𝗣𝗨𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗧 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 ━ MO DAO ZU SHI

CHAPTER THIRTEEN ━ ELEGANT FLIRT AND BUNNY RABBITS

"has the issue with caiyi town been dealt with?" hai-feng asked.

"not yet," lan wangji responded.

the waterborne abyss as caiyi town presented a major problem for the lan clan of gusu. the thing couldn't be eradicated, nor could they drive it elsewhere. because of this, lan qiren was expanding all of his energy on the matter.

lectures became shorter and shorter, which only seemed to fuel wei ying's mischievous side. not that hai-feng was surprised in the slightest. he mindlessly flipped through a book as he sat across from lan wangji within the library pavilion.

the man sat poised at the desk, organizing the stack of papers he had just finished writing. a light creaking sound came from the window lattice. hai-feng looked up only to find wei ying hope in from outside the window.

"why climb up the yulan magnolia branches when there's a perfectly good door you can walk through?" hai-feng asked.

wei ying shot him a playful grin. "why not?"

upon seeing lan wangji, he exclaimed. "lan zhan, i'm back! did you miss me? i haven't had to come in for script-copying in days."

lan wangji didn't so much as acknowledge wei ying, instead continuing to sort his little piles of book scrolls. that didn't seem to prevent wei ying from pushing forward.

"you don't have anything to say? i know you missed me. why else would you be sitting here waiting for me? but i'm glad i decided to stop by since i get to see hai-feng."

lan wangji immediately cast him a glance, his eyes filled with soundless condemnation. wei ying sat down next to hai-feng.

"what's with that look? baited within a few words. you're too easily upset."

"leave," lan wangji demanded.

"but i don't want to," wei ying threw an arm over hai-feng's shoulder. "are you gonna throw me out if i don't?"

judging from lan wangji's expression, hai-feng suspected if wei ying were to say another word, he just might lose all self restraint. hai-feng spoke up.

"for your own safety, it may be best for you to leave."

"but i came all this way to ask for forgiveness in the form of a gift."

lan wangji automatically rejected it without hesitation. "i do not want it."

his eyes grew guarded as wei ying reached into his robes and pulled out two rabbits before setting them down on the table.

"are you sure? i mean this place of yours is really weird. they're not afraid of people. they're cute, like hai-feng here, not to mention they're chubby. don't you want them?"

hai-feng clicked his tongue. "cute?" he mumbled under his breath.

he picked one of the rabbit's up, cradling it in his arms. he did have to admit that they were painstakingly adorable and small. wei ying continued on.

"if you don't want them, then i'll give them to someone else. a perfect addition to a dish."

"within the boundaries of the cloud recesses, killing is prohibited. that is the third rule on the wall of discipline," lan wangji stated.

"i could always go down the mountain and have them killed."

"give them to hai-feng," lan wangji commanded haltingly.

"oh?" wei ying snickered.

the two rabbits were both plump and round, like two fluffy snowballs. hai-feng was in the middle of feeding them both lettuce.

"they're both male," he noted.

"male? well that's weird," wei ying said. i caught those two rabbits and didn't even pay attention to whether they're male or female. and yet you actually checked their-"

heat rose up the back of hai-feng's neck. "well i was only curious. and so what if i did?"

"duìbùqì, duìbùqì. i couldn't help but want to tease you."

at that, lan wangji finally threw wei ying out of the library pavilion, slamming the window shut, then sat back down next to his desk. he sighed and closed his eyes. the rustling yulan magnolia branches shut out the outside but wei ying's boisterous laughter wasn't as easy to shut out.