20 Chapter 20 : Contentment—Part two (1/2)

When cultivators from prominent clans went out on night-hunts, there were usually crowds people who surrounded around them, appearing similar to a parade. Yet, Lan WangJi had always prefered being alone. This arm was quite strange, and could possibly harm other people if it wasn't handled with caution. Therefore, he didn't bring any other disciples of his sect, and took only Wei WuXian, watching him as close as he could.

Wei WuXian originally wanted to sneak away during their expedition off the mountain. However, even though he attempted to run away multiple times, it always ended with Lan WangJi carrying him back with one hand holding the back of his collar. He changed his strategy, sticking to Lan WangJi as hard as he could. At night, especially, he would persistently climb into Lan WangJi's bed, with the intention that Lan WangJi would become disgusted and use his sword to throw him away. Despite this, no matter how hard he messed around, Lan WangJi steadily stood his ground. Whenever Wei WuXian wriggled into his blankets, he would use a light slap to make Wei WuXian's body rigid, and then stuff him into the other set of blankets in a proper position, where he would remain until daylight broke. Wei WuXian suffered a ton of losses and complaint about his sore body after he woke up. He couldn't help but thought, Now that he grew up, he also became less fun than before. In the past, he would become shy whenever he was teased, not to mention that he did it in quite an amusing way. But now, not only does he remain unmovable no matter what, he even learned how to counterattack. How can this be?!

Following the left hand's direction, the two went toward the northwest. They duetted Rest every single day, in order to temporarily calm its anger and killing intent. As the travelled near Qinghe, the posture that the arm maintained to show them the way suddenly changed. Its index finger curled back, and it formed a fist.

This meant that what the hand pointed at was just around the area.

They inquired into the matter as they travelled, and arrived at a small city in Qinghe. It was daytime. The streets were crowded with people hurrying to and fro. Wei WuXian was trotting behind Lan WangJi when, suddenly, he was overwhelmed by the pungent fragrance of cosmetics.

As he became used to the mild scent of sandalwood on Lan WangJi, Wei WuXian instantly cringed at the odour. He blurted out, ”What are you selling? How does it smell like this?”

The fragrance came from a charlatan, who wore the robes of a cultivator and had the word ”deceiving” plastered all over his face. He carried a chest, selling a few items to passerbys. Seeing that someone asked, he beamed, ”I sell everything! The rouge and powder here are both cheap and fine. Young Master, take a look?”

Wei WuXian, ”Sure, I'll take a look.”

The charlatan spoke, ”For your wife?”

Wei WuXian gave him a grin, ”For myself.”

”…” The charlatan's smile froze, thinking to himself, Are you joking with me?

Before he lost his temper, another young man turned around and came over. He spoke with an emotionless face, ”Do not bother others if you are not going to buy it.”

This man was extremely handsome, his robes and forehead ribbon whiter than snow. His eyes were light-coloured and he had a long sword hung by his waist. As the charlatan was a fake cultivator, he knew a few things about the cultivation world. Having recognized the Lan Sect's sect motif, he didn't dare to cause trouble, and ran away carrying his chest. Wei WuXian called after him, ”What are you running away for? I really wanted to buy it!”

Lan WangJi spoke, ”Do you have the money?”

Wei WuXian replied, ”If I don't, you can give me money.” As he spoke, he extended his hand to search. He didn't expect to actually find anything, but after a few moments, he did find a delicate, heavy pouch with money in it.

This didn't seem like something Lan WangJi would carry around at all. Then again, during these past few days, Lan WangJi did quite a lot of things that he could never have imagined. Wei WuXian didn't even find it strange anymore and took the pouch at once. As he had expected, he could take anything from Lan WangJi if he wanted to, without the other becoming dissatisfied at all. If it wasn't that he had a tiny bit of knowledge about Lan WangJi's personal integrity and how good HanGuang-Jun's reputation was, he almost doubted that Lan WangJi and Mo XuanYu had been involved in some helpless, chaotic entanglement of a relationship.

Or else, why would Lan WangJi be able to endure it, after him going to such great lengths already?!

After walking for some distance, Wei WuXian unintentionally turned around and looked. Lan WangJi was behind him, still standing at the same place, staring toward his direction.

Wei WuXian couldn't help but slowed his footsteps.

He didn't know why, but he vaguely felt that maybe he shouldn't walk so fast, leaving Lan WangJi behind like this.

At this point, someone on the side shouted, ”The YiLing Patriarch, five coins for one, ten coins for three!”

Wei WuXian, ”Who?!”

He hurried over to look at who was selling him, only to see that it was the fake cultivator. He packed away the low-grade rouge and powder, and now held a stack of paper that had someone even more malicious-looking than door-godsdrawn on them. He chattered, ”Five coins for one, ten coins for three—such a low price wouldn't cost you anything! I recommend three. One for the door, one for the hall, and stick the last on your bedroom wall. With the strong, dense evil energy, it uses poison to cure poison, making sure that no evil beings can come near you!”

Wei WuXian spoke, ”That's some shameless boasting! If it's really that effective, would you still be selling one for five coins?!”

The charlatan replied, ”Why is it you again? If you're gonna buy it, then buy it; if you're not gonna buy it, go away. If you want to spend fifty coins on each of these, that's fine with me.”