Chapter 109 One Hundred and Nine
Chapter Summary: [Lan Wangji approached and handed him the Emperor's Smile wine. Wei Wuxian carried the jar inside, and Lan Wangji...]
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Lan Wangji approached and handed him the Emperor's Smile wine. Wei Wuxian carried the jar inside. Lan Wangji shook his head at his retreating figure, his gaze gentle. Lan Xichen glanced at him and asked, "Did you get this from your room?"
Lan Wangji nodded.
Lan Xichen said, "You...you'd better not drink alcohol. Be careful, like that time back then."
His gaze fell on the clothing near Lan Wangji's collarbone. Lan Wangji also lowered his head, glanced at his chest, and said, "It won't happen again."
Lan Xichen forced a smile and then sighed.
After Lan Xichen left, Lan Wangji entered the room and gently closed the door. Wei Wuxian, while unwrapping the wine, was still pondering the story of Lan An and Qingheng-jun, the founding ancestors of the Gusu Lan Clan. He thought to himself, "The Gusu Lan Clan is truly a mysterious family. Although their ancestor was a monk and their family traditions are rigid, they truly... produce many romantics."
Hearing Wei Wuxian's inner grumbling, the group of people pretended to be casual but actually turned to look at Lan Wangji in perfect unison.
Seeing the once aloof and unapproachable Lan Wangji now completely devoted to Wei Wuxian, countless eyes were filled with speechlessness and numbness.
Everyone: He really is... a romantic.
His father at least left the person at home, but this person, without even expressing his feelings, stubbornly stayed by someone's side for more than ten years.
As he reminisced, he couldn't help but glance at another descendant of the Gusu Lan clan in the room.
Lan Wangji was engrossed in a book, a paper lamp flickering in the corner of his desk. The soft light illuminated his face, making him appear even more handsome, his aloof expression and light-colored eyes softened with a warm glow, making him seem almost unreal. For a moment, Wei Wuxian was mesmerized, his eyes dazzled, and he unconsciously moved closer to him.
Everyone: ...
Well, as expected, men are lecherous at heart. He didn't even know Lan Wangji liked him, and he was already stunned.
Lan Wangji raised his eyes and asked, "What is it?"
Wei Wuxian quickly snapped out of his daze and said, "It's nothing. Your bookmark is quite pretty."
Lan Wangji's bookmark was a light-colored dried flower, exceptionally well-preserved, its color still vibrant, the veins of its petals delicate as if alive, nestled between the pages of the book, emitting a faint fragrance. Wei Wuxian picked up the bookmark and said, "A peony?"
Lan Wangji replied, "Mm."
Wei Wuxian played with the bookmark for a couple of moments before returning it to him, saying, "Your brother suffered a great blow."
Lan Wangji carefully tucked the dried peony flower into the book, closed the page, and said, "If we find the evidence, he won't let it go."
Wei Wuxian said, "That's right. After all, he's your brother."
No matter how good the relationship is between Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, he is still a member of the Gusu Lan Clan and has his own principles.
Wei Wuxian opened a wine jar, thinking, "The last time Lan Zhan got drunk, he honestly told me he hadn't stolen any of the Emperor's Smile wine from the room. So why is he hiding it? It can't be just for me to drink; that would be shameless. Speaking of which, should I apologize to him for the headband? After all, I've done it so many times. What if he gets angry and kicks me out? But he hasn't gotten angry after all this time, so his manners are getting better. I guess he won't get angry even if I make a scene again. No, I shouldn't ask him. I should just pretend I don't know what the headband means. That way, next time I can deliberately pull it. If he gets angry, I can innocently say I don't know. Ignorance is bliss, right..."
Wei Wuxian felt smug, and Lan Wangji asked, "What's wrong?"
He turned around and said seriously, "Nothing. I'm happy." He absentmindedly opened a small jar, picked it up, tilted his head back and drank, immediately spitting it out with a "pfft".
Lan Wangji immediately put down his book and asked, "What is it now?"
Wei Wuxian waved his hand and said, "It's nothing! It's nothing!"
He kept saying it was nothing, then put the jar back and, looking utterly dejected, replaced it with another one.
After he secretly drank some last time, he deliberately mixed it with plain water, thinking he would scare Lan Wangji when he drank it. But his luck was terrible; one of the two jars Lan Wangji had brought happened to be filled with plain water, and he ended up drinking it himself.
Ever since he returned, every time he tried to trick Lan Wangji, he ended up shooting himself in the foot. It's truly baffling!
With empathy present, everyone tasted the flavor of pure water.
At first, I didn't realize there was anything wrong, but I understood when Wei Wuxian spat it out.
"Pfft, hahaha..." Lan Jingyi burst out laughing, then shrank back behind Lan Sizhui in fear under Lan Wangji's gaze.
Wei Wuxian had fallen asleep sometime earlier, drifting in and out of sleep until dawn, when he suddenly woke up. Startled, he sat up and saw Lan Wangji still dressed, carrying the Qin sword on his back. He withdrew his hand from Lan Wangji's shoulder, staring intently at something in his palm, and said, "An uninvited guest has arrived."
Wei Wuxian squinted and saw that it was indeed the Gusu Lan Clan's access token. He remembered that Lan Wangji's token was of a high grade, and it would alert anyone who intruded into the Cloud Recesses' barrier.
But Cloud Recesses hadn't been invaded by anyone for over a decade. Wei Wuxian jumped out of bed and realized his outer robe had been removed at some point. As he dressed, he asked, "Who goes there?"
Lan Wangji shook his head, gesturing for Wei Wuxian to follow him. The two stealthily made their way to a dwelling hidden among green bamboo. Light shone through the paper windows. Wei Wuxian glanced at the wooden plaque in front of the courtyard and said, "The Cold Room?"
As expected, Lan Xichen sat upright inside the room. He wasn't surprised to see the two enter, and exchanged a knowing glance with Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji then led Wei Wuxian to sit behind the screen.
After a while, the bamboo curtain of the Cold Chamber was lifted, and a light footstep entered the room, seemingly sitting down opposite Lan Xichen.
After a while, a sound of jade striking each other was heard, as if someone had placed something on the table and pushed it over.
Lan Xichen was the first to speak: "What is the meaning of this?"
One of them said, "Return it to Second Brother."
It was Jin Guangyao.
Lan Xichen said, "I have already given this to you."
Jin Guangyao said, "This jade token has never expired for many years. Now that it has expired, it should be returned to its rightful owner."
Wei Wuxian understood. Because Zewu-jun and Lianfang-zun were close friends, Lan Xichen had given Jin Guangyao a pass to Cloud Recesses, allowing him unimpeded access. However, it seemed that Lan Xichen might have altered the barrier around Cloud Recesses in the past few days, or perhaps revoked Jin Guangyao's pass. This explained why Jin Guangyao was refused entry when he came to visit, and thus he voluntarily returned the pass.
Jin Guangyao smiled upon seeing this.
He understood that with so many doubts and even evidence, even if Lan Xichen trusted him completely, he would still be filled with questions. Simply taking back his right to enter and leave, and allowing him to sit and talk with him in Cloud Recesses, was already the second brother giving his sworn brother complete trust.
Like Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen also didn't know how to be insincere. Jin Guangyao retreated to advance, while he remained silent for a moment before asking, "What brings you here?"
Jin Guangyao said, "There is still no news of Hanguang-jun and Yiling Patriarch here. I have not allowed anyone to investigate Cloud Recesses. Many families are already full of doubts and have many objections. Second Brother, if it is convenient for you at any time, please open the gate for an hour. Then I will bring people to deal with it."
Wei Wuxian had assumed Jin Guangyao had come to demand an investigation, but Jin Guangyao's words surprised him, suggesting he wasn't interested in searching for the Yiling Patriarch's whereabouts. Outside the screen, Jin Guangyao asked again, "Second Brother, what's wrong?"
Lan Xichen said, "It's nothing."
Jin Guangyao said, "If you are worried about Wangji, you don't need to. Hanguang-jun is an upright and honest person, which has been witnessed by all the families over the years. He must have been deceived to do this. Besides, he hasn't done anything irreversible yet. He can explain it clearly when the time comes. I won't give others a chance to gossip."
Lan Xichen asked, "When? When?"
Jin Guangyao said, "After clearing out the mass graves."
Wei Wuxian was taken aback. Lan Xichen said, "The Burial Mounds?"
Jin Guangyao said, "Since the chaotic battle at Jinlintai that day, many strange phenomena have occurred in Moling, Lanling, Yunmeng and other places. Graves have been destroyed and corpses have disappeared. There are signs that a large group of corpses is heading towards Yiling. They are probably going to the mass grave."
Lan Xichen asked, "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Jin Guangyao said, "I don't know. I speculate that Wei Wuxian may have activated some kind of evil formation, or used the Yin Tiger Seal."
Lan Xichen said, "Back at Jinlintai, he was stabbed by Jin Ling, yet he was still able to activate these things?"
Jin Guangyao said, "Second Brother, back then, when Wei Wuxian betrayed the Yunmeng Jiang Clan and fought against Sect Leader Jiang, no matter how badly he was injured, he still went back and commanded the corpses. What difficulty is there for the Yiling Patriarch?"
Wei Wuxian stroked his chin, thinking to himself, "They think too highly of me..."
Jin Guangyao said, "Therefore, there will probably be a second siege of the Burial Mound soon. I have already notified some other families to go to Jinlintai to discuss this matter. Second brother, will you come?"
After a moment, Lan Xichen said, "Come. Go to the private room and wait for a while. I will go with you shortly."
It must be said that Jin Guangyao was indeed eloquent, and his words were so flawless that no one would believe that such a Cultivator who cared about the cultivators and people of various places and was even willing to venture into dangerous situations was actually a villain who killed his brother and father and could be said to have committed all kinds of evil deeds.
After Jin Guangyao left, Lan Xichen went behind the screen and faced Lan Wangji for a moment before saying, "I'll go to Jinlintai, you go to the Burial Mound. Let's split up."
Lan Wangji nodded slowly and said, "Alright."
Lan Xichen said, "If he truly harbors ulterior motives, I will not tolerate it."
Lan Wangji said, "I know."
Seeing this, no one doubted Lan Xichen's words from that day; they believed in Lan Xichen's character.
In fact, Lan Xichen is the most suitable person to be the Chief Cultivator. The Lan family is known for its noble character, and Lan Xichen is not as cold and aloof as Lan Wangji. His gentle nature is suitable for handling all kinds of matters. In addition, he has helped his father and uncles handle Lan family affairs since he was a child, so he is familiar with all kinds of interpersonal communication and arrangements.
But it was only then that he realized that Lan Xichen was actually quite sentimental, and that the people he was close to held different places in his heart.
But this is the kind of Zewu Jun who longs for a person, not that perfect, upright, and modest gentleman.
The two descended the path into the depths of the clouds. Along the way, the grass beside the white stone path rustled and suddenly parted, revealing a small head like a snowball and a pair of long ears.
The rabbit's pink nose twitched, and upon seeing Lan Wangji, its drooping ears suddenly perked up, and it leaped towards him. They arrived at the grassy field, where Little Apple lay beside a tree, surrounded by dozens of round, white rabbits. Most of them had their eyes closed, sleeping soundly, while a few were still fidgeting. Wei Wuxian walked to the tree and scratched Little Apple's donkey head. Little Apple jolted awake, snorting loudly. Seeing Wei Wuxian, it was about to shout when the huddled rabbits were also startled awake. They shook their long ears and hopped towards Lan Wangji, gathering in clusters around his snow-white boots, running around him, seemingly excited about something.
Wei Wuxian, holding Little Apple's reins, tugged and threatened it as it moved. The rabbits, standing on their hind legs, sprang up and clung to Lan Wangji's legs, all trying to climb up. Lan Wangji remained unmoved. Once they started walking, the white rabbits followed the white boots, stumbling along, refusing to leave no matter how Wei Wuxian tried to shoo them away. Lan Wangji bent down, picked one up, and held it in his arms. His face remained indifferent, but his movements were gentle. His long fingers scratched a rabbit's chin. The rabbit flicked its long ears, turned its head, and narrowed its ruby-like eyes into slits, seemingly enjoying the scratching. Wei Wuxian went to scratch it, but it turned its head away. Wei Wuxian said, "So you dislike me so much, only loving you. You've truly chosen your master."
Lan Wangji glanced at him and handed the white rabbit to him. Wei Wuxian chuckled as he took it. The rabbit wriggled and struggled in his arms. Wei Wuxian tugged at its ear and said, "Don't like me? Hate me? Go ahead and run away. You can't escape no matter how hard you try. Just like me obediently."
Wei Wuxian teased the rabbit for a while, and only released it when they were almost out of the Cloud Recesses gate. The rabbit's white fur was all ruffled from his caresses. The rabbits couldn't follow any longer, so they sadly drooped their ears, sat down, and watched their master leave.
Wei Wuxian looked back and said, "I can't bear to part with you, Hanguang-jun. I didn't expect you to be so loved by these little creatures. You must have been very gentle and caring towards them when you were raising them. I can't do that."
Lan Wangji said, "No?"
Wei Wuxian said proudly, "That's right! Everything that flies in the sky, walks on the ground, or swims in the water turns around and runs away when it sees me."
Lan Wangji shook his head, his meaning all too clear: Wei Wuxian must have done something wrong first, that's why they don't like him.
These little rabbits looked like fluffy little balls, and all the female cultivators in the space wished they could teleport to the back mountain of the Lan family to pet them.
Seeing Wei Wuxian mistreating the rabbit like that, everyone wanted to go up and slap him—don't ruin the cute rabbit!
Lan Qiren snorted coldly.
No wonder they didn't let him know where these rabbits came from; it turns out there were more than just the two in the library, they had raised such a large group.
When I get back, I must... I must...
What do you still want? It's already like this.
Lan Qiren sighed and turned to look at Lan Wangji, who was still holding onto Wei Wuxian tightly, with a look of disappointment and frustration.
He turned his eyes away, utterly disgusted by the sight.
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