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Chapter 26 Malice—Part 4</h3>Lan WangJi, "The details, please."Sitting down, his polite words were almost as powerful as a threat. Nie HuaiSang finally started his explanation.He began, "HanGuang-Jun, you know that we, the Nie Sect, are different from the other sects. Because our sect’s founder was a butcher, the other sects cultivate using swords, while our sect, on the other hand, cultivates using sabers."This was known by everyone and was by no means a secret. Even the sect motif of the QingheNie Sect was the vicious head of a beast that resembled a dog or a pig. Nie HuaiSang continued, "Because our cultivation method was different from those of the other sects’ and our founder was originally a butcher, it was only natural for blood to be shed. The sabers of our past sect leaders were all heavy with hostile energy and killing intent. Almost every single sect leader met a sudden death from a qi deviation explosion. Their irritable tempers also had a lot to do with this."Wei WuXian raised a brow, "Now, this is getting quite close to demonic cultivation."Nie HuaiSang quickly defended, "It’s different! Demonic cultivation is only demonic cultivation because it uses human lives. But, instead of human lives, our sect’s sabers use the lives of those evil spirits and beasts. Throughout their whole lives, they’ve been killing such things, so if they aren’t able to kill them any longer, they’d cause trouble and disrupt the sect. A saber spirit only deems one person as its master, allowing nobody else to use it. It’s not like we later generations can melt the sabers. First, it’d be disrespectful to the ancestors; second, it’s possible that even melting them won’t solve the problem."Wei WuXian commented, "Quite full of themselves, aren’t they?"Nie HuaiSang, "Indeed. The sabers who fought and cultivated alongside our ancestors are indeed in a position to be full of themselves."He continued, "As the generations went on, the sect leaders had higher levels of cultivation, and the problem also worsened. That is, until the sixth sect leader came up with a solution."Wei WuXian asked, "To build the Man-Eating Castle?"Nie HuaiSang, "No, no. Although they are connected, this solution only appeared later. The sixth sect leader did this: he built two coffins for his father’s and his grandfather’s sabers, then dug a tomb. Inside the tomb, instead of any valuable treasures, he put hundreds of corpses that were about to transform."Lan WangJi frowned slightly. Nie HuaiSang immediately blurted, "HanGuang-Jun, I can explain! They weren’t killed by our sect’s people! We had to gather them from place to place! We also bought a bunch of them at high prices. The sixth sect leader said that, if the saber spirits wanted to fight with evil beings, then give them evil beings for them to fight forever. The pre-transformation corpses were buried along with the sword-containing coffins, like they were burial goods for the saber spirits. The saber spirits would suppress the transformation of the corpses and, at the same time, the corpses would calm the sword spirits’ desire and fury. The situation would go on as they were, with the two sides keeping each other in check. Only by this method did the future generations attain peace."Wei WuXian asked again, "Then why was a stone castle built afterward? Why were the corpses buried inside the walls? And, didn’t you say that it did eat a few people?"Nie HuaiSang answered, "These questions are actually the same question. I guess… you can say that it did eat people. But it wasn’t on purpose!!! Our sixth sect leader constructed the saber tomb in such a way that it looked like the average tomb, and the future generations followed how he did it. But, about fifty years ago, the tomb was dug up by some grave robbers."Wei WuXian made an "oh" sound. He silently exclaimed, What a case of waking the sleeping lion.Nie HuaiSang, "For an event as big as building a tomb, no matter how cautious and discreet one can be, it’s impossible for everything to stay hidden. The grave robbers pried into the matter and firmly believed that there was a huge tomb from past dynasties in the Xinglu Ridge. They planned this out a long time ago and came prepared. Among the unruly group of people, there were actually one or two who had true skills, allowing the mob to locate the orientation, pass the maze array, and find our saber tomb. They’ve seen enough dead people in their lives, so, after digging a hole and entering the "It wasn’t hard to figure out what happened. Ten-or-so corpses transformed immediately."However, these grave robbers weren’t average people. With a complete set of tools, they actually managed to somehow kill the walking corpses once more. After the fight, there was flesh and blood all over the ground. They finally realized that the tomb was dangerous and got ready to leave. But, just as they were leaving, they were eaten!"The number of corpses put in the tomb was strictly controlled. It was neither more, neither less, just enough to be at a balance with the saber spirits. It would’ve been fine if the grave robbers caused just the transformation, since, after they left, the saber spirits would’ve suppressed the transformation again. But, with the chaos they caused, the corpses were all cut to pieces, and so there were suddenly a few less corpses than it began with. For the saber tomb to ensure that there were enough fierce corpses and sword spirits to suppress each other, it… it could only… close itself off and trap them inside the tomb for the group to make up for the shortage they had caused."Since the saber tomb was destroyed, the sect leader at that time began to think of different methods. He chose another spot on the Xinglu Ridge and built a saber hall instead of a saber tomb. In case grave robbers came again, he hid the corpses inside the walls in disguise."The sword hall was the rumored ‘Man-Eating Castle’. When the grave robbers came to Qinghe, they pretended to be hunters. They never returned after going into the Xinglu Ridge and left no corpses behind, so people started to say that they were devoured by a monster in the ridge. Then, after the stone castles were built, before the new maze array was set up, a passerby accidentally came upon it again. Luckily, no doors were built on the castles, so he couldn’t venture inside. But, after leaving the ridge, he told everyone that there were a group of strange, white castles in the Xinglu Ridge and that the man-eating monster must have dwelled there. We thought that it’d be beneficial for the rumors to spread so that nobody dared to go near the area, so we exaggerated a bit and created the legend of the ‘Man-Eating Castle’. But it really can eat humans!"Nie HuaiSang took out a handkerchief and a white stone the size of a garlic head from within his sleeves. He used the handkerchief to wipe away sweat and passed the white stone over, "The two of you can take a look at this."Wei WuXian took the stone. After having a better look at it, he found something white that protruded from the stone. It looked like… the bone of a human’s finger.He immediately realized what was going on. Nie HuaiSang finished wiping his sweat and continued, "That… Young Master Jin… somehow made an explosion that created a hole in the wall. To be able to break such a thick wall must have meant that he also carried a lot of spiritual tools on him—but wait, that’s not the point… What I’m saying is that the area he blew up just happened to be the earliest saber hall we built in the Xinglu Ridge. Back then, we didn’t think of using stone bricks on the both sides and filling the center with soil to prevent yang energy from going in, so that they can’t easily transform. We simply put the corpses inside. So, when Young Master Jin made the opening, he didn’t realize that he also destroyed a skeleton that was buried inside. Before long, he was sucked into the walls of the castle, in place of the corpse that he blew up… Every so often, I go to the Xinglu Ridge to check things out. Today, when I went, I found this. Just as I picked up the stone, a dog came after me. Ah… The sword hall is pretty much our ancestral tomb. I really…"The more Nie HuaiSang talked, the more miserable he felt, "Most cultivators know that this is our area, so they’d never night-hunt around Qinghe. Who knew that…"Who knew that he had such bad luck. First, the disobedient Jin Ling had his mind set on the Xinglu Ridge, and then the two in search of where the ghost hand pointed, Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian, came as well. He spoke again, "HanGuang-Jun and you… I already said that you mustn’t tell anyone else about this. Or else…"Or else, seeing from the QingheNie Sect’s half-dead situation right now, if this was released to the public, Nie HuaiSang would become a sinner, a disgrace to his ancestors even if he died. It was only natural that he’d rather be the secret laughingstock of all the sects instead of focusing on cultivation or daring to sharpen his saber’s blade. If his cultivation reached a certain level, he would gradually become more irritable and, in the end, die with anger the same way that his brother and ancestors died. Even after his death, his sword would haunt the living and disrupt the peace of the whole sect. If so, being a worthless person even seemed better.It was quite an unsolvable problem. Ever since the founder of the Nie Sect, this had been the same. Surely it didn’t mean that the future generations would have to deny the path and basis that the founder forged? All of the cultivation sects were skilled in different areas. Similar to how the GusuLan Sect was skilled at music, the violence and power of the QingheNie Sect’s saber spirits were how it outshone the other sects. If it abandoned its founder’s ideal and started anew in search of a different path, who knew how many years it’d take, or if it’d even succeed or not. Moreover, Nie HuaiSang would never dare to betray the Nie Sect and cultivate a different path. Because of this, his only choice was to be a good-for-nothing.If he weren’t a sect leader and spent his whole life the same way as he did back in the Cloud Recesses, fooling around for entire days, he’d certainly be in a more comfortable position than he was now. But, since his brother had passed away already, no matter how hard it was for him, he’d still have to take the responsibility on his shoulders and stumble forward.Nie HuaiSang left after telling them again and again not to say anything, and Wei WuXian blanked out for a while. Suddenly, he felt Lan WangJi walk over. Lan WangJi kneeled with a single leg in front of him, then proceeded to roll up his trousers with an earnest face. He hurriedly spoke, "Wait, again?"Lan WangJi, "We will remove the Curse Mark first."Within one day, HanGuang-Jun had kneeled in such a way so many times in front of him. Although Lan WangJi looked quite serious, he really couldn’t bear to look at the scene. Wei WuXian spoke, "I’ll do it myself." Quickly rolling up the trouser legs, he could see that the Curse Mark covered the entire lower half of his leg, passed his knees, and climbed onto the upper half. Wei WuXian took a glance at it, "It’s already passed my thighs."Lan WangJi turned his head away and did not answer. Wei WuXian found it quite odd, "Lan Zhan?"<h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 27 Malice—Part 5</h3>Only then did Lan WangJi turn to the front again, gaze still slightly off to the side. Seeing this, Wei WuXian blinked his eyes, wanting to make fun of him for some reason. Just as he was about to tease Lan WangJi, a shattering sound suddenly came from by the desk.They both stood up to look. The teacups and teapot broke to pieces on the ground. A Qiankun Pouch lay amid the white shards of porcelain and the tea that spilled out. The surface of the bag went up and down, as if something was trapped inside, eager to come out.Although the Qiankun Pouch was only the size of a fist, it was specially made to store things. Complex incantations were also sewn on both the inside and the outside, adding a few more sealing layers. Lan WangJi originally sealed the arm inside the pouch and put it under a teacup on the table. Now, seeing its agitation, they finally remembered that it was time to perform Rest. If not for the short nightly duets they perform to calm it, no matter how strong the Qiankun Pouch’s power of suppression was, it couldn’t trap the ghost hand alone.Wei WuXian felt for the bamboo flute that had been by his waist, but he found nothing. Turning around, he saw that Lan WangJi already had the flute in his hands. Lan WangJi’s head tilted slightly downward. He only handed the flute back after carving on it for a while, in a dedicated manner. Taking the flute back, Wei WuXian noticed that, after it had been adjusted, even rough details such as the finger holes were much finer.Lan WangJi, "Play it properly."Remembering the horrible duet they played in the Mingshi that angered Lan QiRen to the point of waking up from a coma and fainting again, Wei WuXian laughed so hard that he almost fell on the ground, thinking to himself, It must have been tough for him these few days, tolerating this for so long. He stopped himself from fooling around any longer and, with a serious expression, raised the flute to his lips. However, having only played a few notes, the Qiankun Pouch suddenly multiplied in size and stood upright on the ground!A note cracked with a "tut". Wei WuXian commented, "Has it gotten too used to the bad playing? I’m playing properly for once, and it doesn’t even like it."As if replying him, the Qiankun Pouch flung itself at Wei WuXian. Lan WangJi’s melody took a sharp turn. With one smooth gesture, the seven strings vibrated at once, emitting a noise so strong that it almost seemed like an avalanche. After the sound, the Qiankun Pouch fell backward to the ground again. As if nothing had happened, Wei WuXian continued playing. Lan WangJi’s wrist softened. Following the tune of Rest, the guqin’s melody became calm once more, and gradually blended with the flute’s.The song finished, and the Qiankun Pouch finally shrunk to the size it had been, remaining motionless. Wei WuXian stuck the flute back by his waist, "In these few days, it’s never looked as impatient as this before. It seems as if it was provoked by something."Lan WangJi nodded and turned to him, "And, it was something on you."Wei WuXian immediately looked downward at himself. Today, there was only one thing on him that was different—the Curse Mark that had been transferred to him from Jin Ling.Jin Ling’s Curse Mark was left on him when he was at the stone castles of the Xinglu Ridge. Seeing how strongly the ghost hand reacted to the Curse Mark, did it mean that…Wei WuXian, "Do you mean that another part of his body might be within the walls of the Nie Sect’s Saber Hall?"On the next morning, the two departed again, heading back to the Xinglu Ridge.Yesterday, Nie HuaiSang had been caught and confessed everything. Over the night, he called for all of the sect’s reliable disciples to clean up the mess that the intruders created. When Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi walked over, the piece of wall that Wei WuXian dug Jin Ling out of had just been filled and a new corpse was already put inside. Watching the white bricks stack up neatly, he wiped some sweat off his brows. However, as he turned around, his legs almost gave out. He pulled a cringing smile onto his face, "HanGuang-Jun…and you…"Wei WuXian waved his hands as he grinned, "Sect Leader Nie, you’re building the walls?"Nie HuaiSang wiped sweat away with his handkerchief, rubbing so many times that he almost took a layer of skin away, "Yes, yes…"Wei WuXian said in a voice filled with much empathy and a dash of timidity, "My apologies. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, but you might need to Nie HuaiSang, "Yes, yes… What?! Wait!"Before he could finish his sentence, Bichen unsheathed. Nie HuaiSang gaped as he watched the brick wall, which he repaired mere moment ago, crack open again.Destruction was always easier than restoration. Wei WuXian’s speed at taking bricks down was countless times faster than their speed at stacking bricks. Nie HuaiSang trembled as he tightly gripped his fan, feeling so wronged that he was on the verge of bursting into tears. Yet, since HanGuang-Jun stood on the side and commented nothing, he didn’t dare to say anything either. After Lan WangJi explained the situation to him in a concise manner, he immediately swore to the Heavens and Earth, "Nonsense! That’s utter nonsense! The corpses that our Saber Hall uses are all complete with each limb attached. It’s impossible for there to be some armless male corpse. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take apart the wall with you and prove my innocence. But afterwards you must put them back as soon as possible, without any delay. After all, this is our ancestral burial ground…"A few disciples of the Nie Sect also joined them. Now that there were other people doing the work, Wei WuXian backed off and stood on the side, waiting for results. After an hour, the stone bricks on the wall that Jin Ling had been buried in were mostly taken off. Some disciples put on face masks while others swallowed special red-colored pills, so that the breathing and human energy didn’t cause corpse transformations. Among the black dirt, an ashen hand or a vein-laced foot sometimes poked out, in addition to the tangled, grimey hair plastered everywhere. Each and every male corpse was hastily cleaned and set row-by-row on the ground.The corpses came in all shapes and sizes—some were already skeletons, some were in the process of rotting, some were still quite fresh. However, every single one of them had a complete body. They didn’t find any male corpse that was missing a left arm.Nie HuaiSang spoke warily, "Taking apart this one wall is enough, isn’t it? Does any more need to be taken down? Probably not, right?"It was indeed enough. The Curse Mark on Jin Ling’s body was extremely dark in color, so the being that created it was most likely buried nearby him and the range would definitely not exceed this wall. Wei WuXian squatted down by a row of corpses. After pondering for a few moments, he turned to Lan WangJi, "Should we get the Qiankun Pouch?"Taking the left hand out of the Qiankun Pouch for it to identify the body on its own wouldn’t be a bad idea. However, if it was too close to the other limbs of the corpse, it’d be hard not to agitate it and trigger worse situations. And, due to the abundance of dark energy in this special location, the level of danger multiplied. This was why they carefully chose to come during daytime. Wei WuXian shook his head and thought to himself, This doesn’t mean that the arm doesn’t belong to a man, does it? No, that’d be impossible. I can tell whether a hand belongs to a man or a woman at first sight… Then, would it mean that the owner has three arms?!Just as he was about to laugh at his own thought, Lan WangJi spoke again, "The legs."With his reminder, Wei WuXian finally remembered. He overlooked the fact that the Curse Mark didn’t spread any further than his legs. He quickly called, "Take off the pants! Take off the pants!"Nie HuaiSang was shocked to death, "Why would you say such a shameful thing in front of HanGuang-Jun?"Wei WuXian responded, "How was it shameful? We’re all men, anyways. Help me take off all of the corpses’ pants. Only the male corpses! This has nothing to do with the female ones." As he spoke, he started reaching out toward the belt sashes of the corpses on the ground. It really was unfortunate for Nie HuaiSang. He didn’t expect at all that, after confessing everything yesterday, today, he needed to take off the corpses’ pants right inside the Saber Hall of his ancestors. Moreover, they were male corpses. With a face full of tears, he thought that, for sure, after he died, he would be slapped once on the face by every ancestor in the QingheNie Sect and end up injured so badly that he’d be handicapped even after he reincarnated. Luckily, Wei WuXian’s act was stopped by Lan WangJi. Just as Nie HuaiSang was about to praise how worthy of his title HanGuang-Jun was, he heard him speak, "I will do it."Wei WuXian, "You’ll do it? You’re really going to do such a thing?"The corners of Lan WangJi’s brows seemed to be twitching slightly, as if he was holding something back. He repeated, "Do not move. I will do it."This was the worst of all the shocks Nie HuaiSang experienced today.Of course, Lan WangJi wouldn’t actually use his hands to pull on the corpses’ pants. He simply used Bichen and lightly sliced open the clothing on the corpses, revealing the skin inside. This wasn’t needed for some of the corpses, as the clothes were already quite ragged. A few moments later, he spoke up, "I found it."Everyone immediately looked toward the ground. On both thighs of the corpse beside Lan WangJi’s white boots, there were two light, circular marks. The stitches of the flesh-colored threads were tightly sewn around. There was a faint difference between the colors of the skin above and below the stitches. Clearly, the legs and upper body of the corpse didn’t belong to the same person.This pair of legs was sewn on by someone!Nie HuaiSang was already shocked speechless. Wei WuXian inquired, "Who chooses the corpses that the Nie Sect uses for the Saber Hall?"Nie HuaiSang replied with a glazed expression, "Usually, the past sect leaders chose and stored them when they were still alive. My brother passed away at an earlier age. He didn’t have enough, so I also helped him choose some… I kept whichever corpses that were complete with all limbs. I don’t know about anything other than this…"It’d be impossible to get anything out of him as to who exactly sneaked the corpse inside. From the people who provided the corpses to the disciples of the Nie Sect, there were countless suspects. It was likely that the truth would be revealed only if they found all body parts and pieced the corpse and soul together.Finally having managed to separate the pair of legs and the other half of the male corpse, Wei WuXian put them inside a new Qiankun Pouch as he spoke to Lan WangJi, "Looks like our dear friend here was cut to pieces. And, not only that, the parts were scattered all over the place—one piece here, one piece there. Just how much hatred did the murderer hold for him? We can only hope that the pieces aren’t too tiny."Although Nie HuaiSang still said "see you" when they set off, judging from his frightened face, he most likely didn’t want to see them ever again for the rest of his life. The two left the Xinglu Ridge and returned to the inn. Upon arriving at the relatively safe place, they took out the three limbs and started to examine them. As they had expected, the pair of legs were of the same color as the severed arm. And, if they were put close together, they would react strongly, vibrating nonstop as if they wanted to join together. But the efforts were useless, as there was still one part of the body between them that was missing. It was certain that they belonged to the same person.Aside from the fact that this was a man with a tall physique, long limbs, a muscular body, and a high level of cultivation, they knew nothing else about the mysterious corpse. Fortunately, the ghost hand soon pointed at where the next step would take place—the Southwest.Following its direction, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi made their way to Yueyang.<h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 28 Dew—Part One

Chapter 29 Dew—Part Two</h3>The waiter, "Take it easy. I was just about to mention that. Everyone did die. Although I said that he survived, it was only for a short while. After a few years, the clan’s head, Chang Ping, died as well. This time, the death was even more horrifying. He was killed by lingchi with a sword! I don’t need to tell you what lingchi is, do I? It’s when the flesh on someone’s body is piece by piece sliced off with a saber or a sword for three thousand and six hundred times, until all of the flesh is gone and there’s only a skeleton left…"Of course, it was impossible for Wei WuXian not to know what lingchi was. If somebody wanted a book called A Thousand Ways to Die Agonizing Deaths, he’d have been the person who was most qualified to write it. He raised a hand, "I understand. Then, do you know why the Chang Clan was wiped out?"The waiter, "I heard that it was planned by another cultivational sect. That’s for sure, right? Or else, why did a bunch of people who could cultivate fail to escape? They were definitely trapped inside by something or someone."In case the conversation wasn’t going well, the owner of the shop even brought over two side dishes of peanuts and sunflower seeds. Wei WuXian nodded in acknowledgement, and continued while eating sunflower seeds, "Did anyone find out what exactly the something or someone was?"The waiter laughed, "Young Master, now you’re just joking. How could we ordinary people who are just trying to get through life know anything about those who fly around in the skies? Logically, you guys should know more than me since you all cultivate. I’ve only heard some vague talk of of how they offended someone whom they shouldn’t have! Anyways, after that, nobody was left in charge of the evil beings around Yueyang."Wei WuXian pondered, "Somebody whom they shouldn’t have offended?""That’s right." The waiter ate two peanuts, "These sects or whatever indeed hold grudges against the others. I’m thinking that the Chang Clan must have been targeted by the other cultivators. Isn’t killing people for the sake of treasures common or something? Those books all said so. Tales and legends as well. Although I don’t know who exactly did it, it was apparently related to a very famous villain."Wei WuXian smiled as he lifted the liquor bowl to his lips, glancing sideways at him, "Let me guess. You’re gonna say that you don’t know who the villain was?"The waiter cracked up, "Guess again. I definitely know this one. He was called something along the lines of ‘peculiar’… Right, ‘patriarch’. The YiLing Patriarch!"Wei WuXian choked, letting out a series of bubbles into the liquor bowl with a splash, "What?"Him again?!The waiter confirmed, "Yep, that’s right! His surname was Wei. He’s called Wei WuQian, I think. People sound both hateful and scared when they mention him.""…"Wei WuXian thought over it and determined two things—One: He had never been to Yueyang before, and two: Among all of the people he had killed, none of them died by lingchi. He felt that this was a bit absurd and looked over at Lan WangJi, as if he wanted an explanation. Lan WangJi had been waiting for this look since quite a while ago. He replied, "We are leaving."Wei WuXian immediately understood. Lan WangJi had something to say to him and it couldn’t be said in the liquor shop, under everyone’s noses. He stood up, "Then let’s leave. How much… Right, it’s been paid already. I’m leaving the liquor here for now. I’ll continue drinking after we finish." He added, half-jokingly, "Make sure it’s still here when I get back."Having already finished more than half of the plate of peanuts, the waiter responded, "Of course! Our shop is honest to everyone, from the old to the young. Leave ‘em here and don’t worry. We’ll wait until you come back to close our shop. Hey, Young Masters, are you going to the Chang Residence right now? Whoa, now that’s pretty cool—I’m from the area and I haven’t even been there! I’ve only dared to sneak a few looks at it from far away. Are you two going inside? What are you going to do?"Wei WuXian, "We’re also just gonna sneak a few looks, from far away."The young waiter had an outgoing personality, getting friendly with strangers a bit too quickly. Although they only chatted for a short while, he was already treating Wei WuXian as if they were friends. He came over to put his arm around Wei WuXian’s shoulder, "Is the work that you two do hard? Do you earn lots of money? Probably a ton, right? What a respectable job. Let me ask you something—is it difficult to get started? I…"As he babbled, he suddenly shut his mouth, nervously looking to the side. He whispered, "Young Master, why is the one beside you… staring at me?"Wei WuXian followed his gaze just to see Lan WangJi turn around, stand up, and walk outside the liquor shop, "Oh, him. This friend of mine was brought up strictly. He absolutely hates it when other people are being too comfortable with each other in front of him. Isn’t that strange?"The waiter awkwardly took away his arm, replying in a hushed voice, "Strange indeed. The way he looked over, you’d think that I was putting my arm around his wife…"With Lan WangJi’s hearing ability, it was impossible The waiter, "I’m sorry?"Wei WuXian pointed at himself, "I’m standing."Finally recalling the "if you can still stand after you finish this, I’ll adopt your surname" that he said earlier, he blurted out, "Oh… Ohhh! Uhm… Wow! I’m not kidding, but this is my first time seeing someone who can still stand and speak properly after downing a jar. Young Master, what’s your surname?"Wei WuXian, "My surname…" Suddenly remembering the "Wei WuQian" that the waiter mentioned, the corners of his lips twitched. He smoothly transitioned, "Is Lan."The waiter was also someone with a thick face, announcing without any change of expression, "Yes. From today on, my surname will be Lan!"Under the bright-red banners of the liquor shop, it seemed as if, for one second, Lan WangJi’s figure stumbled ever so slightly. With a mischievous smile on his face, Wei WuXian walked over with his hands behind his back and patted his shoulder, "HanGuang-Jun, to thank you for paying the bill, I made him adopt your surname."After they left the city, the two walked in the direction of where the waiter pointed at. The number of people gradually decreased, while the number of trees increased. Wei WuXian asked, "Back then, why did you not let me continue asking him?"Lan WangJi, "I suddenly remembered hearing about what happened in Yueyang. There was no need to continue asking."Wei WuXian, "Before you tell me, let me ask you something. Confirm for me that the, uh, wiping out of the Chang Clan wasn’t done by me, was it?"Other than how he died ten years ago and his soul had been fairly stable, it was impossible that he killed an entire clan and didn’t remember anything!Lan WangJi, "No."Wei WuXian, "Oh."It was as if he returned to those days, before he died, of being even worse than a sewer rat, despised by everyone. He played a role in everything; he was to be blamed for everything. Even if one’s neighbor’s grandson didn’t eat properly and lost five pounds, it was because the child was frightened by stories of the YiLing Patriarch commanding the Ghost General to murder people.However, Lan WangJi spoke again, "The killing was not done by you, but it was related to you."Wei WuXian, "What’s the relationship?"Lan WangJi, "There are two relationships. First, one of the people who were connected to it shared a past with your mother."Wei WuXian stopped in his tracks.He didn’t know what he was feeling at the moment or how his face looked. Pausing for a moment, he spoke, "… My mother?"Wei WuXian was the son of Wei ChangZe, a servant of the YunmengJiang Sect, and ZangSe SanRen, a rogue cultivator. Both Jiang FengMian and his wife, Yu ZiYuan, were quite familiar with Wei WuXian’s parents. Despite this, Jiang FengMian never reminisced about his old friend in front of Wei WuXian and, moreover, Yu ZiYuan never spoke properly to Wei WuXian at all. It was lucky for him if she didn’t give him a few whips and send him to kneel in the ancestral hall so that he’d keep his distance from Jiang Cheng. Other people told him most of the things he knew about his parents. He really didn’t know much more than what everyone else knew.Lan WangJi also halted, turning around to look at him, "Have you heard of the name ‘Xiao XingChen’?"Wei WuXian searched through his memories, "No."Lan WangJi, "‘No’ is correct. He was well-known when he left the mountain twelve years ago. Now, nobody mentions him."Twelve years ago just happened to be one year after the siege at YiLing’s LuanZang Hill, which meant that he only just missed it. Wei WuXian asked, "What’s the mountain? Who taught him?"Lan WangJi, "I do not know which mountain it was. His was taught by a cultivator. Xiao XingChen was a pupil of BaoShan SanRen."Wei WuXian finally understood why Lan WangJi said that this person shared a past with his mother, "So, that mean’s Xiao XingChen is my shishu."ZangSe SanRen was also a pupil of BaoShan SanRen.BaoShan SanRen was a cultivator who lived secluded from the rest of the world, rumored to be of the same generation as Wen Mao and Lan An. Most of the heroes from that generation had already returned to dust, yet BaoShan SanRen was said to have still remained unfallen. If it really was so, then she must be hundreds of years old and have quite a high level of cultivation. Back then, with the lead of Wen Mao, the cultivation world focused on the rise of clans instead of sects, and cultivational forces connected by blood ties rose as if they were bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Without exception, every cultivator who was slightly famous chose to found a sect. Yet, this cultivator decided to retire into solitude, living in a mountain under the cultivational name of BaoShanSanRen. Nobody knows, though, which mountain she was embracing. Speaking of it, it was only called retiring into solitude because nobody knew. If after one retired into solitude, they could still be found easily, it wouldn’t be called retiring into solitude anymore.She lived in an unknown celestial mountain and would often secretly take abandoned children up the mountain to be her pupils. However, all of the pupils had to vow that they would devote their whole lives to cultivation, never leaving the mountain or entering human society. Or else, no matter what the reason was, they were never to go back again. They’d need to depend on themselves to survive in the mortal world, cutting all ties with their teacher.Everyone spoke highly of BaoShan SanRen for her foresight in setting this rule. This was because, during the few hundreds of years, only three of her pupils left the mountain—YanLing DaoRen, ZangSe SanRen, and Xiao XingChen. Of these three pupils, none died a peaceful death.Wei WuXian knew about the fates of the first and second pupils ever since he was young, so no further explanations were needed. Thus, Lan WangJi told him the stories of the last pupil, his shishu.When Xiao XingChen left the mountain, he was only seventeen. Lan WangJi had never met him in person, but he had heard about Xiao XingChen’s talent from others.At that time, the Sunshot Campaign only finished a few years ago and the siege at Yiling’s Luanzang Hill had just ended. All of the prominent sects were recruiting qualified cultivators from all around to be part of them. Xiao XingChen left the mountain in hopes of saving the world. With his excellent talent and capable teacher, during his first night-hunt, he held a horsetail whisk in one hand and a long sword in the other, entering the mountain alone and claiming first place—he became famous overnight.As the sects saw such a bright, gifted cultivator at such a young age, they all invited him to their sects. Yet, Xiao XingChen turned down all of the offers. He said that he didn’t want to depend on any sects, but he wanted to build a new sect with a close friend that didn’t value a bloodline.He had a soft personality but a solid heart, gentle on the outside but determined on the inside. Whenever someone had a difficult matter at hand, the first thing they thought of was to find him for help. As a person of moral integrity, he never refused either, which was why people often spoke of him with appraisal.That was around when the wiping out of the Yueyang Clan happened.<h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 30 Dew—Part Three</h3>One day, the Yueyang Clan’s leader went out night-hunting with a few family members for about half a month. In the middle of the night, without any warning, they received the bad news and immediately hurried back. After the mourning, they only found out that someone purposely destroyed their protective array and let in a group of powerful evil spirits. Other than that, they knew nothing.In most cases, only few people knew about the tragedies that happened in smaller clans, but the circumstances back then were different. The Sunshot Campaign finished long ago, while the siege at Luanzang Hill only just ended. On the surface, the situation seemed rather stable. With the sudden disclosure of this event, the entire cultivation world was bubbling with discussion, some even exaggerating that it was the revenge of the revived YiLing Patriarch, Wei WuXian. However, there wasn’t any evidence, so it had been impossible to find the killer. Of course, Xiao XingChen didn’t sit back and do nothing. He volunteered to be responsible for the matter and find out the truth for Chang Ping. After a month, the murderer was finally discovered.The murderer’s name was Xue Yang.Xue Yang was even younger than Xiao XingChen, nothing more than just a boy. Despite this, he definitely didn’t tone down on his cruelty just because he was young. Ever since the age of fifteen, he had been a delinquent in the area of Kuizhou, known far and wide for his radiant smile, inhumane means, and merciless personality. Everyone’s expressions changed whenever he was brought up in a conversation. When he was a child dwelling in the streets, it was said that he developed a hatred that lasted for years toward Chang Ping’s father. He committed this crime in vengeance and for some other reasons.After Xiao XingChen found out the truth, he went across three provinces and Xue Yang was still happily picking fights with others. Taking advantage of the Discussion Conference that was happening at the Jinling Tower of the LanlingJin Sect’s residence, when the most prominent sects met up and discussed cultivation methods, Xiao XingChen brought him over, explained the situation, and demanded severe punishment.With his straightforward list of evidence, most sects didn’t have any objections, except for one—the LanlingJin Sect.Wei WuXian, "Objecting in such a situation would be placing itself against the entire world. Could it be that Xue Yang was a favorite with Jin GuangShan?"Lan WangJi, "A guest disciple."Wei WuXian, "He was a foreign disciple? Back then, the LanlingJin Sect was already one of the four most prominent sects, right? Why would they have invited a delinquent to be a guest disciple?"Lan WangJi, "This is the second connection."He stared into Wei WuXian’s eyes, "Because of the Stygian Tiger Seal."Wei WuXian’s heart immediately skipped a beat.The phrase was definitely not a stranger to him. On the contrary, nobody was more familiar to those three words than him.Among all of the spiritual weapons he had forged when he was still alive, this was the scariest and most famous one.When Wei WuXian first created it, he didn’t think too much about it. Single-handedly controlling corpses and spirits, of course he’d occasionally grow tired. Remembering a rare piece of iron ore he happened to have seen in a beast’s stomach, he used it to cast a Tiger Seal.But, after the Tiger Seal had been created, Wei WuXian only used it once before finding out that it did more harm than good.The Stygian Tiger Seal’s powers were considerably greater than what he had imagined. He originally wanted to use it to assist him, but its powers were almost exceeding him, its creator. Moreover, it didn’t settle on one single master. This meant that if someone got hold of it, no matter who they were, whether they were good or bad, friend or foe, they were able to use it.After the seal had been forged, it wasn’t that Wei WuXian never thought about destroying it, but since the seal was created with much difficulty, it would’ve been extremely hard to destroy, costing him both time and energy. And, back then, he had already vaguely understood that he wasn’t in a good situation and would be hated by everyone sooner or later. With a weapon as appalling as the Stygian Tiger Seal, others didn’t dare to act rashly, so he temporarily kept it. He separated the seal into two halves, making it so that they could only be of use when they were put together, and never used without careful consideration.He had only used it two times before, and both times caused great bloodshed. The first time was during the Sunshot Campaign. After using it for the second time, he finally decided to destroy one half of the seal. Before he could completely destroy the other half, the siege at Luanzang Hill happened, and it had since then been beyond his capabilities.Toward his own creation, Wei WuXian was confident to say that even if the sect that got hold of it, made a temple for it, and offered it incense every single day, the remaining half of the Tiger Seal was just a piece of scrap iron. However, Lan WangJi told him something shocking—it appeared that Xue Yang could rebuild the other half of the seal!Although Xue Yang was young, he was also quite clever, a bizarre eccentric. The LanlingJin Sect discovered that he could use the remaining half of the seal to roughly piece together the other half. Even though the recreated version wasn’t as powerful and couldn’t be used for as long, it could already result in terrible catastrophes.Wei WuXian understood, "The LanlingJin needed to keep Xue Yang so that he could continue to restore the Stygian Tiger Seal, so they had to protect him."Perhaps, Xue Yang destroying the Chang Clan wasn’t entirely to avenge what they did to him when he was young. He might have been testing on this clan of live humans what exactly was the extent of the restored Stygian Tiger Seal’s powers!No wonder the rumors connected the case to him. Wei WuXian could almost imagine those cultivators clenching their teeth, "That Wei WuXian! If he didn’t make this, our world wouldn’t have encountered so many disasters!!!"Returning to the original thread of conversation, they continued about what happened at the Jinling Tower.Although the LanlingJin Sect was determined on protecting Xue Yang, Xiao XingChen didn’t waver either. As the stalemate continued, they finally startled ChiFeng-Zun, Nie MingJue, who didn’t intend on participating in the Discussion Conference. He hurried over to Jinling Tower from far away.In spite of Nie MingJue being a junior to Jin GuangShan, he conducted himself in a strict manner and refused to tolerate Xue Yang no matter what. With an angry lecture, Jin GuangShan was left with no words and a great deal of embarrassment. Nie MingJue, as the irritable person he was, unsheathed his saber on the spot with the intention of killing Xue Yang. Even when his sworn younger brother LianFang-Zun, Jin GuangYao, attempted to ease the situation, he ordered him to leave. After a harsh scolding, Jin GuangYao hid behind Lan XiChen, not daring to say anything else. In the end, the LanlingJin Sect could only give in.Ever since Xue Yang was brought to Jinling Tower by Xiao XingChen, he hadn’t been scared at all. Even when Nie MingJue’s saber was pressed against his neck, he still had a grin on his face. Before he was taken away, he spoke affectionately to Xiao XingChen, "Daozhang, you wouldn’t forget me, would you? Let’s wait and see."At this point, Wei WuXian knew that the "wait and see" would make Xiao XingChen pay an agonizing price.The LanlingJin Sect was indeed the sect with the thickest face. Although, on Jinling Tower, it promised in front of all of the sects that Xue Yang would be executed, when it left Nie MingJue’s sight, it immediately shut Xue Yang into the dungeons and changed the original decision to a life sentence. Hearing about the matter, Nie MingJue was enraged and pressed on them again. The LanlingJin Sect rambled about, refusing to give him Xue Yang no matter how hard he tried. All of the other sects watched them from the sidelines, but, shortly afterward, Nie MingJue passed away from Qi deviation.He cultivated at a faster speed than any other past leader of the Nie Sect, and also died sooner than any of them.Now that the person who was most difficult to deal with was gone, the LanlingJin Sect became more and more reckless and started to think of worse ideas. Jin GuangShan started to try as hard as he could to get Xue Yang out of the dungeons so that he could continue to restore and examine the Stygian Tiger Seal.However, this wasn’t exactly something to be proud of. It was impossible for him to save the murderer of an entire clan from the dungeons without a valid reason.So, they turned their attention to Chang Ping.From coercion to harassment, in the end, the LanlingJin Sect finally pressured Chang Ping into correcting his words, invalidating all of his past speeches. He announced that the wiping out of the Chang Clan had nothing to do with Xue Yang.Hearing the news, Xiao XingChen visited him to inquire upon the matter. Chang Ping responded helplessly, "What can I do aside from this? If I don’t tolerate it, the rest of our clan’s people wouldn’t be safe for long. I’m really grateful, Daozhang, but… please don’t help me anymore. Now, helping me would be harming me. I don’t want the YueyangChang Sect to end yet."And thus, the tiger had been set free back to the mountains.Wei WuXian stayed silent.If he were Chang Ping, he wouldn’t have cared how prominent or powerful the LanlingJin Sect was, or how much glory the road ahead offered him, and he wouldn’t have let the matter go. Instead, he would’ve went to the dungeons on his own, cut Xue Yang up so that he was nothing more than a puddle of flesh on the ground, and summoned his soul back to repeat the process to the point that he regretted ever being born in this world.But, not everyone was like him, preferring to perish together with his enemy. Some of the Chang Clan’s people were still alive. Chang Ping was also still young, single, and childless, having just took his first few steps on the path of cultivation. No matter if he was threatened with the lives of his remaining family members or his own future and cultivation, he had to think carefully.Of course, he wasn’t Chang Ping himself. He couldn’t be angered or worried in place of Chang Ping, and he couldn’t bear Chang Ping’s share of mental and physical torment.After Xue Yang had been released, he started to take revenge again. However, this time, the revenge wasn’t on Xiao XingChen himself.Xiao XingChen left the mountain alone and had no family. He only had a friend that he met afterward, named Song Lan. Song Lan was also a cultivator of the time. He was a righteous, determined person and had a fair amount of appraisal. Both of them wanted to build a sect that valued common ideals instead of blood ties, which made them the closest and most like-minded of friends. The people of the time described them as such—Xiao XingChen the bright moon and gentle breeze; Song ZiChen the distant snow and cold frost.Xue Yang put his hands to this side. Repeating his past technique, he wiped out the Baixue Temple where Song Lan grew up and studied at, and used poison to blind Song Lan’s eyes.This time, with his experience of wiping out a sect, he made sure to not leave any evidence. Although everybody knew that he was the one who did it, what would be the use of that? There wasn’t any evidence. And, with Jin GuangShan’s deliberate protection and the death of the violent ChiFeng-Zun, nobody could do anything about him.Wei WuXian found this a bit strange. Although Lan WangJi looked as if he didn’t care about anything, from Wei WuXian’s past experiences with him, he absolutely couldn’t stand wrongdoings, possibly even more than Nie HuaiSang’s brother. Back then, the LanlingJin Sect had some dishonest ways of doing things, and Lan WangJi never bothered to be subtle about them. Even until now, he always refused to go to their sect’s Discussion Conferences. If two cruel massacres happened, the news would’ve probably spread over the entire cultivational world and Lan WangJi definitely wouldn’t have turned a blind eye to them. Why did he not go and give Xue Yang what he deserved?Just as he was about to ask, he remembered the scars that the discipline whip gave him.One lash of the discipline whip would already be quite severe. If Lan WangJi made some sort of a grave mistake and received so many lashes, he had probably been grounded for a few years. It was likely that he was either going through his punishment or waiting for his wounds to heal during the years when the incidents happened. No wonder he said had only "heard" about what happened.For some reason, in his heart, Wei WuXian cared quite a lot about those scars. However, it was inconvenient for him to ask directly, so he had to hold his thoughts for now, "Then, what happened to the Daozhang Xiao XingChen afterwards?"What happened afterward was certainly a tragic ending. When he left the mountain and his teacher, Xiao XingChen vowed that he would never go back again. He was a man of his words, but since Song Lan was not only blind but also badly injured, he broke his vow and carried Song Lan back to BaoShan SanRen’s residence, asking her to save his friend.For the sake that they were once teacher and pupil, BaoShan SanRen agreed. Thus, Xiao XingChen left the mountain once more, and he was never seen again.A year later, Song Lan Song Lan originally wanted to seek revenge on Xue Yang. At this time, Jin GuangShan had already passed away. Jin GuangYao took over the LanlingJin Sect and the position of Sect Leader. To show that things were going to be different, the first thing he did after he came to power was to get rid of Xue Yang. Aside from never mentioning the Stygian Tiger Seal again, he also made amends to restore the sect’s reputation, suppressing the rumors. Song Lan went to search for his past friend’s whereabouts. At first, people still heard talk about where he traveled to. After some time, he also disappeared. Moreover, the YueyangChang Sect was a small clan that was generally unheard of. And thus, a lot of things gradually faded away.Having finished listening to the long story, Wei WuXian sighed softly. A feeling of regret sprouted inside him, Meeting such an end because of something not related to him at all, it really was… If Xiao XingChen was born a few years earlier or if I died a few years later, things wouldn’t have had to be like this. If I was alive, how would I have not taken part in the matter? How would I have not made friends with such a person?Immediately afterward, he laughed at himself bitterly, I would’ve done something? What could I have done? If I was still alive back then, perhaps the YueyangChang Sect’s case didn’t even need to be investigated before everyone decided that I did it. If the Daozhang Xiao XingChen bumped into me on the streets and I chatted with him, invite him to drink together, it’s likely that he’d hit me with his horsetail whisk, haha.They had already walked past the Chang Residence, toward a cemetery nearby. Wei WuXian saw the dark-red character of "Chang" on the pailou and asked, "Then, why did Chang Ping die afterward? Who killed the remaining members of his clan?"Before Lan WangJi could answer, a series of bangs came from amid the blue-tinted dusk.The noise sounded a lot like slamming on doors, but it wasn’t. The bangs were carried out with force and at a fast pace, without a moment of rest. They sounded somewhat muffled, as if there was something separating them from the outside world.Their faces immediately changed.The fifty-or-so people of the YueyangChang Sect were currently lying in their coffins, slamming on their coffin lids from the inside. It was at night they were frightened to death—they madly slammed on the doors, but there wasn’t anyone to let them out.This was the slamming on coffins in the Chang Clan’s cemetery that the liquor shop’s waiter talked about!However, the waiter said that the haunting was ten years ago and stopped long before now. Why would the slamming happen to start again when they came?Without passing any words between them, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi both softened their breathing, stealthily moving without making a sound.Propping themselves against the pillars of the pailou, they both saw that, in the center of the cemetery, there was a hole amid the tombstones.It was a deep, recently-created hole with piles of dirt surrounding it. Faint noises came from within the hole.Someone was digging out a grave.The two of them held their breaths, attentively waiting for the person in the hole to come out on their own.Before an hour passed, two people hopped up from inside the opened grave.Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi could tell that these were two people only because they had good vision. These two appeared as if they were conjoined twins. One carrying the other on their back, they were tightly connected together. With both of them wearing entirely black clothes, it was extremely hard to tell the two apart.The person that hopped up had long legs and long arms, standing with his back toward them. The one that he carried seemed lifeless, their head and limbs hanging down. This was only natural. Since the person was dug out from a grave, then it must have been dead. Lifeless was what should’ve been expected of it.As he thought, the gravedigger suddenly spun around and saw them.There was a mass of thick, black mist over the man’s face, making it so that nobody could see how their face and features looked!Wei WuXian knew that he must have casted some sort of strange spell to block his face. Lan WangJi had already unsheathed Bichen, darted into the cemetery, and started the fight. The gravedigger’s reaction was extremely quick. Seeing the attack of Bichen’s blue sword glare, he made a hand seal and also summoned a sword glare. The sword glare was the same as his face, surrounded by dense mist, and made it so that it was impossible to see what its color and style was. With a corpse on his back, the gravedigger fought in a strange way. The two sword glares clashed a few times. Lan WangJi summoned Bichen back and held it in his hand, a layer of frost climbing over his face.Wei WuXian knew why his face suddenly turned cold. It was because, during the fight, even an outsider like him could tell that the gravedigger was extremely familiar with Lan WangJi’s sword moves!Lan WangJi said nothing. Bichen’s attacks were deeper and deeper, attacking with tremendous force. The gravedigger fell back a few times. As if he knew that, with a dead person on his back, he wouldn’t be able to win against Lan WangJi and, if they continued to fight, he’d be captured alive, he suddenly fished out a dark-blue talisman from his waist.A Transportation Talisman!This type of talisman could instantly transport someone to hundreds of miles away, but it also expended a great amount of spiritual energy. It would take a long time for the user to regain their energy. Those with spiritual energy that wasn’t powerful enough wouldn’t be able to use them. Thus, although they were of very high quality, it was rare for anybody to use them. Seeing that he was about to escape, Wei WuXian hurriedly clapped twice, got down on one knee, and slammed his fist on the ground.The strength of his punch passed through layers of dirt, reached the depths of the soil, and penetrated the thick coffin lids, provoking the corpses trapped inside. With crackling noises, four bloodied arms shot up from the ground, grabbing both of the gravedigger’s legs!The gravedigger seemed as if he didn’t care at all. He poured his spiritual energy toward the bottom of his legs, blasting the four corpse hands away. Wei WuXian pulled out his bamboo flute. A shrill, piercing melody ripped open the curtain of darkness that had fallen. Two human heads emerged from the ground along with their bodies, climbing upward from the gravedigger’s legs and winding around his body as if they were snakes. Opening their mouths, they prepared to bite down at his neck and arms.The gravedigger snorted with disdain, as if he was saying "what a petty trick", and sent spiritual energy throughout his body. Yet, this time, only after he released his energy did he realize that he had been fooled.He sent the corpse that he carried on his back flying off as well!Wei WuXian laughed uncontrollably as he smacked the tombstone, while Lan WangJi caught the flaccid corpse with one hand and attacked with Bichen using the other. Seeing that what he had just dug out had been snatched away, that he couldn’t even win solo against Lan WangJi, let alone the mischief of another person, he didn’t dare to stay any longer. He hurling the Transportation Talisman on the ground. After a loud noise, blue flames surged up toward his sky. His figure disappeared into the fire.Wei WuXian knew that the gravedigger had a Transportation Talisman on him, which meant that, even if they caught him, he could find an opportunity to escape. The corpse that he dug out was already a clue, so he didn’t have any regrets. He walked over to Lan WangJi, "Let’s see who he dug out."As he glanced at it, he was somewhat surprised. The head of the corpse had already been split open. From within the cut, there wasn’t any blood or brains leaking out, but wads of blackened cotton.Wei WuXian easily jerked the corpse’s head off. With the delicately-crafted dummy head, he sope, "What is this supposed to mean? There’s a fake corpse made of cotton and rags buried in the Chang Clan’s cemetery?"Having had weighed the corpse in his hands when he took it, Lan WangJi knew what was wrong, "Not all of it is fake."Wei WuXian felt the corpse from head to toe and discovered that, aside from its drooping limbs, only its chest and abdomen felt firm and real. After he tore off the clothes, as he expected, he found that only the torso was real. All of the other body parts were fake.The head and limbs made from cotton were to "deceive" the torso, so that it still thought it was attached to its owner’s body. Seeing from the skin tone and the part where the left shoulder cut off, this must be the torso of the dear friend. The gravedigger was here for this.Wei WuXian straightened up, "It looks like that the person who hid the corpse already noticed that we’re investigating the issue and came to transfer the torso somewhere else in case we find it. To come early isn’t as good as to come in time. We just happened to bump into him, haha. But," with a change of tone, he continued, "Why was the mist-faced gravedigger so familiar with your sect’s sword style?"It was obvious that Lan WangJi was also thinking about this matter, the coldness on his face yet to fade. Wei WuXian spoke again, "His cultivation is quite high, enough to support the energy used for one Transportation Talisman. He casted spells on both his face and sword. It’s understandable that he casted a spell on his face—after all, he wouldn’t have wanted to be seen. But most lesser-known cultivators wouldn’t have needed to cast a spell on their sword to cover it, unless, of course, it was either somewhat or very famous in the cultivation world. He’d then have had to cover it, because if everyone could recognize his sword glare, his identity would be revealed as soon as his sword was revealed."Wei WuXian asked suggestively, "HanGuang-Jun, from your fight before, do you think that he’s someone you know really well?"It’d be inconvenient for him to be more specific, such as Lan XiChen or Lan QiRen.Lan WangJi answered assuredly, "No."Wei WuXian was quite confident in Lan WangJi’s answer. To him, Lan WangJi wasn’t the kind of person who’d hide or run away from the truth. If he denied it, that meant it must have been wrong. He didn’t like to lie, either. In Wei WuXian’s opinion, if someone asked Lan WangJi to lie, he’d rather silence himself and not talk at all. Thus, Wei WuXian immediately excluded the possibility of the gravedigger being these two.Lan WangJi put the torso into another double-layered Qiankun Pouch and put it away properly. The two walked around for a while and wandered back to the street of the liquor shop.The young waiter was true to his words. Most of the other liquor shops on this street had closed already, but their banner was still up and their lights were still on. The waiter was outside, eating from a large bowl. Seeing them, he beamed, "You’re back! We kept our word, didn’t we? Did you two see anything?"Wei WuXian laughed as he answered. With Lan WangJi, he walked back to the table they sat during the day.With liquor jars crowding on the table and by his feet, he spoke, "Right, what were we talking about? Suddenly interrupted by the gravedigger, I still don’t know how Chang Ping died."Lan WangJi continued the explanation with simple, direct words.Xue Yang, Xiao XingChen, and Song Lan left one by one. Some disappearing, some passing away. Quite a few years after the incident passed, one day, Chang Ping and the remainder of his clan’s members died overnight due to lingchi. Moreover, Chang Ping’s eyes were dug out.This time, nobody could find out who the murderer was. After all, everyone apart of it had vanished. However, there was one thing that could be determined.From the wounds, it could be verified that the sword that was used to lingchi them had been Xiao XingChen’s sword, Shuanghua.The bowl of liquor that Wei WuXian was holding stopped in front of his mouth. He was shocked by this turn of events, "He was lingchi-ed by Xiao XingChen’s sword? Then was he the one who did it?"Lan WangJi, "Xiao XingChen had disappeared. There were no conclusive evidence."Wei WuXian, "If he couldn’t be found alive, then has anyone tried soul-summoning?"Lan WangJi, "Yes. Nothing was found."Nothing was found. He either didn’t die, or his soul had dissolved. As a someone who specialized in the area, Wei WuXian had to comment on the matter, "Things like soul-summoning, you can’t rely on them too much. Time, place, and person all play a part in it, so of course it’d sometimes go wrong. I’m guessing that a lot of people think that it was Xiao XingChen’s revenge? HanGuang-Jun, what about you? What do you think?Lan WangJi slowly shook his head, "One should not comment without understanding the whole picture."Wei WuXian admired his attitude and principles a lot. Grinning as he drank another gulp of liquor, he heard Lan WangJi speak again, "What about you?"Wei WuXian, "Lingchi is a type of torture. Its meaning involves "punishment", anyways. Digging out the eyes also makes it quite hard not to associate it with Xiao XingChen, who also dug out his eyes. Thus, there’s nothing wrong with these people guessing that it was Xiao XingChen’s revenge. However," he thought about how to phrase it, "I think that, in the beginning, Xiao XingChen never asked for Chang Ping’s gratitude when he first stepped in. I…"Before he finished thinking of what should follow the "I", the waiter eagerly brought over two dishes of peanuts. Having been interrupted, Wei WuXian didn’t need to continue anymore. He looked up at Lan WangJi and smiled, "HanGuang-Jun, why are you looking at me like this? I’m not saying anything. Just like you, I don’t understand the whole picture, so I’m not going to comment either. You’re right. Before knowing all of the turns and twists, causes and effects, nobody should presume anything about anything. I only ordered five jars, but you bought five more jars for me, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to finish all of them by myself. How about if you drink with me? This isn’t the Cloud Recesses, so it doesn’t violate anything, right?"He had already prepared himself to be bluntly rejected, but who knew that Lan WangJi replied, "I will drink."Wei WuXian clicked his tongue, "HanGuang-Jun, you really have changed. Before, I drank a tiny jar in front of you, and you got so mad. You even threw me off the wall and hit me. Now, though, you’re hiding jars of Emperor’s Smile in your room and secretly drinking."Fixing his collars, he answered in a calm voice, "I did not touch any jar of Emperor’s Smile."Wei WuXian, "Why did you hide them if you’re not drinking anything? Saving them for me? Fine, fine. You didn’t touch them. I’ll believe you, okay? Let’s talk about something else. Come. I really need to see just how many cups would it take to make an abstinent disciple of the GusuLan Sect drunk."He poured a bowl for Lan WangJi. Without any thought, Lan WangJi took it over and drank up. Wei WuXian was unusually excited, staring at his face to see when it would turn red. Yet, even after he stared for a while, neither Lan WangJi’s face color or expression changed, staring at him calmly with light-colored eyes. There wasn’t any change at all!Wei WuXian was extremely disappointed. As he was about to urge him for another jar, suddenly, Lan WangJi frowned and lightly rubbed at between his brows. After a few moments, with a hand supporting his forehead, he closed his eyes.… He fell asleep?… He fell asleep!After most people drank so much liquor, they should become drunk first, and then sleep. How could Lan WangJi skip the step of getting drunk and go to sleep immediately?!"Drunken" was the part that he wanted to see!Wei WuXian waved at Lan WangJi, whose face remained serious even after he was asleep, then clapped beside his ears. There was no reaction.Lan WangJi was surprisingly the type who collapses after just one bowl.Wei WuXian didn’t expect this sort of situation to happen at all. Thinking as he shook his legs, he put Lan WangJi’s right arm around his arm, and dragged him out of the liquor shop.He had already familiarized himself with the action of fishing things from Lan WangJi. After taking out the pouch containing money, he found an inn and asked for two rooms. He carried Lan WangJi to one of the rooms, took off his boots, tucked him in, and slipped into the night.Stopping at a desolated area, Wei WuXian took out his flute by his waist, placed it by his lips, and played a melody. After this, he waited silently.In these past few days, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi spent their days and nights together. He didn’t have any alone time, so he couldn’t summon Wen Ning. Aside from hiding his identity in the beginning, there was another reason.Wen Ning had killed the GusuLan Sect’s people before. Even if Lan WangJi treated Wei WuXian well, he couldn’t summon Wen Ning right in front of him. Or, perhaps, it was because Lan WangJi treated him well that he didn’t have the face to summon Wen Ning in front of him. No matter how thick his face was, this wasn’t the time to have a thick face.Before he knew it, the eerie jingling noises sounded again.With his head lowered, Wen Ning’s figure appeared from the shadows of the city wall ahead.He wore all black, melting into the darkness surrounding him. Only his pupil-less eyes were a glaring, hideous white.Wei WuXian put his hands behind him and slowly paced around Wen Ning.Wen Ning shifted, as if wanting to follow his steps and walk in circles as well. Wei WuXian commanded, "Stand properly."He complied and stopped moving. It seemed as if his delicate features appeared even more dejected.Wei WuXian, "Hand."Wen Ning extended his right arm. Wei WuXian grabbed his wrist and lifted it up, closely examining the iron cuff and chain locked onto it.This wasn’t an ordinary chain. When Wen Ning flipped out, he became extremely violent, capable of twisting iron into sludge, so he wouldn’t have let it drag around like this. It was likely that this was a set of chains created especially to restrain Wen Ning.Turned to ashes?Trying as hard as they could to restore a damaged piece of Stygian Tiger Seal, of course some sects salivated at the Ghost General as well. How would they have been willing to turn him to ashes?With a bitter laugh, he stood by Wen Ning’s side. After considering for a moment, he started to press his fingers into Wen Ning’s hair.The person who kept and restrained Wen Ning must have prevented him from thinking on his own. To make him listen to other people’s orders, Wen Ning’s sanity must have been destroyed, which meant that they must’ve planted something inside his head. As he had expected, after pushing around a few times, Wei WuXian found a hard nib on an acupoint of the right side of his head. He put his other hand on the left side of Wen Ning’s head and found the same thing, resembling the end of a needle.Wei WuXian pinched both needle ends at the same time and gradually pulled two black, long nails from within Wen Ning’s skull.The two nails buried deep inside of Wen Ning were around an inch long and as thick as the red strings used for jade pendants. As soon as the nails left his head, Wen Ning’s features quivered faintly. A layer of black lines that resembled strands of blood climbed across the whites of Wen Ning’s eyes. It seemed as if he was trying hard to endure the pain.How strange was it that, although he had died, he could still experience feelings of "pain".Judging from the intricate, complex lines carved onto the nails, it must have came from a unique source. Their creator was fairly skilled. It’d take quite some time for Wen Ning to heal completely. Putting them away, Wei WuXian looked down at the chains on Wen Ning’s wrists and ankles, thinking to himself that it’d be a bit inconvenient for them to hang around and make noise. He’d need to use a cultivational sword to cut them off.The first that he thought of was, of course, Lan WangJi’s Bichen. Although it somewhat unbefitting to use the sword of someone from the Lan Sect to cut off Wen Ning’s chains, it was the best cultivational sword that he could get his hands on. He really couldn’t let Wen Ning drag so many burdensome things behind him.Wei WuXian thought to himself, Okay. I’ll go back to the inn first. If Lan Zhan is awake, then I won’t do anything. If Lan Zhan is still asleep, I’ll quickly borrow Bichen for a while.Having made his decision, he turned around. However, what he didn’t expect was that Lan WangJi was standing right behind him.<h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 31 Dew—Part Four</h3>After he summoned Wen Ning, Wei WuXian’s state of mind was somewhat confused, so it was hard for him to be continuously alert. And, if Lan WangJi didn’t want someone to notice his arrival, he could do it without any difficulty. Thus, as he turned around and saw the even colder face under the moonlight, his heart almost skipped a beat.He didn’t know how long Lan WangJi had been here for or if he had seen and heard what he was doing. If Lan WangJi had never been drunk in the beginning and followed him all the way here, the situation would be even more awkward, especially with him not saying anything to Lan WangJi’s face and sneaking out to summon Wen Ning after Lan WangJi fell asleep.Lan WangJi crossed his arms in front of him and held Bichen in them. His expression was particularly stiff. Wei WuXian had never seen him with such an obviously displeased expression on his face before. He felt that he needed to speak first and explain the situation, ease the atmosphere, "Ahem, HanGuang-Jun."Lan WangJi did not reply.Standing in front of Wen Ning, Wei WuXian stared across at Lan WangJi. He touched his chin and, for some reason, felt exceptionally guilty.Lan WangJi finally let down the hands that held Bichen and walked a few steps forward. Seeing that he went toward Wen Ning with a sword in his hand, Wei WuXian thought that he was going to kill Wen Ning, Oh no. Don’t tell me that Lan Zhan really pretended to be drunk so that he could kill Wen Ning after I summon him. Of course. Nobody actually gets drunk after just a bowl.He blurted, "HanGuang-Jun, listen to me…"With a loud smack, Lan WangJi hit Wen Ning.Although it sounded quite strong, it didn’t actually do any damage. Wen Ning only staggered a few steps backward after the blow. He wobbled a bit and regained his balance, standing properly again with a blank face.Wen Ning wasn’t in a state as easily angered as when he flipped out in the past, but his temper wasn’t too good either. During the night at Dafan Mountain, nobody could lay a sword on him before everyone was knocked down—he even held someone by his neck. If Wei WuXian didn’t stop him, he would’ve strangled every single one of the people at the scene. Yet, although Lan WangJi smacked him once, his head was still lowered, appearing as if he didn’t dare to resist. Wei WuXian thought that this was a bit strange, but he nevertheless felt relieved. If Wen Ning returned the strike and the two started fighting, it’d be even harder to intervene.As if he didn’t think one smack was enough to express his rage, Lan WangJi pushed Wen Ning to about thirty feet away.He spoke to Wen Ning in an annoyed voice, "Go away."Wei WuXian finally noticed that something was wrong.Both the smack and the push, both his speech and actions were unusually… childish.After he pushed Wen Ning so that he was far away enough, Lan WangJi seemed as if he was finally satisfied. He turned around walked over to Wei WuXian.Wei WuXian looked at him scrutinizingly.There wasn’t anything wrong with Lan WangJi’s face and expression.. He was even more serious, proper, flawless than usual. His face wasn’t flushed, his breathing wasn’t short. He walked around steadily with confidence. It looked like that he was still the calm, righteous cultivator, HanGuang-Jun.But, as he looked down, he found that Lan WangJi’s boots were put on the wrong feet.Before he left, he took Lan WangJi’s boots off and tossed them beside the bed. And, now, Lan WangJi’s left boot was on his right foot, while his right boot was on his left foot.HanGuang-Ju, the prominent cultivator who valued manners greatly, would never have went outside with his clothes like this.Wei WuXian asked tentatively, "HanGuang-Jun, what number is this?"He made the number two with his fingers. Lan WangJi didn’t answer and reached his hands out. With one on the left and one on the right, he solemnly wrapped his hands around both of Wei WuXian’s fingers.With a clang, Bichen fell to the ground due to its master’s negligence.Wei WuXian, "…"This definitely wasn’t the normal Lan Zhan!Wei WuXian, "HanGuang-Jun, are you drunk?"Lan WangJi, "No."Drunk people usually didn’t admit that they were drunk. Wei WuXian took his fingers back. Lan WangJi attentively maintained his gesture of how he grasped Wei WuXian’s fingers, with both of his hands in loose fists. Wei WuXian was utterly speechless. Standing amid the chilly night breeze, he removed his gaze from Lan WangJi, and looked up at the moon.Most people became drunk before they slept, while Lan WangJi slept before he became drunk. And, when he was drunk, he looked no different from how he usually was, which was why it was hard to tell.In the past, Wei WuXian had countless friends to drink with. He had seen hundreds and thousands of ways people acted when they were drunk. Some wailed loudly, others giggled idiotically, some flounced about, others collapsed immediately, some were determined in taking their own lives, others whimpered, "Why are you leaving me?" However, this was his first time seeing someone like Lan WangJi, who didn’t make any noise, looked decent, yet acted strangely.The corners of his lips twitched. Trying not to laugh, he picked up Bichen from the ground and carried into onto his back, "Okay. Let’s go back."He definitely couldn’t let Lan WangJi roam around outside like this. Who knew what else he could do.Luckily, it seemed that Lan WangJi was also quite easy-going when he was drunk. With an elegant nod, they went off. If someone passed by, they would’ve thought that these were two good friends strolling in the night and praised the refined act.Behind them, Wen Ning silently followed. Just as Wei WuXian was about to speak to him, Lan WangJi whirled around and angrily smacked him once more. This time, it was on Wen Ning’s head.Wen Ning’s head was even more lowered due to the smack. Even though his facial muscles were rigid and couldn’t make any sort of expressions, even though his eye whites couldn’t make any sort of gazes, for some reason, he still looked as if he had been wronged. Not knowing whether Lan WangJi spoke to Wen Ning in a threatening tone that he definitely wouldn’t have used if he was awake, "Go away!"Wei WuXian knew that he shouldn’t disobey someone who was drunk. He hurried, "Okay, okay. It’s up to you. I’ll make him go away if that’s what you want." As he spoke, he took out his bamboo flute. But, before he even placed the flute to his lips, Lan WangJi quickly grabbed it, "Do not play for him."Wei WuXian teased, "Why are you so pushy?"Lan WangJi repeated angrily, "Do not play for him!"Wei WuXian discovered that, although people who were drunk often had a lot of things to say, as Lan WangJi usually didn’t like to speak, he would repeatedly say the same words after he drank. Seeing that Lan WangJi had never been too fond of demonic techniques, he might have not liked how he used his flute to control Wen Ning. Anyway, he had to pet him in the direction of his fur, of course, "Alright. I’m only going to play for you, okay?"Lan WangJi announced his satisfaction with a mnn, but continued to play with the flute in his hands, unwilling to return it.Wei WuXian could only whistle. He spoke to Wen Ning, "Keep on hiding. Make sure nobody finds you."Wen Ning seemed as if he really wanted to follow, but having received his commands and being scared that Lan WangJi would hit him a few more times, he slowly turned around. Dragging the chains behind him, he walked away dejectedly.Wei WuXian turned to Lan WangJi, "Lan Zhan, now that you’re drunk, why doesn’t your face flush at all?"Since Lan WangJi looked too normal, almost even more normal than Wei WuXian, he couldn’t help but to talk to him as if he was talking to an ordinary person. Yet, unexpectedly, after Lan WangJi heard this, he reached out, grabbed his shoulder, and pulled him into his arms.Caught off guard, Wei WuXian’s head was slammed right into his chest.As he recovered from the dizziness, Lan WangJi’s voice came from above, "The heartbeats.""What?"Lan WangJi, "The face doesn’t show anything. Listen to the heartbeats."As he spoke, his chest vibrated from the low voice. A heart pulsated steadily and continuously. Thump, thump. It was a bit fast. Wei WuXian understood and looked up again, "I won’t be able to tell from your face, only if I listen to your heartbeat?"Lan WangJi answered sincerely, "Mnn."Wei WuXian bent over in laughter.Was Lan WangJi’s face so thick that the blush couldn’t even be seen? He wasn’t this sort of person, was he?And, Lan WangJi was so honest after he was drunk. His actions and comments were also… bolder!Since this was a rare occasion to see such an honest, open Lan WangJi, it would’ve been impossible for Wei WuXian to treat him with respect and not play any tricks.He hurried Lan WangJi back to the inn. Entering the room, he held him down on the bed and took off the boots that were put on wrong. Guessing that he probably didn’t know how to wash his own face in such a state, he took off Lan WangJi’s forehead ribbon, and brought in a basin of hot water along with a towel. Wringing the towel out, he folded it into a square and gently rubbed Lan WangJi’s face.During the process, Lan WangJi didn’t resist at all, obediently allowing his face to be kneaded in all kinds of directions. Aside from squinting when the towel went near his eyes, he stared at Wei WuXian without even blinking. Wei WuXian had a ton of amusing ideas inside his head. Seeing his clear gaze, he couldn’t help brushing a finger against Lan WangJi’s chin. He laughed, "Why are you looking at me? Am I good-looking?"He just happened to have finished cleansing. Before Lan WangJi could answer, Wei WuXian tossed the towel into the basin, "Your face is clean now. Do you want to have some water first?"Having heard no answer from behind him, he turned around only to see Lan WangJi holding the basin in his hands, his face already buried inside.Wei WuXian almost paled from the shock. He grabbed the basin and moved it away at once, "I didn’t mean the water in here!"Lan WangJi raised his head calmly. Transparent droplets of water rolled down his jaw, seeping into the front of his collars. Looking at him, Wei WuXian wasn’t sure how to describe what he was feeling right now, … Did he drink the water or did he not? Hopefully Lan Zhan doesn’t remember anything after he wakes up. Or else, for the rest of his life, he wouldn’t be able to face anyone.Wei WuXian used his sleeves to wipe off the drops of water on Lan WangJi’s jaw and put his arms around him, "HanGuang-Jun. Now, are you going to do whatever I tell you to do?"Lan WangJi, "Mnn."Wei WuXian, "You’ll answer whatever I ask you?"Wei WuXian put one knee on the bed and smirked, "Okay. Let me ask you. Have you… secretly tasted the Emperor’s Smile you hid in your room?"Lan WangJi, "No."Wei WuXian, "Do you like rabbits?"Lan WangJi, "Yes."Wei WuXian, "Have you ever violated any rules before?"Lan WangJi, "Yes."Wei WuXian, "Have you ever liked anyone?"Lan WangJi, "Yes."All of Wei WuXian’s questions were just for the sake of them, not that he really wanted to find out about Lan WangJi’s private matters. He simply wanted to know whether or not Lan WangJi would really answer whatever he asked. He continued, "How about Jiang Cheng?"A frown, "Hmph."Wei WuXian, "How about Wen Ning?"Indifference, "Huh."Wei WuXian grinned and pointed at himself, "How about this one?"Lan WangJi, "Mine.""…"Lan WangJi stared at him, slowly and articulately stating, "Mine."Wei WuXian suddenly understood.He took Bichen off his back, thinking to himself, When I pointed at myself, Lan Zhan probably thought that "this one" meant Bichen.He got off the bed and walked around the room with Bichen in his hand, from the left to the right, from the East to the West. As he had expected, Lan WangJi’s gaze closely followed wherever he walked, ever so sincere and straightforward, ever so blunt and bare.Wei WuXian’s legs almost gave out under Lan WangJi’s heated gaze. He lifted Bichen in front of his eyes, "Do you want it?"Lan WangJi, "I want it."As if he thought that this wasn’t enough to prove his desire, Lan WangJi grasped the hand that Wei WuXian held Bichen with and stared into his eyes with those light-colored pupils. Taking in a soft breath, he repeated his words, emphasizing every syllable, "… I want it."Wei WuXian knew that Lan WangJi was desperately drunk, that it wasn’t directed at him, yet those three words still crashed into him, taking away the strength in his arms and legs.He thought to himself, Lan Zhan, what a person… If he’s so sincere, enthusiastic towards a girl, then what a man he’d be!Recovering from the blow, Wei WuXian asked again, "How did you recognize me? Why did you help me?"Lan WangJi opened his mouth. Wei WuXian shifted a bit closer, wanting to hear his answer. However, Lan WangJi’s expression suddenly changed. With a shove, he pushed Wei WuXian onto the bed.The candlelight was snuffed out with a wave of his hand. Bichen was thrown onto the ground by its master again.Wei WuXian’s sight spun dizzily from the shove. He thought that Lan WangJi woke up, "Lan Zhan?!"A familiar place behind his back was tapped once. His entire body felt sore and numb and he couldn’t move at all, similar to the first night at the Cloud Recesses. Lan WangJi took his hand away, lay down beside him, and put the blanket over them, carefully tucking in the blanket corner on Wei WuXian’s side, "It is nine. Rest."So, after all, it was the scary bedtime routine of the Lan Sect.With the interrogation having been cut off, Wei WuXian stared at the ceiling, "Can’t we rest and chat at the same time?"Lan WangJi, "No."… Oh well. Someday, there’d be a chance to get Lan WangJi drunk again. The answer would be revealed sooner or later.Wei WuXian, "Lan Zhan. Remove it. I got us two rooms. We don’t need to be crammed in the same bed."After pausing for a moment, Lan WangJi’s hand came over and, after fumbling around in the blanket for a while, started to slowly untie the ribbons holding his clothes together. Wei WuXian exclaimed, "Okay! Enough! I didn’t mean for you to remove it in this sense!!! Alright!!! Sure! I’m lying down and I’m sleeping!!!"A dead silence filled the darkness.After keeping quiet for a while, Wei WuXian spoke again, "I finally understand why your sect prohibits liquor. You collapse after just one bowl and can’t tell good liquor from bad liquor. If everyone from the Lan Sect is like this when they’re drunk, you deserve to be prohibited from drinking. Anyone who drinks should be beaten up."With closed eyes, Lan WangJi raised his hand and covered Wei WuXian’s mouth.He shushed, "Shh."The breath that Wei WuXian was about to take got stuck between his chest and his mouth, unable to come up or go down.It seemed that, ever since he came back, whenever he decided to tease Lan WangJi like how he did in the past, he always suffered from his own actions.This shouldn’t have been the case! Where exactly did he go wrong?!<h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 32 Dew—Part Five</h3>This time, throughout the night, Wei WuXian didn’t shut his eyelids even once. With opened eyes, he managed to hold out until the second morning. After feeling the numbness pass and that his limbs were able to move again, he calmly took off his shirt inside the blanket and threw it under the bed.Then, he pulled off Lan WangJi’s sash belt and succeeded in yanking his shirt half-off. He originally wanted to completely take off his shirt, but after seeing the sear under Lan WangJi’s collarbone, Wei WuXian paused for a moment and stopped. Also remembering the Discipline Whip’s scars on his back, he knew that he shouldn’t go further and wanted to pull Lan WangJi’s clothes back again. Due to the delay, Lan WangJi seemed as if he felt cold. Shifting slightly, he opened his eyes with a frown on his face.As soon as his eyes were opened, he tumbled off the bed.It really wasn’t the elegant HanGuang-Jun’s fault that he was not elegant at all after the shock. Any man who woke up with a hangover the morning after, saw another man lying beside him wearing nothing and that his own shirt was only half-on, and found that both of them were skin-to-skin snuggling in the same bedsheets, wouldn’t have paid attention to be elegant.Wei WuXian partially covered his chest with the blanket, leaving only his smooth shoulders out. Lan WangJi, "You…"Wei WuXian purred, "Hmm?"Lan WangJi, "Last night, I…"Wei WuXian winked his left eye at Lan WangJi and smiled mysteriously, resting his chin on one hand, "You were so bold last night, Han GuangJun.""…"Wei WuXian, "Do you really remember nothing of the things that happened last night?"It seemed that Lan WangJi really didn’t remember. His face was already as pale as snow.It was fortunate that he didn’t remember. Or else, if Lan WangJi still remembered that he sneaked outside to summon Wen Ning during the night and asked about it, neither lying nor speaking truth would make the situation better.With so many cases failing to tease Lan WangJi and lifting a rock only to have it drop on his on foot, Wei WuXian finally found some of his past abilities. Although he wanted to continue his successful pursuit, Wei WuXian still wanted to lure Lan WangJi into drinking again in the future, so he probably shouldn’t go as far as to scar him for life, else Lan WangJi would be cautious the next time. Wei WuXian lifted the covers open and showed him the trousers and boots that he still had on, "What a man! HanGuang-Jun, it was only a joke. I just took off our clothes. You’re chastity is still there. You hadn’t been tainted. Don’t worry."Lan WangJi was still frozen on the spot and didn’t answer. A shattering sound came from the center of the room.The sound was quite familiar—it was already their second time hearing it. The Qiankun Pouches that had been on the table were becoming restless again, throwing the cups and teapots onto the ground. This time, with the three body parts together, it was even more wild. Last night, one of them was hopelessly drunk while the other was helplessly tormented, so of course they forgot all about the duet. Wei WuXian was worried that Lan WangJi was overly-shocked and would accidentally impale him onto the bed out of impulse. He hurried, "Serious business. Come, come. Let’s do serious business first."He wrapped a piece of clothing around him, hopped off the bed, and extended a hand toward Lan WangJi, who had just stood back up. He wanted to help him up, but it looked almost as if he wanted to rip his clothes. Lan WangJi still hadn’t come over the shock and stepped backward, only to stagger from something under his foot. Looking down, it was Bichen, which had been lying on the ground ever since last night.And, at this point, one of the ropes that tied the pouches had come loose. Half of an ashen arm had already crawled out of the tiny opening. Wei WuXian put his hand into Lan WangJi’s semi-opened clothes and searched around, fishing a flute out of the other’s arms, "HanGuang-Jun, don’t be scared, alright? I’m not going to do anything to you. It’s just that you took away my flute last night. I need to have it back." After the comment, he even considerately pulled Lan WangJi’s collars back up and tied his sash belt properly.Lan WangJi looked at him with a complicated expression, as if he really wanted to ask about the details of what happened after he was drunk. However, he was used to finishing important tasks first, so, suppressing his questions, he put on a serious expression and took out the seven-stringed guqin. Of the three Qiankun Pouches, one held the left arm, another held the legs, and the last held the torso. The three parts could already form a large portion of the body. They influenced the others and the resentful energy multiplied, making them harder to deal with than before. The agitation only ceased after the two played Restthree consecutive times.Wei WuXian put away his flute. He was about to gather up the body parts that rolled all over the ground when he suddenly commented, "Our dear friend hadn’t been missing his workouts."The sash belt of burial robe on the torso had already loosened. The collars opened to reveal the strong, solid body of a man in the prime of his life. With broad shoulders and a thin waist in addition to the sharply contoured abdominal muscles, it was the masculine body figure that countless men dreamed to have. Staring at it from every direction, Wei WuXian couldn’t help smacking those abs a few times, "HanGuang-Jun, look at him. If he were alive and I hit him, the impact would’ve bounced back and hurt myself. Just how on Earth did he train?"The tips of Lan WangJi’s brows seemed to twitch, but he said nothing. Yet, unexpectedly, Wei WuXian smacked on it two more times. Lan WangJi finally took over the Qiankun Pouches, his face remaining expressionless, and silently started to seal the corpses. Wei WuXian made way for him at once. Quickly afterward, Lan WangJi finished sealing back all of the body parts and even tied quite a few dead knots over each one. Wei WuXian didn’t think too much of it. He looked down at the figure of his current body, raised his brows, and tied his sash belt again, appearing to be properly dressed again.Looking to the side, he saw that Lan WangJi still glanced at him after he put away the Qiankun Pouches, his eyes full of hesitance. Wei WuXian purposely spoke, "HanGuang-Jun, why are you looking at me like this? Are you still worried? Trust me. I really didn’t do anything to you last night. Of course, you didn’t do anything to me either."Lan WangJi thought for a few moments. As if he finally made a decision, he lowered his voice, "Last night, other than taking your flute, I…"Wei WuXian, "You? What else did you do? Nothing much, really. You just said a lot of things."The Adam’s apple on Lan WangJi’s snow-colored neck bobbed slightly, "… What sort of things?"Wei WuXian, "Nothing too important. Pretty much, mnn, for example, you really like…"Lan WangJi’s gaze froze.Wei WuXian, "You really like rabbits.""…"Lan WangJi closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. Wei WuXian added in consideration, "It’s okay! Rabbits are so cute—who doesn’t like rabbits? I also like them, as in, I like to eat them hahahahahaha! Here, HanGuang-Jun. You drank so much last night… Uh, not really. You were so drunk last night, so you’re probably not feeling that good right now. You can wash your face, have some water, then rest for a while before we set off again. This time, it’s pointing at the Southwest. I’ll go buy some breakfast downstairs and not bother you any As he was about to go, Lan WangJi spoke coldly, "Wait."Wei WuXian turned around, "What?"Lan WangJi stared at him fixedly. Finally, he asked, "Do you have money?"Wei WuXian grinned, "Yes! You didn’t think that I don’t know where you keep your money, did you? I’ll grab some breakfast for you too, alright? HanGuang-Jun, you can take it slow. We’re not in a hurry."He left the room and closed the door behind him. In the hallway, he bent over and silently laughed for quite a long while.Lan WangJi seemed as if he had received a major shock. He shut himself inside the room and didn’t come out for a long period of time. As he waited, Wei WuXian sauntered downstairs, left the inn, and strolled around the area, buying some snacks along the way. He sat down on a set of stairs and bathed in the sunlight as he ate. After having sat there for a while, a group of thirteen-, fourteen-year-old children ran across the street.The child in the front ran as if he flew, holding a long string in his hand. At the end of the string, a kite danced up and down in the air. The children behind him had toy bow and arrows, shouting as they chased and shot at the kite.Wei WuXian also loved to play this game when he was young. Archery was a required skill for all disciples from prominent sects. However, most of them didn’t enjoy shooting properly at a target. Aside from shooting evil beings during night-hunts, shooting kites was what they loved the most. Everyone had one; whoever flew the highest, furthest, and shot the most accurate was the winner. This game was originally only popular among the younger disciples of cultivational sects. After it became known to the public, the children of ordinary families also loved it, though, of course, the damage from one of their little arrows was nothing compared to those of the skilled disciples’.Back when Wei WuXian lived in the Lotus Pier and played shooting kites with the Jiang Sect’s disciples, he won a lot of first places. Jiang Cheng, on the other hand, had always been second. His kites were either flown too far away to shoot down or near enough to shoot but not as far as Wei WuXian’s. Their kite was almost twice the other people’s kites, made into the shape of a flying beast. It had bright, exaggerated colors, a large, gaping mouth, and a few sharp tails that flapped in the wind. From a distance, it was exceptionally vibrant and lively, not quite terrifying, but almost a bit silly. The framework had been assembled by Jiang FengMian himself, then given to Jiang YanLi to paint. This was why, whenever they took the kite out to compete, they both felt a sense of pride.Thinking of this, Wei WuXian’s lips shaped into a smile. He couldn’t help but raised his head to see how the kite that the children were flying looked. It was entirely golden, a round mass of some sort. He pondered to himself, What is this thing? A pancake? Or some beast that I don’t know about?Suddenly, a gust of wind blew over. The kite wasn’t that high in the first place and it wasn’t in an open space, so it was immediately knocked off. One child cried out, "Oh no, the sun fell!"Wei WuXian understood at once. These children were probably playing a game in imitation of the Sunshot Campaign.They were in the area of Yueyang. When the QishanWen Sect was at the peak of its prosperity, it abused its powers everywhere. And, since Yueyang wasn’t far from Qishan, the people here must have suffered greatly, having been either troubled by their unleashed beasts or bullied by their arrogant cultivators. After the Sunshot Campaign ended, the Wen Sect was annihilated by the combined forces of other sects, the hundred-years-old foundation instantly crumbling down. Around the area of Qishan, a lot of places enjoyed activities that celebrated the Wen Sect’s destruction, which almost turned into traditions. This game was probably one of them.The children stopped the chase and, gathering together in contemplation, started to discuss, "What do we do? We didn’t even shoot the sun, and it fell off by itself. Now who’s the leader?"Someone raised a hand, "Me, of course! I’m Jin GuangYao. I killed the Wen Sect’s big villain!"Sitting on the stairs leading to the inn, Wei WuXian watched them with keen interest.In these types of games, the head of all cultivators, LianFang-Zun, who was currently the most successful of all, was of course the most popular character. Although his family background was a bit disgraceful, the fact that he later climbed to such a rank was precisely why people respected him. During the Sunshot Campaign, he skillfully worked undercover for the QishanWen Sect, deceiving all of the Wen Sect’s people to a point that a tremendous amount of information were disclosed, yet they knew nothing. After the Sunshot Campaign, with flattery, wit, and countless other methods, he finally became the Chief Cultivator, fully deserving of the title. Such a life could even be considered a legend. If he was playing, he’d also want to try being Jin GuangYao. Choosing this boy to be the leader would very reasonable choice!Someone else protested, "But I’m Nie MingJue! I’ve won the most battles and captured the most people. I should be the leader!""Jin GuangYao", "But I’m the Chief Cultivator!""Nie MingJue" raised swung his fist, "So what if you’re the Chief Cultivator. You’re still my youngest brother. You’ll have to run away whenever you see me anyways.""Jin GuangYao" did indeed cooperate and maintain his character. Flinching his shoulders, he quickly ran away. Someone else spoke up, "You short-lived idiot."Choosing a cultivator to be must have meant that they felt admiration toward the certain cultivator. "Nie MingJue" raged, "Jin ZiXuan, you died even earlier than I did, so you’re more short-lived!""Jin ZiXuan" responded defensively, "What’s wrong with being short-lived? I’m ranked third.""Even if you’re third, it’s only your face!"One of the children seemed to be tired from all the running and standing. He also moved to the stairs and sat down beside Wei WuXian. Waving his hands, he mediated between the two, "Okay, okay. Let’s stop fighting. I’m the YiLing Patriarch, so I’m the most powerful. So, if you guys insist so much, I can be the leader."Wei WuXian, "…"He looked down. There really was a small, wooden stick stuck beside the boy’s waist, probably Chenqing.Only simple-minded children like this would deign to be the YiLing Patriarch, only discussing in terms of power, not whether he was good or evil.Someone else barged in, "No. I’m the SanDu ShengShou. I’m the most powerful."The "YiLing Patriarch" replied as if he understood everything, "Jiang Cheng, how is it possible for you to be better than me? Is there even one time that you didn’t lose against me? How do you dare to say that you’re the most powerful? Aren’t you embarrassed?""Jiang Cheng", "Hmph, I can’t be better than you? Do you remember how you died?"The light smile on Wei WuXian’s face dissipated at once.It was as if he had suddenly been pricked by a poisonous needle. A faint, sharp pain came from all around his body.The "YiLing Patriarch" who sat beside him clapped his hands, "Look at me! Chenqing on my left, the Tiger Seal on my right, along with the Ghost General—I’m invincible! Hahahaha…" Holding a stick on his left hand and a rock on his right, he laughed for quite awhile, "Where’s Wen Ning? Come out!" A child from behind the crowd raised a hand and replied feebly, "I’m here… Uh… I’m just saying… When the Sunshot Campaign happened, I wasn’t dead yet…"Wei WuXian felt that he really needed to interrupt.He asked, "Cultivators, may I ask a question?"When the children played this game, there had never been an adult who stepped in. Not to mention, it wasn’t a scolding, but this sort of serious question. The "YiLing Patriarch" looked at him with both wonder and caution, "What do you want to ask?"Wei WuXian, "Why isn’t there anyone from the GusuLan Sect?""There is.""Where are they?"The "YiLing Patriarch" pointed at a child who never said anything from the beginning to the end, "That’s him."Wei WuXian looked over. The child had delicate features, the seedling of a charming, handsome man. A white rope wrapped around his smooth forehead, in place of a forehead ribbon. Wei WuXian asked, "Who is he?"The "YiLing Patriarch" pouted in disdain, "Lan WangJi."… Fine. These children understood the essence. Someone acting as Lan WangJi should indeed shut his mouth and stay silent!Out of the blue, Wei WuXian’s lips curled upward again.The poisonous needle had been pulled out, tossed into some random corner. All of the pain had been instantly wiped away. Wei WuXian murmured to himself, "How strange. Why can someone as boring as him always make me so happy?"When Lan WangJi came downstairs, he saw Wei WuXian sitting on the stairs. A group of children sat around him, eating steamed meat buns together. Wei WuXian ate his meat bun as he directed two children who stood back-to-back in front of him, "… Now, in front of you, there are thousands of the Wen Sect’s cultivators. All of them were heavily armed and surrounded you so closely that even a single drop of water wouldn’t have leaked in. Your eyes should be sharper. Yes, that’s it. Okay, Lan WangJi, pay attention here. You aren’t how you usually would be. You’re covered in blood! There’s a lot of killing intent! You look really scary! Wei WuXian, move closer to him. Do you know how to spin the flute? Let me see you spin it, with only one hand. Be cooler. Do you know how to look cool? Come, let me show you." "Wei WuXian" responded and gave the small stick to him. Wei WuXian adeptly whirled "Chenqing" between his fingers, causing all of the children to crowd around him and gasp in awe.Lan WangJi, "…"He silently walked over. Seeing that he was here, Wei WuXian dusted off his trousers and said goodbye to the children. Finally managing to stand up, he laughed as he walked, almost as if he had taken some strange poison.Lan WangJi, "…"Wei WuXian, "Hahahahahaha I’m sorry, HanGuang-Jun. I gave them all of the breakfast I bought for you. Let’s buy some more later."Lan WangJi, "Mnn."Wei WuXian, "What do you think? Were those two kids cute? Guess who was the one with a rope tied around his forehead pretending to be, hahahaha…"After a while of speechlessness, Lan WangJi finally couldn’t hold it any longer, "… What else did I really do, last night?"It definitely wasn’t that simple. Or else, what could’ve made Wei WuXian laugh even until now???Wei WuXian quickly waved his hands, "No, no, no. You didn’t do anything. I’m just being ridiculous, hahahahahaha… Okay. Ahem. HanGuang-Jun, I’m going to talk serious business now."Lan WangJi, "Speak."Wei WuXian pulled on a straight face, "The coffin-slamming noises of the Chang Clan’s cemetery had been silent for ten years. Suddenly starting again, it definitely wasn’t a coincidence. There must’ve been some other cause."Lan WangJi, "What do you think the cause is?"Wei WuXian, "Good question. I think that the cause was the corpse being dug out."Lan WangJi, "Mnn."His expression was so attentive that it made Wei WuXian recall how sincere he looked as he held both of his fingers last night, when he had been drunk. Painfully holding back laughter, Wei WuXian continued in all seriousness, "I think that the dismemberment of the corpse probably wasn’t simply to seek revenge and vent hatred, but a malicious way of suppression. The person who cut up the corpse intentionally chose those places haunted by evil beings to place the body parts."Lan WangJi, "Combatting poison with poison. They balance out and keep each other in check."Wei WuXian, "That’s right. So, since the gravedigger dug out the torso yesterday, there wasn’t anything to suppress the Chang Clan’s resentful spirits anymore, so that coffin-slamming noises started again. It’s the same as how the QingheNie Sect’s Saber Hall suppressed the saber spirits and wall-corpses. Perhaps, this technique was derived from the Nie Sect’s Saber Hall in the first place. It looks like that this person is connected to both the QingheNie Sect and the GusuLan Sect. I’m afraid they aren’t some easy opponent."Lan WangJi, "There are only few people like this."Wei WuXian, "Yep. The truth is slowly being unveiled. And, since the opponent started to move the corpse parts already, it means that he or they are already starting to become anxious. They’ll definitely move again soon. Even if we don’t go find them, they’ll come and find us. As they search around, they’d leave behind more clues for sure. And, our dear friend’s hand will also tell us which direction to go. But we’ll probably need to move faster as well. Only the right hand and the head are left. After this, we must also arrive before they do."The two travelled in the direction of the Southwest. This time, the ghost hand pointed at Shudong, a place known for heavy fog.It was a haunted city that nobody in the area dared to approach.<h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 33 Grasses—Part One</h3>The Shudong area was abundant in rivers and valleys. With towering peaks and a rough terrain, only faint breezes passed the area, causing the majority of places to be enveloped in mist.Walking straight toward where the left hand pointed, the two of them came upon quite a small village.A few rails of fencing encircled thatched houses made from mud. A brood of colorful chicks scuttered in and out of the yards, pecking on the ground for rice. A large, bright-feathered rooster stood single-legged on a roof. With a twitching comb, it looked downward loftily, its neck turning left and right. It was fortunate that nobody had any dogs. It was likely that these villagers could only get their hands on a few chunks of meat a year, much less have any leftover bones to feed the dogs.In front of the village, there was a fork road, leading to three different directions. Of these, two were rather bare. Covered with a great deal of footprints, it was clear that they were often walked upon. Yet, the last one have been overrun with weeds. A square sign made from a piece of rock was positioned slantingly at this road. Subject to age and weathering, the sign was split down the middle with a large crack. Even from within the crack, withered weeds peeked out.Two large characters, which appeared to be the place that the road led to, had been carved onto the sign. One could manage to tell that the bottom character was the character for "city". However, the top character was complex in both form and brushstrokes. The crack just so happened to have run through it, causing a few broken bits of rock to lay scattered on the ground. Wei WuXian bent down and pushed the weeds aside. Even after staring at it for a long time, he still couldn’t figure out what the character was.Coincidentally, the direction that the left arm pointed at was indeed this path.Wei WuXian, "Why don’t we ask the villagers?"Lan WangJi nodded. Of course, Wei WuXian didn’t expect him to ask. With a large grin over his face, Wei WuXian walked toward the villager women who were feeding the chicken.Among the group women, some were old and some were young. Noticing the approach of an unfamiliar man, all of them looked nervous, as if they wanted to throw their dustpans away and flee back inside. Only after Wei WuXian exchanged a few words with them, a cheerful smile on his face, did they finally begin to calm down and respond shyly.As Wei WuXian pointed at the sign and asked a question, their expressions changed at once. They paused for a moment, and unwillingly started to converse with him. During the chat, they didn’t dare to look at Lan WangJi, who stood by the sign, at all. With the corners of his lips still curved upward, Wei WuXian listened intently. Eventually, it seemed as if the topic had switched, and the women’s expressions calmed again. They gradually relaxed and started to smile timidly at him.Lan WangJi stared at them from afar. He waited for a while, but Wei WuXian still didn’t seem like he intended to return. Slowly looking to the ground, Lan WangJi kicked a small chunk of rock that was by his feet.He stepped on it for a long time, rolling the innocent rock over again and again. As he looked up again, he saw Wei WuXian take something from his sleeves and hand it to the woman who spoke the most.Lan WangJi stood still, a blank look on his face. When he really couldn’t control himself anymore, ready to approach them, Wei WuXian finally sauntered over.He stood back beside Lan WangJi, "HanGuang-Jun, you should’ve went. There were even rabbits in the yard!"Lan WangJi didn’t react to his teasing comment and responded with feigned indifference, "What have they answered?"Wei WuXian, "This path leads to Yi City. The first character on the sign is ‘yi’."Lan WangJi, "Yi as in chivalry?"Wei WuXian, "Yes and no."Lan WangJi, "And why is that?"Wei WuXian, "The character is correct, but not the meaning. It’s not yi as in chivalry, but yi as in a coffin home."They stepped over the bundles of weeds and went on the path, quickly passing the sign. Wei WuXian continued, "The girls said that, ever since a long time ago, most of the people in that city have died early, either having short lives or meeting accidental deaths, so there were a lot of coffin homes for temporarily holding the corpses. Also, their specialty is in making coffins, paper money, and other sorts of burial goods. Everyone was skilled at no matter it be making coffins or paper mannequins, which is why it became known by such a name."Aside from wilted weeds and pieces of rocks, on the path, there were also cracks and ditches that were difficult to notice. Lan WangJi kept his eyes on wherever Wei WuXian stepped, while Wei WuXian talked as he walked, "They said that the people here rarely go to Yi City. The people inside don’t leave, either, for reasons other than the export of goods. In the past few years, almost nobody could be seen leaving. Nobody has walked on this path for years. Sure explains why it’s so hard to walk over."Lan WangJi, "And?"Wei WuXian, "And what?"Lan WangJi, "What did you give them?"Wei WuXian, "Oh. You mean that? It’s rouge."When they were in Qinghe, he bought a small compact of rouge from the charlatan that told him information about the Xinglu Ridge, and had always kept it with him. Wei WuXian, "You have to show people your thanks when you’re asking them things, right? I wanted to give them money, but they were too scared and didn’t dare to take it. It seemed like that they really liked the scent of the rouge. They had probably never used such a thing before, so I gave it to them."With a pause, he added, "HanGuang-Jun, why are you looking at me like this? I know that the rouge’s quality really isn’t that great. But I’m not like how I used to be, when I always had a ton of flowers and jewelry on me to give the girls. I really don’t have anything else to give them. At least it’s better than nothing."As if a displeasing memory had bubbled up, Lan WangJi’s brows twitched, and he slowly turned his Walking along the rough path, the weeds gradually became fewer, climbing back toward the sides, and the road also widened. Yet, the fog grew denser.As the left hand formed a fist, a city gate lay in ruins at the end of the long path.The tower in front of the city had missing paint and a broken roof. With one corner chipped off, it looked unusually dilapidated. The walls of the city were covered in graffiti done by some unknown person, while the red color of the doors had almost faded white, every single one of its doornails rusty and black. The pair of doors was left unlatched, almost as if somebody had just opened a slit and slipped inside.Even before entering, one could feel that this must be haunted with ghosts and demons running wild.As Wei WuXian walked down the path, he examined the surroundings carefully. At the city gates, he commented, "The feng shui is horrible."Lan WangJi nodded without hurry, "Barren mountains and turbulent rivers."Yi City was surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides. The cliffs tilted toward the center in an extreme manner, appearing both menacing and constricting, almost as if it would collapse any moment. Bound by these dark, massive peaks and enveloped in the ghostly white fog, it appeared even monstrous than monsters. Even simply standing here would make one feel anxious and suffocated, along with a strong sense of being threatened.Ever since the ancient times, there had been the saying that "the greatness of a person brings glory to their birthplace". The opposite saying was also present. In some places, because of the terrain or location, the feng shui would be exceptionally awful. Surrounded by a natural gust of sinister energy, it was easy for anyone who lived there to die early or be generally unlucky. If all of their ancestors dwelled there, then they’d be even more unfortunate. Also, irregularities such as living corpses or the return of souls. It was clear that Yi City was such a place.Places like this were usually in secluded locations that weren’t under the control of any cultivational sect. Of course, even if they were, sects wouldn’t want to help either. Such situations really were annoying, even more annoying than the Waterborne Abyss. The Waterborne Abyss could be chased away. However, feng shui was difficult to change. If nobody wailed in front of their doors, the sects turned a blind eye and pretended that they didn’t know.For the city’s residents, the easiest solution was to leave the place. But, if someone’s family had been living at a secluded place for generations, it’d be almost impossible for them to make the decision to leave where they grew up. Even if five or six out of ten people would have short lives, maybe they would be the remaining three or four. It didn’t seem too unbearable.The two halted before the city gates and exchanged a look.Squeak. Supported by hinges on the verge of snapping, the two city doors, although being unable to align properly, slowly opened.Before their eyes, there was neither bustling streets nor violent corpses. There was only an all-enveloping shade of white.The fog was even a few times denser than the fog outside the city, allowing them to only see a long, straight street ahead of them. On the sides, there stood no passers, but only brooding houses.The two of them naturally walked a few steps nearer to each other, and entered the city together.It was still daytime, but no sound could be heard in the city. Aside from the lack of human voices, not a single note of caws or barks could be heard either. It was more than peculiar.Then again, since this was the place where the left arm pointed, it’d be stranger if it weren’t peculiar.They walked down the street for a while. The farther they went, the thicker the fog, as if evil energy permeated the air. At first, they could still manage to see anything within ten steps’ distance. And then it became impossible to make out any figure more than five steps away. In the end, they couldn’t even see their hands in front of them. The more Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi walked, the closer to each other they shifted. They could only manage to see each other’s face if they walked shoulder-to-shoulder. A thought suddenly popped into Wei WuXian’s mind, If someone took advantage of this fog and snuck between us, a third person to our group of two, it’d be hard to say whether or not we’ll notice.Suddenly, his foot stepped on something. He looked down, but couldn’t tell what it was. Wei WuXian grasped Lan WangJi’s hand firmly so that he didn’t go off on his own, bent down, and squinted. A head with a pair of glaring eyes ripped through the fog, jumping into his sight.The head had the face of a man with thick brows, large eyes, and two smudges of rouge that stood out acutely.When Wei WuXian stepped on the head, he almost sent it flying, so he knew how heavy it weighed. Being so light, this definitely wasn’t a human head. He picked it up and squeezed it. A large part of the man’s face sunk in. Some of the rouge was also smudged.It was a head made from paper.The paper head was skillfully crafted. Although the makeup was overly dramatic, the features were rather delicate. Yi City’s specialty was burial goods, so of course the technique of crafting paper mannequins was decent. Among the paper mannequins, there were substitute mannequins, which the people believed that, if burned for the deceased, would suffer in hell in place of them; there were also maidservants and beautiful girls, which would attentively care for the deceased in the nether world. Of course, these were really only made for the living to feel some relief. This paper head was probably a "Nether Brawler".Like its name, a "Nether Brawler" was a fighter, said to be able to protect the deceased from the bullying of other ghosts or tricky Judges; the paper money that the juniors burned wouldn’t be stolen away by other souls either. The paper head definitely had a large, sturdy body also made of paper to go with it. Someone had probably pulled the head off and thrown it onto the streets.The strands of hair on the paper head were jet-black and quite glossy. Wei WuXian touched it. The hair was firmly attached to the scalp, as if the head really grew the hair. He thought to himself, It really was crafted skillfully. Did they take real, human hair and glue it on?Suddenly, a thin shadow swept past him.The shadow was extremely bizarre. It ran past, brushing against his shoulder, and instantly disappeared into the thick fog. Bichen unsheathed on its own, chasing after the figure, but quickly returned to its sheath.The thing that slipped by him ran too quickly—a human definitely couldn’t have reached that speed!Lan WangJi, "Pay attention. Be careful."Although it only brushed past, it was difficult to say that the next time it came, it wouldn’t do something else.Wei WuXian straightened up, "Did you hear that?"Lan WangJi, "Footsteps and a bamboo pole."He was correct. During the moment, aside from hurried footsteps, they heard another strange noise. The ta-ta sounded rather clear, as if someone was quickly tapping a bamboo pole on the ground. Wei WuXian didn’t know why the noise was present.In front of them, from within the fog, came another series of footsteps.This time, the footsteps were light, slower, and greater in number. It seemed as if a group of people were carefully approaching, but not saying anything. Wei WuXian fished out a Gloom-burning Talisman and tossed it forward. If anything surrounded by resentful energy was in front of them, it would burn up, and the fire would probably somewhat light up the area.The people in front also noticed that something had been tossed at them. They immediately attacked.A multitude of differently-colored sword glares rushed over. Bichen unsheathed calmly and drifted in front of Wei WuXian, fending off all of the glares. On the other side, the people fumbled in confusion. Hearing the shouts, Lan WangJi immediately sheathed Bichen. Wei WuXian called out, "Jin Ling? SiZhui!"As he expected, he hadn’t heard wrong. Jin Ling’s voice sounded through the white fog, "Why’s it you again?!"Wei WuXian, "Well, actually, I want to know why it’s you again!"Lan SiZhui tried to contain himself, but his voice sounded delighted, "Young Master Mo, you are also here? Then is HanGuang-Jun here as well?"Hearing that Lan WangJi might also be here, Jin Ling shut his mouth immediately, as if he had been silenced again. He was probably scared that he’d be punished again. Lan JingYi also shouted, "He definitely is! The glare before was from Bichen, right? It was Bichen, right?!"Wei WuXian, "Yep. He’s here, right beside me. You should come over."As soon as the boys knew that the ones in front of them were friend instead of foe, they immediately let out a few sighs of relief and scurried over. Aside from Jin Ling and some of the Lan Sect’s juniors, there were also seven or eight boys wearing clothes of different sects, who still acted hesitant. They were probably also disciples from distinguished backgrounds. Wei WuXian asked, "Why are all of you here? With such an attack, it’s lucky that I have HanGuang-Jun by my side. What if you hurt ordinary people?"Jin Ling retorted, "There isn’t any ordinary people here—there isn’t any people here at all!"Lan SiZhui nodded, "It is daylight, but there is fog everywhere. And there is not a single shop open."Wei WuXian, "This won’t matter for now. How did you guys run into each other? Don’t tell me that you arranged to night-hunt together." Jin Ling saw everyone as an eyesore and wanted to fight with everyone. And, since he already had an unpleasant interaction with the Lan Sect’s disciples, how would it be possible that they wanted to night-hunt together? Lan SiZhui obediently explained, "That would be a long story. We were originally…"Suddenly, a series of clucks and taps, the unusually ear-piercing noise of a bamboo pole knocking on the ground, came from within the dense fog.The juniors’ faces changed at once, "It’s here again!"<h3>Translator’s Notes

Chapter 34 Grasses—Part Two

Chapter 35 Grasses—Part Three</h3><h3>T/N: *You don’t want to be eating while reading this.</h3>He couldn’t help but loosen his hand, yet Wei WuXian saved the oil lamp just as it was about to hit the ground. Calmly brushing it against the burning fire talisman on the other hand, he lit it up and set it onto the table, "Did you make these yourself, Manager? They’re quite well-made."The rest finally realized that the people who stood in the room were not real humans, but actually paper mannequins.The mannequins’ heads and bodies were delicately crafted, the same size as those of real people. There were men, women, and even children. All of the men were "Nether Brawlers", crafted with tall, sturdy bodies and angered expressions. All of the women were fair-featured beauties, with hair in either single or double buns. Even when covered with loose-fitting paper clothes, one could still see their graceful postures. The patterns on the clothes were almost finer than those of real brocade robes—some were colored with rich, vivid ink; others were uncolored, left with ashen grays. On each mannequin’s cheeks, there were two smears of blush in pretense for a living person’s rosy complexion. However, none of their pupils had been added yet—the eyes were entirely white. The bolder the blush was, the gloomier they looked.There was another table in the room. On the table, there were a few candlesticks, each a different length than the others. Wei WuXian lit them up one by one, and the yellow light illuminated most corners of the house. Aside from the paper mannequins, there were also two wreaths placed on both sides of the room. Paper gold, ghost money, and pagodas were heaped up beside the walls.Jin Ling already had his sword slightly unsheathed. Seeing that it was only a shop that sold burial goods, he sighed with discreet relief and sheathed his sword again. In the cultivational world, even if a cultivator passed away, nobody employed the eerie, chaotic obsequies of the common folk. Since they hadn’t seen such things before, after the initial scare, curiosity sprouted from within their hearts. With skin covered in goosebumps, they felt that it was even more exciting than night-hunting ordinary beasts.No matter how dense the fog was, it couldn’t seep into houses. Ever since they entered Yi City, this was the only point in time were they could easily see one another’s faces, which set their minds at rest. Wei WuXian saw that they’d relaxed, and asked the old woman again, "Would it be possible for us to borrow your kitchen?"The old woman almost glowered at the lamp, as if she disliked the presence of any light, "The kitchen is in the back. Use it as you please." After her words, she dodged into another room as though she was avoiding the plague. She slammed the door so loud that a few even shivered.Jin Ling exclaimed, "There’s definitely something wrong with the hag! You…"Wei WuXian responded, "Okay. Hush. I need somebody to help me. Any volunteers?"Lan SiZhui hurried, "I can come."Lan JingYi was still standing as straight as a stick, "Then what do I do?"Wei WuXian, "Remain standing. Don’t move if I don’t tell you to."Lan SiZhui followed Wei WuXian to the kitchen in the back. As soon as they went in, they were overwhelmed by a foul stench. Lan SiZhui had never smelled such a terrible scent before. Although his head spun, he managed to stop himself from rushing back out. Jin Ling followed as well, but leapt outside again immediately after he entered. He fanned the air as fast as he could, "What in the world is this?!! What are you doing here instead of thinking up cures?!"Wei WuXian, "Hmm? Perfect timing. How did you know that I was going to call you over? Lend me a hand."Jin Ling, "I’m not here to help! Urgh! Did somebody kill someone but forget to bury them?!"Wei WuXian, "Young Mistress Jin, are you coming or not? If you’re coming, then come in and help; if you’re not coming, then go back and tell someone else to come over."Jin Ling raged, "Who are you calling Young Mistress Jin? Be careful what you say!" He pinched his nose for a while, debating with himself whether or not to stay or to leave, and finally humphed, "Well I want to see what on Earth you’re trying to do." With this, he stormed inside. Yet, he didn’t expect that, with a bang, Wei WuXian opened a chest on the ground, which was where the stench came from. Within the chest, there were ham and chicken. Blotches of green dotted among the red meat, while white, coiling maggots dotted among the green.Jin Ling was forced to exit the room again. Wei WuXian picked up the chest and passed it to him, "Throw it away. Anywhere works, as long as we don’t smell it."With a churning stomach and a head full of doubt, Jin Ling threw it out as he was told. He fiercely rubbed his fingers with a handkerchief, then threw it out as well. After he returned to the kitchen, Wei WuXian and Lan SiZhui fetched two buckets of water from the well in the backyard, and were currently cleaning the kitchen. Jin Ling demanded, "What are you doing?"Lan SiZhui wiped around in diligence, "As you can see, we are cleaning the kitchen hearth."Jin Ling, "What’s the use of cleaning the hearth? We’re not making food or anything."Wei WuXian, "Who told you so? We are making food. You can sweep the dust. Get rid of all the cobwebs up there."His words sounded so natural, so assured that, with a broom stuck into his hands, Jin Ling somehow obeyed. The more he cleaned, the more he felt that something was off. Just as he was about to throw the duster at Wei WuXian’s head, Wei WuXian opened another box, scaring him to the point that he darted out again. Luckily, this time, there wasn’t any stench.The three worked quickly. After a short while, the kitchen looked completely different. The house finally seemed a bit more lively, no longer haunted and long-abandoned. In a corner, there were some already-chopped firewood. They piled them into the hearth and set them alight using a fire talisman. They rested a large pot that they had already washed on the hearth and began to boil water. Wei WuXian poured some glutinous rice out of the second chest, washed all of it, and put it into the pot.Jin Ling, "You’re making congee?"Wei WuXian, "Uh-huh."Jin Ling hurled the cleaning rag onto the ground. Wei WuXian commented, "You see how you get mad after working for just a bit? Look at SiZhui. He worked the hardest and didn’t even say anything yet. What’s wrong with congee?"Jin Ling, "What’s not wrong with congee? It’s so watery and tasteless! Wait… I’m not mad because there’s something wrong with congee!"Wei WuXian, "It’s not for you anyways."Jin Ling was even more angered, "What did you say? I worked for so long, and I don’t even get any?!"Lan SiZhui, "Young Master Mo, is it that congee can cure corpse poisoning?"Wei WuXian smiled, "Yes, but it’s not the congee that can cure corpse poisoning—it’s the rice. This is folk medicine. Normally, you apply the glutinous rice to the scratched or bitten wound. In the future, if you ever find yourselves in such a situation again, you can try this. Although it’ll hurt a lot, it definitely works efficiently. But, since they swallowed corpse poisoning powder instead of being scratched or bitten, we can only make some rice congee for them to eat up."Lan SiZhui came to realization, "So that was why you intended to enter a house with someone inside. Only a house with someone living inside could have a kitchen. Only a kitchen could have glutinous rice."Jin Ling, "Who knows how long the rice has been here for? Can you still eat it? This kitchen hasn’t been used in at least a year. There’s dust everywhere and the meat’s even rotten. Don’t tell me that the hag hasn’t eaten for an entire year. It’s impossible that she has practiced inedia. How did she survive?"Wei WuXian, "It’s either that nobody has been living here and that she really isn’t the shopkeeper at all, or that she simply doesn’t need to eat."Lan SiZhui lowered his voice, "If she does not need to eat, then she would be dead. But the old woman clearly breathes."Using a spatula, Wei WuXian nonchalantly stirred the pot of congee, mixing in ingredients from various bottles and jars, "Right. You haven’t finished explaining. Why did you come to Yi City together? It wasn’t just by chance that you ran into each other and then us, was it?"The boys’ expressions immediately grew serious. Jin Ling replied, "I, the Lan Sect’s people, and the ones from other sects were all chasing after something. I came from the Qinghe area."Lan SiZhui also replied, "We came from Langya."Wei WuXian, Lan SiZhui shook his head, "We do not know. It never showed its face. We don’t even know what or who… or which organization it was, exactly."Ever since a few days ago, after Jin Ling lied to his uncle and let Wei WuXian go, he had been worried that this time Jiang Cheng would really break his legs, so he decided to sneak out and disappear for a few days, not appearing in front of Jiang Cheng until his anger subsided. He ran away immediately after he passed Zidian to one of Jiang Cheng’s trusted subordinates. Having arrived at a city on the border of the Qinghe area, his journey paused. In search for the location for his next night-hunt, he took a short rest at a large inn. At night, when he was memorizing spells in his room, Fairy, who lay by his side, suddenly started barking at the door. It was already deep into the night. Jin Ling ordered the dog to stop, yet he immediately heard someone knocking on the door.Although Fairy stopped barking, it was still restless. Its claws dug at the ground as it growled deeply. Already on the alert, Jin Ling asked for who the person was. There came no reply, so he got back to his business. However, after an hour, the knocks sounded again.Jin Ling leaped out the window along with Fairy. He circled around and went upstairs from the first floor, intending to see who exactly was messing with him in the middle of the night. Despite his efforts, there was nobody there. He waited silently for a while, but still didn’t see anyone in front of his door.Keeping an eye on this, he let Fairy guard the door. He was ready to attack the person at any moment and stayed awake for the whole night. Despite this, nothing had happened. There were only some strange sounds, as if water was dripping down.On the second morning, a scream came from outside the door. Jin Ling kicked the door open only to step into a pool of blood. Something fell from above the door. Darting backward, Jin Ling barely managed to prevent it from hitting him.It was a black cat!Someone, not long ago, nailed the corpse of a dead cat on top of his door. The strange dripping sounds he heard throughout the night were from the cat’s blood dripping down.Jin Ling, "It was the same after switching to a few different inns, so I went on the offensive. If I heard that a cat’s corpse happened to appear anywhere, I would go and see, since I just had to find out who was messing around."Wei WuXian turned to Lan SiZhui, "You guys as well?"Lan SiZhui nodded, "Yes. A few days ago, a few of us were night-hunting at Langya. During dinner one day, we suddenly fished out the unskinned head of a cat from inside the soup… In the beginning, we did not know that it was directed at us, but on that night, when we switched to another inn, we found the corpse of a cat in one of the bedsheets. It was the same for a few continuous days. We chased after it, arrived at Yueyang, and ran into Young Master Jin. We found out that we were searching for the same thing, so we decided to work together, and only arrived at this area today. We asked a hunter in the village in front of a stone tablet, and we were shown the path to Yi City."Wei WuXian thought to himself, A hunter?The juniors should’ve passed the village in front the road fork after Lan WangJi and he did. However, they didn’t see any hunters at the time. There were only a few timid village women feeding chicken, who said that the men were out shipping goods and wouldn’t be back for a long while.The more Wei WuXian thought about it, the more solemn his expression grew.From the narration, their opposition did nothing other than killing cats and dumping the corpses. Although it both sounded and looked scary, they weren’t actually harmed. In fact, these events stirred up their curiosity to get to the root of the matter.Also, these juniors met one another in Yueyang. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi also came to Shudong from Yueyang. It almost seemed as if somebody was purposely leading the muddleheaded juniors to meet up with the two of them.To lead a few confused juniors to a dangerous place for them to face the violent limb of a fierce corpse—wasn’t this the exact same routine as the occurrence at Mo Village?And, this wasn’t the most complicated part of it. Right now, what Wei WuXian feared the most was that… the Stygian Tiger Seal might be within Yi City at this very moment.Although Wei WuXian didn’t really want to accept this possibility, it was nonetheless the most reasonable explanation. After all, someone who could restore half of the Tiger Seal had even existed. Despite the talk that he had been dealt with, who knew where the seal that he had restored went?Suddenly, Lan SiZhui, who had been squatting on the ground to fan the flame, raised his head, "Senior Mo, I think that the congee is ready?"Gathering his thoughts, he stopped stirring. He grabbed the bowl that Lan SiZhui had washed and tasted a spoonful of the congee, "It’s ready. Take it out. Feed one bowl to each person who had been poisoned."However, after it had been carried out, Lan JingYi only had one mouthful before spitting it out, "What is this? Poison?!"Wei WuXian, "How is this poison? It’s the cure! Glutinous rice congee."Lan JingYi, "First of all, I don’t know know why glutinous rice would be the cure, but I’ve never eaten such a spicy bowl of congee before!"The rest of the boys who had taste their servings nodded in unison, all of their eyes wet with tears. Wei WuXian stroked his chin. He grew up in Yunmeng. People from Yunmeng were all quite spice-tolerant, but Wei WuXian’s penchant for spice was beyond hardcore. Anytime he set about the kitchen, the food would be so spicy that even Jiang Cheng could only smash his bowl and curse. Yet, for some reason, he just couldn’t hold back from adding spoonful after spoonful of seasoning. It seemed that, this time, he wasn’t able to control his hands either. Out of curiosity, Lan SiZhui picked up the bowl and tried a mouthful. Even as his face flushed red and his eyes teared up, he pursed his lips and refrained from spitting it out, thinking to himself, The taste… is so scary that it almost brings about a sense of deja vu.Wei WuXian, "All medicine is poisonous to some degree. The spice will make you sweat so that you get better sooner."The eww-s coming from the boys revealed their disbelief. Nonetheless, with bitter faces, they ate up the congee. Within seconds, all of their faces reddened and their foreheads gleamed as they suffered from the agony. Wei WuXian couldn’t help but comment, "It’s not that serious, is it? HanGuang-Jun is also from Gusu. He takes spice quite well, so why are you guys like this?"Lan SiZhui answered with a hand covering his mouth, "No, Senior. HanGuang-Jun’s taste is very mild. He never eats spice…"Wei WuXian paused for a moment, "Really."But he could remember that in his past life, before he betrayed the YunmengJiang Sect, he had met with Lan WangJi in Yiling once. At the time, although Wei WuXian was widely reviled, it wasn’t to the point that everyone wanted to beat him up. Thus, pulling on a thick face, he asked Lan WangJi to have dinner with him so that they could reminisce together. All of the dishes that Lan WangJi ordered were packed with Sichuan peppers, and so he had always thought that Lan WangJi’s taste for spice was pretty much the same as him.Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember whether or not Lan WangJi actually picked up his chopsticks. Then again, he even forgot about how he said that the meal was his treat, so Lan WangJi ended up paying for them anyway. This was why it was only natural for him to forget such a detail.He didn’t know why but, all of a sudden, he really, really wanted to see Lan WangJi’s face."… Senior, Senior Mo!""Hmm?" Wei WuXian finally pulled himself together. Lan SiZhui whispered, "The old lady’s door… has opened."From somewhere came an eerie gust of wind, faintly opening the room’s door. The door swayed open and closed, revealing the vague outline of a stooping shadow sitting by a table within the frightful darkness. Wei WuXian signalled for them to stay put and walked into the room alone.The dim light of the oil lamp and candlesticks in the central chamber leaked inside. The old woman sat with her head hung low, as if she didn’t notice that someone had entered. A cloth lay on her knees, tightly stretched with an embroidery frame, suggesting that she was doing needlework. Her two hands stiffly stuck to each other as they tried to guide a thread through a needle.Wei WuXian sat down by the table as well, "Manager, why not light the lamp if you’re threading a needle? Let me help."He took over the needle and thread—the thread went through at once. Passing it back to the old woman, he walked out of the room as if nothing had happened and closed the door behind him, "There’s no need to go in."Jin Ling, "When you were inside, did you see if the hag’s actually alive or not?"Wei WuXian, "Don’t call her a hag. That’s quite rude. The old lady is a living corpse."The boys looked at one another. Lan SiZhui asked, "What is a living corpse?"Wei WuXian, "From head to toe, everything seems to say that they’re a corpse, but the person is actually living. That’s what a living corpse is."Jin Ling was shocked, "You’re saying that she’s still alive?!"Wei WuXian, "Have you looked inside?""Yes.""What did you see? What was she doing?""Threading a needle.""Did it go in?""… No.""Correct. She’s incapable of threading a needle. Dead people’s muscles are too rigid to perform complex actions such as threading needles. The marks on her face aren’t age spots, but livor mortis. And she doesn’t need to eat, either. It’s only that she can breathe which makes her alive."Lan SiZhui, "B-but, the old lady is already quite elderly. A lot of old ladies have poor eyesight and cannot thread needles by themselves."Wei WuXian, "So I helped her. Did you notice the other thing, though? From opening the door until now, she hasn’t blinked even once."The boys blinked a few times. Wei WuXian continued, "Living people blink to prevent eyes from becoming sore. Dead people, on the other hand, have no need to do this. And, when I took the needle and thread over, did anyone notice how she looked at me?"Jin Ling, "Her eyeballs didn’t move… but her head did!"Wei WuXian, "Precisely. When most people look somewhere, their eyeballs usually move, no matter how slight the movement is. However, dead people’s eyes don’t. This is because dead people can’t carry out an action as subtle as moving their eyeballs. They can only turn their heads and necks instead."Lan JingYi was baffled, "Should we be taking notes?"Wei WuXian, "A good habit, but do you think you’d have time to flip through your notes when you’re out night-hunting? Keep it in your minds."Jin Ling spoke through clenched teeth, "Walking corpses are already weird enough. Why do things like living corpses exist?!"Wei WuXian, "There are a lot of disadvantages to dead people: rigid muscles, slow movement, and so on. However, there are also quite a few advantages: the lack of fear towards pain, the inability to think, how easy they are to control. Somebody thought that they could amend for the disadvantages of corpses and create perfect corpse puppets. This was how living corpses came into being."Although the boys didn’t say anything, one single sentence was written all over their faces— "This person must be Wei! Wu! Xian!"Wei WuXian didn’t know whether to laugh or frown, thinking silently, But I really haven’t done such a thing!Although, it really did sound like his way of doing things!He carried on, "Ahem. Alright. Wei WuXian started it. But, he successfully made Wen Ning, or the Ghost General. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to ask—who exactly came up with this title? It’s so dumb. Anyways, there were some other people who wanted to imitate this but weren’t good enough, so they used improper means. Targeting living people instead, they developed living corpses." He concluded, "A type of failed imitations."Hearing Wei WuXian’s name, Jin Ling’s face froze over. He snorted, "Wei Ying himself used improper means."Wei WuXian, "Yep. Then, the ones who developed living corpses used the most improper means of all improper means."Lan SiZhui, "Senior Mo, what should we do now?"Wei WuXian, "Some living corpses may not know that they’re already dead. I think that this old lady is one of the confused corpses. Let’s just not disturb her for now."Out of blue, a series of the crisp taps of a bamboo pole knocking on the ground suddenly sounded.The sound came from nearby a window, which was sealed shut by strips of black, wooden boards. All of the disciples in the central chamber turned pale. Ever since they entered the city, they had been constantly pestered by the sound. They now panicked whenever they heard it. Wei WuXian gestured for them to be quiet. All of them held their breaths as they watched Wei WuXian walk to the window and look outside through a narrow slit between the boards.As soon as Wei WuXian approached the slit, he could see a field of white. He thought that the fog outside was too thick for him to see anything. Suddenly, however, the whiteness rapidly shrunk backward.He saw a pair of white, hideous eyes, glowering at the slit between the boards. The field of white he saw wasn’t fog, but the pair of pupil-less eyes.<h3>Translator’s Notes

The Founder of Diabolism

Chapter 25 Malice—Part Three

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