TFOD Chapter 22

Wei Wuxian said, “Oh, so there are man-eating demons there?”

He had heard similar legends at least a thousand times, and he had personally eliminated them hundreds of times, so he couldn’t help but feel bored. The physician’s tone rose and fell as he said, “That’s right! It’s said that in that mountain range, there is a ‘man-eating fortress’ inhabited by man-eating monsters. Anyone who accidentally trespasses will be gnawed down to their bone fragments, leaving no corpses behind, without exception! Isn’t it terrifying?”

No wonder Jin Ling would appear here. He failed to capture the Soul-Eating Celestial Maiden on Dafan Mountain last time, and this time he must be here for the monsters on Xinglu Ridge. Wei Wuxian said, “How terrifying! But since not even bone fragments are left, and no corpses can be found, then how do you know they were eaten?”

The physician was momentarily speechless, and then said, “Of course, someone saw it.”

Wei Wuxian admiringly said, “But just now you said that anyone who accidentally trespassed would be gnawed down to their bone fragments, without exception? Then who spread this rumor? They are so amazing, seeing such a scene and still being able to come out alive to spread the news?”

“…” The physician said, “That’s how the rumors are spread, how would I know?”

Wei Wuxian: “Then do you know, how many people have been eaten on Xinglu Ridge in total? When were they eaten? Their ages? Were they male or female? What were their names? Where did they live?”

Physician: “I don’t know.”

Wei Wuxian: “Qinghe’s know-it-all? Hmm?”

The physician angrily shouldered his basket: “The rumors don’t include these things!”

Wei Wuxian giggled: “Don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t go, don’t go. Let me ask one more thing, that Xinglu Ridge is still within Qinghe’s territory, right? Isn’t Qinghe the Nie family’s territory? If there really are man-eating monsters appearing on Xinglu Ridge, they would just sit by and do nothing?”

Unexpectedly, this time, the physician did not reply with “I don’t know” again, but rather revealed a slight look of disdain: “The Nie family? If it were the Nie family from years ago, of course, they wouldn’t sit by and do nothing. The second day after these kinds of rumors were spread, they would swiftly and decisively raid the place where those evil creatures were appearing. But the current head of the Nie family, hehe, isn’t he the one who ‘knows nothing, asks nothing’?”

The original head of the Qinghe Nie Clan was the Red Peak Lord Nie Mingjue. After his father, the previous clan leader, was angered to death by Wen Ruohan, the head of the Qishan Wen Clan, he took over the Nie family before reaching adulthood, and his style was upright and forceful. He was a sworn brother to Ze Wu-Jun Lan Xichen and Respectful and Fragrant Lord Jin Guangyao. After the Sun Shooting Campaign, the Nie family, under his leadership, had a period of glory and power that rivaled the Lanling Jin clan. However, after he went into qi deviation and burst into blood and died in public, the one who took over as head of the family must have been his younger brother, Nie Huaisang. Wei Wuxian asked, “Why do you call him ‘knows nothing, asks nothing’?”

The physician said, “You don’t know this story? This head of the Nie family, when people ask him about anything, he won’t say what he doesn’t know, and he’s too afraid to say what he does know. If you ask him urgently or press him too hard, he’ll just shake his head repeatedly, cry and say, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, I really don’t know!’ begging people to let him go. Isn’t that ‘knows nothing, asks nothing’?”

Back in the day, Wei Wuxian had been classmates with Nie Huaisang, and he could say a few words about him. Nie Huaisang’s heart was not bad, and he was not unintelligent, but he had no interest in studying, and used his intelligence elsewhere, such as painting fans, catching birds, skipping school, and fishing. In the way of cultivation, his talent was truly abysmal. It took him eight or nine years longer than other disciples of his generation to barely form a core. When Nie Mingjue was alive, he often hated that Nie Huaisang couldn’t live up to his expectations and disciplined him severely. Yet, he was still like mud that couldn’t be molded. Now that his elder brother was no longer there to protect him and give him guidance, the Qinghe Nie clan was declining at a rapid pace under his leadership. After he grew up, especially after he became the head of the family, Nie Huaisang was often overwhelmed by various unfamiliar matters, running around asking for help, especially from his elder brother’s two sworn brothers. Today he would go to Jinlintai to cry to Jin Guangyao, and tomorrow he would come to Cloud Recesses to stammer, and only with the two clan leaders of Jin and Lan supporting him did he barely manage to hold onto his position as clan leader. Now, whenever people mentioned Nie Huaisang, though they didn’t say it openly, their faces were all full of a four-character comment: “useless pus-filled waste.”

Remembering the past, he couldn’t help but sigh.

After Wei Wuxian finished inquiring about Xinglu Ridge, he still patronized the physician’s business and bought two boxes of rouge. He tucked them into his chest and walked back to Lan Wangji’s side. The latter still had no intention of asking for his money pouch back, said nothing, and they headed together in the direction the physician had pointed out.

Xinglu Ridge had a large forest of cedars. The path through the forest was open, and the green shade rustled, and after walking for a while, they didn’t encounter anything strange. However, the two of them weren’t expecting much anyway. They were only taking this trip to be cautious. If a place’s terrifying rumors were true, then they would always be able to produce something concrete to back it up. With Dafan Mountain’s Soul-Eating Celestial Maiden, the victim’s home address, last name and first name were clearly known, and even A-Yan’s fiance’s nickname couldn’t be hidden. However, if the details about the victim’s name were vague, then most likely it was just rumor and hearsay.

After half an hour, they finally painstakingly managed to encounter a slight disturbance. Seven or eight figures swayed toward them. They had white eyes, tattered clothes, and seemed like they would fall with just a gust of wind. They were moving at an incredibly slow pace. It turned out that they were a group of walking corpses of the lowest grade.

These walking corpses were not only bullied by others of their kind, but even if they encountered a slightly stronger living person, they would be knocked over in a row; if they encountered a child who could run a little faster, they would instantly be left far behind. Even if they were unlucky enough to get grabbed and have their yang energy sucked out a bit, it wouldn’t kill anyone. Apart from their ugly appearance and foul smell, they posed no threat at all. Therefore, when high-level cultivators encountered them during night hunts, most of them would simply ignore them and leave them to the younger generation. This was like hunting only tigers and leopards and not rats.

When Wei Wuxian saw them walking over, he knew things were going to go badly. He lowered his head and retreated behind Lan Wangji. Sure enough, the group of walking corpses staggered to a spot five or six zhang away from them. When they saw Wei Wuxian, they were so scared that they immediately turned around and retreated, their legs and feet even moving two or three times faster than when they were approaching. Wei Wuxian rubbed his temples and turned around with a shudder, saying, “Heavens, Hanguang-Jun, you’re so amazing! As soon as they see you, they’re so scared that they turn around and run away! Hehe.”

Lan Wangji was speechless.

Wei Wuxian pushed him with a chuckle: “Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go down the ridge. I don’t think there are any other monsters. The people here are really good at spreading rumors, a few useless walking corpses can be made into monsters that eat people without spitting out bones. That so-called ‘man-eating fortress’ must have been made up too, we took this trip for nothing!”

Lan Wangji was pushed a few times before he finally started walking. Wei Wuxian hadn’t caught up yet when suddenly a series of frantic dog barks came from the distance in the cedar forest.

Wei Wuxian’s expression changed drastically, and he instantly flashed behind Lan Wangji, hugging his waist and squatting down into a ball.

Lan Wangji: “…It’s still far away, why are you hiding?”

Wei Wuxian: “F-f-f-f-f-first hide, then ask. Where is it? Where is it?!”

Lan Wangji listened for a moment, then said, “It’s Jin Ling’s black-maned spirit dog.”

As soon as Wei Wuxian heard Jin Ling’s name, he stood up, but was immediately forced to squat down again by the dog barks. Lan Wangji said, “If a spirit dog is barking wildly, then something must have happened.”

Wei Wuxian wailed miserably, and with his legs trembling, he barely managed to stand up, “Th-th-th-th-then let’s go and see!”

Lan Wangji didn’t move an inch. Wei Wuxian said, “Hanguang-Jun, move, move a little! If you don’t move, what am I going to do!”

After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji said, “You… let go first.”

The two of them stumbled and bumbled, following the sound of the dog barks, but they went around in circles in the cedar forest. The black-maned spirit dog’s barking was sometimes near and sometimes far. After listening to the dog barking for a while, Wei Wuxian managed to get somewhat used to it, and was able to speak without stuttering, “Is there a maze here?”

This maze was clearly man-made. Earlier, they had said the rumors about Xinglu Ridge were just unfounded hearsay, but now things were starting to get interesting.

The black-maned spirit dog had been howling for half an incense stick, and was still full of energy. After the two of them broke the maze and followed the sound, before long, the outlines of a group of eerie stone fortresses appeared in the cedar forest.

The stone fortresses were all built of gray-white stones, and their surfaces were covered in vines and fallen leaves. Each one was built in a strange semi-circular shape, as if several large bowls had been placed upside down on the ground.

There really were stone fortresses like this on Xinglu Ridge. It seemed that the rumors weren’t completely groundless. But whether this was really the “man-eating fortress,” and what was inside, was hard to say.

Jin Ling’s black-maned spirit dog was running around the perimeter of the stone fortress group. Sometimes it would growl softly, and other times it would bark loudly. When it saw Lan Wangji approaching, it retreated slightly with a bit of timidity, but it didn’t flee in panic. Instead, it barked louder at them, looked at the stone fortresses, and pawed at the ground, kicking up mud. It was clearly restless. Wei Wuxian hid behind Lan Wangji, and said with distress, “Why doesn’t it leave… where’s its owner? Why can’t I see its owner?!”

From the time they had heard the dog barks until now, they hadn’t heard any sound from Jin Ling, not even a cry for help. This black-maned spirit dog must have been brought by him, and the maze must have been broken by it. But a living person had seemingly just disappeared.

Lan Wangji said, “Let’s go in and see.”

Wei Wuxian said, “How do we get in? There are no doors.”

There really were no doors. The gray-white stones were sealed up tightly, with no doors or windows left. The black-maned spirit dog howled and jumped up, as if it wanted to bite Lan Wangji’s clothes, but didn’t dare to. It went around him and bit Wei Wuxian’s hem, dragging him outwards.

Wei Wuxian’s soul was about to leave his body, and he stretched out his hands towards Lan Wangji, “Lan Zhan… Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan… Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan!!!”

The black-maned spirit dog dragged Wei Wuxian, and Wei Wuxian dragged Lan Wangji. The dog dragged the two of them in a small half-circle, circling behind the stone fortress. There was a nearly human-sized hole here. The shape was irregular, and the ground was covered with large and small broken stones. It was obvious that it had just been blasted open with a violent magical weapon. The hole inside was dark and impossible to see. There seemed to be a faint red glow. The black-maned spirit dog let go, and howled towards the inside, then wagged its tail wildly at the two of them.

There was no need to say any more. Jin Ling must have forcefully broken open this stone fortress. But after entering, he must have encountered trouble.

Sweep Away the Dust was unsheathed half an inch on its own, its blade emitting a cold, pale blue light, illuminating the dark path ahead. Lan Wangji bent down and took the lead in entering. Wei Wuxian was being driven crazy by that dog, and followed him in, nearly bumping into him. Lan Wangji supported his hand, shaking his head, whether in blame or helplessness, he did not know.

The black-maned spirit dog clearly wanted to follow them inside, and it tried to rush in, but it seemed to be blocked by some force, and no matter what, it could not break through this barrier. It could only sit down at the opening, wagging its tail even more frantically. Wei Wuxian was so happy he almost wanted to kneel down to it. He pulled back his hand, and took a few steps inwards. The cold blue sword light was made a pale white by the darkness all around.

Xinglu Ridge was filled with tall trees and a deep forest, and was very cool, but inside this stone fortress, it was even colder. Wei Wuxian, wearing light clothing, was shivering with the cold wind passing through his sleeves and vest, and the cold sweat that the black-maned spirit dog had caused had all dried. The light from the opening had long disappeared like a candle being snuffed out. The further in they walked, the wider and darker it became.

The top of the stone fortress was round. Wei Wuxian kicked the broken stones at his feet, and he could hear a slight echo.

He finally couldn’t help it, and stopped. He pressed his right hand to his temple, and frowned slightly.

Lan Wangji looked back and said, “What is it?”

Wei Wuxian said, “…It’s so noisy.”

Inside the stone fortress, there was dead silence, as quiet as a tomb. And it did look very much like a tomb.

But in Wei Wuxian’s ears, they were now in a noisy place.