He immediately positioned himself in front of Lan Wangji. Then, he turned to the wooden windows of where the voice came from.
A careful knock could be heard through the windows, then a small voice drifted through the slit, "Young Master..."
Wei Wuxian finally noticed that his heart was beating a bit too fast. He puzzled over it again, then regained his composure.
...
Jiang Yanli looked at Wuxian, "puzzled, huh?" She questioned teasingly.
"Mmm, Shijie, don't tease me," Wuxian whined.
"No, no, I'm not," She giggled and continued to tease him, "I totally don't recall you asking me why a person should like another. Your heart tells you first. You fell hard, A'Xian...you poor naïve soul."
Wuxian folded his arms and started to pout, "you don't need to rub it in, okay."
"Is that a lip I see popping out?" Lan Wangji asked now teasing him.
"Oh, you better be careful with what you do or say here, you are about to embarrass yourself," Wuxian said.
Wangji blinked, he remembered that he just drank on screen, and soon, he will witness what he did this time. Last time it was vandalism and chickens, he pondered for what it will be this time.
"Haha, I stumped you, didn't I," Wuxian teased, "well you're in for a treat babe." Lan Wangji turned to face Wuxian again and flicked his bottom lip that was popped out, "ouch! Was that necessary?"
"Yes!" Wangji said turning his attention back to the screen.
"I'm tempted to put Xichen-Ge between us for a bit, you're scaring me," Wuxian said.
"I won't sit between you but I can sit beside you," Lan Xichen said moving to sit beside Wuxian.
"Thanks, you're a great help," Wuxian said.
"Anytime," Xichen said and laughed a bit.
...
Walking over, he raised the window to see a black-clothed figure dangling upside-down with legs hung at the roof, preparing to knock once more. Wei Wuxian quickly opened the window, which bumped into the person's head. The figure exclaimed with a light ah. Holding the windows back with both of his hands, he finally made eye contact with Wei Wuxian.
A cold breeze barged into the room. Wen Ning's eyes were opened, no longer an ashen white, but instead filled with a pair of black, silent pupils. The two stayed like this, one standing, one hanging, and stared at each other for a few moments.
Wei Wuxian, "Come down."
With a sudden loss of balance, Wen Ning fell and slammed onto the ground outside the inn.
...
"A'Ning, I don't think that's what he meant by, 'Come down'," Wen Qing stated.
"I think I am aware of that now," Wen Ning said, "but I am fine."
"Don't do that again," she demanded.
"Yes, JieJie."
...
Wei Wuxian wiped away the nonexistent sweat on his forehead. He commented, 'We really chose the right place!'
It was a good thing that they chose this inn. For the sake of tranquility, the windows of the private room faced a small grove instead of the streets. Using the support pole, Wei Wuxian left the windows open and looked down, leaning outside. With his heavy body, Wen Ning made a man-shaped dent on the ground. He was still staring at Wei Wuxian even as he lay in the dent.
In a hushed voice, Wei Wuxian shouted at him, "I told you to come down, not go down. 'Come', you understand?"
Wen Ning looked up at him. Dusting off his clothes, he crawled out of the dent and hurried to reply, "Oh. I'm coming."
As soon as he finished, he clung to a pillar and prepared to climb. Wei Wuxian interrupted him at once, "Stop! Stay where you are. I'll come get you."
He returned to Lan Wangji and leaned down toward his ears, "Lan Zhan, oh, Lan Zhan. Please sleep for a while longer. I'll be back before you know it. Won't you be a good boy?"
...
"Probably not," Xichen said, "knowing him, he will wake shortly and notice you missing."
"You are indeed, quite smart, Zewu Jun," Wuxian told him.
"So he woke up soon," he stated nodding his head. Wuxian nodded with him.
...
After he spoke, he felt a strange urge. He couldn't help but brushed the tip of his finger against Lan Wangji's eyelashes. In a slight manner, Lan Wangji's lashes trembled and his brows twitched. He looked rather perturbed.
Removing his hand, Wei Wuxian leaped out the window. He hopped a few times on the branches by the roof, then landed on the ground. Right after he turned around, Wen Ning kneeled down in front him.
Wei Wuxian, "What are you doing?"
Wen Ning said nothing, his head hanging low.
Wei Wuxian asked again, "Do you really have to talk to me like this?"
Wen Ning lowered his voice, "Young Master, I'm sorry."
Wei Wuxian, "Well then."
Immediately after he spoke, he kneeled in front of Wen Ning as well. Startled, Wen Ning proceeded to kowtow him, while Wei Wuxian soon returned the kowtow as well. Wen Ning was so alarmed that he jumped up at once.
Only then did Wei Wuxian stand up again, sweeping off the dirt at his hems, "You could've just stood straight and talked to me, you know?" Wen Ning was still looking at the ground, afraid to say anything. Wei Wuxian asked, "When did you regain consciousness?"
Wen Ning, "Just a while ago."
Wei Wuxian, "Do you still remember the things that happened when the nails were in your head?"
Wen Ning, "Some... but not all."
Wei Wuxian, "What do you remember?"
Wen Ning, "That I'd been chained in a really dark place. I think people sometimes came to check on me."
Wei Wuxian, "Do you remember who they were?"
Wen Ning, "No, only that somebody nailed something into my head."
Wei Wuxian, "It was probably Xue Yang. He also used those nails to control Song Lan. He used to be a guest cultivator at the LanlingJin Sect, but we still don't know whether he did such a thing out of his own intentions or was it the Lanling Jin Sect's wishes." After giving it some thought, he continued, "Most likely, it was out of the Lanling Jin Sect's wishes. Back then, they all said that you'd been completely annihilated. If the Lanling Jin Sect didn't take part in this, he wouldn't have been able to hide the truth all on his own." With a pause, he asked again, "Then, what happened afterwards? How did you go to Dafan Mountain?"
Wen Ning, "Afterwards, I don't know how long had passed, but I suddenly heard someone clap, and then, Young Master, you said 'wake up,' so I... struggled out of the chains and rushed outside..."
It was the command that Wei Wuxian gave to the three fierce corpses at Mo Village.
In the past, Wei Wuxian had given the Ghost General countless commands. Thus, he also heard the first command that Wei Wuxian gave after he came back to this world.
And so, in a muddled state of mind, Wen Ning followed other corpses' directions and Wei Wuxian's commands. The Lanling Jin Sect, on the other hand, knew that they couldn't make public the fact that they'd been hiding the Ghost General. Or else, if the news leaked out, not only would its own reputation be damaged, the people would also start to panic, which was why even though Wen Ning ran away, they didn't dare to pursue him with any fanfare. After a mess of a journey, Wen Ning finally reached Wei Wuxian, who was playing the flute on top of Dafan Mountain, and the two successfully met again.
Wei Wuxian sighed, "You said that you 'don't know how long had passed'. It's already been more than ten years." He continued after a short pause, "Well, it's fair to say that I don't know much more than you do. Do you want me to tell you some of the things that happened?"
Wen Ning, "I've heard of some."
Wei Wuxian, "Like what?"
Wen Ning, "I heard that the Burial Mounds are gone, that everyone... is gone."
Truthfully, Wei Wuxian had only wanted to tell him about the more trivial gossip, such as how the rules of the Lan Sect had increased from three thousand to four thousand. Not at all expecting Wen Ning to bring up such a grave topic to start with, he could only stay silent.
Despite of this being a grave topic, Wen Ning's tone wasn't mournful at all, as though he had already known that it would've happened. In reality, though, this was indeed the case. They expected the worst-case scenario countless times, as early as more than a decade ago.
After a moment of silence, Wei Wuxian asked again, "What else have you heard?"
Wen Ning whispered, "Sect Leader Jiang, Jiang Cheng, brought a siege upon the Burial Mounds. And he killed you."
Wei Wuxian, "I'll have to clarify this one. He didn't kill me. I died from a backfire."
Wen Ning finally looked up at him, "But, Sect Leader Jiang clearly..."
Wei Wuxian, "Nobody can walk safely on a single-plank bridge for their whole life. It couldn't be helped."
Wen Ning seemed as if he wanted to sigh, but he had no breath to let out. Wei Wuxian ended the conversation, "Okay. Let's not talk about him anymore. Have you heard of anything else?"
"Yes." Wen Ning gazed at him, "Young Master Wei, you died such an awful death."
"..." Looking at how miserable he was, Wei Wuxian sighed, "So you haven't heard any good news?"
Wen Ning frowned, "No. There hasn't been any."
"..." Wei Wuxian was speechless.
Suddenly, a loud shattering noise came from the main hall of the first floor. Lan Sizhui's voice followed, "Were we not talking about Xue Yang? Why are we now arguing over this?"
Jin Ling, "We are talking about Xue Yang. Was what I said wrong? What did Xue Yang do? He's worse than scum, and Wei Ying was even more disgusting than him! What do you mean 'we shouldn't generalize them'? These monsters are vermin to our world! We should kill, murder, and slaughter every single one of them!"
...
Jin Ling flinched at his words and coward behind Sizhui.
Wuxian flinched a bit as well.
Yanli could only let out a sigh as she wasn't sure how well this topic was going to go, and in her gut, she felt it wasn't going to end well.
...
Wen Ning flinched. Wei Wuxian gestured for him to stay still. On the other side, Lan Jingyi joined in as well, "Why are you being so angry about it? Sizhui did not say that Wei Wuxian should not have been killed. He just said that not everyone who cultivates the ghost path is the same type of person as Xue Yang. Did you have to throw things? I did not get to eat that one yet..."
Jin Ling sneered, "Didn't he also say that 'the founder of this path may not have intended harm with it'? Who was 'the founder of this path'? Go on, tell me, who else could it be except for Wei Ying?! I just can't seem to understand you. Your GusuLan Sect is also a prominent sect, and back then you also lost quite a number of people in Wei Ying's hands, didn't you? Was it hard, killing all those corpses and whatnot that were under his control? Lan Sizhui, why are you speaking from such a strange standpoint? From the way you talk, don't tell me that you're making excuses for Wei Ying!"
Lan Sizhui protested, "I was not making excuses for him. I was simply suggesting that we may not want to make conclusions before we understand the entire situation. You know, before we came to Yi City, a lot of people also claimed that the Yueyang Chang Clan's Chang Ping was killed by Daozhang Xiao XingChen for revenge, right? But what was the truth?"
Jin Ling, "Nobody actually saw whether or not Chang Ping was killed by Daozhang Xiao XingChen. All they had were guesses, so why are you calling them claims? Just try and count how many cultivators lost their lives to Wei Ying, to Wen Ning, to the Tiger Amulet during the battles at the Qiongqi Path and the Nightless Day! These are truths that everyone accepts, that nobody can deny! And what else I'll never forget is that he ordered Wen Ning to kill my father and mother!"
If Wen Ning had a single trace of blood in his complexion, it would've already drained out of his face.
He breathed, "... Maiden Jiang's son?"
Wei Wuxian stayed still.
Jin Ling continued, "My uncle grew up with him, my grandfather saw him as his own child, my grandmother wasn't horrible to him either, but what did he do? He made Lotus Pier the lair of the Wen Sect, he wrecked the entire Yunmeng Jiang Sect, he caused the deaths of both my parents and grandparents, and now my uncle is the only one left! He brought about his own death through the havoc he created and ended up leaving not even a whole corpse behind him! Just which part of the entire situation do you not understand? Just what excuses are you still making for him?!"
...
"I did do those things," Wuxian whispered, "I'm sorry."
"That is not true what Jin Ling said," Lan Xichen stated, "as we already saw, it was never A'Xian, but he took the blame and look what it has done."
"Madam Yu didn't treat him badly!" Cangse yelled, "that is bull!"
Jin Ling was now beside his mother apologizing to her for his words as she tried to comfort him, "apologize to A'Xian when he is able to listen properly."
Jin Ling nodded.
Everyone looked at the again, broken man sitting beside Lan Wangji. Lan Wangji tried his best to comfort him as he pulled him to his lap, "don't listen to those words. It's not you. None of it was your fault," Wangji said softly into Wuxian's ear.
"Lan Zhan," Wuxian sobbed as he turned and shoved his face into the man's chest.
Everyone continued to watch while Wangji tried to calm Wuxian down.
...
He argued forcefully, while Lan Sizhui didn't reply at all. A moment later, another boy spoke up, "Why are we suddenly getting so heated over such a thing? Let's just drop the subject, alright? We haven't finished eating yet. The food's gonna go cold."
Judging from the voice, he was the "sentimental" one that Wei Wuxian poked fun at. Someone else agreed, "ZiZhen is right. We should stop arguing. Sizhui simply forgot to choose his words carefully. It was only an offhand comment—how could he have thought about so much? Sit down, Young Master Jin. Let us continue to eat."
"That's right. All of us had just left Yi City, so technically we've already been through life and death together... We really shouldn't argue over such a careless mistake."
Jin Ling snorted. Lan Sizhui finally responded, his tone as polite as ever, "I am sorry. I should have put more thought to my wording. Young Master Jin, please sit back down. We would not want to continue and bring Hanguang Jun down here as well."
The mention of Hanguang Jun was truly a splendid move. Immediately, Jin Ling stopped, not even making another noise. The sounds of moving tables and chairs came through. It seemed that he sat back down again. The hall quickly refilled with clamor, and the boys' voices were soon drowned out by the clinks of bowls and dishes. However, Wei Wuxian and Wen Ning still stood silently in the grove, their expressions stern.
Without making a sound, Wen Ning kneeled down again. Wei Wuxian only noticed him after a short pause. Waving his hand weakly, he responded, "It wasn't your fault."
Just as Wen Ning was about to open his mouth again, he suddenly looked behind Wei Wuxian and hesitated. Before Wei Wuxian could turn around, a white-robed figure walked past him and kicked Wen Ning's shoulder.