Chapter 114

Chapter 114 Extra: Family Feast

Lan Wangji said to Wei Wuxian, "Stay here."

Wei Wuxian replied, "How about I come in with you?"

Lan Wangji shook his head, "If you come in, he'll get even angrier."

Wei Wuxian thought about it and agreed. Every time Lan Qiren saw him, he looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack, breathing harder than usual. It would be better to spare him the sight and let him avoid the annoyance.

Lan Wangji glanced at him, seemingly about to say something. Wei Wuxian immediately said, "Alright, I know. No running, no making noise, no this and that, right? Don't worry, this time when I come back with you, I'll be extra careful, careful, and more careful, not breaking any of the rules on your family's stone tablets. I'll try my best."

Without hesitation, Lan Wangji said, "It's fine. Even if you do..."

Wei Wuxian asked sharply, "Hmm?"

Lan Wangji seemed to realize that what he had just blurted out was quite inappropriate. He turned his head away for a moment before turning back, solemnly saying, "...nothing."

Wei Wuxian, confused, asked, "What did you just say about breaking them?"

Lan Wangji knew he was feigning ignorance and repeated with a stern face, "Just wait outside."

Wei Wuxian waved his hand, "Alright, alright, I'll wait. So strict. I'll go play with your rabbits."

So Lan Wangji went alone to face Lan Qiren's tirade, while Wei Wuxian was pulled along by Little Apple, who was running wildly. Ever since entering the Cloud Recesses, Little Apple seemed unusually excited, brimming with energy. Wei Wuxian couldn't hold it back and was pulled to a lush green meadow.

In the meadow, over a hundred fluffy bunnies were quietly gathered, their pink three-lobed mouths nibbling, occasionally shaking their long ears, which showed a hint of pink. Little Apple, head held high, squeezed in among them, finding its own spot.

Wei Wuxian squatted on the ground, casually picking up a rabbit, scratching its belly while thinking, "Were there this many last time I was here? Is this one a boy or a girl? Oh... a boy."

Thinking this, Wei Wuxian suddenly realized he had never paid attention to whether Little Apple was male or female. He couldn't help but look over. But before he could get a good look, he heard a noise and turned to check.

A small girl was holding a little basket, unsure if she should come closer. Seeing Wei Wuxian suddenly turn to look at her, she was momentarily at a loss, her face turning red with embarrassment.

The girl was in the Gusu Lan Family's uniform, with a neatly tied forehead ribbon. Wei Wuxian thought, "This is amazing! I've run into a real one!"

This was a female cultivator. A female cultivator from the Gusu Lan Family.

The Gusu Lan Family, known for its strictness, naturally followed rules like "men and women should be kept apart" and "men and women should not touch," drilling them into their disciples from a young age. The study and resting areas for male and female cultivators were strictly separated, with no crossing of boundaries. Even during night hunts, they were usually separated by gender, either all male or all female, rarely mixing. It was so rigid it was almost ridiculous. When Wei Wuxian was studying at the Cloud Recesses, he rarely saw any girls and had wondered if female cultivators even existed there. A few times, he thought he heard female cultivators reading and wanted to take a peek, but sharp-eyed and sharp-eared patrolling disciples would catch him and call Lan Wangji. After a few times, Wei Wuxian lost interest and stopped trying to explore.

But now, for the first time, he had run into a real female cultivator in the Cloud Recesses. A real one! A female cultivator!

Wei Wuxian immediately stood up straight, his eyes lighting up. He was about to go over when Little Apple suddenly stood up, nearly knocking him over, and ran to the girl's side.

Wei Wuxian: "?"

Once it got to the girl, it obediently lowered its head, offering its donkey head and ears to her hand.

Wei Wuxian: "???"

The girl, her face red, looked at Wei Wuxian, stunned and unsure what to say. Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes, feeling she looked somewhat familiar. After a moment, he suddenly remembered—this was the round-faced girl he had met on the road after leaving the Mo family estate and had seen a few times at Dafan Mountain.

Even if it were a total stranger, he could instantly start a cheerful conversation, let alone a girl he had met a few times and who had a good personality? He immediately waved at her and said, "It's you!"

The girl clearly remembered him too, whether he had a clean face or not. After some hesitation, she twisted her hands holding the basket and muttered, "It's me..."

Wei Wuxian let go of the rabbit he had just determined the gender of, put his hands behind his back, and took a couple of steps closer to her. Noticing the carrots and greens in her basket, he smiled and asked, "Here to feed the rabbits?"

The girl nodded. Since Lan Wangji wasn't around, Wei Wuxian, having nothing else to do, became interested and said, "Need any help?"

The young girl didn't know what to do and finally nodded. Wei Wuxian took out a carrot, and the two squatted together on the grass. Little Apple stuck its head into the basket, rummaging around but finding no apples, and reluctantly settled for a carrot to nibble on.

The carrots in the basket were very fresh. Wei Wuxian bit off a piece himself before offering it to the rabbit and asked, "Have you always been the one feeding these rabbits?"

The girl replied, "No... I only started recently... When Hanguang Jun is around, he takes care of them. When he's not, it's Lan Sizhui and others who look after them. If they're not around, then we come to help..."

Wei Wuxian wondered, "How does Lan Zhan feed the rabbits? Since what age has he been raising them? Does he also come with a little basket like this?"

Shaking off some overly cute mental images, Wei Wuxian asked again, "Are you a disciple of the Gusu Lan Family now?"

The girl nodded shyly, "Yes."

Wei Wuxian said, "The Gusu Lan Family is good. When did this happen?"

The girl, while stroking a fluffy white rabbit, said, "Not long after the events at Dafan Mountain..."

Just then, both of them heard the faint sound of boots crunching on the grassy ground. Wei Wuxian turned around and sure enough, Lan Wangji was walking towards them.

The girl, flustered, immediately stood up and respectfully greeted, "Hanguang Jun."

Lan Wangji gave a slight nod, while Wei Wuxian remained seated on the grass, smiling at him. The girl seemed quite afraid of Lan Wangji—understandably so, as no one of her age in the younger generation wasn't afraid of him. She hastily picked up her skirt and ran off. Wei Wuxian called after her repeatedly, "Miss, little sister! Your basket! Hey, Little Apple! Come back! Why are you running? Little Apple!"

Neither the girl nor the donkey heeded his calls. Wei Wuxian had no choice but to play with the remaining carrots in the basket and said to Lan Wangji, "Lan Zhan, you scared her off."

If Lan Wangji didn’t want his footsteps heard, how could both of them have heard him?

Wei Wuxian teased, handing him a carrot, "Want some? You feed the rabbits, and I'll feed you."

"..." Lan Wangji looked down at him and said, "Get up."

Wei Wuxian tossed the carrot behind him and lazily held out a hand, saying, "Pull me up."

After a brief pause, Lan Wangji reached out to pull him up, but Wei Wuxian suddenly yanked him down instead.

With their space invaded by these two, the rabbits scattered in panic, as if facing a great threat. The rabbits particularly close to Lan Wangji even stood on their hind legs and climbed onto him, as if worried about why their master had fallen. Lan Wangji gently shooed them away and said calmly, "Cloud Recesses, family rule number seven on the Discipline Stone: Do not disturb female cultivators."

Wei Wuxian retorted, "You said it’s fine if I break the rules."

Lan Wangji replied, "I did not."

Wei Wuxian said, "How can you be like this? Not finishing your sentence means you didn't say it? Where's the Hanguang Jun who keeps his word and stands by his promises?"

Lan Wangji said, "'Everyday'."

Wei Wuxian stroked his face and said with mock sympathy, "Did your uncle scold you? Tell me, let your brother comfort you."

The topic change was abrupt and deliberate, but Lan Wangji didn’t call him out, simply saying, "No."

Wei Wuxian asked, "Really not? Then what did he say to you?"

Lan Wangji hugged him calmly and said, "Not much. It’s rare for everyone to gather, so we’re having a family banquet tomorrow."

Wei Wuxian laughed, "A family banquet? Great, I’ll be on my best behavior and won’t embarrass you." Suddenly thinking of Lan Xichen, he asked, "What about your brother?"

After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji said, "I'll go see him later."

Lord Ze Wu had been in seclusion lately, and Lan Wangji would surely have a heart-to-heart with him. Wei Wuxian hugged him back and gave his back a gentle pat. After a moment, he said, "Speaking of which, why haven’t I seen Sizhui and the others this time?"

The younger generation, if it were any other time, would have been chattering around the mountain gate by now. At the mention of Sizhui and the others, Lan Wangji’s brow softened, and he said, "I’ll take you to see them."

When he brought Wei Wuxian to where Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, and others were, the younger generation only let out a few delighted sounds but couldn’t do anything else. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to do more, but they simply couldn’t.

A dozen or so youths were standing upside down under the corridor eaves. Each had removed their outer robes, wearing only thin white inner garments, heads down, feet up. On the ground in front of them lay several sheets of white paper and an inkstone. Their left hands supported their bodies while their right hands held brushes, struggling to write densely packed characters on the paper.

Since their forehead ribbons couldn’t touch the ground, they bit the ends of their ribbons, sweating profusely, and couldn’t speak. Their so-called "cheering" was just muffled, bright-eyed noises.

Looking at their trembling, precarious forms, Wei Wuxian said, "Why do they have to stand upside down?"

Lan Wangji replied, "Punishment."

Wei Wuxian said, "I know it’s punishment. I can see they’re copying the Lan family’s rules. I’ve even memorized the 'Etiquette Chapter.' What did they do to deserve this?"

Lan Wangji said calmly, "They returned to the Cloud Recesses past the deadline."

Wei Wuxian: "Oh."

Lan Wangji: "They went night hunting with the Ghost General."

Wei Wuxian: "Wow! You all are really bold."

Lan Wangji said, "This is their third violation."

Wei Wuxian stroked his chin, thinking that with such behavior, it was no wonder Lan Qiren, who despised wrongdoing, punished them like this. Still, copying while standing upside down was relatively lenient.

After walking around the group, glancing at them, and briefly inspecting their work, Lan Wangji said to one of them, "Your handwriting is sloppy."

The young man, biting his forehead ribbon, mumbled tearfully, "Yes, Hanguang Jun. I’ll rewrite this one."

The others who weren’t called out passed the inspection and sighed in relief. As they left the corridor, Wei Wuxian recalled his own struggles with copying punishments and felt a sense of camaraderie. He said, "Just holding this position is hard enough. I doubt I could write while standing upside down. Even sitting, I might not write well."

Lan Wangji glanced at him and said, "Indeed."

Wei Wuxian knew he was also recalling the days he supervised his copying. He asked, "Were you punished like this when you were young?"

Lan Wangji said, "Never."

Wei Wuxian thought it made sense. Lan Wangji had always been a model among the young nobles, his every word and action as precise as if measured with a ruler. How could he make mistakes? And if he never made mistakes, how could he be punished?

He laughed and said, "I thought your terrifying arm strength came from this kind of training."

Lan Wangji said, "Not from punishment. But it did come from this kind of training."

Wei Wuxian asked curiously, "If it wasn’t punishment, why did you stand upside down for no reason?"

Lan Wangji said without looking at him, "It helps calm the mind."

Wei Wuxian leaned close to his ear, his tone teasing, "Then what exactly made the icy Hanguang Jun’s mind restless?"

Lan Wangji looked at him and said nothing. Feeling smug, Wei Wuxian said, "If you trained your arm strength like this since childhood, does that mean you can do anything while standing upside down?"

Lan Wangji said, "Yes."

Seeing him lower his eyelids, as if answering shyly, Wei Wuxian became even more unrestrained and said, "Can you handle me upside down too?"

Lan Wangji said, "Try."

Wei Wuxian: "Hahahaha... What did you say?"

Lan Wangji: "We’ll try tonight."

Wei Wuxian: "..."