Chapter 94: Longing (Part Five)

Lan WangJi gladly accepted Wei WuXian’s effusive praise. He opened Wei WuXian’s sleeve and poured all the stolen jujubes into it, saying, “For you. All for you.”

Wei WuXian complied, “Thank you.”

However, Lan WangJi suddenly let go. With a flick of his sleeve, all the jujubes fell out, rolling to the ground. Wei WuXian immediately bent down to pick them up, but there were too many. Lan WangJi, “No more.”

He also held the hen under Wei WuXian’s left arm, each holding one in his hand. Wei WuXian tugged at the end of his forehead ribbon and pulled it back. “You were fine just a moment ago. Why are you angry again?”

Lan WangJi’s gaze swept over him, “Don’t pull.”

From the sound of it, his tone wasn’t very happy. It almost sounded like a warning. Wei WuXian couldn’t help but let go. Lan WangJi bent down and moved the two startled chickens to his left hand before he could use his right hand to tidy up his hair and forehead ribbon. 

Wei WuXian thought,  She never stopped, no matter how much I played with her forehead ribbon, back then. Is she really angry today?

He felt the need to improve himself a little, pointing to his chickens, “Forget the jujubes. Give these to me. Didn’t you say you would give them to me?”

Lan WangJi looked up and stared at him with a searching gaze. Wei WuXian said sincerely, “Please. I want it so badly. Give it to me.”

Hearing this, Lan WangJi cast his gaze downwards. He only returned the chicken to him after a while. Wei WuXian accepted it. He took out a jujube, wiped it on the cloth on his chest, and bit it in half, thinking that if Lan Zhan wanted to play, he should just play with him. “What do you want to do next?” He restrained himself from asking, “Whose house do you want to destroy next?”

Lan WangJi frowned slightly, correcting him, “We.”

Wei WuXian, “Okay, okay, okay. Us.”

Lan WangJi nodded and returned the jujube to him. Wei WuXian wiped another jujube on his clothes and chewed on it, thinking to himself, it would be terrible if anyone knew that HanGuang-Jun wanted the YiLing Patriarch to do something bad to him in the middle of the night.

The two arrived at a wall. Lan WangJi looked left and right. After confirming no one was around, he drew Bichen from his waist. With a few swings, a dazzling blue light flashed, leaving behind a row of tall characters. 

Wei WuXian stepped forward and looked. There were seven words—’Lan WangJi of Gusu has arrived’.

Wei WuXian, “…

Holding a date in his mouth, he was shocked speechless. Meanwhile, Lan WangJi unsheathed Bichen and admired his masterpiece. A moment later, he turned around and asked, “How is it?”

Wei WuXian, “Huh? What? How? …Good, good. I have to admit you’re better than me!”

This was indeed true. Despite being drunk, HanGuang-Jun’s handwriting was still very neat. Wei WuXian had to admit his own inferiority complex. Lan WangJi nodded and handed Bichen to him.

Wei WuXian, “?”

Lan WangJi handed Bichen to him again. Wei WuXian accepted it. Seeing the empty space after the words ‘Lan WangJi’, he understood.

Lan WangJi was waiting for him to write his name there too!

Lan WangJi continued to stare at him. Wei WuXian couldn’t stand it any longer, “Alright, alright, alright. I’ll write it, I’ll write it.” Reluctantly, he wrote the words ‘Wei WuXian of Yunmeng’ after ‘Lan WangJi of Gusu’. Now, their two names were displayed side by side on the wall.

‘Lan WangJi dari Gusu, Wei WuXian dari Yunmeng, telah berada di sini!’

Lan WangJi seemed quite satisfied, finally accepting Bichen back. After a moment of thought, he reached out his hand again. This time, not to write, but to draw. A few flashes of the sword flashed, and a small portrait of two figures kissing appeared on the wall. The precision of the lines and the obscenity of the content were enough to make Wei WuXian slap his forehead.

Stealing from everywhere, making a mess, writing and drawing inappropriate things… This time, he was sure—

Back at Lotus Pier, Wei WuXian told Lan WangJi about the many fun things he did as a child. The GusuLan Sect was very disciplined. Lan WangJi must have never had this much fun as a child. He probably memorized them after hearing Wei WuXian talk about them, and was repeating them over and over again, now that he was drunk. Wei WuXian must be right. After all, even the graffiti was the same as what Wei WuXian had told him!

Now that he understands what’s going on, he doesn’t know what to do.  But these are all things I did when I was twelve or thirteen!

Seeing the contents of the drawing getting increasingly bizarre, Wei WuXian felt sorry for Bichen and the wall, thinking, “  I definitely have to scratch our names off this wall. I can’t let anyone else know who the culprit is. No, no, no, tearing down the entire wall is much quicker…”

“Guk guk guk roof!”

Suddenly, a series of wild barks erupted. Wei WuXian felt as if a firecracker had just exploded beside his ear. He immediately screamed, unconsciously jumping onto Lan WangJi, “Lan Zhan, help me!!!”

This household has a dog!

Honestly, in the silence of the night, Wei WuXian’s screams were far more terrifying than a dog’s barking. He was scared to death, but Lan WangJi’s expression remained unchanged. With one hand, he hugged Wei WuXian, giving him a comforting pat, while the other held his sword. Leaping onto the wall, he glared at the guard dog, his cold expression making it seem like he was in a face-to-face confrontation. Wei WuXian wrapped around him like a braid, his face buried deep in his neck. His entire body froze as he roared, “Stop staring! Come on, let’s go!!! Take me away, Lan Zhan!!! Ahhhhhh!!!”

He almost screamed in anger, but the dog immediately hid its tail upon seeing Lan WangJi. Sticking out its tongue, it crouched down on the ground and whimpered, afraid to continue barking. Lan WangJi had won the victory. Finally, he patted Wei WuXian a few more times and jumped off the wall with him.

The dog’s barking never came again, even after they had walked for quite some time. Wei WuXian finally managed to free himself from Lan WangJi’s body. His eyes were teary and his legs were trembling. Lan WangJi patted his shoulder, looking at him with devotion, as if asking if he was okay. Wei WuXian still hadn’t recovered from his shock. Now that he could finally breathe a sigh of relief, he praised, “HanGuang-Jun, you’re really brave!”

Hearing this, Lan WangJi seemed to smile.

The ripple of movement instantly vanished. Stunned by shock, Wei WuXian felt as if he had seen things.

A moment later, he sighed, touched his chin as he looked up and smiled, “Lan Zhan, now you regret not coming with me to Lotus Pier earlier, huh… Wait, where are you going now?! Don’t run away!”

After a strenuous struggle, Wei WuXian finally dragged Lan WangJi back to the inn. When the innkeeper saw them catch two chickens in the middle of the night and even gave them to him, his expression was almost indescribable. Wei WuXian dragged Lan WangJi upstairs, closed the door, and turned around. When they were outside, he couldn’t see clearly because of the darkness, but now that they were inside, with the lamplight, he could see feathers, leaves, and the white dust from the plaster covering Lan WangJi’s entire body, from his clothes to his face to his hair. He truly didn’t look back. 

Wei WuXian pushed him away with a laugh, “You’re so dirty!”

Lan WangJi, “Cuci mukaku.”

Wei WuXian couldn’t help but tug at her forehead ribbon, “You even learned to order me around!”

The first time he was drunk, Wei WuXian had washed his face, and Lan WangJi seemed to really enjoy it. Of course, this time, he had requested it himself. Wei WuXian had wanted to do it for him from the start, but since he was already like this, simply washing his face wouldn’t be enough. So, he asked, “How about I help you take a bath?”

Hearing this, Lan WangJi widened his eyes slightly. Wei WuXian studied his expression carefully, “You want it?

Lan WangJi immediately nodded, “Yes.”

All the workers at the inn were women. Of course, Wei WuXian wouldn’t ask them to do anything too difficult. So, he reminded Lan WangJi to sit properly in the room. He went downstairs himself, boiled water, and brought them up one bucket at a time, filling the entire tub. He tested the water temperature. Just as he turned around, wanting to tell Lan WangJi to take off his clothes, he saw that Lan WangJi had already taken off his own clothes.

The two of them had met naked in the cold springs of the Cloud Recesses a long time ago, but back then, they were both still children without the slightest hint of strange thoughts. When he encountered Lan WangJi bathing, he had no other thoughts either, and both times, more than half of Lan WangJi’s body was buried underwater. And then, suddenly seeing HanGuang-Jun naked like that… Needless to say, Wei WuXian received quite a shock. At that moment, he didn’t even know whether he should follow his heart and show as much as he wanted or find something to cover for Lan WangJi and pretend to be a good person. His scalp tingled. He couldn’t help but step back, but as he did, Lan WangJi continued to walk forward. Wei WuXian had already retreated to the corner of the wall. He couldn’t hide at all, and could only steel himself as he watched Lan WangJi approach him expressionlessly. His distinctive Adam’s apple, his fair skin, and his smooth, aesthetic muscles were so clearly visible in his eyes that he didn’t even dare to look directly at him, his eyes slightly averted. He swallowed unconsciously, somehow he felt a bit thirsty. 

Wei WuXian was about to give up. He gritted his teeth, pretending everything was fine, “I was just pouring bathwater for you. Okay. You can do the rest now.” As he spoke, he was just about to leave when Lan WangJi suddenly reached out and ripped his belt in half.

Her face was still serious, but her movements were extremely rough. Wei WuXian never expected her to do such a thing. He gasped in surprise, quickly grabbing his collar, “Stop, stop! I don’t want to take a bath! I don’t want to take a bath! You can go.”

Lan WangJi frowned. Wei WuXian, “You can take a bath first. I’d like a bigger tub. It’s a bit hard to fit two people in this one.”

Lan WangJi glanced at the bathtub indifferently. After making sure that the bathtub was not big enough, he finally calmed down. Slowly, he entered the bathtub, submerged himself, and immersed himself in the hot water. Wei WuXian sighed in relief, “Then, take a bath slowly. I’ll come out.” After finishing, he was about to run away and find some fresh air to calm himself down when he suddenly heard the sound of splashing water. He turned around and looked, “Why did you come out again?!”

Lan WangJi’s face was cold, “No more bathing.”

Wei WuXian, “Why not? It’s too dirty if you don’t take a bath.”

Lan WangJi looked a little annoyed. He didn’t explain why, and simply walked over to the screen to put on the clothes he had taken off. Wei WuXian soon returned. He already knew the reason. “Want me to help you take a bath?”

Lan Wangji lowered his head. He neither confirmed nor denied it.

Seeing him, Wei WuXian felt something soften in his heart. He also found it amusing. He had been like this since he was little. When he wanted something, he never said it out loud, but instead pursued it as best he could with actions. So, he dragged Lan WangJi toward the bathtub, “Alright, I’ll help you take a bath. Come here.” He thought,  My loss, my loss. Alright, I’ll just scrub it a few times. I won’t do anything else.*

*yeah well we all know that’s not going to happen

Lan WangJi was finally dragged by it. He sank into the water again. Wei WuXian also rolled up his sleeves and walked towards the bathtub.

Lan WangJi’s skin was incredibly fair. His long hair, gleaming darkly, fluttered on the surface of the water. For a moment, amidst the swirling steam, he looked like a god of ice and snow soaking in one of Heaven’s springs. Wei WuXian felt it was a pity. It would have been much more beautiful if he had found some flower petals for Lan WangJi and sprinkled them in the water. He picked up the wooden ladle from the tub. Carefully, he let the warm water flow evenly over Lan WangJi’s head. Because Lan WangJi kept staring at Wei WuXian without blinking, Wei WuXian was worried that the water would drip into his eyes and make him uncomfortable. “Close your eyes.”