( Xuan Zheng Year 18 )
There was a virtuous and prestigious elder in the GusuLan Sect—Lan QiRen. Everyone in the cultivation world accepted three characteristics which described him: pedantic, stubborn and a strict teacher who produced outstanding students. Although the first two points kept a lot of people at a respective distance to him some even to the point of secret dislike the last one made them try everything they could to send their children to study under him. He had brought up quite a number of excellent disciples of the Lan Sect. As long as they stayed a few years in his classroom no matter how pathetically useless they were when they first entered, they would at least seem to be decent when they depart especially in terms of appearance and etiquette. There were plenty of parents who were so excited that tears flowed down their cheeks when they picked up their sons.
Jin Zixuan and Jin Jing was sent to learn from Lan Qiren as guest disciple of the Gusu Lan Clan at the same time as Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng, and Nie Huaisang.
Wei WuXian declared, " Do I not seem decent enough as of right now?"
Jiang Cheng replied with a great deal of foresight, " You'd definitely be a mark of shame in his entire teaching career."
In that year, aside from the YunmengJiang Sect, there were also the young masters from other clans sent to study here from parents who heard of the reputation. The young masters were all around fifteen or sixteen. Because the sects all knew the others although they weren't close they had seen others' faces before. It was widely known that although Wei WuXian's surname was not Jiang, he was the leading disciple of the sect leader of the YunmengJiang Sect—Jiang FengMian and also the son of his friend who had passed away. In fact the sect leader regarded him as his own child. This along with how youths were not as concerned with status and ancestry as elders they were soon friends. Only a few sentences passed and everyone started to call others older brothers or younger brothers.
Jin Jing and Jin ZiXuan were walking until they saw Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng. Jin Jing happily waved at them and was about to walk over to where they are but his older brother Jin ZiXuan grab the back of his collar and drag him away. Jin Jing stares at Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng with dotted eyes.
Wei WuXian sweat drops at the scene, " This Bro Jin is getting more pompous, poor Jin Jing has an overprotective older brother. "
Jiang Cheng spoke as they walked away, " Lanling Jin Clan is wealthy as king. Jin Zixuan is God's favored one. Of course, he pompous. "
Wei WuXian came up with an idea until Jiang Cheng elbow his back lower waist which almost made Wei WuXian fall into the lake, " Wait, stop thinking of mischief! I'm warning you. No matter what, Jin ZiXuan is sis's fiancé. They'll get married one day. Bear with it even though you despise him. "
Wei WuXian laugh, " Alright "
" Orchid Room "
To this matter, Wei WuXian declared, " Its name is elegant but the old master who teaches in there is stuffy."
Jiang Cheng replied with a great deal of foresight, " He's really capable though. Even useless person could become a decent man after 1 or 2 years of his discipline. "
Wei WuXian ask, " Am I not decent enough already? "
Jiang Cheng replied, " You'd definitely be a mark of shame in his entire teaching career. "
Nie Huaisang heard someone laughing, he turn around and smile, " Jiang-Xiong! Wei-Xiong! "
Somebody asked, " Wei-Xiong is just a disciple from Yunmeng. Why could he come to Gusu to study? "
Nie Huaisang respond, " Wei-Xiong is the son of Clan Leader Jiang's old friend. He has been treated as their own son. "
" Oh, I see. That explain why they don't look like master and servant, they seem like brothers. "
The YunmengJiang Sect, there were also the young masters from other clans sent to study here from parents who heard of the reputation. The young masters were all around fifteen or sixteen. Because the sects all knew the others, although they weren't close, they had seen others' faces before. It was widely known that although Wei WuXian's surname was not Jiang, he was the leading disciple of the sect leader of the YunmengJiang Sect—Jiang FengMian and also the son of his friend who had passed away. In fact, the sect leader regarded him as his own child. This along with how youths were not as concerned with status and ancestry as elders, they were soon friends. Only a few sentences passed and everyone started to call others older brothers or younger brothers.
Suddenly Jin Jing pop behind Jiang Cheng and Wei WuXian with a smile, " Jiang-Xiong and Wei Xiong! "
Wei WuXian got frighten except Jiang Cheng who is not scared and stare at Jin Jing confuse then ask, " Shouldn't you be with your older brother? "
Jin Jing grin and said, " I escape when my older brother is not looking. "
Wei WuXian has a deep hate of Jin ZiXuan but Jin Jing is a exception because who can't say no to an innocent boy. Just look at him:
Jin Jing stare at Wei WuXian with sparkle eyes like he admire him. Wei WuXian hug Jin Jing, " I wish you could be my younger brother instead of Peaco-I mean Jin ZiXuan. "
Nie Huaisang fake cough and asked, " Wei-Xiong, this is your first visit to Gusu. It's burning here, isn't it? "
Wei WuXian turn to Nie Huaisang still hugging Jin Jing and laughed, " Not really. Fun or not fun depends on how fun you make it to be. There's definitely less rules than here, and no need to wake up so early. "
The GusuLan Sect wakes as five in the morning and rests at nine in the evening, not allowing any delay.
Nie Huaisang asked again, " When do you guys wake up? What do you do during the day? "
Jiang Cheng humphed, " Him? He gets up at nine in the morning and sleeps at one during the night. Once awake, he doesn't practice his sword or meditate, but goes boating, swims around, picks lotus seedpods, and hunts for pheasants. "
Jin Jing stare up at Wei WuXian and ask, " Can you teach me how to boat, Wei-Xiong? and swimming too? "
Wei WuXian chuckle and nod, " You bet I will. I'm still the champion even in pheasant hunting. "
Nie Huaisang spoke, " I wanna study in Yunmeng next year! No one can stop me! "
A bucket of cold water was thrown on him, " No one will stop you. But your elder brother will break your legs. "
The youth drooped at once. This was the second young master of the QingheNie Sect—Nie HuaiSang. His brother Nie MingJue was extremely resolute when carrying out orders quite renowned in the cultivation world. Although the brothers were not born from the same mother their relationship was quite solid. Nie MingJue had always taught his younger brother with extreme harshness particularly caring for his studies. This was why even though Nie HuaiSang respected his older brother, he was the most scared of Nie MingJue mentioning his schoolwork.
Wei WuXian spoke, " Actually, Gusu is kinda fun. "
Nie HuaiSang spoke, " Are you kidding? Wei Xiong. Here's my sincere advice. The Cloud Recesses is not like Lotus Pier. During your visit in Gusu, do remember not to provoke a certain person. "
Wei WuXian who is pinching Jin Jing's cheeks, he stops and asked, " Who? Lan QiRen? "
Nie Huaisang replied, " Not that old man. It's his favorite disciple. One of the Twin Jades of Lan, Lan Zhan. "
Wei WuXian let go of Jin Jing and asked, " Lan Zhan? Lan WangJi? "
The respectable title of the Two Jades of Lan were given to the two sons of the GusuLan Sect's current sect leader—Lan Huan and Lan Zhan. Just after they passed fourteen, they were deemed by the elders of each sect as exemplary models to compare with their own disciples. They were exceptionally famous among the juniors, so it was only natural that everyone recognized the names.
Nie HuaiSang spoke, " Exactly. He supervises punishment and is highly skilled. Everyone is scared of him. But he cultivated in seclusion for years. We don't see him often. "
The group walked inside the study room and saw a white-clothed boy sitting in a rigidly upright position in the room with long hair tied up and wearing a forehead ribbon emitting an aura of ice and frost. He swept a cold look at them.
At once it was as if the ten-or-so mouths were silenced. They quietly entered the room quietly picked their seats to sit and quietly avoided the desks around Lan WangJi.
Wei WuXian's mouth twitching, " Why is he here? "
Nie Huaisang notice Lan WangJi is staring at Wei WuXian who quickly looked away. Nie Huaisang open his fan and whisper to him, " Wei-Xiong, did you step out of the line? "
Wei WuXian respond, " Well..."
Wei WuXian replied with a grin, " There really isn't much. When we came, we passed that liquor shop called 'Emperor's Smile', right? Yesterday at night, I was tossing and turning, and couldn't stand it any longer, so I went down the mountain, into the city, and brought back two jars. Mind you, we don't have the chance to drink this in Yunmeng."
Jiang Cheng, "Then, where's the liquor?"
Wei WuXian, "Well, when I just flipped over the top of the wall, before I even had one leg inside, I was caught by him."
One youth remarked, " Wei-xiong, you must have struck gold. He probably just got out of seclusion and went on night patrol, and caught you red-handed."
Jiang Cheng spoke, " Those who return at night won't be let in before seven in the morning. How come he let you inside? "
Wei WuXian threw up his hands, " So, he didn't let me in. He wanted me to move back the leg that had already stepped in. You tell me—how would I do that? And then, he came up, as light as a feather, and asked me what I had in my hands."
Jiang Cheng felt his head start to ache, indicating a foreboding feeling, " What did you say? "
Wei WuXian spoke, " It's Emperor's Smile! If I share a jar with you, can you pretend that you never saw me? "
Jiang Cheng sighed, "... Alcohol is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses. That's a worse crime."
Wei WuXian spoke, " He said the same thing to me. And I asked, 'Why don't you tell me what exactly is not forbidden in your sect?' He seemed like he was a bit angry and wanted me to look at the Wall of Rules in front of the mountain. Honestly, there were over three thousand, and everything was written in seal script. Who would read them? Did you read them? Anyways, I didn't. What's angering about this? "
"That's right!"
" Whose sect rules are over three thousand in number, and don't even repeat? Things like 'killing livestock within the area is prohibited, fighting without permission is prohibited, promiscuity is prohibited, venturing at night is prohibited, causing noise is prohibited, running is prohibited' are tolerable, but there're even ones like 'sneering for no reason is prohibited, sitting improperly is prohibited, eating more than three bowls is prohibited'..."
Wei WuXian suddenly added, " What? Fighting without permission is also prohibited? "
Jiang Cheng, "... Yes. Don't tell me you fought with him."
Wei WuXian, " I did. And we broke a jar of Emperor's Smile."
Everyone slapped their legs and exclaimed in regret.
In any case the situation couldn't have been any worse causing Jiang Cheng's focus to switch, " Didn't you bring back two jars? Where's the other one? "
" I drank it."
Jiang Cheng, " Where did you drink it? "
" In front of him. I said, 'Okay, if alcohol is prohibited in the Cloud Recesses, then I won't go in. I'll drink it standing on the wall. That wouldn't count as violating the rules, would it?' Then I drank everything in one gulp, right in front of him."
"... And then? "
"And then we started fighting."
" Wei-xiong." Nie HuaiSang blurted out, " You're so smug."
Wei WuXian lifted his brows, " Lan Zhan's skills were quite good."
" You're gonna die, Wei-xiong! Lan Zhan had never been at such a loss before. He's probably after you. You should be careful. Although Lan Zhan doesn't go to classes with us, he's in charge of punishments in the Lan Sect! "
Wei WuXian was not frightened at all, waving his hand, " What's there to be scared of? Didn't everyone say that Lan Zhan had been a prodigy since he was very young? If he's so smart from such an early age, then he probably finished learning everything his uncle taught and do secluded meditation all the time. How would he have time to come after me? I..."
Before his sentence was finished as the group walked around a wall with a hollowed out window, they saw a white-clothed boy sitting in a rigidly upright position in the room with long hair tied up and wearing a forehead ribbon emitting an aura of ice and frost. He swept a cold look at them.
At once, it was as if the ten-or-so mouths were silenced. They quietly entered the room quietly picked their seats to sit and quietly avoided the desks around Lan WangJi.
Jiang Cheng patted Wei WuXian's shoulder and whispered, " He's after you. Hope for the best."
When Wei WuXian turned his head, he could see the side of Lan WangJi's face. His lashes were long, appearing to be extremely delicate and elegant. His posture was also very upright, looking straight ahead. As he was just thinking about starting a conversation with him, Lan QiRen walked into the room.
Lan QiRen was tall and thin standing with a straight back. Although he had a long black goatee, he was definitely not old. And according to the tradition of the GusuLan Clan producing beautiful men each generation, he was definitely not bad-looking either. Yet unfortunately with the pedantic and stiff air that surrounded him nothing would feel wrong if one called him an old man. He entered with a scroll in one hand. The long scroll of paper rolled all over the ground as soon as he opened it and he started to talk about the rules of the Lan Sect. The faces of everyone in the room started to grow dark. As Wei WuXian was bored his gaze flew everywhere and landed on the side face of Lan WangJi. He was shocked as he saw concentration and seriousness that were nothing like a facade, " How can he listen so attentively to something so boring? "
Immediately in the front, Lan QiRen slammed the scroll onto the ground and smiled bitterly, " I am only repeating this one by one because nobody reads it, even though it was carved onto the rock wall. Hence, nobody will be able to violate them using ignorance as an excuse again. Even if I do this, there are still people who do not pay attention. Very well, I will proceed to talk about something else."
Although his words could be applied to everyone in the room, Wei WuXian's intuition told him that it was a warning directed at him. As he expected, Lan QiRen spoke, "Wei Ying."
Wei WuXian answered, "Here."
"Let me ask you. Are yao, demons, ghosts, and monsters the same things?"
Wei WuXian smiled, "No."
"Why not? How are they differentiated?"
"Yao are formed from living, non-human beings; demons are formed from living humans; ghosts are formed from dead humans; monsters are formed from dead, non-human beings."
" ' Yao' and 'monsters' are often confused. What is an example that distinguishes the two?"
" That's easy." Wei WuXian pointed at the viridian tree outside of the room and replied, " For example, a living tree was tainted with the energy of books, cultivated into a conscious being, and causes mischief, it would be a 'yao'. If I took an axe and cut it in the middle, so that only a dead tree-stump was left, and then it cultivates into a being, it would be a 'monster.'"
" What was the profession of the progenitor of the QingheNie Sect? "
" A butcher."
" The heraldry of the LanlingJin Sect is a white peony. Which type of white peony is it? "
" Sparks Amidst Snow."
" Who was the first in the cultivation world to focus on the rise of his clan rather than his sect? "
" The progenitor of the QishanWen Sect, Wen Mao."
His fluent answers made everyone's hearts skip a few beats. Although they felt lucky, they all prayed for him to not be stumped by any questions so that Lan QiRen wouldn't have the opportunity to pick on other people. Yet, Lan QiRen spoke, " As a disciple of the YunmengJiang Sect, you should have been very familiar with these and known them by heart since long ago, so there is nothing to be proud of even if you answered correctly. Let me ask you again—there is an executioner with parents, a wife, and children, but before he died, he executed more than one hundred people. He suddenly died in the public and, to punish him for his deeds, he was left on the streets for seven days. With the repressed energy of resentment, he started to haunt and kill. What should be done? "
This time, Wei WuXian didn't answer immediately. The others thought that he was confused and were all feeling restless. Lan QiRen scolded, " Why are you looking at him? Think about this as well. Don't open your books! "
The disciples took their hands away from the books that they intended on quickly flipping through. They were confused as well—having died in the public and left on the streets for seven days it was definitely a fierce ghost and a ferocious corpse and therefore a question hard to solve. Everyone hoped that the old man Lan wouldn't pick on them to answer. After a few moments seeing that Wei WuXian didn't answer, Lan QiRen seemed like he was thinking and spoke again, " WangJi, you can tell him what should be done."