Morning Dew

Chang Ping, the head of the Liyang Chang Sect, had gone out on a Night Hunt with a few family members one day, and had been away for over half a month. Suddenly, on the road, he received terrible news and hurried back. After his grief, all he could find out was that someone had maliciously broken through his family's protective array and let in a batch of ferocious evil spirits; beyond that, he was completely in the dark.

Originally, a tragedy in a small clan would have been known to only a few, but the circumstances were special at the time: the Sunshot Campaign had long ended, the Siege of the Burial Mounds in Yiling had just concluded, and on the surface, the situation was barely stable. Suddenly, this incident broke out, immediately causing an uproar among the Hundred Clans of the Mystic Gate. Many sensation-mongers spread rumors that it was the revenge of the Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian returned to the world, yet there was never any evidence, and no way to find the culprit. Xiao Xingchen, of course, would not stand by and do nothing. He immediately took on the matter himself, seeking the truth for Chang Ping. A month later, he finally tracked down the murderer of the entire clan.

The murderer's name was Xue Yang.

This Xue Yang was even younger than Xiao Xingchen, thoroughly a youth. However, his malice was in no way restrained by his young age. From the age of fifteen, he had been a notorious thug in the Kuizhou area, with a pleasant smile, vicious methods, and a cruel disposition; in Kuizhou, people turned pale at the mention of Xue. When he was young and drifting in the streets, he seemed to have had some grievance with Chang Ping's father, which he remembered for years. Out of revenge and some other reasons, he was driven to commit this massacre.

After Xiao Xingchen found out the truth, he crossed three provinces and captured Xue Yang, who was still carefree and happily brawling in a gang fight. Taking advantage of the Lanling Jin Sect's hosting of a discussion conference at its immortal residence, Koi Tower, where the various clans were debating Dao and law, he dragged him before the public, laid out the whole affair, and demanded severe punishment.

He laid out the evidence clearly and thoroughly; the vast majority of the clans had no objections, only one clan opposed vehemently. That was the Lanling Jin Sect.

Wei Wuxian said, ‘To oppose under such circumstances is to defy universal condemnation. Could it be that this Xue Yang was a favorite of Jin Guangshan?’

Lan Wangji said, ‘A guest advisor.’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘He was a guest advisor? The Lanling Jin Sect had already been ranked among the Four Great Clans back then; why would they invite a little thug to be a guest advisor?’

Lan Wangji said, ‘That leads to the second connection.’

He gazed into Wei Wuxian's eyes and said slowly, ‘Because of the Yin Tiger Seal.’

Wei Wuxian's heart suddenly leaped into his throat.

Those three words, Yin Tiger Seal, were by no means unfamiliar to him. On the contrary, no one was more familiar with them than he was.

Among all the magical artifacts he had refined in life, this was the most terrifying, and at the same time, the one that everyone most desired to obtain.

A tiger seal is meant for command; as the name implies, whoever possesses this tiger seal can command corpses, ghosts, and evil spirits, making them obey.

When Wei Wuxian first created it, he hadn't thought too much. Using his own primordial spirit alone to control corpse puppets and evil spirits would eventually tire him. He recalled once by chance seeing a rare piece of iron essence inside the belly of a monster, so he took it, refined and cast it into a tiger seal.

But after the tiger seal was cast, he used it only once before discovering that something was very wrong.

The Yin Tiger Seal's power was far stronger and more terrible than he had originally anticipated. He had intended it as an auxiliary tool, but who knew that its power would faintly threaten to surpass its creator? Moreover, this thing did not recognize a master. That is, as long as someone obtained it, no matter who that person was, good or evil, foe or friend, in whose hands it fell, it would serve that person.

The calamity was already cast; Wei Wuxian had not failed to think of destroying it, but the tiger seal was not easy to forge, nor easy to destroy, and would cost enormous energy and time. Moreover, by then he had vaguely sensed that his own situation was precarious, that sooner or later everyone would want him dead. The Yin Tiger Seal held immense deterrent power; relying on this artifact, others dared not move against him lightly. So he kept it for the time being, only splitting the seal into two halves so that it could function only when combined, and he never used it carelessly.

He had used it only twice in total, and each time rivers of blood flowed. The first time was during the Sunshot Campaign. After the second use, he finally made up his mind and thoroughly destroyed one half of the seal. But before he could finish destroying the other half, the Siege of the Burial Mounds came. After that, it was no longer up to him.

Wei Wuxian could say a few things with certainty about something he had refined himself; he dared to assert that even if the clan that seized it enshrined it and burned high incense daily in worship, with only half remaining, the Yin Tiger Seal was nothing but a piece of scrap metal. Yet Lan Wangji told him an astonishing thing: this Xue Yang seemed to be able to piece together the other half of the Yin Tiger Seal!

Xue Yang was extremely young, yet exceptionally clever, and a very heretical and wicked fellow. The Lanling Jin Sect discovered that he could actually, based on the remaining half of the seal, roughly reconstruct the other half. Although the reconstructed replica could not be used for long and its power was not equal to the original, it could already produce very terrifying consequences.

Wei Wuxian understood: ‘The Lanling Jin Sect wanted to keep Xue Yang to continue restoring the Yin Tiger Seal for them, so they inevitably had to shield him.’

Perhaps Xue Yang annihilated the Chang Sect not entirely out of revenge for past grievances when he was a poor youth; it might well be that he was using the lives of those several members of that family as a test, to see exactly how powerful the Yin Tiger Seal he was restoring could be!

No wonder the rumors linked the massacre to him. Wei Wuxian could almost imagine how those cultivators gnashed their teeth: ‘This Wei Wuxian! If he hadn’t created such a thing, the mortal world wouldn’t have suffered so many calamities!!!’

Returning to the topic, back to Koi Tower.

Although the Lanling Jin Sect was wholly intent on shielding Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen would not yield to either soft or hard tactics. The two sides were deadlocked, until finally it alarmed Nie Mingjue, the Red Blade Lord, who had not participated in this discussion conference, causing him to fly from elsewhere to Koi Tower and step forward.

Although Nie Mingjue was a junior to Jin Guangshan, he was stern in character, absolutely intolerant, and never indulgent. He delivered a fierce rebuke, leaving Jin Guangshan utterly humiliated, abashed and speechless. The fiery-tempered Nie Mingjue drew his saber on the spot, intending to execute Xue Yang. His sworn brother, ‘Lianfang-Zun’ Jin Guangyao, stepped forward to smooth things over, but was ordered to get lost, berated till his face was covered in blood, and hid behind Lan Xichen, not daring to utter a sound. In the end, the Lanling Jin Sect was helpless and had to yield.

After Xue Yang was dragged onto Koi Tower by Xiao Xingchen, he had remained utterly fearless. Even with Nie Mingjue's saber pressed against his neck, he still grinned cheekily. Before being hauled away, he even said to Xiao Xingchen, very cordially, ‘Daoist, don’t you forget me now. We’ll see.’

Hearing this, Wei Wuxian knew that these words ‘we’ll see’ would surely make Xiao Xingchen pay an extremely painful price.

The Lanling Jin Sect truly lived up to being the thickest-skinned clan; although they had promised before the hundred clans at Koi Tower to deal with Xue Yang, as soon as Nie Mingjue was out of sight, they quickly threw Xue Yang into the dungeon and changed his sentence to imprisonment for life, never to be released. When Nie Mingjue learned of this he was furious and applied pressure again, but the Lanling Jin Sect dawdled and just wouldn't hand him over. The other clans folded their arms and watched the fun. Who knew, not long after, Nie Mingjue suffered a qi deviation and died.

He had cultivated faster than all previous heads of the Qinghe Nie Sect, and died earlier than all previous heads as well.

With the hardest person to deal with gone, the Lanling Jin Sect became even more unscrupulous and hatched more crooked schemes. Jin Guangshan began to try every means to get Xue Yang out of prison, to continue restoring the Yin Tiger Seal and explore its secrets.

But such a matter was after all not honorable. To take a murderer who had wiped out an entire family out of the dungeon, without a proper justification, simply would not do.

Thus, they shifted their gaze to Chang Ping.

Through coercion, bribery, and ceaseless harassment, the Lanling Jin Sect ultimately succeeded in getting Chang Ping to reverse his testimony, overturning all previous accusations, and declare aloud: the massacre of the Chang family had nothing to do with Xue Yang.

When Xiao Xingchen heard the news, he went to ask. Chang Ping said to him helplessly, ‘Other than this, what else can I do? If I don’t endure, the rest of my family will have no way to survive. Thank you, Daoist, but... please don’t help me anymore. Now, if you help me again, you’re harming me. I don’t want the Liyang Chang Sect to end with me.’

Thus, the play of letting the tiger return to the mountain was completed.

Wei Wuxian fell silent.

If he were Chang Ping, no matter how the Lanling Jin Sect with its heaven-covering hand was the number one clan, no matter what splendid prospects and glorious riches anyone promised him, he would never yield a single word. On the contrary, he would personally infiltrate the dungeon at night and flay Xue Yang alive into a puddle of flesh, then summon him back and flay him again and again, until he regretted ever being born into this world.

But not everyone had a temperament like his that would rather perish together. The Chang family still had a few members alive; Chang Ping was also young, without wife or children, just setting out on the path of immortality. Whether threatened with the lives of his surviving family, or with his future and cultivation, he had to weigh it carefully.

After all, he was not Chang Ping himself; he could not feel righteous indignation on his behalf, nor could he bear his fear and suffer these torments of body and mind in his place.

And after Xue Yang was released, sure enough, he once again launched his revenge. This time, however, he did not take revenge on Xiao Xingchen himself.

Xiao Xingchen had descended the mountain alone, with no family, only a close friend he met after coming down, called Song Lan. This Song Lan was also a famed Daoist of the time, proud and aloof in character, with an excellent reputation. Both wanted to establish their own sects, downplaying bloodline succession and valuing shared ideals, truly close friends with kindred spirits. People of the time gave them the verse: ‘Bright moon, clear breeze Xiao Xingchen; proud snow, piercing frost Song Zichen.’

Xue Yang then picked this side to strike, repeating his old trick: he wiped out the White Snow Abbey, where Song Lan had grown up and studied, completely, and secretly ambushed him, using poison powder to blind Song Lan's pair of eyes.

This time, he had gained experience in massacring families; he did it very cleanly, leaving no clues behind. Although everyone knew it was certainly his doing, what could knowing do? There was no evidence. Moreover, with Jin Guangshan deliberately shielding him and the thunderously wrathful Red Blade Lord already deceased, surprisingly, no one could do anything about him.

Hearing this, Wei Wuxian suddenly found it a little strange: although Lan Wangji appeared indifferent and unwilling to involve himself in affairs, from Wei Wuxian's past understanding of him, his hatred of evil was no less than that of Nie Huaisang's elder brother. Back then, when the Lanling Jin Sect's conduct was poor, Lan Wangji never hesitated to speak bluntly; even to this day, he hardly attended their discussion conferences, giving no face at all. If two such atrocious massacres had happened in succession back then, it would surely have stirred up a storm, and Lan Wangji definitely would not have sat by idly. Why hadn't he dealt with this Xue Yang?

Just as he was about to ask, he also remembered those scars from the Discipline Whip on Lan Wangji's body.

One stroke of the Discipline Whip on the body was already life-threatening; if Lan Wangji had committed some grave error and received so many lashes, he must have been confined indoors for several years, not allowed to go out. Most likely, the years when this happened were exactly when he was being punished or recovering from his wounds. No wonder he said he had merely ‘heard of it’.

Wei Wuxian was inexplicably concerned about those scars, but it was not convenient to ask directly, so he had to hold it back for the time being and said, ‘Then that Daoist Xiao Xingchen, what happened to him afterwards?’

What happened afterwards could, of course, only end in bleakness. When Xiao Xingchen first bid farewell to his master and left the mountain, he had sworn never to return. He valued his word greatly, but with Song Lan's eyes blinded and severely injured, he broke his own vow, carrying Song Lan on his back back to Baoshan Sanren's abode to beg his master to heal his friend.

Baoshan Sanren, for the sake of their master–disciple bond, granted his request. Xiao Xingchen then descended the mountain and left, his whereabouts unknown thereafter.

A year later, Song Lan also came down from the mountain. The world was amazed that even his once completely blind eyes could see again; but in truth, it was not because Baoshan Sanren's medical skill was divine, but because Xiao Xingchen... had gouged out his own eyes and returned them to Song Lan, who had been implicated by him.

Song Lan originally intended to take revenge on Xue Yang, but by then, Jin Guangshan had died, and Jin Guangyao took over the Lanling Jin Sect, being elevated to the position of Chief Cultivator. To demonstrate a new broom sweeps clean, as soon as he took office, he dealt with Xue Yang, no longer mentioned restoring the Yin Tiger Seal, and to restore his reputation, undertook various remedial and pacifying measures, suppressing the rumors. Song Lan followed the trail of his former friend; at first he could hear where he had gone next, but later, there was no more word. Moreover, the Liyang Chang Sect was an obscure little clan, so many things gradually faded into dust.

After hearing this long story, Wei Wuxian let out a light sigh, feeling a wave of regret and pity: ‘To end up like this because of something that originally had nothing to do with him, truly... If Xiao Xingchen had been born a few years earlier, or if I had died a few years later, things wouldn't have turned out this way. If I had been alive, how could such a thing be ignored? How could I not have befriended such a person!’

Then he found it both laughable and embarrassing, and inwardly mocked himself: ‘Me manage? How could I manage? If I had still been alive at the time, maybe the Massacre of the Liyang Chang Sect wouldn't have needed any investigation but would have been directly pinned on me. That Daoist Xiao Xingchen, if he met me on the road, and I tried to strike up a conversation and treat him to wine, he might have struck me with his fly whisk, haha.’

They had already passed the Chang Residence and reached a cemetery not far from there. Wei Wuxian saw the dark red character 'Chang' on the memorial archway and asked, 'Then how did Chang Ping later die? Who dismembered the few survivors of his family?'

Lan Wangji had not yet answered when, at that moment, in the faintly blue twilight, came a series of ‘bang bang bang’ sounds, like someone pounding on a door.

The sound was exactly like pounding on a door, yet it was not pounding on a door. The force was very strong, very urgent, without pause. It was muffled, as if through a layer of something.

Both of their faces froze.

The fifty-odd members of the Liyang Chang Sect were right now lying in their coffins, beating on the coffin lids from inside. Just like the night they were scared to death, they pounded desperately on the doors, yet would never wait for anyone to come open them.

This was what that tavern waiter had spoken of — the coffin-pounding sounds at the Chang family cemetery!

But that waiter had said the hauntings were ten years ago and had long since stopped; how come just when they arrived, it started pounding again?

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji simultaneously reined in their auras and crept forward without a sound.

Leaning behind the pillars of the memorial archway, they both saw that in the center of the cemetery, amid the gravestones, a hole had appeared.

A very deep hole, with soil piled beside it, freshly dug. Light sounds came from within.

Someone was digging up a grave.

The two silently held their breath and focused, waiting for the person inside to come out on their own.

In less than half an incense stick's time, two people lightly leaped up from the dug-up grave.

It was only thanks to Wei Wuxian's and Lan Wangji's keen eyesight that they could tell these were two people. For they were like conjoined twins, one carrying the other on his back, pressed tightly together, and both in black clothes, making them extremely hard to distinguish.

The one who leaped up stood with his back to them, long-limbed. The one he carried had his head and limbs drooping, lifeless. But that was only proper; since he had been dug out of a grave, he must be a corpse, lifelessness was normal.

Just as they were thinking this, the Gravedigger suddenly turned his head and saw them.

On this person's face, there was actually a dense black fog enshrouding it, making it completely impossible to see his features and countenance!

Wei Wuxian knew he must have cast some strange spell to conceal his face. Lan Wangji had already summoned Bichen, swept into the cemetery, and engaged him. The Gravedigger reacted extremely fast; seeing Bichen's blue sword light attacking, he formed a sword incantation and also called forth a sword light. Yet this sword light, like his face, was wrapped in billowing black fog, impossible to see what color or force it truly was. The Gravedigger, carrying a corpse on his back, fought in a strange posture. The two sword lights clashed several times, then Lan Wangji recalled Bichen, holding it in his hand, and his face instantly crawled with a layer of frost.

Wei Wuxian knew why his expression had suddenly turned so stern. Because in that exchange just now, even an outsider like him could clearly see that this Gravedigger was very familiar with Lan Wangji's swordplay!

Lan Wangji said nothing, Bichen thrust deeper, sword intent like toppling mountains and overturning seas. The Gravedigger retreated repeatedly, as if knowing that with a corpse on his back he was no match for Lan Wangji, and if they continued, he would surely be captured alive; he suddenly took out a deep-blue talisman from his waist.

Teleportation Talisman!

This kind of talisman could transport a person a thousand miles away in an instant, but it also consumed a great deal of Spiritual Power. The user would need a long time to recover vitality; those without sufficiently strong Spiritual Power weren't even qualified to use it. Therefore, though it was an extremely rare treasure, few people used it. Wei Wuxian saw he was about to flee, clapped twice rapidly, knelt on one knee, and smashed a punch into the ground.

The force of this punch penetrated layers of soil, reaching deep into the earth, through the thick coffin lids, giving the trapped dead a near-maniacal stimulation. With cracking sounds, four bloody arms burst out of the ground and violently seized the Gravedigger's left and right legs!

The Gravedigger did not take it seriously, channeling Spiritual Power to his feet and shaking off the four corpse hands. Wei Wuxian pulled out his bamboo flute; a sharp, piercing tune tore through the falling night. Two heads burst out of the grave, their whole bodies following out of the earth, climbing up the Gravedigger's legs, coiling around him like snakes, and opening their mouths to bite down on his neck and arms.

The Gravedigger snorted disdainfully, as if saying ‘mere trifling tricks,’ and circulated Spiritual Power throughout his body. However, this time, after he released his Spiritual Power, he suddenly realized he had been tricked.

He had also shaken off the corpse he was carrying on his back!

Wei Wuxian slapped the monument and laughed wildly. Lan Wangji caught the limp, powerless corpse with one hand and thrust Bichen with the other. The Gravedigger, seeing that what he had just dug up had been snatched away, could not defeat Lan Wangji in single combat, let alone with another person making trouble, dared not linger; he slammed the Teleportation Talisman at his feet. After a loud explosion, billowing blue flames shot up into the sky, and his figure vanished within them.

Wei Wuxian had known from the start that the Gravedigger held a Teleportation Talisman, and even if they caught him, he could find a chance to flee. Leaving behind the corpse he had dug up was already leaving a clue, so he didn't feel it was a pity. He walked over and said to Lan Wangji, ‘Let's see who he dug up.’

One look and he was slightly startled. The corpse's head had already been broken open. And what was exposed from the broken part was not flesh, blood, or brain matter, but clumps of slightly blackened cotton.

Wei Wuxian tugged and pulled off the corpse's head, holding up that very intricately made fake head, and said, ‘What's the meaning of this? Is there a fake corpse made of cotton and rags buried in the Chang family cemetery?’

Lan Wangji had earlier received this corpse and weighed it in his hands, knowing something was amiss, and said, ‘Not entirely fake.’

Wei Wuxian felt the corpse all over and found that its limbs were all soft and limp, only the chest and abdomen had a hard solidity. Tearing open the clothes to look, indeed, the torso was real, and the rest of the parts were all fake.

The cotton-made head and limbs were used to ‘deceive’ this torso, making it think it was still attached to its owner. Judging by the skin tone and the severed surface of the left shoulder, it must be the torso of Good Brother they had been looking for. The Gravedigger just now had actually come to dig it up.

Wei Wuxian stood up and said, ‘It seems the one hiding the corpse has noticed we're investigating this matter, and fearing we'd dig it up, came to move the torso. Better early than never, we happened to run right into it, haha. However,’ his tone shifted, ‘how is that fog-faced Gravedigger so familiar with your family's sword style?’

Obviously, Lan Wangji was also pondering this matter, that layer of frost still not fading from his expression. Wei Wuxian said, ‘This person's cultivation is quite high, high enough to sustain the consumption of a Teleportation Talisman. He cast spells on both his face and his sword. Casting a spell on his face is understandable, to avoid being recognized. But a generally unknown cultivator has no need to conceal his sword — unless his sword has some fame in the cultivation world, or is very famous, and many people would recognize its sword light; the moment it's summoned, he'd be exposed, so he has no choice but to hide it.’

Wei Wuxian probed, asking, ‘Hanguang-Jun, you just fought with him; do you think he is someone you are very familiar with?’

More specific words he couldn't very well say out loud. For instance, Lan Xichen. Or, Lan Qiren.

Lan Wangji said firmly, ‘No.’

Wei Wuxian had great confidence in Lan Wangji's answer. He believed Lan Wangji was not the kind of person who would cover up facts or dare not face the truth. Since he said no, then it certainly was not them. He also didn't like to lie; in Wei Wuxian's view, if you made Lan Wangji lie, he'd rather cast the Silencing Spell on himself and not speak. So Wei Wuxian immediately ruled out those two people and said, ‘Then it's even more complicated.’

Lan Wangji placed the torso into another double-layered Evil-Sealing Qiankun Pouch, put it away securely. The two circled around nearby a few times, then idly circled back to the tavern street.

That waiter indeed kept his word; seven or eight out of ten of the other taverns on this street had closed, but their shop's sign was still hanging and the lights were still on. The waiter was holding a big bowl, eating at the doorway; seeing them, he happily said, ‘You're back! See, our place keeps its word, right? Did you two see anything?’

Wei Wuxian smiled and replied a few words, then sat back down with Lan Wangji at the same seat as during the day.

The table by his feet was piled with wine jars. He said, ‘Right, where were we earlier? Got interrupted by that grave-robber suddenly popping up. I still don't know how Chang Ping died.’

Lan Wangji then continued to narrate to him in extremely concise words.

Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and the others had left one after another; some missing, some dead. Several years after this matter passed, one day, Chang Ping and the remaining members of his family all died by dismemberment in a single night. Moreover, Chang Ping's pair of eyes had also been gouged out.

This time, who the murderer was, no one could ever find out, for all involved had completely disappeared. However, there was one thing that could be determined.

The sword that dismembered them, verified by the wounds, was Xiao Xingchen's personal sword — Shuanghua.

Wei Wuxian's bowl of wine paused at his lips, stunned by this follow-up: ‘Dismembered by Xiao Xingchen's personal sword? Then was he the one who did it?’

Lan Wangji said, ‘Xiao Xingchen is missing; no conclusion yet.’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘If they couldn't find the living person, did they try summoning the soul?’

Lan Wangji said, ‘They tried. No result.’

No result, then either he wasn't dead, or his soul had already scattered and body vanished. Every field has its specialty; Wei Wuxian definitely had to voice his opinion on this: ‘Soul-summoning, well, can't be too absolute about it; the right timing, place, and people are all indispensable, and sometimes errors occur. I guess many people think it was Xiao Xingchen's revenge? Hanguang-Jun, what about you? What do you think?’

Lan Wangji slowly shook his head and said, ‘Without knowing the full picture, I will not comment.’

Wei Wuxian greatly admired his attitude and principles in handling matters, and smiled as he took a sip of wine. Then he heard Lan Wangji say, ‘What do you think?’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘Dismemberment is a cruel punishment, itself signifying “retribution”. And gouging out the eyes, it’s hard not to associate it with Xiao Xingchen, who also had his eyes gouged out. So these people’s guess that it was Xiao Xingchen’s revenge is understandable, but,’ he thought over his wording, ‘I think, from the very beginning, Xiao Xingchen did not step forward to intervene because he wanted Chang Ping’s gratitude. I...’

He hadn’t yet figured out exactly what that ‘I’ meant when the waiter very attentively brought over two small dishes of peanuts. Wei Wuxian was interrupted, just as well not having to continue. He looked up at Lan Wangji, smiled, and said, ‘Hanguang-Jun, what are you looking at me like that for? I didn’t do anything. I also don’t know the full picture, and likewise won’t comment. What you said is very right; before understanding all the inside details and the whole story, no one can rashly pass judgment on anything. I only asked for five jars, but you bought me five more; I’m afraid I can’t finish them all by myself. How about it, will you drink with me? This isn’t the Cloud Recesses, so it’s not against the rules, right?’

He had been prepared to be flatly refused, but to his surprise, Lan Wangji said, ‘Drink.’

Wei Wuxian clicked his tongue and said, ‘Hanguang-Jun, you really have changed. Before, if I drank a small jar in front of you, you were terrifying, wanted to throw me over the wall, and even hit me. Now you even hide Emperor’s Smile in your room and drink it secretly.’

Lan Wangji adjusted his robes and said calmly, ‘Emperor’s Smile, I haven’t touched a single jar.’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘If you don’t drink it, why keep it? Saving it to give to me? Fine, fine, you didn’t touch it, I believe you, okay. I won’t bring it up again. Come on. I must see, a Gusu Lan Sect disciple who never touches a drop of alcohol, after how many cups will he fall.’

He poured a bowl for Lan Wangji, and Lan Wangji, without a second thought, took it and downed it. Wei Wuxian was inexplicably excited, staring at his face to see when he'd flush. Who knew, after staring for quite a while, Lan Wangji's complexion and expression didn't change the slightest; those pale eyes gazed at him very calmly — absolutely no change!

Wei Wuxian was greatly disappointed, and was just about to egg him on to drink another jar when suddenly, Lan Wangji furrowed his brow and gently rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. After a moment, he propped his forehead on one hand and closed his eyes.

...Fell asleep?

...Fell asleep!

Normally, after drinking this much, a person should first get drunk, then fall asleep. How could Lan Wangji skip the drunk step and go straight to sleep?!

What he wanted to see was precisely that ‘drunk’ part!

Wei Wuxian waved his hand in front of Lan Wangji, who even in sleep had a solemn and upright face, and clapped his hands by his ear. No response.

Turns out he's a one-bowl wonder.

Wei Wuxian hadn't expected this development. He patted his thighs, thought for a moment, then wrapped Lan Wangji's right arm around his neck, and clumsily supported him out of the small tavern.

He was already extremely practiced at feeling for things on Lan Wangji; he took the money pouch, found an inn and asked for two rooms, sent Lan Wangji into one, took off his boots, covered him with a blanket, and slipped out into the night.

Arriving at a desolate and remote spot in the wilderness, Wei Wuxian drew the bamboo flute from his waist, brought it to his lips, played a tune, and then waited quietly.

These days, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had been constantly together, with no time alone. Thus, he had been unable to summon Wen Ning. Apart from his identity being half-hidden before, there were other reasons.

Wen Ning had lives of the Gusu Lan Sect on his hands; even though Lan Wangji treated him very well, Wei Wuxian couldn't just summon Wen Ning right in front of him. Or rather, it was precisely because Lan Wangji treated him so well that Wei Wuxian didn't have the face to summon Wen Ning in his presence. No matter how thick-skinned he was, it wasn't thick about this kind of thing.

Coming back to his senses, his ears already heard that eerie ‘clink-clank’.

Wen Ning's figure with lowered head appeared beneath the shadow of the city wall ahead.

He was pitch-black all over, blending into the darkness around him; only his pupil-less eyes were a blinding, hideous white.

Wei Wuxian put his hands behind his back and slowly walked a circle around him.

Wen Ning stirred, as if wanting to follow his steps and circle around; Wei Wuxian said, ‘Stand still.’

He then stood obediently still. That delicate face seemed even more melancholy.

Wei Wuxian said, ‘Hand.’

Wen Ning extended a right hand. Wei Wuxian caught his wrist and lifted it, carefully examining the iron rings and chains locked on his wrist.

These were no ordinary iron chains. When Wen Ning went berserk, he was extremely violent, capable of twisting steel into mud with bare hands, and would never allow such things to drag on him. It was most likely a set of iron chains specially forged to restrain Wen Ning.

Bones crushed and ashes scattered?

When even the incomplete pieces of the Yin Tiger Seal were so painstakingly restored, certain clans naturally would covet the Ghost General as well; how could they bear to crush his bones and scatter his ashes?

Wei Wuxian gave a cold laugh, stood beside Wen Ning, thought briefly, and reached out to slowly press inside his hair.

Whoever had kept and locked up Wen Ning certainly couldn't allow him to think for himself. To make him obey others' orders, they would have to destroy Wen Ning's consciousness, and would surely implant something inside his head. Sure enough, after pressing thrice, Wei Wuxian felt a small, hard spot at a certain pressure point on the right side of Wen Ning's head. He put his other hand on the symmetrical spot on the left side of Wen Ning's head, and there was a similar small hard object, seeming to be the tail of a needle or something.

Wei Wuxian pinched the tails of both needles at the same time and slowly, with care, pulled out two long black nails from Wen Ning's skull.

These two black nails were about an inch long, as thick as the red cord used to tie jade pendants, and deeply embedded in Wen Ning's skull. The instant the nails left his head, Wen Ning's features trembled slightly, and a layer of something like black blood threads crawled across the whites of his eyes, as if he was struggling to endure pain.

Clearly a dead person, yet still able to feel something like ‘pain’.

Those two nails had fine and intricate patterns carved on them; their origin was certainly no ordinary. The one who made them had some skill. If Wen Ning were to recover, it would take quite a while. Wei Wuxian put them away, looked down at the iron chains on Wen Ning's wrists and ankles, and thought to himself, it's no good letting these drag on him clinking and clanking all the time; he needed to find a spiritual sword to cut them off.

The first he thought of, naturally, was Lan Wangji’s Bichen. Although taking a Lan family sword to help Wen Ning cut off the chains was somewhat inappropriate, it was the easiest spiritual sword he could get, and he couldn't let Wen Ning drag such a pile of encumbrances around.

Wei Wuxian thought, ‘Like this: I'll go back to the inn now. If Lan Zhan is awake, I won't borrow it. If Lan Zhan is still asleep, I'll borrow Bichen for a bit.’

Having made up his mind, he turned around. Who knew, as soon as he turned, Lan Wangji was standing right behind him.