphere rolled out, radiating a circle of light in the colour of snow. It was the core that condensed in the soul-consuming goddess after she devoured the souls of ten-or-so living people. If it was brought back and handled carefully, some people, who had their souls eaten recently, could be restored back to life. However, at the moment, nobody made any effort to pick up the sphere. The blades which were aimed at the soul-consuming goddess all turned around.</span></p><p><span>One cultivator shouted at the top of his lungs, "Close in on him!"</span></p><p><span>Some people replied hesitantly, but more people were indecisive, walking backward slowly. The cultivator shouted again, "Fellow cultivators, we have to block him so that he doesn’t escape. This is Wen Ning we’re facing!"</span></p><p><span>These words convinced the crowd. What was a mere soul-consuming monster compared to the Ghost General? Although the reason as to his appearance was unknown, it was obvious that killing one thousand soul-consuming spirits couldn’t even compare to capturing one single Wen Ning. After all, this was the most obeying mad dog under the YiLing Patriarch, which bit people without making any noise. If it was captured, they would surely become famous in the cultivation world and quickly rise to success! Their original goal from attending the Dafan Mountain night-hunt was to fight for fairies, beasts, and evil spirits to add to their experiences. With the shouts, it was certain that some people were interested. Yet, the older cultivators who saw with their own eyes how wild Wen Ning was when he broke out were still cautious to make a move. Hence, the person shouted once more, "What are you scared of? It’s not as if the YiLing Patriarch is here right now."</span></p><p><span>After another thought, the words made sense to them. What was there to be scared of? His master was already in pieces!</span></p><p><span>With these remarks, the ring of swords which circled around Wen Ning had suddenly decreased in size. Wen Ning waved his arm, and the black iron chains swept past heavily, hitting the swords so that the directions of their blades slanted off to the side. Right afterward, he took a stride forward and gripped the neck of the person closest to him. With a light pull, he was lifted off the ground. Seeing the situation, Wei WuXian knew that the flute notes were too hurried and abrupt, causing him to develop a killing intent. To stifle it, Wei WuXian calmed his feelings and assuredly played another melody.</span></p><p><span>The melody had drifted over his mind naturally. It was relaxed and tranquil, contrasting with the bizarre and ear-piercing one from before. Hearing the sound, Wen Ning froze, and slowly turned toward the direction of which the melody came from. Wei WuXian stood in the same spot, staring into his pupil-less eyes.</span></p><p><span>After a moment, Wen Ning released his hand, throwing the cultivator on the ground. He let down his arms and walked toward Wei WuXian at a slow pace.</span></p><p><span>His head was lowered and he dragged a large amount of iron chains, even seeming as if he looked dejected. Wei WuXian retreated while playing the flute, guiding him to follow. Walking like this for a short distance, they moved into the forest, when suddenly, Wei WuXian caught the chilly scent of sandalwood.</span></p><p><span>Immediately after, his back bumped into someone. With an abrupt pain on his wrist, the flute melody had stopped. Wei WuXian thought, oh no, and turned around to look. His sight collided with Lan WangJi’s eyes. They were light-coloured to the point of appearing to be physically cold.</span></p><p><span>The situation looked unpromising. Lan WangJi had seen him use the flute to control corpses with his own eyes.</span></p><p><span>Lan WangJi used one hand to steadily grip Wei WuXian. Wen Ning stood still at about two zhang away from them, slowly looking around as if he was searching for the flute melody that had suddenly disappeared. From far into the forest, the light of flames and sound of human voices were spreading. Wei WuXian thought quickly and made his decision at once—so what, if Lan WangJi had seen him do this before? There were tens of thousands of people who knew how to play the flute, and the number of people who imitated the YiLing Patriarch’s method of using it to control corpses could form a sect on their own. He wouldn’t confess no matter what!</span></p><p><span>He decisively ignored the hand that gripped him and raised his arm to continue playing. This time, the tempo was faster, as if it was urging or scolding. His air was not steady and each note cracked at the end, sounding shrill and harsh. Suddenly, Lan WangJi’s hand tightened, almost causing his wrist to break. Wei WuXian’s fingers loosened from the pain and the wooden flute dropped to the ground.</span></p><p><span>Fortunately, his orders were clear enough. Wen Ning retreated quickly, disappearing into the dark and gloomy forest without a sound. Wei WuXian feared that Lan WangJi would chase after Wen Ning, so he backhandedly grabbed him instead. But, surprisingly, Lan WangJi never even looked at Wen Ning once, but stared at Wei WuXian the whole time. The </span></p><div> <span style="font-size:10px;">Advertisement</span> </div> two stood face to face, gripping each other’s arms, and stared.<p><span>At the same time, Jiang Cheng arrived.</span></p><p><span>He maintained his patience and waited for the results in Buddha’s Feet, but before he finished a single cup of tea, a disciple ran from the mountain hastily and told him about how powerful and cruel the thing in Dafan Mountain was. Hearing this, his heart jumped and he rushed up here again. He shouted, "A-Ling!"</span></p><p><span>Jin Ling almost had his soul taken away a moment ago, but he was fine now, and stood on the ground properly, "Uncle!"</span></p><p><span>Seeing that Jin Ling was safe, Jiang Cheng finally calmed down. Quickly afterward, he scolded angrily, "Didn’t you bring signal firelights with you? Don’t you know to use them when you meet something like this? What are you pretending to be strong for? Scram over here!"</span></p><p><span>Jin Ling was also angered from not capturing the soul-consuming goddess, "Weren’t you the one who told me that I have to catch it? And, if I don’t catch it, I shouldn’t go see you?"</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng seriously wanted to slap the rotten brat so hard that he went back inside his mother’s stomach. However, he really did say so himself, and he shouldn’t prove himself wrong. He could only turn to the cultivators who lay collapsed on the ground, speaking with satire, "What on Earth could it be, beating you up in such a dignified way?"</span></p><p><span>Among the cultivators who wore differently-coloured clothing, a bunch were the disguised disciples of the YunmengJiang Sect, ordered by Jiang Cheng to secretly assist Jin Ling, in case he couldn’t overcome the challenge. He was quite the responsible elder, going to such great lengths. One cultivator still hadn’t overcome the shock, "Sect, Sect Leader, it’s… It’s Wen Ning…"</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng thought that he had misheard, "What did you say?"</span></p><p><span>The person replied, "Wen Ning is back!"</span></p><p><span>In an instant, shock, disgust, anger, and disbelief all crossed Jiang Cheng’s face.</span></p><p><span>After a long while passed, he finally spoke bitterly, "The thing was ground to dust in front of everyone long ago, so how can it come back?"</span></p><p><span>The disciple spoke, "It really is Wen Ning! There’s no way for it to be wrong! My eyes couldn’t have mislooked!" He suddenly pointed to the side, "… He was the one who summoned him!"</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian was still in a stalemate with Lan WangJi. Instantly, they were the center of everyone’s attention. Jiang Cheng’s lightning-like gaze also moved toward where he stood.</span></p><p><span>After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring again. He spoke softly, "… Well, well. So you’re back?"</span></p><p><span>He let go of his left hand, and a long whip dangled from it.</span></p><p><span>The whip was extremely slender. Like its name, it was a streak of purple lightning which sizzled, as if it had just been taken away from a sky full of storm clouds. He held one side of it in his grip. As it was brandished, it seemed to let out rapid slashes of lightning!</span></p><p><span>Before Wei WuXian moved, Lan WangJi had already placed his zither in front of him. With an assured stroke, it was as if a rock had created thousands of waves in water. The sound of the zither had created countless ripples in the air, colliding with Zidian. The latter waned, and the former waxed.</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng’s considerations of "not rashly fighting with him" and "not displeasing the Lan Clan" were as if they were eaten by dogs. The night sky above Dafan Mountain’s forest was sometimes surging with purple light, and sometimes as bright as daytime; there were sometimes deafening roars of thunder, and sometimes waves of the zither’s notes. The rest of the cultivators quickly retreated into a safe distance away from the scene, standing on the side and watching. They were both frightened to death and staring in awe. After all, rarely did one have the chance to watch two famous cultivators of prominent families combat directly, which was why everyone hoped that the fight was more violent and intense. Among these thoughts, there were also some unspeakable hopes for the relationship between the Lan Clan and the Jiang Clan to fall apart, creating an interesting scenario. On the other hand, Wei WuXian waited for his chance, and suddenly sprinted off.</span></p><p><span>The crowd was extremely surprised. He hadn’t been hit by the whip yet only because Lan WangJi acted as a barricade in front of him. For him, running away like this was the same as seeking his own death!</span></p><p><span>Sure enough, as if eyes grew on his back, Jiang Cheng saw that he went outside Lan WangJi’s area of protection, and was determined to grasp the chance. With a slanting crack of his whip, Zidian slashed out with the semblance of a poisonous dragon, precisely landing on the center of his back!</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian was almost flung away from the attack of the whip. If not for the donkey blocking him, he would have directly crashed into a tree. However, after the blow, both Lan WangJi and Jiang Cheng stopped, looking quite stunned.</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian massaged the back side of his waist, and crawled up with the support of the donkey. He hid behind it and yelled angrily, "How amazing! You really can do anything when you’re from a powerful clan, can’t you? You can even beat up anyone you want! Tsk tsk tsk!"</span></p><p><span>Lan WangJi, "…"</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng, "…"</span></p><p><span>He was both shocked and enraged, "What is going on?"</span></p><p><span>One unique power of "Zidian" was that, if it hit someone who seized another’s body, their soul and physical form would immediately separate. Without any exceptions, the person’s soul would be whipped away from the body. Yet, Wei WuXian was still moving properly and running about after he was hit. The only explanation was that he did not seize this body.</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian thought, of course Zidian couldn’t whip out my soul. I didn’t seize anyone’s body, but was forcibly given one!</span></p><p><span>Bewilderment could be seen on Jiang Cheng’s face as he prepared to whip again, when Lan JingYi suddenly shouted, "Sect Leader Jiang, this should be enough, right? It was Zidian!"</span></p><p><span>It was absolutely impossible for the first strike to fail and the second to succeed, for a magical weapon of such high level like Zidian. If nothing was taken out, nothing would be taken out; if it wasn’t the seizing of a body, it wouldn’t be the seizing of a body. In fact, the shout made Jiang Cheng, who cared about maintaining his reputation above anything else, unable to make another move.</span></p><p><span>However, if it wasn’t Wei WuXian, who else could have summoned and controlled Wen Ning?</span></p><p><span>Even after thinking it over multiple times, Jiang Cheng still couldn’t accept the fact. He pointed at Wei WuXian and scowled, "Who on Earth are you?"</span></p><p><span>Finally, a meddlesome bystander added a word to the conversation. He coughed, "Sect Leader Jiang, you might have not paid attention to these things so didn’t know about this. Mo XuanYu was the LanlingJin Sect’s… Ahem, he used to be a foreign disciple of the Jin Sect. But, because his spiritual powers were low and he didn’t work hard in his studies, and also had that… He harassed a peer and was thrown out of the LanlingJin Sect. I’ve also heard that he lost his marbles? In my opinion, he was probably bitter from being unable to cultivate using the correct method, he ventured off onto the wrong path. It might not be… the YiLing Patriarch seizing this body."</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng asked, "That? Which?"</span></p><p><span>"That… As in that…"</span></p><p><span>Someone couldn’t help but to comment, "The cut-sleeve penchant!"</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng’s eyebrows twitched. His eyes which stared at Wei WuXian seemed more disgusted than before. There were more comments on the matter, but nobody dared to say them in front of Jiang Cheng.</span></p><p><span>Although he was infamous, people had to admit that, before the YiLing Patriarch Wei WuXian had betrayed the YunmengJiang Sect, he was known for being a handsome young man and a refined cultivator skilled in the six arts. He ranked the fourth among all of the young masters in the cultivation world, being described as lively and cheerful. On the other hand, the ill-tempered Sect Leader Jiang ranked five, surpassed by him, so most people weren’t so bold as to mention the matter. Wei Ying was a frivolous and wanton person who loved to have tangled ties with pretty girls. Nobody knew how many female cultivators he had troubled with his charms, but it was yet unheard of that he was also attracted to men. Even if he wanted to steal a body and seek revenge… according to Wei Ying’s taste, he definitely wouldn’t have chosen a lunatic cut-sleeve who rode a donkey while eating fruits and painted his face to resemble a hanged ghost!</span></p><p><span>Someone else muttered, "It’s not him no matter how you look at it… The flute was also played horribly… This is definitely a case of blind imitation, hearing how inferior it sounded."</span></p><p><span>During the "Sunshot Campaign," the YiLing Patriarch stood on the battlefield and played his flute throughout the whole night, controlling the ghost soldiers as if they were a living army. He swept away all obstacles—whether a human or god was standing in front of him, he had defeated them. The sound of his flute was as if it was played by an immortal, absolutely incomparable to the terrible moans made by the abandoned son of the Jin Clan. No matter how horrible Wei WuXian’s character was, it was too insulting to compare them like this.</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian felt somewhat offended, … Why don’t you try playing a few notes after ten-or-so years of not practicing, using a lousy flute made with just a few slices and cuts? If it sounds pleasant, I’ll kneel in front of you!</span></p><p><span>A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. After thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came over.</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian hurriedly jumped behind Lan WangJi with the donkey, and exclaimed while holding a hand over his chest, "Ah! What are you going to do to me?"</span></p><p><span>Lan WangJi gave him a look, putting up with his extremely discourteous, noisy, and exaggerated behaviour.</span></p><p><span>Seeing that he had no means of moving over, Jiang Cheng spoke, "Second Young Master Lan, are you purposely making it difficult for me?"</span></p><p><span>Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim. If he wanted to take someone back, the opposition would surely lose half of their life. Lan SiZhui spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang. The evidence is clear—Mo XuanYu’s body was not taken. If so, why should you want to trouble an unimportant person such as him?"</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng replied coldly, "Then, why is Second Young Master Lan going to such great lengths to protect an unimportant person such as him?"</span></p><p><span>Out of the blue, Wei WuXian made a few sounds of suppressed laughter.</span></p><p><span>He spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang, umm, I’ll feel very troubled if you keep on bothering me like this."</span></p><p><span>Jiang Cheng’s eyebrow twitched again. His instincts told him that this person would definitely not say anything that pleased him.</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian spoke, "Thank you for being so enthusiastic. However, your thoughts are quite off. Even if I am attracted to men, I don’t like just any type of man, much less follow anyone who waves at me. For example, I’m not interested in ones like you."</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian was purposely trying to disgust him. Jiang Cheng had always hated being defeated while compared with others, no matter how pointless the comparison was. If anyone said that he wasn’t as good as someone else, he’d be angered and not think about anything else until he won against the person. As expected, Jiang Cheng’s face darkened, "Oh, really? Then, may I ask which type you’re interested in?"</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian replied, "Which type? Well, I am very much attracted to people like HanGuang-Jun."</span></p><p><span>Lan WangJi could not tolerate this sort of frivolous and foolish joke at all. If he felt disgusted, he would definitely draw a line between them and keep his distance. Disgusting two people at once—this was killing two birds with one stone!</span></p><p><span>However, as Lan WangJi heard this, he turned around.</span></p><p><span>His face was emotionless, "Mark your words."</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian, "Hmm?"</span></p><p><span>Lan WangJi turned back, speaking in a mannerly yet resolute way, "I will take this person back to the Lan Sect."</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian, "…"</span></p><p><span>Wei WuXian, "…Huh?"</span></p><h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 10 Arrogance—Part Five

Wen Ning’s head was slightly lowered and his arms hung down, as if he was a marionette waiting for the orders of his master.

His face was pale and delicate, and could be considered handsome in a melancholy sort of way. However, there were no pupils in his eyes, but only a flat cloud of white, along with a number of black, cracking lines which climbed up his face from his neck, so the melancholy turned into a frightening gloom. The lower hem and sleeves of his robe were ragged and torn, showing a pair of wrists that were the same ashen shade as his face, with black cuffs and chains on both his wrists and ankles. The tinkling sound was produced when he dragged the iron chains on the ground. If he stopped moving, everything would be silent again.

It wasn’t hard to guess why all of the cultivators were scared out of their wits. Wei WuXian wasn’t any calmer than any of them either. In fact, the storm in his chest had already crashed over the top of his head.

It wasn’t that Wen Ning shouldn’t be here, but that Wen Ning shouldn’t be in this world at all. He was turned into ashes even before the siege at Luanzang Hill.

Hearing the others call Wen Ning’s name, Jin Ling’s blade, which originally pointed at the direction of the soul-consuming goddess, couldn’t help but to turn toward another direction. Seeing that he was distracted, the soul-consuming goddess gladly extended her arm and picked him up.

As Wei WuXian saw her opened mouth approaching Jin Ling, he didn’t have time to be surprised. He raised the wooden flute again, hands slightly shaking, and therefore, the notes that he played also trembled. Aside from this, the flute was roughly crafted, so the sound produced could be described as coarse and unpleasant to the ear. With two notes, Wen Ning started to move.

Within the blink of an eye, he had already shifted in front of the soul-consuming goddess. Wen Ning used the side of his palm and gave a blow. The soul-consuming goddess’s neck cracked, and although her body didn’t move, her head was twisted around because of the force. She faced the direction of which her back originally faced, but kept on smiling. Wen Ning gave another blow with his hand, and the soul-consuming goddess’s right hand, which was holding Jin Ling, was cleanly cut off.

She bowed her head to look at the wrist which broke off sharply. Instead of turning her head toward the correct direction, her entire body turned around, so that she was facing Wen Ning with her face and her back. Wei WuXian didn’t dare to relax. He took a deep breath and commanded Wen Ning to fight. However, not long had passed, and he became even more shocked.

Low-level corpses were unable to think on their own and needed his orders to lead them. Powerful fierce corpses, on the other hand, were usually delirious or unconscious. Yet, Wen Ning’s case was different—he was created by Wei WuXian, which meant that he could easily be called the strongest fierce corpse in the current world. He was the only one who was capable of thought. Aside from not fearing injuries, fire, the cold, poison, and whatever living humans feared, he was the same as a one.

However, at that moment, Wen Ning clearly wasn’t conscious!

He was both shocked and doubtful as a few cries of alarm came threshing from the crowd. Using both his arms and legs, Wen Ning had secured the soul-consuming goddess on the ground. He picked up a rock which lay on the side, taller than the height of humans, and lifted it above the soul-consuming goddess. He started to slam it onto her with great force. Each strike sounded as loud as thunder, continuing until the stone body of the soul-consuming goddess was pounded to pieces!

Amid the white pile of rocks scattered on the ground, a marble-sized sphere rolled out, radiating a circle of light in the colour of snow. It was the core that condensed in the soul-consuming goddess after she devoured the souls of ten-or-so living people. If it was brought back and handled carefully, some people, who had their souls eaten recently, could be restored back to life. However, at the moment, nobody made any effort to pick up the sphere. The blades which were aimed at the soul-consuming goddess all turned around.

One cultivator shouted at the top of his lungs, "Close in on him!"

Some people replied hesitantly, but more people were indecisive, walking backward slowly. The cultivator shouted again, "Fellow cultivators, we have to block him so that he doesn’t escape. This is Wen Ning we’re facing!"

These words convinced the crowd. What was a mere soul-consuming monster compared to the Ghost General? Although the reason as to his appearance was unknown, it was obvious that killing one thousand soul-consuming spirits couldn’t even compare to capturing one single Wen Ning. After all, this was the most obeying mad dog under the YiLing Patriarch, which bit people without making any noise. If it was captured, they would surely become famous in the cultivation world and quickly rise to success! Their original goal from attending the Dafan Mountain night-hunt was to fight for fairies, beasts, and evil spirits to add to their experiences. With the shouts, it was certain that some people were interested. Yet, the older cultivators who saw with their own eyes how wild Wen Ning was when he broke out were still cautious to make a move. Hence, the person shouted once more, "What are you scared of? It’s not as if the YiLing Patriarch is here right now."

After another thought, the words made sense to them. What was there to be scared of? His master was already in pieces!

With these remarks, the ring of swords which circled around Wen Ning had suddenly decreased in size. Wen Ning waved his arm, and the black iron chains swept past heavily, hitting the swords so that the directions of their blades slanted off to the side. Right afterward, he took a stride forward and gripped the neck of the person closest to him. With a light pull, he was lifted off the ground. Seeing the situation, Wei WuXian knew that the flute notes were too hurried and abrupt, causing him to develop a killing intent. To stifle it, Wei WuXian calmed his feelings and assuredly played another melody.

The melody had drifted over his mind naturally. It was relaxed and tranquil, contrasting with the bizarre and ear-piercing one from before. Hearing the sound, Wen Ning froze, and slowly turned toward the direction of which the melody came from. Wei WuXian stood in the same spot, staring into his pupil-less eyes.

After a moment, Wen Ning released his hand, throwing the cultivator on the ground. He let down his arms and walked toward Wei WuXian at a slow pace.

His head was lowered and he dragged a large amount of iron chains, even seeming as if he looked dejected. Wei WuXian retreated while playing the flute, guiding him to follow. Walking like this for a short distance, they moved into the forest, when suddenly, Wei WuXian caught the chilly scent of sandalwood.

Immediately after, his back bumped into someone. With an abrupt pain on his wrist, the flute melody had stopped. Wei WuXian thought, oh no, and turned around to look. His sight collided with Lan WangJi’s eyes. They were light-coloured to the point of appearing to be physically cold.

The situation looked unpromising. Lan WangJi had seen him use the flute to control corpses with his own eyes.

Lan WangJi used one hand to steadily grip Wei WuXian. Wen Ning stood still at about two zhang away from them, slowly looking around as if he was searching for the flute melody that had suddenly disappeared. From far into the forest, the light of flames and sound of human voices were spreading. Wei WuXian thought quickly and made his decision at once—so what, if Lan WangJi had seen him do this before? There were tens of thousands of people who knew how to play the flute, and the number of people who imitated the YiLing Patriarch’s method of using it to control corpses could form a sect on their own. He wouldn’t confess no matter what!

He decisively ignored the hand that gripped him and raised his arm to continue playing. This time, the tempo was faster, as if it was urging or scolding. His air was not steady and each note cracked at the end, sounding shrill and harsh. Suddenly, Lan WangJi’s hand tightened, almost causing his wrist to break. Wei WuXian’s fingers loosened from the pain and the wooden flute dropped to the ground.

Fortunately, his orders were clear enough. Wen Ning retreated quickly, disappearing into the dark and gloomy forest without a sound. Wei WuXian feared that Lan WangJi would chase after Wen Ning, so he backhandedly grabbed him instead. But, surprisingly, Lan WangJi never even looked at Wen Ning once, but stared at Wei WuXian the whole time. The

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two stood face to face, gripping each other’s arms, and stared.

At the same time, Jiang Cheng arrived.

He maintained his patience and waited for the results in Buddha’s Feet, but before he finished a single cup of tea, a disciple ran from the mountain hastily and told him about how powerful and cruel the thing in Dafan Mountain was. Hearing this, his heart jumped and he rushed up here again. He shouted, "A-Ling!"

Jin Ling almost had his soul taken away a moment ago, but he was fine now, and stood on the ground properly, "Uncle!"

Seeing that Jin Ling was safe, Jiang Cheng finally calmed down. Quickly afterward, he scolded angrily, "Didn’t you bring signal firelights with you? Don’t you know to use them when you meet something like this? What are you pretending to be strong for? Scram over here!"

Jin Ling was also angered from not capturing the soul-consuming goddess, "Weren’t you the one who told me that I have to catch it? And, if I don’t catch it, I shouldn’t go see you?"

Jiang Cheng seriously wanted to slap the rotten brat so hard that he went back inside his mother’s stomach. However, he really did say so himself, and he shouldn’t prove himself wrong. He could only turn to the cultivators who lay collapsed on the ground, speaking with satire, "What on Earth could it be, beating you up in such a dignified way?"

Among the cultivators who wore differently-coloured clothing, a bunch were the disguised disciples of the YunmengJiang Sect, ordered by Jiang Cheng to secretly assist Jin Ling, in case he couldn’t overcome the challenge. He was quite the responsible elder, going to such great lengths. One cultivator still hadn’t overcome the shock, "Sect, Sect Leader, it’s… It’s Wen Ning…"

Jiang Cheng thought that he had misheard, "What did you say?"

The person replied, "Wen Ning is back!"

In an instant, shock, disgust, anger, and disbelief all crossed Jiang Cheng’s face.

After a long while passed, he finally spoke bitterly, "The thing was ground to dust in front of everyone long ago, so how can it come back?"

The disciple spoke, "It really is Wen Ning! There’s no way for it to be wrong! My eyes couldn’t have mislooked!" He suddenly pointed to the side, "… He was the one who summoned him!"

Wei WuXian was still in a stalemate with Lan WangJi. Instantly, they were the center of everyone’s attention. Jiang Cheng’s lightning-like gaze also moved toward where he stood.

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand started to unconsciously stroke the ring again. He spoke softly, "… Well, well. So you’re back?"

He let go of his left hand, and a long whip dangled from it.

The whip was extremely slender. Like its name, it was a streak of purple lightning which sizzled, as if it had just been taken away from a sky full of storm clouds. He held one side of it in his grip. As it was brandished, it seemed to let out rapid slashes of lightning!

Before Wei WuXian moved, Lan WangJi had already placed his zither in front of him. With an assured stroke, it was as if a rock had created thousands of waves in water. The sound of the zither had created countless ripples in the air, colliding with Zidian. The latter waned, and the former waxed.

Jiang Cheng’s considerations of "not rashly fighting with him" and "not displeasing the Lan Clan" were as if they were eaten by dogs. The night sky above Dafan Mountain’s forest was sometimes surging with purple light, and sometimes as bright as daytime; there were sometimes deafening roars of thunder, and sometimes waves of the zither’s notes. The rest of the cultivators quickly retreated into a safe distance away from the scene, standing on the side and watching. They were both frightened to death and staring in awe. After all, rarely did one have the chance to watch two famous cultivators of prominent families combat directly, which was why everyone hoped that the fight was more violent and intense. Among these thoughts, there were also some unspeakable hopes for the relationship between the Lan Clan and the Jiang Clan to fall apart, creating an interesting scenario. On the other hand, Wei WuXian waited for his chance, and suddenly sprinted off.

The crowd was extremely surprised. He hadn’t been hit by the whip yet only because Lan WangJi acted as a barricade in front of him. For him, running away like this was the same as seeking his own death!

Sure enough, as if eyes grew on his back, Jiang Cheng saw that he went outside Lan WangJi’s area of protection, and was determined to grasp the chance. With a slanting crack of his whip, Zidian slashed out with the semblance of a poisonous dragon, precisely landing on the center of his back!

Wei WuXian was almost flung away from the attack of the whip. If not for the donkey blocking him, he would have directly crashed into a tree. However, after the blow, both Lan WangJi and Jiang Cheng stopped, looking quite stunned.

Wei WuXian massaged the back side of his waist, and crawled up with the support of the donkey. He hid behind it and yelled angrily, "How amazing! You really can do anything when you’re from a powerful clan, can’t you? You can even beat up anyone you want! Tsk tsk tsk!"

Lan WangJi, "…"

Jiang Cheng, "…"

He was both shocked and enraged, "What is going on?"

One unique power of "Zidian" was that, if it hit someone who seized another’s body, their soul and physical form would immediately separate. Without any exceptions, the person’s soul would be whipped away from the body. Yet, Wei WuXian was still moving properly and running about after he was hit. The only explanation was that he did not seize this body.

Wei WuXian thought, of course Zidian couldn’t whip out my soul. I didn’t seize anyone’s body, but was forcibly given one!

Bewilderment could be seen on Jiang Cheng’s face as he prepared to whip again, when Lan JingYi suddenly shouted, "Sect Leader Jiang, this should be enough, right? It was Zidian!"

It was absolutely impossible for the first strike to fail and the second to succeed, for a magical weapon of such high level like Zidian. If nothing was taken out, nothing would be taken out; if it wasn’t the seizing of a body, it wouldn’t be the seizing of a body. In fact, the shout made Jiang Cheng, who cared about maintaining his reputation above anything else, unable to make another move.

However, if it wasn’t Wei WuXian, who else could have summoned and controlled Wen Ning?

Even after thinking it over multiple times, Jiang Cheng still couldn’t accept the fact. He pointed at Wei WuXian and scowled, "Who on Earth are you?"

Finally, a meddlesome bystander added a word to the conversation. He coughed, "Sect Leader Jiang, you might have not paid attention to these things so didn’t know about this. Mo XuanYu was the LanlingJin Sect’s… Ahem, he used to be a foreign disciple of the Jin Sect. But, because his spiritual powers were low and he didn’t work hard in his studies, and also had that… He harassed a peer and was thrown out of the LanlingJin Sect. I’ve also heard that he lost his marbles? In my opinion, he was probably bitter from being unable to cultivate using the correct method, he ventured off onto the wrong path. It might not be… the YiLing Patriarch seizing this body."

Jiang Cheng asked, "That? Which?"

"That… As in that…"

Someone couldn’t help but to comment, "The cut-sleeve penchant!"

Jiang Cheng’s eyebrows twitched. His eyes which stared at Wei WuXian seemed more disgusted than before. There were more comments on the matter, but nobody dared to say them in front of Jiang Cheng.

Although he was infamous, people had to admit that, before the YiLing Patriarch Wei WuXian had betrayed the YunmengJiang Sect, he was known for being a handsome young man and a refined cultivator skilled in the six arts. He ranked the fourth among all of the young masters in the cultivation world, being described as lively and cheerful. On the other hand, the ill-tempered Sect Leader Jiang ranked five, surpassed by him, so most people weren’t so bold as to mention the matter. Wei Ying was a frivolous and wanton person who loved to have tangled ties with pretty girls. Nobody knew how many female cultivators he had troubled with his charms, but it was yet unheard of that he was also attracted to men. Even if he wanted to steal a body and seek revenge… according to Wei Ying’s taste, he definitely wouldn’t have chosen a lunatic cut-sleeve who rode a donkey while eating fruits and painted his face to resemble a hanged ghost!

Someone else muttered, "It’s not him no matter how you look at it… The flute was also played horribly… This is definitely a case of blind imitation, hearing how inferior it sounded."

During the "Sunshot Campaign," the YiLing Patriarch stood on the battlefield and played his flute throughout the whole night, controlling the ghost soldiers as if they were a living army. He swept away all obstacles—whether a human or god was standing in front of him, he had defeated them. The sound of his flute was as if it was played by an immortal, absolutely incomparable to the terrible moans made by the abandoned son of the Jin Clan. No matter how horrible Wei WuXian’s character was, it was too insulting to compare them like this.

Wei WuXian felt somewhat offended, … Why don’t you try playing a few notes after ten-or-so years of not practicing, using a lousy flute made with just a few slices and cuts? If it sounds pleasant, I’ll kneel in front of you!

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t. Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. After thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came over.

Wei WuXian hurriedly jumped behind Lan WangJi with the donkey, and exclaimed while holding a hand over his chest, "Ah! What are you going to do to me?"

Lan WangJi gave him a look, putting up with his extremely discourteous, noisy, and exaggerated behaviour.

Seeing that he had no means of moving over, Jiang Cheng spoke, "Second Young Master Lan, are you purposely making it difficult for me?"

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim. If he wanted to take someone back, the opposition would surely lose half of their life. Lan SiZhui spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang. The evidence is clear—Mo XuanYu’s body was not taken. If so, why should you want to trouble an unimportant person such as him?"

Jiang Cheng replied coldly, "Then, why is Second Young Master Lan going to such great lengths to protect an unimportant person such as him?"

Out of the blue, Wei WuXian made a few sounds of suppressed laughter.

He spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang, umm, I’ll feel very troubled if you keep on bothering me like this."

Jiang Cheng’s eyebrow twitched again. His instincts told him that this person would definitely not say anything that pleased him.

Wei WuXian spoke, "Thank you for being so enthusiastic. However, your thoughts are quite off. Even if I am attracted to men, I don’t like just any type of man, much less follow anyone who waves at me. For example, I’m not interested in ones like you."

Wei WuXian was purposely trying to disgust him. Jiang Cheng had always hated being defeated while compared with others, no matter how pointless the comparison was. If anyone said that he wasn’t as good as someone else, he’d be angered and not think about anything else until he won against the person. As expected, Jiang Cheng’s face darkened, "Oh, really? Then, may I ask which type you’re interested in?"

Wei WuXian replied, "Which type? Well, I am very much attracted to people like HanGuang-Jun."

Lan WangJi could not tolerate this sort of frivolous and foolish joke at all. If he felt disgusted, he would definitely draw a line between them and keep his distance. Disgusting two people at once—this was killing two birds with one stone!

However, as Lan WangJi heard this, he turned around.

His face was emotionless, "Mark your words."

Wei WuXian, "Hmm?"

Lan WangJi turned back, speaking in a mannerly yet resolute way, "I will take this person back to the Lan Sect."

Wei WuXian, "…"

Wei WuXian, "…Huh?"

Translator’s Notes

Fierce corpses: From now on, the term fierce corpse will describe the certain type of moving corpse/live corpse instead of a powerful corpse (with fierce being part of the noun instead of an adjective to corpse).

Fairies: This does not refer the Western fairies that fly around fluttering their miniscule wings. These will be further explained in a few chapters, but for a better understanding of the story, a fairy is formed when a living creature gains consciousness. This is sometimes translated as spirit, such as the kitsune spirit in Japanese and Chinese folklore, but the term fairy will be used here, so that it can be distinguished from the evil spirits that also appears often.

Cut-sleeve: This is another term for homosexuality (male-oriented only), originating from the ancient story of a homosexual emperor. When the emperor woke up, one day, his lover was still asleep, with the emperor’s sleeve under him. Therefore, he cut off his sleeve when he left the bed, so that his lover wouldn’t be woken up. This has been left like this because the term "homosexuality" sounds too scientific, while the term "gay" doesn’t have that romantic or poetic feeling to it, and any other terms are somewhat offensive. This will be used as both noun and adjective.

Six arts: Traditionally, the six arts involved rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics ("Wikipedia"). However, it is fine to not interpret this literally and assume that he was skilled in a lot of areas, in general.

Sunshot Campaign: This does not have anything to do with brand names called "Sunshot." Literally, it means "the campaign to shoot down the sun," but it has been simplified. The nature of this campaign will be explained later in the story.

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Next chapters

Chapter 11 Refinement—Part One</h3><p>The residence of the Lan Sect was located in a remote mountain outside the city of Gusu.</p><p>Mist constantly enveloped the white walls and black roofs of the buildings, which stretched along the picturesque garden of the waterside pavilion, as if it was an ocean of clouds in the immortal realm. At dawn, the first rays of the morning sun shone through the hazy billows of mist that drifted far and wide, perfectly complementing its name—the "<b>Cloud Recesses</b>."</p><p>In such a tranquil place, one’s heart would be like still water. Only the echoes of the bell tower could be heard vibrating through the air. Although it was incomparable to a holy temple, the cold mountains still send forth a lonesome air of Zen.</p><p>However, the ambience was suddenly shattered by a long wail, giving a few shudders down the backs of the disciples who were training or doing their <b>morning readings</b>. They couldn’t help but to glance at the direction of the main entrance, where the sound came from.</p><p>Wei WuXian was crying in front of the entrance, clinging onto his donkey. Lan JingYi spoke, "Stop crying! You said that you liked HanGuang-Jun yourself, so what are you wailing for, now that he has taken you back?"</p><p>Wei WuXian pulled a long face.</p><p>He never had the chance to summon Wen Ning again, after the night at Dafan Mountain. Neither did he have any opportunities to find out why Wen Ning was unconscious or why he had appeared in this world again, before he was carried back by Lan WangJi.</p><p>When he was in his early youth, he had came to study at the Lan Sect for three months, along with the disciples of other clans, so he had experienced the GusuLan Sect’s dull, boring atmosphere in person. In fact, he still shuddered at the thought of the three-thousand-or-so sect rules which crammed onto the Wall of Discipline. As he was tugged up the mountain, he passed by the rock wall again, and saw that a thousand more were carved on. Now, there were more than four thousand. Four thousand!</p><p>Lan JingYi spoke, "There, there! Stop making a ruckus. Noise is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses."</p><p>He was making loud noises exactly because he didn’t want to enter the Cloud Recesses!</p><p>If he was dragged inside, it would be extremely difficult for him to come outside again. Back then, when he came to study, all of the disciples were given a jade token for passage. Only with the token, would a person be able to enter and leave freely, or else they couldn’t pass through the protective barrier of the Cloud Recesses. After ten years had passed, the security could only have gotten stricter, instead of looser.</p><p>Lan WangJi stood still in front of the entrance, turning a deaf ear to him, and watched the scene with an indifferent look. When Wei WuXian’s voice had somewhat quieted, he spoke, "Let him cry. When he becomes tired, drag him inside."</p><p>Wei WuXian hugged the donkey and cried even harder, bumping his head against it.</p><p>How misfortunate! He thought that with a whip from Zidian, all of his doubts would be cleared. At the moment, he felt satisfied with himself and, along with his mouthful of teasing words, he offhandedly gave Lan WangJi a few repulsive comments. Yet, who knew that Lan WangJi didn’t follow the routine he had followed before? What was this all about? Was it possible that, after so many years, his level of cultivation had increased, but he became more intolerant?</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke, "I’m attracted to men, so with so many beautiful young men in your sect, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to control myself."</p><p>Lan SiZhui tried to reason with him, "Young Master Mo, it was for your sake that HanGuang-Jun brought you here. If you do not follow us, Sect Leader Jiang will not be willing to let the matter go. During these years, there were countless people whom he caught and took back to <b>Lotus Pier</b>, and none of those people were ever let out."</p><p>Lan JingYi spoke, "That is right. You have seen Sect Leader Jiang’s methods, have you not? They are quite cruel…" He paused here, remembering the rule that stated "talking behind other people’s backs" was prohibited, and secretly glanced at Lan WangJi. Seeing that HanGuang-Jun didn’t show any means to chastise him, he was bold enough as to mumble on, "It is all because of the unhealthy trend that the YiLing Patriarch started. There are so many people who copy him and cultivate that foolish method. With Sect Leader Jiang being so suspicious of everyone, is it even possible for him to catch all of them? Just look at you and your flute skills… <i>Heh</i>."</p><p>The <i>heh</i> told more words than what any sentences could describe. Wei WuXian felt like he really needed to defend himself, "Well, actually, you might not believe me, but I usually play the flute quite well…"</p><p>Before he finished his defense, a few white-clothed cultivators walked through the door.</p><p>Each person wore the Lan Sect’s uniform, with flowing, plain robes as white as snow. The man standing in front was tall and slender. Hanging on his waist was a <b>xiao</b> made of white jade, aside from his sword. As Lan WangJi saw them, he slightly bowed his head to show respect, and the person did the same. He looked at Wei WuXian and smiled, "WangJi never brings guests home. This is?"</p><p>As the person stood in front of Lan WangJi, it was as if they were mirror images. However, the color of Lan WangJi’s eyes was extremely light, as if they were tinted crystals, while his eyes were of a gentler, darker shade.</p><p>This was <b>Lan Huan</b>, the leader of the GusuLan Sect—<b>ZeWu-Jun</b>, <b>Lan XiChen</b>.</p><p>Each place brought up the same kind of people. The GusuLan Sect had always been known for nurturing a lot of handsome men, especially the <b>two jades</b> of the clan’s current generation. Even though the two were not twins, they looked extremely similar to each other, which made it difficult to tell who was the superior one. Yet, although their appearances were similar, their personalities were not. Lan XiChen was gentle and benevolent, while Lan WangJi was overly aloof and stern, keeping everyone at an arm’s length and being the opposite of amiable. This was why, in the list of the best-looking young masters in the cultivation world, the former ranked first, and the latter ranked second.</p><p>Lan XiChen proved himself worthy of being the leader of a sect. Even as he saw Wei WuXian embracing a donkey, he did not appear to be affected at all. Wei WuXian let go of the donkey with a beaming smile on his face and approached him. The GusuLan Sect placed a lot of regard on the order of seniority. If he talked nonsense to Lan XiChen, he would most definitely be chased off the Cloud Recesses. However, when he just got ready to show his capabilities, Lan WangJi looked at him. Immediately, his lips were sealed close.</p><p>Lan WangJi turned around and continued his polite conversation with Lan XiChen, "Brother, are you going to visit LianFang-Zun again?"</p><p>Lan XiChen nodded, "To negotiate about the next Discussion </p><p>Wei WuXian was unable to open his mouth, so he sourly walked back to the donkey.</p><p>LianFang-Zun was the current leader of the LanlingJin Sect—Jin GuangYao, the only illegitimate son whom Jin GuangShan approved of. He was Jin Ling’s youngest uncle, being half-blooded brothers with both Jin Ling’s father, Jin ZiXuan, and Mo XuanYu. However, although they were both illegitimate sons, they were extremely different. While Mo XuanYu was in Mo Village, sleeping on the ground and eating leftovers, Jin GuangYao was sitting in the highest seat of the cultivation world, <b>summoning the winds and controlling the rain</b>. If he wanted to talk to Lan XiCheng or initiate a Discussion Conference, he could do so however he wanted to. Then again, no wonder the sect leaders of the Lan and Jin sects personally went along quite well—after all, they were <b>sworn brothers</b>.</p><p>Lan XiChen spoke, "Uncle has taken and examined what you brought back from Mo Village."</p><p>Hearing the words "Mo Village", Wei WuXian automatically started to pay attention. Unexpectedly, he felt his lips part. Lan XiChen had released his silence and spoke to Lan WangJi, "It is not often that you bring somebody home, being in such good spirits. You need to treat your guest with courtesy, unlike this."</p><p><i>Good spirits?</i> Wei WuXian carefully looked at Lan WangJi’s face.</p><p><i>How could he tell that he was in good spirits?!</i></p><p>After watching Lan XiChen leave, Lan WangJi spoke, "Drag him inside."</p><p>Then, Wei WuXian was, indeed, dragged into a place which he swore not to step inside again.</p><p>In the past, only distinguished cultivators had came to visit the Lan Sect, and never had anyone seen a guest like him before. The juniors all crowded around him, interested by this new turn of events. If not for the sect rules being so strict, there would definitely be bouts of laughter along the journey. Lan JingYi asked, "HanGuang-Jun, where should we drag him to?"</p><p>Lan WangJi replied, "The <b>jingshi</b>."</p><p>"… The jingshi?!"</p><p>Wei WuXian didn’t know what was going on. The rest stared among themselves, afraid to make any sound.</p><p>It was HanGuang-Jun’s bedroom and study, which he had never invited anyone inside…</p><p>The furniture in the jingshi was extremely simplistic, without any unnecessary belongings. On the accordion partition, there was a painting of drifting clouds, floating and morphing with its fine brushwork. A <b>guqin</b> table lay horizontally in front of it. On top of the three-legged incense stand in the corner, a hollowed out incense burner made of white jade emitted soft, lingering smoke, filling the whole room with the chilling scent of sandalwood.</p><p>Lan WangJi went to see his uncle to discuss serious matters, while Wei WuXian was pushed into the room. Right after Lan WangJi left, Wei WuXian also went outside. He strolled around the Cloud Recesses, and found that, as he had expected, without the jade token for passage, even if he climbed up the white walls of a few zhangs’ height, he would be immediately flung off by the barrier, attracting the attentions of the nearby patrolmen at once.</p><p>Wei WuXian could only go back to the jingshi.</p><p>He never really worried about anything, no matter what he came across. He walked around the jingshi with his arms behind his back, firmly believing that, sooner or later, there would be a solution. The refreshing scent of the sandalwood was cold and clear. Although it wasn’t sentimental, it had its own way of tugging one’s heartstrings. With nothing to do, he started to think random thoughts, <i>Lan Zhan happened to smell like this scent. His clothes were probably tinged with the fragrance when he was practicing his guqin or meditating here</i>.</p><p>After these thoughts, he couldn’t help but to shift closer to the incense stand at the corner. With this shift, he became aware that, beneath his foot, one piece of wood was significantly different from the other places. Wei WuXian bent down and started to knock here and there, due to curiosity. In his past life, he did a lot of digging pits, excavating graves, and finding holes in the ground. After a few moments, he turned a piece of board up.</p><p>Finding a secretive space in Lan WangJi’s room was already more than enough to surprise Wei WuXian. However, after he saw what was hidden inside, he was even more surprised.</p><p>After flipping the wooden board open, a mellow aroma had filled the air, unnoticeable when it was mixed with the sandalwood scent. Seven or eight black jars were packed into a small, square cellar.</p><p>Sure enough, Lan WangJi had changed—he even started to hide liquor!</p><p>The Cloud Recesses prohibited liquor. Because of this, the first time they met, they had a small fight. Lan WangJi ended up spilling a jar of the "Emperor’s Smile" which he brought back from the city of Gusu.</p><p>After he returned from Gusu to Yunmeng, Wei WuXian never had the chance to drink the "Emperor’s Smile" made exclusively by Gusu’s experts ever again. He had thought about this for his entire life, always telling himself to come back to taste it if he ever received the opportunity. But, the opportunity never came. Hidden in here was no other than the liquor—he didn’t even need to open and taste it, and knew that it was an "Emperor’s Smile" just by the smell of it. He would never have thought that he would find a liquor-hiding vault in the room of a person as scrupulous and abstinent as Lan WangJi’s. Karma really outdid itself with this reincarnation.</p><p>As Wei WuXian exclaimed upon the matter, he finished one jar already. He had a high tolerance for alcohol and loved to drink. After he came to the conclusion that Lan WangJi still owed him a jar of Emperor’s Smile and it was time to collect his interests, he drank another jar. When he was just starting to get tipsy, a thought suddenly passed his mind. How hard was it to get the jade token? In the Cloud Recesses, there was a cold spring with a lot of miraculous effects, for the male cultivators to use. It was said to be able to calm down one’s heart, clear one’s mind, <b>quench one’s fire</b>, and so on. When he went into the cold spring, he was bound to take off his clothing. Then, with his clothing already off, there would be no where to put it aside from holding it in his mouth, which was definitely out of question.</p><p>Wei WuXian clapped his hands and finished the last gulp in the jar. After searching, he found that there were no places to throw it away, so he filled the empty jars with clear water and sealed the lids again, stuffing them back inside and closing the wooden board. With this done, he ventured out to find the jade token.</p><p>Although the Cloud Recesses had been burnt down before the "Sunshot Campaign" happened, the rebuilt structure of the area was the same. Wei WuXian walked through the winding paths from memory, and soon found the cold spring, situated at a quiet and obscure place.</p><p>The disciple on duty for watching over the cold spring was quite a distance away. The female cultivators were in another quarter of the Cloud Recesses and didn’t come here to use it. Nobody in the Lan Sect did an impudent thing such as coming to the cold spring to watch others bathe, anyway. Therefore, the security wasn’t strict at all and it was extremely easy to overcome, making it easy for Wei WuXian to go and shame himself. And, coincidentally, there was a set of white clothes on top of the white rocks behind the crisscrossed eupatorium grasses, meaning that someone had already came.</p><p>The set of white clothes was folded extremely neatly, almost making one’s hair rise. It looked like a snow-white piece of tofu—even the forehead ribbon was folded without any creases. As Wei WuXian put his hand in and searched for the jade token of passage, he was almost reluctant to mess it up. Afterward, stepping over the bushes of eupatorium grasses, his gaze passed over the spring, and suddenly halted.</p><p>The water in the cold spring was freezing. Unlike a hot spring, there wasn’t any vapour to shroud one’s eyes, so it was possible to take a clear look at the upper half of the person in the spring who stood with his back to him.</p><p>The person in the spring was quite tall. His skin was fair and his hair was black, wet and gathered to one side. The lines which outlined his waist and back were smooth, graceful yet holding strength. In simpler terms, he was a beauty.</p><p>However, Wei WuXian was definitely not stunned and unable to avert his gaze because he was looking at a bathing beauty. No matter how beautiful he was, he wouldn’t actually be attracted to men. Really, it was the things on the person’s back that made him unable to avert his gaze.</p><p>There were dozens of intersecting scars.</p><p>They were the scars from a discipline whip. In the different sects, there was a type of discipline whip to punish disciples of that sect who made significant mistakes. After the torture, the scars would never disappear. Although Wei WuXian had never been hit by a discipline whip before, Jiang Cheng had been. Even after desperately trying, he couldn’t make the disgracing imprint fade one bit. This was why Wei WuXian would never misremember scars like this.</p><p>Usually, with only one or two strikes of the discipline whip, it would already be enough of a punishment for the bearer to remember it for their whole life, never to make the same mistake ever again. The amount of scars on this person’s back accumulated thirty at the least. Just what sort of monstrous crime did he commit for him to be whipped so many times? If it really was a monstrous crime, why didn’t they kill him?</p><p>At the moment, the person in the spring turned around. Beneath his collarbone and near his heart, there was a clear sear. Seeing the sear, Wei WuXian’s shock instantly reached its highest peak.</p><h3>Translator’s Notes
Chapter 13 Refinement—Part Three</h3><p>At a later time, Wei WuXian pondered upon the reason why his relationship with Lan WangJi wasn’t good. Getting to the root of the matter, everything started when he was fifteen, coming to the GusuLan Sect with Jiang Cheng to study for three months.</p><p>There was a virtuous and prestigious elder in the GusuLan Sect—Lan QiRen. Everyone in the cultivation world accepted three characteristics which described him: pedantic, stubborn, and a strict teacher who produced outstanding students. Although the first two points kept a lot of people at a respective distance to him, some even to the point of secret dislike, the last one made them try everything they could to send their children to study under him. He had brought up quite a number of excellent disciples of the Lan Sect. As long as they stayed a few years in his classroom, no matter how pathetically useless they were when they first entered, they would at least seem to be decent when they depart, especially in terms of appearance and etiquette. There were plenty of parents who were so excited that tears flowed down their cheeks when they picked up their sons.</p><p>To this matter, Wei WuXian declared, "Do I not seem decent enough as of right now?"</p><p>Jiang Cheng replied with a great deal of foresight, "You’d definitely be a mark of shame in his entire teaching career."</p><p>In that year, aside from the YunmengJiang Sect, there were also the young masters from other clans, sent to study here from parents who heard of the reputation. The young masters were all around fifteen or sixteen. Because the sects all knew the others, although they weren’t close, they had seen others’ faces before. It was widely known that, although Wei WuXian’s surname was not Jiang, he was the leading disciple of the sect leader of the YunmengJiang Sect—Jiang FengMian, and also the son of his friend who had passed away. In fact, the sect leader regarded him as his own child. This, along with how youths were not as concerned with status and ancestry as elders, they were soon friends. Only a few sentences passed, and everyone started to call others older brothers or younger brothers. Somebody asked, "The Lotus Pier of the Jiang Clan is much more fun than here, right?"</p><p>Wei WuXian laughed, "Fun or not fun depends on how fun you make it to be. There’s definitely less rules than here, and no need to wake up so early."</p><p>The GusuLan Sect wakes as five in the morning and rests at nine in the evening, not allowing any delay. Somebody else asked, "When do you guys wake up? What do you do during the day?"</p><p>Jiang Cheng humphed, "Him? He wakes at nine in the morning and sleeps at one during the night. When he wakes up, he doesn’t practice his sword or meditate; he goes boating, swims around, picks lotus seedpods, and hunts for pheasants."</p><p>Wei WuXian replied, "No matter how much pheasants I hunt, I’m still number one."</p><p>One youth spoke, "Next year, I’m going to Yunmeng to study! Nobody can hold me back!"</p><p><b>A bucket of cold water was thrown on him</b>, "Nobody would hold you back. Your older brother would just break your legs."</p><p>The youth drooped at once. This was the second young master of the QingheNie Sect—Nie HuaiSang. His brother, Nie MingJue, was extremely resolute when carrying out orders, quite renowned in the cultivation world. Although the brothers were not born from the same mother, their relationship was quite solid. Nie MingJue had always taught his younger brother with extreme harshness, particularly caring for his studies. This was why, even though Nie HuaiSang respected his older brother, he was the most scared of Nie MingJue mentioning his schoolwork.</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke, "To be honest, Gusu is quite fun as well."</p><p>Nie HuaiSang spoke, "<b>Wei-xiong</b>, listen to a sincere advice of mine. The Cloud Recesses is nothing like Lotus Pier. On this trip to Gusu, remember that there’s one person whom you shouldn’t provoke."</p><p>Wei WuXian asked, "Who? Lan QiRen?"</p><p>Nie HuaiSang replied, "Not that old man. The one you need to be careful of is his proudest disciple, named Lan Zhan."</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke, "The Lan Zhan from the Two Jades of Lan? Lan WangJi?"</p><p>The respectable title of the Two Jades of Lan were given to the two sons of the GusuLan Sect’s current sect leader—Lan Huan and Lan Zhan. Just after they passed fourteen, they were deemed by the elders of each sect as exemplary models to compare with their own disciples. They were exceptionally famous among the juniors, so it was only natural that everyone recognized the names. Nie HuaiSang spoke, "What other Lan Zhan is there? Yes, it’s that one. Oh gosh, he’s the same age as you and I, but he has none of the energy of a teen. He’s stiff and strict, even worse than his uncle."</p><p>Wei WuXian made the sound of an <i>oh</i> and asked, "Is he a lad who looks quite pretty?"</p><p>Jiang Cheng sneered, "Is there anyone who looks ugly in the GusuLan Sect? His sect doesn’t even accept disciples with unclean features. If you can, find me one who has an average face."</p><p>Wei WuXian emphasized, "Very pretty." He pointed at his head, "White from top to bottom, wearing a forehead ribbon, and carrying a silver sword on his back. He looked rather handsome, but with his straight face, he looked like he was mourning."</p><p>"…" Nie HuaiSang spoke assuredly, "That’s him!" After a pause, he spoke again, "But he had been doing <b>secluded meditation</b> for the past few days. You just came yesterday; when did you have the chance to see him?</p><p>"Yesterday night"</p><p>"Yesterday… Yesterday night?!" Jiang Cheng was stunned, "There’s a curfew in the Cloud Recesses. Where did you see him? Why don’t I know about this?"</p><p>Wei WuXian pointed, "There."</p><p>He pointed to a the top of a very tall wall.</p><p>The others were out of speech. Jiang Cheng even felt his head growing larger and clenched his teeth, "We just came and you got into trouble! What’s the matter about?"</p><p>Wei WuXian replied with a grin, "There really isn’t much. When we came, we passed that liquor shop called ‘Emperor’s Smile’, right? Yesterday at night, I was tossing and turning, and couldn’t stand it any longer, so I went down the mountain, into the city, and </p><p>Jiang Cheng, "Then, where’s the liquor?"</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Well, when I just flipped over the top of the wall, before I even had one leg inside, I was caught by him."</p><p>One youth remarked, "Wei-xiong, you must have struck gold. He probably just got out of seclusion and went on night patrol, and caught you red-handed."</p><p>Jiang Cheng spoke, "Those who return at night won’t be let in before seven in the morning. How come he let you inside?"</p><p>Wei WuXian threw up his hands, "So, he didn’t let me in. He wanted me to move back the leg that had already stepped in. You tell me—how would I do that? And then, he came up, as light as a feather, and asked me what I had in my hands."</p><p>Jiang Cheng felt his head start to ache, indicating a foreboding feeling, "What did you say?"</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke, "‘It’s Emperor’s Smile! If I share a jar with you, can you pretend that you never saw me?'"</p><p>Jiang Cheng sighed, "… Alcohol is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses. That’s a worse crime."</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke, "He said the same thing to me. And I asked, ‘Why don’t you tell me what exactly is not forbidden in your sect?’ He seemed like he was a bit angry and wanted me to look at the Wall of Rules in front of the mountain. Honestly, there were over three thousand, and everything was written in <b>seal script</b>. Who would read them? Did you read them? Anyways, I didn’t. What’s angering about this?"</p><p>"That’s right!" Everyone felt the same way, and all started to complain about the strange, outdated conventions in the Cloud Recesses, regretting that they didn’t meet sooner, "Whose sect rules are over three thousand in number, and don’t even repeat? Things like ‘killing livestock within the area is prohibited, fighting without permission is prohibited, promiscuity is prohibited, venturing at night is prohibited, causing noise is prohibited, running is prohibited’ are tolerable, but there’re even ones like ‘sneering for no reason is prohibited, sitting improperly is prohibited, eating more than three bowls is prohibited’…" Wei WuXian suddenly added, "What? Fighting without permission is also prohibited?"</p><p>Jiang Cheng, "… Yes. Don’t tell me you fought with him."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "I did. And we broke a jar of Emperor’s Smile."</p><p>Everyone <b>slapped their legs</b> and exclaimed in regret.</p><p>In any case, the situation couldn’t have been any worse, causing Jiang Cheng’s focus to switch, "Didn’t you bring back two jars? Where’s the other one?"</p><p>"I drank it."</p><p>Jiang Cheng, "Where did you drink it?"</p><p>"In front of him. I said, ‘Okay, if alcohol is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses, then I won’t go in. I’ll drink it standing on the wall. That wouldn’t count as violating the rules, would it?’ Then I drank everything in one gulp, right in front of him."</p><p>"… And then?"</p><p>"And then we started fighting."</p><p>"Wei-xiong." Nie HuaiSang blurted out, "You’re so smug."</p><p>Wei WuXian lifted his brows, "Lan Zhan’s skills were quite good."</p><p>"You’re gonna die, Wei-xiong! Lan Zhan had never been at such a loss before. He’s probably after you. You should be careful. Although Lan Zhan doesn’t go to classes with us, he’s in charge of punishments in the Lan Sect!"</p><p>Wei WuXian was not frightened at all, waving his hand, "What’s there to be scared of? Didn’t everyone say that Lan Zhan had been a prodigy since he was very young? If he’s so smart from such an early age, then he probably finished learning everything his uncle taught and do secluded meditation all the time. How would he have time to come after me? I…"</p><p>Before his sentence was finished, as the group walked around a wall with a hollowed out window, they saw a white-clothed boy sitting in a rigidly upright position in the room, with long hair tied up and wearing a forehead ribbon, emitting an aura of ice and frost. He swept a cold look at them.</p><p>At once, it was as if the ten-or-so mouths were silenced. They quietly entered the room, quietly picked their seats to sit, and quietly avoided the desks around Lan WangJi.</p><p>Jiang Cheng patted Wei WuXian’s shoulder and whispered, "He’s after you. Hope for the best."</p><p>When Wei WuXian turned his head, he could see the side of Lan WangJi’s face. His lashes were long, appearing to be extremely delicate and elegant. His posture was also very upright, looking straight ahead. As he was just thinking about starting a conversation with him, Lan QiRen walked into the room.</p><p>Lan QiRen was tall and thin, standing with a straight back. Although he had a long, black goatee, he was definitely not old. And, according to the tradition of the GusuLan Clan producing beautiful men each generation, he was definitely not bad-looking either. Yet, unfortunately, with the pedantic and stiff air that surrounded him, nothing would feel wrong if one called him an old man. He entered with a scroll in one hand. The long scroll of paper rolled all over the ground as soon as he opened it, and he started to talk about the rules of the Lan Sect. The faces of everyone in the room started to grow dark. As Wei WuXian was bored, his gaze flew everywhere, and landed on the side face of Lan WangJi. He was shocked as he saw concentration and seriousness that were nothing like a facade, "How can he listen so attentively to something so boring?"</p><p>Immediately, in the front, Lan QiRen slammed the scroll onto the ground and smiled bitterly, "I am only repeating this one by one because nobody reads it, even though it was carved onto the rock wall. Hence, nobody will be able to violate them using ignorance as an excuse again. Even if I do this, there are still people who do not pay attention. Very well, I will proceed to talk about something else."</p><p>Although his words could be applied to everyone in the room, Wei WuXian’s intuition told him that it was a warning directed at him. As he expected, Lan QiRen spoke, "Wei Ying."</p><p>Wei WuXian answered, "Here."</p><p>"Let me ask you. Are yao, demons, ghosts, and monsters the same things?"</p><p>Wei WuXian smiled, "No."</p><p>"Why not? How are they differentiated?"</p><p>"Yao are formed from living, non-human beings; demons are formed from living humans; ghosts are formed from dead humans; monsters are formed from dead, non-human beings."</p><p>"‘Yao’ and ‘monsters’ are often confused. What is an example that distinguishes the two?"</p><p>"That’s easy." Wei WuXian pointed at the viridian tree outside of the room and replied, "For example, a living tree was tainted with the energy of books, cultivated into a conscious being, and causes mischief, it would be a ‘yao’. If I took an axe and cut it in the middle, so that only a dead tree-stump was left, and then it cultivates into a being, it would be a ‘monster.'"</p><p>"What was the profession of the progenitor of the QingheNie Sect?"</p><p>"A butcher."</p><p>"The heraldry of the LanlingJin Sect is a white peony. Which type of white peony is it?"</p><p>"<b>Sparks Amidst Snow</b>."</p><p>"Who was the first in the cultivation world to focus on the rise of his clan rather than his sect?"</p><p>"The progenitor of the QishanWen Sect, Wen Mao."</p><p>His fluent answers made everyone’s hearts skip a few beats. Although they felt lucky, they all prayed for him to not be stumped by any questions, so that Lan QiRen wouldn’t have the opportunity to pick on other people. Yet, Lan QiRen spoke, "As a disciple of the YunmengJiang Sect, you should have been very familiar with these and known them by heart since long ago, so there is nothing to be proud of even if you answered correctly. Let me ask you again—there is an executioner with parents, a wife, and children, but before he died, he executed more than one hundred people. He suddenly died in the public and, to punish him for his deeds, he was left on the streets for seven days. With the repressed energy of resentment, he started to haunt and kill. What should be done?"</p><p>This time, Wei WuXian didn’t answer immediately. The others thought that he was confused, and were all feeling restless. Lan QiRen scolded, "Why are you looking at him? Think about this as well. Don’t open your books!"</p><p>The disciples took their hands away from the books that they intended on quickly flipping through. They were confused as well—having died in the public and left on the streets for seven days, it was definitely a fierce ghost and a ferocious corpse, and therefore a question hard to solve. Everyone hoped that the old man Lan wouldn’t pick on them to answer. After a few moments, seeing that Wei WuXian didn’t answer, Lan QiRen seemed like he was thinking, and spoke again, "WangJi, you can tell him what should be done."</p><h3>Translator’s Notes
Chapter 15 Refinement—Part Five</h3><p>Wei WuXian was someone who was skilled at finding fun for himself, especially talented in the area of seeking joy amid dull circumstances. Since there wasn’t anything else to play with, he could only play with Lan WangJi. He called, "WangJi-xiong."</p><p>Lan WangJi remained motionless.</p><p>Wei WuXian, "WangJi."</p><p>He appeared as if he didn’t hear anything.</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Lan WangJi."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Lan Zhan!"</p><p>Lan WangJi finally stopped writing, and looked up at him with a cold gaze. Wei WuXian shifted backward, raising his hands as if he was defending himself, "Don’t look at me like this. I only called your name because you didn’t answer when I called you WangJi. If you’re upset, you can also call me back with my name."</p><p>Lan WangJi spoke, "Put your legs down."</p><p>Wei WuXian’s sitting posture was extremely improper, with a slanted body and legs propped up. Seeing that he finally teased Lan WangJi to the point that he started to talk, the former silently chuckled to himself, as if he finally saw the clouds disperse and the moon appear[1]. Listening to Lan WangJi’s words, he put his legs down, but his upper body inched unnoticeably closer, and he pressed his arms onto the desk. It was still an unacceptable sitting posture. He asked in a serious tone, "Lan Zhan. Let me ask you a question. Do you… really hate me that much?"</p><p>Lan WangJi looked down, his lashes casting light shadows onto his jade-like cheeks. Wei WuXian hurriedly added, "Hey, don’t be like this, ignoring me again after saying so few words. I want to admit my fault and apologize to you. Look at me."</p><p>After a pause, he spoke again, "You don’t want to look at me? Sure, then. I’ll just start talking. It was my fault during that night. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have climbed the wall, I shouldn’t have drank alcohol, and I shouldn’t have fought with you. But, I swear! It wasn’t that I provoked you on purpose—I really didn’t look at the sect rules. The sect rules in the Jiang Sect are all told verbally; none of them are written down. Or else, I definitely wouldn’t have done that." <i>I definitely wouldn’t have finished the jar of Emperor’s Smile in front of you. I would have tucked it away and carried it back into my room, secretly drinking it every day and sharing it with everyone until we all had enough.</i></p><p>Wei WuXian continued, "And, let’s be reasonable—which of us attacked first? It was you. If you didn’t attack, we could’ve communicated nicely and cleared everything up. However, if someone hits me, I’d have to hit them back. This isn’t all my fault. Lan Zhan, are you listening? Look at me. Young Master Lan?" He snapped his fingers, "Second Brother Lan[2], why don’t you do me a favor and look at me?"</p><p>Lan WangJi didn’t even lift his eyes, "Copy it one additional time."</p><p>Wei WuXian’s body immediately slanted, "Don’t be like this. It’s my fault, alright?"</p><p>Lan WangJi exposed his lie mercilessly, "You do not feel any remorse."</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke as if he didn’t have any dignity, "I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I can repeat it however many times you want me to. I can even say it while kneeling down."</p><p>Lan WangJi put his brush down. Wei WuXian thought that the other couldn’t endure it any longer and finally wanted to beat him up. Just as he got ready to put on a goofy grin, he discovered that his upper and lower lips seemed like they were glued together, so he couldn’t laugh.</p><p>His face quickly changed. He struggled to talk, "<i>Mmph</i>? <i>Mmph</i><i>mmph</i><i>mmph</i>!"</p><p>Lan WangJi closed his eyes and let out a faint breath of air. When he opened his eyes, the calm expression returned again. He picked up the brush again, as if nothing had happened. Wei WuXian had been aware of the hated silencing spell of the Lan Sect since long ago, and he refused to believe it. Yet, after making every effort, scratching the corners of his lips red, he still couldn’t open his mouth no matter what. And so, he grabbed a piece of paper, wrote as if his brush was flying, and threw the paper over. Lan WangJi glanced at it. "Pathetic," he responded, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it away.</p><p>Wei WuXian was so angry that he rolled around on the mat, climbed up, and wrote another one, slamming it in front of Lan WangJi. Again, it was crumpled into a ball and tossed away.</p><p>The silencing spell was only removed after he finished copying. The second day, when he came to the Library Pavilion again, the balls of paper which landed everywhere were all taken out.</p><p>Wei WuXian had always forgot about the pain after the cut healed[3]. Although, on the first day, he suffered greatly from the silencing spell, after a few moments, his mouth started to itch again. After recklessly speaking a few times, he was silenced once more. He couldn’t open his mouth, so he scribbled on paper and pushed them to Lan WangJi, who crumpled it and threw it onto the ground. The same thing happened on the third day.</p><p>He was silenced time after time. However, on the last day of him having to "face the wall and reflect," Lan WangJi noticed that Wei WuXian seemed somewhat different.</p><p>During his stay at Gusu, he left his sword all around the place, and was never seen carrying it properly. Yet, he took it with him today, loudly slamming it onto the desk. He even went as far as to start writing without a word, contrasting his usual behavior of relentlessly harassing Lan WangJi in every way possible. He was so obedient that it was strange.</p><p>Lan WangJi didn’t have a reason to silence him, so he took a few more glances at him, as if he didn’t believe that Wei WuXian was finally willing to behave himself. As he had expected, after a short while of sitting down, Wei WuXian repeated his past conduct again, giving Lan WangJi a piece of paper for him to see.</p><p>Lan WangJi originally thought that it was going to be a mess of lame phrases again, but after a coincidental glimpse, he was surprised to find the drawing of a person, sitting upright and </p><p>Seeing that he didn’t avert his gaze at once, Wei WuXian curled his lips, and raised his eyebrow with a wink. No words were needed, since the meaning was plain to see—<i>Does it look like you? Is it good?</i></p><p>Lan WangJi slowly spoke, "You have spare time, yet you scribble instead of copy the text. In my opinion, the day of your release from this punishment will never come."</p><p>Wei WuXian blew on the ink which hadn’t dried yet and spoke nonchalantly, "I already finished copying, so I won’t be coming tomorrow!"</p><p>Lan WangJi’s slender fingers seemed to have paused before flipping over the next yellow-tinted page. Surprisingly, Wei WuXian wasn’t silenced. As he didn’t provoke any reaction, Wei WuXian lightly threw the drawing, "It’s yours."</p><p>The drawing was thrown onto the mat, but Lan WangJi didn’t have any intention of picking it up. During these days, the paper which Wei WuXian wrote on to curse him, cajole him, apologize to him, beg him, and other messy scribbles all ended up this way. He was used to it and didn’t mind. He suddenly added, "I forgot. I need to add something else."</p><p>After his words, he picked up the paper and his brush, and added a few strokes. He glanced at the drawing, then, the actual person, and fell toward the ground in laughter. Lan WangJi put down the book, and saw that Wei WuXian added a flower onto the drawing, where the side of his head was.</p><p>The corners of his lip seemed to have twitched. Wei WuXian crawled up and spoke before him, "‘Pathetic’, right? I just know that you’re gonna say pathetic. Can’t you switch to something else? Or add another word to it?"</p><p>Lan WangJi replied coldly, "Extremely pathetic."</p><p>Wei WuXian clapped his hands, "So you really added another word to it. Thank you!"</p><p>Lan WangJi turned his gaze away, picked up the book which he put on the desk, and opened it again. He only took one look at before he hurled the book away, as if he was burnt by fire.</p><p>He was initially reading a Buddhist text, but when he had looked at the page flipped open, he was presented with naked, intertwining figures, intolerable to his eye. The book that he was reading was substituted with a pornographic book, its cover disguised as a Buddhist text.</p><p>Even someone without a brain would have guessed who had done the deed. It must have been done when when <i>somebody</i> took the opportunity that opened up when his attention turned to the drawing, let alone the fact that Wei WuXian didn’t even bother to cover it up, slapping the table as he laughed hysterically, "Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"</p><p>As the book was thrown on the ground, Lan WangJi seemed as if he was escaping from snakes or scorpions, falling back to the corner of the Library Pavilion in less than a second. He roared with rage, "Wei Ying——!"</p><p>Wei WuXian almost rolled under the desk from laughter, raising a hand with much difficulty, "Here! I’m here!"</p><p>Lan WangJi swiftly drew his sword, Bichen. Ever since they had met, Wei WuXian had never seen him appear so discomposed. He hastily grabbed his own sword. Drawing his sword so that a third of the blade was out, he reminded Lan WangJi, "Manners! Second Master Lan! Watch your manners! I brought my sword today as well. If we start fighting, would your Library Pavilion be fine?" He knew that Lan WangJi would be shamed into anger, so he went out of his way to carry his sword for self-defence, so that he wouldn’t be accidentally stabbed to death. The blade of Lan WangJi’s sword pointed at him. Fire could almost be seen sprouting from his pair of light-colored eyes, "What sort of person are you?!"</p><p>Wei WuXian responded, "What sort of person could I be? A man!"</p><p>Lan WangJi lashed out "You have no shame!"</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Do I need to be ashamed about this? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen something like this before. I don’t believe you."</p><p>Lan WangJi’s weak point was that he didn’t know how to argue. After a moment of silently holding back, he pointed his sword at Wei WuXian. He spoke with a frigid face, "You, go outside. We have fought before."</p><p>Wei WuXian shook his head a couple of times, pretending to be docile, "Nope, nope. Didn’t you know, Young Master Lan? Fighting without permission is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses." He proceeded to pick up the book which was thrown away, but Lan WangJi went before him, snatching it in his hand. Wei WuXian quickly guessed that he was going to use this as evidence to report him. He deliberately spoke, "Why are you grabbing it? I thought that you didn’t want to read it. Now you do? Actually, even if you want to read it, you don’t have to fight for it. I borrowed it exclusively for you, anyways. Now that you’ve seen my porn, you’ve become my friend. We can continue to exchange opinions, and…"</p><p>Lan WangJi’s whole face turned white. He spoke one word at a time, "I. Will. Not. Read. It."</p><p>Wei WuXian continued to distort the facts, "If you won’t read it, why did you grab it? Secretly keeping it? You can’t do that. I borrowed this from someone else, so I’d have to return it after you read it… Hey, hey, hey, don’t come here. You’re too close; I feel nervous. Let’s talk nicely. You’re not gonna hand this in, are you? Hand it in to whom? Old… Your uncle? Second Young Master Lan, do you think that you can let the elders see this? He’d definitely think that you already read it. With a face as thin as yours, you’d be so ashamed that you’d die…"</p><p>Lan WangJi filled his right hand with spiritual energy, and the book broke into thousands of millions of pieces, fluttering downward. As Wei WuXian saw that he successfully provoked Lan WangJi to the point that the evidence was destroyed, he finally felt relieved, and spoke with fake regret, "What a waste!" Then, he picked up a piece of paper which had fallen on his hair, raising it up to show the fuming, pale-faced Lan WangJi, "Lan Zhan, everything about you is great, except that you like to throw things everywhere. Tell me, how many wads of paper have you thrown onto the ground, in these past few days? Today, you aren’t even satisfied with throwing paper wads anymore, and instead ripped paper. You ripped it, so you clean it up yourself. I’m not gonna help." Of course, he had never helped anyway.</p><p>Lan WangJi tried again and again to put up with him, but he couldn’t do it any more. He thundered, "Get lost!"</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke, "Well, well, look at you, Lan Zhan. Everyone says that you’re a gentleman of excellence, a bright pearl in the world, carrying yourself with incomparable courtesy, so it seems that this is all there is. Didn’t you know that causing noise is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses? And, you actually told me to "get lost." Is this the first time that you used this phrase on somebody…" Lan WangJi drew his sword and went at him. Wei WuXian hurriedly hopped onto the windowsill, "Get lost it is, then. Getting lost is my best skill. It’s not necessary for you to see me out!"</p><p>He jumped down the Library Pavilion, laughing like a maniac as he barged into the forest. There was already a group of people waiting for him. Nie HuaiSang asked, "How did it go? Did he read it? What was he like?"</p><p>Wei WuXian replied, "What was he like? Ha! Didn’t you guys hear that loud shout he gave?"</p><p>Nie HuaiSang was full of admiration, "I heard it—he told you to get lost! Wei-xiong, it was my first time hearing Lan WangJi tell someone to ‘get lost’! How did you do it?"</p><p>Satisfaction was plastered all over Wei WuXian’s face, "Good thing that I helped him achieve this ‘first’. You all saw it, didn’t you? The self-restraint and etiquette that Second Young Master Lan was praised so strongly for were all weak and useless against me."</p><p>Jiang Cheng scolded with a darkened expression, "What are you proud of?! What is there to be proud of with this?! Do you think that it’s a glorious thing to be told by someone to get lost? You bring so much shame upon our sect!"</p><p>Wei WuXian spoke, "I really wanted to apologize to him, but he never paid attention to me. He silenced me for so many days, so what’s wrong with me having a little fun with him? I presented him the book with a nice intention. HuaiSang-xiong, what happened to your treasured porn was really a pity. I didn’t even get to finish it; it was so good! Lan Zhan definitely doesn’t understand proper relationships. I gave it to him, yet he was still unhappy. It’s such a waste of that face of his."</p><p>Nie HuaiSang blurted, "It’s not a pity at all! You can have as many as you want."</p><p>Jiang Cheng sneered, "You’ve seriously offended both Lan WangJi and Lan QiRen. Just wait for your death tomorrow! Nobody’s gonna bury your corpse."</p><p>Wei WuXian waved his hands, putting his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders, "Who cares, as long as I tease him first? You’ve already buried my corpse so many times, so what’s wrong with once more?"</p><p>Jiang Cheng responded with a kick, "Shoo, shoo, shoo! Next time, if you do such a thing, don’t let me know! Don’t ask me to watch, either!"</p><h3>Translator’s Notes

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