Wei WuXian, “He hates me already? I wanted to apologize to him.”
Jiang Cheng sneered, “Apologizing now? Too late! Like his uncle, he surely thinks that you are evil and unruly to the core, and didn’t bother to pay you any attention.”
Wei WuXian thought otherwise. He chuckled, “Who cares if he ignored me? Does he look pretty?” After a thought, he realized that Lan WangJi did look pretty. And so, he happily threw away his desire to twitch his lips.
Only after three days, did Wei WuXian finally know of Lan QiRen’s bad habit.
Lan QiRen’s lessons were not only tediously long, but everything was also tested on. The generational changes of important clans in the cultivation world, the division of their areas of power, famous quotes by famous cultivators, family trees…
Although he didn’t understand a single bit as he listened in class, Nie HuaiSang worked as hard as a slave when the date of the test approached. He copied Virtue two times for Wei WuXian, and begged before the test, “Please, Wei-xiong, if my grade is lower than yi, my brother would really break my legs! Stuff like telling apart direct lineage, collateral lineage, main clan, clan branches… For us disciples from big clans, we can’t even distinguish our relationships with our own relatives, randomly calling everyone who are more than two tiers away from us aunts and uncles. Does anyone have enough capacity in their brain to remember those of other clans?!”
As a result of cheating notes flying everywhere in the air, Lan WangJi suddenly attacked during the test, and caught a few initiators of the commotion. Lan QiRen exploded with anger, writing letters to the prominent clans to tell on them. He loathed Wei WuXian—in the beginning, although these disciples could hardly sit still, at least nobody started anything, and their buttocks were able to stick to their legs. However, now that Wei Ying came, the originally spineless brats were influenced by his encouragement, venturing out at night and drinking alcohol however they pleased. The unhealthy practices grew greater and greater. As he had expected, Wei Ying was one of the biggest threats to humanity!
Jiang FengMian replied, “Ying has always been like this. Please take care to discipline him, Mr. Lan.”
And so, Wei WuXian was punished again.
At first, he didn’t think too much of it. It was only copying texts, and he never lacked people who copied for him. Yet, this time, Nie HuaiSang spoke, “Wei-xiong, even if I want to help you, I can’t any more. You’d have to endure it on your own.”
Wei WuXian asked, “What happened?”
Nie HuaiSang, “Old… Mr. Lan said that you have to copy both Virtue and Conduct.”
Conduct was the most complicated section of the twelve sections in the Lan Sect’s sect rules. It cited a lot of classics, was terribly long, and had a lot of rarely-used characters. Copy it one time, and one would lose all interest in life. Copy it ten times, and one would fly to Heaven on the spot. Nie HuaiSang added, “He also said that, during the time of the punishment, nobody is allowed to fool around with you or copy them for you.”
Wei WuXian wondered, “How would he know if someone copied them for me or not? Surely it doesn’t mean that he’s making someone watch me.”
Jiang Cheng spoke, “That’s exactly the case.”
“…” Wei WuXian spoke, “What did you say?”
Jiang Cheng, “He told you that you’re not allowed to go outside and have to go to the Library Pavilion to copy, and also face the wall and reflect upon your mistakes. Of course, there will be someone to watch you. I don’t need to tell you who he is, do I?”
Inside the Library Pavilion—
There was one bamboo seat, one wooden desk, two candlesticks, and two people. One sat in a proper position, but, on the other side, Wei WuXian had already copied Conduct for more than ten pages. His head felt dizzy and his heart felt bored, so he dropped his pen to take a breath and looked across.
When he was still in Yunmeng, there were a lot of girls who envied that he could come and study with Lan WangJi. They said that each generation was full of nice-looking men, especially the brothers part of the Two Jades in the current generation. Before this, Wei WuXian never had the chance to carefully examine the front of his face. Now that he had a look at it, he started to think random thoughts, He looks quite nice indeed. Yet, if only those girls could come and see him with their own eyes. Looking as bitter as if everyone had offended him or his parents died, it wouldn’t matter no matter how nice his face looks.
Lan WangJi was recopying ancient books, which were not only old but also unavailable to most others, in the Lan Sect’s Library Pavilion. His brushstrokes were slow and steady, and his handwriting was neat yet sharply vigourous. Wei WuXian couldn’t help but to compliment him sincerely, “Those are some great characters! They’re of the top level.”
Lan WangJi remained indifferent.
Wei WuXian rarely kept his mouth shut for such a long amount of time. Feeling suffocated, he thought, I have to sit in front of such a stuffy person for so many hours each day, for a month. Would I even survive?
At this point of thought, he couldn’t help but slightly tilted his body forward.
Translator’s Notes
Yu the Great: This was a famous person in the history of China. He was known for introducing a method of controlling and stopping the floods from destroying villages.
Dantian: This refers to the region in the body where a person’s Qi, or energy, is concentrated. It is located three finger widths below and two finger widths behind the navel, where girls’ period cramps happen (not really, but you get the idea). The definition comes from https://immortalmountain.wordpress.com/glossary/wuxia-xianxia-xuanhuan-terms/#world.
Fly up to Heaven: This is what happens when a cultivator is of such a high level that they finally become an Immortal and fly up to Heaven. This usually happens in high fantasy, but GDC is low fantasy, so nobody actually flies up to Heaven. If you’re interested in settings involving gods and Immortals, check out the author’s new work—Heavenly Blessings. No group is translating this yet, but the fanart is quite nice.
Yi: There are four grades—jia, yi, bing, and ding. Yi is the second level, so it is pretty much a B in terms of the American grading system.
Two tiers: This means that there are two levels of relationship between them, such as the cousin of a cousin and so on.
Seat: Seats in Ancient China were made of bamboo weaved together into a flat piece of mat on the ground to sit on.
Chapter 15 Refinement—Part Five
Wei WuXian was someone who was skilled at finding fun for himself, especially talented in the area of seeking joy amid dull circumstances. Since there wasn’t anything else to play with, he could only play with Lan WangJi. He called, “WangJi-xiong.”
Lan WangJi remained motionless.
Wei WuXian, “WangJi.”
He appeared as if he didn’t hear anything.
Wei WuXian, “Lan WangJi.”
Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan!”
Lan WangJi finally stopped writing, and looked up at him with a cold gaze. Wei WuXian shifted backward, raising his hands as if he was defending himself, “Don’t look at me like this. I only called your name because you didn’t answer when I called you WangJi. If you’re upset, you can also call me back with my name.”