Chapter 39

Chapter 39: Grass and Trees 8

Ah Qing seemed to freeze for a moment before saying, "Y-yes!"

Xiao Xingchen said, "Then take it slow. Don't walk so fast. If you run this fast, you might bump into someone again."

Not mentioning that he himself couldn't see, he took Ah Qing's hand and guided her to the side of the road, saying, "Let's walk here. There are fewer people."

His words and actions were gentle and careful. Ah Qing hesitated for a moment before quickly snatching the purse from his waist, saying, "Thank you, Brother!"

Xiao Xingchen said, "Not 'brother,' but 'Taoist master.'"

Ah Qing blinked and said, "You're a Taoist master and a brother."

Xiao Xingchen smiled and said, "Since you called me 'brother,' how about returning the brother's purse?"

No matter how quick her hands were, she couldn’t fool the heightened senses of a cultivator. Realizing she was caught, she dashed off, only to be grabbed by the collar and pulled back by Xiao Xingchen, who said, "I told you not to run so fast. What if you bump into someone again?"

Ah Qing struggled and wriggled, her lips trembling as she bit her lower lip. Wei Wuxian thought, "She's going to scream ‘harassment’!" Just then, a middle-aged man hurriedly turned the corner. His eyes lit up when he saw Ah Qing, and he walked over, cursing, "Little brat, I've caught you. Give me my money back!"

Still angry, he swung a slap at her face, causing Ah Qing to flinch and close her eyes. However, the slap never landed as Xiao Xingchen intercepted it midway.

Xiao Xingchen said, "Please calm down, sir. It's not right to treat a young girl like this."

Ah Qing secretly opened her eyes and saw that the man had used a lot of force, but Xiao Xingchen easily held his hand, not allowing it to move forward. The man, feeling uneasy, said defiantly, "Who are you, a blind man who suddenly appears, pretending to be a hero! Is this wild brat your lover? Do you know she's a thief! She stole my purse, and you're protecting her. You're a thief too!"

Xiao Xingchen said, "Please return his money."

Ah Qing quickly took out the small amount of money from her pocket and handed it over. Xiao Xingchen let go of the man, who counted the money and, seeing nothing was missing, decided the blind man was not someone to be trifled with and left begrudgingly.

Xiao Xingchen said, "You're too bold. How dare you steal when you can't even see?"

Ah Qing jumped up and down, saying, "He touched me! Pinched my butt, it hurt a lot. What's wrong with me taking his money? He had such a big purse with so little inside, yet he still wanted to hit me. How greedy of him!"

Wei Wuxian thought, "Clearly, you initiated the encounter to steal from him, but now you're making it seem like it's his fault. What a clever twist."

Xiao Xingchen shook his head and said, "In that case, you shouldn't have provoked him. If no one had been around today, a slap wouldn't have solved this. Be careful in the future, young one."

After saying that, he turned and walked in the other direction. Wei Wuxian thought, "He didn't even get his own purse back. My senior is truly a compassionate person."

Holding the stolen purse, Ah Qing stood there for a moment before stuffing it into her clothes and tapping her bamboo cane as she chased after Xiao Xingchen, bumping into his back. Xiao Xingchen steadied her and asked, "Is there something else?"

Ah Qing said, "Your purse is still with me!"

Xiao Xingchen said, "Consider it a gift. It's not much, but don't steal again until you've spent it."

Ah Qing said, "I just heard that rude man cursing. So, you're blind too?"

Upon hearing the latter part, Xiao Xingchen's expression immediately darkened, and his smile vanished.

Innocent children can deliver the harshest words. Children don't understand anything, and precisely because they don't, their words hurt the most directly.

Under Xiao Xingchen's eye bandages, a hint of blood became more pronounced, almost seeping through. He raised his hand to cover it, his arm trembling. The pain and injury of having one's eyes gouged out aren't so easily healed. Ah Qing, thinking he was just dizzy, happily said, "Then I'll follow you!"

Xiao Xingchen forced a smile and said, "Why follow me? Do you want to become a female Daoist?"

Ah Qing said, "You're a big blind man, I'm a little blind girl. We can travel together and look out for each other. I have no parents and nowhere to go. Who I travel with or where I go doesn’t matter." Sensing he might refuse, and knowing he was a good person, she added a threat, "If you don't take me with you, I'll spend the money quickly, and then I'll have to steal and deceive again, getting slapped and losing my way. How pitiful!"

Xiao Xingchen smiled and said, "You’re so clever, only you could trick someone like that. Who could trick you?"

After observing for a while, Wei Wuxian discovered something remarkable.

With the real Xiao Xingchen for comparison, he found that the imposter played by Xue Yang was incredibly lifelike! Apart from his appearance, every detail was vivid, so much so that Wei Wuxian could believe Xue Yang had been possessed by Xiao Xingchen himself.

Ah Qing, as usual, clung to Xiao Xingchen, pretending to be blind and pitiful. Though Xiao Xingchen had told her several times that following him was dangerous, she wouldn’t listen. Even when Xiao Xingchen exorcised a demon-possessed cow in a village, it didn’t scare her away. She stuck to him like glue, never straying more than a few feet, persistently calling him "Daozhang." Eventually, perhaps because he found Ah Qing clever and endearing, and seeing that she was just a blind girl with no family, Xiao Xingchen silently allowed her to stay by his side.

Wei Wuxian initially thought Xiao Xingchen had a specific destination in mind. However, after skipping through several memories and based on the local customs and accents, he realized that the places they visited didn’t form a clear route. It was all rather haphazard, as if Xiao Xingchen was wandering from place to place, engaging in night hunting, going wherever there were supernatural disturbances to resolve. Wei Wuxian thought that perhaps the case of the Chang family of Liyang had dealt him such a huge blow that he no longer wished to associate with prestigious clans, but he still couldn’t let go of his aspirations. That’s why he chose to wander and engage in night hunting, doing what he could.

At that moment, Xiao Xingchen and Ah Qing were walking on a flat, long road with waist-high weeds on either side. Suddenly, Ah Qing exclaimed, “Ah!”

Xiao Xingchen immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ah Qing said, “Oh, it’s nothing. I just sprained my foot.”

Wei Wuxian could see clearly that she wasn’t actually hurt. She was walking just fine. If not for the fact that she was pretending to be blind in front of Xiao Xingchen, she could have jumped high into the air. Ah Qing had cried out because, with her casual glance, she had spotted a dark figure lying in the weeds.

Not knowing whether the figure was dead or alive, and thinking it would be troublesome either way, Ah Qing didn’t want Xiao Xingchen to find the person. She urged, “Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s find a town ahead to rest. I’m exhausted!”

Xiao Xingchen said, “Didn’t you sprain your foot? Do you want me to carry you?”

Ah Qing, delighted, banged her cane excitedly, “Yes, yes, yes!” Xiao Xingchen laughed and turned his back to her, kneeling down on one knee. Just as Ah Qing was about to pounce on him, Xiao Xingchen stopped her, stood up, and concentrated, saying, “There’s a smell of blood.”

Ah Qing’s nose caught a faint whiff of blood, but with the night wind blowing, it came and went. She pretended to be confused, “Is there? I don’t smell anything. Maybe someone nearby is slaughtering pigs or chickens, right?”

Just as she finished speaking, as if the heavens were deliberately opposing her, the person in the grass coughed softly.

Though it was an extremely weak sound, it couldn’t escape Xiao Xingchen’s sharp senses. He immediately pinpointed the direction, stepped into the weeds, and crouched down next to the person.

Ah Qing, seeing that the person had been discovered, stomped her foot and pretended to grope her way over, asking, “What’s going on?”

Xiao Xingchen said, “There’s a person lying here,” as he checked the person’s pulse.

Ah Qing said, “No wonder there’s such a strong smell of blood. Is he dead? Should we dig a hole and bury him?”

A dead person would certainly be less trouble than a living one, so Ah Qing eagerly hoped the person was dead. However, Xiao Xingchen said, “Not dead yet, but severely injured.”

After a moment of thought, he gently lifted the blood-covered person and carried the injured man.

Ah Qing, seeing her chance to be carried had been taken by this filthy, blood-covered man, pouted and stabbed the ground hard with her cane. But she knew Xiao Xingchen had to save this person, so she refrained from complaining. As they returned to the road and continued walking, Wei Wuxian became increasingly familiar with the surroundings. Suddenly, it hit him, “This is the same road that Lan Zhan and I took when we entered Yi City!”

Indeed, at the end of the road stood the towering Yi City.

At this time, the city gates weren’t as dilapidated. The watchtowers were intact, and there was no graffiti on the walls. The fog inside the gates was slightly thicker than outside, but compared to the heavy demonic fog that would come later, it was almost negligible. Lights and voices could be seen and heard from the windows and doors of the houses on either side of the road. Though it was a rather desolate place, there was still some human presence.

Carrying the severely wounded and bleeding person, Xiao Xingchen knew that no inn would accept such a guest. Thus, instead of asking for lodging, he directly inquired with a night watchman who was approaching about any vacant mortuary in the city. The watchman told him, “There’s one over there. The old man who was guarding it died last month, so it’s unattended now.” Seeing that Xiao Xingchen was blind and might have trouble finding his way, the watchman kindly led him there.

It was the same mortuary where Xiao Xingchen’s body would later be placed.

After thanking the watchman, Xiao Xingchen carried the injured person into a room on the right side. The room was of modest size, with a small, low bed against the wall and various utensils like pots and bowls. He gently laid the person down and took out a medicinal pill from his Qiankun Bag, placing it into the tightly clenched teeth of the injured person. Ah Qing fumbled around the room for a while before happily exclaiming, “There are so many things here! There’s a basin!”

Xiao Xingchen asked, “Is there a stove?”

“Yes!”

Xiao Xingchen said, “Ah Qing, try to boil some water. Be careful not to burn yourself.”

Ah Qing pouted and began her task. Xiao Xingchen felt the injured person’s forehead and gave him another pill to swallow. Wei Wuxian wanted to get a closer look at the person’s face, but Ah Qing, clearly uninterested and annoyed, didn’t spare him a second glance. After the water was boiled, Xiao Xingchen slowly cleaned the blood from the person’s face. What surprised her was that once the blood was washed away, the man was surprisingly handsome.

Seeing this face, Wei Wuxian’s heart sank.

Sure enough, it was Xue Yang.

He thought to himself, "Xiao Xingchen, you really have the worst luck in the world."

At this moment, Xue Yang looked completely like a teenager—seven parts handsome, three parts innocent. But who would have known that this teenager, who smiled to reveal a pair of tiger teeth, was actually a deranged mass murderer.

Calculating the timeline, this must be after Jin Guangyao had ascended to the position of Supervisor of Cultivators. Xue Yang's current disheveled state must be because he had just barely escaped with his life from Jin Guangyao's "cleansing." Since Jin Guangyao didn’t finish him off, it would have been embarrassing to admit it, or perhaps he believed Xue Yang wouldn’t survive. Thus, he declared to the outside world that the matter had been dealt with. But as the saying goes, "a villain always seems to survive," and just as Xue Yang was at death's door, his old nemesis Xiao Xingchen ended up saving him. Poor Xiao Xingchen had no idea that by carefully feeling this person's face, he had saved the very person who had brought him to such a state. Ah Qing, although able to see, was not a member of the cultivation world, did not recognize Xue Yang, and had no idea about the deep hatred between them. She didn’t even know Xiao Xingchen's name.

Wei Wuxian sighed in his heart. It couldn't be more unlucky. It was as if all the bad luck in the world had fallen on Xiao Xingchen.

At that moment, Xue Yang frowned. Xiao Xingchen was checking and bandaging his wounds and, sensing that he was about to wake up, said, "Don't move."

People like Xue Yang, who had done many evil deeds, were naturally very alert. As soon as he heard this voice, he abruptly opened his eyes, sat up, and rolled to the corner of the wall, his posture defensive as he stared at Xiao Xingchen with a fierce look. This gaze, like that of a trapped beast, did not hide its cruelty and malice, sending shivers down Ah Qing's spine. The same feeling reached Wei Wuxian, who thought, "Speak! With Xue Yang's voice, Xiao Xingchen would definitely remember!"

Xue Yang said, "You..."

At that single word, Wei Wuxian knew it was over; even if Xue Yang spoke, Xiao Xingchen wouldn't be able to recognize him.

At this moment, Xue Yang's throat was injured, and after coughing up a lot of blood, his voice was hoarse, completely unrecognizable as the same person!

Sitting by the bedside, Xiao Xingchen said, "I told you not to move; your wound will tear open. Don't worry, since I saved you, I won't harm you."

Xue Yang quickly assessed the situation and guessed that Xiao Xingchen likely hadn’t recognized him. His eyes flickered, and after a few coughs, he tentatively asked, "Who are you?"

Ah Qing interjected, "Can't you see? He's a wandering Daoist. He went through all the trouble to carry you back and treat your wounds, giving you miraculous pills, and yet you're being so fierce!"

Xue Yang immediately turned his gaze towards her, coldly saying, "Blind?"

Wei Wuxian thought, "This is bad."

This little rascal was sharp, cunning, and always on guard. Even though Ah Qing had white pupils, he didn’t let his guard down or miss any suspicious details. Just now, with only four words, it was hard to determine if he was truly fierce or not based on tone alone, unless one could see his expression and eyes.

Fortunately, Ah Qing, who had been lying all her life, immediately said, "You think blind people can't do anything? A blind person saved your life, or you’d still be lying in the dirt! And yet, instead of thanking the Daoist for saving you, you're being rude! Calling me blind, humph... What's wrong with being blind?"

She successfully diverted the topic and shifted the focus, looking both indignant and wronged as she muttered to herself. Xiao Xingchen hurriedly went to comfort her, while Xue Yang rolled his eyes in the corner. Xiao Xingchen then turned back to him and said, "Don't lean against the wall anymore; I haven't finished bandaging your leg wound."

Xue Yang's cold expression remained as he continued to think. Seeing this, Xiao Xingchen added, "If you delay the treatment any longer, your leg might be crippled."

Hearing this, Xue Yang made a decisive choice.

Wei Wuxian could guess what he was thinking: He was severely injured and unable to move, so he desperately needed someone to treat him. Since Xiao Xingchen was foolish enough to offer himself as this benefactor, why not accept it graciously?

Thus, he suddenly changed his expression, speaking with gratitude, "I’ll trouble you, Daozhang."

Seeing Xue Yang's ability to switch from hostility to a grateful smile so quickly, Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but feel anxious for the two 'blind' people in the room. Especially Ah Qing, the fake blind one. She could see everything, and if Xue Yang discovered this truth, she would undoubtedly be killed to prevent any leaks. Although Wei Wuxian knew Ah Qing would eventually be killed by Xue Yang, experiencing this process still made him anxious.

Suddenly, he noticed that Xue Yang was subtly avoiding letting Xiao Xingchen touch his left hand. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that Xue Yang was missing a little finger on his left hand. The wound was old, not a new injury. Xiao Xingchen must have known that Xue Yang was the Nine-Fingered one. No wonder Xue Yang wore a black glove on his left hand when he was pretending to be an imposter.

Xiao Xingchen, who treated and helped others with all his heart, finished applying the medicine and bandaging Xue Yang's wounds neatly, saying, "It's done. But you'd better not move, or the bones might shift again."

Having confirmed that Xiao Xingchen really hadn’t recognized him, Xue Yang, despite being covered in blood and in a sorry state, had that lazy yet smug smile on his face again as he said, "Daozhang, aren't you going to ask who I am? Why am I so badly injured?"

Most people in his position would carefully avoid these topics to prevent any traces of their identity from being revealed, but Xue Yang deliberately brought it up, purposely mentioning it first. Xiao Xingchen, lowering his head to tidy up the medical kit and bandages, gently said, "Since you're not telling, why should I ask? We're strangers who happened to cross paths, and helping you was the least I could do. Once you've recovered, we'll go our separate ways. If I were in your shoes, there are many things I wouldn’t want others to ask about either."

Wei Wuxian thought, "Even if Xiao Xingchen did ask, this little rascal would definitely come up with a flawless story to deceive him. People inevitably have some complicated pasts, and Xiao Xingchen's decision not to pry was originally a sign of respect. But who would have known that Xue Yang would take advantage of this respect? Wei Wuxian dared to bet that not only would Xue Yang deceive Xiao Xingchen into treating his wounds, but even after he recovered, he wouldn’t just 'go their separate ways'!"

Xue Yang rested in the caretaker's quarters, while Xiao Xingchen went to the mortuary, opened an empty coffin, and gathered a lot of straw from the ground, spreading a thick layer at the bottom of the coffin. He said to Ah Qing, "The person inside is injured, so I've given up the bed for him. You'll have to make do with sleeping here. With the straw, it shouldn't be cold."

Having grown up on the streets, sleeping wherever she could, Ah Qing didn’t care at all and said, "What's there to complain about? Having a place to sleep is good enough. It won't be cold; don't give me your outer robe again."

Xiao Xingchen gently patted her on the head, tucked away his horsetail whisk, and slung his sword over his back before stepping out the door. For safety reasons, Xiao Xingchen never allowed her to follow him during night hunts. After lying in the coffin for a while, Ah Qing suddenly heard Xue Yang call out from the next room, "Hey, little blind girl, come over here."

Ah Qing poked her head out. "What do you want?"

Xue Yang’s voice turned sickeningly sweet. "You sure you don’t want to come? Afraid to, maybe? You think just because you don’t come, I can’t get up and find you?"

Ah Qing’s tongue tingled at the thought of candy, but she refused, "No. I’m not coming!"

The sound of his voice sent a shiver down her spine. She could almost picture his twisted smile looming above the coffin. After a moment’s hesitation, she grabbed her cane and slowly made her way to the door, her heart pounding in her chest. Before she could say anything, a small object flew toward her face.

Wei Wuxian instinctively tried to react, worried it might be a hidden weapon, but of course, he had no control over the body. Then it hit him—"A trap!"

Xue Yang was testing Ah Qing. If she were really blind, she wouldn’t be able to dodge it!

Ah Qing, a seasoned pretender of blindness and quick-witted as ever, did not flinch or move when the object flew toward her. Without flinching, she let it smack into her chest, then leaped back with a furious shout. "Hey! What the hell did you throw at me?!"

Xue Yang said, "It’s candy. I was trying to give you some. I forgot you’re blind and couldn’t catch it. It fell by your feet."

Ah Qing snorted and realistically fumbled around, pretending to search. She finally picked up a piece of candy, something she had never tasted before. Swallowing, she popped it into her mouth and chewed noisily. Xue Yang, lying on his side with one arm propping up his head, asked, "Little blind girl, is it tasty?"

Ah Qing said, "I have a name, you know. I’m not called 'little blind girl.'"

Xue Yang said, "Well, you don’t tell me your name, so I have no choice but to call you that."

Ah Qing only shared her name with people who were kind to her, but she disliked how Xue Yang called her that so rudely. She said, "Listen, my name is Ah Qing. Don’t you dare call me 'little blind girl' again!" Sensing she had been too harsh, she quickly changed the subject, "You’re so strange. Covered in blood and seriously injured, yet you have candy with you."

Xue Yang grinned, "I loved eating candy as a child, but I could never get any. Seeing others eat always made my mouth water. So, I always thought that if one day I became successful, I’d carry endless amounts of candy with me every day."

As Ah Qing finished the last of the candy and licked her lips, her desire for more overwhelmed her dislike for him. "Do you have any more?"

Xue Yang smiled, "Of course. Come closer, and I’ll give you some."

Ah Qing stood up and tapped her cane as she walked toward him. But halfway there, Xue Yang’s smile never wavered, and his eyes gleamed with a dangerous light. Without a word, he silently pulled out a long, razor-sharp sword from his sleeve.

The sword, Calamity, gleamed coldly in the dim light.

He pointed the sword tip toward Ah Qing. If she took a few more steps, Calamity would impale her. But if she hesitated, she’d expose the fact that she wasn’t really blind!

Wei Wuxian, sharing Ah Qing's senses, felt the chill at the back of her head. Yet, the girl was incredibly bold and composed. She continued to fumble forward naturally. Sure enough, the tip of the sword stopped just inches from her stomach, and Xue Yang withdrew it, slipping Calamity back into his sleeve. Instead, he handed her two pieces of candy, one for her and one for himself.

He asked, "Ah Qing, where did your Daozhang go in the middle of the night?"

Ah Qing, noisily chewing her candy, said, "He went hunting, I think."

Xue Yang sneered, "Hunting? More like night hunting."

Ah Qing hadn’t forgotten the term "night hunting"—she had deliberately misused it, and by correcting her, Xue Yang revealed that he was also a cultivator. "Is there a difference? They’re pretty much the same, right? It’s just helping people hunt ghosts and monsters without getting paid."

Wei Wuxian thought, *She’s too sharp*.

Xue Yang looked contemptuous but asked with feigned confusion, "He’s blind. How can he still night hunt?"

Ah Qing snapped, "There you go again. So what if he’s blind? He’s still incredible. His sword moves so fast—it’s lightning quick! I may not see it, but I can hear it. What’s your problem? Do you think blind people are useless or something?" Her tone was that of an arrogant, adoring young girl boasting about her idol, as natural as could be.

At this point, after three failed attempts to test her, Xue Yang's expression finally softened, and he seemed to believe that Ah Qing was truly blind.

However, Ah Qing became greatly vigilant of Xue Yang. The next day, Xiao Xingchen found some wood, thatch, and tiles to repair the roof and returned with them. As soon as he entered, Ah Qing quietly pulled him aside and whispered for a long time, saying that this person's behavior was suspicious. Although Xue Yang was traveling with Xiao Xingchen, he was hiding here and there and definitely wasn't a good person. Unfortunately, she might have considered the broken little finger as unimportant and didn't mention this most fatal characteristic. Xiao Xingchen comforted her, saying, "You've already accepted his sweets. There's no need to chase him away. He'll leave once he's healed. No one would want to stay in this charnel house with us."

This was true. The place was so run-down that there was only one bed. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't windy or rainy, the roof would have been a big problem, and no one would want to stay. Ah Qing was still about to badmouth Xue Yang when his voice suddenly came from behind, "Are you talking about me?"

He had gotten out of bed again. Ah Qing wasn't the least bit guilty and said, "Who's talking about you? Narcissist!" She took her bamboo pole and knocked her way in, hiding stealthily under the window to eavesdrop.

Outside the charnel house, Xiao Xingchen said, "Your injuries aren't fully healed. Is it okay for you to be walking around like this?"

Xue Yang said, "Walking around helps me heal faster. Besides, it's not like both my legs are broken. I'm used to injuries like this; I was beaten a lot growing up."

Xiao Xingchen didn't seem to know whether to comfort him or treat it as a joke. After a pause, he said, "Oh..."

Xue Yang continued, "Daozhang, I saw you brought back those materials. Are you going to repair the roof?"

Xiao Xingchen said, "Yes. I plan to stay here for a while, and the roof is too damaged. It wouldn't be good for you or Ah Qing's recovery."

Xue Yang asked, "Do you need my help?"

Xiao Xingchen thanked him but said, "No need to trouble you."

Xue Yang said, "Daozhang, do you know how to do it?"

Xiao Xingchen laughed and shook his head, saying with a bit of embarrassment, "I've never actually tried this before."

So the two began to work together to repair the roof. Xue Yang was quite the talker, good with witty remarks, his humor carrying a somewhat unruly, street-smart air. Xiao Xingchen likely had little experience dealing with people like him and couldn't hold back his laughter after a few exchanges. Ah Qing, listening to their cheerful conversation, silently moved her lips. Upon careful observation, it seemed she was angrily muttering, "I'll kill you, you bad guy."

Wei Wuxian shared Ah Qing's sentiment.

Xue Yang was gravely injured, nearly losing his life, and Xiao Xingchen was partly responsible due to some old grudge between them. They could be considered sworn enemies. Now, Xue Yang probably wished for Xiao Xingchen to die a gruesome death, yet on the surface, he could still chat and joke with him. If Wei Wuxian were in control of his own body, he would have killed Xue Yang without a second thought to eliminate any future trouble. But this wasn't his body, and Ah Qing was powerless to act.

About a month later, with Xiao Xingchen's meticulous care, Xue Yang's injuries were almost fully healed. He still limped slightly when walking, but otherwise, he was mostly recovered. Yet, he didn't mention leaving and continued to stay in the charnel house with the two, seemingly plotting something.

One day, after Xiao Xingchen had put Ah Qing to bed and was about to go out for night hunting, Xue Yang's voice suddenly came, "Daozhang, how about you take me along tonight?"

His voice should have healed by now, but he deliberately altered his voice, using a different tone to disguise himself. Xiao Xingchen laughed and said, "I can't. If you speak, I'll laugh. If I laugh, my sword will falter."

Xue Yang said pitifully, "Then I won't speak. I'll carry your sword and assist you. Don't look down on me."

He was good at acting cute and clever, speaking to his elder like a younger brother. Xiao Xingchen, having likely taken care of younger disciples under Mount Baoshan, naturally saw him as a junior. Knowing he was also a cultivator, Xiao Xingchen happily agreed. Wei Wuxian silently observed, "Xue Yang isn’t doing this out of kindness; Ah Qing had better not miss this."

But Ah Qing was indeed clever and understood that Xue Yang likely had ill intentions. After the two left, she also got out of the coffin and followed them from a distance. Afraid of being spotted, she kept her distance, but the two moved too quickly, and she soon lost sight of them. Fortunately, Xiao Xingchen had mentioned a small village nearby that was being troubled by walking corpses while washing vegetables. He had told them not to go out and run around, and Ah Qing remembered the place. She quickly arrived and, slipping through a small hole under a fence at the village entrance, hid behind a house, peeking out cautiously.

As she peeked, Wei Wuxian’s heart sank, unsure of what Ah Qing had realized.

Xue Yang stood by the roadside with his arms crossed, smiling with his head tilted. Across from him, Xiao Xingchen calmly drew his sword. Frostmist, Xiao Xingchen’s gleaming silver sword, pierced through the heart of a villager.

The villager was alive.