“…” Lan WangJi’s lips fluttered.
He’d never used this soft, saccharine honorific to call anyone. Even when talking to Lan XiChen, he’d always used the proper ‘Brother’*. Wei WuXian coaxed, “Just let me hear you say it. I’ve said it to you so many times. We can do other things after we kiss, if you say it.”
*TN: Gege and Xiongzhang—what LWJ uses—both mean Brother, although Gege is cuter and Xiongzhang is more formal.
Even if Lan WangJi was almost going to say it, after this, he was still defeated by Wei WuXian and couldn’t open his mouth. After a long while, the only thing that came out was, “… Shameless!”
Wei WuXian, “Aren’t you tired of holding me with one hand? It’s so inconvenient doing everything with just one hand left.”
Regaining his composure, Lan WangJi asked in quite a polite manner, “Then what should I do?”
Wei WuXian, “Let me teach you. Wouldn’t it be convenient if you take off your forehead ribbon and tie my hands up?”
Lan WangJi looked quietly at the grinning face. He slowly took off his forehead ribbon and spread it out for Wei WuXian to see.
And then, as swift as lightning, he tied a knot around the wrists and firmly positioned Wei WuXian’s troublemaking hands over his head before sinking into his neck. Right at this point, a shriek came from within the grass.
The two parted at once. Lan WangJi put his hand on Bichen’s handle, but he didn’t unsheath it rashly, for the shriek just now was crisp and dainty, clearly that of a child. It’d be awful if they accidentally hurt an ordinary person. The waist-high grass rustled and the ripples of movement went farther and farther. It seemed like they snuck away. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi followed for a few strides before a woman’s ecstatic voice came from below the hill, “MianMian, are you alright? How could you run around somewhere like this? Mommy was scared to death!”
Wei WuXian paused, “MianMian?”
He felt like the name sounded familiar. He had to have heard it somewhere before. A man’s voice scolded, “Told you not to run around on night-hunts, and you still rushed out all on your own. What should your mom and I do if you were eaten by a ghost?! … MianMian? What’s wrong? Why is she like this?” The last sentence was likely directed at the woman, “QingYang, come take a look. Did something happen to MianMian? Why is she like this? Did she see something that shouldn’t be seen up there?”
… She indeed saw something… that shouldn’t be seen…
Lan WangJi glanced at Wei WuXian, who returned the look with an innocent face, mouthing, “What a sin.”
He clearly felt no guilt about having tarnished a child’s eyes. Lan WangJi shook his head. The two of them left the graveyard together and walked downhill. The three below looked at them with both shock and caution. The man and woman were husband and wife, both squatting on the ground, while standing in the middle was a young girl around ten years old, wearing looped pigtails. The woman was a young mother with fair features, wearing a sword at her waist. The moment she saw Wei WuXian, she unsheathed her sword, pointing it at him as she yelled, “Who is it?!”
Wei WuXian, “No matter who I am, I’m a person after all, and not something else.”
The woman wanted to speak again, but she saw Lan WangJi standing behind Wei WuXian. She immediately hesitated, “HanGuang-Jun?”
Lan WangJi wasn’t wearing his forehead ribbon, so for an instant she couldn’t be sure. If not for just how unforgettable his face was, she might’ve hesitated just a bit longer. She turned her eyes back to Wei WuXian, a bit dazed, “T-Then you’re- you’re…”
It was long since the news that the YiLing Patriarch returned to the living spread across the world. Whomever stood beside Lan WangJi right now had to be him, so he didn’t feel strange that he was recognized. Seeing that she seemed somewhat excited, along with the familiar face, Wei WuXian thought, Perhaps the madam knows me? Have I wronged her? Have I upset her? No, I never knew a maiden called QingYang… Ah, MianMian!
Wei WuXian realized, “You’re MianMian?”
The man stared, “Why are you calling my daughter’s name?”
So it turned out that the little girl who ran around and accidentally saw them was MianMian’s daughter. Her name was MianMian as well. Wei WuXian found it quite amusing, There’s a big MianMian and a small MianMian.
Lan WangJi nodded in salutation to the woman, “Maiden Luo.”
The woman brushed the somewhat disheveled hair by her cheek behind her ear, returning the salute, “HanGuang-Jun.” She then looked to Wei WuXian, “Young Master Wei.”
Wei WuXian grinned at the woman, “Maiden Luo. Oh, now I know what your name is.”
Luo QingYang smiled shyly, like she suddenly recalled some old, embarrassing stories. She pulled the man up, “This is my husband.”
Noticing that they held no malicious intent, the man softened visibly. After some chatter, Wei WuXian asked out of convenience, “Which sect do you belong to and which kind of cultivation do you practice?”
The man answered frankly, “None of them.”
Luo QingYang gazed at her husband, smiling, “My husband isn’t of the cultivating world. He used to be a merchant. But, he’s willing to go night-hunting with me…”
It was both rare and admirable that an ordinary person, and a man at that, would be willing to give up his originally stable life and dare travel the world with his wife, unafraid of danger and wander. Wei WuXian couldn’t help feeling respect for him.
He asked, “Did you come here to night-hunt as well?”
Luo QingYang nodded, “Yes. I heard spirits are haunting a nameless graveyard on this mountain, disturbing the lives of the people here, so I came to see if there’s any way I could help. Have you two cleaned it up already?”
If Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi had already dealt with it, further intervening would be needless. Yet, Wei WuXian said, “You were fooled by the villagers.”
Luo QingYang paused, “How so?”
Wei WuXian, “They told outsiders there were spirit hauntings, but in reality they themselves robbed the graves and messed with the bodies of the dead first, before they were faced with a counterattack from those who were buried.”
Luo QingYang’s husband sounded confused, “Really? But even if it were a counterattack, they wouldn’t have taken so many lives, would they?”
Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi exchanged a glance, “This was a lie too. No lives were lost. We looked it up. Only a few villagers who robbed the graves were bedridden for a while after being scared by the ghosts, and another broke his own leg when running away. Apart from these, there were no casualties. All those lives were made up for dramatic purposes.”
Luo QingYang’s husband, “So this was what happened? That’s absolutely shameless!”
Luo QingYang sighed, “Oh, these people…” She seemed as if she remembered something, shaking her head, “They’re the same everywhere.”
Wei WuXian, “I scared them a bit earlier on. They probably won’t be robbing the graves again after this, so of course the spirits won’t disturb them either. It’s finished.”
Luo QingYang, “But if they find other cultivators to forcefully suppress them…”