Chapter 94

Chapter 94: Awakening Part 20 (5)

Lan Wangji calmly accepted Wei Wuxian's exaggerated praise, then pulled open Wei Wuxian's sleeve and poured all the stolen dates into it, saying, "For you. All for you."

Wei Wuxian played along, saying, "Thank you."

But Lan Wangji suddenly withdrew his hand. With a wave of his sleeve, the dates spilled out, rolling all over the ground. Wei Wuxian hurriedly bent down to pick them up, but there were too many to collect. Lan Wangji said, "No more."

He grabbed the hen that Wei Wuxian had tucked under his left arm and held one in each hand. Wei Wuxian grabbed the end of Lan Wangji's forehead ribbon and pulled him back, asking, "You were fine a moment ago, why are you angry again?"

Lan Wangji glanced at him and said, "Don't pull."

His tone was not very happy, with a hint of warning. Wei Wuxian instinctively let go. Lan Wangji lowered his head, shifting both hens to his left hand, and then freed his right hand to adjust his forehead ribbon and hair. Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "He never stopped me from playing with his forehead ribbon before, is he really angry today?"

Feeling the need to apologize, he pointed at the hens and said, "Forget the dates, just give me this. Didn't you say it was for me?"

Lan Wangji raised his eyes and scrutinized him. Wei Wuxian pleaded sincerely, "Please, I really want it, give it to me."

Hearing this, Lan Wangji closed his eyes. After a while, he handed the original hen back to him. Wei Wuxian took it, pulled out a date, wiped it on his shirt, and took a bite, thinking that since Lan Zhan wanted to play, he might as well go along with it, and asked, "What next?"

The two approached a wall, and Lan Wangji glanced around to ensure no one was nearby before drawing Bichen from his waist. After a few dazzling blue flashes, a line of large characters was left on the wall. Wei Wuxian leaned in to look and saw seven characters: "Lan Wangji was here."

"..."

Lan Wangji sheathed Bichen and admired his work. Even drunk, his handwriting remained impeccably neat. Satisfied, he nodded, and after a moment of thought, raised his hand again. This time, instead of writing, he began to draw. A few strokes later, an image of two small figures kissing appeared on the wall. The precision of the strokes and the lewdness of the content made Wei Wuxian facepalm.

Stealing, causing destruction, scribbling, and drawing... Now he was certain: Lan Wangji was indeed reenacting the stories he had told. There was no mistake, even the graffiti content was similar!

He thought with a mix of amusement and frustration, "But these are things I would do when I was twelve or thirteen!"

Lan Wangji became more and more engrossed in his drawing, and after finishing one wall, he moved to another to continue. Seeing the increasingly bizarre and strange content, Wei Wuxian, while feeling sorry for Bichen, thought, "I must erase Lan Wangji's name from the wall later, can't let others know who did this. No, no, better to erase the entire wall."

After much effort, Wei Wuxian finally managed to pull Lan Wangji back to the inn. He threw both hens to the landlady, claiming they had found them on the road, went upstairs, closed the door, and turned around. Outside, the dim night had made it hard to see clearly, but inside, under the light, he could see that Lan Wangji's clothes, face, and hair were all covered with chicken feathers, broken leaves, and white wall dust, a real mess. Wei Wuxian helped brush him off while laughing, "So dirty!"

Lan Wangji said, "Wash face."

The first time he got drunk, Wei Wuxian had washed his face for him, and Lan Wangji had seemed to really enjoy it, so this time he asked for it again. Wei Wuxian had originally intended to wash him up, but seeing him in such a state, just washing his face was far from enough, so he said, "How about I just give you a bath?"

Hearing this, Lan Wangji slightly widened his eyes. Wei Wuxian carefully observed his expression and asked, "Do you want to?"

Lan Wangji immediately nodded, "Okay."

Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "Lan Zhan really likes cleanliness. I'll just help him pour the bathwater, he can do the rest himself."

The inn's clerks were all women, so Wei Wuxian naturally wouldn't let them do such troublesome labor. So, he instructed Lan Wangji to sit properly in the room, went downstairs to heat the water, and carried it up bucket by bucket. After filling the bathtub and testing the water temperature, he turned around to tell Lan Wangji to undress, only to find that Lan Wangji had already taken off his clothes on his own.

Although the two had been naked together in the cold springs of Cloud Recesses in their youth, they were both pure-minded teenagers at that time. The previous times he had seen Lan Wangji bathing, he had had no other thoughts. Plus, most of Lan Wangji's body had been submerged in water both times, so now, suddenly seeing a completely exposed Hanguang Jun... it must be said, Wei Wuxian was greatly shocked. For a moment, he didn't know whether to indulge his instincts and look his fill, or to cover Lan Wangji with something and pretend to be a gentleman. His scalp tingled, and he involuntarily stepped back repeatedly. But as he retreated, Lan Wangji kept advancing. Wei Wuxian had already backed into a corner, with no way to escape, and had to brace himself as Lan Wangji approached expressionlessly. The clear Adam's apple, fair skin, and smooth, beautiful muscle lines swayed before his eyes, making him dare not look directly, his gaze slightly evasive, unconsciously swallowing, feeling his mouth dry.

Wei Wuxian gritted his teeth, about to speak, when Lan Wangji suddenly reached out and tore off his belt.

His face remained serious, but his actions were quite rough. Wei Wuxian, not expecting such a move, was startled and quickly said, "Stop, stop! I'm not bathing! I'm not bathing! You go ahead."

Lan Wangji frowned, and Wei Wuxian said, "You bathe first, I like, uh, big bathtubs. This tub is a bit cramped for two."

Lan Wangji indifferently glanced at the bathtub, confirmed it was indeed not big enough, and reluctantly gave up, slowly stepping into the tub and sinking into the hot water.

Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Then you soak slowly, I'll go out first." He was about to go out for some air to calm down when he heard a splash. He turned around and said, "Why are you out again!"

Lan Wangji said with a cold face, "Not bathing anymore."

Wei Wuxian said, "Why? Won't you get dirty if you don't wash?"

Lan Wangji looked sullen and didn't explain why. He walked over to the screen to retrieve the clothes he had taken off. Wei Wuxian hurried back, having a rough idea of the reason, and said, "Do you want me to help you wash?"

Lan Wangji lowered his gaze, neither confirming nor denying.

Seeing him like this, Wei Wuxian felt an inexplicable softening in his heart, thinking, "At most, I'll give him a quick wipe. I won't do anything else."

So he gently pulled Lan Wangji back towards the bathtub, saying, "Alright, I'll help you wash. Come here."

Only then did Lan Wangji allow himself to be led back and re-immersed in the water. Wei Wuxian rolled up his sleeves, ready to assist.

Lan Wangji's skin was pale, his long black hair shimmering and soft, floating on the water's surface. Amidst the swirling steam, he resembled a celestial being from a mythical pool, icy and snow-like. Wei Wuxian thought it was a shame and considered adding some flower petals floating on the water to enhance the scenery. He dipped a wooden ladle into the water and poured a thin stream over Lan Wangji's head. Since Lan Wangji kept staring unblinkingly at Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian was concerned that water might splash into his eyes and cause discomfort, so he said, "Close your eyes."

Lan Wangji paid no heed, his gaze fixed intently as if afraid Wei Wuxian would run away if he blinked. Wei Wuxian reached out to close his eyes, but Lan Wangji buried the lower half of his face in the water, blowing a string of bubbles. Wei Wuxian chuckled and playfully pinched his cheek, saying, "Lan Er Gege, how old are you acting?"

He grabbed the nearby soap pod box and a cloth, starting to wipe Lan Wangji's face and moving downward. As he continued wiping, his hand suddenly stilled.

Earlier, Lan Wangji had removed his forehead ribbon and hair tie, letting his black hair fall and cover his upper body. But now, as Wei Wuxian pushed the wet black hair behind Lan Wangji's shoulders and wiped his chest, the over thirty whip marks and the brand on his chest stood out starkly.

Wei Wuxian, cloth in hand, shifted to his back.

The whip scars extended from Lan Wangji's back to his chest, shoulders, and arms, marring the otherwise flawless, fair skin. These scars, ranging in depth and severity, marred what might have been an impeccable physique.

After silently observing for a while, Wei Wuxian moistened the cloth and tenderly wiped over the whip scars. His touch was feather-light, as though fearing to cause Lan Wangji any pain. However, these were old wounds, long past their most painful phase. Even if they were fresh, given Lan Wangji's nature, he would endure the pain without making a sound or showing any sign of weakness.

Wei Wuxian felt the urge to ask about the origins of these scars. In the Gusu Lan Family, only Lan Xichen and Lan Qiren had the authority to punish Lan Wangji with such discipline. What could he possibly have done to deserve such severe punishment from his closest brother or the uncle who had raised him and always been proud of him?

And there was also the brand from the Wen family of Qishan, which he had no memory of.

Yet, the question lingered unvoiced. If Lan Wangji didn't want to talk about it, Wei Wuxian wouldn't ask. Moreover, although Lan Wangji would have no memory of this after sobering up, the fact that he dared to drink in front of Wei Wuxian showed his trust. If Wei Wuxian exploited this moment to delve into Lan Wangji's private matters, wouldn't that be dishonorable?

After getting him drunk and spending most of the night going back and forth, Wei Wuxian had asked nothing. It wasn't that he forgot; he had always remembered that he gave Lan Wangji alcohol to ask him one question: Hanguang Jun, how do you really see me? But every time he was about to ask, he would find excuses in his heart to delay. Reasons like there's no rush, let's have fun first; or this isn't something to ask casually, it should be done more formally... But with all these excuses, the real reason he hadn't asked yet was probably because he was afraid.

He was afraid of hearing an answer different from what he hoped for.

Lan Wangji's arms, which had been resting on the edge of the tub, suddenly turned. Only then did Wei Wuxian realize that he had been lost in thought, not moving for a while, and had scrubbed a patch of Lan Wangji's back until it was red, as if beaten. He quickly stopped and said, "Sorry, I was distracted. Does it hurt?"

Though his back was burning from the scrubbing, Lan Wangji said nothing, only shaking his head. Seeing him sitting so quietly and obediently in the tub, Wei Wuxian felt pity and reached out to tickle his chin. But halfway through the motion, Lan Wangji suddenly grabbed his wrist.