Chapter Text
"How long have you been sitting out there?"
"...Two shichen."
It was already early evening.
The two of them walked side by side along the winding stone path connecting the Hanshi and the Jingshi. Both residences were built in the secluded part of GusuLan Sect's mountains. Pine and bamboo lined either side of the path.
Wei Wuxian tightened his robe around himself.
"You were there the whole time?" he asked. "Even before I woke up?"
"Yes."
Lan Xichen glanced at him before quietly stepping closer. Without a word, he reached for Wei Wuxian's hand. His fingers paused briefly against the cold palm before a gentle stream of Spiritual Energy flowed through their joined hands.
Warmth immediately spread through Wei Wuxian's arm and into the rest of his body, dispelling the slight chill from the cold Winter night.
Wei Wuxian's thoughts drifted back to earlier.
Back then, in the Jingshi, Lan Wangji had risen and intended to walk out. He had most likely intended to leave and inform Lan Xichen at that moment. But Wei Wuxian had grabbed him, pulled him back, and even initiated to fool around with him. By then, Hanguang-Jun had probably forgotten whatever caution he originally possessed.
And at one point, Wei Wuxian had even boldly declared that he wanted to stay longer in the Jingshi.
Thinking about it now...
One could only imagine the triumph Lan Wangji had felt back then — against Lan Xichen, who sat just beyond the partition.
Wei Wuxian felt somewhat speechless.
He almost asked — Why didn't you wait in the bedroom? Why sit outside?
But after some thought, he understood.
Although Lan Double Jades were close, their relationship had always been restrained and courteous. Unlike the martial siblings of Lotus Pier, who could freely burst into each other's rooms without warning, the Lan brothers treated personal quarters as private spaces. Even brothers would not casually intrude unless necessary.
Still, Wei Wuxian asked anyway.
"Then why didn't you say anything?"
Lan Xichen remained silent.
Seeing that reaction, Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow.
Truthfully, he already knew the answer. After all, Lan Xichen had struck him unconscious and kept him asleep for seven days. If the first thing Wei Wuxian had seen upon waking was Lan Xichen's face...
—Well. If he didn't immediately give Lan Xichen a good beating, then his surname certainly wasn't Wei.
He would have been agitated. Arguments might have occurred. The problem was not whether Lan Xichen would get himself beaten. If the first thing Wei Wuxian felt upon waking was white-hot fury — Even if everything was ultimately resolved, even if the reasons were understandable, the grievance felt in that moment would still exist. Conflicts leave marks even after apologies.
The last thing Lan Xichen wanted was to carve one more pain in his heart.
To prevent Wei Wuxian from getting furious was to explain Lan Xichen's actions over the past few days and his effort thenceforth.
But if those explanations came from Lan Xichen himself, they would sound entirely different. No matter how justified the intentions, it would inevitably sound like seeking credit. "Look at all I have done for you. Shouldn't you be grateful?" Even if Wei Wuxian were pacified, there would have been something lodged between them afterward.
Lan Xichen understood.
So instead, he stationed Lan Wangji there.
Afterward, just like what had transpired, it was Lan Wangji who meticulously explained Lan Xichen's "glorious endeavor", enough to soften Wei Wuxian's heart and vanquish his murderous thought to beat his spouse.
'What a cunning person!'
Wei Wuxian clicked his tongue inwardly.
As expected, Empress Lan Ximei was truly a Dragon coiled among snakes, a Tiger resting among house cats, a Wolf disguised as a pampered puppy. Even Consort Lan XiaoLan had been beguiled by him to unknowingly become the shield of the Emperor's wrath.
Despite already knowing the answer, Wei Wuxian still snickered and elbowed Lan Xichen lightly.
"Sect Leader Lan," he said pleasantly, "do you happen to have a peculiar fondness for putting a green hat upon your own head?"
Lan Xichen turned to look at him.
Wei Wuxian teased him, "You knew Lan Zhan and I were discussing 'harmony' there, and yet you sat behind that screen without making a sound."
He tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Either you're a saint who has transcended all worldly desires, or you secretly enjoy listening to other people flirt."
Knowing what kind of vinegar jar Lan Xichen was, Wei Wuxian found neither possibility convincing. Thinking of what had happened earlier, he became even more amused. Although Lan Xichen had remained silent the entire time, he had still emerged at exactly the right moment.
Allowing Lan Wangji to steal a few kisses was acceptable.
Anything beyond that?
Immediately intercepted!
As expected, his tolerance was only this much.
That being said, Wei Wuxian still couldn't stop himself from provoking the man.
"Or perhaps..." He lowered his voice mysteriously. "Were you planning to join us afterward?"
Lan Xichen's footsteps paused slightly.
Encouraged by this reaction, Wei Wuxian became even more outrageous.
He gasped exaggeratedly in a scandalous tone. "Heavens!" One hand pressed against his chest as though greatly alarmed. "Zewu-Jun, please show mercy to this frail and delicate young man!"
Before Lan Xichen even responded, he continued with a thoroughly sincere expression. "One Zewu-Jun is already enough. They said when you ascend to Shangri-La, the passage is only enough to accommodate one man. There's no way I would be able to carry both Jadeite and Nephrite at the same time!"
Lan Xichen glanced at him, letting him spout out all of his nonsense.
The corners of his lips curled as he finally replied, "That has never been my intention. But now that you've mentioned it," Lan Xichen continued mildly, "...perhaps I should discuss it with Wangji."
Wei Wuxian stumbled over his own feet.
The cold air went down the wrong pipe.
He nearly choked to death on nothing at all.
He looked up, eyes wide, and couldn't believe that Lan Xichen had actually countered his salacious joke.
Lan Xichen looked at his gaffe and dumbfounded expression for one long moment.
Then he laughed — a genuine laughter, full and warm, seemingly incongruent compared to these past heavy days he spent facing various people outside.
He drew Wei Wuxian closer and wrapped an arm around his waist. The fondness and tenderness that had been absent from his gaze, at last, surged once more in his eyes. Lan Xichen tilted his head and lightly touched his forehead against Wei Wuxian's temple before pressing a kiss there.
"He needs you," he said quietly.
Wei Wuxian, "Hm?"
It took him a moment to realize who Lan Xichen meant.
"Lan Zhan? Is it because of last time? When I fainted and then didn't wake up for a whole month? Did I scare him that badly?"
Lan Xichen stared at him.
The powdery snow drifted quietly between them.
In the end, he just smiled faintly.
Then he raised a hand and gently nudged Wei Wuxian forward. "Let us return to the Hanshi first. It is cold outside."
Wei Wuxian sank into the warm water prepared in the wooden tub.
His gaze drifted slightly, following Lan Xichen's silhouette through the screen on the other side. Scooping up a handful of water, he brought it to his nose and caught the faint scent of medicinal herbs. Lan Xichen must have calculated roughly when he would awaken and prepared the bath in advance.
Just as he let his head tip back against the rim of the tub, the screen shifted, and Lan Xichen stepped inside.
Wei Wuxian watched with great interest as the man crossed to the shelf, retrieved a small vessel of aromatic oil, and settled on his knees behind the tub.
"Are you going to help me wash my hair?"
Right after he asked, Wei Wuxian felt his hair being gently parted and combed through.
"Yes." Lan Xichen replied.
Cultivators generally wore their hair long. In his youth, Wei Wuxian had been no exception. After emerging from the Burial Mounds, he had allowed it to grow even longer and thicker to keep himself warm. Washing it was never a simple matter. It had to be divided into sections and carefully tended to.
Wei Wuxian watched as Lan Xichen's arms loosely encircled him while he drew two sections of hair forward over his shoulders. His fingers combed through the strands one by one. Intentionally or not, they brushed lightly against Wei Wuxian's bare skin.
From this angle, it almost seemed as though Lan Xichen was embracing him from behind.
Looking down, Wei Wuxian could see those slender fingers slipping through the curtain of black hair. The movements were entirely proper. Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian's thoughts were not. Lan Xichen's sleeves had been rolled neatly to his elbows, exposing both forearms.
Although Lan Xichen appeared slender while dressed, once his robes came off, his body was lined with beautifully defined muscles. His forearms in particular possessed a contradiction—delicate and elegant to the eye, yet carrying an unmistakable strength.
Tilting his head slightly, Wei Wuxian caught sight of a sharp collarbone and a glimpse of the chest beneath his inner robes. Under the glow of the lamps and the haze of rising steam, his skin appeared smooth and fair. However, Wei Wuxian knew that when he touched them, his chest would be surprisingly hard with muscles.
Right now, Lan Xichen wore only his inner and middle robes.
The parts of his body that were usually covered tightly were exposed for everyone— no —for Wei Wuxian, to see.
Wei Wuxian shifted his gaze to the ceiling and thought,
'Hey...Look at Sect Leader Lan deliberately showing off some skin to seduce someone...'
As if confirming his thought, a gentle smiling voice was heard from behind, "Wei-Gongzi, does it feel comfortable?"
As he spoke, Lan Xichen pressed his fingertips to the back of Wei Wuxian's head and slowly massaged behind his ears.
Wei Wuxian felt the pleasant massage on his scalp and nodded eagerly, "Very comfortable! Top-notch! Nothing can compare to your technique, my dear Zewu-Jun. If there's any place I'd like to stay longer, it's definitely the Hanshi!"
It couldn't be helped.
The rightful husband was not merely drinking vinegar—he was practically opening a vinegar shop!
He hadn't said a single word, yet his actions spoke for themselves. Flaunting his "beauty", showing off his "skill", offering his "service", and after all that, if Wei Wuxian still dared to say he wanted to stay longer in the Jingshi, then he wouldn't be a man! How could a man possibly refuse treatment from such a beauty?
Lan Xichen huffed lightly. "I am not envious."
One hand continued stroking his scalp while the other moved to support his neck, slowly kneading the taut muscles there.
"Mnnn..." Wei Wuxian groaned in contentment as the sensitive points in his neck were pressed.
Lan Xichen's fingers gradually moved lower, tracing toward the base of his spine while a thread of spiritual energy quietly penetrated his meridians. Lan Xichen did this slowly and carefully. Even the smallest pathways and pressure points were examined one by one.
Lan Wangji had done something similar before. At that time, Wei Wuxian had assumed the lengthy examination stemmed from Lan Wangji's comparatively lesser experience in medical cultivation. But Lan Xichen? It was impossible to attribute such thoroughness to a lack of skill.
Wei Wuxian felt something was amiss and blurted out, "If you're this worried after knocking me unconscious, then you should've known better than to do it in the first place."
Lan Xichen ceased his movements. "...It was my fault."
After a moment, he added,
"I only wanted to make sure you were alright."
"I just slept for seven days. What kind of great harm did you think I would encounter in my sleep?" Wei Wuxian curled his lips. "...Or could it be, you did something bad behind my back?"
He turned his head to face Lan Xichen and raised his brows, smiling. "Tell me, Zewu-Jun, if you honestly admit what clandestine affair you've done, I won't be mad at you."
"It is not exactly surreptitious." Lan Xichen resumed massaging the back of his neck and head, earning a series of comfortable sighs from the young man once again.
Then he continued, "I've told you before. Wangji needs you. He needs to see you safe and well. He needs to know you're alright... especially after what Maiden Wen revealed."
Wei Wuxian's satisfied sigh was stuck halfway. His eyes, which had nearly drifted shut, snapped open. Lan Xichen could feel that the muscle beneath his fingers tighten once more.
After a brief silence, Wei Wuxian cleared his throat and asked nonchalantly, "Oh? What did Wen Qing say?"
"What do you think she would say?" Lan Xichen paused the movement of his hands and asked him back instead.
"How should I know what other people think?" Wei Wuxian laughed. "I thought Hanguang-Jun already thought highly enough of me, but I didn't expect even Zewu-Jun to overestimate me as well. How would I know what people hide in their hearts or what they intend to say?"
"...Indeed."
Lan Xichen sighed softly and resumed washing his hair.
"I also have no way of knowing what is hidden inside your heart, Wei-Gongzi...And can only wonder when you intend to tell me."
Wei Wuxian coughed and pretended not to hear the complaint obscured within those words. "So what exactly did she tell you and Lan Zhan?"
Then he joked, "It can't be that she was disappointed to see you instead of me, right? Crying her eyes out because Lan Zhan's expression scared her to tears? That's why you should've brought me along. I'm the best at comforting crying maidens."
Naturally, Wen Qing would never do such a thing.
Wei Wuxian was simply speaking nonsense.
"Correct," Lan Xichen said. "There was indeed crying."
"Huh?! No way!" Wei Wuxian nearly splashed water everywhere as he scrambled upright in the tub.
Lan Xichen reached over and guided him back into place.
"Do you not want to know what she revealed to Wangji and me?"
"Tell me."
"Your Golden Core..." Lan Xichen deliberately stopped there, watching his face.
Only after observing his mild reaction did he continue. "—She said it was because you encountered Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu."
"...Ah." Wei Wuxian blinked slowly. "Yes. I did."
"Your Golden Core wasn't melted away..." Lan Xichen's gaze remained fixed upon him. "But Wen Zhuliu did something else to it?"
"When it comes to Golden Core techniques..." Wei Wuxian answered vaguely, "Wen Zhuliu had plenty of methods."
Then he asked, "Wen Qing told you that?"
Lan Xichen stared at him. "...Yes. Is it something that I should not know?"
"It's not like that," Wei Wuxian shook his head. "I didn't tell you because it's all in the past. Why bother to reminisce or lament about it? Rather than constantly remembering the miserable parts, wouldn't it be better to preserve the good memories instead?"
He smiled softly this time. "You know my memory isn't very good. I'd rather remember the happy things."
Then he suddenly paused as he recalled something.
"Wait. Is that why Lan Zhan looked like he'd been terribly bullied? No matter what I said, his expression only kept getting worse?"
"...Perhaps." Lan Xichen sighed lightly.
He continued washing Wei Wuxian's hair and did not say what he was thinking.
After hearing the truth from the Wen siblings, Lan Xichen had certainly been shaken. However, the one who suffered the greatest blow was Lan Wangji. After all, he had loved Wei Wuxian for many years already.
Lan Xichen understood his pain and remorse. So he quietly suppressed his own feelings and allowed his younger brother to resolve the knot in his heart first. Lan Wangji regretted that he had not stood beside Wei Wuxian in those years. Therefore, Lan Xichen allowed him to remain at Wei Wuxian's bedside during his unconsciousness.
...And to be there when he awoke.
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Lan Xichen recalled what actually happened when he met and talked with the Wen siblings a few days ago.
That day, after taking care of Wen Ning's injuries, Wen Qing had to hurry outside.
Her younger brother lay inside the room, pale and sickly, but Wen Qing herself did not look much better. Her face was haggard, as she had not rested properly for days. Still, she knew she could not afford to sleep yet. Some matters still need to be resolved.
Inside the front hall of the courtyard her family had been settled in, two men of extraordinary bearing waited in silence.
One sat calmly beside the table, watching the steam curl from a freshly brewed pot of tea, while the other stood upright nearby, with a sword hanging at his back. Upon noticing Wen Qing’s arrival, the former pushed a small cup toward her and said gently, “It is medicinal tea.”
Wen Qing accepted the cup without question and drank it in one breath.
After placing it back down, she bowed deeply. “I must say this once again. Wen Qing is deeply grateful for the help Sect Leader Lan and the GusuLan Sect have extended to my family and me.”
“There is no need.” Lan Xichen lightly waved his sleeve. “If Maiden-Wen wishes to express gratitude, then you should direct it toward the right person. If not for Wei-Gongzi, my Lan Sect would never have intervened.”
Wen Qing paused.
She lifted her head hesitantly. “Wei Wux— Wei-Gongzi... how is he?”
Back in Caiyi Town, she had been too preoccupied by thoughts of rescuing her younger brother to consider anything else. Only now, after calming down somewhat, did she realize that the very person who had promised to help her had not appeared even once these past few days. Although she understood that the GusuLan Sect was stepping forward on Wei Wuxian’s behalf, it still felt strange that the person involved had remained entirely absent.
Lan Xichen did not immediately answer her question. He merely smiled faintly.
On the other side of the hall, Lan Wangji remained standing in silence as well, showing no intention of speaking.
Wen Qing’s gaze shifted uncertainly between the two brothers. Somehow, the atmosphere felt subtly off, causing her heart to tighten.
Just as she was about to ask again, Lan Xichen finally spoke.
“Currently, Wei-Gongzi is being temporarily confined within the Cloud Recesses.”
“Confined...?” Wen Qing’s eyes widened slightly. “What happened?” She felt her voice shake at the end.
“He wished to leave the Sect. It was a few days ago, after meeting you in Caiyi Town.”
"Leaving the Sect...?" Wen Qing's words stalled.
She felt as though she ought to understand the situation, yet instinctively sensed matters were not so simple.
“If... if Wei-Gongzi intended to leave the Sect, then why...Why is the GusuLan Sect helping resolve my family’s matter now?”
Not only had they rescued her younger brother and the rest of her family from QiongqiDao, but they had even publicly cleared their names and restored their standing. This was no mere temporary shelter. The Lan Sect had truly given them a place to continue living within the cultivation world.
Once again, Lan Xichen did not answer directly.
Instead, he said, “Maiden-Wen should also have heard that after the war, Wei-Gongzi’s reputation became rather... unfavorable. He no longer carried his sword and received much criticism because of it.”
Wen Qing frowned slightly. “And what of it?”
“He disregarded propriety and abandoned his sword. Now, he even intended to leave the Lan Sect...But my Lan Sect has always been strict regarding rules and conduct.” Lan Xichen sighed lightly. “But after all...he is my Cultivation Partner.”
Wen Qing stared blankly at him, trying to discern the meaning hidden beneath his words.
Yet Lan Xichen suddenly shook his head and rose to his feet.
“Forget it. Now that I have fulfilled my responsibility as his spouse, I shall excuse myself.”
Lan Wangji pursed his lips slightly as he glanced toward his elder brother.
He thought Lan Xichen was speaking in an unnecessarily roundabout manner. However, none of those words had been lies. They were all facts. He simply didn't explain them further or specify the context.
Since that was the case, there was no need for Lan Wangji to correct anything.
Seeing Lan Xichen turn to leave, Lan Wangji also followed after him.
But just as the two stepped past the doorway, the person behind them suddenly called out anxiously,
“Sect Leader Lan, please, please wait a moment!”
Lan Xichen’s lips curled up almost imperceptibly, though his voice remained calm as he replied, “Are there other things that you or your family need help with?”
“No, it's not about my family.” Wen Qing hurriedly shook her head. “It is about Wei-Gongzi, he—,”
“What about him?” Lan Xichen finally turned around to face her.
Wen Qing’s expression grew solemn. “He... what will happen to him after the confinement ends?”
"...I do not know."
Lan Xichen sighed and looked up to the ceiling.
Truthfully, he really did not know what would happen once the confinement ended. To be precise...He still had not figured out what sort of expression he should wear afterward—to make Wei Wuxian soften his heart enough not to beat his husband to death!
However, Lan Xichen’s helpless sigh was interpreted differently in Wen Qing’s ears. Coupled with his earlier ambiguous words, the best Medic of Qishan was already imagining the worst possible outcomes for Wei Wuxian. The relief she had felt after rescuing her younger brother was replaced with a torrent of guilt.
If her family’s survival came at the cost of another person’s suffering...then she felt she'd rather exchange her own life for it.
She had assumed that, as Wei Wuxian’s cultivation partner, Lan Xichen must have long noticed the peculiarity of Wei Wuxian possessing Spiritual Energy despite lacking a Golden Core. Yet seeing him still speaking of “disregarding the sword” with such apparent ignorance, Wen Qing concluded that Wei Wuxian must never have told him the truth. If that was the case, then...
—She supposed she ought to fabricate a suitably miserable story instead.
For example, Wei Wuxian being captured and tortured by Wen Chao in the past, and his Golden Core was forcibly extracted. Later, through some coincidence, they encountered one another, and she had helped treat his injuries—thus explaining the debt of gratitude between them. In any case, the intended culprit had probably been reincarnated somewhere and could no longer rise from the grave to defend his innocence.
“Sect Leader Lan, there is something regarding your spouse that I need to discuss with you.” She paused, glancing toward Lan Wangji, who stood silently nearby. “...It concerns his private affairs.”
Lan Wangji noticed her look and replied calmly, “Wei Ying’s affairs are my responsibility.”
Wen Qing, “...?”
For a moment, she wondered whether she had heard incorrectly.
Hadn’t the one who married Wei Wuxian been Zewu-Jun? Then why was Hanguang-Jun speaking with such righteous confidence about taking responsibility for Wei Wuxian’s private matters—and saying it directly in front of the nominal husband himself?
Even so, when she turned to look at Lan Xichen, the latter merely smiled, as if Lan Wangji’s words were the most natural thing in the world.
“There is no need to avoid Wangji,” Lan Xichen said calmly. “Please, continue.”
Wen Qing increasingly felt that something about this situation was not quite right, though she could not pinpoint what it was. After a moment’s thought, however, she vaguely convinced herself it must have something to do with Lan Wangji’s position within the Lan Sect, as the one in charge of discipline. Perhaps he meant he would be responsible for determining Wei Wuxian’s punishment in the future.
Wen Qing took a deep breath and started to speak, “Very well. Then allow me to explain what happened in the past. Back then, he—,”
She was ready to weave her lies.
Yet before another word could leave her mouth, her voice was abruptly drowned out by furious shouting from outside.
“Sect Leader Lan! Hanguang-Jun! It is not like that! It's not like Wei-Gongzi is arrogant or ignorant of courtesy! Why do you think he never used Suibian again, never carried it with him whenever he went out? Was it truly because of some youthful arrogance? Could he really have enjoyed hearing others call him impolite and undisciplined, whether to his face or behind his back? Do you truly think Wei-Gongzi is that kind of person?!”
Wen Qing whipped her head around.
Unbeknownst to her, Wen Ning—who should have been resting in the rear hall—had somehow crawled all the way here across the floor. His complexion was still as ghastly as a corpse’s, and most of his body remained wrapped in bandages. But now that he was forcing himself to move, the white cloth was gradually dyeing pink, then deepening into red.
Wen Qing’s face immediately paled. She hurried over and caught him, “A-Ning!”
Wen Ning, however, ignored her and continued to struggle ahead.
Back in the room, he had initially wanted to ask about Wei Wuxian’s whereabouts, only to be silenced by his sister’s sharp glare. Later, he vaguely heard others talking that both Zewu-Jun and Hanguang-Jun were present, and that his sister had gone to speak with them. Feeling uneasy about Wei Wuxian’s situation, he had forced himself out of bed and struggled all the way here to eavesdrop.
The moment he heard Lan Xichen speak of Wei Wuxian’s confinement, he felt like he'd been thrown into an ice cellar.
However, it was Lan Wangji’s later words that finally snapped the last thread in his mind.
Just as Wen Qing had assumed, Wen Ning also believed Lan Wangji’s “responsibility” referred to punishment.
After all, even back in Qishan, despite standing on opposing sides, both he and Wen Qing had heard of the famous discord between Hanguang-Jun and Wei Wuxian during the war. It was said that Hanguang-Jun greatly disapproved of Wei Wuxian’s conduct. Many also knew that BiChen had clashed with ChenQing outside of the battlefield. Their quarrel had been earth-shattering that even the enemy on the other side heard about it.
Now, hearing both Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji coldly mention the criticism Wei Wuxian received regarding his sword, Wen Ning felt overwhelming indignation and grievance on behalf of that person.
“A-Ning, calm down…your wounds are reopening.” Wen Qing’s voice trembled as she tried to support him.
But Wen Ning weakly pushed aside her hand and continued crawling forward. His breathing was ragged, nevertheless, he still forced himself to speak.
“—Sect Leader Lan, do you truly think someone as talented as Wei-Gongzi would willingly abandon the broad path before him simply because he became blinded by power? Do you truly think his heart is made of stone, that he would not feel hurt hearing such remarks from others? Have you never wondered what happened to his Spiritual Energy? To his Cultivation?”
“Wen Ning! I told you to stop talking!” Wen Qing felt a terrible premonition rising within her and desperately tried to silence him.
At her scolding, Wen Ning faltered briefly.
However, Lan Xichen spoke first.
“Wen Qionglin,” he said gently, “I do not understand what it is you are trying to explain.”
Looking at Lan Xichen's innocent and peaceful countenance, as if he were so naive and unaware of any grievance in the world, Wen Ning's fury was triggered instead. The previous clarity that he'd regained was thrown away once again. For some reason, he suddenly found the situation unbearably ridiculous.
“What I want to explain…”
Wen Ning clenched his teeth, once more ignoring his sister’s frantic attempts to stop him. “Sect Leader Lan, just as you recounted at Jinlintai, I believe you know many events from the war—from its very first month until the final day at Nightless City. You should know that Sect Leader Jiang was once captured by Wen Chao, and that Wei-Gongzi also disappeared during the early stages of the war.”
Lan Wangji abruptly reacted. “What do you mean?” His pupils trembled faintly, fingers clenched tightly within his sleeves.
Wen Ning continued, “What else could I mean? Everyone knows what fate awaits those captured by Wen Chao…and Wen Zhuliu. Have you never wondered why Wei-Gongzi, whose swordsmanship was so dazzling in the past, now refuses to carry his sword?”
He lifted his head with difficulty, looking toward Lan Xichen.
“Sect Leader Lan, as someone who has been in a relationship with Wei-Gongzi since the age of fifteen and eighteen, shouldn’t you understand his temperament best? Shouldn’t you have been the one most attentive to his well-being?”
Lan Xichen felt his heartbeat quicken violently.
He knew that at last, he was approaching the truth, and he could not allow this opportunity to slip away, no matter what.
It was baffling enough that Wen Ning—someone with no direct relation to Wei Wuxian—could become so furious on his behalf. There had to be more behind it than merely Wei Wuxian having the misfortune of crossing paths with Wen Zhuliu.
Suppressing the turmoil within himself by force, Lan Xichen maintained an outwardly calm and composed expression, as if Wen Ning’s earlier accusations had not shaken him in the slightest.
“Regarding the relationship between my spouse and me, there is no need for outsiders to comment upon or criticize it. Likewise, since he has married into my Lan Clan and become the cultivation partner of its Sect Leader, he should naturally understand the consequences of his choice.”
The moment those words fell, Wen Ning’s mind went blank.
However, in the very next instant, the timid young man who would usually wilt from a mere glare suddenly seemed to have been bestowed an imaginable courage. As if he'd gone mad, he roared at the two people in white robes:
“Sect Leader Lan! Hanguang-Jun! Even after I’ve said all this, you still refuse to understand? You still refuse to relent?! Fine—then I’ll tell you exactly what happened back then! That Sect Leader Jiang, who was once captured by Wen Chao and had his Golden Core melted — Do you know how he got it back and later led the YunmengJiang Sect to contribute significantly to your Sunshot Campaign? Do you think he encountered some Immortal inheritance? That he swallowed a miraculous golden elixir and regrew it overnight?”
“—It was not!”
“—It was because someone dug out his own Golden Core and gave it to his Shidi instead!”
“—Because someone begged my sister to cut open his stomach for two whole days without anesthesia, watching his own future be severed before his eyes and transferred to another person!”
By the end of his words, Wen Ning’s voice had already broken apart with sobs, as though he himself could still feel the pain Wei Wuxian once endured.
“...After all that...after all that...you still have the heart to condemn him for not carrying his sword...Why? Of course, he wouldn’t carry it! Because even if he did, it would be useless! If he brought Suibian to those banquets and nighthunts, people would inevitably challenge him to spar. But without a Golden Core, his Spiritual Energy could never last long enough to sustain swordsmanship at all...”
Wen Ning’s voice became increasingly bitter.
“When others criticized him, why didn’t you stand beside him? When others insulted him, why didn’t you defend him? And now you speak as though he deserves punishment for disregarding courtesy, when the ones who failed to understand him were you!”
“If there should be anyone who understood his suffering, it should have been the person who loved him most.”
“And that person should have been you, Sect Leader Lan!”
“Of all people, you—who failed to stand at his side—have the least right to condemn him for anything!”
At the end of his words, two people spat out a mouthful of blood.
One of them was Wen Ning himself, his already grievous injuries unable to withstand such violent exertion.
The other one, however, was...Lan Wangji.
Lan Xichen’s complexion was no less pale than his younger brother’s.
His figure swayed slightly, as if he might collapse where he stood.
In the next moment, without offering so much as an explanation, it was Lan Wangji who abruptly turned and rushed outside.
BiChen unsheathed with a sharp cry.
And before anyone could react, Hanguang-Jun had already vanished into the sky.
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Lan Xichen lied to Wei Wuxian.
About what the Wen sibling, or precisely, Wen Ning, had disclosed.
Once again, he'd tricked and deceived his beloved.
Even then, he couldn't help but wonder.
If he had not deliberately provoked Wen Qionglin into speaking back then, judging from Wen Qing's expression, she would probably have told him a similar lie about Wei Wuxian's Golden Core.
And tonight, when confronted about it, Wei Wuxian would have readily gone along with Wen Qing's deception as well, just as he had done moments ago.
Leaving Lan Xichen forever ignorant of the truth.
This person had always been like this.
He only ever reported good news and concealed the bad.
When it comes to his own pain, sorrow, and despair, he buried them deep within his heart and never spoke of them.
Lan Xichen wrapped his arms loosely around his shoulders, fingers curled amidst the dark strands of hair.
"Wei-Gongzi..."
His voice was soft enough to be drowned by the sound of bathwater dripping onto the wooden floor.
"What is hidden deep within your heart, I do not know."
After a pause, he continued quietly,
"But I hope that one day... You will be willing to open that heart to me."