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1
Before he knew it, Lan Wangji discovered himself walking on the street of Yunmeng.
There are just bars alongside both sides of this street, such a scene is not completely unfamiliar to him. Looking at the end of the long street, the last sunlight disappears, with the horizon turns blue, clear and transparent. Several bars have lit up the red lanterns and hang them above the door, shedding light upon the name of the bar written in black ink. Lan Wangji walked and stopped in front of one door according to his memory, then cast his soft eyes on the white curtain hanging in front of the window upstairs. Wind blows, the curtain swells, a corner of the curtain happens to fall out of the window and floats, the red candle light as well as the laughter inside the curtain thus no longer hidden, flowing down to Lan Wangji in a reckless manner.
After a while, just as Lan Wangji attempted to turn around and continue walking down this street, a slender hand stretched out from the curtain and put it aside.
"Lan Zhan!" The person who called him showed only half of his face from the curtain, with a bright smile: "Wanna come and have a drink?"
The person upstairs is exactly Wei Wuxian. He drank a few more cups of Huadiao Spirits in the afternoon and took a rest here for a while. He had just woke up at the moment, so he felt his eyes are blurry, everything he saw seemed to be blocked by some transparent layer. Faintly, he remembered that Lan Wangji had accompanied him here several days ago. Therefore, once seeing him standing here again, he called Lan Wangji to come upstairs again with delight.
However, Lan Wangji did not move a step, just staring at him steadily from below. The gentle light in his eyes is just as soft and long-lasting as the Huadiao Spirits he had drunk, making his heart stop for a moment, and he involuntarily lean half of his body on the window sill. When he regained his senses and looked again, there are more people on the long street since then, bustling, and Lan Wangji's figure disappeared in the crowd. Wei Wuxian murmured to himself:
“Could it be that I was dazzled?”
He did not worry about it for too long, then paid for the wine. With his bamboo flute stuck on the waist, he walked out, both hands on his back. The red tassel on the flute swayed with the pace, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right. Out of the restaurant's gate, a woman was standing next to the corridor. Seeing Wei Wuxian coming out from a distance, her eyes lit up, and she was about to throw her towel to solicit people inside, but she then heard him say:
“Hi beauty, I have something else to do tonight, no time for me to drink your new wine. Could you please tell me, how do I get to the Liuli Bridge in the suburb?”
After she tell him the way, Wei Wuxian thanked her and walked outside the crowd against the flow of people. It’s about time that all the lanterns are lit up, people standing under the porches of every store, and they called out loud to invite him in. He just smiled and ignored it. Walking out of the long street, the hustle and bustle fell behind him. When he no longer heared the chaos , as if felt something, he glanced back.
He only froze for a moment, and when he remembered something, he smiled and said to the person behind him: "It’s really a coincidence to see you here. Let me guess, Night Hunter it is, again?"
Lan Wangji's expression did not change, and he nodded extremely lightly. Behind him, the lanterns on both sides of the Long Street fluttered up and down with the wind, and it was even more hazy in his flying white clothes.
For some reason, seeing this, Wei Wuxian’s heart beat so fiercely that his face burned. As an effort to hide his embarrassment, he decisively turned around and hurried a few steps, wanting to take the night to cool off some alcohol burning inside. But when his blushing subsided, and looked back, he saw that Lan Wangji was still the same as before, not far away following him.
Wei Wuxian was helpless: "Han Guang Jun, you didn't come here to amuse me!"
Lan Wangji stopped, looking a little aggrieved for some reason. Wei Wuxian thought for a while, and asked him: "It's getting late, has Han Guang Jun found a place for tonight? Why don't I send you back to Lian Hua Wu to spend the night, you may continue the journey tomorrow."
Just as Wei Wuxian’s heart went up and down, fearing that his suggestion would offend Lan Wangji abruptly, he heard him ask, "Then where are you going?"
Wei Wuxian said in a relaxed tone: "Me? After sending you to Lian Hua Wu, I would naturally go hunting tonight. Someone asked me to come and get rid of the troubles tonight, so I had no choice but to run for it."
"I’m not leaving for Lian Hua Wu. Now." Lan Wangji said suddenly.
Wei Wuxian didn't get it at first, but after some thinking, he couldn't help but smiled: "Lan Zhan, don't you want to go night hunting with me!" I didn't expect him to be so interesting!
Lan Wangji looked down and said nothing, showing his consent. Wei Wuxian smiled and turned towards him: "Don't be embarrassed, Han Guang Jun!" As he approached Lan Wangji, his finger touched Lan Wangji’s forehead.
Unexpectedly, Lan Wangji suddenly enlarged his eyes, his whole body stiffened: "Wei Ying, you..."
Wei Wuxian put away his fingers with a little dissatisfaction: "Don't misunderstand, it’s just that I saw you acting a little weird, I'm afraid that some ghost has taken over your body. Now it seems that you are still the original one, from the inside to the outside. Now there is nothing to worry about. Let me ask you again, are you sure that you want to go night hunting with me?"
His little prank really scared this well-behaved man. Lan Wangji didn't move or speak for a while, not knowing what he was thinking. Wei Wuxian succeeded and he was about to slip away, but he heard a voice from behind: "Okay."
Wei Wuxian secretly regretted that he had ridiculed others, and had to find himself uncomfortable in the night hunt. What's more, the finger he used to touched Lan Wangji's forehead, seemed to have got some body temperature from him. At this moment, the finger feels like being caught by fire, and he quietly made a grimace behind him when Lan Wangji couldn't see it.
They have left Yunmeng City, and walked less than three miles along the westward road. There was a lush old locust tree beside the road, the tree is very large. Wei Wuxian followed the path pointed out by the restaurant girl, and took Lan Wangji through a trail behind the tree to the forest, while explaining to him:
"This is a shortcut, it's just a little harder to walk on. I have an appointment to come over when it's dark, but don't let the girl wait for too long!"
Lan Wangji kept his eyes on the bamboo flute turning in his hand: "Girl?"
Wei Wuxian scratched his head: "Or should I call her Mrs? It's a bit complicated, otherwise I won't take it."
As the restaurant girl said, outside the woods, there is a rushing river with gurgling water. A stone bridge is located on upstream. There are several households at one end of the bridge. There was a stone beast lying on the left side of the gate of the courtyard. Before Lan Wangji could see what the stone beast was, he was dragged by Wei Wuxian to the back wall.
"She asked me to come and get rid of this trouble, but she didn't tell the rest of the family about it." Wei Wuxian said in a whisper, "it may be difficult for you, to get inside with me through the back wall."
Lan Wangji didn't say anything, he only tightened his belt and held his sword with his left hand, then jumped in with Wei Wuxian. As soon as he landed, he felt that the ground was soft, and they should be in the back Garden. The peach blossoms above his head were in full bloom, he was totally unprepared, when he was dragged to the back of the tree by Wei Wuxian, and the peach blossom petals are so soft that they fell on their faces without making a sound.
"Be careful of other people." Wei Wuxian pointed to the dangling white light on the small road outside the garden and said: "She said that she would bring a red lantern to pick me up. The one who raised the white lantern is the servant on the night patrol."
They waited with bated breath behind the tree. The servant turned around here a few times and found nothing unusual, so he turned and went to the other side. Seeing that the person was already far away, Lan Wangji cast a questioning look at Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian knows what he wanted:
"Han Guang Jun, if there is a girl, she eloped without telling her parents and brothers to marry her lover who is in love with each other, but after marriage she never really met her husband once. Isn't this strange?"
"It's really strange." Lan Wangji said. Since the love is true, what else could stop them from staying together?
Then Wei Wuxian explained the whole story. The woman who asked him to come is called A Ling, who was born in a scholarly family. Three years ago, A Ling’s mother fell ill. A Ling went to the drugstore nearby every day to buy the medicine, she then fell in love with the young shopkeeper in the drugstore. After her mother recovered from the illness, she found out that the matter and got very angry, claiming that the young shopkeeper named Yushen was a "low-class" in business, and was not worthy of marrying the Ling she brought up. The father was also extremely angry, and even said that the matter was out of order, and ordered the servants to lock her up and wait for someone else to marry her.
A Ling had a fight with her family in an hopeless way. She was very discouraged and ready to give up. Unexpectedly, an old servant at home sympathized with her and found a chance to let her escape from the backyard. The person outside was Yushen, who was ready to take her to marriage. She was so dizzy with all the good things happening in succession, still unable to believe it when she got to the ceremony hall, and tried to lift the handkerchief covered on her face several times, but Yushen held her hand.
"Although there is nobody else here, we shall obey the manners of a wedding ceremony." After three prayers, Yushen said as he led her to the inner courtyard. Then Yushen told A Ling that this house was specially prepared for her, and it was him who had asked the old servant to release her. These things should have been done in a more cautious way, but he really didn’t have so much time: his uncle had already said that he would take him downstream to do some medicine business, and he just came yesterday to inform him that he must leave tonight, the ship awaiting him is in a hurry. Now that he has already married with A Ling, he could leave here for business with nothing to worry about.
"Since then, Yushen has never come back?" Lan Wangji didn't understand what this matter had to do with evil spirits. He only felt that this A Ling might be infatuated and was deceived by the apprentice.
Wei Wuxian understood what he meant: "I don't know if this should be counted as he had been back or not."
A Ling has been here alone for more than half a year. Although she often has correspondence with Yushen, she still feels resentful as time goes on. Yushen could understand her thoughts very well, and after a month or so, he sent her a very thick letter. He said in the letter that he was entangled in affairs and had no way to go back. He suffered from lovesickness for a long time. Fortunately, he came across a Monk who taught him a spell that could make him teleport thousands of miles to meet her. However, the conditions of this spell were harsh, and he could not see the slightest light when he was teleported here. A Ling had to be well-prepared according to what Yushen said on a moonless night before he could come over.
Lan Wangji was very surprised: "Has he learned the ‘Ground-folding’?" This spell only exists in the legend, it is pretty amazing that an ordinary person with no spiritual power can learn to use it.
"That’s possible, I won't know until see it." Wei Wuxian continued. A Ling did what he said, and Yushen returned and spent all night with her, they continue to meet like this if there was a chance. According to Yushen 's order, these things were kept secret from the servants in the house, lest they make a fuss. Although she could not turn on the lights and see people at night, A Ling was already satisfied.
If it hadn't happened a while ago, A-ling would even think it would be fine to live like this. Just some nights ago, Yushen suddenly sighed to her before leaving:
"A Ling, you have to know that we are all vulgar fetuses of the flesh, and we can't get rid of the physical restraint, so our fate in the future is pretty questining."
A Ling immediately felt her heartbeat violently. A few nights later, when the moon turned black and the wind was high, she stuck the charm she had drawn in blood on the door frame, took the incense burner and lit it on the case. After doing this, she prayed sincerely to the rising smoke before entering the house. As before, the figure of Yushen was sitting on her bed. But when she leaped forward happily, the figure was like a clay sculpture, without any life in it.
She was so frightened that her limbs went numb. She wanted to lit up the light to have a look, but she was afraid that Yushen could be harmed. Spending the night like this, the figure still disappeared before dawn as before. Just as she was at a loss, fortunately Yushen wrote to her in a timely manner, saying that there was a problem with the spell before and that he would meet again after he fixed it.
Lan Wangji said: "So she invited you tonight to protect her husband from the possible harm of the spell."
Wei Wuxian said proudly, "Why not offer some help to fulfil other' s cherished hopes? Just take a walk on the streets of Yunmeng and ask anyone you could meet, who doesn't know that my skills in dealing with the evil spirit are the best in the world?"
Lan Wangji did not comment on this. When Wei Wuxian felt boring, he raised his head, suddenly cried out in surprise:
"Look, it's the red lantern! The one who come to pick us up is here!"
A beam of warm light in the distance is getting closer and closer. When she came closer, Lan Wangji clearly saw a woman in plain clothes in the light of the lantern, with a pair of round and clear eyes. Her eyebrows are as light as smoke, one can see that she is a good-looking lady. However, in Lan Wangji's view, there was an inexplicable sadness in this Ling's behavior, which shocked him inexplicably.
2
After carefully checking the letters and charms that A Ling showed them, Wei Wuxian raised one of his eyebrows, turned around and exchanged tacit glances with Lan Wangji.
Sure enough, there is no Ground-folding technique. According to the legend, it takes a lot of spiritual power to use Ground-folding technique, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people. The spell Yushen learned is very similar to that of a "infatuation couple". " infatuation couple" was originally a trick used by couples who cannot be reunited to ease their feelings of missing. When the spell is used, one would hold a paper portrait, uses the mutual thoughts of the two as a guide to drive the spell, so that the soul of the other can be attached to the paper portrait across thousands of miles . In this way, the two can talk and laugh through the paper portrait as the introduction, because this technique requires very rough conditions, and the people who can use it are all infatuated with each other, so the name is given.
It was obvious that A Ling saw more than the little paper portrait. Maybe Yushen might not have expected it himself, but his infatuation was so strong that could modify the spells, and make the paper portrait turn to flesh. No wonder that he didn't want A Ling to lit up the lamp, if there was light, she would sooner or later find out that he who came was not a real person. Wei Wuxian tried to draw spells several times by himself, and looked over the agarwood used in the incense burner, but he could not find any problem in them. Therefore, Wei Wuxian thought, the cause of the spell failure is mostly on the practitioner.
He cleared his throat and asked A Ling: "This... madam, as a newlywed, you have been separated from your husband for so long, do you feel regretful?"
Except the three of them, there is no one else in the inner courtyard. However, out of the manners, A Ling insisted that she stood outside the house and separated herself from the people in the house with a half-closed door leaf, her voice was thus blurred: "Never regretted it. Although it’s hard for him, he still tried every means to meet me. I. Having a husband like this, I have nothing else to ask for."
"Does the madam still remember the appearance and posture of your husband?" Wei Wuxian asked, "Is the one you saw at night different from before?"
A Ling said bofore that at the time she bought the medicine from the drugstore, she only dared to glance at the handsome little shopkeeper when there was no one around, and only dared to hold his hand when she was newly married. A Ling replied: "Of course I do remember. Over the past three years, he has been working hard outside and lost a few ponds. I did not see his face clearly, but everything else has not changed." She asked carefully: "Please tell me, what's wrong with this spell?"
Lan Wangji said: "There is nothing wrong with the spell. If Madam can use it without hindrance before, the reason for the failure may be in your heart."
The shadow cast by A Ling on the door lowered her head, seeming to let out a silent sigh. A while ago, she asked the two of them to stay aside, and painted the symbol and burned incense as before, but she didn't even call out one thing. After so many failed trials, she reluctantly brought the letter to them for inspection. Wei Wuxian knew that she took the letter written by her husband very seriously and didn't care too much about it; while Lan Wangji had always been so cold, couldn't see what he thought.
Wei Wuxian still couldn't bear it in the end: "Madam, don't blame yourself, we are just taking a guess."
A Ling only said: "I don’t think his heart has changed. I am just afraid that something bad had happened to him while he is out." Her voice trembled slightly.
Wei Wuxian is not good at handling this kind of scene. Fortunately, Lan Wangji stood up at this time and bowed to the door: "Excuse me for being abrupt, if Madam is still in love with your husband, it is possible that something went wrong on the other side. Let’s use a different method, trying to let you two have a talk first."
The voice outside the door was a little anxious: "Is there any other way?"
"We can manage to do some time backtracking." Lan Wangji said: "According to what you said, I don’t count your husband as having been here except for the wedding night. Just track the time in this room back to the wedding night three years ago, the spell will be effective and pull him over."
"This method sounds fantastic." Wei Wuxian applauded. The time backtracking is frequently used to reproduce the old scenes during night hunting, but he never thought it could be used in this way.
A Ling acquiesced after thinking for a while. Wei Wuxian thought that if they are to track the time in room back to the wedding night, there must be a bride in the room. But he was not sure whether he should let A Ling know how they met before, so it's better not to let her anticipate in. Lan Wangji was discussing the details of the spell with A Ling. Wei Wuxian peeked at the room under the dim light, Lan Wangji's jade-like face was extremely solemn, thinking that this part could only be played by himself. Wouldn't it be a great sin to make such a dignified person dressed like a bride?
Two red candles was lit up in front of the bed, and Wei Wuxian used the candlelight to look around the interior layout. Everything in the room is half new, and the embroidered bed in the middle occupies most of the space. Lan Wang's walked around the room, taking a look at all the small stuffs displayed here.
Wei Wuxian could only sit still on the bed. When he first proposed that he wanted to dress up as a bride, he thought it was very interesting. As a result, Lan Wangji only took a glance at him and took a red handkerchief that A Ling found, then put the handkerchief on his head: "That's it. " Totally disregarding Wei Wuxian saying him boring countless times.
Before the time backtracking took effect, Wei Wuxian persuaded A Ling to wait outside. Now he was sitting on the edge of the embroidered bed, with the red handkerchief covered on his whole face. Then he noticed something strange. Lan Wangji should accompany him to wait, but this atmosphere between them..
He asked Lan Wangji, who was standing in front of the embroidery bed, "What are you thinking?"
Lan Wangji still stared at the flame jumping on the red candle: "Nothing."
Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes, and stopped talking, a little angrily. Lan Wangji seemed to be aware of it, and tried to find something to talk about: "There will be a party on Jinlin Tai in a few days."
"Is it tomorrow? Or the day after tomorrow?" Wei Wuxian really couldn't remember: "I didn't want to go anyway. I don’t want to sit there listen to them talking and talking. Lan Zhan, you plan to go?"
"I'm not going either."
Then he said nothing more. Wei Wuxian expected to hear more, he was disappointed. Thinking it would take some time for the time backtracking to take effect. He tentatively spoke again:
"Lan Zhan, you might as well—"
"Wei Ying--"
"You speak first, you should speak first." Wei Wuxian smiled: "It's rare for you to start a conversation."
"The paper portrait may be in bed."
A Ling never mentioned anything about the paper portrait, could it be that she had forgot? When Wei Wuxian was about search the bed, he felt something improper: "Han Guang Jun, light a lamp and let's take a look together. It's too dark here." The red candle and the red handkerchief are crucial to time backtracking and can't be moved. Fortunately, the thing on his head is made of extremely flimsy red yarn, so that he can see through it
He heard Lan Wangji got outside for a while, and soon turned on a lamp, and Wei Wuxian's saw the light at once. Across the layers of red yarn,, Lan Wangji's face was also blushed, and his calm expression immediately became a lot more vivid. Then the oil lamp occupied all the sight, and Wei Wuxian heard Lan Wangji gasped.
"What's the matter?" He wanted to tease Lan Wangji: "Am I good-looking to you? Do I look like a bride?"
Seeing Lan Wangji turned around and was about to leave, he hurriedly grabbed his sleeves: "Han Guan Jun, don't be so angry, what do you think it is?"
He pointed at the mirror in front of the bed. Lan Wangji misunderstood what he meant, thinking that he was making a joke, so spoke in a cold tone: "Don't you look into the mirror."
"Who said I'm going to look into the mirror?" Wei Wuxian was righteous: "Look carefully, it just happened to be able to illuminate the charm on the door frame. Can you see that the character on it is turning red? Yushen is about to show up!"
Just as he said these words, they heard a gust of murky wind from the courtyard, the wind rushed into the room through the wide open door, and the charm on the door frame rustled. The oil lamp in Lan Wangji's hand went out. What was strange was the two red candles. The flames of the two red candles flickered with the wind, and they reignited again, but they were much weaker than before.
Had it not been for maintaining the time backtracking, Wei Wuxian would have rushed to the door with Lan Wangji. Even with this candlelight, Wei Wuxian could barely recognize that the narrow shadow appeared on the stone slab under the threshold was a human figure. The soul that came here is obviously the Yushen that A Ling said, his voice is extremely hoarse when he speaks, as if he is undergoing some torture:
"A Ling." He said a few more vaguely: "I know it's not you. Why do you have to find an answer?"
The last sentence is not for them. A Ling's face turned pale, and her feet dangled, coming straight to the shadow:
"Yushen!" she screamed very sadly. Lan Wangji stopped her: "Madam." He was not very good at persuading people, but he had to say, "Please calm down first."
Another gust of wind blew by, engulfing the shattered tiles on the roof and the dust on the ground. A Ling couldn't open her eyes in the wind. When the wind stopped, the stone slab was empty. Wei Wuxian leaned against the door with his arms folded, looking worried, so does Lan Wangji. A Ling pushed them aside and entered the room. The tcharm and the incense burner were all thrown aside. The red candle and the red handkerchief also disappeared. What happened just now, together with everything that had happened here in the past three years, seemed to her as never happened. Just a moment, her view turned black and she fainted down to the ground.
3
Fortunately, A Ling woke up soon. She tried to say something to Wei Wuxian, who was standing beside the bed, but her tears couldn't stop falling down.
Wei Wuxian was horrified: "Don’t need to be so sad!" he thought for a while and added: "Don't worry, he is safe and sound." Then he explained the spell of "Infatuation Couple" to her in detail, but did not mention the reason why the spell was unsuccessful.
But A Ling guessed it herself first: "So, his heart has changed. Our love has come to an end."
Wei Wuxian stayed silent, and listened to A Ling’s words: "I only thought... he may be involved in an accident, may even lost his life, so he didn't come and meet me. I didn't expect the true reason is like this. I used to think that, he is the same as me, loving each other more and more everyday. It turns out to be my delusion."
"He's definitely safe." Lan Wangji said, "If it weren't for the living soul, there would be no shadow."
A Ling looked tired due to the crying, she then turned her face to the ceiling and ignored them. Wei Wuxian pulled Lan Wangji quietly, and said, "What should I do now?"
Lan Wangji ignored him, instead, he said to A Ling: "Madam."
"Don't call me'Madam' again." A Ling said calmly: "Thank you for what you have done today. As for me—" She sat up and said, "I have to go to find him and ask for an explanation."
"I'm afraid the way would be too long for you." Lan Wangji said.
After hearing this, she got excited again: "I don't care! Why does he treat me like this!" She jumped out of bed and ran out: "I'll go find him now!"
It's very dark outside. As soon as Wei Wuxian reacted, he chased her out, the door of the room slammed into the wall in a hurry, echoing constantly. There seemed to be some voice in the house on the other side. Lan Wangji did plan to follow them out, but he then stopped.
Wei Wuxian was unfamiliar with this place, and he could not see the road clearly when it was dark. After running off several times, he finally stopped A Ling at the gate: "Don't be in such a hurry! Listen to me first!"
The place is close to the river, and the humidity is heavy at night. Therefore, when the courtyard door was wide open, they just saw a thick fog on the road outside, the fog is so heavy that half of the stone beast at the door disappeared in the fog. Wei Wuxian forcibly grabbed the lock in A Ling's hand, closed the door, half-coaxed and half-persuaded, "I will see you off at dawn, you should not leave now."
He whistled to cheer A Ling up, and made up his mind that he would never let A Ling out.
A Ling could not find any way out, and followed him back in a muddle-headed manner, returning to her room to rest as suggested. Lan Wangji closed the door for her and came out, but he was still hesitant to tell Wei Wuxian what the little maid in the courtyard had just said.
"Madam?" The little maid came out to check when she heard the noise. She was not surprised when she saw Lan Wangji: "My lady has never been married, so why is she called a madam? But she is, in some way, being crazy. I have seen similar things happened before. Please come back, I’m so sorry, there is nothing wrong here."
Lan Wangji thought as he walked, but he saw the shadow on the stone slab with his own eyes.
Wei Wuxian returned to the garden with Lan Wangji. A grape stand was erected on the east side of the garden, and the green leaves were thick now. Regardless of the white lantern dangling in the distance, they just sat under the grape stand.
Lan Wangji was the first to ask: "Do you know what's going on with A Ling now?"
Wei Wuxian nodded: "Of course."
Thinking back, the story A Ling told him was full of loopholes. A daughter ran away from home and still stayed in a place not far from home.? Her family should have found her in the past three years. Besides, the wedding night is one of the most precious time in life. Is there anyone who would ask his nephew to leave at this night?
Lan Wangji felt something went wrong in A Ling's room. He took a look at the make-up stuffs on A Ling's dressing table, all of which were of the style a few years ago. Yushen and A Ling have been writing to each other for these years, there is no reason for them not to exchange gifts since the newlyweds had their good times. And A Ling didn't tell them about the paper portrait in the end, did she forget about it? Or the paper portrait did not exist at all?
Therefore, there is only one possibility. Lan Wangji asked Wei Wuxian: "You know a lot about the trick of ghosts, do you know how to make the soul meet the living in the form of flesh?"
Wei Wuxian looked at him for a while, and finally couldn't hold back a smile: "I can only talk as long as Han Guan Jun doesn't blame me for this."
"Definitely not."
"All right." Wei Wuxian drew the bamboo flute from his waist: "There is a way, but it's just an idea. When a person dies, the soul separates from the body. If you can restrain the soul before it entering the cycle of reincarnation, and then make a contract with the body. In this way a man may be able to live forever."
Lan Wangji suffocated: "What did you say?"
"It's just an idea, what are you excited about?" Wei Wuxian asked strangely: "But it was made...similar to the living dead. If there is a chance for me to try, it should be successful." For no reason, he just have such confidence.
Seeing Lan Wangji’s reaction, he got bold: “Of course this method has limitations. If it takes too long to bind the soul and the body is damaged, what should I do? So I remembered that I had seen an ancient book before, it records a technique which is somewhat similar to taking up another body, but the essence is different... Lan Zhan, what are you doing!"
He had already experienced Lan Wangji's hand strength, and at this moment his wrist was firmly grasped by Lan Wangji, and he couldn't move any more. Wei Wuxian struggled a few times but couldn't get rid of it. However, his head got dizzy, and he was a little angry. He and Lan Wangji looked at each other for a while, and somehow felt that Lan Wangji's expression was a little scary, and he was the first to give up.
"This is what Han Guang Jun asked me to say!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed.
Lan Wangji let go of his hand, straightened his clothes, and returned to a dignified appearance: "What are you going to do?"
" Going to do?" Wei Wuxian just reacted, "Tell A Ling everything. There are certain things that she cannot control."
He dared not stay alone with Lan Wangji anymore, and hurriedly walked towards the inner courtyard, so he ignored the way Lan Wangji was pursing his lips behind him, as if he wanted to say something.
4
There is a decorative window on the wall of the inner courtyard. When passing by the window, Wei Wuxian pointed to Lan Wangji who followed behind: "Look inside from here."
Lan Wangji leaned forward in accordance with what he said. A big red lantern was raised high above the treetops in the courtyard, and the light shrouded the stone road in the courtyard. A Ling took a long bench from somewhere and sat under the lantern, and the two little maids stood aside in her company.
They can see most of A Ling's face here, and Lan Wangji couldn't tell what kind of look is on it. It is both perplexed and desolate, but also full of hope. For others, it is the look on the face of the wife who is waiting for her husband to come home.
Wei Wuxian also watched for a while, and concluded, "She actually knows it all."
Lan Wangji nodded in agreement, and Wei Wuxian sighed again: "Then why is she doing this? What's the point of deceiving herself?"
"Passionate disappears easily, so does waking up from good dreams."
Seeing Wei Wuxian's shocked face, Lan Wangji showed him the two lines of poems engraved on the window.
Wei Wuxian read it over and over again, but it was difficult for him to get the true meaning, so he simply sighed, "Forget it, that’s the type of thing that I have to do." Then he entered the courtyard.
When A Ling heard their footsteps, she trembled all over, and slowly raised her head. Wei Wuxian ignored about her pleading gaze, stood in front of her, and whispered, "A Ling."
"You have been dead for three years."
His words are like a curse. Instantly, the light cast by the lantern turned pale, and A Ling sat motionless, a blue bruise gradually emerged on her neck.
The little maid who had spoken to Lan Wangji before and the other one also showed their original image, which was originally the paper portrait sold by the craftman. These things and the house should have been burned by A Ling's parents during the funeral, so they only recognized her as a young lady, not somebody’s wife.
"How did you and Yushen get married?" Wei Wuxian asked.
"I don't know, he did it all." Ling's face began to become stiff and twisted: "I only felt that everything was done before I died, and I never wanted to ask for this. Yushen really has a deep affection for me, no matter living or dead, he would never leave me alone."
When the living get married to a dead soul, it would be impossible for the living to marry anyone else alive. Wei Wuxian continued: "The world of the dead are separated from the living universe, so you can't see each other. Later, Yushen found a way to get to you, the way to the underworld." The technique of "Infatuation Couple" is not easy to possess. But if one side is a soul, applying such technique is much easier. However, crossing the world of the living and dead would ultimately cost life, Yushen persisted for so long, it must be hard.
A Ling said, "I don't want to go into reincarnation. To live another life, where do I go to find Yushen? But we can't stay together like this for long."
"A relationship perishes easily." Wei Wuxian said: "It has been three years, you have to go. Otherwise, even if you are still in love with each other again, you won't be able to meet again."
A Ling stared at Wei Wuxian with extremely bitter eyes, but instead of shrinking, Wei Wuxian smiled to her: "Hurry up, you will become a lonely ghost if you leave too late, forgetting everything about yourself. Don't doubt how I knew it, I have seen thousands of ghosts like this. Besides, do you want Yushen in the living world bear unfortunate fate?"
The clouds in the sky seemed to be about to disperse, and some stars gradually appeared on the horizon. A Ling's eyes can no longer move, but she still tried her best to look into the distance and muttered: "I’ll leave, but still want to see him for the last time."
"This is so easy!" Wei Wuxian said, "You may forgot, but I promised to see you off!"
Lan Wangji also reached out to her, slowly.
5
After Wei Wuxian played the bamboo flute to send A Ling away, he remembered something and looked around: "I don't know how long this house will last."
When drawing charm for A Ling, Wei Wuxian did plan to use his own blood, but Lan Wangji cut his finger first and drew the charm first, unexpectedly. For this reason, Wei Wuxian felt very sorry, and wanted to find something to wrap up his finger.
Lan Wangji didn't refuse, and followed him a few steps. Wei Wuxian turned to drag him towards the inner courtyard:
"Remember my red gauze used as the face cover? That should be suitable."
Lan Wangji shook his head: "No, there is blood on it."
Wei Wuxian suddenly realized: "No wonder! The smell on it is so strange, I thought it was some spice that I have never seen."
Thinking of this, he shuddered: "Forget it, don't look for it, what are we two living beings doing in the ghost house? We should wait until dawn before leaving."
As soon as he finished saying this sentence, Wei Wuxian's whole body immediately felt something indescribable. He released Lan Wangji and ran forward. The mirror should be in the front room. Although he still did not know why he wants to take a look at himself, it seems to be important——
Lan Wangji stopped him first: "Don't go there, Wei Ying." There was blood coming out of the scar in his finger, but he didn't care about it. The tone of his speech was a gentle voice that Wei Wuxian had never heard before: "The sun will soon arise, and you will be leaving at that time. Everything will be over. You don’t remember anything now. Actually, that would the best for you."
Wei Wuxian raised his head in a daze. The bright white light from the horizon was so dazzling that he had a splitting headache. He wanted to break away from Lan Wangji's embrace, but he noticed that a small drop of blood was thrown onto Lan Wangji's eyelashes. Through the blood, he could see his face clearly in Lan Wangji's light eyes. He looked as handsome as before, except the fact that his face had been split into countless pieces.
The final cry he made did not sound like a human voice and lasted for a long time. Before he smashed into pieces again, Wei Wuxian remembered that three years had passed since he was put to death on Luan Zang Gang, when he was eaten by thousands of ghosts.
Yun Shen, in the room of quietness.
Lan Xichen was terrified and frightened all night, when he spoke, he lost his usual gentleness:
"Wangji, what have you done!"
Lan Wangji just woke up, he felt the whole body was sore and unable to move. He managed to say:
"Brother, it's just a little delusion from me."
Lan Xichen was speechless. He felt something unusual in the room of quietness last night, but when he hurried over, he found that the power of the charm in the room was so strong and he couldn't get in at all. He then looked again, only to discovered that this was because that Lan Wangji had used a large backtracking charm that only existed in ancient books. He knew clearly why Wangji did this without asking.
Their ancestors in Lan family had been in hopeless love for several generations, and the ancestors have tried this charm several times to save something. However, according to records, no one has ever succeeded, instead they may hurt themselves. He didn't think that his younger brothers would have better luck than his ancestors, but he still asked:
"Did you see him?"
Lan Wangji nodded. When he first saw Wei Wuxian on the streets of Yunmeng, he thought he was still in dream as before. But when he saw t Wei Wuxian leaving, he followed as usual. The moment Wei Wuxian's finger touched him, he realized that what he had met was an entity instead of a shadow. He thought he had succeeded in retrospect, and he was in such a surprise and delighte.
Lan Xichen asked cautiously: "What happened then?" As far as he knew, Wei Wuxian had not been resurrected yet.
"Retrospective... is a lie."
He once thought he could change something. If Wei Wuxian did not go to Jin Lin Tai, but was taken to Qiong Qi Dao before everything could happen, Wen Ning would be rescued alive, and Wei Wuxian would not have to be forced to Luan Zang Gang, guarding the remaining Wen family, till his last moment. But the red handkerchief he unintentionally covered, and the oil lamp, shattered his dreams so easily.
The ghost will show its original shape under the blood. The Wei Wuxian he saw was exactly like what he heard, with cracks all over his body. His heart palpitated for a while, thinking that if Wei Wuxian were to disperse like this, it would be impossible to get him back anyway. Knowing that he wcould change nothing, he felt somehow relief after regrets.
--Just treat it like dreaming of him one more time, dreaming of this young man who has not been forced to the end.
Seeing that his brother's face was wrong, Lan Xichen gently removed his hands covering the eyes, and he saw some his eyelashes has got wet: "It's okay, human’s power cannot distort reality and change the past."
Tears still slid down Lan Wangji's cheeks. It is one thing to understand these truths, but it's another thing to watch these happen. He could have pretended the Wei Ying he saw was the same as the phantom he saw in his dream, but when the man talked about his magic about the ghosts, he really couldn't pretend anymore.
Do you know that you really made a living corpse? He did want to say. These things can kill you, leaving nothing for me to find.
Fortunately, his instinct tells, that it was extremely dangerous for Wei Wuxian to remember these things. The fact is proven to be true later. After remembering that he had been eaten by a thousand ghosts, Wei Wuxian once again shattered into thousands of pieces, and he couldn't keep any piece of it.
Just as they told A Ling, three years have passed, their relationship is over, and it’s such a long way to travel to the world of death. Not to mention that--
Wei Wuxian has never loved him, nor has he loved anyone else. What could he do to keep Wei Wuxian connected to the living world?
He should have let it go, from the moment he saw him again.
He said to Lan Xichen, "Brother, I plan to leave Yun Shen and do my job."
"Have you decided?"
It is so easy to wake up from good dreams. His delusions, his dreams, better give them all up by now. From then on, he will slowly get used to living in a world without Wei Ying, and the scenery will be bright as usual. Thinking of this, he nodded to his brother, and before his vision blurred again, he squeezed his sword beside him.