Lan Wangji found Xiao Zhan later that day in the library, standing in front one shelving. When he had entered, there was a huge pile of books and scrolls on one table that was located near the aisle where the other man stood, seemingly oblivious to the world. He frowned slightly as he observed Xiao Zhan flipping through books after books without actually reading it before putting it back. Or that was how it seemed to look like. Perplexed, he asked, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, Lan Zhan. You're here." Xiao Zhan subconsciously beamed at the sight of him, before remembering he was supposed to be avoiding the second Jade of Lan. He cleared his throat before answering, "I am reading. Learning new things."
Hearing another unbelievable claim coming out of Xiao Zhan's mouth, he couldn't help but ask, "How is that reading?"
Lan Wangji had always understood that some people could read in an unconventional way, but this was far beyond what he'd ever seen.
"Why? Do I not look like I am?" A small smile tugged at the corners of Xiao Zhan's lips as he turned around to face him, raising his eyebrow at him.
"Yes."
"Didn't you say that you'll trust me, Second Young Master Lan?" Xiao Zhan teased with a voice that sounded coquettish even to his own ears. He could not suppress this young body tendency to be flirtatious at all.
Lan Wangji, "..."
"Aiya, it's fine if you don't. Just say it if you want to say it. You always keep things to yourself and never say things you should be saying out loud. That is not good for your health." Xiao Zhan spoke offhandedly, while he was flipping through another book to divert his focus from the unavoidable good-looking person. Scanning it a page for one minute and flip to the next and repeat.
Lan Wangji kept his silence but still observing his odd behaviour.
"Alright! I think I need to prove myself to you again," he said after he finished. He handed over the book to Lan Wangji, turned to opposite direction and declared, "I'll recite the whole book for you right now or you can pick a page or two if you want. Let me start with the first page then. 'To string a qin, one traditionally had to tie a butterfly knot at one end of the string, and slip the string through the twisted cord which goes into holes at the head of the qin and then out the bottom through the tuning pegs. The string is dragged over the bridge, across the surface board, over the nut to the back of the qin, where the end is wrapped around one of two legs "phoenix feet" or "geese feet". Did I miss anything?"
"..." speechless, Lan Wangji took another look at the words on first page.
"Do you want me to recite other pages? I will be happy to." Xiao Zhan said nonchalantly.
"Right hand technique." Lan Wangji said while looking at one page.
"There are eight basic right hand finger techniques: pi (thumb pluck outwards), tuo (thumb pluck inwards), mo (index in), tiao (index out), gou (middle in), ti (middle out), da (ring in), and zhai (ring out); the little finger is not used. Out of these basic eight, their combinations create many. Cuo is to pluck two strings at the same time, lun is to pluck a string with the ring, middle and index finger out in quick succession, the suo technique involves plucking a string several times in a fixed rhythm, bo cups the fingers and attacks two strings at the same time, and gun fu is to create a glide from one pitch to another by running up and down the strings continuously with the index and middle fingers."
Not even a word was missing. No mistakes. The accuracy was spot on. A hundred percent. Lan Wangji went radio silent yet again, "..."
"You want to get another book or scrolls from that first 5 rows? I finished them." Xiao Zhan said while pointing to the rows.
Finally admitting his defeat, Lan Wangji closed the book in his hand and declared, "No. I believe you were reading."
"As you should. Anyway, I'm sure you are not here to hear me read the books." Xiao Zhan guessed. His eyes stayed fixated on the book that he was holding in his hand.
Lan Wangji replied, "You're right. I talked to older brother."
"Aha, I am right, huh?" Xiao Zhan smirked, closing the book and put it on where it supposed to be. Walking towards the person who was 6 feet away like he was abiding to the social distancing rules although the was no pandemic going on, he stopped at an arm-length away from the other and spoke, "You lost the bet, Lan Zhan. So, do you believe me now?"
Lan Wangji demanded, "Tell me something that no one else or not many would know."
Xiao Zhan, "You are surely stubborn, aren't you? All right. As you wish. Give me one second. This will take a while."
Xiao Zhan then closed his eyes and started to search for the information that could satisfy the criteria in his brain. It took him longer than he thought he would take because there were over hundred chapters and hundred thousand of words and the novel was not in chronological orders and there were plenty of flashbacks. He was a little dizzy and he swore he would have migraine after this when he finally found what he could use.
Lan Wangji patiently waited for him to recover from what looked like a catatonic state.
Xiao Zhan suddenly broke the silence after quite a while, "One, room of forbidden books. The secret door should be under one of mats here, hidden with a piece of wooden board. A flight of stairs over fifty steps low. Dry underground room made of stone. No one outside of Lan clan would know about this. You know where it is."
Lan Wangji, "...."
Xiao Zhan seeing his expression of shock mixed with confusion, he continued, "Two, one section of among the bookshelves is all books of strange songs. There is a book with dark blue cover. The title of the book is 'The collection of turmoil'. A song collection from Dongying. It is a collection of dark songs gathered by one of the Gusu Lan Sect's cultivators during his years of wandering when he was travelling by water and arrived in Dongying. The songs in this book, if played along with spiritual energy, can harm others, from weakening the body to irritating the mind to agitating the spirit to shutting the senses. Those with great spiritual power could take others' lives in just seven notes."
Lan Wangji admitted, "The room exists. The book, I must check first."
Xiao Zhan quickly added, "If somehow it crossed your mind that I might had snuck around the library, I swear I never done such thing. There is one more that I can tell you. It would be something very personal for you and I feel really bad to have to use this."
Lan Wangji with no change in expression, gave him the permission to continue, "Go ahead."
"Then, I will apologized in advance for this," he said as he eyed Bichen in Lan Wangji's clutch. He took a deep breath before continue speaking, "There is a little house hidden in a corner of the Cloud Recesses... Do you really want me to continue?"
Lan Wangji face had darkened visibly when he heard the mentioned, with a lot of difficulty he said under his breath, "Continue."
Xiao Zhan let out a soft sigh before carefully articulating, "That little cottage was your mother's place. Every month, you could only see her once. She especially liked to tease you. You were six when..."
Lan Wangji expression was frigid and the brim of his eyes slightly reddened. His knuckles had gone white from clenching the sword tight, he finally muttered icily, "Stop."
Xiao Zhan immediately obliged, "Alright."
The sound of silence in between them was somehow louder than anything else. The awkward atmosphere was heavy and suffocating. A somber look settled on the Second Jade's face as he took a moment to shake off the heaviness in his heart.
Xiao Zhan moved and sat in front one of the bookshelf a little further from Lan Wang to give him some space to pull himself together. He had a book in his hand, but his eyes stared rather blankly at one unmoving page.
Was it too much to use such a personal history? Am I too eager to prove myself? Ah, Xiao Zhan ah! What if he cries again? I shouldn't have done that.
Xiao Zhan turned his head to steal some glances towards Lan Wangji's direction only to find him standing right in front without warning. Shocked, he squealed pretty loudly, as he flung himself backwards, the book flew in the air and landed on the hardwood floor unceremoniously. It was pretty comical. He almost yelled aloud, "Fuck!"
Lan Wangji's brows twitched with amusement as he asked, "What are you doing?"
Xiao Zhan quickly got up and tidied his clothes up, embarrassed with his own slapstick comedy reaction. "You! Make some sound when you approached someone! Are trying to give me a heart attack? I almost died young!"
Lan Wangji stated in his usual monotonous tone, "It's not my fault if you are not attentive."
Xiao Zhan bit his lower lips as he tried to stop himself from involving himself in a needless banter with the second Young Master Lan. But that did not stop him from glaring daggers in the man's direction, "..."
Looking at Xiao Zhan intently, Lan Wangji spoke with his normal indifferent face earnestly, "I believe you."
"Thank goodness! Finally!" Xiao Zhan exhaled a breath of relief, he threw a sideway glance at the taller youth, "Don't you need to check the forbidden library first and see if the book is there?"
Lan Wangji shook his head lightly, "No necessary. It was enough."
Xiao Zhan smiled; he could feel the wariness in his mind a little lighter now. He uttered, "Thank you for believing me."
"Mn." Was the only reply he got before Lan Wangji went to his usual spot in the library.
Xiao Zhan then went to the other table and started writing down the lists of upcoming events in nearest future and who was involved in it. With stacks of paper in hand, he handed it over to Lan Wangji. " Here. The list of what will happen within 3 years of time."
"Your handwriting is sloppy." He commented while reading the notes.
"Urgh, will you just read it? Unlike you, I came from a future where we don't use brush and ink anymore to write. I did my best with my amateurish skill, okay? Be thankful that it was somewhat legible," Xiao Zhan grumbled with a pout. He then pointed out, "I don't know the exact date of those events. I can only put an approximate range of time of when it will happen."
"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji put down the papers. "What if you are wrong about all this?"
Xiao Zhan gasped loud, faking a shock, "Lan Zhan, you said you would believe me. Was that a lie?"
Lan Wangji responded, frowning slightly, "I do believe you. I am just asking, what if?"
Raising his eyebrows, Xiao Zhan suggested "Well, If I am wrong, you can take back your words and the bet would be cancelled. You can state your demand by then. However, if the future was changed due to a deliberate action to prevent it, it cannot be categorized as 'wrong'. That was why I only wrote up to three years. Back in the waterfall, I told you pretty much about what are going to happen within these 7 years."
Lan Wangji nodded, "I understand."
Xiao Zhan drew a deep breath as he asked. "Now, Lan Zhan. I am going to request your help formally. You are allowed to refuse if you do not want to... Would you help me change the future?"
Lan Wangji agreed almost immediately, "Yes. I promise to help you."
Upon seeing Lan Wangji eagerness, Xiao Zhan teasingly put his hand over his eyebrows as if he was blocking a blinding sunlight and exclaimed. "Ack... You are going to make this poor one goes blind with your handsome face and sweet charms. How are you going to take responsibility for this?"
"Nonsense." Lan Wangji muttered before sharply turned his attention back to the papers, but he couldn't concentrate. Not for long.
The library was roaring with Xiao Zhan's loud laugh. No wonder Wei Wu Xian liked to irritate and played pranks on Second Jade of Lan. He too could not help it as he found out that the supposedly cold and aloof cultivator's reactions were all too precious and priceless. It was truly adorable.
However, he ceased his laughter in a flash as he heard Lan Wangji's next question.
"Will you and I go to a cold cave in future?" Lan Wangji's expression was deadly serious when he asked.
Xiao Zhan felt blood drained from his face. He stammered under his breath, "W-what?"
Don't tell me....
Lan Wangji made an addition to his previous enquiry, "Cold cave. Meeting Master Lan Yi. Is it in the future?"
Wait. I mean it happened in Chen Qing Ling but at the same time the dream last night was kind of similar but the scripts were different. Oh, I have a bad feeling about this... Did we actually dreamed about the same thing? It's not possible right? But again, he dreamed about the cliff scene before. Ah! Whatever. Let's just confirm this directly.
Xiao Zhan blurted out, "Can you tell me what Master Lan Yi said to you?"
Lan Wangji looked puzzled at Xiao Zhan's hesitation to answer his question. He enunciated words by words of what his ancestors had spoken, ".....Remember this, there will be many barriers that are coming your ways. I hope you can avoid making the mistakes of the past. Trust each other"
At the same time. Xiao Zhan joined in the last two sentences together with him, "I hope you can avoid making the mistakes of the past. Trust each other."
Both of them froze in place, eyes fixated on each other.
Shit. We had the same dream.