Chapter 113 - WangXian (Part Three) (1/2)
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
WangXian (Instrumental)
The day after they met Luo QingYang and her husband, the two arrived at a small town in Guangling.
Wei WuXian put his hand above his brows, peering at the flapping flags promising good wine, “Let’s take a rest over there.”
Lan WangJi nodded, and the two walked over, side-by-side.
After the night at Yunmeng’s Guanyin Temple, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi roamed around night-hunting along with Lil’ Apple, being ‘wherever the chaos was’ as before. They’d visit wherever they heard was haunted by the creatures of the dark and deal with the disturbances, touring the region and getting to know the local customs while they were at it. Three months passed as such, with blissful freedom and no regard to matters of the cultivation world.
They went in the wine shop and sat down at a table in a plain little corner. A servant in the shop approached them. Seeing their appearance and bearing, along with the sword at Lan WangJi’s waist and the flute at Wei WuXian’s, he couldn’t help but connect them with the two figures whose stories had been spread far and wide these days. But after he scrutinized them for quite a while, he still couldn’t be sure, seeing that the white-clothed customer wasn’t wearing the GusuLan Sect’s forehead ribbon.
Wei WuXian asked for wine, and Lan WangJi ordered a few plates. Wei WuXian listened to his deep voice state the names of the dishes, with one hand propping up his cheek and another underneath the table, fingers wrapped around a snowy white ribbon. He had a big grin on his face. Only after the servant was gone did he begin, “So many of them are spicy. Can you eat them?”
Lan WangJi picked up a teacup from the table and took a sip, his voice calm, “Sit properly.”
Wei WuXian, “There’s no tea in the cup.”
“…” Lan WangJi filled the teacup and took it to his lips again. A while later, he repeated, “… Sit properly?”
Wei WuXian, “I’m still not sitting properly? It’s not like I’m putting my legs on the table like before.”
After a moment of endurance, Lan WangJi spoke, “Do not put them elsewhere either.”
Wei WuXian’s expression looked confused, “Where did I put them?”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Wei WuXian, “You’ve got so many demands, Second Young Master Lan. How about you tell me how to do it?”
Lan WangJi put down the teacup and glanced at him. Smoothing out his sleeves, just as he was about to stand up and teach him properly, roars of laughter suddenly exploded from the table in the center.
One of the few sitting at the table gloated, “I knew Jin GuangYao had to plummet sooner or later with the things he did! I’ve been waiting for this day for so long, and now he’s finally exposed, hah! One’s deeds will be paid, one way or another—what goes around always comes around!”
Hearing this, Wei WuXian felt quite reminiscent. Both the tone and content of the criticism felt quite familiar, and only the target was changed. He couldn’t help but pay attention. Another cultivator picked up his chopsticks and pointed, “As expected, there’s no fault in those past sayings! Of the ones above, the cleaner they looked, the dirtier they were behind their backs!”
“That’s right. There’s not a single good one. No matter what ‘venerated gentlemen’ they are, is there a single one of them who’s not wearing a second outer skin?”
Drinking large gulps of wine and swallowing large chunks of meat, another person spat, “Speaking of it, that SiSi used to be quite the well-known prostitute back in the days. With how old she is, I couldn’t even recognize her. What a fucking hag. It was quite the torturous death for Jin GuangShan too, hahahahaha…”
“Props to Jin GuangYao for thinking of such a way to kill his dad. A perfect match. Absolutely perfect!”
“It’s quite a mystery—why didn’t Jin GuangYao kill that old prostitute? Witnesses should be silenced. Is he an idiot?”
“Why should he be an idiot? He’s the seed of Jin GuangShan, after all. Maybe he’s a lover of affairs too. Maybe he’s got special tastes and has… haha, an unspeakable relationship with SiSi?”
“Hah, I think so too, but don’t the stories say? Because he engaged in incest with his sister-by-blood, Jin GuangYao was so shocked he somehow fell ill in an unspeakable way, so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t, hahaha…”
These stories and rumors were indeed familiar. Wei WuXian recalled how back then countless people told stories of him kidnapping a thousand virgins to his demonic cave at Burial Mound, ravishing them day and night to cultivate the dark path. He found it somewhat funny, Fine. No matter what, the things they said about me were definitely better than what they’re saying about Jin GuangYao.
The conversation grew in an even more revolting direction. Lan WangJi began to frown as well. Fortunately, the more normal people on the table could also no longer take it. One of them whispered, “Quiet down a bit… It’s not music to the ears or anything.”
The laughing few couldn’t care less, “What’s there to be scared of? Nobody knows us here.”
“That’s right! And what if someone heard it? Do they really have so many fucks to give?”
“You think the LanlingJin Sect right now is same as before? Could they really shut anyone up? Could they really play the tyrant again? You don’t wanna hear it? Then suck it up!”
Someone switched the subject, “Enough, enough. Why talk about these things? Eat up, eat up No matter how powerful that Jin GuangYao used to be, right now he could be stuck in a coffin brawling with Nie MingJue.”
“I don’t think so. They loathe each other to the core, after all. I bet his bones have already been torn apart by Nie MingJue.”
“Indeed! I went to the sealing ceremony. The resentful energy in that coffin was so strong that no life grew within five hundred feet of it. I’m doubting it, really—could the coffin really seal them for a hundred years?”
“No matter what, it’s none of your business. It’s all a matter of those few sects. Anyways, the LanlingJin Sect is over now. The skies have completely changed, haven’t they?”
“Still, during the ceremony, ZeWu-Jun looked absolutely terrible.”
“What would you expect? In the coffin were his two sworn brothers, while his sect’s juniors kept on running around with a fierce corpse—they even need its assistance on night-hunts! No wonder he’s in secluded cultivation so often. If Lan WangJi still doesn’t go back, I bet Lan QiRen’s gonna start cursing…”
Lan WangJi, “…”
Wei WuXian into laughter.
The discussion continued, “Speaking of it, the ceremony impressed me indeed. Nie HuaiSang did quite a good job, didn’t he? When he volunteered in the first place, I thought he was definitely gonna mess things up. He’s the head-shaker, after all.”
“Me too! Who would’ve known he hosted it no worse than Lan QiRen did?”
Hearing their astonishment, Wei WuXian commented in silence, What’s so special about this? After all, in the next few decades, perhaps this leader of the QingheNie Sect’s would gradually begin to show his edges, bringing the world even more surprises.
Both the food and the wine had arrived. Wei WuXian filled a cup to the brim and downed it slowly.
Suddenly, he heard a young man’s voice, “Then is the Tiger Seal really inside the coffin?”
A cloud of silence fell over the wine shop. A moment later, someone answered, “Who knows? Perhaps. What could Jin GuangYao have done with the Tiger Seal except for carrying it on him?”
“But there’s no way of telling. Didn’t they say the Seal’s become just a piece of scrap iron? There’s no use for it anymore.”
The boy sat alone at a table, holding a sword in his arms, “Is the coffin really firm enough? What would happen if someone wants to see if the Tiger Seal is inside or not?”