However, to Wei Wuxian, they were the easiest to manipulate and the most obedient of puppets. In fact, it even felt somewhat endearing to suddenly hear about them.
A-Tong appeared to have winked. “You have to take me along if you want to go out, so I can protect you…”
A-Ding cut him off dismissively. “You? Protect me? Please. Can you actually fight those creatures off?”
“If I can’t fight them off, then no one can,” A-Tong grumbled.
A-Ding laughed. “How do you know if other people can’t fight them off? Let me tell you, delegates from a cultivation sect have already arrived at our Mo Manor today. I hear they’re from an incredibly prominent clan! The madam is receiving them in the main hall right this minute. Everyone in town has gathered to watch, they’re all so curious. You hear that noise? They might order me around again in a bit. I don’t have time to play with you.”
Wei Wuxian listened intently. Sure enough, there was the faint sound of commotion. After a moment’s contemplation, he got up and kicked the bar locking the door, which broke with a crack.
The two servants flirting with each other screamed in surprise when the door was suddenly flung open. Wei Wuxian tossed the bowl and chopsticks aside as he stalked out, but the sunlight blinded him. The glare also caused a small, pinching pain on his skin, so he raised his hand to his brows and closed his eyes for a moment.
A-Tong had screamed louder than A-Ding a moment ago, but when he looked closer, he realized it was that lunatic everyone could bully. His courage returned. Feeling he must regain the dignity he’d just lost, he jumped over and waved, shooing Wei Wuxian like one would a dog.
He yelled, “Get outta here! Shoo! Go back in! What’re you doing outside?!”
Not even beggars or flies could have received more unsightly treatment. This was probably how these servants had treated Mo Xuanyu in the past, and they grew ever more impertinent when he didn’t retaliate.
Wei Wuxian gave A-Tong a light kick, sending him tumbling, and laughed. “Who are you trying to humiliate, huh?”
With that, he headed east, following the noise. Both the east hall and the east courtyard were crowded with people, and just as Wei Wuxian stepped into the yard, he heard a woman whose voice rose louder than the others.
“…We have a junior at home who also had an affinity for cultivation once…”
That must have been Madam Mo, who was trying to build connections with cultivation clans again. Wei Wuxian didn’t bother waiting for her to finish before he languidly squeezed through the crowd, entering the main hall. He waved enthusiastically.
“HERE, HERE, OVER HERE!”
In the main seat of the hall sat a middle-aged woman, well maintained and sumptuously dressed. This was Madam Mo. The one sitting below was her husband, who had married into the family, and across from him were several white-clad youths with swords on their backs. When a disheveled, unkempt weirdo suddenly emerged from the crowd, conversation came to an abrupt stop.
However, Wei Wuxian seemed to take no notice of the frozen atmosphere. He said unabashedly, “Who called me just now? The one with an affinity for cultivation, isn’t that me?”
There was too much powder on his face, and it cracked when he smiled, flaking as it fluttered off. One of the white-clad youths snorted, almost laughing out loud, but he restrained himself when another youth who appeared to be the leader of the bunch shot him a disapproving look.
Wei Wuxian snuck a glimpse at them and was somewhat taken aback. At first, he had thought “an incredibly prominent clan” was but the exaggerated praise of an unlearned servant. But the people here really were cultivation disciples worth their name. Who would’ve thought?
Graceful-sleeved and light, airily sashed, these youths were exceptionally pleasing to the eyes, transcendent and poised. Judging by their uniforms alone, it was obvious they came from the Lan Clan of Gusu. They were disciples with blood ties to the Lan family as well, since every single one of them had a two-centimeter-wide white ribbon patterned with rolling clouds tied around their foreheads.
“Elegance and Righteousness” was the motto of the Lan Clan of Gusu, and this forehead ribbon symbolized self-restraint. The rolling clouds were the Lan family’s insignia, and guest cultivators, or sect disciples of outside families affiliated with the prominent clan, were only allowed to wear ribbons without the pattern. Wei Wuxian always cringed every time he spotted someone from the Lan family. He’d often complained under his breath in his previous life that their uniforms looked like funeral clothes, so he knew he wasn’t mistaken now.
It had been a long time since Madam Mo had seen this nephew of hers, and it took a while before she was able to recover from her shock. After realizing who this heavily powdered person was, she was furious. But she couldn’t lose her composure, so she hissed at her husband.
“Who let him out? Get him out of here!”
Her husband responded with an apologetic smile and got up with a glum look, ready to seize Wei Wuxian. All of a sudden, Wei Wuxian dropped down without warning and latched firmly onto the ground, immovable no matter how he was pulled or dragged. Not even the servants who were called in to help could do anything. If not for the outsiders who were present, they would’ve started to kick him already.
Madam Mo’s face was growing darker and darker, and the husband was drenched in sweat as well.
He yelled, “You damn lunatic! If you don’t go back right now… Be careful or I’ll put you in your place!”
Although everyone from the Mo Estate knew there was a young master in the Mo family who had gone mad, Mo Xuanyu had withdrawn into that gloomy house of his for many years, afraid to see anyone. Now that they saw how both his appearance and his actions resembled those of a raging monster, they started to whisper among themselves, excited to watch this spectacle unfold.
Wei Wuxian spoke up, “I can go back if you want.” He pointed at Mo Ziyuan. “But you have to make him return everything he stole from me first.”
Mo Ziyuan never thought this lunatic would have the gall. He’d taught the guy a lesson just a day ago, only to have him turn around and expose him here today.
His face changed colors as he exclaimed, “YOU’RE LYING! Since when have I ever stolen anything of yours? Why would I need to steal any of your stuff?!”
“Right, right, right,” Wei Wuxian agreed. “You didn’t steal, you snatched!”
Madam Mo could now tell that Mo Xuanyu had obviously come prepared. His mind was perfectly clear, and he was bent on humiliating them.
Shocked and livid, she accused him sharply. “You fully intend to wreak havoc here today, isn’t that right?!”
Wei Wuxian looked confused. “He stole my stuff, snatched it from me, even. Is asking for it all back considered ‘wreaking havoc’?”
Mo Ziyuan grew agitated, raising his leg to kick Wei Wuxian before Madam Mo could answer. However, one of the sword-carrying white-clad youths moved his fingers slightly, and Mo Ziyuan immediately lost his balance. The kick brushed past Wei Wuxian, missing the mark, and the boy tripped over himself. However, Wei Wuxian still tumbled and rolled as if he really had been kicked. He even ripped open his robes, revealing on his chest the footprint left behind by Mo Ziyuan’s kicks the day before.
The villagers of the Mo Estate were enjoying the show immensely. Excitement filled the crowd. There was no way Mo Xuanyu could have kicked himself to create that footprint, and no matter what, he was still a member of the Mo family. What a vicious household. The boy hadn’t been this crazy when he first returned, so it was probably the family’s doing. Either way, it wasn’t like they were the ones being beaten, so as long as there was a show to watch, all the better. This spectacle was truly more interesting than the arrival of the cultivators!
With so many eyes watching, the youth couldn’t be beaten and he couldn’t be kicked out. Madam Mo had no choice but to forcibly smooth the whole debacle over with fury thick in her throat.
She said impassively, “What ‘steal’? What ‘snatch’? Such ugly accusations. We are family; it’s nothing but borrowing. A-Yuan is your younger brother,2 so what if he takes a few things of yours? As an elder brother, will you be this stingy? Throwing a childish tantrum and embarrassing everyone over such a small matter—it’s not like he wasn’t going to return your things.”
The white-clad youths stared at each other in dismay, and one of them almost choked on his tea. The disciples who grew up with the Lan Clan of Gusu were raised in refined elegance, so they had probably never encountered such a farce, nor heard such brilliance. Today’s events were probably widening their horizons. Wei Wuxian laughed maniacally in his mind and extended his hand.
“Give them back, then.”
Of course, Mo Ziyuan couldn’t return anything. All the items were long since tossed out or torn apart, and even if he could have returned them, he wouldn’t have done so willingly. Red in the face, he cried out in protest.
“MOM!” He scowled at her. “Are you going to let him insult me like this?!”
Madam Mo glowered at him, signaling him not to make this scene any worse than it was. Unexpectedly, Wei Wuxian spoke up again.