Chapter Text
The disciples assigned to arranging the Library Pavilion under Lan Wangji's supervision couldn't help themselves from stealing a glance now and then.
In one corner of the Library, the legendary "Zewu-Jun's Cultivation Partner" was actually present!
These disciples were young, only around fifteen or seventeen. They hadn’t participated in the Sunshot Campaign a few years ago, having been left in the sect to handle errands while the senior cultivators went to war. Still, they had heard of Wei Wuxian—after all, who hadn’t at this point? But they hadn’t expected to see the infamous Wei Wuxian in the flesh.
...and it's still under the identity of their Sect Leader's Cultivation Partner.
No matter how complicated they felt in their hearts, it still couldn't prevent their curiosity from looking at the young man from time to time.
Wei Wuxian sat face-to-face with their Hanguang-Jun. His posture was extremely inappropriate. If any of them had sat like that in Lan-Xiansheng’s class, they would have been thrown outside immediately. Yet here, Hanguang-Jun appeared as though he couldn’t see Wei Wuxian’s slanted posture at all, offering no reprimand.
The disciples’ minds ran wild, but their hands kept working.
"Hey. You put the page into the wrong book there, Child."
“Oh?” The disciple who was addressed looked down at the book he was binding and realized he had indeed inserted a page containing a musical score into the wrong edition. “You are right, thank you for reminding me. But what are you calling me child for? Who do you think you—”
!!!
When the disciple turned to thank his companion, he instead found himself face-to-face with Wei Wuxian.
At some point, the subject of their curiosity had quietly come over and crouched to their level, his lips curved in a grin.
"Wei, Wei-Gongzi!"
Not only the disciple, but everyone nearby scrambled to greet him.
"Hahaha! Why do you all look so surprised? I thought you'd been glancing at me shyly this whole time. What is it? Do you have something you want to say to me?"
"No...we're not..."
Wei Wuxian’s grin widened. “Hm? You’re not what? Not secretly looking? Not wanting to talk to me?”
"..."
"Haha!" Wei Wuxian smacked their shoulders one by one as if loosening their stiff muscles. "I say! Why do you all look so tense? It's not like I'm going to eat you. If you don't have something to say, go on then, continue to do what you have in your hands."
He stood up and walked back to his previous spot.
His laughter could still be heard even after he sat back down in front of Hanguang-Jun.
The disciples, "..."
"Hanguang-Jun, we have some parts of the book missing here. What should we do?"
In the afternoon, a few disciples emerged from behind the rows of bookshelves and approached the corner where Lan Wangji had been working.
"——Hanguang...Jun?" The disciples looked around before hesitantly shifting their gaze to the only person left.
Wei Wuxian was alone.
Lan Wangji was nowhere to be found.
He was leaning on the windowsill. In his hand was a book he was currently reading. He didn't look like he was working at all.
He waved at them. "It's you, Children! Hanguang-Jun has stepped out for a bit. Put the books there, I'll tell him when he comes back later."
The disciples obediently placed the books and scrolls that still had problems on the low table. They were very careful not to mix them with the existing papers on it. One of the young disciples looked at the book in Wei Wuxian's hand and braved himself to ask,
"Wei-Gongzi, what kind of book is that? I have never seen that kind of binding before."
"Hm?" Wei Wuxian flipped the cover and saw that the binding indeed wasn't in the same style as other books. "It's a miscellaneous book. Strange tales of Immortal Land."
"Strange Tales of Immortal Land!" The disciples immediately perked up.
To cultivators, Immortals and Fairy Lands were as illustrious as the legend of the one-in-a-million sealed sword. Though both existed in stories, the elements themselves—swords and cultivators—were real. Yet no sword had ever become the legendary one, and no cultivator had ever truly ascended to the Immortal Land.
Another disciple asked in surprise. "Why haven't I known this kind of book existed? How did you find it here, Wei-Gongzi?"
Wei Wuxian looked at them in amusement and asked them back, "I should be the one asking you, why haven't you found such an interesting book like this here?"
"Uh..."
First of all, the book in Wei Wuxian's hand looked so inconspicuous.
Furthermore, after hearing it earlier, its title didn’t sound particularly serious.
It likely wasn’t placed on the more accessible shelves.
One asked eagerly, "What kind of strange tales are written in the book?"
"What tales...Hmm, for example, there is this tale about a Monkey you've never seen before. He stole the Queen Mother's peaches and confronted the Jade Emperor in Heaven. When he was kicked down to Hell, he turned the Hell upside down, and later he even went to beat up the Dragon Kings in the Eastern Sea."
The disciple gasped. "What kind of Monkey is that powerful!"
Wei Wuxian grinned. "It's a Monkey King!"
The other disciples wanted to hear more and started leaning closer. "What you said is just a summary, Wei-Gongzi, you should have told us the full story from the start!"
Wei Wuxian was about to narrate the contents, but his sight suddenly caught Lan Wangji's arrival from the corner. His lips suddenly raised in a playful grin, and he said instead, "Alright, let's start from the tale of the Immortals who live in the Fairy Land, then. It was said that all Immortals in the Heaven wore pristine white robes."
"They wear White robes like us?" The disciples asked, amazed.
"Exactly! And they also have long, flowy hair. Their faces are extremely gorgeous. Very ethereal. It's like a frosty peak in a snowy mountain."
The disciples listened to him attentively.
Wei Wuxian continued, "——And when the Immortal speaks, he sounds like this—,"
"Wei Ying."
The disciples, "Immortal!" They jumped and exclaimed in surprise.
Lan Wangji, "..."
Upon seeing Lan Wangji, the disciples came to their senses and immediately stuttered out a greeting, "Han-Hanguang-Jun!"
Lan Wangji paused briefly before nodding, "...Mn. Have you finished your task?"
Having been caught by Lan Wangji trying to slack around by listening to Wei Wuxian's story, the disciples averted their eyes guiltily. "We, we were just about to continue sorting."
Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian laughed heartily.
“Hahaha! Lan Zhan, they came to ask you something. How about we hear their problem first?”
Lan Wangji sat in his previous position, glancing at the newly added scrolls and books on the table. He asked them, "Which ones have issues?"
The disciples remembered their original purpose and quickly pointed. “Oh! This one, this one, and this one.”
Wei Wuxian looked at them from the side.
After the disciples finished explaining, Lan Wangji responded with, "Mn. I will take care of it." He then began sorting through the books.
As the last disciple left their corner, Wei Wuxian turned his attention back to him and asked curiously, "What are you going to do with it?"
Lan Wangji replied, "They will be removed from the shelves."
“Removed?” Wei Wuxian echoed. “You mean they won’t be displayed or used as reading material anymore?”
Lan Wangji nodded. “The content is incomplete. If displayed, it may mislead readers.”
Wei Wuxian flipped open one of the books. "What a pity. These are the interesting kinds. Won’t you or your seniors try to restore the missing content?"
Lan Wangji looked at him. "Do you think it can be done?"
Wei Wuxian, "Why not?"
When he was nineteen, he had written manuscripts of his own cultivation path. Most of the content came from his own discoveries and creations. However, a portion had been derived from fragmented ancient techniques he’d uncovered during his nighthunts.
For example, there was the art of sacrificing one’s soul to summon an evil spirit for revenge under a vicious contract. If the evil spirit were to fail or were to misinterpret the wish, it would be obliterated from existence. The version he found had only outlined the basics—it was Wei Wuxian himself who later completed the method and restored the array.
He continued, “Take this book, for instance. It discusses the use of runes in artifact creation. The missing section likely explains the layout of runes for different artifacts. We can reconstruct it by analyzing the existing content and cross-referencing it with known sword runes. From there, we can infer and rewrite the guide.”
Lan Wangji fell silent.
He had been listening properly to Wei Wuxian's logic and felt that it was indeed possible.
Looking at the book in Wei Wuxian’s hand, he said, “I understand. But it will not be easy. To infer and derive, one must first fully comprehend the intent of the original text. When referencing other sources, one must also thoroughly understand the knowledge being applied.”
Wei Wuxian gave him an odd look. “Isn’t that obvious? Of course it won’t be easy.”
Lan Wangji met his gaze calmly. “If it is you, are you willing to restore it?”'
"Of course I'm willing!" Wei Wuxian replied immediately. "It’s far better to repair these books and return them to the shelves than to let them gather dust in storage."
He added inside his heart,
'Goodness, I will save these adorable GusuLan disciples from reading the boring 100 family names or their exaggerated anecdotes, and give them something actually worth reading!
Wei Wuxian proposed restoring the book. Lan Wangji did not object. The two of them reported the matter to Lan Xichen afterward, and upon hearing it, the Sect Leader thought it a feasible approach.
He smiled faintly. Inwardly, he noted that Wei Wuxian had only been assisting in the Library Pavilion for a single day, yet he was already offering a method worth considering. However, he did not state his approval outright. Instead, he asked,
“Has Wei-Gongzi ever engaged in such work before—restoring incomplete techniques through inference and derivation?”
Wei Wuxian’s eyes lit up. He opened his mouth, ready to eagerly recount how he had reconstructed several methods of his GuiDao. Yet the words halted at his lips. In the next instant, he shut his mouth again.
Only then did he recall that those very experiences were precisely the sort that GusuLan deemed forbidden.
Watching Wei Wuxian open and close his mouth, his face suddenly looking a bit disheartened, Lan Xichen understood what the young man might be thinking.
He smiled, his tone as gentle as ever, "Might it have been related to your own cultivation path? If so, there is no need to elaborate. Such matters would naturally be recorded in your personal manuscripts, and they are your private property."
At the side, Lan Wangji glanced at Wei Wuxian. He, too, understood the implication behind his brother’s words. The person they were looking at could not help but shift in his seat.
Lan Xichen’s gaze drifted, as if by accident, to the other side of the table. Once again, Wei Wuxian’s knees were pressed lightly against Lan Wangji’s.
He lifted his eyes and continued, "But your GuiDao is a never-before-trodden path. Even some techniques aligned with it that still exist today are also...rather uncommon techniques. So it must have been rare and hard to assemble such a technique."
Putting those practices that should be regarded as forbidden under the term "uncommon" was truly Lan Xichen's tactful words.
“And yet,” Lan Xichen went on, “despite such scarcity, you were still able to restore them. In comparison, these texts, though incomplete, contain ample material for reference. If approached properly, they should likewise be reconstructed.” A trace of a smile lingered at the end of his words.
"Then, Zewu-Jun, what do you think?"
Wei Wuxian brightened at once. It was clear that Lan Xichen had no intention of pursuing the matter of forbidden techniques.
Lan Xichen, "Naturally, we will proceed according to your suggestion. Should it prove successful, the impact on GusuLan's knowledge reserve will be significant."
He smiled and motivated the two juniors before him, "Wangji, Wei-Gongzi, I will then leave this task to the two of you. If you have questions, do not hesitate to reach out to the Elders, Uncle, and of course to me."
Lan Wangji nodded. "Wangji understands."
Therefore, in the following days, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji occupied themselves with dismantling and reconstructing incomplete texts.
Every day, Wei Wuxian would sit, still unceremoniously, in the Library Pavilion. Before him lay scattered scrolls and open books. There were also many pages crammed with scribbles.
Don't think that those scribbles were trash, however. They were traces, step-by-step deduction, and the results after.
Across from him had always been Lan Wangji. The young Hanguang-Jun appeared extremely serious as he transcribed their conclusions onto fresh sheets with more readable and more beautiful handwriting.
Even the junior disciples assigned to assist with sorting the Pavilion’s collections could not help but be drawn in. They gathered nearby, their eyes bright with curiosity, occasionally exclaiming in hushed amazement—
“Ah—so it can be done like this!”
“I see—!”
From time to time, they would venture a question or two.
Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian had been infamous for being prodigies since they were young. After the war, though some might say it begrudingly or with hostile connotation, Wei Wuxian had even been hailed as a "Bizarre Genius". For these young disciples, watching the live process of how the two revered "Prodigies" restored their Library Collections was much more interesting than being preoccupied with their monotonous task of cataloging!
Waking up early and coming back home late. Wei Wuxian's days were spent in the same routines. Yet not only did he not tire of it, but his spirits also seemed higher than ever.
Perhaps, it's because it had been a long time since...since he was surrounded by the company of humans.
Had he been in Yunmeng, he would likely have spent his days alone—either night-hunting in solitude, or drinking in the broad daylight... accompanied by female ghosts.
One afternoon, in another secluded part of GusuLan Sect Mountain, Lan Xichen approached a secluded courtyard and knocked lightly upon its door.
"Who is it?" a voice called from within.
"Uncle," Lan Xichen replied, "It is I, Xichen."
For a time, there was no answer.
Lan Xichen waited patiently outside, without urging further.
At last, a curt voice responded, “Enter.”
"Excuse me." Lan Xichen slid the door open and pardoned himself to step inside.
The courtyard door slid closed once again.
Above the entrance, a finely carved plaque bore the elegant characters "Songshi".
The owner of the residence, Lan Qiren, was currently sitting. A book rested in his left hand, while his right moved steadily, annotating its contents. He looked up slightly to see the incoming visitor.
"Uncle."
Lan Xichen smiled as he greeted him. He stepped forward and took a seat opposite. As was customary, he reached for the tea set on a nearby table and began preparing tea for them both.
Lan Qiren rinsed his brush in the jade washer. He then hung the brush upon the small rack to dry, placed a bookmark between the pages, and closed the book in his hand. Only then did he raise his eyes to look at his eldest nephew, who sat across from him, calmly brewing tea.
“What brings you here?”
Lan Xichen maintained his smile and responded to his Uncle with, "Naturally, Xichen came to visit Uncle. How has Uncle’s health been of late? Have you been well?"
"Hmhh." Lan Qiren let out a displeased breath. “You still remember to ask after my well-being?”
Lan Xichen appeared mildly taken aback. “When has Xichen ever neglected Uncle’s health?”
Lan Qiren snorted again.
Look! Look at him! This very nephew of his had caused him to suffer Qi-Deviation on the spot just last month—yet he could say such words with an entirely innocent expression!
By then, the tea had finished brewing. Lan Xichen poured it carefully into two cups and offered one with both hands.
"Uncle, please." He smiled. "This is a medicinal tea I recently learned to prepare. It helps ease the mind and dispel excess heat."
Lan Qiren knew exactly what he was trying to say.
However, they had already been over this.
No matter what kind of dispute they had, it had already reached its conclusion. Besides, Lan Xichen was not only skilled in diplomacy and persuasion, but he was also good at grasping the moment. Whatever he did was neither too hasty nor too late. In the end, all the clan elders, including Lan Qiren, had been gradually persuaded into yielding.
Taking the cup, Lan Qiren veered his gaze downward and began to take a sip.
Across from him, Lan Xichen did the same.
After a pause, Lan Qiren looked up again. “Where is Wangji?”
During this past month, he had been preoccupied with his own turmoils and had little attention to spare. Now that he considered it, his younger nephew seemed to vanish, seemingly having also been swallowed into the Earth. It was unknown what Lan Wangji was doing.
Lan Xichen set his teacup down. “Wangji is still attending to his duties, reorganizing the Library Pavilion.”
At this, Lan Qiren stroked his beard, evidently satisfied. As expected of his most accomplished disciple, no matter the circumstances, he remained steadfast in his responsibilities. Even if a hurricane surnamed Wei was coming, he maintained his calm and kept doing what he ought to do!
A faint curve touched Lan Xichen’s lips. Reaching into his sleeve, he withdrew a book and gently placed it before Lan Qiren. He said,
"Speaking of which, Uncle might wish to examine this."
Lan Qiren took the book and started flipping through the pages one by one. "What text is this? Hm? Is this not the Guide to Incantations Application? I recall you saying portions of it were lost in the fire."
He flipped the book around once again to check the contents and was immediately surprised. “…This is a complete version?”
Lan Qiren might not have remembered every detail to be able to rewrite it based on memory, but he had read and learned from this book before, so he was familiar with the contents in general. And the contents before him were intact, without any omissions of the knowledge that was supposed to be presented within. More importantly, it was coherent.
His eyes sharpened. Noticing the elegant and neat handwriting he couldn't be more familiar with, he said at once, "Is this what Wangji has been occupied with?"
Lan Xichen simply smiled. "The book has indeed lost some parts in the fire." He said. "However, through a method of derivation and referencing, it has been restored."
"Derivation? Referencing?" Lan Qiren cast him a probing look, clearly interested.
Lan Xichen began to elucidate, "Derivation entails first analyzing the remaining material in detail—dissecting structure and intent to reconstruct the missing portions."
"I see...that could be accomplished indeed." Lan Qiren agreed.
Lan Xichen nodded and continued, "When some lost parts still couldn't be deciphered, Referencing then applied. It means drawing upon existing texts of a similar substance to deduce and extrapolate the lost content."
As he spoke, his uncle continued examining the book. A low hum escaped him from time to time. The more he read, the more pleased he was.
“What does Uncle think?” Lan Xichen asked. “Is there anything amiss within the restored sections—or with the restoration method itself?”
Lan Qiren shook his head without hesitation. He outrightly praised, "Excellent! Remarkably done! Not only has the text been restored, but it has also been refined—certain sections are clearer, and some points have been expanded. This…” He paused. “…is the work of a true genius!”
Lan Xichen's smile deepened. "Indeed. Xichen does think so."
Lan Qiren nodded, turning the book over once more. An appreciative smile couldn't help but form on the corner of his lip. He couldn't stop himself from reiterating his praises,
"From conception to execution, and to such a result, it is simply—impressive."
The smile on Lan Xichen's face grew wider.
He said, "Uncle should know the person who proposed this method and completed this work."
Lan Qiren looked at him, surprised. "Is it not Wangji?"
Lan Xichen shook his head lightly and, considerately, informed him of the truth, "It is Wei-Gongzi."
Lan Qiren, "..."