Chapter Text
The farce in Baifeng Mountain that day ended with GusuLan leaving the hunt early. Nie Mingjue who was hunting on the other side, heard that Lan Xichen and GusuLan Cultivators left early. Chifeng-Zun who had had enough fun didn't hesitate to go home early as well.
In the first place, he had never inclined toward LanlingJin Sect or had any close relationship with the Jin Clan. The reason why he began to give some face to them was due to Jin Guangyao, as well as Lan Xichen's effort to bring the 3 sworn brothers together. But now that even Lan Xichen had a falling out with LanlingJin, what was he Nie Mingjue, dawdling here for? It couldn't possibly to have fun with the Jins, right?
The one who was left with a huge headache naturally was Lianfang-Zun.
Madam Jin couldn't ask for any account from Lan Xichen and put all the blame on Jin Guangyao's head instead. If it weren't for this cheap son's inability to prepare for the hunt properly, Jin Zixun wouldn't have trouble finding prey. No clash would have happened with the Rogue Cultivators. Jin Zixuan wouldn't be forced to defend his cousin. Hanguang-Jun wouldn't have a conflict with Jin Zixuan. Lan Xichen would not be attracted to come. In the end, nothing would have happened.
Besides, wasn't Lan Xichen his own sworn brother? Not only had Jin Guangyao failed to manage the hunt properly, he couldn't even control his own sworn brother to give his Jin Clan some face! Jin Guangyao's complexion almost went stiff from smiling all the way in front of a barrage of scolding. He wanted to say,
"Ma'am, if only that beloved nephew of yours stayed honestly, not long, just for a few more minutes, the expansion for the hunting ground would have been prepared! No trouble would have arisen."
"Besides, are you sure the reason Lan Xichen left the hunting ground is not because of your beloved nephew running off his mouth like you here, offending other people thoroughly?"
What a pity.
Jin Guangyao lamented that he didn't have the power and status yet as Lan Xichen, to show such a tough attitude when being offended.
'...Someday I will.' The dark glint in his eyes was covered with the flicker of his pupils.
Glancing to the side where Jin Zixun was put onto a stretcher to the medical tent, he was contemplating how to bribe the medic. Perhaps 6 months later if Jin Zixun died due to some organ failure, presumably, no one would have any suspicion. People would think that, as expected of Zewu-Jun, even a slap with no spiritual energy could kill people!
Anyway, Lan Xichen had fallen to the pit he dug out once, surely he wouldn't mind falling for another time, no?
Besides, perhaps his cheap father might have been glad by it. He could use the death of his "beloved nephew" and grief over it, accusing GusuLan of being so cruel. Such a little baby over 20 years old was slapped to death just because he was a bit ignorant. What was wrong with you, GusuLan? Why couldn't you be more lenient? Or could it be,
...Was it because your Sect possessed the Yin Tiger Tally now that you've become so arrogant?!
No way.
This could no longer be tolerated.
Sect Leader Jin who was drowned in sorrow for the death of his beloved nephew whom he had seen growing up for 20 years, would have a reason to sue GusuLan and ask for an explanation, right? GusuLan needed to hand over Yin Tiger Tally to another Sect for...safe keeping. So that they would not grow arrogant and casually murder an innocent baby over 20 years old again.
Thinking about it in his head, Jin Guangyao felt this was, probably a good idea.
Perhaps, if Lan Xichen and GusuLan were provoked enough by the inconceivable idiocy of the entire LanlingJin, Jin Guangyao could borrow their hands to send these beloved families of his to reincarnate early. Nowadays, there is a lot of famine and war. The queue for reincarnation must have been packed up. Jin Guangyao wished sincerely from the bottom of his heart that his beloved Jin family could go to the queue early for fear of not getting enough tickets to the next life. As a filial son, Jin Guangyao would readily stay behind and let his other family members go ahead.
The corner of his mouth quirked upward. 'Well...let's just see to it later.'
There were a lot of spectators that day. Everyone shared the news with one to another. Within one week, the news had almost been circulated throughout the entire Cultivation World.
In a tea house in Tanzhou, some Rogue Cultivators and Cultivators from several small Clans were sitting together in a group. They accidentally met with each other during the nighthunt and decided to go grab some meal together after. Right now, their conversation was also talking about the recent gossip in their cultivation society.
As they heard what had happened, there was only one reaction. "LanlingJin is really good. Now they're completely in a tense relationship with GusuLan."
One of them shook his head in lament. "It's not enough to breach Zewu-Jun's privacy in their own guest quarter in Jinlintai. Even the nephew dared to slander Hanguang-Jun, and later insult Wei Wuxian in front of Zewu-Jun himself, and still not enough, dare to challenge him in a spar!"
"Speaking of which, this Jin Zixun must be a Hero among Heroes. Even if I were given a thousand courage, I won't dare to do even a single thing of what he did." The Cultivator from the small Clan laughed wryly.
Someone actually said, "Have you heard what Zewu-Jun said back then? He kept asking if LanlingJin had a grudge toward GusuLan for them to keep targeting GusuLan cultivators. I wonder, if this is actually true."
The others were intrigued. "What do you mean?"
He spoke, "I mean to say, perhaps this Jin Zixun was deliberately provoking either Hanguang-Jun or Wei Wuxian, don't you think so? Perhaps it's one of their conspiracies. If either of the two can be provoked, LanlingJin can use it to slander their reputation."
The others realized this and agreed, "...That makes sense. One is an infamous prodigy of GusuLan Sect since 14 years old, Lan Wangji. And another one is their Sect Leader's spouse. If one of their reputations gets ruined, it'll be detrimental to GusuLan."
"Now that you've said it, I finally remembered Madam Jin's reaction back then. Her first response after coming to the site has always subtly faulted either Hanguang-Jun or asking for an account from Zewu-Jun. It's as if she was prepared to back her nephew."
After someone started to mention about LanlingJin being deliberate, everyone began to analyze each of their action as "having some intention".
"Right? If it wasn't premeditated, I don't believe it!" The Cultivator who proposed the conspiracy theory shook his head. "After all, how can someone be so stupid like Jin Zixun, without rain nor wind, keep barking and seeking death toward Wei Wuxian or GusuLan when the opponent didn't even know him?"
"Pfft. Let alone Lan Double Jades or Wei Wuxian, to be honest, even I didn't know his name if it weren't for the recent uproar." The Small Clan Cultivator laughed.
"...Actually, me too. I didn't know his name before this. I was just afraid that others would think I'm too uninformed so I've never mentioned this." someone else raised his hand embarrassedly.
"What a coincidence, I've never heard of him too." Another one added.
"Umm...Can I say, me as well?"
"Haha, to tell the truth, I only know Jin Zixuan as Jin-Gongzi from LanlingJin, anyone else, I don't know."
"That's right! That can't be helped, right? After all, Jin-Gongzi has appeared everywhere, so others will know him."
Someone else muttered, "It's already so hard remembering our own relatives, cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, from our great-great-grandparents, how are we supposed to remember a member of someone else's family?"
The conspiracy theory Cultivator hit the table excitedly, "That's why I said, this is even more suspicious! Think about it, how can someone this...this insignificant just, guilelessly, have the courage to quarrel with either Hanguang-Jun, Wei Wuxian, or Zewu-Jun? Like, this is so impossible. This is more than idiocy. I don't believe someone can be this foolish."
"What you said is reasonable. Even my 3-year-old nephew is smarter than that. I don't believe someone from a Major Clan to be this kind of Idiot." the other Rogue Cultivator agreed to this notion.
They soon looked at each other with meaningful gaze. Their voices lowered as they spoke in unison, "So there must be something fishy with this Jin Zixun!"
"No, in fact, in the past, Jin Zixun must be lurking below, which is why we never heard of his name. Only when the Wen Clan is no longer pressing over our head, did he finally show his ability."
Someone started to reveal the real face of Jin Zixun, "He must have been pretending to act like an arrogant fool who is blinded by his Clan's sudden rise to prominence."
"He must have been pretending to be a good-for-nothing who makes a fuss every now and then, so that everyone will look down on him." Another one also put forward the background story of Jin Zixun.
The person sitting beside him completed his words, "...But in reality, he must have been a Scheming Master who pulls the thread from behind the scenes!"
Now that they had finally realized the truth, these Cultivators felt like their views of life had been thwarted. It was as if they had gained a new enlightenment. As their thinking became broader and their deduction became sharper.
"As expected of LanlingJin. They're really good at scheming and pretending to be an idiot."
"After all, they said to fool others, you have to fool yourself."
"That Jin Zixun may probably be the hidden card of Sect Leader Jin who is extremely smart and scheming, hey..."
"Alas...No wonder they became the biggest Winner with the least casualties and damages out of Sunshot Campaign...it turns out, their Sect is filled with Genius Schemer like that Jin Zixun..."
A clatter of chopsticks falling was heard from the second floor where private booths were. The Cultivators glanced up and saw it was only a pair of rich Young Masters. Probably they were drinking too much and their squeamish body couldn't stand the liquor.
They soon forgot about it and one of the Rogue Cultivators continued to speak excitedly, "Talking about that Jin Zixun, do you guys know why we Rogue Cultivators were all fired up in the hunt back then?"
The small Clan Cultivators were curious. "What's the matter?"
"Let me show you something," The Rogue Cultivators signaled them to huddle more and formed an enclosed space.
Afterward, he put something in the middle of the table for them to see.
It was a compass. A bit similar to a normal compass in appearance, but when they took a closer look, the needle inside didn't indicate any direction. There were no symbols of North or South on the surface but a series of strange incantations instead.
"This is..."
The other Rogue Cultivators were also taking out similar compasses. They grinned in complacency and told the Clan Cultivators, "It's Evil Compass. It gives you signs of various evil creatures nearby and shows you their direction. That's why that day in the hunt we can always know where the ghosts, demons, or other resentful entities are!"
"Damn! Where did you get this? Why haven't I heard something like this exist?" The small Clan Cultivators grabbed these several compasses and couldn't wait to examine them.
"Haha. If you have a deal with GusuLan, you can get them!" The Rogue Cultivators smugly replied.
"It's from GusuLan? Wait a minute. When you said resentful creatures, it is divided clearly in variation. Demon, Yao, Ghost, Beast, Fierce Corpse. What is this, there's even an evil intent meter. What does this mean?"
"Oh, evil intent is like malice intent in humans. Some Beast have harmless appearances which often put down our guard, but ferocious beasts have high evil intent to mean harm to us, so we'll know from that. We have tried it on Baifeng Mountain by secretly following Chifeng-Zun as he hunted those Beasts, and it is valid!" one of the Rogue Cultivators sheepishly admitted.
"...No, are you serious? How can this compass be made to include those functions? Are these dug out from GusuLan treasury?"
"How is that possible? Actually, just from its specific use, you should know who created this tool."
"...Oh."
A tool to track evil beings. Creatures with resentful energy. When it came to the word "resentful energy", it just clicked automatically in their heads; Wei Wuxian!
The Clan Cultivators were eager, "You said, you got it from GusuLan from your deal with them, what kind of deal?"
"Huh? What kind? Just agreeing to send information to GusuLan branches during my nighthunt."
"What kind of information?"
"Cases that hadn't been solved. Unusual incidents. Or if I discover something in my journey, anything at all."
"Hmmm...." The Clan Cultivators felt their eyes twitch.
It was said to report something unusual or anything at all, that was also including if a Rogue Cultivator found a new treasured land, that meant they could only have a deal with GusuLan to handle them, right?
But these Rogue Cultivators would indeed be more than glad to join hands with GusuLan compared to other Sects. At least, with GusuLan they didn't have any worry to be silenced after finding out a resources. GusuLan was famous for its integrity, so they also needn't worry about being cheated thoroughly when dividing the spoils.
"...What else is there?"
"Brother, so you know that's not only what we get from the deal." The Rogue Cultivators looked at each other and proceeded to take out a different kind of talisman each.
"This is...?"
"Back then in Baifeng Mountain, we didn't only experiment with the compass, but also with these all types of talismans. As expected, using only talismans, we can take down a lot of prey!"
"Is it given from GusuLan as well?"
"GusuLan just shared a booklet filled with various talismans and simple techniques in nighthunting here. We have to understand it ourselves..." One of them wilted.
His companion suddenly grinned. "Which is why, what I will say next will be the most important!"
"What can be more important than sharing these with you guys?" The Clan Cultivators were skeptical.
The Rogue Cultivators grinned wider and put down an invitation on the table. "A chance to attend Hanguang-Jun's sermon once every 6 months in Gusu!"
"Those who have a deal with GusuLan can come and tighten our bond more. In this sermon, we can have guidance on our cultivation directly with Hanguang-Jun! If we have any question that troubled us from advancing, we can ask him there!"
"Are you fucking serious!?"
Now, this truly shook Clan Cultivators, enough to make them put down their legs from being perched on the chair.
"Haha. What do you think?" The owner of the invitation quickly snatched back the invitation into his arms.
The Clan Cultivators looked at each other and wailed in unison, "Mom!! I want to go too!"
Who is Hanguang-Jun? That's the brightest star in the sky, the legitimate Child of Someone Else in this era! Everyone wanted to hear one word or two from him!
The Rogue Cultivators had not finished his words, "That's not only there is to it. I heard that Hanguang-Jun is only the opening, afterward, there will be other Masters who will give specific sermons."
They lowered their voice and said, "I reckon, there might be Wei Wuxian, Lan-Xiansheng, or given the close relationship between Zewu-Jun and Chifeng-Zun, maybe we can even get a chance to learn some swordsmanship from him?"
Either of those people was someone they probably could never have met or interacted with for the rest of their lives. Let's say, Lan Qiren, despite how much he had been famous for being a teacher, but who did you think was eligible to be taught by him? Each one of them was the Cultivation Clan's Young Master. Each of the Cultivators able to be honored to visit the Cloud Recesses was a distinguished Cultivator.
Therefore, people from Noname Clans from nowhere, and Rogue Cultivators with no roots, were indeed, might not be able to have a chance to interact with those famous people from Major Sects for the rest of their lives.
The small Clan Cultivators thought, 'Now that they've said it, ain't no way we won't be attracted to this bait!'
So, when is the nearest good day within this month suitable to start a deal?
After these groups of Cultivators finished their meal and bid goodbye to each other, the two rich Young Masters upstairs finally started to talk with each other.
"Have you heard what they said?"
The person sitting in front of him replied, "Mn."
The other Young Master sighed. "Lan Zhan. Your Xiongzhang is really good. I didn't expect him to take full advantage of the Baifeng Mountain hunt."
The Young Master who turned out to be the very Hanguang-Jun they were excited about earlier, nodded in response. "The previous hunt in Baifeng Mountain is more like a friendly hunting attended by various Sects and Cultivators. This is a perfect place for those Rogue Cultivators to try working with your creations. They don't have to risk their life in the experiment, since there are a lot of Cultivators nearby to ask for help in case something goes wrong. Wei Ying, I believe Xiongzhang should have told you this from the beginning."
The other person who was revealed to be Wei Wuxian, the very creator of the Compass those Cultivators were excited about earlier, laughed at this. "Zewu-Jun just told me, there's a surprise in the hunt, but before he showed it to me..." He shrugged.
Lan Wangji's gaze hardened as he recalled the scene from before.
But Wei Wuxian himself was nonchalant and had long thrown the matter aside from his mind. "Speaking of which, Lan Zhan, not only we were told to run around and busy nighthunting. Now, he has already planned a set of future schedules for us. Your Xiongzhang really squeezed us dry for the sake of our Sect! How can this be? We must complain to him and seek for better treatment and more holidays!"
Lan Wangji paused for a minute hearing the person in front of him saying Our sect. His gaze softened and his voice followed along. "Better treatment, for example?"
Wei Wuxian caressed his chin and started to ponder, "Hmm, let's say, asking for more money perhaps? No, wait, but what are we going to use the money for? There's nothing that we need to buy with a huge sum of money. Then...how about asking for a higher position? That's not right either. Any higher place than yours, will be rebelling against the Sect Leader, pfft." He chuckled.
In the end, Wei Wuxian groaned and slumped to his seat. "No way, I can't think of it! Lan Zhan, how about you're helping me to think of ideas there."
Lan Wangji huffed lightly.
His gaze veered upon Wei Wuxian's figure without a trace before it went back to the teacup in front of him.
He said, "I heard, in mortal families, some parents will give a wish card to their children for rewards."
"Wish card?" Wei Wuxian perked up.
Lan Wangji nodded. "When the children have a wish they want so badly, they can use the card to persuade their parents."
Wei Wuxian's eyes lit up. "What a good idea! Should we ask for wish cards from Zewu-Jun?"
There was a smile in Lan Wangji's eyes. He agreed, "Alright. When we go back let's ask for one from Xiongzhang."
In this way, Lan Xichen didn't know whether to laugh or cry when his spouse demanded him to reward his hard work with a wish card.
What made him even more speechless was the ever-serious younger brother actually was the one proposing the idea.
In the end, Lan Xichen gave these two young men a wish card each. Lan Xichen thought there should be no need for Wei Wuxian to use any wish card since Lan Xichen would grant him whatever he wanted anyway. However, after looking at how happy Wei Wuxian was after receiving the wish card, Lan Xichen just smiled and let him be.
The wish card was from parents to children. From elders to juniors. It's done between families. It wasn't the usage of the card that made him happy, but having Lan Xichen giving him a wish card, gave Wei Wuxian the feeling of treating him like a real family.
Lan Xichen thought there should never be a day when this card was used.
Therefore, he didn't expect that someday, his spouse would silently put forward the card in front of him, and say,
"Sect Leader Lan, there is one wish that Wei-mou has to say. Are you willing to hear me out?"