Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
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.”
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
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.”
