Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation CHAPTER 120
Mo Dao Zu Shi
CHAPTER 120
Special Extra—From Dawn to Dusk
It was already long past nine, yet Wei WuXian still hadn’t returned yet. The paper lamp on the desk was still lit. Lan WangJi stared at its blurry aura, his eyes unblinking. A moment later, he stood up, walked to the entrance of the Jingshi, and opened the wooden door.
Having stayed still for a second, he seemed as if he was finally going to step outside when an odd thump suddenly came from behind him.
Lan WangJi spun around only to see that the window had some time ago opened without him noticing, its flaps still swaying amidst the night wind. A large bulge rose from within the thin blanket on the bed. It seemed as if something had broken in through the window, rolled inside, and was currently curled up within, shifting and shuffling.
After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi shut the door gently. He went back inside the room, on his way blowing the lamp out, closed the window, and got onto the bed. He lay beside the considerable bulge. Quietly pulling over the other blanket, he shut his eyes.
Soon, something big and cold suddenly snuck inside his sheets. The thing snuggled onto his body, right against his chest, and giddily exclaimed, “Lan Zhan, I’m back! You should welcome me.”
Lan WangJi wrapped his arms around the other, “Why are you so cold?”
Wei WuXian, “I was outside in the wind for more than half the day! Let me borrow your heat.”
So that was why he was covered in grass and dust. He must have again taken the juniors of the Cloud Recesses to disturb the beasts and monsters of remote mountains.
Wei WuXian rolled around his bed and his sheets in such filthy clothes, yet Lan WangJi didn’t seem bothered at all, despite his usual preference for cleanliness. He tightened his arms slightly, hugging Wei WuXian even closer.
After a while of warming the other with his body, Lan WangJi spoke, “Take your shoes off at least.”
Wei WuXian replied, “Sure.” And he kicked off his boots against each of his legs before sneaking into the blanket again to freeze Lan WangJi.
Lan WangJi spoke, his voice thin, “Do not mess around.”
Wei WuXian, “I’m in your bed already, and you’re telling me not to mess around?”
Lan WangJi, “Uncle has returned.”
Lan QiRen’s residence was not far away from Lan WangJi’s Jingshi. He never liked Wei WuXian in the first place. If they happened to elicit some inappropriate sounds, the very next day he would probably stomp his feet angrily, throwing another fit at Wei WuXian.
Yet Wei WuXian shoved his knee between Lan WangJi’s legs, rubbing it against him with both arousal and mischief to straightforwardly express his attitude using action.
After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi flipped him around with force and pushed Wei WuXian down under him.
The motion was so wide and force so strong that the two made a loud knock against the wooden bed.
“Slow down, slow down, slow down… Slow… down!”
Lan WangJi pinned Wei WuXian on the bed, entering with irresistible vigor as he thrust inside, all the way until his abdomen was tight against Wei WuXian’s naked buttocks. Only when he couldn’t dive any deeper did he stop.
Wei WuXian drew in a few breaths, shaking his head. Feeling a bit scared to move, he rolled his eyes and wriggled in discomfort, wanting to move it out a bit, yet Lan WangJi noticed what he was trying to do and clenched his waist to plunge back in again.
Wei WuXian responded with an “ah”, exclaiming, “HanGuang-Jun!”
Lan WangJi spoke after a while of endurance, “You asked for it.” With a pause, he began to thrust.
Wei WuXian was firmly restrained underneath Lan WangJi with his legs curled up, hair dishevelled and cheeks red. With every movement, his body would bob upward. Each time Lan WangJi drove inside, Wei WuXian would let out a moan with much obedience. After a while of toil, Lan WangJi finally couldn’t let him continue like this any longer. He forced back the heavy breaths that were about to escape his chest, keeping his voice low, “Be… Be quieter.”
Wei WuXian reached out and touched his face. He found it quite strange—Lan Zhan’s thin face was clearly so warm to the touch, yet it didn’t show the slightest hint of red, still so snowy and handsome that he almost couldn’t control his racing heart. It was only the earlobes that were tinted with a light pink. He breathed, “Er-Gege, you don’t want to hear me moan?”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Seeing how he looked, too ashamed to speak the truth yet too upright to lie, Wei WuXian could feel his entire body fill with unspeakable pleasure, so much that he could swallow Lan WangJi whole right then. He continued, “Scared my moans would be heard by someone? Easy—just silence me.”
Lan WangJi’s chest heaved up and down, his eyes slightly bloodshot. Wei WuXian urged, “Come on! Silence me and fuck me however you want to. I won’t be able to make a sound even if you fuck me to death…”
Before he finished, Lan WangJi bent down and covered his lips.
After his mouth was muffled, all four of Wei WuXian’s limbs slithered up. The two rolled around on the bed in a tight embrace. The blankets had long since been thrown onto the ground. In bed, Lan WangJi never usually changed positions frequently. After having endured it for almost an hour, Wei WuXian was already numb all the way from his back to his legs, suspicious that he might be fucked like this for the entire night. Seeing Lan WangJi’s fervor that showed no sign of stopping, he felt that it might really happen. And thus, Wei WuXian took the initiative to flip around and sit atop Lan WangJi’s body. He wrapped his arms around Lan WangJi’s neck, riding as he bit Lan WangJi’s earlobe, “Is it deep?”
The low whisper was warm and wet. Lan WangJi reached out and pressed his shoulder down hard.
It was a deep plunge indeed. Wei WuXian exclaimed. Hugging him back, Lan WangJi rubbed the back of his waist, “Is it deep?”
Wei WuXian still hadn’t returned from the surprise. His lips quivered for a bit. Before he could answer, he suddenly cried again, face wrinkled, “Ah! Wait! N-N-Nine shallow’s and a deep*!”
*TN: The phrase ‘nine shallow’s and a deep’ refers to a technique in bed that I assume is quite easy to understand. The phrase itself is very commonly known in China, nowadays more often used as a gag/joke than being taken as serious sex advice.
In vain, he covered his abdomen with one hand as he dug the other into the firm yet not too bulky muscles of Lan WangJi’s shoulder. He shouted with the force of everything he had, “Lan Zhan! Don’t you understand what nine shallow’s and a deep is?! You, don’t, have, to, always, be, so, so…”
The last sentence was broken into fragments from the thrust. Lan WangJi, “I do not!”
Although at first he cried and wailed, saying anything possible to beg for mercy, yet in the second half of the night, after two rounds had finished, Wei WuXian still had his legs locked firmly around Lan WangJi’s waist, refusing to let him go.
Lan WangJi’s body covered Wei WuXian’s, careful not to let the weight of his body fall onto Wei WuXian. Where the two connected was still wet and slippery. Lan WangJi seemed as if he was going to rise, yet with just a slight movement, Wei WuXian drew his legs back in, and the small segment that had just parted was stuffed smoothly back inside.
Wei WuXian spoke lazily, “Don’t move. The wind’s gonna come in. Let’s rest for a bit.”
Lan WangJi listened and stopped moving. A while later, he turned to Wei WuXian, “Do you not feel uncomfortable?”
Wei WuXian made an unfortunate face, “I do. I feel like I’m filled to the brim. Couldn’t you hear how miserable my moans were?”
“…” Lan WangJi, “I will come out.”
Wei WuXian immediately switched to another expression, his words frank, “I just love it when I’m filled by you like this. It’s quite great, really.”
As he spoke, he tightened suddenly. Lan WangJi’s face changed—even his breaths paused for a moment. After holding it back for a long while, he finally replied in a hoarse voice, “… Shameless!”
Seeing how he was almost driven mad, Wei WuXian laughed loudly and planted a kiss on his lips, “Er-Gege, what haven’t we done so far? What’s the use of shame now?”
Lan WangJi couldn’t help but shake his head. He spoke in a low voice, “Let me out. You need to bathe.”
Wei WuXian was already a bit tired. He responded through the haze, “Not gonna bathe. I’ll do it tomorrow. I’m so tired today.”
Lan WangJi kissed his forehead, “Bathe, or you might fall ill.”
Wei WuXian was so tired that he couldn’t restrain Lan WangJi any longer. Finally, he let his soft limbs fall. Lan WangJi got off the bed and first picked up the blankets that had been thrown onto the ground, covering Wei WuXian’s naked body tightly. Then, he hung the disordered clothes tossed all about the room onto the screen. He put on his clothes, quickly making sure that everything was neat, and went out to bring water for the bath.
Fifteen minutes later, Wei WuXian who had almost fallen asleep was picked up and put into the wooden tub. The tub was placed right beside Lan WangJi’s desk. After having soaked for a while, Wei WuXian felt energized again, patting the edge of the tub, “Not gonna join me, HanGuang-Jun?”
Lan WangJi, “Later.”
Wei WuXian, “Why later? Come in now!”
Lan WangJi glanced at him, as if thinking about something. A moment later, he spoke, “We have been back for four days, and four of the Jingshi’s bathtubs have fallen apart.”
That glance made Wei WuXian feel like he had to protest for himself, “It wasn’t my fault the one from last time broke.”
Lan WangJi put the box holding the soap somewhere Wei WuXian was able to reach, his voice calm, “It was mine.”
Wei WuXian splattered a handful of water onto his neck, making the string of red kiss marks even brighter, “Yeah. The one from that time before wasn’t my fault either. Actually, let’s be honest here—you broke them every single time. You haven’t gotten over this habit ever since our first time.”
Lan WangJi got up. When he returned, he rested a jar of Emperor’s Smile by Wei WuXian’s hand before sitting down at the desk, “Yes.”
If Wei WuXian extended his arm just a bit longer, he’d be able to scratch Lan WangJi’s chin. And indeed, that was what he did. Lan WangJi took up a few pieces of paper, all covered in words, and began to read them as he wrote down lines that resembled simple comments. Immersed in water, Wei WuXian opened the jar and took a gulp before asking, “What are you looking at?”
Lan WangJi, “Night-hunt notes.”
Wei WuXian, “By the children? You’re not the one responsible for making notes, are you? I thought it was supposed to be your uncle.”
Lan WangJi, “When Uncle is busy, I occasionally mark them.”
Perhaps because Lan QiRen was busy with other, more important jobs, this task had temporarily be delegated to Lan WangJi. Wei WuXian grabbed a few pages and flipped through, “Back then, your uncle would comment hundreds of characters after just a couple of lines before doing summaries at the end that were almost a thousand characters long. I don’t even know where he got the time to write those comments. Well, your comments are quite short, aren’t they?”
Lan WangJi, “And is that not good?”
Wei WuXian, “It is! Short and sweet.”
It definitely wasn’t out of cutting corners that Lan WangJi’s comments were short. He wouldn’t slack off in the slightest way, no matter how simple the task was. Rather, it was his habit to be as concise as possible, no matter in words or writing. Wei WuXian buried his head in the water and didn’t come up again after a long while, his hair wet. With one hand, he grabbed the soap and rubbed it on his hair, while with the other, he took one of the notes from atop the desk. After a look, he suddenly burst out laughing, “Who wrote this? There are so many mistakes—hahahahahahahaha, I just knew it was JingYi. You gave him a Yi*.”
*TN: Refresher: Jia is A, Yi is B, Bing is C, and Ding is You Don’t Deserve To Be A Cultivator.
Lan WangJi, “Yes.”
Wei WuXian, “There are so many notes and he’s the only Yi I’ve seen. Poor kid.”
Lan WangJi, “His are verbose and prone to errors.”
Wei WuXian, “What happens when you get a Yi?”
Lan WangJi, “Nothing. Rewrite.”
Wei WuXian, “He should be thankful. It’s better than punishment by standing upside-down, after all.”
Quietly, Lan WangJi collected the papers that he messed with and put them straight before laying them in a neat stack at the side. Watching his movements, Wei WuXian felt his lips naturally curl into a smile. He asked again, “What did you give SiZhui?”
Lan WangJi pulled out two of the notes and passed them to him, “Jia.”
Wei WuXian accepted it and scanned, “His handwriting is quite neat.”
Lan WangJi, “His are logically organized and substantially apropos.”
Having flipped through the stack in his hands, he looked across at the one on the desk that hadn’t been marked yet, “You have to look through all of these? Want me to help you with a few?”
Lan WangJi, “Yes.”
Wei WuXian, “I’ll just mark any mistakes I see and comment on them, right?”
He reached out and grabbed the larger half. Lan WangJi was about to take it back when Wei WuXian retracted his hand, “What are you doing?”
Lan WangJi, “Those are too much. You should bathe.”
Wei WuXian grabbed the Emperor’s Smile again and took a sip, taking up a brush pen, “I’m bathing. It’s not like I have anything else to do. It’s quite fun reading these notes and essays written by the children.”
Lan WangJi, “You have to rest after you bathe.”
Wei WuXian flaunted, “You think I look like I could fall asleep now? I think I’d have no problem with two more rounds, even.”
As he watched Wei WuXian cling to the edge of the tub, reading the notes carefully and at times propping an elbow on the desk to write, the candlelight reflected against Lan WangJi’s eyes seemed to flicker with warmth.
Although his words were rather bold, claiming he could go two more rounds and such, it was difficult for him to not feel the fatigue, having run amok in the mountains with the boys for the whole day, messed around in bed for half the night, and marked a stack of notes. After he forced himself to meticulously mark his portion, he tossed it onto the desk before sliding into the water. Quickly yet gently, Lan WangJi picked him up, wiped him dry, and transferred him onto the bed.
After Lan WangJi took a quick bath and got in bed as well, hugging Wei WuXian in his arms, Wei WuXian continued to be awake for a short while, hazily whispering by his collarbone, “The kids in your sect are quite good at writing essays. They’re just missing that tiny bit when it comes to night-hunting.”
Lan WangJi, “Mn.”
Wei WuXian, “But that’s no problem… I’ll make them cram hard while I’m at the Cloud Recesses. Tomorrow… I’ll take them to wreck the mountain demon nests again.”
The single-legged mountain demon was powerful and covered in black fur. It ate people like munching on vegetables. If it were someone else, from the way he said it, they would’ve thought he was taking a group of runny-nosed toddlers to the rooftop to steal bird eggs.
The corners of Lan WangJi’s lips moved slightly, as if he was about to smile, “Today was mountain demons again?”
Wei WuXian, “Yeah. That’s why I said they’ve got more work to do. After all, mountain demons only have one leg. They almost couldn’t escape from single-legged ones, so if later on they meet four-legged lizards, eight-legged spiders, or hundred-legged centipedes, wouldn’t they have to wait for their deaths… Oh, right. HanGuang-Jun, I’m out of money. Give me a bit more, won’t you?”
Lan WangJi, “Simply take the jade token to withdraw the money.”
Wei WuXian let out a muffled laugh, “Apart from letting me in and out of the barrier, that jade token you gave me… can also let me draw money?”
“Yes.” Lan WangJi, “Did you ruin the stall or residence of a passersby?”
Wei WuXian, “No… Of course not… I spent all the money because after the night-hunt, I took them to that Hunan cuisine at Caiyi Town… The exact one you never agreed to go no matter how much I tried to persuade you… I’m so tired… Stop talking to me, Lan Zhan…”
Lan WangJi, “Yes.”
Wei WuXian, “… I told you to stop talking… Even if you say just one word, I won’t be able to hold myself from responding… Okay, Lan Zhan, let’s sleep. I… can’t anymore… I really have to sleep… See you tomorrow, Lan Zhan…”
He kissed Lan Zhan’s neck, and indeed soon fell heavily asleep.
It was all darkness and silence amidst the Jingshi.
A moment later, Lan WangJi planted a gentle kiss in the center of Wei WuXian’s forehead.
He whispered, “Wei Ying, see you tomorrow.”
GDC Chapter 120.5: Extra—Intrusion (Part One)
Chapter 120: Extra—Intrusion (Part One)
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
The story began the night three days ago.
That evening, Young Master Qin returned from a social full of alcohol and fatigue. Just as he was about to retreat, he suddenly heard the sound of someone hitting a door.
Again and again, a person was slamming on the main doors of the Qin estate.
The servant watching over the courtyard mumbled in response, crawling up as he went to examine the situation with a lantern. Just as he was about to ask whom it was, the one knocking on the door seemed to have suddenly gone mad, madly banging on the door.
And it was truly banging. The bolt creaked. It seemed as if ten claws of iron were scratching the planks unstoppably.
The commotion was too loud. Soon, the courtyard was filled with roused servants. Holding lamps, lanterns, and clubs, the crowd of people stared at one another. Finally, robed only in an outer coat and gripping a sword in his hand, the owner of the estate finally arrived.
Young Master Qin unsheathed his sword with a sharp ‘clang’ as he shouted, “Who is it?!”
At once, the scratching outside the door became louder.
One of the servants was curled up in a corner, leaning against a broom. Young Master Qin pointed to him, “Climb up and look outside.”
The servant didn’t dare disobey. Dark faced, he slowly inched up as he turned his head around with much difficulty to look at Young Master Qin, only in exchange for impatient urging.
In the end, he put two trembling hands on the roof tiles and peeked. With only one glance, he plummeted head-first onto the ground.
Young Master Qin, “He said that the one knocking the door was a monster in burial robes. Messy-haired and covered in blood. It wasn’t a living person.”
At this point, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi exchanged a look with each other.
While Lan SiZhui asked, “Young Master Qin, is there no description with greater detail?”
Young Master Qin was not of the cultivation world. He only found the right people by chance. He knew that these were cultivators, but not their identities and names. Nonetheless, Lan WangJi had an ethereal demeanor, Wei WuXian seemed nothing short of confident, and despite still being young, Lan SiZhui was quite graceful around the corners. Thus, he didn’t dare treat them badly, “No. That servant’s a coward. He passed out with just one glance, and I only managed to wake him up after pinching his central acupoint* for ages. You think you can expect him to see it clearly?”
*TN: The central acupoint is on one’s face, at the portion between the end of the nose and the tip of the mouth. In traditional Chinese medicine, it’s often stimulated in emergencies (such as when a person falls into a coma).
Wei WuXian, “Could I ask something?”
Young Master Qin, “Go ahead.”
Wei WuXian, “Young Master Qin, did you only order your servant to look and not look outside yourself?”
“That’s right.”
“What a pity.”
“What’s there to pity?”
Wei WuXian, “According to your words, the one who paid a visit to your door was a fierce corpse. When fierce corpses drop by, they’re usually there for a particular person. If you looked, perhaps you’d find that it was an old friend of yours.”
Young Master Qin, “And perhaps I’m the rare case. Besides, even if it came from someone, it wouldn’t necessarily be me, would it?”
Wei WuXian nodded with a smile, “You’re right.”
Young Master Qin continued, “That thing went on until daybreak. When I went out to look in the morning, the doors were already in shambles.”
Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi strolled before the main doors.
Lan SiZhui followed them, probing with care. The doors of the Qin estate was covered in hundreds of savage scratch marks, five a group, as long as a few feet and as short as a few inches. Indeed, it was in shambles.
Although it was undoubtedly the marks of human hands, it didn’t seem like something the fingernails of a live person could make no matter what.
Young Master Qin, “In any case, as you are of the cultivational world, Young Masters, do you have a way to exorcise this being?”
Wei WuXian, however, responded, “There’s no need.”
Lan SiZhui was surprised, but he didn’t say anything. Young Master Qin also found it strange, asking, “There’s no need?”
Wei WuXian stated, “There’s no need. The so-called ‘house’ adopts the task of shelter the moment it’s built, the moment it’s owned by someone. The doors to a house form a natural barrier. They not only obstruct the human, but also the inhuman. Because you’re the owner of this house, as long as you don’t say or do anything to invite creatures of darkness inside, there would be no way for them to invade. According to the remaining evil energy on the doors, it’s not some rare, bloodthirsty creature either. A door’s enough to fend it off.”
Young Master Qin was still doubtful, “It’s really so easy?”
Lan WangJi, “Yes.”
Wei WuXian stepped on the threshold, “Really. And in reality, the threshold is a barrier as well. The living dead are lifeless in both blood and breath. They can only move by means of hopping. Unless the walking corpse had shocking leg muscles and could jump a meter high, or else, even if the doors are wide open, it wouldn’t be able to hop in.”
Young Master Qin was still worried, “Isn’t there anything else I’d need to purchase? Like talismans for defense or swords for exorcism? I’d be more than happy to offer great reward. Money isn’t an issue.”
Lan WangJi, “Invest in a new door bolt.”
“…”
Seeing Young Master Qin’s face of disbelief, implying that he thought the whole suggestion was to shoo him away, Wei WuXian responded, “It’s your choice. You can decide for yourself, Young Master Qin. If anything else happens, you’re welcome to come to us again.”
After leaving the Qin estate, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi walked side by side for a while, wandering around as they conversed casually.
Right now, the two were already half retired. If there was nothing important, they’d roam around aimlessly, from only a few days to almost an entire month. When Wei WuXian heard of Lan WangJi’s reputation for being wherever the chaos was, he didn’t think it’d be too hard, but right now as he tried it in person alongside Lan WangJi, he discovered that it was truly a test of one’s resolution. It wasn’t difficult. In fact, it was too easy. When he went on night-hunts in the past, he always liked to choose strange, adventurous locations, so naturally his trips were full of thrill and surprise. However, Lan WangJi wasn’t picky. He did anything he deemed that he ought to do, and so he’d often come across some night-hunt targets that were unchallenging to Wei WuXian. This case of the fierce corpse, for example, was really not too interesting compared to the things Wei WuXian had hunted in the past. Most others would likely also deem it unworthy for him.
However, because he was together with Lan WangJi, even if the incident itself wasn’t so engaging, having each other as company made it quite a relaxing process.
Lan SiZhui followed them in silence, holding Lil’ Apple’s rein. After some thought, he still couldn’t help but asked, “HanGuang-Jun, Senior Wei, is it really alright to leave Young Master Qin’s house like that?”
Lan WangJi, “It is.”
Wei WuXian grinned, “Do you really think I was spouting nonsense and making up lies, SiZhui?”
Lan SiZhui hurried, “Of course not! Ahem, that was not what I meant. What I wanted to say was that even though house doors do carry the power to fend things off, those doors were almost about to break. Would it really be fine, without giving him even a single talisman?”
Wei WuXian, “Naturally so.”
Lan SiZhui, “Oh…”
Wei WuXian, “Of course it wouldn’t be fine.”
Lan SiZhui, “Huh? Then why?”
Wei WuXian, “Because Young Master Qin was lying.”
Lan WangJi nodded lightly. Lan SiZhui, however, seemed somewhat surprised, “How could you tell, Senior Wei?”
Wei WuXian, “I only met Young Master Qin once, so I can’t say for sure, but his personality is…”
Lan WangJi, “Stubborn and cold.”
Wei WuXian agreed, “Pretty much. Anyhow, he’s definitely not easily-scared. That night’s situation was strange, but it wasn’t so strange that it could scare someone out of their wits, according to his description. Would it be so difficult for him to climb up to the roof and look outside?”
Lan SiZhui realized, “But he insisted that he did not take a single look…”
Wei WuXian, “Right? If someone comes slamming on your door at night, everyone has some curiousness in them and you’ve also got some guts, so what’d be normal is to take a sneak peek. Wouldn’t it be strange if you insisted that you didn’t look?”
Lan WangJi, “Agreed, entirely.”
Wei WuXian, “Great minds think alike!”
After he finished, he grinned before touching his chin, “And even though the scratch marks left by the corpse on the doors looked quite frightening, they weren’t at all heavy with evil energy. It definitely didn’t come to kill for revenge—this I know for sure. We’d have to wait and see to find out what’s really the case.”
Lan SiZhui, “If so, Senior Wei, why not summon the corpse and ask it directly?”
“I refuse.”
“Huh?”
Wei WuXian responded without hesitation, “You know how much blood it takes to draw a Spirit-Attraction Flag? I have a weak constitution.”
Lan SiZhui really thought he was too lazy to let out blood, “Senior Wei, you can use my blood.”
Yet, Wei WuXian burst out with a laugh. He spoke, “SiZhui, to be honest, this isn’t the problem. This time, we came here for you to gain more experience, didn’t we?”
Lan SiZhui paused in surprise. Wei WuXian continued, “Of course I can summon the corpse and directly make it leave. But, can you?”
Hearing this, Lan SiZhui immediately understood.
After having been through a series of events, both he and the other juniors of the GusuLan Sect had begun to rely on Wei WuXian a bit too much. Summoning spirits and controlling corpses were indeed the quickest way, but not everyone was able to use such a means, and it wasn’t as if he cultivated the ghostly path. And thus, to him, it wasn’t the best to study too much of these skills. If this time again, Wei WuXian did whatever he was good at and solved the mystery in just a few tries, how could it be gaining experience?
This time, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi were here to take him through the ordinary path, to see how this matter could be dealt with through the usual means.
Lan SiZhui, “So HanGuang-Jun, Senior Wei, what you intended was that since Young Master Qin refused to tell us the truth, we can ignore him for now and give him a good scare?”
Wei WuXian, “Exactly. Just watch for now. That door bolt could at most hold up for two more days. HanGuang-Jun kindly gave him such a practical advice, telling him to get a new one, but it seems like Young Master Qin didn’t take it to heart. No matter what, if he really hid something important, it’d be no use even if he gets ten new door bolts. It’ll come back sooner or later.”
Yet, that door bolt couldn’t even last a single night. The second day, with a dark face, Young Master Qin went to visit Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi again.
Prominent sects all had multiple external establishments. After the three came, they settled down at a small, elegant building of the GusuLan Sect’s, named Bamboo Cottage. Young Master Qin called on them rather early, coincidentally bumping into Lan SiZhui tugging at the donkey’s rein. Poor Lan SiZhui was trying hard to drag Lil’ Apple outside as the latter gnawed at bamboo shoots. The moment he turned around, he saw Young Master Qin’s lips twitch. Blushing slightly, he let go of the rein and invited Young Master Qin inside.
Carefully, he went to knock the bedchamber of the two seniors to report. When he saw the already-dressed Lan WangJi open the door soundlessly and shake his head, he knew that Senior Wei wouldn’t be able to wake up anytime soon. Lan SiZhui felt quite cornered. In the end, he still toughened up and violated the sect rule of ‘lying is prohibited’, telling Young Master Qin that his senior was still resting due to having fallen ill. Or else, he couldn’t openly say the big truth of ‘Senior Wei is sleeping, and HanGuang-Jun told you to wait on your own’, could he…?
Wei WuXian slept all the way until the sun was high up in the end. Only after much hugging and caressing from Lan WangJi did he finally manage to crawl up. As he proceeded through his morning routine with closed eyes, he even put on Lan WangJi’s inner-wear by accident. A few inches of white sleeves extended from below his outer robe, rolled up many times. It was quite unbefitting, really. Fortunately, Young Master Qin wasn’t in a state of mind good enough to mind whether or not Wei WuXian was dressed properly. At once, he hauled the three away.
The doors to the Qin estate were tight shut. Young Master Qin went up to knock the door, making no small talk, “After the advice yesterday, I relaxed somewhat, but I still couldn’t sleep. I was in the hall reading, minding any noise outside.”
Soon, a servant opened the doors and welcomed the three into the courtyard. The moment they walked down the steps, Wei WuXian paused slightly.
Crimson footprints were scattered all over the courtyard. It was a fearsome sight.
Young Master Qin continued gloomily, “Last night, that thing came again. It scratched and banged the door for almost an hour. Just as I felt annoyed by the commotion, I suddenly heard a creak, and the door bolt was snapped in half.”
The instant he heard the door bolt break, Young Master Qin felt all the hair on his back rise.
He sprinted to the door and peered outside from the wooden door of the main hall.
The moon was dark. He could see from afar the two opened door flaps. A figure stood before the entrance of the Qin estate, hopping like a piece of wood with a spring underneath it.
It hopped for a while and still couldn’t get in. Young Master Qin let out a breath of relief. He thought that, as expected, it was the same as how Wei WuXian described it to be in the day, its body rigid and its legs unable to bend. It definitely wouldn’t be able to jump over the tall threshold of his house.
Yet, before he could even fully let the breath out, he saw the figure hopping at the door suddenly leap high up into the air—just like that, it jumped through the doorway!
Young Master Qin spun around, slamming his back into the door.
The creature passed the main entrance and entered the courtyard, hopping straight forward. Thump. Thump. Just a few jumps, and it ran into the door to the main hall.
Young Master Qin felt a shudder come from the wooden door behind him. Realizing that there was but a single door between the creature and him, he scrambled to run away.
Young Master Qin, “Under the moonlight, that creature’s shadow reflected onto the paper windows. It couldn’t come in, so it circled around the hall. It left all of these footprints inside the yard! Young Masters, it’s not that I don’t believe what you say, but you really said that it couldn’t jump inside.”
Wei WuXian stepped the threshold, “Young Master Qin, most of the time, rigid corpses indeed can’t jump in. No blood flows in the dead, so of course they can’t bend their legs. Feel free to ask any cultivational sects anywhere in the world. They’ll all tell you the same thing.”
Young Master Qin spread his palms, as if to show him the courtyard filled with red footprints, “Then how would you explain this?”
Wei WuXian, “I can only say that the thing that came through your doors isn’t too ordinary. Young Master Qin, think for a second—did you notice anything wrong with the corpse when you peered at it last night?”
Young Master Qin thought about it for a long while, his expression unsightly, before he finally answered, “Speaking of it, that thing jumped in quite a strange pose.”
Wei WuXian, “How so?”
Young Master Qin, “Almost as if it was…”
Over on the other side, Lan WangJi had already walked once around the courtyard. He walked back to Wei WuXian’s side, his voice calm, “Limping.”
Young Master Qin exclaimed, “That’s right!”
Immediately, he asked, “And how do you know, Young Master?”
Lan SiZhui was wondering the same thing. But because as he understood it there was nothing that HanGuang-Jun didn’t know, he was only curious, not confused, calmly waiting for the answer.
Lan WangJi, “The prints on the ground.”
Wei WuXian bent down, and Lan SiZhui squatted as well, carefully examining the footprints. Wei WuXian looked up again after just a few glances, turning to Lan WangJi, “A single-legged corpse?”
Lan WangJi nodded. Wei WuXian stood up, “So that’s why it could jump over. All these footprints are half heavy and half light. One of the corpse’s legs are broken.”
He thought about it some more, “Do you think it broke it before or after death?”
Lan WangJi, “Before.”
Wei WuXian, “Yes. If it were after he died, it wouldn’t be affected by anything no matter which part of it broke.”
Just like that, they began to converse without any hindrance. However, Lan SiZhui was unable to follow it. He had to stop them, “Wait, HanGuang-Jun, Senior Wei, let me sort this out—you are saying that this corpse has a broken leg and walks with a limp. But because of this, it is rather easier for it than two legged… uh, able-bodied corpses, to jump over the tall threshold?”
Clearly, Young Master Qin was thinking about the same question, “Did I hear wrong?”
Lan WangJi, “No.”
Young Master Qin seemed to find it absurd, “Do you mean to say that someone with one leg would run faster than someone with two?”
On the other side, the two were quite engaged in discussion. Wei WuXian spared a moment to grin at him, “You understood wrong, but perhaps you’d get it if I explain it this way. Some people are blind in one eye, and so they take better care of their remaining one. Thus even though they are half blind, their eyesight may not be worse than those with two eyes. In the same sense, if a person’s left arm is broken and can only use their right arm, after a long time, maybe their right arm would be abnormally strong, even twice as powerful as someone with both arms…”
Lan SiZhui understood, “And because the corpse was limp in one leg before death, it often jumped around on one leg after death, and so it would be able to jump higher than corpses with both legs?”
Wei WuXian gladly replied, “Precisely.”
Lan SiZhui found this intriguing and made sure to remember it. Young Master Qin seemed irritated, “It’s my bad. I argued with my wife yesterday and tended to household matters late into the evening, so I didn’t have the time to reinstall the front door. I’ll fix it right now—I’ll make sure the door’s as sturdy as a bucket made of steel!”
However, Lan WangJi shook his head, “It would be futile. ‘No precedent shall be set’.”
Young Master Qin jolted, feeling that the statement wouldn’t be anything reassuring, “And what does ‘no precedent shall be set’ mean?”
Wei WuXian, “What he said is a jargon of ours. It means that when dealing with dark creatures, some defensive tactics can only be once. They’d be useless the second time around. If you reinstalled it yesterday, it would’ve been able to hold up a while longer, but now that it once managed to enter the door, it’d be able to travel in and out freely from now on.”
Young Master Qin was both shocked and regretful, “Then! What should I do?”
Lan WangJi, “Sit and wait.”
Wei WuXian, “There’s no need for panicking. It can go through the main entrance, but it can’t cross the second door. Think of your estate like a city. As of right now, only the outermost walls have been breached—two more remain.”
“Two more? Which two?”
Lan WangJi, “The door of company. The door of privacy.”
Wei WuXian, “Your living room and your bedroom.”
During the conversation, the group had already passed through the courtyard and taken seats at the main hall. Surprisingly, nobody brought tea for a long time, with all the servants having disappeared. After Young Master Qin’s yells, someone finally came up to them before being kicked away quickly after. Now that he vented his anger, Young Master Qin’s expression calmed slightly, still unwilling to settle, “Could you really not give me some talismans to suppress it? Please don’t worry, young masters. Payment really isn’t an issue.”
Yet he didn’t know that these people never expected any payment to come from the night-hunt either. Wei WuXian, “That depends on the way you want to suppress it.”
“How so?”
And Wei WuXian began.
He spoke, “Suppression mends the symptoms but not the root of the issue. If you only want to prevent it from entering your doors, that’d be relatively easy—switch up the talisman every two weeks. It’d still be able to wreck your door, though. At that time, I say your door would need to be changed more often than the talisman. If you want it to back off, you’d need to switch it up every seven days, and these talismans are often quite complex to make and expensive in pricing. On top of that, the longer you suppress it, the stronger its resentful energy would grow to be…”
Quietly, Lan WangJi sat and listened to Wei WuXian’s nonsense, saying nothing.
It was true that suppression wasn’t a good strategy, but the construction and usage of talismans weren’t as difficult or complex as how Wei WuXian made them to be. But in terms of this, nobody’s mouth was more clever than Wei WuXian’s. Even Lan SiZhui, with his excellent grades, was befuddled by the explanation, almost believing it. Young Master Qin found it quite a hassle, as if he’d encounter countless repercussions if he chose to suppress it. He couldn’t help but began to doubt, repeatedly glancing at Lan WangJi who was sipping tea. But because there was never a single flash of ‘he’s exaggerating’ written on his face, he couldn’t do anything but to believe it, “Isn’t there something that deals with it once and for all?!”
Wei WuXian’s tone of voice turned, “Whether there is or isn’t would be a decision up to you, Young Master Qin.”
Young Master Qin, “How come it’s up to me?”
Wei WuXian, “I can make a talisman specially for you, but that’d depend on if you’re willing to answer my question honestly.”
“What question?”
Wei WuXian, “Did you know the corpse before its death?”
After a moment of silence, Young Master Qin finally replied, “Yes.”
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