A cold breeze barged into the room. Wen Ning’s eyes were opened, no longer an ashen white, but instead filled with a pair of black, silent pupils.
The two stayed like this, one standing, one hanging, and stared at each other for a few moments.
Wei WuXian, “Come down.”
With a sudden loss of balance, Wen Ning fell and slammed onto the ground outside the inn.
Wei WuXian wiped away the nonexistent sweat on his forehead.
He commented, We really chose the right place!
It was a good thing that they chose this inn. For the sake of tranquility, the windows of the private room faced a small grove instead of the streets. Using the support pole, Wei WuXian left the windows open and looked down, leaning outside. With his heavy body, Wen Ning made a man-shaped dent on the ground. He was still staring at Wei WuXian even as he lay in the dent.
In a hushed voice, Wei WuXian shouted at him, “I told you to come down, not go down. ‘Come’, you understand?”
Wen Ning looked up at him. Dusting off his clothes, he crawled out of the dent and hurried to reply, “Oh. I’m coming.”
As soon as he finished, he clung to a pillar and prepared to climb. Wei WuXian interrupted him at once, “Stop! Stay where you are. I’ll come get you.”
He returned to Lan WangJi and leaned down toward his ears, “Lan Zhan, oh, Lan Zhan. Please sleep for a while longer. I’ll be back before you know it. Won’t you be a good boy?”
After he spoke, he felt a strange urge. He couldn’t help but brushed the tip of his finger against Lan WangJi’s eyelashes.
In a slight manner, Lan WangJi’s lashes trembled and his brows twitched. He looked rather perturbed. Removing his hand, Wei WuXian leaped out the window. He hopped a few times on the branches by the roof, then landed on the ground. Right after he turned around, Wen Ning kneeled down in front him.
Wei WuXian, “What are you doing?”
Wen Ning said nothing, his head hanging low.
Wei WuXian asked again, “Do you really have to talk to me like this?”
Wen Ning lowered his voice, “Young Master, I’m sorry.”
Wei WuXian, “Well then.”
Immediately after he spoke, he kneeled in front of Wen Ning as well. Startled, Wen Ning proceeded to kowtow him, while Wei WuXian soon returned the kowtow as well. Wen Ning was so alarmed that he jumped up at once. Only then did Wei WuXian stand up again, sweeping off the dirt at his hems, “You could’ve just stood straight and talked to me, you know?”
Wen Ning was still looking at the ground, afraid to say anything. Wei WuXian asked, “When did you regain consciousness?”
Wen Ning, “Just a while ago.”
Wei WuXian, “Do you still remember the things that happened when the nails were in your head?”
Wen Ning, “Some… but not all.”
Wei WuXian, “What do you remember?”
Wen Ning, “That I’d been chained in a really dark place. I think people sometimes came to check on me.”
Wei WuXian, “Do you remember who they were?”
Wen Ning, “No, only that somebody nailed something into my head.”
Wei WuXian, “It was probably Xue Yang. He also used those nails to control Song Lan. He used to be a guest cultivator at the LanlingJin Sect, but we still don’t know whether he did such a thing out of his own intentions or was it the LanlingJin Sect’s wishes.” After giving it some thought, he continued, “Most likely, it was out of the LanlingJin Sect’s wishes. Back then, they all said that you’d been completely annihilated. If the LanlingJin Sect didn’t take part in this, he wouldn’t have been able to hide the truth all on his own.” With a pause, he asked again, “Then, what happened afterwards? How did you go to Dafan Mountain?”
Wen Ning, “Afterwards, I don’t know how long had passed, but I suddenly heard someone clap, and then, Young Master, you said ‘wake up,’ so I… struggled out of the chains and rushed outside…”
It was the command that Wei WuXian gave to the three fierce corpses at Mo Village.
In the past, Wei WuXian had given the Ghost General countless commands. Thus, he also heard the first command that Wei WuXian gave after he came back to this world.
And so, in a muddled state of mind, Wen Ning followed other corpses’ directions and Wei WuXian’s commands. The LanlingJin Sect, on the other hand, knew that they couldn’t make public the fact that they’d been hiding the Ghost General. Or else, if the news leaked out, not only would its own reputation be damaged, the people would also start to panic, which was why even though Wen Ning ran away, they didn’t dare to pursue him with any fanfare. After a mess of a journey, Wen Ning finally reached Wei WuXian, who was playing the flute on top of Dafan Mountain, and the two successfully met again.
Wei WuXian sighed, “You said that you ‘don’t know how long had passed’. It’s already been more than ten years.” He continued after a short pause, “Well, it’s fair to say that I don’t know much more than you do. Do you want me to tell you some of the things that happened?”
Wen Ning, “I’ve heard of some.”
Wei WuXian, “Like what?”
Wen Ning, “I heard that the Burial Mounds are gone, that everyone… is gone.”
Truthfully, Wei WuXian had only wanted to tell him about the more trivial gossip, such as how the rules of the Lan Sect had increased from three thousand to four thousand. Not at all expecting Wen Ning to bring up such a grave topic to start with, he could only stay silent.
Despite of this being a grave topic, Wen Ning’s tone wasn’t mournful at all, as though he had already known that it would’ve happened. In reality, though, this was indeed the case. They expected the worst-case scenario countless times, as early as more than a decade ago.
After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian asked again, “What else have you heard?”
Wen Ning whispered, “Sect Leader Jiang, Jiang Cheng, brought a siege upon the Burial Mounds. And he killed you.”
Wei WuXian, “I’ll have to clarify this one. He didn’t kill me. I died from a backfire.”
Wen Ning finally looked up at him, “But, Sect Leader Jiang clearly…”
Wei WuXian, “Nobody can walk safely on a single-plank bridge for their whole life. It couldn’t be helped.”
Wen Ning seemed as if he wanted to sigh, but he had no breath to let out. Wei WuXian ended the conversation, “Okay. Let’s not talk about him anymore. Have you heard of anything else?”
“Yes.” Wen Ning gazed at him, “Young Master Wei, you died such an awful death.”
“…” Looking at how miserable he was, Wei WuXian sighed, “So you haven’t heard any good news?”
Wen Ning frowned, “No. There hasn’t been any.”
“…” Wei WuXian was speechless.
Suddenly, a loud shattering noise came from the main hall of the first floor. Lan SiZhui’s voice followed, “Were we not talking about Xue Yang? Why are we now arguing over this?”
Jin Ling, “We are talking about Xue Yang. Was what I said wrong? What did Xue Yang do? He’s worse than scum, and Wei Ying was even more disgusting than him! What do you mean ‘we shouldn’t generalize them’? These monsters are vermin to our world! We should kill, murder, and slaughter every single one of them!”