Wei WuXian’s hand slowly dropped.
He looked down at Suibian and only responded after a pause, “… Thank you.”
Again, a short while passed before any words were spoken. Suddenly, Jiang Cheng walked over and struck him, “You brat! Where have you run off to in these three months?!”
Although the sentence itself seemed to scold him, his tone was full of joy. Although Lan WangJi didn’t step forward, he eyes had always been locked onto Wei WuXian. With the slap, Wei WuXian paused blankly. A few moments later, he struck him as well, “Haha, it’s a long story, it’s a long story!”
The cold air that had been on him was in some ways watered down by the two strikes. There was anger within Jiang Cheng’s joy. He hugged him tightly before shoving him back, yelling, “Didn’t we agree to meet at the lousy town down the mountain? I waited for almost six days and didn’t even see a shadow of you! If you died it wouldn’t even have been in front of my eyes! For the last three months I’ve been so busy that my head’s even gotten bigger!”
Wei WuXian lifted the hem of his robe and sat down again, waving his hand, “I’ve already said that it’s a long story. Back then a bunch of Wen-dogs were searching everywhere for me as well. They were waiting for me, caught me right there, and threw me to some hell of a place to suffer.”
As he spoke, the blue-faced woman crawled toward him using both her arms and her legs. When she had been fighting, her face was almost hideous, but now, with her dark face against Wei WuXian’s lap, she somehow seemed to be a charming concubine, obediently pleasing her master. Giggling laughter came from her mouth as well. Wei WuXian sat leaning to one side, his right hand stroking her soft, long hair over and over again.
As he watched his movements, Lan WangJi’s face grew even colder. Although the scene made Jiang Cheng feel somewhat uncomfortable, at the moment, he was more shocked than anything else, “What hell of a place? I’ve carefully asked the people in the town, so how was it that everyone said they hadn’t seen you?!”
Wei WuXian, “You asked the people in the town? They’re all a bunch of naive farmers scared of bringing themselves trouble, so who’d dare tell you the truth? And the Wen-dogs have definitely done something to shut their mouths. Of course all of them said that they hadn’t seen me.”
Jiang Cheng cursed, “Those old idiots!” He quickly added, “What hell of a place? Qishan? The Nightless City? Then how did you get out? And you’ve become like this. What are… these two things of yours? They actually listen to your command. A while ago Second Young Master Lan and I took the task of assassinating Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu at night, but somebody had gone before us. I can’t believe that it was you! You were the one who changed those talismans as well?”
From the corner of his eye, Wei WuXian saw that Lan WangJi had always been looking at them. He smiled, “Pretty much. If I say that I found a mysterious cave somewhere and there was a mysterious book that a mysterious expert had left, and then when I came out I was this powerful, would you believe me?”
Jiang Cheng spat, “Wake up. You’ve read too many legends in those picturebooks, haven’t you? How could there be so many experts in the world? With secret caves and books everywhere!”
Wei WuXian turned his palms up, “You see? You don’t believe me even if I say it. I’ll tell you about it if I ever get the chance to.”
Jiang Cheng glanced at Lan WangJi. He knew that it was probably something that shouldn’t be said in front of disciples from other sects and wiped the joy from his face, “Alright, then. You can tell me about it later. It’s all good as long as you’re back.”
Wei WuXian, “Yep. As long as I’m back.”
Jiang Cheng murmured the words ‘as long as you’re back’ a couple of times before hitting him again, “You really are…! You live on even after being captured by Wen-dogs!”
Wei WuXian gloated, “Of course. Who am I?”
Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but scold him, “What are you proud of?! You’re alive and you didn’t come back sooner!”
Wei WuXian, “I just got out, hey? I heard that both shijie and you were fine, and you were rebuilding the YunmengJiang Sect and forming an alliance, so I went to kill a few Wen-dogs first to lighten up your burden, and do some contributions. In these three months, you’ve been working hard.”
Hearing the last part, Jiang Cheng remembered the past three months of rushing about and working day and night. He felt somewhat moved, but quickly put on a harsh face, “Put away your shabby sword! I’ve been waiting for you to take it away. I don’t want to be carrying two swords all the time and get asked that many questions any longer!”
Lan WangJi suddenly spoke up, “Wei Ying.”
He had been standing quietly at the side. As he spoke, both Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng turned to him. It was as though Wei WuXian finally remembered to greet him. He nodded slightly, “HanGuang-Jun.”
Lan WangJi, “Were you the one who has been killing the Wen Sect’s disciples?”
Wei WuXian, “Of course.”
Jiang Cheng, “I knew it was you. Why did you kill them one at a time? It’d be so much of a hassle.”
Wei WuXian, “To play around, play with them until they die. Straight up killing all of them at once would be too easy on them. Much better killing them in front of one another one by one, one slice after another. Of course, with Wen Chao, I hadn’t tortured him enough yet. Wen ZhuLiu, however, he’d received the guidance of Wen RuoHan and joined the Wen Sect with his surname changed, protecting Wen RuoHan’s precious son under his orders.” He laughed coldly, “He wanted to protect him, but I wanted to make him see how in his hands, Wen Chao would become more and more distorted, unlike a man but also unlike a monster.”
The smile was somewhere among cold, cruel, and pleased. Lan WangJi watched with clarity in his expression. He walked one step forward, “What means do you use to control such dark creatures?”
The curvature of Wei WuXian’s lips dropped slightly as he glanced at him. Jiang Cheng had also heard the dissonant tone, “Second Young Master Lan, what do you mean by this?”
Lan WangJi’s eyes were glued to Wei WuXian, “Answer me.”
The ghoul child and the blue-faced woman began to stir. Wei WuXian turned around and looked at them. They backed off slowly, reluctant, and sunk into the darkness. Wei WuXian finally turned to Lan WangJi again and raised his brows, “If you will… what would happen if I don’t answer?”
Quickly, he ducked to the side, dodging Lan WangJi’s sudden attack. He walked three steps back, “Lan Zhan, we’ve just met each other again after so long and you’re already trying to catch me. That’s not nice, is it?”
Lan WangJi moved without saying anything. Wei WuXian blocked whatever attack he threw at him. Both of them were fast. The third time he moved Lan WangJi’s hand away, he spoke, “I thought that we could be considered familiar with each other. You starting a fight with me without saying anything does sound a bit heartless, doesn’t it?”
Lan WangJi, “Answer me!”
Jiang Cheng blocked himself between the two, “Second Young Master Lan!”