“I knew it,” Jiang Cheng said. “Why did you kill them one at a time? That’s so much work.”
“It’s fun, toying with them until they die,” Wei Wuxian explained. “Exterminating them right away is letting them off too easily. Kill them one at a time, one slow slice after another. Force them all to watch it happen. Needless to say, I haven’t tortured Wen Chao enough yet. As for Wen Zhuliu…he owed Wen Ruohan a debt of kindness for his recognition. So much so that he changed his surname to join the Wen Clan and carried out Wen Ruohan’s orders to protect his precious little son.”
Wei Wuxian sneered.
“Since he wants to protect him, I want to make him watch all the more. Give him a front-row seat to watch Wen Chao deteriorate beyond recognition in his hands, little by little, until he becomes neither human nor ghost.”
His smile was sinister, cruel, and cheerful in equal measure. Lan Wangji took every bit of the expression in. He took a step forward.
“What method did you employ to manipulate these nefarious creatures?”
The curve of Wei Wuxian’s lips fell sharply. He looked askance at Lan Wangji.
Jiang Cheng could hear the dissent in his tone. “Lan-er-gongzi, what are you implying?”
Lan Wangji stared fixedly at Wei Wuxian. “Answer me.”
The ghostly child and pale-faced woman became restless. Wei Wuxian swept a glance at them, and they reluctantly backed off and slunk into the darkness. Only then did Wei Wuxian turn back to Lan Wangji, his brows raised.
“If I may ask…what happens if I don’t answer?”
Lan Wangji abruptly grabbed at him. Wei Wuxian evaded him and took three steps back.
“Lan Zhan, we’ve just been reunited after so long and you’re already trying to arrest me. That’s not nice, is it?”
Lan Wangji moved with his hands, not his mouth, and Wei Wuxian parried every blow he threw at him. They were both quick and agile. After the third time pushing his hand away, Wei Wuxian rebuked him harshly.
“Here I thought we could at least be considered acquaintances! Isn’t it a tad heartless of you to attack me over a simple disagreement?”
“Answer me!” Lan Wangji repeated.
Jiang Cheng stood between the two of them to intervene. “Lan-er-gongzi!”
“Lan-er-gongzi,” Wei Wuxian said. “What you’re asking is really hard to explain in a short time. And it’s a strange question, too. Suppose I asked you about the secret techniques of the Lan Clan of Gusu—would you answer me?”
Lan Wangji pushed past Jiang Cheng and made a grab for Wei Wuxian again. Wei Wuxian raised his flute to block him.
“Going a bit too far there, aren’t we? Why so uncompromising? Lan Zhan, what exactly do you want?”
Lan Wangji said, enunciating each word as clearly as he could, “Return to Gusu with me.”
Both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were taken aback.
After a moment, Wei Wuxian said with a laugh, “Return to Gusu with you? To the Cloud Recesses? Whatever for?” It immediately dawned on him. “Oh, right. I forgot. Your uncle Lan Qiren absolutely hates unorthodox heretics like me. You’re his favorite pupil, so of course you’re the same, ha ha. Well, no thanks.”
Jiang Cheng stared warily at Lan Wangji. “Lan-er-gongzi, everyone knows the ways of the Lan Clan. However, Wei Wuxian saved you in the Xuanwu of Slaughter’s cave at Mount Muxi. He’s been through adversity with you. Isn’t it a tad unreasonable of you to mercilessly condemn him right now?”
Wei Wuxian looked at him. “Not bad, huh? You’ve got the air of a family head.”
“You shut up,” Jiang Cheng said.
“Condemnation is not my intent,” Lan Wangji stated.
“Then why do you want him to return to Gusu with you?” Jiang Cheng questioned. “Lan-er-gongzi, does the Lan Clan of Gusu intend to insist on its archaic doctrines right here and right now? Rather than working with everyone to kill the Wen dogs?”
One against two. Lan Wangji nevertheless stood his ground and gazed at Wei Wuxian.
“Wei Ying, you will eventually have to pay the price for cultivating along a deviant path. There have been no exceptions to this rule throughout history.”
“I can afford it,” Wei Wuxian replied.
Seeing his nonchalance, Lan Wangji said darkly, “That path injures the body. And more so, one’s nature.”
“I know best whether or not it harms my body and by how much,” Wei Wuxian declared. “And as for my nature, I’m the master of my own heart. I know what I’m doing.”
“Some things are simply beyond your control,” Lan Wangji persisted.
A hint of displeasure flashed across Wei Wuxian’s face. “Of course I can control it.”
Lan Wangji took a step closer and was about to speak again, but Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes.
“What do others know of my nature? And how is that anyone else’s business?”
Lan Wangji was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed angrily, “…Wei Wuxian!”
“Lan Wangji!” Wei Wuxian was angry as well. “Must you come at me like this right now? You want me to go to the Cloud Recesses and be confined by the Lan Clan as punishment? Who do you think you are? What do you think the Lan Clan is?! Do you really think I won’t fight back?!”
An air of hostility had erupted between the two. Lan Wangji gripped Bichen’s hilt so hard his knuckles had turned white.
“Lan-er-gongzi,” Jiang Cheng said icily. “The Wens have not been eradicated yet. We’re at a point where we urgently need extra forces. Everyone already has their hands full, so why reach your hand into the affairs of others? Wei Wuxian is on our side. Are you trying to punish our own people?”
Wei Wuxian regained his composure. “That’s right. As long as the Wen dogs are killed, what do you care about how I kill them?”
Ever since they were children, they would chime in with whatever the other was saying. And here they were again, flawlessly filling in for each other.
“Pardon my bluntness, but even if we were to pursue the matter, Wei Wuxian isn’t a member of your clan. It’s not the Lan Clan’s place to punish him,” Jiang Cheng added. “Of all the people he might go back with, it won’t be with you.”
At this, Lan Wangji’s expression froze. He glanced up at Wei Wuxian, his throat trembling as he swallowed. “I…”
Before he could reply, Wen Chao let loose a feeble scream from the corner. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s attention immediately shifted. They simultaneously stepped around Lan Wangji and came to stand before Wen Zhuliu and Wen Chao.
Wen Zhuliu was still suspended in the air by Zidian and struggling in miserable agony, while Wen Chao, more dead than alive, slowly opened his eyes to see the two faces looking down on him from above.
The two faces were both similarly young and similarly familiar. Both had once shown him expressions of despair, anguish, or deep-seated hatred. And now they looked commandingly down at him with similarly cold, glinting eyes, bearing similarly ominous sneers.
Wen Chao stopped trying to scream or escape. He dumbly held up his fingerless hands and began to drool. Wei Wuxian kicked him into kneeling in the direction of Yunmeng. His exposed flesh and bones chafed against one another, causing Wen Chao to emit shrill shrieks of pain that sounded particularly jarring in the empty post station.
“Why is his voice so shrill?” Jiang Cheng asked.
“He’s missing a certain body part,” Wei Wuxian answered. “Of course it’s shrill.”
“You cut it off?” Jiang Cheng wondered in revulsion.
“It’s a bit gross that you assumed that,” Wei Wuxian commented. “Of course I didn’t. That woman of his bit it off when she went mad.”
Lan Wangji was still standing behind them, watching. Wei Wuxian suddenly remembered his presence and turned around with a smile.
“The following scene may not be suitable for Lan-er-gongzi’s eyes. Won’t you please step away for a moment?”
Although he said “please,” his tone brooked no argument.
Jiang Cheng agreed with polite and professional detachment. “Indeed. Lan-er-gongzi, Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu have fallen into our hands. The mission is accomplished. It’s time we part ways. What comes next is a family matter. It’s best if you head back.”
Lan Wangji’s gaze was still locked on Wei Wuxian, but Wei Wuxian’s attention had been captured by his enemies, who were now at death’s door. He stared at Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu with gleaming eyes, and his smile was both cruel and excited. Jiang Cheng wore the same expression. They had lost themselves in the overwhelming pleasure of revenge, and neither was in the mood to placate an outsider.
After a while, Lan Wangji turned around and headed downstairs. He stepped out of the post station and kept watch by the entrance for a long time, but he never left.
Some time later, a long, shrill howl pierced the silent night.
Lan Wangji looked up. His white robe and forehead ribbon flapped in the frigid wind.
The black night had passed, and the sun in the sky was about to rise.
And the sun on earth was about to set.