The Founder of Diabolism

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

Chapter 15 Refinement—Part Five

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."

Lan WangJi remained motionless.

Wei WuXian, "WangJi."

He appeared as if he didn’t hear anything.

Wei WuXian, "Lan WangJi."

Wei WuXian, "Lan Zhan!"

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."

Lan WangJi spoke, "Put your legs down."

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?"

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."

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 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.

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?"

Lan WangJi didn’t even lift his eyes, "Copy it one additional time."

Wei WuXian’s body immediately slanted, "Don’t be like this. It’s my fault, alright?"

Lan WangJi exposed his lie mercilessly, "You do not feel any remorse."

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."

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.

His face quickly changed. He struggled to talk, "Mmph? Mmphmmphmmph!"

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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—Does it look like you? Is it good?

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."

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!"

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."

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."

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.

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?"

Lan WangJi replied coldly, "Extremely pathetic."

Wei WuXian clapped his hands, "So you really added another word to it. Thank you!"

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.

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.

Even someone without a brain would have guessed who had done the deed. It must have been done when when somebody 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!"

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——!"

Wei WuXian almost rolled under the desk from laughter, raising a hand with much difficulty, "Here! I’m here!"

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?!"

Wei WuXian responded, "What sort of person could I be? A man!"

Lan WangJi lashed out "You have no shame!"

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."

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."

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…"

Lan WangJi’s whole face turned white. He spoke one word at a time, "I. Will. Not. Read. It."

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…"

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.

Lan WangJi tried again and again to put up with him, but he couldn’t do it any more. He thundered, "Get lost!"

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!"

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?"

Wei WuXian replied, "What was he like? Ha! Didn’t you guys hear that loud shout he gave?"

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?"

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."

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!"

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."

Nie HuaiSang blurted, "It’s not a pity at all! You can have as many as you want."

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."

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?"

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!"

Translator’s Notes

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Chapter 25 Malice—Part Three</h3><p>However, having taken only one step back, his ankle twisted, and he seemed as if he almost collapsed on the ground. With a change in expression, Lan WangJi hurried over and tightly gripped his wrist like what he did last time, back in Dafan Mountain. After Wei WuXian had been steadied, Lan WangJi knelt down on one knee to examine his leg. Wei WuXian was rather shocked, "N-n-no, HanGuang-Jun. You don’t have to do this."</p><p>Lan WangJi raised his head slightly, the pair of light-colored eyes boring into him, then looked down again and continued to roll up the leg of his trousers. Still under his grip, Wei WuXian could do nothing except to look up at the sky.</p><p>His entire leg was covered with the black bruise of the Curse Mark.</p><p>After staring at it for a while, Lan WangJi spoke in a bitter voice, "… I only left for a few hours."</p><p>Wei WuXian shrugged, "A few hours is a long time. Anything could have happened. There, there. Straighten up."</p><p>He backhandedly pulled Lan WangJi up, "It’s only the average Curse Mark. We can just kill it when it comes to find me. HanGuang-Jun, you’ll need to help me. If you don’t, I won’t be able to handle it. Have you caught the person? Is it him? Where is he now?"</p><p>Lan WangJi looked in the direction of a signboard that stood in front of a shop far down the street. Wei WuXian continued, "Let’s deal with the stone castle issue first." He then walked toward the shop. He didn’t notice before, but his leg felt a bit numb, probably from Zidian. It was a good thing that Jiang Cheng controlled Zidian’s force so that he wasn’t made into a scorched corpse that had been struck by lightning.</p><p>Lan WangJi stood behind him. He suddenly called out, "<strong><b>Wei Ying</b></strong>."</p><p>Wei WuXian’s figure paused. A second later, he pretended as if he didn’t hear the name, and answered, "What?"</p><p>Lan WangJi, "This was transferred from Jin Ling’s body, was it not."</p><p>It wasn’t a question, but a statement.</p><p>Wei WuXian didn’t say anything. Lan WangJi spoke again, "You met Jiang WanYin."</p><p>It wasn’t hard to figure out due to the mark that Zidian left on top of the Curse Mark. Wei WuXian turned around, "As long as both of us are alive in this world, we’d meet for sure, sooner or later."</p><p>Lan WangJi, "Do not go…"</p><p>Wei WuXian, "If I don’t go, how am I supposed to leave? Are you gonna carry me on your back or something?"</p><p>"…" Lan WangJi looked at him in silence. Wei WuXian’s smile froze on his face, just as a foreboding feeling crossed his mind.</p><p>If it were the Lan Zhan from back then, he would definitely be shocked speechless by these words, and either leave with a cold face or completely ignore him. However, it’d be hard to say how the Lan Zhan now would respond. As he had expected, hearing these words, Lan WangJi walked in front of him, as if he really was going to bend down, kneel, and carry Wei WuXian on his back, despite his honorable status. Shock came upon Wei WuXian once more, "Stop, stop. I wasn’t being serious. It’s only numb because I got hit by Zidian a few times, not that it broke. It’d look bad for a full-grown man like me to be carried on somebody else’s back."</p><p>Lan WangJi asked, "Would it look bad?"</p><p>Wei WuXian replied, "Would it look good?"</p><p>After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi responded, "But you have also carried me on your back before."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Did such a thing ever happen? Why don’t I remember?"</p><p>Lan WangJi answered in an indifferent tone, "You never remember such things."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Everyone says that I have a bad memory. Alright, fine. Anyways, I’m not letting you carry me on your back."</p><p>Lan WangJi, "Are you sure?"</p><p>Wei WuXian replied in a resolute manner, "I’m sure."</p><p>The two stayed silent for a while. Suddenly, one of Lan WangJi’s arms wrapped around his back and, as Lan WangJi bent down slightly, another went toward the back of his knees.</p><p>Wei WuXian was both shorter and lighter than him. Therefore, he was picked up easily, his body was embraced in a pair of firm arms. Wei WuXian didn’t expect his answer to lead to this at all. Both in his past and current lives, it was the first time that he had been treated like this by anyone. He was horrified, "Lan Zhan!!!"</p><p>Carrying him, Lan WangJi both walked and replied to him steadily, "You said that you didn’t want to be carried on my back."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "I didn’t say that I wanted to be carried like this either."</p><p>Fortunately, it was already late into the night. There </p><p>The cold scent of sandalwood enveloped him. Without paying him attention, Lan WangJi looked straight forward and made no reaction, maintaining the righteous, serious expression. Seeing that nothing could affect him, Wei WuXian thought to himself as he continued to play with Lan WangJi’s clothes, <em><i>It seems that Lan Zhan’s heart for revenge is actually quite strong. He’s going to make me pay for however many times I‘ve teased him in the past and take the fun away. This is such an improvement. Not only has his level of cultivation improved, his face also improved.</i></em></p><p>Wei WuXian asked, "Lan Zhan, you’ve known that it was me ever since we were at Dafan Mountain, right?"</p><p>Lan WangJi, "Yes."</p><p>Wei WuXian wondered, "How could you tell?"</p><p>Lan WangJi looked down at him, "You want to know?"</p><p>Wei WuXian declared, "Yes."</p><p>Lan WangJi, "You told me yourself."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Myself? Because of Jin Ling? Because I summoned Wen Ning? None of these, right?"</p><p>It seemed as if something had sent ripples through Lan WangJi’s eyes. Yet, the slight waves faded immediately, and his eyes were a still pool of water again.</p><p>He spoke in a serious tone, "Think."</p><p>Wei WuXian replied, "I only asked you because I can’t think of the reason."</p><p>This time, no matter how he asked, Lan WangJi refused to answer. With Wei WuXian in his arms, he stepped into an inn. Aside from the front desk clerk who choked on some water, none of the bystanders acted strangely. As they arrived at the door of the room, Wei WuXian spoke, "Okay. We’re here. It’s time for you to let me down. You don’t have a third hand to open the door…"</p><p>Before he finished his words, Lan WangJi did something that was extremely impolite. It was possibly the first time in his whole life that he had ever done such a rude act.</p><p>Carrying Wei WuXian, he kicked the door open.</p><p>The two doors sprang open, and the person who sat nervously inside instantly wailed, "HanGuang-Jun, I don’t know, I don’t know, I…"</p><p>After he realized in what posture the two of them came inside, he stared blankly at them, barely managing to finish the last sentence, "… I really don’t know."</p><p>It really was the "Head Shaker".</p><p>Acting as if he didn’t see anything, Lan WangJi carried Wei WuXian inside and put him on the bamboo mat. Nie HuaiSang’s seemed as if he couldn’t bear to look at the scene, and immediately opened his fan, covering his face with it. Wei WuXian walked around the fan to examine him. Even after so many years, his past classmate didn’t bear many changes. He looked the same as he did back then. Although he was born with an elegant, attractive face, his expression made him seem as if one could do anything to him. His stylish outfit showed a fine taste in clothing, which meant that he definitely put plenty of thought into it. Compared to the leader of a sect, he further resembled a wealthy idler. Even if he wore an imperial robe, he wouldn’t seem like a prince; even if he held a saber, he wouldn’t seem like a cultivator.</p><p>He denied it no matter what, so Lan WangJi put the piece of fabric that the spiritual dog had bitten off onto the table. Nie HuaiSang felt for his sleeve that lacked a certain scrap, then replied miserably, "I just happened to pass by. I really don’t know anything."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "If you don’t know, I’ll talk. As you listen to me, maybe you’ll figure that you do know some things after all."</p><p>Nie HuaiSang opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to provide a response. Wei WuXian proceeded, "In the area of Qinghe’s Xinglu Ridge, there have been rumors of the ‘Man-Eating Ridge’ and ‘Man-Eating Castle’, but there haven’t been any actual victims, which is why it’s mere hearsay. The hearsay would make it so that normal people avoid the Xinglu Ridge. Thus, its real function is to act as a defense line—the first one, in fact.</p><p>"If there’s a first, there must be a second. The second defense line is the walking corpses on the Xinglu Ridge. Even if someone who’s not scared of the Man-Eating Castle rumors either purposely or accidentally went inside the ridge, after they see the walking dead, they will definitely flee. However, these walking corpses are small in number and weak in terms of power, so they won’t cause any real harm.</p><p>"The third defense line is the maze array by the stone castle. The first two are to defend against normal people; only this one is to defend against cultivators. But, nevertheless, it only works against average cultivators. If a cultivator who holds a spiritual weapon or dog and specializes in maze arrays comes, or a cultivator as powerful as HanGuang-Jun, this defense line will have to be broken.</p><p>"The three defense measures exist in order for the stone castle on the Xinglu Ridge to remain hidden from the public. The identity of the people who built the stone castle is quite clear. This is the Nie Sect’s area. Aside from the Nie Sect, nobody else is capable of easily setting up these three obstacles in Qinghe. And, moreover, you happened to appear near the stone castle and leave evidence."</p><p>"What exactly is the QingheNie Sect’s goal of building the Man-Eating Castle on the Xinglu Ridge? Where did the corpses in the wall come from? Were they eaten? Sect Leader Nie, if you don’t give us a proper explanation here, I’m afraid that, after the secret is exposed, all of the sects and clans come here to interrogate you. When the time comes, even if you want to explain things, there won’t be anyone to listen to or believe in you."</p><p>Nie HuaiSang replied desperately, as if he had given up, "… It isn’t a Man-Eating Castle at all. It’s… It’s just my sect’s ancestral burial ground!"</p><p>Wei WuXian questioned, "Ancestral burial ground? Whose ancestral burial ground buries sabers instead of corpses?"</p><p>Nie HuaiSang responded with a sullen face, "HanGuang-Jun, before I explain things, can you promise me something? Seeing that our two sects have known each other for long and that our older brothers have sworn, no matter what I say after this, you… and the one beside you, must not tell anyone. If the secret is exposed in the future, I’d greatly appreciate it if the two of you can say a few good things as witnesses. You’ve always been true to your words. If you promise, I’ll believe you."</p><p>Lan WangJi, "As you wish."</p><p>Wei WuXian asked, "You said that it’s not a Man-Eating Castle after all, so does it mean that it hasn’t eaten anyone?"</p><p>Nie HuaiSang clenched his teeth and answered obediently, "… It has."</p><p>Wei WuXian, "Wow."</p><p>Nie HuaiSang immediately added, "But it was only once! And the one at fault wasn’t our sect, and it was dozens of years ago! The rumors of the Man-Eating Castle on the Xinglu Ridge also started since then. I… I only fanned the flames and magnified the rumors."</p><h3>Translator’s Notes

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