Wei WuXian, “Second Young Master Lan, what you’re asking about really can’t be explained in a short amount of time. And it’s kind of strange. If I were to ask you about the GusuLan Sect’s secret techniques, would you answer me?”
Lan WangJi walked past Jiang Cheng and came straight at him. Wei WuXian crossed his flute in front of hin, “That’s too much, isn’t it? Why so unfriendly? Lan Zhan, just what in the world do you want to do?”
Lan WangJi spoke one word at a time, “Go back to Gusu with me.”
Hearing this, both Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng were surprised.
Quickly afterward, Wei WuXian laughed, “Go back to Gusu with you? To the Cloud Recesses? Why go there?”
He immediately seemed to realize, “Oh. I forgot. Your uncle Lan QiRen hates crooked people like me. You’re his proudest disciple, so of course you’re the same as him, haha. I refuse.”
Jiang Cheng stared at Lan WangJi, cautious, “Second Young Master Lan, all of us understand the Lan Sect’s ways. However, Wei WuXian saved you in the cave of the Xuanwu in Dusk-Creek Mountain, much less your friendship of having fought together. Now, to mercilessly denounce him straight away would be too unreasonable, wouldn’t it?”
Wei WuXian, “Look at you. What a Sect Leader.”
Jiang Cheng, “You can shut up.”
Lan WangJi, “It is not that I want to denounce him.”
Jiang Cheng, “Then why do you want him to go back to Gusu with you? Second Young Master Lan, at such a point in time, the GusuLan Sect doesn’t work with the others to kill the Wen-dogs and is instead still hanging onto its inflexible ways?”
One against two, Lan WangJi still refused to back off. He gazed at Wei WuXian, “Wei Ying, for cultivating an evil path you would eventually have to pay. Throughout time, there has not been a single exception.”
Wei WuXian, “I can pay.”
Seeing how unconcerned he seemed to be, Lan WangJi lowered his voice, “The path would not only damage your body, but your heart as well.”
Wei WuXian, “Damage or not, how much damage, I know it the most. As for my heart, it’s my heart after all. I know what I’m doing.”
Lan WangJi, “Some things you cannot be able to control at all.”
Displeasure flashed across Wei WuXian’s face, “Of course I can control it.”
Lan WangJi walked a step closer. He seemed to be about to speak again when Wei WuXian closed his eyes, “After all, on the topic of how my heart is, what could other people know about it? Why should other people care about it?”
Lan WangJi paused. He had suddenly been angered, “… Wei WuXian!”
Wei WuXian had been angered as well, “Lan WangJi! Do you really have to make this difficult at such a point in time? You want me to go to the Cloud Recesses for the GusuLan Sect’s confinement punishment? Who do you think you are, what do you think the GusuLan Sect is?! You really think that I won’t resist?!”
Hostile energy formed between the two of them. Over Bichen’s hilt, Lan WangJi’s knuckles turned white. Jiang Cheng’s voice was cold, “Second Young Master Lan, right now, the chaos with the Wen Sect hasn’t been stopped yet. This is the time where we desperately need forces. People don’t even have the time to care for themselves, why would the GusuLan Sect be concerned about something so far away from it? Wei WuXian is on our side. Do you want to punish our own people?”
Wei WuXian regained his composure, “That’s right. It’s all good as long as the Wen-dogs are the ones killed. Why care about how I kill them?”
The two knew how to continue each other’s words ever since they were young. Now, one sentence after another, the argument flowed seamlessly, “Apologies for saying something so blunt, but even if we get to the bottom of this, Wei WuXian isn’t from your sect either. It’s not in the GusuLan Sect’s place to punish him. No matter whom he goes back with, it wouldn’t be you.”
Hearing this, Lan WangJi’s expression froze. He looked up at Wei WuXian, the lump at his throat trembling, “I…”
Before he could continue, a thin scream came from Wen Chao at the corner. Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng immediately turned around. At the same time, the two of them walked around Lan WangJi and toward Wen ZhuLiu and Wen Chao. Wen ZhuLiu hung from Zidian. He was still struggling in agony. Wen Chao was half-dead. As he slowly opened his eyelids, he saw at once the two faces looking down at him.
The faces had the same youth, the same familiarity. They had both showed him expressions of either despair, anguish, or deep-set hatred. However, right now, their faces above him had the same cold smile, the same cold eyes.
Wen Chao didn’t scream anymore. He didn’t try to run away either. Vapidly, he raised up his finger-less hands and began to drool. Wei WuXian kicked him into the position of kneeling in the direction of Yunmeng. The revealed bones and flesh rubbed against each other. Wen Chao cried sharply in pain. It sounded especially jarring in the empty courier station.
Jiang Cheng asked, “Why is his voice so sharp?”
Wei WuXian, “Of course it’d be with a certain thing gone.”
Jiang Cheng was disgusted, “You’re the one who did it?”
Wei WuXian, “It’s nasty if you think about it that way. Of course I wasn’t the one who cut it off. It was bitten off when his woman went mad.”
Lan WangJi was still standing behind them, watching them. Wei WuXian suddenly remembered his presence again. He turned around and smiled, “Second Young Master Lan, the following scene might not be suitable for your eyes. Perhaps it’d do you best to avoid it.”
Although ‘perhaps’ was used, his tone sounded not in the least refutable. Jiang Cheng also spoke with both respect and distance, “That’s right. Second Young Master Lan, Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu are already in our hands. The task has been completed, and it’s time for us to part. What goes after this would be a personal matter of our sect. It’s best if you return first.”
Lan WangJi’s gaze was still locked on Wei WuXian, while Wei WuXian’s attention had already been taken away by his dying enemy. The eyes he looked at Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu with glistened, and his grin was both excited and cruel. Jiang Cheng had on him the same expression. Both of them had been buried within the overwhelming pleasure of revenge. Neither had the concern to deal with an outsider.
A few moments later, Lan WangJi turned around and walked down the stairs.
After he went out of the courier station, he stood before the door for a long time, but he never left.
He didn’t know how long had passed when the silent night was ripped apart by a shrill wail.
Lan WangJi looked up behind him, his white robes and forehead ribbon fluttering in the cold wind.
The night had passed. The sun in the sky was about to rise.
And the sun on the ground was falling.
Chapter 63: Tenderness—Part One
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Wei WuXian suddenly murmured, “… Lan Zhan.”
He reached out and grabbed one of Lan WangJi’s sleeves. Lan WangJi had always been beside him. He immediately bent down and whispered, “I am here.”
Wei WuXian hadn’t woken up yet. His eyes were still tightly shut, yet his hand didn’t let go either. He seemed to be dreaming, muttering, “… Don’t… Don’t be angry…”