Today, as usual, the group was hustled awake by the Wen Sect’s disciples again. Like a group of livestock, they were driven toward the next destination of their night-hunts.
The place that they were going this time was called Dusk-Creek Mountain.
The deeper they went into the forest, the thicker the branches over their heads became, and the larger the shadows below them grew. Aside from the sounds of leaves and footsteps, they couldn’t hear anything else. The calls of birds, beasts and beetles were unusually perceivable amid the silence.
After a while, the group met with a creek. Scattered throughout the gurgling water were maple leaves that floated along. The harmony of the sound and the sight imperceptibly diluted the atmosphere of desolation. Bouts of giggling laughter could even be heard from in front of them.
Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng walked while muttering insults at the Wen-dogs in every way possible. Inadvertently, he turned around, glanced, and saw a figured clothed in white. Lan WangJi was not far away from him.
Due to his slow pace, Lan WangJi was toward the back of the line. Within these past few days, there were many times when Wei WuXian wanted to approach him and catch up on what had been happening. However, Lan WangJi turned away whenever he saw him and Jiang Cheng had also beat it into him not to mess around. Now that they were closer, he couldn’t help but pay more attention. Wei WuXian suddenly realized that, although Lan WangJi tried to walk as normally as possible, one could still see that his right leg contacted the ground lighter than his left, as though he couldn’t put any pressure on it.
Seeing this, Wei WuXian slowed down so that he was beside Lan WangJi. Walking shoulder to shoulder with him, he asked, “What happened to your leg?”
Chapter 52 Courage—Part Two
Lan WangJi stared straight at the front, “Nothing.”
Wei WuXian, “We’re already familiar with each other, aren’t we? How cold—you don’t even bother giving me a single look. Your leg really is fine?”
Lan WangJi, “We are not familiar.”
Wei WuXian turned around and walked facing the back, determined on making Lan WangJi look at his face, “Don’t force yourself if it’s not fine. Is your leg hurt or broken? When did it happen?”
Just as he was about to say, ‘do you want me to carry you’, a fragrant breeze suddenly wafted around his nose. Wei WuXian turned around and looked to the side. His eyes immediately lit up.
Seeing that he had stopped talking abruptly, Lan WangJi followed his gaze. He saw about half a dozen girls walking together. The one in the center wore a layer of chiffon over her coat of pale scarlet. As wind blew across, the chiffon swayed. Her figure looked exceptionally good from the back.
This figure was what Wei WuXian had been looking at.
One of the girls laughed, “MianMian, your perfume sachet truly is something special. After I wore it, bugs really did stop coming over. The scent is nice too. I seem to feel much more awake after I smell it.”
The voice of the girl called MianMian was indeed soft and sweet, “Inside of the sachet is filled with minced medicinal plants. It can be useful in quite a lot of ways. I’ve still got a few here. Do any of you want one?”
Wei WuXian swept over like a foreboding gust of wind, “MianMian, save me one too.”
The girl was surprised. She didn’t expect to hear a stranger’s voice barge in so suddenly. Turning around, she revealed a fair face, which frowned slightly as she asked, “Who are you? Why do you call me MianMian as well?”
Wei WuXian grinned, “I heard all of them call you MianMian, so I thought that it’s your name. What, it’s not?”
Lan WangJi watched them coldly. Seeing that he was at it again, Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes with emphasis.
MianMian’s cheeks flushed, “You can’t call me that!”
Wei WuXian, “Why not? How about this: if you tell me your name, I won’t call you MianMian anymore. What do you think?”
MianMian, “Why do I have to tell you just because you asked? Before you ask for somebody else’s name, you should tell them your name first, shouldn’t you?”
Wei WuXian, “Sure, if you want my name. Remember, my name is ‘YuanDao’.”
MianMian silently pronounced the name ‘YuanDao’ a few times. She couldn’t remember if the young master of any sect had such a name. But, judging from the boy’s air and appearance, she didn’t think he was the average disciple. Looking at the teasing smile at the corners of Wei WuXian’s lips, she didn’t know what was going on.
Suddenly, Lan WangJi’s low voice came from beside them, “A play on words.”
She realized at once that it had been taken from the poetry line ‘its ceaseless bounds yearn for miles and miles on’ and he was making fun of her. She stomped her feet in spite, “Who’s yearning for you? You have no face!”
The girls collapsed into a laughing mess, chirping, “Wei WuXian, you really have no face!”
“I’ve never seen someone as annoying as you!”
“Let me tell you, she’s called…”
MianMian dragged them away and turned to leave, “Let’s go, let’s go! You can’t tell it to him.”
Wei WuXian shouted from behind, “You can go, but give me a sachet, won’t you?! You’re ignoring me? You don’t want to? If you don’t, I’ll find other people and ask for your name. There must be someone out there who’s willing to tell me…”
Before he finished, a perfume sachet flew over from in front of him. It landed right in the middle of his chest. With an ‘ouch’, Wei WuXian pretended as though his heart hurt, spinning the sachet around his hand with its ribbons around his finger. Even as he walked back to Lan WangJi, he was still spinning the sachet around, grinning. Watching Lan WangJi’s expression grow colder, he asked, “What? You’re looking at me like that again. Right, where were we again? Let’s continue. How about I carry you on my back?”
Lan WangJi looked at him quietly, “Do you behave in such a frivolous way towards everyone?”
Wei WuXian thought for a second, “I think so?”
Lan WangJi looked at the ground. He only replied a moment later, “How impudent!”
He spoke the two words through clenched teeth, along with some strange hatred. He didn’t even deem it worthy to give Wei WuXian another glare. Lan WangJi strained to speed up and walk faster. Seeing that he was forcing himself again, Wei WuXian hurried, “Fine. You don’t have to walk this fast. I’ll just go.”
Combining three strides into two, he quickly caught up to Jiang Cheng.
Yet, Jiang Cheng didn’t give him any good looks either. He spoke menacingly, “You’re so ridiculous!”
Wei WuXian, “It’s not like you’re Lan Zhan or anything, so why do you say ridiculous like he does? His face today is worse than how it used to be. What’s wrong with his leg?”
Jiang Cheng spoke in a sour voice, “You still have the time to pay attention to him? Why don’t you pay attention to yourself!? I don’t know what tricks that idiot Wen Chao is planning this time, making us search for some cave entrance here in Dusk-Creek Mountain. Hopefully it’s not like last time when he made us circle up and be shields of flesh.”