Chapter 13 (1/2)
Chapter 13 Refinement—Part Three
At a later time, Wei WuXian pondered upon the reason why his relations.h.i.+p with Lan w.a.n.gJi wasn't good. Getting to the root of the matter, everything started when he was fifteen, coming to the GusuLan Sect with Jiang Cheng to study for three months.
There was a virtuous and prestigious elder in the GusuLan Sect—Lan QiRen. Everyone in the cultivation world accepted three characteristics which described him: pedantic, stubborn, and a strict teacher who produced outstanding students. Although the first two points kept a lot of people at a respective distance to him, some even to the point of secret dislike, the last one made them try everything they could to send their children to study under him. He had brought up quite a number of excellent disciples of the Lan Sect. As long as they stayed a few years in his cla.s.sroom, no matter how pathetically useless they were when they first entered, they would at least seem to be decent when they depart, especially in terms of appearance and etiquette. There were plenty of parents who were so excited that tears flowed down their cheeks when they picked up their sons.
To this matter, Wei WuXian declared, ”Do I not seem decent enough as of right now?”
Jiang Cheng replied with a great deal of foresight, ”You'd definitely be a mark of shame in his entire teaching career.”
In that year, aside from the YunmengJiang Sect, there were also the young masters from other clans, sent to study here from parents who heard of the reputation. The young masters were all around fifteen or sixteen. Because the sects all knew the others, although they weren't close, they had seen others' faces before. It was widely known that, although Wei WuXian's surname was not Jiang, he was the leading disciple of the sect leader of the YunmengJiang Sect—Jiang FengMian, and also the son of his friend who had pa.s.sed away. In fact, the sect leader regarded him as his own child. This, along with how youths were not as concerned with status and ancestry as elders, they were soon friends. Only a few sentences pa.s.sed, and everyone started to call others older brothers or younger brothers. Somebody asked, ”The Lotus Pier of the Jiang Clan is much more fun than here, right?”
Wei WuXian laughed, ”Fun or not fun depends on how fun you make it to be. There's definitely less rules than here, and no need to wake up so early.”
The GusuLan Sect wakes as five in the morning and rests at nine in the evening, not allowing any delay. Somebody else asked, ”When do you guys wake up? What do you do during the day?”
Jiang Cheng humphed, ”Him? He wakes at nine in the morning and sleeps at one during the night. When he wakes up, he doesn't practice his sword or meditate; he goes boating, swims around, picks lotus seedpods, and hunts for pheasants.”
Wei WuXian replied, ”No matter how much pheasants I hunt, I'm still number one.”
One youth spoke, ”Next year, I'm going to Yunmeng to study! n.o.body can hold me back!”
A bucket of cold water was thrown on him, ”n.o.body would hold you back. Your older brother would just break your legs.”
The youth drooped at once. This was the second young master of the QingheNie Sect—Nie HuaiSang. His brother, Nie MingJue, was extremely resolute when carrying out orders, quite renowned in the cultivation world. Although the brothers were not born from the same mother, their relations.h.i.+p was quite solid. Nie MingJue had always taught his younger brother with extreme harshness, particularly caring for his studies. This was why, even though Nie HuaiSang respected his older brother, he was the most scared of Nie MingJue mentioning his schoolwork.
Wei WuXian spoke, ”To be honest, Gusu is quite fun as well.”
Nie HuaiSang spoke, ”Wei-xiong, listen to a sincere advice of mine. The Cloud Recesses is nothing like Lotus Pier. On this trip to Gusu, remember that there's one person whom you shouldn't provoke.”
Wei WuXian asked, ”Who? Lan QiRen?”
Nie HuaiSang replied, ”Not that old man. The one you need to be careful of is his proudest disciple, named Lan Zhan.”
Wei WuXian spoke, ”The Lan Zhan from the Two Jades of Lan? Lan w.a.n.gJi?”
The respectable t.i.tle of the Two Jades of Lan were given to the two sons of the GusuLan Sect's current sect leader—Lan Huan and Lan Zhan. Just after they pa.s.sed fourteen, they were deemed by the elders of each sect as exemplary models to compare with their own disciples. They were exceptionally famous among the juniors, so it was only natural that everyone recognized the names. Nie HuaiSang spoke, ”What other Lan Zhan is there? Yes, it's that one. Oh gosh, he's the same age as you and I, but he has none of the energy of a teen. He's stiff and strict, even worse than his uncle.”
Wei WuXian made the sound of an oh and asked, ”Is he a lad who looks quite pretty?”
Jiang Cheng sneered, ”Is there anyone who looks ugly in the GusuLan Sect? His sect doesn't even accept disciples with unclean features. If you can, find me one who has an average face.”
Wei WuXian emphasized, ”Very pretty.” He pointed at his head, ”White from top to bottom, wearing a forehead ribbon, and carrying a silver sword on his back. He looked rather handsome, but with his straight face, he looked like he was mourning.”
”…” Nie HuaiSang spoke a.s.suredly, ”That's him!” After a pause, he spoke again, ”But he had been doing secluded meditation for the past few days. You just came yesterday; when did you have the chance to see him?
”Yesterday night”
”Yesterday… Yesterday night?!” Jiang Cheng was stunned, ”There's a curfew in the Cloud Recesses. Where did you see him? Why don't I know about this?”
Wei WuXian pointed, ”There.”
He pointed to a the top of a very tall wall.
The others were out of speech. Jiang Cheng even felt his head growing larger and clenched his teeth, ”We just came and you got into trouble! What's the matter about?”
Wei WuXian replied with a grin, ”There really isn't much. When we came, we pa.s.sed that liquor shop called 'Emperor's Smile', right? Yesterday at night, I was tossing and turning, and couldn't stand it any longer, so I went down the mountain, into the city, and brought back two jars. Mind you, we don't have the chance to drink this in Yunmeng.”
Jiang Cheng, ”Then, where's the liquor?”
Wei WuXian, ”Well, when I just flipped over the top of the wall, before I even had one leg inside, I was caught by him.”
One youth remarked, ”Wei-xiong, you must have struck gold. He probably just got out of seclusion and went on night patrol, and caught you red-handed.”
Jiang Cheng spoke, ”Those who return at night won't be let in before seven in the morning. How come he let you inside?”
Wei WuXian threw up his hands, ”So, he didn't let me in. He wanted me to move back the leg that had already stepped in. You tell me—how would I do that? And then, he came up, as light as a feather, and asked me what I had in my hands.”
Jiang Cheng felt his head start to ache, indicating a foreboding feeling, ”What did you say?”
Wei WuXian spoke, ”'It's Emperor's Smile! If I share a jar with you, can you pretend that you never saw me?'”
Jiang Cheng sighed, ”… Alcohol is forbidden in the Cloud Recesses. That's a worse crime.”
Wei WuXian spoke, ”He said the same thing to me. And I asked, 'Why don't you tell me what exactly is not forbidden in your sect?' He seemed like he was a bit angry and wanted me to look at the Wall of Rules in front of the mountain. Honestly, there were over three thousand, and everything was written in seal script. Who would read them? Did you read them? Anyways, I didn't. What's angering about this?”
”That's right!” Everyone felt the same way, and all started to complain about the strange, outdated conventions in the Cloud Recesses, regretting that they didn't meet sooner, ”Whose sect rules are over three thousand in number, and don't even repeat? Things like 'killing livestock within the area is prohibited, fighting without permission is prohibited, promiscuity is prohibited, venturing at night is prohibited, causing noise is prohibited, running is prohibited' are tolerable, but there're even ones like 'sneering for no reason is prohibited, sitting improperly is prohibited, eating more than three bowls is prohibited'…” Wei WuXian suddenly added, ”What? Fighting without permission is also prohibited?”
Jiang Cheng, ”… Yes. Don't tell me you fought with him.”
Wei WuXian, ”I did. And we broke a jar of Emperor's Smile.”
Everyone slapped their legs and exclaimed in regret.