Lost of Oblivion: Chapter Ten

Wèi WúXiàn sat down on the grass, raised his head and looked at Lán WàngJī, he smiled, then he said, “Lán Zhàn, the young GūsūLán’s disciples are well mannered. That young boy was very polite even to me, an evil heretic.”

Lán WàngJī slightly frowned and said, “Wèi Yīng, you are not an evil heretic.” He then held out his hand to help Wèi WúXiàn stand up.

This time, Wèi WúXiàn was conscious of an intimate sensation produced while Lán WàngJī was holding his hand.

Then, he remembered, “Lán Zhàn, don’t you dislike touching other people?”

Lán WàngJī looked straight in Wèi WúXiàn’s eyes and said, “You are precious to me.”

Besides what Lán WàngJī said to him, Wèi WúXiàn was mostly dazzled by Lán WàngJī’s gorgeous eyes; the golden irises of Lán WàngJī’s eyes were sparkling like a myriad of tiny little stars in the sky.

He said, “That’s right. We both live together. Is it in that room named Jingshi where we live?”

“Yes” replied Lán WàngJī, “Do you want to have a look at the room once more?”

Wèi WúXiàn replied, “Yes, why not. Anyway, right now, we don’t have anything else to do.”

As he began to move forward, his leg failed to follow. This was due to not only because his legs went numb while he was squatting to feed the rabbits, but also because of Lán WàngJī’s words, (“You are precious to me.”), were still rumbling inside his head, making him sluggish.

As he was about to fall, Lán WàngJī caught him just in time.

“I had been crouching for too long, and my legs have gone numb.” said Wèi WúXiàn.

Lán WàngJī slightly knitted his brow and said, “You have an injury on your leg, which was caused by a sword. Apparently, it is not completely healed.”

Surprised, Wèi WúXiàn exclaimed, “Really?! I am not at all aware of my own injury. GūsūLán’s ointment for wounds is really effective.”

“I’ll carry you... on my back.” Lán WàngJī was about to say: I’ll carry you in my arms. However, afraid that he would shock Wèi WúXiàn, Lán WàngJī substituted the words ‘in my arms’ with ‘on my back’.

Putting his words into action, Lán WàngJī bent down in order to let Wèi WúXiàn get on his back.

Wèi WúXiàn intuitively felt that if he refused to get on his back, Lán WàngJī was capable of doing something else even more embarrassing, in order to carry him.

On the other hand, Wèi WúXiàn was really curious to see how Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù’s disciples would react when they would see Lán WàngJī giving him a piggyback ride back to Jingshi.

Amused by the eventual priceless expression they might wear on their faces, Wèi WúXiàn got on Lán WàngJī’s back while saying, “Carry me, then.”

After holding Wèi WúXiàn firmly on his back, Lán WàngJī began to walk slowly.

Without seeing Lán WàngJī’s expression, Wèi WúXiàn felt that Lán WàngJī’s mood had changed, thinking that maybe he didn’t want to carry him at all.

“Lán Zhàn, put me down. Don’t you think that it’s weird to carry me on your back?” said Wèi WúXiàn.

Lán WàngJī replied, “You once carried me on your back when we were teenagers.”

“Did I really do that? I don’t remember.” said Wèi WúXiàn.

Lán WàngJī replied, “It is true. You have just forgotten about it”.

Eventually, Lán WàngJī carried Wèi WúXiàn until they arrived at their dwelling. And, despite the unusual sight they both were exhibiting, every disciple they had met on their way respectfully saluted them without being shocked.

Inwardly, Wèi WúXiàn remarked, “GūsūLán sect has still adhered to their strict rules.”

Once inside the Jingshi, Lán WàngJī made Wèi WúXiàn to sit on a chair, then went to fetch some ointment.

As Lán WàngJī returned with the salve, Wèi WúXiàn remarked, “HánGuāng-Jūn, your temperament has changed a lot.”

“Really? What has changed in me, for instance?” he asked.

Wèi WúXiàn pointed his finger at a white guqin, which was laid on a low table, and said, “I was wondering, did you change your guqin? I remember that you used to have a black one.”

Knelt in front Wèi WúXiàn, Lán WàngJī replied while rolling up Wèi WúXiàn’s trouser leg, “That guqin is not mine. It’s yours.”

Wèi WúXiàn wasn’t sure of which fact was more surprising; was it because the white guqin actually belonged to him, or because Lán WàngJī crouched down on one knee in front him, for the sake of applying the ointment on his leg?

“Lán Zhàn, there’s no need for you to do that. I’m fine, I’m really fine.” implored Wèi WúXiàn.

Lán WàngJī took no heed of his request. He held Wèi WúXiàn’s calf, applied the salve upon the spot of the wound, then he began to massage the area of the injury.

Wèi WúXiàn then took a look at his leg. There was no trace of the injury or scar, just a small red blotch.

Lán WàngJī then gather his spiritual power into his fingers until some blue light began to emit from his fingertips, then, he softly pressed on the blotch.

As a result, the ointment quickly melted and got absorbed into Wèi WúXiàn’s skin.

As Lán WàngJī carried on rubbing the blotch, a warm sensation rose and rapidly spread through the whole limb, gradually acting as an aphrodisiac on Wèi WúXiàn.

He began to move his leg from side to side, up and down, back and forth, in order to escape Lán WàngJī’s massage.

Lán WàngJī then held Wèi WúXiàn’s calf tight, looked at him, and, in deep voice, he said, “Wèi Yīng, stop waggling your leg.”

As he was at the same time looking and listening to Lán WàngJī who knelt in front of him, Wèi WúXiàn was stunned by a strong feeling of déjà vu. He at once stopped moving his leg.

Lán WàngJī resumed the massage, then, when he finished with the red blotch, he moved on massaging the whole lower leg.

“Lán Zhàn, you become more friendly now.” said Wèi WúXiàn.

“Really?” he said.

“Yes, of course.” Wèi WúXiàn said, “You went out of your way to look for my flute. Didn’t you dislike my using the demonic power the most?”

Lán WàngJī suddenly stopped moving his hands, looked Wèi WúXiàn in the eye, and, in sincere tone, he said, “Wèi Yīng, back then, I was wrong.”

Dumbfounded, Wèi WúXiàn was thrown off balance.

Lán WàngJī carried on, “ A swordplay and a demonic power are both decent methods. It all depends on how the cultivator makes use of them. I should not have tried so blindly to stop you.”

“You were not wrong.” hurriedly said Wèi WúXiàn, “ What you have said was right. Demonic power can progressively damage your mind and soul. I should not carelessly use it.”

After a short pause, he resumed, “If I carry on using my demonic power, it will eventually backfire on me.”

“That will not happen. I will protect you.” vowed Lán WàngJī.

Wèi WúXiàn blushed at Lán WàngJī’s words. He then quickly changed the topic of their conversation, “How did you find Chénqíng? Zéwú-Jūn said that it was also carried away by the flood.”

“Chénqíng resonated in response to WàngJī’s spiritual notes.” he replied.

“Eh?” Wèi WúXiàn was confused. Why would his flute vibrate with the notes of Lán WàngJī’s guqin?

However, he could not keep on wondering on the subject because Lán WàngJī had resumed massaging his leg.

Rolling the trouser leg further up, Lán WàngJī massaged Wèi WúXiàn’s leg upward to his thigh.

Watching Lán WàngJī, it appeared to Wèi WúXiàn that Lán WàngJī was very focused on his task as though it was the most important thing to him.

Finally, Lán WàngJī was done with the massage. He slightly lifted Wèi WúXiàn’s leg to see if the ointment had been completely absorbed.

Satisfied, Lán WàngJī put down Wèi WúXiàn’s leg, and unfolded the trouser leg.

Honestly speaking, Wèi WúXiàn felt that his leg became more numb than it initially was. In addition, he was now in an oblivious state.

“Do you want to have a closer look at the guqin?” asked Lán WàngJī.

Still in a daze, Wèi WúXiàn asked, “What did you say?”

“I said, do you want to see your guqin.” replied Lán WàngJī.

“My guqin? Oh! Yes, I do.” Wèi WúXiàn finally woke up from his stupor. He took support from an adjacent table to stand up, then walked quickly towards the guqin while doing his best not to stumble.

It was an exquisite seven-string guqin, slightly finer than the usual width of a guqin, and immaculate white like a blanket of snow lay on the top of the mountains.

Engraved on the body of the guqin, in blue and large characters, was the word ‘WúXiàn’.

With his name carved on the white guqin, Wèi WúXiàn was now convinced that it was his.

“May I try it?” he asked.

Lán WàngJī nodded, and said, “It belongs to you.”

Wèi WúXiàn sat on the low bench reserved for that purpose, and began to play a gentle melody. When he finished, he asked, “How was it?”

With Lán WàngJī’s eyes of a sea of stars faintly shone golden light, Wèi WúXiàn was once more captivated, being unable to take his eyes off of him.

With a faint smile, Lán WàngJī replied, “It was perfect.”

“It did not occur to me that I know how to play guqin.” remarked Wèi WúXiàn, “I learned how to play it when I was twelve years old.”

“I know.” said Lán WàngJī.

“Is it you who gave it to me?” Wèi WúXiàn asked.

“Yes.” he replied.

“It is a very luxurious guqin. It must have cost a fortune.” he remarked.

“You deserve it.” said Lán WàngJī.

“Lán Zhàn, you are so awesome now. Since when you become so straightforward?” asked Wèi WúXiàn.

“I learned it from you.” he replied.

“What else did you learn from me?” he asked.

“Not to hold yourself from saying what you have in mind.” he replied.

“That won’t do.” protested Wèi WúXiàn, “Currently, I am in my teenage years, so you have to behave like the teenager HánGuāng-Jūn that I am used to.”

“OK.” he agreed.

Wèi WúXiàn then asked, “What do I usually do here, at Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù? Copying several times the GūsūLán’s rules.”

Lán WàngJī shook his head in negation, then said, “You go for Night-Hunt*, and, on other occasions, you go out for fun.”

“Going out for fun? Where?” he asked.

“To many places.” Lán WàngJī replied.

“For example?” he asked.

“Currently, there is a place where we can go,” replied Lán WàngJī, “and have a lunch over there. Then, in afternoon, we can take a boat and sightsee the surrounding areas.”

“Is there something special happening over there?” Wèi WúXiàn asked.

“There is a Spring Festival.” he replied, “It is a local festival that is held every year in late spring, for ten days, in order to see off the spring.”

“I’ve never heard of it before.” remarked Wèi WúXiàn, “Is it an event that has started in recent years?”

“Yes.” he replied, “I’ll take you there, so you can see it for yourself.”

Already excited, Wèi WúXiàn agreed, “Okay.”