Chapter 7
Chapter Summary: Without stopping, Wei Wuxian arrived at Dafan Mountain before nightfall. Only upon reaching the foot of the mountain did he realize that this "Dafan" was not the same as the "rice" in the poem. From afar, the mountain's shape resembled a heart…
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Without stopping, Wei Wuxian arrived at Dafan Mountain before dark. Only upon reaching the foot of the mountain did he realize that "Fan" here was not the same as "Fan" in Chinese. From a distance, the mountain's shape resembled a short, plump Buddha, hence the name. At the foot of the mountain was a small town called Buddha's Foot Town.
The number of cultivators gathered here was far greater than he had imagined; a mixed bag, with their various sects and their colorful attire dazzling the eye as they moved about the streets. For some reason, they all looked tense, and none of them had time to laugh at or pay attention to his ghastly appearance.
In the middle of the long street, a group of cultivators were gathered together, talking seriously. They seemed to have significant disagreements. Wei Wuxian overheard their conversation from afar; at first, it was fine, but then, for some reason, he became agitated.
"...I believe there are no Soul-Eating Beasts or Soul-Eating Fiends here at all, since all the Wind Evil Compass pointers are clearly not moving."
"If not, then how did these seven townspeople develop this soul-loss disorder? Surely they can't all be suffering from the same strange illness? I've never heard of such a disease before!"
"Does the absence of the Wind Evil Compass necessarily mean it doesn't exist? It can only point in a general direction; it lacks precision and cannot be fully trusted. Perhaps there is something nearby that can obstruct its pointer."
"Don't you even consider who created the Wind Evil Compass? I've never heard of anything that could disrupt the direction of its pointer."
"What do you mean? You're acting weird. Of course I know Wei Ying made the Wind Evil Disc, but things he makes aren't perfect. Does that mean I can't allow others to question it?"
"I never said you couldn't question it, nor did I say that what he did was perfect. Why are you making baseless accusations?"
So they started arguing in another direction, while Wei Wuxian rode by on his flowery donkey, laughing and chuckling. Unexpectedly, so many years have passed, and he remains as formidable as ever amidst the verbal sparring of cultivators. The saying goes, "Whenever Wei is around, there's bound to be an argument." If there were a poll to choose the most popular and enduring member of the hundred sects, who else could it be but him?
To be fair, what the cultivator said wasn't wrong. The Wind Evil Compass currently in use was his first version, and it was indeed lacking in precision. He was originally working on improving it, but before he could finish, his stronghold was raided, so he had no choice but to make do with the first version, which lacked precision.
That said, most creatures that eat flesh and gnaw on bones are low-level beings, like walking corpses; only more refined and elegant high-level demonic beasts or vengeful ghosts can absorb and digest souls, and this one even ate seven in one go—no wonder so many families have gathered here. Since the night prey is no small matter, it's inevitable that the Wind Evil Disc will make some mistakes.
Wei Wuxian tightened the rope, jumped off the donkey's back, and brought the apple that had been hanging from the donkey's back all the way to its mouth: "Just one bite, just one bite... Pah, you're going to eat my whole hand in one bite."
He picked up the apple, took a couple of bites from the other side, stuffed it back into the donkey's mouth, and reflected on why he had ended up sharing an apple with a donkey. Suddenly, he bumped into someone from behind.
"If only we had delayed the encirclement and suppression..."
Someone muttered under their breath behind them, while others around them nodded in agreement. Who wouldn't want something good to use? Before the words were even finished, they drew angry glares from the younger generation in front. How dare they say such a thing?!
Is there always an argument when Wei is mentioned? Is he the most popular figure for the longest time?
Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes again, and even Wen Qing, who had been silent all along, rolled her eyes as well.
Who is this guy? I don't know him.
Jin Ling looked at Wei Wuxian with disgust as he ate the apple that a donkey had chewed on.
Isn't that stupid?! Why don't you eat first and then feed the donkey?!
It's definitely time to reflect on why we had to share an apple with a donkey.
He turned around and saw a young girl who, despite bumping into him, completely ignored him, her eyes vacant, a smile on her face, staring straight in a certain direction.
Wei Wuxian followed her gaze. In that direction was a dark, towering mountain peak, which was none other than Mount Dafan.
Suddenly, without warning, the girl started dancing and gesturing wildly in front of him.
The dance moves were wild and aggressive, and Wei Wuxian was watching with great interest when a woman rushed over, lifting her skirt, hugged her, and cried out, "A-Yan, let's go back, let's go back!"
Ayan struggled to shake her off, her smile never fading, carrying a chillingly loving quality. She continued dancing, and the woman could only chase after her through the streets, sobbing as she ran. A peddler nearby said, "What a tragedy! Ayan from Zheng the blacksmith's house has run away again."
"Her mother is so pitiful. Ah Yan, Ah Yan's husband, and her husband, none of them are good..."
Wei Wuxian wandered around, piecing together the strange events that had occurred in the area from the scattered fragments of conversations among various people.
On Dafan Mountain, there lies an ancient cemetery where most of the ancestral graves of the townspeople of Fojiao Town are located. Sometimes, a pit is dug here and a wooden plaque is erected for an unidentified corpse. Several months ago, one night, there was a thunderstorm with lightning and heavy rain. After the torrential rain, a landslide occurred on Dafan Mountain, and it was that cemetery that collapsed. Many old graves were destroyed, and several coffins were unearthed. A bolt of lightning struck them, blowing off the coffin lids, and the bodies and coffins were charred black.
The townspeople of Fojiao Town were deeply uneasy. After much prayer and repairing of the ancient burial mound, they hoped to resolve the past. However, from then on, people in Fojiao Town began to frequently appear with lost souls.
The first was a lazybones. He was penniless and idled his days away. Because he always liked to go up the mountain to catch birds for fun, he happened to be trapped on Dafan Mountain on the night of the landslide. He was scared half to death, but luckily he survived. Strangely enough, a few days after he returned, he suddenly got married, held a grand wedding, and said that from then on he would do good deeds and live a peaceful life.
On their wedding night, he drank himself into a stupor, collapsed onto the bed, and never got up. His bride called to him, but he didn't respond. When she nudged him, she found his eyes glazed over, his body ice-cold, and apart from still breathing, he was practically dead. He lay there for several days without eating or drinking, then peacefully passed away. The poor bride was widowed so soon after her marriage.
The second was Ayan from Zheng the blacksmith's family. The young girl had just been engaged, but her future husband was killed by wolves while hunting the next day. After learning of this, she also exhibited the same behavior as the lazy man before her. Fortunately, after some time, her madness miraculously disappeared on its own. However, she became mentally unstable from then on, dancing and laughing outside every day for people to see.
The third is Zheng the blacksmith, Ah Yan's father. To date, seven people have been murdered.
Wei Wuxian pondered that it was most likely a Soul-Eating Fiend, rather than a Soul-Eating Beast.
Although they differ by only one character, they are completely different things. "Sha" belongs to the ghost category, while "shou" is a demon beast. In his opinion, it's possible that a landslide collapsed the ancient tomb, and lightning struck the coffin, releasing the ancient sha that had been resting within. Whether this is true or not, he only needs to examine the coffin to see what kind of seal it was and whether any remnants of the seal remain. But the townspeople of Fojiao Town must have already reburied the charred coffin and re-exposed the remains, leaving very few traces.
To get up the mountain, they had to take a mountain path from the town. Wei Wuxian slowly rode his donkey up the slope. After walking for a while, the group of people started to descend, looking dejected.
Some of the group had injuries on their faces and were talking all at once. As dusk fell, they bumped into a donkey rider dressed like a hanged ghost. They were all startled, cursed, and hurriedly went around him down the slope. Wei Wuxian looked back, wondering if their prey had been too difficult and they had returned empty-handed. After a moment's thought, he patted the donkey's rump and trotted up the mountain.
He missed the ensuing outcry from this group:
"I've never seen anything so domineering!"
"Why would the head of such a large family need to come all the way here to fight us for a Soul Eater? He must have killed countless of them when he was young!"
"What can we do? He's the sect leader. We can't afford to offend the Jiang family, and we can't afford to offend Jiang Cheng. Pack your things and leave. Consider it bad luck!"
Jiang Cheng initially agreed with Wei Wuxian's analysis. Although he had gone to Dafan Mountain with Jin Ling that day, he had not seen the strange thing. In addition, Wen Ning and Wei Wuxian had a shameless entanglement, and Jin Ling was not injured, so he did not think too much about it.
But upon hearing the discussion behind the group of cultivators, Ganghao's expression darkened again.
"Acheng, you must never do this again."
Jiang Fengmian didn't speak, but Jiang Yanli gently patted her younger brother's hand and whispered. When Jiang Cheng first became the head of the family, he needed to use some forceful methods in everything, but that didn't make the various smaller families so afraid. Although she didn't know why Jiang Cheng had become like this, she could guess that his personality must have changed drastically after her death.
"I understand, Sister." Jiang Cheng nodded, then lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.
As night fell, torches would be needed to navigate the mountains. Wei Wuxian walked for a while but encountered few cultivators. He was quite surprised: Could it be that some of the families he had come from were still engaged in endless theoretical debates in Fojiao Town, while others, like the group he had just encountered, were helpless and disappointed?
Suddenly, cries for help came from ahead.
"Someone come here!"
"Help!"
The voices, both male and female, were filled with panic and helplessness, and seemed genuine. Cries for help in the desolate wilderness are most often the work of evil spirits, luring unsuspecting people into traps. Wei Wuxian, however, was overjoyed.
The more wicked the better, the more wicked it isn't!
These words caused an uproar in the room.
"The Yiling Patriarch is still the same old man, so interested in evil things!"
"To gloat over someone's plea for help, really... humph!"
...
The group sitting in front had become so used to ignoring what was being said behind them.
Don't be angry, don't be angry, we can't hear anything.
He spurred his donkey toward the sound, but seeing nothing but a family of villagers he had met earlier by the field, hanging from a tree in a giant, golden net.
The middle-aged man, who had been patrolling and scouting in the mountains with his descendants, hadn't encountered their desired prey but had instead fallen into a trap set by some wealthy individual. Hanging from a tree, he groaned in agony. Seeing someone approaching, he was initially overjoyed, but upon seeing that it was a madman, he was immediately disappointed. This Immortal-Binding Net, though its ropes were thin, was made of superior materials and was unbreakable. Once caught, even gods, demons, and monsters would suffer for a while, unless cleaved by a superior immortal artifact. This madman, let alone letting them down, probably didn't even know what this net was.
Just as they were about to try to get him to find someone to help, a light, tactile sound of branches and leaves approached, and a boy in a light-colored shirt emerged from the dark forest.
This young master had a dot of cinnabar between his brows, and his handsome features were somewhat sharp. He was very young, about the same age as Lan Sizhui, still a boy. He carried a quiver of feathered arrows, a longsword that shimmered with golden light, and held a longbow. The embroidery on his clothes was exquisite, with a magnificent white peony clustered on his chest, the golden threads shimmering in the night.
Wei Wuxian sighed inwardly, "Rich!"
This must be one of the young masters of the Lanling Jin clan. Only his family uses the white peony as their family crest, comparing themselves to the beauty of the nation, and secretly proclaiming themselves as the king of immortals by calling themselves the king of flowers; they also use cinnabar to mark their foreheads, signifying "enlightenment and aspiration, and radiance that shines upon the world."
The young master had drawn his bow to shoot, but seeing that the Binding Net had captured people, his disappointment quickly turned to impatience: "It's always you fools! There are over four hundred Binding Nets in these mountains, and before we've even caught any prey, you've already ruined more than a dozen!"
Wei Wuxian's thought was still: "Money!"
Everyone: ...
What time is it? You still have time to think about these things?
Now it was Jin Ling who started to shrink back and hide. From the moment he saw his own figure, he had a bad feeling, and sure enough...
A single Binding Immortal Net is already incredibly valuable, yet he laid over four hundred in one go. Smaller families would be bankrupted. Truly befitting the Lanling Jin Clan. But such indiscriminate use of the Binding Immortal Nets, capturing indiscriminately, isn't night hunting; it's clearly driving people away, preventing others from getting a share. It seems the cultivators who withdrew earlier weren't deterred by the tough prey, but rather by the difficulty of dealing with powerful clans.
After several days of leisurely travel, and with the more interesting conversations he had overheard in Fojiao Town, Wei Wuxian had heard quite a bit about the rise and fall of the cultivation world over the years. As the ultimate victor in the century-long great war between cultivation sects, the Lanling Jin Clan now ruled and led all the other clans, with even the clan head being respectfully addressed as the "Celestial Supervisor." The Jin Clan was known for its arrogance and love of luxury. In recent years, their high status and power had fostered a culture where their members were all unruly and unrestrained. Even weaker clans could only swallow their humiliation, and such a small, rural family was simply too dangerous to offend. Therefore, although the young man's words were harsh, and the people hanging in the net blushed, they dared not retort. The middle-aged man said in a low voice, "Please, young master, do us a favor and let us down."
The young man was getting impatient because his prey hadn't appeared yet, so he took his anger out on these country bumpkins. He crossed his arms and said, "You can just hang here. Otherwise you'll wander around and get in my way! I'll put you down when I catch the Soul-Eating Beast and remember you."
If they were truly left hanging from a tree overnight, and happened to encounter that thing roaming Dafan Mountain, unable to move, they would only have their souls drained. The round-faced girl who had given Wei Wuxian the apple was terrified and burst into tears.
"Rulan," Jiang Yanli called out softly, but it made Jin Ling freeze instantly.
"Mother...I..."
Jin Ling may not have known how others felt at that time, but now, as the soon-to-be successor to the family head, he has come to understand more about the smaller families and even the local people under Lanling's jurisdiction.
As a vulnerable group, they can only bow their heads in the face of power. But night hunting is no ordinary matter. Being hung up like this without knowing the quality of the prey means handing one's life over to others.
No matter who it is, they will disregard everything when faced with life and death.
“Rulan, night hunting is all about fair competition. What you did was indeed inappropriate. Do you know you were wrong?” Jiang Yanli was not angry, because looking at Jin Ling’s expression, she knew that he regretted his actions that day.
Jin Zixuan patted Jin Ling on the shoulder. Jin Ling was in such a state back then because of their passing. There were some things he hadn't said before, but he would slowly pass them on to him in the future.
Wei Wuxian was originally sitting cross-legged on the back of the flowery donkey. When the flowery donkey heard the crying, its long ears twitched and it suddenly jumped off.
It darted off with a long bray; if not for its grating cry, its unstoppable, heroic momentum would have made it no exaggeration to call it a fine steed. Wei Wuxian, caught off guard, was thrown from its back, nearly suffering a head injury. The donkey, headfirst, charged towards the young man, seemingly convinced it could headbutt him. The young man, still nocking an arrow, was about to draw his bow when Wei Wuxian, not wanting to find a new mount so soon, frantically pulled on the reins. The young man glanced at him, then suddenly showed surprise, which quickly turned to disdain, and he sneered, "So it's you."
The tone was a mixture of surprise and disgust, making Wei Wuxian blink repeatedly. The boy continued, "What, did you go crazy after being sent back to your hometown? You dare to show yourself in public looking like this!"
It seems he heard something incredible!
Could it be—Wei Wuxian slapped his thigh. Could it be that Mo Xuanyu's father wasn't the head of some minor sect, but the infamous Jin Guangshan?!
Jin Guangshan was the previous head of the Lanling Jin Clan, long since deceased. His story is rather complicated. He had a powerful and influential wife, renowned for her henpecked nature. Despite his fear, he still pursued women relentlessly. Even his formidable wife couldn't be with him every moment of the day, so he indulged in a lavish lifestyle, from noble ladies to rural prostitutes. While he was a womanizer with numerous illegitimate children, he was also prone to fickleness, easily losing interest in women and completely abandoning them once he was bored, showing no sense of responsibility. Among his many illegitimate children, only one stood out and was recognized – the current head of the Lanling Jin Clan, Jin Guangyao. Even in death, Jin Guangshan's reputation was tarnished. Confident in his vigor, he challenged himself by indulging in a series of affairs, but unfortunately, he suffered a stroke. This was too embarrassing to talk about, so the Lanling Jin Clan unanimously claimed that their old patriarch was overworked, and everyone tacitly pretended not to know. In short, these were the real reasons why he was "famous".
During the great siege of Burial Mound, besides Jiang Cheng, Jin Guangshan was second only to Jiang Cheng in terms of contribution. Now, Wei Wuxian has occupied the body of his illegitimate son; it's truly baffling how this debt should be settled.
Just moments ago, he was moved by Jin Ling's growth, but now, seeing this scene and hearing Wei Wuxian's inner thoughts, Jin Zixuan felt all the blood rush to his head, and his face turned bright red.
I used to think that Jin Guangyao was the only younger brother, but now it seems that there is also Mo Xuanyu, and maybe more. With such a father, he is truly proud.
At this moment, Jin Zixuan had no idea that besides his two younger brothers, he would also have a younger sister...
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