Chapter 111: WangXian (Part One)

The sun hadn’t risen yet. It was still quiet over the streets. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi walked together, hearing only the soft taps of the donkey’s hooves clicking on the ground.

Sitting on the back of the donkey, Wei WuXian gave its buttocks a few pats. The pouch at its girdle was full and hard, filled with apples that were probably snacks from the Lan Sect’s juniors.

Wei WuXian fished out an apple from inside and placed it near his mouth. Staring at Lan WangJi’s handsome face from the side, he gave it quite a loud crunch. Watching its apple be shamelessly stolen, Lil’ Apple was so furious that it flared its nostrils, slamming its hooves. Wei WuXian had no time to pay attention to it, giving it a few more slaps as he stuffed the unfinished apple into its mouth, “Lan Zhan, did you know? The one named SiSi seemed to have been a friend of Jin GuangYao’s mother’s.”

Lan WangJi, “I did not.”

Wei WuXian didn’t know if he should laugh, “I was only making a comment, not that I was really asking you. I saw it back at the Guanyin Temple, in Empathy with the ghoul woman. She looked after Jin GuangYao and his mother quite well.”

With a moment of silence, Lan WangJi replied, “Thus, Jin GuangYao let the woman go.”

Wei WuXian, “It should be the case. I was afraid ZeWu-Jun would go soft on him again, so I didn’t say everything. Even now I still don’t we should tell him.”

Lan WangJi, “If he should ask in the future, I will let him know.”

Wei WuXian, “Might as well.”

He turned and glanced back, letting out a rare sigh, “I don’t want to care about any of those nasty things anymore. This is it.”

Lan WangJi nodded and tightened Lil’ Apple’s reins. He continued to walk with it.

Each could only deal with their own troubles. Even if Lan XiChen was his brother by birth, Lan WangJi couldn’t do anything to help him right now. Comfort was useless. It’d all be in vain.

After a pause, Lan WangJi spoke, “Wei Ying.”

Wei WuXian, “What?”

Lan WangJi, “There is something I have never told you.”

Wei WuXian somehow felt his heart skip a beat, “What is it?”

Lan WangJi stopped and stared straight at him. Just as he was about to speak, from behind the two of them came a series of rushed footsteps. Wei WuXian, “Goodness, somebody’s already caught up with us?”

Somebody had caught up indeed, but it was much better than expected. Lan SiZhui ran over, panting, “H-HanGuang-Jun, Senior Wei!”

Wei WuXian propped his arm on the donkey’s head, “SiZhui-er, I’m eloping with HanGuang-Jun. Why are you here? Aren’t you scared Old Mr. Lan would scold you?”

Lan SiZhui blushed, “Senior Wei, do not be like this. I-I came to ask a very important question!”

Wei WuXian, “What is it?”

Lan SiZhui, “I remembered a few things that I could not confirm, so… so I came to ask HanGuang-Jun and Senior Wei.”

Lan WangJi glanced at him before he looked to Wen Ning. Wen Ning nodded. Wei WuXian, “What things?”

Lan SiZhui puffed up his chest and drew in a deep breath. He began, “Claimed he had top-notch cooking skills, yet made dishes that were pungent both to the eye and to the stomach.”

Wei WuXian, “Huh???”

Lan SiZhui added, “Buried me in a field of carrots, saying I would grow taller quickly with water and sunlight, and maybe a few more children would sprout and play with me.”

Wei WuXian, “…”

Lan SiZhui continued, “Promised to treat HanGuang-Jun to a meal but ran off before paying, leaving HanGuang-Jun to pay again.”

Wei WuXian widened his eyes. He almost couldn’t steady himself on the donkey’s back. He stammered, “You… You…”

Lan SiZhui’s eyes were glued to Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi, “Maybe because I was too young, I cannot remember most of the things from back then. But, I am sure that… my surname used to be Wen.”

Wei WuXian’s voice trembled, “Your surname was Wen? Isn’t it Lan? Lan SiZhui, Lan Yuan…” He murmured, “Lan Yuan… Wen Yuan?”

Lan SiZhui nodded heavily. His voice was shaking as well, “Senior Wei, I… I am A-Yuan…”

Wei WuXian hadn’t yet wrapped his mind around what was going on, still confused, “A-Yuan… Didn’t he die? He was left alone on Burial Mound back then…”

Before he finished, Lan XiChen’s words echoed beside his ears, ‘They say those years were him reflecting on his mistakes, but in reality he was entirely bedridden. Even so, when he knew of your passing away, he still dragged such a body to Burial Mound to take one last look, no matter what…’

He spun to look at Lan WangJi, “Lan Zhan, was it you?!”

Lan WangJi, “Yes.” He gazed at Wei WuXian, “This was what I never told you.”

For a long time, Wei WuXian couldn’t say anything.

At least, Lan SiZhui couldn’t hold it any longer. With a loud cry, he leaped up. One hand around Wei WuXian and the other around Lan WangJi, he pulled the two into a tight embrace. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi bumped into each other from the hug. Both of them were surprised.

Lan SiZhui buried his head between their shoulders, “HanGuang-Jun, Senior Wei, I… I…”

Hearing his muffled voice, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi exchanged a look, only inches apart. They both saw something soft within each other’s eyes.

Wei WuXian fixed his mood and put his hand on Lan SiZhui’s back, patting, “Enough, what are you crying for?”

Lan SiZhui, “Not crying… Just… I suddenly feel so frustrated, but so happy as well… I do not know how to describe it…”

After some silence, Lan WangJi laid his hand onto his back as well and patted. Lan WangJi, “There is no need to describe it then.”

Wei WuXian, “That’s right.”

Lan SiZhui didn’t say anything. He hugged them even tighter.

Soon, Wei WuXian exclaimed, “Hey, hey, hey, why are your arms so strong? Definitely deserving of HanGuang-Jun’s teachings…”

Lan WangJi glanced at him, “You taught him as well.”

Wei WuXian, “No wonder he grew up so nicely.”

Lan SiZhui, “Senior Wei never taught me anything.”

Wei WuXian, “Who said I didn’t? You were just too young back then. You forgot everything I taught you.”

Lan SiZhui, “I did not forget. Now I remember. I think you did teach me.”

Wei WuXian, “Right?”

Lan SiZhui had on a serious face, “You taught me how to disguise pornography as normal books.”

Wei WuXian, “…”

Lan Wangji glanced at Wei WuXian.

Lan SiZhui added, “You also taught me that when pretty maidens walked by…”

Wei WuXian, “Absolute nonsense. Why do you remember these things only? You must be dreaming. How could I teach these to young children?”

Lan SiZhui looked up, “Uncle Ning can testify. He should also have been present when you taught me these things.”

Wei WuXian, “Testify what? No such things happened.”

Wen Ning, “I… I don’t remember anything…”

Lan SiZhui swore, “HanGuang-Jun, every word of mine is true.”

Lan WangJi nodded, “I know.”

Wei WuXian threw a tantrum atop the donkey, “Ugh, Lan Zhan!” With another thought, he asked, “Speaking of it, How did you remember, SiZhui?”

Lan SiZhui, “I do not understand either. Something just felt really familiar when I saw Chenqing.”

As expected, it was Chenqing. Wei WuXian, “Oh, of course it’d feel familiar. You loved eating Chenqing back then. You always drooled on it and made it so that I couldn’t play it.”

Lan SiZhui’s face flushed red at once, “R-Really…”

Wei WuXian, “Yup, or else why did you remember everything the moment you saw it? You wanna listen to more stories of when you were young?” He made two butterflies with his hands, “HanGuang-Jun, do you remember the time I treated you to a meal, when he held a pair of butterflies and mumbled around, saying ‘I like you’, ‘I like you too’…”

Lan SiZhui’s face grew even redder. Wei WuXian added, “Oh right, that time you even called HanGuang-Jun ‘Dad’ in front of everyone’s eyes. Poor HanGuang-Jun. What a pure, wholesome young man he was back then, yet he inexplicably became someone’s dad…”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” Lan SiZHui yelled, blushing, “HanGuang-Jun, I apologize!”

Lan WangJi looked at the grinning Wei WuXian and shook his head, his eyes gentle.

Wei WuXian spoke again, “Right, Wen Ning, you knew about this?”

Wen Ning nodded. Wei WuXian was shocked, “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

Wen Ning gave Lan WangJi a glance, speaking carefully, “Young Master Lan didn’t say to tell you, so…”

Wei WuXian was infuriated, “Why do you listen to him so much? You’re the Ghost General—why should the Ghost General be afraid of HanGuang-Jun? Doesn’t it make me lose face?”

Lan SiZhui was still shouting, “HanGuang-Jun, I apologize!”

…

The four parted ways in a forest at the edge of Yunping City.

Wen Ning, “Young Master, we’ll be going this way.”

Wei WuXian, “Which way?”

Wen Ning, “Didn’t you ask me what I wanted to do when everything ended? I’ve talked to A-Yuan about it. We’ll be going to Qishan first to bury the ashes of our people. I also wanted to look around there to see if I could find the things from when my sister was still alive, to build her a cenotaph.”

Wei WuXian, “A cenotaph. I built one for you and her back on Burial Mound, but they were burned down. We can go to Qishan too.”

He turned around to ask Lan WangJi, yet Wen Ning answered, “There’s no need.”

Wei WuXian hesitated, “You won’t be going with us?”

Lan SiZhui, “Senior Wei, you should go with HanGuang-Jun.”

Wei WuXian was about to speak again when Wen Ning spoke again, “Really, it’s fine, Young Master Wei. You’ve done enough.”

After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian asked, “Then what about after you’ve done these things?”

Wen Ning, “Send A-Yuan back to the Cloud Recesses, and then I can take some time to think about what to do next. You can let me walk the rest of the way on my own.”

Wei WuXian nodded slowly, “… I might as well.”

It was the first time in all these years that Wen Ning made his own decision and stopped walking the same path he walked. Wei WuXian guessed that perhaps he had something he wanted to do out of his own will.

It was what he hoped all this time. Each to their own path. But now that they day really came, watching Wen Ning and Lan SiZhui’s figures walk slowly, slowly away until they finally disappeared, he felt somewhat dejected.

Lan WangJi was now the only one who stood by his side. Luckily, Lan WangJi was also the only one he wished to have by his side.

Wei WuXian, “Lan Zhan.”

Lan WangJi, “Mn.”

Wei WuXian, “You taught him very well.”

Lan WangJi, “There will come many instances for you to meet again.”

Wei WuXian, “I know.”

Lan WangJi, “After Wen Ning sends SiZhui back to the Cloud Recesses, he can settle down nearby. You will be able to see him often.”

Wei WuXian looked at him, “Lan Zhan, you’re really scared of me telling you ‘thank you’, aren’t you? I suddenly remembered. Many of the times we parted ways in my past life, I said ‘thank you’ to you right before. And every time we separated, I worsened the next time we met.”

The time they killed Wen Chao and Wen ZhuLiu at the courier station, the time they met each other through the flowers at the tower in Yunmeng, the time they parted at Yiling’s Burial Mound. Every time, he used the word to mark a clear line between him and Lan WangJi, stretching out the distance between them.

With a long while of silence, Lan WangJi replied, “Between you and me, there is no need for ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’.”

Wei WuXian grinned, “Sure, then let’s talk more about some other things, like…”

His voice lowered as he gestured with his hand for Lan WangJi to approach him, as if he was going to whisper something to him. Lan WangJi approached as expected. Yet, Wei WuXian reached out his right hand, lifted Lan WangJi’s chin, and bent down to press his lips onto Lan WangJi’s.

Only after a long time did Wei WuXian part the tiniest bit. Eyelashes brushing against each other’s, he whispered, “How is it?”

Lan WangJi, “…”

Wei WuXian, “HanGuang-Jun, give me some reaction, won’t you?”

Lan WangJi, “…”

Wei WuXian, “You’re so cold. Right now, shouldn’t you be pinning me onto the ground…”

Before he could finish, Lan WangJi wrapped his hand around his neck. With rough motions, he pressed Wei WuXian’s head down, and the two started kissing again.

Lil’ Apple was flabbergasted. Even his apple-chewing mouth was left hanging. He was as frozen as donkey statue. Soon, Lil’ Apple was no longer able to hold up Wei WuXian. Lan WangJi held his back with his left hand and knees with his right. At once, he carried Wei WuXian off of the donkey.

As he wished, Wei WuXian was pinned onto the ground and smooched for a long while. Suddenly, he exclaimed, “Wait, wait!”

Lan WangJi, “What?”

Wei WuXian squinted, “I suddenly have a feeling…”

Woods, bushes, grass, forceful motions, intertwined tongues. It felt like deja vu. He thought for a while. It felt more familiar the more he thought about it. He concluded that he had to ask the question, and tried, “The hunt at Phoenix Mountain, the time I covered my eyes, Lan Zhan, you…?”

He didn’t finish asking. Lan WangJi didn’t answer either, but his fingers twitched slightly. The moment Wei WuXian felt something was off about his expression, he propped his upper body up with his elbow and pressed his ear onto his chest. As expected, he heard thundering throbs.

“…” Wei WuXian was shocked, “Oh, it was really you?!”

Lan WangJi’s Adam’s Apple bobbed, “I…”

Wei WuXian was astonished, “Lan Zhan, who could’ve known? You’d do such a thing?”

Lan WangJi, “…”

Wei WuXian, “You know, I’ve always thought some shy girl did it because she had a crush on me and didn’t dare say it.”

Lan WangJi, “…”

Wei WuXian, “You’ve had dirty thoughts about me ever since then?”

“…” Lan WangJi’s voice sounded muffled, “I, back then, knew I was wrong. Very wrong.”

Wei WuXian recalled how Lan WangJi broke a tree in half alone in the woods when he later found him, “That was why you were so mad?”

Wei WuXian thought he was mad about someone else. He had no idea that Lan WangJi was mad at himself—mad that he acted upon his urges, that he couldn’t control himself, that he took advantage of another in a way that was neither righteous nor abiding by his sect rules.

Seeing how low Lan WangJi’s head was buried, almost as if he was reflecting upon his mistakes again, Wei WuXian scratched his chin, “Alright, stop struggling so much. Well, I’m beyond happy that you kissed me so early. It was my first kiss, after all. Congratulations, HanGuang-Jun.”

Lan WangJi suddenly looked at him, “First kiss?”

Wei WuXian, “Yeah, or else what did you think?”

Lan WangJi stared straight at him. Something strange glowed in his eyes. He started, “Then…”

Wei WuXian, “Then what? Stopping in the middle of the sentence isn’t your style, Lan Zhan.”

Lan WangJi, “Then, back then, why did you… did you…”

Wei WuXian was confused, “Why what?”

Lan WangJi’s lips moved, “… Why did you not resist?”

Wei WuXian paused.

Lan WangJi’s voice sounded muffled again, “You… clearly did not know whom the person was, so why did you not resist? And afterward, why did you tell me…”

Tell him what?

Wei WuXian finally remembered.

Back when he ‘ran into’ Lan WangJi, he proudly showed off to him, saying things like he had lots of experience, like nobody would’ve dared kiss Lan WangJi and Lan WangJi definitely wouldn’t kiss someone else, even something like how he thought Lan WangJi would never give anyone his first kiss for the rest of his life…

All of a sudden, he bent over and broke into roaring laughter.

Wei WuXian pounded the ground, “Hahahahahahahahaha…”

Lan WangJi, “…”

Laughing, Wei WuXian hugged him and gave him a kiss, “With all that, back then you were really that angry because you thought I’d really kissed someone else, weren’t you? Are you an idiot, Lan Zhan?! You fucking believed all that nonsense! Only a lil’ fuddy-duddy like you would believe me hahahahahaha…”

His laughter was too loud, too unbridled. Finally out of patience, Lan WangJi pressed him onto the ground. Abandoning Lil’ Apple on the spot, the two rolled behind a shrub.

So soon after the storm, a few droplets of water still hung amid the grass, dampening Lan WangJi’s white robes. Regardless, the robes were stripped off by Wei WuXian right away. He breathed, “Don’t move.”

The fresh scent of grass enveloped Wei WuXian’s neck and perfused within his lips, while on Lan WangJi, it was the cold fragrance of sandalwood. Wei WuXian kneeled between Lan WangJi’s legs and proceeded to kiss downward, starting from his forehead. In between his brows, the tip of his nose, both of his cheeks, his lips, his chin. His Adam’s apple, his collarbones, the center of his chest.

He kissed down the rises and falls, seeming ever so devout.

As he kissed the firm abdomen and ventured down, a few thin strands of hair slid off his shoulders and teased at the dangerous area along with his soft, thin breaths. Lan WangJi seemed like he couldn’t take it any longer. He reached to grab Wei WuXian’s shoulder, but Wei WuXian caught his wrist instead, “Don’t move, I told you already. I’ll do it.”

He pulled off his hair tie to refasten his somewhat disheveled hair before bending down again. Lan WangJi realized what he wanted to do. With a slightly unsettled expression, he lowered his voice, “No.”

Wei WuXian, “Yes.” He gently took Lan WangJi into his lips.

Making sure to not bite Lan WangJi with his teeth, he carefully wrapped him inside his mouth. As he tried to swallow as deeply as possible, he felt a bit strained with it rubbing against his throat. Lan WangJi noticed his discomfort at once and reached out to push him away, worried that he was forcing himself, “Enough.”

Wei WuXian moved his hand away and started to slowly suck on it.

Lan WangJi, “You…”

Soon he was no longer able to say anything.

The number of pornographic collections that Wei WuXian had read ever since he was young could add up to fill a whole room in the GusuLan Sect’s Library Pavilion. As he was also quite a clever person, he used his lips and tongue according to what he’d seen and learned, diligently attending to the burning erection. With the most sensitive part of his body held inside warm, moist lips and treated with such effort, it was terribly tormenting just for Lan WangJi to control himself from doing some awful act of violence.

Wei WuXian felt Lan WangJi’s breaths become faster. The fingers that gripped his shoulders tightened as well. Speeding up, just as his cheeks and his neck were starting to feel sore, he finally felt a warm stream pour into his throat.

The fluid was thick and steaming, full of the strong odor of musk. As it suddenly hit the walls of his throat, Wei WuXian choked on it and immediately let the shaft out of his mouth. Lan WangJi patted on his back as he coughed, speaking in a surprisingly discomposed manner, “Spit it out, quick. Spit it out.”

Wei WuXian covered his mouth with his hand and shook his head. A while later, he took his hand away and stuck out his tongue toward Lan WangJi, showing him the inside of his mouth, “I swallowed it.”

The tip of his tongue was a bright red while his lips crimson, corners brimming with a speck of white and many traces of a smile. Lan WangJi stared at him blankly, unable to produce any words.

He was one of the most disciplined cultivators, yet at the moment, his usually cold composure was completely crushed. Even the tips of his eyes and brows were tinted a soft shade of pink. With a few touches of color added, it made him seem as if he’d been bullied in some cruel way. Seeing his appearance, Wei WuXian was more than delighted. Stripped to the waist, he put his arms around Lan WangJi’s shoulders, kissing the corners of his lips and the lids of his eyes, “Good boy, don’t be scared. Next time, when it’s your turn to taste mine, you’ll need to perform as good as this, understood?”

His lips were stained with Lan WangJi’s ejaculation. After the kiss, it dotted the corner of Lan WangJi’s lips as well. On top of his somewhat glazed expression, he seemed quite pitiful. Wei WuXian kissed him again, “Lan Zhan, I love you so much.”

Lan WangJi turned to him slowly.

Wei WuXian didn’t know if it was an illusion or not, but there seemed to be a layer of red over his eyes.

Wei WuXian didn’t notice the forced, almost insufferable endurance in his gaze. He thought he hadn’t had enough yet, adding, “Let’s forever be like this from now on, yeah?”

Suddenly, Lan WangJi flipped him over and forced him down onto the grass.

In the instant, the two switched positions. As he felt Lan WangJi begin to bite all over his body, Wei WuXian pushed his head away with a grin, “There’s no need to hurry so much. I said next time you can…” With a sudden throb from below, he exclaimed with an ‘ah’, frowning slightly, “Lan Zhan, what did you put inside?”

He could tell that it was someone’s slim finger, only asking out of convenience. Involuntarily, he drew his legs together, but the foreign sensation felt even stronger. The second finger went in as well.

Wei WuXian had viewed quite the selection of pornography, but he hadn’t seen any on the topic of homosexuality. He never thought he had such interests or was curious about it, and thus he naturally thought that was all there was to the love-making between men—kissing, hugging, at most with hands or lips. As he was pressed onto the ground by Lan WangJi, being massaged finger by finger, he finally managed to realize that it wasn’t the case. On top of the slight pain, he found it somewhat surprising and perhaps funny as well.

But at the addition of the third finger, Wei WuXian couldn’t laugh any longer.

He was already feeling quite sore and uncomfortable, yet the three fingers were still quite a few sizes smaller than what he’d been swallowing. He interrupted, “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, uh, s-stop for a bit. Is it really alright like this? You sure you didn’t get it wrong? It’s here? I think it’s a bit…”

But it seemed like Lan WangJi was no longer able to listen to Wei WuXian’s words, curtly muffling Wei WuXian’s mouth with his own. Sinking down, he thrust inside.

Wei WuXian widened his eyes. His legs sprang up. The two lay flesh against flesh, their hearts and their breaths racing.

Lan WangJi’s voice was hoarse, “… Sorry… I could not hold back.”

Seeing his blood-shot eyes, clearly from holding himself back, Wei WuXian knew that it was all because of his teasing. He clenched his teeth, “Don’t hold back if you can’t… Then what should I do now?”

Only out of desperation did Wei WuXian ask him of all people. Lan Wangji, “… Relax.”

Wei WuXian murmured, “Okay, relax, relax…”

He relaxed a bit, and Lan WangJi tried to push inside some more. Immediately, Wei WuXian couldn’t help but tense the muscles around his hips and abdomen.

Lan WangJi, “… Does it hurt?”

Arms clinging to him, Wei WuXian couldn’t help from shivering, holding back tears, “Yes, it’s my first time—of course it hurts.”

With this, he felt Lan WangJi grow harder within his body.

One could easily imagine what it’d feel like when the soft, fragile insides were forcefully invaded by a hard, foreign object. But the moment he thought of how Lan WangJi reacted to just those simple words of his, Wei WuXian burst out with a laugh again.

As a man, he knew how uncomfortable Lan WangJi felt right now, stuck inside yet still constraining himself from forcing his way in. Wei WuXian felt his heart go soft. He took the initiative to draw his neck forwards, whispering by his ear, “Lan Zhan, my good Lan Zhan, Er-gege, I’ll tell you what to do. Kiss me right now. It won’t hurt if you kiss me…”

A bright red flushed Lan WangJi’s fair earlobes.

He spoke through much difficulty, “… S-Stop calling me like that.”

Hearing that he even stammered a bit, Wei WuXian broke into laughter, “You don’t like it? Then I’ll call you something else. WangJi-didi*, Zhan-er, HanGuang, which one do you… Ahhhnmff!”

TN: Younger brother.

Biting his lips, Lan WangJi sent it all the way inside.

All of Wei WuXian’s cry was sealed within his throat as he clutched tight onto Lan WangJi’s shoulders, brows knitted, tears seeping from his eyes. His legs wrapped stiffly around Lan WangJi’s waist, afraid to move. Mind finally clearing up a bit, Lan WangJi breathed in a few times, “Sorry.”

Wei WuXian shook his head, forcing a smile, “You said before. Between you and me, there’s no need for this.”

Carefully, Lan WangJi went to kiss him, his movements somewhat clumsy. Wei WuXian closed his eyes, opening his mouth to let him in deep. After a while of tongues twirling around, out of the blur he saw the brand mark below Lan WangJi’s collarbone.

He put his hand there, covering up the scar. His smile had mostly faded, “Lan Zhan, tell me. Is this related to me as well?”

With a moment of silence, Lan WangJi responded, “Nothing. I was drunk.”

After he brought Wei WuXian back to Burial Hill after the massacre at Nightless City, what awaited him was three years of confinement. Yet in those days, he heard the news that what went around always came around, that one’s deeds would be paid no matter what—that the YiLing Patriarch finally died, both body and soul.

His confinement hadn’t ended yet when he forced his way out of the Cloud Recesses and towards Yiling with that still-wounded body of his. He searched for many days atop the entire mountain. Apart from Wen Yuan, whom he fished out still from a half-burned tree hole, still unconscious due to a high fever, he could find nothing. Not even a piece of bone, a scrap of flesh, a single strand of a weak, dissipating soul.

On the way back to the GusuLan Sect, Lan WangJi bought a jar of ‘Emperor’s Smile’ from Caiyi Town.

The wine was fragrant. And mellow. It was clearly not of the pungent kind, yet his throat burned the moment it went down, on fire from his eyes all the way to his heart.

He didn’t like the taste, but he felt he understood why that person liked it.

That night was the first time Lan WangJi ever drank, as well as the first time he was inebriated. He had no memories of what he did when he was drunk. For a long time, all of the Lan Sect’s people, no matter disciple or cultivator, held disbelief in their eyes when they looked at him. Some said that night he broke through the storage room of the Cloud Recesses, ransacking the chests in search of who-knew-what. When Lan XiChen asked, he said he wanted a flute, his eyes lost.

Lan XiChen gave him the finest flute made of white jade, yet he threw it away in fury, saying this wasn’t the one he wanted. He couldn’t find it no matter what, when all of a sudden, he saw the iron rods that had been sealed away after being confiscated from the QishanWen Sect.

After he sobered up, a scar the same as the brand mark Wei WuXian received in the cave of the Xuanwu of Slaughter appeared over his chest as well.

Lan QiRen seemed both upset and angered, but he never ended up scolding him for it.

No matter reproach or punishment, he’d had more than enough.

With a sigh, he no longer opposed Lan WangJi’s decision to keep Wen Yuan. Lan WangJi saluted him and went to receive his punishment, kneeling in silence at the Cloud Recesses for a day and a night.

He drank the wine he drank, suffered the wounds he suffered.

Until now, it’d been thirteen years since scab grew over this wound.

Lan WangJi began to thrust, while Wei WuXian shut his eyes tightly, gasping to fix his breaths to Lan WangJi’s motions. When he was just getting used to the overwhelming object, Wei WuXian moved his hips involuntarily and a sudden bout of pleasure ripple from down below, crawling across his whole body through his spine.

Wei WuXian immediately discovered how to enjoy such a position. He buried his hands inside Lan WangJi’s sweat-drenched hair, lifting the forehead ribbon as he grinned, his voice velvet, “… Does it feel good? Inside of me?”

Lan WangJi bit down on his lower lip, answering question with even fiercer thrusts.

Wei WuXian was fucked so hard sweat dripped down his back, glistening from top to bottom. Gasping, he rambled on, “Lan Zhan… You’re doomed. We’re still missing the last prostrate of the three. We haven’t even married yet. To do such a thing before we’re married—you know what it’s called? If your uncle knew he’d drown you in a pig cage*.”

*TN: An Ancient Chinese torture method often used to punish people for sexual promiscuity. The person/people is put inside a cage made for pigs then sunken underwater, either just with the head above the water to keep them alive or drown them entirely. More often than not used as an idiom to warn people against such acts.

Lan WangJi almost glowered as he forced a response, “… I have long since been so.”

What followed was another deep plunge. Wei WuXian threw his head back in both pain and pleasure, exposing his defenseless throat. Lan WangJi bit down on it.

The almost too intense pleasure made Wei WuXian’s mind go blank for a short while. Amid the haze, his first thought was, … Can’t believe it. Why the fuck didn’t I do this with Lan Zhan back when I was fifteen? I’ve really pissed away all my days, haven’t I?

During such activities, Lan WangJi was definitely the ‘doer’—more action than talk and flirtation. After some daze, Wei WuXian regained his composure and began to ramble on about the dirtiest things, right beside Lan WangJi’s ear, “Second Young Master Lan, when did you start having feelings for me? If you liked me since such a long time ago, why didn’t you take me sooner? The back mountains of your Cloud Recesses would be quite a good location, wouldn’t it? When I snuck out to fool around alone, you should’ve tied me up and dragged me away, pinned me onto the grass like right now to do whatever you want to me… Ah… Go softer. It’s my first time. Be nicer to me…

“Where was I? Let’s continue. You’re so strong, so I couldn’t have resisted. If I screamed, you could’ve silenced me. Or your Library Pavilion also would’ve been a great place, right in the middle of the scriptures scattered on the ground. We could’ve bought a few cut-sleeve booklets to compare and learn, any position at all… Brother! Brother! Er-gege! Spare me, spare me please. Fine, fine, I’ll stop talking. You’re too much, you’re way too much. I can’t take it, I really can’t, so don’t…”

Lan WangJi couldn’t take his teasing at all. With the thrusts, Wei WuXian felt like everything inside him had been stirred together. He begged nicely, yet Lan WangJi went even harder. Having been held down for almost an hour without changing positions at all, Wei WuXian’s back and buttocks had been slammed numb. After the numbness came pain and itch, almost as though millions of ants crawled within his bone marrow.

Now that he finally had a taste of the seed he’d sown, Wei WuXian pleased him with kisses and rambled on, lacking all pride, “Er-gege, do me a favor and spare me a last breath. We’ve got so much time on our hands. Let’s continue next time, let’s continue with you hanging me up, yeah? Spare this virgin today, won’t you? HanGuang-Jun is too strong and the YiLing Patriarch has lost miserably. They shall fight again next time!”

Veins stood out from Lan WangJi’s forehead as he spoke with difficulty, a word at a time, “… If you truly want to stop… then… shut your mouth and stop talking…”

Wei WuXian, “But I’ve got a mouth and mouths do nothing but talk! Lan Zhan, when I said I wanted to sleep with you every day, can you pretend like you didn’t hear it?”

Lan WangJi, “No.”

Wei WuXian felt his heart shatter, “How could you do this? You’ve never turned me down before.”

Lan WangJi offered him a faint smile, “No.”

Seeing the smile, Wei WuXian’s eyes lit up again, so ecstatic that he almost forgot where he was. But the next second, Wei WuXian was forced to cry from the fierce motions providing stark contrast to the smile that was like sunlight on snow. He gripped the grass with both hands, shouting hoarsely, “Then four days, how about once every four days? If not four days then three works too!”

At last, Lan WangJi concluded with resonating determination, “Everyday means everyday.”

T/N: The piece of NSFW is known as The Great Harmony of Life (Part One, interrupted by a serious exchange) (naming credit belongs to the author). Contents included: blowjob, swallowing, fingering, and Actually Putting It In. Possible squeaks include: lack of lube, pain, and K’s tears. Enjoyed it? Harmony Part One ended. Serious business proceeded (for a short while before they got back to it). Serious business ended. Harmony Part Two proceeds. Contents included: continued fucking, WWX looking for trouble getting what he deserves. Possible squeaks include: WWX openly professing his rape fetish (and anyone who kink-shames him for it can perish), and more tears. Also LWJ has a biting kink and we will give him love. End of Harmony. They continue to fuck but it’s a bit more implicit (Even more implicit? *gasp). Ends on a note you should read even if you’re not into NSFW, so please check it out!*