TFOD Chapter 67

His lips trembled, and he silently mouthed a few words. Jiang Cheng almost stood up on the spot.

It’s Wei Wuxian!

However, apart from that face, this person from head to toe, bore no resemblance to the original Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian was clearly a spirited and radiant youth, his eyes and brows full of smiles, never walking properly. And this person, was shrouded in a cold and gloomy aura, handsome yet pale, his smile full of sinister intent.

The scene before them was too unexpected, and with the situation still unclear, they couldn’t act rashly. Even though both of them on the roof were extremely shocked, they didn’t dare to rush in. Instead, they lowered their heads further, getting closer to the gaps between the tiles.

Inside the room, Wei Wuxian, dressed in black, slowly turned around. Wen Chao, covering his face, was left with only wheezing sounds, “Wen Zhuliu… Wen Zhuliu!”

Hearing this, Wei Wuxian’s eyes and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a smile, and he said, “To this day, do you still think calling him is useful?”

He took a few steps in this direction and kicked something white on the ground. He looked down, and it was the meat bun that Wen Chao had just thrown away.

Wei Wuxian raised an eyebrow and said, “What, picky eater?”

Wen Chao fell off the stool, crying heart-wrenchingly, “I won’t eat! I won’t eat! I won’t eat!”

While wailing like a ghost, he crawled on the ground with his fingerless hands. The black cloak dragged along the ground, sliding down his lower body and exposing his legs. These two legs hung under him like cumbersome decorations, wrapped in bandages, unusually slender. Because of his violent movements, gaps opened up between the bandages, revealing the stark white bone still covered with fresh blood and flesh.

The flesh on his legs had been shaved off, and moreover, most likely… this flesh was eaten by him!

Wen Chao’s piercing screams echoed in the empty post station. Wei Wuxian acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, lightly lifting his robe and sitting down at another table.

The second oil lamp faintly lit up, and in front of the pale yellow flame, half of Wei Wuxian’s face was illuminated, and the other half was in shadow. He lowered his hand, and a pale white face emerged from the darkness under the table. A crunching sound came from under the table.

A small white child was crouching by his feet, like a carnivorous little beast, gnawing on something that Wei Wuxian was feeding it.

Wei Wuxian retracted his hand and gently patted the sparsely haired head of the white ghost child a couple of times. The ghost child, still chewing on what he had been fed, turned around, sat by his feet, and hugged his leg. While continuing to chew aggressively, it stared at Wen Zhuliu with cold, gleaming eyes.

What it was chewing on was two human fingers.

Needless to say, they were Wen Chao’s fingers!

Lan Wangji, staring at the ghostly child filled with yin energy and the equally sinister Wei Wuxian, tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, Sweep Away the Dust.

Wen Zhuliu still stood in front of Wen Chao. Wei Wuxian lowered his head, his expression unreadable, and said, “Wen Zhuliu, do you really think you can protect his dog’s life from me?”

Wen Zhuliu said, “I will give it my all.”

Wei Wuxian sneered, “What a loyal Wen dog.”

Wen Zhuliu said, “I must repay the grace of recognizing my talent.”

Wei Wuxian’s tone and expression suddenly turned sinister and sharp, “What a joke! Why should others pay the price for your gratitude?!”

Before his voice faded away, Wen Chao’s miserable cries came from behind Wen Zhuliu. Wen Chao crawled into a corner, desperately trying to squeeze himself into the wooden boards, as if he thought he could squeeze himself out through the cracks. Suddenly, a red figure crashed down from the ceiling. A long-haired woman in red, with an iron-blue face, fell heavily on top of him. The woman’s dark face, bright red clothes, and black hair created a striking and terrifying contrast. Her ten fingers grabbed the bandage on Wen Chao’s head and tore it off with force!

This bandage had been re-wrapped by Wen Zhuliu after applying medicine to Wen Chao. The ointment, skin, and bandage were all stuck together. The skin, already fragile after being burned, was violently ripped off. In an instant, it tore away the unfallen scabs and exceptionally thin flesh, even tearing off his lips. A bald head, previously uneven, instantly became a bloody, fleshy mess.

Wen Chao fainted on the spot. The moment they heard his scream, Wen Zhuliu immediately turned to rescue him. Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng on the roof also tightened their grips on their swords, preparing to attack, but they heard a shriek. The ghost child by Wei Wuxian’s feet had already pounced. Wen Zhuliu struck out with his right palm, hitting the ghost child’s forehead, but felt a sharp pain in his palm. The ghost child opened its two rows of sharp teeth and bit him. He tried to shake it off but couldn’t, so Wen Zhuliu ignored it and went straight to rescue Wen Chao. However, the ghost child bit off a large chunk of flesh from his palm and spat it out, continuing to devour his hand. Wen Zhuliu grabbed the ghost child’s head with his left hand, as if trying to crush its cold, small skull. The woman with the iron-blue face threw the bloody bandage on the ground. Like a four-legged creature, she instantly crawled to Wen Zhuliu’s side, and with a wave of her hand, she created ten bloody gashes. Two evil creatures, one big and one small, surrounded him, biting and entangling him relentlessly. Wen Zhuliu could only handle one side, while the other was left unattended. He was in a state of panic, in a terrible mess. Turning his head, he saw Wei Wuxian watching him with a cold smile and suddenly lunged at him.

The two on the roof were both alarmed. Lan Wangji struck down with his palm, the tiles shattered, and he fell from the eaves into the second floor of the post station, blocking between Wen Zhuliu and Wei Wuxian. Wen Zhuliu was stunned. At that moment, a long whip with a flowing purple light fiercely lashed out, wrapping around his neck. It wrapped around his neck three times and suddenly pulled him up. Wen Zhuliu’s tall and heavy body was hung in the air by this electric whip. The sound of cracking bones immediately came, with his neck broken on the spot. At the same time, Wei Wuxian’s pupils shrank. He pulled out a flute from his waist, turned around and stood up. The ghost child and the woman with the blue face, who had been attacking Wen Zhuliu, quickly retreated to his side, vigilantly watching the two strangers.

Behind them, Wen Zhuliu had not died immediately. His face was beet red, his whole body was convulsing, still struggling, his eyes were wide open, and his eyeballs were almost bulging out of their sockets. The ghost child bared its teeth at Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng, showing its hostility. Wei Wuxian slightly raised his hand, letting it retract its fangs. His gaze moved back and forth between Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng. The three of them, none of them spoke first.

After a long while, Jiang Cheng raised his arm and threw something over. Without even thinking, Wei Wuxian raised his hand and caught it. Jiang Cheng said, “Your sword!”

Wei Wuxian’s hand slowly lowered.

He looked down at the “Whatever,” hesitated, and said, “…Thank you.”

Again, a long silence, then suddenly, Jiang Cheng stepped forward and slapped him, saying, “You brat! Where the hell have you been these past three months!”

Though it was a scolding, his tone was full of wild joy. Although Lan Wangji didn’t step forward, his gaze remained locked on Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian was stunned by Jiang Cheng’s slap. After a moment, he also slapped back, saying, “Haha, it’s a long story, a long story!”

The cold aura around him was diluted a lot by those two slaps. Jiang Cheng, with joy and anger, hugged him tightly, then suddenly pushed him away, roaring, “Didn’t we agree to meet at that broken town at the foot of the mountain? I waited five or six days, and didn’t even see your ghost! If you were going to die, you should have died in front of me! These three months I’ve been busy until my head is spinning!”

Wei Wuxian lifted his robe and sat down at the table again, waving his hand, “I said it’s a long story. A bunch of Wen dogs were also digging three feet into the ground looking for me, and they caught me red-handed, throwing me into some godforsaken place to torture me.”

While he was speaking, the blue-faced woman crawled towards him, using her hands and feet. Earlier when she had been tearing and fighting, her face was ferocious, but after reaching Wei Wuxian’s side, she pressed her blue face against Wei Wuxian’s thigh, as if she was a charming concubine, obediently trying to please her master. She was even laughing in a giggling manner. Wei Wuxian leaned against the table, his right hand gently stroking her soft hair. Lan Wangji looked at his actions, his expression becoming more and more stern. Although this scene made Jiang Cheng feel a little uncomfortable, he was even more shocked and asked, “What godforsaken place? I carefully investigated the people in the town and asked them, and they all said they had never seen you?!”

Wei Wuxian said, “You asked the people in that town? They are just a bunch of country bumpkins who haven’t seen the world. Afraid of causing trouble, who would dare tell you the truth? And the Wen dogs must have used some methods to shut them up, of course, they would all say they hadn’t seen me.”

Jiang Cheng cursed, “A bunch of old fools!” He then pressed, “What godforsaken place? Qishan? Nightless City? How did you get out? And how did you become like this? What are these two things? They actually listen to you. And, did you also modify those talismans?”

Wei Wuxian glanced at Lan Wangji out of the corner of his eye, who was still watching them. He smiled slightly and said, “Close enough. Let’s say that I found a mysterious cave, with a mysterious sage’s notes inside, and then I became like this, going out and killing everything, do you believe it?”

Jiang Cheng spat, “Wake up, you’ve been reading too many legend stories. Where are there so many sages in the world, and secret caves and manuals everywhere!”

Wei Wuxian spread his hands, “See, I told you, but you don’t believe it. I’ll tell you slowly when I get the chance.”

Jiang Cheng glanced at Lan Wangji, knowing that there were probably things that were inconvenient to say in front of an outsider. He suppressed his joy and said, “Alright then, we’ll talk later. It’s good that you’re back.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Yeah. It’s good to be back.”

Jiang Cheng repeated the words, “It’s good to be back,” a few times, then suddenly slapped him, “You really are…! You can survive even after being caught by Wen dogs!”

Wei Wuxian said smugly, “Of course. Who am I?”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t help but curse, “What are you being smug about! If you weren’t going to die, why didn’t you come back sooner!”

Wei Wuxian said, “I just got out, didn’t I? I heard that you and Shijie were both doing well, and that you were starting to rebuild Yunmeng Jiang Sect, and gathering people to fight in the war. So I first went to kill some Wen dogs for you, to reduce your burden, to make some contribution. These three months, you must have been through a lot.”

Hearing the last sentence, Jiang Cheng seemed to have remembered the hardship of running around day and night in the past three months. He was slightly moved, but immediately suppressed his emotions and said in a harsh tone, “Put that broken sword of yours away! I’ve been waiting for you to come back and take it away, I don’t want to carry two swords every day, and have people asking me all sorts of questions!”

Lan Wangji suddenly said, “Wei Ying.”

He had been standing silently to the side, but now he suddenly spoke. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng both turned to him. It was as if Wei Wuxian had just remembered to greet him. He slightly tilted his head and said, “Hanguang-Jun.”

Lan Wangji said, “Was it you who was killing Wen Sect disciples along the way?”

Wei Wuxian said, “Of course.”

Jiang Cheng said, “I knew it was you, why did you only kill one each time, causing so much trouble.”

Wei Wuxian said, “It was fun, playing them to death. Killing them all at once is too cheap, I wanted to kill them one by one and let them watch, cutting them slowly, bit by bit. Wen Chao, I don’t need to say more, I haven’t tortured him enough. As for this Wen Zhuliu, he received kindness from Wen Ruohan, changed his surname to Wen, and was ordered to protect Wen Ruohan’s precious son.” He sneered, “He wanted to protect him, but I just wanted him to watch Wen Chao become unrecognizable in his hands, neither human nor ghost.”

This smile was three parts cold, three parts cruel, and three parts pleasure. Lan Wangji saw his expression clearly. He took a step forward and said, “What method did you use to control these evil spirits?”

The curve at the corners of Wei Wuxian’s mouth sharply decreased as he looked at him sideways. Jiang Cheng also detected a discordant note and said, “Lan Er Gongzi, what do you mean by asking this question?”

Lan Wangji fixed his eyes on Wei Wuxian and said, “Answer.”

The ghost child and blue-faced woman became restless. Wei Wuxian glanced back and they slowly retreated unwillingly, submerging into the darkness. Then, Wei Wuxian turned to Lan Wangji, raised his eyebrow and said, “May I ask… what will happen if I don’t answer?”

Suddenly, he dodged, avoiding the sudden grab from Lan Wangji. He retreated three steps and said, “Lan Zhan, we just met after a long separation, and you’re already trying to grab someone, that’s not very nice, is it?”

Lan Wangji acted without speaking, Wei Wuxian countered each move. After warding off his hand for the third time, Wei Wuxian said, “I thought we could at least be considered acquaintances. You attacking me out of nowhere like this, isn’t that a bit heartless?”

Lan Wangji said, “Answer!”

Jiang Cheng stepped between the two of them, “Lan Er Gongzi!”

Wei Wuxian said, “Lan Er Gongzi, what you’re asking, it’s not something that can be explained in a short time. And it’s very strange. If I ask you about the secret techniques of Gusu Lan Sect, would you answer me?”

Lan Wangji ignored Jiang Cheng and went straight for him. Wei Wuxian held the flute in front of him, saying, “That’s a bit much, right? Why do you have to be so unreasonable. Lan Zhan, what exactly do you want to do?”

Lan Wangji said, word by word, “Come back to Gusu with me.”

Hearing this, both Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng were stunned.

After a moment, Wei Wuxian laughed and said, “Come back to Gusu with you? Cloud Recesses? What are we going to do there?”

He immediately seemed to understand, “Oh, I forgot. Your uncle Lan Qiren dislikes people like me the most, those evil and demonic. You’re his star pupil, so of course you’d think the same, haha. I refuse.”

Jiang Cheng watched Lan Wangji with caution, saying, “Lan Er Gongzi, we all understand the Lan Sect’s family rules. But before, at the Xuanwu Cave at Mount Muxi, Wei Wuxian saved your life and shared life and death with you, now you’re showing no mercy and immediately want to interrogate him, isn’t that a bit inhumane?”

Wei Wuxian looked at him and said, “Not bad? You have the air of a clan leader.”

Jiang Cheng said, “Shut up.”

Lan Wangji said, “I don’t want to interrogate him.”

Jiang Cheng said, “Then what are you taking him back to Gusu for? Lan Er Gongzi, at this crucial moment, why isn’t Gusu Lan Sect working together to kill Wen dogs, but instead worrying about those old-fashioned doctrines?”

Facing them alone, Lan Wangji still didn’t back down. He looked fixedly at Wei Wuxian, and his throat trembled, saying, “Wei Ying, practicing demonic path will ultimately come with a price, throughout history, there are no exceptions.”

Wei Wuxian said, “I can afford it.”

Seeing that he didn’t care, Lan Wangji said in a deep voice, “This path harms the body, and also damages one’s nature.”

Wei Wuxian said, “Whether it harms the body, how much it harms, I know the most clearly. As for my nature, my heart is my master, I know my own limits.”

Lan Wangji said, “There are some things that you can’t control.”

A hint of displeasure flashed across Wei Wuxian’s face, saying, “Of course, I can control them.”

Lan Wangji walked a step closer, about to say something more, but Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes and said, “In the end, what does anyone else know about my nature? And what is it to them?”

Lan Wangji was stunned, and suddenly said angrily, “…Wei Wuxian!”

Wei Wuxian also angrily said, “Lan Wangji! Do you have to make things difficult for me at this moment? You want me to go to Cloud Recesses and be locked up by Gusu Lan Sect? Who do you think you are, who do you think Gusu Lan Sect is?! Do you really think I wouldn’t fight back?!”

Between the two, a hostile atmosphere suddenly emerged. Lan Wangji’s hand on Sweep Away the Dust’s hilt turned white. Jiang Cheng said coldly, “Lan Er Gongzi, now that the Wen rebellion is not yet eliminated, it’s the time when we need the most combat power. Everyone is barely able to take care of themselves, why must Gusu Lan Sect meddle too much? Wei Wuxian is on our side, do you want to punish our own people?”

Wei Wuxian’s expression softened, “That’s right. As long as we’re killing Wen dogs, why do you care how I kill them?”

From a young age, the two of them could always respond to each other’s comments perfectly. At this moment, one sentence from one and the other from the other, there was no flaw. Jiang Cheng continued, “Don’t blame Jiang for saying something impolite, even if you were to pursue this matter, Wei Wuxian is not one of your family members. It’s not Gusu Lan Sect’s turn to punish him. He’s not going back with you no matter what.”

Hearing this sentence, Lan Wangji’s expression stiffened. He raised his head to look at Wei Wuxian, his throat trembled, and said, “I…”

Before the words left his mouth, a weak scream came from Wen Chao in the corner. Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s attention immediately shifted. They moved in unison, bypassing Lan Wangji, and went to Wen Zhuliu and Wen Chao. Wen Zhuliu was suspended by Purple Lightning, still struggling in extreme pain. Wen Chao was half-dead, and slowly opened his eyelids. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the two faces that were looming above him.

These two faces were equally young, equally familiar, and they had all shown expressions of either despair, pain, or bone-deep hatred before. And at this moment, their faces were equally cold and menacing, and their eyes were equally filled with cold light.

Wen Chao didn’t scream nor try to escape. He dazedly held up his fingerless hands and drooled. Wei Wuxian kicked him, positioning him to kneel facing the Yunmeng direction. The exposed bones and flesh rubbed against each other, causing Wen Chao to let out a miserable scream that was particularly harsh in the empty post station. Jiang Cheng said, “Why is his voice so shrill?”

Wei Wuxian said, “He’s missing something, of course, it’s shrill.”

Jiang Cheng said with disgust, “Did you cut it?”

Wei Wuxian said, “That’s a bit disgusting, of course, I didn’t cut it, that woman he was keeping went crazy and bit it off.”

Lan Wangji was still standing behind them, watching them. Wei Wuxian suddenly remembered his presence again and turned to him with a slight smile, saying, “Lan Er Gongzi, what’s about to happen might not be suitable for you to watch. How about you leave us for a bit?”

Although he used the word “please,” his tone left no room for argument. Jiang Cheng also said politely but distantly, “That’s right. Lan Er Gongzi, Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu have already fallen into our hands. This mission has been completed. It’s time for us to part ways. What comes next is all personal vendetta, so please head back first.”

Lan Wangji’s gaze was still fixed on Wei Wuxian, but Wei Wuxian’s attention had already been taken by the enemies who were clinging to life, and his eyes, while staring at Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu, shone with excitement and cruelty. Jiang Cheng had the same look, both of them were already drowned in the overwhelming pleasure of revenge. Neither of them had the time to be polite with outsiders.

After a long while, Lan Wangji turned and went downstairs.

He left the post station, waited by the door for a long while, but still didn’t leave.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when the silence of the night was broken by a long, miserable howl.

Lan Wangji raised his head and looked back, his white clothes and forehead ribbon fluttering in the cold wind.

The dark night had passed, and the sun in the sky was about to rise.

And the sun on the ground was setting.