Chapter 25 - Malice

Jin Ling slowly woke up after a while. Putting his hand to his neck, some pain could still be felt. He was so angry that he jumped up and unsheathed his sword at once, "How dare you hit me! My uncle hadn't even hit me before!"

"Such an angry little thing." Wei Wuxian joked fondly. "Your uncle better not have hit you!"

Jiang Cheng humphed and didn't say anything. Of course never hit his only nephew, he wasn't like his mother, whipping disciples with Zidian for every tiny mistake.

Wei WuXian exclaimed, "Really? Doesn't he say that he'll break your legs all the time?"

Jin Ling fumed, "He's only saying that! You damn cut-sleeve, what on Earth do you want? I..." Wei WuXian covered his face and shouted toward behind Jin Ling, "Ah! HanGuang-Jun!" Jin Ling was more scared of Lan WangJi than he was of his uncle.

"..." Jiang Cheng's face went dark. In his mind, the more scared you were of someone, the more respect you had for them, so he felt greatly wounded. He resisted the petty urge to scowl at Lan Wangji, who's cold face was utterly impassive as usual, with no sign of pleasure or surprise.

Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, was laughing without restraint, seemingly on his husband's behalf. It was pretty ridiculous that someone would be less scared of the aggressive and rage-filled Jiang Cheng than the calm and honourable Lan Wangji. What was Lan Zhan gonna do, yell at him?? Punish him??

After all, his uncle was from his own clan, but HanGuang-Jun was from someone else's. Frightened, he fled at once, shouting as he ran, "You damn cutsleeve! Disgusting maniac! I'll remember you! This is not over yet!"

The cultivators laughed at how quickly Jin Ling ran off, without even bothering to check whether Hanguang Jun was really there, all while still attempting to maintain hostility to Wei Wuxian.

Jin Ling's face was red, seeing how foolish he looked in front of everyone. He snuck a glance at Wei Wuxian to make sure he wasn't upset at him for saying such rude things, but Senior Wei was still laughing, cuddled up so close to Hanguang Jun that they were practically on top of one another. He shuddered and looked away quickly.

Behind him, Wei WuXian laughed so hard that he couldn't breathe. After Jin Ling disappeared into the distance, his chest itched in a stuffy way, and finally managed to stop the laughter after a while of coughing.

Only then, did he have time to think.

The scenery of the forest faded away, to another scene with a very young Wei Wuxian huddled in an alley in Yunmeng, though this time there were no dogs.

"Oh, it's tiny Senior Wei again!" Zizhen said brightly. "I think he looks a bit older here, though."

Wei Wuxian frowned. These were his personal memories - why did the entire cultivation world have to see him like that, small and vulnerable - he was basically a nobody back then.

Wei WuXian was taken home by Jiang FengMian when he was nine. Most memories from back then were already blurred. Yet, Jin Ling's mother, Jiang YanLi, remembered all of them, and even told him quite a few. She said that, after his father heard of the news that his parents both died in battle, he had always dedicated himself to finding the child that these past friends had left behind. After searching for a while, he finally found the child in Yiling.

Jin Ling felt like someone had slapped him. He was always trying to seek revenge for the deaths of his parents, but Senior Wei's parents had both died too - and Senior Wei had probably been older than he was when his parents were killed. But Senior Wei never went out to find who exactly had been responsible for his parents' deaths. Looking at the kind of person Jiang Fengmian was, perhaps Senior Wei had just been raised to more forgiving principles.

The cultivators couldn't help but remark what a kind face Jiang Fengmian had. It was stoic but gentle, radiating a wholesome goodness. The juniors gazed in awe at the past Jiang sect leader's face. Portraits and stories really didn't do him justice.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian both felt a stabbing pain in their hearts. Seeing Jiang Fengmian's face made them feel like teenagers again, back when they had someone to take care of things for them and make sure everything ended up being alright. Now, that was their job.

The first time they met, Wei WuXian was kneeling on the ground, eating the fruit peels that somebody tossed on the ground. Yiling's winter and spring were quite cold, yet the child only wore thin layers. His knees were already tattered, and on his feet were two different shoes that didn't fit at all.

The audience, for once, didn't say anything. It was hard to keep hating on Wei Wuxian when they saw such sad things from his past.

The cultivators from poorer families understood, and were surprised that Wei Wuxian had gone through the same trials and sufferings as they had. It made him seem less like a monster and more like an ally. But the cultivators born in rich sects couldn't at all imagine how anyone could possibly be hungry enough to eat fruit peels off the ground. The Jin disciples in particular were making grossed-out faces. How talented did Wei Wuxian have to be to go from such a low point to one of the most famous people in history!

Lan Wangji wanted to dive into the past and snatch Wei Ying up, and whisk him to Gusu where he would be looked after and loved, as he should be. Fortunately, at that precise moment, Jiang Fengmian caught sight of him.

As he was looking down, searching for fruit peels, Jiang FengMian called him. He still remembered that there was a "Ying" in his name, so he lifted his head. Although his cheeks were both red and chapped from the cold, he still wore a smile. Jiang YanLi said that he was born with a smiling look. No matter what unfortunate thing happened, he wouldn't cling on to them; no matter what situation he was in, he would be happy.

The juniors looked at each other knowingly. That precisely described Senior Wei's core personality, and it was what made him different from other cultivators, who in his position would have given up long ago.

Not many knew much about Jiang Yanli's personality, but judging from these words, she seemed to be a very wise and sweet person - it was true that Wei Wuxian's three expressions seemed to be: smiling, full-out grinning or just laughing.

"Any situation?? Even the situation where he ended up killing his sister?" sniffed a particularly heartless disciple of the Yao sect.

All the juniors, Lan Wangji and Lan Xichen all froze in outrage, but before any of them could open their mouths to lash out at that disciple, another voice beat them to it.

"Obviously  that's different, you useless moron." snapped Mianmian. "Don't you know how much Wei Wuxian loved his shijie?? I bet no one's ever loved you a quarter as much! But after she was gone, he died too, and now he's focusing on taking care of her child instead of obsessing over the past, unlike you idiots!!"

The disciple went pale with the glares sent his way, particularly the ones from Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng, but Wei Wuxian just stared off into the distance. Why were they all still debating over this? In the end, his shijie was still gone, and all it did was remind him of the countless ways he had messed up.

Although it sounded a bit heartless, it really wasn't bad. Jiang FengMian fed him a piece of melon, and he let Jiang FengMian carry him back. Back then, Jiang Cheng was also around eight or nine. He kept a few puppies to play with him in Lotus Pier.

Finding out that Wei WuXian was extremely scared of dogs, Jiang FengMian suggested for Jiang Cheng to send the dogs away. Jiang Cheng was really unwilling. After throwing a tantrum of breaking things, pouting, and bawling his eyes out, he finally sent the dogs away.

The members of the audience looked at each other with wide eyes, not daring to start laughing. Was that actually a screaming and crying child Jiang Cheng??

Jiang Cheng as a child looked a hundred times more innocent than his teenage or adult self, though seeing his chubby face, shorter and messy hair, and his huge amethyst eyes brimming with tears, felt so fundamentally wrong that Jin Ling had to look away in fear.

Although, because of this, he held hostility toward Wei WuXian for a long time, after the two grew familiar, they had begun to cause mischief together. Whenever he ran into dogs, Jiang Cheng would always chase them away, then have a good laugh at Wei WuXian, who jumped onto a tree. He had always thought that Jiang Cheng would be on his side, and Lan WangJi on the side opposite to him. He could never have imagined that things would turn out so differently.

Wei Wuxian's thoughts had taken a reflective and melancholy tone, as he compared his memories of his past brotherhood with Jiang Cheng with the present sticky situation.

Suddenly, the memories faded away and they were back in the present, with Wei Wuxian walking slowly through the empty streets towards Lan Wangji.

Jiang Cheng fought off the ridiculous urge to tear up. All the reminiscing about how they used to be, and knowing that it was still majorly his own fault that Wei Wuxian no longer trusted him was making him feel bitter that Lan Wangji had essentially replaced him.

Wei WuXian walked toward the rendezvous point that he and Lan WangJi were supposed to meet at. Nobody walked among the sparse lights that flickered in the night. Without having to look around, the white-robed figure stood at the end of the street, standing motionless with his head hung low.

"... Wow. Has Hanguang Jun really been waiting there the whole night?" whispered a cultivator near the back.

"Wei Wuxian is so lucky to have such a devoted husband..." the cultivator beside him whispered back enviously.

A familiar, sweet melody was playing in the background. Some of the more sharp cultivators recognised it as the same melody that Wei Wuxian played back on Dafan Mountain, right before he bumped into Lan Wangji. Was it significant in some way??

Sizhui was more familiar with the tune, of course, as he'd heard both his dads play it either on the flute or guqin, separately while they were both secretly pining for each other. Now, they sometimes played it in a duet. It didn't take a genius to guess it was their own special love song.

Wei Wuxian turned to Lan Wangji with an offended epxression and mouthed "The thing knows OUR SONG??"

Lan Wangji murmured, "That's okay. Even if other's know about it, it is still our song."

Before Wei WuXian made any sound, Lan WangJi looked up and saw him. After some hesitation, he walked over with a darkened expression. Wei WuXian didn't know why, but he involuntarily took a step backward. He could almost see scarlet streaks of blood by the corners of Lan WangJi's eyes. He had to admit... Lan WangJi's face really did look quite scary.

Suddenly the cultivators understood how Jin Ling could be scared of Lan Wangji. He didn't wear an angry expression, but you could see through the intensity of his stare how much restrained emotion he was holding. They suddenly realised that they'd never seen Hanguang Jun lose his composure before, and that they never wanted to.

Even Sizhui and Jingyi looked rather alarmed at his expression

However, having taken only one step back, his ankle twisted, and he seemed as if he almost collapsed on the ground. With a change in expression, Lan WangJi hurried over and tightly gripped his wrist like what he did last time, back in Dafan Mountain.

"Such a clingy husband!" complained Wei Wuxian. "It's not like I was gonna run away from you! Even if you looked really scary right then."

"I am sorry." Lan Wangji looked down. "While I waited for you I feared... I had lost you again. I was not angry at you, I was angry at myself for losing you again."

Wei Wuxian's eyes widened. "Oh... I didn't realise! It's my fault, I didn't realise how it might look to you if I just vanished..."

"It doesn't matter, as long as you are here now."

"And I'm not going to leave you ever again, Lan Zhan!" Wei Wuxian promised, pointing three fingers to the sky, himself and the ground.

While Lan Xichen, Sizhui and Zizhen were melting in joy with how adorable Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian were, Lan Qiren closed his eyes in despair. Wei Wuxian really was going to stick around forever, then? He might as well climb into his grave now.

After Wei WuXian had been steadied, Lan WangJi knelt down on one knee to examine his leg. Wei WuXian was rather shocked, "N-n-no, HanGuang-Jun. You don't have to do this." Lan WangJi raised his head slightly, the pair of light-colored eyes boring into him, then looked down again and continued to roll up the leg of his trousers. Still under his grip, Wei WuXian could do nothing except to look up at the sky. His entire leg was covered with the black bruise of the Curse Mark. After staring at it for a while, Lan WangJi spoke in a bitter voice, "... I only left for a few hours."

The audience flinched. The Curse Mark somehow had grown even bigger on Wei Wuxian's leg compared to when it was on Jin Ling's. That must've been a nasty shock for Lan Wangji. Or perhaps not, looking at the long suffering expression on his face, as if he was used to such things happening, even though Lan Wangji can't have known that it was really Wei Wuxian in Mo Xuanyu's body.

Wei WuXian shrugged, "A few hours is a long time. Anything could have happened. There, there. Straighten up." He backhandedly pulled Lan WangJi up, "It's only the average Curse Mark. We can just kill it when it comes to find me. HanGuang-Jun, you'll need to help me. If you don't, I won't be able to handle it. Have you caught the person? Is it him? Where is he now?"

"That's not an average Curse Mark." muttered an elder cultivator. "That's almost certainly an evil spirit of the most violent and dangerous category."

"All the better, that means there'll be a cool fight to watch soon!" a younger disciple from his sect piped in cheerfully.

Other cultivators were murmuring in irritation to themselves, "Who is 'he' ??"

"Wei Wuxian, just say the name out loud!"

Nie Huaisang was praying at the same time that Wei Wuxian wouldn't say his name out loud. The reveal of the stone bunker was going to be soon, and his palms were already sweating nervously.

Wei Wuxian laughed. "Anyone with brains will be able to figure out for themselves the only person it could be." He sent a mischievous glance at Nie Huaisang, who gazed back at him pleadingly.

Lan WangJi looked in the direction of a signboard that stood in front of a shop far down the street. Wei WuXian continued, "Let's deal with the stone castle issue first." He then walked toward the shop. He didn't notice before, but his leg felt a bit numb, probably from Zidian. It was a good thing that Jiang Cheng controlled Zidian's force so that he wasn't made into a scorched corpse that had been struck by lightning.

"Thanks for that." Wei Wuxian said casually.

"No problem." muttered Jiang Cheng sarcastically. Why was Wei Wuxian thanking him for not killing him instantly with Zidian? He had done many horrible things in the last 13 years, but that was more out of rage and disappointment that the people he'd captured weren't actually Wei Wuxian, just copy-cat demonic cultivators.

Lan WangJi stood behind him. He suddenly called out, "Wei Ying."

Wei WuXian's figure paused. A second later, he pretended as if he didn't hear the name, and answered, "What?"

The audience gasped as one.

"Oh my god! He knows ??"

"Since when?? Or is he just guessing??"

The juniors had their hands on their mouths. "Wait, Senior Wei, that means that while you were acting shameless and crazy with him, climbing into his bed and everything, he actually knew it was you the whole time!"

"Of course." Lan Xichen said with a smile. "Wangji would never tolerate that sort of behaviour from anyone else."

Lan WangJi, "This was transferred from Jin Ling's body, was it not." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Wei WuXian didn't say anything. Lan WangJi spoke again, "You met Jiang WanYin." It wasn't hard to figure out due to the mark that Zidian left on top of the Curse Mark.

Wei Wuxian heaved a dramatic sigh. "I should have known it would have been impossible to deceive my clever husband for any amount of time! He knows everything."

Wei WuXian turned around, "As long as both of us are alive in this world, we'd meet for sure, sooner or later."

Jiang Cheng frowned, trying to determine where the insult towards him was in that statement. It seemed to be well meaning, except Wei Wuxian sighed as he said it, as if meeting him was some inevitable dreaded event.

Lan WangJi, "Do not go..." Wei WuXian, "If I don't go, how am I supposed to leave? Are you gonna carry me on your back or something?" "..." Lan WangJi looked at him in silence. Wei WuXian's smile froze on his face, just as a foreboding feeling crossed his mind. If it were the Lan Zhan from back then, he would definitely be shocked speechless by these words, and either leave with a cold face or completely ignore him. However, it'd be hard to say how the Lan Zhan now would respond.

"Oooooh..." Zizhen whispered in anticipation. No way... Was Hanguang Jun really going to ...

As he had expected, hearing these words, Lan WangJi walked in front of him, as if he really was going to bend down, kneel, and carry Wei WuXian on his back, despite his honorable status. Shock came upon Wei WuXian once more, "Stop, stop. I wasn't being serious. It's only numb because I got hit by Zidian a few times, not that it broke. It'd look bad for a full-grown man like me to be carried on somebody else's back."

"Wei Wuxian! Since when did you care about whether it would make you look bad??" scoffed Jiang Cheng. He wasn't planning on saying too much, but really, how could he stay quiet when Wei Wuxian said things like that...

Lan WangJi asked, "Would it look bad?" Wei WuXian replied, "Would it look good?" After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi responded, "But you have also carried me on your back before."

"Really?? When?" Jingyi asked eagerly.

The cultivators in the audience were also greatly intrigued. In what situation would Wei Wuxian have to end up carrying Lan Wangji? It must have been during the war against the Wens.

Jiang Cheng frowned when he couldn't remember any instance of this happening either. He remembered distinctly Wei Wuxian offering to carry Lan Wangji on his back, that time when those Wen-dogs were 'indoctrinating' them, and Lan Wangji's leg was broken... but unless his memory served him wrong, he didn't end up carrying him, did he??

Wei WuXian, "Did such a thing ever happen? Why don't I remember?" Lan WangJi answered in an indifferent tone, "You never remember such things." Wei WuXian, "Everyone says that I have a bad memory. Alright, fine. Anyways, I'm not letting you carry me on your back." Lan WangJi, "Are you sure?" Wei WuXian replied in a resolute manner, "I'm sure." The two stayed silent for a while.

The audience was also silent. So, was the mini-argument going to end here? That wasn't very exciting, then. The ones who were secretly rooting for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to get together quicker felt especially disappointed.

Suddenly, one of Lan WangJi's arms wrapped around his back and, as Lan WangJi bent down slightly, another went toward the back of his knees. Wei WuXian was both shorter and lighter than him. Therefore, he was picked up easily, his body was embraced in a pair of firm arms. Wei WuXian didn't expect his answer to lead to this at all. Both in his past and current lives, it was the first time that he had been treated like this by anyone. He was horrified, "Lan Zhan!!!"

Lan Xichen's mouth fell open into a surprised but happy grin, then he remembered his uncle. He anxiously turned to see that Lan Qiren was on the verge of fainting again.

Wixhen hurried to reassure his uncle. "Uncle! Hang in there! Wangji is just doing the right thing-" His words were cut off by a mix of squeals and choking noises from the audience.

"That is so cute! They make such a good couple!!" some young cultivators were gushing, while others were covering their eyes in horror.

Carrying him, Lan WangJi both walked and replied to him steadily, "You said that you didn't want to be carried on my back." Wei WuXian, "I didn't say that I wanted to be carried like this either."

"Looks like Lan Wangji learned how to play with words, like Wei Wuxian." commented Guo Wanxin, giggling like a fanatic.

Fortunately, it was already late into the night. There weren't any people walking on the streets, so it wasn't that embarrassing. Wei WuXian wasn't someone with a thin face either.

"Really? I didn't know that." muttered Jiang Cheng under his breath. It looked like Wei Wuxian finally remembered that he had no reputation to lose.

Having been carried for a few steps, he quickly relaxed. He grinned as he played with the front of Lan WangJi's clothes, pretending to tug at it, "So you want to see whose face is thicker?" The cold scent of sandalwood enveloped him. Without paying him attention, Lan WangJi looked straight forward and made no reaction, maintaining the righteous, serious expression. Seeing that nothing could affect him, Wei WuXian thought to himself as he continued to play with Lan WangJi's clothes, It seems that Lan Zhan's heart for revenge is actually quite strong. He's going to make me pay for however many times I've teased him in the past and take the fun away. This is such an improvement. Not only has his level of cultivation improved, his face also improved.

"Senior Wei... Hanguang Jun's not doing it out of revenge for your pranks in the past..." sighed Zizhen with a face palm.

"Well, if he was, it would be deserved, wouldn't it?" snorted another younger disciple, called Ling Ran, from the Nie sect. "Maybe that's the only way Hanguang Jun knows how to flirt with Senior Wei, because that's how Senior Wei made him like him."

The other younger disciples looked impressed with this analysis, and clapped him on the back.

Wei WuXian asked, "Lan Zhan, you've known that it was me ever since we were at Dafan Mountain, right?"

Lan WangJi, "Yes."

Wei WuXian wondered, "How could you tell?"

"Ever since Dafan Mountain??"

"Wow... so basically the whole time."

"No wonder Lan Wangji acted so weirdly and wanted to protect him since the very beginning."

Lan WangJi looked down at him, "You want to know?"

Wei WuXian declared, "Yes."

Lan WangJi, "You told me yourself."

Wei WuXian, "Myself? Because of Jin Ling? Because I summoned Wen Ning? None of these, right?"

"Huh?? How else could Lan Wangji have known?" muttered the cultivators

"What does Hanguang Jun mean , 'You told me yourself' ?" whined Jingyi. "I don't remember Senior Wei telling him anything!"

It seemed as if something had sent ripples through Lan WangJi's eyes. Yet, the slight waves faded immediately, and his eyes were a still pool of water again. He spoke in a serious tone, "Think." Wei WuXian replied, "I only asked you because I can't think of the reason." This time, no matter how he asked, Lan WangJi refused to answer.

Wei Wuxian could see now how his lack of memory about the significance of that tune Lan Zhan sung for him in Xuanwu Cave had hurt Lan Zhan's feelings back then. He must have thought that Wei Wuxian was playing their song to let Lan Zhan know that he was back, but in reality... Wei Wuxian had just picked it as a song he subconsciously associated with calm and happiness.

The cultivators in the audience groaned in frustration. If Hanguang Jun refused to answer Wei Wuxian, they wouldn't be able to get to know the answer for another 100 episodes.

With Wei WuXian in his arms, he stepped into an inn. Aside from the front desk clerk who choked on some water, none of the bystanders acted strangely. As they arrived at the door of the room, Wei WuXian spoke, "Okay. We're here. It's time for you to let me down. You don't have a third hand to open the door..." Before he finished his words, Lan WangJi did something that was extremely impolite. It was possibly the first time in his whole life that he had ever done such a rude act.

Carrying Wei WuXian, he kicked the door open.

With a shudder, it looked like Lan Qiren finally fell into unconsciousness. Lan Xichen winced, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it now. To be fair though, it might be best that his uncle stay unconscious for as long as possible, to prevent him from suffering a qi deviation.

There was a collective "Woahhh!" from the junior disciples. Hanguang Jun kicking open a door was definitely the most badass thing they'd ever seen in their lives.

The two doors sprang open, and the person who sat nervously inside instantly wailed, "HanGuang-Jun, I don't know, I don't know, I..." After he realized in what posture the two of them came inside, he stared blankly at them, barely managing to finish the last sentence, "... I really don't know."

"...No way."

"Is that... Sect Leader Nie??"

All the audience needed were the three trademark 'I don't know's' to confirm the person's identity as Nie Huaisang.

It really was the "Head Shaker". Acting as if he didn't see anything, Lan WangJi carried Wei WuXian inside and put him on the bamboo mat. Nie HuaiSang's seemed as if he couldn't bear to look at the scene, and immediately opened his fan, covering his face with it.

"Wow, I can't believe it! I thought it would be some really suspicious, nefarious person, or someone related to setting up the whole thing with the ghost arm, but it's just Nie Huaisang." Guo Wanxin said, disappointed.

Wei Wuxian choked trying to restrain his laughter at her words. Nie-xiong really was well protected behind his façade of being the Head Shaker, but how long would this cover last?

Wei WuXian walked around the fan to examine him. Even after so many years, his past classmate didn't bear many changes. He looked the same as he did back then. Although he was born with an elegant, attractive face, his expression made him seem as if one could do anything to him.

"Thanks, Wei-xiong!" smiled Nie Huaisang, before registering the second half of that last sentence. "Wait...hey!"

His stylish outfit showed a fine taste in clothing, which meant that he definitely put plenty of thought into it. Compared to the leader of a sect, he further resembled a wealthy idler. Even if he wore an imperial robe, he wouldn't seem like a prince; even if he held a saber, he wouldn't seem like a cultivator.

Nie Huaisang pouted. "Well, is that a bad thing? Maybe I want to be a wealthy idler."

The audience was in stitches with laughter, with Wei Wuxian's thoughts perfectly describing what all of them felt.

He denied it no matter what, so Lan WangJi put the piece of fabric that the spiritual dog had bitten off onto the table. Nie HuaiSang felt for his sleeve that lacked a certain scrap, then replied miserably, "I just happened to pass by. I really don't know anything."

"A-Sang, you can't just use that reply for everything." sighed Lan Xichen. He also had started to suspect Nie Huaisang after the events at the Guanyin Temple that resulted in A-Yao's death, but he didn't have it in him to investigate it or get too worked up about it.

Wei WuXian, "If you don't know, I'll talk. As you listen to me, maybe you'll figure that you do know some things after all."

Nie HuaiSang opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to provide a response. Wei WuXian proceeded, "In the area of Qinghe's Xinglu Ridge, there have been rumors of the 'Man-Eating Ridge' and 'Man-Eating Castle', but there haven't been any actual victims, which is why it's mere hearsay. The hearsay would make it so that normal people avoid the Xinglu Ridge. Thus, its real function is to act as a defense line— the first one, in fact. "

The audience relaxed and settled deeper into their seats. Finally, they would be getting an explanation for something! And one of Wei Wuxian's top-quality explanations too.

Wei Wuxian paused, seeming to be looking for something. Lan Wangji promptly handed him a jar of liquor, conjured seemingly from nowhere, which Wei Wuxian received with a grin. He took a long drink before continuing.

"...Wow. His alcohol tolerance is still the same as when he was a teenager, huh?"

"How does it not even affect him at all? He's still talking completely normally." one middle-aged cultivator said enviously

"He must either have a really strong golden core, or just be...naturally so drunk, more alcohol has no effect on him." his friend replied snickering.

Hearing that last remark, Jiang Cheng's eyebrows furrowed and Wei Wuxian resisted the urge to burst into laughter again.

"If there's a first, there must be a second. The second defense line is the walking corpses on the Xinglu Ridge. Even if someone who's not scared of the Man-Eating Castle rumors either purposely or accidentally went inside the ridge, after they see the walking dead, they will definitely flee. However, these walking corpses are small in number and weak in terms of power, so they won't cause any real harm. "

Wei Wuxian stopped to take another long drink from the jar of wine. When it ran out, Lan Wangji handed him another one, to his delight.

The audience stared in mute shock mingled with horror. He practically drained that first jar!

Jin Ling impatiently rolled his eyes and waited for Senior Wei to hurry up and continue with the explanation.

"The third defense line is the maze array by the stone castle. The first two are to defend against normal people; only this one is to defend against cultivators. But, nevertheless, it only works against average cultivators. If a cultivator who holds a spiritual weapon or dog and specializes in maze arrays comes, or a cultivator as powerful as HanGuang-Jun, this defense line will have to be broken. "

"The three defense measures exist in order for the stone castle on the Xinglu Ridge to remain hidden from the public. The identity of the people who built the stone castle is quite clear. This is the Nie Sect's area. Aside from the Nie Sect, nobody else is capable of easily setting up these three obstacles in Qinghe. And, moreover, you happened to appear near the stone castle and leave evidence."

"What exactly is the QingheNie Sect's goal of building the Man-Eating Castle on the Xinglu Ridge? Where did the corpses in the wall come from? Were they eaten? Sect Leader Nie, if you don't give us a proper explanation here, I'm afraid that, after the secret is exposed, all of the sects and clans come here to interrogate you. When the time comes, even if you want to explain things, there won't be anyone to listen to or believe in you."

It was obvious where Wei Wuxian's advice to Nie Huaisang was coming from - his own personal experience. It was clear that this was what it felt like to be in Wei Wuxian's shoes - wanting to explain himself but faced with a brick wall of stubborness and hatred from the cultivation world.

Wei Wuxian felt warm when he remembered that although he had never noticed, he had always had his Lan Zhan by his side the whole time.

Nie HuaiSang replied desperately, as if he had given up, "... It isn't a Man-Eating Castle at all. It's... It's just my sect's ancestral burial ground!" Wei WuXian questioned, "Ancestral burial ground? Whose ancestral burial ground buries sabers instead of corpses?"

"Ancestral burial ground?? That was so not a burial ground. Who does he think he's kidding!" snorted several cultivators.

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes. "You people are really so predictable. Already so stubborn and disbelieving!"

Lan Wangji added onto his husbands evenly, "Give Sect Leader Nie some time to explain himself before you judge."

Nie HuaiSang responded with a sullen face, "HanGuang-Jun, before I explain things, can you promise me something? Seeing that our two sects have known each other for long and that our older brothers have sworn, no matter what I say after this, you... and the one beside you, must not tell anyone. If the secret is exposed in the future, I'd greatly appreciate it if the two of you can say a few good things as witnesses. You've always been true to your words. If you promise, I'll believe you."

Lan WangJi, "As you wish."

"...hahaha... Looks like we're all watching anyway." several cultivators said shiftily.

"Wow, Hanguang Jun really kept his promise, when he just told everyone to listen to Sect Leader Nie's explanation!" said a junior disicple, amazed.

"Of course, Hanguang Jun never, ever breaks his promises." sniffed Jingyi. "What else could you have expected of him?"

Wei WuXian asked, "You said that it's not a Man-Eating Castle after all, so does it mean that it hasn't eaten anyone?" Nie HuaiSang clenched his teeth and answered obediently, "... It has."

Wei WuXian, "Wow."

"What do you mean, 'Wow.' ??" Zizhen yelped. "That is not good!"

"An ancestral burial site with a Man-eating beast??" asked Jingyi in fear.

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes. "You kids need to learn how to appreciate exciting things like that, not be scared of them!"

Nie HuaiSang immediately added, "But it was only once! And the one at fault wasn't our sect, and it was dozens of years ago! The rumors of the Man-Eating Castle on the Xinglu Ridge also started since then. I... I only fanned the flames and magnified the rumors."

"So what happened? Nooooo... just tell us...why is the board going black already??" groaned multiple cultivators.

"I still have soo many questions." muttered another.

Wei Wuxian smirked. Then he grinned up at Nie Huaisang, who was attempting to melt into his seat and vanish from all the yelled questions directed at  him. It was nice not being the focus of all the yelling for once.