However, after stroking it for a while, Jiang Cheng compelled himself to restrain his hostility. Although he was displeased, as the leader of a sect, he needed to take more things into consideration, which meant that he couldn't be as impulsive as Jin Ling.
Wei Wuxian's mouth fell open. "When did you learn to restrain yourself? Being a sect leader has really matured you up, huh?"
"Just because Zidian isn't working right now doesn't mean I can't teach you a lesson when we get back!" Jiang Cheng snapped.
After the fall of the QingheNie Sect, among the Three Great Sects, the LanlingJin Sect and the GusuLan Sect were quite close due to the personal relationship between the two leaders. By leading the YunmengJiang Sect alone, he was already in an isolated situation among the three.
Jiang Cheng was starting to feel uncomfortable...how and why was this weird board revealing all his innermost thoughts and feelings? Suddenly he was glad the moving pictures seemed to be much more focused on his shixiong rather than him... listening his own voice narrating his dark thoughts for just these few minutes was cringe-worthy enough.
HanGuang-Jun, or Lan WangJi, was quite a prestigious cultivator, while his elder brother ZeWu-Jun, or Lan XiChen, was the leader of the GusuLan Sect. The two brothers had always been on good terms with each other. It was best to not openly dispute with Lan WangJi. Also, Jiang Cheng's sword, "Sandu ," had never made actual contact with Lan WangJi's sword, "Bichen," and it was not yet decidable whose hands would the deer die on.
Wei WuXian began laughing outright. "Oh, no you would definitely lose, Jiang Cheng... Lan Zhan is a hundred times better than you-"
Lan Zhan covered Wei Wuxian's mouth, smothering his next words before Jiang Cheng lost it and threw his sword at him.
Although he owned the powerful ring, "Zidian ," a family heirloom of his, Lan WangJi's zither, " Wangji ", was also known for its abilities. The thing that Jiang Cheng hated the most was to be disadvantageous during a fight. Without complete confidence in his success, he would not consider fighting with Lan WangJi. Jiang Cheng slowly took away his left hand, ceasing to stroke his ring. Jiang Cheng made the decision to, for the time being, owe him a favour, and turned around to see Jin Ling still covering his mouth angrily, "HanGuang-Jun wants to punish you, so just let him do it for this one time. It's not easy for him, either, to discipline juniors from other clans." His tone was sarcastic, but it wasn't clear who he was mocking. Lan WangJi never fought to win his way with words, and looked as if he didn't hear anything.
This rare insight into Jiang Cheng's thought process was truly illuminating. While he sat, smouldering with rage and embarrassment, everyone whispered among themselves about his stone-cold reasoning and demeanour. Was he always like this??
Jiang Cheng turned again, his words covered with thorns, "Why are you still standing there? Waiting for the prey to come and throw itself onto your sword? If, today, you don't catch the creature hunting Dafan Mountain, don't come to me ever again!" Jin Ling threw Wei WuXian a tough look, but was too scared to look at Lan WangJi, the person who had silenced him.
People began to feel sympathy for Jin Ling, having such a harsh uncle. Wei WuXian sympathised (or more accurately, empathised) with Jin Ling being scared of Lan Zhan and his merciless silencing charms.
Lan SiZhui spoke, "Sect Leader Jiang, the GusuLan Sect will return the exact number of spirit-binding nets that had been destroyed."
Jiang Cheng sneered, "No need." He chose the opposite direction and walked down calmly. After their figures disappeared, Lan JingYi spoke, "How could the Sect Leader Jiang act like this?" Only afterward, did he remember the Lan Clan's rule of not talking behind others' backs. He looked meekly at HanGuang-Jun and shut his mouth. Lan SiZhui smiled softly toward Wei WuXian, "Young Master Mo, we meet again."
Wei WuXian said, "Once again, the one who is nicest to me is you, Sizhui!"
As Wei WuXian pulled the corners of his mouth, Lan WangJi spoke again, "Do your tasks." The command was simplistic and clear, without any fancy vocabulary for decoration. The juniors finally remembered the reason behind why they came to Dafan Mountain. They gathered their thoughts and respectfully waited for further instructions. After a moment, Lan WangJi spoke again, "Do what you can. Don't force anything." The voice was deep and alluring. If one was too near, the tip of their heart would tremble.
"I'm pretty sure that's just you, Wei WuXian." Jiang Cheng snorted, then made his voice nasally to imitate Wei WuXian. " 'The voice was deep and alluring...' I can't believe I have to sit through all your pining and admiring."
Wei WuXian refrained from throwing Chenqing at Jiang Cheng's head. He might need his flute later, it wouldn't do good to be rash. However, Jiang Cheng's disdainful attitude towards his husband was really grating on his nerves.
Wei WuXian thought that, undeniably, Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan were extremely different from each other. Even their advice for juniors were the complete opposite.
There were many nods, and it was clear which of them was preferred by everyone. Jin Ling thought about it - would he have been happier with Lan WangJi as his uncle rather than Jiang Cheng? The thought felt horribly wrong. Jiang Cheng was harsh on him, but that was because he just wanted the best for him. They often fought, but Jin Ling was still very fond of his uncle and wouldn't want anyone else, even some perfect, silent master cultivator like Hanguang Jun. He doubted they would get along at all either.
He wondered if Hanguang Jun counted as being his uncle, since he was (basically) married to Wei WuXian, who was another of his uncles. Jin Ling frowned. All this uncle business was confusing him, why did he have so many of them??
While thinking, he suddenly saw Lan WangJi give an almost unnoticeable nod to him. He was quite surprised. Ever since a young age, Lan WangJi had been so prim and proper that it was painful to watch. He had always been solemn and stiff, as if he had never been lively before. He couldn't let a single grain of sand appear in his eyes, which was why he had never approved of Wei WuXian cultivating the dark path.
Wei WuXian immediately felt bad, seeing Lan Zhan look down.
In truth though, Lan Zhan was thinking about was how he'd never been able to express to Wei WuXian that he cared about him. Because of his 'primness and properness', Wei WuXian never thought that he could talk to Lan Zhan about his worries, and he just assumed that Lan Zhan disliked him because of his demonic cultivation.
Lan SiZhui had probably informed Lan WangJi of his suspicious behaviour in Mo Village already. Even so, he had nodded in acknowledgement, probably thanking him for helping out the juniors from the Lan Sect.
"Senior Wei, I never said anything bad about you to Hanguang Jun! I didn't think you were suspicious!" Lan SiZhui protested
"Well, I was being very suspicious, you can't just trust every person you meet, Sizhui! That's a great way to get tricked and taken advantage of, like -"
Wei WuXian swallowed his next words, not looking at Zewu Jun. He had been talking jokingly, but he guessed that it was a pretty important thing as well.
"You're right Senior Wei... it's just... I don't normally take likings to people because the Lan sect promotes fair-mindedness and no biases, however I couldn't help but feel that you were a good person, back in Mo village."
Wei WuXian felt 10 degrees warmer. He beamed at Sizhui and wished he could go over to ruffle his hair.
Without thinking, Wei WuXian immediately returned a salute. When he looked up again, Lan WangJi had already disappeared. After pausing for a second, he turned around to travel down the mountain. No matter what prey haunted Dafan Mountain, he couldn't take it. Wei WuXian could fight for it against anyone, except for Jin Ling. Why did it turn out to be Jin Ling?
Jin Ling frowned. What, did Wei WuXian know much about him? Did he already hate him?
With so many disciples in the Jin Sect, he really didn't expect that the person he met happened to be Jin Ling. If he knew, he definitely wouldn't mock Jin Ling for "having no mother to teach him." If someone else had said the same words to Jin Ling, he would teach them about what it means to bring misfortune upon oneself with careless talk. Yet, the person who had said so turned out to be himself. After standing still for a moment, Wei WuXian raised his hand and gave himself a slap on the face.
Jin Ling blinked and tried to process that. "You-"
Wei WuXian sighed. "I deserved that."
"Yes, you did. Jin Ling, don't try to defend him." Jiang Cheng snapped.
Jin Ling was trying to understand how Wei WuXian actually cared about him and wouldn't let anyone say the 'no mother' jokes to him. It was almost too much warm feelings for him to handle.
After the four-hundred-or-so spirit-binding nets were destroyed by Lan WangJi's sword, the hesitant cultivators in Buddha's Feet all rushed up again. Everyone here was probably Jin Ling's opponent. Wei WuXian considered for a moment, about whether or not to make them retreat again with force.
Everyone gaped. Jiang Cheng being over-protective and helping Jin Ling with every step was one thing, somewhat understandable, but Wei WuXian too?? Jin Ling couldn't be that spoiled! Maybe Wei WuXian just felt like making amends for causing the death of Jin Ling's parents.
But, after thinking about it, he ended up silently walking out of the way, letting them pass.
Jin Ling let out a sigh of relief. If he had two uncles watching his every move and getting rid of his opponents for him, he wouldn't be able to claim any sort of victories for himself! And that was what made Wei WuXian different from Jiang Cheng - he was more relaxed and wanted Jin Ling to choose his own path to be happy while Jiang Cheng wanted Jin Ling to excel and follow the path he thought was best.
The disciples from different sects, wearing differently colored uniforms, complained as they walked, "Both the Jin Sect and the Jiang Sect spoil Young Master Jin too much. He's still so young, but he's already this arrogant and rude. If they let him have the LanlingJin Sect, who knows what chaos would happen? I don't think we'd even survive." Wei WuXian slowed his pace. A soft-hearted female cultivator sighed, "How can they not spoil him? He lost both his parents at such a young age." "Shimei, that's not how it works. So what, if both his parents died? There are tons who lost both of their parents. If everyone acted like him, then what would happen?"
Jin Ling's soft feelings started to harden again. Just because lots of people had lost their parents didn't make it okay! It still hurt and it was still unfair. But he knew that he was much more fortunate than a lot of other people without parents. He had his uncle(s) to care for him, the backing of a mighty sect, immeasurable wealth and prestige...
"I'm surprised that Wei WuXian was cruel enough to harm her. Jin Ling's mother was Jiang Cheng's elder sister from birth—the shijie who brought him up." "It really was too bad for Jiang YanLi, bringing up a wolf that bites the owner's hand. Jin ZiXuan had it even worse. Just because he had something to do with Wei WuXian, he ended up like that."
Jin Ling went rigid and stared at Wei WuXian, he seemed to be staring impassively (perhaps a bit too impassively) into the distance. He had vaguely understood some things back in the Guangyin temple about Wei WuXian not meaning to kill his mum, and his father, but he still didn't understand the full story. He fervently hoped these pictures would show him the true story.
"Why does Wei WuXian have something to do with everyone..." "Indeed. Have you heard him being close with anyone other than the mad dogs that he raised? His enemies were everywhere, and he did wrong to everyone. Even with HanGuang-Jun, they were like fire and water, hating each other."
"Speaking of it, today, if it wasn't for HanGuang-Jun..."
Lan Zhan looked in concern at Wei Wuxian's closed off face, and told him quietly, "Do not take those words to heart. I never hated you."
A smile flickered onto Wei Wuxian's. "I know..." he sighed, "I have no clue where these rumours always come from. Don't worry, I'm used to it."
After walking for a while, the gurgling sounds of a running stream came into Wei WuXian's ears. He didn't hear this when he came up. Wei WuXian finally realized that he walked the wrong path down the mountain, and onto another one that forked off. Holding the reins of the donkey, he stood beside the running water. The moon could be seen high in the sky. With no branches or leaves on the banks of the stream, fragments of white reflected over the surface.
Quiet, lonely music played, perfectly describing what Wei WuXian seemed to be feeling. Most were disturbed by Wei Wuxian's quite contemplating - having already gotten used to his unruly habit of chattering and laughing and generally being annoying.
In the reflection, Wei WuXian saw a face, ever-changing from the flow of the water. He slammed his palm into the water, dissolving the ridiculous features. He lifted his dripping wet palms and wiped away the powder on his face. A handsome, graceful youth appeared in the reflections of the water. He looked as pure as if he had been cleansed by moonlight, with smooth brows, bright eyes, and lips curving slightly upward. Yet, as he lowered his head to stare at himself, the drops of water hanging from his lashes rolled off, as if they were drops of tears.
Now the juniors were even more concerned. Senior Wei crying was a concept that seemed universally wrong - more wrong than the thought of a giggling Lan Qiren bathing in alcohol or Senior Wei's hellishly spicy death-congee.
It was a young and unfamiliar face, not the YiLing Patriarch who had overturned the world and killed thousands—Wei WuXian. After taking a few more looks at this face, Wei WuXian wiped his face again and rubbed his eyes. He sat beside the stream with a thud.
The juniors wondered if the past Wei WuXian had looked very different. Considering how much he seemed to be admiring his new face, they quietly assumed he must have been not as good looking.
It wasn't as if he couldn't withstand the words of attack. After all, back when he made the decision, he fully understood the situations that he had to face. Ever since then, he had reminded himself of the YunmengJiang Sect's motto—do it even if it was impossible. However, although he thought that his heart was like a stone, in the end, he was still human, not some emotionless grass or plant. The donkey seemed as if it knew that he wasn't in a great mood, and for once, it wasn't being loud out of impatience. A moment of silence passed, and it turned around to leave. Wei WuXian sat by the stream, not responding at all.
Everyone who knew Wei WuXian was looking in alarmed at his almost depressive state. Just those few words by those cultivators had gotten to him so badly. Jiang Cheng felt his heart tug. But he had always known how much Wei WuXian had cared about his jie, Jiang Yanli. He suddenly realised that since Wei WuXian had himself died so soon after his sister's death, he'd probably not had time to come to terms with the fact that she was gone, unlike him, who'd dwelled on it every day for the last 13 years and had so come to accept it. Perhaps he was realising it now, which was why he seemed so lifeless and unwilling to move.
It turned around to look, throwing its hooves onto the ground, but Wei WuXian still paid no attention to it. The donkey had to come back sulkily, biting and tugging on the corner of Wei WuXian's collar. He could choose to go, and he could choose to not go. Seeing that the donkey had went as far as to use his mouth, Wei WuXian decided to follow him. The donkey took him to a few trees and circled around an area of grass. In the grass, there lay a qiankun bag , with a ragged golden net hanging above it. It probably fell off as an unlucky cultivator struggled their way out.
Everyone stared in awe at the donkey.
"What an amazing donkey!"
"It senses that its owner is sad, and it can even find something helpful for him!"
Jin Ling and Jingyi pursed their lips and began to understand why Wei WuXian was so fond of his Lil Apple.
Meanwhile, the owner of the qiankun bag, in the audience at that moment, grumbled to herself, "So that's where my qiankun bag went!!" At least it would probably still go to good use, and since Wei WuXian had saved them, it was a reasonable price to pay him.
Wei WuXian picked up the bag and opened it. There were quite a few items in it, such as gourds of medicinal liquor, talismans, miniature demon-reflecting mirrors, and so on. He fished around for some time and happened to pull out a talisman.
The cultivator's eye twitched, watching Wei WuXian rummage around her familiar items. Those few possessions of hers were bought with all the savings she had! She didn't suppose Wei WuXian still had some of them somewhere... but she was much too scared of him to actually approach him and ask for her things back.
Immediately, a ball of fire appeared in his hand. The burning item was an gloom-burning talisman, which, like its name, used dark energy as fuel. It would burn automatically if it made contact with dark energy. The more energy there was, the stronger the flame was. It lit up as soon as it was taken out, meaning that there was a spirit not far away from Wei WuXian.
Seeing the light of the fire, Wei WuXian held it to detect the spirit's direction, watching attentively. He walked a few steps toward the direction, and saw a white, stooping figure appear under a tree. An old man was sitting with his back to him, speaking in faint murmurs. Wei WuXian slowly approached. The words that the old man murmured became clear. "It hurts, it hurts."
Wei WuXian asked, "Where does it hurt?" The old man answered, "Head. My head."
Wei WuXian replied, "Let me take a look at it." He walked a few steps to the side of the old man, and saw a bloodied, large hole on his forehead.
Nearly everyone gasped involuntarily, with the exclusion of Wei WuXian (both the present and past him), Lan Zhan, Lan Qiren and Jiang Cheng (though he gave a grimace). The juniors hid their eyes, then, remembering what Senior Wei had once told them in a draughty coffin-house, peeked through their fingers at the gruesome sight until they got used to it.
This was a ghost, probably killed with a weapon which was smashed onto his head. He was dressed in a burial robe made with fine material and craftsmanship, meaning that he had already been encoffined and buried properly. This wasn't the soul that a living human had lost. However, ghosts like this shouldn't have appeared on Dafan Mountain. Wei WuXian did not find an explanation to this implausible scenario.
This was news to most people, who had taken for granted that Wei WuXian was a genius and knew the answers to everything. They didn't bother thinking too hard about it then, since if the Yiling Laozu couldn't find an explanation, who could?"
Feeling quite worried, he jumped onto the donkey's back, slapped it with a shout, and rode toward the direction of where Jin Ling came up the mountain. Around the area of the ancient tombs, there were a lot of cultivators who wandered around, in hope of a hare crashing into the tree trunk . Somebody dared to hold a spirit-attraction flag, but only attracted a bunch of dark spirits who wept despairingly.
Jin Ling felt flattered again that Wei Wuxian's first thought after encountering something he didn't understand was to find him.
Wei WuXian pulled on the reins, scanned around, and asked in a loud, clear voice, "Excuse me and sorry for the interruption, but where did the young masters from the Jin Clan and the Lan Clan go?" Sure enough, after washing his face, people actually acknowledged him. One cultivator answered, "They left here, for Goddess Temple."
Wei WuXian spoke, "Goddess Temple?"
Wei WuXian have a grand "Ha!" "There's some solid evidence of discrimination against lunatics - actually, more like, discrimination against men with makeup. Bet you all feel stupid now!"
The rural clan from back then had sneaked up the mountain again and joined the group of night-hunters, after hearing that all of the deity-binding nets were destroyed. The middle-aged man recognized his clothing and the grimacing donkey, realizing that he was lunatic who'd saved them earlier. He felt quite awkward, and pretended that nothing had happened.
Wei WuXian roared with laughter. "This is hilarious! You just got exposed...."
The middle-aged cultivator wanted to hide. Hopefully, Wei WuXian wouldn't remember him for long. He had a family that he didn't want the Yiling Laozu to set zombies on.
Nonetheless, the round-faced girl showed him the path, "Over there. It's a divine temple in a cave on the mountain." Wei WuXian inquired again, "Which deity is the temple built for?" The round-faced girl spoke, "I, I think it's a natural stone statue of a goddess." Wei WuXian nodded, "Thank you." After the conversation, he immediately ran toward the direction of Goddess Temple. The sluggard's marriage, lightning that destroyed coffins, the fiance eaten by wolves, the father and daughter losing their souls, the extravagant burial clothes... It was as if a string was being pulled through all of the beads, tying everything into one perfect strand.
The cultivators muttered to themselves, confused.
"Did I miss something? Did he say what connected everything??"
"No, I don't think so, do you have any idea what it is?"
"No, it makes no sense!"
The juniors who had listened to Wei Wuxian's original explanation all those months ago felt like slapping themselves for not connecting the dots earlier. It all made sense now, but how did Wei WuXian think of this explanation by himself? Considering the remarks from all the other cultivators, it seemed no one could find the explanation either.
Lan Zhan watched Guo Wanxin scratch her chin, stumped and felt a tad bit...smug. His husband was the smartest, without a doubt.
No wonder the compasses of evil didn't pick up anything, and the spirit-attraction flags didn't work either. Everyone had underestimated the creature in Dafan Mountain.
It wasn't at all what they thought it was!
Everyone groaned in frustration as the board went blank again.
"Wei WuXian! Just say it out loud! Why are your thoughts so dramatic!"
Wei WuXian defended himself, "The magic pictures are cutting out some of my thoughts, it's like it wants to keep the suspense for you all!"
"Mn." Lan Zhan agreed, "Like a play."
The cultivators muttered amongst themselves their theories about the soul-losing disease. Meanwhile, Wei WuXian and Lan Zhan were theorising about this extremely strange situation. Wei WuXian had already drunk quite a lot of the strange, sweet, spicy drink, and had eaten some of the salty, white crumbly things. As amazing as they were, they were definitely not of their world - maybe some other civilisation with superior magic had abducted them? He guessed that only time would tell.