Chapter 100 - Hatred (Part Three) (2/2)
Without anyone noticing, the sprinkle had become a storm. The colliding lanterns outside the temple had already been dampened by the rainwater as well. Their surroundings suddenly sunk into darkness.
Wei WuXian couldn’t let out another sound. Amidst the darkness, Lan WangJi had already embraced him tightly, stopping him with his lips.
Lan WangJi’s breaths were short and disordered. His hoarse voice whispered beside Wei WuXian’s ear, “… fancy you…”
Wei WuXian hugged him tight, “Yes!”
Lan WangJi, “… love you, want you…”
Wei WuXian raised his voice, “Yes!”
Lan WangJi, “Cannot leave you… do not want anyone but you… it cannot be anyone but you!”
He repeated over and over again the words Wei WuXian said to him, his voice and his body trembling at the same time. Wei WuXian was almost under the illusion that he was about to cry.
After every sentence, the arm he wrapped around Wei WuXian’s waist tightened. Wei WuXian hurt from the embrace, but the arms he wrapped around Lan WangJi’s back tightened as well, almost making him unable to breathe. But still, he savored every moment as he wished to hug him even tighter.
He couldn’t see anything.
But their chests were right against each other’s. The two hearts couldn’t hide at all. Wei WuXian felt it with clarity—Lan WangJi’s throbbing heart, the heat that was about to break out of that chest, and something that landed at his neck before disappearing soundlessly, something that might have resembled a tear.
At this point, a series of quickened footsteps entered the main palace. Jin GuangYao, who had gone behind the palace to check on the situation with a few cultivators, returned again. Facing the strong wind, two monks stood each on one side, finally managing to shut and bolt the temple’s doors after exerting all their strength. Jin GuangYao fished out a fire talisman. After a light blow, the talisman ignited, and he used it to light up the red candles again. The dim, yellow flames were the only source of light in this lone temple amidst the night rain. Suddenly, two crisp knocks came from outside the door.
Hearing that someone was knocking, all of the people within the temple perked up their ears, looking at the entrance. The two monks who closed the doors seemed as though they faced a great threat. Soundlessly, they pointed their swords towards the doors.
Jin GuangYao’s expression didn’t change at all, “Who is it?”
The person outside, “Sect Leader, it’s me!”
It was Su She’s voice. Jin GuangYao gestured, and the two monks took off the bolt. Su She entered along with the roaring storm.
Affected by the wind and rain, the row of candles fluttered and flickered. The two monks immediately shut the doors again. Su She was drenched by the storm. His face was cold, and his lips were frozen to become a shade of purple. In his right hand he held his sword, and in his left a person. After he entered, he was just about to throw the person down when he saw Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi on two cushions by the side, still stuck together and refusing to part.
Su She had just suffered quite some losses from these two. His expression changed, and he immediately unsheathed his sword, glancing at Jin GuangYao. Seeing how he looked like nothing was wrong, Su She knew that these two were definitely under control already. He finally calmed down.
Jin GuangYao, “What’s wrong?”
Su She, “I met him on my way here. I thought he might be useful, so I caught him.”
Jin GuangYao approached and looked down, “Did you hurt him?”
Su She, “No. He was scared and passed out.” As he spoke, he tossed the person onto the ground. Jin GuangYao, “MinShan, don’t be so rough with him. He can’t take scares and falling down.”
Su She hurried, “Yes.” He then picked up the person whom he threw around and carefully placed them beside Lan XiChen. Lan XiChen had been staring at the person. He pushed aside their wet, messy hair and looked. The person who had been scared unconscious was indeed Nie HuaiSang. He’d probably been caught by Su She after he finished resting at Lotus Pier, on his way back to Qinghe.
He looked up, “Why did you seize HuaiSang?”
Jin GuangYao, “With another sect leader here, the others would be to some extent more careful anyways. But Brother, please don’t worry. You know how I’ve always been towards HuaiSang. When the time comes, I’ll definitely let you two leave without harm.”
Lan XiChen’s voice sounded indifferent, “Should I believe you?”
Jin GuangYao, “It’s your choice. Whether you believe me or not, Brother, you can’t do anything about it, can you?”
At this point, Su She threw his cool gaze towards Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi. He snickered, “HanGuang-Jun, Patriarch YiLing, who would’ve thought we’d meet so soon? And the tables have completely been turned. So how does it feel?”
Lan WangJi didn’t say anything. He never paid attention to such meaningless provocations. Wei WuXian thought to himself, How have the tables been turned? You were running away defeated back on Burial Mound, but aren’t you also running away defeated right now?
Perhaps Su She had been holding it back for too many years. He’d keep on rambling all on his own even without anyone provoking him. He examined Lan WangJi from top to bottom and mocked, “Things are already like this, and you’re still holding up the front you think looks so calm and collected. How long do you want to keep it up for?”
Lan WangJi was still silent. Lan XiChen, however, spoke up, “Sect Leader Su, when you were studying in the GusuLan Sect, I believe we never treated you badly. Why do you attack WangJi like this?”
Su She, “How dare I attack Second Young Master Lan, who’s been so talented ever since he was young? I just can’t bear looking at how he always thinks he’s such a big deal.”
Although it wasn’t the only time Wei WuXian knew that hatred could come without a reason, he still couldn’t help but be baffled, “Has HanGuang-Jun ever said he thinks he’s a big deal? If I remember correctly, isn’t ‘arrogance is forbidden’ part of the GusuLan Sect’s rules?”
Jin Ling, “Why do you know what’s part of the GusuLan Sect’s rules?”
Wei WuXian touched his chin, “I’ve copied them too many times, you know?”
Jin Ling blurted, “Why would you copy the GusuLan Sect’s rules? It’s not like you’re…” He wanted to say ‘it’s not like you’re from his sect’, but before he could finish, he felt where the oddness was. He stopped talking, his face darkening.
Wei WuXian grinned, “Is it because HanGuang-Jun’s had such an icy face ever since he was young, Sect Leader Su, that you think about him this way? If so, then HanGuang-Jun is so unfortunately misunderstood. He’s obviously like this towards everyone. You should be glad you didn’t study at the YunmengJiang Sect, Sect Leader Su.”
Su She’s voice was cold, “Why?”
Wei WuXian, “Or else you would’ve long since been angered to death by me. When I was young, every day I wholehearted believed that I was a prodigy, that I was such a fucking big deal. And not only did I believe it in my heart, I even flaunted it everywhere.”
Veins lined Su She’s forehead, “Shut up!” He seemed as if was about to strike when Lan WangJi pulled Wei WuXian towards his chest, firmly protecting him with his arms. Su She’s movements paused, debating whether or not he should attack.
Wei WuXian immediately peeked from behind Lan WangJi’s back, “It’s best if you don’t do anything, Sect Leader Su. LianFang-Zun is still fairly respectful towards ZeWu-Jun. If you hurt HanGuang-Jun, do you think LianFang-Zun would be happy?”
This was also the reason why Su She stopped. But now that Wei WuXian said it, he felt abnormally annoyed. He mocked again out of defiance, “I never imagined that the YiLing Patriarch, who legendarily strikes fear in both the living and the dead, would be scared of death himself!”
Wei WuXian responded shamelessly, “You really flatter me. But, it’s not that I’m scared of death. I just don’t want to die yet.”
Su She sneered, “Mincing words. Hilarious. Is there any difference between being scared of death and not wanting to die?”
Wei WuXian snuggled against Lan WangJi’s chest, “Of course there is. For example, right now, I don’t want to get up from Lan Zhan versus I’m scared of getting up from Lan Zhan—could they possibly be the same?” After some thought, he continued, “I’m sorry. I retract my words. I feel like they’re pretty much exactly the same thing.”
Su She’s face was almost green. To anger him was Wei WuXian’s original intention, anyways. But suddenly, from above him came a light laugh.
It was so extremely light that one would doubt they heard wrong.
But Wei WuXian immediately looked up. He very clearly saw beside Lan WangJi’s lips the transient glimpse of a soft smile that resembled sunlight reflected over snow. This time, not only Su She, even Lan XiChen and Jin Ling paused in astonishment.
Everyone knew that HanGuang-Jun was always cold and never smiled, almost unlively. Only few had seen what he looked like when he smiled, even if it was just a slight curl of his lips. Nobody expected to see his smile under such circumstances.
Wei WuXian’s eyes were immediately opened wide and round.
A moment later, he gulped. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, “Lan Zhan, you…”
Right then, knocking sounds again came from outside the Guanyin Temple.
Su She unsheathed his sword, holding it in his hands as he asked in alarm, “Who is it?!”
Nobody answered. The doors shot open!
From amidst the storm that had just broken inside, a crackling streak of purple lighting struck right against Su She’s chest, sending him flying backwards. Su She slammed into one of the mahogany pillars, and immediately heaved a mouthful of blood. The two monks guarding the temple door were also affected by the echoes of the attack, thrown onto the ground and unable to get up. A purple figure stepped steadily over the threshold and into the main palace.
The rain blew hard outside the temple, but the figure wasn’t too wet. Only the violet at the hems of his clothes darkened slightly. He held a paper umbrella in his left hand. Rain drops crashed onto the umbrella, water splashing everywhere. The cold light of Zidian continued to sizzle in his right hand. His face was darker than the stormy night.