What the future holds

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/53327482.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Categories: F/M, M/M
Fandom: 魔道祖师 - 墨香铜臭 | Módào Zǔshī - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Relationships: Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji/Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, Jiang Yanli/Jin Zixuan,
Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian & Wen Ning | Wen Qionglin, Jiang Cheng | Jiang
Wanyin & Jiang Family, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Wei Ying | Wei
Wuxian, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin & Jiang Yanli & Wei Ying | Wei
Wuxian, Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian & Wen Qing, Jiang Cheng | Jiang
Wanyin/Nie Huaisang, Jin Ling | Jin Rulan/Lan Jingyi
Characters: Yu Ziyuan, Jiang Fengmian, Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, Wei Ying | Wei
Wuxian, Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan, Madam Jin (Modao Zushi), Lan Zhan |
Lan Wangji, Wen Ruohan, Wen Ning | Wen Qionglin, Lan Huan | Lan
Xichen, Lan Qiren, Jin Guangshan, Nie Huaisang, Nie Mingjue,
Qingheng-jun, Madam Lan (Modao Zushi), Junior Ensemble (Modao
Zushi), Jin Ling | Jin Rulan, Lan Yuan | Lan Sizhui, Ouyang Zizhen, Lan
Jingyi
Additional Tags: Angst, Fluff, jin guangshan is his own warning, BAMF Jiang Yanli,
BAMF Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian, BAMF Lan Zhan | Lan Wangji, Jiang
Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan Bashing, Good Sibling Jiang Yanli, Artist Nie
Huaisang, Nie Huaisang & Wei Ying | Wei Wuxian Friendship, Reaction,
Other Additional Tags to Be Added, BAMF Madam Jin, Jiang Yanli is
So Done, Good Person Jin Zixuan, I forget WRH 90 percent of the time,
dont be offended when his only line is ‘interesting’ lmao, Good Sibling
Jiang Cheng | Jiang Wanyin, warning jin guangshan, My AU, lan sizhui
is wangxian son, Head disciple lan sizhui, Sect Heir Lan Sizhui, NOT
JFM AND YZY FRIENDLY, jc friendly cause i love him, Protective Nie
Huaisang, yzy gets shit on lmao
Language: English
Collections: Characters React to Canon, Characters Watch/Read Canon (cause
reading this is my new hobby), Alternative Universes of Fandoms I

👌
enjoy., China Fandom, Fandoms React to Canon/Fanfictions, Mo Dao Zu
Shi , MODAOZUSHI, Reaction fics, Watch and read, Reaction to…,
Reactions from the Fandom, Watching the World Through Other
People’s Eyes
Stats: Published: 2024-01-27 Updated: 2024-06-22 Words: 72,235 Chapters:
15/?
 What the future holds
by starlightray, Vivyxx

Summary

“Wei-Xiong, what’s that?” Nie Huaisang curiously asked, a finger in his chin as he gaped at
what his friend held.

“I found it while i was walking around the forest searching for pheasants.” the other replied,
in his hands revealed a circular golden orb.

“Wait, are you two plain idiots?! Don’t touch it!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed loudly, but it was
already too late as Nie Huaisang has already pulled the stunt.

“I wonder what it does though—“ Nie Huaisang laughed, when Wei Wuxian touched the orb,
the trio blacked out strangely.

As soon as they woke up, they surprisingly found themselves somewhere else that which they
could not recognize as the Cloud Recesses, but instead a strange room is what was
recognized… along with 12 other people.

Or

Past Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation gets transported into a room to react to their own
series!
 PROLOGUE

It was a normal day in the cloud recesses.

"Wei-xiong, what's this?" Nie Huaisang asked with his finger on his chin, after Wei Wuxian
came busting into their shared dorm room with a glowing orb in his hands.

he sat down on the floor and laid the mysterious orb on the floor, the duo looked at it
suspiciously.

"i don't know either, Nie-xiong. I saw this when i was in the back mountains!" Nie Huaisang
raised his eyebrow in interest, the orb was quite large in size, it was a glowing golden color
and shined brightly.

"what are you two idiots up to now?" Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian turned to the door, Jiang
Cheng was leaning against the door. his eyes glued on them both.

"ah? Jiang-xiong!" Nie Huaisang brightened, and Wei Wuxian just grinned at his shidi.

"we found this weird little orb thingy!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed, clearing the path so Jiang
Cheng can see the glowing orb.

Jiang Cheng stopped leaning on the door, he immediately locked the door he was once
leaning on and approached the orb.

"where the fuck did you find this?" he finally said, after staring at the orb for about two
minutes.

“I tripped on it while i was at the back mountains.” Wei Wuxian says, huffing.

“This is certainly weird.” Jiang Cheng decided on saying.

“Ive never seen anything like this,” Nie Huaisang cuts in, he held his fan.

“Should i put it back?” Wei Wuxian asks, earning a glare from Nie Huaisang.

“What?” He glared back at his friend, who waved his hand.

“I dont think we should.” The Nie sect heir says, he was obviously intrigued in this random
orb

“why not? Its obviously suspicious, we need to return it.” Jiang Cheng cuts in.

“But Jiang-xiong! It looks rare!” Huaisang whined, Jiang Cheng sighed as he rubbed his
temples.

“More on why we should put it back.”

“I dont think we should.”

“Maybe we should..try and activate it?”

They turned to Wei Wuxian, thinking about hsi suggestion.

“Absolutely not.”

“Absolutely.”

Wei Wuxian sighed, as the two secr heirs stared each other down.

“Its dangerous! Who knows what will happen?!” Jiang Cheng blurted out, Nie Huaisang
stuck his tongue out at him.

“You’re overthinking, Jiang-xiong!” Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.

“No, i am not.”

“Maybe we should try and activate it?” Wei Wuxian suggested, Nie Huaisang excitedly
nodded his head, while Jiang Cheng shook his.

“We arent, and that is final.”

“Holy Shit!” Wei Wuxian tumbled back, making Nie Huaisang and Jiang Cheng turn around.

“What?”

“The orb just fucking glowed brighter!” He pointed towards the orb, it indeed glowed
brighter.

“Holy shit! What did you do?!”

That was all they could say, before everything went dark.
 Reincarnation

before everything went dark.

________________________________________

"ugh..." Jiang Cheng grumbled as he held his temple, he looked around and saw Wei Wuxian
sitting up beside a still Nie Huaisang.

"where the fuck are we?" Wei Wuxian says, he turned to Nie Huaisang, and started shaking
him awake.

"Nie-xiong! you better wake up!" he uttered, soon, Nie Huaisang sat up immediately.

"what did you guys do?!" Jiang Cheng shouted in anger and frustration, they were inside a
room with barely any light. There were no windows, but the golden orb sat in the room’s
middle.

This was weird, unusual.

After touching that mysterious orb, the three suddenly blacked out, and woke up inside some
strange room they’ve never seen before.

“holy shit, what happened.” The Nie boy started to panic, violently clutching his fan in
nervosity.

“da-ge is gonna kill me!” he cried loudly, Wei Wuxian groaned.

“we need to find a way out.”

Just as they said that, around the room golden lights began to appear.

”what the hell!?” cried Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang was shaking as he hid behind Wei
Wuxian, his hand clutching Suibian.

“mom?” the Jiang heir’s voice echoed, in one of the bright golden lights, appeared Yu
Ziyuan.

“a-Cheng?! Whats happening here?” Yu Ziyuan immediately ran towards her son, she took
one look at Wei Wuxian, who stood there shielding Nie Huaisang. He must admit, the violet
spider really lived up to her reputation.

She was frightening.

“Wei Ying!” Yu Ziyuan snarled, and Wei Wuxian already knew he was gonna get scolded
again.
“this was your doing, isn’t it!? One day you will really bring our sect trouble!” Jiang Cheng
tried to plead with his mother, but she only ignored her son.

Wei Wuxian immediately looked down on his feet, he sweated as he slowly became nervous.

“Mom-“

“don’t start now, a-Cheng! This servant is nothing, you are a sect heir!” she scolded, Jiang
Cheng said nothing, he only redirected his gaze to the floor.

“My Lady!”

Yu Ziyuan turned around at the familiar voice, her snarl only replacing her expression once
again.

“Fengmian! Do not start with me too!”

“where is this place?” Nie Huaisang perked up at the deep voice he recognized, he
immediately hopped out of his friends back and came running to the voice.

“da-ge!”

“Huaisang, where is this?” Nie Mingjue asserted, Huaisang shivered.

“uh- da-ge, about that-“

One of the golden lights trinkled, and a young lady with yellow eyes appeared.

“a-Xian? A-Cheng?”

“shijie!”

“jie!” both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng exclaimed at the same time.

“a-Li.” Yu Ziyuan’s gaze softened at the sight of her daughter, Jiang Fengmian smiled
warmly.

“mother, I.. somehow got transported here.”

At that exact moment, more people came into the strange room.

There were a few figures, they could be identified as:

Wen Ruohan, Jin Guangshan, Madam Jin, Jin Zixuan, Lan Qiren, Lan Wangji, Wen Ning and
Lan Xichen.

“what?” Wen Ruohan was the first to break the silence.

“what is this place?” was followed by Lan Qiren, Lan Wangji also looked around the room,
immediately frowning when he saw Wei Wuxian waving at him.
‘did i do something to upset him?’ Wei Wuxian pouted.

“huh?” Madam Jin scrunched her eyebrows in confusion, her husband did the same, doing so
as he fanned himself.

“mom, how did we get here?” Jin Zixuan asked his mother in confusion, his mother only
shrugged in response.

Wen Ning stood there in silence, his expression was both anxious and worrisome, yet too
afraid to even say a word.

Lan Xichen did not say anything, his expression soured by the sudden transportation, he tried
to move his hand and unsheathe his blade. But it wasn’t there, he let out a small gasp as his
eyes widened.

As he saw his brother’s reaction, Lan Wangji also realized Bichen was not with him.

Wei Wuxian watched this go down, everyone’s blade was gone, yet his was still here.

“my blade? Its still here?” he mumbled, Yu Ziyuan heard his mumble, she reached out to grab
Zidian. Only to realize it also went missing.

“Zidian?! Its missing!” she shouted in confusion, everyone also started looking down at their
own weapons, and as usual.

It was gone.

“Suihua! Its gone!” shouted Jin Zixuan, Madam Jin was confused, and angry.

Nie Mingjue also realized Baxia was not on his back, this caused him to redden in anger and
frustration.

“who is this person, their so strong they trapped us in here and took our swords!” Jin
Guangshan shouted, Madam Jin hated that she agreed with her scummy husband’s statement.

Nie Huaisang was probably glad he did not have a weapon on him, but his brother’s anger
scared him even more.

“da-ge! Calm down!” he called to the Nie sect leader.

“where. Is. Baxia!”

“esteemed clan leaders, and cultivators. Please calm down.” Everyone in the room turned to
look at the source of voice, it came from the glowing orb centered into the room.

“who are you! What do you want from us!” Jiang Cheng shouted.

“I am the guardian and spirit inside this orb, I am a gadget that shows the future.” Jin
Guangshan’s ears perked up.
“the future?” Jin Guangshan smiled eerily, Madam Jin resisted the urge to pound her greedy
husband into the floor.

“the future?” everyone turned to Wen Ruohan, some got shivers.

“do you speak the truth?” Lan Qiren inquired.

“I do, Grandmaster Lan.” The orb spoke.

“why have you taken our weapons?” asked Nie Mingjue.

“its to make sure no one tried to break my domain, I will return them at the end of this thing.”
Nie Mingjue was skeptical, but sat down on the cushioned chair appeared behind him.

Seeing the Nie sect leader do this, many followed as well.

“if I may begin?” the orb asked.

“please start.” Wen Ruohan smirked, and oh boy, did no one like that.

‘THE FUTURE.’ Was written as a projection flared.

“Great news! Wei Wuxian has died!” an unknown civilian’s voice cheered.

“WHAT?!?!?!” Jiang Cheng shouted.

“what is the meaning of this!?” Jiang Fengmian stood up, his expression contorted in anger.

“why the fuck is it good news?!” Nie Huaisang sat up and threw his fan towards the
projector.

“Huaisang!” his brother called.

“w-what?” all eyes darted to Wei Wuxian, who’s eyes widened at the words displayed on the
projection.

“what?” many were shocked, Lan Wangji gaped at the screen with wide eyes.

“a-Xian! Theres no way he will die!” Jiang Yanli cried, Jin Zixuan immediately ran over to
where his fiancée sat, he attempted to comfort her.

Yu Ziyuan’s expression was difficult to read, her eyes were wide open, and so was her lips.
Yet the worry in her expression seemed lost.

“interesting way to begin..” Wen Ruohan smirked, Wen Ning thought he was gonna die just
by sitting beside his clan leader.
Less than a day passed since the siege in LuanZang hill, and the news spreads through the
cultivation world as if it sprouted wings, surpassing even the speed in warfare.

For a while, the most prominent clans to rogue cultivators, everyone is discussing the siege
that was lead the four great clans and followed by hundreds of smaller ones.

The screen shifted to a picture of Nie Mingjue, Lan Qiren, Jiang Cheng and Jin
Guangshan standing with one another, it soon shifted to an older looking Wei Wuxian, his
hair flowed In the harsh wind as a huge fire surrounded his back.

“NO!” Jiang Yanli cried, her younger brother did too.

“me..? what am I doing there?!” Nie Mingjue demanded.

“what is this bullshit..” muttered Jin Zixuan, he held his fiancée as she cried into his
shoulders.

Wei Wuxian looked numb, he sat there shaking.

“The Yiling Patriarch has died? Who could have killed him?” another asked.

“who other than his shidi, Jiang Cheng!”

The room fell silent, Wei Wuxian’s expression was unwavering, but soon turned to shock at
what he just heard.

“i- what?” all eyes went to Jiang Cheng, who looked like he was on the verge of qi deviating.

“a-Cheng couldn’t have possibly!” Jiang Fengmian cried, Yu Ziyuan stayed silent.

“oh, my a-Xian.. a-Cheng..”

“putting an end to his own relative for the greater good. Jiang Cheng led the four great
clans of Yunmeng Jiang, Lanling Jin, Gusu Lan, and Qinghe Nie to destroy his ‘den’ at
Luanzang hill!”

“I must say, good riddance!”

“good riddance..?” Jiang Cheng was tearing up.

Wei Wuxian turned to look at Jiang Cheng, he looked like a mess, his eyes were full to tears
as it dropped to his cheeks.

“good riddance indeed! We finally eliminated this scourge!’

“If not for the YunmengJiang clan’s adopting and teaching him, he would have been a
hobo living on the streets, let alone causing mayhem as bold as the ones these days. The
head of the Jiang clan raised him as her own child, yet he defected them and became the
enemy of the cultivation world, bringing shame upon the the Jiang clan, even leading to its
near-extermination. He is the prime example of biting the hand that feeds him!”

“how dare they say this about Wei Wuxian!” shouted Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang nodded in
agreement.

“Jiang Cheng allowed this fellow to live for too long. If I were him, at the time of the
defection, I wouldn’t have just stabbed him. In fact, I would have thoroughly examined the
disciples of the clan again, so that he doesn’t do those crazy things he did later on. Who
cares about the so called ‘considerations’ that he gave to his childhood friend.”

“defection?” Jiang Fengmian breathed out, this caused his wife to look at him.

“of course you only care about his defection!” she argued.

“That’s merely hearsay. Although Jiang Cheng was one of the main forces, he did not give
Wei WuXian the final blow. Because he cultivates the Demon Path, Wei WuXian’s powers
had backfired and he was ripped to pieces.”

“demonic path? Ripped to pieces?!” Wei Wuxian exclaimed.

“the demonic path!?” Lan Qiren said scandalously.

Lan Xichen gasped quietly, “Wei-gongzi…..”

Even Wen Ning was startled, he still does not know why he was pulled into this room with a
bunch of respectable young masters and leaders.

Yu Ziyuan turned to her husband, she scowled.

“I told you this servant would bring nothing more than misfortune to our sect!” she growled
at her husband, who only sighed upon hearing this.

“my lady, please calm down-“

“calm down!? Fengmian! You-“ she was cut off by a deeper voice who interrupted her.

“please take your familial affairs somewhere else, some of us would like to continue.”
Argued Wen Ruohan, this made Yu Ziyuansit back down on her seat, she knew she could not
go against him.

Jin Guangshan clears his throat, “lets continue, shall we?”

“Hahahaha... That’s karma! The ghost soldiers that he created are like unleashed dogs,
biting everyone that they come across. It serves him right to be chewed to death!”

‘chewed to death?’ Lan Wangji thought, he glanced at Wei Ying, he must have died painfully.

“my.. condolences.” Madam Jin pitied.

“But, if not for Jiang Cheng making a plan that aimed at Wei WuXian’s weaknesses, the
siege might not have succeeded. Should I remind you folks of the item that Wei WuXian
possesses? Did you forget about the day that three thousand skilled cultivators were
completely annihilated?”

“what?” Wei Wuxian scrunched his nose.

“see, he will only bring shame!-“

“my lady, sit down.”

“I heard that it was more than three thousand, possibly five thousand.”

Jiang Yanli could only cover her mouth as she sobbed into her fiancee’s arms.

‘interesting…’ Wen Ruohan smirked, this boy was certainly strong, if he was in Wen clan…
“He’s most certainly out of his mind.”

“It’s a good thing that he destroyed that evil weapon before he died. Otherwise, if it was left
in this world to harm humankind, his sins would have been worse.”

“Oh well... You know, back then, Wei WuXian was one of the most promising cultivators,
coming from a highly distinguished clan and finding success at a young age. How on
Earth did he end up where he is now?”

“yea, I wonder that too.” Wei Wuxian grumbled, what else could have forced him to the
demonic path?

“This proves that one can only cultivate by following the right path. Using these dishonest
practices would only seem beneficial at first glance. Look, what happened in the end? Not
even a whole corpse was left of him.”

Lan Wangji sucked in a sharp breath, theres no way.

Theres no way Wei Ying will die that not even a corpse is left, he needs to prevent that.

Lan Xichen glanced towards his brother, he knows Wangji is sad.

“Not everything was because of his cultivation path. Wei WuXian’s personality is quite
immoral. One’s deeds will be paid, one way or another; what goes around always comes
around.”

After Wei WuXian’s death, the period is drawn on the topic. The discussions of the people
are mostly the same, with a few unconventional opinions being brought down immediately.

However, the elephant in the room stayed in the back of everyone’s mind

Nobody could summon Wei WuXian’s soul, which meant that his soul had disappeared.

It might have been torn apart by the millions of ghosts that devoured him.

“i- that’s terrible….” Wen Ning mumbled, no one heard him.

Or, it might have escaped.

If was the first, then all is well. Then again, nobody doubts the fact that the YiLing
Patriarch has the power to move mountains and empty seas. If was the last, his soul would
eventually return to revive in his body. When the day comes, the cultivation world, or even
all of mortal land, would be faced with the most insane damnation and revenge, sinking
into nothing but chaos and despair.

“was I that strong?” Wei Wuxian asked.

The various clans set one hundred and twenty stone beasts on top of LuanZang Hill and
initiated frequent soul-summoning rituals, followed by heightened vigilance and searches
for strange occurrences from all over the world.

In the first year, nothing happened

In the second year, nothing happened.

In the third year, nothing happened.

...

In the thirteenth year, nothing happened either.

“it was bound to happen anyway..” Wei Wuxian said, Making the teary-eyed JiangCheng to
turn to him.

“bound to happen?!” he grabbed his shixiong’s shoulders.

“Jiang-gongzi, now that we know what will happen, maybe we can prevent It from
occurring.” Lan Xichen cuts in, Lan Qiren could not help but agree with his nephew.

“…. I guess so.”

More and more people were starting to believe that, maybe, the YiLing Patriarch actually
perished.

Even if he was capable of turning the world upside down, it was finally his turn to be
toppled over.

Nobody would remain at the top for all of eternity—legends are only legends.

“legends are only legends, huh?” Yu Ziyuan scowled.

The screen cuts to a young man drawing blood on the floor.

“what is this?” asked Jin Guangshan.

“I have never seen an array like that.” Madam Jin agreed.

“blood as medium…”

“hand as means… flesh to thy spirit..”

“soul to the dust!”

“awaiting the descent of the Yiling Patriarch….”

“what?” Wei Wuxian looked at the screen in confusion, why is his future title mentioned?

“Wei Wuxian!!” Resentful energy continued to form at the boy’s back, his eyes indicated
that he was insane.

“wait a damn minute…. Is that a sacrificial array???!!!” Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang both
pointed at the screen.

Nie Mingjue looked at his brother, “Huaisang? Whats this about?”

“sacrificial array?” Wen Ruohan murmured.

“that’s..!”

“Grandmaster Lan, do you know anything about this strange array?” Jin Guangshan turned to
Lan Qiren, who looked as pale as a ghost.

“this array.. it summons an evil spirit into the casters body!” he looked like he was on the
verge of Qi deviation, Lan Xichen quickly ran to his uncle’s side.

“so.. this guy is basically summoning my spirit?!” Wei Wuxian shouted, he looked confused.

“mn.” Came the reply of Lan Wangji, though Lan Xichen wouldn’t have missed his small
smile.
Wei WuXian received a kick just as he opened his eyes.

“imagine getting kicked as soon as you wake up.” Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes.

A voice thundered beside his ear, “Stop playing dead!”

The kick threw him backwards, headfirst onto the ground. Fighting the urge to vomit, a
thought formed in his head—that’s quite a lot of courage you have to kick me, the
Patriarch.

Jiang Yanli stifled a laugh using her sleeve, “my a-Xian, always so dramatic.”

“shijie!”

It was his first time hearing a human voice in quite a few years, let alone such a loud,
fierce shriek. His head swirled and ears buzzed with the echoes of the voice, “Whose land
do you think you’re living on? Whose rice are you eating? Whose money are you
spending? What’s wrong with taking a few of your belongings? Everything you own
should be mine, anyways!”

Madam Jin looked at the boy in disgust, “who’s child is this?”

Jin Zixuan could only sigh.

“ill mannered.” The three lans said.

Aside from this adolescent, duck-like voice, there were the clunks of ransacking chests and
smashing objects as well. His eyes gradually cleared up.

A dimly-lit ceiling appeared in his sight, followed by a slant-browed person with a sickly
composition, drenching him with spittle, “How dare you tell Father and Mother? Did you
really think that anybody in this house is going to listen to you? You actually thought I was
scared of you!”

A few servant-like hunks shifted over, “Young Master, everything is smashed!”

The young master asked, “How did you finish it this quickly?”

A manservant replied, “There’s nothing much inside this shack anyways.”

“such an attitude will get you nowhere..” Lan Qiren muttered.

The young master seemed to be quite pleased, poking Wei WuXian forcefully on the nose,
“You dared to tell on me, and look at you now, playing dead on the ground! For whom? As
if anyone actually wants these piles of junk! Now that I’ve smashed everything, let’s see
how you’re gonna tell on me in the future! Are you proud of yourself just because you’ve
studied cultivation for a few years? Well, how does it feel when you’ve been kicked back
home like a stray dog?”

Wei WuXian thought wearily.

I’m not pretending to be dead at all, since I’ve actually been dead for a couple of years.

Who is this?

Where am I?

When did I do something as immoral as stealing another’s body?

Jiang Cheng snorted, “only you would not remember stealing a body.”

“so mean chengcheng!”

“who is your cheng cheng?!”

The young master let out enough anger by kicking the person and wrecking the house, and
strutted out with his two man-servants, slamming the door with a “bang”. He shouted his
orders, “Watch carefully. Don’t let him outside anytime this month, or he’ll make a fool of
himself again!”

Madam Jin glared at the people presented on the screen.

“who are they to treat someone like this?” everyone thought the same.

As the group went away, silence fell upon the room. Wei WuXian thought about getting up.

However, his limbs failed to uphold themselves, so he lay down again. He turned on his
side and stared dizzily at the strange environment and the heaps of mess on the ground.

A bronze mirror rested on the side, probably thrown onto the ground. Wei WuXian grabbed
it and looked into the mirror, only to see a ghastly pale face, with two asymmetrical piles of
red on each side of his cheek. Add a blood-red tongue onto the features, and he would look
like a hanged ghost. He tossed the mirror to the side and wiped his face, finding his hand
covered with white powder.

“what the fuck, you look like a ghost.” Wei Wuxian stuck his tongue out towards his brother.

Yu Ziyuan watched their interaction, she glared at them.

Fortunately, the body wasn’t born this way—it was only one of the owner’s penchants. He
was no-doubt a man, yet he was covered with makeup (not to mention, badly applied
makeup). Ugh, how unbearable!

Taken back by the shock, some energy came back to him, and he finally sat up, noticing
the circular array* beneath him.

The array was scarlet in color and crooked in shape, appearing to be drawn by hand, using
blood as the medium, still damp and emitting a strong scent. The array was filled with
warped scribbles of incantations, which were somewhat smudged by his body, but came
across as gruesome nonetheless.
After all, Wei WuXian was known as the Supreme Leader and Grandmaster of Demonic
Cultivation, so he was most certainly accustomed to vile-looking arrays such as this one.

‘damn.’

It turned out that, in fact, he did not seize the body of another—he was offered one.

“how would you even think you’d accidentally steal a body?”

“bad memory!” he yelled.

It was an ancient, forbidden technique. Compared to an array, it resembled a curse more.

The caster of the array injures themselves by creating incisions on their body, and draws
the array and writes the incantations using their own blood, finishing by sitting in the
center of the array. They can then summon an extremely villainous ghoul and ask for it to
complete their wish. The price to pay was to offer their body to the evil spirit, with their
own soul returning back to Earth.

Lan Qiren sighed, “that’s why this array is forbidden.”

Wen Ruohan looked at the projection with interest.

Lan Wangji said nothing.

This was the forbidden technique opposite to stealing another’s body—offering one’s body.

Because of the grave sacrifices, only few people were brave enough to put it into effect.
After all, there were hardly any wishes strong enough for a living person to willingly
sacrifice everything that they own. Over thousands of years, only three or four examples
have been proven to be true and recorded by history. Without exception, the three or four
people’s wishes were the same—to take revenge.

Wei WuXian refused to accept this.

Why would he be put into the category of “extremely villainous ghouls?”

‘cause you were formerly known as the cultivation words enemy, that’s why.’

Although his reputation wasn’t great and he had died in a horrifying way, he neither
haunts the living nor seeks vengeance. He could swear that one can’t find another
wandering ghost as harmless as him.

“harmless? Sure, Wei-xiong.”

“Nie-Xiong!”

The difficult part was that, as soon as the evil spirit has taken over the body of the caster,
the contract is sealed by default. The evil spirit must grant their wish, or else the curse will
cause a backlash. The spirit in possession of the body will be completely annihilated, never
to be born again!

Wei WuXian raised his hands to find that, unsurprisingly, both of his wrists were
crisscrossed with multiple cuts. He proceeded to take off his belt. Under the black clothes,
his chest and stomach areas were also covered with what seemed to be lacerations from a
sharp tool. Although the bleeding had stopped, Wei WuXian knew that these weren’t
normal wounds. If he didn’t fulfill the wish of the body’s owner, the wounds would not be
able to heal. It would worsen as the time goes on, and if the time limit was passed, both his
soul and this body would be ripped apart.

“t-that’s terrible!” exclaimed Jiang Yanli.

‘a-Xian..” Jiang Fengmian mentally called out to his head disciple, he has already suffered so
much. Must he suffer more?

Yu Ziyuan, who could read her husbands mind glared daggers at him.

Wei WuXian confirmed his situation several times, repeating “how can this happen to
me?” in his heart even more times, and could finally stand upright, leaning against the
wall.
“life just isn’t fair, Wei-Xiong.” Nie Huaisang shrugged.

“right.”

Even though the house was large in size, it was empty and shabby, with sheets and blankets
looking like they hadn’t been changed in a long while. There was a bamboo basket in the
corner. It was supposed to be for storing trash, but, having been kicked over earlier, the
scraps all tumbled out onto the ground. Wei WuXian scanned around the room and picked
up a crumpled piece of paper. He unfolded it and was surprised to see it crammed with
words. He hurriedly gathered all of the paper.

The words on the paper must have been written by the owner of this body to vent when he
felt stressed. Some sentences were incoherent and disordered; anxiety leaped off of the
page through the distorted handwriting. Wei WuXian sat through every single piece of
paper, and began to notice that something was wrong.

He took a few guesses and roughly understood the state of things.

It turned out to be that the owner of this body was named Mo XuanYu. His location was
called Mo Village.

Mo XuanYu’s grandfather was from a rich family of the area. His family was few in
number, and, although he tried at it, he only had two daughters. Their names were not
mentioned, but the elder one was the daughter of his principal wife, looking for a husband
to marry into the family, while the younger one was the daughter of a servant. The Mo
family originally wanted to hastily give her to someone, but an adventure awaited her.
When she was sixteen, the leader of a well-known cultivation family was passing by the
area, and fell in love with her at first sight.

Madam Jin scoffed at “leader of well known cultivation family.”

Jin Zixuan was probably not even shocked at another surprise half sibling, his father only hid
his face behind his fan awkwardly.

“Jin Guangshan, you whore. You act like not planting your seed into someone would kill
you! More or less a sixteen year old!?” Madam Jin glared at her husband who said nothing,
she seethed in anger.

Everyone admires cultivators. Cultivation families, in the eyes of common folk, are like
people favored by God, mysterious yet noble. In the beginning, the people of Mo Village
regarded the topic with contempt, but because the Sect Leader often helped out, the Mo
family received plenty of advantages. And so, the direction of the discussions changed, and
the Mo family took pride in the matter, while everyone else also envied the opportunity. The
second-lady of Mo bore one son for the leader—Mo XuanYu.

But, not for long, since the Sect Leader was only involved with her to experiment with
something new, he grew tired of it in a few years. After Mo XuanYu turned four, his father
never came back again.

“now you abandon a four-year old, how pathetic are you?!” Nie Mingjue was furious,
Madam Jin was relieved she was not the only one who thought so.

“i-“

“keep quiet, Jin-zongzhu.” Wen Ruohan glared to where the man sat.

Gradually, the opinions of the Mo Village’s people changed again. The original contempt
and scorn returned, alongside with disdainful pity.

The second-lady of Mo did not want to accept this; she firmly believed that the Sect Leader
would not turn a deaf ear to his own son. Sure enough, when Mo XuanYu turned fourteen,
the Sect Leader took him back.

Madam Jin had to breathe in and out, and her sworn sister had to calm her down from
absolutely beating the fuck out of her husband.

“Daiyu, deep breaths.” Yu Ziyuan patted her sworn sister’s back.

It was never a secret, on how much Madam Jin hates her husbands infidelity.

The second-lady stuck her nose up in the air again, and told everyone that her son would
most certainly become an Immortal* as fast as he could, and bring glory on his ancestors.
However, before Mo XuanYu achieve success in cultivation and inherit his father’s
position, he was driven back.

On top of that, he was driven back shamefully.

Mo XuanYu was homosexual, and had enough nerve to harass the other disciples. The
scandal was revealed to the public and, as he had few achievements in terms of cultivation,
there were no reasons for him to stay in the clan.

“that must be terrible….” Lan Xichen murmured.

Like adding frost to snow, aside from the event itself, when Mo XuanYu returned, he often
behaved in a crazy manner, almost as if his life was scared out of him.

The story was almost too complex to be put into words. Wei WuXian’s eyebrows twitched.

Not only a lunatic, a homosexual lunatic as well.

“yea, and your in the body of said homosexual lunatic.” Jin Zixuan remarked, making Wei
Wuxian roll his eyes.

‘why are his thoughts being invaded right now!??’

That explained why there were enough rouge and powder on his face to make him look
like a hanged ghost, and also why nobody was surprised at the large, bloody array on the
ground. Even if Mo XuanYu painted the whole room red with blood, from the tiles on the
ground to the walls to the ceiling, the others wouldn’t be overly surprised. After all,
everyone knew that his head had a screw loose!

After he went back home dejectedly, he was bombarded with ridicule. The situation seemed
like it was beyond redemption, and the second-lady of Mo was not able to withstand the
blow, shortly choking to death because of the trauma.
At this time, Mo XuanYu’s grandfather had already passed away. The first-lady of Mo was
in charge of the family, but, ever since a young age, she had been unable to stand her
younger sister, including her sister’s son. She had an only child, Mo ZiYuan, who
happened to be the person who ransacked the place earlier. When Mo XuanYu was taken
away by his father, the first-lady was jealous, and wanted to have even the slightest
relationship with a cultivation Sect. She hoped that the envoy who came would take Mo
ZiYuan to cultivate as well.

“who would even take in such a child..” Lan Qiren mumbled.

Of course, she was refused, or rather, ignored.

‘serves her right.” Lan Wangji thought with contempt.

This was most certainly not a case of selling cabbage. One simply can’t bargain, much less
buy one and get another for free.

Strangely confident, this family all held the thought that Mo ZiYuan had potential and
talent. They believed that if, back then, he was sent instead, he would have won recognition
from the Sect, unlike his disappointing cousin. Although, when Mo XuanYu left, Mo
ZiYuan was still young, he was repeatedly instilled with nonsense such as this, and believed
in them wholeheartedly. Every two or three days, he would find Mo XuanYu and humiliate
him, cursing him for snatching his road to cultivation. At the same time, he was found
great interest in the talismans, elixirs, and magic tools, regarding all of them as his
possessions and doing whatever he wanted with them.

Although Mo XuanYu often switched in and out of being a lunatic, he did understand that
he was degraded by others. He tolerated it, but Mo ZiYuan further intensified his
behaviour, almost emptying his whole room. His patience had finally drained out and he
complained to his aunt and uncle, causing Mo ZiYuan’s commotion from this morning.

“so that child—Mo Ziyuan, ransacked his cousin’s room because he snitched?” Nie Mingjue
stared in disgust, it was known the current sect leader Nie would always stand for
righteousness.
The words on the paper were small and compact, which hurt Wei WuXian’s eyes. He
thought to himself, “How fucked up is this person’s life?”

‘super fucked up.’ Nie Huaisang thought with a scoff.

No wonder Mo XuanYu would rather use the forbidden technique to sacrifice his body and
ask villainous ghouls to take revenge.

The pain from his eyes transferred to his head. Supposedly, to use the forbidden technique,
the caster would chant their wish silently. As the evil spirit being summoned, Wei WuXian
should have been able to hear his specific requirements.

However, it was likely that Mo XuanYu copied fragmented excerpts of the technique
somewhere, and skipped this step. Although Wei Wuxian guessed that he wanted to take
revenge on the Mo family, but how should he do it? To what extent? To retrieve the items
that were taken from him? Or to beat up everyone of the Mo family?

Or... To wipe out the whole family?

Everyone turned silent.

“your ward.. is quite interesting, Jiang-zongzhu.” Jin Guangshan said with a glint in his eye.

Madam Jin scoffed, “don’t even think about it.”

Jiang Fengmian ignored them.

In all likelihood, it was probably to wipe out the whole family. After all, anyone who
touched upon the cultivation world would know what phrases were used most often to
describe him—ungrateful, eccentric, not recognizing his own family, intolerable by
Heaven, and other spectacular terms. Was there anyone else more “villainous” than him?
If Mo XuanYu had dared to summon him specifically, the wish was most likely not an
easily fulfilled one.
Wei WuXian couldn’t help but to say, “You’ve got the wrong person...”

“so… did Wei-xiong actually wipe out the village?”

“hope he does.”
 AGGRESSION--1

“wei-xiong better have burnt that damn village down.” Nie Huaisang huffed, his brother
narrowed his eyes at him.

“lets continue, shall we?” Wen Ruohan smirked.

“yes.” Came the reply.

Wei WuXian wanted to wash his face to have gaze upon the face of his body’s owner after
death, but there wasn’t any water in the room, not even for drinking or washing.

The only basin-like container was probably, he suspected, for lavatory purposes instead of
cleansing.

“not even any water?” asked Jiang Yanli, her face turning into a frown.

Jiang Wanyin knitted his eyebrows together in frustration, to think his brother will live like
this..

He pushed the door, but it was fastened with a latch, probably to prevent him from
wandering outside.

“wow, now they wont let him go outside? I really hope he DOES wipe out that damn family.”
Jiang Cheng commented, Nie Huaisang nodded his head in agreement.

None of these things made him feel the joy of reincarnation at all!

‘same’ Nie Huaisang thought.

He figured that he might as well sit in the Lotus position* and get used to his new home.
Time flew by, and the day had passed. When he opened his eyes, sunlight seeped inside
from the gaps of the door and windows. Although he could stand up and walk around, his
still felt lightheaded.

Wei WuXian was puzzled, Mo XuanYu’s amount spiritual powers are insignificant enough
to be ignored, so there shouldn’t be a reason as to why I can’t control this body properly.
Why doesn’t it work?

Then, a noise came from his stomach, and he realized that this wasn’t related to his
spiritual powers at all. In fact, it was because this body had not practiced inedia, and felt
hunger. If he didn’t scavenge for food, he might become the first villainous ghoul who
starved to death upon arrival.

Jiang Yanli stifled a small laughter behind her sleeves, as Jin Zixuan looked enamored with
her.

Jiang Cheng snorted at his brother’s humor, he’s talking about death, he’s still worried.

The Jiang sect leader stared at the tv, his face showed no emotion.

Wei WuXian lifted his foot and was about to kick the door open, when suddenly, the sound
of approaching footsteps appeared. Someone stomped on the door and grunted, “It’s
mealtime!”

Nonetheless, there was no indication of the door being opened. Wei WuXian lowered his
head and saw a miniature door on the bottom of this one opening, with a small bowl set in
front of it.

The servant outside shouted again, “Chop-chop! What are you waiting for? Take the bowl
out after you finish!”

Madam Jin tried to stop her rising anger.

“they treat him like a dog, and not a human being. The audacity.” She scowled at the sight
before her.
Madam Yu could not help but feel angry as well, as if she did not abuse Wei Wuxian as well,
she felt like she did not have the right to be angry when she did the same.

Jiang Yanli gaped at the screen, she did not like the fact that her poor brother Is abused.

‘that servant better shut his mouth before I chop-chop his head off.’ Nie Huaisang mentally
threatened, no one, no one! Hurts his friend.

Maybe he can convince da-ge to blacklist the Mo family from Qinghe, or something.

The door was slightly smaller than the kind for dogs to crawl through—it didn’t allow the
passage of humans, but bowls could be easily taken inside. There were two dishes and one
serving of rice, which looked quite unpleasant.

This time, Jiang Cheng threw his fist Into the table infront of him.

“that does not even look edible! Are they trying to kill him?!” he raged.

“huh? No one is doing anything about that? They just….. allow servants to treat him like-
like a worthless dog?!” Nie Huaisang threw his fan against the projector.

“Huaisang..” his brother sighed as he rubbed his temples.

Wei WuXian played with the pair of chopsticks that were stuck into the rice, feeling quite
bitter.

The YiLing Patriarch had just returned to the mortal world, but the first thing he came
upon was a kick and a scolding, not to mention the leftovers that served as his welcoming-
meal. Where were the blood and gore? The ruthless slaughter? The absolute destruction?
Who would believe him? He was like the tiger in a flatland, the dragon in shallow water,
the phoenix without feathers, losing his advantage and belittled by those weaker than him.

‘blood.. and gore?’ thought a certain Wen.

“dramatic as usual..” Jiang Fengmian muttered.

Lan Wangji didn’t even realize he smiled a little, its quite odd for him to smile while
someone is talking about blood, gore, arson and murder. But, Wei Ying… he cant keep his
eyes off him, even in another body.
Then, the servant outside spoke again, but with laughter this time, “A-Ding ! Come here!”

The sweet voice of a girl answered from a distance, “A-Tong, are you delivering the meal to
the one in there again?”

A-Tong clicked his tongue, “Why else would I come to this ominous courtyard?”

“tsk.” Madam Jin muttered.

A-Ding’s voice sounded closer, as if she was in front of the door, “You just deliver one meal
a day, and nobody cares if you’re lazy. This is such an idle task, yet you think it’s ominous.
Look at me. I’m busy to the point that I can’t even go outside to play.”

A-Tong complained, “Delivering his meal is not the only work I do! How can you dare to
go outside these days? With so many walking corpses out there, everyone’s locking
themselves in their houses.”

“walking corpses?” Wen Ruohan muttered under his breathe, Wen Ning was the only one
close enough to hear it. He’ tense sitting beside his uncle—sect leader.

Its never good if Wen Ruohan seems interested.

Wei WuXian squatted by the door and listened while eating.

“I look like an idiot…” Wei Wuxian sighed, Jiang Cheng could not agree less.

It appeared to be that, ever since a while ago, the Mo Village hadn’t been peaceful.
Walking corpses, like their name, were dead people who could move, a type of low-level
altered corpse*. Unless the deceased person held strong resentment, they were usually dull-
eyed and sluggish. They weren’t overly dangerous, but they were enough to alarm the
average person, especially their vomit-inducing stench.
However, to Wei WuXian, they were the most obeying puppets. When he heard them being
mentioned, he even felt a sense of familiarity.

Yu Ziyuan scoffed, “sense of familiarity? Odd.”

“why would Wei-gongzi feel familiar with it?” asked Lan Xichen.

“Xiongzhang, it was mentioned he created demonic cultivation.. maybe that is the reason.”
Lan Wangji answered, Lan Qiren nodded.

Lan QIren does not know how he got dragged in here, especially to react to a good-for-
nothing demonic cultivator!

A-Tong seemed to be making a face, “If you want to go outside, you’ll have to take me so
that I can protect you...”

A-Ding replied, “You? Protect me? Stop bragging. Are you sure you can defeat those
things?”

A-Tong said bitterly, “If I can’t defeat them, other people can’t either.”

“are they… flirting?” Lan Xichen whispered, though loud enough for all to hear.

A-Ding laughed, “How do you know that other people can’t defeat them? Let me tell you—
today, some cultivators came to Mo Village. I heard that they were from a very prominent
clan! The madam is talking to them in the main hall, and everyone in town is watching.
Can’t you hear the noise? I don’t have time to play around with you; they might give me
more work afterwards.”

“humph, play, play and play, cant they think of something else??” Madam Jin commented.

Wei WuXian listened attentively. Sure enough, the faint bustling sounds of people came
from the east. He pondered for a moment, stood up, and kicked the door. It cracked with a
clank.

At the moment, the two servants, A-Ding and A-Tong, were flirting with each other, and
screamed when the door suddenly flung open. Wei WuXian threw away his bowl and
walked outside, flinching from the glare of the sunlight. He brought his hand to the tip of
his brow and closed his eyes for a moment. Just now, A-Tong screamed even louder than
A-Ding, but as he took a closer look and realized that it was Mo XuanYu, the person whom
everyone could humiliate.

“whom everyone can humiliate? Stupid servants.” This time, its was Jin Zixuan who said
that.

Wei Wuxian felt a little shocked this peacock would defend him.

his courage came back to him. He figured that he probably lost face in front of A-Ding,
and wanted to make up for it, so he jumped over and waved his hands like he was
reproaching a dog, “Shoo! Shoo! Go away! Why did you come out?”

“da-ge, can we kill a-Ding?” Nie Huaisang asked his brother, who seemed to think about it
for a second.

“sure.” He replied.

“Nie-xiong.. lets…. Not kill anyone” Wei Wuxian sighed.

“I think we should kill them.” Jiang Cheng responded to his brother’s words..

“lets not.” Came the final reply of Jiang Fengmian.

A-Tong treated him even worse than he treated a beggar or a fly. Most of the time, all of
the servants of the Mo family treated Mo XuanYu like this because he never resisted. Wei
WuXian gave A-Tong a light kick, knocking him over, and laughed, “How daring of a
mere errand-running child to humiliate others like this.”

“yay! Wei-xiong, beat em up!” Nie Huaisang cheered, his brother slapped the back of his
head.

“quiet.”
With that, he headed towards the commotion in the east. Quite a lot of people crowded in
and around the East Hall. Just as Wei WuXian stepped into the courtyard, a woman spoke
in a voice a few pitches louder than the others’, “A member from the younger generations
of our family use to be a cultivator as well...”

It must have been Madam Mo trying to make connections with the cultivation family
again. Wei WuXian didn’t wait for her to finish speaking, and quickly hustled through the
crowd, into the hall, and grinned, “I’m coming, I’m coming. Right here!”

“Jesus Christ, Wei Wuxian, what are you planning now..” Jiang Cheng moaned in frustration.

“hopefully something that brings down the honor of the Mo family.” Lan Xichen muttered.

A middle-aged lady sat in the hall, with well maintained health and wearing extravagant
clothing. She was Madam Mo. Her husband sat below her, and the opposite side sat a few
white-robed boys*.

“GusuLan disciples?” Lan Qiren inquired.

“it seems so, shufu.” Lan Wangji replied.

Because of how an unkempt freak just appeared from within the people, all of the chatter
came to a halt, but Wei WuXian spoke shamelessly, as if he did not notice the motionless
atmosphere at all, “Who was calling me earlier? I am the only one who use to be a
cultivator!”

“oh God, I cant watch this go down.” Muttered Jiang Cheng, Wei Wuxian is gonna do some
thing stupid, and he knows it.

“shidi, your so mean!

There was too much powder on his face, and as he smiled, the powder sprinkled off. A
younger cultivator was on the brink of laughing, letting out a pfft sound. His face grew
serious again as another one, seemingly the leader of the group, gave him a disapproving
look.

“oh my god.. Wei-xiong- the fucking powder wrinkling off-“ Nie Huaisang wheezed, Wei
Wuxian jokingly scoffed.

“what am embarrassment.” Yu Ziyuan voiced out, no one replied to that.

Wei WuXian followed the voice and scanned over. He thought that the servants were being
ignorant and exaggerated the situation, but he was surprised to see that they were really
disciples of a “prominent clan”.

The boys wore robes with drifting sleeves and flowing belts, appearing to be ikemen and
doubtlessly a treat to the eyes. Looking at the uniform, it was obvious that they were from
the GusuLan clan. They must have also been younger generations of blood-relationship to
the Lan family, as they all wore white forehead ribbons around a finger’s width, with cloud
patterns sewn onto them.

“disciples of the main family? What could they be doing there?” Jiang Fengmian said.

The motto of the GusuLan clan was “righteousness”. The forehead ribbon implied to
“conduct oneself well”, and the cloud pattern was the official pattern of the Lan family, of
which cultivators who came from other families did not have the right to wear. Wei
WuXian got toothaches whenever he saw anybody from the Lan clan. In his past life, he
had always thought of his clan’s uniform as “mourning clothes”, which was why he would
never mistake it.

Lan Qiren sputtered and pointed a finger at Wei Wuxian accusingly.

“mourning clothes?! The disrespect-“

“shufu.. calm down..” Lan Xichen tried to stop the situation from escalating.
Lady Mo hadn’t seen this nephew of hers in a while, and only got over her dismay after a
long time, when she realized who the heavily-makeuped person was. She was furious, but
she didn’t want to lose her temper and discompose herself, so she lowered her voice at her
husband, “Who let him out? Get him back there!”

“such a rude woman.” Wen Ruohan commented.

No one even had the audacity to deny his words, as he spoke the truth.

Her husband promptly smiled to calm her and walked over with an irksome look, ready to
pull him out of here. However, Wei WuXian suddenly dropped to the ground, his limbs
tightly clinging to the floor. Nobody could get him up, even after more servants were called
to help. As Lady Mo’s face darkened bit by bit, her husband was also sweating. He scolded,
“... You... Damn madman! If you don’t go back now, wait and see how I’ll punish you!”

Although everyone in the Mo Village knew that the Mo family had a young master who lost
his marbles, Mo XuanYu had already hid in that dark room for a couple of years, scared to
come outside. After seeing how both his face and actions were like those of a monster’s,
the people whispered among themselves, looking forward to a good show to watch. Wei
WuXian spoke, “I could go back if you wanted me to,” he pointed at Mo ZiYuan, “But tell
him to return the things that he stole from me first.”

“ohh I get what Wei-xiong is trying to do…” Nie Huaisang beamed in realization.

Lan Xichen smiled, “what would that be, Huaisang?”

“hes trying to see if using humiliation would be Mo XuanYu’s desired revenge.” He replied,
Nie MIngjue was slightly surprised at how observant his younger brother has become.

Lan Qiren nodded, “good observation, I just hope you put that level of observation in your
studies.”

Nie Huaisang nodded awkwardly, “yes.. Lan-laoshi..”

Mo ZiYuan did not expect that the good-for-nothing lunatic had the guts to cause trouble
here, even after his disciplining yesterday. His face grew pale, “That’s nonsense! When did
I ever steal your things? Would, would I need to steal anything from you?”

Wei WuXian said, “Yeah, yeah. You didn’t steal, you robbed!”
“idiot, that’s the same thing.” Jin Zixuan grumbled.

“a-Xuan, do not be rude.” His mother reprimanded.

Madam Mo didn’t say anything yet, but Mo ZiYuan was furious, raising his foot to kick
him. However, a white-robed boy carrying a sword moved his finger slightly, and Mo
ZiYuan’s feet slipped, falling to the ground with his foot only scraping him. Even so, Wei
WuXian still rolled on the ground, as if he was really kicked over, and pulled open the
front of his robe, showing the footprint that Mo ZiYuan made yesterday.

“that Lan disciple.. I owe him many thanks for.. stopping that..” Jiang Yanli sighed in relief,
she really thought her rother would be kicked again.

The others thought that, obviously, Mo XuanYu couldn’t have kicked himself. Along with
the fact that Mo ZiYuan had always been imprudent and arrogant, who else could have
done it? No matter what, the Mo family had been being too ruthless to their own blood
relative. It was plain to see that, when he first came back, he wasn’t this insane, and so it
must have been worsened by the people of this family. Nevertheless, all is well as long as
there was a good show to watch. This one was much more interesting than the cultivators!

“he went insane because of his family’s abuse? Oh.. poor guy.” Wei Wuxian sympathized.

Before this, Madam Mo ignored him, as she didn’t bother to argue with a sick person. She
ordered the others to take him out. Now she knew—Mo XuanYu had definitely come
prepared. His head was completely clear and deliberately disgraced them. She felt both
shock and hatred, “You made a big scene on purpose, didn’t you?”

“duh.” Nie Huaisang replied, fanning himself.

Wei WuXian replied blankly, “He stole my belongings, and I’m here to retrieve them. Does
that also count as making a big scene?”
“kinda.”

With so many pairs of eyes staring, Madam Mo could neither hit him nor throw him out.
Anger welled up deep inside her, and she could only forcefully compromise the two sides,
“Stealing? Robbing? That’s a bit disrespectful, if you ask me. We are all part of one family,
and he only wanted to take a look at them. A-Yuan* is your younger brother, so what’s
wrong with taking a few of your things? As an older brother, you shouldn’t be reluctant to
lend one or two playthings, should you? It’s not as if he won’t return them.”

“wow.. the audacity of this woman.” Madam Jin scoffed.

“aren’t her words right-?” Jin Guangshan replied, having not spoken for a long time.

Madam Jin stared at her husband blankly, hesitating to kill him right now.

“it is obviously not correct, Jin-zongzhu.” Nie MIngjue scoffed.

The boys from the Lan clan stared speechlessly at one another. These young boys grew up
in a cultivation clan, exposed to splendor and that only. They’d probably never seen farces
like this, or even heard of this kind of logic. Wei WuXian laughed hysterically in his mind,
and extended his hand, “Then, return them.”

Of course, it was impossible for Mo ZiYuan to return anything, having either thrown them
out or disassembled them. Even if he was able to return them, his pride wouldn’t have
allowed it. His face turned purple with anger and he shouted, “... Mom!” His glare raged,
are you really allowing him to treat me like this?

“he deserves to be treated worse.” Jiang Cheng said, Lan XIchen agreed silently.

No matter how bad someone is, treating them like this is inhumane.

Lady Mo glowered at him, signaling for him to not worsen the situation. However, Wei
WuXian spoke again, “Not only should he not have stolen my belongings, he shouldn’t
have stolen them in the middle of the night. Everyone knows that I am into men. Even if he
was not ashamed, I knew to not look suspicious.”
“please.. stop digging your own grave..” Jiang Cheng pleaded silently.

“nope.”

Lady Mo gasped and shouted, “What are you talking about, in front of the villagers? How
shameless—A-Yuan is your cousin!”

“yet that did not apply to when they abuse him…” Nie Mingjue observed the screen, slightly
pissed off at the unfair treatment.

In terms of running wild, Wei WuXian was definitely a master. In the past, if he wanted to
run wild, he would have to keep his status in mind, but now, he was a lunatic anyways,
which meant that he could do whatever he wanted to, whichever way he wanted. He
stiffened his neck and argued defiantly, “Even though he knew that I was his cousin, he
chose to not avoid me, so who was more shameless? I don’t care about your reputation, but
don’t ruin my innocence! I still want to find a good man!”

“shameless.” Lan Qiren commented.

“yea, shameless, that’s me!” Wei Wuxian beamed, Lan Qiren could feel his qi going crazy.

Mo ZiYuan let out a loud scream and started swinging a chair at him. As soon as Wei
WuXian saw that his anger finally went out of control, he rolled over and climbed up,
dodging so that the chair only smashed on the ground, falling apart in the process. The
mass of people in the East Hall were originally gloating at the disgrace of the Mo family,
but, after the fight started, they’d all fled away. Wei WuXian bolted towards the group of
boys from the Lan clan, who all gaped at the scene, and yelled, “Did everyone see that?
Did you? The burglar is also beating someone up! How heartless!”

Wen Ruohan laughed, “heartless, Indeed.”

Mo ZiYuan chased him, and was close to pouncing on him, when the leader of the boys
hurriedly stopped him, “Please calm down. Words are more powerful than weapons.”
Lan Qiren could finally feel at peace, “finally, a mature disciple…..”

The twin jades could feel their uncle’s relief, their uncle often complained about
mischeivious and noisy disciples, so, seeing a well-behaved one is quite rare.

Madam Mo saw that the boy was deliberately protecting the lunatic, and pulled a smile
warily, “This is my younger sister’s son. He’s not so bright here; everyone from the Mo
Village knows that he is a lunatic, and often speaks strange words that shouldn’t be taken
seriously. Cultivator, please...”

Before she finished her sentence, Wei WuXian’s head peeked from behind the boy’s back
and glared, “Who said that my words shouldn’t be taken seriously? Next time, try stealing
anything from me again. You steal once, and I cut off one of your hands!”

“yea, cut their hands off, please.” Jiang Cheng commented.

Mo ZiYuan was originally held down by his father, but, after hearing this, he was close to
losing his temper again. Wei WuXian lept outside quickly, and the boy blocked the entrance
at once, switching to another topic with a serious tone, “Then, we will borrow the West
Courtyard for the night. Please remember the things that I’ve talked about—after
nightfall, close all of the windows, don’t come outside, or worse, walk toward the
courtyard.”

Madam Mo was shaking from anger, “Yes, yes, please...” Mo ZiYuan found it beyond
belief, “Mom! The lunatic insulted me in front of so many people, and that’s it? You told
me before; you told me that he was only a...”

Madam Mo commanded, “Be quiet. Can’t you wait until we go back?”

“hah! He got humbled!” Nie Huaisang shouted proudly.

“Huaisang, sit down.”

Mo ZiYuan had never been at such a disadvantage or been disgraced like this before, with
his mother’s scolding making the situation worse. He was full of hatred, and thought, this
lunatic is going down tonight!

After Wei WuXian finished flipping out, he walked out the door of the Mo family’s place,
and showed his face around the Mo village. Although he surprised countless people, he
was, in fact, loving every second of it, and finally realized the delight of being a lunatic. He
was even starting to approve of the makeup that resembled a hanged ghost, almost
unwilling to wash it away. He fixed his hair and looked at his wrists. The cuts didn’t seem
like they were healing at all, which meant that a slight revenge like this would not be
approved by the forbidden technique.

Would he really have to eliminate the Mo family?

“… that’s most likely…” Jin Zixuan said, he looked a bit uncomfortable eliminating a whole
family.

“he better.” Grumbled Nie Huaisang.

To be honest, it wouldn’t be too difficult of a task.

“to say eliminating a whole household isn’t difficult, how strong.. is the yunemeng head
disciple in the future?” Jin Guangshan added in, fanning himself, but Madam Jin could tell he
was interested.

“that brat..” Yu Ziyuan’s habit of touching zidian when she was angry or stressed still applied
even when she did not have zidian on her.

“Wei-xiong must be strong as hell!!!!!” Nie Huaisang cheered.

Wei WuXian strolled back to the Mo family’s West Courtyard. The disciples of the Lan clan
were standing on top of the roofs and walls, discussing with a solemn look.

Although the GusuLan clan contributed greatly during the siege on him.
Lan Wangji visibly frowned, his sect contributed to Wei Ying’s death? Greatly? What are
they thinking?

at that time, these juniors were either not born yet or still young children. He shouldn’t
direct his hate towards them, so Wei WuXian decided to linger around and observe what
they were going to do. After a while, he felt like something was wrong.

“Wei Wuxian.. you’re too forgiving..” Jiang Cheng looked at his brother, who nodded.

“they were innocent, Jiang Cheng.” His brother replied.

“a-Xian is right, a-Cheng, these disciples were innocent.” Jiang YAnli cuts in.

“yes, a-jie.”

Why did the fluttering black flags on top of the roofs and walls look so familiar to him?

“wait a damn minute-“ Wei Wuxian’s eyes widened as he realized.

“what?” Jiang Cheng asked.

This type of flags was called the “Phantom Attraction Flag”. If it was set on a living
person, it would attract all of the spirits, wronged ghosts, moving corpses, or evil beings
within a certain area, so that they would only attack that person. Because the flag-bearing
person would be turned into a living target, it was also called the “Target Flag.” It could
also be set on a house, but the house must have living humans inside of it. Then, the attack
range would expand to include everyone inside the house. Because of how there would
always be a sinister energy that surrounded the area in which the flag was set in, as if
there was a swirling black wind, they were also called “Black Wind Flags”. Arranging the
flag formation in the West Courtyard and not allowing anyone to approach them must
have meant that they wanted to lead the Walking Corpses here and capture them in one go.
“woah, that’s a great invention, I wonder who made it?” Nie Huaisang asked curiously, his
elder brother nodded.

“this ‘phantom flag’ alone could be widely helpful in nighthunts..”

Jin Guangshan eyed the creation with a glint in his eyes.

As for why they looked familiar... How could they have not come across as familiar? The
creator of Phantom Attraction Flags was none other than the YiLing Patriarch!

“……………”

“wait- Yiling Patriarch?? Isn’t that-“

“that’s Wei Wuxian’s future title…” Jiang Cheng completed his sentence for him, seemingly
shocked as well.

“ive had this idea for years now.. im glad I was able to make them in the near future.” Wei
Wuxian beamed with excitement.

Jin Guangshan turned towards the boy, “ah.. Yunmeng Head disciple, is it possible for you to
make it earlier?” his tone sounded greedy, Madam Jin had enough.

She slapped her husband infront of everyone, Jin Guangshan yelped.

“Liu Daiyu!” Jin Guangshan screeched as he held his aching cheek.

“hmph, thatw ill teach you to stop squandering money and being greedy!” her voice echoed
through the room, Wei Wuxian was relieved Madam Jin interfered, he did not wanna answer
that question.

‘this boy.. he seems to be a genius, why wont Jiang Fengmian polish his skills?’ Wen Ruohan
thought.

It seemed like that, although the cultivation world hated him on the surface, they still used
the the inventions that he came up with.

The room fell silent, “what do you mean, they killed Wei Wuxian and stole hi creations for
their own use?!!”Jiang Cheng shrieked, he knows he contributed most to his brother’s death,
but the audacity of them- too just!!
“Jiang Cheng- it’s okay.” Wei Wuxian tugged on his enraged brother’s sleeves in an attempt
to calm him down.

“a-Cheng—”

“Jiang Wanying, you are a sect heir! Act like it!” Yu Ziyuan roared, Jiang Cheng stilled
before sitting back down.

A disciple standing on the roof saw him lingering around, and spoke, “Please go back.
This isn’t where a person like you should come.”

Although he was being driven away, it was out of kindness, and the tone also differed from
those of the servants in the Mo family. Wei WuXian caught him off guard and quickly
hopped up, grabbing one of the flags.

“I truly don’t understand your actions, Wei-xiong..”

The disciple was startled and jumped down to chase him, “Do not move. That is not
something you should take.”

Wei WuXian yelled while running away, looking like a real lunatic with his hair disheveled
and limbs flinging about, “I’m not giving it back, I’m not giving it back! I want this thing!
I want this!”

“Lord, why are you so childish?” Jiang Cheng muttered.

“hey! Im only three!”

The disciple caught up to him in a few strides and grabbed his arm, “If you are not going
to give it back, I am going to hit you!”

Lan Qiren felt like he was about to qi deviate.

‘such an unruly disciple, who raised him??’

Wei WuXian held onto the flag, unwilling to let go of it. The leader of the boys was setting
up the flag formation, and lightly hopped off the roof when he heard of the ruckus,
“JingYi, cut it out. Do not make a fuss about it and just take the flag.”

Atleast there was a spark of hope for the future, this nice disciple will definitely make him
have good hopes!

Lan JingYi spoke, “SiZhui, I did not actually hit him! Look at him, messing up the flag
formation!”

During the tug-of-war, Wei WuXian had already checked over the Phantom Attraction
Flag in his hands. The motifs were drawn correctly and the incantations were complete.
There wasn’t any errors, so nothing would go wrong while using them. However, the
person who drew on the flag was lacking in experience, so it would only attract evil being
and moving corpses from within five li*. That should be enough, though. There shouldn’t
be any malicious creatures in a place as small as the Mo Village.

“Wei-xiong just wanted to check the formation! Oh-“ Nie Huaisang sighed.

“he should have acted normal about it.”

Lan SiZhui smiled at him, “Young Master Mo, the sky is growing dark, and we are going
to start capturing the walking corpses soon. It will be dangerous at night time, so it would
be best for you to return to your room.”

Jiang Yanli smiled at the kindness the disciple offered her a-Xian, her lovely brother had to
go through so much.

Wei WuXian looked him over. He was fair and refined, with a dignified appearance and
smiling faintly. Wei WuXian silently approved of him. The flag formation was set in an
organized way, and his mannerisms were also respectful, making him a disciple with
astonishing potential. He didn’t know that, at a conservative clan such as the Lan clan,
who on Earth brought up such a junior.

Lan Qiren smirked proudly.

Lan SiZhui spoke again, “This flag...” Before he finished, Wei WuXian threw the Phantom
Attraction Flag onto the ground and humphed, “It’s just a flag, so what’s the big deal? I
can draw way better than this!”

“again, Wei-xiong, childish!”

“hey! Its just an act, Nie-Xiong!” he huffed.

He sprinted off the moment he threw the flag away. The boys who stood on the roof to
watch the bustle almost fell off from the laughter, after hearing his ridiculous words. Lan
JingYi also chuckled from anger and picked up the Phantom Attraction Flag, “What a
maniac!”

Wei WuXian continued to roam around, doing nothing, and finally moved back to the
small courtyard that belonged to Mo XuanYu.

He ignored the broken bolt and the mess on the ground, picked a relatively clean spot, and
sat in the lotus position again.

However, before daylight came, he was pulled out of meditation by some noise from the
outside.

“do they cause a ruckus every damn hour?!” Yu Ziyuan growled.

“its like they cant live without making nose for more than an hour……” Lan XIchen
muttered.
A series of chaotic footsteps quickly approached, along with cries and screams. Wei
WuXian heard a few phrases being repeated, “... Barge in and drag him out!” “Notify the
officers!” “What do you mean ‘notify the officers’? Beat him to death!”

Jiang Yanli frowned, “whats happening?”

“I don’t know either, a-Jie.” Jiang Cheng clenched his fists tightly, beat Wei Wuxian to
death? They said. They have to get past him first!

He opened his eyes to see that a few servants had already came in.

The whole courtyard was set alight with fire. Someone cried out, “Drag the insane
murderer to the Main Hall and make him pay for it with his life!”

“huh? It ended there?? I wanted to see more!!” Nie Huaisang whined.

“I just hope they wont kill him..” Jin Zixuan sighed in agony.

“hey, I’ll be fine!”

'Wei Ying, please.. please be safe.'

 AGGRESSION 2-3
Chapter Summary

yipee

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“Well finally, this thing is finally starting itself up again!” Jiang Cheng exclaimed loudly, and
surprisingly, only a few agreed with him as a few were still talking to eachother..

“That’s not what you should be worrying about!!! Am i seriously gonna die again right after
being resurrected?! Thats what you should wonder ChengCheng!” Wei Wuxian was just
weeping at the corner like a child, in which… was in a dramatic way too.

“There you go again, Wei-Xiong, being childish again!” Nie Huaisang responded back as he
fanned himself.

“Nope, Nie-Xiong, i do not accept my future being like this, alright?!” Just another one of
Wei Wuxian’s dramatic sayings.

As Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian continued to bicker with one another, Jiang Cheng’s anger
started to rise up, until he could not finally take it anymore, standing up from his seat as he
pointed at the two, shouting at them.

“Oi, idiots! Quiet! We want to watch and know what is going to happen next, so stop being
noisy like a child!” He angrily shouted.

“Now now, there is no need to be talking to one another in such a manner.” In which Lan
Xichen stepped in saying that to the three that were fighting with eachother.
But Lan Xichen was ignored, making Lan Qiren furious as hell.

“Jiang Wanyin! Nie Huaisang! Wei Wuxian! Manners! When we are out of here, copy the
rules 10 times!” Lan Qiren was almost about to fall into a qi deviation too while he was
saying those words.

“Calm down, shufu, you might qi deviate…” Lan Xichen said, helping Lan Qiren calm
himself down before he would fall into an extreme qi deviation from the trio.

“…” Lan Wangji was just silent, waiting for the video to start.

After who knows how many minutes, the video started again.

As he was dragged out of the room, Wei Wuxian’s first thought was that something went
wrong with the flag formation that the boys set up.

His inventions needed to be used extremely carefully, or else disasters would occur. This
was also why he went to check if there was anything wrong with the motifs that were
drawn.

At the mention of Wei Wuxian’s inventions needed to be used extremely carefully, Wen
Ruohan was all ears, ready to observe everything of this kid and what he was capable of, it
seemed that he was much more useful than what he seems to be like, Wen Ruohan grinned
slightly.

As a few pairs of big hands came to drag him outside, Wei Wuxian straightened his body
and allowed them to do so without any difficulty, so that he wouldn’t have to walk by
himself. The east hall was bustling with people, almost more crowded than when the
villagers of Mo Village gathered here. All of the servants and relatives were present. Some
were still in their undergarments and didn’t yet have the time to brush their hair, but
everyone looked as if they were terrified. Madam Mo was collapsed in her seat, as if she
just woke up from a swoon. The streak of tears on her face could be seen on her cheeks,
and tears still lingered in her eyes . But, as Wei Wuxian was dragged inside, her sorrowful
gaze immediately become one of hateful.

“Am i going to be executed or something?” he asked curiously.

“Don’t say that, A-Xian..”

A human shaped object lay on the ground, with its body covered by white cloth and only
the head being revealed. Lan Sizhui and the other boys wore heavy expressions, bending
down to check the situation and talking in soft voices. The conversation leaked into Wei
Wuxian’s ears.

“…Less than three minutes have passed since the body was discovered?”

“After subduing the walking corpse, we hurried from the West Courtyard to the East
Courtyard, and found the corpse by the hallway.”

The human shaped thing was, apparently, Mo Ziyuan in some ways, but unlike him in
other ways. Although the features were clearly that of his petty cousin’s, the cheekbones
were deeply sunken, eyes bulging, and skin wrinkled. Compared to the youthful Mo Ziyuan
before this, it was as if he aged twenty years. It also seemed like his blood and flesh were
sucked out of him, turning him into a skeleton with only a thin layer of skin on the outside.
If, before this, Mo Ziyuan was just ugly, now, his corpse was both old and ugly.

“Damn, Wei-Xiong, really violating him that cruel, i’d say the same too, not going to lie. The
corpses skin looks like vomit.” Nie Huaisang said as he fanned himself for the who knows
how many times anyways.

“Someone get such an ugly sight off my eyes! I did not consent for my eyes to see this!” Wei
Wuxian again dramatically yelled out loud throughout the room.

“Shut up idiot!” Jiang Cheng beside him grabbed him by the collar, shaking him crazily until
he got dizzy.

As Wei Wuxian was scrutinizing the corpse, Madam Mo suddenly rushed towards him,
with a gleaming dagger in her hand. Being light on his feet, Lan Sizhui quickly knocked
the dagger off. Before he even had the chance to talk, Madam Mo shrieked at him, “My
son died a tragic death! So i am only avenging him! What are you stopping me for?!”

“What improper behavior, especially as a madam too, attacking people so suddenly…”

Madam Jin quietly muttered to herself with an expression full of anger.

“Who does that woman think she is?!” Jiang Cheng yelled as he pointed at Madam Mo at the
video, but Jiang Yanli was just glad because the GusuLan Clan Disciple was able to knock
the dagger off the woman’s hand before she could kill her dear brother.

“Attacking people out of the blue… how ridiculous.” Lan Qiren said as he stroked his beard.

Wei Wuxian hid behind Lan Sizhui’s back again, and spoke while squatting, “How does
your son’s tragic death concern me?!”

During the day, Lan Sizhui saw Wei Wuxian make a scene in East Hall, and, afterwards,
he also heard a lot of exaggerated rumours from other people. He felt extremely
sympathetic to the invalid, and couldn’t help but take his side, “Madam Mo, from seeing
your son’s condition, his flesh and essence have been drawn out of him, which means that
he was killed by evil beings, not him.”

“Wooow, i’m really starting to like this Lan Disciple! He knows real manners and justice!”
Wei Wuxian smiled cheerfully at the sight of Lan Sizhui defending him and taking his side at
the video.

“I agree with Wei-Xiong, perfect example of a Lan!” He nodded in agreement, and so did Jin
Zixuan and Jiang Cheng.

Madam Mo’s chest heaved, “You know nothing! The lunatic’s father was a cultivator. He
must have learned a lot of demonic spells from him!”

Lan Sizhui turned around to look at the seemingly dull-witted Wei Wuxian, and spoke
again, “Uhm, Madam, there is a lack of evidence, so…”

“The evidence is my son!” Madam Mo pointed at the corpse on the ground, “Look for
yourselves! A-Yuan’s remains already told me who murdered him!”

Not needing other people to do it, Wei Wuxian lifted the white cloth by himself, from the
head down to the feet. There was something missing on Mo Ziyuan’s dead body.

His left arm, severed from below his shoulder, had disappeared!

“Oh wow! I’d accuse you too honestly, you are an absolute idiot mentioning to so many
people that you would chop his arm off.” Jiang Cheng crossed his arms as he sat in the lotus
position.
“Right… i’d believe that Wei-Xiong killed him too because i mean, you did announce to a
ton of people around you that you would cut his arm off.” Wei Wuxian could do nothing but
stare in disbelief at his shidi and bestfriend.

“Oh come on, you’d rather believe the wretched woman over your bestfriend Nie-Xiong?!!”

Madam Mo spoke, “Do you see this? Everyone who were here heard what the lunatic said,
right?! He said that, if A-Yuan touched his belongings again, he would cut off his hand!”

After the burst of emotion, she covered her face and sobbed, “…My poor A-Yuan…
although he didn’t do anything to him at all, he was not only framed, but also killed as
well… the lunatic is out of his mind…”

Out of his mind!

It had been a few years since he last heard the phrase being used to describe him, so it was
quite cordial. Wei Wuxian pointed at himself, but no words came to him. He didn’t know if
he was the ill one or if it was Madam Mo.

“Definitely the woman.” Nie Huaisang said behind his fan, ignoring the last few words that
were said about his bestfriend.

“A few years since he last heard that phrase? What did the idiot do again in the future that
people would say that he was out of his mind?” So many questions were surfing inside Jiang
Cheng’s mind.

“Nevermind that, i was framed and i was almost killed by a crazy woman!”

“SHUT UP!”
When he was younger, he talked quite a lot about exterminating entire families and clans,
killing millions of people, creating rivers of blood, and other cruel actions. But, most of the
time, they were empty words. If he could actually do the things that he said, he would have
long been dominating the entire cultivation world. Madam Mo’s true intention wasn’t to
avenge for him, but to find someone to let out her resentment on.

“I’m sorry, WHAT?” Jiang Cheng, Nie Huaisang, and Jin Zixuan said as they held both of
their hands on their heads.

Wei Wuxian didn’t want to be bothered with her. He thought for a moment, and stuck his
hand into Mo Ziyuan’s arms. He fished around for a moment and pulled something out.
Surprisingly, it was a Phantom Attraction Flag.

“Ah, i see, no wonder the kid had died so brutally like that...” Lan Xichen stated..

Instantly, he realized what was going on, and uttered under his breath, he had it coming!

When Lan Sizhui and the others saw what was taken out of Mo Ziyuan’s arms, they also
understood the situation. Associating this with the farce that happened today, the cause
was easy to guess. During the day, Mo Ziyuan lost face because of Mo Xuanyu’s crazy
behavior and loathed him, still wanting to square up with him. However, Mo Xuanyu
wandered outside for a long while, so Mo Ziyuan planned to sneak up on him at night,
when he would be returning.

When night had fallen, he secretly went outside, and was passing by the West Courtyard
when he saw the Phantom Attraction Flags on the walls. Although he was repeatedly told
not to go outside or near West Courtyard at night, and especially to stay away from these
black flags, Mo Ziyuan thought that he was told to do so because they were scared of
people stealing the valuable weapons.

“What a stubborn kid, repeatedly told not to go outside at the West Courtyard, especially
when he was given an explanation too…” Madam Jin was extremely stressed clearly from
Mo Ziyuan’s behavior in the video as being shown to them.

“Even i wouldn’t be able to teach this kid proper manners without them being as stubborn as
this.” Lan Qiren was quick to agree with Madam Jin.

“If Old Man Lan can’t keep up with this… Mo Ziyuan, then you definitely know that this kid
is 10 times way more worser than what i could be!” Wei Wuxian spoke in a tone full of
sarcasm, rolling his eyes infront of Lan Qiren on purpose before returning his gaze back to
the projectile..

“Eh, it really doesn’t change a difference, Wei-Xiong i think Master Lan is already fed up
with your behavior…!” Nie Huaisang raised his fan up to his face, avoiding the glares that
Lan Qiren had just gave Wei Wuxian from the other side that hasn’t even noticed.

He had no idea about the danger effects of these Phantom Attraction Flags, or that if he
held it, he would be turned into a living target. He got addicted to stealing his cousin’s
talismans and magic tools, and he would always itch to take odd items like this, not giving
it up until he obtained it. Therefore, when the owners of the flags were subduing walking
corpses in the West Courtyard, he quietly took one.

The flag formation utilized six flags, of which five were set in the West Courtyard, with the
boys from the Lan Family as baits. However, they were all carrying countless magic tools
on them, and, although Mo Ziyuan only took a single flag, he didn’t have any tools for
protection on him. It was common sense to pick on the weak, so the evil beings would
naturally be attracted to him. If there were only walking corpses, then it wouldn’t matter
too much. Even if he was bitten, he wouldn’t die immediately and could still be saved.
Unfortunately, the Phantom Attraction Flag accidentally attracted something worse than a
walking corpse. The unknown being was what killed Mo Ziyuan and took his arm!
“Okay, i’m getting kinda scared of Wei-Xiong now. Because what do you mean that you
invented a flag in which attracted something worse than a walking corpse?!”

“Well you really shouldn’t be, Nie-Xiong. I am literally harmless! And plus, why would you
ever think i’d harm my friends?”

Wei Wuxian raised his wrist. Sure enough, one of the cuts on his right hand had healed. It
looked like that he scored a lucky hit— the sacrificial contract had already deemed the
death of Mo Ziyuan as his doing.

Madam Mo was well aware of her son’s foibles, but she wasn’t willing to admit that Mo
Ziyuan caused his own death. Due to impatience and rage, she grabbed a teacup and threw
it at the direction of Wei Wuxian’s head, “If you didn’t frame him in front of so many
people yesterday, would he go out in the middle of the night?! It’s all of your fault you son
of a bitch!”

“IS THAT WOMAN LOOKING FOR A DEATH WISH?!” Jiang Cheng yelled in his
obvious anger, though, Yu Ziyuan just nodded silently at the corner in agreement with Wei
Wuxian being called as the ’Son of a Bitch’, because he truly was born as the offspring of a
bitch.

Lan Qiren was beyond shocked at the words that the woman in the video, using such vulgar
words against people so freely however she wanted?

“Ridiculous.” Lan Wangji said.

“Y-yes! Exactly what Second Master Lan said, what the woman said is absolutely ridiculous!
She shouldn’t be talking that way to people like that, especially Wei-Xiong!”
“Oh come on, don’t exaggerate. The woman doesn’t even know that it’s me who’s in the
body, not the original soul.” Wei Wuxian responded back.

Wei Wuxian saw it coming, and dodged to the side. Madam Mo turned to Lan Sizhui and
screeched, “And you! You bunch of useless fools! You cultivate and ward off evil spirits,
but you can’t even protect him! A-Yuan is still a child!”

“Okay, this woman is just getting on my nerves! She’s blaming the Lan Disciple for her son’s
death? It was her own son that got himself killed!” Jiang Cheng angrily exclaimed.

“How arrogant, how dare she say that about the disciples, useless fools?” Lan Qiren was
clearly almost close to popping a vein.

“This Madam clearly has no sense of being a proper one, does she think she has the authority
to tell such young disciples that they useless fools because they were not able to defend her
son?” Madam Jin closed her eyes, trying to rest and calm herself from cussing the cursed
lady out.

The boys were still young. They hadn’t been outside much and were too inexperienced to
find anything wrong with the area, which was why they felt sorry for not detecting an eveil
being as fierce as this one. Nonetheless, after Madam Mo’s senseless scolding, they all
looked blue in the face. After all, they grew up in a prominent family, so nobody dared to
treat them like this. The GusuLan was extremely strict to its disciples, forbidding violence
against the powerless every man, not even allowing disrespect. Therefore, even if they felt
displeased, they had to keep everything down with dark emotions.

“Is this what those Lans restrain themselves from showing? Funny!” Wei Wuxian thought
about it, before he laughed slightly, is this what Lan Wangji was restraining within him when
he told him to ‘get lost’ that day when he surprised him by showing the erotic book?

However, Wei Wuxian couldn’t stand it any longer, and thought, it has been so many years,
but the Lan Clan’s values are still the same. What’s the use of their so-called ‘self-
restraint”? Watch me do this the right way!

“I hope Wei-Xiong beats the woman’s ass up.” Nie Huaisang said with glee.

“Language!” Lan Qiren reprimanded.

“Sorry Master Lan!”

He spat loudly and spoke, “Who do you think you are taking your anger out on? Did you
really see them as your servants? They traveled far and wide here to exorcise evil spirits for
you without taking a penny at all. Do they owe you anything? How old is your son? He
should at least be seventeen, and so, how is he still a ‘child’? How young of a child does he
have to be to not understand basic human language? Did they or did they not repeatedly
instruct him to not touch anything in the formation and not approach the West Courtyard?
Your son sneaked outside at night on his own. Is it my fault? Or is it his?”

Lan Xichen was glad to hear that Wei Wuxian did not decide to mock their sect’s so called
‘self-restraint’ and instead defended the Junior Lan Disciples instead from the woman, he
sighed in great relief.

”As usual, Wei-Xiong just putting wretched mongrels into their places!!” Nie Huaisang was
overjoyed at hearing Wei Wuxian’s defense response for the Junior Lan Disciples that were
being insulted with such ridiculous words that they did not deserve to recieve.
“I agree, this woman has yet to learn to think about what words she is going to speak before
saying them immediately so freely like that, i must say, she is the one that has truly lost her
mind if one of them has.” Jin Guangshan, who was beside Madam Jin, just moved sideways
by a bit away from her awkwardly whilst she was speaking.

Nie Huaisang just nodded his head up and down until it felt tired.

Lan Jingyi and the others let out a breath of air, faces not so dark anymore. Madam Mo
was both extremely mournful and resentful, and all she could think about was the word
‘death’. Not her own death so that she could be with her son, but the deaths of everyone in
the world, especially the ones infront of her right now.

“Wishing death on everybody in the whole cultivation world especially on these Lan
Disciples? Such words coming from a disgusting and despicable woman..”Madam Jin spoke
to herself in a small whisper.

She had a habit of ordering her husband to do everything, and so she knocked him, “Call
eevryone inside! Call everyone inside!”

Even so, her husband was in a trance. Possibly because of trauma from his only child
passing away, he went as far as to backhandedly push her. It caught Madam Mo by
surprise, and she fell onto the ground.

In the past, Madam Mo didn’t even need to push him. If she just raised her voice, he would
comply immediately. How could her dare to strike her back today?

“Wow, so shes dependent on her husband to do almost everything? Not even the slightest of
independence atleast? I don’t like that at all!” Nie Huaisang fanned himself in a manner that
showed that he was clearly upset.
The servants were all scared out of their wits from her expression. A-Ding helped her up
while quivering. Madam Mo clutched her chest and spoke with a trembling voice, “You…
You… You, get out of here as well!”

Her husband seemed like he didn’t hear anything. A-Ding gave a few looks to A-Tong, and
A-Tong hurriedly helped his master walk outside. The East Hall was in chaos. As Wei
Wuxian saw that the family had finally silenced, he intended to examine the corpse again.
However, before he took another look at it, another high pitched scream pierced through
the air. It was from the courtyard.

“Ow, my freaking ears!”

The people in the hall all rushed outside. On the ground of the East Courtyard, there were
two twitching bodies. The first was of A-Tong’s, still alive, collapsed on the ground. The
other fallen body was wrinkled and withered, as if the blood and flesh had been emptied
dry. The left arm was already gone, but no blood came out of the wound. The condition of
the corpse was the same as Mo Ziyuan’s.

“Ouch, that definitely hurt.” Nie Huaisang loudly commented, making fake throwing-up
sounds.

“Well obviously it did hurt, you idiot!!” Jiang Cheng yelled back.

Madam Mo brushed off A-Ding’s supporting hand a second ago, but as she saw the corpse
on the ground, her eyes widened, and she was finally out of energy to throw another fit. As
she fainted, Wei Wuxian happened to be next to her, and gave her a hand, passing her to
A-Ding, who came running. He looked at his right hand to see that another one of the cuts
was also gone.
It was merely a few seconds before they walked over the threshold of the hall, not even past
the Eas Courtyard yet, and saw Madam Mo’s husband die distressingly. Lan Sizhui, Lan
Jingyi, and the others also grew pale in the face. Lan Sizhui was the first to calm down and
asked A-Tong, who lay on the ground, “Did you see what it was?”

“See what?” Nie Huaisang curiously mumbled, Jiang Cheng felt the urge to pull his friend’s
hair right now.

“Just wait and see idiot!”

A-Tong was almost scared to death, unable to open his mouth. Even after a few moments
of asking, A-Tong still couldn’t answer, and only shook his head repeatedly. Lan Sizhui
was burning with anxiety. He asked another disciple to take him back inside, and turned to
Lan Jingyi, “Did you send the signal?”

Lan Jingyi answered, “I did, but if there are no seniors who can assist us in the area, it
would take atleast an hour for our people to come here. What should we do now? We don’t
even know what it was.”

Of course, it would be impossible for them to leave. If the disciples of a clan only cared
about their own well-being when facing evil spirits, it would not only be bringing disgrace
upon the clan, they themselves would be ashamed to face others. The frightened people of
the Mo Family couldn’t go either, because it was likely that the evil was among them, so
nothing would be gained going away. Lan Sizhui gritted his teeth, “Wait here for
reinforcements!”

“I’m actually really invested in this, not going to lie.” Nie Huaisang said behind his fan, Wei
Wuxian nodded, agreeing with him as he was also curious as to what would happen next after
that.

Now that the signal for help had been sent, other cultivators would come to aid them
within a short period of time. To prevent things from getting out of hand, Wei Wuxian
should withdraw and keep away from the situation. If the persons who came happened to
know him or fought with him before, it would be hard to say what was going to happen
next.
However, with the curse, he couldn’t leave Mo Village anytime soon. In addition, the being
that was attracted here had taken the lives of two people within such a short amount of
time, which meant that it must have been extremely vicious. If Wei Wuxian left now, when
the helpers came, the streets of Mo Village might be packed with corpses who lost their left
arms, including a few disciples of blood relations to the GusuLan Clan as well.

After pondering for a moment, Wei Wuxian told himself, finish it quickly.

“Ahhh! Wei-Xiong you look so badass right now, im so jealous..!!!” the Nie heir loudly
exclaimed, laying his head on Wei Wuxian’s shoulder.

“Honestly, I kinda ammm…” Wei Wuxian replied cheekily, snickering alongside Nie
Huaisang.

Nie Mingjue just sat there, near the two, sighing.

The boys on the side were all young and inexperienced. However, although they all looked
nervous, they strictly stuck to their positions and protected the Mo family’s house, fixing
talismans onto the walls. The servant named A-Tong was already carried into the hall.

“All hail these responsible disciples!” Madam Jin sighed in relief, atleast she now knows the
cultivation world isn’t too set for doom.

“Though inexperienced.. they still took charge of the situation..” Jin Zixuan agreed with a
nod.

“Im starting to love them.” Nie Huaisang whispered to Wei Wuxian, who whispered a word
of agreement back.

Lan SiZhui felt his pulse with his left hand and supported Madame Mo’s back with his
right. He couldn’t save both of them at once, and was in a terrible fix when A-Tong
crawled up from the ground.

“Oh shit-“ Jiang Cheng said in slight shock, but clearing his throat right after. He was NOT
gonna make it known that he got scared because of… some weird ass corpse!
A-Ding exclaimed, “A-Tong, you’re awake!”

“Well… i think it’s goodbye time for A-Ding…” Wei Wuxian muttered.

Before her face had the time to light up, A-Tong raised his left hand and clutched his own
neck.

“What the fuck?” Jiang Cheng scrunched his nose, why would this dumb corpse start choking
himself? Well, probably cause it was dead and dumb- but still.

“Uh… something is odd…”

“Obviously there is something odd, Nie-Xiong.”

“Oh my….” Jiang Yanli muttered to herself.

Seeing this, Lan SiZhui tapped on a few of his acupoints for three times. Wei WuXian
knew that, although they looked gentle, the people from the Lan clan had arm strength
that were the opposite of gentle. With a force like this, it would be hard for anyone to move.
However, A-Tong seemed like he didn’t feel anything, and his left hand’s grip tightened,
his expressions looking more painful and twisted. Lan JingYi proceeded to grab his left
hand, but it was like breaking off a chunk of iron, having no effect at all. After a moment,
a crack came from his neck, and A-Tong’s head drooped down. His neck was already
broken.

“What the fuck-“ Nie Huaisang stared at the screen in disgust, before looking away- covering
his face with his handfan.

“Huaisang… close your eyes..” Nie Mingjue sighed.

He actually strangled himself in front everyone’s eyes!

Seeing the situation, A-Ding’s voice wavered, “... A ghost! There’s an invisible ghost here.
It made A-Tong strangle himself!”
Her tone was sharp and her voice was shrill, making everyone’s blood run cold, and so
they believed it effortlessly. Wei WuXian’s judgement happened to be the opposite—it
wasn’t a ferocious ghost.

“..if it is not a ferocious ghost, then what is it?” the first Jade muttered in curiosity.

He had examined the talismans that the boys chose; all of them were spirit-fending ones,
and the East Hall was literally covered with them. If it really was a ferocious ghost, then,
as it went into the East Hall, the talismans would have incinerated green flames. Yet,
nothing was happening right now.

It was not the group of kids’ fault for reacting too slow, but the creature was indeed cruel.
The cultivation world had a strict definition for the category of “ferocious ghosts”—they
had to kill at least one person a month and continue the behaviour for at least three
months. The criterion was set by Wei WuXian himself, and it was probably still being used.
He was the best at dealing with this kind. To him, killing one person in seven days would
be considered as a ferocious ghost who killed frequently. This thing killed three people at
once, and within such a short period of time. It would be hard for even a capable cultivator
to think of a solution immediately, let alone these juniors who had just started their
careers.

‘atleast Wei Wuxian is a lot more responsible in the future than now…’ Lan Qiren thought
with a stroke of his goatee. Thought he would not admit it, but he was quite proud at how
Wei Wuxian, the unruly—student has grown.

As he was thinking, the candlelight flickered. A sinister wind passed, and all of the
lanterns and candles in the courtyard and the East Hall died out.

“is this supposed to be a thriller play?! I don’t really appreciate it…” Nie Huaisang whined
against Wei Wuxian’s shoulder.

The moment the lights were extinguished, screams came from everywhere. Everyone
pushed and pulled, wanting to escape as fast as they could, stumbling and falling in the
process. Lan JingYi shouted, “Stay where you are and don’t run! I’m gonna catch
whoever runs!”

Lan Qiren facepalmed, he could’ve said it properly.

He wasn’t merely saying this to alarm the people. In fact, evil beings loved to cause trouble
in the dark and make profits in times of trouble. The worse the crying and chaos, the more
likely it was to unknowingly attract danger. At times like this, being isolated or becoming
nervous was extremely unsafe. However, everyone was frightened to death, so how could
they still have ears for words like this? After a while, the East Hall grew quiet, with only a
few light breaths and faint sobs. It was likely that only a few people were left.

Amidst the dark, a fire lit up suddenly. Lan SiZhui ignited a Flame Talisman.

The fire from the Flame Talisman would not be extinguished by sinister winds. He used
the talisman to light up the candle again, and the rest of the boys went to comfort the
others. Under the light, Wei WuXian casually looked at his wrists. Another cut had healed.

“Good.” Jiang Yanli said, Wei Wuxian felt himself smile wholeheartedly. His shijie really
cares for him.

After looking, he suddenly realized that there was something wrong about the number of
cuts.

“Something wrong?” Jiang Fengmian muttered.

Originally, he had two cuts on each of his wrists. One healed when Mo ZiYuan died, and
another healed when Mo ZiYuan’s father died. The death of the servant, A-Tong, healed
one more of the cuts. Adding it up, only three cuts should have healed, with the last cut
being the deepest and most hate-filled one.

But, right now, no cuts remained on his wrists.

“That doesn’t make sense…” Yu Ziyuan narrowed her eyes, she’s quite sure only Mo Ziyuan,
the father, and that servant died, so why was the last cut healed?

“That… I do not know as well.. it’s strange indeed.” Madam Jin agreed with her sworn sister.

“Strange, indeed.” Wen Ruohan said with a slight smirk.

Wei WuXian knew that Madame Mo was definitely one of Mo XuanYu’s targets of
vengeance. The longest and deepest cut was probably saved for her. Yet, it had disappeared.

“wait what?? But isn’t Madam Mo like- alive?” Nie Huaisang gaped at screen with wide
eyes.

“yea..”

Did Mo XuanYu suddenly reach a point of epiphany and let go of his hate? That’d be
impossible. His soul had already been sacrificed as the price for summoning Wei WuXian.
Only the death of Madame Mo could heal the wound.

His gaze slowly moved towards the pale-faced Madame Mo, who recently woke up and was
surrounded by everyone.

Unless, she was already dead.

“Holy shit, what?” the Nie heir exclaimed, dropping his still open fan.

“How the fuck- did she die? Im sure she was alive like 2 seconds ago-“

Wei WuXian was sure that something was already possessing Madame Mo’s body. If the
being wasn’t a spirit, then what was it?

Suddenly, A-Ding cried, “Hand... His hand! A-Tong’s hand!”

“What about the damn hand?” Jin Guangshan murmured in uninterest.

“Shut your damn mouth.”

Lan SiZhui moved the Flame Talisman to above A-Tong’s body. Sure enough, his left hand
had disappeared as well.

Left hand!

“Is- everyone’s left hand like something—I don’t know, infectious??” Nie Huaisang asked,
no one could answer.

With lightning speed, Wei WuXian’s mind became clear, with the being that was wrecking
havoc and the missing left arms finally completing the puzzle. He promptly bursted out
laughing. Lan JingYi snapped, “You idiot! How can you still laugh in a situation like
this?” But, after a second thought, he knew that he was an idiot anyways, so what’s the use
of haggling over him?

Lan Wangji sighed.

Wei WuXian tugged at his sleeve, “No, no!”

“Stop acting like a damn child- Wei Wuxian!” His brother shouted, and he shrugged his
shoulders.

“Hey, it’s future me! I don’t know what he’s on alright!”

Lan JingYi was annoyed, pulling his sleeve back, “What ‘no’? You’re not an idiot? Stop
fooling around! Nobody has the time to pay attention to you.”

“this little-“ Jin Zixuan facepalmed, only to be promptly cut off by his mother.
“no cussing in my presence, young man.”

“yes mom.”

Wei WuXian pointed at the corpses of Mo ZiYuan’s father and A-Tong, which lay on the
ground, and spoke, “These are not them.”

“Gosh, Wei-Xiong, not everyone’s though process moves like yours! be more specific!” Nie
Huaisang facepalmed.

“I can’t.” he humbly replied.

Lan SiZhui stopped the fuming Lan JingYi and asked, “What do you mean by ‘these are
not them’?”

Wei WuXian stated solemnly, “This is not Mo ZiYuan’s dad, and this is not A-Tong either.”

“No one can understand, Wei Wuxian….” The Jiang heir muttered.

“Ahh.. I get it now-!“ Wei Wuxian replied with glee.

“What do you mean? A-Xian.” His Sister asked with a calm demeanor.

“The left hand is possessing them.” He summarized.

With his makeup-covered face, the more solemn he looked, the more he seemed like an
actual lunatic. Yet, surrounded by the dim candlelight, his words sent chills up everyone’s
backs. Lan SiZhui stared for a second, and asked in spite of himself, “Why?”

Wei WuXian exclaimed proudly, “Their hands. None of them were left-handed. I’m sure of
this, because they’d always hit me with their right hands.”

“I- that’s not- nevermind.” Jin Zixuan groaned.

Lan JingYi spat, running out of patience, “What are you being proud for? Look at how
complacent you are!”

Lan Qiren looked like he was about to suffer from qi deviation because of how bad mannered
this Junior Disciple was..

However, Lan SiZhui broke into a sweat. Thinking back, A-Tong had used his left hand to
strangle himself, and Madame Mo’s husband also used his left hand to push his wife.

“oh- so that’s what you meant, a-Xian.. you’re so clever.” Jiang Yanli smiled is a
heartwarming way.

“Thanks Shijie..” He said with a grin.

But, during the day, when Mo XuanYu was causing trouble in the East Hall, the two were
rushing to get him out of there, both using their right hands. It was impossible for them to
suddenly turn left-handed before they died.

Although he didn’t know why, in order to figure out what the creature was, they had to
think in the direction of “left hands.” After Lan SiZhui realized this, he felt surprised and
looked at Wei WuXian. He couldn’t help but to think, suddenly saying this... It doesn’t
seem like a coincidence.

Wei WuXian only smiled. He knew that the hint was too deliberate, but he couldn’t have
helped it. The good thing was that Lan SiZhui didn’t think too much about it either, and
thought, anyways, if Young Master Mo was willing to remind me of it, he probably didn’t
mean any harm. His eyes moved away from him, passing A-Ding, who fainted from crying
too much, and landed on Madame Mo.

“This seems like a soap opera not going to lie..”

His gaze traveled from her face down to her hands. Her arms were hanging down and
were mostly hidden inside her sleeves, with only half of the fingers showing. Her right
hand had fair, thin fingers, undoubtedly those of a woman who lived comfortably and
never worked.

However, the fingers on her left hand were much longer than the ones on her right. They
were also thicker. The knuckles were bent, full of power.

“Ohh! So it’s like a ghost.. haunting hand?” Nie Huaisang made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth.

The hand isn’t that of a woman’s—it was a man’s hand!

“What..-“ Jiang Cheng muttered.

Lan SiZhui commanded, “Take hold of her!”

A few boys grabbed Madame Mo. Lan SiZhui said “excuse me” and was prepared to slap
down a talisman when Madame Mo’s left hand suddenly twisted in an absurd way, aiming
for his throat.

Unless one’s bones had been broken, it was impossible for a living person to twist their arm
like this. She attacked quickly, and was extremely close to grabbing onto his neck, when at
the same time, Lan JingYi shouted “hey” and threw himself in front of Lan SiZhui,
blocking the hand for him.

“Why- why did you push him?!” Yu Ziyuan shrieked.

“I’m not quite sure either….” Lan Xichen added.

A flash passed, and as soon as the arm grabbed Lan JingYi’s shoulder, green flames
ignited on his arm, making it loosen its grip. Lan SiZhui escaped death, and was about to
thank Lan JingYi for it, when he saw that half of the latter’s uniform had already been
burnt to ashes, looking quite awkward. Lan JingYi took off the other half of his uniform
and scolded, fuming with rage, “Why did you kick me, you lunatic? Did you want to kill
me?”

“Ohh- Wei-gongzi is quite smart for that move..” Lan Xichen realized, and corrected his
mistakes.

“What is that? Some protective charm?”

Wei WuXian scampered away like a frightened rat, “It wasn’t me!”

“you… are going to be my source of stress, I can tell.” Jiang Cheng groaned dramatically, it
seems the twin prides have something for dramatics…

“Isn’t Wei-xiong already your source of stress?” Nie Huasaing asked, tipping his fan into his
lower lip.

“You act like you aren’t a source either!!”

It was him. Inside of the Lan clan’s uniform jacket, there were compact stitchings of
incantations using thin threads of the same color, included for protection. However,
against strong ones like this, it could only be used once before it became invalid. During
the emergency, he could only kick Lan JingYi and use his body to protect Lan SiZhui’s
neck. Lan JingYi wanted to scold him again, but Madame Mo fell onto the ground, with all
of the blood and flesh on her face being drained until only a thin layer of skin was left on
the skull. The male arm that didn’t belong to her had fallen off her shoulders. Its fingers
bent freely, as if it was stretching or exercising, and the throbs of its veins were clearly
visible.

“Gross!” Nie Huaisang commented.

Jiang Yanli huffed quietly in distaste, she wasn’t quite.. used to seeing such gore.
This was the evil being that the Phantom Attraction Flag had attracted.”

“The flag? It attracted.. something as heinous like that? Where did it even come from?” Lan
Qiren muttered.

‘Who even thought of sending junior disciples with no senior around to supervise??’ Madam
Jin thought with fury.

Being dismembered was a classic example of a distressing death. It was only somewhat
more dignified than the way Wei WuXian died.

Jiang Cheng suddenly fell silent upon remembering how his brother died, he still could not
grasp what his future self was even thinking…he would never, ever kill Wei Wuxian!

So did Jiang Yanli, she still could not believe her beloved a-Cheng would participate in the
killing of a-Xian, they were so close. They were brothers in every way except blood, what led
to their conflict? She wonders earnestly.

Unlike the situation of being crushed to powder, the limbs and parts of the corpse would be
tainted with some of the resentment of the person who died, and it would want to reunite
with the other parts and die with a whole corpse. Therefore, it would come up with
strategies to find the other parts of the body. If it found it, it might be satisfied and rest in
peace, or it might stir up more trouble. If it couldn’t find it, the body part would have to put
up with the second best option.

“second best option?” Nie Mingjue wondered.

What would the second best option be? It would have to make do with the bodies of living
humans.
“how.. does that even work..” Jin Zixuan muttered.

It was like this left hand—eat the left hand of a living person, and replace it. After
draining all of the person’s blood and energy, it would abandon the body and find another
container for parasitism, until it finally collected all of the other parts of its corpse.

‘this narration… Jiang Fengmian’s ward surely has quite the intelligence… maybe if he could
just snag that kid and make him work for the Jin sect… he would accumulate so much more
wealth.’ Jin Guangshan thought with a visible smirk.

As soon as the arm had possessed a person, they would die immediately. But, before all of
the flesh had been eaten, they would still be able to walk around, under its control, as if the
person was still alive. After it was attracted, the first container that it found was Mo
ZiYuan. The second one was Mo ZiYuan’s father. When Madame Mo told her husband to
go away, he acted out of the norm and pushed her. Wei WuXian originally thought that it
was because he was grieving his son’s death and also tired of his wife’s arrogance. Now
that he thought about it again, it wasn’t what a father who had just lost his son should look
like. It wasn’t the indifference from feeling hopeless. It was a deadly tranquility—the
tranquility coming from an already-deceased person.

The third container was A-Tong, and the fourth one was Madame Mo. During the chaos
from when the lights suddenly went out, the ghost hand had transferred onto her body.
When Madame Mo died, the last cut on Wei WuXian’s wrists also disappeared.

The boys from the Lan clan saw that, although talismans didn’t work, clothing did, and all
took off their coats to cover the left hand. The layers of clothing looked like a white
cocoon. After a second, the ball of white clothes ignited with a whoosh, creating a green,
abnormal inferno. Although it would take care of the moment, after a while, when the
uniforms were completely burnt, the hand would emerge from within the ashes. While
nobody was looking, Wei WuXian ran towards the West Courtyard.
The ten-or-so walking corpses that were subdued by the boys stood silently in the
courtyard, sealed by the incantations drawn on the ground. Wei WuXian kicked one of the
symbols, destroying the entire formation. He clapped twice. Suddenly, with a jolt, the
whites of the walking corpses’ eyes all turned upward, as if they were woken up by a bolt of
thunder.

“fucking jumpscare-!” Jiang Cheng screeched in surprise, while Nie Huaisang burst out
laughing.

“oh, A-Cheng..”

Wei WuXian spoke, “Wake up. It’s time to work!”

He usually didn’t need complex incantations to control these corpse puppets—a

straightforward command would do as well. The walking corpses in front of him moved a
few quivering steps. But, as they approached Wei WuXian, their legs grew weak and they
collapsed onto the ground, as if they were real humans.

“D-Demonic cultivation..!” Lan Qiren gasped in a scandalous manner.

“Shufu… in the future, Wei-gongzi is known to the founder of demonic cultivation…” Lan
Xichen reminded his uncle and his brother nodded.

“mn.” Lan Wangji frowned a tiny bit, thought it was not visible. Wei Ying is using demonic
cultivation, it can harm his body and mind….

“Wangji…” his brother whispered.

“wait- so it’s that easy to use demonic cultivation?” a gasp formed in Nie Huaisang’s mouth,
his brother stared at him.

“Huaisang.. don’t tell me you want to try that?!” his voice echoed.

“n-no da-ge..” he replied quickly.

‘he’s very skilled indeed… it could be of use to have this boy in my sect’ Wen Ruohan
thought.

Wen Ning shivered, he knew his uncle was currently practicing demonic cultivation, he
knows since his sister tell him about it- when Wen Ruohan calls her to his place for healing.
Wei WuXian found it both funny and annoying. He clapped his hands again, this time
lighter. However, these walking corpses were probably born in Mo Village and died here as
well, not having experienced life fully. They instinctively followed the summoner’s
commands, but were also horrified at the summoner, lying on the ground and afraid to get
up.

“Damn..how terrifying really is Wei-xiong in the future?”

Yu Ziyuan huffed in amusement, “Terrified? Why are they terrified of a servant’s son?” she
glowered.

“Mom-“ Jiang Cheng tried to stop whatever was about to come out of his mother’s mouth,
but was effectively halted.

”A-Cheng, he is simply just the son of a servant! You cannot be defending him as from what i
hear from your tone of voice?!” she shouted, outraged, as her husband was at her side trying
to stop him.

“Madam Yu, I-“

“Shut up you brat! What right do you have to speak as the son of a servant?!”

Madam Jin was about to lose her patience, she knew her sworn sister had a terrible
temperament, and hated Wei Wuxian. But she could not stand it any longer, she was about to
stand up- when someone did so before her.

“Mother!” Jiang Yanli shouted in fury, she stood straight, it was the first time Wei Wuxian
has seen such scorn on his sister’s expression.

“A-Li! Why are you-“ Yu Ziyuan started.

“Mother, do you think it’s A-Xian’s fault for how he was born?” she asked sternly, waiting
for her mother’s response.

Yu Ziyuan scowled, “Of course! His mother was a whore who seduced my husb-“

Jiang Yanli walked up to her mother and punched her, everyone’s eyes widened at that, the
rumors about the young lady of Jiang—it said she was delicate and kind, not.. violent.

“A-Li!” Jiang Fengmian shouted, shocked at the move that his daughter, who he had seen as
a person who could not even be able to hurt a fly, punch Yu Ziyuan so hardly?

“Please… just shut up, father! You and mother are the reason why our family is like this! You
both cannot even talk or sort your problems out with eachother without an argument starting
first about A-Xian’s mother!” She stated angrily.
Yu Ziyuan’s cheek formed a bright red shade, she placed her hand on her cheek and sneered.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Please... take your family issues else where Maiden Jiang, Madam Yu, and Sect Leader
Jiang. Some of us in here are still focusing on the video as being shown to us.” Lan Qiren
sighed deeply, he could not believe how much of a bitch Yu Ziyuan was and how the sect
leader had no backbone. Though he was proud of Jiang Yanli—

“I agree, this is not a place for brawling and dealing with your family problems infront of so
many people.” Jin Guangshan sneered as if he just did something right there, like he wasn’t
the cause of their family problems, Madam Jin thought.

Wei Wuxian just looked immensely shocked and guilty as this all happened between his
Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu because of him.

“I apologize, respected leaders.” Jiang Yanli smiled, like she did not just punch her mother,
she went back to her seat beside Jin Zixuan. Who’s eyes opened like that of a fish.

The crueler the being was, the better Wei WuXian could control it.

Jiang Cheng wanted to comment about that statement said by his brother, but was too afraid
and shocked to say anything else after what just went down.

These walking corpses hadn’t been trained by him and couldn’t withstand direct
manipulations from him. He didn’t have any materials on him, which meant that he
couldn’t immediately make tools to ease the walking corpses. He couldn’t even muddle and
assemble bits and pieces. The soaring green flames in the East Courtyard gradually grew
dimmer. Suddenly, Wei WuXian found a solution.

Why would he need to come outside and find a dead person with strong resentment and a
cruel personality?

There were not only one, but multiple corpses in the East Hall!

Wei-xiong… don’t tell me you’re gonna…!!”

He ran back to the East Courtyard. As Lan SiZhui’s first solution failed, he found a second
one. The disciples pulled out their swords and stuck them into the ground, making a sword
fence. The ghost hand crashed into the fence, and they spent all their energy compressing
their hilts so that it didn’t break out, paying no attention to who was entering and leaving.
Wei WuXian strode into the East Hall and grabbed Madame Mo and Mo ZiYuan’s corpses,
one on each hand, and spoke in a low voice, “Still sleeping?”

“yea.. I thought you’d do that..” Jiang Cheng mumbled.

In a split second, Madame Mo and Mo ZiYuan’s eye whites turned up, and started making
the shrill and powerful shrieks that ferocious ghosts made after they came back to life.

Jin Zixuan felt like his ears were about pop.

Amidst the shrieks, another corpse trembled and crawled up, making the lowest and
faintest shriek. It was Madame Mo’s husband.

The shrieks were loud enough and the resentment was strong enough. Wei WuXian smiled,
feeling quite satisfied, “Do you recognize the hand outside?”

“your smile is so creepy, Wei-xiong…” Nie Huaisang commented.

‘his smile is adorable.’ A certain jade thought.

He commanded, “Tear it apart.”

The three members of the Mo family whipped out like three clouds of black wind.

The left arm fractured one of the swords, and was about to break out, when three cruel
corpses without left arms came at it.

Aside from being unable to defy Wei WuXian’s command, the family also loathed the
creature that killed them, and let out their anger on the ghost hand. The main attacker was
undoubtedly Madame Mo. Because female corpses were often especially fierce after they
were modified, her hair was loose and her eyes were bloodshot. With nails that multiplied
in length, foam gathering at the corners of her mouth, and shrieks that were enough to
uplift the ceiling, she looked extremely insane. Behind her followed Mo ZiYuan, who
cooperated with her and used both his teeth and his hands. His father was at the end,
covering for the gaps between the attacks of the other two corpses. The struggling boys
were stricken dumb with amazement.

Wen Ning watched the moving corpses with stars in his eyes, seeing corpses fight looked…
somehow amazing.

They had only seen these battles between multiple fierce corpses in books and hearsay, and
they all gaped as they saw the gore-splattered scene for the first time, unable to avert their
gazes. They all thought that it was... Absolutely thrilling!

“what do they find thrilling…. In that?” asked Jin Zixuan, though he was quite interested as
well.

The three corpses and the hand were in the middle of a tough battle, when Mo ZiYuan
abruptly moved out of the way. His abdomen area was attacked by the hand, causing a few
chunks of his intestines to spill out. As Madame Mo saw this, she screamed incessantly and
shielded her son behind herself. Her attacks were more violent, the strength of her fingers
almost comparable to that of steel and iron weapons. But,Wei WuXian knew that she was
gradually being overpowered.

Even three cruel corpses who recently died couldn’t subdue this single arm!
“just how strong is that arm?” Nie Mingjue asked, sighing, he can already feel a whole new
source of stress just looking at this.

Wei WuXian was watching the battle attentively. His tongue was slightly curled,
suppressing a sharp whistle inside of his lips, preparing it to be let out. The whistle would
be able to evoke even more hostility in the cruel corpses, which might turn the tables.
Then, however, it would be difficult to ensure that nobody knew that it was his doing. In
the blink of an eye, the hand moved like lightning, ruthlessly and precisely breaking
Madame Mo’s neck.

Watching as the Mo family grew closer to defeat, Wei WuXian prepared to blow the whistle
that he suppressed under his tongue. At the same time, the echoes of two strums on a
stringed instrument came from far away.

“guqin?” Lan Xichen’ eyes widened.

“what am I doing there?” Lan Wangji silently said, his uncle thought the same.

“Lan Zhan, I think you were the senior that came when those junior disciples sent out a
flare.” Wei Wuxian pointed out.

“oh.”

The sound seemed to have been played by a human. The timbre was ethereal and clear,
carrying the bleak chills of windswept pines. The creatures battling in the courtyard all
stiffened as they heard the sound.

“oh, Wangji-xiong must have gotten stronger in the future!” Nie Huaisang beamed, Lan
Wangji wanted to know as well, how his training paid off.

Instantaneously, the boys from the GusuLan clan started beaming, as if they were born
again. Lan SiZhui wiped the blood off his face and raised his head, happily exclaiming,
“HanGuang-Jun!”
“hanguang-jun?” Lan Wangji muttered curiosly.

“Lan Zhan! It must be your title in the future!” Wei Wuxian looked more excited than the
man himself.

As soon as he heard the two faraway strums of the zither, Wei WuXian turned around and
began to leave.

Lan Wangji stilled, ‘why is Wei Ying leaving when I came?’

“what?” Jiang Cheng was confused as well, he knows very well much his brother had a
hobby of pissing off Lan Wangji. So why is he turning back?

“uhh—what? Why am I leaving?”

The sound of another strum came. This time, the pitch was higher, piercing through the
sky with a few degrees of bitterness. The three cruel corpses backed off and covered one
ear with their right hands. However, it was impossible to block out the Eradication Tone of
the GusuLan clan by means such as this. They had just retreated a few steps, and slight
bursting sounds came from within their skulls.

Because the arm had just endured a tough fight, after hearing the sound of the strings
again, it instantly fell onto the ground. Although the fingers were still flinching, the arm
was unable to move.

After a short moment of silence, the boys couldn’t help but to cheer loudly, celebrating the
joy of surviving the incident. They had struggled through the exhilarating night, and their
clan’s reinforcement had finally came. Even if they’d be punished because of reasons such
as “being discourteous and making noise is harmful to the clan’s reputation,” they didn’t
care.

After waving towards the moon, Lan SiZhui suddenly realized that someone had
disappeared. He tugged Lan JingYi, “Where is he?”
“what?”

Lan JingYi was absorbed in the act of rejoicing, “Who? Which one?”

Lan SiZhui replied, “Young Master Mo.”

Lan JingYi said, “Hmm? Why are you looking for that lunatic? Who knows where he ran
off to. He’s probably frightened by my threats to hit him.”

“pfft, I like this kid!” Nie Huaisang laughed.

Lan Wangji was offended by this junior’s disregard for rules, but, he could not get off how
Wei Ying looked frightened when his future self came into the picture. Just…. What
happened between them?

“...” Lan SiZhui knew that Lan JingYi had always been careless and straightforward, not
thinking twice about anything or suspecting anyone. He thought, I’ll wait for HanGuang-
Jun to come, and then tell him about everything.

“damn, this kids a snitch.” Jiang Cheng muttered.

Mo Village was still asleep, but it was difficult to tell whether it was a real slumber or a
faked one. Although the corpse fight was a mass of blood and gore, the villagers didn’t
wake up during the early morning to watch. After all, even bystanders needed to choose
which events to show up at. One that involved lots of screaming was definitely not the
safest type.

Wei WuXian eliminated all evidence of the sacrificial formation in Mo XuanYu’s room as
fast as he could, and ran out the door.
Unfortunately, the person who came happened to be from the Lan clan, but even more
unfortunately, he happened to be Lan WangJi!

“huh?” Lan Xichen could not believe what he was hearing, Wei-gongzi was…. Afraid of his
brother? The one who made his brother smile for the first time in years? Unbelievable… how
could it be that he would find it unfortunate?

“okay, just what happened between them that Wei Wuxian would say that Second Master Lan
being the senior to appear was unfortunate?” Jiang Cheng snapped.

Jiang Yanli was shocked too, in the letters a-Xian had sent her he was always talking about
the second young master.

“what the fuck.” Wei Wuxian said.

Lan Wangji…. He felt like his heart broke, was he so bad to Wei Ying he wanted to run away
from him?

Even Lan Qiren found this behavior odd..

This was one of the people who had fought with him before, so he should retreat quickly.
He was in a hurry to find a mount, as he passed a courtyard and saw a big millstone inside.
A donkey was tied to the handle, chewing on its mouth. When it saw him run over rashly, it
seemed like it was surprised, and eyed him sideways as if it was a real person. Wei WuXian
made eye contact with him for one second, and was immediately touched by the minuscule
amount of contempt in its eyes.

He tried to grab onto the rope and pull it out, but the donkey complained by making a few
loud noises. Therefore, Wei WuXian had to use both his words and his strength to deceive
it and get it onto the road. As dawn came over the horizon, they went off onto the main
path.

“damn……..”

“what happened and why was my future self so against meeting Lan Zhan???” Wei Wuxian
asked in agony and absolute confusion.

‘one of the people Wei Ying fought before he died… future self, what have you done?’
Chapter End Notes

my sister wrote the reaction for aggression 2 btw

No1JiangYanliDefender is my little sister who is my new co-creator and beta reader,

some of my chapters are written by her! Please support her writing ^^

(beta read by No1JiangYanliDefender a few dialogues were changed)

 ARROGANCE I-II-III
Chapter Summary

13,200 words uhh enjoy

agrrogance 1 and 2 was written by Jiangyanlidefender though i made a few changes and
i wrote arrogance3

cu next week cuties

The video had ended when Wei Wuxian escaped last time, and it has been an hour already
that had passed.

Just how long were they going to wait again? It was seriously taking so long, even a woman
who is pregnant had already given birth at this point!

Jiang Cheng just sat on the couch with a ton of different thoughts running around in his mind
like a rollercoaster.

But for Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian— the two was just playing some imaginary game that
Wei Wuxian had just come up with randomly when he was feeling crazily bored whilst
waiting.

Apparently, this game that Wei Wuxian had come up with was what he called to name as
‘pick a flower’, and then when Nie Huaisang did pick a flower, Wei Wuxian would ask him a
question that got harder each time.

Bickering and loud talking was heard to echo in the entire room, the peacock Jin Zixuan was
busy trying to flatter his older sister up, whilst his mother and father as the usual, was
fighting and all about the same thing; Wei Wuxian’s mother.
Until finally, after 4 minutes of absolutely doing nothing at all in his seat, the system was
finally booting itself up after finally having charged with full power.

“Aghh!! Finally!! Your questions were absolute hell, Wei-Xiong, i am not playing this game
with you ever again!!” Nie Huaisang stood up from the floor and finally returned back to the
couch where he left his beloved fan.

Wei Wuxian followed and tagged along with Nie Huaisang with a laugh, and they both sat
down together as Wei Wuxian cracked a joke.

Lan Wangji watched the two bestfriends interact with eachother.

Only a few days passed, and Wei WuXian realized that he might have made a wrong
choice.

“If the wrong choice was about Wei-Xiong hurrily fleeing away from Second Master Lan,
then it definitely was!” It was as if Nie Huaisang did not hear the words from the last hour of
Lan Wangji in the future being one of the people Wei Wuxian fought with.

The donkey that he conveniently picked up was too hard to please.

Although it was only a donkey, it would exclusively eat fresh, young grass with dewdrops
still hanging off them. If the tip of the grass had a streak of yellow, it wouldn’t eat it.
Passing a farm, Wei WuXian stole some wheat straws to feed it, but after chewing them, it
spit it out with a ptoo, even louder than that of its human counterparts. If it didn’t eat high-
quality food, it wouldn’t budge, and it’d lose its temper and kick around. For multiple
times, Wei WuXian was almost kicked by it. Aside from that, it’s brays also sounded
extremely horrible to the ear.
“Why am i keeping it in the first place anyways?” Wei Wuxian sat himself up, looking at the
words of his future self describing the donkey.

“‘Cause you’re an absolute idiot!”

“Hey!!!”

It was useless, no matter as a mount or a pet!

Wei WuXian couldn’t help but to think of his sword. The sword was probably collected by
the leader of a prominent clan and would have hanged on a wall as a trophy that they
could show other people.

“Uhm, Suibian? As a trophy?” Most of the people in the room that read that line in the video
was also quite confused.

“maybe it’s because you were known as the ‘enemy of the cultivation world’.” Jiang Cheng
pointed out, and the room chorused in ‘ah’ or ‘ohh’.

After pushing and pulling along for a few blocks, the road reached a vast farmland of
some village. Under the scorching sun, there was a large pagoda tree and thick, green
grass underneath it. Beside the tree, there was an old well, with a barrel and a dipper on
the side, placed there by the farmers for any passersby to quench their thirst. The donkey
ran over there and nothing could make it leave. Wei WuXian hopped down and slapped its
honoured buttocks, “You’re definitely destined for wealth, even harder to please than me.”
“You both are hard to please honestly.”

“Wei-Xiong found his secret twin!! A donkey!” Nie Huaisang laughed.

The donkey spat at him.

Jiang Yanli couldn’t help but laugh that the donkey was quite arrogant and even spat at her
brother.

While they fooled around aimlessly, a group of people approached from within the fields.

The people carried handmade bamboo baskets, and wore cotton clothes and straw sandals,
emitting the rustic airs of rural villagers. In the group, there was a young girl with a round
face that could be considered delicate. Possibly because of walking for too long under the
sun, they also wanted to come over to rest by the shade and have some water. However,
seeing that there was a wild donkey tied to the tree and a lunatic with heavy makeup and
dishevelled hair, they were reluctant to go over.

“I would be reluctant to go over if i saw some random person dressed up so strange like that
too!” Nie Huaisang spoke with honesty, ignoring that Wei Wuxian was beside him.

Wei WuXian had always thought of himself as one who was courteous towards women, so
he moved over, emptying some space, and went to struggle with the donkey. After realizing
that he was harmless, the people were finally at ease to come over. All of them were
drenched in sweat and had ruddy cheeks; some were fanning themselves and some
fetching water. The girl sat by the well and smiled at Wei WuXian, as if she knew that he
purposely moved away.

One of the people held a compass in his hand. He looked into the distance, and then
lowered his head questioningly, “We’re already at the foot of Dafan Mountain, so why
hasn’t the pointer started moving yet?”

The designs and pointer on the compass looked strange, indicating that it wasn’t a normal
compass. It wasn’t one that showed the North, South, East, and West, but one that showed
the directions malicious creatures, also known as a “Compass of Evil.” Wei WuXian
realized that this was probably a poor cultivation clan from the countryside. Aside from
highbrow, affluent clans, there were also smaller clans like this, who closed their doors
and cultivated on their own. Wei WuXian thought that they might have left their village to
either find a clan whom they were distant relatives to, or to go night-hunting.

“Compass of what now?” Jiang Cheng thought as he scratched his head, just what was Wei
Wuxian doing in the future with his inventions??

“Compass of Evil…” Wen Ruohan muttered to himself, he was incredibly invested into
learning more about Wei Wuxian, it seemed that his inventions in the future was quite useful
for night-hunts and luring spirits out.

The middle-aged man leading the group called for people to take a drink and replied,
“Your compass might be broken; I’ll get you a new one later. Dafan Mountain is less than
ten miles ahead of us, which means that we cannot rest for too long. We have struggled
through the whole journey, and if we relax now and fall behind, with other people beating
us to it, it wouldn’t have been worth it.”

“Night hunting at Dafan Mountain?”

As expected, it was a night-hunt. A lot of refined cultivation clans called travelling to
places and exorcising evil beings “hunting.” Because of how these creatures often appear
at night, it was also called “night-hunting.” There were countless cultivation clans, but
only a few were distinguished. Without the contributions from its ancestors, if an average
clan wanted to become famous and receive respect in the cultivation world, it would have
to show its abilities. Only if a clan captured a fierce monster or a terrorizing being, could it
have then been treated seriously.

This was originally Wei WuXian’s specialty area. However, during the days of travelling,
he destroyed a few graves, but only found small ghosts. He happened to need a ghost
soldier to do evil for him, and decided to go to Rice Mountain to try his luck. If he found a
good one, he’d capture it and put it to use.

Nie Huaisang slowly moved sideways away from Wei Wuxian silently whilst he was not
looking as soon as he heard those lines.

Wei Wuxian noticed Nie Huaisang moving away from him, and quickly asked him, “Hey,
Nie-Xiong, why’d you move away from me?”

“Totally nothing! I just needed a little bit more space, Wei-Xiong!” He laughed awkwardly,
raising his fan to his face.

After the group of people finished resting, they prepared to move on. Before they left, the
round-faced girl took a small, partly-ripened apple out of her basket and handed it to him,
“Here you go.”

Lan Wangji just let out a small ‘hmph’ at the sight of seeing the round-faced girl giving Wei
Wuxian a ripened apple out of her basket.
Lan Xichen, who heard the ‘hmph’ that his younger brother that he had let out, just smiled in
silence, understanding what he was feeling, but did not tell their uncle about it.

Wei WuXian extended his hand to receive it, grinning broadly, but the donkey also opened
its mouth and bit at it. Wei WuXian quickly took the apple away. Seeing that the donkey
craved the apple so much, he thought of a good idea. He gathered a long stick and a
fishing thread, hanged the apple on one end, and dangled it in front of the donkey. The
donkey smelled the apple’s refreshing scent from in front of him and wanted to eat it,
chasing the apple which was always a centimeter away from him. Its speed was faster than
the best horses Wei WuXian had ever seen, leaving only dust behind it.

“Still the same Wei Wuxian with a brain full of bullshit.” Nie Huaisang tried his best not to
laugh, but he eventually did, causing him to accidentally drop his handfan to the ground.

“My fannnn!” Nie Huaisang yelled, not intending to accidentally yell that out loud when he
dropped his handfan to the ground on accident, he received looks and stares from people.

“…” The silence was louder than what noise Wei Wuxian could make.

Without stopping, Wei WuXian arrived at Dafan Shan before dark. Upon arriving at the
foot of the mountain, he finally realized that the “fan” wasn’t the one he thought it was. It
got its name because, looking from far away, the mountain looked like a kind, chubby
buddha. There was a small town below the mountain, named Buddha’s Feet.

The number of cultivators who gathered here were far more than what he had expected.
Everything was a jumble, with people from different sects and clans walking down the
streets, all in uniforms of different colours, almost blinding to the eye. For some reason, all
of them wore distressed expressions. Nobody bothered to laugh at him even though they
saw his strange appearance.
In the center of the long street, a group of cultivators gathered, talking in serious tones. It
seemed as if their opinions differed greatly. Even from afar, Wei WuXian could hear them
talking. In the beginning, everything was fine, but they suddenly became agitated.

“... I think that there are no soul-consuming beasts or spirits in the area at all. It’s clear
that none of the Compasses of Evil showed anything.”

“If there isn’t, then how did the seven people lose their souls? They couldn’t have all
attained the same disease, could they? I, for one, haven’t heard of this disease at all!”

“Seven people? Lose their souls? How terrible!” Jiang Yanli thought, she frowned and had
herself feeling bad for those seven people that had lost their souls.

“Even if the Compass of Evil is not showing anything, does it mean that there’s nothing in
the area? It can only point out an approximate direction, without any specifics, so it
shouldn’t be fully trusted. Maybe there’s something here that can interfere with the
pointer’s direction.”

“Do you remember who created the Compass of Evil? I’ve never heard of anything that
can interfere with its pointer’s direction.”

“What do you mean? Are you implying anything with that tone of yours? Of course, I
know that Wei Ying created the Compass of Evil. But, it’s not as if his creations are
flawless. Aren’t we allowed the option of doubt, at least?”
“I never said that you can’t doubt it, much less his creations are flawless, so why accuse
me?”

“Are they seriously arguing about that?” Jiang Cheng thought, even though Wei Wuxian had
been dead for many years, many people still have a shit ton of problems with him and his
inventions.

And so, their argument had turned to another direction. Wei WuXian passed them on his
donkey, giggling and laughing. He didn’t expect that, after so many years had passed, he
was still alive in the cultivators’ conversations. This was the so-called “much ado about
Wei.” If there was ever a poll to find out whose popularity was the most lasting in the
cultivation world, the winner would be no other than Wei WuXian.

“Pfft, i’m the whole talk of the people in the future?” Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang both
snickered beside eachother.

“You sure are, Wei-Xiong!” Nie Huaisang gleefully said in a tone of sarcasm to match Wei
Wuxian’s, whilst Jiang Cheng just scoffed at the two.

To be honest, the cultivator wasn’t wrong. The Compasses of Evil in use today was the first
version that he made, and were, indeed, not specific enough. He was in the middle of
making improvements when his “den” was destroyed, so he had to put everyone through
the inconvenience of using the imprecise version one.

Anyways, creatures that ate blood and flesh were usually low in level, such as walking
corpses. Only the more refined high-level monsters or ghosts were capable of eating and
digesting souls. This one ate seven at once—no wonder so many clans had gathered here.
Since the prey was by no means a trivial matter, it was inevitable for the Compasses of Evil
to make mistakes.

Wei WuXian reined in the rope and hopped off the donkey’s back, holding the apple, which
had been ahead of it for the whole journey, in front of its mouth, “One bite. One bite only...
Hmph, are you trying to eat my whole hand with that bite of yours?”

He ate a few bites from the other side of the apple, and stuffed it back into the donkey’s
mouth, pondering upon how he came down to the point of sharing an apple with a donkey,
when, suddenly, someone bumped into his back. He turned around to see a girl. Although
she bumped into him, she didn’t acknowledge him at all. Her eyes were dull and she had a
smile on her face, staring into the distance without blinking.

“What the-“

Wei WuXian followed her gaze, and saw the dense mountain top of Dafan Mountain.

All of a sudden, the girl started dancing in front of him without saying anything.

“Excuse… me? Why the hell did she just start to dance all of the sudden? Is she crazy?”
Jiang Cheng paid no mind to his words, and was just straightforward into saying them.

The dance was wild, with her arms flinging about savagely. Wei WuXian was watching the
performance with keen pleasure when a woman ran over, lifting her dress slightly. She
embraced the girl and cried, “A-Yan, let’s go back, let’s go back!”
“What is up with her? Why did she just suddenly start dancing infront of me?” Wei Wuxian
was absolutely confused and dumb-founded at the act of the girl, Jiang Cheng also had the
same reaction as Wei Wuxian’s.

“Is she possessed or something?” Nie Huaisang said those words, earning a smack from his
older brother, Nie Mingjue, at the back of his head.

“Mind your words, Huaisang!” He yelled at the boy.

A-Yan brushed her off with force, her smile still unfaded, creating a terrifying sort of
affection, and continued to dance. The woman had to chase her down the street, sobbing
while running. A street vendor on the side spoke, “How awful. A-Yan from Blacksmith
Zheng’s family has escaped again.”

“Hey Wei-Xiong, aren’t you the smart one? Do you have the slightest of a hint on what’s
happening in this future of yours?” Nie Huaisang beside him asked, lowering his fan from his
face slowly.

“How should i know Nie-Xiong? Do you think i’m from the future???” Right, Nie Huaisang
thought, how dumb he was!! Why did he even ask that!!

“It must be horrible for her mom. A-Yan, A-Yan’s husband, and her husband... All of them
were...”

“All of them were what? Someone set a petition up to forbid people from cutting their
sentences off!” Jiang Cheng angrily said, he always found it annoying whenever people
wanted to say something but then would cut themselves off mid-sentence.
Wei WuXian wandered around, piecing together the strange event that happened here from
picking up on different people’s conversations.

“What happened? Did she really go crazy?” Wei Wuxian wondered in his thoughts, it did
seem to be a possibility that the girl, A-Yan, had indeed went crazy, but the question was,
why did she go crazy?

On Dafan Mountain, there was a burial ground. Most of the ancestors of the townspeople
from Buddha’s Feet were buried here and, sometimes, unidentifiable corpses would also
receive a spot and a wooden plaque here. A few months ago, in a dark and stormy night,
the wind and the rain caused a piece of land on Dafan Mountain to slide and collapse,
which happened to be the burial ground. Many older graves were destroyed, and a few
coffins were exposed to the air and struck by lightning, causing both the corpses and the
coffins to be charred black.

The townspeople of Buddha’s Feet were extremely uneasy. After a few rounds of prayers,
they rebuilt the burial ground again, assuming that everything would be just fine.
However, ever since then, people in the town started to lose their souls.

“How awful… ” Jiang Yanli murmured to herself, feeling extremely horrible for the
townspeople that started to lose their souls all of the sudden.

The first one was a sluggard. He was a poor wretch, loafing about and doing no work at
all. Because he loved to hike on the mountain and catch birds, he happened to be stuck in
the mountain during the night of the landslide. He was frightened to death, but, luckily, he
was safe. The peculiar thing was that, after a few days, he suddenly married someone. His
wedding was quite large, and he said that he wanted to be charitable from now on and
settle down.

On the night of the wedding, he was completely drunken, having never woken up ever
since he lay on the bed. The bride didn’t receive an answer as she called him. Only when
she pushed him over did she realize that the groom had dreary eyes and a cold body. Aside
from being able to breathe, he was no different from a dead person. After a few days of
lying on the bed, not eating or drinking anything, he was finally buried. Unfortunately, the
bride had become a widow shortly after she married.

The second one was A-Yan, from Blacksmith Zheng’s family. The young girl had just
received an engagement when her future husband was killed by a wolf on the second day,
while he was hunting in the mountains. After she got the news, she also became like the
sluggard. Luckily, after some time, her soul-losing disease was cured on its own. However,
after this, she went crazy, cheerfully dancing to other people when she was outside.

Jiang Yanli and Madam Jin frowned and felt extremely bad at the fact that she went crazy
after the girl was cured of her ‘soul-losing disease.’

The third one was A-Yan’s father, Blacksmith Zheng. Until now, this had happened to seven
people.

Wei WuXian considered the situation, and figured that it was most likely a soul-consuming
spirit, not a soul-consuming beast.
Although only one word was different between the two, they were completely different
beings. A spirit was a ghost, while a beast was a monster. To him, it was likely that the
landslide had destroyed an ancient tomb, and, with lightning splitting the coffin open, a
resting spirit had been let out. If he looked at the type of coffin and the presence of any
seals on it, he could figure out whether or not this was the case. However, the townsfolk of
Buddha’s Feet had already buried the charred coffins somewhere else and laid the corpses
to rest again, which meant that there wouldn’t be a great deal of evidence left.

To go up the mountain, one had to hike up trail that started in the town. Wei WuXian sat
on his donkey and rode up the hill slowly. After a while, a few people walked down with
ominous expressions on their faces.

Some of them had scars on their faces, and they were talking all at once. With the
darkening sky, they all jumped as they saw a person who looked like a hanged ghost
approaching them. After cursing, they walked around him quickly. Wei WuXian turned his
head around and thought, maybe they were frustrated because it was a strong prey? He
didn’t think too much about it and slapped the donkey’s buttocks, making it jog faster up
the mountain.

Everybody just went absolutely silent after witnessing that.

Coincidentally, he missed the group’s whining, which happened shortly afterward.

“I haven’t seen anyone like this!”

“Would the leader of a big clan like that need to fight over a soul-consuming spirit with
us? He probably killed tons of them when he was young.”
“Who’s appearing next now?” Jiang Cheng said.

“What can we do? He’s a sect leader. No matter which clan you choose to offend, you
shouldn’t offend the Jiang clan, and no matter which person you choose to offend, you
shouldn’t offend Jiang Cheng. Let’s just pack up, leave, and feel sorry for ourselves!”

“Last person to offend, me?” Jiang Cheng pointed to himself, confused. Did he get even more
grumpier just as Wei Wuxian and Nie Huaisang always predicted for him? Did it really—?

“Err, Wei-Xiong, maybe we really shouldn’t anger Jiang-Xiong, look! Did you hear it the
same as i did? It said that the last person we should offend was him!!” Nie Huaisang shake
Wei Wuxian by the collar crazily, making him dizzy as hell.

“Hey-! I’m getting dizzy here, Nie-Xiong!” Nie Huaisang realized how crazy he was shaking
Wei Wuxian by the collar, and quickly let him go.

“He-he, sorry Wei-Xiong…!” Jiang Cheng just rolled his eyes in annoyance from seeing Nie
Huaisang and Wei Wuxian before getting back to his surfing thoughts again.

If it was darker, then one would need a torch to move freely about in the mountain’s forest.
Wei WuXian walked for a while, but he didn’t meet many cultivators. He was quite
surprised, is it possible that half of the clans who came were in Buddha’s Feet arguing and
talking empty words, while the other half could only come back defeated, like the group of
people who just passed by?

Suddenly, cries for help came from in front of him.

“Is anyone there?”

“Help us!”

Both male and female voices could be heard, and all sounded panicked, probably not
faked. Cries for help from desolate mountains were usually the works of evil creatures, to
lure ignorant people into traps. Yet, Wei WuXian was extremely happy.

The more evil the creature was, the better it was for him!

“Uhm… i don’t think that was an evil creature, rather, it sounded like a real person instead.”
Nie Huaisang said.

He directed the donkey toward the direction of the voices, but couldn’t find anything
around him. As he looked upward, instead of spirits or monsters, it was the rural clan that
he met by the field earlier on, hanged on the trees by a huge, golden web.

The middle-aged man was originally patrolling and scouting in the forest with a few
others. However, rather than meeting the prey that they had hoped for, they stepped into a
net trap, probably set up by some wealthy clan, which was why they were hanging on the
trees, complaining and calling for help.
After seeing that someone approached, they immediately brightened up, but the hope faded
as they saw that it was a lunatic who came. Although the threads of the deity-binding net
were thin, the material was fine in quality, making them difficult to break. No matter
human, god, demon, spirit, or monster, it would take a long while for the intruder to
struggle out, since it could only be broken by a superior magical tool. The lunatic probably
didn’t even know what it was, much less how to get them outside of it.

He was about to call others to come help him, when the crisp sounds of parting branches
and stepping on leaves approached. A boy wearing a light-colored robe emerged from
within the dark forest.

The boy had a vermilion mark in between his eyebrows, his features delicate yet sharp. He
was quite young, around the same age as Lan SiZhui—still in his adolescence. He carried
a bamboo canister of feathered arrows and a luminous sword on his back, holding a
longbow in his hand. The embroidery on his clothes were extremely delicate, forming a
magnificent white peony in front of his chest. The golden threads glistened against the
dark nighttime shades surrounding him.

“Is he a Jin perhaps? Because this boy is being described like one.”

Wei WuXian silently exclaimed, “How wealthy!”

“THATS your first thought about him…??” Jin Zixuan asked in confusion, yes, they were
indeed wealthy, but was that the first impression of Wei Wuxian on a Jin?

This must have been a young master studying in the LanlingJin Sect, since the sect was the
only one with a white peony as the clan pattern, using the king of all flowers to suggest
that they were the king of all cultivators. The vermilion mark implied the meaning of
“opening the doors toward wisdom and aspiration; illuminating the world with the
vermilion light.”

The young master already had an arrow on his bow,and was preparing to shoot it, when he
realized that the deity-binding nets only caught humans. After an initial moment of
disappointment, he quickly became annoyed, “I find you idiots every single time. There are
more than four hundred deity-binding nets in the mountain, but you guys have already
broken ten or so, and I haven’t even seen the prey yet!”

Wei WuXian thought, again, “How wealthy!”

“…is this seriously the only thought that you have about us Jin’s?” Jin Zixuan was absolutely
dumbfounded at the fact that Wei Wuxian only thought about them as ‘wealthy’, and that was
it.

“I can confirm that this is indeed the first and only thought he has about the Jin’s.” Nie
Huaisang snickered at the words of Jiang Cheng, as he had always heard the word ‘wealthy’
when Wei Wuxian always described Jin Zixuan or any other Jin.

“I completely forgot this thing shows my inner THOUGHTS!” Wei Wuxian yelled.

A single deity-binding net was already expensive, yet he had set up four hundred all at
once. A smaller clan would’ve became bankrupt after buying so many, but then, of course,
this was the LanlingJin Sect. However, wasting deity-binding webs like this and not caring
about what they caught shouldn’t be considered night-hunting at all. In fact, it was almost
as if they were chasing people away, not allowing others the chance of contributing to the
process. It seemed like that the cultivators who retreated earlier didn’t do it because the
prey was difficult, but rather because this sect was one that shouldn’t be angered.
“Four hundred deity-binding nets?!” Nie Huaisang was shocked that the Jin Disciple even
managed to set that much deity-binding nets up at Dafan Mountain all alone.

After a few days of travelling slowly and listening to the intriguing conversations at
Buddha’s Feet, Wei WuXian gathered a lot of information about the changes to the
cultivation world. As the final winner of the hundred-year-long cultivational disruption,
the LanlingJin Sect was the head of all clans and sects—its leader was even referred to as
the “commander” of all cultivators.

Even before this, the Jin Clan was arrogant, admirers of extravagant splendor. After the
years of being at the top and while strengthening the sect, it had trained all of its disciples
to do whatever they wanted to. Even a slightly weaker clan would have to submit to their
humiliation, much less a small, rural clan such as this one. This was why, although the
people trapped in the nets were red with fury, because of the mean words of the boy, they
could not talk back.

The middle-aged man spoke with tolerance, “Please, Young Master, do us a small favor
and let us down.”

The boy was restless with the anxiety of his prey still not arriving, and it was convenient of
him to direct his anger toward the country bumpkins. He crossed his arms, “You guys
should just stay here, in case you mess around and get in my way again! I’ll let you down
after I catch the spirit-consuming beast, that is, if I still remember you.”

“Wait, so he’s not freeing them? Seriously?” Jiang Cheng scoffed, crossing his arms at the
sight of the LanlingJin Disciple being very immature and disrespectful towards people,
letting them stay in the spirit net rather than just letting them go instead because he was
annoyed by them always getting caught in it instead of the prey?
If they really stayed on the trees for the whole night, and happened to bump into the
creature that haunted Dafan Mountain, being unable to move, all they could do would be
to wait for their souls to be sucked dry. The round-faced girl who gave an apple to Wei
WuXian felt scared and started crying. Wei WuXian was originally cross-legged on the
donkey, but as it heard the sob, his long ears quivered, and it suddenly leaped forward.

Following the leap, came a long bray. If not for how horrible the bray sounded, its
unstoppable vigor could almost pass for a purebred horse. Unprepared for this, Wei
WuXian was thrown off of its back, almost injuring his head as he fell. The donkey ran
head-first toward the boy, as if it believed that it could knock him off his feet with its head.
The boy’s arrow was still poised on the bow, conveniently drawing the bow toward its
direction. Wei WuXian didn’t want to find a new mount so soon, so he quickly yanked on
its reign. The boy took a look at him, a look of shock to suddenly appear on his face.

After a second, the shock turned into disdain. His mouth twitched, “So, it’s you.”

The tone was made of twenty percent surprise and eighty percent disgust, making Wei
WuXian blink. The boy spoke again, “Did you lose your marbles after you were thrown
back to your village? How could they let you outside when you looked as freaky as this?”

Did he really just hear something of such significance?

“He knows Mo Xuanyu?” Wei Wuxian confusingly said.

Might it be, Wei WuXian suddenly realized, that Mo XuanYu’s father isn’t the head of
some small sect, but the famous Jin GuangShan?
“Another offspring of his? I’m not surprised that he has another one, i can’t even keep count
with how many of those poor women he fooled…” Madame Jin muttered to herself, as she
pitied the poor women that had fallen for her ‘husband’, knowing that they were just being
played with their feelings.

Jin Guanghan stayed silent to the knowing stares directed at him.

Jin GuangShan was the last leader of the LanlingJin Sect, having already passed away.
On the topic of this man, one sentence could not tell the whole story. He had a fierce wife
from a prominent family and, in fact, he was known for being scared of her. However, even
if he was scared, it never stopped him from going to other women. No matter how fierce
Madame Jin was, it was impossible for her to follow him twenty-four hours a day.
Therefore, from ladies of distinguished statuses, to prostitutes in rural areas, if he could
get his hands on one, he wouldn’t miss the chance. And, although he enjoyed casual
relationships and flirted everywhere, having an uncountable amount of illegitimate
children, it was extremely easy for him to get bored.

“I see that he is interested in extramarital relationships, but it is no surprise from a person like
him.” Madam Yu thought in her mind, sighing right after.

“He had another child outside of his sect? I’m not so surprised at all too, honestly. The
peacock and his mother must be really used to this by now…” Wei Wuxian whispered the
words to Nie Huaisang, and he just nodded his head in absolute agreement, Jin Guangshan
was really a bastard no matter what.

“Right! I heard that after he gets those poor women pregnant, he just leaves them! Ugh, what
a horrible person, i can’t believe people like him even exist! I can’t help but feel bad for
Madame Jin… isn’t he just so awful, Wei-Xiong?” Wei Wuxian nodded back.

A lot seemed to notice the line ‘Jin Guangshan was the last leader of the LanlingJin Sect’, in
which meant, that Jin Zixuan was then the Sect Leader of Lanling 13 years later?
After he grew tired from a woman, he would forget about her completely, without any
responsibility or whatsoever. Among all of his illegitimate children, there was only one who
proved to be exceptionally talented and ended up being taken back—the current leader of
the LanlingJin Sect, Jin GuangYao. Moreover, Jin GuangShan didn’t die honorably either.
He believed that he was old but vigorous, and wanted to challenge himself, fooling around
with a group of women. However, unfortunately, he failed and passed away during the act.
This was too humiliating, and so, the LanlingJin Sect told the public that the old leader
died from overworking himself. All of the other clans decided to keep silent about the
matter and pretended that they didn’t know anything. Anyways, those were the real reasons
behind his “fame.”

People could not believe their ears, he died… like that? Not even Wen Ruohan dared to make
a single sound, not even slightly, Jin Guangshan died… because he wanted to fool around a
group of women??

“It is no surprise that you still fool around women and prostitutes even at such an age so old,
disgusting.” Madame Jin spoke loudly on purpose during her scolding of Jin Guangshan,
making him be humiliated by many people in the room hearing it.

“D-Daiyu..” Jin Guangshan said meekly.

“Wait- did that just say that the peacock wasn’t the current sect leader, but instead, some
other Jin instead was the sect leader?” Wei Wuxian pointed it out, was it just a mere mistake
with the name? But it couldn’t be, how could it even have been like that? How could they
mistake the name… his name was Jin Zixuan, whilst the one in the video said Jin Guangyao.

“But how could that be? Aren’t i the one in line to be the next sect leader after father? Who
even is Jin Guangyao and why is he the sect leader instead of me?” Something was odd, Jin
Zixuan was definitely known to be as the heir to the LanlingJin sect, but in the video… it
shows that somebody else is the sect leader instead of him. Did his father get bored of him
and make one of his illegitimate sons from a different woman the new heir?

Madame Jin couldn’t believe it either, it didn’t seem as believable even if it was the future,
just what did Jin Guangshan just do in the future that Jin Zixuan was no longer the heir of the
sect? ‘This bastard, Jin Guangshan…!!’ Madame Jin thought in anger.

During the siege in Luanzang Hill, aside from Jiang Cheng, Jin GuangShan was the
second-greatest contributor. And now, Wei WuXian had taken over the body of his own
illegitimate son. He really didn’t know if they were even with each other.

“Wait- wait, then hypothetically, me and the peacock are half-siblings now that i’m in the
body of his half-sibling in the future?!” He, Wei Wuxian, did not want to believe that he
would be half-siblings hypothetically in the future with the peacock.

“I don’t think I want to siblings with you either…” grumbled the Jin heir, having Wei Wuxian
as a sibling… it would probably drive Jin Zixuan insane.

Seeing that he was spacing out, the boy grew even more annoyed, “Get out of here! It’s
disgusting just looking at you, you damn gay!”

“oh my…” said Jiang Yanli.

“Hmph, a disciple of the LanlingJin Sect but is very arrogant and does not think about their
words twice before saying it out loud especially to a senior? Has he not learned any proper
manners and respect from his sect?” Lan Qiren felt to be offended by the disciple’s attitude
and behavior, first off, the disciple had set up spirit nets around the mountain and had caught
a few people but did not release them as he was annoyed catching them instead of prey? How
immature.

“I hate to agree though they belong to the rightful sect of LanlingJin, their behavior is quite
different from the other Jin’s as we do teach them proper manners and respect for people, this
one seems to beg to differ. I am curious as to why..” Madame Jin agreed with Lan Qiren, but
they did not have enough context as to why such a disciple like the Jin shown in the video
turned out to be like that way, so there was no reason to hate.

In terms of his generation, it was highly possible of Mo XuanYu to be an elder to the boy,
maybe an uncle. After being humiliated by a junior like this, Wei WuXian thought that,
even if not for his own sake, he needed to return the humiliation for Mo XuanYu’s body,
“What an attitude! I suppose that you didn’t have a mother to teach you?”

Hearing his words, two raging flames sparked in the boy’s eyes. He unsheathed the sword
on his back and threatened, “What... Did you say?”

“He seems to be sensitive when his parents are mentioned, i wonder who his parents are?”
Jiang Yanli wondered, and continued to watch the video and waited to be shown as to who it
was.

The blade of the sword shone a golden light. It was a rare sword of high quality—most
clans probably couldn’t get a small piece of it even if they spent their whole lives saving for
it. Wei WuXian examined it attentively, somehow thinking that the sword seemed familiar
to him. Then again, he had seen his share of gold, top-notch swords. He didn’t think too
much about it and began to spin a tiny cloth bag that he held in his hand.

It was a makeshift “spirit-locking bag” that he had created a few days ago, using the
scraps and pieces of things. As the boy wielded the sword and came toward him, he fished
a piece of human-shaped paper out of the spirit-locking bag. He shifted to the side,
avoiding the attack, and slapped the paper onto his opponent’s back.
The boy’s movements were already fast, but Wei WuXian had done a lot of “tripping
someone while slapping a talisman onto their back”, which meant that he was faster. The
boy suddenly felt his torso become numb, his back weakening, and he unwillingly
collapsed onto the ground, with his sword also falling to the side with a clunk. He couldn’t
get up no matter how hard he tried, as if a mountain was on top of him. On his back, there
was a ghost who had died from gluttony, crushing him to the point that he couldn’t even
breathe.

Although the ghost was weak, it was completely capable of dealing with brats like this one.
Wei WuXian picked up his sword, weighed it in his hands, and swung toward the direction
of the deity-binding net, splitting it in half.

The family fell to the ground in an awkward way, but they sprinted off without saying
anything. The round-faced girl seemed as if she wanted to thank him, but she was pulled
away by an elder, who was scared that Young Master Jin would hate them even more. The
boy on the ground was fuming, “You damn gay! Good for you, taking this sort of wrong
path because you didn’t have enough spiritual powers to do anything! Watch out for your
life! Do you know who came today? Today, I...”

Although the cultivation method that he used in the past was often criticized and, in the
long term, it harmed the cultivator’s health, it could be mastered quickly. It was also
especially attractive because there were no limitations as to the cultivator’s spiritual powers
or talent, making it so that there were always people who secretly practiced it to find a
shortcut. The boy presumed that, after being chased from the LanlingJin Sect, Mo XuanYu
had chosen the dishonorable path, which was a reasonable conclusion to draw, saving Wei
WuXian from a lot of unnecessary trouble.

The boy pushed on the ground, but couldn’t get up even after a few tries. His face was
scarlet and he gritted his teeth, “If you don’t stop, I’m gonna tell my uncle, and you’re
gonna wait for your death!”
Wei WuXian wondered, “Why is it your uncle, not your dad? Who’s your uncle, again?”

A voice suddenly came from behind him, a mixture of being bitter and cold.

“I am his uncle. Do you have any last words?”

“That voice is oddly familiar—!” Wei Wuxian said, Nie Huaisang nodded as he also felt that
the voice was quite familiar to him too, but it seems that the person will be revealed the net
second or so anyways.

Hearing the voice, all of the blood from Wei WuXian’s body traveled to his head, and
drained away a moment later. The good thing was that his face was already a pile of white,
so a shade whiter wouldn’t make too much of a difference.

A violet-clothed youth approached in confident steps, his jianxiu robe flowing smoothly
and his hand pressing on the hilt of his sword. A silver bell hung by his waist, although it
made no sound as he walked.

The young man had thin brows and almond eyes. His features were handsome in a sharp
way, and his eyes held a composed vigor, with a slight intention of attack, appearing to be
two bolts of lightning as he stared. He stood ten steps away from Wei WuXian, his
expression resembling a honed arrow on the bow, ready to be released at any moment.
Even his posture emitted an air of arrogance and overconfidence.

He frowned, “Jin Ling, why did you linger for so long? Do you really need me to come and
pick you up? Look at what a terrible situation you’re in right now, and get up!”
After the initial numbing of his head, Wei WuXian quickly realized what was going on. He
curled a finger inside his sleeve and made the piece of paper retreat. Jin Ling felt his back
lighten and immediately rolled up, grabbing his sword in the process. He shifted near
Jiang Cheng and pointed at Wei WuXian accusingly, “I’m gonna break your legs!”

“this is… he has a similar personality to Jiang Cheng…. Who could this child be?” Wei
Wuxian muttered.

With the pair of uncle and nephew standing beside each other, it was clear that they shared
a close resemblance, probably able to pass for brothers. Jiang Cheng moved his finger, and
the paper doll swiftly flew out of Wei WuXian’s hand and into his own. After taking one
look at it, hostility came over his face. He pressured his fingers, and the paper was ignited,
burning to dust with the screams of dark spirits.

“UNCLE AND NEPHEW???? DON’T TELL ME… THAT BOY IS SHIJIE’S SON???” Wei
Wuxian shouted in realization, abruptly standing up from his seat. Startling Nie Huaisang,
who sat beside him.

“I’ I’ts possible…. The boy looks an awful lot like a-Li..” Jiang Fengmian said, and Jiang
Yanli and Jin Zixuan both froze in shock, could this boy be… their son??

Jiang Cheng spoke grimly, “Break his legs?

“what… what am I doing?” the younger Jiang Cheng said in horror.

“why are you so… I don’t know!!!” Nie Huaisang exclaimed.

Haven’t I told you? If you see this sort of evil and crooked practice, kill the cultivator and
feed him to your dogs!”

“d-dog?” the Yunmeng Head disciple yelped is horror at the word ‘dog’, it was not well
known that he is terrified of dogs, only a select few knowing.

“why would I give my nephew a dog?” Jiang Cheng raised his eyebrow at his future self’s
words, he vowed to never get a dog again years ago..

“what’s wrong with dogs?” huffed Jin Zixuan, confused at why the two seemed to be against
the idea of dogs. He has a lot of dogs back at LanLing, and their harmless!

Wei WuXian couldn’t even attempt to grab his donkey, backing away at rapid speed. He
thought that, after so many years, no matter how much hatred Jiang Cheng had held for
him, it would have disappeared long ago. He didn’t expect that, not only did it not
disappear, it became richer, as if it was a jar of aged alcohol. At the present time, his hatred
had grown to affect even people who cultivated like him!

“just… I know Wei Wuxian has a reason for using demonic cultivation, why would I hate and
torture people who uses the same methos as he? Jiang Cheng said, and Wei Wuxian could
feel his heart melt.

With someone backing him up, Jin Ling’s attacks became more aggressive. Wei WuXian
slid two fingers into the spirit-locking bag, about to take something out, when suddenly, the
blue glare of a sword slashed out like lightning. It collided with Jin Ling’s sword, breaking
the powerful sword’s golden rays in an instant.

“wait a damn minute.”

“Zixuan! Sit down!” Madam Jin scolded, pulling on her son’s hand to sit him back down.

“whats got you in a twist?” the Nie heir asked.

“that boy is holding my sword! SuiHua!” he pointed at the screen accusingly, Madam Jin
looked back at the paused screen and to see—it was indeed her son’s sword, how could she
not have noticed her own son’s sword???!!

Lan Xichen widened his eyes in realization, his brother beside him seemed to understand as
well.

“then….. Jin Ling seemed sensitive to the topic of his parents… and he has Jin-gongzi’s
sword… does that mean—”

“he’s dead.” Jiang Cheng breathed out.

Just on cue, Jiang Yanli broke into tears, she fell on the ground weeping. She was choking on
her own sobs, as her brothers tried desperately to comfort her and sit her back. But nothing
worked, she could not bear the thought of her and Jin Zixuan dying—then leaving their own
son behind.

“J-Jiang-guniang.. i-“ Jin Zixuan was holding back tears as well, he approached his crying
fiancée and hugged her tightly.

Madam Jin was frozen in shock, was that why in the future, her husband brought in an
illegitimate son?! Her a-Xuan has died in the future… and her lousy husband didn’t seem to
give a damn! He was just fanning himself while looking as calm as ever, then, Madam Jin
pounced on him.

“you little bitch! Our son will die, yet you don’t care?!” Madam Jin held the man up by his
collar, seething in anger.
“D-Daiyu.. it’s not like that! I am upset—”

“stop lying!’ she sobbed, punching her husband.

“M-madam.. lets calm down… we still have a lot to watch..”

Madam Jin sat back down, with a face full of anger, and her husband sitting shamefully with
a red spot on his cheek where Madam Jin punched him.

It wasn’t because of the quality of the swords, but rather the great disparity in the strengths
of the persons using the swords. Wei WuXian had originally calculated the timing, but his
movements were suddenly interrupted by the sword’s glare, causing him to trip. He fell
toward the ground, right on top of a pair of snow-white boots. After pausing for a moment,
he slowly lifted his head.

What first came into his sight was a long, slender blade, crystalline and translucent, as if it
was made of ice.

In the cultivation world, this sword was one of the most famous ones. Wei WuXian had
experienced its powers countless times, including both battles fought beside it and against
it. The hilt of the sword was forged from pure silver that had been refined with secret
techniques. The blade of the sword was extremely thin, almost transparent, sending forth
the cold breaths of ice and snow. However, at the same time, it could cut through iron like
cutting through mud. This was why, although the sword looked light, as if it could fly away
any instant, it was actually quite heavy, unable to be wielded by the average person.
Its name was “Bichen.”

“My spiritual sword?” Lan Wangji tilted his head in confusion.

The blade turned, and the clank of the sword being inserted back inside the scabbard
sounded from above Wei WuXian. At the same time, Jiang Cheng’s voice came from afar,
“And I was wondering who it was. So, it is you, Second Young Master Lan.”

“Hey, Wei-Xiong, wherever you go in the future, Second Master Lan is always tagged along,
it’s kind of strange, don’t you think?” Nie Huaisang quietly whispered to his friend beside
him.

“Well, i think it’s just a coincidence, i mean, it’s not like he’ll be with me or will follow me
around whenever i’m there!” He whispered back.

The pair of white boots passed around Wei WuXian and calmly walked three steps forward.
Wei WuXian raised his head and got up. As he walked past the former, slightly brushing
their shoulders, he made eye contact with him for a short moment, pretending that it was
unintentional.

He had an aura of smooth moonlight. The seven-stringed zither that he carried on his back
was narrower than most. Its body was black, made using wood of soft color.

The man wore a forehead ribbon with cloud patterns. His skin was fair, features both
refined and elegant, as if he was a piece of polished jade. The color of his eyes was
especially light, like they were made of colored glass, causing his gaze to be overly distant.
His expression held the traces of frost and snow, stern to the degree of being stiff,
unwavering even as he saw Wei WuXian’s ridiculous face.

There wasn’t a single spec of dust or wrinkled spot on him, from his head to his feet. It was
impossible to find any fault with his appearance. Even so, two capitalized words jumped
into Wei WuXian’s mind.

Mourning clothes!

“Mourning clothes?” he was curious, then remembering that Wei Ying thought of his sect’s
robes as mourning clothes.

Mourning clothes, indeed. Although all of the clans in the cultivation world used
extravagant words to describe the GusuLan Sect’s uniform as the best looking uniform,
and Lan WangJi as a an incomparable beauty who only appeared once in a blue moon,
nothing could help his bitter facial expression, as if his wife had passed away.

In an unlucky year, enemies would often find their paths to cross; good news always
traveled alone, but one disaster always followed the next... Thus, the situation right now.

Lan WangJi was silent, staring straight ahead, standing motionlessly in front of Jiang
Cheng. Jiang Cheng was already exceptionally handsome, but as they stood face to face
with each other, he still seemed a few degrees inferior. He raised one brow and spoke,
“HanGuang-Jun, you sure live up to your reputation of ‘being wherever the chaos is’. So,
you had time to come to this remote area today?”
Powerful cultivators from prominent clans usually didn’t care to pay attention to lower
level preys. However, Lan WangJi was an exception. He never cared for the prey of a
night-hunt, and wouldn’t refuse to go just because the creature was not threatening
enough to increase his fame. If anyone wanted help, he would be there. He had been like
this ever since he was young.

“you’ve grown, Wangji..” his brother patted him lightly on the back, receiving a nod from
Lan Wangji.

“Being wherever the chaos is” was the comment that the public gave him for his night-
hunts and, also, praise for his moral character. Right now, Jiang Cheng really didn’t seem
too polite as he said the words in such a tone. Even the juniors who came following Lan
WangJi didn’t seem comfortable hearing it.

Wei Wuxian always knew his shidi didn’t particularly like Lan Zhan, but to be so blatantly
rude to him like this… it felt wrong, it seems like their views of one another worsened as
they grew up.

Lan JingYi spoke straightforwardly, “Isn’t Sect Leader Jiang here as well?”

“oh- it’s that disciple from Mo manor!” Nie Huaisang said proudly.

Jiang Cheng replied grimly, “Tsk, do you really think that you should butt in when your
seniors are conversing? The GusuLan Sect has always been known for its respectful
conduct. Is this really how it teaches its disciples?”

Lan WangJi seemed as if he didn’t want to engage in conversation, throwing Lan SiZhui a
look. The latter understood and told the juniors to speak among themselves.
Afterward, he spoke toward Jin Ling, “Young Master Jin, night-hunts have always been
fair competitions amongst the different clans and sects. However, to set up nets all over
Dafan Mountain is clearly hindering the cultivators, causing them to fall into the traps. Is
this or is this not against the rules of night-hunting?”

Jin Ling’s grim expression was exactly the same as his uncle’s, “What can I do? It was
their own fault for stepping into the traps. I’ll solve everything after I finish capturing the
prey.”

“Their fault for stepping into the traps? He set up 400 deity binding nets, he should’ve
expected that people would step on them without knowing it was even there.” Jiang Cheng
scoffed.

Lan WangJi frowned. Jin Ling was about to speak again, but he suddenly realized that,
shockingly, he could neither open his mouth nor make any sounds. Seeing that Jin Ling’s
upper and lower lips became inseparable, as if they were glued together, anger appeared on
Jiang Cheng’s face. The sloppy manners that he upheld before this were all gotten rid of,
“You, with the Lan surname! What do you mean by this? It’s not your turn to discipline
Jin Ling yet, so release the spell, now!”

“wow, ChengCheng, your so bratty..” murmured Wei Wuxian, receiving a smack at the head
by his brother.

The silence spell was used by the Lan Sect to reprimand its disciples. Wei WuXian had
suffered a ton from this little trick.
“how so? Wei-gongzi?” Lan Xichen asked curiously.

“Second master Lan used it on me when I talk to much in the library pavilion!” he laughed.

Although it wasn’t anything too complicated or obscure, only people of the Lan Clan
could release the spell. If one wanted to forcibly speak, it would result in either their lips
being ripped bloody or a hoarse throat for a couple of days. The only solution was to stay
silent and reflect upon the wrongdoings, until the time limit of the punishment was over.
Lan SiZhui spoke, “Sect Leader Jiang, there is no need for anger. As long as he does not
break the spell forcefully, it would release on its own, after thirty minutes.”

Before Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to speak, a purple-clothed man in the Jiang Sect’s
uniform ran toward them from within the forest.

He shouted, “Sect Leader!”

However, after seeing Lan WangJi’s presence, he hesitated. Jiang Cheng spoke satirically,
“Talk. Is there more bad news?”

The man spoke in a low voice, “Not long ago, a blue sword flew over and destroyed the
deity-binding nets that you had set up.”

“well, there goes a bunch of money wasted…”

Jiang Cheng glanced at Lan WangJi harshly, his displease plastered all over his face,
“How many were broken?”
The man replied carefully, “... All of them...”

That’s more than four hundred!

Jiang Cheng seethed with anger.

He didn’t expect the journey to be this unlucky. Originally, he came to help Jin Ling out.
Jin Ling would be turning fifteen this year, the age of which he should already be making
his debut and starting to compete with the juniors of other clans. Jiang Cheng considered
the decision carefully before choosing Dafan Mountain as the location of the hunt. He
also set up nets everywhere and threatened the cultivators of other clans, showing them the
consequences so that they would retreat, in order to let Jin Ling take the top prize without
anyone fighting against him.

Although four hundred deity-binding nets were a whopping price, it wasn’t too much for
the YunmengJiang Sect. Nonetheless, losing the nets were a small matter, but losing face
was not. With Lan WangJi’s actions, Jiang Cheng felt a whirlpool of anger at the bottom of
his heart, rising higher by every second. He narrowed his eyes, his left hand casually
stroking the ring on his right hand’s index finger.

This was a dangerous sign.

Everyone knew that the ring was a menacing, strong magical weapon. Whenever Clan
Leader Jiang started touching it, it meant that he had the intent to kill.
“Zidian? Why does a-Cheng have Zidian?” Yu Ziyuan asked, did she pass on Zidian to a-
cheng?

“yea… why do I have mother’s Zidian?”

However, after stroking it for a while, Jiang Cheng compelled himself to restrain his
hostility.

Although he was displeased, as the leader of a sect, he needed to take more things into
consideration, which meant that he couldn’t be as impulsive as Jin Ling. After the fall of
the QingheNie Sect,

“the fall of MY sect? what?!” bellowed Nie Mingjue, he found it impossible that QingheNie
would fall under his leadership.

Lan Xichen hummed in agreement, “I agree, Mingjue is a strong leader, why would
QingheNie fall?”

among the Three Great Sects, the LanlingJin Sect and the GusuLan Sect were quite close
due to the personal relationship between the two leaders. By leading the YunmengJiang
Sect alone, he was already in an isolated situation among the three. HanGuang-Jun, or
Lan WangJi, was quite a prestigious cultivator, while his elder brother ZeWu-Jun, or Lan
XiChen, was the leader of the GusuLan Sect. The two brothers had always been on good
terms with each other. It was best to not openly dispute with Lan WangJi.

Also, Jiang Cheng’s sword, “Sandu,” had never made actual contact with Lan WangJi’s
sword, “Bichen,” and it was not yet decidable whose hands would the deer die on.
Although he owned the powerful ring, “Zidian,” a family heirloom of his, Lan WangJi’s
zither, “Wangji“, was also known for its abilities. The thing that Jiang Cheng hated the
most was to be disadvantageous during a fight. Without complete confidence in his
success, he would not consider fighting with Lan WangJi.

Jiang Cheng slowly took away his left hand, ceasing to stroke his ring. It seemed as if Lan
WangJi was determined to take part in this matter, so it wouldn’t help if he continued to
play the antagonist. Jiang Cheng made the decision to, for the time being, owe him a
favour, and turned around to see Jin Ling still covering his mouth angrily, “HanGuang-
Jun wants to punish you, so just let him do it for this one time. It’s not easy for him, either,
to discipline juniors from other clans.”

“wow, even Jiang Cheng knows not to mess with Lan Zhan, just how scary is he!” Wei
Wuxian stated, and the others could not help but agree.

His tone was sarcastic, but it wasn’t clear who he was mocking. Lan WangJi never fought
to win his way with words, and looked as if he didn’t hear anything. Jiang Cheng turned
again, his words covered with thorns, “Why are you still standing there? Waiting for the
prey to come and throw itself onto your sword? If, today, you don’t catch the creature
hunting Dafan Mountain, don’t come to me ever again!”

“a-Cheng…. Don’t be too hard on Jin Ling.. he is only 14.” Jiang Yanli lightly scolded,
wiping her tears away with a handkerchief.

“yes a-jie..”

Jin Ling threw Wei WuXian a tough look, but was too scared to look at Lan WangJi, the
person who had silenced him. He put his sword back into its scabbard, saluted the two
seniors, and retreated with the bow in his hand. Lan SiZhui spoke, “Sect Leader Jiang, the
GusuLan Sect will return the exact number of spirit-binding nets that had been destroyed.”
Gosh, Lan Qiren feels like a huge weight got lifted off of him when this disciple comes on
screen, the boy was like a mixture of Wangji and Xichen, quiet, respectful, and mature.

Jiang Cheng sneered, “No need.” He chose the opposite direction and walked down
calmly. The man who had come from the forest followed behind him, pulling a long face
because he knew that it’d be impossible to escape a lecture when he returned.

After their figures disappeared, Lan JingYi spoke, “How could the Sect Leader Jiang act
like this?” Only afterward, did he remember the Lan Clan’s rule of not talking behind
others’ backs.

“this child…” Lan Qiren sighed heavily.

He looked meekly at HanGuang-Jun and shut his mouth. Lan SiZhui smiled softly toward
Wei WuXian, “Young Master Mo, we meet again.”

As Wei WuXian pulled the corners of his mouth, Lan WangJi spoke again, “Do your
tasks.” The command was simplistic and clear, without any fancy vocabulary for
decoration.

The juniors finally remembered the reason behind why they came to Dafan Mountain.
They gathered their thoughts and respectfully waited for further instructions. After a
moment, Lan WangJi spoke again, “Do what you can. Don’t force anything.”

The voice was deep and alluring. If one was too near, the tip of their heart would tremble.
The juniors replied mannerly, afraid to linger for too long, and walked into the depths of
the forest. Wei WuXian thought that, undeniably, Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan were
extremely different from each other. Even their advice for juniors were the complete
opposite. While thinking, he suddenly saw Lan WangJi give an almost unnoticeable nod to
him. He was quite surprised.

‘why is Wei Ying surprised I acknowledged him?’ he tilted his head in confusion, then
remembering that he practically ignores Wei Ying’s existence when their together.

Ever since a young age, Lan WangJi had been so prim and proper that it was painful to
watch. He had always been solemn and stiff, as if he had never been lively before. He
couldn’t let a single grain of sand appear in his eyes, which was why he had never
approved of Wei WuXian cultivating the dark path. Lan SiZhui had probably informed Lan
WangJi of his suspicious behaviour in Mo Village already. Even so, he had nodded in
acknowledgement, probably thanking him for helping out the juniors from the Lan Sect.
Without thinking, Wei WuXian immediately returned a salute. When he looked up again,
Lan WangJi had already disappeared.

After pausing for a second, he turned around to travel down the mountain.

No matter what prey haunted Dafan Mountain, he couldn’t take it. Wei WuXian could
fight for it against anyone, except for Jin Ling.

Why did it turn out to be Jin Ling?

Jiang Yanli sighed, understanding her little brother’s pain, but she did blame him- a-Xian
never knew, that’s all.

With so many disciples in the Jin Sect, he really didn’t expect that the person he met
happened to be Jin Ling. If he knew, he definitely wouldn’t mock Jin Ling for “having no
mother to teach him.” If someone else had said the same words to Jin Ling, he would teach
them about what it means to bring misfortune upon oneself with careless talk. Yet, the
person who had said so turned out to be himself.
“a-Xian, it’s not your fault…” she spoke softly, and her brother nodded sagely.

Yu Ziyuan huffed, “not his fault? He brought up how Jin Ling has no mother, quite
disrespectful isn’t it?” she smirked in what seemed like victory, before Lan Qiren sighed
heavily, and parted his lips.

“Yu Ziyuan, you berate Wei Wuxian for pointing out that Jin Ling has no mother, have you
forgotten that you do the same? But worse?” after what Lan Qiren just said, the air felt tense,
most knew what Lan Qiren was talking about.

Yu Ziyuan sputtered, “I have done no such thing-“

“have you forgotten about your rude words of Cangse Sanren?” Lan Qiren snapped, his two
nephews beside him widened their eyes in shock, having not seen this side of their uncle in a
long time. But they stayed silent, it was only once in a decade that their uncle lashes out, and
when he does—it’s like multiple slaps on the face.

“That whore?” she huffed indignantly, rolling her eyes.

“see? You speak ill of her.” Lan Qiren said calmly.

“My Lady, please, calm down alr-“

“im not finished, Fengmian!” she screeched.

“Cangse Sanren leeched onto my husband, she deserves to be called a whore!” she slapped
her hand on her chest, as her lips parted with an angry expression. But, Lan Qiren stayed
perfectly calm.
“and, that brat Wei Ying! Is it my fault he was raised with no mother?! He’s just an
illegitimate son of Fengmian!” and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“do you even know what YOU’RE saying about my mother?” growled Wei Wuxian, his lips
were bleeding, turns out he’d been biting his lips to contain anger.

“who are you speak to me like th-“

“I am the son of a servant, the son of Wei Changze! but I am also the son of Cangse Sanren,
the disciple of the immortal Baoshan Sanren. My parents loved each other, not like you and
your husband! Are you so jealous of my mother because she ACTUALLY has someone to
love her?!” he said in one breath, huffing and puffing when he stopped talking, clutching his
chest In anger.

“you stupid bitch! How dare you? I am the madam of the renowned Jiang sect of Yunmeng!
The wife of a sect leader-“ she raised her hand to slap Wei Wuxian, who was standing in front
of her, merely a few steps away.

“mother don’t-“ Jiang Yanli called out in horror, she begged for someone to do something as
she could not, she’s too slow- too weak- and she has no energy right now.

Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng stood up quickly and dashed to Wei Wuxian’s side, who was
unmoving. Jiang Cheng shielded Wei Wuxian, while Lan Wangji grabbed Yu Ziyuan’s hand
in the air.

Yu Ziyuan tried to break out of the grip, but the Lan sect was not known for their arm
strength for no reason, afterall.

“Yu Ziyuan, Wei Wuxian is not the son of Jiang Fengmian, I know, because I witnessed Wei
Wuxian’s birth myself.” Lan Qiren said, unmoving from his seat, as his eldest nephew sat
beside him with worry printed on his fair face.
“i- what?” Wei Wuxian froze, old man Lan witnessed his birth?

“I was not necessarily friends with your parents, Wei Ying, but I knew your mother. I was
with them on a nighthunt just minutes before Cangse went into labor, and guess what. You
came out looking like your mother, but also like your father. You had the same eye color as
him- the same nose- that!” Lan Qiren said, dismissing all the rumors of Wei Wuxian being a
bastard child.

Wei Wuxian sighed in relief, and Madam Yu reluctantly put her hand back down, walking
back to her assigned seat still with an angered face.

Lan Wangji let go of her hand and checked Wei Wuxian for any injuries for a moment, before
returning to his seat.

After standing still for a moment, Wei WuXian raised his hand and gave himself a slap on
the face.

Jiang Yanli can’t bear to watch her beloved younger brother hurt himself, it just breaks her
heart.

The slap was both loud and hard, causing his right cheek to sting. Suddenly, shuffling
sounds came from a thicket on the side, and Wei WuXian saw a donkey emerge from
within. As he dropped his hand, the donkey actually approached on its own, unlike other
times. Wei WuXian pulled on its long ears and forced a smile, “You wanted to save the
damsel in distress, but asked me to be the hero to the rescue.”
The donkey whined, just as a wave of cultivators approached from the bottom of the hill.
After the four-hundred-or-so spirit-binding nets were destroyed by Lan WangJi’s sword,
the hesitant cultivators in Buddha’s Feet all rushed up again. Everyone here was probably
Jin Ling’s opponent. Wei WuXian considered for a moment, about whether or not to make
them retreat again with force. But, after thinking about it, he ended up silently walking out
of the way, letting them pass.

The disciples from different sects, wearing differently colored uniforms, complained as
they walked, “Both the Jin Sect and the Jiang Sect spoil Young Master Jin too much. He’s
still so young, but he’s already this arrogant and rude. If they let him have the LanlingJin
Sect, who knows what chaos would happen? I don’t think we’d even survive.”

Wei WuXian slowed his pace.

A soft-hearted female cultivator sighed, “How can they not spoil him? He lost both his
parents at such a young age.”

Both said parents sucked in a sharp breath.

“Shimei, that’s not how it works. So what, if both his parents died? There are tons who lost
both of their parents. If everyone acted like him, then what would happen?”

“I’m surprised that Wei WuXian was cruel enough to harm her. Jin Ling’s mother was
Jiang Cheng’s elder sister from birth—the shijie who brought him up.”

“It really was too bad for Jiang YanLi, bringing up a wolf that bites the owner’s hand. Jin
ZiXuan had it even worse. Just because he had something to do with Wei WuXian, he
ended up like that.”
Jin Zixuan raised an eyebrow, “what do they mean by that?”

“Why does Wei WuXian have something to do with everyone...”

“Indeed. Have you heard him being close with anyone other than the mad dogs that he
raised? His enemies were everywhere, and he did wrong to everyone. Even with
HanGuang-Jun, they were like fire and water, hating each other.”

“I do not hate Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji said after what the women on the screen said.

“i-what?”

“Speaking of it, today, if it wasn’t for HanGuang-Jun...”

After walking for a while, the gurgling sounds of a running stream came into Wei
WuXian’s ears.

“ew, what the fuck! That sounds terrible!” exclaimed Jiang Cheng, and Nie HUaisang
hummed in agreement

He didn’t hear this when he came up. Wei WuXian finally realized that he walked the
wrong path down the mountain, and onto another one that forked off.

Holding the reign of the donkey, he stood beside the running water. The moon could be
seen high in the sky. With no branches or leaves on the banks of the stream, fragments of
white reflected over the surface. In the reflection, Wei WuXian saw a face, ever-changing
from the flow of the water.

He slammed his palm into the water, dissolving the ridiculous features. He lifted his
dripping wet palms and wiped away the powder on his face.

A handsome, graceful youth appeared in the reflections of the water. He looked as pure as
if he had been cleansed by moonlight, with smooth brows, bright eyes, and lips curving
slightly upward. Yet, as he lowered his head to stare at himself, the drops of water hanging
from his lashes rolled off, as if they were drops of tears.

“oh- that’s how Mo-gongzi looks? He’s got quite the charming face.” Lan Xichen stated,
mesmerized by Mo Xuanyu’s beauty.

It was a young and unfamiliar face, not the YiLing Patriarch who had overturned the
world and killed thousands—Wei WuXian.

‘hmm it’s been mentioned many times he’s killed thousands, I wonder why..’ Wen Ruohan
though, and Wen Ning felt another shiver.

After taking a few more looks at this face, Wei WuXian wiped his face again and rubbed
his eyes. He sat beside the stream with a thud.

It wasn’t as if he couldn’t withstand the words of attack. After all, back when he made the
decision, he fully understood the situations that he had to face. Ever since then, he had
reminded himself of the YunmengJiang Sect’s motto—do it even if it was impossible.

However, although he thought that his heart was like a stone, in the end, he was still
human, not some emotionless grass or plant.
The donkey seemed as if it knew that he wasn’t in a great mood, and for once, it wasn’t
being loud out of impatience. A moment of silence passed, and it turned around to leave.
Wei WuXian sat by the stream, not responding at all. It turned around to look, throwing its
hooves onto the ground, but Wei WuXian still paid no attention to it. The donkey had to
come back sulkily, biting and tugging on the corner of Wei WuXian’s collar.

“what’s wrong with the damn donkey?” Jiang said muttered.

“is it getting irritated by something?” replied Nie Huaisang.

He could choose to go, and he could choose to not go. Seeing that the donkey had went as
far as to use his mouth, Wei WuXian decided to follow him. The donkey took him to a few
trees and circled around an area of grass. In the grass, there lay a qiankun bag, with a
ragged golden net hanging above it. It probably fell off as an unlucky cultivator struggled
their way out. Wei WuXian picked up the bag and opened it. There were quite a few items
in it, such as gourds of medicinal liquor, talismans, miniature demon-reflecting mirrors,
and so on.

He fished around for some time and happened to pull out a talisman. Immediately, a ball
of fire appeared in his hand.

“holy shi-“

“Huaisang, Languange.”

The burning item was an gloom-burning talisman, which, like its name, used dark energy
as fuel. It would burn automatically if it made contact with dark energy. The more energy
there was, the stronger the flame was. It lit up as soon as it was taken out, meaning that
there was a spirit not far away from Wei WuXian.
“is that another of his creations?” asked Jiang Cheng.

“most likely.”

Seeing the light of the fire, Wei WuXian held it to detect the spirit’s direction, watching
attentively. When he turned to the east, the fire weakened; when he turned to the west, the
fire suddenly intensified. He walked a few steps toward the direction, and saw a white,
stooping figure appear under a tree.

The talisman had finished burning, and the ashes fell from his fingertips. An old man was
sitting with his back to him, speaking in faint murmurs

“is this man like a-Yan? He lost his soul?”

Wei WuXian slowly approached. The words that the old man murmured became clear.

“It hurts, it hurts.”

Wei WuXian asked, “Where does it hurt?”

The old man answered, “Head. My head.”

Wei WuXian replied, “Let me take a look at it.”

He walked a few steps to the side of the old man, and saw a bloodied, large hole on his
forehead. This was a ghost, probably killed with a weapon which was smashed onto his
head. He was dressed in a burial robe made with fine material and craftsmanship,
meaning that he had already been en-coffined and buried properly. This wasn’t the soul
that a living human had lost.

“OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK-“ Nie Huaisang screeched, before running to Wei
Wuxian, hiding his face.

However, ghosts like this shouldn’t have appeared on Dafan Mountain.

Wei WuXian did not find an explanation to this implausible scenario. Feeling quite
worried, he jumped onto the donkey’s back, slapped it with a shout, and rode toward the
direction of where Jin Ling came up the mountain.

“what’s happening now?” Nie Mingjue muttered.

Around the area of the ancient tombs, there were a lot of cultivators who wandered
around, in hope of a hare crashing into the tree trunk. Somebody dared to hold a spirit-
attraction flag, but only attracted a bunch of dark spirits who wept despairingly. Wei
WuXian pulled on the reign, scanned around, and asked in a loud, clear voice, “Excuse me
and sorry for the interruption, but where did the young masters from the Jin Clan and the
Lan Clan go?”

Sure enough, after washing his face, people actually acknowledged him. One cultivator
answered, “They left here, for Goddess Temple.”

Wei WuXian spoke, “Goddess Temple?”

The rural clan from back then had sneaked up the mountain again and joined the group of
night-hunters, after hearing that all of the deity-binding nets were destroyed. The middle-
aged man recognized his clothing and the grimacing donkey, realizing that he was lunatic
who’d saved them earlier. He felt quite awkward, and pretended that nothing had
happened. Nonetheless, the round-faced girl showed him the path, “Over there. It’s a
divine temple in a cave on the mountain.”

Wei WuXian inquired again, “Which deity is the temple built for?”

The round-faced girl spoke, “I, I think it’s a natural stone statue of a goddess.”

Wei WuXian nodded, “Thank you.”

“I’ve never heard of a temple like that……” Wen Ruohan muttered.

After the conversation, he immediately ran toward the direction of Goddess Temple.

The sluggard’s marriage, lightning that destroyed coffins, the fiance eaten by wolves, the
father and daughter losing their souls, the extravagant burial clothes... It was as if a string
was being pulled through all of the beads, tying everything into one perfect strand. No
wonder the compasses of evil didn’t pick up anything, and the spirit-attraction flags didn’t
work either. Everyone had underestimated the creature in Dafan Mountain.

“it ended? Aww…” Nie Huaisang sulked.

“let’s just wait for it appear again, a-sang.”

 Arrogance 4
Chapter by reikadust

Chapter Summary

this chapter was late for a week sorry lmao, i just woke up from my coma after getting
swallowed by a crocodile and losing a finger. but other than that im fine >_<

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“it ended? Aww…” Nie Huaisang sulked.

“let’s just wait for it appear again, a-sang.”

***

“when will this thing start again?” Nie Huaisang groaned, obviously bored and frustrated. He
laid down on the couch upside down as he wiggled his legs in the air. Much to Nie Mingjue’s
dismay, the other sighed at his brother’s childish manner.

“Huaisang, put your legs down.” The sect leader sighed, for what was like the hundredth time
already.

Wei Wuxian did not mind his friend’s childish acts, but entertained him. He would’ve been
doing the same position as Nie-Xiong if Madam Yu wasn’t staring at him so intently.
Wen Ruohan was seated on his part of the couch, keeping a straight face, but Wen Ning knew
there was more to that—his uncle, sect leader was definitely up to something. He’s
questioned multiples times why he even is here? No one in this room knows who he is, yet he
knew these people well.

If only JieJie were here, he wouldn’t have to feel like he was walking on eggshells every
breathe he took.

Lan Wangji sat in a lotus-position, having his usual calm demeanor, thought there was a bit of
frustration. He doesn’t know why Wei Ying would have such a future like that, a terrible
death and an obviously terrible mental state. This time, he needs to be by Wei Ying’s side, it
wasn’t too late—Lan Wangji can still protect Wei Ying before it was too late. Maybe he can
hide him away—no, that would be like his father. Uncle and brother wouldn’t like that, and
Wei Ying wouldn’t like that as well.

Wei Ying will be gone soon, and Lan Wangji has to keep him safe.

Beside him, his brother sighed quietly, knowing exactly what was disturbing his didi’s mind,
Lan Xichen had always known of his brother’s little crush for Wei-gongzi and continuously
gave him his full support to pursue the head disciple. But, in the way his brother grew up, it
was nearly impossible for him to fully express his feelings.

“hello.” A voice came from the orb, everyone’s eyes immediately shot to the orb.

Lan Qiren was the first to respond, “what is it?” he asked, stroking his goatee.

“I have decided to add some people in here,” it responded almost immediately, and
everyone’s thoughts instantly went to just who this magical orb had in mind.

“who? If I may ask.” Madam Jin asked, leaning against the soft fabric of the couch. Hugging
her son closer to her. While Jin Zixuan hesitantly held Jiang Yanli’s hand, the two looked at
one another and smiled. Finding out they were going to have a son in the future, it makes
their hearts melt.
The orb paused, before answering: “there are quite a lot, you will see.” It said, before a few
glowing lights scattered across the room, everyone gasped.

six people suddenly appeared before those lights, a few were recognizable, and some were….

“a-Niang?”

Everyone turned to Lan Xichen, who gasped as tears began to form at the corners of his eyes.
Lan Wangji finally realized, the woman wearing Lan robes infront of them.

“Muqin.” Lan Wangji’s voice was shaky, it was almost wrong to see the second jade look and
sound so vulverable.

Madam Lan burst into tears the second she laid her eyes on her sons, they were so grown up
now—she remembers her a-Zhan and a-Huan being so little—now they were big, and strong
men.

“a-Huan, a-Zhan.” She sobbed, and the twin jades immediately rushed towards their mother
in tears, a man walked behind Madam Lan silently. Madam Lan turned her head to the man
behind her, and gasped.

“Lan Qiqiu?”

“Li FeiYue?”

Lan Qiqiu, or better known as Qingheng-jun gasped softly as he saw his dead wife again, Lan
Wangji never would have recognized this man as his father if his mother hadn’t looked at him
so lovingly. It was his father, the one whom he’s only seen, maybe thrice in his life.
“a-Qiu?” Lan Qiren said, before spitting blood at the corners of his lips and fainting.

“a-Ren, oh god..” Lan Qiqiu facepalmed, rushing to his brother and laying him down
comfortably on the couch.

Suddenly,in the background, someone coughed loudly.

“Jingyi! Shut the fuck up!” a boy in Jin robes growled at the Lan who coughed loudly, who
immediately stuck his tongue out at him.

“im sick, dumbass!” he yelled, staring at the Jin boy.

“guys—we gotta stop…” a young boy in Baling Ouyang robes tried to get in between them,
when another Lan boy stopped him. However, this one had longer hair than the other Lan
boy.

“Zizhen, you might get caught up in their fight, don’t. you two, stop bickering or I’ll assign
you punishments.” He spoke sternly, it was like he was a mini Lan Wangji!

The Lan boy stuck his tongue out at the Jin boy again, “see dumbass! Stop being such a
bitch-“

“copy two times” the other scolded.

“unfair-“

Then, Jingyi realized, everyone’s eyes were on him.

“Who are you people?” Jiang Cheng stared at the four random juniors, his eyes immediately
scanned the Jin boy, then his eyes widened as he realized—

“Jin Ling?” Jiang Yanli gaped at the boy with wide eyes, her fiancée did the same action.

“….mom?” Jin Ling stared back at his mother with wide eyes.

“for fucks sake, can we stop the family reunions—I wanna watch the past!” the Ouyang boy
whined, tugging the ‘mini Lan Wangji’s’ sleeve, who sighed.

“Zizhen, be respectful..”

Ouyang Zizhen whined louder, “c’mon, Sizhui! We sent ourselves here to watch the past
right! Right????!!!!!!!!” he said, shaking Lan Sizhui’s shoulders.

“alright! Calm down.” Lan Jingyi hissed at the two, mostly Ouyang Zizhen.

“okay… can you four explain why you are here?” Wei Wuxian said, making the four heads
snap to him.

Ouyang Zizhen squealed like a fangirl, running towards Wei Wuxian and checking his
features out. “woah, Wei-qianbei, you look so fucking handsome!!!!!!!!!” the boy exclaimed,
making Wei Wuxian blush at the compliment.

“u-uh okay, but can you guys introduce yourself?” Wei Wuxian told the four who nodded
immediately, Lan Sizhui was the first to bow.

“I am Lan Yuan, courtesy Sizhui, heir to GusuLan.” He smiled, making the twin jades divert
all of their attention to Lan Sizhui.
Lan Qiqiu smiled, “ oh my, I already have a grandson in the future?” he laughed, and so did
his wife, “child, who are your parents?” the twin jades were eager to know, just—who’s child
this was.

“my father… is Lan Zhan, courtesy Wangji, known as Hanguang-Jun in the near future.”
That revelation had everyone whispering.

“my child?” Lan Wangji asked with confusion, to have a child—it means he’s married to a
woman. Married to a woman, not Wei Ying. That means he slept with a woman—
consummated their marriage—

“a-die, don’t worry.” Lan Sizhui spoke, and smiled towards the younger version of his father.

Lan Sizhui cleared his throat, “I am not your biological child.”

“what?” Nie Huaisang’s jaw dropped, it was like drama was dropping like missiles!

“what?” Lan Wangji had the same reactions.

“a-die, you have only ever loved one person, you married that person, I was originally the
son of someone you knew. But they passed away.” His tone turned sullen, “and you took me
in, at fourteen I was named the heir to Gusu Lan, as they saw me fit for the position of sect
leader.” He explained, and Lan Wangji’s nerves calmed down at each sentence.

“does that mean… im married to—”

“yes, a-die.” Lan Wangji suddenly fainted.

Ouyang Zizhen clapped his together, giggling, “congratulations, Sizhui, you’ve just made
your father faint.”
“is that a first?” Lan Jingyi whispered to Jin Ling, who whispered back, “I think so.”

“why did—Lan Zhan just faint..” Wei Wuxian asked, confused, just why did Lan Zhan faint
at the mention of his future wife?

“well……… da-jiu,” Jin Ling was failing to hide his laughter, before he burst out laughing,
and punching Lan Jingyi’s shoulders. Who’s body shook with laughter.

Wei Wuxian looked at the duo confused, “…did I say something wrong?” looking at them,
turning his head left and right, confused as hell.

Lan Sizhui waved his hands frantically, “o-oh it’s not that—baba-“

Wei Wuxian choked on air, and Jiang Cheng looked stupid at the way his jaw dropped,
“baba?! Who are you calling—dad??!!” he clutched his chest as he coughed.

“WHAT???” Jiang Cheng sputtered.

“what the fuck.” Yu Ziyuan breathed out, she does not know what the hell was going on right
now.

Nie Huaisang laughed loudly, clutching his fan, “I get it now!”

“get what?” Nie Mingjue raised an eyebrow at his brother, who was smiling like an insane
man.

“Lan-er-gongzi and Wei-xiong are married!!!!” this announcement made everyone still, with
Wei Wuxian screaming a stream of obscenities while blushing. Jiang Cheng frozen in shock,
Jiang Yanli clapping her hands and saying her congratulations. Her fiancée slowly clapped as
well, confused—Lan Wangji just woke up from his short nap and was flushed again.

“i- what-“ Wei Wuxian blushed, okay, Lan Zhan may be super hot – handsome, powerful, his
equal, and just an overall very pretty person---- oh fuck, he’ s in love.

“oh, I send my congratulations..” Madam Jin smiled genuinely, it was only right that a genius
had another type of genius by his side.

Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian did not say anything, looked more disgusted than anything
else, though did not say anything else in fear of getting absolutely demolished.

“this is gold..” Ouyang Zizhen commented, making Nie Huaisang scoot closer to him, “oh—I
like you, you ship them?” the boy nodded with a grin, “number 1.”

“uhhh, okay what-“ Wei Wuxian hit his head on the wall wayyyy too many times, making
Lan Wangji rush over to him and hold his head, “Wei Ying, don’t hurt yourself.”

“okay—just shocked, I really like you—” he said, obviously dizzy, Lan Wangji sighed,
before asking Nie Huaisang to switch seat with him. The sect heir nodded and sat next to Lan
Xichen, and Lan Wangji sitting next to Wei Wuxian, wrapping his hands around a blushing
Wei Wuxian.

“can we…. Continue with the watching?” he asked, embarrassed.

“yea, I’d need that…” Jiang Cheng murmured.

Though, it was revealed that Lan Sizhui was adopted, Lan Qiqiu’s opinion of the boy did not
change, “is that so, I believe you will run GusuLan amazing, Lan Sizhui. Way better than I
did.” He smiled at the boy, who flushed with the sudden compliments.
“a-ah, thank you, sect leader Lan..”

“please, call me Grandfather.”

“yes, grandfather.”

Li FeiYue smiled at the boy, patting his head, “my husband says you will be great, I believe
so too..”

“t-thank you… madam..”

“oh my, do not be so formal, call me grandmother!”

“yes, Grandmother..” Lan Sizhui said with fondness, it was the first time he’s seen madam
Lan.

“okay…… can we continue introducing ourselves?” Lan Jingyi meekly smiled, Lan Xichen
smiled at then telling them to go on.

“Lan Hui, courtesy Jingyi.” He bowed.

“Ouyang Zizhen, heir to BalingOuyang”

“Jin Lin, courtesy Rulan. Current sect leader of LanlingJin.”

“sect leader?!” Jin Zixuan and Madam Jin turned to look at their son/grandson, who
mumbled.
“yea, with the death of my uncle I became sect leader.”

“oh, a-Ling. Are you sure you’re okay?” Jiang Yanli smiled sadly.

“yes, a-Niang. JiuJiu and DaJiu have been helping me settle in as sect leader.”

“oh such lovely kids.” Madam Lan smiled brightly.

“lets continue.” The orb spoke, and everyone fixed themselves.

On the other hand, Lan SiZhui and the other disciples did not find anything in the area of
the ancient tombs, and had moved on to search for clues in Goddess Temple.

“im still confused about goddess temple, like, I’ve never heard of such a thing before…” Nie
Huaisang muttered, and some can’t help but agree.

In Dafan Mountain, aside from the tombs of the Buddha’s Feet ancestors, there was also
the Goddess Temple. The being of worship was neither Buddha nor GuanYin, but the
statue of a “dancing goddess.”

A few hundred years ago, a hunter from Buddha’s Feet ventured into the mountains, and
found an extraordinary stone in a cave. It was around three meters in height, formed
naturally, and appeared strangely like a human, with four limbs making a dancing pose.
The more peculiar thing was that human features could vaguely be seen on the statue,
appearing to be that of a smiling lady.
“sounds creepy as fuck.” Lan Qiqiu shivered. Lan Wangji blinked a few times, to process
what his father just said—he did not know his father broke the rules despite being sect leader.

Well, there was a lot he didn’t know.

The townspeople of Buddha’s Feet were all astonished, and thought that it was a magical
stone formed by gathering the energy of Heaven and Earth, making up a series of legends
about it. Some told the story of an immortal falling in love with the Goddess of the Nine
Heavens, and carved a stone statue from the goddess’s appearance to convey the hardships
of being lovesick. After discovering this, the goddess was furious, so the unfinished statue
had to be left alone. Others told the story of the Jade Emperor and his beloved daughter
who died young. The emperor’s longing for his daughter had, supposedly, turned into this
statue.

“sad, and interesting.” Wen Ruohan muttered.

Anyhow, there were all sorts of myths, able to make anyone gawk. In the end, the
townspeople themselves also started to believe in these legends which came out of their
own mouths. Hence, someone turned the stone cave into a temple, and the stone platform
into a holy seat. The statue was named “Dancing Goddess,” and there were worshippers all
year round.

The inside of the cave was spacious, similar to the size of an erjin temple, with the statue of
the goddess set in the center. At first sight, it did indeed look like a human—the maiden’s
waist could even be considered lithe and graceful. However, after taking a closer look at it,
it would seem rougher. Then again, a naturally-formed statue being so similar to an actual
human was enough to make most people gasp in awe.

Lan JingYi lifted and lowered the compass of evil, but its pointer still didn’t move. A thick
layer of incense ashes covered the table for offerings, and disordered candles lay on there
as well. A sickly sweet scent came from the plates for holding fruits. Most of the people
from the GusuLan Sect had some degree of minor mysophobia. He fanned at the air in
front of his nose and spoke, “The locals said that it is quite effective to pray at Goddess
Temple, but how can it be this ruined? They should at least come and clean once in
awhile.”

“oh my gosh, it’s me!! Look, look!!” Lan Jingyi vibrated with excitement, looking at his
friends who smiled at him.

“yes, we know..” Ouyang Zizhen replied sarcastically.

“stop hitting me dumbass!!” Jin Ling slapped Lan Jingyi on the head, making Lan Jingyi
wince playfully.

Jiang Yanli sighed, “a-Ling….”

“sorry mom.”

Lan SiZhui spoke, “There has already been seven people who lost their souls. Everyone is
saying that lightning has let out a fierce creature from the ancient graves of Buddha’s
Feet, so would anybody dare to come up the mountain? There is no attendance at the
temple and so, naturally, there is nobody to clean the place.”

“lost their souls…? So many people have lost their souls. Just—what has happened in this
goddess temple?” wondered Nie Mingjue.

“its… quite complicated, sect leader.” Lan SIzhui replied.

A disdainful voice came from outside of the cave, “It’s only a stupid rock, given the title of
a goddess by who-knows who, and people dare to put it here, accepting incense and
worship!”

Jin Ling came inside, with his hands crossed behind his back. The time limit for the silence
spell was not long, so his mouth could already open. However, nothing nice came out of
that mouth of his, as he looked at the goddess statue and humphed, “These rural villagers
don’t work hard when they face difficulties, but instead pray to the Buddha and other
things every day. There are thousands and millions of people in the world, but gods and
Buddhas are already hands-full with their own matters, so who would care about them?
Let alone a powerless goddess without status, like this one. If it’s really that effective, then
I’m gonna pray for the soul-consuming creature in Dafan Mountain to appear in front of
me right now. Can the statue do it?”

“a-Ling, don’t.” Jin Zixuan warned his son, who yelped.

“uhh..”

“sorry to inform you, Jin-gongzi, he did.”

“motherfu-“

A few cultivators from smaller clans came in behind him, and everyone laughed right after
hearing him, agreeing with his words. The originally quiet temple became bustling with
noise, after the group of people had rushed forth, and the space also seemed more
cramped. Lan SiZhui silently shook his head, turning around and glancing without any
aim. His gaze landed on the head of the goddess statue; the features of a compassionately
smiling face could vaguely be seen.

Yet, he felt a strange sense of familiarity toward the smile, as if he had seen it somewhere
before this.
“yea, and what the fuck does that mean?”

Where on Earth had he seen it before?

“y’know, Wei-xiong, I wonder too.”

Lan SiZhui thought that it must be a very important matter, and couldn’t help but to
approach the statue, wanting to examine the goddess’s features carefully. At the same time,
someone bumped into him.

A cultivator who was originally standing behind him had fallen down without any noise.
The others were alert with surprise. Jin Ling spoke in a vigilant tone, “What happened to
him?”

Lan SiZhui held his sword and bent down to examine it. There was nothing wrong with the
cultivator’s breathing, like he had just suddenly fallen asleep. Yet, no matter how hard he
was pushed or called, he would not wake up. Lan SiZhui stood up, “He seems as if...”

Nie MIngjue raised an eyebrow, “he seems to have what?”

Before he finished his sentence, the dark cave abruptly lit up. The cave was suddenly
covered in a red light, as if a waterfall of blood was rolling off its walls. The candles on the
platform for offerings and in the corners of the cave had ignited on their own.
Nie Huaisang shivered, “is it just me….. or is this creepy as hell.?...”

“probably just you, Nie Huaisang.” Replied Jiang Wanyin.

With a few shings, everyone in the cave had either drawn their swords or taken out their
talismans. At the same time, a person suddenly burst in from outside the temple, holding a
gourd of medicinal alcohol. He threw it toward the stone statue, and raging flames
sprouted from it, illuminating the stone cave so that it could even pass for daytime.

Wei WuXian used up all of the items he had found in the qiankun bag. He threw it away
and shouted, “Everyone, go back outside! Be cautious of the soul-consuming goddess on
the inside!”

Someone yelled in surprise, “The goddess’s pose had changed!”

“well….. that’s certainly bad, is it?” Jin Guangshan smiled bittersweetly, making Madam Jin
glare at him.

“keep your shit to yourself, dumbass.”

Before, the statute clearly had one foot lifted and both of its arms raised upward, of which
one was pointing directly at the sky, its form graceful. However, amid the crimson and
yellow flames, it had lowered both its arms and its foot. There was no doubt—it definitely
wasn’t a mistake of the eye!

The next moment, the statue lifted one foot again, and stepped out of the fire!
Wei WuXian shouted, “Run, run, run! Stop slashing around! It won’t work!”

Most of the cultivators ignored him.

“yea, those bitches ignored him—now who’s dead?” Jin Ling commented, making Ouyang
Zizhen giggle, “yea, glad I wasn’t there.”

“you weren’t?”

“no? are you stupid, Jingyi?”

The soul-consuming monster that they had tried so hard to find had finally appeared, so
why would they miss out on the chance? However, even with so many swords chopping and
stabbing, and so many talismans and magical tools being thrown at it, the statue’s advance
didn’t stop at all. It was around three meters tall, resembling a titan as it moved, giving off
a strong sense of oppression. It picked up two cultivators and lifted them in front of its
face. The stone mouth seemed like it opened and closed, and the swords in the cultivators’
hands dropped to the ground with two clanks. Their heads drooped. Their souls were
sucked away.

“dumbasses.” Jin Ling laughed, “a-Ling, that’s not nice..” his mother said with a sigh.

With no attack methods working properly, the others were finally willing to listen to Wei
WuXian’s words. Everyone gushed outside, scattering in all directions as fast as they could.
With so many people and faces, the more anxious Wei WuXian became, the longer it took
to find Jin Ling. Wei WuXian rode on the donkey and ran into a bamboo forest,
encountering the juniors from the Lan Clan as he turned around.
Wei WuXian called for them, “Children!”

“you sound like a mother duck calling for its children.” Pointed out Jiang Cheng, making Wei
Wuxian childishly stick his tongue out at him. “whatever!”

“oh yea, baba sometimes jokes about us being his little ducklings.” Lan Sizhui giggled.

“eh, I like being called Wei-qianbei’s duckling.”

Lan JingYi replied, “Who are your children? Do you know which sect we are from? Did
you really think that you would be considered a senior just because you washed your
face?”

“oop, Jingyi , I didn’t know you said that”

“….sorry.”

Wei WuXian spoke, “Okay, okay, okay, gege-s. Send a signal and get your clan’s...
HanGuang-Jun up here!”

Lan Wangji perked up at the sudden mention of his title, “I’ll help you, don’t worry.” He
whispered to Wei Wuxian, who smiled warmly, “know you will.”
The juniors nodded a few times, and ran around while searching for signals. Lan SiZhui
spoke, “The signal firelights... were all used up during the night at Mo Village.”

Wei WuXian was shocked, “You guys didn’t restock afterwards?”

Jiang Cheng could feel stupefied, “it’s important to stock up on firelights, never ever forget
that again.”

“yep, ChengCheng’s right.”

Lan Sizhui smiled awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head, “sorry, sect leader Jiang..”

“jiujiu, it’s just that, we don’t have to use firelights so often anymore in the future.”

The signal firelights were usually only needed once in over eight hundred years. Lan
SiZhui replied bashfully, “We forgot.”

Wei Wuxian giggled, “a-Yuan, it’s okay, just make sure you got out safely, okay?”

Lan SIzhui nodded like a little child, “okay, baba.”

Wei WuXian tried to scare them, “Is this a matter that you should forget about? If
HanGuang-Jun knew about this, he’s going to make you sorry.”
Lan JingYi’s face was pale with terror, “It’s over. This time, we are gonna be punished to
death by HanGuang-Jun...”

Lan Wangji’s eyebrow quirked up, “do I punish very often?”

“yes, hanguang-jun… but not really anymore!” Lan Jingyi smiled shyly.

Jin Ling huffed, “the only reason you guys aren’t getting punished too much anymore by
hanguang-jun is because Wei-qianbei tells him not to.”

“oh- kudos to future me, then”

Wei WuXian, “Indeed, he should punish you! Without punishment, you wouldn’t
remember the next time.”

Lan SiZhui, “Young Master Mo, Young Master Mo! How did you know that it was not a
spirit-consuming spirit or beast, but the goddess statue instead?”

Wei WuXian searched for Jin Ling as he ran, “How did I know? I saw.”

Jin Guangshan’s eyes lit up, eagerly anticipating the explanation made by Jiang-xiong’s ward.
He’s thought about it so much, but just- why won’t Jiang-xiong polish this boy’s talents? If he
was in LanLingJin…. Jin Guangshan would’ve made him unstoppable.
Lan JingYi also caught up. They each ran on one side of him, “What did you see? We also
saw lots of things.”

“You saw, so what happens next? What things were in the area of the ancient tombs?”

“What else could there be? There were only dead souls.”

“Correct, there were dead souls. This is why it can’t be a soul-consuming spirit or beast.
It’s simple—if it was either of these two, with so many dead spirits in the area, would it
have chosen to not eat them? No, it wouldn’t have.”

This time, there were more than one person who asked, “Why?”

“im not gonna lie, I would actually participate in class if Wei-xiong was the teacher.” Nie
Huaisang said, earning a glare from his brother.

“why?”

“cause you’re a great teacher, and I also would be able to look at your beauty,” he joked, but
caught the hot glare of Lan Wangji, he shivered. “its just a joke!”

“does that mean you haven’t been participating if Wei Wuxian wasn’t the teacher?”

“uh-“

“Just what can I say about your GusuLan Sect...” Wei WuXian could not tolerate it any
more, “Why can’t you teach less annoying, lengthy nonsense like cultivational etiquette,
family trees, and history which requires memorization, and teach more practical things?
How is this hard to understand? Dead souls are a lot easier to absorb than living souls.
The physical body of a living person is like a shield, and if it wants to eat a live soul, it
would have to break the shield. For example...” He looked at the donkey, which panted
while running, rolling its eyes, “For example, if an apple is put in front of you, and
another one is put inside a locked box, which one would you choose to eat? Of course, it
would be the one in front of you. This creature only eats living souls, and knows of a way
to obtain them. It is both powerful and selective in terms of food.”

Lan JingYi was astonished, “So that’s how it works? It makes a lot of sense! Wait, so
you’re really not a lunatic?”

“damn straight.” Wei Wuxian laughed heartedly, making Lan Wangji smile.

Lan SiZhui explained as he ran, “We all thought that, because the landslide and lightning
led to the series of events, it must be a soul-consuming spirit.”

Wei WuXian spoke, “Wrong.”

“What is wrong?”

“The order and the correlation is wrong. Let me ask you—for the landslide and the soul-
consuming events, which ones were the first and second, the cause and effect?”

Lan SiZhui answered without thinking twice, “The landslide was the first, and the soul-
consumption was the second. The first was the cause, and the latter was the effect.”

Wei WuXian spoke, “Completely wrong. The soul-consumption was first, and the the
landslide was second. The soul-consumption was the cause, and the landslide was the
effect! During the night of the landslide, a storm suddenly started, and a streak of
lightning broke a coffin—remember this. This first person to lose their soul, the sluggard,
was trapped in the mountains for the whole night, and married a few days later.”
“damn, I should be taking notes, Xichen-ge, do you have any paper and ink?”

“sorry, Huaisang, I don’t.”

Lan JingYi asked, “Where is it wrong?”

Wei WuXian replied, “It is all wrong! Where would a good-for-nothing and penniless
person obtain the money to form such a grand wedding?”

The boys were rendered speechless. But, it couldn’t have been helped, since the GusuLan
Sect was a sect that did not need to worry about matters of wealth. Wei WuXian spoke
again, “Did you take a look at all of the dead souls floating in Dafan Mountain? There
was an old man who died from a hit to the head, wearing burial clothes that were made
with fine craftsmanship and fabric. With such extravagant burial clothes, his coffin
couldn’t have been empty, and there must have been a few burial items to protect it. The
coffin that was broken by the lightning was most likely his. Yet, the people who came to
retrieve the corpse did not find any burial items, which meant that they were definitely
taken away by the sluggard, explaining why he suddenly became rich. The sluggard
suddenly decided to marry someone after the night of the landslide, so something unusual
must have happened during the night. On that evening, there was a harsh storm and he
took cover in the mountain. Where on Dafan Mountain is it possible to take cover from the
rain? Goddess Temple. And, when most people go into a temple, there is one thing that they
would do.”

Lan SiZhui asked, “Pray?”

“That’s right. For example, he would pray for himself to be lucky, to become wealthy, to
have enough money to marry, and so on. The goddess fulfilled his wish with the lightning
that split open the grave, letting him see the treasures in the coffin. His prayers came true
and, as the sacrifice, the goddess came to him on the evening of his marriage, and took his
soul away!”
“oh- that’s how it works….” Jiang Cheng stared at the screen with astonishment, he’d always
known his shixiong was a genius, but this was the first time he’d seen him go all out.

Yu Ziyuan frowned, seeing her son gets amazed by a servant’s son.

Lan JingYi, “All of these are just your guesses, right?”

Wei WuXian, “Yes, they are guesses. But, following this train of logic, all of the things that
happened afterward could be explained.”

Lan SiZhui, “How can this explain what happened with the girl, A-Yan?”

“oh- yes, a-Yan, I still wonder what happened to her.” Jin Zixuan said.

“same, I wanna hear Wei-xiong explain that, cause I don’t know that shit.”

Wei WuXian, “Great question. You guys probably asked around before you came up the
mountain. A-Yan had just got engaged during those days. All recently-engaged girls will
definitely have the same wish.”

Lan JingYi was befuddled, “What wish?”

“love?” Ouyang Zizhen guessed, he’d regretted not being at goddess temple that time, then
he would’ve experienced Wei-qianbei’s teaching skills!.

“correct!” Wei Wuxian grinned.

Wei WuXian replied, “None other than something that goes like, ‘I wish my husband
would love me and care for me for his whole life, attracted to only myself’.”

The boys were at a loss, “Would a wish like this really be able to be granted?”

Wei WuXian held his palms out, “It’s simple. If her husband’s ‘whole life’ immediately
ended, wouldn’t it count as ‘loving only one person for his entire life’?”

Lan JingYi finally understood and shouted excitedly, “Oh, oh! So, so, so, the reason
behind her husband being eaten by wolves the day after her engagement was that it was
highly possible for A-Yan to have been to Goddess Temple to pray!”

“ohhhhhhh-“ Nie Huaisang’s mouth an ‘o’ shape, finally understanding the way a-Yan
actually lost her soul.

“good, but is it necessary to be having a whole lecture in a fight?”

Wei WuXian struck while the iron was still hot, “It was hard to say whether he was
attacked by a wolf or something else. There is another factor that is unique to A-Yan: why
is that, out of all of the victims, only A-Yan’s soul returned? How is she different from
everyone else? The difference is that she has a relative who also lost his soul. Or, in other
words, a relative replaced her! Blacksmith Zheng is A-Yan’s father, especially one who
loved his daughter. So, when he saw that his daughter lost her soul, and there were no
ways to deal with it, what was the only thing that he could do?”
This time, Lan SiZhui was quick to reply, “He could only entrust his hope to the Heavens.
Therefore, he also went to Goddess Temple to pray, the wish being ‘I wish my daughter A-
Yan’s soul can be found’!”

“this is like an updated version of old man Lan’s lectures.” Nie Huaisang snickered, being
glad Lan Qiren was knocked out right now.

“Huaisang………..”

Wei WuXian spoke with appraise, “This is why only A-Yan’s soul came back, and also the
reason behind Blacksmith Zheng losing his soul. However, although A-Yan’s soul was
given back, it was still slightly fractured. After her soul returned, she had unconsciously
started to imitate the goddess statue’s dance and even its smile.”

“creepy.”

The similarity of the people who lost their souls was that, most likely, they had all prayed in
front of the goddess statue. The prices to pay for their wishes were their souls.

The goddess statue was originally just an average rock which happened to look like a
person. Having accepted a few hundred years’ worth of worship without any reason, it had
gained some powers. Yet, because it was greedy and its thoughts ventured off the wrong
path, it had wanted to quickly increase its powers by eating souls. These were souls that it
obtained by means of swapping wishes, and could be considered as the voluntarily
sacrificed souls of the people who prayed. The two sides had a fair deal, one wish for
another, and it seemed to be just and moral. This was why the pointers of the compasses of
evil did not move, why the spirit-attraction flags did not work, and why the powers of the
swords and talismans were all nullified—the creature in Dafan Mountain wasn’t any
sprite, demon, ghost, or monster, but a goddess! This was an untitled goddess born from
the hundreds of years of incense. Using the items used to deal with evil spirits and beasts to
deal with it would be like using fire to distinguish fire!

Lan JingYi shouted loudly, “Wait! Before this, in the temple, someone’s soul was also
taken away, but we didn’t hear him wish!”

Jiang Cheng smacked his head on the glass table, alarming everyone, “don’t tell me its
fucking a-Ling who made the wish.”

“uhh…. Jiujiu….”

Wei WuXian’s heart suddenly jumped. He stopped his footsteps, “Someone’s soul was
taken away in the temple? Describe to me everything that happened earlier, without
missing a single word.”

Lan SiZhui repeated the scenario both clearly and quickly. When he heard Jin Ling’s talk
of “if it’s really that effective, then I’m gonna pray for the soul-consuming creature in
Dafan Mountain appear in front of me right now. Can the statue do it?” Wei WuXian
spoke, “How is this not wishing? It most definitely is a wish!”

The others agreed with Jin Ling, so it was accepted that they had all wished the same
thing. At the time, the soul-consuming goddess was right in front of them, so the wish was
granted. Then, it was time to seize the sacrifice!

Suddenly, the donkey halted, and ran toward the opposite direction. Wei WuXian was,
again, swung off unprepared, but grabbed on to the rope no matter what. However, in the
bushes in front of him, there came a noise of chewing, complete with crunches and slurps.
An immense figure was crawling in the bush, its huge head on the ground and moving
using its stomach. Hearing the noise, it immediately lifted its head. Their eyes met.
“………….awkward.” Nie Huaisang meekly said.

In the beginning, the soul-consuming goddess’s features were vague, and there were only
the shapes of eyes, nose, mouth, and ears on its face, but after it had eaten the souls of a
few cultivators all at once, it could already form clear features. It was the face of a smiling
woman, with blood dripping down the corners of its mouth, munching on an arm that had
been torn off.

Everyone, following the donkey, ran in the other direction.

Lan SiZhui was breaking down, “That is not supposed to happen! The YiLing Patriarch
had said before, that high-level ones eat souls, and only low-level ones eat flesh!”

Wei WuXian couldn’t help but to comment, “Why are you blindly worshipping him? Even
his own inventions were a mess! No rules stay the same in all situations. You can think of
it as an infant—when it lacks teeth, it can only eat congee and soup, but when it grows up,
it would, of course, also want to eat meat using its teeth. Her powers had just risen greatly,
so naturally she’d want to taste something new!”

“damn it, Wei Wuxian, why are you making your own fucking reputation worse?” groaned
Jiang Cheng, facepalming.

“eh- I don’t know.”

The soul-consuming goddess stood up from the ground. Her body was tall. She used her
arms and her legs to dance with uncontrollable excitement, seeming like she was extremely
pleased. Out of the blue, an arrow came with a whoosh and pierced her forehead, the
arrowhead appearing out of the back of her head.
Hearing the sound of the bow’s release, Wei WuXian’s looked toward its direction. Jin Ling
stood atop a tall hill, not far away, and already had his second feathered arrow on the bow.
He pulled to the maximum, and another head-penetrating arrow was released, the strength
causing the soul-consuming goddess to stagger a few steps backward.

Lan SiZhui yelled, “Young Master Jin! Send off the signal on you!”

Jin Ling turned a deaf ear to his words, determined to kill the monster. With a solemn face,
he set three arrows onto the bow at once. Although she was shot in the head twice, the
soul-consuming goddess was not angered, and advanced toward Jin Ling with the same
smile plastered on her face. Although she danced while walking, her speed was terrifyingly
fast, decreasing the distance between them by half in just a few moments. A few cultivators
appeared from the side and fought with her, hindering her strides. Jin Ling shot each
arrow as the goddess took each step, probably intending to use up all of the feathered
arrows first, before fighting in a closer range with the soul-consuming goddess. His arm
was quite steady, and his shots were accurate, but all magical weapons were useless
against it!

Both Jiang Cheng and Lan WangJi were at Buddha’s Feet, waiting for any news, so who
knows how long it would take for them to realize that something was wrong and come up
here. To extinguish fire, water was needed. Therefore, if magical weapons didn’t work,
what about dark sorcery?

Wei WuXian unsheathed the sword on Lan SiZhui’s waist and chopped off a piece of a thin
bamboo, swiftly making it into a flute. He lifted it up in front of his lips and took a deep
breath. The shrill timbre of the flute was like an arrow, slicing through the night sky and
shooting into the clouds.

“what is with the poetic shit?”

This should have been a last resort for him, but however, with the situation already like
this, it didn’t matter what he summoned. It’d be fine as long as the dark energy was strong
enough and the killing intent was keen enough, so that it could rip the soul-consuming
goddess into pieces!
“I feel like im in class…” Nie Huaisang groaned.

“and? Is that bad thing?”

“of course not, da-ge!”

Lan SiZhui was shocked to the point that he couldn’t even move, while Lan JingYi covered
his ears, “Look at what situation we are in, and you are still playing the flute? It sounds
horrible!”

Lan Jingyi frowned at his past self’s words, “don’t worry, Wei-qianbei, I was wrong ! your
flute skills are really really really really really really really good!!!” he pumped his fist in the
air, making Wei Wuxian giggle.

“:thanks, Jingyi.”

In the battle, three or four of the cultivators who were fighting with the soul-consuming
goddess had lost their souls. Jin Ling pulled out his sword. He was already less than two
zhang away from the soul-consuming goddess. His heart thumped like crazy and all of the
blood in his body went toward his head, if I can’t slice off her head with this blow, I will die
here—death it is, then!

Jiang Yanli gasped scandalously, her eyes shook, “a-Ling, what are you thinking?!” she
looked at her son, who had a guilty expression.
“sorry, a-Niang, I’ve learned my lesson already………”

Jin Zixuan huffed, “you better have, you little brat.”

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes and muttered, “wow, look at the peacock maturing for his son.”

Madam Jin nodded, “your mother and father are right, Rulan, your life is very valuable and
cannot be exchanged for anything. Learn not to be so reckless in the future, dear.”

“yes, grandma..” Jin Ling nodded, already feeling Lan Jingyi’s eyes on him, probably stifling
his laughter at how obedient he looks right now.

At the same time, from within the forests of Dafan Mountain, a tinkling sound appeared.

Tinkle tinkle, tinkle tinkle. It was sometimes faster, sometimes slower; sometimes pausing,
sometimes continuing. It echoed in the silent woods, resembling the sound of iron chains
colliding and being dragged on the ground. It came closer, and became louder.

“fuck, is this a horror scene???” Nie Huaisang yelped, hiding behind Lan Xichen, who sighed
but did not say anything.

“for God’s sake, Huaisang, chill.” Nie Mingjue groaned.

For some reason, the sound gave the people an uneasy sense of threat. Even the soul-
consuming goddess stopped dancing. It raised it arms, blankly staring into the dark of
which the sound came from.
Wei WuXian put away his flute and carefully looked into the direction.

The ominous feeling that he felt became stronger and stronger, but because it was willing
to come due to the summoning, it would at least be something that listened to him.

Then, all of a sudden, the noise stopped. A figure emerged from within the darkness.

“HORROR SCENE!!!!!!!!” exclaimed Nie Huaisang.

Nie MIngjue facepalmed, wondering just where he went wrong in raising his brother.

After having a clear view of the figure and the face, the cultivators’ expressions became
twisted.

“oh? What sort of thing could make the faces of so much people twist?” Wen Ruohan
commented.

Even when facing the goddess statue that could suck away their souls at any minute, the
group did not cower or show any fear, but however, their shouting voices right now were
filled with terror that they could not conceal.

“... The ‘Ghost General’, it’s the ‘Ghost General’, it’s Wen Ning!”
“What??” Wen Ning gasped audibly, and everyone turned to him, shocked that he was even
there.

Wen Ruohan stared at the screen dumbfounded, “what do you mean my nephew is this so
called “ghost general”?

Nie Huaisang squeaked, “wait, are you Wen Ning?” he pointed at the timid boy, “I hadn’t
even noticed you were here!”

“y-yes I am, but I don’t know why I am here. I have no connections t-to W-Wei-gongzi.. i-in
any type of w-way..”

“I agree, what is the meaning of this??” Yu Ziyuan scowled.

“why the fuck is this cute little boy a ghost general?!” Wei Wuxian screeched, making a few
cover their ears. Wei Wuxian scratched his head trying to think of a reason why this Wen
Ning Is a ghost general or something!

“this is fucking insane……” Jiang Cheng facepalmed, already feeling another headache
arising.

“uhh… uhm, everyone. Wei-qianbei didn’t make Wen-qianbei into a ghost with malicious
intent…” Ouyang Zizhen tried to explain, however was stopped by Yu Ziyuan’s glowers.

“what else type of reason would that brat have to turn an innocent boy into his servant? And
you say with no malicious intent!-“ she sneered, raising her voice with everyone words she
spat. Making Wei Wuxian grit his teeth in ager.

“Yu Ziyuan, my baba had no malicious intent AT ALL. In fact, Wen-shushu said he was glad
baba brought him back!” it was rare for Lan Sizhui to lose his temper, making the jaws of his
friends drop.

“disrespectful child- do you take after your servant, cutsleeve of a father!” she stood up,
knocking the table down, while her husband yelled at her to calm down.

“Madam Jiang, sit down.” Lan Wangji stared at the woman dangerously.

“how dare you tell me what to d-“

“Madam Yu, I believe it is improper lashing out on so many sect leaders and sect heir.”
Madam Lan interrupted, making Yu Ziyuan claw at her hanfu.

“Ziyuan, please…. Calm down..” Madam Jin sighed, obviously embarrassed by her sworn
sister’s childish temper.

“I will explain this one, “ the orb voiced out.

“please, do.” Qingheng-jun replied.

“while Wei Wuxian was the yiling laozu, he ran away to the burial mounds to save the Wen
remnants. To clarify, the Wen clan fell during the campaign known as the “sunshot
campaign” led by Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen. However, the dafan Wen were still alive
during this time, but they were tortured and enslaved in labor camps led by Jin Guangshan
and Jin Zixun. Wei Wuxian heard of this and went to save the innocent Wens, leading him to
be needing to stay at the burial mounds to ensure the safety of the Dafan Wen, as Wen Qing
helped Wei Wuxian. And Wei Wuxian felt the need to return that help. But, in the labor
camps, Wen Ning died, and Wen Qing begged Wei Wuxian to save her little brother, and Wei
Wuxian had no choice but to bring Wen Ning back as a corpse. However, he was a special
case, as Wen Ning was a corpse with his own conciousnes.” The orb ended.

“what the fuck do you mean my clan fell?” Wen Ruohan growled, pretending not to mind the
slight smirk Nie Mingjue had.
 “o-oh…” Wen Ning muttered, before bowing at Wei Wuxian’s direction. ‘Wei-gongzi, thank
you for giving me a chance again, to live. Even if it was as a corpse.”

“i- it’s nothing…” Wei Wuxian muttered.

Jin Guangshan’s eyes glowed, “a corpse with his own consciousness? Interesting..”

The title of the “Ghost General” was as infamous as that of the YiLing Patriarch’s. Most of
the time, the two appeared together.

The word only referred one person—the right-hand man of the YiLing Patriarch Wei Ying,
who had helped with the tyrant’s crimes, stirred up wind and waves, played the jackal to
the tiger, overturned the world with him, and most of all, was a fierce corpse who should
have been turned into ashes a long time ago—Wen Ning!

“turned to ashes?” Madam Jin already knew this was her whore of a husband’s doing.

“oh… let’s wait for the next recording..”

Chapter End Notes

also been obssessed with hazbin hotel i rlly recommend it if u want a sorta comedic
series lmao (has some dark content tho)
 Arrogance 5
Chapter by reikadust

“oh… let’s wait for the next recording..”

Everyone was patiently waiting for the next recording, particularly because of the events that
will occur in the future, it was best that they become informed of future conflicts and wars so
they can prevent those from even existing in history.

Lan Wangji sat still as Wei Wuxian sat beside him and leaned his head on the other’s
shoulder, the two taking in the other’s warmth. While Jiang Cheng stared at them in….
confusion? A calculating look. Well, it was definitely odd, that they progressed quickly, they
were just two teenagers that seemed to avoid each other an hour ago. And now, they were
close.

Nie Huaisang groaned, “when will this thing starttttt?????” Nie Mingjue slapped his brother’s
hands, “be respectful.”

“I’m sure it will start soon, Huaisang.” Lan Xichen reassured him, smiling at the other’s
direction.

“you’re right, Xichen’ge….. maybe im just too impatient!” he loudly announced, and Nie
Mingjue had to resist punting his brother to the ground.

“oh look,” Wei Wuxian pointed at the orb, that was ow glowing. “it’s starting.”

Jin Guanghan cleared his throat, “well then, let’s see what it has in store for us, now.” He
grinned.
Wen Ning’s head was slightly lowered and his arms hung down, as if he was a marionette
waiting for the orders of his master.

Wen Ning flinched, seeing his future self as a corpse was certainly uncommon, and being
described as a sort of marionette as well. It didn’t quite sit right with him, what would jiejie
think?

His face was pale and delicate, and could be considered handsome in a melancholy sort of
way. However, there were no pupils in his eyes, but only a flat cloud of white, along with a
number of black, cracking lines which climbed up his face from his neck, so the
melancholy turned into a frightening gloom. The lower hem and sleeves of his robe were
ragged and torn, showing a pair of wrists that were the same ashen shade as his face, with
black cuffs and chains on both his wrists and ankles. The tinkling sound was produced
when he dragged the iron chains on the ground. If he stopped moving, everything would be
silent again.

“why is this so eerie?” Nie Huaisang whispered to his older brother, who sighed in exchange.

“just… listen, no more comments.” Nie Mingjue added.

“eerie?? Nie-zongzhu, what’s so eerie about this?” Lan Jingyi asked, and Nie Mingjue raised
an eyebrow at his direction, and Lan Jingyi realized what he just said.

He gulped, “uhhh…….. I am used to calling Nie-zo—I mean, Nie-gongzi the sect leader,
because he’s the current sect leader of the Nie clan?”

“….figures.” Nie Mingjue sighed, it seemed his death was approaching quickly. But, Nie
Huaisang looked at his brother in disbelief.
“da-ge, what do they mean I’m the sect leader, isn’t it you?” he looked up to meet his
brother’s eyes, however, he just turned away.

The golden orb lit up, “I can explain that, for you, Nie’gongzi.”

“no nee-‘

“please explain.” Nie Huaisang cut through his brother.

“you don’t need to know this, Huaisang.” Nie Mingjue exhaled, and clasped his hand with his
brother’s

“no, I need to know.”

“alright,” the orb replied.

“all the sect leaders of the Nie clan have often died young, why? It is because of their sabers.
Their sabers contain resentful energy and using the saber can mess with their qi, hence why
all the sect leader have died of qi deviation.” The orb replied.

Nie Huaisang shouted, “WHAT???? WHY DIDN”T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THIS DA-
GE??????”

“I’m sorry, Huaisang, it was for your own good.”

“its not for my own good, da-ge!” as he shouted, the recording resumed.
It wasn’t hard to guess why all of the cultivators were scared out of their wits. Wei WuXian
wasn’t any calmer than any of them either. In fact, the storm in his chest had already
crashed over the top of his head.

It wasn’t that Wen Ning shouldn’t be here, but that Wen Ning shouldn’t be in this world at
all. He was turned into ashes even before the siege at Luanzang Hill.

“turned to ashes? Isn’t a-Ning.. well, not ashes right now?” Wen Ruohan commented, that
boy, Wei Wuxian said his nephew was turned to ashes long before this ‘siege’. What can
explain the fact he isn’t actually ashes?

Wei Wuxian clasped his lips together, “i… am not sure either, sect leader Wen.” He meekly
replied, after all, he was replying to the strongest cultivator of this century.

“well, that’s certainly the mystery.” Jin Guangshan said.

Hearing the others call Wen Ning’s name, Jin Ling’s blade, which originally pointed at the
direction of the soul-consuming goddess, couldn’t help but to turn toward another
direction. Seeing that he was distracted, the soul-consuming goddess gladly extended her
arm and picked him up.

As Wei WuXian saw her opened mouth approaching Jin Ling, he didn’t have time to be
surprised. He raised the wooden flute again, hands slightly shaking, and therefore, the
notes that he played also trembled. Aside from this, the flute was roughly crafted, so the
sound produced could be described as coarse and unpleasant to the ear. With two notes,
Wen Ning started to move.
“amazing, he was able to control a strong corpse with just a poorly crafted flute, how
remarking!” Wen Ruohan laughed boisterously , this was a side of We Ruohan that no one
has ever seen.

Wei Wuxian didn’t know how to reply, “uh- thank you, sect leader Wen.”

Yu Ziyuan scoffed to herself, this little servant-brat was stealing away all the attention from
her son!

Within the blink of an eye, he had already shifted in front of the soul-consuming goddess.
Wen Ning used the side of his palm and gave a blow. The soul-consuming goddess’s neck
cracked, and although her body didn’t move, her head was twisted around because of the
force. She faced the direction of which her back originally faced, but kept on smiling. Wen
Ning gave another blow with his hand, and the soul-consuming goddess’s right hand,
which was holding Jin Ling, was cleanly cut off.

“oh yea- thank you for that, Wen-qianbei.” Jin Ling smiled towards the teenage Wen Ning,
who rubbed the back of his head and smiled shyly.

“i-it’s nothing, J-Jin- gongzi..”

Jiang Yanli huffed, “nonsense, you have saved my son’s life, I am indebted to you.” She
smiled, it was a smile that definitely got passed down to Jin Ling. The two had similar smiles.

“what a-Li said, at that time, our son was still young and immature. You have saved his life,
please let us owe you.” Jin Zixuan supported his future wife’s statement.

“a-ah alright…. Th-thank you.”

She bowed her head to look at the wrist which broke off sharply. Instead of turning her
head toward the correct direction, her entire body turned around, so that she was facing
Wen Ning with her face and her back. Wei WuXian didn’t dare to relax. He took a deep
breath and commanded Wen Ning to fight. However, not long had passed, and he became
even more shocked.

“must be something really shock-worthy if Wei Wuxian is fazed by it.” Jiang cheng
commented.

“what’s that supposed to mean!”

Low-level corpses were unable to think on their own and needed his orders to lead them.
Powerful fierce corpses, on the other hand, were usually delirious or unconscious. Yet,
Wen Ning’s case was different—he was created by Wei WuXian, which meant that he could
easily be called the strongest fierce corpse in the current world. He was the only one who
was capable of thought. Aside from not fearing injuries, fire, the cold, poison, and
whatever living humans feared, he was the same as a one.

If one looked close enough, Jin Guangshan’s eyes definitely sparkled. And luckily enough,
Madam Jin was close enough to witness it.

“keep your eyes closed, fool.”

Wen Ning stared at the screen with eyes, “woah… am I r-really so p-powerful as a …… c-
corpse?”

“mn.” Lan Wangji nodded.

However, at that moment, Wen Ning clearly wasn’t conscious!

“that’s odd….” Jin Zixuan remarked, and Jiang Yanli beside her nodded in agreement.

“it seems like… someone is controlling Wen Ning!” Wei Wuxian said,

Madam Lan sighed, “I have gone on many hunts with Cangse… however, I have not came
across a corpse with consciousness.” Wei Wuxian’s eyes sparkled, it seems like Madam Lan
knew his mother.

“that’s the highest possibility.” Lan Wangji backed him up, Lan Qiren agreed with a nod, the
man had just awoken a few minutes ago.

Ouyang Zizhen nodded proudly, “correct! Wen-qianbei was being controlled by a sly bitch!”

Qingheng-jun laughed at the boy’s straightforwardness, but his brother coughed blood at the
display.

He was both shocked and doubtful as a few cries of alarm came threshing from the crowd.
Using both his arms and legs, Wen Ning had secured the soul-consuming goddess on the
ground. He picked up a rock which lay on the side, taller than the height of humans, and
lifted it above the soul-consuming goddess. He started to slam it onto her with great force.
Each strike sounded as loud as thunder, continuing until the stone body of the soul-
consuming goddess was pounded to pieces!

“WOAHHH!!! I really can’t believe I wasn’t there with you guys to witness it!!!” Ouyang
ZIzhen whined.
“is that my problem?” Jin Ling rolled his eyes.

Amid the white pile of rocks scattered on the ground, a marble-sized sphere rolled out,
radiating a circle of light in the colour of snow. It was the core that condensed in the soul-
consuming goddess after she devoured the souls of ten-or-so living people. If it was
brought back and handled carefully, some people, who had their souls eaten recently,
could be restored back to life. However, at the moment, nobody made any effort to pick up
the sphere. The blades which were aimed at the soul-consuming goddess all turned
around.

One cultivator shouted at the top of his lungs, “Close in on him!”

Some people replied hesitantly, but more people were indecisive, walking backward slowly.
The cultivator shouted again, “Fellow cultivators, we have to block him so that he doesn’t
escape. This is Wen Ning we’re facing!”

Wen Ning flinched, was he seen as a threat in the near future? Did he commit a crime?! Jiejie
is gonna stick needles into him if he did!

These words convinced the crowd. What was a mere soul-consuming monster compared to
the Ghost General? Although the reason as to his appearance was unknown, it was
obvious that killing one thousand soul-consuming spirits couldn’t even compare to
capturing one single Wen Ning. After all, this was the most obeying mad dog under the
YiLing Patriarch, which bit people without making any noise. If it was captured, they
would surely become famous in the cultivation world and quickly rise to success! Their
original goal from attending the Dafan Mountain night-hunt was to fight for fairies,
beasts, and evil spirits to add to their experiences. With the shouts, it was certain that some
people were interested. Yet, the older cultivators who saw with their own eyes how wild Wen
Ning was when he broke out were still cautious to make a move. Hence, the person shouted
once more, “What are you scared of? It’s not as if the YiLing Patriarch is here right now.”
“yea… who’s gonna tell ‘em?” Nie Huaisang joked

After another thought, the words made sense to them. What was there to be scared of? His
master was already in pieces!

Lan Wangji instinctively wrapped his arm around Wei Wuxian’s waist and pulled him closer.

“don’t be scared, we will change it.” Wei Wuxian soothed his worries.

With these remarks, the ring of swords which circled around Wen Ning had suddenly
decreased in size. Wen Ning waved his arm, and the black iron chains swept past heavily,
hitting the swords so that the directions of their blades slanted off to the side. Right
afterward, he took a stride forward and gripped the neck of the person closest to him. With
a light pull, he was lifted off the ground. Seeing the situation, Wei WuXian knew that the
flute notes were too hurried and abrupt, causing him to develop a killing intent. To stifle it,
Wei WuXian calmed his feelings and assuredly played another melody.

Lan Wangji blinked his eyes in shock, how did Wei ying know this tune?

“well… this sounds like a Gusu melody, however I’ve never heard of it..” Lan Xichen
commented, his parents nodded.

“agree, a-Huan, I have never heard of this.”

Lan QIren turned to his youngest nephew, “Wangji, do you know about this?”
Lan Wangji hesitated, before answering, “it’s… a piece I created…”

Wei Wuxian tilted his head in confusion, “how do I know this then?”

“yea, unless Lan-er-gongzi shared this tune with Wei Wuxian.” Jiang Cheng replied.

Lan Sizhui smiled, “correct, this melody my baba is playing was a melody composed by my
a-die. It is a song only both of them know, not even I know how to play it—nor do I know the
name, it’s name is only known by my parents.”

Nie Huaisang clapped, “oh- this is so romantic!!”

“yea, the book I wrote about them is blowing up!”

“Zizhen you wrote—what?”

Wei Wuxian giggled, “Lan Zhan, it seems we have a song of our own, hm?”

“mn.” He replied, kissing Wei Wuxian’s forehead.

“dog food.” A certain Jin said.

The melody had drifted over his mind naturally. It was relaxed and tranquil, contrasting
with the bizarre and ear-piercing one from before. Hearing the sound, Wen Ning froze,
and slowly turned toward the direction of which the melody came from. Wei WuXian stood
in the same spot, staring into his pupil-less eyes.
After a moment, Wen Ning released his hand, throwing the cultivator on the ground. He let
down his arms and walked toward Wei WuXian at a slow pace.

His head was lowered and he dragged a large amount of iron chains, even seeming as if he
looked dejected. Wei WuXian retreated while playing the flute, guiding him to follow.
Walking like this for a short distance, they moved into the forest, when suddenly, Wei
WuXian caught the chilly scent of sandalwood.

At the mention of the scent of sandalwood, Lan Wangji perked up.

Immediately after, his back bumped into someone. With an abrupt pain on his wrist, the
flute melody had stopped. Wei WuXian thought, oh no, and turned around to look. His
sight collided with Lan WangJi’s eyes. They were light-coloured to the point of appearing
to be physically cold.

Nie Huaisang fanned himself, “ooohh…. Is it just me, but…. Is the sexual tension getting
stronger?”

“nope, not just you…” Ouyang Zizhen smirked.

The situation looked unpromising. Lan WangJi had seen him use the flute to control
corpses with his own eyes.

Jin Ling facepalmed, “damn it, I forgot it took them a few more months to realize their shit.”
“a-Ling, language.” Jiang Yanli reprimanded, Jin Ling huffed and apologized with a ‘sorry
mom’.

“oooh… I can’t look at this..” Wei Wuxian sighed, he was oblivious to Lan Zhan’s feelings
until a few hours ago.

Lan WangJi used one hand to steadily grip Wei WuXian. Wen Ning stood still at about two
zhang away from them, slowly looking around as if he was searching for the flute melody
that had suddenly disappeared. From far into the forest, the light of flames and sound of
human voices were spreading. Wei WuXian thought quickly and made his decision at once
—so what, if Lan WangJi had seen him do this before? There were tens of thousands of
people who knew how to play the flute, and the number of people who imitated the YiLing
Patriarch’s method of using it to control corpses could form a sect on their own. He
wouldn’t confess no matter what!

Lan Wangji frowned, did Wei Ying really think he was gonna torture him?

Wei Wuxian squeezed Lan Wangji’s hand, in a hopeful attempt to soothe his worries, he
whispered in his ear. “I know you wont hurt me.”

He decisively ignored the hand that gripped him and raised his arm to continue playing.
This time, the tempo was faster, as if it was urging or scolding. His air was not steady and
each note cracked at the end, sounding shrill and harsh. Suddenly, Lan WangJi’s hand
tightened, almost causing his wrist to break. Wei WuXian’s fingers loosened from the pain
and the wooden flute dropped to the ground.

Lan Xichen sighed, he knows there’s gonna be more misunderstandings between his didi and
Wei-gongzi.
Lan Wangji wanted to hit his head, did he actually almost break Wei Ying’s wrist ?!!??!??!

Fortunately, his orders were clear enough. Wen Ning retreated quickly, disappearing into
the dark and gloomy forest without a sound. Wei WuXian feared that Lan WangJi would
chase after Wen Ning, so he backhandedly grabbed him instead. But, surprisingly, Lan
WangJi never even looked at Wen Ning once, but stared at Wei WuXian the whole time.
The two stood face to face, gripping each other’s arms, and stared.

“sexual tension.” Nie Huaisang murmured.

At the same time, Jiang Cheng arrived.

He maintained his patience and waited for the results in Buddha’s Feet, but before he
finished a single cup of tea, a disciple ran from the mountain hastily and told him about
how powerful and cruel the thing in Dafan Mountain was. Hearing this, his heart jumped
and he rushed up here again. He shouted, “A-Ling!”

Jin Ling almost had his soul taken away a moment ago, but he was fine now, and stood on
the ground properly, “Uncle!”

Jiang Cheng sighed in relief, it seems like he raised a-Jie’s son after she….. died. The fact
that his sister will die feels like poison on his tongue.
Seeing that Jin Ling was safe, Jiang Cheng finally calmed down. Quickly afterward, he
scolded angrily, “Didn’t you bring signal firelights with you? Don’t you know to use them
when you meet something like this? What are you pretending to be strong for? Scram over
here!”

Jiang Yanli brought her sleeve to her lips and stifled her laughter, her a-Cheng hasn’t changed
one bit, he still shows his affection like this.

Jin Zixuan looked at his fiancée, his… future wife, mother of his child, and madam. She was
so beautiful, how had he not fallen for her sooner?

Jin Ling was also angered from not capturing the soul-consuming goddess, “Weren’t you
the one who told me that I have to catch it? And, if I don’t catch it, I shouldn’t go see
you?”

“and you believed that?” Wei Wuxian looked at his future nephew unamused.

Jin Ling crossed his arms, “whatever!”

Jiang Cheng seriously wanted to slap the rotten brat so hard that he went back inside his
mother’s stomach. However, he really did say so himself, and he shouldn’t prove himself
wrong. He could only turn to the cultivators who lay collapsed on the ground, speaking
with satire, “What on Earth could it be, beating you up in such a dignified way?”

Among the cultivators who wore differently-coloured clothing, a bunch were the disguised
disciples of the YunmengJiang Sect, ordered by Jiang Cheng to secretly assist Jin Ling, in
case he couldn’t overcome the challenge. He was quite the responsible elder, going to such
great lengths. One cultivator still hadn’t overcome the shock, “Sect, Sect Leader, it’s... It’s
Wen Ning...”

Jiang Cheng thought that he had misheard, “What did you say?”

The person replied, “Wen Ning is back!”

In an instant, shock, disgust, anger, and disbelief all crossed Jiang Cheng’s face.

Wen Ning frowned, was he a convicted criminal in the future? That Young master Jiang had
such a contorted expression on his face?

Jiang Cheng seemed to realize the younger Wen Ning’s worry, “uh- Wen-gongzi, don’t
worry.. now I know you aren’t a bad person, I’m sorry for my future self’s rudeness to you.”

“oh-“ Wen Ning waved his hands, “you shouldn’t apologize to me..”

“nonsense.” Wei Wuxian shook his head, “you seem like a really kind young master, Wen
Qionglin, I believe you are a nice man.”

“oh.. t-thank you..”

After a long while passed, he finally spoke bitterly, “The thing was ground to dust in front
of everyone long ago, so how can it come back?”

The disciple spoke, “It really is Wen Ning! There’s no way for it to be wrong! My eyes
couldn’t have mislooked!” He suddenly pointed to the side, “... He was the one who
summoned him!”

Wei WuXian was still in a stalemate with Lan WangJi. Instantly, they were the center of
everyone’s attention. Jiang Cheng’s lightning-like gaze also moved toward where he stood.

After a moment, the corners of Jiang Cheng’s lips pulled into a twisted smile. His left hand
started to unconsciously stroke the ring again. He spoke softly, “... Well, well. So you’re
back?”

He let go of his left hand, and a long whip dangled from it.

Jiang Yanli gasped in horror, “don’t tell me a-Cheng will… to a-Xian…”

“what is my future self doing?!” Jiang Cheng’s face changed in anger, fear, and back to anger.

Yu Ziyuan smirked like she won something, “discipline that servant, a-Cheng! Whip him till
he-“ her sentence was cut off when Madam Lan sent a glare at her direction.

“Yu Ziyuan, watch your tongue, it’s already slipping.”

The whip was extremely slender. Like its name, it was a streak of purple lightning which
sizzled, as if it had just been taken away from a sky full of storm clouds. He held one side
of it in his grip. As it was brandished, it seemed to let out rapid slashes of lightning!

Before Wei WuXian moved, Lan WangJi had already placed his zither in front of him. With
an assured stroke, it was as if a rock had created thousands of waves in water. The sound
of the zither had created countless ripples in the air, colliding with Zidian. The latter
waned, and the former waxed.

Lan Wangji’s face contorted in worry, “Wei Ying…..”

Jiang Cheng’s considerations of “not rashly fighting with him” and “not displeasing the
Lan Clan” were as if they were eaten by dogs. The night sky above Dafan Mountain’s
forest was sometimes surging with purple light, and sometimes as bright as daytime; there
were sometimes deafening roars of thunder, and sometimes waves of the zither’s notes. The
rest of the cultivators quickly retreated into a safe distance away from the scene, standing
on the side and watching. They were both frightened to death and staring in awe. After all,
rarely did one have the chance to watch two famous cultivators of prominent families
combat directly, which was why everyone hoped that the fight was more violent and
intense. Among these thoughts, there were also some unspeakable hopes for the
relationship between the Lan Clan and the Jiang Clan to fall apart, creating an interesting
scenario. On the other hand, Wei WuXian waited for his chance, and suddenly sprinted off.

Jiang Cheng facepalmed, “you dumb little shit-“

The crowd was extremely surprised. He hadn’t been hit by the whip yet only because Lan
WangJi acted as a barricade in front of him. For him, running away like this was the same
as seeking his own death!

Sure enough, as if eyes grew on his back, Jiang Cheng saw that he went outside Lan
WangJi’s area of protection, and was determined to grasp the chance. With a slanting
crack of his whip, Zidian slashed out with the semblance of a poisonous dragon, precisely
landing on the center of his back!

Jiang Yanli stood up, “why did a-Cheng whip a-Xian with Zidian?! What is happening-“
“a-Li….” Jin Zixuan frowned.

Wei WuXian was almost flung away from the attack of the whip. If not for the donkey
blocking him, he would have directly crashed into a tree. However, after the blow, both Lan
WangJi and Jiang Cheng stopped, looking quite stunned.

Wei WuXian massaged the back side of his waist, and crawled up with the support of the
donkey. He hid behind it and yelled angrily, “How amazing! You really can do anything
when you’re from a powerful clan, can’t you? You can even beat up anyone you want! Tsk
tsk tsk!”

Lan WangJi, “...”

Jiang Cheng, “...”

“huh? Why are they shocked?” Nie Huaisang scratched the back of his neck in confusion.

Jiang Cheng, “Zidian can force a soul out of a possessed body, I think my future self….
Ehhm, whipped Wei Wuxian to check if he was possessed.”

“why didn’t I know that?”

He was both shocked and enraged, “What is going on?”

One unique power of “Zidian” was that, if it hit someone who seized another’s body, their
soul and physical form would immediately separate. Without any exceptions, the person’s
soul would be whipped away from the body. Yet, Wei WuXian was still moving properly and
running about after he was hit. The only explanation was that he did not seize this body.

“fuck you and your iq.” Jiang Cheng cussed at Wei Wuxian.

“thanks!” he replied enthusiastically.

Wei WuXian thought, of course Zidian couldn’t whip out my soul. I didn’t seize anyone’s
body, but was forcibly given one!

Bewilderment could be seen on Jiang Cheng’s face as he prepared to whip again, when
Lan JingYi suddenly shouted, “Sect Leader Jiang, this should be enough, right? It was
Zidian!”

Wei Wuxian, “thanks, little Lan.”

Lan Jingyi sparkled at his senior’s praise, “anytime, qianbei!”

It was absolutely impossible for the first strike to fail and the second to succeed, for a
magical weapon of such high level like Zidian. If nothing was taken out, nothing would be
taken out; if it wasn’t the seizing of a body, it wouldn’t be the seizing of a body. In fact, the
shout made Jiang Cheng, who cared about maintaining his reputation above anything else,
unable to make another move.

However, if it wasn’t Wei WuXian, who else could have summoned and controlled Wen
Ning?
“Wei-xiong.”

“Wei-qianbei.”

“baba.”

“Wei-qianbei.”

“okay, I get it!”

Even after thinking it over multiple times, Jiang Cheng still couldn’t accept the fact. He
pointed at Wei WuXian and scowled, “Who on Earth are you?”

“Wei-xiong.”

Finally, a meddlesome bystander added a word to the conversation. He coughed, “Sect

Leader Jiang, you might have not paid attention to these things so didn’t know about this.
Mo XuanYu was the LanlingJin Sect’s... Ahem, he used to be a foreign disciple of the Jin
Sect. But, because his spiritual powers were low and he didn’t work hard in his studies,
and also had that... He harassed a peer and was thrown out of the LanlingJin Sect. I’ve
also heard that he lost his marbles? In my opinion, he was probably bitter from being
unable to cultivate using the correct method, he ventured off onto the wrong path. It might
not be... the YiLing Patriarch seizing this body.”

Jiang Cheng asked, “That? Which?”

“That... As in that...”

Someone couldn’t help but to comment, “The cut-sleeve penchant!”

Jiang Cheng’s eyebrows twitched. His eyes which stared at Wei WuXian seemed more
disgusted than before. There were more comments on the matter, but nobody dared to say
them in front of Jiang Cheng.

Yu Ziyuan scowled, at least her son was feared. She smirked.

Although he was infamous, people had to admit that, before the YiLing Patriarch Wei
WuXian had betrayed the YunmengJiang Sect, he was known for being a handsome young
man and a refined cultivator skilled in the six arts. He ranked the fourth among all of the
young masters in the cultivation world, being described as lively and cheerful. On the other
hand, the ill-tempered Sect Leader Jiang ranked five, surpassed by him, so most people
weren’t so bold as to mention the matter. Wei Ying was a frivolous and wanton person who
loved to have tangled ties with pretty girls. Nobody knew how many female cultivators he
had troubled with his charms, but it was yet unheard of that he was also attracted to men.
Even if he wanted to steal a body and seek revenge... according to Wei Ying’s taste, he
definitely wouldn’t have chosen a lunatic cut-sleeve who rode a donkey while eating fruits
and painted his face to resemble a hanged ghost!

“this is so fucking funny, I cant..-“ Ouyang ZIzhen stifled a laugh.

Someone else muttered, “It’s not him no matter how you look at it... The flute was also
played horribly... This is definitely a case of blind imitation, hearing how inferior it
sounded.”
“my flute sklls are elite! How dare you!!”

During the “Sunshot Campaign,” the YiLing Patriarch stood on the battlefield and played
his flute throughout the whole night, controlling the ghost soldiers as if they were a living
army. He swept away all obstacles—whether a human or god was standing in front of him,
he had defeated them. The sound of his flute was as if it was played by an immortal,
absolutely incomparable to the terrible moans made by the abandoned son of the Jin Clan.
No matter how horrible Wei WuXian’s character was, it was too insulting to compare them
like this.

Wei WuXian felt somewhat offended, ... Why don’t you try playing a few notes after ten-or-
so years of not practicing, using a lousy flute made with just a few slices and cuts? If it
sounds pleasant, I’ll kneel in front of you!

Lan Wangji blinked multiple times, then started blushing.

“Lan Zhan, what’s wrong?”

ALn Wangji shook his head, “nothing.”

A moment ago, Jiang Cheng was certain that this person was Wei WuXian, and all of the
blood in his body started to boil. Yet, now, Zidian was clearly telling him that he wasn’t.
Zidian definitely wouldn’t deceive him or make a mistake, so he quickly calmed himself
and thought, this doesn’t mean anything. I should first find an excuse to take him back
and use every possible method to get information out of him. It’s impossible for him to not
confess anything or give himself away. I’ve done things like this in the past anyways. After
thinking it through, he made a gesture. The disciples understood his intention and came
over.
Wei WuXian hurriedly jumped behind Lan WangJi with the donkey, and exclaimed while
holding a hand over his chest, “Ah! What are you going to do to me?”

Lan WangJi gave him a look, putting up with his extremely discourteous, noisy, and
exaggerated behaviour.

Seeing that he had no means of moving over, Jiang Cheng spoke, “Second Young Master
Lan, are you purposely making it difficult for me?”

“mn” Lan Wangji replied.

Everyone in the cultivation world knew that the young leader of the Jiang Clan watched
out for Wei WuXian in an almost crazed manner. He would rather catch the wrong person
than let go of any possibility, and took anyone who seemed like they held the soul of Wei
WuXian away to the YunmengJiang Sect, inflicting severe torture on his victim. If he
wanted to take someone back, the opposition would surely lose half of their life. Lan
SiZhui spoke, “Sect Leader Jiang. The evidence is clear—Mo XuanYu’s body was not
taken. If so, why should you want to trouble an unimportant person such as him?”

Jiang Yanli flinched, torture?

Jiang Cheng replied coldly, “Then, why is Second Young Master Lan going to such great
lengths to protect an unimportant person such as him?”

“cause he wants to get under the sheets with him.”

“HUAISANG!”

Out of the blue, Wei WuXian made a few sounds of suppressed laughter.

He spoke, “Sect Leader Jiang, umm, I’ll feel very troubled if you keep on bothering me
like this.”

Jiang Cheng’s eyebrow twitched again. His instincts told him that this person would
definitely not say anything that pleased him.

Wei WuXian spoke, “Thank you for being so enthusiastic. However, your thoughts are
quite off. Even if I am attracted to men, I don’t like just any type of man, much less follow
anyone who waves at me. For example, I’m not interested in ones like you.”

Wei WuXian was purposely trying to disgust him. Jiang Cheng had always hated being
defeated while compared with others, no matter how pointless the comparison was. If
anyone said that he wasn’t as good as someone else, he’d be angered and not think about
anything else until he won against the person. As expected, Jiang Cheng’s face darkened,
“Oh, really? Then, may I ask which type you’re interested in?”

“uh-oh, Jiang-xiong, you fell for Wei -xiong’s trap.” Nie Huaisang laughed.

Wei WuXian replied, “Which type? Well, I am very much attracted to people like
HanGuang-Jun.”

Lan Wangji choked on air, clasping his chest, Wei Wuxian blushed a little and laughed at his-
-- Lan Zhan.
“oh dear…” Qingheng-jun teased.

Lan WangJi could not tolerate this sort of frivolous and foolish joke at all. If he felt
disgusted, he would definitely draw a line between them and keep his distance. Disgusting
two people at once—this was killing two birds with one stone!

Jiang Cheng sighed, killing two birds with one stone, really? Wei Wuxian?

However, as Lan WangJi heard this, he turned around.

His face was emotionless, “Mark your words.”

“holy shit.” Ouyang Zizhen gasped, but he received a glare from Lan Sizhui.

Wei WuXian, “Hmm?”

Lan WangJi turned back, speaking in a mannerly yet resolute way, “I will take this person
back to the Lan Sect.”

Wei WuXian, “...”

Wei WuXian, “...Huh?”

Nie Huaisang bent over in laughter, “Wei-xiong’s reaction is priceless!” Wei Wuxian threw a
‘water bottle?( Something the orb gave them) at Nie Huaisang’s face, who yelped.

“shut up!”
 NOT NEW CHAP
Chapter by reikadust

Hi i just wanted to say that i wont br able to update this fic this week because im sick and
throwing up lmao so vivyxx is ginna be updating the fic or maybe next week
 Refinement I
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

“Is it just me or it’s taking much more longer for this system thing to load up on its energy?
What kind of thing like this even needs almost a day to gain its energy up????” Nie Huaisang
spoke as he fanned himself, the room was getting quite hot, glad his fan was in to come
handy to him.

“The system will now be booting up, please wait a while and please seat yourselves all down
please!” Somebody in the orb spoke, Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian huffed after finally.

“Well thank the heavenly officials after finally!!” Nie Huaisang made a gesture of worship up
into the air.

“What the fuck are you doing??” Jiang Cheng wanted to question Nie Huaisangs existence
and motions as from what he was currently seeing right now.

“Now starting………..”

The residence of the Lan Sect was located in a remote mountain outside the city of Gusu.

“Ooh, so we time skipped to the Cloud Recesses now?” Wei Wuxian said.

“Uh, obviously, from what we are seeing, i want to know if your eyes are working properly
or not.” Jiang Cheng replied back.
Mist constantly enveloped the white walls and black roofs of the buildings, which stretched
along the picturesque garden of the waterside pavilion, as if it was an ocean of clouds in
the immortal realm. At dawn, the first of the morning sun shone through the hazy billows
of mist that drifted far and wide, perfectly complementing its name—the “Cloud Recesses.”

“Oh wow, the Cloud Recesses looks really different compared to how it looks right now for
us…..” Nie Huaisang said, admiring the beauty of the current Cloud Recesses as shown to
them all.

In such a tranquil place, one’s heart would be like still water. Only the echoes of the bell
tower could be heard vibrating through the air. Although it was incomparable to a holy
temple, the cold mountains still send forth a lonesome air of Zen.

However, the ambience was suddenly shattered by a long wail, giving a few shudders down
the backs of the disciples who were training or doing their morning readings. They
couldn’t help but to glance at the direction of the main entrance, where the sound came
from.

“Is that the sound of a cry—“ Jiang Cheng was then cut off as soon as Lan Jingyi and Lan
Sizhui responded back to him.

“Yes, um, Sect Leader Jiang… that was indeed the sound of a cry, and i suppose you already
have a guess on who it is.” The duo said, was it who Jiang Cheng really expected?

“Ooh! Ooh! Let me guess! It’s Wei-Xiong!” Nie Huaisang laughed as he joked, then gaining
a few nods from the duo.
Wei WuXian was crying in front of the entrance, clinging onto his donkey. Lan JingYi
spoke, “Stop crying! You said that you liked HanGuang-Jun yourself, so what are you
wailing for, now that he has taken you back?”

Wei WuXian pulled a long face.

“Is it just me, or did he not change at all?” Everybody in the room blinked intensely.

He never had the chance to summon Wen Ning again, after the night at Dafan Mountain.
Neither did he have any opportunities to find out why Wen Ning was unconscious or why
he had appeared in this world again, before he was carried back by Lan WangJi.

When he was in his early youth, he had came to study at the Lan Sect for three months,
along with the disciples of other clans, so he had experienced the GusuLan Sect’s dull,
boring atmosphere in person. In fact, he still shuddered at the thought of the three-
thousand-or-so sect rules which crammed onto the Wall of Discipline. As he was tugged up
the mountain, he passed by the rock wall again, and saw that a thousand more were carved
on. Now, there were more than four thousand. Four thousand!

“M-more t-than f-f-four thousand??????? But there were only three thousand back then! Just
what kind of rules are being added?? “Breathing irregularly is prohibited”????” To be honest,
Wei Wuxian did have a point in that. The Lan Clan and Sect was clearly soon to reach some
kind of point like that.
“This is why i don’t want to study there, Da-Ge!!!!” Nie Huaisang thought he had apparently
kept that thought in his mind, but he had said it loud, and earned a smack in the head.

“This is for your own good, Huaisang!!” Nie Mingjue replied back angrily as Nie Huaisang
flopped on the couch with his dear beloved fan…..

Lan JingYi spoke, “There, there! Stop making a ruckus. Noise is prohibited in the Cloud
Recesses.”

“That line never gets old…….” Wei Wuxian muttered out.

He was making loud noises exactly because he didn’t want to enter the Cloud Recesses!

“Wow! What a coincidence Wei-Xiong in the future, me too!” Nie Huaisang laughed as then
again recieved another smack in the head by his brother.

“Shut up!” Nie Mingjue once again angrily said towards Nie Huaisang as a few eyes were on
the two.
If he was dragged inside, it would be extremely difficult for him to come outside again.
Back then, when he came to study, all of the disciples were given a jade token for passage.
Only with the token, would a person be able to enter and leave freely, or else they couldn’t
pass through the protective barrier of the Cloud Recesses. After ten years had passed, the
security could only have gotten stricter, instead of looser.

Lan WangJi stood still in front of the entrance, turning a deaf ear to him, and watched the
scene with an indifferent look. When Wei WuXian’s voice had somewhat quieted, he spoke,
“Let him cry. When he becomes tired, drag him inside.”

“I’m telling you, it’s a day for two fruits feeling like two frui—“ Wei Wuxian threw one of
the couch pillows towards Nie Huaisangs way, hitting both him and his fan! How dare his
bestfriend!!!!!!

Wei WuXian hugged the donkey and cried even harder, bumping his head against it.

How misfortunate! He thought that with a whip from Zidian, all of his doubts would be
cleared. At the moment, he felt satisfied with himself and, along with his mouthful of
teasing words, he offhandedly gave Lan WangJi a few repulsive comments. Yet, who knew
that Lan WangJi didn’t follow the routine he had followed before? What was this all
about? Was it possible that, after so many years, his level of cultivation had increased, but
he became more intolerant?

“Only for Wei Ying.” Lan Wangji whispered beside Wei Wuxian, smiling brightly as he
snuggled a little bit to Lan Wangji, the two were like a cringe couple in others perspective.
The only people that noticed it was most definitely a certain Jin and Jiang, who then both
thought of the same thing, ‘Dog Food’.

Wei WuXian spoke, “I’m attracted to men, so with so many beautiful young men in your
sect, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to control myself.”

“FRUIT FOUND!!!” Nie Huaisang yelled out loud, people in the room looked at him as he
was again greeted with both a smack from Nie Mingjue in the head and nextly, he was
greeted with another couch pillow flying right at his direction.

Lan SiZhui tried to reason with him, “Young Master Mo, it was for your sake that
HanGuang-Jun brought you here. If you do not follow us, Sect Leader Jiang will not be
willing to let the matter go. During these years, there were countless people whom he
caught and took back to Lotus Pier, and none of those people were ever let out.”

Jiang Yanli once again flinched at those words. What had… her little brother who used to be
nice become in the future? Just how badly was the thing that Wei Wuxian did in the future
that it made her little brother do all of this so called severe torture?

“What am i doing in the future?” Jiang Cheng widened his eyes at those words where none of
those people he captured were ever let out. Had he really become that cruel and awful in the
future? Just as what he wished he didn’t want to become or happen?

“That’s a hard explanation, JiuJiu…….” Jin Ling responded back, knowing whatever his
uncle in the future did to those people. He never bothered to say a word about it because he
was afraid.
Lan JingYi spoke, “That is right. You have seen Sect Leader Jiang’s methods, have you
not? They are quite cruel...” He paused here, remembering the rule that stated “talking
behind other people’s backs” was prohibited, and secretly glanced at Lan WangJi. Seeing
that HanGuang-Jun didn’t show any means to chastise him, he was bold enough as to
mumble on, “It is all because of the unhealthy trend that the YiLing Patriarch started.
There are so many people who copy him and cultivate that foolish method. With Sect
Leader Jiang being so suspicious of everyone, is it even possible for him to catch all of
them? Just look at you and your flute skills... Heh.”

“You little Lan!!!! You dare insult my beautiful and elite flute skills !!!!” Lan Jingyi flinched
as he quickly went to bow in apology, thinking of a response of apology to give to whom he
had just insulted, the Yiling Laozu himself!

“I’m soooo sorry Wei-Qianbei!!!!!! At that time, i really didn’t know it was you, i definitely
wouldn’t have said that if did know it was really you!!!” Lan Sizhui then sat Lan Jingyi back
down, he knew himself that Lan Jingyi would still say it otherwise.

Ouyang Zizhen shook his head, “I mean… logically speaking, the flute really was terrible…”
he admitted, it was a good thing this was his senior from the past.

“mhmm…” Lan Sizhui raised an eyebrow, “copy virtue and conduct 2 times, you two.”

“WHAT???”

The heh told more words than what any sentences could describe. Wei WuXian felt like he
really needed to defend himself, “Well, actually, you might not believe me, but I usually
play the flute quite well...”
“Yeah, that ‘heh’ definitely told more than what he did.” Jin Ling spoke as he scoffed.

“Yeah, that’s right, i definitely do! My skills are well above than what you all might think!!”
Wei Wuxian laughed as Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang imagined as Wei Wuxians nose grow
long.

Lan Sizhui smiled in support, “it’s really great, I’ve heard baba play ChenQing on multiple
occasions.”

Wei Wuxian grinned, “see!”

Before he finished his defense, a few white-clothed cultivators walked through the door.

Each person wore the Lan Sect’s uniform, with flowing, plain robes as white as snow. The
man standing in front was tall and slender. Hanging on his waist was a xiao made of white
jade, aside from his sword. As Lan WangJi saw them, he slightly bowed his head to show
respect, and the person did the same. He looked at Wei WuXian and smiled, “WangJi never
brings guests home. This is?”

“…me?” Lan Xichen said, surprised at his appearance happening so soon.

“Oh! My dear boy really has grown so handsome in the future…..” Madam Lan spoke in
happiness, Lan Xichen blushed in embarrassment at the compliment.

QingHeng-Jun laughed, “oh dear… you look just like your mother, how wonderful!”
As the person stood in front of Lan WangJi, it was as if they were mirror images. However,
the color of Lan WangJi’s eyes was extremely light, as if they were tinted crystals, while his
eyes were of a gentler, darker shade.

This was Lan Huan, the leader of the GusuLan Sect—ZeWu-Jun, Lan XiChen.

“Wait, me, the Sect Leader? But… isn’t father the current sect leader right now?” Lan Xichen
was surprised at the words, in their current timeline, Qingheng-Jun was still the Sect Leader.
Unless……

“Um… who is going to tell him?” Lan Jingyi looked at Lan Sizhui, Jin Ling, and Ouyang
Zizhen.

“………I can……….” Lan Sizhui said.

“Uhm, well, ZeWu-Jun… you’re the current Sect Leader, and the reason for that is,
Qingheng-Jun died due to the burning of the Cloud Recesses because his injuries were way
too severe and awful… and hence, you were given the title as the Sect Leader of the GusuLan
Sect.” Both Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen were shocked at the explanation. Burning of the
Cloud Recesses… then which sect had the guts to even burn it?

“which sect was it?” Lan Qiren suddenly spoke up, his voice was gruff and demanding.

“errrrrrr…..” Lan Sizhui suddenly felt uncomfortable, as his eyes slowly redirected to Wen
Ruohan, who didn’t seem to notice his uncomfortable look.

Lan Xichen looked at the direction of Lan Sizhui’s eyes and understood immediately,
“…..right, understood…” he turned to whisper in his uncle’s ear, who suddenly looked
purple.
Each place brought up the same kind of people. The GusuLan Sect had always been
known for nurturing a lot of handsome men, especially the two jades of the clan’s current
generation. Even though the two were not twins, they looked extremely similar to each
other, which made it difficult to tell who was the superior one. Yet, although their
appearances were similar, their personalities were not. Lan XiChen was gentle and
benevolent, while Lan WangJi was overly aloof and stern, keeping everyone at an arm’s
length and being the opposite of amiable. This was why, in the list of the best-looking
young masters in the cultivation world, the former ranked first, and the latter ranked
second.

“A list that determined who the most best looking young masters are? I wonder what place
you are in there, Wei-Xiong!” Nie Huaisang said, Wei Wuxian also wanted to know, after all,
he was indeed handsome, charming, and very charismatic as he claims!!

Madam Lan felt very happy to know that maidens in the future happened to have liked her
sons so much they ranked first and second.

“oh, senior Wei was fourth, and sect leader Jiang was fifth.” Lan Jingyi told them.

“who was third?” Jin Zixuan asked.

“you, a-die.”

Lan XiChen proved himself worthy of being the leader of a sect. Even as he saw Wei
WuXian embracing a donkey, he did not appear to be affected at all. Wei WuXian let go of
the donkey with a beaming smile on his face and approached him. The GusuLan Sect
placed a lot of regard on the order of seniority. If he talked nonsense to Lan XiChen, he
would most definitely be chased off the Cloud Recesses. However, when he just got ready to
show his capabilities, Lan WangJi looked at him. Immediately, his lips were sealed close.
Wei Wuxian, “……..”

Lan WangJi turned around and continued his polite conversation with Lan XiChen,
“Brother, are you going to visit LianFang-Zun again?”

“Who the hell is LianFang-Zun?” Jiang Cheng questioned, but it seemed that not much knew
who he was, except for the Juniors, though.

“Hey, you guys must know. You are all from the future, who is this so called LianFang-Zun
guy?” Jin Ling seemed to be a little quiet hearing that.

“…..Well, Sect Leader Jiang….. LianFang-Zun is the title of former Sect Leader Jin, Jin
Guangyao.” Former? What exactly did they mean from the word former? They did know who
Jin Guangyao was from the past reaction, but it seemed odd to them that Jin Guangyao was
referred to as the former sect leader of the LanlingJin Sect.

“Former? How so?” Nie Huaisang also felt confused, not much were adding up to the people
in the room, but it shows that the Juniors were quiet.

Jin Ling spoke up, “LianFang-Zun is a-Die’s half-brother, uhm…. You know about….. my
parents passing away right?” Jin Zixuan nodded slowly, fearing the worst. “Jin GuangYao
actually planned a-Die’s death, then he killed Jin Guangshan. After that, he manipulated the
Jin clan and made himself sect leader.” Jin Ling shook his head in disappointment.

“you… you COW!” Madam Jin pointed at Jin Guangshan accusingly, “how dare you bring in
an illegitimate son in LanLing Jin?! We have Zixuan, a LEGITIMATE child! Yet you’re
horny ass couldn’t bear it anymore and brought it another child!? Now look! He killed
Zixuan!” she was fuming, she was red in the face and gritted her teeth so hard it could be
heard.

“look, Daiyu, I don’t know anything! I-I can just not accept the kid, stop making a huge
fuss!” he twirled his fan in his hand nervously, feeling overwhelmed as everyone’s eyes
landed on his pathetic form.

‘well the family drama is entertaining.’ Wen Ruohan thought seamlessly, while Wen Ning
just looked overall uncomfortable with the shit going down.

“da-ge, why do you even talk to him?” Nie Huaisang whispered to his brother, who smacked
him in the head.

“shut your mouth.”

“so…. I was killed by my half-brother?” Jin Zixuan gulped, it’s not everyday you find out
you die, and by your long-awaited brother nonetheless.

“to sum it up, yes, but we can prevent that in your timeline.” Lan Sizhui sighed.

Jin Ling looked uncomfortable, and Lan Jingyi noticed, “hey, it’s gonna be alright, we have
your past parents watching the future, if not in our timeline, we can still save your parents in
this one.” He whispered to Jin Ling, who huffed.

“i… I know, it’s just a sorta sensitive topic for me, but showing the future to my dad’s
younger version…. You’re right, we can still save him. If not in ours, we can do it here.” He
agreed after a while, Lan Jingyi sighed, before he hesitantly held Jin Ling’s hand.

Jin Ling blushed, but he didn’t push the hand away, “you….”
At a distance, Wei Wuxian could see the shit happening with his little duckling and future
nephew, he just giggled to himself.

Lan XiChen nodded, “To negotiate about the next Discussion Conference at Jinlin Tower.”

Wei WuXian was unable to open his mouth, so he sourly walked back to the donkey.

“??? He’s still clinging onto that donkey??” Jiang Cheng questioned himself.

Nie Huaisang sniffled, “the donkey is great, I don’t know what you people mean, da-ge won’t
let me get one!”

“that’s cause you probably wouldn’t even take care of the dang thing.” Nie Mingjue retorted.

LianFang-Zun was the current leader of the LanlingJin Sect—Jin GuangYao, the only
illegitimate son whom Jin GuangShan approved of. He was Jin Ling’s youngest uncle,
being half-blooded brothers with both Jin Ling’s father, Jin ZiXuan, and Mo XuanYu.
However, although they were both illegitimate sons, they were extremely different. While
Mo XuanYu was in Mo Village, sleeping on the ground and eating leftovers, Jin GuangYao
was sitting in the highest seat of the cultivation world, summoning the winds and
controlling the rain. If he wanted to talk to Lan XiCheng or initiate a Discussion
Conference, he could do so however he wanted to. Then again, no wonder the sect leaders
of the Lan and Jin sects personally went along quite well—after all, they were sworn
brothers.

“Oh, so we are sworn brothers in the future.” Lan Xichen muttered, but the Juniors frowned.
Lan XiChen spoke, “Uncle has taken and examined what you brought back from Mo
Village.”

Hearing the words “Mo Village”, Wei WuXian automatically started to pay attention.
Unexpectedly, he felt his lips part. Lan XiChen had released his silence and spoke to Lan
WangJi, “It is not often that you bring somebody home, being in such good spirits. You
need to treat your guest with courtesy, unlike this.”

“Good spirits???????????????” Nie Huaisang was confused, because as clearly what

everyone saw, Lan Wangji literally hade barely the expression formed on his face………..
how could he have told that he was in good spirits?

“What the hell do you mean good spirits, i barely see anything where he is in good spirits
according to his expression……” Jiang Cheng thought to himself with so many questions
swimming everywhere.

Ouyang Zizhen cleared his throat, “Zewu-Jun and Wei-qianbei are masters at reading
Hanguang-Jun’s expressions, it’s like a skill at this point.”

Good spirits? Wei WuXian carefully looked at Lan WangJi’s face.

How could he tell that he was in good spirits?!

“Me too, future Wei Xiong………. I have that same question too………” Nie Huaisang
thought to himself.
After watching Lan XiChen leave, Lan WangJi spoke, “Drag him inside.”

“No way, i’m saying this in advance, FRUI—“ Nie Huaisang was about to yell that, but was
met once again for the third time with a smack with a couch pillow.

Then, Wei WuXian was, indeed, dragged into a place which he swore not to step inside
again.

In the past, only distinguished cultivators had came to visit the Lan Sect, and never had
anyone seen a guest like him before. The juniors all crowded around him, interested by
this new turn of events. If not for the sect rules being so strict, there would definitely be
bouts of laughter along the journey. Lan JingYi asked, “HanGuang-Jun, where should we
drag him to?”

“Great question, actually……. Where am i being dragged to…..” Wei Wuxian asked, the two
Lan Juniors looked at eachother awkwardly.

Lan Wangji looked oddly pleased with himself, and Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but pout, he
can’t read Lan Zhan’s expressions now, but he can in the future.

Lan WangJi replied, “The jingshi.”

“Jingshi??? What’s a jingshi? What’s the quiet room????” Nie Huaisang also asked in
addition, again, the two Lan Juniors looked at eachother awkwardly, smiling nervously as
they both felt like they were being forced to.

Lan Wangji just stared at the words, this so called Jingshi, were his private quarters, where
he slept and did his studies, he had not once invited a single person inside, yes, not even his
older brother.

“... The jingshi?!”

“So shocked for what? Is this jingshi room thing that bad?” he didn’t hear the fact it was Lan
Zhan’s private rooms, Lan Xichen suddenly felt a bead of sweat falling on the side of his
face.

Lan Qiren looked on the edge of qi deviating, “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS-
WANGJI!” his face turned an interesting shade of purple.

Qingheng-jun was holding in his laughter, “Qiren- calm down-“

“uhh???” Wei Wuxian looked at the Lan’s in confusion ,what the fuck was the jingshi? It’s
probably a big deal, if it made the old man react like that. He thought, before opening up a
‘water bottle’ given to him by the orb and drinking it.

Lan SIzhui clasped his hands together, “okay! To sum it up, the Jingshi is a-Die’s private
quarters…. And he has never ever invited anyone inside willingly.”

Wei Wuxian choked on the water he was drinking, “WHAT??????!??!?!?!?” the water bottle
dropped to the floor, before it disappeared, the orb was not cleaning it up manually, he
guesses.
“I didn’t take Wangji-xiong for someone to do pre-marital stuff, but it’s always the most
unexpected, huh?” Nie Huaisang said, wiggling his eyebrows while smirking at his friend.

“Lan Wangji, if you do something to Wei Wuxian I will not hesitate to fucking punch you.”
Jiang Cheng glared at Lan Wangji, who nodded.

“a-Cheng! You’re a sect heir, act like one!” Yu Ziyuan growled.

Jiang Cheng pursed his lips together and ignored his mother, “can we continue?”

Wei WuXian didn’t know what was going on. The rest stared among themselves, afraid to
make any sound.

“I’d be afraid

It was HanGuang-Jun’s bedroom and study, which he had never invited anyone inside...

“oh God.” Wei Wuxian felt dizzy at the reminder.

The furniture in the jingshi was extremely simplistic, without any unnecessary belongings.
On the accordion partition, there was a painting of drifting clouds, floating and morphing
with its fine brushwork. A guqin table lay horizontally in front of it. On top of the three-
legged incense stand in the corner, a hollowed out incense burner made of white jade
emitted soft, lingering smoke, filling the whole room with the chilling scent of sandalwood.
‘sandalwood….. does he smell like that?’ Wei Wuxian thought, finding himself blushing as
he got a whiff of the sandalwood scent from Lan Zhan.

Lan WangJi went to see his uncle to discuss serious matters, while Wei WuXian was
pushed into the room. Right after Lan WangJi left, Wei WuXian also went outside. He
strolled around the Cloud Recesses, and found that, as he had expected, without the jade
token for passage, even if he climbed up the white walls of a few zhangs’ height, he would
be immediately flung off by the barrier, attracting the attentions of the nearby patrolmen at
once.

Wei WuXian could only go back to the jingshi.

“out of context…. This seems like a kidnapping scene….” Nie Huaisang commented.

“okay, your not wrong this time…” Jiang Cheng muttered.

He never really worried about anything, no matter what he came across. He walked
around the jingshi with his arms behind his back, firmly believing that, sooner or later,
there would be a solution. The refreshing scent of the sandalwood was cold and clear.
Although it wasn’t sentimental, it had its own way of tugging one’s heartstrings. With
nothing to do, he started to think random thoughts, Lan Zhan happened to smell like this
scent. His clothes were probably tinged with the fragrance when he was practicing his
guqin or meditating here.

After these thoughts, he couldn’t help but to shift closer to the incense stand at the corner.
With this shift, he became aware that, beneath his foot, one piece of wood was significantly
different from the other places. Wei WuXian bent down and started to knock here and
there, due to curiosity. In his past life, he did a lot of digging pits, excavating graves, and
finding holes in the ground. After a few moments, he turned a piece of board up.
“a secretive space?” Lan Xichen looked at the screen with interest, was his didi hiding
something!

“mhmmmm…. I’ve never heard of this ?” Jin Ling said,

Finding a secretive space in Lan WangJi’s room was already more than enough to surprise
Wei WuXian. However, after he saw what was hidden inside, he was even more surprised.

After flipping the wooden board open, a mellow aroma had filled the air, unnoticeable
when it was mixed with the sandalwood scent. Seven or eight black jars were packed into a
small, square cellar.

Sure enough, Lan WangJi had changed—he even started to hide liquor!

Lan Qiren looked red in the face, “WANGJI! WHAT IS THIS??????” he said, shaking, with
blood dripping down his chin.

“oh ho ho! He’s just like me, I hid liquor a lot when I was Wangji’s age!” Qingheng-Jun
laughed boisterously.

“don’t influence the children….” Madam Lan scolded him.

“uhhhh…. Wangji-xiong. And alcohol. Weird combo….”

“right.” Wei Wuxian laughed, was this fuddy duddy so different in 20 years? Lan Zhan has
even started hiding alcohol! Emperor’s smile!

The Cloud Recesses prohibited liquor. Because of this, the first time they met, they had a
small fight. Lan WangJi ended up spilling a jar of the “Emperor’s Smile” which he
brought back from the city of Gusu.

After he returned from Gusu to Yunmeng, Wei WuXian never had the chance to drink the
“Emperor’s Smile” made exclusively by Gusu’s experts ever again. He had thought about
this for his entire life, always telling himself to come back to taste it if he ever received the
opportunity. But, the opportunity never came. Hidden in here was no other than the liquor
—he didn’t even need to open and taste it, and knew that it was an “Emperor’s Smile” just
by the smell of it. He would never have thought that he would find a liquor-hiding vault in
the room of a person as scrupulous and abstinent as Lan WangJi’s. Karma really outdid
itself with this reincarnation.

“holy shit, am I about to witness their love story???!!!” Ouyang Zizhen squealed like a young
lady, earning him an odd look from Jin Ling.

“why are you so damn excited about experiencing my dajiu and Hanguang-Jun’s story, you
even made a book about it!!!”

“oh… Zizhen actually made a book about my parents? I thought he was joking about that….”
Lan Sizhui said with realization.

“I just, sit back, and observe.” Lan Jingyi grinned.

As Wei WuXian exclaimed upon the matter, he finished one jar already. He had a high
tolerance for alcohol and loved to drink. After he came to the conclusion that Lan WangJi
still owed him a jar of Emperor’s Smile and it was time to collect his interests, he drank
another jar. When he was just starting to get tipsy, a thought suddenly passed his mind.
How hard was it to get the jade token? In the Cloud Recesses, there was a cold spring with
a lot of miraculous effects, for the male cultivators to use. It was said to be able to calm
down one’s heart, clear one’s mind, quench one’s fire, and so on. When he went into the
cold spring, he was bound to take off his clothing. Then, with his clothing already off,
there would be no where to put it aside from holding it in his mouth, which was definitely
out of question.

“okay…. Time to experience Wei-xiong’s pathetic failed attempts at escaping Wangji-xiong!”

Nie Huaisang said a little too enthusiastically.

“well, I definitely failed.” Wei Wuxian smiled.

Wei WuXian clapped his hands and finished the last gulp in the jar. After searching, he
found that there were no places to throw it away, so he filled the empty jars with clear
water and sealed the lids again, stuffing them back inside and closing the wooden board.
With this done, he ventured out to find the jade token.

Although the Cloud Recesses had been burnt down before the “Sunshot Campaign”
happened, the rebuilt structure of the area was the same. Wei WuXian walked through the
winding paths from memory, and soon found the cold spring, situated at a quiet and
obscure place.

The Lan’s froze at the memory of their home burning down, however, they will not allow it
to happen.

“seems like it’s time I get out of seclusion.” Qingheng-Jun grinned.

“what?” Lan Qiren looked at his brother, who smiled.

The disciple on duty for watching over the cold spring was quite a distance away. The
female cultivators were in another quarter of the Cloud Recesses and didn’t come here to
use it. Nobody in the Lan Sect did an impudent thing such as coming to the cold spring to
watch others bathe, anyway. Therefore, the security wasn’t strict at all and it was extremely
easy to overcome, making it easy for Wei WuXian to go and shame himself. And,
coincidentally, there was a set of white clothes on top of the white rocks behind the
crisscrossed eupatorium grasses, meaning that someone had already came.

The set of white clothes was folded extremely neatly, almost making one’s hair rise. It
looked like a snow-white piece of tofu—even the forehead ribbon was folded without any
creases. As Wei WuXian put his hand in and searched for the jade token of passage, he was
almost reluctant to mess it up. Afterward, stepping over the bushes of eupatorium grasses,
his gaze passed over the spring, and suddenly halted.

“okay, reveal!!!” Nie Huaisang squealed.

“Huaisang, chill,”

The water in the cold spring was freezing. Unlike a hot spring, there wasn’t any vapour to
shroud one’s eyes, so it was possible to take a clear look at the upper half of the person in
the spring who stood with his back to him.

The person in the spring was quite tall. His skin was fair and his hair was black, wet and
gathered to one side. The lines which outlined his waist and back were smooth, graceful
yet holding strength. In simpler terms, he was a beauty.

However, Wei WuXian was definitely not stunned and unable to avert his gaze because he
was looking at a bathing beauty. No matter how beautiful he was, he wouldn’t actually be
attracted to men. Really, it was the things on the person’s back that made him unable to
avert his gaze.
There were dozens of intersecting scars.

“whip marks!? How could one accumulate so much—” Jiang Cheng paused, one strike is
already enough, but over 30?!!!

Jiang Fengmian frowned at the sight, “how odd…”

“who would whip someone so much with the discipline whip??? Atleast one strike is
enough!” Madam Jin protested as well.

“I knew my clan were always strict with punishments… but this is too much.” Qingheng-jun
frowned.

They were the scars from a discipline whip. In the different sects, there was a type of
discipline whip to punish disciples of that sect who made significant mistakes. After the
torture, the scars would never disappear. Although Wei WuXian had never been hit by a
discipline whip before, Jiang Cheng had been. Even after desperately trying, he couldn’t
make the disgracing imprint fade one bit. This was why Wei WuXian would never
misremember scars like this.

Usually, with only one or two strikes of the discipline whip, it would already be enough of a
punishment for the bearer to remember it for their whole life, never to make the same
mistake ever again. The amount of scars on this person’s back accumulated thirty at the
least. Just what sort of monstrous crime did he commit for him to be whipped so many
times? If it really was a monstrous crime, why didn’t they kill him?

“true….. one lash from the discipline whip is enough for a cultivator to live in shame for the
rest of their life, yet this person has over 30, they must be some renowned criminal or
something…” Nie HUaisang commented with a shake of his head.
“yea,” Ouyang Zizhen said, “Nie-xiong, the person is Hanguang-Jun.”

Wei wuxian dropped his water bottle for the 2nd time that day, “what?”

Lan Xichen’s breath hitched, “pardon?” his hands shook.

“impossible! This cannot be Wangji, what could Wangji have done to receive so much whip
lashes????!!!” Lan Qiren protested.

Lan Jingyi gulped, “during the siege, he protected Wei-qianbei from the cultivators, harming
33 seniors in exchange, they called for Hanguang-Jun’s punishment…..”

“how could I allow this?!” Lan Xichen gasped in horror, if he was sect leader, there was no
way he would let them punish his didi, let alone over 30 strikes…

“your protests were overrun by the elders, and you couldn’t protect Hanguang-Jun as Wei-
qianbei was widely hated still at that time.”

Madam Lan shivered, ‘it’s like what Lan Qiqiu did for me…..’ she thought with nostalgia.

“how could those elders punish Lan Zhan for protecting me?! How dare they-“ Wei Wuxian
was about to pop a blood vessel, he opened his eyes again to Wen Ning holding his wrist.

“Wei-gongzi! Your qi is about to go h-haywire, calm d-down! Your on the verge of qi d-

deviation!!” Wen Ning yelled shakily, still stuttering there and there.

“Wei Ying! Calm down!” Lan Wangji was holding his shoulders, while Jiang Yanli ran to her
shidi.
 “a-Xian!!” Jiang Yanli yelled, her yellow eyes shaking with worry, he heard Jiang Cheng’s
voice.

“Wei Wuxian! Your qi- calm the fuck down!!” his brother yelled at him.

The four junior time travellers looked like they were about to cry, (they weren’t gonna talk
about how Jin Ling was already crying)

“Wei-qianbei!” “baba!” “dajiu!” they yelled in unison, fearing the worst.

Wei Wuxian calmed himself down after a while, “i-Im fine, continue… please…”

At the moment, the person in the spring turned around. Beneath his collarbone and near
his heart, there was a clear sear. Seeing the sear, Wei WuXian’s shock instantly reached its
highest peak.

“my clan symbol?” Wen Ruohan raised his eyebrow, that was definitely his clan motif,
someone used the branding iron on Lan Wangji, but who?

“ahhhhhhh it ended there….” Nie Huaisang muttered.

“lets just wait for it, Huaisang.” Lan Xichen sighed.

Chapter End Notes

really late chapter but whatever

anyways go check out vivy's yt channel cz she posts mdzs react content- Vivyxxo

i hate jgs i hope he dies

juniors disappear around chap 15 or 20 and the wei parents make an appearance soon,
recommend ppl i can add in the reaction room!- reikawas
 Refinement II-III
Chapter Summary

yes

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

While waiting for the recording, everyone was chatting with one another. That being Jin Ling
telling his parents about his life in the future, Lan Sizhui with his parents and Lan Xichen
with his uncle.

When the golden orb suddenly glowed, making everyone look at it, it spoke.
“while waiting, does anyone need some snacks? Food? Drinks?”

Wei Wuxian grinned, “can I have some chili sauce with a bowl of rice?” he asked the orb, the
orb said ‘sure’ and in a few seconds a bowl of rice and chili sauce appeared on the table
before Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian gasped, “woah! How do you do this?”

The voice inside the orb made a muffled sound, “I don’t know, im kinda giving vibes of the
genie from Aladdin not gonna lie.”

“the genie.. from what?” Nie Huaisang blinked his eyes in confusion, what the fuck is an
‘aladdin’ an a ‘genie’?

“nothing!” a different voice suddenly shouted from the orb, “ignore her, let’s start!”

***

The sear took away all of Wei WuXian’s attention, making him doubt that he had mislooked.
He couldn’t even pay attention to the person’s face, and his breaths also stuttered for a few
times. Suddenly, a flash of white appeared before his eyes, as if snow had fallen before him.
Quickly afterward, the blue glare of a sword penetrated through the snow, slashing toward
him with an arctic blast of wind.

***

“Bichen…” Lan Wangji mumbled under his breath.

Wei Wuxian frowned, “how did Lan Zhan get that sear?” he turned to the juniors, who looked
a little guilty.
Lan Jingyi stuttered, “w-well qianbei, we actually don’t know about that.. we’ve never seen
that scar either.”

“alright….” Wei Wuxian drawled.

***

Who didn’t know that it was HanGuang-Jun’s famous sword— “Bichen”? Crap, it’s Lan
WangJi!

Wei WuXian was quite adept at running away and dodging swords. With a roll on the ground,
he closely avoided the sword. He even had the time to pull off a leaf that stuck to his hair
when he rushed out of the cold spring. He ran like a headless fly, right into a few people who
were passing by from nightwatching. They grabbed him and scolded, “What are you running
around for? Running is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses!”

***

“and so is shouting.” Madam Lan chuckled under her sleeve.

***

Wei WuXian, seeing that it was Lan JingYi and the others, were ecstatic, thinking that he
could finally be chased down the mountain. He presented himself at once, “I didn’t see! I
didn’t see anything! I’m definitely not here to peep at HanGuang-Jun bathing!”

***

Jiang Cheng facepalmed, “please.. please… Wei Wuxian I am begging you, stop digging your
own grave!!!” he groaned, the words that just came out of shixiong’s mouth were so..
embarrassing!

“Impudent….” Madam Jin mumbled with a sigh, she knows its an act to escape the Second
jade, however- she just cant help but feel shame on behalf of this kid!

“it’s a daily occurrence, at this point Jiang-xiong, there is no stopping Wei-xiong from
digging his own grave.” Nie Huaisang agreed with a nod of this head.

“I remember being like ‘what the fuck?’ when I first heard this.” Lan Jingyi shivered.
Jin Ling rammed his elbow into Lan Jingyi’s rib, “stop cussing in front of your clan elders
dumbass.”

“Ow!” Lan JingYi exclaimed, shooting Jin Ling a glare.

“and, for that, Jingyi go copy the rules one more time.” Lan sizhui smiled angelically, making
Ouyang Zizhen burst into laughter.
“Sizhui, stop being a petty little-!”

“dumbass! Hold your tongue if you don’t want to copy another 2!”
***

The juniors were shocked speechless by his impudence. No matter where he was, HanGuang-
Jun was a high, holy mountain to behold in awe, especially respected among the junior
disciples in the sect. He was near the cold spring to watch HanGuang-Jun bathe! Just thinking
about such a thing would be the greatest crime, never to be forgiven. Lan SiZhui was
frightened to the point that his voice even changed, “What? HanGuang-Jun? HanGuang-Jun
is inside?!”

Lan JingYi seized him furiously, “You damn cut-sleeve! I-i-is he someone you could peek
at?!”

***

“definitely.” Wei Wuxian said while fanning himself with his right hand.

“take your bullshit somewhere else, weirdo.” Jiang Cheng glared at him.

Wei Wuxian sniffed playfully, “so mean, shidi.”

***

Wei WuXian struck the iron when it was still hot and confirmed his conviction, “I didn’t see
a single peek of how HanGuang-Jun looks like without his clothes!”

***

Jin Ling could feel his face heating up in embarrassment, why was his dajiu like this?

Wen Ruohan admits that the only reason he wants to stay here is to find out more about the
future, but, watching two cutsleeve teenagers flirt? It just kinda spices things up. It’s not like
he was against cutsleeves, afterall, he was inlove with a man before.

***

Lan JingYi fumed, “You are saying that three-hundred taels are not buried here! Well, if you
did not, why are you sneaking around here? Look at you—you have no face to see anyone!”

Wei WuXian covered his face with his hands, “Don’t be so loud... Noise is prohibited in the
Cloud Recesses.”

***

Yu Ziyuan scoffed, “how childish..”

Nie Huaisang giggled at his friend’s antics, “Wei-xiong, you really know how to piss people
off, huh?”

“Its my specialty.” He stuck his nose high.

***

Amid the ruckus, Lan WangJi walked out from behind the layers of eupatorium grasses with
his hair down, wearing a white robe. The conversation hadn’t even finished yet, and he was
already dressed in an orderly fashion, Bichen still unsheathed. The juniors hurried to greet
him. Lan JingYi rushed to speak, “HanGuang-Jun, Mo XuanYu really is awful. You only
brought him back seeing that he assisted us at Mo Village, yet he... he...”

Wei WuXian thought that, this time, it would be beyond his endurance and kicked out of the
sect. However, Lan WangJi only lightly glimpsed at him. After a moment of silence, he
sheathed Bichen with a shing and spoke,”You are dismissed.”

***

“Im not gonna lie, Wangji-xiong looks hella cool in the future.” Nie Huaisang praised with an
innocent smile.

Lan Xichen felt his lips lift upward at Nie Huaisan’s statement, “Huaisang is right Wangji, i
am very proud as your older brother to see how far you’ve grown.”

“My sweet a-Zhan, you’re so grown now, last time your A-niang remembers you as small as
a baby rabbit.” Madam Lan chuckled as she teased her son, Lan Wangji felt his face heat up a
little at the sudden compliments.

“Thank you Nie-gongzi, Xiongzhan, and a-Niang.”

***

It was only three toneless words, but it was powerful enough for no second option to be
allowed. The crowd dispersed immediately, while Lan WangJi calmly held Wei WuXian by
the back of his collar and dragged him toward the jingshi. In his past life, the two were of
similar height, both somewhat slender and tall. Wei WuXian was only shorter than Lan
WangJi by a tiny bit. When they stood together, the difference of less than one cun between
them were almost unnoticeable. However, after waking up in another body, he was more than
two cun shorter than Lan WangJi. While being held in his hand, he couldn’t even struggle
against him. Wei WuXian staggered, wanting to shout, but Lan WangJi spoke coldly, “Those
who make noise will be silenced.”

***

“This feels like.. a book trope where the wife runs away and the husband always catches the
wife.” Nie Huaisang commented in a daze.

Nie Mingjue sighed, “if only you knew your saber just as you know your books.”

His little brother whined, “da-ge, thats not fair.”

***
He would love to be thrown off the mountain, but wouldn’t want to be silenced. Wei WuXian
couldn’t understand it at all—since when did the Lan Sect tolerate something as shameless as
peeking at one of the Lan Clan’s most distinguished cultivators bathing?!

***

“We have never tolerated such a shameful thing.” Lan Qiren glanced towards his youngest
nephew before looking away.

“It seems like Wei Wuxian is the only exception for Wangji, hm?” Qingheng-Jun said with a
smirk.

“Dont influence him.”

***

Lan WangJi carried him to the jingshi, walked straight toward the inner room, and threw him
down onto the bed with a thump. Wei WuXian yelped from the pain. He couldn’t get up at
the moment, wriggling upright after a while. He originally wanted to whine a few times in a
flirtatious manner, so that he would detest him. However, as he raised his head, he saw that
Lan WangJi was holding Bichen with one hand, looking down at him commandingly.

***

Wei Wuxian felt his cheeks flush at the ‘video clip’ shown before him and a bunch of
respectable cultivators.

As Nie Huaisang turned to look at his friend who was starting to turn as red a tomato he
chuckled.

“Wei-xiong, is that you blushing i see?” He taunted, making Wei Wuxian glare at him.

“Nie-xiong, respectfully shut up.”

Lan Wangji said nothing, he lifted his finger and pinned back Wei Wuxian’s hair behind his
ears.

No one noticed, but Ouyang Zizhen was looking at his past seniors with stars in his eyes.

“This could make a good story.” He mumbled.

“What?”

“What?”

“WHAT??”

***
He was used to seeing Lan WangJi with his forehead ribbon, neat, long hair, scrupulous to
every detail, but had never seen him like this, with his hair a bit loose and wearing thin
clothing. Wei WuXian couldn’t help to glance a few more times. After the effort of carrying
and throwing him on the bed, Lan WangJi’s collars, which were closed in the beginning,
came slightly apart, showing his distinct collarbones and the deep red sear under them.

***

“I feel like we’re interrupting an intimate moment.” Jin Zixuan mumbled, his mother nodded
her head slowly, agreeing with her son.

“This feels illegal,” Lan Jingyi said, “feels like we’re intruding in Hanguang-Jun and Wei-
qianbei’s intimate life-“

Jin Ling rolled his eyes, “have you heard them have intimacy? When i stayed at the cloud
recesses that day, i could hear moans coming from their room.” He whispered among his
friends.

***

As he saw the sear, Wei WuXian’s attention was captured again.

When he hadn’t become the YiLing Patriarch yet, he also had a sear like this on his body.

***

“Oh?” That caught Wen Ruohan’s attention, it seems like the little Wei had the Wen sear on
his chest as well? How?

He was thinking of the ways how this sear got on Wei Wuxian’s chest, then his son popped
into his mind.

‘Of course, that useless thing.”

The orb glowed again, “would you like me to tell you the truth behind the sear?” The second
voice, the one that interrupted the first voice they’ve been hearing ever since they got here
said.

“Should we?” Lan Jingyi asked his friends, who seemed to be in deep thinking.

“Im not sure, either.” Lan Sizhui sighed.

“I dont wish to know what happened, however, i have a single question.” Wen Ruohan said to
the glowing orb.

“And that is?” The orb glowed again, a little brighter.

“Was it that useless son of mine who gave Wei Wuxian the sear?”
The voice made a sound in acknowledgement, “correct, the one who inflicted the sear was
none other than Wen Chao, the second master Wen.” The glow of the orb died down little by
little.

“I knew it.” Wen Ruohan sighed into his hand.

Jiang Fengmian felt his nose scrunch involuntarily, “Wen..Chao?”

Yu Ziyuan glared at her husband, “don’t even bother.”

Jiang Cheng suddenly felt a surge of rage wash over him, that Wen sear was only used if
someone did an unforgivable sin towards the Wen.

What could his brother have done to anger that bitch Wen Chao?

“I think its best if we.. resume.” Jiang Yanli suddenly spoke up with her usual calming voice,
but one could feel the small hint of anger in her tone.

***

And, the sear on Lan WangJi’s body was exactly the same as the one on his body in his past
life, no matter the position or the shape, so it was only natural for him to recognize it and
become surprised.

Speaking of it, aside from this sear, the thirty-or-so scars of the discipline whip on his back
were also surprising.

***

Lan Xichen suddenly flinched at the mention of his brother’s 33 intersecting back scars, he
needs to be better in the future, this time he can’t give in into the words of his elders.

Lan Qiren beside him patter his shoulder, he whispered, “don’t feel bad, Xichen. Its not your
fault.”

***

Lan WangJi became famous at a young age. With his high appraisal, he was one of the most
acknowledged cultivators in the cultivation world, and also part of the Two Jades of which
the GusuLan Sect was so proud of. Every word and action of his was set as examples of
excellence by the elders of each sect for their disciples. Just what unforgivable mistake did he
make for him to be punished like this?

***

“It seems like that unforgivable ‘mistake’ was trying to save me and sticking to his clan
teaching of what was ‘rightful’.” Wei Wuxian said, the Lan flinched at the venom of his
words, though Wei Wuxian’s anger and malice was understandable and reasonable.

***
Seeing from the thirty-or-so scars of the discipline whip, the executor might as well have
killed him. As soon as the discipline whip had been delivered, it wouldn’t disappear for the
rest of the bearer’s life, so that they would remember it forever and never make the same
mistake again.

***

“Yet Hanguang-Jun would do it again.” Jin Ling snorted.

“Mn.” Lan Wangji said in agreement.

***

Following his gaze, Lan WangJi lowered his eyes. He pulled his collar so that it covered his
collarbones and sear, becoming the indifferent HanGuang-Jun once again. At the moment, the
deep toll of the bell came from far away.

The Lan Sect had strict sect rules, including a precise schedule of sleeping at nine in the
evening and rising at five in the morning. The bell was a reminder for that. Lan WangJi
listened attentively to the tolls, and spoke to Wei WuXian, “You will be sleeping here.”

Without giving Wei WuXian a chance to reply, he turned to another compartment of the
jingshi, leaving Wei WuXian alone, sprawled on the bed alone and feeling confused.

He did doubt that Lan WangJi might have guessed who he was. However, the doubt was
lacking in both sense and reason. As sacrificing one’s body was a prohibited practice, there
were probably not a lot of people who knew about it. The scrolls passed down the
generations were most likely partial pieces of the entire work, unable to reach their full
potential. Things continued like this, and so there were less and less people who believed in
it. Mo XuanYu only summoned Wei WuXian by looking at a secret scroll, wherever he found
it in the first place. Anyhow, Lan WangJi couldn’t have recognized him just from the awful
flute melodies that he played.

***

“Its not awful.” Lan Wangji mumbled.

***

He asked himself whether or not he had a heartfelt relationship with Lan WangJi in his past
life. Although they had studied with each other, went on adventures, and fought together, all
of these experiences were like falling petals and flowing water—coming and going. Lan
WangJi was a disciple of the GusuLan Sect, which meant that he had to be “righteous,” quite
incompatible with Wei WuXian’s personality. Wei WuXian thought that their relationship
wasn’t exactly bad, but it wasn’t that good either. The chances were that Lan WangJi’s
opinion of him was the same as everyone else’s—being overly wanton and not virtuous
enough, it would have been only a matter of time before he caused a disaster. After Wei
WuXian betrayed the YunmengJiang Sect and became the YiLing Patriarch, he had a few
significant disputes with the Lan Sect, especially during the few months before his death. If
Lan WangJi was sure that he was Wei WuXian, they should have already been engaged in a
large-scale fight.

Yet, he wasn’t sure what to make of the current situation—in the past, no matter what he did,
Lan WangJi didn’t tolerate anything, but now, even though he used whatever methods he had
up his sleeve, Lan WangJi could still tolerate him. Should he be congratulated because of his
progress?!

After a while of staring at nothing, Wei WuXian turned around and went off the bed. He
lightly moved to the other chamber.

***

“Oh no, what are you trying to do now?” Jiang Cheng groaned.

“Embarrass himself more.” Jin Ling followed.

***

Lan WangJi lay sideways on the bed, appearing to be already asleep. Without making a
sound, Wei WuXian approached him.

He was still not giving up, hoping to fish the jade token for passage out of him. However, as
he just extended his hand, Lan WangJi’s long lashes fluttered, and he opened his eyes.

Wei WuXian quickly made up his mind. He threw himself onto the bed.

***

“Yup, disturbing an intimate moment.” Jin Zixuan fiddled with his fingers in hopes this
doesn’t show cutsleeve erotica or something. He doesn’t want Jiang-guniang to see such a
thing either. (He’s not against gays!!!)

Lan Qiren could feel his blood boiling, how much more shamelessness between Cangse
Sanren’s hellspawn and his nephew gonna show??

“Oh-ho-ho” Nie Huaisang looked at the screen attentively.

***

He remembered that Lan WangJi hated physical contact with other people. In the past, just
with one touch and the offender would have been hurled out. If, even like this, he endured it,
then the person was definitely not Lan WangJi. He would even doubt that Lan WangJi’s body
was taken!

Wei WuXian’s entire body was above Lan WangJi’s, with legs separated, kneeling with one
on each side of his waist. His hands were against the wooden bed, trapping Lan WangJi in
between his arms. He gradually lowered his head. The distance between the two faces
became closer and closer. Closer and closer. At the point where it became hard for Wei
WuXian to breathe, Lan WangJi finally opened his mouth.
He stayed silent for a few moments, “Get off.”

Wei WuXian thickened his face, “No.”

A pair of pale-colored eyes looked at Wei WuXian at a very close distance. Lan WangJi
stared fixedly at him, and repeated, “... Get off.”

Wei WuXian spoke, “No. If you allowed me to sleep here, you should have known that
something like this would happen.”

Lan WangJi spoke, “Are you sure that this is what you want?”

***

“Is it just me or is the sexual tension getting higher and higher?” Nie Huaisang fanned
himself.

“This is pretty embarrassing on my behalf-“ Wei Wuxian groaned while hiding his face into
his palms.

Jiang Cheng snorted, “oh, now you realize its embarrassing.”

“Shameless.” Yu Ziyuan sighed.

***

“...” For some reason, Wei WuXian felt that he should carefully consider his reply.

As he was about to curl his lips into a smile, a numbness suddenly came from his waist, and
his legs gave out. With a thump, he fell onto Lan WangJi’s body.

***

Nie Huaisang dropped his fan down the ground with a thump.

“Oh Gosh..” Lan Sizhui had already started to look away, his friends did the same…. Except
Zizhen.

Jin Guangshan scowled, he’s here for the inventions (he can steal) not disgusting cutsleeves..

***

The curvature of a half-smile was frozen on his lips. His head was at the right side of Lan
WangJi chest and he couldn’t move at all. Lan WangJi’s voice came from above him.

His voice was low and deep. His chest vibrated slightly as he spoke each word.

“Then stay like this for the whole night.”

***
Wei Wuxian choked on his rice.

“Oohhh!!! Wangji-xiong you smooth little-“

“Oh gosh, is it done? Can i look now?”

“Nah, not yet Jin Ling.”

Lan Wangji could feel his ears turn the brightest shade of red he can muster, whats with his
future self and… his shameless behavior with Wei Ying?

“WANGJI!!!” Lan Qiren could feel like he was about to qi deviate for a second time today.

“Oh dear..” Jiang Yanli looked awY.

“Oi, Lan Wangji, dont touch my shixiong.” Jiang Cheng glared at him.

“You’re a little too late for that, JiuJiu.”

“WHAT THE FUCK??”

***

Wei WuXian didn’t expect it to end up like this at all. He shifted around, wanting to get up,
but his waist continued to ache and felt limp. He could only be attached to another man in
such an awkward situation, feeling a bit befuddled.

Just what in the world happened to Lan Zhan in the past few years, turning him into a person
like this?

Was this the same Lan Zhan as before?!

Shouldn’t he have been the person whose body was seized?!?!

***

“Honestly, i’d believe it if you told me that Wangji-xiong in screen is possessed.” Nie
Huaisang chuckled while bending down to grab his discarded handfan.

“Same.” Jun Zixuan grumbled.

***

Suddenly, as his thoughts were as jumbled as a hurricane, Lan WangJi slightly shifted. Wei
WuXian’s spirits lifted, assuming that he finally couldn’t bear it any more. However, Lan
WangJi simply waived his hand.

At a later time, Wei WuXian pondered upon the reason why his relationship with Lan WangJi
wasn’t good. Getting to the root of the matter, everything started when he was fifteen, coming
to the GusuLan Sect with Jiang Cheng to study for three months.
There was a virtuous and prestigious elder in the GusuLan Sect—Lan QiRen. Everyone in
the cultivation world accepted three characteristics which described him: pedantic, stubborn,
and a strict teacher who produced outstanding students. Although the first two points kept a
lot of people at a respective distance to him, some even to the point of secret dislike, the last
one made them try everything they could to send their children to study under him. He had
brought up quite a number of excellent disciples of the Lan Sect. As long as they stayed a
few years in his classroom, no matter how pathetically useless they were when they first
entered, they would at least seem to be decent when they depart, especially in terms of
appearance and etiquette. There were plenty of parents who were so excited that tears flowed
down their cheeks when they picked up their sons.

To this matter, Wei WuXian declared, “Do I not seem decent enough as of right now?”

***

Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes, “oh, their showing our first day in cloud recesses.”

The juniors straightened their backs with faces full of determination, they’ve wanted to know
about their seniors’ past for so long!

***

Jiang Cheng replied with a great deal of foresight, “You’d definitely be a mark of shame in
his entire teaching career.”

In that year, aside from the YunmengJiang Sect, there were also the young masters from other
clans, sent to study here from parents who heard of the reputation. The young masters were
all around fifteen or sixteen. Because the sects all knew the others, although they weren’t
close, they had seen others’ faces before. It was widely known that, although Wei WuXian’s
surname was not Jiang, he was the leading disciple of the sect leader of the YunmengJiang
Sect—Jiang FengMian, and also the son of his friend who had passed away. In fact, the sect
leader regarded him as his own child. This, along with how youths were not as concerned
with status and ancestry as elders, they were soon friends. Only a few sentences passed, and
everyone started to call others older brothers or younger brothers. Somebody asked, “The
Lotus Pier of the Jiang Clan is much more fun than here, right?”

Wei WuXian laughed, “Fun or not fun depends on how fun you make it to be. There’s
definitely less rules than here, and no need to wake up so early.”

The GusuLan Sect wakes as five in the morning and rests at nine in the evening, not allowing
any delay. Somebody else asked, “When do you guys wake up? What do you do during the
day?”

Jiang Cheng humphed, “Him? He wakes at nine in the morning and sleeps at one during the
night. When he wakes up, he doesn’t practice his sword or meditate; he goes boating, swims
around, picks lotus seedpods, and hunts for pheasants.”

***
Lan Qiren shook his head in disappointment, “what child sleeps so late and wakes up so
late?”

“Me, apparently.” Wei Wuxian whistled.

***

Wei WuXian replied, “No matter how much pheasants I hunt, I’m still number one.”

One youth spoke, “Next year, I’m going to Yunmeng to study! Nobody can hold me back!”

***

“Oh really?” Nie Mingjue raised an eyebrow towards his younger brother.

“Da-ge… please!! Yunmeng is so fun!”

“Ill consider it.

***

A bucket of cold water was thrown on him, “Nobody would hold you back. Your older
brother would just break your legs.”

***

“Damn right.” Nie Mingjue agreed.

***

The youth drooped at once. This was the second young master of the QingheNie Sect—Nie
HuaiSang. His brother, Nie MingJue, was extremely resolute when carrying out orders, quite
renowned in the cultivation world. Although the brothers were not born from the same
mother, their relationship was quite solid. Nie MingJue had always taught his younger
brother with extreme harshness, particularly

caring for his studies. This was why, even though Nie HuaiSang respected his older brother,
he was the most scared of Nie MingJue mentioning his schoolwork.

***

Nie Huaisang shivered, “da-ge…”

Lan Qiren stroked his goatee, “you dint need to worry anymore, sect leader Nie. Young
master Nie’s grades have been going up lately.”

“Yea! Thats right, da-ge! Wei-xiong helps me alot in schoolwork and his lessons are really
helpful to me!” Nie Huaisang said to his brother.

“Then ill consider letting you study in yunmeng if you pass.”

“YAY!”

***

Wei WuXian spoke, “To be honest, Gusu is quite fun as well.”

***

The Lans raised an eyebrow at that.

“Ehhh?” Ouyang Zizhen said in confusion, “how is it fun, Senior?”

“Everyone has their own interpretations of fun!” He happily told the juniors, who nodded.

“He probably thinks its fun cause he can piss of Lan Wangji.”

“Jiang Cheng!”

***

Nie HuaiSang spoke, “Wei-xiong, listen to a sincere advice of mine. The Cloud Recesses is
nothing like Lotus Pier. On this trip to Gusu, remember that there’s one person whom you
shouldn’t provoke.”

Wei WuXian asked, “Who? Lan QiRen?”

Nie HuaiSang replied, “Not that old man. The one you need to be careful of is his proudest
disciple, named Lan Zhan.”

***

Lan Qiren glared at Nie Huaisang after being called an ‘old man’, Nie Mingjue noticed and
slightly inclined his head jn apologies.

***

Wei WuXian spoke, “The Lan Zhan from the Two Jades of Lan? Lan WangJi?”

***

“Annnddd, of course he knew who Lan Wangji was.” Jiang Cheng sighed, remembering that
disastrous story of how his shixiong and the second jade first met.

***

The respectable title of the Two Jades of Lan were given to the two sons of the GusuLan
Sect’s current sect leader—Lan Huan and Lan Zhan. Just after they passed fourteen, they
were deemed by the elders of each sect as exemplary models to compare with their own
disciples. They were exceptionally famous among the juniors, so it was only natural that
everyone recognized the names. Nie HuaiSang spoke, “What other Lan Zhan is there? Yes,
it’s that one. Oh gosh, he’s the same age as you and I, but he has none of the energy of a teen.
He’s stiff and strict, even worse than his uncle.”

***

Nie Huaisang suddenly felt embarrassed, “sorry for my rude remarks, Wangji-xiong….”

“Mn, its fine.”

***

Wei WuXian made the sound of an oh and asked, “Is he a lad who looks quite pretty?”

***

“Love at first sight??” Ouyang Zizhen’s eyeballs looked like they were about to pop out.

***

Jiang Cheng sneered, “Is there anyone who looks ugly in the GusuLan Sect? His sect doesn’t
even accept disciples with unclean features. If you can, find me one who has an average
face.”

***

“This Lan beside me.” Jin Ling snickered, Lan Jingyi made a sound as if being offended.

“How dare you?”

“Am i wrong?”

Just as they were starting to bicker again, Lan Sizhui had enough and said.

“Jin Ling, if you thought he was ugly then why do you like him?” Jin Ling’s face heated and
he froze.

“SIZHUI!”

“HUH?” Lan Jingyi looked confused.

“It seems like our dearest nephew has a teensy eensy crush on a Lan too.” Wei Wuxian
chuckled lightly.

“DAJIU!”

***

Wei WuXian emphasized, “Very pretty.” He pointed at his head, “White from top to bottom,
wearing a forehead ribbon, and carrying a silver sword on his back. He looked rather
handsome, but with his straight face, he looked like he was mourning.”
***

Lan Wangji felt proud of himself that Wei Ying’s first thought of him was ‘handsome’ and
‘pretty’.

***

“...” Nie HuaiSang spoke assuredly, “That’s him!” After a pause, he spoke again, “But he had
been doing secluded meditation for the past few days. You just came yesterday; when did you
have the chance to see him?

“Yesterday night”

“Yesterday... Yesterday night?!” Jiang Cheng was stunned, “There’s a curfew in the Cloud
Recesses. Where did you see him? Why don’t I know about this?”

Wei WuXian pointed, “There.”

He pointed to a the top of a very tall wall.

***

“HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT AM I ABOUT TO WITNESS HOW THEIR LOVE STORY
STARTED????!!!” Outang Zizhen squealed like a schoolgirl.

“Zizhen shut the fuck up.”

***

The others were out of speech. Jiang Cheng even felt his head growing larger and clenched
his teeth, “We just came and you got into trouble! What’s the matter about?”

Wei WuXian replied with a grin, “There really isn’t much. When we came, we passed that
liquor shop called ‘Emperor’s Smile’, right? Yesterday at night, I was tossing and turning,
and couldn’t stand it any longer, so I went down the mountain, into the city, and brought back
two jars. Mind you, we don’t have the chance to drink this in Yunmeng.”

Jiang Cheng, “Then, where’s the liquor?”

Wei WuXian, “Well, when I just flipped over the top of the wall, before I even had one leg
inside, I was caught by him.”

One youth remarked, “Wei-xiong, you must have struck gold. He probably just got out of
seclusion and went on night patrol, and caught you red-handed.”

Jiang Cheng spoke, “Those who return at night won’t be let in before seven in the morning.
How come he let you inside?”

***
‘I’d never leave Wei Ying outside, alone.’ Lan Wangji frowned, he’d break the rules tenfold
for his Wei Ying.

***

Wei WuXian threw up his hands, “So, he didn’t let me in. He wanted me to move back the
leg that had already stepped in. You tell me—how would I do that? And then, he came up, as
light as a feather, and asked me what I had in my hands.”

Jiang Cheng felt his head start to ache, indicating a foreboding feeling, “What did you say?”

Wei WuXian spoke, “‘It’s Emperor’s Smile! If I share a jar with you, can you pretend that
you never saw me?’”

***

“Aigooo, you were so brave for that, Wei-xiong!” Nie Huaisang grumbled.

***

Jiang Cheng sighed, “... Alcohol is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses. That’s a worse crime.”

Wei WuXian spoke, “He said the same thing to me. And I asked, ‘Why don’t you tell me
what exactly is not forbidden in your sect?’ He seemed like he was a bit angry and wanted
me to look at the Wall of Rules in front of the mountain. Honestly, there were over three
thousand, and everything was written in seal script. Who would read them? Did you read
them? Anyways, I didn’t. What’s angering about this?”

“That’s right!” Everyone felt the same way, and all started to complain about the strange,
outdated conventions in the Cloud Recesses, regretting that they didn’t meet sooner, “Whose
sect rules are over three thousand in number, and don’t even repeat? Things like ‘killing
livestock within the area is prohibited, fighting without permission is prohibited, promiscuity
is prohibited, venturing at night is prohibited, causing noise is prohibited, running is
prohibited’ are tolerable, but there’re even ones like ‘sneering for no reason is prohibited,
sitting improperly is prohibited, eating more than three bowls is prohibited’...” Wei WuXian
suddenly added, “What? Fighting without permission is also prohibited?”

Jiang Cheng, “... Yes. Don’t tell me you fought with him.”

***

“Yep i did!” Wei Wuxian grinned.

“Not something to be proud of, but okay.”

***

Wei WuXian, “I did. And we broke a jar of Emperor’s Smile.”

Everyone slapped their legs and exclaimed in regret.

In any case, the situation couldn’t have been any worse, causing Jiang Cheng’s focus to
switch, “Didn’t you bring back two jars? Where’s the other one?”

“I drank it.”

Jiang Cheng, “Where did you drink it?”

“In front of him. I said, ‘Okay, if alcohol is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses, then I won’t go
in. I’ll drink it standing on the wall. That wouldn’t count as violating the rules, would it?’
Then I drank everything in one gulp, right in front of him.”

***

“How bold.” Madam Lan chuckled, it was great to see someone breaking some of those
nonsensical rules sometjmes.

***

“... And then?”

“And then we started fighting.”

“Wei-xiong.” Nie HuaiSang blurted out, “You’re so smug.”

Wei WuXian lifted his brows, “Lan Zhan’s skills were quite good.”

***

“You think so?” Lan Wangji mumbled.

“Of course i do.” Wei Wuxian responded back.

***

“You’re gonna die, Wei-xiong! Lan Zhan had never been at such a loss before. He’s probably
after you. You should be careful. Although Lan Zhan doesn’t go to classes with us, he’s in
charge of punishments in the Lan Sect!”

Wei WuXian was not frightened at all, waving his hand, “What’s there to be scared of? Didn’t
everyone say that Lan Zhan had been a prodigy since he was very young? If he’s so smart
from such an early age, then he probably finished learning everything his uncle taught and do
secluded meditation all the time. How would he have time to come after me? I...”

Before his sentence was finished, as the group walked around a wall with a hollowed out
window, they saw a white-clothed boy sitting in a rigidly upright position in the room, with
long hair tied up and wearing a forehead ribbon, emitting an aura of ice and frost. He swept a
cold look at them.

At once, it was as if the ten-or-so mouths were silenced. They quietly entered the room,
quietly picked their seats to sit, and quietly avoided the desks around Lan WangJi.
Jiang Cheng patted Wei WuXian’s shoulder and whispered, “He’s after you. Hope for the
best.”

***

“Oh, Hanguang-Jun was ‘after’ him alright.” Ouyang Zizhen laughed.

***

When Wei WuXian turned his head, he could see the side of Lan WangJi’s face. His lashes
were long, appearing to be extremely delicate and elegant. His posture was also very upright,
looking straight ahead. As he was just thinking about starting a conversation with him, Lan
QiRen walked into the room.

Lan QiRen was tall and thin, standing with a straight back. Although he had a long, black
goatee, he was definitely not old. And, according to the tradition of the GusuLan Clan
producing beautiful men each generation, he was definitely not bad-looking either. Yet,
unfortunately, with the pedantic and stiff air that surrounded him, nothing would feel wrong
if one called him an old man.

***

“The disrespect.” Lan Qiren grumbled, Qingheng-Jun patted his brother’s back.

***

He entered with a scroll in one hand. The long scroll of paper rolled all over the ground as
soon as he opened it, and he started to talk about the rules of the Lan Sect. The faces of
everyone in the room started to grow dark. As Wei WuXian was bored, his gaze flew
everywhere, and landed on the side face of Lan WangJi. He was shocked as he saw
concentration and seriousness that were nothing like a facade, “How can he listen so
attentively to something so boring?”

***

‘Practice.’ Lan Wangji thought.

***

Immediately, in the front, Lan QiRen slammed the scroll onto the ground and smiled bitterly,
“I am only repeating this one by one because nobody reads it, even though it was carved onto
the rock wall. Hence, nobody will be able to violate them using ignorance as an excuse again.
Even if I do this, there are still people who do not pay attention. Very well, I will proceed to
talk about something else.”

Although his words could be applied to everyone in the room, Wei WuXian’s intuition told
him that it was a warning directed at him. As he expected, Lan QiRen spoke, “Wei Ying.”

Wei WuXian answered, “Here.”

“Let me ask you. Are yao, demons, ghosts, and monsters the same things?”

Wei WuXian smiled, “No.”

“Why not? How are they differentiated?”

“Yao are formed from living, non-human beings; demons are formed from living humans;
ghosts are formed from dead humans; monsters are formed from dead, non-human beings.”

“‘Yao’ and ‘monsters’ are often confused. What is an example that distinguishes the two?”

“That’s easy.” Wei WuXian pointed at the viridian tree outside of the room and replied, “For
example, a living tree was tainted with the energy of books, cultivated into a conscious being,
and causes mischief, it would be a ‘yao’. If I took an axe and cut it in the middle, so that only
a dead tree-stump was left, and then it cultivates into a being, it would be a ‘monster.’”

***

“Damn i need to take notes,” Lan Jingyi muttered, he grabbed a piece of paper and a
‘ballpen(???)’ from the wooden table and started writing down everything his senior was
saying.

“Can you share me the notes?” Jin Ling whispered into Lan Jingyi’s ear.

“You know i would.”

***

“What was the profession of the progenitor of the QingheNie Sect?”

“A butcher.”

“The heraldry of the LanlingJin Sect is a white peony. Which type of white peony is it?”

“Sparks Amidst Snow.”

“Who was the first in the cultivation world to focus on the rise of his clan rather than his
sect?”

“The progenitor of the QishanWen Sect, Wen Mao.”

***

Qingheng-jun was impressed, “oh wow, so knowledgeable at such a young age.” He smiled
while clapping his hands.

“t-thank you, Sect leader Lan” Wei Wuxian hadn’t seen the sect leader ever, receiving praise
from someone like him was truly note worthy!

***
 His fluent answers made everyone’s hearts skip a few beats. Although they felt lucky, they all
prayed for him to not be stumped by any questions, so that Lan QiRen wouldn’t have the
opportunity to pick on other people. Yet, Lan QiRen spoke, “As a disciple of the
YunmengJiang Sect, you should have been very familiar with these and known them by heart
since long ago, so there is nothing to be proud of even if you answered correctly. Let me ask
you again—there is an executioner with parents, a wife, and children, but before he died, he
executed more than one hundred people. He suddenly died in the public and, to punish him
for his deeds, he was left on the streets for seven days. With the repressed energy of
resentment, he started to haunt and kill. What should be done?”

***

“Oh i remember what Wei-xiong said here.” Nie Huaisang said.

“What did he say?” Lan Jingyi asked.

“Something that pissed Lan Qiren off.”

***

This time, Wei WuXian didn’t answer immediately. The others thought that he was confused,
and were all feeling restless. Lan QiRen scolded, “Why are you looking at him? Think about
this as well. Don’t open your books!”

The disciples took their hands away from the books that they intended on quickly flipping
through. They were confused as well—having died in the public and left on the streets for
seven days, it was definitely a fierce ghost and a ferocious corpse, and therefore a question
hard to solve. Everyone hoped that the old man Lan wouldn’t pick on them to answer. After a
few moments, seeing that Wei WuXian didn’t answer, Lan QiRen seemed like he was
thinking, and spoke again, “WangJi, you can tell him what should be done.”

(RECORDING END.)

***

“Awww it ended right there??” Nie Huaisang whined.

“Welp lets just be patient.” Said Wei Wuxian.

Chapter End Notes

Lol this took like three weeks but hi

I wrote this purely on my phone and i struggled to bold the texts so ignore that lmao
👎👎 😡😡😡👎
Daily reminder that Vivyxx is a lan wangji, shen jiu, and shen yuan disliker

stop lying flop 🤢🤢 -v

 EXTRA!
Chapter by reikadust

Chapter Summary

what is the future timeline doing?

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

it was a normal, quiet day in the cloud recesses.

“WHERE ARE THE JUNIORS?!?!” Wei Wuxian screeched at the top of his lungs, sprinting
and dashing across the whole territory to find those four.

He left them alone, for an hour. And now they’ve suddenly gone missing! Did one of his
enemies kidnap those four kids?! Oh gosh, he’s about to commit mass murder.

Nope, its like they vanished without a trace, even Jiang Cheng is going insane every second
he can’t find a-Ling.

“Wei Wuxian this is all your fault!” Jiang Cheng roared.

“How is it mine?!” He argued back.

“Ill go back to the front and look for him again!” Wei Wuxian ignored how Jiang Cheng has
looked through the front about 1000 times.

He felt a gentle hand on his, “Wei Ying, calm down, im sure their somewhere safe.” It was
Lan Zhan, his amazing husband. Wei Wuxian breathed out while rubbing his temples.

“Those ducklings are gone, Lan Zhan. I cant find them anywhere! What if they got
kidnapped?? I dont know what to do!” His voice started raising per word he spat, Lan Wangji
looked extremely calm, and its confused Wei Wuxian.

“Wei Ying…. I saw a teleportation talisman in Sizhui’s room, not a normal one, but the time
traveling talisman you made.” Wei Wuxian was dumbfounded, his eye twitching
uncontrollably. He shook in annoyance, and balled his hands in a fist.

“Well, Jiang Cheng is going bonkers just to find that little brat, so we should go find those
dumb brats too, right, Lan Zhan?” Lan Wangji nodded, kissing his husband’s forehead after
he finished talking.
 Wei Wuxian blushed, “you can do me later, but not now, okay?” Lan Wangji chuckled and
nodded. He took Wei Wuxian’s hands into his and started massaging his knuckles, Wei
Wuxian sighed but started to feel his anger go down. All his sources of stress were really
from a lot of people, but his source of relaxation was with his husband. The man whom had
loved him for decades.

“do you still have that talisman?” Wei Wuxian grinned menacingly, while Lan Wangji could
basically feel the chaotic energy emitting from his husband, but he still indulged him either
way.

“Mn.” He withdrew his right hand from Wei Wuxian’s, frowning when he had to stop holding
his husband’s hand. He pulled out a ripped talisman paper from inside his wode sleeves and
gently put it in Wei Wuxian’s hand.

“It was this one.” He told his husband, who examined the coordinates closely.

Wei Wuxian made a ‘tsk’ sound before shaking his head in disappointment, “these
coordinates are non existent,” he pointed at the coordinates for his husband to see, “they time
travelled to another timeline, im guessing the past.”

“Mn, Wei Ying will rewrite the coordinates and follow after them?” Wei Wuxian nodded his
head in confirmation.

“Yup, now lets go get those brats.”

***

Somewhere in the parallel room (AKA reaction room), four specific juniors from the future
shivered.

“I feel a storm coming.” Ouyang Zizhen said, hugging himself at the sudden chills that he
got.

Lan Jingyi shivered, “yea, or maybe young mistress Jin is just sending us bad luck with his
dumb dog.”

“WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH FAIRY?!”

“dont fight, please.” Lan Sizhui sighed exasperatedly.

Chapter End Notes

No, not a new reaction chapter, but have an extra! 👀👀

Next chapter by saturday :)
😄
(Sorry and shit but ive been feeling really over the edge lately, my anger issues acting up
)
 Refinement 4
Chapter by reikadust

Chapter Summary

Hi

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Refinement 4

“I suddenly feel chills down my spine.” Lan Jingyi shivered, was this a bad omen? He
thought.

“I got to agree, and this only happens when bad thing are about to happen!” Ouyang Zizhen
whined, agreeing with Lan Jingyi.

Jin Ling sighed, “the room isn’t even cold,” he replied, acting like he didn’t feel the same
chills down his spine. He looked at Lan Sizhui who looked troubled.

“Sizhui, whats wrong?” Jin Ling asked him, Lan Sizhui turned to his friend with a
constipated expression.

“We went here without informing anyone.” At that moment, the juniors felt their shit breK.

“Mistress Jin, i thought you told sect leader Jiang??!?!” Lan Jingyi yelled at the Jin boy, Jin
Ling had an offended expression and yelled back.

“No?? I thought you were gonna tell Zewu-Jun or Hanguang-Jun??!!” Lan Jingyi stared Jin
Ling down and scoffed.

“Im blaming you once we get out of here.” He stuck his tongue out at Jin Ling, who’s face
contorted in anger.

“You little-“

Lan Sizhui glared at Lan Jingyi, “stop the ruckus, we are going to hold ourselves accountable
once we go back, now stop yelling and sit down.” within a second, the two were in there
positions.

Ouyang Zizhen shivered, “scary…” he mumbled under his breath.

“……what is happening…” Jin Zixuan stared at the four juniors.

“Did you four come here without alarming anyone?!” Lan Qiren yelled, his eye twitching.

“……yes, they did.” Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice, they saw the
whooshes of wind in the air before 2 familiar men appeared before them.

“Senior Wei?!”

“Dajiu?!”

“Dad!”

“Holy- Hanguang-Jun???!!”

Future Wei Wuxian looked at the four juniors in disappointment, his eyes darkened, sending
everyone shivers down their spine, but the most frightened were the juniors.

“You four, you want to mess with time travel and not tell us?” Senior Wei looked at them
while shaking his head like a disappointed mother.

“woah… is that…me?” Wei Wuxian looked at his future self with twinkling eyes, it may not
be his original body anymore, but Mo XuanYu was certainly handsome! He can’t help but
even steal a glance.

Senior Wei noticed his younger self and smiled in his direction, “hello, me, i’ve just come to
pick these four…brats up.” The juniors were whispering amongst themselves with fear in
their eyes.

Wei Wuxian didn’t say anything else, instead looking at hid future self with absolute
admiration.

“dad…. Uhm… we’re sorry for leaving without telling anyone, you can punish us for our
mistake..” Lan Sizhui was the first to step forward, fiddling with his fingers like a little child
with his head down in shame.

“your punishment will be decided by your a-die once we get back, but didn’t i teach you to
tell at-least one person if your gonna do something reckless?” Senior Wei replied back,
crossing his arms while Hanguang-Jun just stood beside him.

“Sorry…. Senior Wei…” Lan Jingyi quickly stepped forward, so did Ouyang Zizhen and
Jin Ling.

“Sorry dajiu.”

“Sorry senior Wei.”

“Good thing you know how to own up to your actions, you’ve missed your classes and
Grandmaster Lan asked me about you.” Lan Qiren suddenly perked up at the mention of his
future self.
“Nonetheless… we’re waiting for your jiujiu to come here as well.”

“No need.” The same wind appeared while an older Jiang WanYin jumped down from the
wind of the talisman, Jin Ling’s face drained of all color as his uncle approached him.

“Jiujiu im so sorry that i went here without telling y-“

“Dont apologize, just sit back down with your friends, we’re planning on staying in this
dumb room for a bit before going back to our timeline,” Jiang WanYin replied instantly
without a stutter, looking at Senior Wei for reconfirmation, the senior in question nodding.

“Oh… okay jiujiu.” Jin Ling started blinking his eyes in shock, was his uncle gonna let him
off the hook?

Jiang WanYin seemed to know what his bratty nephew was thinking about, “that does not
mean you’re off the hook.” Jin Ling instantly slumped.

“Mn, follow sect leader Jiang’s words, sit down.” Hanguang-Jun followed, his eyes were the
same dull eyes as before, except they looked a little more alive.

“Yes, Hanguang-Jun…” Lan Jingyi replied back, signaling his friends to sit back down to
their original seats.

Senior Wei clapped his hands and smiled, as if he wasn’t angry a second ago, “just a few
more of this stupid viewing and we’re going back and you four are taking remedials, okay?”
They all nodded.

The three from the future sat down beside their juniors, senior Wei beside Hanguang-Jun, and
Jiang WanYin beside senior Wei.

“Ah.. okay the past selves, just call me senior Wei or Yiling Laozu, call Lan Zhan Hanguang-
Jun and call Jiang Cheng, Jiang WanYin.” Senior Wei clarified before laying his head on his
husband’s shoulder.

Wei Wuxian saw this, he sorta wanted to do that thing with his Lan Zhan, but they just got
together like two hours ago, it’s not very……. Appropriate to be doing something in front of
so many respectable people.

“You are Wei Wuxian in the future?” Lan Qiren stroked his goatee as he asked.

“Yes, Grandmaster Lan.” He replied with a smile.

“Jiang-xiong looks so badass in the future.” Nie Huaisang couldn’t peel his eyes away from
Jiang WanYin, he was so elegant, and fierce.

Senior Wei raised an eyebrow, “of course you would find him handsome, you two are lovers
after all.” Jiang Cheng spat out his water and choked on air.

“WHAT?!”
Yu Ziyuan looked baffled, “a-Cheng, you are supposed to marry a woman and carry on the
bloodline and legacy of Yunmeng Jiang, what do you think you’re doing being a cutsleeve?”

Jiang WanYin inhaled a sharp breath, “mother, there is no need for a heir, i already have my
cousin’s daughter to be heir. And for my relationships, you dont have to worry.” He snapped
back, Yu Ziyuan grit her teeth.

“San-niang, dont say anything else…” Jiang Fengmian spoke softly to his wife, but that
seemed to piss her off more.

Just as she was about to shout something, her lips suddenly shut closed.

Senior Wei looked at his husband and scoffed in amusement, “really Lan Zhan?” He
chuckled, but told him to remove it, the man huffed in disappointment but removed it.

“Do you think you can silence me?! Do you think you can-!”

“Mother, stop.” This time, it was Jiang Yanli, she had a sad expression on her face.

Yu Ziyuan scoffed but didn’t say anything else.

Lan Zhan whispered to Wei Wuxian, “are you okay?” Wei Wuxian smiled and rubbed his
knuckles to tell him he was okay.

“Lets… start the ‘television’ then…” Nie Huaisang awkwardly said.

Lan WangJi did not look at Wei WuXian. He nodded to indicate respect and spoke in a
monotonous voice, “First, liberate; second, suppress; third, eliminate. The initial approach
is to utilize the gratitude of his relatives and grant his dying wish, set free what he could
not let go of. If it fails, suppress it. If the crimes were extremely wrongful, and its energy of
resentment does not dissipate, exterminate it completely. The cultivation world should
precisely keep to this order of measures. No errors should be allowed.”

“Oh my, i remember this,” senior Wei laughed, Hanguang-Jun smiled as everyone thought
they were hallucinating.

Lan Wangji???? The peerless jade smiling????

“Mn, Wei Ying had a good theory.” Hanguang-Jun followed his husband’s words, Lan
Qiren’s jaw dropped to the floor, wasn’t this child’s theory related to demonic
cultivation?????? Or was he getting so old he cannot recall????

Everyone let out a long breath, thanking the Heavens because Lan WangJi was the one the
old man selected.

Lan Qiren raised an eyebrow, “should i pick someone else this time?” Before Nie Huaisang
looked horrified.

“Theres no need for that, mr Lan!!”

“Huaisang would absolutely love it if you picked him, grandmaster Lan.” Senior Wei smiled
sarcastically, Nie Huaisang looked at him with a betrayed expression.

“I see.”

Else, if it was their turn, it would be hard to not overlook a few steps or mix up the order.
Lan QiRen nodded with satisfaction, “Not a single mistake was made.” With a pause, he
spoke again, “No matter in terms of cultivation or as a person, one needs to be as solid as
this. If one becomes complacent and proud just because they defeated a few simple
mountain beings in their home and hold some empty reputations, one would definitely
bring disgrace upon themselves, sooner or later.”

Lan Qiren nodded and agreed with his own words, his clan carries peace and dignity, its only
logical.

Wei WuXian raised his brows and took a look at the side of Lan WangJi’s face. He
thought, so, apparently this old man meant it for me.

He called his best pupil to listen with us in order for me to watch.

He spoke, “I have a question.”

Lan QiRen replied, “Speak.”

Wei WuXian, “Although ‘liberation’ comes first, it is often impossible. ‘To grant his dying
wish’ sounds simple—it would be easy, if the wish was a new piece of clothing, but what if
the wish was to kill lots of people for revenge?”

“how improper…” Lan Qiren mumbled.

Wen Ruohan perked up, it seems like this kid was a diamond mixed with stone. The very
same kid also became known as the Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation in the future, if he
could bring him to the Wen clan……..

Then his talent wouldn’t go to waste anymore.

All the people in the room suddenly remembered the start of the reaction, it was a newly
resurrected Wei Wuxian, who had to kill 3 people in order to live, according to the wishes of
his host.

“a-Xian…..” Jiang Yanli murmured.

Lan WangJi, “Thus, suppression assists liberation. If it is necessary, elimination would

also follow.”

Wei WuXian smiled, “Such a waste.” He paused, and continued, “It wasn’t that I didn’t
know of this answer, I was only thinking of a fourth path.”

Lan QiRen spoke, “I have never heard of any fourth paths.”

“Cause Wei-xiong was still in the process of making a fourth.” Nie Huaisang said.

“Yep, though i created the cultivation in a dire situation…..” senior Wei trailed off, seemingly
remembering something bad.

Hanguang-Jun’s face contorted into a sad expression, his golden eyes glancing at his
husband.

“Dire?” Madam Jin raised an eyebrow, but did not follow with anymore words.

Wei WuXian spoke, “Because the executioner died in such a way, it is only natural that he
turned into a ferocious corpse.

Since he executed more than one hundred people before he died, why not dig up the graves
of these people, arouse their energy of resentment, collect the heads of those hundred
people, and use them to fight with the ferocious corpse...”

Lan Qiren gasped in a scandalous manner, “demonic cultivation!”

“Yea, i created it.” Senior Wei smiled, making Lan Qiren cough up blood.

“…..ill deal with that in a second, please focus on the screen, viewers.” The first voice on the
golden orb spoke.

“Is it bad i want to learn a few tricks?” Lan Jingyi whispered amongst his friends, Ouyang
Zizhen put his hand on his chin as he thought.

“Learn what? Dog tricks?” Jin Ling huffed, there was absolutely NO ONE who could insult
his beloved fairy without revenge.

Lan Jingyi hissed, “demonic cultivation, idiot!” He whisper-yelled. Glaring daggers at Jin
Ling, who put on his typical arrogant persona and ignored him.

Lan Sizhui tried to defuse a potential fight, “ Now now, let’s not get into any arguments,
Jingyi, i dont think dad will allow you to learn …. His cultivations technique, plus-“

“What are you kids talking about?” Wen Ruohan grinned, making them shiver, it was so
scary seeing the once tyrant of the cultivation world.

“Nothing, Wen-Zongzhu.”

Lan WangJi finally turned around to look at him. His brows were knit, still expressionless.
Lan QiRen was so angered that his goatee was quivering. He shouted, “How dare you!”

Everyone in the room was stunned. Lan QiRen sprang to his feet, “The essence of
exorcising demons and annihilating ghosts is to liberate! You do not study the methods of
liberation, and even think about increasing their energy of resentment! You reverse the
natural order, and ignore ethics and morality!”
“I doubt he has either of those.” Yu Ziyuan mumbled.

Wei WuXian replied, “There are some things that have no use after liberation, so why not
find a way to make use of them? When Yu the Great tamed the flood, obstruction was the
inferior method, and redirection was the superior. Suppression is the same as obstruction,
so isn’t it inferior...” Lan QiRen hurled a book toward him, but he flinched to the side and
avoided it.

“…little brother, refrain from throwing solid objects at the kids, please.” QingHeng-jun
sighed, massaging his forehead.

His expression remained unchanged, and continued to talk nonsense, “Spiritual energy is
energy; resentful energy is energy as well.

“Oh… he’s right though…” Nie Huaisang said, before an unopened water bottle flew to his
head.

Spiritual energy is stored in the dantian. It can split mountains and fill oceans, available
for human use. If so, then why can’t resentful energy also be used by humans?”

Another book came flying from Lan QiRen. He spoke harshly, “Then, let me ask you
again! How do you make sure that the resentful energy only listens to you and does not
harm others?”

“The books….. don’t throw books at the students…!” Madam Lan scowled, making Lan
Qiren shiver.

Wei WuXian ducked while speaking, “I haven’t thought of it yet!”

Jiang Cheng giggled, “thats honestly such a ‘you’ response, who else would get the guts to
speak to the grandmaster like that?” chuckling, he turned to Wei Wuxian, who was pouting.

‘It would really be great if everyday was like this’ Jiang Yanli thought sadly, every comment
and remark from her mother felt like a punch to her stomach, even though those foul words
weren’t directed towards her. She doesn’t want to stay silent as her mother belittles an
innocent child, she doesn’t want to fail as a sister, not anymore.

Lan QiRen raged, “If you thought of it, the cultivation world would not allow your
existence! Get out!”

Lan Qiren winced, knowing what happened to this child, “Wei Wuxian, i must apologize for
my words, i did not consider the burden of my words.” he exhaled, with an immobile
expression, sincerely apologizing.

Wei Wuxian was shocked someone would even apologize to him so… sincerely, “thank you
teacher, i appreciate it.” He replied, before glancing towards his future self who had an
emphatic expression as he clutched older Lan Zhan’s arm.

Wei WuXian couldn’t be more glad, and quickly went out.

He wandered about the Cloud Recesses for the morning, picking flowers and playing with
grasses.

After everyone finished the lesson, they finally found him on the roof of a tall wall.

Wei WuXian was sitting on the grey tiles of the ledge, holding a piece of grass in his
mouth.

“This is very unbecoming of the head disciple of such a prestigious sect.” Jin Guangshan
mumbled, hoping no one heard it, yet everyone still did.

Yu Ziyuan smirked, “Jin-zongzhu is correct, i still do not understand why my husband put
this child in the high position of head disciple, when in reality it should go to someone more
responsible.” She stated with her nose high, Jiang Fengmian grit his teeth and glared at his
wife.

“Ziyuan,” his voice was cold, “a-Xian is more than worthy of being our Yunmeng Jiang’s
head disciple. Although he may act childish at times, he is still very becoming and a mentor
to the younger disciples. Watch what you say.” He crossed his arms and tried to calm himself
down.

“Worthy? Dont make laugh.” Yu Ziyuan snarled.

Wei Wuxian stayed quiet and lowered his head, although there was a time earlier where he
lashed out at the madam, he just can’t recreate it right now.

“My father is more than worthy.” Lan Sizhui remarked.

Lan Xichen frowned echoed, “Madam Yu Ziyuan, this is no place or event for debate, please
remain civil until the end of this viewing.” He glanced towards the elder version of his
younger brother, who looked prepared to defend his lover.

“please do not fight in here, we are here to watch the future, not argue.” Hanguang-Jun’s
dominating voice shut everyone up.

‘He really cares…’ Lan Xichen’s eyes softened, he admits there were times he was worried
his brother seemed too unapproachable. But Wei Wuxian proved that wrong.

His right hand was under his cheek, and sat with one leg propped up and the other
hanging down, swaying slightly.

The disciples down there pointed at him, “Wei-xiong! How admirable of you! He told you
to get out, and you really went outside! Hahahaha...”

“After you went out, a long while passed before he finally understood what happened. His
face was so purple!”

Qingheng-Jun has seen his dear younger brother’s face turn purple a hefty amount of times,
often when he, in his youth, was misbehaving.
He really couldn’t help but think, his didi has raised his children well.

Wei WuXian chewed on the grass and shouted toward below him, “He asks, and I answer.
If he tells me to get out, I will get out. What else does he want me to do?”
Nie HuaiSang spoke, “Why does it seem like old man Lan is especially strict towards you?
He always directs his scoldings at you.”

“That is… correct, grandmaster, i hope there is no prejudice towards my younger brother.”
Jiang Yanli smiled gently, but beneath that smile was the worry of an older sister.

“I apologize for that as well, Lady Jiang, i admit there was some prejudice due to me
knowing his mother, but i can assure you no more feelings linger.” He explained, making
Jiang Yanli nod her head in understanding

Jiang Cheng humphed, “It serves him right. What sort of answer is that? It’s fine if he
spouts these nonsense at home, but he dared to say these in front of Lan QiRen. He’s
seeking his own death!”

Wei WuXian spoke, “No matter how I answered it, he wouldn’t like me, so I might as well
just say what I wanted to say. Anyways, I didn’t try to offend him. I was just answering
properly.”

After thinking for a few moments, an expression of envy and yearning appeared on Nie
HuaiSang’s face, “To be honest, Wei-xiong’s words were quite interesting. Spiritual energy
can only be obtained through cultivation and taking great pains to form a golden core. It
would take I-don’t-know-how-many years to do, especially for someone like me, whose
talent seems as if it was gnawed by a dog when I was in my mother’s womb.

Nie Mingjue’s expression contorted into rage, “Huaisang, you are not supporting demonic
cultivation.” He glared towards his younger brother, who seemed to have the air knocked out
of him.

“It was an… on the spot response? Uh,,, Wei-xiong i don’t know what im saying….”

“Do not drag me into your shit, Nie-xiong.” Both Wei Wuxian’s responded.

But, resentful energy are from the fierce ghosts. If they can easily be taken and used, it
would be beyond wonderful.”
A golden core was a core formed by cultivators after they had cultivated to a certain point.

It can store and control spiritual energy. After the core was formed, the cultivator’s level of
cultivation would increase at a rapid speed, and become better and better.

Else, they would only be a low-end cultivator. If disciple from a prominent clan forms the
core at a later age, it would be a disgrace to tell other people of it, yet Nie HuaiSang didn’t
feel ashamed at all. Wei WuXian also laughed, “I know, right? No harm comes from using
it.”
Jiang Cheng warned, “That’s enough. It’s fine if you talk about it, but don’t actually walk
such a crooked path.”

Wei WuXian smiled, “Why would I leave the nice, broad road, and walk on a single-plank
bridge on a dark, narrow river instead? If it really is that easy, people would have already
walked on it. Don’t worry, he was just asking, and I was just answering. Hey, are you guys
coming? Since it’s not curfew yet, hunt for pheasants with me.”

“Well, you didn’t really choose this ‘nice, broad road, and walk on a single-plank bridge on a
dark, narrow river instead?” Jin Zixuan quoted.

Senior Wei chuckled, “hey, its not like i chose it, hmm?”

Hanguang-Jun and the four juniors suddenly stilled, it made Jin Zixuan curious. It wasn’t
stated how exactly Wei Wuxian left the good path for the evil path, but judging from context
clues…..

He shouldn’t ask.

Jiang Cheng scolded, “What do you mean ‘hunt for pheasants’? Why would there be
pheasants here?! First, go copy Righteousness. Lan QiRen asked me to tell you to copy the
Virtue section of Righteousness for three times, so that you can learn what natural law and
morality is.”

Righteousness was the collection of the Lan Sect’s sect rules. The sect rules here was too
long, so Lan QiRen revised them into a thick collection.

The sections Virtue and Conduct were four fifth of the whole book. Wei WuXian spat out
the grass which he held in his mouth and dusted his boots, “Three times? I’d fly up to
Heaven if I just copied them once.

“True, i felt like i was about to ascend into the arms of the Buddha because my arm was
about to die.” Qingheng-Jun agreed with a melodramatic expression.

I’m not from the Lan Sect, and don’t intend to marry into the Lan Clan, so why should I
copy the sect rules of his sect? I’m not gonna copy.”

Before anyone could comment, senior Wei burst into laughter, tears forming at the corners of
his eyes as he giggled. He composed himself a little and visibly touched Hanguang-Jun’s
forehead ribbon for everyone to see.

Lan Qiren choked on air.

Wen Ning felt mesmerized, he always thought the Lan sect has such romantic traditions, after
finding out he was very close to Wei-gongzi in the future,he had been vibrating in
excitement.

“Sorry, sorry,” he held a hand up, “continue.”

Nie Huaisang cleared his throat, “wont marry? Its not good to be in denial, bro.” He sadly
patted his friend’s back, who started blushing.

Lan Wangji smiled invisibly.

“This is honestly such a comedy, considering the fact Wei Wuxian knows the Lan rules better
than most juniors in the actual clan.” Jiang WanYin murmured, Jiang Cheng agreed with his
older self.

Nie HuaiSang quickly spoke, “I’ll copy for you! I’ll copy for you!”

Nie Mingjue suddenly became curious.

Wei WuXian, “No good person does favours for others out of the blue. Tell me, what do
you want me to do?”

Nie Huai Sang replied, “It’s like this. Wei-xiong, old man Lan has a bad habit. He...”
In the middle of his sentence, he suddenly paused and coughed drily, opening up his fan
and shifting to the side.

“Huaisang………..” Nie Mingjue felt like his little brother was, at this point, useless, and
hopeless.

“Da-ge…. Okay look, im not trying to fail-“

Wei WuXian knew that something was wrong. He turned around and, sure enough, Lan
WangJi stood under an ancient, verdant tree and gazed in their direction, carrying the
Bichen sword on his back.

“Wow, my husband is so handsome.” senior Wei commented, making the two Lan Wangji’s
blush.

He looked like a jade tree, reflecting the mottled shadows of leaves and sunlight. However,
his stare wasn’t kind at all, as if it could lock them in a cavern made of ice.

“I bet this is Wei-xiong’s thoughts, who else would describe Wangji-xiong as if they were
describing a beautiful ancient sculpture?” He chuckled.

“Its real, though.” Senior Wei remarked.

Everyone knew that their shouts were a bit too loud, and the noise had probably led him
over, so they all shut their mouths. Yet, Wei WuXian jumped down and gravitated toward
him, “WangJi-xiong!”
Lan WangJi turned around and immediately walked away.

“Like a teenage girl trying to get the attention of her crush.” Jin Ling shook his head, making
Jin Zixuan chuckle.

Wei WuXian cheerfully went after him and yelled, “WangJi-xiong, wait for me!”
The white clothed figure flashed behind the tree, and suddenly disappeared without a
trace, clearly showing that Lan WangJi didn’t want to converse with him. Having received
only a view from behind, Wei WuXian turned around and complained to the others, “He
ignored me.”

“Yeah,” Nie HuaiSang spoke, “It looks like he really hates you, Wei-xiong. Lan WangJi
usually... No, he never does something so impolite.”

Hanguang-Jun had a disgruntled look, “i’ve never hated Wei Ying,”

“Wh—- really?”

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.

“Booo…. Cutsleeves.” Jin Ling his his facw into his palms.

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.

“Good, you’re actually trying to study.” Nie Mingjue said

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.

“well, its good your finally asking for academic help, but don’t disgrace yourself like this.”
Nie Mingjue sternly said.

“Yes, da-ge! Wei-xiong really helped me so much, im finally getting decent grades!” He
happily told his brother, who nodded in understanding.

“Wei Wuxian, thank you for teaching my moron of a brother, i appreciate it greatly.” He
nodded towards Wei Wuxian’s direction.
“It is my honor, Nie-zongzhu!” Wei Wuxian replied, his cheeks flushing, he really respects
Nie Mingjue- earning a compliment from someone he respects was so… refreshing!

Meanwhile…. The boy beside him frowned in jealousy(?)

Does anyone have enough capacity in their brain to remember those of other clans?!”

Apparently Wei Wuxian.

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.

“Oh dear, not for long, though.” Senior Wei grinned mischievously, Lan Qiren felt another
chill down his spine.

Lan Xichen quitely chuckled to himself, he suddenly recalls those time his uncle would
complain to Lan Xichen about the scholars starting a revolt— or a rebellion.

“You don’t know how pissed the teacher was with you, Wei Wuxian.” Jin Zixuan clicked his
tongue while shaking his head

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!

Lan Qiren hmph’ed and spoke, “He is, indeed! You dare to tarnish the quiet area of the cloud
recesses, never in my 16 years of teaching-“

“Brother, we know, never in your 16 years of teaching scholars, have you ever gotten such a
wild student.” Qingheng-Jun laughed, patting his brother’s back as his face quickly turned
red.

“Brother-in-law, my husband is right! Wasn’t the first troublemaker that gave u a headache
my husband? Hahaha.” Madam Lan joined in the laughter.

Lan Qiren said nothing, except slightly pouting his lips as his family teased him.

Jiang FengMian replied, “a-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.

Jiang Cheng suddenly felt a wave of jealousy surround him, he always wondered why his
father seemed to like Wei Wuxian over him, his mother always him that Wei Wuxian was the
illegitimate child of his father. But he never believed it, but still, it would be great to have a
portion of his father’s worry.

Nie Huaisang noticed the dispirited look on his friend’s face, he frowned.

“are you okay, Jiang-xiong?” He whispered, Jiang Cheng flinched as he snapped back to
reality.

“Im alright, don’t worry, Nie Huaisang.” He replied, Nie Huaisang nodded and turned back to
the screen.

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.”

“Oh no, goodluck, i felt like i was about to see the grim reaper after i copied virtue and
conduct.” Qingheng-Jun said symphatetically, Madam Lan pinched his cheek.

“If only you stopped getting in trouble.” Madam Lan scolded.

Lan Qiren glared at his brother, suddenly remembering the sort of mischief he did when they
were very young. He felt like he was about to get another aneurysm.

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.”

“Serves him right.” Jiang WanYin stated sarcastically, there were really times he wished they
went back to the past and actually enjoyed their academic days more

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?”

“Oh shit, is this their love story?” Ouyang Zizhen’s eyes looked like they were about to
escape his eye sockets, he grabbed some weird food from the table called ‘popcorn’ and
tasted it…. It was now his favorite snack.

“Aye, give me some of that.” Lan Jingyi pointed at the popcorn, Ouyang Zizhen made a noise
in affirmation and brought the bag of popcorn closer to his friend.
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.

Qingheng-Jun nodded his head sagely in understanding, he was also quite the troublemaker
in his youth…. He always felt like his hands were about to fall off if he copied virtue and
conduct….

“Ahh, this part, my hands really felt like it was gonna die and stop working!” Wei Wuxian
whined, while Senior Wei chuckled.

“I dont do my punishments anymore, Lan Zhan does it for me~”

“Mn”

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.

Jiang Cheng tsk’ed, “seems like there were earlier sighs this idiot was infatuated with second
master Lan, who else would want to carefully examine his face other than him?” He rolled
his eyes.

Wei Wuxian became pink, “i’ve never seen him before, i just wanted to know how beautiful
he was!” Lan Zhan’s ears turned red.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Wei-xiong. Just admit you fancy him already.”

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.

‘My looks are only for Wei Ying, not any women or men.’ Hanguang-Jun thought bitterly.

Lan WangJi was recopying ancient books, which were not only old but also unavailable to
most others, in the Lan Sect’s Library Pavilion.

“Thats the Lan Clan’s library pavilion alright, filled with ancient textbooks….. and
knowledge, too bad its not available to everyone.” Jin GuangShan gave a crooked smile, no
one acknowledged him.

Lan Qiren gave a disgusted look towards the sect leader.

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 Zhan’s ears turned bright red as he looked away from Wei Wuxian, who looked
amused.

‘If Lan Zhan likes it if i compliment him, i should do it a lot more!’ He innocently thought, to
the point senior Wei started choking on his own laughter.

Hanguang-Jun looked at his past self who turned red, sighing and shaking his head, he
always thought about it. If he expressed his feeling to Wei Ying earlier than he did, would
they have gotten together earlier?

“oh my,” Jiang Yanli chuckled.

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.

*END*

“Ahhhh end??” Senior Wei frowned.

“It will come back on by half an hour.” The second voice from the orb spoke.

Chapter End Notes

Edit: im making an svsss novel fic reaction soon, once the main story for one of my fics
is done. Im also in the process of making a hanahaki oneshot of wangxian, still deciding
if i should make the ending bad/good/bittersweet.

If tour seeing this edit please help me decide in the comments!!!

 Refinement 5 (first half)
Chapter Notes

Sorry for the late update, almost got sent to the hospital after the cooking gas exploded
next to me while my momma was making bulalo (the cabinets flew off and shit)

Anyways, heres chapter 15 !

See the end of the chapter for more notes

while everyone was resting inside the parallel world created by the mysterious golden orb,
they were shocked to see a young woman appear from the orb.

”who are you?” Lan Xichen asked calmly, though curious. The young woman had short wavy
black hair and glowing crimson eyes, her figure was not small and not too large.

she smiled, “i am Rei, i and my sister brought you guys into this parallel world.” Rei bowed
her upper body slightly while smiling calmly, radiating a cooling aura.

”why have you brought us here? I was sure the ones who brought us here were entities… not
some…. Women.” Jin Guangshan sneered, making Madam Jin turn to her ‘husband’ and
glare at him like she was about to send daggers towards him.

Lan Qiren stroked his beard, “Jin-zongzhu, i don’t think it is wise to judge someone based on
their gender. Since i, too believed it was a ghost or entity, we should have never assumed.” he
stated sagely, making the others nod synchronously.

”Xiansheng is so wise!” Lan Jingyi whisper-yelled amongst his friends, making Lan Sizhui
nod proudly.

Outang Zizhen snorted, “this is the first time i’ve heard you say something about xiansheng
that wasn’t an insult.”

Jun Guangshan grit his teeth and hid behind his golden fan, ”…. My mistake, i apologize.” It
was clear he wasn’t actually feeling sorry, but no one had the energy to start any arguments
right now.

Rei cleared her throat, “i have brought all of you here to witness the future and change it, the
original future has me feeling unpleasant, although the Yiling Laozu was revealed innocent-
there are still those who blame him.” Senior Wei quirked an eyebrow at this, why was
someone going so far for him? And, changing the future?

”i understand now. thank you, Miss Rei.” Jiang Yanli gave a gentle smile, in which was
reciprocated.
“Why are you going so far for someone like me?” Wei Wuxian suddenly voiced.

Rei looked frustrated, “who wouldn’t?”

“a lot of people.” Senior Wei followed, making his husband frown, but quickly calmed down
after his husband whispered something in his ear.

”trust me, Wei Wuxian. I also made the same damn mistake of letting myself fall victim to
rage, which made me do all that shit to you. Just believe the girl.” Jiang WanYin replied,
massaging his temples.

Rei smiled contently, “thank you, Sandu-shengshou. I would just like to inform everyone that
the reaction video will be cut short instead of normal length ones due to private issues.” She
informed, bowing her head.

Madam Lan nodded her head, “that is quite alright, Miss Rei.”

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.”

Jiang Cheng facepalmed, “here we are again, about to witness Wei Wuxian act like a lovesick
maiden trying his best to gain the second master’s attention.” rolling his eyes, he replied.

Nie Huaisang snickered, “i always thought Wei-xiong had some secret crush on Wangji-
xiong, guess i was correct~”

“i mean, have you seen him?” Wei Wuxian replied back, looking smug. Making Jiang Cheng
make fake throwing up motions.

Lan Wangji had always tried to ignore the slightly annoying tendencies of the young head
disciple, but whenever he saw him…. His mind and heart kept racing, it was like it was
impossible for Lan Wangji to even get close to someone like him.

his thoughts came to a halt when he felt Wei Ying’s fingers intertwine with his.

Lan WangJi remained motionless.

Wei WuXian, “WangJi.”

He appeared as if he didn’t hear anything.

Wei WuXian, “Lan WangJi.”

Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan!”

”ahhhh…. so that was how their birth name basis came to effect, i bet that really caught the
second master’s attention.” Jin Zixuan chuckled, as his fiancee also chuckled along with him.
Lan Qiren was definitely not about to burst into flames, so shameless!! Never in his years of
teaching has he seen someone like this!

”aiya.” Qingheng-jun patted his back, feeling sorry. “Didi, dont start turning red in the face
now!” he hoked, making Lan Qiren’s fave actually burn a bright red.?

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.”

Lan WangJi spoke, “Put your legs down.”

Wei WuXian’s sitting posture was extremely improper, with a slanted body and legs
propped up. Seeing that he finally teased Lan WangJi to the point that he started to talk,
the former silently chuckled to himself, as if he finally saw the clouds disperse and the
moon appear[1]. Listening to Lan WangJi’s words, he put his legs down, but his upper
body inched unnoticeably closer, and he pressed his arms onto the desk. It was still an
unacceptable sitting posture. He asked in a serious tone, “Lan Zhan. Let me ask you a
question. Do you... really hate me that much?”

”no.”

”no.” Came the synchronous reply of the Lan Wangji’s of the past and future.

Wei Wuxian chuckled, “i know, now.”

“good, if he actually hated you i would’ve killed him.” Jiang WanYin said coldly, making the
juniors shiver in fear.

”…wouldn’t it be cool to witness Hanguang-Jun and Sandu-shengshou duel?” Ouyang

Zizhen suggested.

”i guess it would, but who do you think is winning?” Lan Sizhui asked, serious.

”my uncle,” came the reply of Jin Ling, while Lan Jingyi said “Hanguang-Jun.” the two
stared at eachother with lightning flashing.

”no fighting,” Hanguang-Jun’s monotone voice reached their ears, the juniors quickly
shuffled to fix themselves.

Lan WangJi looked down, his lashes casting light shadows onto his jade-like cheeks. Wei
WuXian hurriedly added, “Hey, don’t be like this, ignoring me again after saying so few
words. I want to admit my fault and apologize to you. Look at me.”

Lan Wangji frowned, he couldn’t look at Wei Ying’s eyes…. Because he would start feeling
heart palpitations again, the first time it happened, he thought he was having a heart disease.

Lan Xichen looked at his frowning brother and sighed quietly, he was happy their
relationship issues were quickly fixed because of seeing the future, if they didn’t see the
future…..

that was a different tale.

After a pause, he spoke again, “You don’t want to look at me? Sure, then. I’ll just start
talking. It was my fault during that night. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have climbed the wall, I
shouldn’t have drank alcohol, and I shouldn’t have fought with you. But, I swear! It
wasn’t that I provoked you on purpose—I really didn’t look at the sect rules. The sect rules
in the Jiang Sect are all told verbally; none of them are written down. Or else, I definitely
wouldn’t have done that.” I definitely wouldn’t have finished the jar of Emperor’s Smile in
front of you. I would have tucked it away and carried it back into my room, secretly
drinking it every day and sharing it with everyone until we all had enough.

Nie Huaisang giggled, “Wei-xiong, you are acting like you committed an unforgivable
crime!”

”it sort of is, the Lan Clan added 1000 more house rules which makes it 4000 rules….”
Senior Wei suddenly got a headache remembering.

everyone gasped in horror.

Wei WuXian continued, “And, let’s be reasonable—which of us attacked first? It was you.
If you didn’t attack, we could’ve communicated nicely and cleared everything up. However,
if someone hits me, I’d have to hit them back. This isn’t all my fault. Lan Zhan, are you
listening? Look at me. Young Master Lan?” He snapped his fingers, “Second Brother
Lan[2], why don’t you do me a favor and look at me?”

”hm, i can look at for hours after we get back” Hanguang-Jun whispered to Senior Wei, who
chuckled as he blushed a bright pink.

”alright,” Senior Wei cooed.

”gross.” Jiang WanYin, who was near them felt grossed out. Save the PDA for the bedroom!

Lan WangJi didn’t even lift his eyes, “Copy it one additional time.”

Wei WuXian’s body immediately slanted, “Don’t be like this. It’s my fault, alright?”

Lan WangJi exposed his lie mercilessly, “You do not feel any remorse.”

“hehe, Lan Zhan is correct~!” Wei Ying chuckled innocently.

Wei WuXian spoke as if he didn’t have any dignity, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m
sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I can repeat it however many times you want me to. I
can even say it while kneeling down.”

”oh gods and goddesses, please make me deaf.” Jiang WanYin groaned, unpleased- already
guessing the next thing those two are gonna say.

”kneeling down?” Hanguang Jun whispered tk Senior Wei, who shouted shameless.
”oh dear~~” Nie Huaisang laughed.

Lan WangJi put his brush down. Wei WuXian thought that the other couldn’t endure it any
longer and finally wanted to beat him up. Just as he got ready to put on a goofy grin, he
discovered that his upper and lower lips seemed like they were glued together, so he
couldn’t laugh.

His face quickly changed. He struggled to talk, “Mmph? Mmphmmphmmph!”

Lan WangJi closed his eyes and let out a faint breath of air. When he opened his eyes, the
calm expression returned again. He picked up the brush again, as if nothing had
happened. Wei WuXian had been aware of the hated silencing spell of the Lan Sect since
long ago, and he refused to believe it. Yet, after making every effort, scratching the corners
of his lips red, he still couldn’t open his mouth no matter what. And so, he grabbed a piece
of paper, wrote as if his brush was flying, and threw the paper over. Lan WangJi glanced at
it. “Pathetic,” he responded, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it away.

”sorry.” Lan Zhan whispered to Wei Ying.

”its okay.”

Wei WuXian was so angry that he rolled around on the mat, climbed up, and wrote another
one, slamming it in front of Lan WangJi. Again, it was crumpled into a ball and tossed
away.

The silencing spell was only removed after he finished copying. The second day, when he
came to the Library Pavilion again, the balls of paper which landed everywhere were all
taken out.

Wei WuXian had always forgot about the pain after the cut healed[3]. Although, on the
first day, he suffered greatly from the silencing spell, after a few moments, his mouth
started to itch again. After recklessly speaking a few times, he was silenced once more. He
couldn’t open his mouth, so he scribbled on paper and pushed them to Lan WangJi, who
crumpled it and threw it onto the ground. The same thing happened on the third day.

”you are too noisy, thats why. Second master Lan is doing charity work shutting you up.” Yu
Ziyuan commented, making everyone in the room glare at her.

”san-niang, now is not the time for this….” Jiang Fengmian grumbled.

He was silenced time after time. However, on the last day of him having to “face the wall
and reflect,” Lan WangJi noticed that Wei WuXian seemed somewhat different.

Lan Wangji remembers being worried at that time, he hesitated in between using the silencing
spell on Wei Ying now.

During his stay at Gusu, he left his sword all around the place, and was never seen
carrying it properly. Yet, he took it with him today, loudly slamming it onto the desk. He
even went as far as to start writing without a word, contrasting his usual behavior of
 relentlessly harassing Lan WangJi in every way possible. He was so obedient that it was
strange.

*END OF REFINEMENT 5 PART 1*

”oh… i completely forgot Miss Rei said this part was gonna be cut short,” Wen Ning
muttered to himself quietly, and he was starting to get interested too!

”oh no…. More scenes of Wei Wuxian pining for Lan Wangji unaware.” Jin Zixuan rolled his
eyes.

”its better to just wait patiently.” Madam Lan said.

“That is correct, it will take a few minutes, but i will play the next half soon.” Rei replied
through the orb.

Chapter End Notes

Senior Wei- mxy!wwx/future wwx

Hanguang-Jun- future lwj
Jiang Wanyin- future Jiang cheng
 toe
Chapter by reikadust

AYE YALL

New chap taking longer cz im deadass like on the verge of insanity

The voices in my head r telling me to be productice but i said no

My eye also keeps twitching and i get distractedbi think i got a new disease or wtv

bye
 Refinement 5 (2)
Chapter by reikadust

Chapter Summary

I SUCK TOES

Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Wei Wuxian was quite interested to see his school days in this huge ‘TV’, Lan Zhan was so
adorable sometimes, especially after he gave him those rabbits! The face he made when he
said he was gonna roast them was priceless.

Seems like his future husband had a soft spot for bunnies and rabbits.

“hello again!” Rei appeared in front of everyone and waved with a smile.

”greetings,” Lan Qiren acknowledged.

”hello miss, what brings you here? Is the recording broken again?” Nie Huaisang questioned,
tilting his head with curious eyes.

Rei nodded, “recording is fixed and will start soon, however i came here for another reason.”
she glanced at the future people, “im gonna have to take them off in this room”

Senior Wei’s eyes widened a bit, “oh, why?” he slightly frowned.

”is there an issue?” Hanguang-Jun spoke up after his husband did.

”sort of….” Rei trailed off, “the time stopped in the future since you guys aren’t there.” She
replied.

”huh?? Our presence here stopped time in our timeline?” Lan Jingyi groaned, he wanted to
stay for a bit more.

Lan Sizhui looked confused, “time stopped? Cause we are here? Why?”

“not sure.” Rei followed, “it’s becoming a slight issue in your timeline, which is why i
suggest the future selves go back first!” She piped up, grinning.

”understood, thank you for informing us.” Jiang Wanyin nodded his head, “a-Ling we have to
go.”
Jin Ling had a visible frown on his face, he hugged his mother and father, “i’ll miss you,
mom, dad.”

Jiang Yanli was sad, “we will miss you too, a-Ling, remember that i and your father love you
so much- okay?” She squeezed her son, her death doesn’t have to happen in her timeline. But
what about a-Ling’s timeline?

”a-Ling, we love you a lot, okay? Remember that our future selves will always be with you,
though not physically.” Jin Zixuan smiled bittersweetly.

“Yes mom, and dad.” Jin Ling gave them one last hug before walking over to his uncle.

”you three, let’s go.” Senior Wei pointed at the three juniors, who stood up and walled over to
where their senior was.

Senior Wei and Jiang WanYin looked at each other, before turning to Jiang Yanli, “Shijie,
thank you for everything.”

“a-Xian… a-Cheng, you two are grown up now, i regret not being there to see it.” She
chuckled nervously.

Jiang WanYin bowed towards his (dead) mother, “goodbye, mother.” Her eyes looked
regretful, but she inclined her head as well.

”uncle, brother, goodbye.” Hanguang-Jun bowed, in which Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren
returned, “we’ll see you soon, Wangji.”

“I shall open up a portal now.” Rei piped up, a cloudy portal colored red suddenly appeared,
“please step in.” The fiture selves gently stepped in and disappeared.

they were gone.

”we shall resume the recording now!” Rei clapped her hands together with a faint smile,
teleporting to God knows where.

”awh, i’ll be sad knowing it’s gonna take years before i meet that Ouyang kid again! He was
such a fun guy.” Nie Huaisang crossed his arms over his chest.

”my future son…” Wei Wuxian murmured, loud enough so only Lan Wangji can hear it.

Lan WangJi didn’t have a reason to silence him, so he took a few more glances at him, as
if he didn’t believe that Wei WuXian was finally willing to behave himself. As he had
expected, after a short while of sitting down, Wei WuXian repeated his past conduct again,
giving Lan WangJi a piece of paper for him to see.

Wei Wuxian grinned mischievously, knowing exactly was was coming next. How could he
ever forget this memory?
Lan WangJi originally thought that it was going to be a mess of lame phrases again, but
after a coincidental glimpse, he was surprised to find the drawing of a person, sitting
upright and reading by the window, with a vividly realistic expression on his face. It was
himself.

Nie Huaisang let out a short gasped, “woah, Wei-xiong is so good at drawing!” He praised.

Wei Wuxian grinned, “i’m a master of drawings, Nie-xiong!” He exclaimed, chuckling with
his friend.

”a master of the rites indeed,” Madam Jin clapped.

Lan Wangji felt a shade of pink on the tips of his ears, he still had that drawing. Anything
Wei Ying drew for him was treasure.

Seeing that he didn’t avert his gaze at once, Wei WuXian curled his lips, and raised his
eyebrow with a wink. No words were needed, since the meaning was plain to see—Does it
look like you? Is it good?

”……the best,” murmured Lan Wangji, the room was quiet after hearing his words, when
Lan Wangji realized everyone heard it his ears turned pink.

”for the love of God, stop flirting,” Nie Huaisang whined.

Lan WangJi slowly spoke, “You have spare time, yet you scribble instead of copy the text.
In my opinion, the day of your release from this punishment will never come.”

Wei WuXian blew on the ink which hadn’t dried yet and spoke nonchalantly, “I already
finished copying, so I won’t be coming tomorrow!”

”look Wei-xiong, you made Wangji-xiong upset!” Teased his friend, Wei Wuxian laughed
before looking at Lan Wangji with a honey gaze.

Lan WangJi’s slender fingers seemed to have paused before flipping over the next yellow-
tinted page. Surprisingly, Wei WuXian wasn’t silenced. As he didn’t provoke any reaction,
Wei WuXian lightly threw the drawing, “It’s yours.”
The drawing was thrown onto the mat, but Lan WangJi didn’t have any intention of
picking it up. During these days, the paper which Wei WuXian wrote on to curse him,
cajole him, apologize to him, beg him, and other messy scribbles all ended up this way. He
was used to it and didn’t mind. He suddenly added, “I forgot. I need to add something
else.”

After his words, he picked up the paper and his brush, and added a few strokes. He glanced
at the drawing, then, the actual person, and fell toward the ground in laughter. Lan
WangJi put down the book, and saw that Wei WuXian added a flower onto the drawing,
where the side of his head was.

”ooh, you are smooth.” Jin Zixuan chuckled.

”Wangji-xiong looks so beautiful in that drawing!”

The corners of his lip seemed to have twitched. Wei WuXian crawled up and spoke before
him, “‘Pathetic’, right? I just know that you’re gonna say pathetic. Can’t you switch to
something else? Or add another word to it?”

Lan WangJi replied coldly, “Extremely pathetic.”

QingHeng-Jun cackled, “Wangji…. Really added another word to it,” and when he was
starting to think his son had no humor!

Lan Xichen lightly chuckled, Wei Wuxian was someone capable of making his little brother
feel all emotions, he suposes.

Wei WuXian clapped his hands, “So you really added another word to it. Thank you!”

”down bad,” Jiang Cheng whispered.

Lan WangJi turned his gaze away, picked up the book which he put on the desk, and
opened it again. He only took one look at before he hurled the book away, as if he was
burnt by fire.
Everyone had a questioning look, it must have been something so bad that the second jade
looked away as if burnt by fire.

“Wei Wuxian, what have you done now..?” Lan Qiren felt mind about to pop, what has
Cangse’s hellspawn done now?

”definitely something worth punishment,” Jiang Cheng responded as Wei Wuxian looked at
him with betrayal in his eyes.

He was initially reading a Buddhist text, but when he had looked at the page flipped open,
he was presented with naked, intertwining figures, intolerable to his eye. The book that he
was reading was substituted with a pornographic book, its cover disguised as a Buddhist
text.

Lan Qiren gasped scandalously while pointing at Wei Wuxian, “YOU! THE GUTS TO DO
THIS-“

“oh dear,” Wen Ruohan blinked multiple times before chuckling.

“See, something worth punishment.” Jiang Cheng mumbled.

Even someone without a brain would have guessed who had done the deed. It must have
been done when when somebody took the opportunity that opened up when his
attention turned to the drawing, let alone the fact that Wei WuXian didn’t even bother
to cover it up, slapping the table as he laughed hysterically,
“Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

“When we get back, you, young man is gonna copy the rules 20 TIMES!” Yelled Lan Qiren.

Wei Wuxian shivered, “yes, xiansheng…..”

As the book was thrown on the ground, Lan WangJi seemed as if he was escaping from
snakes or scorpions, falling back to the corner of the Library Pavilion in less than a
second. He roared with rage, “Wei Ying——!”

Wei WuXian almost rolled under the desk from laughter, raising a hand with much
difficulty, “Here! I’m here!”

Lan WangJi swiftly drew his sword, Bichen. Ever since they had met, Wei WuXian had
never seen him appear so discomposed. He hastily grabbed his own sword. Drawing his
sword so that a third of the blade was out, he reminded Lan WangJi, “Manners! Second
Master Lan! Watch your manners! I brought my sword today as well. If we start fighting,
would your Library Pavilion be fine?” He knew that Lan WangJi would be shamed into
anger, so he went out of his way to carry his sword for self-defence, so that he wouldn’t be
accidentally stabbed to death. The blade of Lan WangJi’s sword pointed at him. Fire could
almost be seen sprouting from his pair of light-colored eyes, “What sort of person are
you?!”

”an idiot.” Answered Jiang Cheng.

“A brat.”

Wei WuXian responded, “What sort of person could I be? A man!”

Lan WangJi lashed out “You have no shame!”

Wei WuXian, “Do I need to be ashamed about this? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen
something like this before. I don’t believe you.”

Lan WangJi’s weak point was that he didn’t know how to argue. After a moment of silently
holding back, he pointed his sword at Wei WuXian. He spoke with a frigid face, “You, go
outside. We have fought before.”

“Wangji,” his uncle warned.

”sorry…”

Wei WuXian shook his head a couple of times, pretending to be docile, “Nope, nope. Didn’t
you know, Young Master Lan? Fighting without permission is prohibited in the Cloud
Recesses.” He proceeded to pick up the book which was thrown away, but Lan WangJi
went before him, snatching it in his hand. Wei WuXian quickly guessed that he was going
to use this as evidence to report him. He deliberately spoke, “Why are you grabbing it? I
thought that you didn’t want to read it. Now you do? Actually, even if you want to read it,
you don’t have to fight for it. I borrowed it exclusively for you, anyways. Now that you’ve
seen my porn, you’ve become my friend. We can continue to exchange opinions, and...”

Lan WangJi’s whole face turned white. He spoke one word at a time, “I. Will. Not. Read.
It.”
Wei WuXian continued to distort the facts, “If you won’t read it, why did you grab it?
Secretly keeping it? You can’t do that. I borrowed this from someone else, so I’d have to
return it after you read it... Hey, hey, hey, don’t come here. You’re too close; I feel nervous.
Let’s talk nicely. You’re not gonna hand this in, are you? Hand it in to whom? Old... Your
uncle? Second Young Master Lan, do you think that you can let the elders see this? He’d
definitely think that you already read it. With a face as thin as yours, you’d be so ashamed
that you’d die...”

”chill on the teasing, my friend.” Nie Huaisang laughed.

”you know i can’t!” Retorted Wei Wuxian

Lan WangJi filled his right hand with spiritual energy, and the book broke into thousands
of millions of pieces, fluttering downward. As Wei WuXian saw that he successfully
provoked Lan WangJi to the point that the evidence was destroyed, he finally felt relieved,
and spoke with fake regret, “What a waste!” Then, he picked up a piece of paper which
had fallen on his hair, raising it up to show the fuming, pale-faced Lan WangJi, “Lan
Zhan, everything about you is great, except that you like to throw things everywhere. Tell
me, how many wads of paper have you thrown onto the ground, in these past few days?
Today, you aren’t even satisfied with throwing paper wads anymore, and instead ripped
paper. You ripped it, so you clean it up yourself. I’m not gonna help.” Of course, he had
never helped anyway.

Lan WangJi tried again and again to put up with him, but he couldn’t do it any more. He
thundered, “Get lost!

Jiang Yanli flinched slightly at the sudden noise,’”a-Xian… don’t tease the second master so
much,” she hadn’t spoken this whole time, she still couldn’t get over her son. This time, she
needs to be there to raise a-Ling with a-Xuan.

Wei WuXian spoke, “Well, well, look at you, Lan Zhan. Everyone says that you’re a
gentleman of excellence, a bright pearl in the world, carrying yourself with incomparable
courtesy, so it seems that this is all there is. Didn’t you know that causing noise is
prohibited in the Cloud Recesses? And, you actually told me to “get lost.” Is this the first
time that you used this phrase on somebody...” Lan WangJi drew his sword and went at
him. Wei WuXian hurriedly hopped onto the windowsill, “Get lost it is, then. Getting lost is
my best skill. It’s not necessary for you to see me out!”

He jumped down the Library Pavilion, laughing like a maniac as he barged into the forest.
There was already a group of people waiting for him. Nie HuaiSang asked, “How did it
go? Did he read it? What was he like?”
Nie Mingjue thundered, “Huaisang…. You were in on it?! How shameless!”

”eek!” Nie Huaisang hid behind Jiang Cheng’s back, missing the thumping heart of the Jiang
boy.

Wei WuXian replied, “What was he like? Ha! Didn’t you guys hear that loud shout he
gave?”

Nie HuaiSang was full of admiration, “I heard it—he told you to get lost! Wei-xiong, it
was my first time hearing Lan WangJi tell someone to ‘get lost’! How did you do it?”

Satisfaction was plastered all over Wei WuXian’s face, “Good thing that I helped him
achieve this ‘first’. You all saw it, didn’t you? The self-restraint and etiquette that Second
Young Master Lan was praised so strongly for were all weak and useless against me.”

Jiang Cheng scolded with a darkened expression, “What are you proud of?! What is there
to be proud of with this?! Do you think that it’s a glorious thing to be told by someone to
get lost? You bring so much shame upon our sect!”

‘yes, a-Cheng. Show him.” Yu Ziyuan thought.

Wei WuXian spoke, “I really wanted to apologize to him, but he never paid attention to me.
He silenced me for so many days, so what’s wrong with me having a little fun with him? I
presented him the book with a nice intention. HuaiSang-xiong, what happened to your
treasured porn was really a pity. I didn’t even get to finish it; it was so good! Lan Zhan
definitely doesn’t understand proper relationships. I gave it to him, yet he was still
unhappy. It’s such a waste of that face of his.”

Nie HuaiSang blurted, “It’s not a pity at all! You can have as many as you want.”

Jiang Cheng sneered, “You’ve seriously offended both Lan WangJi and Lan QiRen. Just
wait for your death tomorrow! Nobody’s gonna bury your corpse.”

Wei Wuxian felt tense when that sentence was mentioned, ‘nobody’s gonna bury your corpse’
cause it really became true.

it hurts, but he knew Jiang Cheng had his own reasons.

”….Wei Wuxian, tell your grump beside you to stop glaring at me.” Wei Wuxian looked at
Lan Wangji, who looked innocent.
 ”what are you talking about?” Jiang Cheng facepalmed.

Wei WuXian waved his hands, putting his arm around Jiang Cheng’s shoulders, “Who
cares, as long as I tease him first? You’ve already buried my corpse so many times, so
what’s wrong with once more?”

Jiang Cheng suddenly felt uneasy, remembering the shit his future self did. He won’t ever
forget the fact his brother was left with no corpse, at all.

“You know that Wei-xiong forgave you already, right?” Nie Huaisang whispered, in an
attempt to alleviate his ‘friend’s’ worry.

”of course he did, he’s too forgiving.” Jiang Cheng muttered, he knew Wei Wuxian was too
kind and too forgiving, but why did hearing it from Nie Huaisang actually make him feel
better?

he suddenly turned pink when he forgot he and huaisang get engaged.

Jiang Cheng responded with a kick, “Shoo, shoo, shoo! Next time, if you do such a thing,
don’t let me know! Don’t ask me to watch, either!”

”so mean, ChengCheng.” Wei Wuxian burst out laughing, Jiang Cheng glared at him.

”stop calling me that childish nickname,,,” he muttered, he didn’t really mind the nickname.

*END OF EPISODE* flashed onto the ‘tv’

”meh, i want a longer one next time.” Nie Huaisang complained.

“stop complaining and maybe it will be longer.” Nie Mingjue huffed.

Chapter End Notes

Checks date,* its been a month since i uploaded a chapter?!?!?

 👍
my cat suddenly gave birth and shit and i was gonna post this yesterday but i fell asleep
and accidentally deleted the original chap

Vivy was gonna kill me if i didnt take the fiture ppl off i am being held at gunpoint

I aint making a seating order cz its messed up their everywhere

Also been cooped up reading a bunch of manhwa/hua’s TT dreadful night and nerd
project is a masterpiece
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