TFOD Chapter 35

The sound of bamboo poles hitting the ground was intermittent, sometimes faint, sometimes near, making it impossible to determine the direction and what exactly was creating these abrupt and strange noises.

Wei Wuxian said, “Come here, stay close, don’t move around, and don’t draw your swords.”

In the fog, a group of younger cultivators wildly drawing their swords might not harm the enemy but could easily injure each other. After a moment, the sound stopped abruptly. Waiting for a while, a young disciple whispered, “It’s them again… when are they going to stop following us!”

Wei Wuxian asked, “They’ve been following you?”

Lan Sizhui replied, “After we entered the city, the fog was so thick we were afraid of getting lost, so we gathered together. Suddenly we heard this sound. At that time, it wasn’t as fast; it was slow, with each beat. We even faintly saw a small shadow walking slowly in the fog ahead. We chased it, but it disappeared. After that, the sound kept following us.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “How small was it?”

Lan Sizhui gestured near his chest, “Very short and thin.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “How long have you been in here?”

Lan Sizhui replied, “Almost half an incense stick’s time.”

“Half an incense stick?” Wei Wuxian asked, “Lan Wangji, how long have we been in here?”

Lan Wangji’s voice came from behind the hazy fog, “Almost a full incense stick.”

“See,” Wei Wuxian said, “We’ve been in longer than you guys, so how did you get ahead of us? You must have circled back to run into us.”

Jin Ling finally couldn’t help but interject, “We didn’t circle back! We kept going straight along this road.”

They were all heading forward, so could it be that the road had been tampered with, turning it into a maze loop?

Wei Wuxian asked, “Have you tried flying up to see?”

Lan Sizhui replied, “I tried. I felt like I flew a long distance, but I didn’t actually go up very high. And there were some blurry black shadows floating in the air. I don’t know what they were, so I was afraid I couldn’t handle them and came down.”

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent for a while. The Shu Dong area was already foggy, and at first, they hadn’t paid much attention to the fog in Yi City. Now it seemed that this was probably not natural fog but indeed demonic fog.

Lan Jingyi exclaimed, “This fog isn’t poisonous, is it?!”

Wei Wuxian said, “It shouldn’t be poisonous. We’ve all been here for so long, and we’re still alive.”

Jin Ling said, “If I had known, I would have brought Fairy with me. It’s all the fault of your dead donkey.”

Hearing the dog’s name, Wei Wuxian’s back started to crawl, and then he heard Lan Jingyi say, “We haven’t even blamed your dog yet! It was the one who bit first, and Little Apple kicked it right on, who’s to blame? Either way, both of them can’t move now.”

Wei Wuxian said, “What?! My Little Apple was bitten by a dog?!”

Jin Ling retorted, “Can that donkey compare to my spiritual hound? Fairy was given to me by my uncle, if anything happens to it, ten thousand donkeys wouldn’t be enough to compensate!”

Wei Wuxian said, making up a lie, “Stop using Lianfang-Zun to intimidate people, my Little Apple was a mount given to me by Hanguang-Jun. How could you bring Little Apple down the mountain for a night hunt? And let it get hurt?!”

The Lan Sect juniors said in unison, “Liar!” They absolutely refused to believe that Hanguang-Jun, with his refined taste, would pick such a mount to give someone. Even if Lan Wangji didn’t refute it, they still resolutely refused to believe it. Lan Sizhui said, “Um… Sorry, Mister Mo. Your Little Ap… donkey has been making noise at Cloud Recesses every day. The elders have been complaining for a long time, and they ordered us to drive it away during this night hunt, so we…”

Jin Ling also didn’t believe that the spotted donkey was given by Lan Wangji, “I hate the sight of that donkey, and calling it Little Apple, so stupid!”

Lan Jingyi was still thinking that if it was really Hanguang-Jun’s gift, then it would be bad, so he quickly spoke up for it, “What’s wrong with Little Apple? It likes to eat apples, so it’s called Little Apple, how simple. This name is eighteen streets better than calling your fat dog Fairy!”

Jin Ling retorted, “Where’s Fairy fat?! You try finding a spiritual hound that’s more agile than it…”

Suddenly, it became silent.

After a while, Wei Wuxian said, “Is anyone still here?”

Nearby, there were “uh-huh” and “ooh-ooh” sounds, indicating that everyone was present. Lan Wangji coldly said, “Noisy.”

…He had silenced everyone at once. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but touch his lips, feeling very fortunate.

Just then, from the fog to their left front, footsteps came.

The footsteps were heavy and uneven. Then, the same sound came from the front, the right front, the side, and the back. Although the fog was too thick to see any shadows, the rotten, fishy smell was already wafting over.

Wei Wuxian naturally wouldn’t take a few walking corpses to heart. He lightly blew a whistle, the ending note trailing off, containing an intent to repel them. Those walking corpses in the fog seemed to pause slightly upon hearing the whistle.

However, in the next moment, they suddenly charged at them!

Wei Wuxian never expected that the order would not only fail to work but would instead provoke them. It was impossible for him to confuse two different commands, “repel” and “provoke”!

However, there was no time to think any further. Seven or eight lurching figures appeared in the fog. With the density of the fog in Yi City, seeing their figures meant they were already extremely close!

The icy blue sword light of Bichen pierced through the fog, circling around the group, drawing a sharp circle in the air, cutting several walking corpses in half at their waists, and then returning to its sheath. Wei Wuxian breathed a sigh of relief, Lan Wangji said softly, “Why.”

Wei Wuxian was also wondering, “Why doesn’t my whistle command work on these walking corpses? They walk slowly and have a rotten smell, so they’re definitely not high-level fierce corpses. I should be able to scare them off with a snap of my fingers. If it’s said that my whistle command suddenly became invalid, that’s also impossible, as it’s not driven by spiritual power. This has never happened before…”

Suddenly, he thought of something, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his back.

That’s not right. It wasn’t that this “had never happened before.” It had, in fact, happened before, and more than once. There was indeed a type of fierce corpse and evil spirit that he couldn’t control.

That was—a fierce corpse or evil spirit already under the control of the Yin Tiger Seal!

Lan Wangji released the silencing, and Lan Sizhui was able to speak again, “Hanguang-Jun, is the situation very dangerous? Should we leave the city right away?”

“But, the fog is so thick, and we can’t find a way out, and we can’t fly away…”

A young disciple said, “It sounds like more walking corpses are coming!”

“Where? I didn’t hear any footsteps?”

“I think I heard some strange breathing…” The young man realized how ridiculous what he said sounded and shut his mouth awkwardly. Another young man said, “I’m impressed by you. Breathing? Walking corpses are dead people, how can they have breathing?”

Before he finished speaking, another burly figure crashed into them. Bichen unsheathed again, and the figure’s head and body separated, making a strange “popping” sound. Several young disciples who were close by screamed. Wei Wuxian was afraid they would get hurt, so he quickly said, “What’s wrong?”

Lan Jingyi replied, “That walking corpse sprayed something out of its body, it seems to be some kind of powder. It’s bitter, sweet, and fishy!” He was very unlucky, as he had just opened his mouth to speak, so he got a lot of the powder in his mouth. Disregarding his manners, he spat several times. The things that came out of the walking corpses were no small matter. The powder was still rampaging in the air, and if they rashly went near and inhaled it, it would be worse than eating it. Wei Wuxian said, “Everyone stay away from that area! Come over here, let me take a look.”

Lan Jingyi said, “Okay. But I can’t see you, where are you?”

In this place where it was impossible to see five fingers ahead, walking was difficult. Wei Wuxian remembered that every time Bichen was unsheathed, its sword light could pierce through the fog, so he turned to Lan Wangji beside him and said, “Hanguang-Jun, unsheathe your sword, let him come over here.”

Lan Wangji stood next to him, but he didn’t respond or move.

Suddenly, seven steps away, a clear, icy blue sword light appeared.

…Lan Wangji was there?

Then, who was this person who had been standing next to him and silently all along?!

Suddenly, Wei Wuxian’s vision went dark, and a black face loomed towards him from the front.

It was black because this face was covered with a thick layer of black fog!

This fog-faced person reached out to grab the Evil Sealing Bag hanging from his waist. As soon as he grabbed it, however, the bag suddenly swelled up, the rope knot broke, and three entwined evil spirits, surging with resentment, burst out, attacking his face!

Wei Wuxian laughed, “You want to steal the Evil Sealing Bag? You have poor eyesight, trying to steal my Soul Locking Pouch!”

Ever since the last time in the Chang Clan’s cemetery in Leyang, when the gravedigger managed to take away the newly unearthed torso and made him fall short of his goal, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had been on guard. They guessed that he would not give up and would look for an opportunity to act, and that he might appear at any time to snatch it. Sure enough, they had only entered Yi City when this gravedigger tried to take advantage of the thick fog and the noisy crowd to attack. He did succeed, but Wei Wuxian had long since swapped the Evil Sealing Bag containing the left arm with the Soul Locking Pouch.

With a “clang,” the person jumped backward and drew his sword. Then the evil spirits let out venomous screams, seemingly having been cut apart and scattered by his sword. Wei Wuxian thought, “He really is a skilled cultivator.” Then he shouted, “Hanguang-Jun, the gravedigger is here!”

No need to remind him, Lan Wangji knew that something had happened just by listening. Without responding, Bichen, which was like a flying shuttle carrying a fierce sword aura, gave the answer.

The situation now wasn’t optimistic. That gravedigger’s sword was covered in a layer of black fog, the sword light unable to break through, making it well-hidden in the white fog. Lan Wangji’s Bichen sword light, however, was impossible to block. He was in the open, and his enemy was in the dark. His opponent was also a skilled cultivator and was familiar with the Gusu Lan Sect’s sword techniques. In addition, they were blindly fighting in the fog. The gravedigger could have no scruples, while Lan Wangji had to be careful not to accidentally injure his own people, which was a great disadvantage. Wei Wuxian heard several clangs of blades clashing and felt a tightness in his heart, blurting out, “Lan Zhan? Are you hurt?!”

A muffled groan came from far away, as if something critical had been injured, but it was clearly not Lan Wangji’s voice.

Lan Wangji said, “How could that be.”

Wei Wuxian laughed, “That’s right!”

That person seemed to let out a cold laugh and attacked again with his sword. The light of Bichen and the sound of colliding swords grew further away. Wei Wuxian knew that Lan Wangji didn’t want to accidentally injure them, so he deliberately led the fight away to deal with the gravedigger. That meant the remaining matters would naturally be his responsibility. He turned around and asked, “How are the people who inhaled the powder?”

Lan Sizhui said, “They can’t stand up very well!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Gather in the middle, and count off.”

Fortunately, they had dealt with a wave of walking corpses and led away the gravedigger. There was nothing else harassing them. The remaining young disciples gathered together and counted the number of people. No one was missing. Wei Wuxian took Lan Jingyi, touched his forehead, and found he had a fever. He also touched the other young men who had inhaled the powder from the walking corpses, and they were all the same. He flipped up Lan Jingyi’s eyelid and said, “Stick your tongue out, ah.”

Lan Jingyi: “Ah.”

Wei Wuxian: “Hm. Congratulations, you’ve been poisoned by corpse poison.”

Jin Ling said, “What’s so congratulatory about that?!”

Wei Wuxian said, “It’s also a life experience, something to talk about when you’re old.”

Corpse poison usually occurs when someone is bitten or scratched by a corpse or when their wounds come in contact with the dead blood of a corpse. It was rare for cultivators to allow walking corpses to get close enough to bite or scratch them, and nobody carried antidotes for corpse poison all day. Lan Sizhui said worriedly, “Mister Mo, will they be okay?”

Wei Wuxian said, “They’re okay now, but once it flows into their blood, spreads throughout their bodies, and reaches their heart, then they’re done for.”

Lan Sizhui said, “What… what will happen?”

Wei Wuxian said, “What happens to the corpses is what will happen to you. The better ones will rot and stink, and the worse ones will turn into hairy zombies, and from now on, you’ll only be able to walk by hopping.”

The young disciples who were poisoned by the corpse poison all sucked in a breath of cold air.

Wei Wuxian said, “Want to be cured, right?”

They all nodded vigorously. Wei Wuxian said, “If you want to be cured, listen up. From now on, everyone needs to listen to me obediently, every single one of you.”

Although many of the young men didn’t know him, seeing that this person was on equal terms with Hanguang-Jun and was close to him, even calling him by his given name, plus the fact that they were in a demon-fog-filled and ghost-infested Yi City and now poisoned and had fevers, they were uneasy and subconsciously wanted someone to rely on. Wei Wuxian spoke with an inexplicable confidence as if he didn’t worry about anything, and they were unconsciously led by his words. They said in unison, “Okay!”

Wei Wuxian pushed his luck further, “You have to do whatever I tell you to do, and you’re not allowed to disobey. Understand?”

“Understood!”

Wei Wuxian clapped his hands and said, “Get up, those who aren’t poisoned carry those who are, preferably with them on their back. If you’re lifting them, remember to keep their heads and hearts up.”

Lan Jingyi said, “I can walk, why do I need to be carried?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Brother, if you jump and hop around, your blood will flow quickly, and it will flow into your heart very fast. So, you need to move as little as possible, preferably not at all.”

The young men immediately straightened into rigid boards, and their companions carried them on their backs. One of the young men was being carried on the back of his companion, muttering, “That walking corpse that sprayed out the corpse poison powder really was breathing.”

The young man carrying him on his back complained breathlessly, “I already told you, if it’s breathing, then it’s a living person.”

Lan Sizhui asked, “Mister Mo, we’re all set. Where are we going?”

The most obedient, most cooperative, and most worry-free person was Lan Sizhui. Wei Wuxian said, “We definitely can’t leave the city for now. Go knock on the door.”

Jin Ling asked, “Knock on what door?”

Wei Wuxian thought for a moment, then said, “Besides houses, what else has a door?”

Jin Ling said, “You want us to go into these houses? It’s already so dangerous outside, who knows what is lurking inside, waiting to pounce on us.”

As soon as he said that, everyone felt like there were many eyes hidden behind the thick fog and houses, closely watching their every move and word, and they couldn’t help but shudder. Wei Wuxian said, “Not bad, it’s hard to say whether the outside is more dangerous or if it’s more dangerous inside. But it’s already like this outside, it can’t be any worse inside. Let’s go, we don’t have time to waste; we need to detoxify.”

Everyone could only follow his words. Following Wei Wuxian’s instructions, each person grabbed the sheath of the person in front of them to avoid getting lost in the fog, and they knocked on every single door. Jin Ling knocked hard for a long time and didn’t hear a response from the house. He said, “It seems like there’s no one in this house, let’s go in.”

Wei Wuxian’s voice floated over from afar, “Who told you to go in just because there’s no one there? Keep knocking. The house we’re going into has to have people inside.”

Jin Ling said, “You still want to find someone?”

Wei Wuxian said, “That’s right. Knock properly. You knocked too hard just now, that’s very impolite.”

Jin Ling was so angry that he almost kicked the wooden door down, but in the end he only…stomped his feet hard on the ground.

Every house and every door along this street was tightly shut, and no matter how hard they knocked, they remained unmoved. Jin Ling became more and more impatient as he knocked, but he did reduce the force he was using. Lan Sizhui, however, remained calm and composed, and when he knocked on the thirteenth shop, he repeated the same words he had repeated several times before, “Excuse me, is anyone in here?”

Suddenly, the door panel moved slightly. A thin black crack opened up.

It was dark inside the door, and it was impossible to see what was behind the crack. The person who opened the door didn’t speak either. The young men who were nearby couldn’t help but take a small step back.

Lan Sizhui composed himself and said, “Excuse me, are you the shop owner?”

After a moment, an old and strange voice leaked out of the crack in the door, “Yes.”

Wei Wuxian walked over, patted Lan Sizhui’s shoulder, and had him retreat. He then said, “Shop owner, we’re new to your area. The fog is too thick, and we lost our way. We’ve been walking for a long time and are a bit tired. Would it be possible for us to borrow your shop to rest for a while?”

That strange voice said, “My shop is not for people to rest in.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with that and said calmly, “But there aren’t any other shops that have anyone here. Shop owner, won’t you do us a favor? We’ll give you a generous reward.”

Jin Ling couldn’t help but say, “Where are you going to get money to give a generous reward. Let me say it first, I’m not going to lend you any money.”

Wei Wuxian waved a delicate little money bag in front of him, “Look, what is this?” Lan Jingyi was shocked, “You’re too bold! That’s Hanguang-Jun’s!”

While they were arguing, the door crack opened a little more. Although it was still impossible to see the furnishings of the house, they could now see that a gray-haired, expressionless old woman was standing behind the door.

Although this old woman was hunched over, at first glance she looked very old, but in reality, she didn’t have too many wrinkles or age spots. One could even call her an older aunt. She opened the door and stepped aside, seemingly willing to let them in.

Jin Ling was very surprised and whispered, “She’s really willing to let people in?”

Wei Wuxian also whispered, “Of course, I have one foot stuck in the door crack, so she can’t close the door. If she doesn’t let me in, I’ll just kick the door down.”

Jin Ling: “…”

This Yi City was already bizarre and eerie, and the people living here were definitely not ordinary citizens. This old woman was acting suspiciously, and the group of young disciples were all feeling uneasy. Although they were a thousand, even ten thousand times unwilling to go into the house, there was no way out. They had no choice but to treat the situation as a lost cause, and they carried their companions who were paralyzed and unable to move due to the poisoning inside, and they entered the door one after the other. The old woman watched coldly by the side, and as soon as they were inside, she immediately shut the door. The house was then plunged into total darkness. Wei Wuxian asked, “Shop owner, why aren’t you lighting a lamp?”

The old woman said, “The lamp is on the table, light it yourself.”

Lan Sizhui just happened to be standing next to a table, so he slowly groped around. He found an oil lamp and his hands were covered in old dust. He pulled out a fire talisman, blew it, and as he brought it close to the wick, he inadvertently looked up and, in an instant, a cold chill rushed from his feet to the top of his head, and his scalp went numb.

In the main hall of this shop, people were crowded together, shoulder to shoulder, filling the entire room. Each of them had their eyes wide open, staring at them without blinking!