Chapter 97

Chapter 97: Awakening and Slumber, Part 20, Section 8

Wei Wuxian stepped into the room, closed the door behind him, and leaned against the doorframe. After hearing the sound of Lan Wangji's door closing with a moderate force, he immediately raised his hand and slapped himself.

He slumped heavily onto the wooden bed, burying his still burning face in his hands. The heat didn't subside even after a while—neither on his face nor within his body. He splashed water from the teapot over his head and face, but it had no effect. He was now drenched in Lan Wangji's scent.

Wei Wuxian knew that if he stayed here any longer, thinking about Lan Wangji being just a wall away and recalling what they had done not long ago, he wouldn't have a moment of peace tonight. He absolutely couldn't stay here tonight.

He pushed open the wooden window, stepped onto the sill, and leaped out lightly, landing silently on the street outside the inn like a shadow.

The night was deep, and the streets were empty, making it easy for Wei Wuxian to run wild alone.

After running past the wall Lan Wangji had drunkenly scribbled on earlier, he finally stopped.

The wall was covered in messy drawings of rabbits, pheasants, and little human heads. As he looked at them, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but recall Lan Wangji's focused expression while drawing them and how he had pulled him over to admire the finished work. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

A wave of regret washed over him.

If only he hadn't let the alcohol make him reckless.

At least now he could have pretended to be upright and composed, shamelessly clinging to Lan Wangji's side on the bed, squeezing beside him, pretending to sleep peacefully or actually falling asleep, instead of lying awake in the middle of the night, bursting out of the inn and running aimlessly through the streets to blow off steam.

Wei Wuxian reached out and brushed over the two little human heads on the wall puckering their lips for a kiss, then moved to the words above: "Lan Wangji was here." These words had to be erased, but before erasing them, he traced the characters "Lan Wangji" with his fingertip.

Once, twice, three times.

The more he traced, the harder it became to let go.

Suddenly, he heard a scraping sound. It was midnight, and his senses were on high alert. He peeked around the corner and saw a shadowy figure clinging to the wall, holding a small file, intently scraping off the graffiti.

Wei Wuxian was speechless.

Wen Ning turned around, his face dusted with white powder, and said, "Young Master, why are you here?"

Wei Wuxian asked, "What are you doing?"

"Oh," Wen Ning replied, "I saw that Young Master Lan wrote a lot here. When people wake up tomorrow and see this, it might cause problems for them, so I'm erasing some of it..." He paused, then asked curiously, "Where's Young Master Lan?"

Wei Wuxian lowered his head and said, "He's resting. I just came out for a stroll."

Wen Ning sensed something was wrong and stopped what he was doing. "Young Master, did something happen?"

He took a few steps closer to Wei Wuxian, then suddenly froze and quickly backed away. Wei Wuxian was puzzled, "What are you doing?"

Wen Ning seemed startled and waved his hands, "No, no, nothing!"

Wei Wuxian immediately understood that Wen Ning was embarrassed. He glanced down and noticed a few red finger marks on his wrist, left when Lan Wangji had grabbed him and pressed him onto the bed. His lips were also slightly swollen. Back then, they had been rolling around on the bed in a daze, clinging to each other, and Lan Wangji had bitten and nibbled all over him. His neck was probably a sight to behold. If Wen Ning had any blood in his face, it would surely be red as blood by now. Wei Wuxian didn't know what to say and sighed, "You... ah!"

He sat down by the corner of the wall and sighed, "I want to drink."

Wen Ning immediately said, "I'll go buy some."

Wei Wuxian called out, "Come back! Why are you running off?"

Wen Ning returned, "To find wine..."

Wei Wuxian said, "You... I was just saying it casually. You don't have to actually go find it. You're not really my servant."

Wen Ning replied, "I know."

Wei Wuxian said, "Anyway, do you even have any cash?"

Wen Ning replied, "No..."

Wei Wuxian said, "Told you! I knew it!"

Wen Ning said enviously, "But Young Master Lan has tons of money... so lucky."

"Ugh." Wei Wuxian knocked the back of his head against the wall a few times, sighing repeatedly, "Forget it. I'm done drinking from now on."

Wen Ning was stunned, "Why?"

Wei Wuxian said, "Drinking just gets me into trouble. I'm giving it up."

Wen Ning's mouth twitched. Wei Wuxian said, "What’s with that face? You don’t believe me?"

Wen Ning stammered, "No, no... but back then, didn’t my sister try everything to get you to quit drinking, and it didn’t work..."

"Haha, haha." Wei Wuxian remembered and said, "Her method was just sticking me with needles every other day, wasn’t it?"

After a good laugh, Wei Wuxian suddenly said, "Wen Ning, have you ever thought about what you’ll do once all this craziness is over?"

Wen Ning was stunned, "What to do?"

In this world now, Wen Ning barely has anyone close left, not even many people he knows. He was never great at making his own decisions, and he didn’t have much willpower either. He either trailed behind Wen Qing or Wei Wuxian. Beyond that, he probably had no idea where else to go or even could go. But Wei Wuxian still hoped he’d find his own way. Yet saying it out loud felt like he was pushing him away.

Thinking about it, if Wen Ning didn’t know where to go, how could he? Back when he was with Lan Wangji, he never thought about this, just assuming things would stay the same. But after tonight, maybe he and Lan Wangji could never go back to how things were. Leaving Lan Wangji and wandering freely didn’t seem out of the question.

But a voice in Wei Wuxian’s heart told him clearly: No way.

The nonsense he blurted out at Jin Lingtai had actually come true. The Wei Wuxian of now couldn’t live without Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian let out a deep sigh, feeling completely hopeless, "I need a drink."

The more he thought about it, the more depressed and frustrated he felt, his pent-up anxiety finally boiling over into anger. He jumped up and said, "Screw it. Wen Ning, let’s go!"

Wen Ning asked, "Where to?"

Wei Wuxian said, "Let’s go stir up some trouble!"