Chapter 42

Chapter 42: Grass and Trees VIII - 10

Xue Yang's chest was slashed by Lan Wangji's sword, Bichen, causing blood to splatter everywhere. The lock spirit bag he had hidden in his bosom was also flicked away by the tip of Bichen. Wei Wuxian, struggling to see clearly, said, "Xue Yang! What do you want him to return to you? Frostmist? Frostmist isn't your sword, so how can you say 'return to you'? Have you no shame?"

Xue Yang burst into laughter. "Senior Wei, you really don't spare any face, do you?"

Wei Wuxian said, "Laugh if you want. But no matter how much you laugh, you'll never piece together Xiao Xingchen's shattered soul. He finds you utterly repulsive, yet you insist on dragging him back into your twisted games."

Xue Yang alternated between laughter and cursing. "Who wants to play games with him!"

Wei Wuxian said, "Then why did you kneel down and beg me to help you repair his soul?"

Xue Yang, being clever, understood that Wei Wuxian was deliberately trying to distract him—first to anger him and make him lose focus, and second to provoke him into making noise so that Lan Wangji could locate him for an attack. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but respond. In a hostile tone, he said, "What for? Hmph! Do you not know, Yiling Patriarch? I'm going to turn him into a fierce corpse, controlled by me! He wanted to be a noble gentleman, so I'll make him kill endlessly, with no peace!"

Wei Wuxian said, "Huh? You hate him that much? Then why did you kill Chang Ping?"

Xue Yang sneered. "Why did I kill Chang Ping? Do you even need to ask, Yiling Patriarch? I told you before—I said I'd kill the entire Chang family of Liyang, leaving not even a dog alive!"

Each word he spoke revealed his location, and the sounds of blades piercing his body echoed continuously. Xue Yang's ability to endure pain was extraordinary, as Wei Wuxian had witnessed during their soul-sharing. Even when a blade pierced his abdomen, Xue Yang could still chat and laugh as if nothing had happened. Wei Wuxian continued, "Your reason is quite something, but the timeline doesn't match. Given how vengeful and ruthless you are, striking with such deadly precision, why would you wait several years to kill an entire family? You know the real reason you killed Chang Ping."

Xue Yang said, "Then tell me, what do I know? What do I know?!"

He shouted the last sentence. Wei Wuxian said, "You killed her, but why did you use the lingering death, a punishment? If you were avenging yourself, why didn't you use Calamity instead of Frostmist? And why did you gouge out Chang Ping's eyes to make her like Xiao Xingchen?"

Xue Yang screamed, "Nonsense! All nonsense! Do you think I'd let him die comfortably in revenge?!"

Wei Wuxian said, "You are indeed taking revenge. But who are you really avenging? How ridiculous. If you truly sought revenge, the one who should have suffered the most would be you."

Two sharp sounds of breaking air pierced the silence. Wei Wuxian stood still as Wen Ning swiftly moved to block two sinister black-lighted needles aimed at him. Xue Yang let out a chilling laugh like a night bird, which suddenly stopped, leaving him to continue his fierce battle with Lan Wangji in the fog. Wei Wuxian thought, "This man's resilience is unnaturally strong, as if he's completely insensitive to pain, acting like injuries don't matter. If he says a few more words, Lan Zhan can stab him a few more times. I don't believe he can still be so lively with his arms and legs cut off. Too bad he's not falling for it!"

Just then, a crisp sound of a bamboo pole echoed through the mist.

In a flash of insight, Wei Wuxian shouted, "Lan Zhan, stab where the bamboo pole sounds!"

Lan Wangji immediately struck. Xue Yang grunted. A moment later, the sound of the bamboo pole came again from a place several yards away!

Lan Wangji continued to stab at the source of the sound. Xue Yang said ominously, "Little blind girl, aren't you afraid that I'll crush you following me like this?"

Since being killed by Xue Yang, Ah Qing had been hiding from him, always staying out of his reach. For some reason, Xue Yang hadn't paid much attention to this lone wandering soul, considering her insignificant and not worth fearing. But now, Ah Qing was shadowing Xue Yang closely through the fog, banging her bamboo pole to expose his position and guide Lan Wangji's attacks!

Xue Yang moved extremely fast, appearing in another place in an instant. However, Ah Qing had been a swift runner even in life, and as a spirit, she stuck to him like a curse, her bamboo pole knocking the ground incessantly. The sound came from far and near, left and right, front and back, impossible to shake off. And with every sound, Bichen's sharp edge followed!

Though Xue Yang had been like a fish in water within the fog, able to hide and ambush, he now had to divert his attention to deal with Ah Qing. Cursing, he flung a talisman backward. That moment of distraction was enough for Bichen to pierce his chest!

Although Ah Qing's soul had been destroyed by Xue Yang's talisman and there was no more sound of the bamboo pole to reveal his position, this strike had hit a vital spot, preventing Xue Yang from being as elusive and hard to catch as before!

From within the fog, sounds of coughing up blood followed. Wei Wuxian threw an empty lock spirit bag to try and save Ah Qing's soul. Xue Yang, dragging his heavy steps, suddenly lunged forward, his hand outstretched and roaring, "Give it to me!"

Bichen's blue light flashed, and Lan Wangji swiftly and cleanly severed one of Xue Yang's arms.

Blood spurted wildly, painting a large area of the misty fog in front of Wei Wuxian a deep red. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood, each breath tasting of iron. But Wei Wuxian paid no heed, fully focused on rescuing and absorbing Ah Qing's scattered soul. Though Xue Yang didn't cry out in pain, the heavy thud of his knees hitting the ground was clear. It seemed he had lost too much blood and finally collapsed, kneeling on the ground.

Lan Wangji called Bichen again, and the next strike would sever Xue Yang's head completely!

However, just then, a burst of blue flame surged up from the fog.

The teleportation talisman's blue flame!

Wei Wuxian knew something was terribly wrong and, disregarding the danger in the fog, rushed forward. As he rushed forward, he nearly slipped on the wet, blood-soaked ground.

However, Xue Yang's figure had vanished.

Lan Wangji walked over, and Wei Wuxian said, "Grave digger?"

Xue Yang had been struck in a vital spot by Bichen and had lost an arm. Given the amount of blood loss, he should be dead and wouldn't have any extra energy or spiritual power left to use a teleportation talisman. Lan Wangji nodded slightly and said, "I stabbed the grave digger three times; he should have been captured alive, but a large number of walking corpses attacked, allowing him to escape."

Wei Wuxian said solemnly, "The grave digger is already wounded but still expended a great deal of spiritual power to take Xue Yang's body. He probably knew Xue Yang and his background. Taking Xue Yang's body... was to search him for the Yin Tiger Tally."

It was rumored that after Xue Yang was "cleansed" by Jin Guangyao, the Yin Tiger Tally had been lost and remained unaccounted for. But now, it seemed almost certain that the tally was on him. In Yi Cheng, tens of thousands of living corpses, walking corpses, and even fierce corpses gathered. It would be difficult to control them with just corpse poison powder or skull-piercing nails. Only the Yin Tiger Tally could explain how Xue Yang commanded them so easily, making them obey without question and attack relentlessly. A suspicious and cunning person like him would never place the Yin Tiger Tally somewhere he couldn't see. He would keep it on his person at all times to feel secure. The grave digger taking away his body was almost like taking the Yin Tiger Tally away.

This matter was of great importance, and Wei Wuxian said gravely, "At this point, we can only hope that the Yin Tiger Tally Xue Yang restored had limited power."

At that moment, Lan Wangji gently tossed something to him.

Wei Wuxian caught it and looked at it curiously. "What is this?" he asked.

Lan Wangji said, "The right hand."

What he tossed over was a brand new Sealed Evil Bag. Wei Wuxian then remembered the purpose of entering Yi Cheng and perked up. "The right hand of our good brother?"

Lan Wangji said, "Yes."

Amidst the obstacles of the grave digger, the horde of walking corpses, and the mysterious fog, Lan Wangji had still successfully retrieved the right hand of the corpse. Wei Wuxian was impressed and praised him heartily, "No wonder you're Hanguang Jun! You always know how to stay one step ahead."

After Xue Yang's body disappeared, the flow of the white fog accelerated and seemed to thin out, making it less difficult to see. It was then that Wei Wuxian noticed Song Lan was gone. In the spot where he had been lying, only Wen Ning remained, crouching on the ground and staring blankly in their direction.

Lan Wangji placed his hand on the handle of the recently sheathed Bichen sword. Wei Wuxian said, "It's alright. No need to be alert. Song Lan, the fierce corpse from earlier, shouldn't have any intention of attacking anymore. Otherwise, Wen Ning would have warned us. He probably regained his composure and left on his own."

Wei Wuxian softly whistled, and Wen Ning stood up and stepped back, disappearing into the white fog. The sound of dragging chains faded away. Lan Wangji didn't say much, only calmly saying, "Let's go."

As they were about to take a step, Wei Wuxian suddenly said, "Wait."

In the pool of blood, he saw something lonely.

A severed left hand. Four fingers were tightly clenched, missing a pinky.

The fist was tightly clenched. Wei Wuxian knelt down and used all his strength to pry each finger open one by one. When he opened it, he found a small piece of candy in the palm.

The candy was darkened and clearly inedible.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji returned to the mortuary. The main door was open, and sure enough, Song Lan was standing next to the coffin where Xiao Xingchen lay, looking down.

Several young nobles, swords drawn, huddled together, watching the corpse that had just attacked them with wary eyes. Seeing Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji return, they felt greatly relieved but didn't dare to shout, afraid of waking or provoking Song Lan. Wei Wuxian stepped inside and introduced him to Lan Wangji, "Song Lan, Daozhang Song Lan."

Song Lan, standing by the coffin, lifted his head and turned his gaze towards them. Lan Wangji elegantly lifted his robe and stepped over the high threshold with grace, giving a slight nod.

Since Song Lan had regained his sanity, his pupils had settled, and his eyes were clear and bright.

In those eyes, once Xiao Xingchen's, there was an unspeakable sorrow.

Thus, without needing to ask further, Wei Wuxian understood. During the time he was turned into a corpse and controlled by Xue Yang, Song Lan had seen everything and remembered it all.

Further questions or words would only deepen the sense of helplessness and sorrow.

After a moment of silence, Wei Wuxian retrieved two small lock spirit bags and handed them over. "Daozhang Xiao Xingchen and Ah Qing," he said.

Although Ah Qing was terrified of Xue Yang, she had still closely followed the murderer who had brutally killed her, making it impossible for him to escape until Bichen pierced his chest, bringing him to justice. She was nearly shattered by Xue Yang's vicious talisman, and Wei Wuxian had scavenged and used all his skills to gather the fragments. Now, she was shattered to pieces, much like Xiao Xingchen.

Two weak souls huddled inside the lock spirit bags, as if a gentle bump might scatter them. Song Lan’s hands trembled as he took the lock spirit bags, cradling them gently in his palms, afraid that even a slight jostle might harm them.

Wei Wuxian said, "Daozhang Song Lan, what do you plan to do with Daozhang Xiao Xingchen's body?"

Song Lan, one hand carefully holding the two lock spirit bags, used the other to write two lines on the ground with Fuxue: "Cremate the body. Allow the soul to rest."

Since Xiao Xingchen's soul was shattered like this, there was no way it could return to the body. It was better to cremate the body. With the body gone, only the pure soul would remain, and perhaps one day, it could return to the world.

Wei Wuxian nodded and asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

Song Lan wrote: "Bear Frostmist, travel the path of life. Together with Xingchen, eliminate demons and eradicate evil."

After a pause, he wrote again: "When he awakens, tell him I’m sorry, that the blame lies not with him."

These were the words he had never been able to say to Xiao Xingchen when he was alive.

The fog in Yi Cheng gradually dispersed, allowing a rough view of the streets and intersections. Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian led a group of young nobles out of the desolate city of ghosts. Song Lan bid them farewell at the city gate.

Clad in his black Daoist robes, he walked alone, carrying two swords, Frostmist and Fuxue, and two souls, Xiao Xingchen's and Ah Qing's, as he took a different road.

Not the same road they had taken to Yi Cheng.

Lan Jingyi gazed at his departing figure for a moment and said, "With clear moon and gentle breeze, Xiao Xingchen; with proud snow and frost, Song Zichen... I wonder if there will ever be a day when they meet again."

Walking on the overgrown path, Wei Wuxian thought, "This is where Xiao Xingchen and Ah Qing saved Xue Yang."

Lan Jingyi said, "Now will you tell us what you saw during the soul sharing? Why was that person Xue Yang? Why did he impersonate Xiao Xingchen?"

"And what about the Ghost General? Where is he now? Why didn't we see him? How did he suddenly appear?"

Wei Wuxian pretended not to hear the second question and said, "Well, that's a complicated story..."

As he finished, the atmosphere around him grew heavy with sorrow, and no one remembered the Ghost General anymore.

Lan Jingyi was the first to cry, saying, "How can something like this happen in the world!"

Jin Ling, furious, said, "That Xue Yang, scum! Filth! He died too easily! If Xianzi were here, I’d set her on him!"

Wei Wuxian shuddered inwardly: If Xianzi were here, Xue Yang would probably be scared to death before she even got to him.

The young man who had praised Ah Qing through the crack of the door beat his chest and stomped his feet, saying, "Ah Qing, Ah Qing!"

Lan Jingyi cried the loudest, completely losing composure, but no one reminded him to be quiet, because Lan Sizhui's eyes were also red, and fortunately, Lan Wangji hadn't muted him. With tears and snot running down his face, Lan Jingyi proposed, "Shouldn't we burn some paper money for Daozhang Xiao Xingchen and Ah Qing? There's a village up ahead, right? Let's buy some things to offer a sacrifice to them."

Everyone agreed: "Yes, yes, let's do it!"

They soon reached the village at the intersection. Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui eagerly ran in, buying various incense, candles, and red and yellow paper money. They used stones and bricks to build a makeshift windproof stove, and the group of youngsters squatted around, burning paper money while muttering. Wei Wuxian, who hadn't been in a light mood on the way, could hardly hold back any longer and said to Lan Wangji, "Hanguang Jun, aren't you going to stop them from doing this at someone else's doorstep?"

Lan Wangji said calmly, "You go and stop them."

Wei Wuxian said, "Alright, I'll handle the discipline for you."

He went over and said, "Are you all forgetting that you’re young nobles from prestigious clans? Haven't your parents taught you that the dead can't receive paper money? When people are dead, why would they need money? They can't receive it. And this is someone else's doorstep; you're burning things here..."

Lan Jingyi waved him off: "Go away, you're blocking the wind. It won't burn properly. Besides, you've never died before, how do you know they can't receive the money?"

Another young man, with tears and ash on his face, chimed in, "Exactly. How do you know? What if they can receive it?"

Wei Wuxian murmured, "How do I know?"

He knew all too well!

During the over a dozen years I was dead, I didn’t receive a single paper offering!

Lan Jingyi added, with a jab, "Even if you didn’t receive any, it’s probably because no one burned them for you."

Wei Wuxian mused aloud, "How could this be? Am I really that much of a failure? Not a single person would burn paper money for me? Is it really because no one did it, so I didn’t receive any?"

The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. He turned to quietly ask Lan Wangji, "Lan Wangji, have you ever burned paper money for me? At least you must have, right?"

Lan Wangji looked at him, brushed off a bit of ash from his sleeve, and silently gazed into the distance without saying a word.

Wei Wuxian looked at his serene profile and thought, "You’ve got to be kidding me?"

At that moment, a villager carrying a homemade bow approached, dissatisfied. "Why are you burning stuff here? This is right in front of my house! It’s bad luck!"

Wei Wuxian said, "See? You’re getting scolded."

These young nobles had never done anything like this before and didn’t know that burning paper money in front of someone’s house was considered unlucky. They apologized repeatedly. Lan Sizhui quickly wiped his face and said, "Is this your house?"

The villager said, "Hey, kid, what are you talking about? My family has lived here for three generations. Of course, it’s my house. If not mine, then whose?"

Jin Ling wasn’t happy with the villager’s tone. "What do you mean by that?"

Wei Wuxian pushed him back down. Lan Sizhui continued, "We just thought that we met another hunter here last time, which is why we asked."

The villager looked confused. "Another hunter? What do you mean by another?"

He held up three fingers. "My family has been a single line for generations. No brothers! My father passed away long ago, and I haven’t even married or had children. How could there be another hunter?"

Lan Jingyi stood up. "I swear, there was!" He said, "He was dressed warmly, wearing a big hat, and sat in your yard fixing his bow as if he was about to go hunting. We asked him for directions when we got here. He pointed us towards Yi Cheng!"

The villager spat. "Nonsense! You really saw someone sitting in my yard? There’s no such person in my family! That place, Yi Cheng, is so cursed that even ghosts can kill people. He pointed you there to harm you! What you saw was a ghost!"

He spat a few more times to rid himself of the bad luck and shook his head as he turned and left, leaving the group of young nobles looking at each other in confusion. Lan Jingyi was still insisting, "He really was sitting in this yard. I remember it clearly..."

Wei Wuxian quickly explained to Lan Wangji, then turned to the group. "Understand now? Someone lured you to Yi Cheng. That hunter who gave you directions wasn’t a villager; he was a malicious person in disguise."

Jin Ling said, "Was it from the moment we encountered someone killing cats and dumping bodies, that someone was deliberately leading us here? Was that fake hunter the one behind it?"

Wei Wuxian said, "Most likely."

Lan Sizhui looked puzzled. "Why would he go to such great lengths to lead us to Yi Cheng?"

Wei Wuxian said, "We don’t know yet, but from now on, be very careful. If you encounter anything strange again, don’t investigate on your own. Contact your clans, bring more people, and act together. If Lan Wangji hadn’t been in Yi Cheng this time, your lives would have been in danger."

Thinking about what might have happened if they had been trapped in Yi Cheng, many felt a chill down their spines. Whether surrounded by corpses or facing the living demon Xue Yang, the thought was terrifying.

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian led the group of young nobles for a while and, as dusk approached, they reached the city where they had left their dog and donkey.

The city was brightly lit and bustling with people. Everyone sighed with relief. This is what a place for living people looks like.

Wei Wuxian opened his arms wide and called out to the spotted donkey, "Little Apple!"

Little Apple charged at him angrily. At the same time, Wei Wuxian heard a dog barking and immediately jumped behind Lan Wangji. Xianzi also rushed over, and a dog and donkey faced off, baring their teeth at each other.

Lan Wangji ordered, "Tie them up. Let’s eat."

He half-dragged Wei Wuxian, who seemed to be clinging to his back, following Cha Sheng's guidance as they headed upstairs. Jin Ling and the others were about to follow, but Lan Wangji looked back at them with a meaningful glance. Lan Sizhui immediately said to the others, "The adults and children need to sit separately, so we'll stay on the first floor."

Lan Wangji nodded slightly, his expression indifferent as he continued upstairs. Jin Ling hesitated on the stairs, neither going up nor down. Wei Wuxian looked back with a playful smile. "There are some things you guys shouldn't see."

Jin Ling pouted and replied, "Like I care about seeing anything!"

Lan Wangji ordered a table for the group of young nobles on the first floor, while he and Wei Wuxian took a private room on the second floor, sitting opposite each other.

Wei Wuxian said, "Hanguang Jun, take my advice. When it comes to the aftermath of Yi City, your family shouldn't take on the responsibility alone. Such a large city, if it really needs to be cleaned up, will consume a lot of resources and be quite troublesome. Sichuan isn't within the Gusu Lan Family's jurisdiction. Just look at the younger generation downstairs and see which families they're from. Each family should pitch in accordingly."

Lan Wangji said, "It's worth considering."

Wei Wuxian continued, "Think it over carefully. Everyone loves to scramble for credit when there's a hunt but push away responsibilities. If you take a loss this time, it might spoil others, and they might not appreciate your noble intentions. If it happens too often, people might start to think it's only natural for you to take the lead in matters. That's just how the world works."

Pausing for a moment, he added, "It's just our bad luck that Yi City is so remote and there's no watchtower set up. Otherwise, Jin Ling and Lan Sizhui wouldn't have stumbled into it, and Ah Qing and Daozhang Xiao Xingchen's spirits wouldn't have taken so many years to see the light of day again."

Numerous major and minor cultivator families are scattered across prosperous cities and picturesque spiritual lands, but there are remote and barren areas that no family is willing to station in. Even cultivators with abilities rarely travel there. As a result, when demonic creatures wreak havoc in these places, the local civilians often suffer greatly with no one to turn to for help. When Jin Guangshan was still the head of the Jin family of Lanling, Jin Guangyao had proposed the idea of establishing watchtowers. However, due to the enormous cost and Jin Guangshan's lack of enthusiasm, along with the insufficient influence of the Jin family at the time, the proposal was not taken seriously and eventually dropped.

Once Jin Guangyao officially succeeded as family head and ascended to the position of Supervisor of Cultivators, he began gathering resources and manpower from various families to implement his original plan. At first, there was significant opposition, with many families questioning whether the Jin family was using this as a way to profit. Jin Guangyao spent five years building alliances and using both diplomacy and pressure to push through the plan.

These watchtowers were distributed across remote and barren areas, each assigned disciples from various families. If anything unusual happened, they would respond immediately, and if they couldn't resolve it, they'd alert other families or wandering cultivators for assistance. If the cultivators who came to help demanded payment and the locals were unable to afford it, the resources raised by the Jin family each year were sufficient to cover the costs.

This all happened after the Yiling Patriarch's time. During their travels, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji passed by several watchtowers, and Wei Wuxian learned the details from Lan Wangji. It's rumored that Jin Lingtai is planning to expand the network to 3,000 watchtowers, significantly increasing their coverage. Although the first batch of watchtowers received widespread praise for their effectiveness, criticism and mockery have never ceased, and when the new watchtowers are completed, there will likely be another round of controversy and chaos.

Soon, the dishes and wine arrived. Wei Wuxian scanned the table and saw that most of the dishes were fiery red with spices. He noticed that Lan Wangji mostly stuck to the milder dishes, only occasionally dipping into the spicier options, his expression unchanged. Wei Wuxian felt a slight stir in his heart. Lan Wangji noticed his gaze and asked, "What is it?"

Wei Wuxian slowly poured a cup of wine and said, "I was hoping you'd join me for a drink."