Yunmeng is the one-hundred and twenty-sixth chapter of Mo Dao Zu Shi, and the last chapter in the novel save for the Taiwanese-exclusive extra.
The chapter title includes the characters for Yunmeng.
Synopsis[]
At a festival, children watch Wei Wuxian kick a shuttlecock. However, Wei Wuxian counts incorrectly so that he can claim to have kicked it 1600 times without dropping it. A boy objects to Wei Wuxian's method of counting, saying that one-hundred does not come after ninety, but Wei Wuxian insists that if ten comes after nine, so one-hundred must come after ninety.
Lan Wangji supports his answer, and the boy decides to trust Lan Wangji. He hands Wei Wuxian sugared haws for his success.
Once alone, Wei Wuxian admits he only kicked the shuttlecock about three-hundred times. He offers Lan Wangji the candy, noting that Lan Wangji often keeps his desires to himself. He then declares that he will show Lan Wangji around Yunmeng.
Wei Wuxian feeds Lan Wangji food from vendors. Lan Wangji's responses to Yunmeng cuisine range from "fine" to "excellent," to the most often, "strange." Every time he declares it strange, Wei Wuxian takes the food away from Lan Wangji.
Finally, they settle on lotus-and-pork-rib soup for lunch. Lan Wangji departs briefly, and when he returns,Wei Wuxian laments that the soup is not nearly as good as Jiang Yanli's. Lan Wangji then begins to ask more questions on the seasoning and flavor.
When Wei Wuxian initially reacts with laughter at the idea of Lan Wangji cooking, Lan Wangji admits that he already has cooked for him. Wei Wuxian then realizes that the dishes he brought him after the family banquet were not from the Hunan restaurant in Caiyi Town, but cooked by Lan Wangji himself.
After lunch, Wei Wuxian plays "ring toss" in an attempt to win Lan Wangji a prize. Lan Wangji tells him that it does not matter the prize, as he will accept anything from him.
Wei Wuxian stands far away, yet he still lands the ring on a ceramic turtle. Lan Wangji then moves even farther away to win a plush donkey resembling Little Apple for Wei Wuxian. The last ring he throws lands on Wei Wuxian instead.
After absconding with the third ring, Wei Wuxian places the ring around Lan Wangji. The two wonder where to place the turtle, and Wei Wuxian suggests placing it in the Lanshi instead. When Lan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi, and the other juniors inquire on its origin, they can tell them the story of Lan Wangji's defeat of the Xuanwu of Slaughter as an encouragement to the juniors. Lan Wangji thinks it an excellent idea.
Indeed, a few days later, the juniors are startled to find the turtle in the Laoshi, though none of them dare ask its origin.
Before returning to Yunmeng, however, the couple took a tiny, rundown boat out onto the lake.
Wei Wuxian recalls that this stretch of water was once kept by an old man, but the man is likely dead now. Wei Wuxian teases that he used to invite Lan Wangji to Lotus Pier to feel what it was like to be struck by the old man while stealing lotus pods.
The two lean close together, and the boat overturns. Lan Wangji kisses Wei Wuxian before lifting him back into the boat. Wei Wuxian teases Lan Wangji about all his rejections from their youth, and Lan Wangji replies:
"You can try, now, to see if I would reject you over anything.”
At those words, Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji to warn him before he says something so romantic again, claiming that his heart cannot take it. The two cuddle together in the boat. Although tens of thousands of words remain unspoken, they have exchanged the words for endless laughter and embraces.[1]
Characters[]
In order of appearance:
- Wei Wuxian
- Lan Wangji
- Jiang Yanli (mentioned)
- Little Apple (mentioned)
- Lan Sizhui (mentioned)
- Lan Jingyi (mentioned)
Events[]
- Night-hunt of the Xuanwu of Slaughter (mentioned)
Locations[]
- Yunmeng
- Caiyi Town (mentioned)
- Cloud Recesses (mentioned)
Creatures[]
- Xuanwu of Slaughter (mentioned)
- Vermilion Bird of Carnage (mentioned)
- White Tiger of Annihilation (mentioned)
- Azure Dragon of Bloodbath (mentioned)
Cultivation Tools[]
Author's Note[]
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's end-of-chapter note reads:[2][3]
Due to some already widely known reasons, these extras will get posted to JJWXC first. Here’s a brief introduction.
“Gate Crasher” and “The Iron Hook” are two standalone short pieces that I came up with back in undergrad. Their original titles were “Fierce Ghost Enters the Gate” and “Tongue Tearing”. At the time, these were just a couple short horror stories that I was never satisfied with; no matter how much I edited, something always felt a bit off, and I ended up shelving them. Still, it felt like such a waste not to use them, thus I resolved to dig them out, whip them into shape, and finally put them to good use.
"Gate Crasher” is like an excerpt from Wangxian’s night hunting journal after they’ve withdrawn from society; quelling lesser demons, saving for retirement, along with leisurely days of childrearing.
"The Iron Hook” is the Yiling Patriarch taking the kids on a class field trip. It was even tougher to write; I must have reworked the part with the ghost no less than ten times. But I have a bad habit of finding areas that need editing every time I revisit anything I write; even now I get the itch to edit more, but there is simply not enough time, so let’s just make do with what we have.
I still prefer these weird little stories between 10-20k words in length.
”Lotus Seeds” was originally meant to be a little story about the kids from the Cloud Recesses and Lotus Pier spending a cool summer catching ghosts, but ultimately it became a warm, pastoral slice-of-life. Anyway, even though little Wifi didn’t succeed in snatching away his Er-gege to bring him back to eat, drink and be merry at Lotus Pier, little Wangxian never strayed from each others’ thoughts and, intentionally or otherwise, somehow still managed to have this magical encounter!
Initially the “Yunmeng” extra went something like: Wifi gets sent back home after wreaking havoc in Cloud Recesses; Second Young Master Lan then dreams about traveling to Yunmeng with Wifi, who plies him with various snacks and lotus seed pods. Obviously at that time, he did not actually go, but after he grows up, he gets to fulfill his dream.
So really, the theme here is “A beautiful dream in the Cloud Recesses becomes reality.”
Trivia[]
The original translation by Exiled Rebels named this series of chapters "Dream Come True."[4]
References[]
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 126
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 126 [Original Chinese, Trans. by Twitter user @hopqer]
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 126 [Exiled Rebel Trans.
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 126 [Exiled Rebel Trans.]