Chapter 16 - Refinement

In order to defend himself if ol' fuddy-duddy and lil' fuddy-duddy came to drag him out of his bed in the middle of the night, Wei WuXian slept while clinging on to his sword. Yet, the night went smoothly.

Lan Qiren didn't know exactly what Wei Wuxian meant by 'fuddy-duddy', but it didn't take a genius to infer it was some sort of juvenile insult. "Insolent!" he muttered. If he had been informed of the incident in the Library Pavilion, he would have indeed come for Wei Wuxian, with or without a sword, and booted him out of the Cloud Recesses.

Lan Wangji smiled softly at the cute image of Wei Wuxian hugging his sword in bed. He wasn't sure what a 'fuddy-duddy' was, either (somehow, that word had never appeared in his vocabulary lists as a student), but it was a nickname that Wei Wuxian had called him by often. He knew it was most definitely not a compliment, but Lan Wangji was fond of it anyway.

On the second day, Nie HuaiSang came to him with an overjoyed expression, "Wei-xiong, you really struck it lucky. The old man went to our sect's Discussion Conference last night, so we don't have classes for a few days!"

Wei WuXian quickly climbed up, beaming as he put on his boots, "A lucky strike, indeed, almost as if Heaven is blessing me with its clouds."

The cultivators watched in disbelief. That type of timing was so perfect, it didn't seem possible. How was Wei Wuxian so lucky? Maybe Heaven did favour him - after all, after his death and all his sins, he was still alive and happy.

No wonder he turned out so bad, some cultivator parents thought darkly, When kids don't receive their proper punishment, they start doing more and more wild things!

Jiang Cheng stood on the side, carefully cleaning his sword, and threw cold water on this notion, "When he comes back, you're still gonna get your punishment."

Wei Wuxian laughed. "Turns out you were wrong! I didn't even get punished, hahaha!"

Jiang Cheng huffed irritatedly. "You should have. I'm surprised Lan Wangji didn't report you to his uncle. Even I would have."

"Well, Lan Zhan's not a grumpy little rat like you, is he?" Wei Wuxian shot back.

Jiang Cheng swelled like a purple grape. "WEI WUXIAN! SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU-"

Jin Ling shouted over him, "My uncle isn't little! Or a rat! Or... well, he is grumpy. Anyway, how do you have the face to call him little when he's taller than you, Wei Wuxian!"

"No he's not!" Wei Wuxian replied automatically, before remembering he had a different body now. Even though he had been in Mo Xuanyu's body for a good several months now, twenty years of his old life was hard to forget. He amended himself, "I used  to be taller, but in any case, he's much shorter and littler than Lan Zhan, isn't he? And he always used to rat me out to Madam Yu, when I capsized his boat or when I accidentally lopped half his hair off during sword practice-"

"You what??" multiple people asked at the same time.

"- long story - meanwhile, Lan Zhan is very trustworthy, even when I didn't know we were friends, right Lan Zhan?"

"Mn."

Jin Ling turned, astonished, back to the board and saw that Wei Wuxian was indeed, slightly taller than his uncle. He tried to imagine Jiang Cheng with half his ponytail chopped off, but it was such a disturbing thought that he shoved it from his mind.

Wei WuXian responded, "Why would a living person worry about what happens after they die? I'll just live freely as long as possible. Let's go. I refuse to believe that I can't find any pheasants on this mountain of the Lan Sect."

Nie Huaisang raised his eyebrows "Now that's a nice summary of Wei Wuxian's whole personality! I'm writing that down!"

"That does seem like a nice motivational quote, " Jingyi began, "Until you remember that Senior Wei got dragged back after he died, hahaha!"

The three walked together, passing through the reception room of the Cloud Recesses. Suddenly, Wei WuXian stopped in his tracks and exclaimed, "There are two lil' fuddy... Lan Zhan-s!"

The board showed a bit of a comical sight - two solid white figures, the exact same height and with the same facial features, walking perfectly in sync.

Lan Xichen smiled. If Wei Wuxian's first impression of him was he was just like another Wangji, then it was possibly the highest compliment that Wei Wuxian was capable of.

A few people walked out of the room. Of the two youths at the front, both looked as if they were carved out of ice and jade, both wore the same snow-white robes, and both had sword tassels which swayed in the breeze, alongside ribbons on their clothes. The only differences were their ambiences and facial expressions. Wei WuXian could tell at once that, if the one with a stern face was Lan WangJi, the gentle one must be the other Jade of the Lan Sect—ZeWu-Jun, Lan XiChen.

Everyone stared at Lan Xichen's younger form with open mouths. He looked somehow even more friendly and wholesome and pure, his eyes less tired and his complexion pinker. Couple with Lan Wangji, the overload of beauty and virtuousness  in the scene made the audience want to squint.

As Lan WangJi saw Wei WuXian, he scrunched his brows, giving him a glare in an almost "glowering" fashion. As if he would be tainted if he looked a moment longer, he moved his gaze away and stared into the distance.

There were a few quickly suppressed giggles. They knew that Lan Wangji was fully entitled to be upset with Wei Wuxian, but scrunching his brows and glaring at him seemed quite childish for such a dignified and 'unflappable' person like him.

The parts of the audience who were starting to get interested, against their will, in the blossoming relationship between Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, secretly thought that this was also kind of cute.

On the other hand, Lan XiChen smiled, "And you are...?" Jiang Cheng showed his respect with a salute, "Jiang WanYin of Yunmeng." Wei WuXian followed, "Wei WuXian of Yunmeng."

It had been a very long while since the phrase "Wei Wuxian of Yunmeng" was last heard. To Wei Wuxian, it sounded incredibly familiar and comforting - but also quite wrong. It used to be an identity he was completely sure about - but after everything that had happened, he couldn't really call himself part of the Jiang sect, even if he still felt a sense of loyalty  and connection to the sect he grew up in. There was just too much deep-rooted misunderstandings with him defecting from the Jiang sect and the trauma with the massacre of the whole sect.

He supposed that since he was married to Lan Zhan, he could be considered "Wei Wuxian of Gusu".  He gave an involuntary shudder and imagined Lan Qiren's reaction if he told him that he was joining the Lan sect...

But "Wei Wuxian of Yiling" didn't sound right either - his time in Yiling was certainly memorable, and it was the place that most people associated him with -but he didn't want to define himself by that hellish part of his life. He supposed that he didn't need to be associated with any sect or clan or land. He had already thoroughly broken so many rules and traditions that one more wouldn't matter so much.

Lan XiChen returned the salute. Nie HuaiSang whispered in the volume of a gnat, "Brother XiChen." Lan XiChen turned to him, "HuaiSang, a while ago, as I returned from Qinghe, your brother asked of your studies. How is it? This year, will you be able to pass?" Nie HuaiSang replied, "Generally speaking, yes..." He seemed like a wilted cucumber, looking at Wei WuXian in a helpless way.

Wei Wuxian's mood lifted again as he laughed at Nie Huaisang's pitiful and woebegone figure, back before he had become a sect leader or a criminal mastermind.

Jingyi couldn't restrain his laughter either, "Wilted cucumber?? Senior Wei, why do you come up with the strangest metaphors for describing people?"

Wei WuXian grinned, "ZeWu-Jun, what are you two going out for?" Lan XiChen, "To exterminate a water ghoul. We were short of hands, so I came back to find WangJi." Lan WangJi spoke coldly, "Brother, we do not need to engage in small talk. This matter permits no delay; it is time for us to depart."

"You really didn't to keep talking with us in case we wanted to come along,  hahaha!" Wei Wuxian cackled, "Too bad, it didn't work, did it?"

Wei WuXian hurried, "Wait, wait, wait. I know how to catch water ghouls. ZeWu-Jun, why don't you take us along?" Lan XiChen smiled without words.

Lan WangJi declared, "It is against the rules."

Wei WuXian, "How is it against the rules? We used to catch water ghouls all the time in Yunmeng. Besides, we don't have classes these days anyways."

It was clear from the board that Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji only had eyes for each other, even all the way back then, even if Lan Wangji was scowling and Wei Wuxian was smirking. They had already started arguing with each other, as if they had forgotten that Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng were also there.

Yunmeng was abundant in lakes and water, so it teemed with water ghouls. It was true that people of the Jiang Sect were adept at this, and Jiang Cheng also wanted to make up for the face which the YunmengJiang Sect lost during this stay at the Lan Sect, "That's right. ZeWu-Jun, we'd definitely be of help."

"What are water ghouls?" Zizhen whispered to Jingyi, who shrugged.

Jin Ling, who overheard, bragged loudly in a lofty voice, "Hah, you don't even know what water ghouls are? I've killed loads of them while I stayed at Lotus Pier. They're just pathetic floating drowned corpses in lakes, all they do is groan and scratch the bottom of your boat."

'Oh." said Sizhui. "Then Sect Leader Lan won't need extra help to exterminate just one water ghoul, then?"

"It is not necessary. The GusuLan Sect is also..."

Before Lan WangJi finished talking, Lan XiChen spoke while smiling, "Sure, then. Many thanks for your help. Do some preparations, and we can depart together. HuaiSang, are you coming as well?" Nie HuaiSang also wanted to join in, but he had been reminded of his older brother as he met Lan XiChen. Cringing silently, he didn't dare to have fun, "I'll pass and go back so that I can review..." With this act, he hoped that Lan XiChen would put in some good words for him to his brother.

"Be glad you didn't come along..." Jiang Cheng muttered. "You probably would've gotten sucked up if you did"

"Huh?"

Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng went back to their rooms to prepare. Lan WangJi looked at them from behind, his brows knitted with confusion, "Brother, why did you decide to bring them? Exterminating ghouls is not suited for joking around." Lan XiChen answered, "The head disciple and only son of Sect Leader Jiang are quite well-known in Yunmeng. It is likely that they know more than joking around."

Wei Wuxian beamed. "Thank you, big brother! I knew you always had our backs."

Lan Xichen tried not to look too pleased with being called 'big brother'.

Although Lan WangJi didn't express his opinion, the phrase "I beg to differ" was written all over his face. Lan XiChen spoke again, "And, also, you wish for him to go as well, do you not?" Lan WangJi was stunned.

Lan XiChen, "I only agreed because you looked as if you wanted the head disciple of Sect Leader Jiang to come with you." A silence fell upon them, as if the air was frozen solid. Only after a while did Lan WangJi finally respond, speaking with great difficulty, "There was no such thing."

There was a low "ooooh" .Once again, Lan Xichen was displaying his mysterious power of understanding his brother's feeling even while he looked utterly emotionless to others. Wei Wuxian blinked in surprise, looking more closely at Lan Wangji's angry face. Did he really like Wei Wuxian, all the way back then? Something fluttered happily in his chest.

"Oh!! So that's why you brought them along, Sect Leader Lan? Because you wanted them to become friends? Did you know they would become more than friends?" Zizhen asked eagerly.

Lan Xichen chuckled. "At that point, I just knew that Wangji regarded Wei-gongzi differently to anyone else, and that they would be a good match, as friends or otherwise. It was really quite obvious. Wangji would never spend so much time glaring at anyone or trying to avoid them if he didn't secretly care a lot about them."

Zizhen was unable to restrained his squeals. "Oh, I understand! That's really cute! So you tried to  let them spend more time with one another?"

"Exactly!" Lan Xichen grinned.

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji's ears were getting steadily redder.

He wanted to defend himself further, but Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng already grabbed their swords and headed over, so Lan WangJi had to shut his mouth. The group mounted their swords and set off.

Wei Wuxian sighed. "Ah, back in the days where I didn't need a donkey, I could just zip around on my sword. So much more convenient."

"No one made you give up your sword. You picked your flute and demonic cultivation, why are you complaining?" Jin Ling muttered loudly, with murmurs of agreement from other cultivators.

Wei Wuxian bit his tongue, wishing he hadn't said anything, and glanced over at Jiang Cheng, who was sitting rigid as a rock in his seat. But Jiang Cheng didn't speak up.

The place where the water ghouls haunted was named Caiyi Town, about ten kilometers away from the Cloud Recesses. Caiyi Town was connected with paths of water. It was either a net of rivers densely covering the town, or dwellings packed on either sides of the web-like water paths. The houses had white walls and grey roofs, and the rivers were filled with boats of baskets and people. On the banks, they sold flowers, fruits, bamboo crafts, pastries, tea, and silk. Gusu was in the Jiangnan area, and all the voices one could hear were soft and gentle. As two boats crashed into each other, and a few jars of rice wine were spilled, even the arguments of the two boatmen sounded like chirps of the oriole.

There were a few giggles again. They could see where Wei Wuxian was coming from - the melodic voices didn't seem to sound angry no matter how hard they tried.

Although Yunmeng had many lakes, there weren't a lot of small towns with so much water. Wei WuXian found it quite interesting. He bought two jars of rice wine and gave one to Jiang Cheng, "Gusu people talk in such a sugary way. How is this arguing? If they see how Yunmeng people argue, they might be scared to death... Why are you looking at me, Lan Zhan? It's not that I'm too stingy to buy you any—aren't people from your sect prohibited from drinking alcohol?"

There was louder laughter this time - as if Lan Wangji was annoyed that Wei Wuxian hadn't bought him any alcohol! He clearly just liked looking at him.

Wei Wuxian cleared his throat. "Look there, juniors! That's money that I'm holding. I could've bought a boat load of rice wine if I wanted to. I was actually very rich."

Jingyi began laughing uncontrollably, "And that's why you're so poor now! You don't know how to make and spend your own money properly!"

Having only stayed for a short time, the group boarded ten-or-so narrow boats, and rowed toward where the water ghouls gathered. Gradually, the number of houses on the banks decreased, and the river path became quieter as well. Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng each had a boat, competing who could row faster while listening to events in the area that concerned water ghouls.

"Pfft... they really were just kids, weren't they?" remarked one older cultivator.

"It's kind of cute, actually." said his friend with a smile.

This water path led to a large lake ahead of them, named Biling Lake. Caiyi Town hadn't been haunted by water ghouls ever since tens of years ago, yet, for the past few months, people had started to fall into this path and Biling Lake. Boats which carried goods also sunk without any reasons. A few days ago, Lan XiChen casted a few nets over this area. He expected to catch one or two water ghouls, but got about a dozen instead. He cleaned the corpses and carried them to a nearby part of the town, only to find that some corpses were not familiar to any of the local people, and remained unclaimed.

Whispers of confusion spread through the room over the eerie music that was gradually building up. That made no sense! What could have changed to make so many unfamiliar people drown and turn into water ghouls? Was the tourism safety that bad?

Guo Wanxin started to get excited again. She loved puzzles, and she already had a few theories about this one. She would have to wait for Wei Wuxian to solve it to confirm her theories, though.

Yesterday, he set up the net formation again, and caught quite a few again. Wei WuXian spoke, "It doesn't seem like that the corpses drowned somewhere else and floated here either. Water ghouls are picky about their area. Most of the time, the only place they settle on is the place they drowned at, and they usually don't leave there."

Guo Wanxin frowned as one of her theories was shot down. This situation was seeming less and less trivial - was this perhaps something to do with the era of the reign of the Wens? She had been much too young to actually remember the war or the times before the war, which was one of the main reasons she didn't have a vendetta against Wei Wuxian.

Lan XiChen nodded, "That is correct. This was why I thought that it was no trivial matter, and asked WangJi to come along, in case something happens." Wei WuXian asked, "ZeWu-Jun, water ghouls are really clever. If we use the boats and take our time like this, isn't it possible that they'll hide underwater and not come out? Won't we have to keep on searching forever? What if we can't find them?"

Lan WangJi replied, "We will wait until we find them. After all, we do what we must."

Wei WuXian, "Just by using nets?"

Lan XiChen, "That is right. Does the YunmengJiang Sect have other methods?"

Wei WuXian smiled but didn't respond. Of course, the YunmengJiang Sect used nets as well. But, because he was a good swimmer, he had always jumped into the river and dragged water ghouls out. However, this method was too dangerous; he definitely couldn't do it in front of the Lan Sect's people. If it travelled into Lan QiRen's ears, he would definitely face another lecture.

Lan Xichen raised his eyebrows in amusement. At the time, he had assumed Wei Wuxian was just hiding the Jiang sect's top secret method of hunting water ghouls. Of course, he should have known Wei Wuxian was too generous and just to do such a selfish thing.

Wei Wuxian glanced nervously at Lan Qiren, then remembered that he was far too old to be worried about getting lectured. He knew that Lan Zhan wouldn't lecture him either. It was one of the many things he loved about him - Lan Zhan trusted him and his capabilities and he didn't mollycoddle him like Jiang Cheng.

Most of the juniors looked impressed, making Jin Ling feel sulky again. All the water ghouls he had exterminated had been in nets. But of course, Wei Wuxian always had a more cool and brave way to do everything.

He switched the topic, "It'd be great if there's something that can attract the water ghouls like a fishing bait. Or something that can point out their directions, like a compass." Jiang Cheng spoke, "Look down at the water and concentrate on finding them. You're letting your imagination run again."

There was a short moment of silence before most cultivators connected the dots.

"That's like - the compass of evil-"

"Woah! So that's where he got the idea?"

"He still remembered it and made it all those years later?"

Wei Wuxian shrugged. "I was bored."

Wei WuXian, "Cultivation and riding on swords also used to be just imagination!" As he looked down, he happened to be able to see the bottom of the boat which Lan WangJi was on. An idea flashed across his head, and he shouted, "Lan Zhan, look at me!"

No one had any idea what this 'idea' of his was, but knowing his history of pranking and fooling around, it probably wasn't something innocent.

Jin Ling rolled his eyes. "You were so attention-seeking back then, Wei Wuxian! You're always calling out to Lan Wangji, telling him to look at you. Can't you just focus on the water ghoul problem?"

Wei Wuxian looked offended. "You haven't even seen what I'm about to do!"

At the moment, Lan WangJi was keeping a sharp lookout. As he heard the words, he looked up, only to see Wei WuXian's bamboo paddle sweep up a splash of water and strike it toward him. With a tap of his foot, Lan WangJi lightly hopped onto another boat, dodging the spray. He was quite angered, thinking to himself that, sure enough, Wei WuXian was here to fool around, "Pathetic!"

The audience members let out a resigned sigh. Was this the time to be playing around? Even for Wei Wuxian, it was a bit strange. The older cultivators, including Sect Leader Yao and his sect leader friends, folded their arms, tutting condescendingly and laughing to themselves.

"Oh, shut up." Wei Wuxian snapped to them.

However, Wei WuXian kicked the side of the boat which he was standing on, and tipped it over using the bamboo paddle. On the bottom of the boat, there were three water ghouls with swelling faces and ashen skin, tightly clinging onto the wooden boards! A disciple who stood nearby immediately suppressed the three.

Instantly, everyone understood what Wei Wuxian had been trying to do. He had been tricking Lan Wangji to get off the boat so that he could catch the water ghouls underneath! Sect Leader Yao spluttered, trying to regain his face, "Huh, and how did you know there were ghouls underneath? Isn't that suspicious?"

Lan XiChen smiled, "Young Master Wei, how did you know that they were below the boats?" Wei WuXian knocked on the side of the boat, "Simple! The displacement of water was wrong. He was the only person who stood on the boat, yet the displacement was greater than those of boats that carried two people. There must have been something on the bottom."

There was a sudden flashbacks to a few seconds ago, to a close up of what Wei Wuxian had noticed about Lan Wangji's boat. The boat was sunk lower in the water!

Exclamations of wonder echoed through the chamber.

"That's so smart!" Guo Wanxin said appreciatively.

"Of course, he's Senior Wei. He knows everything." Jingyi said smugly, the junior disciples around him nodding vigorously.

Sect Leader Yao huffed. "Look how brainwashed the younger generation is! Alright, the Yiling Laozu is intelligent. That's not a good thing! It just means he can pull dirtier and crueler tricks on the rest of us."

"Who says we're brainwashed? You don't know anything about Senior Wei!! You just blindly believe all those rumours about him!!" yelled Jingyi, totally forgetting his sect rules.

Sect Leader Yao tried to open his mouth to argue back, but found he couldn't. The room filled with snickers at his muffled shrieking. Lan Wangji suppressed his own smug smile.

Lan XiChen praised him, "You are experienced indeed." Wei WuXian's paddle lightly glided through the water, and the boat's speed quickened, so that he was right next to Lan WangJi's boat.

It seemed that Wei Wuxian wasn't looking for praise - he just wanted an excuse to talk more with Lan Wangji.

He spoke, "Lan Zhan, I didn't splash water on you on purpose. Water ghouls are really clever. If I said it out loud, they would've heard it and got away. Hey, don't ignore me. Why don't you look at me, Second Young Master Lan?" Lan WangJi finally condescended and gave him a glance, "Why did you come?"

Wei WuXian spoke with sincerity, "I'm here to apologize to you. Last night was my fault. I was wrong." Lan WangJi's countenance was slightly dark, most likely because he still hadn't forgotten how Wei WuXian had "apologized" to him. Wei WuXian asked although he knew the answer, "Why do you look so gloomy? Don't worry. Today, I'm really here to help."

This seemed to be a very regular pattern - Wei Wuxian just chattered at Lan Wangji and refused to leave him alone, while Lan Wangji made no reaction whatsoever, besides anger and disdain.

It was enough to make everyone wonder why on earth these two utterly polar opposite people ended up together.

Jiang Cheng couldn't watch the scene any longer, "If you want to help, then stop chattering and come here!"

There were snickers. Unlucky Jiang Cheng, who had to put up with those two for so long. No wonder his grumpiness just got worse and worse as he grew older.

A disciple shouted, "The net moved!" Sure enough, the ropes of the net started to wobble. Wei WuXian beamed, "It's here, it's here!" Thick, long hair formed veils of black satin, surging and swelling around the boats. Amid them, pairs of ghastly hands gripped onto the sides.

Dramatic music swelled - there were gasps of fear. There had to be at least a dozen water ghouls clustered around that one boat! The black tangles of hair in the murky water was nauseating.

Lan WangJi backhandedly drew his sword, Bichen, and severed ten-or-so wrists on the left of the boat, leaving only palms with fingers digging deep into the wood.

Half of the room cheered while the other half groaned with exclamations of disgust.

"Urgh...severed hands...how are they still holding onto the boat??" Jingyi mumbled, cringing with fear.

Meanwhile Sizhui and Jin Ling were leaning forwards, eagerly watching the action. Were they about to see Wei Wuxian's swordplay for the first time?

As he was about to cut the ones on the right, a red light flashed past, and Wei WuXian's sword was already back in its sheath. The strange shifts of the water had ceased, and the net also became still once more. Although, a few moments ago, Wei WuXian's sword attacked at an extremely fast speed, Lan WangJi could already tell that the sword he carried was of very high quality.

"I barely saw that, it was so fast!" Zizhen said excitedly.

"His sword glare was red, just like his demonic cultivation, isn't that funny?..." Sizhui remarked.

Wei Wuxian couldn't help but feel mournful, looking at his poor sword at the height of its glory. Such wasted potential! Lan Wangji, sitting next to him, noticed his gloomy face and hesitantly took his hand. Wei Wuxian immediately turned to look up at him, letting their fingers intertwine. Looking into Lan Zhan's clear eyes, he suddenly forgot his whole train of thought.

He asked with a serious face, "What is the name of this sword?" Wei WuXian answered, "Whatever." Lan WangJi stared at him. Wei WuXian thought that he didn't hear properly, so he repeated it again, "Whatever." Lan WangJi frowned and refused, "This sword has a spirit. Calling it as one pleases is disrespectful."

Wei WuXian let out a sigh, "Think outside the box, won't you? I wasn't asking you to call it whatever you wanted to, but the name of my sword just happens to be 'Whatever'. Here, look." As he spoke, he passed the sword over for Lan WangJi to see the characters on the sword. Surrounded by lines and patterns, two ancient characters were carved onto the sheath. It was "Whatever", indeed. For a few moments, Lan WangJi was at a loss for words.

The audience laughed again at Lan Wangji's reaction. The name of Wei Wuxian's sword was always an awkward topic among cultivators because of its ridiculous name, but this time, they could see the funny side.

Wei WuXian showed his consideration, "You don't need to talk. I know that you definitely want to ask me why it's called this name. Everyone asks if it has some special meaning to it. Actually, there's no special meaning at all. It was just that, when Uncle Jiang gave me the sword and asked me what I wanted to call it, I came up with more than twenty names, but wasn't satisfied with any of them. I thought that I could let Uncle Jiang give it a name, so I answered, 'Whatever!' But, who knew that, after the sword had been forged and taken out, these two characters were on it. Uncle Jiang said, 'If this is the case, then why not let this sword be named Whatever?' To be honest, this name isn't bad either, right?"

So, this was the backstory behind Wei Wuxian's strangely named sword! Most had assumed that Wei Wuxian just liked pranking others, so it was a surprise that it seemed to be just an accident. Jiang Fengmian seemed to be a very kind person, from Wei Wuxian's earnest and warm manner of describing his uncle.

Finally, Lan WangJi spoke through his gritted teeth, "... Ridiculous!"

Wei WuXian carried his sword on his shoulder, "You're such a boring person. Don't you see how fun this name is? It's especially good at tricking serious ones like you, and it works every single time. Haha!"

Wei Wuxian laughed. "I forgot how funny it was how you replied to everything I said with 'Pathetic!' or 'Ridiculous!'. You're less easy to shock these days."

"Yes. I have learned to expect only the unexpected from you." Lan Zhan said mildly.

At the same time, from within the virid lake, a long shadow darted around the small boat. After Jiang Cheng finished the water ghouls on his side, he was still watching out for any that they had missed. Seeing the shadow, he immediately yelled, "It's coming again!"

While Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were having their own moment, Jiang Cheng seemed to be angrily fending away water ghouls by himself. The atmosphere switched back to tense in the blink of an eye. There was certainly going to be some violent fighting soon!