Chapter 43 (or Forty-Three)
Chapter Summary: [Outside the mortuary, Xiao Xingchen said, "Your injuries haven't healed, and you've been staying home without telling me to. Is that alright?"]
Xue Yang said, "Move around more..."
-------------------------------------
Outside the mortuary, Xiao Xingchen said, "Your injuries haven't healed, and you've been refusing to move around. Is that alright?"
Xue Yang said, "Moving around will help you recover faster. Besides, it's not like both of your legs are broken. I'm used to this kind of injury. I grew up being beaten up."
Xiao Xingchen seemed unsure how to respond, whether to comfort him or take it as a joke. After a moment, he said, "Oh..."
Xue Yang continued, "Daoist Master, I see you brought those things back to repair the roof?"
Xiao Xingchen said, "Yes. I should rest here for the time being. The roof is dilapidated, which is not good for A-Qing and you to recover from your injuries."
Xue Yang asked, "Do you need my help?"
Xiao Xingchen thanked him and said, "There's no need to trouble yourself."
Xue Yang asked, "Daoist Master, you know how?"
Xiao Xingchen smiled and said with a hint of shame, shaking his head, "I really haven't tried that before."
So the two began working together to repair the roof, one hand on the ground, the other pointing. Xue Yang was quite eloquent, good at witty remarks, his humor tinged with a touch of unrestrained street smarts. Xiao Xingchen, who had probably rarely dealt with people like him before, was easily amused and laughed after a few words. A-Qing, listening to their pleasant conversation, silently moved her lips; upon closer inspection, it seemed she was muttering angrily, "I'll beat you to death, you bad thing."
Seeing this, Xiao Xingchen pursed his lips, but his thoughts drifted away.
After the massacre at Baixue Temple and the subsequent donation of his eyes to Song Lan, those days were the happiest of his life, and remain a cherished memory to this day.
He cannot deny it, nor can he deny it.
Wei Wuxian and A-Qing share the same feeling.
Xue Yang was severely injured, nearly losing his life, and also had a long-standing grudge against Xiao Xingchen, making them sworn enemies. He probably wanted Xiao Xingchen to die a horrible death, yet outwardly he could still laugh and joke with him. If the person crouching under the window were the real Wei Wuxian, he would have killed Xue Yang without hesitation to prevent future trouble. However, this wasn't his body, and A-Qing was powerless to do so.
About a month later, Xue Yang's injuries had almost completely healed under Xiao Xingchen's meticulous care. Aside from a slight limp, he was otherwise fine. However, he didn't mention leaving and continued to share a room in the mortuary with the two men, seemingly plotting something.
That day, after Xiao Xingchen had put A-Qing to bed, he was about to go out for a night hunt when Xue Yang's voice suddenly came: "Daozhang, how about you take me with you tonight?"
His voice should have recovered long ago, but he deliberately avoided using his natural voice, disguising it as something else. Xiao Xingchen laughed, "That won't do. I'll laugh as soon as you open your mouth. If I laugh, my sword will become unsteady."
Xue Yang said pitifully, "Then I won't say anything. I'll carry your sword and help you. Don't look down on me."
He was adept at using charm and sweet talk, speaking to older people like a younger brother. Since Xiao Xingchen seemed to have mentored his junior sisters and brothers under Baoshan Sanren, he naturally regarded him as a junior. Knowing he was also a fellow practitioner, he readily agreed. Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "Xue Yang certainly wouldn't be so kind as to help Xiao Xingchen with a night hunt. If A-Qing doesn't go, she'll miss something important."
But A-Qing was indeed clever and understood that Xue Yang most likely had ill intentions. After the two left, she jumped out of the coffin and followed at a distance. Afraid of being discovered, she kept her distance, and the two were fast, so she lost them after a short while. Fortunately, Xiao Xingchen had mentioned earlier while washing vegetables that a small village nearby was plagued by walking corpses, and warned the two not to wander off. A-Qing remembered the place and headed straight there, arriving in no time. She crawled through a dog hole under the fence at the village entrance, hid behind a house, and furtively peeked out.
Whether A-Qing understood anything from that peeking out or not, Wei Wuxian felt a sudden chill in his heart.
Song Lan felt Xiao Xingchen's body tremble suddenly beside her.
Seeing him close his eyes in pain, I knew that what followed was something Xiao Xingchen would never be able to let go of for the rest of his life.
Xue Yang also closed his eyes, still with that carefree attitude, but it was impossible to tell whether he didn't want to see the tragic Yi City or was afraid to see Xiao Xingchen's handsome face that was full of trust in him.
Xue Yang stood by the roadside with his arms crossed, tilting his head and smiling. Xiao Xingchen stood opposite him, calmly drawing his sword. Frosty silver light swept across, piercing the heart of a villager with a single strike.
That villager was a living person.
A living person?!
Everyone jumped up in fright.
Wei Wuxian picked at his ear, quite displeased with this overreaction: "Why are you all jumping around like that? You're always criticizing my walking corpse, isn't this what you're doing!"
Everyone: ...
That seems to be true.
A few breaths later, everything in the space that had been jumping up, kneeling, or lying on its side instantly returned to its original state.
If it were any other girl of similar age, she would have screamed on the spot. But Ah-Qing had been pretending to be blind for so many years that everyone thought she couldn't see, and they often did many things in front of her without warning. She had witnessed countless ugly things and developed a heart of steel, so she didn't utter a sound.
Even so, Wei Wuxian still felt a tingling and stiffness coming from her legs and feet.
Standing amidst the scattered corpses of villagers, Xiao Xingchen sheathed his sword and said intently, "There isn't a single survivor in this village? They're all walking corpses?"
Xue Yang smiled, but the voice that came from his mouth sounded very surprised and puzzled, with a hint of sorrow, as he said, "Not bad. Fortunately, your sword can automatically guide the corpse energy, otherwise it would have been difficult for the two of us to break through the encirclement."
Xiao Xingchen said, "Let's check the village one more time. If there really are no living people left, then burn all these walking corpses as soon as possible."
Once they had walked away side by side, A-Qing's legs regained their strength. She slipped out from behind the house and walked to the pile of corpses, looking down and glancing left and right. Wei Wuxian's gaze followed her unsteadily.
These villagers were all killed by Xiao Xingchen's swift and decisive sword strike to the heart. Suddenly, Wei Wuxian noticed several somewhat familiar faces.
In their earlier memories, the three of them had gone out during the day and encountered some idlers sitting at a village crossroads playing dice. As they passed the crossroads, the idlers glanced around and saw a large blind man, a small blind man, and a small lame man. They all laughed and gestured wildly. A-Qing spat at them and waved her bamboo cane, but Xiao Xingchen acted as if he hadn't heard anything and walked past calmly. Xue Yang even smiled, but his eyes held no trace of a smile.
A-Qing examined several corpses in succession, lifting their eyelids to reveal that all of them had white pupils, and some even had lividity covering their faces. She breathed a sigh of relief. But Wei Wuxian's heart sank lower and lower.
Although these people look like walking corpses, they are actually all living people.
They were just living people infected with corpse poison.
Near the mouths and noses of several corpses, Wei Wuxian still saw traces of purplish-red powder. Those severely poisoned and reduced to mindless zombies were beyond saving, but some were less severely poisoned and still salvageable. These villagers were those who had only recently been poisoned. They would exhibit characteristics of zombies, emanating a deathly aura, but they could still think, speak, and were still alive. With proper treatment, they could be saved, just like Lan Jingyi and the others. These people must never be killed carelessly; doing so would be tantamount to harming living beings.
They could have spoken, identified themselves, and cried for help, but tragically, their tongues had all been cut off beforehand. Warm or dried blood flowed from the mouths of each corpse.
Although Xiao Xingchen was blind, Shuanghua would guide him with the corpse energy. In addition, these villagers had lost their tongues and could only make strange howls that sounded very much like walking corpses. Therefore, he had no doubt that he had killed walking corpses.
Heartless and depraved, using others to commit murder. Ingratitude and treachery, vicious and insidious.
Song Lan tried to cover Xiao Xingchen's eyes and ears, but it was too late.
Xiao Xingchen heard and saw everything. He lowered his head, hugged his head tightly, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
He couldn't bear to hear Xue Yang recount the truth before, let alone now seeing those once vibrant faces cruelly die by his own sword.
Seeing Xiao Xingchen like this, the people around him didn't know what to do. Even Wei Wuxian, who was usually good at witty banter, didn't know what to say and could only let his junior uncle calm down on his own.
At this moment, Xiao Niangui appeared and said softly, "Master Xiao, there is no need to blame yourself too much. The power of the Heavenly Shadow will revive them."
Xiao Xingchen suddenly raised his head, his handsome, bloodshot eyes wide open: "Is it really possible?"
Xiao Niangui smiled and nodded, then disappeared again.
A-Qing, however, was unaware of the intricacies involved. Her knowledge was very limited, consisting mainly of things Xiao Xingchen had occasionally mentioned. She murmured, "This wicked thing, could it really be helping the Daoist?"
Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "You absolutely mustn't believe Xue Yang so easily!"
Fortunately, A-Qing had a very sharp intuition. Although she couldn't discern anything amiss with her limited knowledge, her instincts told her that she was already deeply wary of Xue Yang and instinctively disliked him, unable to trust him. Therefore, whenever Xue Yang went night-hunting with Xiao Xingchen, she would secretly follow him. Even when they shared a room, she never let her guard down.
One winter night, the wind howled, and the three of them huddled together around the broken stove in the small room for warmth. Xiao Xingchen was mending a vegetable basket with a torn corner, while A-Qing, wrapped in the only quilt, snuggled up beside him like a dumpling. Xue Yang, on the other hand, rested his chin on his hand, doing nothing. Hearing A-Qing constantly pestering Xiao Xingchen to tell him a story to appease her, he said impatiently, "Stop arguing, or I'll tie your tongue in a knot."
Ah Qing ignored him completely and demanded, "Taoist Master, I want to hear a story!"
Xiao Xingchen said, "No one told me stories when I was a child, so how can I tell you any?"
A-Qing persisted, threatening to roll on the ground, so Xiao Xingchen said, "Alright, then I'll tell you a story about a mountain."
Aqing said, "Once upon a time, there was a mountain, and on the mountain was a temple?"
Xiao Xingchen said, "No, once upon a time there was an unnamed immortal mountain, and an enlightened immortal lived on the mountain. The immortal took in many disciples, but forbade them to leave the mountain."
Upon hearing this opening line, Wei Wuxian immediately understood: "Baoshan Sanren".
Aqing asked, "Why aren't we allowed to go down the mountain?"
Xiao Xingchen said, "Because the immortal herself doesn't understand the world below the mountain, that's why she hid up the mountain. She told her disciples, if you want to go down the mountain, then you don't need to come back. Don't bring the conflicts of the outside world back to the mountain."
Aqing said, "How can we hold back? Some of our disciples will definitely sneak down the mountain to play."
Xiao Xingchen said, "Yes. The first one to come down the mountain was a very outstanding disciple. When he first came down the mountain, he was highly skilled and admired by everyone. He also became a famous figure in the righteous immortal sect. However, later, for some unknown reason, his personality changed drastically, and he suddenly became a ruthless demon who killed without blinking an eye. In the end, he was hacked to death by a bunch of knives."
Yanling Daoren was the first disciple of Baoshan Sanren to meet a tragic end.
What happened to Wei Wuxian, his senior uncle, after he descended the mountain and entered the mortal world that caused such a drastic change in his personality remains a mystery to this day. It's likely that no one will ever know. Xiao Xingchen finished repairing the vegetable basket, touched it to make sure it wouldn't prick his hand, put it down, and continued, "My second disciple is also a very excellent female disciple."
Wei Wuxian felt a surge of heat in his chest.
Cangse Sanren.
A-Qing asked, "Is she pretty?" Xiao Xingchen replied, "I don't know, but I've heard she's very pretty." A-Qing cupped her face and said, "Then I know! After she goes down the mountain, many people will like her and want to marry her. Then she will definitely marry a high-ranking official or a wealthy family head! Hehe."
Xiao Xingchen laughed and said, "You guessed wrong. She married a servant of a powerful family lord, and the two of them eloped."
Aqing said, "I don't like it. How could an excellent and beautiful fairy be interested in a servant? This kind of story is too cliché. It's just something those poor, pretentious scholars fantasize about. And then what? What happens to their lives after they go far away?"
Xiao Xingchen said, "Then they both died in a night hunt."
Ah Qing spat, "What kind of story is this! She married a servant, and they both died! I'm not listening to this!"
The older generation present couldn't help but smile as they listened to A-Qing's last cry, their faces filled with nostalgia.
Some people had said before that none of Baoshan Sanren's three disciples who went down the mountain met a good end. Now it seems that Baoshan Sanren was farsighted and knew that things were complicated down the mountain, so he set this prohibition.
Lan Wangji quickly looked down at Wei Wuxian in his arms, afraid that he would recall unpleasant memories from his childhood.
Sensing his nervousness, Wei Wuxian smiled sweetly, indicating that he was fine. He had heard the story countless times, and Xiao Xingchen's version was actually the simplest one.
Jiang Cheng was also worried about Wei Wuxian, but when he turned his head, he saw the two of them gazing at each other "sweetly," and he immediately felt a chill and turned back.
It's so spicy it hurts my eyes.
Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "Luckily, Xiao Xingchen didn't tell her that these two had given birth to a notorious demon that everyone hates, otherwise she might have spat on my head."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Cheng snorted coldly: "You do have some self-awareness."
Jiang Yanli smiled and playfully patted him.
Xiao Xingchen said helplessly, "That's why I said from the beginning that I can't tell stories."
Aqing said, "Then, Taoist priest, you must remember your past experiences of night hunting, right? I love hearing about that! Tell me, what monsters did you fight before?"
Xue Yang had been squinting, seemingly listening but not really, but now his gaze sharpened, his pupils contracted, and he glanced sideways at Xiao Xingchen.
Xiao Xingchen said, "That's too many."
Xue Yang suddenly said, "Really? So, Taoist priest, you used to hunt alone at night?"
His lips curled slightly, clearly indicating ill intent, yet his voice was full of innocent curiosity. After a pause, Xiao Xingchen smiled slightly and said, "No."
Ah Qing became interested: "Who else is there?"
This time, Xiao Xingchen paused for an even longer time. After a long while, he finally said, "A close friend of mine."
A strange glint flashed in Xue Yang's eyes, and his smile deepened. It seemed that revealing Xingchen's past wounds gave him considerable pleasure. A-Qing, however, was genuinely curious: "Daoist Master, who is your friend? What kind of person is he?"
Xiao Xingchen calmly replied, "A noble and sincere gentleman."
Upon hearing this, Xue Yang rolled his eyes contemptuously, his lips twitching slightly as if he were silently cursing, but he deliberately feigned ignorance and asked, "Then, Daoist Master, where is your friend now? Why hasn't he come looking for you in your current state?"
Wei Wuxian thought to himself, "This is truly a vicious little knife."
As expected, Xiao Xingchen fell silent. A-Qing, though unaware of the underlying meaning, seemed to sense something. She held her breath slightly, secretly glancing at Xue Yang, her teeth itching as if she wanted to bite him. Lost in thought for a moment, Xiao Xingchen broke the silence, saying, "I don't know where he is right now. However, I hope..."
Before he could finish speaking, he patted A-Qing's head and said, "Alright, that's enough for tonight. I really can't tell stories, it's too much of a hassle."
Wei Wuxian suddenly felt a strong urge to have Xiao Niangui shut down Tianying. Why were all these episodes stabbing his little junior uncle in the heart?
Xue Yang's eyes flickered, and now he felt inexplicably annoyed looking at his past self who had felt so good.
Perhaps the hatred in his heart had faded after guarding Yicheng for eight years; or perhaps those short days had left an indelible mark on his heart.
Xue Yang believed he only loved himself, but this time, he suddenly had the idea of atonement.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
