Chapter 17 - Refinement

A few disciples paddled and used nets to chase after the underwater shadow. Someone shouted from the other side, "There are some here as well!" On the other side, a mass of black shadows also whooshed past.

"That's a lot of water ghouls..." Jingyi muttered, beginning to feel anxious. The idea of being surrounded by unseen monsters greatly unsettled him. He much preferred enemies that he could look in the face and charge at (or away from, if they looked scary). If he had been one of those disciples, he'd be already on his sword, zooming away.

A number of narrow boats dragged nets and went over, but they didn't catch anything. Wei WuXian spoke, "That's strange. The shape of this shadow doesn't seem like a human. It's also sometimes long and sometimes short, sometimes large and sometimes small..."

Wei Wuxian's words, though sounding casual and flippant, sent chills shivering through the audience's spines. Not human? What else could water ghouls look like? If Wei Wuxian was right - and by now they could reluctantly all agree that he generally was, about these sorts of things - then were these black things not actually water ghouls?

Jingyi was starting to feel a bit sulky that he'd never gotten to go on any adventures as interesting as this. The most exciting thing he'd done was that night in Yi City, and without Senior Wei's guidance, he probably wouldn't have survived that. How come Senior Wei always got to be involved in the good action?

Suddenly, Wei Wuxian's tone changed from cooly impassive to sharp and urgent, for once no trace of a joke in his voice.

"... Lan Zhan, beside your boat!"

Instantly, the Bichen on Lan WangJi's back unsheathed and stabbed into the water. After a moment, it flew out of the river with a sharp resonance, taking with it a crescent of water. Yet, it didn't pierce anything. He held the sword in his hand with a stern expression.

"I wasn't joking around!" Wei Wuxian said quickly. "You all saw that black shadow creeping onto the side of his boat!"

"I didn't see anything." said Jin Ling mulishly.

Wei Wuxian sniffed with irritation. "Well, Lan Zhan trusted me! Even though he hated me back then, hahaha!"

As he was about to speak, a disciple on the other side also drew out his sword, thrusting it toward a dark shadow which swiftly swam by in the water. However, after his sword went underwater, it never came out again. He chanted the sword incantation for a few more times, but nothing was retrieved from the water. It was as if his sword had been devoured by the lake, disappearing without a trace.

The disciple's face looked vaguely familiar to most of the cultivators, but none of them could place where they had seen this face before. All they knew was that they immediately felt an irrational amount of dislike towards him

The disciple looked like he was a youth of similar age as Wei WuXian and the others. Without his sword, his face grew paler and paler. An older disciple beside him spoke, "Su She, right now, we still haven't determined what the thing inside the water is. Why did you act on your own and make your sword go underwater?"

"Su She?? Sect Leader Su??"

"Of course, who else would do such a stupid thing like sending his sword into the lake while still so young and inexperienced?" There were several unkind snickers.

The younger cultivators gaped at the image of Su She in Lan sect robes. It looked incredibly wrong, like seeing a snake in sheep's clothing. He had the same permanently grimacing face with the faintest hint of a sneer, but his eyes weren't as hard and sour as they were at adulthood.

Su She seemed like he was somewhat flustered, but his expression was relatively calm, "I saw that Second Young Master also..." He realized, before he even finished speaking, how unsuitable this sentence was. No matter what, the Bichen sword or Lan WangJi were not comparable with others. Lan WangJi could enter his sword into water when the opponent was unknown and be just fine, but it might not be the case for others.

The Lan disciples barely restrained their hisses of anger at Su She's audacity. As if that measly goat of a cultivator could ever compare to the venerated Hanguang Jun!

Lan Wangji ignored this, instead experiencing a sudden insight into what pushed Su She into hating him so much and colluding with Jin Guangyao. It still most definitely did not justify his actions. He had never liked Su She, he had been too much of a self-proclaimed self-righteous and petty person, and his involvement in framing Wei Wuxian would never be forgiven.

An embarrassed shade of red seeped through his pale complexion, as if he had been disgraced. He glimpsed at Lan WangJi, but Lan WangJi didn't look at him, and instead attentively observed the water.

Wei Wuxian was thinking along similar lines to Lan Zhan and was trying to understand why Su She had said all those months ago that he hated people like Lan Zhan who 'always acted superior to others'. Unable to hold it in anymore, he gave an outraged exclamation, "See, there! Lan Zhan didn't even say anything about it, and Su She had the audacity to say Lan Zhan acts like he's better than others? Of course Lan Zhan is better than everyone, but he's never arrogant about it! That's my job!"

In an instant, Bichen was unsheathed again. This time, the blade of the sword wasn't inserted into water, but instead, the tip of the sword jolted, and whisked up a piece of shadow from within the water. A pile of wet, black mess fell onto the floor of the boat with a plop. Wei WuXian went on his toes to have a look. To his surprise, it was a piece of clothing. Wei WuXian laughed so hard that he almost toppled into the river, "Lan Zhan, you're so impressive! This is my first time seeing someone remove a water ghoul's clothing when they're catching water ghouls."

"A-a-and he's back to joking around..." a cultivator grumbled, shaking her head.

"About removing a ghoul's clothing, too!" another cultivator replied with an eye roll. "How this clown became the 'Yiling Patriarch' is beyond me."

Lan WangJi simply examined Bichen's tip to see if there was anything strange, seeming to have decided to not converse with him.

There was some sporadic laughter at Lan Wangji's long-suffering face.

Jiang Cheng spoke, "You should shut up. The thing that swam underwater really wasn't a water ghoul. There was only a piece of clothing!"

Of course, Wei WuXian also saw it clearly. He just didn't feel satisfied without teasing Lan WangJi a few times.

Naturally not, it seemed to be the only thing that Wei Wuxian ever did since coming to Gusu.

"Why did you like teasing Hanguang Jun so much?" Zizhen asked, interested. "Is that how you flirted?"

Wei Wuxian burst into laughter. "No, no! Well, maybe a bit. But mostly I liked being able to provoke a reaction from his cold face. Embarrassed faces are the cutest."

Zizhen nodded enthusiastically, "I see, I see!"

He spoke, "So, the thing that was sneaking around was just this piece of clothing? Now that's why the nets couldn't catch it and swords couldn't pierce it. Its shape was always different. However, a piece of clothing couldn't have swallowed up a whole sword. There must be something else inside the water."

Once again, Wei Wuxian lay out the facts in a straightforwards and easy to understand way. They were already getting accustomed to this, except now his explanation wasn't complete, plunging the audience immediately in a feeling of impending doom.

At the moment, the boats already floated toward the center of Biling Lake. The color of the lake was an extremely dark shade of green. Suddenly, Lan WangJi slightly lifted his head, "Go back immediately." Lan XiChen asked, "Why?" Lan WangJi answered, "The underwater beings led the boats to the center of Biling Lake on purpose." Just as he finished his words, everyone suddenly felt their boats sinking.

Gasps rang around the room. Sizhui covered his mouth in terror. He found himself clinging to the edge of his seat, anxiously willing his parents to move faster and to be alright, even though he knew it was irrational, as he knew that both Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji were seated very much alive somewhere behind him.

Water immediately started to spread into the boats. Wei WuXian suddenly noticed that the color of Biling Lake's water wasn't dark green any more, but almost black. Surrounding the area close to the center, a large whirlpool had formed without anybody realizing. The ten-or-so boats circled around, following the currents of the whirlpool. They sunk as they spun, as if they were going to be sucked inside a gigantic, black mouth!

Jingyi gave an undignified squeak of fear. What happened to good old water ghouls? He'd never thought he'd be saying anything complimentary about drowned corpse monsters, but right now they sounded much better than whatever this enormous being that could control the whole lake was. He no longer felt jealous that Senior Wei and Hanguang Jun had gotten to go on such great adventure when they were his age - right now, he was glad of his boring, lake-monster-free life. How on earth did Senior Wei and Hanguang Jun fight their way out of this as such a young age?

The clang-s of drawing swords chorused in the air. One after another, everyone mounted their swords and flew upward. Wei WuXian already hovered above. He looked downward, only to see that the disciple who drove his sword underwater, Su She, was already knee-deep inside the water, the board of his boat already engulfed in Biling Lake. Although his face was full of panic, he didn't call for help, possibly frightened rigid.

There were dark chuckles. "Look at him and his pride, haha, how come he didn't die here?"

"What a shame, hahaha, look how scared he looks!"

Without hesitation, Wei WuXian bent down and stretched his arm out, grabbing Su She's wrist and pulling him up.

After a few seconds of shocked silence, the cultivators made noises of confusion.

"Huh?? What is he doing??"

"Is Wei Wuxian...saving him? No, that can't be right!"

"What are you doing, Senior Wei!" exclaimed Jingyi, dismayed, "You could have just let him drown! He totally deserves it!"

Wei Wuxian sighed. "Well, I didn't know he'd grow up to be a back-stabbing heartless shrimp, did I?"

Lan Wangji found himself holding back a smile. It was good that the cultivation world would be finally getting to know what a good person his husband was, firsthand. He deserved so much more than the constant slander and curses that he received for being the 'Yiling Patriarch'.

Having added another person, the sword under his feet dipped abruptly, but it continued to ascend. However, not long after, a strong force suddenly came from from Su She, almost pulling Wei WuXian off of his sword.

The lower part of Su She's body was already submerged inside the black whirlpool in the lake. The whirlpool spun faster and faster, and his body also sunk deeper and deeper. There seemed to be something hiding underwater, holding onto his legs and pulling them down.

Sizhui was now watching from between his fingers. The spiralling music was not helping with his pouding heart rate. He normally didn't condone killing, but now he found himself wishing that Senior Wei would just let go of Su She and save himself.

Jiang Cheng originally stood on his Sandu and calmly ascended to about seventy meters above the surface of the lake. As he looked down, he dashed toward them with an annoyed expression, "What are you doing, now?!"

But Jiang Cheng was too far away - he wouldn't be able to get to Wei Wuxian in time!

Jiang Cheng huffed. "You and your saviour complex. I should have known.", he muttered darkly.

The sucking force of the lake became stronger and stronger. Wei WuXian's sword was superior in terms of agility, but inferior in terms of strength.

"Does that kind of reflect how you fight, Senior Wei?" Zizhen asked.

"Hey! What are you implying?? That I'm not strong?" Wei Wuxian said, mock offended.

"Well...it matches with Hanguang Jun right? He's much stronger but you're more agile and lively!"

Wei Wuxian paused, then beamed. "Zizhen, Zizhen! Trust you to turn this all into something romantic! But, you know what, I think you might have a point!"

He was almost weighed down to the point of hovering right above the surface of the lake. He steadied himself while using both hands to haul Su She, and shouted, "Can somebody come here to help?! If I still can't pull him up, I'm gonna let go!"

"Just let go, let go, let go..." Jin Ling muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, Wei WuXian felt his collar tighten, and he was lifted into the air. He turned around to see Lan WangJi holding the back of his collar with one hand. Although Lan WangJi merely looked into another direction with an indifferent look, he and his sword carried the weight of three people, and fought with the mysterious force of the lake at the same time. Moreover, their position was still rising at a steady pace.

"Zizhen, you were right!" Jingyi said, surprised.

"They're just perfect for each other!" Zizhen replied with a radiant grin.

Lan Wangji, unsure of how to respond, looked to Wei Wuxian, who winked at him.

Jiang Cheng was rather shocked, If I went down to pull Wei WuXian before him, using Sandu, I probably couldn't have ascended so quickly and steadily. Lan WangJi is only around my age...

"Oooh, Jiang Cheng! Feeling jealous of Lan Zhan, now?" Wei Wuxian smirked. "You know that he'll always be better than you, right?"

"As if I'd be jealous of him! And shut your mouth!" Jiang Cheng snarled back.

At this point, Wei WuXian spoke, "Lan Zhan, your sword is quite strong, isn't it? Thank you, thank you. But why did you pull my collar? Can't you hold on to me? I don't feel comfortable if you do this. Why don't I stretch my hand to you and you can grab it?"

Several cultivators chuckled at Wei Wuxian's brazenness. Teenagers flirting was always so funny.

Lan WangJi replied with a cold voice, "I do not have physical contact with strangers."

Wei WuXian, "We're already this familiar with each other, so how am I 'strangers'?"

Lan WangJi, "We are not."

Wei WuXian pretended to be hurt, "You can't say that ..."

Wei Wuxian pouted again now. "Lan Zha-a-an, you really hurt my feelings then... how could you have called me a stranger!"

Lan Wangji didn't reply, but carefully wrapped Wei Wuxian's hand with both of his, and brought it to his cheek.

"Apology accepted!" Wei Wuxian beamed. Remembering how Lan Wangji never used to get close to him made it feel all the more sweeter when he did little romantic things like this.

Jiang Cheng really couldn't hold it any more. He scolded, "You can't say that!!! Can't you speak a few sentences less while you're held in mid-air by your collar?!"

While laughing at him, the cultivators could sympathise with Jiang Cheng. Growing up with Wei Wuxian must have decreased his lifespan by at least a decade.

The group travelled on their swords and evacuated Biling Lake as fast as they could. When they landed, Lan WangJi let go of Wei WuXian's back collar and calmly turned to Lan XiChen, "It is a waterborne abyss." Lan XiChen shook his head, "Then, this is going to be difficult."

"A waterborne abyss?" Jin Ling asked.

Sizhui remembered reading and copying a text about waterborne abysses a while ago, but was embarrassed to say that he'd forgotten the details now, so he just shrugged. He was quite sure that Senior Wei would explain it much better than he'd be able to, and sure enough...

As they heard the name "waterborne abyss", Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng understood immediately. The scariest part about Biling Lake wasn't water ghouls, but the water which flowed in it. Because of reasons such as terrain or currents, some rivers or lakes often encountered sinking ships and drowning people. As time went on, the area of water would develop a personality. It was like a spoiled young mistress who couldn't tolerate a shortage of the luxurious lifestyle. If no boats of goods or living humans sunk into the water as sacrifices, it would stir up trouble and obtain them on its own.

Wei Wuxian's metaphor extracted a few laughs from the audience, but mainly they were just letting the explanation sink in. Lan Xichen privately felt that Wei Wuxian had come up with a very accurate metaphor, but he wasn't sure if he was either allowed to borrow it from him, or if it would be considered 'proper' to be taught at the Gusu Lan sect.

The people of the Caiyi Town area were all familiar with water, so sunken boats and drowning deaths rarely happened. It was impossible for a waterborne abyss to grow out of here. Now that one had appeared here, there was only one possibility—that it had been chased here from somewhere else. Once a waterborne abyss emerged, it meant that the whole body of water was turned into a monster. It was extremely hard to get rid of, impossible to remove unless every single drop of water was taken out, all of the people and goods which sunk were fished up, and riverbed was exposed to strong sunlight for a few years.

Nevertheless, there was a method that could solve the immediate problem at the expense of others—to chase it to another river or pond and let it wreck somewhere else.

Lan WangJi asked, "Recently, has there been any place which suffered from a waterborne abyss?"

Lan XiChen pointed at the sky. He was pointing at nothing else but the sun. Wei WuXian and Jiang Cheng looked at each other, understanding it perfectly, It's the QishanWen Sect.

The name sent a shudder through the audience. For a little while they had gotten too caught up with the silly antics of Wei Wuxian in the Cloud Recesses that they had forgotten that, at that time, the Wens hadn't been defeated yet, and were still the most prominent sect. The way Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng and Lan Xichen didn't dare to say the name of the sect out loud said a lot about the situation then. It was the tense few moments before a war broke out, where peaceful relations felt as delicate and fragile as a thread of silk.

Among the cultivation world, there was a countless number of sects and clans, exceeding even the number of stars in the sky. And, among these, there was a titan which stood above the others without a doubt—the QishanWen Sect. The Wen Clan used the sun as the motif of their clan, signifying that they could "compete with the sun for radiance, match the sun in longevity". Its sect residence was quite large, almost comparable to a city. It was named the Nightless Sky, also called the Nightless Celestial City, because it was said that there was no nightfall in the city. It could be described as a titan for the fact that no matter in terms of the number of disciples, power, land, or magical tools, there were no other families which could compare to it. A great deal of cultivators took being a foreign disciple to the Wen Sect as a supreme honour.

They could all see the irony in that now. For all their power, land and prestige, they had still ended up as the cultivation world's most hated sect. But on the board there were pictures of a sea of red, a banner with a sun emblem and a leader sitting in a throne, towering above thousands and thousands of disciples.

Sizhui watched, feeling slightly sick. He knew about the Wen sect's horrible reputation, he knew that its leadership was corrupted, and so it came to a horrible end. But at the same time, he couldn't fully hate them...he could still remember Auntie Qin's stern but kind face, his caring grandma, his hard-working uncles...All killed unfairly just because they were Wens. He was a Wen, and if others knew, he wasn't sure what they would do.

Based on the Wen Sect's style of doing things, it was highly possible that the waterborne abyss in Caiyi Town was chased here by them. Although they knew where the waterborne abyss came from, everyone grew silent. If it was done by people of the Wen Sect, then there would be no result no matter how hard they accused or criticized. First of all, the sect wouldn't admit it, and second, there wouldn't be any compensation either.

One disciple complained, "Caiyi Town will be seriously harmed with that sect having chased the waterborne abyss over. If the waterborne abyss grows larger and expands onto the river paths in the town, all those people's lives would be up to the monster. This is so..." If it became responsible for the problem passed to them by someone else, the GusuLan Sect would definitely face countless troubles.

Lan XiChen sighed, "Let it down. Let it down. Let us go back to the town."

"What??" Jingyi shouted. "You're just leaving it like that? That isn't fair at all!"

"You are right, Jingyi. But back then, no-one could do what they believed was the right thing, because the consequences would affect more than just them." Lan Xichen replied gently, before reflecting on his own words "Well, almost no one..."

They boarded new boats at the crossing point and paddled toward an area of town where a lot of people gathered. After passing the arch bridge and entering the river paths, Wei WuXian started to go at it again. Abandoning his paddle, he put one foot on the side of his boat and looked into his reflection in the water, examining if his hair was messed up.

As if he didn't just catch tons of water ghouls and escaped from the mouth of the waterborne abyss, Wei WuXian assuredly threw a series of charming winks at both sides of the path, "Sisters, how much for half a kilogram of loquats?" His age was young, and his appearance was handsome. With such high spirits, it really was a scene of frivolous peach blossoms pursuing the running stream.

The audience tittered. Jingyi covered his face. "Wow, Senior Wei, so the rumours were true? You did flirt non-stop with girls?"

"In my youth!" Wei Wuxian defended hastily. "And not non-stop, more like..."

"More like, every time you had the opportunity." Jiang Cheng interrupted.

"So, you used to like girls and now, you like men?" Jingyi asked, trying to wrap his head around it. In his mind, Hanguang Jun and Senior Wei were inseparable.

"People are allowed to like both." Wei Wuxian said, rolling his eyes. "But, Jingyi, it's very simple now. My heart belongs to my dear Lan Zhan and Lan Zhan only."

One woman lifted her bamboo hat, smiling with her head raised, "Young beau, you needn't pay. How 'bout I can give you one for free?" The Wu dialect was soft, sounding refreshing and sweet. The speaker's lips moved melodiously, and the listener's ears would be enveloped in fragrance. Wei WuXian cupped his hands together, "If it's given to me by Sister, then I definitely want it!"

The woman put her hand into the basket, and threw him a round, golden loquat, "You needn't be such polite. It's for how handsome you look!" The boats moved at a fast speed. As the two boats met, they immediately passed each other. Wei WuXian turned around, perfectly catching it, and grinned, "Sister looks even prettier!"

"Wow..." Jingyi said again, nearly lost for words. "You did all that for a free loquat?"

Seeing Senior Wei's teenage self flirting with girls felt very wrong, but it was also entertaining. Jingyi wished he could flirt like him, but he doubted he had the patience or the self-restraint to be cool like that.

As he showed off and flirted on the side, Lan WangJi was staring straight ahead, appearing quite virtuous. Wei WuXian smugly tossed the loquat in his hand, and suddenly pointed at him, "Sisters, do you think that he looks handsome?" Lan WangJi didn't expect Wei WuXian to suddenly talk about him at all. Just as he was unsure of how to respond, the women on the river spoke in harmony, "Even more handsome!" Amid this, there seemed to be the laughter of a few men.

"Oh, of course, Wei Wuxian's just trying to impress Lan Wangji, isn't he?" A cultivator suddenly remarked.

Wei WuXian spoke, "Then, does anyone want to give him one? If you only give me and not him, I'm afraid he might be jealous when we go back!" Chirp-like laughter echoed through the whole river. Another woman came from in front of them, standing on her boat, "Okay, okay, you get two. Heads up, young beau, catch!" After the second one also landed in his hand, Wei WuXian shouted, "Sister, you're not only pretty, but you're nice as well. The next time I come here, I'm gonna buy a whole basket!"

The woman's voice was vibrant, and she was more daring than the other. She pointed at Lan WangJi, "Get him to come as well. You all can come here and get them!"

Wei Wuxian tapped his chin. "Hey, Lan Zhan! Do you think that if we went back to that village now, they'd still remember us?"

Lan Zhan thought about it, "Maybe. Most likely not."

"I don't know, I think you're very memorable. They probably haven't seen anyone as handsome as you since we last visited." Wei Wuxian teased.

Lan Zhan's chest felt filled with warm, fluttery, light. He knew he was a sucker for Wei Wuxian's shameless flirting, because he still wasn't used to the concept of Wei Wuxian loving him back. "You are always the most memorable person." He replied lightly.

Jiang Cheng was childishly blocking his ears.

Wei WuXian held the loquat in front of Lan WangJi's eyes. Lan WangJi didn't move his gaze, "Move." And, so, Wei WuXian moved it away, "I knew that you definitely wouldn't accept it, so I never intended to give it to you. Jiang Cheng, catch!" Just then, the boat which Jiang Cheng was on whirred past. He caught the loquat with one hand, a slight smile appearing on his face, but immediately snorted, "You're being all flirty again?"

"You definitely smiled, Jiang Cheng!" Wei Wuxian crowed.

"Only because I found your shamelessness so pathetic, it was funny!" Jiang Cheng retorted.

"Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian said excitedly, nuzzling up to his husband. "So can you speak in the Gusu dialect?"

"Mn."

Wei Wuxian, wriggling with excitement, "Can you say something for me?"

"Mn. Later. I promise."

"And will you teach me curse words?"

"Mn."

Lan Qiren, having half sunk into a meditative stupor, was immediately yanked out as he looked around in horror.

Wei WuXian smirked, proud of his success, "Get lost!" Then, he turned around and asked, "Lan Zhan, you're from Gusu, so you know how to speak in this dialect, right? Teach me. How do you swear in the Gusu dialect?" Lan WangJi threw a "pathetic" at him, and got on another boat. Wei WuXian didn't expect him to really answer. He just wanted to tease him, after hearing the amusingly soft Gusu dialect and thinking that Lan WangJi undoubtedly also spoke this dialect when he was young. After raising his head to swallow another gulp of the rice wine, he carried the plump, jetblack jar in one hand, picked up the paddle, and charged over to beat up Jiang Cheng.

The image of these two chaotic brothers was instantly put in contrast when the scene suddenly switched the the unmoving figures of Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen.

On the other hand, Lan WangJi stood side by side to Lan XiChen. This time, even their expressions were similar. Both looked as if they were preoccupied by troubles as they thought about things such as how to deal with the waterborne abyss and what to say to the mayor of Caiyi Town. An extremely heavy boat came from in front of them, filled with buckets of large, golden loquats. Lan WangJi took one glance at it, and continued to look straight ahead.

Yet, Lan XiChen spoke to him, "If you want to eat loquats, should we buy one basket?"

"..."

Lan WangJi went off with a flick of his sleeves, "I do not!" He went to stand on another boat.

"If Lan Xichen thought you wanted to eat loquats, then you definitely did!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed. "But why didn't you take the loquat that I offered you then?"

Lan Xichen gave a tinkling laugh. "It's like how at first Wangji always denied being in love with you. He doesn't know how to admit to what he wants."

Wei Wuxian thought about it for a bit. "Okay, Lan Zhan, when we get out of here, we're going to Caiyi Town and buying loquats! Don't bother arguing because-"

"Mn. I...would like that." Lan Wangji said, with a challenging gaze at his brother, who smiled back at him.

The rest of the audience watched with wide eyes.