Who You Are Book 2

Chapter 68 - Only Tonight

At the dock, most of the group of boats that they used to come here had already gone back after they arrived at the destination. Only two old, unattended ferries were left in front of the dock. The ferries were both long and narrow, shaped like willow leaves, able to contain seven or eight people. Both ends of each ferry curved upward, with two oars at one end.

Carrying Wei Wuxian on his back, Lan Wangji stepped onto the ferry without any hesitation. With hurry, Wen Ning leaped onto the tail of the boat, taking up the oars voluntarily. With just two rows, the ferry steadily drifted quite a few feet away. Soon, the ferry had followed the water's flow away from the dock, approaching the center of the river.

Lan Wangji let Wei Wuxian lean on his body. He first fed him two pills. Only after he confirmed that he swallowed them properly did he take out his handkerchief and slowly wipe away the blood on his face.

Suddenly, Wen Ning's nervous voice came over, "Y-Young Master Lan."

Lan Wangji, "What is it?"

Wen Ning's assertion back when he was in front of Jiang Cheng had already disappeared without a trace. He summoned up all his courage before speaking, "Please... Please don't tell Young Master Wei that I revealed the secret of his core yet. He's warned me very seriously to not tell anyone no matter what. Although I probably wouldn't be able to keep him in the dark for long, I..."

After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji replied, "Do not worry."

It seemed that Wen Ning let out a sigh of relief, even though dead people had no breath to sigh. He spoke earnestly, "Young Master Lan, thank you."

Lan Wangji shook his head. Wen Ning, "Thank you for speaking up for me and my sister back then, on Koi Tower. I've always remembered it. For how I lost control afterwards, I... really am sorry."

"And with Young Master Wei and Sect Leader Jiang. It was only a matter of time before Sect Leader Jiang knew about the core. He couldn't have kept it from Sect Leader Jiang for his whole life, could he?"

The night was silent, and the river's flow heavy.

Suddenly, Lan Wangji spoke up, "Is it painful?"

Wen Ning, "What?"

Lan Wangji, "Cutting out one's core. Is it painful?"

Wen Ning, "If I said it wasn't, Young Master Lan, you wouldn't believe it either, would you?"

Lan Wangji, "I thought Wen Qing would find a way."

Wen Ning, "Before we went up the mountain, my sister did make many anesthetics, hoping they'd reduce the pain of cutting out his core. But then she found out that those anesthetics were absolutely useless. Because if the person is under anesthetized conditions when the core is being cut out, seperating from the body, the core would be affected as well. It was hard to tell whether it'd dissolve, when it'd dissolve."

Lan Wangji, "... And so?"

Wen Ning's rowing paused for an instant, "And so, the person whose core is being cut out has to be awake."

He had to be awake. He had to watch the golden core connected to his spiritual pathways be peeled from his body. He had to feel the gradual suppression, sedation, settlement of his originally surging spiritual powers, all until they became a pool of dead water, unable to rise ever again.

Only after a long while did Lan Wangji's voice sound again, somewhat hoarse. The first word seemed to tremble, "Constantly awake?"

Wen Ning, "Two nights and one day. Constantly awake."