Chapter 87: Loyalty—Part Nine
As Wei WuXian spoke, he grabbed two branches and started to climb up the trunk of the tree. With great ease, he leaped up until he reached an area near the top. Wei WuXian finally stopped, “Hm, it should be about here.”
He buried his face inside a cluster of thick leaves and only looked down after a long while. His voice was high, tinged with laughter, “Back then, it felt so scarily high, but looking at it now, it really wasn’t that high.”
The instant he wrapped his arms around the tree, Wei WuXian’s eyes had warmed. When he looked down, his sight was already blurred.
Lan WangJi was standing right beneath the tree, looking at him with his chin raised. He was clothed in white as well. He didn’t hold a lantern, but moonlight glided down his body, almost enveloping him in a soft halo, making him seem so bright. He looked up at the top of the tree with a dedicated expression. He seemed to have walked a few steps closer, almost as if to stretch his arms out.
All of a sudden, an abnormally strong impulse surged into Wei WuXian’s mind.
He wanted to fall down again, just like back then.
A voice inside of him said, If he catches me, I’ll…
At this point where he thought ‘I’ll’, Wei WuXian let go. Seeing that he fell out of the tree without any warning, Lan WangJi’s eyes immediately widened. He shot forward just in time to catch Wei WuXian, or one might say, be caught by Wei WuXian.
Lan WangJi’s figure was slender. He seemed to be quite the scholarly young master, but his power wasn’t to be disregarded. Not only was his arm strength shocking, his lower body was steady too. But, after all, it was a grown man who jumped from the tree, so although he caught Wei WuXian, he staggered slightly, walking a step backward. Immediately, however, he steadied himself. Just as he was about to let go of Wei WuXian, he realized that Wei WuXian’s arms were tightly wrapped around his neck, preventing him from moving in the slightest.
He couldn’t see Wei WuXian’s face. Wei WuXian couldn’t see his face either, but he didn’t need to. When he closed his eyes, all he breathed in was the cold sandalwood on Lan WangJi’s body.
His voice was hoarse, “Thank you.”
He wasn’t scared of falling. All these years, he’d fallen many times. But falling on the ground still hurt, after all. If someone was be there to catch him, it’d be more than wonderful.
Hearing Wei WuXian thank him, Lan WangJi’s body seemed to freeze for a second. The hand that was about to be laid on Wei WuXian’s back paused before it returned.
After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi responded, “You are welcome.”
With a long time of hugging, Wei WuXian finally parted with him. Standing with his back straight as ever, he spoke as though nothing happened, “Let’s go back!”
Lan WangJi, “No more reminiscing?”
Wei WuXian, “Yes, more reminiscing! But there’s nothing to see if we walk farther out. It’d be the wilderness there, and we’ve seen enough of that in the past few days. Let’s go back to Lotus Pier. I’ll take you to see the last place.”
The two returned to the dock and entered the gates of Lotus Pier once again. They walked across the training field. As they passed by an ornate little building, Wei WuXian stopped and took a few more looks. His expression seemed different. Lan WangJi asked, “What is wrong?”
Wei WuXian shook his head, “Nothing. The place I lived in used to be here. Now it’s gone. It really was torn down. All of these are new.”
They passed by the layers of buildings and arrived at a quiet place in the depths of Lotus Pier, in front of a black eight-cornered palace. As if scared that he’d startle someone, Wei WuXian gently pushed the doors open and walked inside. Before the palace neatly lay rows and rows of tablets.
It was the YunmengJiang Sect’s ancestral hall.
He found a hassock and kneeled down. Taking three of the incense sticks in the container, he ignited them with the candlelight and stuck them into the bronze tripod in front of the tablets. He prostrated three times to two of the tablets, and turned to Lan WangJi, “I used to come here a lot.”
Lan WangJi had on an expression of understanding, “Kneeling as punishment?”
Wei WuXian mused, “How did you know? That’s right. Madam Yu punished me almost every day.”
Lan WangJi nodded, “I have heard of a few things.”
Wei WuXian, “It’s so famous that even people outside Yunmeng, even you Gusu people know—how could it be ‘a few things’? But, to be honest, in all these years, I’ve never seen a second woman whose temper was as bad as Madam Yu’s. She told me to go to the ancestral hall and kneel no matter how small the matter was. Hahaha…”
But, apart from this, Madam Yu had never really done anything to harm him.
He suddenly remembered that this was the ancestral hall and that Madam Yu’s tablet was right in front of him. He immediately apologized, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
To make up for his thoughtless words, he lit up three more sticks of incense. Just as he raised them above his head, still apologizing in his mind, it suddenly got darker beside him. He turned to find that Lan WangJi had also kneeled down beside him.
Now that they were in the ancestral hall, for the sake of courtesy, of course he had to show his respect as well. Lan WangJi also took three sticks of incense and, sweeping his sleeve to the side, and ignited them using one of the red candles. His movements were proper, and his expression was grave. Wei WuXian tilted his head to look at him, his lips curving upward almost uncontrollably. Lan WangJi glanced at him and reminded, “The ashes.”
The three sticks of incense that Wei WuXian held had been burning for quite a while. A bit of ashes had already accumulated at the top, close to falling off. However, he still refused to insert them into the tripod, instead saying, “Let’s do it together.”
Lan WangJi didn’t object. And so, each with three sticks of incense, the two of them kneeled among rows of tablets and bowed down to Jiang FengMian and Yu ZiYuan’s names together.
Once. Twice. The movements were exactly the same. Wei WuXian, “That’s it.” He finally placed the incense into the tripod.
In the end. Wei WuXian glanced at Lan WangJi, who’s kneeling as properly as ever beside him. He put his hands together and uttered in his heart, ‘Uncle Jiang, Madam Yu, it’s me again. I’m here to disturb you two again. But I really did want to bring him here and show him to you. Let the two prostrates we just did count as prostrating* to the Heavens and the Earth, and to the Father and the Mother. Please help me reserve the person beside me for now. I’ll owe you the last prostrate for now, and find some chance to make up for it in the future…’
*In traditional Chinese marriages, one has to prostrate three times: once to the Heavens and the Earth, once to the Father and the Mother, and once to the Husband and the Wife (each other).
At this point, a cold laugh suddenly came from behind the two.
Wei WuXian was in the middle of his silent prayers. Hearing the sound, he trembled as his eyes sprang open. He turned around to see Jiang Cheng standing in the middle of a clearing outside of the ancestral hall, his arms folded.
His voice was chilling, “Wei WuXian, you really don’t take yourself as an outsider, do you? You come and leave whenever you want. You take with you whomever you want. Do you perhaps still remember whose sect this is? Who’s the owner?”
Doing this, Wei WuXian wanted to keep it away from Jiang Cheng in the first place. Now that he discovered them, he knew they’d definitely be faced with some vicious remarks. He didn’t want to argue, “I didn’t take HanGuang-Jun to the other, more confidential places of Lotus Pier. We only came to greet Uncle Jiang and Madam Yu with a few sticks of incense. We’re finished already and we’ll be leaving now.”
Jiang Cheng, “If you’re leaving, please go as far as possible. Don’t let me see or hear you fooling around in Lotus Pier again.”
Wei WuXian felt his brows twitch. He saw Lan WangJi’s right hand press onto his sword and stopped him at once.
Lan WangJi turned to Jiang Cheng, “Watch your words.”
Jiang Cheng was quite blunt, “I think you’re the ones who should watch your actions.”
Wei WuXian’s brows throbbed even harder, and the ominous feeling within him grew as well. He spoke to Lan WangJi, “HanGuang-Jun, let’s go.”
He then turned around and prostrated a few more times before the Jiang couple’s tablets before standing up with Lan WangJi. Jiang Cheng didn’t stop him from prostrating, but he didn’t hide his mocking tone either, “You really should kneel for them properly, having dirtied their eyes and contaminated their peace.”
Wei WuXian threw him a sideways glance, speaking in a calm voice, “I’m only here to burn some incense. That’s enough, isn’t it?”
Jiang Cheng, “Burn some incense? Wei WuXian, are you really that dense? It’s been so long since you were kicked out of our sect, and here you are taking unwelcome people with you to burn incense for my parents?”
Wei WuXian was already about to pass around him and leave. When he heard this, he suddenly stopped, his voice low, “Well, say it out loud. Who’s an unwelcome person?”
If he were alone here, he’d be able to pretend like he heard nothing of what Jiang Cheng said. However, with Lan WangJi with him, no matter what, he wouldn’t want Lan WangJi to suffer through Jiang Cheng’s vulgar remarks and obvious malice alongside him.
Jiang Cheng mocked, “Look how forgetful you are. What does unwelcome people mean? Then let me remind you. It was because you played the hero and saved Second Young Master Lan, who’s standing beside you right now, that the entire Lotus Pier and my parents went down with you. And that wasn’t enough. With the first time, soon comes the second. You even had to save Wen-dogs and drag my sister down with you. What a person you are! What’s more, you’re even so generous as to take the two to Lotus Pier. The Wen-dog’s strolling in front of my sect’s gates; Second Young Master Lan came here to burn incense. You’re here on purpose to remind me, to remind them.” He continued, “Wei WuXian, who do you think you are? Who gave you the face to take whomever you want into our sect’s ancestral hall?”
Wei WuXian knew that Jiang Cheng had to settle this with him no matter what.
For Lotus Pier’s destruction, Jiang Cheng thought not only that Wei WuXian was responsible, but also that Wen Ning and Lan WangJi were responsible too. He wouldn’t give a friendly look to either of the three, let alone when they were walking right in front of his face at the same time inside Lotus Pier. He was probably infuriated.
Rereading this chapter. What is the meaning of this, “Please help me reserve the person beside me for now.”? It is in the context of marriage thing? They never did the third prostrate, as this was reserved for couple, but I’m still wondering why did he say those words.
Cuz wwx already fell for lwj and hoping in the future they’ll make it , ah 😶
Think so aswell. Maybe not on the “Marriage”-Part but more on the “Lets live our live together” oxo Idk
Lots of ppl hating on my boy Jiang Cheng.
But tbh he is the only ‘human’ character among the three of them, wei ying, wang ji and him. He is unlikeable because unlike the other two he behaves like how an average person would react to circumstances.
You have a young boy whose dogs were given away because another boy came and took a seat on his father’s lap. The closeness which he never had with his father.
As he grows older, he is constantly compared to wei ying by both his father and mother. While they played together, you could see there was some resentment underneath it. For Wei ying was a person who caused trouble everywhere he went, yet he was never punished for these actions. In the past, wei ying occasionally jokes about how if it was jiang cheng who created trouble, Jiang Feng Mian wont have shown up. It was a joke but at the same time, a painful one.
Even during the few days before lotus pier was burned down, Jiang Feng Mian lectured him for scolding Wei ying about his recklessness. After all, the yunmeng jiang’s sect motto was to attempt the impossible.
Wei Ying exemplifies that exact characteristic to the T. And Jiang cheng could never be the perfect sect leader who has that trait.
Their dynamic has always been well written but you could see why Jiang Cheng reacts the way he does. He was brothers with a person who stole his father’s love. He was always second compared to Wei Ying, academically, popularity, etc. He is insecure and jealous for good reasons. He blamed wei ying for all the deaths and suffering he went through, because he couldnt stand wei ying’s hero complex. He didnt understand why wei ying helped ‘outsiders’ (mian mian, Lan Wang Ji) and sacrificed his family in the process.
It’s rare for me to like an insecure, hot tempered character this much hahaha
People hating on Jiang Cheng is just as redundant, as your catalogue of poor excuses for him. Everybody has a “story”, he is responsible for his actions. His attitude problem needs fixing and then he’ll be fine.
Empathy and kindness is not a “hero complex” at least not to the average person, unless you are implying the average person is a psychopath.
i think you should reconsider your definition of being human. “humanity” synonyms for you: compassion, kindness, consideration, understanding, sympathy, tolerance, good-heartedness, gentleness, mercifulness, tenderness, benevolence, charity, generosity. in this book, wei wuxian and lan wangji are the most human characters exactly because despise everything they went through their humanity and innocence remained intact.
Oh hell yes I agree with you. LWJ and WWX have been through so much and are definitely the most human characters here.
I don’t hate Jiang Cheng, but I don’t like him either. I just have problems with his temper/personality, how he wants to be above everyone else since he have inferiority or seniority issue, and how he reacts to problems he heard of without even knowing the truth.
Also how he’s set on blaming WeiWuxian for his parents’ deaths even though everyone knew that the Wen sect was hell bent on destroying all the main sects. Sure, being a selfish, jealous prick is human (a lousy human). Those are the kinds of people who can’t keep relationships and die miserable and alone. Then again, you have people who care about others, and want to help those in need. These are also very real human characteristics. And these are the people that we naturally tend to care about.
The thing is, Jiang Cheng is definitely someone who can be found in the real world. Self victimization, and never putting himself in the shoes of another. He disregards the importance of other people and only puts his own family on top. Which is why he gets mad at Wuxian’s ‘hero complex’ as you put it, when it is just basic human decency. Wuxian would save someone if he can, while Jiang Cheng would be willing to sacrifice millions to save his own family. This is the fundamental difference between them. However, it is sad that he won’t spare even a moment of consideration for what was his best friend, one that has grown up with him and constantly encouraged him when he was down. One that sacrificed so much to keep him alive and to get his core back. He’s always willing to sacrifice even those who have put themselves in danger to help him, as can be seen by Wen Ning and Wen Qing, and even Wuxian just so he can maintain his hatred as just. Even those of us in the real world who have a shred of decency won’t abandon someone who has sacrificed so much for us, nor our best friend who have been with us for decades. Jiang Cheng sadly, lacks even this shred of decency. He is definitely someone that can be found in real life, but he would be someone that nobody would want to associate with.
Beautifully said. Thank you for capturing in words exactly what I was feeling.
Well said….
I don’t dislike Cheng, I even empathize with him. But his inability to see how him blaming Wei Wuxian for both his parents death and sisters, is completely wrong is mind boggling to me. On top of that, because WWX respects him and loved his family so much, he himself blamed their death on him. Which isn’t factual at all. FengMian himself doesn’t think WWX fighting Wen Chao and defending the safety of a woman and other disciples as wrong. He defends his action against Cheng. Perhaps, if Cheng portrayed even a 1oth of the same mind set he too would have been praised by his father. He could have changed his personality to meet the father expectation, but he didn’t. He took on his mom personality. Is being selfish and self-serving, right and a “real human”? Also, I find it convenient that he blames LWJ but not Jin ZiXuan, because if I am not mistaken he too was one of the guys that stood up against Wen Chao, WWX saves him too, but because his sister married him and he was from the leading sect, he was forgiven, he held no fault? Also, the sisters death had nothing to do with the Wen Sect being saved, it was all Jin GuangShan fault and Jin ZiXun. They caused the death of ZiXuan and in tangent the cause for Shiji death. I think it is amazing that Wei Wuxian never said anything back, let everyone blame him, and easily took all the guilt for their deaths. Plus, was he the one that stabbed shiji in the end, wasn’t it one of the kids from the sects that Cheng had partnered with? Did his own sister not try to save WWX, and yet he did the opposite and led the siege to kill his brother/best friend. Why did he never stand up for him like the way fengmian and Shiji did, he let his own insecurity get the better of their relationship.
Human? Nah if you have human you have to have humanity. That should be your first priority in every aspects wuxian lan wangji was like that, they were human. He is fcking scum who let others opinion influence his own and wuxian was his brother who put cheng before him all the time. Coming second? A fcking trivial matter. Not receiving his father’s love? His father didn’t like his attitude because it was like his mother but that doesn’t mean he was hated wtf!? Sending his dogs away?? What his own blood brother was afraid of dog wouldn’t he do the same? These are all excuses, he is responsible for his actions. He threw away his years of friendship just because other people and blamed wuxian with them and even brainwashed Jin Ling when he was also partially at fault for the death of his parents.
There is a character in “Mahabharata” called “Dhritarastra” who was blind but he was not called “Blind king” for his physical blindness but because how he turned a blind eye to his son’s all evil deeds, from trying to kill his own brother to telling his brother’s wife to sit on his lap and have sex with him openly infront of him.
You should never loose sight of what is right. Even if you are physically blind you should never be mentally, that’s worse. In this case Jiang Cheng had no physical limitations nor mental. He was still a jealous brat who refuse to accept what he has done. His body has only grown he is still the same.
i remember coming across a paragraph that states Jiang Chang’s father did not want to marry madam Yu. Instead he was night hunting with wei young’s mom. Only after wei Jing’s mom got married, Jiang cheng’s father reluctantly agreed to marry madam yu. I always thought this implies that the father always loved wei young’s mom and wanted to marry her. Maybe secretly he viewed Wei Ying as the son he could have had with her. Maybe this is also part of the reason madam yu dislikes wei Ying. Maybe this is also part of the root cause of the jealousy Jiang Chang feels towards Wei Ying. A random boy who took away his fatherly love. A boy who could do no wrong in his father’s eyes.
Thank you so much for your hard work on translating this.
Omg this is getting so cute! They are starting to have moments. Ehhhh! Today I bought a sandalwood candle because I wondered how Lan Wanji smelled like. I love it! Lol. Lan Wanji smelled amazing! Haha.
Omg! I was thinking of buying that scented candle (preferable Sandalwood of course lol) for quite sometime already. Now that you mentioned how great his smelling is urghhh i can’t to buy it 🤩🤩🤩
Gracias por el capítulo!
I am wondering if Lan WamgJi was hoping and whispering same thing in his heart than WWX when he was kneeling at his side…
I am totally sure he did!!! Why would he bow otherwise? He doesn’t care that much for what one is expected to do anyway by now, he does what he feels is right, and bowing by his love’s side is clearly the right thing to do!!!
He wasn’t scared of falling. All these years, he’d fallen many times. But falling on the ground still hurt, after all. If someone was there to catch him, it’d be more than wonderful.
This shattered my heart. How I ache for Wei Ying. But I’m so grateful that Wang Ji is there for him so he’s not alone anymore.
Especially with the context of the previous chapter and that awful gathering, reminding him how easy it is for everyone to turn their backs on someone they respect out of jealousy, hatred, and fear. He’s not afraid of falling out of their favors again… As long as he have Lan Zhan, that’s enough.
Awwwww… so WWX finally started realising his feelings and wanted him in the future.. it was soooo sweet..
That moment under the tree is so tender! WWX taking LWJ to the ancestral hall to pray to Madam Yu and Jiang FengMian is so sweet too, especially the part that is nearly a proposal of wanting to keep LWJ near.
JC, you need to let some of that anger and hate go… It’s not healthy…
Wei Ying acting as a protective waifu to protect his hubby from Jiang Cheng is so lovely.
Having someone to catch you when you fall… that’s so sweet. Maybe this is the turning point in their relationship. one in which Wei Ying would realize that they are more like lovers than friends. Moreover Wei Ying’s silent pray after they prostrate twice is so moving.. leaving me teary eyes while reading
This chapter….is really so …..sweet ..like.my heart flutters most at the moment when WWX is praying about Lan Zhan…… Awwwwwww~
Is it only me? I find the recent chapters much shorter and finishes so fast lol
Some times I don’t get the animosity towards Wen Ning and Lwj. I get Jiang Cheng’s complicated feelings towards wwx , due to his dad and also wwx’s tendency to implicate others due to his “hero complex”, but I can’t really get WN and Lwj. Yeah Wen Ning might have killed a lot of people in the past but he’s also the one who saved his life. Lwj didn’t do anything bad to him either.
He seems to see them as a chance to vent his frustration on?
I guess jc has a deep-seated hate towards wen ning because remember, he killed jzx, jyl’s husband, and as an effect killed jyl’s happiness, too, and ruined jin ling’s future in a way (having no father to raise jl, he’d be talked about and mocked behind his back regarding this matter).
As for lwj, besides the fact that wwx and lwj killed the xuanwu of slaughter and caused the wens to turn their ire on the jiang sect, i think deep down, jc is hateful towards lwj because he’s taking away wwx, too, when wwx did promise jc before he’d stay by his side to look after lotus pier as jc’s brother and subordinate, like how wwx’s father was with jfm.
It’s really complicated but like what someone said previously, complicated isn’t enough excuse to be an asshole to everybody. jc has issues and he’s only hurting himself by continuing to hold resentment towards people more than a decade later.
IT WAS SUCH A ROMANTIC MOMENT FOR WANGXIAN I WAS WHEEZING BECAUSE WEI WUXIAN IS FINALLY CATCHING FEELINGS FOR LAN WANG JI OMG but Jiang Cheng and his bitterness, couldn’t really blame this tsun tsun, he was in so much pain. Poor Jiang Cheng 🙁
Thank you so much for the chapter.
ohmygod he really took LWJ to kneel in front of his ‘parents’ 😆 I wonder if LWJ is also having the same train of thought
Thanks for the chapter! 🙏🏼
OKAY!!!! I really need to comment on that tree falling scene even though I havent finished reading this chapter yet I just need to comment on it….that scene I want it on live screen so badly it was sooo romantic…literally someone caught him when he fall heueheueh
Can anyone tell me how was Wei Wuxian responsible for the death of Jiang Cheng’s parents? I understand that in reality he was not, but what was the perspective of Jiang Cheng???
OMG! Wwx purposely fell down knowing lwj would catch him makes my heart *doki doki* and finally wwx realizes his feelings for lwj after all these years omg just get married you two 💕💕💕💕
I don’t hate jc and I don’t like him either because of his bad temper and personality also his lack of gratitude towards others especially to wwx who sacrificed a lot for him but still blamed him for everything even though it wasn’t wwx’s fault and he didn’t want it to happen either and especially wwx sacrificing his Golden core for jc and that’s the exact reason why he’s still the leader of lotus pier and he doesn’t even know this, JC was able to walk on a broader path not knowing his brother sacrificed a lot for him and wwx has no other choice but walk on the demonic cultivation because he has no golden core anymore therefore he cannot go back to his old way of cultivation and i’m sad and mad how JC doesn’t even know this
JC… it’s really passed time for you to grow up. All that jealousy and resentment is doing you no good. You’d blame WuXian for the sky being blue if you could. Ok, so your parents would not win any awards for best parenting; let it go. All that misplaced anger must be exhausting. And grow some freakin’ compassion for others!! OmG. If there is one thing I dislike about JC it’s that. He gives a shit about no one, but himself and his own family. He practically broke down over his parents’ deaths and Lotus Pier was attacked, but said Lan Zhan needs to suck it up when his dad died and Cloud Recesses was attacked. He gets mad when WuXian protects others, has no gratitude when others stick their necks out to help him. He’s competitive af, but doesn’t like losing. He acts like he hates WuXian yet wants him all to himself. He’s selfish prick and I really beginning to lose my patience with him to finally get a effing clue.
Jiang Cheng has become deeply wounded.. and hate in his heart is way too grave. He just ruined our boys’ mood.. tsk and my mood too.. tsk tsk 😂
At last, a WangXian hug. And did Wei Ying basically ask Jiang FengMian and Madam Yu for their blessing? Have you finally figured out you feelings??
I don’t think Jiang Cheng hates Wei Ying for the destruction of Lotus Pier and the death of his parents or for saving the Wen sect members. Because if he truly hated Wei Ying, why would he be overjoyed by seeing Wei Ying alive (after Wen Chao threw him into Burial Mounds)? Why would he only fake a duel against Wei Ying when he could have actually severed all ties between them? Why allow him to see YanLi in her wedding robes? Why let him give Jin Ling his courtesy name? There was probably some hatred, but not enough for JC to end their relationship. I think until his sister’s death, his love for Wei Ying was stronger than any other feeling. And even then, it was stated that Wei Ying died from backlash, not by Jiang Cheng’s hands. I don’t believe JC could have killed him. In the end, he was probably angry that Wei Ying had left him. That he was all alone, managing a sect that wasn’t truly his home anymore, without his right-hand man and most importantly, his brother.
That being said, none of this excuses his terrible behavior and cruel words. So JC, you better get it together and apologize and make up with Wei Ying before I whack you upside the head! （〃｀ 3′〃）
Cheng is kinda making me angry 😤😤😤 anyway I want be at there wedding 💔💔💔🥰🥰🥰💋💋
i dont hate jc but i am tired of him, he’s like those negative people at work who i just avoid, like damn. Like everyone has suffered not just him, he can mope around but i aint gunna be around to breathe in the negative vibes, we outs ✌️
Jezzz…I dislike JC from the first chapt, not because of him make WWX die but he jealousy toward WWX too outrageous till always said something harsh n never believe in WWX…now he even more imposible to doing mad see how close WWX n LWJ, even his sister never doubt WWX n till her last breath still put trust to WWX…people like JC who always put his ego more high than his brain always ending with regret