Chapter 40, Part 40
Chapter Summary: [Wei Wuxian burst into laughter: "Who taught you that? Who told you that you should have it? I can let it go, but can you imagine your Hanguang-jun saying something like that?"]
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Wei Wuxian burst into laughter: "Who taught you that? Who told you that you should have that? I can let it go, but can you imagine your Hanguang-jun saying something like that?"
The younger members of the Lan family all said, "No..."
Wei Wuxian said, "Right? This kind of time-wasting and pretentious boring conversation. Your Hanguang-jun is such a reliable person, I believe he can definitely handle it. I'll just do my own thing and wait for him to come to me, or I can go to him."
They followed the sound of the bamboo poles for less than half an incense stick's time, turning several corners, when the sound suddenly stopped ahead. Wei Wuxian reached out to stop the boys behind him, and took a few steps forward. A solitary house stood amidst the increasingly dense demonic mist.
"Squeak—"
The sound of the bamboo poles was usually quite regular, and everyone was used to it. Suddenly, there was a "creak," which almost made everyone jump out of their skin.
The most obvious example is Nie Huaisang, whose cry of "Oh my god!" triggered the urge of his brother Nie to draw his sword.
Someone pushed open the door to the room, and the room silently awaited the entry of these strangers.
Wei Wuxian had a gut feeling that there was something inside. Not something dangerous or life-threatening, but something that would tell him something or solve some mysteries.
He said, "Since we're already here, let's go in."
He lifted his foot and stepped into the house, his head adjusting to the darkness as he reminded the occupants without turning around, "Watch the threshold, don't trip over it."
A boy nearly tripped over the high threshold and said in frustration, "Why is the threshold so high? It's not a temple."
Wei Wuxian said, "It's not a temple, but it's still a place with a very high threshold."
In twos and threes, five or six fire talismans were lit one after another, and the flickering orange-yellow flames illuminated the room.
Straw was scattered on the ground, and at the front was an altar with several small stools of varying heights lying across it. To the right was a dark, dingy little room. In addition, there were seven or eight black wooden coffins.
Jin Ling asked, "Is this one of those mortuaries? Places where the dead are kept?"
Wei Wuxian said, "Yes. Unclaimed corpses, corpses that are considered unlucky to keep at home, and the dead waiting to be buried are usually placed in the Yizhuang (mortuary). It's like a rest stop for the dead." The small room on the right should be the resting place for the people who guard the Yizhuang.
Lan Sizhui asked, "Young Master Mo, why is the threshold of the mortuary so high?"
Wei Wuxian said, "To prevent the resurrection of corpses."
Lan Jingyi asked blankly, "Would building a high threshold prevent the zombies from turning into humans?"
Wei Wuxian said, "I can't stop the zombie transformation, but sometimes I can stop low-level zombies from going out." He turned around and stood in front of the threshold, saying, "Let's say I'm dead, and I just became a zombie."
The boys nodded eagerly. He continued, "Since I've only recently become a zombie, will my limbs become stiff? Will I be unable to perform many movements?"
Jin Ling said, "Isn't that obvious? It can't even walk, it can't move its legs, it can only jump..." He immediately realized. Wei Wuxian said, "That's right. It can only jump." He put his legs together and tried to jump, but because the threshold was too high, he couldn't jump over each time, his toes hitting the threshold. The young masters of the aristocratic families found it hilarious, imagining a newly transformed corpse struggling to jump over, only to be blocked by the threshold, and they all laughed. Wei Wuxian said, "See? Don't laugh, this is folk wisdom. Although it's rustic and seems childish, it's indeed effective in preventing low-level zombies from getting up. If a zombie trips over the threshold, it falls to the ground, its limbs stiffen, and it can't get up for a while. By the time it's almost up, either it's almost dawn and the roosters are crowing, or it's discovered by the guards. It's quite remarkable that ordinary people who aren't from aristocratic families could come up with this method."
Although I've said this many times before, every time I see Wei Wuxian imparting knowledge to the younger generation, it feels like he's giving a lesson in folk wisdom.
Lan Jingyi whispered to Lan Sizhui, "Why do I feel like the aristocratic families aren't as smart as these common people?"
Lan Sizhui rolled his eyes at him: "Aren't you the same?"
Lan Jingyi: "Yes, yes, but I'm learning from Senior Wei right now!"
Lan Sizhui shook his head: With his forgetful and eccentric manner, it would be good if he could learn even a little bit.
Jin Ling, who had just laughed, immediately stopped and said, "Why did she bring us to the mortuary? Doesn't this place get surrounded by walking corpses? And where did she go?"
Wei Wuxian said, "I'm afraid that's really not the case. We've been standing here for so long, has any of you heard any movement from the walking corpses?"
No sooner had the words left her mouth than the girl's ghost appeared on a coffin.
Having already carefully observed the girl's appearance under Wei Wuxian's guidance, including her bleeding eyes and protruding tongue, no one felt nervous or afraid upon seeing her again. It seemed that, as Wei Wuxian had said, being frightened had indeed emboldened them, allowing them to face the situation calmly.
The girl had no physical form; her spirit emitted a faint, eerie blue light. She was petite with a small face, and if cleaned up, she would look like a pitiful girl next door. But her posture was anything but graceful; her two slender legs dangled down, swinging anxiously, and the bamboo cane that served as her blind cane leaned against the coffin.
She sat on the coffin, gently patting the lid. Then she jumped down, circled the coffin, and gestured to them. This time the gesture was easy to understand: an "open" gesture. Jin Ling said, "She wants us to help her open this coffin?"
Lan Sizhui guessed, "Could this be her corpse inside? Hoping we can give her a proper burial?" This was the most reasonable guess; many restless spirits are disturbed because their bodies cannot be properly buried. Wei Wuxian stood on one side of the coffin, and several teenagers stood on the other side, wanting to help him open it. He said, "No need to help, stand back. What if it's not a corpse, and they spray you with corpse poison powder or something?"
He opened the coffin by himself and lifted the lid to the ground. Looking down, he saw a corpse.
However, it wasn't the girl's body, but someone else's.
Everyone stared intently at the coffin lid. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was the hidden tomb of some powerful family patriarch, filled with gold and silver treasures, and that they were all going to rob the tomb.
Only Xue Yang, his eyes flickering slightly, looked at A Qing's empty eyes and her constant banging in the sky, and subconsciously opened his eyes.
Upon seeing the corpse, the space fell into complete silence.
The man was a young man, positioned in a posture of peaceful repose with his hands clasped together. A whisk rested beneath his crossed hands. He wore a snow-white Taoist robe. The lower half of his face was handsome and refined, pale, with light-colored lips. The upper half of his face, however, was wrapped layer upon layer with bandages five fingers wide. Beneath the bandages, where the eyes should have been, there was no movement, only two empty, sunken hollows. There were no eyes there, only two empty sockets.
Hearing them open the coffin, the girl groped her way over, reached into the coffin and rummaged around until she touched the corpse's face. She stamped her foot, and two lines of tears streamed from her blind eyes.
No words or gestures were needed; everyone understood. This body, placed alone in a solitary mortuary, was the true Xiao Xingchen.
Xiao Xingchen?!
Song Lan unconsciously clenched her hands, those eyes...
Xiao Xingchen never expected that Xue Yang would leave him with a complete corpse.
The tears of a wandering spirit cannot fall. The girl silently shed tears for a while, then suddenly stood up, gritting her teeth, and began to scream "Ah ah," "Ah ah," at them, both anxious and angry, desperately wanting to confide in them. Lan Sizhui asked, "Do we need to ask the spirit again?"
Wei Wuxian said, "No need. We might not be able to ask her the questions she wants us to ask, and I think her answer will be very complicated and difficult to understand, with a lot of uncommon words."
Although he didn't say "I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it," Lan Sizhui still felt slightly ashamed and secretly made up his mind: "After I go back, I must diligently study the 'Spirit Inquiry' technique. I must be able to do it like Hanguang-jun, responding fluently and answering questions immediately." Lan Jingyi asked, "Then what should we do?"
Wei Wuxian said, "Let's empathize."
Each major clan has its own methods for gathering intelligence and information from vengeful spirits. Empathy, however, was created by Wei Wuxian. It's not actually as profound as the other clans' methods. Anyone can use it: the vengeful spirit is invited to possess the individual, and the empathizer invades the spirit's soul, using their own body as a medium to hear, see, and feel what the spirit hears. If the vengeful spirit's emotions are particularly intense, the individual will also be affected by emotions such as sadness, anger, and ecstasy; hence the name "empathy."
This is arguably the most direct, simplest, quickest, and most effective of all methods. Of course, it is also the most dangerous. Everyone avoids possession by vengeful spirits like the plague, yet empathy requires actively seeking them out. A moment's carelessness can lead to disastrous consequences, like playing with fire and getting burned. If the vengeful spirit changes its mind or takes advantage of a weakness to retaliate, the mildest outcome is being possessed.
Wei Wuxian froze instantly. Oh no, he'd forgotten he'd done that.
Just as he expected, Lan Wangji tightened his grip on his hand instantly, and Wei Wuxian felt his joints cracking.
Lan Wangji: "Empathy?"
Wei Wuxian quickly begged for forgiveness: "Lan Zhan, I was wrong! I was really wrong! This was the only way, since these juniors aren't as good at spirit summoning as you."
Lan Jingyi and Lan Sizhui, standing to the side: What does this have to do with us...?
While what he said wasn't wrong, we still have our pride, you know.
Looking at Wei Wuxian's pitiful pleading appearance, Lan Wangji sighed helplessly: "This is the last time."
Wei Wuxian felt a small surge of joy in his heart. Yay, my back won't break!
Jiang Cheng, who was watching from the side, saw everything clearly and couldn't help but let out a cold snort.
Silly Lan Wangji, Wei Wuxian's mere act of coquetry is enough to knock him out.
Jin Ling protested, "It's too dangerous! This kind of evil magic, not a single one..." Wei Wuxian interrupted, "Alright, there's no time. Stand up straight, hurry up, we still need to go back to find Hanguang-jun after we're done. Jin Ling, you're the supervisor."
The supervisor is an indispensable figure in the empathy ritual. To prevent the empathizer from becoming trapped in the emotions of the vengeful spirit, a secret code needs to be agreed upon with the supervisor. This code is best as a phrase or a voice that the empathizer is very familiar with. The supervisor monitors the situation at all times and, if any change is detected, immediately takes action to pull the empathizer out of it. Jin Ling pointed to himself and said, "Me? You want Ben...you want me to supervise you doing this kind of thing?"
Lan Sizhui said, "If Young Master Jin won't do it, I will."
Wei Wuxian asked, "Jin Ling, did you bring the Jiang family's silver bell?"
The silver bell is a signature accessory of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan. Jin Ling was raised by both families from a young age, sometimes living at Jinlintai of the Lanling Jin Clan and sometimes at Lianhuawu of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, bringing with him belongings from both families. With a complicated expression, he reached into his Qiankun sleeve and took out an antique little bell. The silver bell was engraved with the Jiang Clan's family crest: a nine-petaled lotus.
Wei Wuxian handed it to Lan Sizhui and said, "The Jiang family's silver bell has the effect of calming the mind and clearing the head, so let's use this as a code."
Jin Ling reached out and snatched the bell back, saying, "I'll do it!"
Lan Jingyi snorted, "One minute she's unwilling, the next she's willing, so unpredictable, like a spoiled princess."
The Jiang family's silver bell?
Jiang Yanli turned to look at Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian.
Wei Wuxian touched his nose. Back then, Jiang Yanli gave him the silver bell that Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan had prepared for him. However... after the incident at the Burial Mound, that silver bell should have been shattered into dust long ago.
Jiang Cheng snorted coldly and said, "I put your dog in the house a long time ago. Who told you to stay in Gusu and not come back?"
Wei Wuxian: ...
"You damned Jiang Cheng, why didn't you say so sooner?!"
Jiang Cheng said with an irritating expression, "You didn't even ask."
Looking at these two clowns, Jiang Yanli couldn't help but laugh, and the gloom in her heart lessened considerably.
Wei Wuxian said to the girl, "You can come in now."
The girl wiped her eyes and face, then bumped into him, her soul completely entering him. Wei Wuxian slowly slid down the coffin, and the group of teenagers hurriedly dragged over a pile of straw to cushion his seat. Jin Ling tightly gripped the bell, lost in thought.
Just as the girl burst in, Wei Wuxian suddenly thought of a problem: "This girl is blind. If I empathize with her, won't I become blind too and unable to see anything? That would greatly diminish the effectiveness. Oh well, being able to hear is good enough."
A dizzying sensation swept over them, and their previously light, floating souls seemed to land on solid ground. The girl opened her eyes, and Wei Wuxian opened his eyes too, only to find a clear and bright expanse of green mountains and clear waters before them. They could actually see!
It seems that the girl was not blind at this time in her memory.
Wei Wuxian had already entered her soul, and what was presented to him were the most intense fragments of her memory, the ones she most wanted to confide in others. He watched quietly, feeling what he felt. At this moment, all their senses were connected; the girl's eyes were his eyes, her mouth was his mouth.
The girl seemed to be sitting by a stream, doing her hair in the water. Although her clothes were tattered, she was still at least somewhat clean. She tapped her toes to the rhythm, humming a little tune as she tidied her hair. Wei Wuxian felt a thin wooden hairpin poking around in her hair. Suddenly, she looked down and saw her reflection in the water.
Wei Wuxian, within her soul, also looked down and saw his current appearance. The stream reflected a little girl with an oval face and a pointed chin.
The little girl's eyes had no pupils; they were just empty white spaces.
Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "Could she have gone blind by now? But I can see clearly right now. When there is empathy, indifference and vengeful spirits are connected."
The girl fixed her hair, patted her bottom, and leaped up. Grabbing a bamboo pole at her feet, she hopped and skipped along the path. As she walked, she swung the pole, hitting branches and leaves above her head, jostling stones at her feet, and scaring grasshoppers in the grass, without stopping for a moment. When she saw several people approaching in the distance, she immediately stopped hopping, holding the bamboo pole carefully, tapping the ground as she slowly made her way forward, appearing very cautious. The village girls passing by made way for her, whispering among themselves. The girl nodded repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, thank you."
A village girl, seemingly moved with pity, lifted the white cloth covering the basket, took out a hot steamed bun, and handed it to her: "Little sister, be careful. Are you hungry? Take this and eat it."
The girl exclaimed "Ah!" and said gratefully, "I can't accept this, I...I..."
The village girl stuffed the steamed bun into her hand and said, "Here, take it!"
She accepted it, saying, "Thank you, sister!"
It turns out the girl's name is A-Qing.
Wei Wuxian stroked his chin, glanced at A-Qing, then at Xue Yang, and clicked his tongue in admiration: "You guys could open an acting class in the future, you're all acting like pros."
A-Qing, who was initially feeling a bit embarrassed, glared at Xue Yang after hearing Wei Wuxian's words: "Who's like him? I was doing it to survive, he was doing it to harm people!"
Xue Yang clicked his tongue and said with displeasure, "Little brat..."
Lan Jingyi moved closer to Lan Sizhui and asked, "What's going on this time?"
Lan Sizhui looked at his companion's silly expression, patted his head, and turned away helplessly.
Lan Jingyi: ...What does this mean?
After saying goodbye to the village girls, A-Qing quickly finished her steamed bun and started jumping three feet high again. Wei Wuxian, inside her body, jumped along, feeling dizzy. He thought to himself, "This girl is really wild! I understand now, she's pretending to be blind. Those white pupils are probably congenital. Although she looks blind, she can actually see. She uses this to deceive people and gain their sympathy." A little girl wandering alone, most likely without parents, pretends to be blind. People think she can't see, so they naturally lower their guard, but in reality, she can see everything clearly. Adapting to the situation is quite a clever method.
However, A-Qing's soul was indeed blind, indicating that she was already blind in life. So how did she go from being truly blind to appearing blind?
For example, did you see something you shouldn't have seen?
Ah-Qing skipped and hopped around in deserted areas, but when there were people around, she timidly pretended to be blind. She walked and stopped until she arrived at a market.
In crowded places, she naturally wanted to show off her skills, putting on a grand display and acting as if she were in high spirits. She slowly moved through the crowd, tapping a bamboo cane along the way. Suddenly, she bumped into a well-dressed middle-aged man, feigning shock and repeatedly saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry! I can't see, I'm so sorry!"
You can't see her anywhere; she came straight for this man!
The man, after being bumped into, turned around angrily, seemingly wanting to unleash a torrent of curses. But upon seeing that it was a blind woman, and a rather pretty young girl at that, he knew that slapping her in the street would surely draw criticism. So he could only mutter, "Watch where you're going!"
A-Qing apologized repeatedly, but the man, still not satisfied, gave her a hard pinch on the buttock with his right hand as he left. This pinch felt exactly like it had been on Wei Wuxian, sending shivers down his spine and making him want to smash the man into the ground.
At this moment, Wei Wuxian and A-Qing are empathizing, and everyone in the space is empathizing with Wei Wuxian.
In other words, the way that man pinched Aqing was truly reflected in everyone present.
Instantly, goosebumps filled the space, and everyone felt their scalps tingle, cursing silently in their hearts.
Aqing pouted in dissatisfaction and shouted into the air, "Sister Niangui, that's immoral! Why do I have to be pinched again?!"
After a while, Xiao Niangui's slightly lazy voice came: "Sorry, I was so engrossed in reading that I forgot."
Aqing: ……
1
Everyone:...
Then, in the silent space, Lan Jingyi suddenly muttered, "So A-Qing wasn't blind before!"
Lan Sizhui: ...We don't need to show off our intelligence like this.
Lan Qiren rubbed his forehead. This child, let whoever wants him have him.
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