Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

They descended the mountain path, taking a discreet shortcut through the Cloud Recesses. They walked further and further, until they finally left the usual area frequented by GusuLan Sect disciples. Wei WuXian suddenly cried out, “Ow, my stomach hurts.”

Lan WangJi stopped immediately, “Rest. Apply fresh ointment.”

Wei WuXian, “It’s fine. I’ll just sit over there.”

Lan WangJi, “Sit.”

Wei WuXian’s expression seemed wretched, “But the movement of mounting the donkey is too jarring. I’m afraid it will affect the wound.”

His wound had healed long ago. This was clearly a blatant display of shamelessness. Lan WangJi stopped, turned around, and looked at him. He suddenly reached out. Carefully avoiding the injured area, he scooped him up by the waist, lifted him gently, and placed him onto Lil’ Apple’s back.

Of the two, one sat on the donkey while the other held the reins. On Lil’ Apple’s back, Wei WuXian grinned, his eyes curving upwards.

Lan WangJi asked, “What?”

Wei WuXian, “Nothing.”

Like he’d played a trick on someone, he felt a flicker of satisfaction.

Though he didn’t remember much from his youth, one scene was always vaguely imprinted in his mind.

A narrow path, a small donkey, and three people. A man in black gently lifted a woman in white. He picked her up and placed her onto the donkey’s back. Then, he hoisted a small, tiny child high onto his shoulders.

He was the child, not yet the height of a person’s legs. Sitting on the man’s shoulders, he felt suddenly very tall, very majestic. Sometimes he pulled the man’s hair, sometimes he rubbed his cheeks. He shouted things, swinging his legs about. The woman in white sat on the donkey’s back, her posture swaying. Watching them, she seemed to smile. The man had always been quiet. He didn’t speak much. He only pushed him a little higher, to make him taller, steadier. One of his hands held the donkey’s reins. The three of them were squeezed onto the same narrow path, walking slowly forward.

It was one of the rare fragments of memory he possessed.

Those were his father and mother.

Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan, hold the reins, won’t you?”

Lan WangJi, “Why?”

Lil’ Apple was quite clever. It wasn’t that it didn’t know to follow a person. Wei WuXian said again, “Show some respect and take the reins, won’t you?”

Though he still didn’t understand why Wei WuXian’s grin was so bright, Lan WangJi obeyed and took Lil’ Apple’s reins, holding them in his hand.

Wei WuXian spoke to himself, “Hm. Now all that’s left is a little one.”

Lan WangJi, “What?”

Wei WuXian chuckled, “Nothing. Lan Zhan, you truly are a good person.”

With this journey to Yiling, the future remained uncertain, even somewhat perilous. Wei WuXian couldn’t muster any nervousness. Sitting on a donkey with Lan WangJi holding the reins, leading them down the path, his heart fluttered, as if walking on air. Even if a group of sects suddenly attacked from the roadside, aside from disrupting the scene and spoiling his mood, he didn’t think it would be too terrible. He even had the spirit to enjoy the fields bathed in moonlight, pulling out his bamboo flute. As naturally as ever, he played a tune.

The flute’s timbre was clear and limpid. Lan WangJi’s footsteps hesitated slightly as Wei WuXian felt a warmth ignite within him.

He spoke, “Lan Zhan! Let me ask you, back then, beneath the Xuanwu cave in Dusk-Creek Mountain, what was the name of the song you sang to me?”

Lan WangJi looked at him, “Why do you suddenly remember to ask about this?”

Wei WuXian, “Just tell me. What was its name? I think I might have guessed how you recognized me.”

On the night at Dafan Mountain, the tune he somehow played was precisely the one, when he had been feverish beneath the Xuanwu cave in Dusk-Creek Mountain, Lan WangJi had hummed beside him!

Lan WangJi refused to say anything. Wei WuXian urged him, “Say it, what song is it? Who composed it?”

Lan WangJi, “I did.”

Wei WuXian, “You composed it?!”

Lan WangJi, “Mn.”

Wei WuXian had thought it was a secret song of the GusuLan Sect. Now that he knew, he was both surprised and overjoyed. What he was surprised about was quite obvious. What he was overjoyed about, however, he couldn’t quite articulate. He guessed, “If you truly recognized me from this alone, it must mean that—this song, you’ve never allowed anyone else to hear it?”

Lan WangJi, “Never.”

Wei WuXian was so happy he kicked Lil’ Apple. Lil’ Apple, enraged, kicked its hind legs as if to shake him off its back. Just in time, Lan WangJi tightened the reins. Wei WuXian hugged Lil’ Apple’s neck, “It’s fine, it’s fine. That’s just how it is. It only kicks a few times. Let’s continue. Then, really, what is it called?”

Lan WangJi, “What do you think?”

Wei WuXian, “What do you mean what do I think? Does it have a name or not?” In his heart he muttered. Would Lan WangJi’s naming style be the same as Jiang Cheng’s? That would be impossible! He asked, “Are you asking for my opinion? I think that why don’t you call it…”

After more than eighty names he had come up with were all rejected by Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian’s enthusiasm finally began to wane.

To avoid encountering cultivators searching the area if they walked on main roads, the two of them only chose remote, country paths on their journey. A day later, Wei WuXian felt somewhat tired and thirsty. As they happened to see a farmhouse by the roadside, Lan WangJi halted Lil’ Apple.

After they had knocked, nobody answered. When they pushed, the door opened on its own. A handmade wooden table was in the center of the yard, and a bowl of unpeeled beans sat on the table. A tall stack of straw stood by the dirt wall, a rake sticking out of it. All over the ground, chicks chirped as they pecked at the rice, running around.

Wei WuXian saw a few melons piled up in a corner of the yard. He walked over and picked one up, proposing in all seriousness, “The owner isn’t here. HanGuang-Jun, let’s help ourselves.”

Just as Lan WangJi was about to place coins on the table, the sound of footsteps came from outside the wall. One in front and one behind, they were probably the owners who had just returned home. Wei WuXian didn’t know why, but as he heard the footsteps, he quickly pushed Lan WangJi down, behind the stack of straw.

Fortunately, Lan WangJi had always been calm and collected, so he didn’t make a single sound even after being pushed down. Despite this, he clearly didn’t understand why they had to hide. Wei WuXian also realized, Right, why are we hiding? These villagers from the countryside can’t possibly recognize us. Can’t we just be honest and say we’re here to buy food? Maybe I’ve done too many bad things and gotten used to it.

However, with the push, he pushed Lan WangJi’s entire body down onto the soft stack of straw. The somewhat forceful position evoked a strange feeling of excitement within him. He decided not to get up. Purposely putting on an act, he raised his index finger, gesturing for Lan WangJi not to make a sound. Then, he pretended that this couldn’t be helped. Comfortably, he lay on top of Lan WangJi, filled with a secretive delight that couldn’t be put into words.

The sound of wooden stools being moved came from the yard. The two owners of the farm seemed to have sat down before the table. A woman’s voice spoke, “Er-Gege, I can hug him.”

Hearing the “Er-Gege,” Lan WangJi paused slightly.

A man’s voice spoke, “You can just peel the beans.” Then came the sound of a child murmuring in his sleep.

It seemed that it was a young couple. The wife was preparing dinner while the husband was hugging the sleeping child.

With a grin, Wei WuXian winked his left eye at Lan WangJi, whispering, “What a coincidence. The owner of the farm is an ‘Er-Gege’ as well.”

The tone at the end of his words was teasing. With heavy eyes, Lan WangJi swept a glance at him before turning away. Wei WuXian felt his heart melt. He lay beside his ear and called in a low voice, “Lan Er-Gege.”

Lan WangJi’s breaths seemed to falter. The eyes he looked at him with seemed to hold a hint of warning.

In the yard, the wife chuckled, “You don’t know how to hug him properly. Later, if you make him wake up, I’ll need to be the one to comfort him again, won’t I?”

The husband, “He’s played too hard today. He must be very tired. He won’t be able to wake up.”

The wife peeled the beans as she spoke, “Er-Gege, you really need to discipline A-Bao.”

The husband, “But he still comes back to him every single time. He says he doesn’t want to, but in his heart he clearly wants to play with A-Bao very much.”

Wei WuXian laughed with a “pfft,” “Lan Er-Gege, what are your thoughts on this? Do you agree?”

Lan WangJi, “Stop speaking.”

At that volume, average people wouldn’t be able to hear them at all. The couple chatted about ordinary matters while on the other side, right next to Lan WangJi’s ear, Wei WuXian had already relentlessly repeated “Lan Er-Gege” over half a dozen times, softly and lightly. Lan WangJi seemed to have finally run out of patience. He suddenly turned around.

His movement was both swift and steady. The straw didn’t budge, but Wei WuXian was already beneath him.

Lan WangJi’s voice was low, “Any more, and you will be silenced.”

Wei WuXian reached out toward his face, but Lan WangJi caught his hand at once. Wei WuXian’s tone was serious, “HanGuang-Jun, there’s a straw on your forehead ribbon.”

Hearing this, Lan WangJi’s hands finally relaxed. Wei WuXian helped him remove the thin straw, presenting it in front of his eyes as he boasted, “See? I wasn’t lying, was I?”

Before he could gloat for too long, he heard the young wife speak again, “But even if this is true, we shouldn’t let A-Bao just bully others.”

Her husband spoke calmly, “Let him be. Boys, don’t they bully others only because they like them? They just want others to look at them.”

Hearing this, Wei WuXian’s smile froze.

At this point, the young child seemed to have woken up. He mumbled something in a soft voice. The couple hurried to comfort him together. A while later, the child fell asleep again. The young wife spoke, “Er-Gege, I told you to discipline A-Bao not only because of this. It’s also because these days it isn’t too safe. Tell him not to play around outside too much and get home earlier.”

The husband, “I know. Is it the thing with the old graves around the village having been dug up?”

The wife, “I heard that it’s not just around our village. Even among the people in the city there are many who had something happen to their ancestors’ graves. It’s just too strange. A-Bao should play at home more. He shouldn’t go outside so often.”

The husband, “That’s right. It’d be awful if he runs into that YiLing Patriarch.”

Wei WuXian, “…”

The young wife spoke softly, “I’ve been listening to the YiLing Patriarch’s story ever since I was young. I’ve always thought that ‘if you don’t be obedient the YiLing Patriarch will return to find you and take you back to feed his ghouls’ was only the adults teasing the children. Who would’ve known that such a person really exists? And he really came back?”

The husband, “Yeah. As soon as I heard about digging graves open I thought of him. It’s true indeed. The rumors have been spreading all over the city.”

Faced with the connection between him and the act of “digging graves open,” Wei WuXian felt helpless. To be honest, he had indeed done many such things in the past. The most notorious instance was during the Sunshot Campaign, when he dug deep into the earth to exhume all the cemeteries of the QishanWen Sect’s ancestors, turning the corpses into puppets. And for every Wen Sect cultivator he killed, he made them into puppets and used them to kill their friends and family before they died.

During the Sunshot Campaign, all these actions were lauded and used to inspire the people. However, the further the Sunshot Campaign progressed, the more fearful people became when they mentioned it again. Not only others, but even he, himself, thought afterward that he had perhaps done a bit too much. Coupled with the revelation of his identity just a few days prior, it wasn’t surprising that others believed it was the YiLing Patriarch when they heard of someone digging up graves everywhere.

Translator’s Notes

Er-Gege: And the comments section told me that Er-Gege would sound more intimate than Brother… Thank you all for commenting ^^

A-Bao: A-Bao is a name that parents often call babies. This could be either an actual name or just ‘baby’ or ‘precious’.