TFOD Chapter 39

Lan Wangji was surrounded by an aura of icy frost, standing in front of Wei Wuxian. Xue Yang threw Frost Blossom to block a sword for him. The two famous swords clashed head-on, each flying back to their holders. Wei Wuxian said, “Is this what they call, ‘it’s better to be late than never’?”

Lan Wangji replied, “Mn.”

Having spoken, he continued to fight with Xue Yang. Earlier, Wei Wuxian was being chased by Xue Yang, running all over the place, but now Xue Yang was being forced back by Lan Wangji. Seeing that the situation was not good, he rolled his eyes, smiled slightly, suddenly tossed Frost Blossom from his right hand, switched it to his left, and with his right hand, he pulled another long sword from his sleeve. He seamlessly transitioned into a dual-wielding attack.

Although his sleeve seemed narrow, light, and flexible, it must have been an improved Qiankun sleeve. The long sword drawn from it had a cold and dark sharpness, and when swung, it created a striking contrast with the clear silver light of Frost Blossom. Xue Yang attacked with both swords simultaneously, his left and right hands coordinated like flowing clouds and water, immediately becoming aggressive. Lan Wangji said, “Disaster?”

Xue Yang said, “Oh? Hanguang-Jun actually recognizes this sword? How fortunate.”

“Disaster” was Xue Yang’s own sword. The sword, like its owner, was an ominous blade that brought bloodshed and killing. Wei Wuxian interjected, “This name is truly a perfect match for you.”

Lan Wangji said, “Step back. You are not needed here.”

Wei Wuxian then humbly took his advice and stepped back. He retreated to the door, looked outside, and saw Wen Ning expressionlessly gripping Song Lan’s neck, lifting him into the air, and smashing him into the wall, creating a human-shaped crater. Song Lan also expressionlessly grabbed Wen Ning’s wrist, flipped him over, and slammed him into the ground. The two fierce corpses were fighting with expressionless faces, creating a series of loud thuds and bangs. Neither of them felt pain nor feared injury. Unless they were chopped into pieces, they could continue fighting even with broken arms and legs. Wei Wuxian muttered to himself, “It seems I’m not needed here either.”

Suddenly, he saw Lan Jingyi frantically waving at him from a dark shop across the street. He thought, “Ha, they definitely need me over there.”

As soon as he left, the light of Bichen’s sword intensified, and in an instant, Xue Yang let go, and Frost Blossom flew out of his grasp. Lan Wangji took the opportunity to catch the sword. Seeing Frost Blossom fall into the hands of another, Disaster directly slashed at Lan Wangji’s left arm, the one holding the sword. Failing in his attack, a cold and angry light flashed in Xue Yang’s eyes. He said chillingly, “Give me the sword.”

Lan Wangji said, “You are not worthy of this sword.”

Xue Yang sneered.

Wei Wuxian walked towards the group of disciples, who surrounded him. He asked, “Are you all okay?”

“Yes!” “We all listened to you and held our breath.”

Wei Wuxian said, “That’s good. Anyone who doesn’t listen to me, I’ll give them more sticky rice porridge to drink.”

Several young men who had experienced the taste all made vomiting gestures. At this moment, footsteps came from all directions, and the end of the long street was filled with shadows. Lan Wangji also heard the sound. He waved his sleeve and flipped out Wangji’s guqin.

The guqin landed horizontally on the table. He threw Bichen into his left hand, the sword intent not weakened, and continued to fight with Xue Yang. At the same time, he raised his right hand without looking back, plucking the strings.

The sound of the guqin reverberated, reaching the end of the long street, and what echoed back was the familiar strange sound of walking corpses exploding. Lan Wangji continued to fight Xue Yang with one hand while playing the guqin with the other. With a casual glance, he lightly hooked his fingers and plucked the strings. He attacked simultaneously with both sides, his demeanor calm and composed.

Jin Ling couldn’t help but exclaim, “Amazing!”

He had seen Jiang Cheng and Jin Guangyao go on night hunts, killing demons and beasts. He only felt that his uncle and little uncle were the two strongest figures in the immortal world. He had always been more afraid than respectful of Lan Wangji, fearing his silence technique and cold temper, but now he couldn’t help but be captivated by his demeanor. Lan Jingyi said smugly, “That’s right, Hanguang-Jun is of course amazing. It’s just that he never likes to show off, he’s very low-key, right?”

“Right?” He was asking Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian inexplicably asked, “Are you asking me? Why are you asking me?”

Lan Jingyi became anxious, “Don’t you think Hanguang-Jun is amazing?!”

Wei Wuxian touched his chin and said, “Yes, yes, amazing, of course, very amazing. He’s the most amazing.” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but smile.

This thrilling and perilous night was coming to an end, and dawn was approaching. But this was not good news. When it dawned, it meant that the demonic fog would also become denser. At that time, it would be impossible to move even an inch!

If it were just Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, it wouldn’t be difficult to handle. But there were so many living people here, and if they were surrounded by a large number of walking corpses, it would be impossible to escape. Just as Wei Wuxian’s mind was racing, considering countermeasures, the crisp “clack-clack,” “tap-tap” sound of a bamboo cane tapping the ground sounded again.

The blind, speechless girl’s ghost had returned!

Immediately, Wei Wuxian said, “Let’s go!”

Lan Jingyi said, “Where are we going?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Follow the sound of the bamboo cane.”

Jin Ling was slightly stunned, “You want us to follow a ghost? Who knows where she’ll take us!” Wei Wuxian said, “Just follow her. This sound has been following you since you came in, right? You were heading into the city, but she was leading you all the way out of the city, until you met us. She was trying to drive you out, she was trying to save you!”

That erratic, unpredictable sound of the bamboo cane tapping the ground was her method of scaring away living people who entered the city. But her intention to scare them was not necessarily bad. The paper head of the Yin-Force Soldier that Wei Wuxian had kicked might have also been placed there by her, to remind and frighten them. Wei Wuxian added, “And last night, she clearly wanted to tell us something urgent, but she couldn’t express it. But as soon as Xue Yang arrived, she immediately disappeared. It’s likely that she was avoiding Xue Yang, she’s definitely not with him.”

“Xue Yang?! Why is Xue Yang here again? Wasn’t it Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan?”

“Uh, I’ll explain that later. Anyway, the one inside fighting with Hanguang-Jun isn’t Xiao Xingchen, it’s Xue Yang impersonating him.” …

The sound of the bamboo cane was still tapping, as if waiting, as if urging. Following her might lead them into some trap, and not following her meant being surrounded by walking corpses that could spew corpse poison powder, and their safety would be no better. The young men decisively made their choice and ran along with Wei Wuxian, following the sound of the bamboo cane. Sure enough, as they moved, the sound also moved with them. Sometimes they could see a hazy, petite figure in the thin mist ahead, but sometimes they couldn’t see anything.

Lan Jingyi ran for a while and said, “Are we just running away like this?”

Wei Wuxian shouted back, “Hanguang-Jun, I’ll leave it to you. We’ll take our leave first!”

The sound of a guqin string snapping sounded, which sounded a lot like someone saying “Mn.” Wei Wuxian burst out laughing. Lan Jingyi said, “Just like that? Aren’t you going to say anything else?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Or what else? What else should I say?”

Lan Jingyi said, “Why not say ‘I’m worried about you, I’ll stay!’ ‘You go!’ ‘No! I won’t go! Let’s go together!’ That’s what should happen.”

Wei Wuxian spluttered, “Who taught you that? Who told you that this kind of dialogue should happen? Never mind me, can you imagine your Hanguang-Jun saying those words?”

The younger members of the Lan Sect all said, “No…”

Wei Wuxian said, “Right. It’s a waste of time. Your Hanguang-Jun is such a reliable person, I believe he can definitely handle it. I’ll do my own thing and wait for him to come find me or I’ll go find him.”

They followed the sound of the bamboo cane for less than half an incense stick, making several turns. The sound suddenly stopped in front of them. Wei Wuxian held back the young men behind him and walked forward a few steps. A lonely house stood in the increasingly dense demonic fog.

“Creak—”

The door of the house was pushed open by someone, silently waiting for the group of strangers to enter. Wei Wuxian had a feeling that there was something inside. Not something dangerous that would kill people, but something that would tell him some things and answer some mysteries.

He said, “Since we’re here, let’s go in.”

He lifted his foot and stepped into the house, while adapting to the darkness, he reminded them without looking back, “Watch out for the threshold, don’t trip.”

One of the young men almost tripped over the high threshold, muttering, “Why is the threshold so high? This isn’t a temple.”

Wei Wuxian said, “It’s not a temple, but it’s also a place that needs a high threshold.”

Five or six fire talismans were lit one after another, the flickering orange-yellow firelight illuminating the house.

Scattered straw covered the ground. At the very front was an offering table. Under the table were several small benches of varying heights. On the right, there was a dark room. Besides that, there were seven or eight black wooden coffins.

Jin Ling said, “Is this a mortuary? A place to store the dead?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Yes. Unclaimed corpses, corpses that are considered unlucky to keep at home, and dead people waiting to be buried, are generally placed in a mortuary. It’s like a station for the dead.” The small room on the right should be the rest area for the mortuary keeper.

Lan Sizhui asked, “Senior Mo, why are mortuary thresholds made so high?”

Wei Wuxian said, “To prevent reanimated corpses.”

Lan Jingyi said blankly, “Can a high threshold stop reanimated corpses?”

Wei Wuxian said, “It can’t stop reanimation, but it can sometimes stop low-level reanimated corpses from getting out.” He turned and stood in front of the threshold, saying, “Suppose I’m dead, and I’ve just reanimated.”

The young men nodded. He continued, “If I’ve just reanimated, will my limbs be stiff? Will I be unable to do many movements?”

Jin Ling said, “Isn’t that obvious? You can’t even walk properly, you can’t move your legs, you can only hop…” At this point, he immediately realized something. Wei Wuxian said, “That’s right. You can only hop.” He put his legs together and hopped outwards, but because the threshold was too high, he couldn’t hop out each time. His toes hit the threshold. The disciples found it very amusing, imagining a freshly reanimated corpse trying so hard to hop out, but always being blocked by the threshold, and they all started laughing. Wei Wuxian said, “See? Don’t laugh, this is the wisdom of the people. Although it’s crude and seems childish, it is indeed effective in preventing low-level reanimated corpses from getting out. If a reanimated corpse is tripped by the threshold, it will fall to the ground, its limbs will be stiff, and it won’t be able to get up for a short time. By the time it’s about to get up, either dawn will be coming and the roosters will be crowing, or the mortuary keeper will discover it. It’s quite remarkable that ordinary people who are not from cultivation families can come up with this kind of method.”

Jin Ling, who had also laughed just now, immediately suppressed his smile and said, “Why did she bring us to a mortuary? Is this place safe from being surrounded by walking corpses? And where did she go?”

Wei Wuxian said, “I’m afraid it really is. We’ve been standing here for so long now, has anyone heard any movement from walking corpses?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the girl’s ghost suddenly appeared on top of a coffin.

Because they had all carefully observed the girl’s appearance before, under the guidance of Wei Wuxian, and even seen her state with her eyes bleeding and her tongue pulled out, none of them felt nervous or scared upon seeing her again. This showed that, as Wei Wuxian had said, by being scared a lot, one’s courage grows and it is possible to calmly face anything.

This girl had no physical body, and her spirit emitted a faint ghostly light. She was petite, her face was also small, and if she was cleaned up, she would be a pitiful girl next door. But judging from the way she was sitting with her legs crossed, she was not at all delicate. The bamboo cane she used as a blind person’s stick was leaning against the coffin, and her two slender legs were dangling and swinging impatiently.

She sat on this coffin, gently tapping the coffin lid with her hand. Finally, she jumped down, circled around the coffin, and gestured to them. This time, the gesture was very easy to understand; it was an “open” gesture. Jin Ling said, “She wants us to help her open this coffin?”

Lan Sizhui guessed, “Could her body be inside? She hopes we can help her rest in peace.” This was the most reasonable guess. Many ghosts are restless because their bodies have not been buried. Wei Wuxian stood on one side of the coffin, and several young men stood on the other side, wanting to help him open it together. He said, “No need to help, you all stand back. In case it’s not a body, you might get corpse poison powder in your face again.”

He opened the coffin alone, flipping the lid onto the ground. He lowered his head and saw a corpse.

However, it was not the girl’s corpse, but someone else’s.

This person was a young man, arranged in a position of peaceful repose with his hands clasped together. Under his hands was a whisk. He was wearing a pure white Taoist robe. The contours of the lower half of his face were handsome and refined, and his complexion was pale. His lips were pale. The upper half of his face was wrapped in layers and layers of bandages, about four fingers wide. Under the bandages, where his eyes should have been, there were no corresponding protrusions, but rather sunken hollows. There were no eyes, only two empty holes.

The girl heard them open the coffin and groped her way over. She reached into the coffin and wildly felt the face of the corpse. She stomped her feet, and two lines of blood tears flowed from her blind eyes.

Without any words or gestures, everyone understood. The corpse that was left alone in a lonely mortuary was the real Xiao Xingchen.

A ghost’s tears could not fall. The girl silently shed tears for a while, and then abruptly got up, her teeth clenched. She “ah-ah”-ed, anxious and furious, looking like she desperately wanted to speak. Lan Sizhui said, “Do we need to inquire the spirit again?”

Wei Wuxian said, “No need. We may not be able to ask the questions she wants us to ask, and I think her answers will be very complex and difficult to decipher.”

Although he didn’t say “I’m afraid you can’t handle it,” Lan Sizhui felt a little ashamed and secretly made up his mind, “When I go back, I will need to practice the ‘Inquiring Spirit’ technique diligently. I must be able to do it like Hanguang-Jun, where the answers flow smoothly, and I can answer instantly.” Lan Jingyi said, “Then what should we do?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Empathy.”

Each major family had its own methods of obtaining information and collecting data from resentful spirits. Empathy was Wei Wuxian’s forte. His method was not as advanced as others, and anyone could use it. That was to directly invite the resentful spirit to possess him, and using his own body as a medium, invade the soul and memories of the deceased, hearing what they heard, seeing what they saw, and feeling what they felt. If the emotions of the deceased were particularly strong, they would be affected by their sadness, anger, joy, etc., which is why it was called “Empathy.”

It could be said that this was the most direct, simple, and effective method of all. Of course, it was also the most dangerous. Everyone feared and avoided being possessed by resentful spirits. Empathy was like playing with fire, and if you were not careful, you would suffer the consequences. Once the resentful spirit regrets it, takes advantage of the weakness, seizes the opportunity to retaliate, the lightest consequence would be possession.

Jin Ling protested, “It’s too dangerous! This kind of evil technique, not even one…” Wei Wuxian interrupted, “Okay, we don’t have time. Everyone, stand properly. Hurry up, after this, we still have to go back and find Hanguang-Jun. Jin Ling, you’ll be the monitor.”

The monitor was an essential role in the empathy ritual. In order to prevent the person performing empathy from becoming trapped in the emotions of the resentful spirit, they needed to agree on a code word with the monitor. This code word was best a phrase or a sound that the person performing the empathy was very familiar with. The monitor would always watch, and if they noticed something was wrong, they would act immediately to pull the person performing the empathy out. Jin Ling pointed at himself and said, “Me? You want me to supervise you doing this kind of thing?”

Lan Sizhui said, “If Young Master Jin isn’t willing, then I can do it.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Jin Ling, did you bring the Jiang family’s silver bell?”

The silver bell was a symbolic ornament of the Yunmeng Jiang clan. Jin Ling had been raised by both families since he was young, living sometimes in the Lanling Jin clan’s Golden Carp Tower and sometimes in the Yunmeng Jiang clan’s Lotus Pier. He was wearing things from both families. He took out a simple small bell with a complicated expression. The silver bell was engraved with the Jiang family’s nine-petaled lotus crest. Wei Wuxian took it and gave it to Lan Sizhui, saying, “The Jiang family’s silver bell has the effect of calming and clearing the mind. Use this as the code word.”

Jin Ling reached out to snatch the bell back, saying, “I’ll do it!”

Lan Jingyi snorted, “One minute he’s unwilling, the next he is willing, always changing his mind. Such a missy.”

Wei Wuxian said to the girl, “Come in.”

The girl wiped her eyes and face, and crashed into him, her soul completely entering him. Wei Wuxian then slowly slid down the coffin. The young men helped drag a pile of straw over to cushion him as he sat. Jin Ling tightly gripped the bell, thinking about something.

When the girl had just crashed in, Wei Wuxian suddenly thought of a question, “This little girl is blind. If I empathize with her, won’t I become blind and not be able to see anything? That effect would be greatly reduced. Never mind, being able to hear is close enough.”

After a moment of dizziness, the originally light soul seemed to have landed on solid ground. When the girl opened her eyes, Wei Wuxian also opened his eyes. Surprisingly, what was before him was not darkness, but a clear and bright landscape of green mountains and clear water.

He could actually see!

It seemed that at this time in the girl’s memory, she was not yet blind.

In empathy, what was presented to Wei Wuxian were the few fragments of her memory where her emotions were the strongest and she most wanted to share with others. He would just watch quietly and feel what she felt. At this moment, all their senses were shared. The girl’s eyes were his eyes, and her mouth was his mouth.

The girl was sitting by a stream, grooming herself by the water. Although her clothes were tattered, she still took care of her basic cleanliness. She was tapping her toes to the rhythm while humming a tune and putting up her hair. She didn’t seem satisfied with the hairstyle, and Wei Wuxian felt a thin wooden hairpin poking around in her hair. Suddenly, she lowered her head and saw her reflection in the water. Wei Wuxian’s gaze also turned down, and the stream reflected a girl with a small, heart-shaped face and a pointy chin.

The girl’s eyes had no pupils, and were completely white.

Wei Wuxian thought, “This is clearly the appearance of a blind person, but why can I see?”

The girl finished doing her hair, patted her bottom and jumped up, picked up the bamboo cane beside her feet, and hopped along the road. She swung the cane as she walked, hitting the branches overhead, picking at the stones by her feet, scaring grasshoppers in the grass, never stopping for a moment. Someone was approaching in the distance, and she immediately stopped hopping, took the bamboo cane properly, tapped it on the ground, and walked slowly forward, looking very careful and cautious. Several village women were coming. Seeing her, they all gave her way, whispering to each other. The girl hurriedly nodded and said, “Thank you, thank you.”

One of the village women seemed to feel pity for her, opened the white cloth covering her basket, took out a warm bun, and handed it to her, saying, “Little sister, be careful. Are you hungry? Take this and eat.”

The girl “ah-ed” and said gratefully, “How can I accept this? I, I…”

The village woman stuffed the bun into her hand, saying, “Take it!”

She then took it and said, “A-Qing thanks you, elder sister!”

So, the girl’s name was A-Qing.

After saying goodbye to the village women, A-Qing quickly finished the bun, and started leaping again. Wei Wuxian was jumping around with her inside her body, and he felt dizzy. He thought, “This girl is really wild. I understand, she’s pretending to be blind. These white pupils are probably natural. Although she seems to be blind on the surface, she can actually see. She’s using this to pretend to be blind and trick people to gain sympathy.” She was a lone, wandering little girl, and by pretending to be blind, others would assume she couldn’t see, and would naturally let their guard down. In reality, she could see everything clearly, adapting as needed. This was a clever way for her to protect herself.

But A-Qing’s soul was indeed blind, which meant that she had become blind before she died. How did she go from being truly blind to pretending to be blind?

Could it be that she saw something she shouldn’t have seen?

A-Qing hopped when no one was around, and when there were people around, she would act timidly and pretend to be blind. She walked on and off, and arrived at a market.

When she was in crowded areas, she would naturally display her skills to the fullest, making her act very convincing. She tapped her bamboo cane while pretending to be blind. She slowly walked through the crowd. Suddenly, she crashed headfirst into a well-dressed middle-aged man, pretending to be shocked and frightened, saying repeatedly, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I can’t see, I’m so sorry!”

How could she not see? She was clearly aiming directly for this man!

The man was bumped into, and angrily turned around, seemingly wanting to curse her out. But when he saw that it was a blind girl, and a rather pretty girl at that, he knew that if he slapped her in public, he would be criticized. So he could only scold, “Be more careful when you walk!”

A-Qing apologized repeatedly. The man was still resentful as he walked away, and his right hand reached back to pinch A-Qing’s bottom. This felt like being pinched on Wei Wuxian’s body, and the feeling was the same. It made a layer of goosebumps crawl all over him instantly, and he wanted nothing more than to slap the man through the ground with one palm.

A-Qing curled up into a ball and didn’t move, as if she was very scared. But when the man had walked far away, she “pfft”-ed, walked into a hidden alley, and immediately “pfft”-ed again. She took out a money pouch, counted the money, and then “pfft”-ed again, saying, “Disgusting men, they’re all the same. They act all proper, but they don’t have a lot of money. Shaking them won’t even make a sound.”

Wei Wuxian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. A-Qing was only a teenager, probably not even fifteen years old, yet she cursed so fluently, and pickpocketed even more skillfully. He thought, “If you had pickpocketed me, you definitely wouldn’t have cursed like that. I was once very rich too.”

While he was still lamenting about when he became a pauper, A-Qing had already found her next target. She pretended to be blind and walked out of the alley. She walked for a while, and using the same trick, “aiyah!” crashed into a Taoist in white robes, and again said, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I can’t see, I’m so sorry!”

Wei Wuxian shook his head in his heart, thinking, “Even her words are not changing, little beauty!”

The Taoist was staggered by the collision. When he turned around, he first helped her steady herself and asked, “I’m fine, can you not see either?”

This person was very young. His Taoist robe was simple and clean. He had a long sword wrapped in white cloth on his back. The lower half of his face was very handsome, although slightly thin. The upper half of his face was wrapped in a bandage about four fingers wide, and some bloodstains could be faintly seen under the bandage.