Chapter 19: Punished together

Despite getting a special time-off pass from Lan Qiren's lessons, Xiao Zhan was still penalized in the end because he had disrespected an elder.  The very next day, in addition to more copying, he was asked to kneel in front of the Ancestral Hall for the whole day to reflect on his actions.

But he was not alone. The favorite disciple (and nephew) of Lan Qiren was also reprimanded for pulling the stunt of walking out on his elder.

"Second Young Master Lan." Xiao Zhan had been kneeling for over an hour. His lower legs were starting to feel pins and needles, and he felt bored as hell. He called out again, "Lan Zhan."

Lan Wangji mumbled an answer with his eyes closed, "Mn."

Looking at the serious-looking Second Jade of Lan, Xiao Zhan couldn't help but tease him."You got punished as frequently as me now. Does that make you a rebel too? The head of Discipline is being disciplined more frequently than other disciples. Tsk tsk. What a role model."

"..." Lan Wangji had no retort to that.

"Also, isn't this unfair? Your uncle broke more rules than I do, you know." Xiao Zhan whined, taunting Lan Wangji with the controversial opinion for some interactions. "Now, why isn't he on his knee too?"

"He's an elder," Lan Wangji answered indifferently.

Xiao Zhan cocked his head  "Does that mean he is above the Gusu Lan sect rules?" He questioned.

Lan Wangji sighed, "He is not."

"Ah then, he is a hypocrite. He should practice what he preached." Xiao Zhan said without holding back.

"..."  Lan Wangji's eyes flew open at Xiao Zhan's remark but he chose not to say a word about it despite feeling conflicted, knowing that the statements about his uncle were somewhat true.

He had never questioned all these things before because he believed it was an unfilial thing to do. He respected Lan Qiren, as that uncle of his had taken care of and raised him and his brother since they were toddlers, albeit with strict teachings and upbringings. He was always reminded not to be like his father or repeat his mistakes, and he was told that the only right way to live was to abide by the rules; every mistake must be punished. His uncle occasionally added rules to the wall of discipline, but when he thought deeply about it, the old man himself did not abide by those rules very often. He started to ponder a little more. Being around the carefree head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang these days had made him question everything that he had been taught or knew of. He did not even recognize himself anymore, and he always ended up doing things he had never done before.

His train of thought was disturbed when Xiao Zhan started complaining, "Can I lie down? I'm tired. My legs are numb," he said as he rolled his stiff neck and massaged his sore knees from being in the position for too long.

Lan Wangji shut his eyes again. "No."

"Can I at least sit cross-legged?"

"No."

"So rigid!" Xiao Zhan whined. He ignored Lan Wangji's disapproving gaze and stretched his legs anyway.

Lan Wangji reprimanded, keeping his eyes closed, "Wei Ying, kneel properly."

"You know, this is child abuse!" Xiao Zhan protested shamelessly, throwing his hands in the air in feigned exasperation.

"You are not a child."

"I am more than a thousand years younger than you," Xiao Zhan argued. He then rambled on about how his age had a negative sign in front of it since he was a millennium younger.

"..." Lan Wangji inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly to cool himself down, trying hard to endure the endless nonsense that came out of the head disciple of Yunmeng Jiang's mouth. "We are punished to reflect. Not to chat." He reminded.

"Wrong. We were told to reflect but no one specifically said that we cannot have a conversation." Xiao Zhan retorted smoothly.

At that, Lan Wangji opened his eyes slowly. "You found a loophole."

"Does that mean we can talk now?" Xiao Zhen grinned as he knelt next to Lan Wangji, inching closer until only a palm's width separated them.

"..." Lan Wangji observed Xiao Zhan's face, trying to find any trace of shame, but there was none.

Xiao Zhan's smile broadened from ear to ear. He began, "How were the loquats?"

Lan Wangji conceded to his demand to talk. He answered briefly, "Sweet."

"Did you really not share with your brother?" Xiao Zhan asked, a smirk on his face.

"..." Lan Wangji looked down at the floor.

Soft laughter escaped Xiao Zhan's lips. He could guess the answer based on the reaction. "You didn't, huh?"

"..."

Xiao Zhan laughed louder this time, causing Lan Wangji to glare at him with a pink tint visible on his ears. "You are so cute."

"..." Lan Wangji's brows knitted closer together and his glare became sharper.

"Okay... Okay, I won't laugh anymore." Xiao Zhan stifled his laughter after a minute, his tone turning solemn. "Anyway...We have some issues of great magnitude to talk about."

"Which is?"

"Saving the world, of course. In summary, we have two years to save Cloud Recesses, prevent the massacre of Lotus Pier, and most importantly, the war against Qishan Wen." Xiao Zhan stated seriously.

Lan Wangji nodded slightly before asking, "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes, of course! We should go in and pull out the root of the problem: the Wen clan itself." Xiao Zhan rubbed his chin, and he stressed every word that followed, "Except for a small number of them, namely, the elderly, children, normal citizens, and two good people I can vouch for."

Lan Wangji raised a brow. "You want to go against them?"

"Yes." Xiao Zhan answered, "To start a revolution, to be precise."

"On what justification?" Lan Wangji asked curiously.

"You have to admit, the current clan leader is unlike his predecessor. Wen Ruohan is power-hungry and greedy. It is only a matter of time until all the cultivation clans become their lackeys. If you submit to their control, you are only their tool to do their dirty work. Would you want to become their sword?"

A firm shake of his head came from Lan Wangji. "No."

"Then, we ought to be pragmatic to overthrow the oppressive clan reign. Making the first move will give us the upper hand, and it is the most efficient way with the least damage or casualties.

"How?"

"This is the part where we need to put our heads together, Lan Zhan." Xiao Zhan gestured, pointing at himself and Lan Wangji interchangeably.

Lan Wangji frowned slightly. "The Wen clan is large. They are more powerful."

"True. But you know what? You can win battles by being smart, using intelligence over brute force." Xiao Zhan said in a laid-back manner. He added, "It is more important to outthink your enemy than to outfight them."

Lan Wangji was still unsure. "But we still cannot win against the entire clan with just the two of us."

"Who says there are going to be only two of us? We can form alliances with trustworthy people. Or I can build an army." Xiao Zhan declared.

"No." Lan Wangji shook his head slowly, disapproving of the idea. "Do not go down that path, Wei Ying."

Xiao Zhan let out an exasperated sigh when he heard that statement. He inhaled deeply before he started lecturing the other teenager, "Now, you are being close-minded. I am going to give you a long lecture right now as someone who has lived a little longer in the other world. The world is not just black and white; there are several shades of gray in between. Things change all the time. What is true today may not be true tomorrow. If you are stuck in your self-righteous and rigid way of doing things, then you will not progress in life. You don't need a group or a leader to tell you how to think and act. You can think for yourself. Don't let people define who you are because that makes you predictable, vulnerable, and controllable. Be your own person, be curious about what's going on, ask questions, and think for yourself."

"..." Lan Wangji was speechless at the long lecture from someone who was supposed to be younger than him.

Xiao Zhan probed even further, "Now tell me, what is your definition of the right path? Who's just and who's evil? Who's black and who's white? Answer me in your own words, not others."

Lan Wangji looked a little lost with the bombardment of long words and multiple queries, "..."

"Hmm. Perhaps I asked too many questions at once." Xiao Zhan tilted his head to the side as he inquired, "How about this then? Am I evil?"

"No." Lan Wangji answered.

Xiao Zhan chuckled before he changed into a more serious look, acting almost diabolical, "Lan Zhan, have you not realized it yet? I have an ability strong enough to destroy cultivation clans and slaughter countless lives. Combined with the knowledge of this world's future and secrets, I could be evil, you know?"

Lan Wangji looked hard at him. "Are you going to do those things?" he asked grimly.

"Of course not!" Xiao Zhan quickly and harshly denied it. "Would I be doing this world-saving plan if I were?"

Lan Wangji looked relieved with that answer. Silence reigned for a couple of minutes before Xiao Zhan breached it by asking, "Do you have any idea what this dark art can do?"

"No idea."

"Hmm... then let me tell you what I can do." Xiao Zhan put it into words as plainly as possible. "For starters, I can harness the resentment of the dead, control fierce corpses, and command vengeful spirits."

Lan Wangji shot a sharp glare at him. "Wei Ying, this method will endanger—"

"I haven't finished yet, Lan Zhan." Xiao Zhan interrupted before Lan Wangji could say more. "You have to listen to my explanation until the end before you disagree."

"Mn."

"Now, I know it is wicked and disrespectful to manipulate the dead, but we can spare those who are still living and breathing from unnecessary sacrifices. At some point, you know that the last method of handling the fierce corpses is to exterminate them. Instead of wasting the resources, you can look at it differently—as their last good deeds before being destroyed." Xiao Zhan studied the face in front of him and he paused for a few seconds just in case there were any interjections.

"Just say it."

"Oh, no argument now? Great. Next, let's discuss new tools and techniques. Remember the compass I mentioned at the lake? It exists—I mean, it will—and even orthodox cultivation clans will use it. The same goes for black talismans called 'Spirit Attraction Flags.' Plus, I come from an era of smart devices, and I had formal training in creative design too. I'm sure I can come up with more spiritual tools inspired by those gadgets and use them to our advantage.

"Smart devices?"

"Didn't I tell you already? I come from a world where everyone is a non-cultivator. We don't have flying swords, spiritual energies, or resentful energies. However, it's no less magical, and I dare say, life was much more convenient. You only need to press some buttons, and the tasks will be done automatically."

Lan Wangji found it hard to believe. He uttered, "How?"

"Two words: science and technology. It's the power of knowledge. The most popular one right now is the smartphone. It is a palm-sized communication device that can connect you to another person on the other side of the world in just a few seconds. It can also capture images as you see them with a click. Not only still images, but it can also record moving images complete with sound. Ah, I miss my phone. If only I could show you, maybe you would understand. I have a lot of my cat's pictures in it, and I can show you the photos—I mean portraits—of a person who looked like you." Xiao Zhan was excited by his storytelling and got carried away.

Lan Wangji frowned slightly at his last few sentences. "Wei Ying, focus."

"Fine, fine.  Moving on. The Wen clan may be stronger and outnumber us. However, they are not omnipotent. Three years from now, Qishan Wen will be no more. We are just going to end their reign earlier."

"Sunshot Campaign?" Lan Wangji prompted.

"Yes! You sure have a good memory, future Hanguang-jun. How admirable!" Xiao Zhan clapped.

"Stop the nonsense and continue," Lan Wangji said stoically.

Xiao Zhan grinned before continuing, "One of our upper hands is my knowledge of the future. I have information about some people and their secrets too. Sun Tzu once said, 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not be in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.'"

Lan Wangji's eyes narrowed. "Who is Sun Tzu?"

"He was the author of a famous book of battle tactics called 'The Art of War'. It is good reading material. Talking about battle strategies, I guess those MOBA games might come in handy too."

"Wei Ying." Lan Wangji called out, growing tired of the foreign words. "I don't understand."

"Ah, my bad. It's a real-time virtual battle arena simulation. I've played a lot of them. Back to the point, in terms of our combined skills and strength, Lan Zhan, you will be one of the most skilled and strongest cultivators in this world. The best!" Xiao Zhan gave him two thumbs up.

Lan Wangji almost rolled his eyes, "Do not exaggerate."

"I did not. That is the truth." Xiao Zhan countered.

"..." Lan Wangji stared blankly at him.

"All right, alright. Let's talk facts about this 'Wei Wuxian.'" Xiao Zhan pointed at himself. "Currently, I possess both orthodox and unorthodox cultivations. I can still utilize spiritual energy. You saw what happened to the waterborne abyss. However, I may need some time to get used to this since this is a new thing for me too. So, you and I have to do a lot of training in the meantime."

"You can choose not to continue with this cultivation." Lan Wangji hung his head. He was uncomfortable with the whole idea of using the demonic method.

Xiao Zhan had already made up his mind about it, and he would not budge from his decision, as it was all for his survival and that of thousands of innocent lives. He couldn't bring himself to be selfish, even though he knew the power of darkness would also harm him. He was confident that he could do better than the past Wei Wu Xian. "No. This is the trump card that provides us with the best chance against Wen Ruohan. My cultivation is new to the world, so the Wen clans will be at a disadvantage as they will not know what will come their way. Lan Zhan, I did not want to do this either, but this path was already decided for me. Things had already escalated to this point; it would be foolish not to use these abilities that were already forced upon me."

Lan Wangji's expression darkened. He was more worried about how the unorthodox cultivation would affect Wei Ying's heart and mind. He had seen how broken Wei Ying had been on the cliff, and it had driven him to end his own life. He also did not want to see Wei Ying chastised by the cultivation world for practicing the wicked arts. He knew that it was a necessary power to defeat Wen Ruohan. However, he did not want to see Wei Ying suffer from all of this.

"Ask yourself, as someone who has lived by 'righteousness', is it right for me to walk away when I can prevent those tragedies? Is it right for you to keep me from saving lives? The bitter truth is hard to swallow, but no one else can do this." Xiao Zhan said.

Fear crossed Lan Wangji's face as he realized that he could not talk Wei Ying out of this. "There is a price to pay," he remarked.

Xiao Zhan's face turned solemn, and he spoke softly. "Lan Zhan, I am aware of that. The only reason I am not afraid to do this is because I trust you. That you will be by my side. Will you?"

"I already am," Lan Wangji answered. The only thing he could do now was to be of help in any way that he possibly could and be supportive. He did not want to feel regret or grief like in the dream. He did not want to regret it, not in reality, not now, and not in the future. Even though he had yet to fully understand why he would go so far, he promised himself to protect Wei Ying at all costs. He might have just met this person a few weeks ago, but the connection he felt between them was deep, intense, and genuine.

Xiao Zhan turned his body to face Lan Wangji and requested earnestly, "Then, please help me. I can't do this alone. I need you to keep me under control."

"I will." Lan Wangji declared as he instinctively grasped Xiao Zhan's forearm, proving his honesty through his profound gaze.

Xiao Zhan felt like his breath was taken away for a minute. He then smiled with his whole face and the words slipped from his lips, "Lan Zhan, has anyone ever told you that you are charming?"

Lan Wangji withdrew his hand at once, embarrassed by his impulsive action. Straightening his posture, he squeezed his eyes shut and steadied his expression.

Finally letting the flustered Lan Wangji have a peaceful moment, Xiao Zhan stopped talking and closed his eyes as well. By midday, he was already nodding on and off, falling left and right multiple times as he tried to learn a new art of sleeping in a kneeling position. Fortunately for Xiao Zhan's handsome face, a hand was always on standby to catch his swaying body from slamming on the floor. The hand was firmly placed on his back when he fell asleep for the umpteenth time when Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang dropped by the hall at noon.

"Wei Wuxian!" Jiang Cheng's voice roared when he saw the indescribable spectacle.

Nie Huaisang, however, was looking quite fascinated with the view and ready enough to grab some watermelon seeds to munch on while watching the upcoming drama.

Xiao Zhan was jolted awake from his slumber; his heart nearly flew out of his ribcage. To his surprise, he felt supported even when he jerked backward due to the rude awakening. He snapped, "Will it kill you not to scream for once?"

Jiang Cheng stood with crossed arms and tapped his foot impatiently. His gaze settled on the almost nonexistent gap between his martial brother and Lan Wangji, noticing that obscured hand that connected them. "How can I not scream when I am frustrated to have an idiot brother like you? I lost count of how many times you got punished!"

Xiao Zhan yawned and cracked his knuckles. "Then stop counting. Not that you're good with numbers to begin with."

"What the hell did you do that you even dragged Second Young Master Lan to be punished with you?"

Xiao Zhan squinted at the person beside him, just noticing his hand on his upper back. The corner of his mouth quirked up. "Lan Zhan, were you keeping me from falling?"

"To keep you kneeling." Lan Wangji corrected him and dropped his hand.

Xiao Zhan burst into laughter, utterly amused by Lan Wangji's witty reply.

A faint smile crossed Lan Wangji's lips as he watched the laughing person, warmth creeping into his heart.

It didn't last long, as the sound of a fan dropping on the floor brought Xiao Zhan's laughter to a gradual halt.

Xiao Zhan turned toward the boys and saw their mouths agape at the sight of Lan Wangji wearing a soft smile that was exclusively directed at him. He threw his body in front of the precious Second Jade, blocking the view from those two.

This smile is mine.

"Wei-xiong! Why?" Nie Huaisang protested dramatically. He had never seen a smiling Lan Wangji before, so he felt robbed of an opportunity to see an ethereal Second Young Master Lan with a smile. Although Lan Xichen was officially the number one in the looks ranking and almost twin-like with his younger brother, this non-icy version of Lan Wangji was far superior with his fairer complexion, stronger brows, and lighter eyes. Consequently, Nie Huaisang adjusted the ranking in his mind to match his verdict.

Jiang Cheng scrunched his face with dismay. He felt oddly perturbed by the atmosphere between the pair, which had been going on since Caiyi Town. They were practically shoulder to shoulder, and the hand of Second Young Master Lan was on the back of his martial brother. Looking at how close they were, he couldn't help but wonder if they were in a relationship. He couldn't stand the public display of affection any longer.

"Whatever! Get more punishments or get married for all I care. Just stop getting me into your troubles." Jiang Cheng said through gritted teeth before dragging out the thrashing and kicking, unwilling Nie Huaisang.

Xiao Zhan, "Huh?"