Wei WuXian shivered and crept away. When he walked in the shack, everyone made space for him. There were three tables, and on each of them were seven or eight plates, holding steaming food. Wei WuXian, “What, nobody ate yet?”
Wen Qing, “No. We were waiting for you.”
Wei WuXian, “Why did you wait for me? I ate outside.”
He realized what he did right after he said it. As he thought, Wen Qing slammed the plate onto the table. The red peppers in the dish bounced in unison. She fumed, “So that’s why you bought nothing. Ate all the money away at a restaurant? I only have a couple of coins, and I gave them all to you. Now look at how you fritter them away!”
Wei WuXian, “No! I didn’t…”
At this point, Granny Wen walked out the kitchen as well, shakily holding a walking stick in one hand and a plate in another. Wen Yuan squirmed his way out of his arms and ran over, “Granny!”
Wen Qing turned around to help, grumbling, “I told you to leave them alone. You don’t have to help. Just go sit. The smoke is too big in there. Your legs aren’t good and your hands shake. If you fall, we’re not going to have many plates left. It’s not easy bringing all these porcelain up the mountain…”
The other Wen Sect cultivators arranged chopsticks and poured tea, saving the main seat for him. With this, Wei WuXian almost found it difficult to accept.
In the past, it wasn’t that he couldn’t tell how most of the Wen Sect’s people here were all somewhat scared of him.
They had all heard of the ruthless reputation he had during the Sunshot Campaign, the almost cruel ways of venting his anger that so many talked about. They had seen with their own eyes how he used corpses to kill others as well. In the first few days, Granny Wen’s legs began to shake whenever she saw him. Wen Yuan always hid behind her too. They only started to approach him after some time had passed.
And, as of the moment, over fifty pairs of eyes were staring at him. Although fear was still present within those gazes, but it was a fear stemmed from veneration, along with some caution, some ingratiation. What was more was the same gratitude and kindness that were in the eyes of the Wen siblings.
Wen Qing’s voice was low, “These past few days, you’ve worked hard.”
Wei WuXian, “You… You’re suddenly talking so nicely to me. I’m kind of scared?”
Wen Qing’s knuckles seemed to have cracked. Wei WuXian shut up at once.
Yet, Wen Qing continued softly. “… In truth, they all wanted to have dinner with you once, so that they could thank you. But you’re either jumping up and down, running around, or shut inside of the Cave and staying in there for days upon end, not letting anyone disturb you. They didn’t want to hold up your work and annoy you. They thought that you didn’t like interacting with others and didn’t want to talk to them, so they were too embarrassed to talk to you. A-Ning woke up today, and Uncle Four said that we had to have dinner together no matter what… Even if you ate so much when you were outside that you’re about to die, come sit down with us. It’s fine even if you don’t eat. Just have a seat, and we can chat and have a few drinks.”
Wei WuXian paused in surprise. Even his eyes brightened up, “Have a few drinks? There’s wine up here?”
A few of the older Wen Sect members had been glancing in this direction in a bit of a nervous manner. Hearing this, one of them immediately replied, “Yeah, yeah. There’s wine, there’s wine.” He held up a few sealed bottles by the table, passing them to him, “Fruit wine, made from the wild fruits on this mountain. It’s quite rich!”
Wen Ning was squatting by the table, “Uncle Four likes to drink as well. He knows how to make them himself and made them especially for today. He’s been trying for a lot of days.”
Since he spoke a word at a time, his slow speech allowed him to not stutter anymore. Uncle Four smiled embarrassedly, still staring at Wei WuXian anxiously.
Wei WuXian, “Really? Then I’ll have to try some!”
He took a seat at the table. Uncle Four hurried to open the seal on the bottle, giving it to him with both hands. Wei WuXian smelled it, “It really is rich!”
The rest of them sat down along with him. When they heard his praise, they all beamed as though they had received the greatest compliment ever, and began to eat.
It was the first time that Wei WuXian couldn’t tell what the wine tasted like.
He was thinking, To walk it all the night… huh?
It wasn’t really that dark at all.
All of a sudden, his entire body felt refreshed.
The fifty people were crammed at three tables. Chopsticks stretched here and there. Sitting on his granny’s legs, Wen Yuan showed her his new treasures, showing her a fight with two little wooden swords. The old lady grinned so hard that her toothless mouth was wide open. Wei WuXian and that uncle talked about the wine they had drunk with fierce passion. In the end, the both agreed that the Emperor’s Smile of Gusu was an indisputable winner. Walking in circles, Wen Qing poured wine for the seniors and a few of their subordinates. It emptied in just a few rounds.
Wei WuXian, “Why is it all gone already? I haven’t had much at all.”
Wen Qing, “There are a few more bottles. We can save them for later. You can call it a day for now.”
Wei WuXian, “How could this be? They say that a good name when dead can’t compare to some good wine when living. Stop talking. A full cup, please.”
Seeing that today was a special occasion, Wen Qing filled it up for him, “There’s no next time. I really think you should quit drinking. You drink way too heavily.”
Wei WuXian, “It’s not like it’s the Cloud Recesses here; why should I quit drinking?”
At the mention of the Cloud Recesses, Wen Qing glanced at Wei WuXian, asking him as though she didn’t care, “I forgot to ask you. You’ve never brought anyone up Burial Mound. What’s the deal today?”
Wei WuXian, “You mean Lan Zhan? I met him on the way.”
Wei Qing, “You met him? How did you meet him? You ran into him again?”
Wei WuXian, “That’s right.”
Wen Qing, “What a coincidence. I remember that you two ran into each other once in Yunmeng as well.”
Wei WuXian, “There’s nothing special about it. A lot of cultivators from other sects travel in and out of Yunmeng and Yiling.”
Wen Qing, “I heard you call him directly by his birth name back then. Quite bold, aren’t you?”
Wei WuXian, “He calls me directly by my birth name as well, doesn’t he? It’s nothing. Got used to it when we were young. Neither of us care.”
Wen Qing, “Really? Don’t you two have a bad relationship? Heard that it’s like you’re ice and fire, fighting every time you see each other.”
Wei WuXian, “Don’t listen to the rumors. Our relationship really was quite bad in the past. During the Sunshot Campaign, we did get into a few fights because of our bad tempers. But afterwards, it wasn’t as bad as the rumors say. We’re so-so.”
Wen Qing didn’t say anything else.
The food on the plates quickly disappeared. Somebody knocked on a bowl, shouting, “A-Ning, cook us a few more dishes please!”