Part 3 – A Pretty Figure from the Past

“Ouyang Zizhen!” Lan Jingyi cried happily, as if the sudden sight of his acquaintance had delivered him from grave distress.

Fussing over Lan Wangji, who never needed fussing anyway, Wei Wuxian had been slow to notice the Baling Ouyang clan’s presence at the crossroads. No doubt they were headed in the same direction as Wei Wuxian and his own party were. Sect Leader Ouyang’s expression darkened as he tried to detain his son with a few stern words, but as usual they fell on deaf ears. Smiling broadly at Lan Jingyi’s greeting, Ouyang Zizhen ‘the romantic’ bounded over, and at once fell into enthusiastic conversation with the Lan Sect juniors.

Looking past the jostling group of youngsters, Wei Wuxian noticed Sect Leader Ouyang conversing with a trio of female cultivators, whose faces he could not see. They must be beauties, though, Wei Wuxian deduced, from the way the sect leader was making a fool of himself, puffing out his broad chest and blustering away with his hand at his sword.

Wei Wuxian doubled over laughing. The swindled bowl and chopsticks tumbled to the dirt, forgotten.

“Look at that burly peacock!” he said to Lan Wangji as he clutched at his ribs. “He’s making his own disciples blush.”

Blushing was a strong way to put it, but the seniors flanking their sect leader did look decidedly uncomfortable as they shifted and averted their gazes from the embarrassing spectacle before them.

“Hahaha!” Wei Wuxian craned his neck, squinting. “Who is he preening for, I wonder?”

The leader of the female trio had a particularly shapely figure indeed. Clothed in robes of soft dark rose, she stood a little ahead of the other two. Her long hair gleamed with deep luster, half-bound with a ribbon of the same dusky shade as her dress. Her followers were garbed in blue and pink, respectively, and seemed some years younger—although all the ladies gave off a bright, youthful air. Something about those leader’s fine curves tugged at Wei Wuxian’s memory, as he continued to gawk.

“Let us find out,” Lan Wangji announced, rather coldly, stepping forward.

Smile slipping a little, Wei Wuxian blinked after his husband, before hurrying to catch up with his long strides. At their approach, Sect Leader Ouyang’s gloating face fell visibly. The sudden arrival of two such dashing, famous characters on the scene meant that his time in the spotlight was over.

“Hanguang-Jun,” he greeted with grudging respect. “Yiling Patriarch.”

As Lan Wangji nodded, Wei Wuxian beamed, inclining his head toward the ladies who were just now turning toward them. “Sect Leader Ouyang—aren’t you going to introduce us to your friends here?”

But as the three female cultivators turned fully to face them, Wei Wuxian realized he needed no introduction—

For the leader of the group, at least.

A wide grin bloomed across his face as he gushed out, “Mianmian! Long time no see.”

Mo Dao Zu Shi © Mo Xiang Tong Xiu