Yangyang Fifth

Wei Wuxian said, 'Oh, so there are man-eating demons roaming about there?'

He had heard similar tales at least a thousand times, and personally rid of them hundreds, so he found it rather dull. The healer, with a dramatic cadence, said: 'Precisely! They say within that forest ridge there is a “Man-Eating Fortress,” where man-eating monsters dwell. Any who stray in are gnawed until not a shred of bone remains — no bodies ever found, without exception! Terrifying, isn't it?'

No wonder Jin Ling had appeared here. Last time he had failed to capture the Soul-Eating Heavenly Maiden on Mount Dafan, so this time he must be after the monsters on Wayfarer's Ridge. Wei Wuxian said, 'How terrifying! But since not a shred of bone remains and no bodies can be found, then pray tell, how is it known they were eaten?'

The healer was speechless for a moment, then said, 'Obviously someone saw it.'

Wei Wuxian said with admiration, 'But just now didn't you say that anyone who strays in gets gnawed until not a shred of bone remains, without exception? Then who spread this rumor, so formidable that they saw such a scene and still lived to tell the tale?'

'...' The healer said, 'That's just how rumors spread. How would I know?'

Wei Wuxian: 'Then do you know exactly how many people have been eaten on Wayfarer's Ridge? When they were eaten? Their ages? Male or female? Their names? Where they lived?'

The healer: 'No.'

Wei Wuxian: 'Qinghe Baixiaosheng? Hmm?'

The healer angrily hoisted his baskets: 'Rumors never spread those details anyway!'

Wei Wuxian chuckled, 'Don't, don't, don't, don't — don't go. Let me ask one more thing: Wayfarer's Ridge is still within Qinghe territory, isn't it? Qinghe is the Nie clan's domain, is it not? If there truly were man-eating monsters roaming Wayfarer's Ridge, would they just sit back and do nothing?'

Unexpectedly, this time the healer did not answer 'I don't know,' but instead revealed a hint of contempt: 'The Nie clan? If it were the Nie clan of years past, of course they would not sit idly by. The very next day such a rumor emerged, they'd sweep through the place where the evil lurked with lightning speed. But now the Nie clan's head — heh heh — isn't he that “One Question Three Don't Knows”?'

The former head of the Qinghe Nie Sect was Chifeng-zun Nie Mingjue. After his father, the previous head, was angered to death by the Qishan Wen Sect leader Wen Ruohan, he took over the Nie clan before reaching the age of twenty, upright and resolute in manner. He was sworn brothers with Zewu-jun Lan Xichen and Lianfang-zun Jin Guangyao. After the Sunshot Campaign, under his leadership, the Nie clan for a time rivaled the Lanling Jin Clan in splendor and power. After he succumbed to qi deviation, exploding in blood and dying before the public, the one who succeeded as clan head was undoubtedly his younger brother Nie Huaisang. Wei Wuxian asked, 'Why do they call him “One Question Three Don't Knows”?'

The healer said, 'You don't know that allusion? This Nie clan head — when someone asks him about anything, what he doesn't know he won't say, and what he does know he dares not say. When pressed urgently or forced too hard, he shakes his head repeatedly, crying, “I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know!” begging to be left alone. Isn't that “One Question Three Don't Knows”?'

Back then, Wei Wuxian had been schoolmates with Nie Huaisang and could say a thing or two about him. Nie Huaisang was not a bad-hearted person, nor was he unintelligent, but he had no interest in his studies, his cleverness spent elsewhere — painting fans, catching birds, skipping lessons, fishing; in cultivation he was truly abysmal, barely forming his golden core a full eight or nine years later than his peers in other clans. While Nie Mingjue lived, he often felt frustrated, like hating iron for not becoming steel, and disciplined him strictly, yet he remained mud that could not be plastered onto a wall. Now without his elder brother to shelter him, urge him, and guide him, under his leadership the Qinghe Nie Sect was advancing a thousand li a day — racing downhill. After coming of age, especially after becoming clan head, Nie Huaisang was often swamped and flustered by all sorts of unfamiliar affairs, running everywhere to beg for help, especially from his elder brother's two sworn brothers: today going to Koi Tower to wail to Jin Guangyao, tomorrow arriving at the Cloud Recesses stammering and stuttering; it was only by leaning on the two great clan heads of the Jin and Lan clans, who always supported him, that he barely managed to keep his seat as clan head. Now whenever people mentioned Nie Huaisang, they refrained from saying it outright, but their faces all spelled out a four-word verdict: good-for-nothing waste.

Recalling the myriad things of those years, one could not help but sigh with sorrow.

Having finished his inquiries about Wayfarer's Ridge, Wei Wuxian still patronized the healer's business, bought two boxes of rouge, tucked them in his bosom, and walked back to Lan Wangji's side. The latter still showed no intention of asking for his money pouch back, not a word exchanged; together they headed in the direction the healer had pointed.

On Wayfarer's Ridge there was a vast expanse of fir forest, the forest paths broad, the green shade rustling; they walked through for quite a while without encountering anything unusual. However, the two had not held much expectation in the first place, making this trip only as a precaution. If a place's terrifying rumors held truth, one could always dig out some vivid, concrete details. When the Soul-Eating Heavenly Maiden caused havoc on Mount Dafan, the victims' residences, their full names — a simple inquiry made all clear, even Ayan's fiancé's pet name could not be concealed. And if people hemmed and hawed about the victims' names and details, then it was mostly catching wind and shadows, sensational hearsay.

Barely half a shichen later, after a thousand hardships they finally met with a snag. From ahead came seven or eight figures swaying toward them, eyes rolled white, clothes in tatters, as if a breath of wind could topple them — impossibly slow — a line of the lowest-of-low-level Walking Corpse.

These Walking Corpses not only got bullied among their own kind, but if they met a slightly sturdy living person, one could kick over a whole row of them; if they ran into a fleet-footed child, they'd be left a whole street behind in an instant. Even if one were the unluckiest of all and got caught by them to have a few sips of yang energy sucked, it still wouldn't kill anyone. Aside from their unsightly appearance and foul smell, they posed no threat at all, so when encountering them on a Night Hunt, high-level cultivators mostly ignored them outright, leaving them for the juniors. It was the same principle as hunting only tigers and leopards and not rats.

Wei Wuxian saw them coming and knew trouble was afoot; he lowered his head and retreated behind Lan Wangji. Sure enough, when that line of Walking Corpses wobbled to within five or six zhang of them, at the sight of Wei Wuxian, they were so frightened they immediately turned and fled back the way they'd come, their legs moving two or three times more nimbly than when they'd approached. Wei Wuxian rubbed his temples, turned around in feigned terror, and said, 'Good heavens, Hanguang-jun, you're so formidable! The moment they see you, they turn tail and run! Hehe.'

Lan Wangji was speechless.

Wei Wuxian pushed him, laughing, 'Let's go, let's go, down the ridge. I don't think there are any other monsters. The people around here really know how to talk — a few pathetic Walking Corpses hyped up into man-eating monsters that don't even spit out bones. That “Man-Eating Fortress” must be made up too. We've come all this way for nothing!'

Only after being pushed several times did Lan Wangji finally step forward. Wei Wuxian had yet to follow when, from deep within the fir forest, there suddenly came a burst of frantic barking.

Wei Wuxian's face instantly changed color; he flashed behind Lan Wangji, wrapped his arms around his waist, and crouched down, curling into a ball.

Lan Wangji: '... It's still far away. What are you hiding from?'

Wei Wuxian: 'J-just let me hide first. Where is it? Where is it?!'

Lan Wangji listened carefully for a moment, then said, 'It's Jin Ling's black-maned spirit hound.'

Wei Wuxian stood up at the name Jin Ling, then was immediately forced back down by the barking. Lan Wangji said, 'The spirit hound is barking frantically; it must have encountered something.'

Wei Wuxian complained endlessly, then with trembling legs forced himself to stand again: 'Th-then let's go take a look!'

Lan Wangji did not move a step. Wei Wuxian said, 'Hanguang-jun, move, just move! If you don't move, what am I supposed to do!'

After a moment of silence, Lan Wangji said, 'You... let go first.'

Pulling and tugging, stumbling and staggering, they followed the sound of the barking all the way, only to find themselves circling twice in the fir forest. The black-maned spirit hound's barks seemed near one moment and far the next. After enduring the dog's barks for so long, Wei Wuxian had somewhat acclimated, at least enough to speak without stammering: 'Is there a maze array here?'

This maze array was clearly man-made. Just a moment ago they'd said the rumors about Wayfarer's Ridge were all catching wind and shadows, but now things were getting interesting.

The black-maned spirit hound had been roaring for half an incense stick's time and still had ample breath; after the two discerned and broke through the maze array, they followed the sound forward. Before long, amid the fir forest, the silhouettes of one after another gloomy stone fortress emerged.

The stone fortresses were all built of grayish-white stone blocks, their surfaces covered in green vines and fallen leaves, each one shaped like a strange half-circle, as if several huge bowls had been upturned upon the ground.

Inside Wayfarer's Ridge, such stone fortresses actually existed; it seemed the rumors were not entirely groundless. But whether this was indeed the “Man-Eating Fortress,” and what was inside — that was hard to say.

Jin Ling's black-maned spirit hound was just at the perimeter of the fortress cluster, racing around it, now growling low, now barking madly. Seeing Lan Wangji approach, it retreated slightly with a hint of timidity, but did not flee in panic; instead it barked at them even louder, then looked toward the stone fortress, digging furiously at the ground with its front paws, sending dirt flying, frantic and restless. Wei Wuxian hid behind Lan Wangji, agonized: 'Why won't it leave... Where's its master? How is the master gone?!'

From the moment they'd heard the barking, they had not heard any sound from Jin Ling, not even a cry for help. This black-maned spirit hound must have been brought by him, and the maze array must have been broken by it; yet a living person seemed to have vanished just like that.

Lan Wangji said, 'Let's go in and look.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'How? There's no door.'

There truly was no door. The grayish-white stone blocks were sealed tightly, leaving neither door nor window. The black-maned spirit hound yipped and yowled, jumping up as if to bite Lan Wangji's hem but not daring; it bypassed him and bit Wei Wuxian's garment edge, dragging him outward.

Wei Wuxian's soul was about to flee his body; he stretched both hands toward Lan Wangji: 'Lan Zhan... Lan Zhan Lan Zhan... Lan Zhan Lan Zhan Lan Zhan!!!'

The black-maned spirit hound dragged Wei Wuxian, Wei Wuxian dragged Lan Wangji, and one dog hauled both men around a small half-circle to the back of the stone fortress. There was actually an opening nearly as tall as a person. The shape was irregular, the ground littered with large and small chunks of stone, clearly just blasted open with a violent magical tool. Inside the opening it was pitch black, indistinct, with a faint red glow seeming to lurk within. The spirit hound released its grip, let out a string of frantic barks into the opening, then wagged its tail madly at the two of them.

There was no need to say more: Jin Ling must have forcefully broken open this stone fortress and entered, but something unexpected had occurred inside.

Bichen unsheathed itself half an inch, its blade emitting a cold, pale blue glow that lit the pitch-black path ahead. Lan Wangji bent low and entered first. Driven nearly insane by the dog, Wei Wuxian rushed in after him and nearly crashed headlong into him. Lan Wangji steadied his hand, and — whether in reproach or sheer helplessness — shook his head.

The black-maned spirit hound clearly wanted to follow, and made efforts to charge inside, but seemed blocked by some force; no matter what, it could not break through this barrier, so it could only sit at the opening, its tail wagging ever more frantically. Wei Wuxian was so overjoyed he nearly knelt before it. He withdrew his hand and walked a few steps inside; the cold blue sword light, set against the inky black surroundings, turned a chill white.

Wayfarer's Ridge had tall trees and deep woods, very shady, but the inside of this stone fortress was even more chill. Wei Wuxian, dressed lightly and simply, felt a yin wind seep through his sleeves and back; the cold sweat the spirit hound had scared out of him had long since dried. The light from the opening had already vanished like a snuffed candle. The deeper they went, the wider and darker it became.

The ceiling of the stone fortress was rounded; Wei Wuxian kicked at some loose stones by his feet, and a faint echo could be heard.

He could bear it no longer and stopped, pressing his right hand to his temple, brow slightly furrowed.

Lan Wangji looked back: 'What is it?'

Wei Wuxian said, '... So noisy.'

Inside the stone fortress, dead silence reigned, quiet as a tomb. Indeed, it already resembled a tomb to begin with.

But to Wei Wuxian's ears, at this moment, they were already in the midst of a din.