‘Don’t you realise, Master Wei, that I’m holding his life in my hands?’
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Ch. 100 | Confession
This zither string was extremely fine and had been specially coloured so that it was hardly visible to the human eye; moreover, Wei Wuxian had been so flustered earlier that he hadn’t been paying attention, resulting in his vulnerable spot being threatened.
Wei Wuxian called out, ‘Don’t, Lan Zhan! Don’t move back!’
But Lan Wangji retreated five steps without hesitation the very next moment.
Jin Guangyao said, ‘Excellent. Next, please put Immaculate away.’
There was a clank as Lan Wangji immediately did that too.
Wei Wuxian flared up. ‘Don’t try to take a mile after getting an inch!’
Jin Guangyao asked, ‘Just this and you call it trying to take a mile? Then what are you going to call it when I ask Lord Hanguang to seal off his own spiritual energy next?’
Wei Wuxian gritted out furiously, ‘You…’
Before he could finish speaking, there came the painful sensation of something digging into the flesh of his throat and something wet began trickling down his neck.
Lan Wangji turned deathly pale as Jin Guangyao remarked conversationally, ‘How can he afford not to obey me? Don’t you realise, Master Wei, that I’m holding his life in my hands?’
The former bit out every word, ‘Don’t hurt him.’
Jin Guangyao replied, ‘Then you know what to do, Lord Hanguang.’
A moment later, Lan Wangji said, ‘All right.’
Lan Xichen sighed.
Lan Wangji raised his hands and sealed off his own spiritual energy with two firm actions.
Jin Guangyao laughed softly and remarked, ‘This is really…’
Lan Wangji’s eyes were fixed unblinkingly on them as he said, ‘Let him go.’
But Wei Wuxian then called out, ‘Lan Zhan! I — I have something to tell you.’
Jin Guangyao suggested, ‘Whatever it is, you can tell him later.’
Wei Wuxian argued, ‘No, it’s urgent.’
Jin Guangyao commented, ‘Then you can say it like this.’
It had merely been a careless remark on his part but who would have thought that Wei Wuxian would appear to have suddenly realised something as he said, ‘You have a point.’
After which, he bellowed, ‘Lan Zhan! Lan Wangji! Lord Hanguang! I — I really wanted to do it with you just now!’
‘…’
‘…’
‘…’
¹ 迫不及待. If you’re not reading this chapter at hiding in plain sight, it has been stolen and reproduced by novelscraping sites.
Jin Guangyao’s hand relaxed and the zither string was withdrawn. As soon as he felt the tingling pain around his neck disappear, Wei Wuxian rushed towards Lan Wangji eagerly¹.
His forcefully blunt confession of earlier had been a bolt from the blue and Lan Wangji did not seem to have recovered from the effects yet. On his impassive face was a hint of rarely-seen befuddlement. It was not the first time Wei Wuxian had thrown his arms around his waist in a hug, embracing him tightly, but this time Lan Wangji’s body seemed to have become as heavy and clumsy as a block of wood, and so stiff that he didn’t know where to put his hands.
Wei Wuxian asked, ‘Lan Zhan, did you hear everything I said just now?!’
Lan Wangji’s lips parted slightly and after an interval, he said, ‘You…’
He had always been concise and direct in his speech, never given to stammering, yet now he faltered, utterly uncertain. A moment later, he ventured again, ‘Just now you said…’
He seemed to want to repeat what he had just heard for confirmation. But to Lan Wangji, saying those words was simply much too embarrassing².
Wei Wuxian instantly and unhesitatingly got ready to repeat himself.
‘I said I really wanted to —’
‘Ahem!’
Lan Xichen was standing to one side, his right hand clenched and pressed to the corner of his mouth. After weighing his words for a while, he sighed and observed, ‘… Master Wei, your timing is flawless and so too your choice of occasion.’
Wei Wuxian apologised without the least hint of sincerity, ‘I’m truly sorry, Clan Leader Lan, but I really couldn’t have waited a moment longer.’
² 難以啟齒. Translation belongs to theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com.
(A light rain is falling so they take shelter inside the temple. Wei Wuxian’s attention is momentarily distracted as he notices that the idol Guanyin bears a resemblance to Jin Guangyao.)
Lan Wangji’s voice suddenly sounded by his ear. ‘Sit.’
Wei Wuxian’s attention was immediately recalled. Lan Wangji had found four rush cushions in the temple, handed two to Lan Xichen and Jin Ling and kept two for himself and Wei Wuxian. For some reason however, Lan Xichen and Jin Ling had dragged their cushions as far away as possible and had unanimously turned their gazes away from them.
Jin Guangyao and the others had already disappeared to the back of the hall to observe the progress of the digging.
Wei Wuxian pulled Lan Wangji to sit down on the cushions. Perhaps due to his perturbation, the latter wobbled slightly before he was able to sit steadily. Wei Wuxian felt a bit calmer as he fixed his gaze on Lan Wangji’s face.
The latter had lowered his eyes so it was impossible to read his mood. Wei Wuxian was aware that Lan Wangji could not have believed him based merely on those few words earlier. Having had death of a thousand cuts smilingly inflicted on him by an ignorant person who was notorious for his misdeeds³, it was perfectly natural if he did not believe him. At this thought, Wei Wuxian’s heart constricted, feeling so sorry for him that he began trembling slightly and did not dare think further on this. He only knew that he had to give him some more shock therapy.
He ventured, ‘Lan Zhan, you, you… look at me.’
Lan Wangji’s voice still sounded a little taut as he said, ‘Mhm.’
After taking a deep breath, Wei Wuxian went on in a low voice, ‘… My memory is really bad. There are many things about the past that I can’t remember, including that time at Nightless City, what happened during those few days — I really don’t remember anything about them.’
When he heard this, Lan Wangji’s eyes widened slightly.
Wei Wuxian suddenly reached out with both hands and clutched his shoulders, declaring, ‘But! But from now onwards, I’ll remember everything that you say to me, everything that you do, I won’t forget a single thing!’
‘…’
Wei Wuxian asserted, ‘You are very nice. I like you.’
‘…’
‘Or to put it another way — I adore you, I love you, I want you, I can’t stay away from you; however you want to put it.’
‘…’
‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you going on Night Hunts.’
‘…’
Wei Wuxian then held up three fingers, pointed them at heaven, then at the earth and finally at his heart before declaring, ‘And I want to do it with you every day. I swear that this isn’t some sudden whim and it’s not my teasing you as I used to do, and it’s definitely not out of gratitude. Whatever it is, it’s not because of any other rubbish reasons; it’s because I like you, like you so much that I want to do it with you. I don’t want anybody except you, no one else will do for me. You can do whatever you like to me, do as you please, I like everything you do as long as you’re willing to be with me…’
³ 劣跡斑斑. Please consider reading from theresanother(DOT)wordpress(DOT)com rather than from novelscraping sites.
Before he could finish, a sudden gust of wind extinguished the entire row of candles burning in the Guanyin temple.
Without their realising it, the drizzle had become torrential rain and the lanterns swaying outside the Guanyin temple had already been extinguished by the rain. Their surroundings were suddenly plunged into darkness.
Wei Wuxian was unable to speak. In the darkness, Lan Wangji had suddenly embraced him tightly and silenced his mouth.
Lan Wangji’s breathing was irregular and rapid as he repeated huskily into his ear, ‘… Like you…’
Wei Wuxian hugged him tightly and declared, ‘Yes!’
Lan Wangji went on, ‘… Love you, want you…’
Wei Wuxian answered loudly, ‘Yes!’
Lan Wangji continued, ‘Can’t do without you, don’t want anybody except you… no one else will do for me!’
While repeating everything Wei Wuxian had just said to him, his voice and body shook, giving Wei Wuxian the strange feeling that he was on the verge of tears.
With every statement, his hands tightened round Wei Wuxian’s waist. The latter was being squeezed so tightly that it hurt, but he also tightened his arms around Lan Wangji’s back as if not being able to breathe was of little importance, was a hardship which he was only too glad to endure and was only sorry that he couldn’t hug him harder.
Nothing could be seen.
But their chests were pressed so tightly together that there was no hiding their hearts from each other. Wei Wuxian could clearly feel Lan Wangji’s heart pounding wildly, the fierce emotion that was almost blazing out of his chest, and what felt like tears falling on Wei Wuxian’s neck before they vanished silently.
(41% || Approx. 1443 | 1474 words)
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Translated and edited by 12
hiding in plain sight 