right in front of MY donkey?

The proprietor sat down and replied, “Your memory is really clear. It switched hands three times, so of course it’s been going on for quite a few years. Let’s start from the jewelry shop!”

“I first arrived in this town eight years ago, right when the owner of that shop was packing up inventory and letting go of employees in preparation for selling the store. At that time, my husband and I had been thinking of opening up a small shop, so we went to talk with the owner. My goodness, we were this close, just this close to buying that building – we even had an agreed-on price! Good thing I thought about it some more, I mean, why would such a huge building be so cheap? The jewelry store owner was also being very secretive about it and refusing to say much, so after a long period of negotiation without conclusion, we bought this building instead. Another person bought the former jewelry store building and converted it to a clothing shop. You know what they say – meat pies don’t just fall from the sky! As it turns out, something bad happened!”

She smacked the back of her right hand into the palm of her left hand. “That’s no way to do business, wouldn’t you two agree? That’s purposefully harming others! The store was under construction for about a month before it was all done. The first two floors were for the clothing store, while the third floor was the living quarters for the family. The owners had two children, and on the night they first moved in, their son started screaming like a banshee. It woke the whole family up in a fright. He ran down the stairs from the third floor, saying that he had seen something weird in his room.”

Lan WangJi asked, “What kind of something?”

The proprietor put on a bashful act and replied, “…He said that he saw two shining white, stark naked figures. They had embraced one another, forming a round shape, and had been rolling around on his bed. He was afraid that they were some sort of fox demons or other type of demon that loved to seduce men and steal their yang energies!”

Wei WuXian thought to himself, “To Lan Zhan, those must really be a ‘weird something.’” He smiled and said, “That really is weird. If they were fox demons, they would definitely be stark naked. But having two of them show up is a bit unnecessary. If they were embracing each other, they wouldn’t be able to steal anyone’s yang energies.”

The proprietor grinned. “According to that line of reasoning, his story is quite ridiculous… Either way, the son could not stand to live in that room on the third floor, even if he were dead. At first, his father scolded him. But after staying there for a short while longer, they discovered that it wasn’t just restricted to one room! It was possible to see these dirty sights no matter which room they were in, no matter if it was on the second or third floor! Upon entering a room, two extra bodies would appear on the bed, wrapped in an embrace, doing…. Doing… Sometimes, there would be more than two. Even rooms without beds would have a bed show up somehow. Upon closing the door and reopening it, the bed would be gone. Such a large building with only a single family inside, yet they couldn’t even find one place to sleep restfully!”

Wei WuXian asked seriously, “Those two people that were embracing each other – were they always the same two people? Or were they two different people each time?”

“Uh, well, I haven’t heard anything about that. I don’t even think that family themselves knew. Seeing something like that is already enough to send your soul flying, who has the mental capacity to remember if it’s the same two people every time? Only the first floor remained clear of those things, so the family slept on the first floor every night. But after a while, those things started causing trouble during the day as well. The customers who entered the tailor shop all heard strange sounds.”

“Strange sounds?”

Since naked figures embraced in a spherical embrace appeared everywhere during the night, it wasn’t hard to imagine what kinds of strange sounds appeared during the day. Wei WuXian couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Lan WangJi, knowing in his heart that it wasn’t too appropriate to let someone who, as a youth, had gotten mad upon seeing erotic pictures, hear something like this. The proprietor continued, “That’s right. During the middle of the day, everyone said that they heard someone in the first floor lobby playing a zither. I was curious, so I went there to see what all the hubbub was about. I also heard it, and that’s the absolute truth. But where could a zither master have come from? There wasn’t even a zither there!”

Only then did Wei WuXian realize that his own dirty thoughts had changed his perception of the “strange noise.” By coincidence, Lan WangJi had also snuck a peek at Wei WuXian. Wei WuXian immediately turned serious and changed the topic. “Really?! How well was the zither played?”

“It was quite nice and wonderful!”

Wei WuXian asked, “So these things only caused trouble? They haven’t killed anyone?”

In his eyes, if these spirits only caused trouble, never killed anyone, provided “live” pornography, and provided wonderful music, then they were pretty damn great. Of course, he only thought about it. Such words could never be said out loud to a woman. The proprietor said, “No, no. But knowing that these things are inside your home tends to keep people on edge all day, so the family found a Jianghu* arts cultivator and a traveling monk. Neither of them managed to do shit about the situation, so how could they live peacefully?”

“Jianghu arts cultivator? Why didn’t the owner of the tailor shop ask for help from the resident cultivating sect?”

He had already blurted out the question before he realized that the resident cultivating sect was the YunmengJiang sect, which caused a pang of regret in his heart. He was worried that it would make Lan WangJi unhappy to remember the events of last night.

The proprietor replied, “Who would dare?! You two young masters aren’t from around here, so you wouldn’t know, but our Yunmeng area is under the protection of the Jiang clan. The leader of that clan has a terribly bad temperament – it scares the hell out of people. A subordinate from the sect had already said this long ago: since one sect was protecting such a large expanse of territory, there would no doubt be close to a hundred incidents each day where little ghosts or demons played tricks on people. If they were to dispatch people for every one of these incidents, they would be busy as hell, wouldn’t they? Since no one had died, it must not have been a malicious spirit. Since it wasn’t a malicious spirit, it was just a trivial matter that didn’t warrant anyone going to disturb the Jiang sect.” She angrily continued, “That kind of bullshit is that, waiting for someone to die before going to the Jiang sect?! Wouldn’t it be too late then?!”

Not taking action unless it was a malicious spirit causing serious trouble was an unwritten rule in almost every large cultivating sect. Only one person had never understood the point of it.

Everyone knew that Hanguang-jun traveled around randomly, was never picky about the target of his night hunts, and wouldn’t ignore someone in need of assistance just because the demon or spirit wasn’t ferocious or infamous enough. He had been the same way as a youth.

The proprietor spoke again, “Speaking of which, that Lotus Docks place is too damn scary! Who would dare go there?!”

Only then did Wei WuXian retract his gaze from the side of Lan WangJi’s face. Stumped, he said, “The Lotus Docks are scary? How are the Lotus Docks scary? Have you been there?”

“No, I haven’t been to that place, but after the second family had been harassed beyond their toleration, the boss traveled there once. Coincidentally, at that time, that Clan Leader Jiang was using a purple-light-emitting whip to whip people in the training grounds. There was flesh and blood flying all over the place! The screams never stopped! A servant had the heart to quietly inform the owner that the clan leader had caught the wrong people and was in quite the bad mood. The servant told him that under no circumstances should he walk up there and complain about his issues. The owner was so scared he dropped the gift he had brought along and just ran. He never had the guts to go back.

Wei WuXian had long since heard about how Jiang Cheng arrested crooked-path cultivators from all over the place who had been suspected of having their bodies taken over by a rebirthed Wei WuXian. He thought that tailor shop owner had just happened to come across Jiang Cheng in the midst of venting his anger.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what Jiang Cheng must have looked like in that moment.

The proprietor said, “Therefore, the owner reluctantly put up with it for several years. But he couldn’t keep dealing with it, so he sold the store and left. The buyer is the current family that’s running an inn. The new boss doesn’t believe in demons or spirits and insisted on trying to run an inn. Can you guess what happened? What he saw weren’t pale, bare bodies, and what he heard weren’t a melodious zither song. Their family’s food always emitted a scent similar to charred meat. If you sat down in any of the rooms on the second or third floor, you’d feel very hot. Hot and humid. You’d only sleep half the night, and you’d always have a nightmare: a nightmare of the house catching fire. A group of scorched corpses would be rolling and screaming beside you, their mouths spewing black smoke!”

Wei WuXian said, “How disastrous, how disastrous! It turned awful!”

The proprietor replied, “But of course! It turned many magnitudes more awful! The owner of the inn also sought help from several Buddhist monks and Daoist priests, but they weren’t any help either. He finally went to the Lotus Docks to ask Clan Leader Jiang for help.”

Wei WuXian asked, “Then why hasn’t it been resolved yet?” Could it be that he also happened upon Jiang Cheng whipping people? Just how frequently did Jiang Cheng catch people, and just how diligently did he whip them?

“No, no. This time was also unfortunate. The inn owner’s surname is Wen. The clan that Clan Leader Jiang despises above everything else on earth also had the surname Wen. Upon seeing that the owner’s surname was Wen, he started gnashing his teeth with extreme rage and hatred…”

Wei WuXian lowered his head and pinched the area between his eyebrows without saying anything. Luckily, he didn’t really need to say anything. Since he proprietor had single-windedly gossiped for this long, she happily concluded with this: “Aiyo, look at me, a silly woman. Talking about this type of stuff has gotten me all terrified. That inn will collapse sooner or later, seeing how business has fallen so low. We’ll just have to see. It’ll last at most one more year, and after that, they’ll definitely need to close their doors, sell the building, and move on! That type of store does indeed have an impressive atmosphere, but it isn’t peaceful to live in. Our type of small inn is still the best, right?”

Wei WuXian raised his head with a smile and replied, “Right, right, right.”

The proprietor rambled on again for a while, explaining how hard it was to run the business alone once her husband passed away. There were always shady, boorish men who came to harass her employees. Right as she was about to leave, she suddenly remembered something and turned her head to ask, “Do you two gentlemen want to eat one of our meals? The handiwork of us kitchen women is impeccable!”

Wei WuXian responded, “Of course. Although, we don’t need food right now, maybe a bit later. Send it over at around 7-9 pm. Right now we want to rest for a bit, then go for a stroll outside.”

It was 9-11 am right now. The proprietor happily agreed and left the room. The moment she left, Wei WuXian closed the door behind her. “It doesn’t sound like it’s a huge problem. We could deal with it right now.”

Wei WuXian’s original idea had been to leave the issue behind and come back to it later if it had been a big problem. Looking at it now and seeing how no one had been harmed and how the situation could be easily taken care of, of course he wanted to take advantage of their break time to resolve this disaster and give some peace and quiet back to that inn.

Lan WangJi extended his hand and pressed down on Wei WuXian’s pulse.

Although he was perfectly aware that Lan WangJi was simply checking up on his condition, the fingers on his other hand, which was hidden under the table, still curled inward slightly as he felt those long, pale fingers moving up his wrist and slowly rubbing his skin.

They spent almost four hours making sure Wei WuXian was okay, taking a small breather, and lifting their spirits before they finally went downstairs to get ready to see the inn of building owner number three for themselves. 

Lan WangJi first went to the front desk to pay the down payment they had forgotten about. Wei WuXian stared at Lan WangJi’s back for a while, then seemingly settled on some sort of resolution. He called out in a low voice, “Proprietor.”

“Yes?”

“When you’re delivering the meal, please bring some alcohol as well. The stronger the better.”

The proprietor smiled. “But of course!”

While pushing apart the huge lotus leaves and traversing through the hidden world in between the plants, one could see large lotus seed heads appearing one after the other. It almost felt like one had just discovered a small deposit of hidden treasure.

With a smile on his face, Wei WuXian reached out to pick a few, but Lan WangJi suddenly interrupted him. “Wei Ying.”

“What?”

“This patch of lotus plants. It must have an owner.”

Wei WuXian, with no shame on his face, replied, “Of course it doesn’t.”

Of course it had an owner. Ever since Wei WuXian was eleven, he would often steal lotus seed heads from every single patch of lotus plants in Yunmeng. He had been a reformed kleptomaniac for many years, but since they needed rations to continue their journey, he couldn’t help but guide them towards one of these lotus lakes.

Lan WangJi deadpanned, “I heard that all the lotus patches in this entire region have owners.”

“…Hahahahahaha, is that right? How very unfortunate. I’ve never heard of it. Let’s leave, then.”

Since he had already been exposed, he was naturally too embarrassed to ask Lan WangJi to go along with his troublemaking ways. Majestic Hanguag-jun, stealing other families’ lotus seed pods for food. That sounded… so very wrong. Right as he was about to awkwardly redirect his hand to grab an oar, Lan WangJi reached out and pulled off one of the seed pods.

He gave the pod to Wei WuXian and said, “Just this once.”

Wei WuXian immediately went wild, greedily snatching seed pods like his life depended on it, and piling them up inside the boat. There were so many that there was practically no space to walk. All three of them sat in the mass of greenish-blue seed pods. Tearing off the green skin revealed a layer of fluffy brown (they don’t say what). Every seed pod had a tender blue-green outer layer, grains of snow-white seeds, and an even fresher, more tender blue-green center.

They used a boatload of lotus seed pods to fill their stomachs and continued drifting with the current for about four hours, before they finally docked at another pier in Yunmeng.

The pier was situated into a small town. Countless small fishing boats were crowded in the shallow waters. On a boat that was ashore, several fishermen were arguing with a woman over something or other. Tempers were high, as if they were about to start a huge fight with their harpoons. Several bare-armed youths with wheat-colored skin were swimming at the edge of the river, swimming with their heads underwater while watching the spectacle. Upon seeing a ferry boat floating towards them, the person in the back of the boat lowered their head, making the faces of the two young men in the middle of the boat stand out. The one sitting upright in the very front of the boat stood out the most, with his white robes that were unadorned like snow and presence that seemed to repel dust. Ordinarily, it would be hard to come across this type of person, so both the arguing parties couldn’t help but hold their tongues to stare at him with wide eyes.

Lan WangJi had long learned how to turn a blind eye to the stares of ordinary people, so when the ferry approached the shore, he took the initiative to stand up and go ashore. He then turned around to pull Wei WuXian along. Several of the youths who had been swimming in the river began congregating like a school of fish, their seven or eight heads bobbing next to the ferry. One youth said, “So many lotus pods. Did you guys buy them all?”

Wei WuXian showed off the empty seed pod peels to them and said with a beaming smile, “I’ll sell them to you. Can you guys stand to eat them?”

The woman who had been in the middle of arguing with the fishermen was very clever and opportunistic – her expression immediately changed to a smiling one as she asked, “For what reason are the young masters visiting? Are you here to see relatives? Or are you here for leisure? Do you need an inn to stay in?”

Wei WuXian’s original idea had been to rush towards Lanling the moment they hit solid land, so he had no intentions of staying. Right as he was about to politely refuse, Lan WangJi interjected and said, “Need an inn.”

Wei WuXian stopped and said, “Hanguang-jun?”

Lan WangJi looked at him and replied, “Your body’s still in poor condition.”

Wei WuXian had wasted too much energy earlier at Luanzang Mound – both his mind and body had been in a tense state for far too long. Not only that, Jiang Cheng had pissed him off enough to cause a nosebleed just a few hours prior. It took a long time before he started to recover, so such a situation really necessitated a thorough inspection. Although he didn’t feel too bad right now, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t have an unexpected mishap during a critical moment if he kept pushing himself. He wasn’t the only one who exerted a lot of energy over these past two days, either – Lan WangJi didn’t get much of a break either. Even if Wei WuXian himself didn’t need to rest, Lan WangJi still needed to.

Wei WuXian said, “I was being impetuous. Let’s find a place to rent and check ourselves over, first.”

The two of them had gone ashore already, but Wen Ning was still stuck on the boat, unable to leave. That group of swimming youths, upon seeing his deathly pale skin, the weird veins covering his neck and cheeks, his lowered head and silent demeanor, and overall strange appearance, weren’t scared. Rather, they found it entertaining. Dozens of hands had grabbed the sides of the boat and were continuously shaking it, causing it to sway so much that Wen Ning could barely stand straight.

Wei WuXian peeked back and immediately shouted, “Hey! What are you doing? Don’t bully him.”

Wen Ning hurriedly said, “Young Master, I can’t get down.”

Right as he was asking for help, two other youths slapped the water’s surface with their hands, splashing water on him. Wen Ning forced a smile, unable to do anything to save himself. If these youths knew that the “person” they had surrounded and were blindly disturbing could easily rip them to pieces with his bare hands and crush their bones to dust, they would have long since fled home in terror, rather than dare to find entertainment like this.

Wei WuXian threw the remaining few lotus seed pods at them and said, “Catch!” the youths immediately scattered to fight over the seed pods. Only then could Wen Ning escape his difficult situation and jump ashore. He then proceeded to swat at the soaked hems of his outfit.

The three entered town, but since Wen Ning disliked places with a lot of people, he quickly disappeared. The woman from the pier followed them the entire way. As it turned out, she owned an inn inside the town and had been in the middle of a quarrel with some fishermen who had been bullying some of her workers. She recommended her inn with unparalleled passion, hoping to get Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi to rest at her establishment. She nagged them the entire way there, saying, “Really! Although the rooms aren’t big, they’re definitely clean. The food and drink is good too – it’s all homemade. They’re guaranteed to please.”

Wei WuXian listened to her entire speech, smiling but not responding. Merchants who actively solicited customers all had small stores. He was fine living in any type of place – luxurious rooms when he had money, up in the trees when he didn’t – but Lan WangJi was with him. He absolutely could not imagine Lan WangJi lying down underneath a tree or squeezed inside a dirty, messy, tiny room, so he just wanted to find a respectable inn. Right at this time, they came across a three-story inn. Wei WuXian stopped walking and said to Lan WangJi, “Lan Zhan, this place –“

He was in the middle of his sentence when he looked inside the main lobby of the building and promptly shut up.

The woman glanced at the lobby and with alarm in her voice, said, “Aiyo, the two young masters weren’t thinking of staying here, were you?”

From the signboard, all the way up to the storefront, this inn looked rather imposing.ts walls were painted in gold and decorated with jade and its tables and seats all shined and polished, but there were only a few customers inside the lobby – just a group of old men drinking tea and eating peanuts. Even the workers seemed dispirited and downcast as they yawned incessantly.

Wei WuXian asked, “Why is this store’s business so bad?”

It shouldn’t be like this. Since the place looked renovated and nicely decorated, this inn wasn’t lacking in money or manpower. The building faced south, allowing for easily ventilation and good lighting. The location was even better. However, the empty lobby told them that business was bad. Really, really bad.

The woman said, “Go on, go on. The two young masters should hurry up and leave. You can stay wherever you want, just not this place!”

Both Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi were expert night-hunters brought up by famous clans. Upon hearing the tone of her voice change, they both knew that there was a story behind it. They crossed gazes and Wei WuXian purposefully asked, “Why? This place looks very beautiful. Are the food and drink here bad?”

The woman waved her hand dismissively. “Of course that’s not the reason!” She leaned in and conspiratorially replied, “I’m not someone who likes to gossip, so I’ll just say one thing. This building has already changed hands three times. One family ran a jewelry store, one family ran a clothing store, and now this family is running an inn. But no one stays in business for long. How can this be caused by bad rooms and bad food? Do you understand now that I’ve put it that way?”

“Uuuuh –“ Wei WuXian smiled and said, “Not really.”

“We’re standing in the middle of the road. There’s no way I’ll be able to explain everything in a timely manner, now is there? Why don’t the two young masters…?”

Wei WuXian understood what she was saying and glanced to his side. Lan WangJi directly told the woman, “Sorry for troubling you, but please guide us to your family’s inn.”

Pleased, the woman led them to the inn opened by her family. Upon first glance, it wasn’t what they expected. The inn wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small, either. Everything was clean and organized all neat and tidy and the entire building was almost entire full of patrons. It was obvious that the person in charge was quite capable, and the female proprietor wasn’t lying or running a scam. The workers were mostly women – the smallest ones were teenagers, and the biggest ones were tall, strong women who worked in the kitchen. Upon seeing two young men, one in black and one in white, approaching them, every single one of their eyes sparkled. The more the sweeper girls stared at Lan WangJi, the more dazed they looked.

The proprietor called some of the girls over to start meal and entertainment preparations, then personally led Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi upstairs to look at rooms. As she walked, she asked, “How many rooms would the young masters like?”

Wei WuXian’s heart almost jumped out of his chest upon hearing the question, and he couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Lan WangJi.

If this had been a month ago, there would have been no need to ask this question. When he had first resurrected, he would always worm his way into Lan WangJi’s bed to disgust him, no matter how many rooms they reserved. Eventually, Lan WangJi saw through him and started booking one room from them on.

Not only that, he had been willing to do all sorts of shameful acts. He casually recounted: yelling that he wanted to share a quilt and pillow with Lan WangJi; asking Lan WangJi why he slept with clothes on and trying to forcefully undress him; sleeping until 1 am before suddenly putting his ice-cold hands and feet under Lan WangJi’s quilt; innocently and tenderly staring at Lan WangJi’s eyes…

This was the first time Wei WuXian had been shocked by his own shamelessness.

By the third glance, Lan WangJi was still looking down silently with an unreadable expression. Noticing Lan WangJi’s sluggishness in responding, Wei WuXian started letting his imagination run wild: “Before, Lan Zhan would always book one room. Why isn’t he saying anything today? If he books two rooms, that would just mean that he’s truly bothered by it. But if he still books one room, that doesn’t mean that he’s not bothered by it. Or maybe he’s wants me to think he’s bothered by it so I’ll also be bothered by it…”

He thought about it in circles over and over, only to have his thoughts broken by the proprietor answering her own question as she spoke resoundingly. “One room, is that right? Then one room it is! This room can comfortably house two people. The bed won’t be crowded.”

A moment passed without Lan WangJi voicing out any objections. Only then did Wei WuXian feel grounded again. The proprietor opened the door, led them inside, and poured two cups of tea. Wei WuXian thanked her and said, “Please continue what you were saying in front of that huge inn. What happened?”

His entire body was leaning against Lan WangJi. He soon realized that he was no longer at the Lotus Docks, and, for quite a while, couldn’t grasp the situation until he saw Lan WangJi’s left hand. There were a few dried drops of blood on his sleeve, as if a plum blossom had fallen on it. Only then did he remember what happened before he fainted.

His face immediately adopted a devastated expression and he quickly sat up.

Lan WangJi went to support him, but the ringing in Wei WuXian’s ears had yet to disappear and his chest was bloated with bloody gas, so he was in a lot of pain and discomfort. He was worried that he would throw up blood onto a pristine Lan WangJi yet again, so he waved him away. Wei WuXian leaned in the opposite direction and used the railing of the ship to support himself while enduring it all.

Only when the metallic taste in his mouth disappeared did Wei WuXian turn back to face Lan WangJi. He waved again, asking Lan WangJi to withdraw his hand.

He sat quietly for a while before he tentatively asked, “Hanguang-jun, how did we leave?”

Wen Ning’s expression turned anxious and he stopped paddling.

Lan WangJi actually abided by his promise and did not mention anything that Wen Ning had disclosed. He didn’t lie and make up an excuse, either. He just stayed silent. Seeing this, Wei WuXian assumed that they had fought their way out. Otherwise, Jiang Cheng would never just let them leave that easily.

Wei WuXian rubbed the area above his heart with his hand, seemingly wanting to rid himself of the pent-up emotions in his chest. A while later, he spoke what was on his mind in hushed tones. “Jiang Cheng, that reckless kid… He’s so ridiculous!”

Lan WangJi’s eyebrows twitched, his voice heavy as he said, “Don’t bring him up.”

The tone of his voice wasn’t hostile, which made Wei WuXian pause for a moment before he immediately replied, “Alright, I won’t bring him up.”

He thought about it for a second and continued, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing. Hanguang-jun, don’t pay any mind to what he said.”

“…” Lan WangJi asked, “What part?”

Wei WuXian’s blinked a few times. “All of it. That kid has always been like that, even as a child. He just spits out words without thinking when he’s mad. The most awful words, too, without an ounce of grace or manners. As long as it pisses someone off, he’ll use whatever insults he can think of. Even after so many years, he hasn’t changed a bit. Never take what he says to heart.”

As he spoke, he paid a lot of attention to Lan WangJi’s expression, only for his heart to slowly sink.

He had originally believed, or rather, hoped, that Lan WangJi wouldn’t take those words to heart, but contrary to his expectations, Lan WangJi’s expression turned rather hostile.

He only nodded his head, not even saying a ‘Hmn.’

It seemed like Lan WangJi was more upset about Jiang Cheng’s awful words than Wei WuXian had originally anticipated. Or he simply disliked Jiang Cheng, or… he was especially intolerant of situations that involved ‘aggressive, uncultured, and disorderly’ people.

Besides, one of the GusuLan sect’s precepts was to be an ‘upright’ famous clan. Lan WangJi had been taught this since childhood, so he himself was extremely strict and upright.

However, after having traveled together for a while now, he felt as if Lan WangJi should be viewing him in a bad light. They were completely different after all. But since he couldn’t see into other people’s hearts, he couldn’t confirm how many different perspectives Lan WangJi saw him in, or if they were really “different” in the way that he believed.

Or maybe he was simply letting his imagination run wild and letting his own wishful thinking take over. Maybe he had too much confidence in himself and was in way over his head.

He had never believed that self-confidence was a bad thing, so he was often scorned for being frivolous. Rumor had it that the Yiling Patriarch was a player and had many lovers, but in reality, he had never experienced those types of emotions before and would get flustered easily.

Seeing that Lan WangJi continued to not respond, Wei WuXian, who couldn’t see through him, originally wanted to use his mastered buffoonery to get away with it unscathed. However, he didn’t want to tease him too much and end up in an awkward predicament. He was stuck for a while before he finally and abruptly asked, “Where are we heading?”

The topic changed in such a stiff and unnatural way and Lan WangJi responded in kind. “Where do you think?”

Wei WuXian rubbed the back of his head and said, “…Wherever is fine. Wherever we end up floating to, I guess.”

Suddenly, he remembered a very important matter and exclaimed, “No! We can’t just keep going like this!”

He said to Lan WangJi, “We don’t know if Zewu-jun is safe, and we don’t know what kind of plan those people are formulating. We might need to step in and help. Let’s go back.”

Jiang Cheng was going to be a big problem, but if worst comes to worst, they could just sneak around him when they saw him. He probably wouldn’t make a big, embarrassing scene and lose face in public.

However, Lan WangJi resonded, “No need.”

Stumped, Wei WuXian asked, “What about your older brother?”

Lan WangJi lowered his head to look at the Bichen attached to his waist and dully responded, “We can move on our own.”

A moment of silence passed and Wei WuXian said, “Thank you.”

He knew that Lan WangJi had originally wanted to move together with the GusuLan sect to discuss how to rescue Lan XiChen. Yet, he suddenly changed his plans, likely to accommodate Wei WuXian who didn’t want to see Jiang Cheng right now, and that deserved thanks. However, after hearing that ‘thank you,’ Lan WangJi’s expression didn’t improve, but instead turned ghastly.

In response, Wei WuXian suddenly and unexpectedly reached out with his hand. He was right about to grab Lan WangJi when Wen Ning said, “Young Master Wei, Young Master Lan, should we keep floating with the current, then? Should I continue paddling?”

Wei WuXian replied, “What the–?!”

He and Lan WangJi had both been sitting with their backs facing the tail end of the boat, so Wei WuXian hadn’t even seen Wen Ning. When a voice rang out unexpectedly from the back of the vessel, it scared him so much that the hairs on the back of his neck rose up and he dove to the side. He turned around and asked in a terrified voice, “How did you get over there?!”

Wen Ning looked up and blankly said, “Me? I’ve been here this whole time.”

“Then why didn’t you say something?”

“I saw that the Young Master and Hanguang-jun were talking, so I didn’t–“

“Then you really should have made some sort of noise!”

Wen Ning raised the oars in his hands and tried to explain. “Young Master, I’ve been paddling and making noise this whole time. Didn’t you hear?”

Wei WuXian’s brain malfunctioned for a while and he was unable to say a single word. In the end, he sat back down next to Lan WangJi and waved his hand at Wen Ning. “Nevermind, nevermind. Don’t bother rowing anymore. The current here flows fast at night – we’ll be moving quickly even if you don’t paddle.”

He had grown up in Yunmeng and gotten into all sorts of trouble in the waters here, so of course he was familiar with the currents. Having heard Wei WuXian’s words, Wen Ning put down the oars and continued to sit cautiously at the back of the boat, about six spaces away from Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian.

They had arrived at the Lotus Docks at around 3-5 am. After dealing with that exhausting mess, it was now approaching dawn. White light penetrated through the dark curtain of night, revealing the silhouettes of the mountains on either side.

After looking around everywhere, Wei WuXian suddenly said, “I’m hungry.”

Lan WangJi raised an eyebrow.

Wei WuXian wasn’t actually hungry at all – he had just eaten three bing at the stall in front of the entrance to the Lotus Docks. However, Lan WangJi had only eaten one. Not only that, it had been the only thing he had eaten in almost two days.

Lan WangJi was the type of person who never revealed anything, but Wei WuXian had kept thinking about this matter. When he didn’t see any signs of human habitation during their trip down the river, he was afraid that they would have to float down the river for a long time before they could find a town to rest and eat.

Lan WangJi muttered, “Approach the shore?”