Chapter Text
"Where do you think you're going?"
Lan Xichen's eyes were extremely cold. Gone was the warmth and tenderness that constantly enveloped those hazy brown pupils. The tone of his voice was already low, and it managed to be even lower this time.
Hearing no answer from the person opposite him, Lan Xichen let out a soft sneer. "Why don't you answer me? Wei Wuxian? Wei Ying?"
The other person who was called out finally could not bear it anymore and responded, "Where will I go, does it matter with you? Who am I going with, what does it affect you?" The young man replied calmly, but it couldn't hide the slight tremble in his voice.
The light was dim. With tall trees and their large canopies shrouding around them, the sun was still high above at noon, yet it felt like the darkness had descended. The mountain air had always been cold and damp, creating an even more chilling atmosphere.
Hidden among the giant trees were two people. Both were wearing immaculate white robes. The tail of their outermost hanfu dropped just right on their ankle, wrapped similarly with the snow-white boots. One of them stood with an exquisitely crafted sword at his waist, while the other was gripping an ebony flute tightly in his hand.
In this confrontation, Lan Xichen suddenly spoke, "Wei Wuxian. Do you know where is this?"
Wei Wuxian was taken aback by the question. His expression immediately became wary. "Sect Leader Lan, what do you mean?"
Lan Xichen lifted his chin and curled his lip slightly. "This is my family mountain. How many monsters, ghosts, or other entities are here, and what they are, I know best. Do you think you can still walk around like nothing here?"
The red tassel of the black Dizi shook visibly, following the vibration of the hand holding it.
Wei Wuxian said somberly, "Sect Leader Lan, I have always admired you as being worthy of a gentleman, and respected you as a senior. I hope you know that."
"...Really?" the other person responded softly, his voice and even the cold eyes earlier unconsciously became tender.
The corner of Wei Wuxian's eyes twitched at his response. He looked like he was about to say something but held back.
Silence suddenly engulfed them.
It was not until Wei Wuxian suddenly spun around and dashed in another direction that the stalemate was broken.
"Stop!" Lan Xichen shouted and chased him.
Wei Wuxian neither obeyed his word nor responded. He nimbly navigated in between the forest's narrow or even no path at all. The spotless white robes soon were stained by dirt from grazing against the tree barks and the green juices of crushed leaves.
Seeing him getting further away, Lan Xichen's gaze became serious. He no longer ran to chase. His shadows flickered from one spot to another as the person rushed at an unprecedented speed. In just a few seconds, he had appeared all of a sudden behind Wei Wuxian.
"Ughh!"
With just a slight movement of his hand, Lan Xichen had pushed the person to the forest's ground face first. However, Lan Xichen's palm automatically went to the front, shielding Wei Wuxian's face from any impact. His other arm had also been wrapped around Wei Wuxian's waist to prevent him from colliding with the ground directly.
Only when the inertia of falling had receded that his arms changed their position. The place where the young man was pushed onto was thick with autumn-fallen leaves, acting like a mattress to brace his tumble. Switching the movement of his hands, Lan Xichen quickly caught both of Wei Wuxian's arms, locking them on his back, and pressed his thrashing legs with his entire body.
Wei Wuxian tried to move but failed. He turned his head to the side and shouted, "Lan Xichen! Let go of me now!"
Looking at his powerless situation and the helpless look on his face, Lan Xichen put a smirk on his lips instead. "Who do you think you are commanding? Let you go? If I haven't said that you can leave my sight, don't think that you have the right to depart."
Wei Wuxian lowered his eyelids, his lips were quivering. There was no response coming from him for a while.
Lan Xichen bent down, looming at him, and spoke with a husky voice beside his ears, "Little Fox. You have married into my Lan Family. Not a part of yourself remained to be owned by you. You are my person. Even in death, your Ghost belongs to me!"
Biting the tip of Wei Wuxian's ears, he emphasized, "Remember that clearly."
The two people stayed motionless in the same position for a few moments. Both of Lan Xichen's and Wei Wuxian's faces were hidden behind the long curtain of 3,000 silky black hair, cascading from Lan Xichen's shoulder. It was unknown what kind of expression they currently had.
Faintly in the distance, the sound of people yelling or cheering was heard.
On a far horizon, the flashes from spiritual swords interspersed in the air were also seen vaguely from the small gaps of the trees' canopies.
Lan Xichen who was pinning Wei Wuxian underneath him suddenly started to move. He released his clutch on Wei Wuxian's wrists and raised his body from the young man. He stood up, went to a nearby tree, and leaned his forehead on it. "...Wei-Gongzi, it should be enough, right?" His voice was as quiet as a mosquito.
The person he was asking, was currently convulsing on the ground, choking from laughter. In the end, with a "pfft" he could no longer quell them and burst out laughing, "Ahahahaha! Enough, enough, it is more than enough! You can stop acting now, Zewu-Jun, hahhahaa..."
"Uh..." Lan Xichen shut his eyes tightly.
His fair face had flushed madly in red from embarrassment.
Wei Wuxian slowly sat up from his position, still giggling non-stop. His hand slipped into his long sleeve, taking out a thin book from within. Flipping the pages around, he said, "Ahh, Zewu-Jun, there's barely a scene we have covered from the story here. Why do you look like you couldn't bear to do it any longer? How can it be like this? You have to work harder so that we can cover more scenes!"
"Ehhhhh...? There are more...?" Lan Xichen almost slumped down to hug the tree in front of him from despair.
Wei Wuxian exclaimed as if it were a matter of fact, "Of course, there are!"
He grinned widely and leaped out from the ground, brushing his robes from any leaves sticking on them.
Lan Xichen eventually left his beloved tree to approach him. He said, "Let's change into a new outer robe."
His hands reached out, helping Wei Wuxian to take off his girdle and pull the dirtied robe aside. Taking out a clean set from the Qiankun bag, Lan Xichen put it on the young man, once again transforming him into a peerless Immortal in white.
During his outing with the disciples a few months ago, it was unknown where he got it, but when Wei Wuxian returned to the Cloud Recesses, he brought a miscellaneous book he found outside. It was a storybook, apparently, one being popular these days. Lan Xichen had never read such vulgar stories in the kinds of Snake Demons repaying gratitude to marry a poor Scholar, or an Overbearing General became amnesia and fell in love with a peasant lady, etc. He was surprised when Wei Wuxian had pulled him to read together.
And it was truly the start of today's predicament.
The story didn't make sense. The plot was too exaggerated. The characters acting inside made Lan Xichen want to cover his face from second-hand embarrassment. But who knew it actually made Wei Wuxian laugh out loud. He even had a whim afterward to make Lan Xichen acted some of the scenes inside.
So here they were. Lan Xichen as a forceful chauvinistic bastard. Wei Wuxian as the miserable white flower who couldn't escape from the domineering man's control.
Wei Wuxian watched Lan Xichen busying himself with patting and fixing the outfit here and there. He commented, "...And here I am, thinking that your previous domineering look earlier is really handsome, Zewu-Jun. But you can't live up to expectations and turn soft just because I said I've always admired and respected you! At that time, you should respond with, 'Heh, so are you disappointed now after knowing my true nature? It is too late for you to regret that I am no Gentleman, little Lamb.' You should have said those with a domineering attitude!"
Lan Xichen knitted his brows helplessly. "I can't help it. Wei-Gongzi is praising me and I feel joyful in my heart."
Wei Wuxian laughed and criticized again, "When you pushed me to the ground you should have used more force! Which domineering man pushes someone to the ground and still thinks to cover the face and alleviate the impact?"
Lan Xichen finished tidying up Wei Wuxian's new appearance and finally looked back at him in the eye. The dark brown pupils glowed warmly as he admitted in a soft voice, "I can't do that. Wei-Gongzi, back then, on our wedding night, I have always regretted to this day for treating you in such a manner..."
His hand caressed Wei Wuxian's back, as if caressing his once-bruised spine through the cover of his robes.
Lan Xichen was inherently a man with a mild personality and gentle temper. Even if the sexual affair back then could be said to be exhilarating, but personally, he didn't prefer to do it that way. His fierceness back then was due to his turbulent emotions, and it was scary even to him. If he could, he would avoid being in any more circumstances where he was unable to control himself.
The giggles spilling from Wei Wuxian's mouth gradually ceased as he heard Lan Xichen's disclosure.
His hands reached out and pinched both sides of Lan Xichen's cheeks instead. "Hey, do you think I am that fragile? I have already forgotten about it the next day." He suddenly smiled ambiguously and whispered in a scandalous tone, "Besides, isn't it good that the night became unforgettable for you?"
Lan Xichen was speechless. His hands were raised, covering Wei Wuxian's palm on his own cheeks. "Don't be like that. Wei-Gongzi, you should cherish yourself more."
Wei Wuxian had his eyes widened a little after hearing this. But he just laughed in the end and gave Lan Xichen a quick kiss on his lip, as if indulging him. "Alright, fine! I will listen to you."
He pulled Lan Xichen's arm and said, "Now let's go back to the hunt, shall we? I want to see how the disciples are doing."
Lan Xichen followed his direction, letting Wei Wuxian drag him to wherever he wanted to go. But first, they needed to walk out from the thick forest, and back to the area where other Cultivators were gathered mostly.
On the way, Lan Xichen couldn't help muttering, "...Even then, I still can't believe there would be someone in this world able to say such words like 'I own this mountain and I know it all here.' or saying something like 'Even in death your ghost is mine!', calling others with 'little lamb or little cat', even domineeringly stopping others from leaving, is there even a sane person who will be able to say that without dying inside?"
Listening to Lan Xichen's perplexity, Wei Wuxian's unconstrained laughter rang in the quiet forest, startling a Lizard resting on the tree branch awake.
"No way! There's also no way someone would be able to be the recipient of the words without laughing."
They were currently in Baifeng Mountain.
It was one of the top 3 most famous hunting grounds with a lot of Demons and Beasts lurking. Several competitions in the Cultivation World have been held here.
They were here to attend a grand hunt held for the first time after the last deathly war. Almost every sect in the Cultivation World sent their representatives here to display their abilities and recruit talents. A lot of rogue Cultivators had also come, to make a name for themselves.
This hunt was mostly managed by LanlingJin Sect. Just like their frequent banquets, it was held to ascertain their prominence among the hundreds of Cultivation Clans. The one being responsible for organizing it, naturally was the tool man, Jin Guangyao. Jin Guangshan's precious son, Jin Zixuan, could just attend the hunt and display his skills in archery. As for the one who should work hard running back and forth, of course, it should be his cheaply gained son.
Before entering the mountain itself, there was a vast square surrounded by 10 tall watching towers. There were people moving around and their excited whispers could be heard from below. The quietest part was the tallest platform, which was also the most decorated place. Sitting in there were mostly elder cultivators, Sect Leaders, and their families.
The women in the first rows all covered their faces with small fans looking reservedly at the hunting ground below. Rows of maids stood behind them, carrying either canopies or larger fans. These ladies' elegant bearing however was immediately thrown aside when the riding formation of GusuLan Sect arrived.
While horses wouldn't be needed in night hunts, the skill of horsemanship was also one of the Six-Arts of gentlemen that Clan Disciples were required to study. During this kind of formal event, just like wearing a sword as a courtesy, riding formation was also important to display, since it would create an atmosphere of grandeur at the Cultivators' entrance. To put it simply, it was just for aesthetics and again, preferable decorum.
Despite their clear restlessness, the maidens hesitated to proceed and shower the flowers as usual toward GusuLan's entourage. It was to be expected, after all, the once unattainable jade whom everyone dreamed of, had been taken down from the shelves. Their beloved Gongzi had become a married man!
The maidens were all, I look at you, you look at me.
As the riding formation approached closer to the 10 watching towers, the better people could finally see the people in it.
Heading in front were 3 men riding snowy white steeds steadily. Lan Xichen marched in the center, on his right was Lan Wangji, while on his left was Wei Wuxian. The three all wore swords at their waists and arrows on their back. Peerless white robes and forehead ribbons flying in the air.
That's right.
All three of them wore swords.
Even Wei Wuxian.
The male Cultivators couldn't help but rub their eyes, wondering if their vision had betrayed them. But there, they still saw Suibian hanging calmly at Wei Wuxian's waist. The unassuming sword hung side by side with the jet-black Dizi quietly, exuding a sense of mystery.
It was a different story for the maidens though.
Their stagnant reaction previously was immediately broken out!
"Ahhhhhhhhh~!"
The elder cultivators were shocked to hear such a sudden screech from those supposed to be demure and reserved maidens. Some of them even spurted their tea looking at their reticent daughter suddenly expressed a zestful fervor, throwing flowers into the air with all their might. Their gaze immediately followed to see what had caused this chaos.
Below in the large square, there were still GusuLan Cultivators.
There were still 3 people heading the formation.
But as they took a closer look at those 3, they finally understood.
The 3 gentlemen were remarkably stunning, as if they each came out of immortal paintings.
The impact of Double Jades appearing together was already incredible, giving the spectators the vibes of 1 Color-2 Tones.
But now that the gentlemen had multiplied into 3, the scenery had been transformed completely into a different kind of beauty.
All of them were obviously wearing the same outfit, and riding the same mounts, but they didn't look alike at all.
One was as serene and amicable as the sophisticated Orchid. Another was dignified and frosty as the aloof Snowflower on a high mountain. And the last one was as bright and charming as the passionate Peach Blossom.
It was no longer talking about shades or tones, but truly 1 Color-3 Styles.
For the first time, people realized GusuLan Sect robes that had been affiliated with sobriety could actually be worn this way!
Wei Wuxian bathed in the shower of flowers leisurely. The smiles on his lips had never once fallen off ever since they entered the large square. It caused the surrounding Maidens to throw them flowers even more unceremoniously.
There was no need to think if their beloved Gongzi had been married or not. They couldn't even care if two of these peerless gentlemen were actually a pair of cut-sleeves. The only thing they knew was, "Goddamn!! These guys are so Hot!!!!"
The group of GusuLan entourage continued marching forward, leaving the center of the square in the direction where rows of targets were located. Behind them, other entourages from other Sects followed to come in. QingheNie headed by Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang, and YunmengJiang headed by Jiang Cheng whose complexion darkened as the flowers hit his face.
Wei Wuxian snickered looking at Jiang Cheng who still couldn't treat the girls' admiration properly. He looked up and saw Jiang Yanli tossing a flower at her younger brother. After tossing the flower, she turned to look at Wei Wuxian on the other side and waved at him, giggling softly. Wei Wuxian also smiled softly and waved back at her.
The next entourage coming would be LanlingJin.
Wei Wuxian immediately lost his interest and diverted his attention from the center.
Before their official entry to the hunting ground, the Cultivators were required to shoot their arrow as a test. Those who intended to hunt in the mountain could only become eligible to enter if they were able to shoot a target from a certain distance away. There were seven rings on the targets, by the seven paths of entry. The closer the arrow was to the center, the more advantageous its respective entry path was.
Wei Wuxian pulled the reins of his horse to stop. Instead of preparing his bow and arrow, his hand suddenly disappeared to his wide sleeve. He turned his body slightly to his right side, leaning closer to Lan Xichen. Suddenly, like a secret trick, a fresh bud of White Peony popped out from between his dexterous fingers and blossomed. The flower was then slipped into Lan Xichen's front collar.
Lan Xichen looked at this slender hand patting the hem of his collar playfully. He traced the hand back to the owner and looked up in surprise.
Wei Wuxian caught his stare and grinned. "The maidens throw their flowers because they adore the gentlemen. So Wei-mou will go along and give this flower to Zewu-Jun."
He reached into his sleeve again and added, "Oh! Don't worry, I have also prepared one for our Hanguang-Jun!" another White Peony also appeared in his palm once again.
He was about to pull the rein of his steed to move around toward Lan Wangji's side, and yet another hand had intercepted the flower.
It was Lan Xichen.
He smiled and said, "You can just stay here. I will help Wei-Gongzi to give it to Wangji." He turned to his right side and put the White Peony in Lan Wangji's hand. "Here you go, Wangji. Do you need Xiongzhang to put it on for you?" He offered kindly.
Lan Wangji, "...No need."
Lan Xichen pretended not to notice his 'Xiongzhang, I can't believe, you actually!'-expression.
There's nothing the younger brother could do. Lan Wangji ended up silently and carefully pinned the White Peony to his chest on his own.
Lan Xichen, on the other hand, plucked several petals from the White Peony on his chest. Cutting some strands of his hair, he weaved them to the petals as a string. The action was done swiftly in just a few seconds. The next moment, he had already turned to face Wei Wuxian.
"I don't bring any flowers today with me, but I will give Wei-Gongzi one later. For now, let's share this flower together." He smiled and hung the white petals strung with his own hair as a necklace.
The long and gleaming black hair was pulled up and fluttered back down gently as Lan Xichen fixed the flower necklace to Wei Wuxian's neck.
Wei Wuxian's eyes lit up and he was about to say something,
However,
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
It was no longer tea that was being spurted out, but several teacups were dropped from the sudden sound attack.
The maidens were completely thrown into utter frenzy. Even the soft-spoken ones were screaming from the top of her lungs. These young ladies looked like they were possessed.
At this time, Jin Zixuan was in the middle of showing off his archery.
The arrow hadn't even been shot yet, but the cheers had already been booming as if they were about to explode the entire mountain.
The Jin Heir was thrown in confusion, and his fingers holding the bowstring inadvertently trembled.
The arrow was released.
It didn't even hit any ring among the 7 circles.
To his surprise, the hollers around him were still going on.
When he looked up, however, the maidens' attention was not even put to his side.
They were all looking at the side of GusuLan's contingent.
Jin Zixuan, "..."
Should I say 'Lucky! They didn't see my embarrassment!' right now?
Jin Guangshan, "..."
I have a barrage of curse words waiting to be unleashed inside my head, but I am not in the position to utter any of those words...What should I do?
When Wei Wuxian heard an exploding howl from the entire 10 platforms, he was curious, wondering what kind of thing made those maidens roar like Lionesses.
But when he looked up to see the center, he saw Jin Zixuan holding his bow while riding a stallion as his steed. He immediately rolled his eyes and couldn't care less about the booming cheer. In his heart, he was lamenting the young ladies' eyes. Such male princesses in the likes of Jin Zixuan, was it worthy for the maidens to shout until their throats hoarse?
Soon, he went back to admire the petals necklace hanging on his chest.
On the small podium in the center of the square, Jin Guangyao continued to calmly announce the next Sects' contingents to make their entrance, regardless of the maidens' going crazy up there.
Despite maintaining his composure, however, this Third Brother inadvertently glanced at GusuLan's corner every now and then.
Of course, he had also noticed the interaction that had thrown the 10 watching towers into disarray.
Contrary to the maidens' absolute hysteria to the public display of affection, Jin Guangyao's eyes glinted in wary instead.
That's right, Lan Xichen's actions had immediately put him on guard.
He had to consider if this Zewu-Jun, perhaps, was extremely deceitful. Whether he was a person who's able to sacrifice even his feelings. Someone who could utilize a marriage to his advantage, portraying his image to be an outstanding person both in his career and personal life, was way too dangerous. The boundary between pure sentiments and calculative interest had become too blurry. You wouldn't even know if his sincerity was truly "genuine". Because this person could even deceive himself to appear more convincing.
Jin Guangyao decided to be more careful to avoid meeting someone of the same kind.
No matter what people thought or what kind of conflicting emotions they had in their hearts, of course, Wei Wuxian was oblivious to all.
He didn't even realize he was the target of people's cheers just now and thought those maidens would only cheer toward the riding formation.
Speaking about riding formation, the last one he took a good look at was when the contingent of QingheNie arrived at the square.
Nie Mingjue was very tall and imposing. Unlike the cold iciness of Lan Wangji, Chifeng-Zun had a cold face yet a fiery bearing. The maidens admired him, yet they were afraid to shower him with flowers for fear that the man suddenly unsheathed his Saber and hacked at the tower in irritation. On the other hand, Nie Huaisang at his side, was a dandy through and within. His saber was hung loosely at his waist next to his jewelry. Everyone knew that his saber likewise would just be a decoration, and the young master would just take a stroll instead of seriously hunting.
Wei Wuxian suddenly laughed in his heart.
What people thought of Nie Huaisang, was exactly what he, Wei Wuxian, was going to do today.
Suibian was just a decoration.
Flying here and there, there's already Comrade Lan Huan who would offer his hand and take him to Shuoyue.
In this hunt too, there was no need for him to bother himself, because there's already the almighty Hanguang-Jun who would bring glory to the Sect.
So all he needed to do today was just be the handsome and dashing-Brother Wei who had to accompany the Number 1 Beauty-Zewu-Jun for a walk!
Thinking about this, Wei Wuxian couldn't stop his laughter from spilling out.
Suddenly, from another side, someone sneered. "You're laughing at this splendid mastery of archery my cousin has displayed, Wei Wuxian, do you have any opinion of us, LanlingJin!"
Wei Wuxian, "??"
I was laughing thinking of a Beauty. And the Beauty was also my own. How did I become guilty of laughing?
The person who suddenly cued Wei Wuxian sneered. "If you can laugh at my cousin, let's see if you can shoot better than him!"
Before Wei Wuxian opened his mouth to react, two people were already faster than him,
"Zixun! You, shut up!"
"Someone, come and help Nephew Zixun away! He hasn't sobered up from being drunk last night."
Jin Zixun, "????"
It was unexpectedly Jin Zixuan and Jin Guangshan who had urgently interrupted him respectively.
At this time, Jin Zixuan wanted to dig a hole and hide himself from embarrassment. Just before, he failed to shoot the arrow and missed the 7 rings completely. Fortunately, everyone's attention had all been focused on GusuLan's entourage for some reason. So he shamelessly pretended he hadn't released any arrow and shot for the second time. Of course, it properly hit the center of the target.
This was what Jin Zixun had seen, thus he tried to boast about his feat.
However, being boasted like this, Jin Zixuan became extremely ashamed instead. The exaggerated acclaim sounded like sarcasm.
On the other hand, Jin Guangshan as the one heading LanlingJin's entourage had naturally noticed his son's public mortification. He had also known that the reason why his beloved son failed to shine was all due to those bastard, GusuLan Clan!! It was not enough for them to intercept Wei Wuxian, now they were dangling here showing off their spoil of war (Wei Wuxian) and again, stole the limelight of LanlingJin!
His teeth were sore and aching all over in both distress and resentment.
And yet, his idiotic nephew was still thinking to challenge Wei Wuxian for an archery showdown.
Who didn't know that Wei Wuxian sat firmly on top of his generations during the Archery Competition in Qishan back then! At that time, Jin Guangshan had congratulated Jiang Fengmian upon the burst of YunmengJiang's emblem dominating the clear sky throughout the competition. Today, Wei Wuxian no longer belonged to Jiang Clan, but belonged to GusuLan. Should he, Jin Guangshan, congratulate once again to those Goddamn Bald Donkeys from Gusu??
'Is this nephew Zixun an Idiot, or do you think my whole Jin Family are Idiots!!'
It's not enough for your limelight to be stolen once, right? You have to be trampled completely to be the stepping stone for those GusuLan bastards, right!!