TFOD Chapter 48

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head; the smile that had been forming on Wei Wuxian’s lips froze.

This tall figure stood beneath the withered tree, directly facing this direction. If he had a head on his neck, it would be quietly staring at Wei Wuxian at this moment.

Over by the bonfire, the junior disciples of the Lan Sect also saw this shadow. Their hair stood on end, and they widened their eyes, about to draw their swords. Wei Wuxian placed a finger in front of his lips and gently “shushed.”

He used his eyes to signal “no” to the group and shook his head. Seeing this, Lan Sizhui quietly pressed the sword that Lan Jingyi had drawn halfway out of its scabbard back in.

The headless man reached out and placed his hand on the tree trunk next to him, stroking it for a while, seemingly pondering something or perhaps trying to confirm what it was.

He took a small step forward, and Wei Wuxian could clearly see most of his body.

The clothes this headless man was wearing were a shroud, slightly tattered. It was the same one that the torso they had dug up from the Chang family’s tomb was wearing.

And at the headless man’s feet, a pile of fragments was scattered. They could barely be recognized as the remains of several broken Evil Sealing Bags.

Wei Wuxian thought, “A blunder. I actually let the good buddy piece himself together!”

Come to think of it, ever since he and Lan Wangji entered Yi City, unexpected events had kept occurring, and they had not played the “Rest” melody together for over two days. In the few days they had been traveling here, the two of them had done their best to make up for it, barely managing to suppress the corpse. However, now that all the limbs of the corpse had been collected, the attraction between them had greatly increased. Perhaps they sensed each other’s resentment and were too eager to reunite. Taking advantage of Lan Wangji’s night patrol, they had impatiently rolled to one side, broken free from the Evil Sealing Bags that had been restraining them, and automatically pieced themselves together into a corpse.

It was just a pity that this corpse still lacked one part. And it was the most important part.

The headless man placed his hand on his neck, feeling the neatly cut, scarlet-red wound on his throat. He felt for a while, but still couldn’t find what should be there. As if angered by this fact, he suddenly struck out with his palm, hitting the tree next to him!

The tree trunk cracked at the impact. Wei Wuxian thought, “He’s got quite the temper.”

Lan Jingyi held his sword in front of him, trembling, and said, “Wh-What kind of monster is this?!”

Wei Wuxian said, “That shows you didn’t do your basic homework well. What are demons? What are monsters? This is clearly a corpse, belonging to the ghost category. How could it be a monster?”

Lan Sizhui said softly, “Senior, you… you’re speaking so loudly, aren’t you afraid he’ll discover you?”

Wei Wuxian said, “It’s fine. I just suddenly realized that it doesn’t matter how loudly we speak because he doesn’t have a head. He doesn’t have eyes, doesn’t have ears, which means he can’t see or hear. If you don’t believe me, you guys can try shouting too.”

Lan Jingyi asked curiously, “Really? I’ll try.”

After saying that, he immediately shouted twice. Right after he finished shouting, the headless man suddenly turned around and began to walk toward the junior disciples of the Lan Sect.

The young men were terrified. Lan Jingyi cried out, “Didn’t you say it was fine?!”

Wei Wuxian cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “It really is fine! You see! I’m talking so loudly, and he’s not coming over here, is he? But the problem on your side isn’t how loud you’re being, but that there’s firelight! Heat! There are a lot of living people, and they’re all male! The yang energy is heavy! He can’t see or hear, but he can walk towards where he feels lively. Hurry and put out the fire. Scatter, scatter!”

Lan Sizhui waved his hand, a gust of wind extinguishing the flames. A group of young men scattered in all directions within the abandoned garden.

As expected, once the bonfire was extinguished and the people had scattered, the headless man lost his bearings.

He stood still for a while. Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, suddenly, he moved again, and he accurately walked toward one of the young men!

Lan Jingyi cried out again, “Didn’t you say that it would be fine if the fire was put out and we scattered?!”

Wei Wuxian didn’t have time to answer him. He said to that young man, “Don’t move!”

He picked up a stone at his feet, flicked his wrist, and threw it at the headless man. The stone hit his back. The headless man immediately stopped and turned around. After weighing his options, he seemed to think this side was more suspicious, and he changed direction, walking towards Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian moved very slowly, taking two steps, and just as he brushed past the approaching headless man, he said, “I told you to scatter, not to run around randomly. Don’t move too fast. This headless ghost has a high level of cultivation. If you move too quickly, the slight wind around you will also make him notice.”

Lan Sizhui said, “He seems to be looking for something… is he looking for his… head?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Correct. He’s looking for his head. There are so many heads here. Not knowing which one is his, he’ll grab the heads from everyone’s necks and attach them to his own neck to see if they fit. If they fit, he’ll keep using them for a while. If they don’t fit, he’ll throw them away. So you guys have to walk slowly, dodge slowly, and don’t get caught by him.”

Imagining their own heads being torn off by this headless fierce corpse and then attached, bloodied, to his neck, the young men felt a chill. They all raised their hands to protect their heads and necks, and they began to “flee” slowly in all directions within the garden. A group of people seemed to be playing a dangerous game of hide-and-seek with this headless ghost. Whoever was caught by the ghost would have to hand over their head. Once the headless man caught sight of a young man, Wei Wuxian would throw a stone to divert his attention and lead him towards himself.

Wei Wuxian walked slowly, observing the movements of this headless corpse as he went. He thought, “This good buddy’s posture is a bit strange? He’s been clenching his fists and waving his arms. That movement…”

He was pondering this when Lan Jingyi couldn’t stand it anymore and said, “Are we just going to keep walking like this? When will this end!”

Wei Wuxian thought for a moment and said, “Of course not.”

After saying that, he shouted loudly, “Hanguang-Jun! Hanguang-Jun, are you back?! Help!”

Seeing this, the others also started shouting with him. Anyway, this fierce corpse didn’t have a head, so it couldn’t hear their voices. Each one shouted louder and more desperately than the last. In a short while, a low sound of a flute echoed in the night, followed by the clear sound of a guqin.

Hearing the flute and guqin, this group of junior disciples was practically about to cry with joy, “Wuwuwu, Hanguang-Jun! Ze Wu-Jun!”

Two tall figures appeared at the ruined gate of the garden, one as elegant as jade, the other as pure as snow, one holding a flute, the other a guqin, walking side by side. Both of them were slightly taken aback when they saw the headless figure.

Lan Xichen’s expression was especially obvious, almost shocked. The Liebing flute stopped sounding, but Bichen was already out of its scabbard. The headless man sensed that a very powerful, icy cold sword light was attacking, raised his arm, and swung again. Wei Wuxian thought, “There’s that movement again!”

The headless man was also very agile. He leapt into the air, narrowly avoiding the blade of Bichen as it passed by him. He grabbed Bichen’s hilt with his backhand.

He held Bichen in his hand and raised it high as if he wanted to examine the thing in his grasp, but unfortunately, he had no eyes. Seeing that the headless man had actually blocked Hanguang-Jun’s Bichen with his bare hands, the faces of the junior disciples turned pale. However, Lan Wangji’s face didn’t change. He pulled out his guqin and lowered his head, plucking a string. The sound seemed to turn into an invisible, sharp arrow, whistling and spinning as it shot toward the fierce corpse. The headless man swung the sword to shatter the string sound. Lan Wangji strummed downward, all seven strings trembling together, creating a loud and soaring sound. At the same time, Wei Wuxian pulled out his bamboo flute, and his sharp, piercing flute sound harmonized with the guqin. In an instant, it seemed as if a rain of knives and swords had fallen from the sky!

The headless fierce corpse met them with a swing of the sword. At this moment, Lan Xichen had come back to his senses and put Liebing to his lips, blowing it with a furrowed brow. Whether it was an illusion or not, as soon as the elegant and peaceful sound of the flute came out, the headless fierce corpse’s movements froze instantly. It stood still and listened for a moment, then turned, seemingly trying to look at the person playing the flute. However, since he had no head and no eyes, he couldn’t see anything. Added to that, the guqin and flute were still attacking aggressively. With the three sounds combined, he finally seemed to have lost his strength. His body swayed, and he fell.

To be precise, he didn’t fall, but he fell apart. Hand was hand, leg was leg, body was body, scattered and broken on the ground covered in fallen leaves.

Lan Wangji flipped his hand to put away his guqin and recalled his sword, placing it back in its scabbard. Together with Wei Wuxian, they walked to the pile of severed limbs. After looking down, they took out five new Evil Sealing Bags. The group of junior disciples, their souls still not settled, surrounded them. They first bowed to Ze Wu-Jun. Before they could begin chattering, Lan Wangji said, “Rest.”

Lan Jingyi said blankly, “Ah? But Hanguang-Jun, it’s not yet midnight?”

Lan Sizhui pulled him, and respectfully said, “Yes.” He didn’t ask any further questions and led the rest of the junior disciples to another part of the garden, where they started a fire again to rest.

Only three people were left by the pile of severed limbs. Wei Wuxian nodded to Lan Xichen, then squatted down. Just as he was about to reseal the corpse pieces in the bags, and was stuffing the left hand into the bag, Lan Xichen said, “Please wait.”

Wei Wuxian had noticed his strange expression earlier and knew something was off. Sure enough, Lan Xichen’s face was pale, and he repeated, “Please… wait a moment. Let me look at this corpse.”

Wei Wuxian stopped his actions and said, “Ze Wu-Jun, do you know this person’s identity?”

Lan Xichen didn’t answer, as if he wasn’t sure. However, Lan Wangji had already nodded slowly.

Wei Wuxian said, “Alright, I also know who it is.”

He lowered his voice and said, “The Red Peak Lord, right?”

During the “hide and seek” game earlier, this headless corpse had been repeating one movement: clenching his fist and swinging his arm, hacking horizontally and chopping vertically. It looked as if he was swinging some kind of weapon.

When he thought of weapons, Wei Wuxian thought of swords. But as someone who used a sword himself, he had fought with many famous sword users before, but he had never seen a master use a sword like that. Swords were known as the “king of all weapons,” and sword users always paid attention to a certain elegance or poise. Even assassin’s swords, though ruthless and insidious, would still have some agility. Among sword techniques, actions such as “thrust” and “pierce” were more common, whereas “chop” and “slash” were less common. When looking at the headless man’s sword movements, they were too heavy, the killing intent and violent aura were too strong. Furthermore, the way he hacked horizontally and chopped vertically was completely inelegant and without grace.

However, if he wasn’t holding a sword but a saber, and a very heavy, extremely lethal saber, then it would all make sense.

The styles and usage of swords and sabers were completely different. The weapon this headless man was accustomed to using in life should have been a saber. The saber techniques were fierce, only pursuing power and not elegance. As he searched for his head, he was also searching for his weapon. That was why he kept repeating the action of swinging his saber. He had also grabbed Bichen and was using the sword as his saber.

Furthermore, this corpse didn’t have special markings, like birthmarks, and was cut into pieces. It was impossible to identify the body’s owner. Not to mention that Nie Huaisang wouldn’t be able to recognize it in the Saber Hall, even Wei Wuxian didn’t dare guarantee that if he had his own leg cut off and thrown around, he’d be able to recognize which leg was his. It was only after the limbs and body were temporarily stuck together by resentment, forming a corpse that could move, that Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji had recognized his figure.

Wei Wuxian said, “Ze Wu-Jun, Hanguang-Jun must have told you about our experiences along the way, right? The Mo family manor, the tomb raiders, those things in Yi City.”

Lan Xichen nodded. Wei Wuxian said, “Then Hanguang-Jun should have also told you that the masked man who snatched the corpse in the Chang family’s tomb is very familiar with the sword techniques of the Gusu Lan Sect. There are only two possibilities: one, he is a member of the Lan family who has practiced the Gusu Lan Sect’s sword techniques since childhood; or two, he is not a member of the Lan family, but he is very familiar with your family’s sword techniques, either because he frequently sparred with members of the Lan family, or because he is extremely intelligent and can remember all the moves and sword paths after only seeing them once.”

Lan Xichen remained silent. Wei Wuxian continued, “He snatched the corpse because he didn’t want others to realize that Red Peak Lord had been dismembered. Once Red Peak Lord’s corpse is pieced together, the situation will be disadvantageous for him. This is a person who understands the secrets of the Qinghe Nie Sect’s Saber Hall, someone who is possibly very close to the Gusu Lan Sect, and someone who has quite a… connection with the Red Peak Lord.”

Who was the most likely person to be that person was obvious without saying it, as everyone had a clear idea.

Although Lan Xichen’s expression was solemn, he immediately said upon hearing this, “He wouldn’t do something like this.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Ze Wu-Jun?”

Lan Xichen said, “Your investigations into the dismemberment case and the encounters with the tomb raiders all happened this month. And this month, he has been talking with me late into the night almost every night. He was also jointly planning the Lanling Jin Sect’s discussion conference for the next month a few days ago. He cannot be in two places at once. He could not possibly be the tomb raider.”

Wei Wuxian asked, “What about using a Teleportation Talisman?”

Lan Xichen shook his head, his tone gentle but resolute, “Using a Teleportation Talisman requires training in teleportation techniques, which are extremely difficult to master. There is no sign that he has ever trained in them. Furthermore, using this technique requires a huge amount of spiritual energy. We went night-hunting together not long ago, and his performance was excellent. I can confirm that he definitely has not used a Teleportation Talisman.”

Lan Wangji said, “He doesn’t have to go himself.”

Lan Xichen still slowly shook his head. Wei Wuxian said, “Sect Leader Lan, you know in your heart who the most suspicious person is. It’s just that you refuse to admit it.”

The bonfire light shone on the faces of the three people, flickering and changing unpredictably. In the ruined and decaying garden, there was complete silence.

After a moment of silence, Lan Xichen said, “I understand that for some reason, people misunderstand him a lot. But… I only believe what I have seen with my own eyes over the years. I believe he is not that kind of person.”

Lan Xichen was defending this person, which wasn’t hard to understand. Honestly speaking, even Wei Wuxian himself didn’t have a bad impression of the person they suspected. Perhaps due to his background, he was very humble and approachable, the kind of person who wouldn’t offend anyone and who could make everyone feel comfortable in his presence. Not to mention, Ze Wu-Jun had been friends with him for many years.

During Nie Mingjue’s life, it was during the time when the Qinghe Nie Sect was at its peak under his rule, and its influence was quickly approaching that of the Lanling Jin Sect. Who would benefit the most from Nie Mingjue’s death?

Dying while seemingly going berserk from a Qi deviation in front of everyone—a seemingly flawless and unavoidable tragedy. But was the truth really that simple?