Chapter 33

Chapter 33: Grass and Trees Part Eight

Eastern Shu was a region of narrow river valleys and towering mountains, with rugged terrain and weak winds that caused many areas to be shrouded in mist all year round.

The two walked straight in the direction indicated by the left arm, passing a small village along the way.

Several fences surrounded earthen houses with thatched roofs. A flock of speckled hens and chicks scurried in and out of the yard, pecking at scattered grains. A brightly feathered rooster stood on the roof, shaking its comb and balancing on one leg, warily turning its neck to look around with an air of superiority. Fortunately, no one kept dogs. It was likely that the villagers themselves didn’t have enough meat to eat all year and had no extra bones to feed any dogs.

In front of the village, there was an intersection with three paths leading in different directions. Two of the paths were bare, with many footprints showing they were frequently traveled. The last path was overgrown with weeds, covering the road. A weathered square stone marker leaned precariously at the start of this path. The slab was old and weather-beaten, with a large crack running from top to bottom, and dry grass sprouted from the fissure. On the slab, two large characters were carved, indicating the name of the place this path led to. The bottom character could barely be made out as "city," but the top character had many strokes and a complex form, partially obscured by the crack. Wei Wuxian bent down to clear away the wild grass but still couldn’t figure out what the character was after a long while.

As it happened, the direction the left arm pointed to was this path.

Wei Wuxian said, "Should we ask these villagers?"

Lan Wangji nodded. Of course, Wei Wuxian didn’t expect him to do the asking. He immediately walked towards the village women who were feeding the chickens, a smile on his face.

The women, some young and some old, tensed up as the stranger approached, seemingly wanting to throw away their baskets and flee into the house. After Wei Wuxian smiled and said a few words, they gradually calmed down and responded shyly.

Wei Wuxian pointed to the stone tablet and asked a question. Their faces changed in unison, hesitated for a moment, then began to converse with him haltingly, gesturing as they spoke. They barely dared to glance at Lan Wangji, who stood silently by the stone tablet. Wei Wuxian listened carefully, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth the whole time. Eventually, he changed the subject, causing the village women to relax and even offer awkward smiles in return.

Lan Wangji watched from afar, kicking a small stone by his feet as he waited. After a long while, it seemed Wei Wuxian had no intention of returning.

He kicked the stone back and forth for a while. When he looked up again, Wei Wuxian had taken something out of his chest and handed it to the most talkative village woman.

Lan Wangji stood there dumbfounded, unable to bear it any longer. Just as he was about to walk over, Wei Wuxian finally strolled back leisurely with his hands behind his back.

Standing next to Lan Wangji, he said, "Hanguang Jun, you missed out! They even have rabbits in the yard!"

Lan Wangji didn’t respond to his teasing and asked coolly, "What did you find out?"

Wei Wuxian said, "This path leads to Yi Cheng. The first character on the stone tablet is 'Yi'."

Lan Wangji said, "The 'Yi' of righteousness?"

Wei Wuxian said, "Sort of, but not exactly."

Lan Wangji said, "How so?"

Wei Wuxian said, "The character is the same, but the meaning is different. Not the 'Yi' of righteousness, but the 'Yi' of a mortuary."

They walked onto the path, leaving the stone tablet behind. Wei Wuxian continued, "The women said that, since ancient times, six or seven out of ten people living in that city have had short lives, either dying young or meeting with violent deaths. There are many mortuaries in the city to house corpses. Additionally, the local specialty includes coffins, paper offerings, and other items used in funerals and ancestor worship. They are very skilled at making coffins and paper figures, which is why it’s called that name."

The path was overgrown with weeds and dotted with loose stones, with hidden ditches that could easily trip someone. Lan Wangji’s eyes always paid attention to Wei Wuxian’s feet as they walked. Wei Wuxian continued, "They said that people here rarely go to Yi Cheng, and those inside seldom leave. In recent years, hardly anyone has been seen. This path has been abandoned for several years and is indeed difficult to walk."

Lan Wangji said, "What did you give them?"

Wei Wuxian said, "Oh, that? It was rouge."

In Qinghe, he had bought a small box of rouge from a wandering Taoist doctor while inquiring about Traveler's Ridge and had been carrying it with him. Wei Wuxian said, "You gotta give a little when you ask for info. I originally wanted to give money, but they were too scared to accept it. Seeing that they liked the scent of the rouge and seemed to have never used such a thing, I gave it to them."

He paused, then continued, "Hanguang Jun, why are you looking at me like that? The box of rouge wasn’t that good. But the current me isn’t like before, carrying a bunch of flowers, grass, hairpins, and rings to give to girls everywhere. I really didn’t have anything else to offer. Something is better than nothing."

Lan Wangji’s brow twitched, as if recalling something unpleasant, and he turned his gaze away.

They proceeded along the difficult path, and the weeds gradually thinned out, drawing back towards the sides, while the road slowly widened. However, the mist grew thicker and thicker.

As they continued down the path, a dilapidated city gate appeared at the end of the road when the left arm clenched into a fist.

The city gate was in ruins, its watchtower missing tiles and paint, one corner crumbled away. Doodles covered the city walls, drawn by persons unknown. The once-red gate had faded to a pale, almost white hue, and the iron door nails were rusted black. The two doors hung slightly ajar, as if someone had just pushed them open and slipped inside.

Even before entering, one could sense that this was undoubtedly a place where demons ran rampant.

As Wei Wuxian walked along the road, he looked around and, upon reaching the city gate, commented, "The feng shui is truly terrible here."

Lan Wangji nodded slowly. "The mountains are harsh, and the waters malicious."

The city of Yi Cheng was surrounded on all four sides by tall cliffs, with the mountain bodies severely tilting inward in a threatening manner, as if they might collapse at any moment. Shrouded in pale white fog, these dark, looming mountain rocks made the place seem more ominous than any demon could. Just standing here made one's chest feel heavy and anxious, with a strong sense of threat.

Just as there are places where great people and good fortune thrive, there are also places cursed by their geography and location. In such places, the land itself seems to carry a heavy, oppressive energy, leading to short lives and misfortune for those who live there. If generations of people are rooted in such a place, the cursed energy seeps into their bones. Furthermore, these places often give rise to unnatural phenomena, like corpse transformations and fierce ghosts returning to life, with a likelihood several times higher than elsewhere. Clearly, Yi Cheng was such a place.

Such places are usually remote and beyond the reach of the prestigious clans. Of course, they didn’t want to get involved—it was more troublesome than dealing with the water demon. While the water demon could still be driven away, feng shui was hard to change. Unless someone cried out for help, the various clans would turn a blind eye and pretend not to know.

Moving away from one's hometown was the best solution for the residents of the city. But if a family had been rooted in a remote place for generations, it was hard to make the decision to leave. Even if seventy percent of the people in the hometown died young, one might still be part of the remaining thirty to forty percent, and thus might endure a little longer.

As the two reached the city gate, they exchanged a glance.

"Creak——" The overburdened axis groaned as it carried the misaligned city gates, which slowly opened.

There was no bustling traffic, nor any signs of hostility. Instead, an overwhelming whiteness covered everything.

The fog was thicker than outside, and one could barely make out a straight long street ahead, with no people in sight. On both sides stood upright houses.

The two naturally moved a little closer and entered the city together.

It was still daytime, but the city was eerily silent. There was no sound of human voices, not even the distant bark of a dog or the crow of a rooster. The absence of life was suffocating, adding to the already oppressive air.

However, it was strange only if one forgot that this was the location pointed out by the left arm. It would be odd if it weren’t eerie.

Walking along the long street for a while, the fog became denser the deeper they went into the city, as if an evil presence was overflowing. The further they walked, the thicker the fog became, until it was nearly impossible to see anything beyond their shoulders. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had to stay shoulder to shoulder to barely make out each other's faces. Wei Wuxian thought, "If someone were to take advantage of this thick fog and quietly slip between us, turning two into three, we might not notice."

At that moment, Wei Wuxian kicked something with his foot but couldn’t tell what it was. He grabbed Lan Wangji's hand to prevent him from walking too far ahead and bent down to examine it closely. A glaring head suddenly broke through the fog and entered his view.

This head had the face of a man, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, and two unusually bright patches of blush on his cheeks.

Wei Wuxian had almost kicked the head and nearly sent it flying. He could tell how light it was, certainly not the head of a real person. When he picked it up and squeezed, the man's cheek caved in, and a patch of blush came off.

It was the head of a paper effigy.

The paper head was lifelike, with exaggerated makeup but fairly delicate features. Yi Cheng was known for its funeral items, and the craftsmanship of paper effigies was naturally excellent. Among these, there were substitute paper effigies, which people believed could suffer in hell on behalf of the deceased, climbing mountains of knives and descending into cauldrons of oil. There were also servant girls to attend to the ancestors in the afterlife, massaging and rubbing their backs. Of course, these were just ways for the living to seek comfort. This paper head was likely a "yin lishi."

A "yin lishi" (yin force guardian) is a guardian figure, believed to protect the ancestors from evil spirits and cunning judges in the afterlife, ensuring that the paper money burned by descendants wouldn’t be stolen by lesser ghosts. This paper head had probably once been attached to a tall and sturdy paper body, but it had been pulled off and thrown onto the street.

The black hair of the paper head was glossy and tightly adhered to the scalp, as if it had been real hair. Wei Wuxian mused, "The craftsmanship is truly excellent. Could it be that they used real hair?"

Suddenly, a thin, shadowy figure darted past him, so fast that it was gone before he could react. The Bichen automatically unsheathed itself, chasing after the figure, then quickly returned to its sheath.

Whatever had just brushed past was far too fast to be human!

Lan Wangji said, "Stay alert."

Wei Wuxian stood up and said, "Did you hear that just now?"

Lan Wangji replied, "Footsteps, bamboo pole sounds."

Indeed, in that brief moment, apart from the hurried footsteps, they had also heard another strange sound. It was a sharp, rhythmic "tap-tap-tap," like a bamboo pole being rapidly struck against the ground. They couldn't fathom why such a sound would appear.

Just then, from the fog ahead, another set of footsteps emerged.

These footsteps were light, slow, and numerous, chaotic and mixed. It was as if many people were cautiously approaching from that direction, yet not a single word was spoken. Wei Wuxian flipped his hand and threw a Spirit-Igniting Talisman lightly ahead. If there were any resentful spirits ahead, it would ignite, and the flames might illuminate a patch of the area.

The group on the other side immediately sensed something being thrown and launched a sudden counterattack!

Several sword auras of different colors, brimming with killing intent, flew toward them. Bichen smoothly unsheathed, swirling in front of Wei Wuxian, deflecting all the sword auras back with ease. A commotion ensued from the other side, with people panicking. Upon hearing the noise, Lan Wangji sheathed Bichen again. Wei Wuxian said, "Jin Ling? Lan Sizhui?"

Sure enough, he hadn't misheard. Jin Ling's voice came through the white fog, "How is it you again?!"

Wei Wuxian replied, "I was about to ask the same!"

Lan Sizhui, trying to contain his joy, said, "Mr. Mo, you're here too? Is Hanguang Jun also with you?"

At the mention of Lan Wangji, Jin Ling immediately clammed up, as if afraid of saying something that would get him into trouble. Lan Jingyi also shouted, "He must be here! That was definitely Bichen just now! Wasn't it?!"

Wei Wuxian said, "Yes, he's here with me now. Come over quickly."

The younger generation, relieved that they weren't facing an enemy, rushed over in a flurry. Apart from Jin Ling and the Lan family's younger generation, there were also seven or eight young people from other clans, still looking hesitant, likely due to their high status within their respective prestigious clans. Wei Wuxian asked, "Why are all of you here? That was quite a fierce attack just now. If it weren't for Hanguang Jun here, we could have hurt someone who wasn't involved."

Jin Ling retorted, "There are no ordinary people here. There aren't any people in this city at all!"

Lan Sizhui nodded and said, "In broad daylight, this demonic fog covers everything, and not a single shop is open."

Wei Wuxian said, "We'll deal with that later. How did all of you gather together? Don't tell me you planned to go night hunting together." Given Jin Ling's short fuse and tendency to pick fights with everyone, it was hard to imagine he'd team up with the Lan family's younger generation. Lan Sizhui, always ready to answer questions, explained, "That's a long story. We were originally at..."

Just then, from the fog, a series of grating, sharp sounds of a bamboo pole hitting the ground echoed again.

All the younger generation turned pale, their voices trembling. "It's here again!"