Jin Ling answered, “Yeah. He believes that you’re Wei WuXian.”
Wei WuXian thought, ‘This time, it’s not merely ‘suspect’ anymore. He’s got the right person.’ He asked again, “Then, what about you? Don’t you suspect it as well?”
Jin Ling, “It’s not the first time my uncle did such a thing. He has never let any of them go, even if it was possible that he caught the wrong ones. But, if Zidian couldn’t draw out your spirit, I’m just gonna trust that you’re not. Besides, he wasn’t a cut-sleeve, but you even dared to harass…”
With a disgusted look, he stopped before mentioning who Wei WuXian harassed and made a fanning gesture as if he was shooing away flies. “Anyways, from now on, you have nothing to do with the LanlingJin Sect anymore! If you’re gonna go at it again, don’t find anyone from my sect! Or else, I won’t let you off!”
Having finished speaking, Jin Ling spun around to leave. After walking a few steps, he turned to him again, “What are you doing still standing there? Go. Are you waiting for my uncle to come and get you? Let me tell you—don’t think that I’ll be grateful just because you saved me. Don’t expect me to say anything cringe worthy either.”
Wei WuXian put his hands behind his back and walked over, “Young man, there are two cringe worthy phrases in one’s life that must be said, no matter what.”
Jin Ling asked, “Which two?”
Wei WuXian replied, “‘Thank you’, and ‘I’m sorry’.”
Jin Ling taunted, “What can anybody do to me if I don’t say them?”
Wei WuXian, “Someday, you’ll say those words in tears.”
Jin Ling made a spitting noise, just as Wei WuXian suddenly spoke to him, “I’m sorry.”
Jin Ling paused, “What?”
Wei WuXian, “I’m sorry for the words I said to you on Dafan Mountain.”
It wasn’t the first time that Jin Ling was told he had ‘no mother to teach him’, but it was the first time someone apologized to him in such a serious way. With an ‘I’m sorry’ shoved right into his face, he didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt a bit uneasy.
He wildly waved his arms around, “It’s nothing. You weren’t the first person to say so, anyways. It’s true that I had no mother to teach me. However, I won’t be inferior to anyone because of this! In fact, I’m gonna open you eyes and make you see that I am a lot stronger than all of you!”
Wei WuXian smiled. As he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed, “Jiang Cheng? You!”
Jin Ling was already feeling guilty since he stole Zidian and let Wei WuXian go. Hearing the name, he whirled around to look. Using the chance, Wei WuXian hit Jin Ling’s neck, forming a blade with his hand. He laid Jin Ling flat on the ground, rolled up the bottom of his trousers, and examined the Curse Mark on his leg. He tried a few methods, but none of them made it fade. After a moment, he sighed, knowing that it’d be difficult.
However, although there were some curse marks that he was unable to remove, he could transfer them to his own body.
Jin Ling slowly woke up after a while. Putting his hand to his neck, some pain could still be felt. He was so angry that he jumped up and unsheathed his sword at once, “How dare you hit me! My uncle hadn’t even hit me before!”
Wei WuXian exclaimed, “Really? Doesn’t he say that he’ll break your legs all the time?”
Jin Ling fumed, “He’s only saying that! You damn cut-sleeve, what on Earth do you want? I…”
Wei WuXian covered his face and shouted toward behind Jin Ling, “Ah! HanGuang-Jun!”
Jin Ling was more scared of Lan WangJi than he was of his uncle. After all, his uncle was from his own clan, but HanGuang-Jun was from someone else’s. Frightened, he fled at once, shouting as he ran, “You damn cut-sleeve! Disgusting maniac! I’ll remember you! This is not over yet!”
Behind him, Wei WuXian laughed so hard that he couldn’t breathe. After Jin Ling disappeared into the distance, his chest itched in a stuffy way, and finally managed to stop the laughter after a while of coughing. Only then, did he have time to think.
Wei WuXian was taken home by Jiang FengMian when he was nine.
Most memories from back then were already blurred. Yet, Jin Ling’s mother, Jiang YanLi, remembered all of them, and even told him quite a few.
She said that, after his father heard of the news that his parents both died in battle, he had always dedicated himself to finding the child that these past friends had left behind. After searching for a while, he finally found the child in Yiling. The first time they met, Wei WuXian was kneeling on the ground, eating the fruit peels that somebody tossed on the ground.
Yiling’s winter and spring were quite cold, yet the child only wore thin layers. His knees were already tattered, and on his feet were two different shoes that didn’t fit at all. As he was looking down, searching for fruit peels, Jiang FengMian called him. He still remembered that there was a “Ying” in his name, so he lifted his head. Although his cheeks were both red and chapped from the cold, he still wore a smile.
Jiang YanLi said that he was born with a smiling look. No matter what unfortunate thing happened, he wouldn’t cling on to them; no matter what situation he was in, he would be happy. Although it sounded a bit heartless, it really wasn’t bad.
Jiang FengMian fed him a piece of melon, and he let Jiang FengMian carry him back. Back then, Jiang Cheng was also around eight or nine. He kept a few puppies to play with him in Lotus Pier. Finding out that Wei WuXian was extremely scared of dogs, Jiang FengMian suggested for Jiang Cheng to send the dogs away. Jiang Cheng was really unwilling. After throwing a tantrum of breaking things, pouting, and bawling his eyes out, he finally sent the dogs away.
Although, because of this, he held hostility toward Wei WuXian for a long time, after the two grew familiar, they had begun to cause mischief together. Whenever he ran into dogs, Jiang Cheng would always chase them away, then have a good laugh at Wei WuXian, who jumped onto a tree.
He had always thought that Jiang Cheng would be on his side, and Lan WangJi on the side opposite to him. He could never have imagined that things would turn out so differently.
Wei WuXian walked toward the rendezvous point that he and Lan WangJi were supposed to meet at. Nobody walked among the sparse lights that flickered in the night. Without having to look around, the white-robed figure stood at the end of the street, standing motionless with his head hung low.
Before Wei WuXian made any sound, Lan WangJi looked up and saw him. After some hesitation, he walked over with a darkened expression.
Wei WuXian didn’t know why, but he involuntarily took a step backward.
He could almost see scarlet streaks of blood by the corners of Lan WangJi’s eyes. He had to admit… Lan WangJi’s face really did look quite scary.
Chapter 25 Malice—Part Three
However, having taken only one step back, his ankle twisted, and he seemed as if he almost collapsed on the ground. With a change in expression, Lan WangJi hurried over and tightly gripped his wrist like what he did last time, back in Dafan Mountain. After Wei WuXian had been steadied, Lan WangJi knelt down on one knee to examine his leg. Wei WuXian was rather shocked, “N-n-no, HanGuang-Jun. You don’t have to do this.”