Lost of Oblivion: Chapter 14

Before getting on Bìchén, Lán WàngJī put the cloak on Wèi WúXiàn, and the latter, no longer wanting to bother with this matter, just took it as a normal act from Lán WàngJī.

On their way to the town, they had travelled against the headwind, however, on their way back, it was a tailwind.

Lán WàngJī let Wèi WúXiàn stand in front, and, in a natural way, he wrapped his arms around Wèi WúXiàn’s waist, initiating him to lean against his torso.

The exotic, sweet and warm scent of sandalwood coming from Lán WàngJī also encircled Wèi WúXiàn, and the latter began to hear the sound of his own heartbeat quickened.

Wèi WúXiàn then began to move his hands aimlessly. However, when his hands were about to touch Lán WàngJī, he quickly retracted them.

He wanted to touch him, but he didn’t dare to do so.

Wèi WúXiàn was aware that Lán WàngJī valued him, treating him very kindly. However, he didn’t want to speculate on how much his ‘esteem’ was, and whether his way of ‘treating him’ was what he was thinking of.

Never before had he experienced such unsettled feeling, he didn’t know what to do, he feared that it was just his own fantasy, that he was overly confident.

“Shall I touch his hand?” wondered Wèi WúXiàn, “If Lán Zhàn avoids my touching him, I will just feign ignorance.” after a pause, he resumed, “Somehow, I feel that Lán Zhàn won’t dodge my touch.”

“Throughout the entire day, Lán Zhàn himself has been touching me.” he carried on, “Hold on! It sounds a little bit weird to use the word ‘touching’ when it comes to Lán Zhàn.”

In the morning, Lán WàngJī carried him on his back until they reached Jìngshì, then he massaged his leg, he adjusted his waist belt, and he even held his hand and took him away from the bookshop.

Wèi WúXiàn recalled every single action, expression and word of Lán WàngJī, then he resolved to touch him by pretending that it was an accident.

Determined as he was, Wèi WúXiàn began to moved his hand bit by bit towards Lán WàngJī’s hand.

It seemed to him as though the wind had stopped blowing, that he had held his own breath.

Then, his fingers slightly touched Lán WàngJī’s hand. However, he also brushed something hard, and, at once, his curiosity took over his anxiety, he held and raised Lán WàngJī’s hand so to have a look.

It was a beautiful white bracelet, which reflecting some light on its surface.

“I’ve never seen you wearing a bracelet before.” he remarked.

In a soft tone, Lán WàngJī said, “It’s you who gave it to me.”

Overjoyed, Wèi WúXiàn exclaimed, “I gave it to you? That’s pretty cool! It seems that I’m not staying in GūsūLán sect as a freeloader, after all.”

There was something else on Lán WàngJī’s wrist; a knotted hair, and Wèi WúXiàn could straight way tell that there was two different hair: Lán WàngJī’s and his.

He said, “Hair?” deliberately avoid to say knotted hair.

“Yes.” Lán WàngJī replied, “The hair is a mix of yours and mine.” Lán WàngJī also avoid to say knotted hair* because he didn’t want to shock Wèi WúXiàn.

Wèi WúXiàn then pondered, “Why the stuff I gave Lán Zhàn are somewhat ambiguous?! Could it be that my own self in these past years likes Lán Zhàn as well?”

He carried on, “That could be plausible, because Lán Zhàn is kind, as well as handsome, so it is hard not to like him.”

He turned his head so to look at Lán WàngJī. “Indeed, Lán Zhàn is very handsome,” he said inwardly, “his eyebrows, his eyes, his nose and his lips are really beautiful. He is without a doubt the most good-looking man I’ve ever seen.”

Wèi WúXiàn then noticed that Lán WàngJī had already put back the hand, which he was holding, on his waist. This time, however, Lán WàngJī took along Wèi WúXiàn’s hands, and wrapped them with his own hands.

The feeling of being loved enveloped his whole body, making Wèi WúXiàn feel fully content and free to fly, like a bird, higher and higher.

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Back in Jìngshì, Lán WàngJī prepared all the necessities for a bath.

“Lán Zhàn, this wooden bathtub is huge,” remarked Wèi WúXiàn while his fingers slightly tapping on the brim of the bathtub, “it’s large enough for two people to bathe in, for sure.”

Then, “Good heavens! What did I just say?” he exclaimed inwardly, “That was careless of me to say those words. And, what Lán Zhàn is going to think of it?”

However, Lán WàngJī remained silent.

With his back facing Lán WàngJī, Wèi WúXiàn could not see his expression, nor did he dare to turn around and look at him.

He nervously gulped, and said, “Lán Zhàn, go ahead.”

“Do you want me to bathe before you?” Lán WàngJī calmly asked.

Wèi WúXiàn quickly replied, “Yes, go ahead. I’ll go and wait outside.” Then, he dashed out of the room.

Once outside, he began to release the tension he had felt, “Lán Zhàn’s tone was soft, but, at the same, it sounded frightening, it really scared me.”

Soon after, as he finished bathing, Lán WàngJī came out, wearing not the dressing gown, but, unexpectedly, the elegant attire of his sect, as well as the forehead ribbon.

Regardless of whatever Lán WàngJī wore, he was as usual looking graceful.

“Wèi Yīng, I’m done.” said Lán WàngJī, “ It’s your turn to take a bath.”

Without further ado, Wèi WúXiàn enter the room, removed his clothes and got into the wooden bathtub.

He sank in the bathtub until water covered his mouth, then, he started, like a kid, to produce bubbles.

“If my guess is correct,” he began to think, “that would mean that Lán Zhàn and I are intimately close.

“However, if I’m wrong, that would be really embarrassing. I would not have the face to look at Lán Zhàn. And, also, Lán Zhàn might feel unease being with me.”

He carried on, “I should think it over, once more, shouldn’t I? No. I should calm myself down, I need to calm down, I have to pull myself together.”

However, by the time he finished bathing, his mind was still in turmoil.

Wèi WúXiàn immediately noticed that he wasn’t as neatly dressed as Lán WàngJī. He had just put on the clean clothes that Lán WàngJī had prepared for him, then, he had thrown on the dark green robe that he was wearing earlier.

“Oh!” he then released that the green robe was actually the one Lán WàngJī was wearing, and he became extremely embarrassed, he thought “This is an inexcusable act!”

Then, he saw that Lán WàngJī was coming towards him, and each of his steps made his heart beat more rapidly.

Lán WàngJī, however, didn’t stop but went past Wèi WúXiàn. The latter then let out a sigh of relief, however, he also somehow felt disappointed.

As he turned around in Lán WàngJī’s direction, the first thing Wèi WúXiàn saw was a large white bath towel that landed on his head.

“Your hair is still wet.” said Lán WàngJī, then, he began to wipe Wèi WúXiàn ’s hair. Starting from the scalp, he softly massaged Wèi WúXiàn ’s head, then carried on bit by bit rubbing the whole hair.

Wèi WúXiàn felt as though he was float on a cloud, feeling relaxed and peaceful, and everything around him became silent, excepted the rustle of his hair being wiped.

As he finished wiping Wèi WúXiàn’s hair, Lán WàngJī went to put the bath towel on the dressing screen, then, he walked back. Using his spiritual power, Lán WàngJī began to run his fingers through Wèi WúXiàn’s long hair so to dry them up.

“Why did he use the bath towel if he could dry my hair with his spiritual power?” Wèi WúXiàn was still pondering on the matter when Lán WàngJī’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Wèi Yīng, where do you want to sleep?” he asked.

“This indeed is a good question.” thought Wèi WúXiàn, then, he raised his head to look at Lán WàngJī, and read a lustful look on his handsome face, a look that set fire on his whole body.

In a languid voice, Wèi WúXiàn managed to ask, “Lán Zhàn, where do you usually sleep?”

Lán WàngJī didn’t say anything, he just pointed his finger towards a door leading to another room.

“All right, then. Goodnight.” said Wèi WúXiàn, and quickly went to the bed in which he woke up this morning, while repeating to himself ‘Calm yourself down’, like chanting an incantation.

Lying alone on the bed, and without removing his forehead ribbon, Lán WàngJī occupied his mind with the rules of his sect in order to cool himself down.

He didn’t want to rush Wèi WúXiàn, he was prepared to wait until his Wèi Yīng got ready to accept him. And, this time, Lán WàngJī wanted him to experience things far better than before.

Lán WàngJī then turned over to one side, then, the very next instance, he turned over to the other side, then, finally, he turned to face the ceiling, unable to find some sleep.

Through the window, the moonlight shone brightly into the room, like the night his Wèi Yīng had returned, reminiscing Lán WàngJī.

He then began to meditate so to soothe the pain felt from his swollen manhood.

Some time had elapsed before Lán WàngJī began to hear some faint noises.

In the main room, also unable to sleep, Wèi WúXiàn was pacing back and forth, he inwardly said, “I want to see Lán Zhàn’s sleeping face, I’ll just take a furtive quick look.”

Having made up his mind, Wèi WúXiàn quietly enter the room, and, to his surprise, Lán WàngJī was not sleeping, but rather fixing his eyes on him intensively.

Wèi WúXiàn nervously said, “Lán Zhàn, I’m thirsty.”

“Thirsty?” Lán WàngJī’s voice was low and hoarse, “The pot of water is on the table.”

Wèi WúXiàn then turned around, and, from where he was standing he could see the table of the main room, yes, indeed, there was a clay pot on the table.

From his own bed, Wèi WúXiàn was only few metres away from the table. It was then obvious that he did not get up to drink water.

Lán WàngJī walked to the table, poured water on a cup, warmed up the cup with his spiritual power, then, he turned to look at Wèi WúXiàn.

His intense and fiery gaze made Wèi WúXiàn’s legs wobble. For a while, both of them looked at each other.

Then, still holding the cup of warm water, Lán WàngJī walked up to him, then put directly the cup to Wèi WúXiàn’s lips as to help him drink.

Out of force of habit, Wèi WúXiàn held the hand that carried the cup to his lips, then, he took two gulps of water.

All of a sudden, he paused, and the time seemed to have stopped.

“Something is not quite right!” Wèi WúXiàn was puzzled, “How could I just drink up from Lán Zhàn’s hand? What is even more wrong is the fact that Lán Zhàn himself initiates me to do so.”

With the rim of the cup still pressed on his lips, Wèi WúXiàn looked up at Lán WàngJī, and was at once sucked into his burning gaze.

Then, suddenly, the air around him became dense, and, within himself, something was furtively warming up.