Chapter 48
Chapter Summary: Xiao Xingchen asked very, very carefully, "...Is it Zichen?"
There was no response.
Song Lan's corpse stood beside him...
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Xiao Xingchen asked very, very carefully, "...Is it Zichen?"
There was no response.
Song Lan's corpse stood behind him, seemingly gazing at Xiao Xingchen, but his eyes had no pupils. He held a long sword, which clashed with Shuanghua's.
The two of them must have often sparred in swordsmanship, for their swords clashed, and they could judge each other's strength simply by their own. But Xiao Xingchen seemed unsure, slowly turning around and very slowly reaching out to touch the blade of Song Lan's sword. He then traced the blade upwards and touched the two characters "拂雪" (Fu Xue, meaning "Snow-Sweeping") engraved on the hilt.
Xiao Xingchen's face grew paler and paler.
He frantically touched the blade of Fuxue's sword, unaware that the sharp edge had cut his palm. His whole body, even his voice, trembled so badly it almost fell apart: "...Zichen...Master Song...Master Song...is that you...?"
Song Lan looked at him quietly, without saying a word.
Xiao Xingchen's bandages around his eyes were now soaked with blood, leaving two gaping holes. He wanted to reach out and touch the swordsman, but hesitated, his hand extending only to retract. A-Qing felt a tearing pain in her chest, so intense that both she and Wei Wuxian struggled to breathe. Tears streamed down her face like a spring.
Xiao Xingchen stood there helplessly, "...What happened...say something..."
He completely broke down: "Say something!!"
As he wished, Xue Yang spoke: "Do you need me to tell you again who that walking corpse you killed yesterday was?"
With a clang.
The frost fell to the ground.
Xue Yang burst into laughter.
Xiao Xingchen knelt before the woodenly standing Song Lan, burying his face in his hands and wailing uncontrollably.
The space was completely silent, and everyone felt Xiao Xingchen's pain, a pain that went deep into his bones, a pain that made his whole body tremble.
Hearing this, Xiao Xingchen trembled and curled up, too weak to say anything more, not even to cry.
But one hand still held Song Lan's hand tightly. At this moment, only his body temperature could temporarily soothe Xiao Xingchen's already wounded heart.
Xue Yang laughed until tears welled up in his eyes, and said fiercely, "What's wrong! Two good friends met and were so moved that they cried! Do you want to hug each other?"
Ah Qing covered her mouth tightly, not letting a single sob escape her lips.
Inside the mortuary, Xue Yang paced back and forth, shouting in a terrifying tone that was both furious and ecstatic: "Savior! You're a laughingstock! You can't even save yourself!"
Sharp pains throbbed through Wei Wuxian's mind. This pain didn't originate from A-Qing's soul, but rather from his own.
Feeling a double pain in his brain, Lan Wangji suddenly realized that Xiao Xingchen's experience was actually the same as Wei Wuxian's, albeit different.
A heart set on saving the world, yet lacking the destiny to do so.
Thinking of this, he looked at Wei Wuxian with heartache, gripping his hand tightly.
Wei Wuxian felt the sudden increase in pressure on his hand, and seeing that Lan Wangji had turned his head back to look at Tianying, he scratched his head in confusion:
What's wrong with Lan Zhan?
Xiao Xingchen knelt on the ground, utterly disheveled, at Song Lan's feet. He was shriveled up, appearing as if he had become a weak, feeble figure. His once pristine white Daoist robe was now stained with blood and dust. Xue Yang shouted at him, "You've accomplished nothing, suffered a complete defeat. You brought this upon yourself!"
At that moment, Wei Wuxian saw himself in Xiao Xingchen.
A self who has suffered a crushing defeat, covered in blood, accomplished nothing, criticized and berated, and left only to wail in despair!
Hearing these words, hearing Wei Wuxian's self-deprecating humor...
Everyone turned to look at Wei Wuxian, their expressions a mixture of worry, helplessness, guilt, and regret...
Jiang Yanli turned to look at Wei Wuxian, but didn't know what to say. Before she died, she had already seen him being ostracized and cursed by everyone, and even forced to be expelled from the Jiang Clan. After her death, she had no idea what kind of humiliation and insults A-Xian had suffered.
"Senior sister, I'm fine. Why would I burst into tears? I was just thinking nonsense." Wei Wuxian quickly comforted his senior sister.
Jiang Yanli felt a pang of sadness as she watched Wei Wuxian's silly antics.
Subconscious reactions don't lie, and even the most painful past can't be erased.
The white bandages were completely stained red, and Xiao Xingchen's face was covered in blood. He had no eyeballs and could not shed any tears.
Deceived for years. Treating an enemy as a friend. Having one's kindness trampled upon. Believing oneself to be exorcising demons and monsters, yet one's hands are stained with the blood of innocent people. Killing one's own best friend!
He could only sob in anguish, "Spare me."
Xue Yang said, "Weren't you just about to stab me to death with your sword? Why are you begging for mercy now?"
He knew perfectly well that Song Lan's fierce corpse was protecting him, and Xiao Xingchen would never be able to wield a sword again.
He won again. A resounding victory.
Suddenly, Xiao Xingchen picked up Shuanghua from the ground, turned the sword around, and placed the blade against his neck.
A clear silver light flashed across Xue Yang's dark eyes, which seemed to be devoid of light. Xiao Xingchen released his grip, and crimson blood slid down the blade of the Frostflower Sword.
With the crisp sound of the longsword tumbling to the ground, Xue Yang's laughter and movements froze instantly.
Xue Yang lay down halfway after Xiao Xingchen begged for mercy, his left hand behind his head and his right hand covering his eyes.
That clear sound struck his heart like a heavy hammer.
He won, letting Xiao Xingchen die in guilt and pain, killing so many people, and turning Song Lan into a fierce corpse...
But what did he win? Did he really win?
He suddenly felt his palms were a little damp.
Um?
He closed his eyes briefly, and a tear rolled down his cheek and into his hair.
After a long silence, he walked to Xiao Xingchen's motionless body, lowered his head, and the twisted smile at the corner of his mouth slowly faded, his eyes becoming bloodshot. Perhaps he was mistaken, but Xue Yang's eyes were slightly red.
With so many eyes watching, there was no doubt that they could see it correctly.
Jiang Yanli, Madam Lan, and the others turned to look at Xue Yang, who had covered his eyes and remained motionless, and sighed deeply.
Then, he gritted his teeth and said fiercely, "You forced me to do this!"
After saying that, he sneered and muttered to himself, "It's better if they're dead! Only the dead are obedient."
Xue Yang checked Xiao Xingchen's breathing, squeezed his hand, and seemed to think that he wasn't dead enough, not stiff enough. He stood up, went into a room on the side, brought out a basin of water, and used a clean cloth to wipe the blood off Xiao Xingchen's face. He also changed the bandage and carefully wrapped it around Xiao Xingchen.
He drew the array on the ground, arranged the necessary materials, and placed Xiao Xingchen's body inside. Only after doing all this did he remember to bandage his abdominal wound.
He seemed to believe that the two of them would see each other again soon, and his mood grew increasingly cheerful. He picked up all the vegetables and fruits that had rolled off the ground and neatly arranged them in the basket. He also diligently cleaned the house and lined the coffin where A-Qing slept with a thick layer of new straw. Finally, he took out the candy that Xiao Xingchen had given him the night before from his sleeve.
Just as he was about to put it in his mouth, he thought about it and then held back, putting it back down. He sat at the table, propped his chin on his hand, and waited for Xiao Xingchen to sit up with a smug look on his face.
But they never got to see it.
Xue Yang's face grew increasingly gloomy, his eyes grew increasingly dark, and his fingers tapped impatiently on the table.
As darkness fell, he kicked the table, cursed, and rose to his feet. He knelt beside Xiao Xingchen's corpse, examining the array and incantations he had just drawn. After repeatedly confirming they seemed correct, he frowned in thought, then erased them all and redrawn them.
As everyone watched Xue Yang bustling about, the only question in their minds was: Why did Xue Yang want Xiao Xingchen to come back? Hadn't he tormented him enough?
Wei Wuxian hesitated for a moment, then suddenly roared at Xue Yang:
"Xue Yang! You are utterly heartless! Having him kill so many people wasn't enough, do you want my junior uncle to be your puppet every day?!"
Xue Yang was still immersed in the emotions of Xiao Xingchen's suicide attempt when he heard this, and sat up without thinking:
"You're talking nonsense! I never thought of that..."
He suddenly realized halfway through his sentence and stopped abruptly, but that one sentence was enough.
Everyone saw the redness in Xue Yang's eyes at that moment; his heart was never as calm and collected as he appeared.
Wei Wuxian had achieved his goal. He put away his roaring expression and calmly said, "I asked you before, have you ever thought about why you used Frostflower to destroy the Chang Clan and also used slow slicing? Now, do you understand?"
Xue Yang stared intently at the ground. He had never wanted to admit it, but everything he did told him that he didn't want to hurt Xiao Xingchen or A-Qing.
Because of Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing, these past few years have been the only warmth in his life.
This time, Xue Yang sat down on the ground and patiently stared at Xiao Xingchen for quite a while. A-Qing's feet had gone numb three times, and were both painful and itchy, as if thousands of ants were gnawing at them. Her eyes were also swollen from crying, and her vision was a little blurry.
Xue Yang finally realized that the situation was out of control.
He placed his hand on Xiao Xingchen's forehead, closed his eyes to probe, and after a while, suddenly opened his eyes.
Most likely, all he found were a few remaining fragments of the soul.
However, to create a fierce corpse, it is absolutely impossible without the soul of the corpse's original owner.
Xue Yang seemed completely unprepared for this unexpected turn of events; for the first time, his ever-smiling face went blank.
Without thinking, he belatedly reached out to cover the wound on Xiao Xingchen's neck. However, the blood had already drained away, Xiao Xingchen's face was as pale as paper, and large patches of dark red blood had dried on his neck.
Trying to heal the wound now is useless. Xiao Xingchen is dead, utterly and completely dead.
Even his soul was shattered.
The Xue Yang of the past, the one who cried because he couldn't get his snacks, is so different from the Xue Yang of today that it's hard to connect the two. But at this moment, Wei Wuxian finally saw a glimpse of that bewildered and ignorant child in Xue Yang's face.
Xue Yang's eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins. He abruptly stood up, clenched his fists tightly, and rampaged through the mortuary, kicking and smashing things, leaving the room he had just tidied in ruins.
At this moment, his expression and the sounds he made were more insane and terrifying than all his previous evil deeds combined.
After smashing the house, he calmed down, squatted back down, and whispered, "Xiao Xingchen."
He said, "If you don't get up, I'm going to send your good friend Song Lan to kill someone."
“I will kill everyone in this entire Yicheng and turn them all into zombies. You have lived here for so long, is it really okay to just ignore it?”
“I want to strangle that little blind girl Aqing to death, leave her body in the wilderness, and let wild dogs gnaw on her until she's mangled to pieces.”
Ah Qing shivered silently.
With no response, Xue Yang suddenly roared in fury, "Xiao Xingchen!"
He suddenly grabbed Xiao Xingchen's robe by the collar, shook it a few times, and stared at Xiao Xingchen's face.
Suddenly, he grabbed Xiao Xingchen's arm and carried him on his back.
Xue Yang carried Xiao Xingchen's corpse out the door, muttering like a madman, "Spirit-Locking Pouch, Spirit-Locking Pouch. That's right, Spirit-Locking Pouch, I need a Spirit-Locking Pouch, a Spirit-Locking Pouch, a Spirit-Locking Pouch..."
Lan Sizhui murmured, "No wonder..."
No wonder Xue Yang once asked Wei Wuxian to repair the remnant soul in the Soul Locking Pouch; no wonder Xiao Xingchen's body was preserved so well; no wonder most of the villagers whose tongues were cut off bullied and mocked Xiao Xingchen; no wonder... Xue Yang was willing to impersonate someone for eight whole years.
Xiao Xingchen had recovered by now. He looked at Xue Yang, who was trembling slightly, and suddenly asked, "If you're willing, come with us to Yicheng after we get out."
This time, let's get along as family and atone for our sins.
Xue Yang looked up at Xiao Xingchen's clear eyes, then looked away.
For a long time, so long that Xiao Xingchen thought he wouldn't answer.
He suddenly chuckled softly.
"Sure."
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