Chapter 78
Chapter Summary: [Lan Wangji is the kind of person who might only shed tears a few times in his life, and of all times, he happened to be one of those few. He's the kind of person who can't stand Bo...]
-------------------------------------
Lan Wangji is the kind of person who might only shed tears a few times in his life, and it just so happens that he happened to be one of those few. He can't stand seeing others cry. He can't stand seeing women cry; when he does, he wants to comfort them, to make them laugh through their tears. He can't stand seeing men cry even more. He's always felt that seeing a normally strong man cry is worse than accidentally seeing a virtuous young woman taking a bath, and yet he can't even comfort her.
With the family home burned down, the entire clan oppressed, the father on the verge of death, the brother missing, and the person suffering from injuries, any comfort would be pale and powerless.
Wei Wuxian didn't know what to do with his hands and feet, so he turned his head away. After a long while, he finally said, "Um, Lan Zhan."
Lan Wangji coldly said, "Shut up."
Wei Wuxian shut up.
The firewood crackled and popped.
Lan Wangji said quietly, "Wei Ying, you are really annoying."
Wei Wuxian said, "Oh..."
He thought, "So much has happened, Lan Zhan must be incredibly annoyed, yet I'm still wandering around in front of him. No wonder he's so angry. His leg is injured and he can't hit me, so he can only bite me... I think I should leave him some peace and quiet."
After holding back for a while, he finally said, "Actually, I didn't mean to bother you... I just wanted to ask if you're cold. Once your clothes are dry, I'll give you the undergarment, and I'll keep the outer coat."
The undergarment was his personal clothing, originally unsuitable for Lan Wangji, but his outer robe was filthy and unsightly. The people of the Gusu Lan Clan were known for their fastidiousness, and giving Lan Wangji such a garment seemed somewhat offensive. Lan Wangji didn't speak or look at him, so Wei Wuxian tossed the dried white undergarment beside him, put on his outer robe, and silently left.
Wei Wuxian wanted to lighten the dull atmosphere, and teasing Lan Zhan beside him was definitely the best choice.
He sneakily snuggled close to Lan Wangji's ear and whispered, in a voice so soft yet audible in the quiet space that anyone with good hearing could hear it: "Lan Er-gege, you already knew how to be hypocritical back then, didn't you? You didn't even try to stop me from leaving, and you knew I was being difficult, yet you didn't take the initiative..."
Lan Wangji's ears began to turn red.
Everyone: ...
Tsk, there's no need for us to hear these private matters. I'm not eating this dog food!
The two waited for three days.
There is no day or night in the cave. The reason we know it has been three days is entirely due to the outrageous daily routine of the Lan family. They automatically fall asleep at the appointed time and automatically wake up at the appointed time. Therefore, we can calculate the time by looking at how many times Lan Wangji has slept.
After three days of rest and recuperation, Lan Wangji's leg injury did not worsen and was slowly healing. Soon after, he began meditating and cultivating again.
For the next few days, Wei Wuxian kept a low profile. Once Lan Wangji had calmed down, adjusted his emotions, and returned to his usual expressionless self, he went back as if nothing had happened. He shamelessly pretended that he hadn't seen or heard anything that night, and also tactfully refrained from teasing him anymore. Their interactions were neither warm nor cold, but rather peaceful.
During this time, the two scouted the vicinity of the Black Pool many times. The Slaughtering Black Tortoise had already carried all the corpses into its shell, and the enormous, pitch-black shell floated on the water like an indestructible giant warship. The first few times, they heard heavy chewing sounds coming from inside, but the later times they could no longer hear them, and instead heard sounds like snoring, like muffled thunder.
The two had hoped to sneak underwater while the monster slept to find an escape route, but they knew that the monster would detect them after only a short while. They searched several times but couldn't find the cave Jiang Cheng had mentioned. Wei Wuxian suspected it was blocked by some part of the monster's body and tried to lure it to the surface, but the monster seemed tired after its rampage and became less active.
They picked up all the arrows, longbows, and branding irons scattered on the shore, carried them back, and counted them. There were over a hundred arrows, more than thirty longbows, and more than a dozen branding irons.
By this time, it was the fourth day.
Lan Wangji picked up a longbow with his left hand, carefully examining its material. With his right hand, he plucked the bowstring, producing a resounding metallic sound.
These are bows and arrows used by the immortal sects for night hunting of demons and monsters; the materials used to make the bows and arrows are all extraordinary. Lan Wangji removed all the bowstrings from the bows, connecting them end to end to form a long string. He tightened the string with both hands, then flicked it, and the bowstring flew out like lightning. A white light flashed, and a rock three zhang in front of him was shattered.
Lan Wangji withdrew his hand and drew back the bowstring, which pierced the air with a sharp screech.
Wow!
"This...this is the String Killing Technique?!"
Upon seeing this, the Lan family couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
Not to mention the younger generation, even among the older generation, there are very few people who know how to use the string-killing technique.
The Second Young Master Lan's fame is not without reason. Putting aside his looks, his youthful talent alone is enough to earn him the title of the Second Young Master.
Others sighed and then moved on, but the poor kids couldn't escape the constant nagging from their parents.
They couldn't help but wonder: did they come here to see the celestial shadows, or to be tortured?
Wei Wuxian asked, "String Killing Technique?"
The String Killing Technique is one of the secret techniques of the Gusu Lan Clan, created and passed down by Lan Yi, the granddaughter of the founding ancestor Lan An and the third-generation clan head. Lan Yi is also the only female clan head of the Gusu Lan Clan. She is skilled in playing the zither, which has seven strings that can be disassembled and reassembled at will. The seven strings, which gradually become thinner, can be used to play noble melodies under her snow-white and soft fingers one moment, and can cut through bones and flesh like mud the next, becoming deadly weapons in her hands.
Lan Yi created the String Killing Technique to assassinate dissidents, which has been criticized. The Gusu Lan Clan itself has a mixed opinion about this sect leader. However, it is undeniable that the String Killing Technique is the most lethal and versatile combat technique among the Gusu Lan Clan's secret techniques.
Lan Wangji said, "Break through from within."
The tortoise shell is as solid as a fortress, its outer layer incredibly hard, seemingly impenetrable. But the more impenetrable it is, the more vulnerable the body hidden within the shell may be. Wei Wuxian had considered this point over the past few days and was well aware of it.
What he understood even more clearly was the current situation. After three days of rest, they were just reaching their peak condition. But if they waited any longer, their condition would gradually decline. And the fourth day had passed, and the rescuers still hadn't arrived.
Rather than waiting to die, they might as well fight with all their might. If the two of them could work together to kill this Slaughtering Xuanwu, they could escape through the water cave at the bottom of the Black Pool.
Only these two would dare to discuss how to kill a four-hundred-year-old demon beast at this time. If it were anyone else, they would have found the farthest place and obediently hidden away, waiting for their family to come and rescue them.
However, this is also the biggest difference between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji and others. They like to rely on themselves in everything, not because they don't trust their family, but because when you lose everyone's help, only you can save yourself.
Wei Wuxian said, "I agree with the idea of breaking through from within. However, I've heard about your family's String Killing Technique. Being inside the tortoise shell restricts your movements and hinders its effectiveness. In addition, your leg injury hasn't healed yet, so I'm afraid it will be less effective when you use it."
This was the truth, and Lan Wangji understood. They both understood that forcing themselves to do things they weren't capable of would only hinder the team and serve no other purpose.
Wei Wuxian said, "Listen to me."
A small portion of the tortoise shell from the massacre of Xuanwu still floats on the surface of the black pool.
Its four claws, head, and tail were all retracted, leaving a large opening in front and five smaller openings on the left, right, and back. It resembled an isolated island or a small mountain, its body pitch black, uneven, covered in moss, and draped with long, dark, green algae.
Silently, Wei Wuxian, carrying a bundle of feathered arrows and iron branding tools, slithered like a slender silver fish to the front of the head cave of the Slaughtering Xuanwu.
A small portion of the cave was submerged in the black pool water, so Wei Wuxian swam in with the current. After passing through the first cave, he flipped himself inside the turtle shell. Wei Wuxian's feet touched the "ground," feeling as if he were stepping into a thick layer of mud, which was also soaked in water. A stench filled the air, almost making him curse out loud.
The stench, a mixture of rottenness and sweet, fishy smell, reminded Wei Wuxian of a fat, dead rat he had once seen by a lake in Yunmeng. He pinched his nose, thinking, "This awful place... thank goodness Lan Zhan didn't come in. With his hands never lifting a finger, he'd vomit immediately upon smelling this. Or he'd be knocked unconscious by the stench."
"Ugh~ What the heck is that smell?!"
"Ptooey... Ugh... Ugh, it stinks!"
...
Everyone started gagging; the taste was no less intense than the corpse poison powder they had ingested before, and perhaps even more so.
Although Lan Wangji, Jiang Cheng, and the others maintained their composure, their faces were all flushed red from holding back their emotions.
Wei Wuxian sighed helplessly: "Miss Niangui, I finally managed to persuade Lan Zhan not to let him in back then, how did you manage to wipe me out in one fell swoop!"
The Xuanwu of Slaughter emitted a gentle snoring sound. Wei Wuxian held his breath and moved silently, his feet sinking deeper and deeper into the mud. After three steps, the muddy mess was above his knees. In the mud and water, there seemed to be some hard lumps. Wei Wuxian crouched down slightly, groped around for a bit, and suddenly touched something furry.
It looks like human hair.
Wei Wuxian withdrew his hand, knowing that this was someone dragged in by the Xuanwu of Slaughter. He touched it again and found another boot; the leg inside was half rotten flesh and half bone.
It seems this demonic beast is quite unclean. Leftover scraps, or parts it didn't have time to eat, leaked from between its teeth and were spat into its shell. The more it spat, the more it accumulated, eventually forming a thick layer over a hundred years. And at this very moment, Wei Wuxian stood amidst this pile of corpse mud made from severed limbs.
"Damn it!"
"Disgusting!!"
"What the hell is this?!"
The people in the space started shaking their hands and feet, but they couldn't shake off the slippery and disgusting feeling of rotting corpses, mud, and rotten hair. The scene was quite comical.
Wei Wuxian turned his head and saw the chaotic movements of the entire audience, which were neither perfectly synchronized nor completely disorderly, and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Hearing his laughter from the side, Jiang Cheng wanted nothing more than to slap him, but the smell wouldn't dissipate until Wei Wuxian left, so Jiang Cheng didn't dare to move, afraid that he would vomit if he did.
After days of crawling and rolling around, his body was already filthy beyond recognition, but Wei Wuxian didn't care about being even dirtier. He casually wiped his hands on his pants and continued walking.
Everyone: ...Ugh
He continued vomiting...
It must be said that the Yiling Patriarch's ability to adapt to any situation is truly admirable.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
