Wen Ning flinched. Wei WuXian gestured for him to stay still. On the other side, Lan JingYi joined in as well, “Why are you being so angry about it? SiZhui did not say that Wei WuXian should not have been killed. He just said that not everyone who cultivates the ghost path is the same type of person as Xue Yang. Did you have to throw things? I did not get to eat that one yet…”
Jin Ling sneered, “Didn’t he also say that ‘the founder of this path may not have intended harm with it’? Who was ‘the founder of this path’? Go on, tell me, who else could it be except for Wei Ying?! I just can’t seem to understand you. Your GusuLan Sect is also a prominent sect, and back then you also lost quite a number of people in Wei Ying’s hands, didn’t you? Was it hard, killing all those corpses and whatnot that were under his control? Lan Yuan, why are you speaking from such a strange standpoint? From the way you talk, don’t tell me that you’re making excuses for Wei Ying!”
Lan Yuan was Lan SiZhui’s birth name. He protested, “I was not making excuses for him. I was simply suggesting that we may not want to make conclusions before we understand the entire situation. You know, before we came to Yi City, a lot of people also claimed that the YueyangChang Clan’s Chang Ping was killed by Daozhang Xiao XingChen for revenge, right? But what was the truth?”
Jin Ling, “Nobody actually saw whether or not Chang Ping was killed by Daozhang Xiao XingChen. All they had were guesses, so why are you calling them claims? Just try and count how many cultivators lost their lives to Wei Ying, to Wen Ning, to the Tiger Seal during the battles at the Qiongqi Path and the Nightless Day! These are truths that everyone accepts, that nobody can deny! And what else I’ll never forget is that he ordered Wen Ning to kill my father and mother!”
If Wen Ning had a single trace of blood in his complexion, it would’ve already drained out of his face.
He breathed, “… Maiden Jiang’s son?”
Wei WuXian stayed still.
Jin Ling continued, “My uncle grew up with him, my grandfather saw him as his own child, my grandmother wasn’t horrible to him either, but what did he do? He made Lotus Pier the lair of the Wen Sect, he wrecked the entire YunmengJiang Sect, he caused the deaths of both my parents and grandparents, and now my uncle is the only one left! He brought about his own death through the havoc he created and ended up leaving not even a whole corpse behind him! Just which part of the entire situation do you not understand? Just what excuses are you still making for him?!”
He argued forcefully, while Lan SiZhui didn’t reply at all. A moment later, another boy spoke up, “Why are we suddenly getting so heated over such a thing? Let’s just drop the subject, alright? We haven’t finished eating yet. The food’s gonna go cold.”
Judging from the voice, he was the “sentimental” one that Wei WuXian poked fun at. Someone else agreed, “ZiZhen is right. We should stop arguing. SiZhui simply forgot to choose his words carefully. It was only an offhand comment—how could he have thought about so much? Sit down, Young Master Jin. Let us continue to eat.”
“That’s right. All of us had just left Yi City, so technically we’ve already been through life and death together… We really shouldn’t argue over such a careless mistake.”
Jin Ling snorted. Lan SiZhui finally responded, his tone as polite as ever, “I am sorry. I should have put more thought to my wording. Young Master Jin, please sit back down. We would not want to continue and bring HanGuang-Jun down here as well.”
The mention of HanGuang-Jun was truly a splendid move. Immediately, Jin Ling stopped, not even making another noise. The sounds of moving tables and chairs came through. It seemed that he sat back down again. The hall quickly refilled with clamor, and the boys’ voices were soon drowned out by the clinks of bowls and dishes. However, Wei WuXian and Wen Ning still stood silently in the grove, their expressions stern.
Without making a sound, Wen Ning kneeled down again. Wei WuXian only noticed him after a short pause. Waving his hand weakly, he responded, “It wasn’t your fault.”
Just as Wen Ning was about to open his mouth again, he suddenly looked behind Wei WuXian and hesitated. Before Wei WuXian could turn around, a white-robed figure walked past him and kicked Wen Ning’s shoulder.
Wen Ning created another man-shaped dent on the ground.
Wei WuXian hurried to pull back Lan WangJi, who seemed as though he wanted to kick again, “HanGuang-Jun, HanGuang-Jun! Calm down!”
It appeared that the time for “sleeping” had passed, while the time for “being drunk” had arrived, and thus Lan WangJi found his way outside.
The situation felt somewhat familiar—history really did repeat itself, didn’t it? However, this time, Lan WangJi looked even more normal than last time. He didn’t wear his boots wrong, either. Even when he rudely kicked over Wen Ning, his expression was still perfectly righteous. Nobody could find any fault on him. After Wei WuXian pulled him back, he fixed his sleeves and nodded. He stood proudly where he was, stopping himself from kicking again.
Wei WuXian used the time to ask Wen Ning, “How are you?”
Wen Ning, “I’m fine.”
Wei WuXian, “If you’re fine then stand up! What are you still kneeling for?”
Wen Ning crawled up and hesitated, “Young Master Lan.”
Lan WangJi scrunched his brows and covered his ears. He then turned around with his back toward Wen Ning. Facing Wei WuXian, he used his own body to block their eye contact.
Wen Ning, “…”
Wei WuXian, “It’s best if you don’t stand there. Lan Zhan, uh, doesn’t really like seeing you.”
Wen Ning, “… What happened to Young Master Lan?”
Wei WuXian, “Nothing much. He’s just drunk.”
“What?” Wen Ning’s face was blank, as though he couldn’t accept such a thing. After a while, he finally continued, “Then… What are you going to do?”
Wei WuXian, “Well, what can I do? I’m gonna carry him inside and tuck him in.”
Lan WangJi, “Okay.”
Wei WuXian, “Hmm? Aren’t you covering your ears? How come you’re suddenly able to hear me again?”
This time, Lan WangJi refused to answer, pretending that the one who interrupted them a moment ago wasn’t him. Wei WuXian wasn’t sure of how to react. He turned to Wen Ning, “Be careful, yourself.”
Wen Ning nodded. He couldn’t help but look at Lan WangJi again. Just as he was about to leave, Wei WuXian stopped him, “Wen Ning, why don’t you… find somewhere to hide first?”
Wen Ning paused for a second. Wei WuXian added, “One can say that you’ve died twice already. Go get some good rest.”
After he left, Wei WuXian took away the hands that Lan WangJi blocked his ears with, “Alright. He’s gone. You can’t hear or see him anymore.”
Lan WangJi finally let go of his own ears. He stared blankly at Wei WuXian with the pair of light-colored eyes.
His eyes were so clear, so honest that a desire of mischief surged through Wei WuXian. As though something inside of his body had been ignited, he smiled teasingly, “Lan Zhan, you’re still gonna answer whatever I ask? Do whatever I tell you to?”