Chapter 97: Longing (Part Eight)

Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

After stepping into the room and shutting the door behind him, Wei WuXian leaned against the doorframe. When he heard Lan WangJi close the door to his room, he immediately reached out and slapped himself on the face.

He plopped down onto the wooden bed and buried his still-steaming face into his palms. Even after a long while, the heat didn’t melt away, both in his face and in his body. He even grabbed the teapot on the table and poured it over his head, but it was still no use at all. Right now, his entire body was covered in the Lan WangJi’s scent.

Wei WuXian knew that if he continued to stay here, with the thought that Lan WangJi was just a wall away from him, in addition to what they were doing just a few moments ago, he probably wouldn’t be able to calm down throughout the whole night. He definitely couldn’t stay here. He pushed the window open and stepped onto the windowsill. Like a black cat, he lightly leaped out, landing without making a sound on one of the streets outside the inn.

It was already late into the night. There were no people on the street, which made it convenient for Wei WuXian to speed into a sprint.

Passing the wall that Lan WangJi had graffitied when he was drunk, Wei WuXian finally stopped in his tracks. On the wall were rabbits, pheasants, and little figures, all in a disarray. As he looked, Wei WuXian once again recalled how dedicated Lan WangJi was when he drew these, along with how he dragged him over and wanted him to admire them. He couldn’t help but smile a bit.

An unparalleled sense of regret rushed into his heart.

If only he didn’t let himself go so wild when he was drunk.

At least he would’ve been able to pretend like he was all honest and full of integrity, sleeping soundlessly or pretending to sleep all snuggled up beside Lan WangJi without any shame. Instead, he was spending a sleepless night on the streets outside of the inn, running like a headless fly to let out his emotions.

Wei WuXian reached out, stroking the two kissing figures on the wall, and arrived at the words ‘Lan WangJi was here’ right above it. He had to erase these words, but before he did so, he used his fingertip to trace the lines of the name ‘Lan WangJi.’

Once. Twice. Thrice.

The more he traced them, the more he didn’t want to let go.

Suddenly, picking up on a shuffling sound, he felt alarmed, as it was the middle of the night. As he walked around the corner and looked, he saw a black-robed figure lean forward against the wall, holding a file and trying to even out the graffiti marks on the wall with much dedication.

Wei WuXian, “…”

Wen Ning turned around. His face was covered in white dust, “Young Master, why are you here?”

Wei WuXian, “What are you doing?”

“Oh.” Wen Ning, “Young Master Lan wrote so much. If the people here woke up tomorrow morning and saw this, it’d probably cause them quite a lot of trouble, so I’m here to get rid of some of them…” After a pause, he asked, “Where’s Young Master Lan?”

Wei WuXian looked down, “He went to bed. I went out to walk around.”

Wen Ning noticed that his mood wasn’t as usual. He paused what he was doing, “Young Master, did something happen?”

He walked a few steps towards Wei WuXian before suddenly halting, and quickly backing away. Wei WuXian hesitated in confusion, “What are you doing this time?”

Wen Ning seemed as if he was scared, waving his hands, “No, no. Nothing!”

Wei WuXian could tell at first glance that he was feeling embarrassed. Unconsciously, he glanced at himself, and realized he had a few red fingerprints on his wrists, made by Lan WangJi when he grabbed him and pushed him onto the bed. He touched his lips. They were also still slightly swollen. When they dizzily rolled around on the bed, hugging so hard they almost became one, Lan WangJi bit and nibbled at his body. His neck was probably quite a scene as well.

If Wen Ning had any blood on his face, he would’ve been blushing so hard the bleed seeped out. At this point, Wei WuXian didn’t know what to say either, “You… Ugh!” He sat down beside the corner of the wall and sighed, “I want alcohol.”

Wen Ning immediately replied, “I’ll go buy some.”

Wei WuXian, “Come back! What are you running for?”

Wen Ning came back again, “Searching for alcohol…”

Wei WuXian, “You… I was only saying that, and you really went to search. You’re not really my servant, are you?”

Wen Ning, “I know.”

Wei WuXian, “Besides, do you have money?”

Wen Ning, “No…”

Wei WuXian, “You see?! I knew it!”

Wen Ning envied, “But Young Master Lan has a lot… a lot of money… It’s so nice.”

“Ugh.” Wei WuXian slammed the back of his head onto the wall a few times, sighing a bunch, “Nevermind. I won’t drink ever again.”

Wen Ning was surprised, “Why?”

Wei WuXian, “Alcohol makes things go wrong. I’m gonna go abstinent.”

Wen Ning’s lips twitched. Wei WuXian, “What do you mean by this? You don’t believe me?”

Wen Ning mumbled, “No, no… But back then, didn’t Sister fail to get you off alcohol, even after trying everything she could…”

“Haha, haha.” Wei WuXian recalled, “She just poked holes into my body with her needles every other day or so, didn’t she?”

After he laughed for enough, Wei WuXian suddenly spoke up, “Wen Ning, have you ever thought about what you want to do, after this whole mess has ended?”

Wen Ning paused in surprise, “What I want to do?”

Right now, in this world, Wen Ning didn’t have many close friends left. In fact, he didn’t even know many of the people. Since long ago, he hadn’t been good at thinking for himself, much less making decisions. He was either following Wen Qing or Wei WuXian. Apart from this, he likely didn’t know where he should go or where he could go for that matter. But Wei WuXian had always hoped that he could find his own path. Saying it like this, though, seemed as if he was chasing him away.

He thought about it some more. Wen Ning didn’t know where he was going, but he didn’t know either, did he? In the beginning, when he was with Lan WangJi, he never thought about this problem at all. He took it as granted that they’d continue like this without change. But after tonight, maybe he and Lan WangJi wouldn’t go back to how they were ever again. Without Lan WangJi, it seemed as if it wasn’t too impossible for him to roam the world on his own.

But a voice in Wei WuXian’s heart told him with clarity, No, you can’t.

The words he said back on Koi Tower really proved to be true. The current Wei WuXian couldn’t do without Lan WangJi.

Wei WuXian let out a long sigh, despairing, “I want to drink.” The more he thought about it, the more dispirited he felt. The anxiety that had nowhere to go finally became a raging fire. He leaped up, “Fuck. Wen Ning, let’s go!”

Wen Ning, “Where are we going?”

Wei WuXian, “Looking for trouble!”