Lán Qǐrén couldn’t take it any longer, and uttered, “It is forbidden to make noise at Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù and... ”

Before he could finish reciting the rule, he heard Lán WàngJī saying, “Dizzy.” His voice was low and hoarse.

Paying no heed to Lán Qǐrén’s reminder, Wèi WúXiàn tenderly cupped Lán WàngJī’s cheeks, and exclaimed, “You are feeling dizzy! How could that be? You had been sleeping for four hours.”

Then, still holding Lán WàngJī’s face, Wèi WúXiàn leaned his head towards him so that his forehead could be in contact with Lán WàngJī’s forehead, then, he maintained this posture for a short while before saying, “You don’t have a fever.”

Like an overprotective parent, Wèi WúXiàn carried on, “Lán Zhàn, do you feel pain anywhere else?”

Lán WàngJī didn’t reply directly. He first looked into Wèi WúXiàn’s eyes, then put his forehead against his, just like Wèi WúXiàn did before, and then, in a low voice, he replied, “Headache.”

Without realising what he was doing, Wèi WúXiàn began gently to rub his forehead against Lán WàngJī’s forehead, while saying, “Then, let’s go back to Jingshi, so that you can lie down for a while.”

He then adjusted Lán WàngJī’s collar, smoothed a wrinkle from it, and added, “Or, how about eating first before resting? You haven’t eaten anything yet.”

Lán Qǐrén felt that if these two were still here, flirting shamelessly in front of him, he would have a headache, as well.

And, as he was about to send them away, he saw Lán WàngJī imitating Wèi WúXiàn by brushing his forehead against his. Then, he heard him saying, “Come with me.”

“Of course, I’ll go with you. I can’t let you go and rest by yourself.” Wèi WúXiàn reassured him.

“Let’s eat together.” said Lán WàngJī.

“All right.” agreed Wèi WúXiàn, then, he added, “Ér-gēge*, I’m starving, let’s hurry up.”

Lán XīChén looked at them with amusement, then, with a smile, he said, “WúXiàn, and WàngJī, you guys must be tired from your Night Hunting. You should go back and get some rest. If we find out any new detail about this matter, uncle and I will let you know.”

Wèi WúXiàn hurriedly said, “Thank you, Dà-gē. I’ll leave it you.”

After they both stood up, Wèi WúXiàn tugged at Lán WàngJī’s sleeve to signal him that, it was time for them to leave.

At that instant, Lán WàngJī seemed to act as usual. He bowed while saying, “Xiōng-zhǎng*, thank you so much for your trouble.”

Seeing that Lán Qǐrén’s face became gloomy, Wèi WúXiàn suppressed a chuckle, and secretly stuck his tongue out at him, then, he said inwardly, “Sorry, Lán Lǎo, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Then, he thought to himself, “I should now be more careful not to add fuel to the fire, otherwise, Lán Zhàn will be punished by copying the GūsūLán rules when he becomes sober.”

“Also,” he carried on, “if Lán Zhàn learned that he had behaved like a spoiled child in front of his uncle and brother, he would die with embarrassment.”

Picturing Lán WàngJī overly embarrassed, Wèi WúXiàn held back from laughing aloud, as much as he could.

When he was about to take him away, Wèi WúXiàn paused as he saw Lán WàngJī leaning towards him. Then, he suddenly realised what Lán WàngJī intended to do, but it was too later.

Lán WàngJī had put one arm around Wèi WúXiàn’s back, and the other behind Wèi WúXiàn’s knees, then, lifting him and holding him in his arms, he walked towards the door.

Wèi WúXiàn was horrified, he didn’t even dare to cast a glance at Lán Qǐrén. Then, before Lán WàngJī could reach the door, Wèi WúXiàn hurriedly said, “Lán Zhàn, put me down. There are many disciples out there.”

As a result of what Wèi WúXiàn just said, Lán WàngJī suddenly stopped walking and stood still. It seemed as if he was thinking whether it matted or not.

Seeing that, Wèi WúXiàn thought that he could coax him, however, before he could say something, Lán WàngJī began to let go of him in the way that Wèi WúXiàn would fall directly on the floor.

Wèi WúXiàn was startled, and, instinctively, he hugged Lán WàngJī around the neck.

This scene left uncle and brother speechless.

Lán WàngJī seemed fully satisfied with this outcome; his beloved one had no more arguments to put forward, and obediently let him hold him in his arms.

With his white clothes moving gracefully, Lán WàngJī walked out of his uncle’s sitting room.

While watching his young brother leaving with Wèi WúXiàn in his arms, Lán XīChén thought, “WàngJī can also behave like a spoiled child. It’s a good thing that he is less strict in front of the one he loves.”

Lán Qǐrén was wondering if they had forgotten that he was still in the room.

The disciple who was standing outside the sitting room tried to look as normal as possible, as he saw them walked past him.

... ... ...

Lán SīZhuī who usually didn’t show signs of fatigue, this time, however, felt exhausted after eating and bathing. As for Lán JǐngYí, he quickly fell asleep.

For more than half a month, they had been busy doing Night Hunting under the supervision of Wèi WúXiàn, acquiring a lot of knowledge and experience along the way. And Lán JǐngYí didn’t feel tired at the beginning.

During their Night Hunting, Wèi WúXiàn never acted like a senior. He was always in a playful mood, narrating stories in the funniest way, and making them laugh all the time. He also said witty remarks that got them excited to show their skills.

Three days prior to their return home, they heard that people from Lánlíng and Yúnmèng territories went missing, while others seemed either to be in a confused state, or not to remember what happened to them.

The incidents occurred in various locations across the territory, which attracted attention of many sects of the cultivation world.

Lán WàngJī also heard about the incidents. And, since Wèi WúXiàn and himself had already agreed to meet three days before their return, he went down to join them.

With Lán WàngJī being there for supervising as well, Wèi WúXiàn was as lively as ever, while, nervous, the teenagers followed the rules.

After a lengthy investigation, they had finally located the whereabouts of the monster.

At that time, Lán SīZhuī thought that they would quickly solve the problem caused by that monster, then go back home. However, no one was expecting that turn of events.

The scene where Wèi WúXiàn came out of the cave with Lán WàngJī on his back replayed in Lán SīZhuī’s head. Wèi WúXiàn seemed to be calm while instructing Jīn Líng and Lán JǐngYí.

However, Lán SīZhuī noticed a profound sadness in Wèi WúXiàn’s eyes when he said to him, “Sorry, SīZhuī , I’ll trouble you to give us a ride back home on your sword.”

Pulling himself together, Lán SīZhuī gathered his spiritual power to make his sword hover close to the ground, then, when they stepped on it, the sword flew at high altitude.

Using his spiritual power in fully, Lán SīZhuī drove his sword as fast as he could. This was the first time he ever flew at such high speed. The blue light produced by his sword was like lightning crossing the sky.

Even though Wèi WúXiàn didn’t urge him to speed up, Lán SīZhuī was only thinking of driving faster and faster.

Throughout the whole journey back home, Wèi WúXiàn remained silent.

As he drove them back, Lán SīZhuī said inwardly, “Both of them must have at one point suffered more than I could imagine. It must have been tough for them to attain a happy life they have now. So, I won’t let any misfortune happen to them again.”

Even now, in the quiet of his room, when recalling the anxiety he read on Wèi WúXiàn’s face at that time, Lán SīZhuī felt his heart still ached.

A groan of pain interrupted his thought. It was Lán JǐngYí who was moaning in his sleep. Lán SīZhuī walked to his bed and noticed that he was having a bad dream.

Lán JǐngYí was gritting his teeth, his face had turned pale, and his forehead was covered with beads of sweat. The grimace of his face was similar to when he was dragged out of the monster’s lair.

“Could it be that JǐngYí had seen something inside the cave back then, but didn’t have any recollection of it?” thought Lán SīZhuī.

He hurried to wake him up from his nightmare, “JǐngYí? Wake up!”

After calling him, shaking him, and even slapping him on the face a few times, Lán SīZhuī failed to wake him up. Without further delay, he reached for his guqin and began to play Melody of Lucidity.

After a short while, Lán SīZhuī began to see changes in Lán JǐngYí’s condition; he had stopped groaning, and, gradually, his face expression became calm and relaxed.

Lán SīZhuī was about to heave a sigh of relief when, suddenly, he detected a smell of alcohol in the room. Lán SīZhuī was shocked because it was the same smell that was coming out of that monster’s lair. He quickly played a sharp tune to ward off whatever it was.

As a result, Lán JǐngYí’s body shook, then the smell of wine rapidly dissipated. Lán SīZhuī seemed to think of something, then, he got close to check on Lán JǐngYí, and noted that he was fine.

Lán SīZhuī was finally relieved, then thought again, and came to a conclusion that the smell of wine was acting like an evil spirit, sneaking into someone’s body to disturb their mind.

“But why Jīn Líng and Wèi-qiánbèi were not affected at all?” Lán SīZhuī pondered, “Not only they entered the cave, but also stayed there long enough.”

He then put away his guqin, and was no longer feeling sleepy after all this. He felt the need of discussing this matter with someone, and, since Lán JǐngYí was still asleep, he thought he could go and see if Jīn Líng was awake.

At that precise moment, he heard a loud ‘bang’ sound, and the door was flung open.

Lán JǐngYí was woken by that blaring noise, almost jumped up from his bed.

With a look of stupefaction on his face, Lán SīZhuī looked in the direction of the door, and saw Jīn Líng standing in the doorway, noting that he was undeniably very annoyed.

Jīn Líng thundered, “What the hell is going on here? Can you guys not let your guest sleep quietly? Is it not forbidden to make noise at Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù, according to your GūsūLán rules?”

After taking a bath, Jīn Líng was about to go to bed when he received a letter from Jiāng Chéng, his uncle. As soon as he finished reading the letter, Jīn Líng’s mind began to race, then, after a while, he seemed to have understood something.

Since he had been thinking for quite a while, as a result, Jīn Líng was having a hard time to find sleep.

Then, suddenly, he heard someone shouting, followed by a gentle tune, and then, there was a piercing sound, and Jīn Líng had had enough.

Jīn Líng’s eyes scanned the room, and he saw Lán JǐngYí with a drowsy face lying in bed, which caused him to become even more upset, he uttered, “Lán JǐngYí, are you a dormouse? You still fall asleep after being unconscious for so long.”

He then added, “Since I’m here, why don’t you get out of bed already?” Then, the very next instant, a quarrel between them broke out.

After squabbling over what Jīn Líng said to him, and how he caused him to wake up, the two of them finally calmed down, and sat at the table along with Lán SīZhuī. Then, Jīn Líng told them about the letter he received.

“Jīn Zōng-zhǔ*, according to what you just said, Jiāng Zōng-zhǔ sent you an update on the events that happened a few days ago.” Lán SīZhuī remarked, “In other words, there is some change in those who were affected by that monster’s wine.”

Jīn Líng affirmed, “That’s right. It seems that three of those common people from Yúnmèng territory have recovered from their state of stupor.”

Lán SīZhuī and Lán JǐngYí were baffled.

Then, Lán JǐngYí asked, “How did they regain consciousness? No one in YúnmèngJiāng sect knows how to play Melody of Lucidity.”

Lán SīZhuī remarked, “Although I use my guqin to make people sober, it is in fact very difficult to achieve. I wonder what kind of method Jiāng Zōng-zhǔ used to make them regain consciousness.”

Jīn Líng pulled off a small round bell from his waist belt, and replied, “By using this.” while showing them the spherical bell.

He carried, “This Qīngxīn-líng is used by YúnmèngJiāng sect, and has the effect of calming people’s mind. Moreover, Wèi WúXiàn added into it a very powerful talisman that repels evil spirits.

“Those, who have regained consciousness, don’t usually drink alcohol, and if they do, they only consume a small amount of it. Therefore, they were not greatly affected, which, in turn, made them recover much faster than others.

“My uncle noticed that soon after using Qīngxīn-líng on them, the smell of wine, which was emanated from them, will suddenly vanish.”

Lán SīZhuī thought, then exclaimed, “That’s right!” He seemed to talk to himself rather than to others.

Noticing that two pairs of eyes were fixed on him, Lán SīZhuī said, “You both know that Wèi-qiánbèi put talismans on each of us except on HánGuāng-Jūn, back then. I think he didn’t plan on letting him get inside the cave.

“So, that will explain why HánGuāng-Jūn’s condition seems to be more serious than JǐngYí ’s, even though JǐngYí stayed inside much longer than HánGuāng-Jūn.”

Lán JǐngYí pondered, then said, “SīZhuī, with the high level of HánGuāng-Jūn’s cultivation, do you really think he also needed Wèi-qiánbèi to put a talisman on him?

“Besides, HánGuāng-Jūn stayed there only for a short period of time, and also eliminated all those monsters. As a result, when Jīn Líng and I went inside to get those people out of the cave, there was no more smell of wine in there.”

Jīn Líng commented, “No matter how powerful HánGuāng-Jūn is, he is still a human being. Also, unlike both of you who sometimes drink alcohol, his alcohol tolerance is worst than yours.

“Moreover, didn’t you see those broken jars? This means that the smell of wine must have been much stronger at that time. So, even though HánGuāng-Jūn didn’t stay there longer, it was enough for him to be affected by the smell.

“Besides, the first time you went in, you didn’t go deeper into the cave, you fainted close to the entrance. So, it’s normal that your case was not serious.”

Lán SīZhuī thought, then said, “This matter is not that simple.”

“SīZhuī, what do you mean by that?” Lán JǐngYí asked, “Have you figured out something else?”

Lán SīZhuī replied, “I think that the smell of that monster’s wine is like a resentment. It can evoke someone’s dreadful memories, making people relive those memories, which can be worse than a nightmare.”

Lán JǐngYí was extremely shocked. In dismay, he said, “But Wèi-qiánbèi and Zéwú-Jūn said that HánGuāng-Jūn will be fine.”