Lán WàngJī versus Alcohol: Chapter Five

Wèi WúXiàn slowly opened his eyes. His long, thick black hair spilt across the pillow like a waterfall, adorned by a red hairband. His fair and handsome face was slightly tinted with red.

With his black eyes sparkling like the surface of a pond in the moonlight and his lips curved into a smile - the lips that had been devoured by the kisses to the point of turning scarlet and tempting - Wèi WúXiàn looked fully satisfied after being intensively loved by Lán WàngJī.

Now that his overly sexual desire had been quenched, Lán WàngJī held Wèi WúXiàn in his arms, tenderly brushed aside some hair that had fallen on Wèi WúXiàn’s forehead, and adjusted the collar of Wèi WúXiàn’s top garment.

Having his breathing gradually return to a normal pace, Wèi WúXiàn leaned his head against Lán WàngJī’s chest while trying to figure out Lán WàngJī’s out-of-character reactions.

The two of them remained silent for a while.

Meanwhile, Wèi WúXiàn was recalling what happened from the moment Lán WàngJī joined him in the cave until now. Then, he came to the conclusion that something was off with Lán WàngJī.

He then looked at him with a serious expression on his face and asked, “Lán Zhàn, who am I?”

Lán WàngJī’s eyes widened in surprise, and then he replied, “I know that you are Wèi Yīng.”

Wèi WúXiàn shook his head and said, “This is not what I mean.”

As he spoke, he raised his upper body, held Lán WàngJī’s face, and then he asked again, “Look around the room carefully, then tell me, who am I to you?”

Wèi WúXiàn’s question puzzled Lán WàngJī. Nevertheless, he scanned the room that was very familiar to him, and then, soon after, he noticed that both the wardrobe and the bookshelf were larger than usual.

Lán WàngJī looked perplexed for a moment; then, he seemed to recall something and quickly looked at Wèi WúXiàn He began, “You and I—”

Wèi WúXiàn gave him an encouraging smile.

Lán WàngJī closed his eyes and began to search his memory; then, suddenly, he reopened his eyes. His face at this time wore his usual expression.

He resumed, “After our three kowtows, you and I have been living as a couple.”

“That’s right,” said Wèi WúXiàn with a bright smile on his face.

Lán WàngJī went on, “And, it’s been more than three years that what we feel for each other is mutual.”

“Indeed,” said Wèi WúXiàn.

Lán WàngJī said, “Uncle has even included us on the family record book as a couple.”

“That’s true!” exclaimed Wèi WúXiàn.

He then hugged Lán WàngJī and added, “In other words, I’ve been yours for a long time, and it is known by everyone.”

“Yes,” said Lán WàngJī, and then he kissed Wèi WúXiàn on the forehead and held him tight in his arms.

At last, Wèi WúXiàn felt relieved and let out a long sigh. He said, “Finally, you have recovered your memories.”

“Sorry,” Lán WàngJī said, “A rush of memories suddenly flashed through my mind.” He still seemed a little bit confused.

He then buried his face in Wèi WúXiàn’s neck, and, in a sad tone, he went on, “I remember everything; however, I couldn’t recall it straight away.”

Wèi WúXiàn gently patted his shoulder. He found the situation a little bit distressing as well as funny.

By observing Lán WàngJī’s gloomy expression, Wèi WúXiàn concluded that his memories were not the main issue here. “Is he still drunk?” Wèi WúXiàn pondered.

As a caring partner, Wèi WúXiàn couldn’t bear to see his beloved husband feeling depressed and blaming himself for being disoriented.

He comforted him by saying, “JǐngYí also fainted when he entered the cave, but he couldn’t even tell what had happened to him. Also, that monster’s wine had the effect of evoking tormenting memories in people and made them feel confused.”

Wèi WúXiàn went on, “However, my HánGuāng-Jūn is so amazing. You have quickly recovered your memories.”

Lán WàngJī remained silent. He had never seen himself as a reckless person who would fall into a trap so easily, and he felt that he didn’t deserve to be praised.

Wèi WúXiàn became helpless, because the lack of reaction from Lán WàngJī was unusual, especially when he was drunk. “Why does it bother him so much?” he thought.

“Come on, Èr-gēge! Don’t blame yourself so much. Just tell me, what did you see inside the cave? It’s not good to keep suppressing your emotions.” Wèi WúXiàn cheered him up.

Lán WàngJī then raised his head and looked at Wèi WúXiàn; his lips were not only pressed together tightly but also were trembling slightly, and his eyes were filled with regret.

After a while, he began, “Nightless Sky City* …” After a short pause, he resumed, “I left you by yourself …” Then he didn’t carry on at this point, because it was clear, for both of them, what memories he had seen.

*Nightless Sky City is where Wèi WúXiàn fought alone against thousands of cultivators. When he lost control of himself, Lán WàngJī took him away.

Wèi WúXiàn fell silent. He would have said to him not to take it to heart if what he saw were some illusory memories; however, they were real memories.

Those dreadful memories were hard to forget. It was heartbreaking even though you just looked into one of them.

Both of them were doing their best to live a joyful life together as much as possible so that, one day, they could look at their devastated past with ease.

Wèi WúXiàn had died once but was brought back through a body sacrifice ritual. He was given a second chance, after so many years since his death, so he should live his life fully.

Even though his physical appearance was not his own, he should start a new life and forget the painful experience of being besieged by thousands of cultivators, as well as the unbearable torture of being devoured by countless demons.

Wèi WúXiàn couldn’t help but begin to reminisce about each event that occurred just after he came back to life.

The first thing he recognised was the uniforms of the GūsūLán sect. When he saw those teenagers from GūsūLán, it brought back memories of when he was attending classes at Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù.

Then, he commented on those inexperienced juniors, thinking that Lán WàngJī was already powerful when he was their age.

And, when he met Jīn Líng, at that time he didn’t know his identity and thought that the boy had a disrespectful attitude towards people.

Soon after, he saw Wēn Níng, who became like a zombie, and Jiāng Chéng, who still bore a grudge towards him after so many years.

Then, when Lán WàngJī grabbed his hand, he sighed inward. He knew at once that he could no longer escape, even though his intention was to live an ordinary and peaceful life in some place where no one knew him.

From then, they started Night Hunting together for several months and slowly unravelled the secrets of the past events.

Wèi WúXiàn then carried on recalling the events that happened prior to his death. Thinking that, although he had cut off his Golden Core, he was still unable to assist Jiāng Chéng to strengthen the YúnmèngJiāng sect.

He had promised his Shījiě* that he would give her a grand wedding, but he couldn’t fulfil his promise. And, in the end, she died along with Jīn ZiXuān, her husband.

*Shījiě means senior sister. Wèi WúXiàn refers to Jiāng YànLí, Jīn Líng’s mother.

He was the one who chose the name for his Shījiě’s child; however, he was no longer there to protect Jīn Líng when he was a kid.

He had saved Wēn Qíng and her relatives, but he still failed to keep them safe.

He had tried hard to convince Lán WàngJī to visit Yúnmèng, but he never succeeded. Back then, he didn’t realise his own feelings towards Lán WàngJī.

After learning how deeply he was loved by him, Wèi WúXiàn could barely imagine how Lán WàngJī was filled with grief at his death and kept on grieving all those years.

“And now he is saying with regret that he shouldn’t have left me by myself at that time,” thought Wèi WúXiàn.

“Back then, when I was thrown into the mass grave, what kind of state of mind had you been in?” Wèi WúXiàn went on.

“About what happened at Nightless Sky City, can you please not recall them at all?" he kept on thinking.

“How painful was it when you had received thirty-three whips of punishment because of me?

“Those days when you were alone and continuously asking spirits my whereabouts, how tormenting was it for you?

“There were so many questions that I wanted to ask; however, they were all as sharp as a knife that I didn’t dare to ask for fear that they would open the old wounds.”

Wèi WúXiàn choked back the tears. He then lowered his head; his hair slid and hid his face. He didn’t want Lán WàngJī to see him looking sad.

After a while, he raised his head and smiled as usual. Then, while undressing Lán WàngJī, he said, “Since you remember everything, let’s take a bath, then rest.”

  … … …
 

At the mountain gate of Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù, Lán SīZhuī and Lán JǐngYí saw off Jīn Líng.

Although they got some news from Jiāng Chéng, they were still not sure whether their guess was exact. So, they decided to wait for those people they had rescued from that monster’s lair to recover.

Meanwhile, since those incidents had started in Lánlíng territory, Jiāng Chéng must have found out something, so he asked Jīn Líng to go back.

Even though Jīn Líng was a little bit reluctant to leave, he knew that he had to go, since the matter was serious.

Lán JǐngYí noticed the dark circles under Jīn Líng’s eyes and felt a little bit guilty, recalling that when he was having a nightmare, to help him, Lán SīZhuī played his guqin, which actually disturbed Jīn Líng from getting some rest.

He said, “Is it really urgent that you have to leave now? You look so exhausted. Why don’t you stay and rest for a while?”

Jīn Líng rolled his eyes and uttered, “There’s no need. Besides, with my uncle’s temperament, do you think he has the patience to wait? I think that you two should deal with the issues you have right now.”

Since they were still unaware that Lán WàngJī had already woken, Jīn Líng was referring to him, as well as those innocent people who were affected by the monster’s wine. Then, the three of them suddenly looked gloomy.

They agreed that if there was any new occurrence on the matter, they would communicate with each other via Wèi WúXiàn’s transmitter talismans.

Suddenly, Lán SīZhuī said, “Jīn zōng-zhǔ, please don’t let anyone know about HánGuāng-Jūn’s condition, since we don’t know exactly what happened to him.”

That was because Lán WàngJī had a high status not only in the GūsūLán sect but also in the entire world of cultivation. It was better to be cautious and avoid any unnecessary commotion.

As a young leader who had gained insight into the cultivation world, Jīn Líng understood the meaning behind what Lán SīZhuī said and nodded his head to show his cooperation.

He then quietly recited his sword incantation, and Suìhuá emitted a golden light, unsheathed itself and suspended flat above the ground level.

Putting his qiánkūn-dài* on his shoulder, Jīn Líng stepped on his sword and flew across the sky like a feathered arrow that emitted a golden light.

*qiánkūn-dài is a dimensionless bag that can contain anything.

After watching Jīn Líng fly away until he disappeared from their sight, Lán SīZhuī and Lán JǐngYí turned around and began to climb the stairs to return to their dwelling.

As they did so, Lán SīZhuī fell into silence, and Lán JǐngYí knew that, despite his calm appearance, Lán SīZhuī was actually very concerned about Lán WàngJī’s condition.

So, in order to liven up his mood, Lán JǐngYí said, “Look how Dà-XiǎoJiě* was so eager to go back. I think that Jiāng zōng-zhǔ has uncovered something about this matter.”

*Dà-XiǎoJiě, in this particular case, means a girl with a bit of a bad temperament. Lán JǐngYí usually calls Jīn Líng like this.

He went on, “And, since some common people over there have recovered, I also believe that HánGuāng-Jūn will wake up soon. So, don’t worry, SīZhuī.”

Upon listening to what Lán JǐngYí said to him, Lán SīZhuī smiled.

Although Lán JǐngYí was carefree and straightforward, Lán SīZhuī knew that, sometimes, he could make observations and be thoughtful. After all, they grew up together, so he knew Lán JǐngYí’s character.

He understood that Lán JǐngYí was trying to comfort him, and, in a gentle voice, he said, “I know. Thank you, JǐngYí. Besides, this time, Wèi-qiánbèi is here, so HánGuāng-Jūn will be fine.”

“That’s right!” exclaimed Lán JǐngYí. “I think that Wèi-qiánbèi is quite cool. And, in case the situation gets worse, Zéwú-Jūn is also here, as well as other elders.”

Despite being able to read Lán SīZhuī’s mind, Lán JǐngYí, however, failed to grasp the real issue that could greatly affect Lán WàngJī.

In spite of his feeling hopeless, Lán SīZhuī just nodded to him. Nevertheless, he felt more at ease now.

Noting that Lán SīZhuī’s mood had been improved, Lán JǐngYí was satisfied and didn’t say anything more. And, after ensuring that no one was around to see him, he lazily stretched his body.

He then began to think about their early conversation and couldn’t help but ponder inwardly, “What can possibly frighten HánGuāng-Jūn?”

He went on. “Since the resentful energy that had entered my body was expelled after I was frightened in my dream, what exactly does Wèi-qiánbèi need to do to force the resentful energy out of HánGuāng-Jūn’s body?”

  … … …
 

After being undressed by Wèi WúXiàn, Lán WàngJī wore a blank expression for a short while.

Earlier, when Wèi WúXiàn was silent, even though he couldn’t see his face, Lán WàngJī felt that his mood was down.

And, when Wèi WúXiàn raised his head and smiled at him, he noted faint melancholy in Wèi WúXiàn’s eyes.

Although he was overwhelmed by the strong smell of alcohol, which clouded his thinking, Lán WàngJī was able to regain the memories of their daily routine, and those memories were right now floating in his head like a dream.

He let Wèi WúXiàn take him to the bathtub; his eyes followed Wèi WúXiàn’s every movement, watching him walking to the wardrobe and taking out their clothes to be worn after the bath.

He watched Wèi WúXiàn pulling open the panel screen painted with a landscape of mountains and rivers.

As Wèi WúXiàn moved about, Lán WàngJī’s gaze also followed the graceful movement of his red hairband.

“My mind is finally at peace,” Lán WàngJī thought. “I can now relax my whole body, because this is not a dream; the person in front of me has indeed become my partner.”

He went on, “He is no longer a spirit that I couldn’t contact, nor is he a yearning that I couldn’t obtain.”