Chapter 117 - Extra—Incense Burner (Part One) (1/2)

Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Wei WuXian found an old incense burner in the treasure pavilion of the Cloud Recesses—the ‘Chamber of Ancients.’

The incense burner had the body of a bear, nose of an elephant, eyes of a rhinoceros, tail of a bull, and limbs of a tiger. With its stomach as the main unit, it spouted soft smoke from its mouth after the incense was lit up.

In the Jingshi, Wei WuXian played with it for a while, “This thing looks kind of fun. It’s got no killing intent or malicious energy, so it’s definitely not something used to harm people. Lan Zhan, do you know what this is for?”

Lan WangJi shook his head. Wei WuXian sniffed the scent. He didn’t find anything wrong with it either. Since neither of the two saw it as suspicious, they put the incense burner away and decided to investigate it further at some later date.

Yet before the two had laid down for long, they felt extremely tired and fell into a deep sleep. An unknown period of time later, Wei WuXian woke up and discovered that he and Lan WangJi weren’t at the Jingshi of the Cloud Recesses, but rather amidst the wilderness of a forest.

Wei WuXian crawled up from the ground, “What’s this place?”

Lan WangJi, “Not the real world.”

Wei WuXian, “Not the real world? No way,” he shook his sleeve, feeling it quite clearly, “What could this be if not reality?”

Lan WangJi didn’t answer. He walked in silence towards a river and gestured for him to look down. Wei WuXian walked over and glanced at his reflection. He was immediately startled.

Reflected against the river’s surface was how he looked in his past life!

Wei WuXian immediately looked up, “Because of the incense burner?”

Lan WangJi nodded, “Likely so.”

After staring for a while at the familiar features in the water, Wei WuXian finally averted his gaze, “It’s fine. I tested the incense burner. There’s no resentful energy, so it’s definitely not a weapon of evil. Some master probably made this either to cultivate or just for the sake amusement. Let’s walk around for now and look into our situation.”

And the two began to stroll within this forest that was an illusion or otherwise. Soon, a small, log cabin came into their view.

Wei WuXian saw the log cabin and exclaimed with a ‘huh’. Lan WangJi, “Yes?”

Wei WuXian scrutinized the cabin, “The cabin looks a little familiar to me.”

The cabin was a home that looked more than common, which was why even though he was suspicious, he couldn’t determine if he’d seen it or not. At this point, the squeaks of the loom came from the cabin.

The two exchanged a glance with each other. Without more words, they approached together. But at the door of the cabin, as they looked inside, both of them stopped in surprise.

What was within the cabin was far from even the worst case scenario they imagined. There were neither villains nor beasts. In fact, there was only one person, and a person they were both rather familiar with, at that.

In the cabin sat a ‘Lan WangJi’!

This ‘Lan WangJi’ had the same handsome features and the same tall build as the one beside Wei WuXian. The plain yet not at all crude garb of blue and white cotton, when over his body, seemed to become the heavenly robes of a renowned cultivator. At the side, the loom moved on its own like it was manoeuvred using a spell, squeaking as it weaved cotton. On the other hand, he himself sat at the side with a book in his hand, reading attentively.

The two had already walked in front of the door and even made quite some noise, while ‘Lan WangJi’ seemed as though he didn’t notice anything. With a distant expression, he flipped over a page with fair, slim fingers.

Wei WuXian looked at the Lan WangJi beside him, then at the ‘Lan WangJi’ inside, reaching an epiphany, “I see, I see!”

Lan WangJi’s brows raised just a bit. The slight motion meant that he was surprised. He asked, “What?”

Wei WuXian, “Th-Th-This, this is my dream!”

Before he finished, a slender figure clothed in black swept into the cabin, extending his speech, “Er-gege, I’m back!”

Looking at the beaming ‘Wei WuXian’ who carried a hoe on his shoulder, a creel in his hand, and a straw in his mouth, Lan WangJi was even more silent. If this was Wei WuXian’s dream, it was only natural that the people inside the dream couldn’t see them. The weaving ‘Lan WangJi’ finally looked up. When he saw ‘Wei WuXian’, he even curled his lips slightly, but the smile faded at once. He stood up and poured him a cup of water.

‘Wei WuXian’ spat out the straw in his mouth and sat down at the wooden little table, grabbing the cup and downing it in a few gulps. He finally began, “Today the sun’s way too bright outside. I’m absolutely scorched. I left the things at the field. Not gonna work anymore. Maybe I’ll pick it up again later.”

‘Lan WangJi’ replied, “Mn.” Then he took out a snowy towel and handed it to him. ‘Wei WuXian’, however, moved his face over with a grin. It was more than obvious that he wanted ‘Lan WangJi’ to wipe his face for him.

And ‘Lan WangJi’ didn’t refuse either. He really began to wipe his face, earnest and dedicated. ‘Wei WuXian’ enjoyed it as he rambled on, “I played around over at the river and got two fish. Cook me fish stew tonight, Er-gege!”

“Mn.”

“How are crucians usually cooked over at Gusu? Do you know how to cook chilli pickled fish*, Lan Zhan? I like that. But please don’t make it sweet. I tried it once and almost threw up.”

“Mn. I do.”

“The weather’s getting hotter and hotter. There’s no need to boil the bathwater so hot today, so I only cut half the usual amount of firewood.”

“Mn. That is fine.”

“…” Lan WangJi stared at the two making casual conversation, “Your dream?”

Wei WuXian was laughing so hard he might suffer from an internal injury, “Pwahahahahahahahaha, uh, yes. For a certain period of time, for some reason, I keep on having these dreams. I’d dream that we retired to seclusion to the countryside. I go out to hunt and farm, while you stay at home to guard the house, weaving and cooking food for me. Oh right, you’re also in charge of my money and doing accounts for me. At night you even mend my clothes. Every time I dream about telling you to boil the bathwater so that we could bathe together at night, but every time we were about to take off our clothes I’d wake up. What a shame, hahahahahahahahahahaha…”

He didn’t at all feel embarrassed that such a dream was seen by Lan WangJi. Instead, he was quite pleased with himself. Seeing how giddy he was, Lan WangJi’s eyes grew soft, “One might as well.”

This dream of Wei WuXian’s was full of trivial odds and ends, like cooking, eating, feeding chicken, cutting firewood. As expected, when the bathwater had finished boiling, the dream halted abruptly. The two walked just a few steps out of the cabin and arrived at an elegant pavilion. Outside stood a magnolia tree with branches drawn out, effusing a quiet, refreshing fragrance.

The dream’s location changed, this time somewhere both of the two should definitely recognize. This place was the Library Pavilion of Gusu’s Cloud Recesses.

Candlelight leaked out a wooden window on the second floor, along with indistinct voices. Wei WuXian looked up, “Let’s go inside and check things out?”

For some reason, Lan WangJi had surprisingly stopped. He stared at the window, lost in thought, as if he was hesitating. Wei WuXian found this strange. He couldn’t think of a reason why Lan WangJi might not want to go in, asking, “What’s wrong?”

Lan WangJi shook his head vaguely. After some silence, just as he was about to speak, a string of unrestrained laughter suddenly exploded from within the Library Pavilion.

Hearing this, Wei WuXian’s eyes lit up. He dashed into the Pavilion and leaped up the stairs in just a few strides.

Now that he entered, of course Lan WangJi wouldn’t stay outside all by himself either, so he went in as well. Together, the two walked into the lamp-lit chamber, and they indeed saw something very interesting.

On a light-colored sitting mat beside a surface set for the punishment of copying scriptures, a sixteen-year-old Wei Ying was roaring with laughter as he slammed the desk, “Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

Thrown onto the ground was a yellowing booklet, which a similarly young Lan Zhan treated as if it were a snake or scorpion. He had already backed away up to a corner of the Pavilion, currently howling in anger, “Wei Ying——!”

Young Wei Ying laughed so hard he almost rolled under his deck. He finally managed to raise his hand, “Here! I’m here!”

And over here, Wei WuXian was also splitting his sides with laughter. He tugged at Lan WangJi who stood beside him, “What a nice dream! I can’t anymore, Lan Zhan, look at you, look at how you were back then, that expression, hahahahahaha…”

For some reason, Lan WangJi’s face looked even stranger. Wei WuXian pulled him over to sit on a mat at the side, grinning as their adolescent versions fought and argued, propping his chin on his hand.

There, young Lan Zhan had already unsheathed Bichen. Wei WuXian hurriedly grabbed Suibian, revealing a few inches of its sheath as he reminded, “Manners! Second Young Master Lan! Watch your manners! I brought my sword today as well. If we start fighting, do you think your Library Pavilion will end up fine?”

Lan Zhan raged, “Wei Ying! Just… Just what sort of person are you?!”

Wei Ying raised a brow, “What sort of person could I be? I’m a man!”

“…” Lan Zhan lashed out, “You have no shame!”

Wei Ying, “So I have to feel ashamed about this? Don’t tell me you’ve never read something like this before. I won’t believe you.”

After trying to hold it back for a while, Lan Zhan charged over with his sword, face cold as frost. Wei Ying was astonished, “What, you’re really gonna fight?!” He attacked as well. Just like this, the two really began to spar within the Library Pavilion.

At this point, Wei WuXian exclaimed with a ‘huh’. He turned sideways to look at Lan WangJi, musing, “Is this what happened? Why don’t I remember us actually fighting back then?”

Lan WangJi didn’t make a single sound. Wei WuXian looked at him, but he unnoticeably averted Wei WuXian’s gaze. The feeling that something had been off about him tonight deepened within Wei WuXian.

Just as he was about to ask, he heard young Wei Ying joke as he fought, “Nice, nice, nice! Firm yet free, curb after release—beautiful swordsmanship! But Lan Zhan, oh, Lan Zhan, look at how red your face is. Is it because of fighting with me, or is it because of what you just looked at?”

Young Lan Zhan wasn’t blushing at all. He swung his sword across, “Nonsense!”

Wei Ying leaned backwards with extreme flexibility to dodge the attack. Then he straightened up and nimbly pinched Lan Zhan’s fair cheek, “How was it nonsense? You should feel yourself. Your face is almost burning, haha!”

Lan Zhan’s face switched between red and white. He was just about to slap the hand away when Wei Ying retreated first. His slap landed on nothing as he almost ended up slapping himself. Turning around, Wei Ying continued with all the ease, “Lan Zhan, oh, Lan Zhan, no offense, but look at the other people your age. Is there any one of them who blushes so easily? Can’t take it after just this tiny bit of thrill—you’re such an amateur.”

If this situation was neither something that really happened nor one of his dreams, it had to be one of Lan WangJi’s dreams. Wei WuXian enjoyed the spectacle, “Lan Zhan, you get me so much. This is indeed something I’d say.”

Yet, he didn’t notice that the current Lan WangJi almost looked somewhat anxious.

Over there, Wei Ying rambled on, “Copying scriptures is so boring. Why don’t I teach you about these things while you copy them? Let’s just say it’s to thank you for supervising me…”

Having endured his blather for so long, Lan Zhan finally couldn’t take it any longer. Bichen zipped forward. The two swords clashed, and both were knocked out the window. Seeing that Suibian fell out of his hand, Wei Ying was slightly surprised, “Hey, my sword!”

As he shouted, he was about to leap out the window and grab his sword when Lan Zhan plunged toward him from behind and pushed him onto the ground. Wei Ying’s head bumped against the ground. He hastily began to struggle, and the two quickly became a brawling mess. Wei Ying kicked as hard as he could, elbows thrashing, but he couldn’t break free from the constraint of Lan Zhan’s limbs no matter what, almost as if he was wrapped inside an impenetrable net of iron, “Lan Zhan! What are you doing, Lan Zhan! I’m kidding, I’m kidding! Why are you so serious?!”

Lan Zhan grabbed his wrists, pressing his body onto his back. His voice was low, “What, did you, want to teach me?”

His tone sounded cold, but it seemed volcanoes were about to erupt within his eyes.

The were originally quite matched in terms of skill. Out of carelessness, Wei Ying had been pinned down on the ground, vulnerable. He could only feign ignorance, “No? Did I say something?”

Lan Zhan, “You did not?”

Wei Ying replied with confidence, “I didn’t!”

He began again, “Don’t be so straight, Lan Zhan, don’t take every single thing I say so seriously. I can’t fathom how you’d believe all that nonsense. What’s there to be angry about? I’ll stop, alright? Hurry up and let me go. I haven’t even finished copying today’s scriptures. I’ll quit, I’ll quit.”

Hearing this, Lan Zhan’s face calmed as he seemed to relax his arms slightly. Yet, right after Wei Ying pulled his wrists out, he grinned mischievously and struck with his palm.

However, almost as if he was long since on guard, Lan Zhan caught Wei Ying the moment he attacked, holding him down once more. This time, he went even harder, and Wei Ying’s wrist was twisted into a even greater curvature. He exclaimed, “I already said I was kidding! Lan Zhan! Can’t you even take a joke?!”

Flames seemed to dance within Lan Zhan’s eyes. Without saying anything, he tore off the ribbon on his forehead and wrapped it thrice around the hands of Wei Ying who was underneath him, locking them in place with a fast knot.

With such a turn of events, Wei WuXian was absolutely dumbfounded, watching from the side!