He did exactly what he said. Hands grabbing each of Lan WangJi’s lapels, he peeled them to the side, revealing a chest and shoulders the color of snow.
Lan WangJi had suddenly been pushed onto the ground, shirt forcibly stripped. His face was almost green, “Wei Ying! What do you want to do?!”
Wei WuXian took off all of his clothes and tore them to shreds, “What do I want to do? Right now, we two are the only ones here. I’m already making it so obvious—what do you think I want to do?”
As he finished, he stood up and drew away his belt sash. As though reciprocating out of courtesy, he revealed his own chest as well.
With deep-set collarbones, the lines of his torso flowed smoothly. Although it almost flaunted its adolescence, it was full of youthful energy and strength.
Watching his movements, Lan WangJi’s complexion switched between pale, dark, and flustered. His blood seemed to boil to the point of having to burst out from between his lips. Wei WuXian smiled and walked one step closer. Right in front of Lan WangJi’s face, he took off his own drenched coat. He raised it up with one hand before releasing his grip, letting it fall to the ground.
Wei WuXian shrugged, palms facing out, “Now that the shirts are gone, it’s time for the trousers.”
Lan WangJi wanted to get up, but his leg was injured. Due to the fight that they had gone through and the fury within him, the more anxious he was, the more he couldn’t do it. His entire body felt worn out. With an intense rage, he really did cough up a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, Wei WuXian immediately squatted down and tapped a few of the acupoints on his chest, “Alright, the bad blood is out. No need to thank me!”
After the mouthful of blackish blood had been spat out, Lan WangJi immediately felt the pain and irritation within his chest lift away. Looking back on what Wei WuXian did, he finally realized.
As they climbed up Dusk-creek Mountain, Wei WuXian found that Lan WangJi looked worse than usual. It must’ve been that an energy of gloom had collected within his chest, so he purposely tried to scare and provoke him, so that he could let out the blood that he had been holding in.
Although he knew that it was out of good will, Lan WangJi still seemed a bit annoyed, “… Can you not make this kind of joke again?!”
Wei WuXian protested, “It’s very unhealthy for blood like this to be held in. It gets out with just a scare, though. Don’t worry—I don’t like men, I won’t take advantage of the opportunity and do anything to you.”
Lan WangJi, “Ridiculous!”
Wei WuXian found out long ago that Lan WangJi’s temper was especially bad today. He didn’t protest any further and waved his hand, “Okay, okay. Ridiculous it is. I’m ridiculous. I’m the most ridiculous there is.”
As he spoke, the cold, underground air climbed up his spine, causing him to shudder. He immediately stood up, gathered a pile of dead leaves and branches, and drew the fire talisman on his palm again.
The leaves and branches crunched into flames, letting off a few sparks once in a while. Wei WuXian ground up the herbs that he had picked out. Ripping the trouser leg open, he sprinkled them evenly over the three hideous holes that had just barely ceased to bleed.
Suddenly, Lan WangJi raised his arm and stopped him. Wei WuXian asked, “What’s wrong?”
Without speaking a word, Lan WangJi took out some of the herbs from his palm and pressed them onto Wei Wuxian’s chest.
Wei WuXian’s entire body trembled as he exclaimed, “Ah!”
He had forgotten that there was a fresh wound on himself as well, created by the iron. It was also still bleeding and had also been soaked in water.
Lan WangJi took his hand away. Wei WuXian hissed a few times, then peeled away, bit by bit, the herbs that had been pressed onto his chest, tossing them onto Lan WangJi’s leg again, “Don’t mind me. I get hurt a lot, and I play in Lotus Lake as usual even when I’m hurt. I got used to it a long time ago. How many herbs can there be inside a small perfume sachet? There isn’t enough to begin with. I think that those three holes of yours need them more… Ah!”
Lan WangJi’s face was dark. A moment later, he replied, “If you know that it hurts, do not be so rash next time.”
Wei WuXian, “It’s not like I had any other choice, right? Do you think I enjoy being burned? Who would’ve known that Wang LingJiao is so heartless. She almost pressed the iron into the eye. MianMian is a girl, and quite a pretty girl, at that. If she was blind in an eye or such a thing gets onto her face, it wouldn’t be able to come off for the rest of her life. How bad would that be?”
Lan WangJi spoke in a thin voice, “The thing on your body right now will not be able to come off for the rest of your life either.”
Wei WuXian, “That’s different. It’s not on the face. And I’m a man—what am I scared of? In a man’s life, how can he not get a few wounds and earn a few scars?”
His upper body bare, he was squatting on the ground as he picked up a branch and poked at the flames for it to burn brighter, “And, if you think from another perspective, even though this won’t be able to come off, it represents the fact that I protected a maiden. And the maiden will definitely remember me after this. She won’t be able to forget me for the rest of her life. Now that I think about it, it’s actually quite…”
Suddenly, Lan WangJi shoved him hard, raging, “So you also know that she will not be able to forget you for the rest of her life!!!”
Collapsed on the ground, he broke into a cold sweat from the pain, moaning with his neck stretched forward, “… Lan Zhan, you… Have I done something to you?! … This would be enough revenge to pay for killing your father!”
Hearing this, Lan WangJi clenched his fists.
A moment later, he relaxed, seeming as if he wanted to help Wei WuXian up. However, Wei WuXian sat up on his own and shrunk backward a couple of times, “Fine, fine! I know you don’t like me. Then I’ll sit farther away. Don’t come here! Don’t push me again. It’s so painful.”
The wound was on his left side, so it began to hurt whenever he raised his left arm. Wei WuXian shrunk to the side. Picking up the white clothes that had been torn into strips, he tossed them toward Lan WangJi using his right hand, “You can bind it yourself. I’m not gonna go over.”
Then, he moved the clothes that he had taken off to the fire for them to dry up.
A while had passed, and neither had spoken. Wei WuXian began again, “Lan Zhan, you really are so strange today. You’re so rude. And you aren’t talking like yourself either.”
Lan WangJi, “If you do not have those intentions, then do not flirt with others. You are doing as you please, yet others will be in turmoil.”
Wei WuXian, “It’s not like you’re the one whom I’m flirting with, so it wouldn’t be you who’s in turmoil either, unless…”
Lan WangJi asked harshly, “Unless what?”
Wei WuXian, “Unless, Lan Zhan, you like MianMian!”
A moment later, Lan WangJi replied in a cold voice, “Please do not speak nonsense.”
Wei WuXian, “Alright, then, I’ll speak one-sense.”
Lan WangJi, “Is it amusing, trifling with empty words?”