Flora

Jin Ling and the others' hearts pounded, afraid that while peeping outside he'd suddenly meet some mishap and fall back clutching his eyes. They heard Wei Wuxian cry 'Ah!' and every youth's heart leaped into his throat; their hair stood on end. 'What happened!'

Wei Wuxian whispered, softer and softer: 'Shh, don't speak. I'm looking at it.'

Jin Ling lowered his voice even more: 'Then what did you see? What's outside the door?'

Wei Wuxian didn't shift his gaze, nor gave a direct answer. 'Mm... mm... impressive, very impressive.'

His profile was brimful of delight; the praise and wonder seemed thoroughly genuine, stirring the young cultivators' curiosity to swiftly override their tension. Lan Sizhui couldn't help saying: '...Senior Mo, what's so impressive?'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Aiya! Really good-looking. Lower your voices, don't scare it off. I haven't seen enough yet.'

Jin Ling said: 'Move aside! I want to look.'

'Me too!'

Wei Wuxian said: 'You really want to look?'

'Yes!'

Wei Wuxian slowly shifted aside, looking very reluctant. Jin Ling was the first to lean in, aligning his eye with that narrow crack in the wood to peer outside.

Night had already fallen. The night was cold, and the demonic fog in Yi City had also thinned considerably, allowing them to barely make out the street a few zhang away. Jin Ling peered for a while but didn't spot that 'impressive, really good-looking' thing, feeling a bit disappointed. He thought: Could it be that my speaking a moment ago scared it away?

Just as he was losing interest, a thin, wizened figure suddenly flashed before the wooden crack.

Caught completely off guard, he saw the thing in full. Jin Ling felt as if his entire scalp had been blown off. He nearly screamed aloud, but somehow a surge of energy choked in his chest and held it back. He stiffly maintained his bending posture, waiting for the wave of numbness to pass, and couldn't resist glancing at Wei Wuxian. That insufferable man was leaning against the window board, off to one side, one corner of his mouth hooked up, raising his brows at him with a mocking smile: 'Isn't it beautiful?'

Jin Ling shot him a fierce glare, fully aware that he'd been deliberately teased, and ground out through gritted teeth: '...Yeah...'

A sudden thought struck him; he straightened up and said with feigned indifference: 'It's nothing special, barely bearable to look at!'

After that, he stepped aside and waited for the next dupe. Deceived one after another by these two, the remaining curiosity in the others was drawn to its peak. Lan Sizhui couldn't hold back and also went to that spot. Yet the moment he put his eye near, he very honestly cried out 'Ah!' and jumped back, his face full of startled bewilderment. He spun around twice before finding Wei Wuxian and protested: 'Senior Mo! There's a... a...'

Wei Wuxian said with a knowing look: 'There's that thing, right? No need to say it. Saying it spoils the surprise. Let everyone see for themselves.'

The others, seeing Lan Sizhui so thoroughly frightened, hardly dared approach. What surprise — it was pure shock! They quickly waved their hands: 'Not looking, not looking!' Jin Ling spat: 'Still playing tricks at a time like this — I really don't know what you're thinking!'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Didn't you join in the trick too? Don't copy your uncle's tone. Sizhui, was that thing scary just now?'

Lan Sizhui nodded and honestly said: 'Scary.'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Scary is exactly right. This is a great cultivation opportunity for you. Why do ghosts scare people? Because when a person is frightened, their mind is shaken, their primordial spirit is agitated, and at that moment it's easiest for their yang energy to be drained. So ghosts hate bold people the most. Because bold ones aren't afraid of them, the ghosts have no hold on them, no chance to exploit. Therefore, as scions of cultivation clans, your foremost task is to make your courage grow!'

Lan Jingyi, on one hand relieved that he couldn't move and hadn't been curious enough to peek, muttered: 'Courage is something you're born with. Some people are born timid — what can you do about it.'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Were you born knowing how to fly on a sword? No — you learn it by practicing. Same principle: get scared enough and you'll grow used to it. The latrine stinks, right? Disgusting, right? But trust me, live in a latrine for a month and you'll still be able to eat your meals in there just fine.'

The youths shuddered, and with one voice refused: 'No!!! We don't believe it!!!'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Just a figure of speech. Fine, I confess, I've never lived in a latrine; I don't know if you could eat in there — I was talking nonsense. But that thing outside, you must try. Not just look, but look carefully, pay attention to its details, and dig out its hidden weaknesses from those details in the shortest time. Keep your wits in the face of danger and look for a chance to counterattack. Alright, I've said a lot. Do you understand? Ordinary people don't get the chance to receive my guidance, so cherish it. Don't back off. All of you, line up and look one by one.'

'...We really have to look?'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Of course. I myself never joke and never trick people. We'll start with Jingyi. Jin Ling and Sizhui have already looked.'

Lan Jingyi said: 'Ah? Do I have to? You said people poisoned by corpse poison can't move.'

Wei Wuxian: 'Stick out your tongue. Ah.'

Lan Jingyi: 'Ah.'

Wei Wuxian: 'Congratulations, your poison is already cured. Take that brave first step — come on!'

Lan Jingyi: 'That fast?! You're lying to me, aren't you?!'

His protest was overruled; he had no choice but to steel himself and walk to the window. He looked once, averted his eyes, looked again, averted them again. Wei Wuxian knocked on the board: 'What are you afraid of? I'm standing right here; it won't break through this board and eat your eyeballs.'

Lan Jingyi jumped away: 'I've finished looking!'

Then it was the next person's turn. Each one, while looking, let out hissing intakes of breath. Once the whole circle had taken a turn, Wei Wuxian said: 'Finished looking? Then each of you tell me what details you saw. Let's sum them up.'

Jin Ling preempted: 'White pupils. Female. Very short and thin. Looks decent. Holding a bamboo pole.'

Lan Sizhui thought it over and said: 'That girl reaches about my chest. Her clothes are ragged and she's not very tidy, like a street urchin begging. That bamboo pole seems to be a blind cane — perhaps the white eyes aren't something that formed after death; she may have been blind when she was alive.'

Wei Wuxian commented: 'Jin Ling saw many things, but Sizhui observed keenly.'

Jin Ling curled his lip.

One youth said: 'This girl looks about fifteen or sixteen, with an oval face that's quite delicate, and there's a lively spirit within that delicacy. Her long hair is pinned with a wooden hairpin, and the tail of the hairpin is carved into a little fox head. She's thin and her frame is slender. Although she isn't neat, she's not filthy either, not off-putting. If she were tidied up, she'd surely be a lovely beauty.'

Wei Wuxian immediately felt this boy had boundless prospects and heavily praised him: 'Not bad, not bad — observation detailed and from a unique angle. This little friend here will surely grow up to be a romantic.'

That youth blushed, turned to face the wall and ignored his companions' teasing. Another youth said: 'It seems the bamboo-pole tapping came from her as she walked. If she was already blind in life, after death as a ghost she would also be unable to see; she'd have to rely on that blind cane.'

Yet another youth said: 'But that doesn't make sense. You've all seen blind people, right? Because their eyes are inconvenient, they walk and move slowly, afraid of bumping into things. But that ghost outside moves swiftly — I've never seen such a nimble blind person.'

Wei Wuxian smiled: 'Mm, you've thought of that point — very good. That's exactly how you should analyze, not letting a single doubtful point slip by. Then let's invite her in now and clear up these questions.'

As soon as he said this, he immediately set to work and removed one door plank. Not only the youths inside, but even the resentful spirit outside was startled by his sudden action, raising her bamboo pole warily.

Wei Wuxian first greeted that resentful spirit, then asked: 'Miss, you've been following them all along — is there something you need?'

That young girl widened her eyes. Were she alive, this expression would undoubtedly be utterly charming. However, she had no eyeballs, and two streaks of bloody tears flowed from her eye sockets; seen like this, it only made her look ferocious. Behind him, someone drew a low, sharp breath. Wei Wuxian said: 'What's there to be afraid of? In the future you'll see plenty of seven-orifice bleeding; can't you handle just two orifices? That's why you need more experience.'

Before this, that young girl had been circling anxiously outside their window, tapping her bamboo pole on the ground, stamping her feet, glaring, and waving her arms. Now, however, her movements suddenly changed. She gesticulated wildly, as if trying to tell them something. Jin Ling said: 'Strange — can't she speak?'

At these words, the girl's ghost paused her gestures and opened her mouth toward them.

Blood surged out from that completely empty mouth. It turned out her tongue had already been pulled out by the root.

The young cultivators broke out in goosebumps all over, and at the same time felt a pang of sympathy: 'No wonder she can't speak. Blind and mute — truly pitiful.'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Is she using sign language? Does anyone understand?'

No one did. The girl grew so anxious she stamped her feet and used her bamboo pole to write and draw on the ground. But she was clearly not a girl from a scholarly family; she couldn't read and couldn't write anything meaningful. She scratched out a messy jumble of stick figures, leaving everyone completely unable to grasp what she was trying to express.

Just at that moment, from the far end of the long street, came the sound of frantic running and the heavy breathing of a person.

That young girl's ghost suddenly vanished. But she would likely come back on her own, so Wei Wuxian wasn't worried. He swiftly reinserted the door plank and continued peering out through the wooden crack. The other young cultivators also wanted to see the scene outside and crowded at the door, a row of heads stacked from the very top down to the very bottom, their gazes plugging up that narrow crack.

The demonic fog had just thinned for a while and now gradually began to flow again. A bedraggled figure burst through the white mist and dashed over.

This person was dressed all in black and seemed injured, running staggeringly. A sword hung at his waist, also wrapped in black cloth. Lan Jingyi whispered: 'Is that the fog-faced man?'

Lan Sizhui answered in a low voice: 'Probably not. That fog-faced man's movement skills are completely different from this person's.'

Behind that person, a group of Walking Corpses followed, moving extremely fast, and soon caught up with him. He drew his sword to fight; the sword light was clear and bright, slicing through the fog. Wei Wuxian inwardly cheered: 'A fine sword!'

But as the sword swept across, there came again that familiar strange 'pop-pop', 'pop-pop' sound. Black-red powder spurted from several severed Walking Corpse limbs. The man was surrounded by them, with nowhere to dodge, standing in place, his head and face thoroughly doused by the overwhelming Corpse Poison Powder. Lan Sizhui watched with alarm and whispered: 'Senior Mo, this person — should we...'

At this moment, another fresh group of Walking Corpses closed in, surrounded him, and tightened the encirclement. He swung his sword once more, exploding even more Corpse Poison Powder; he inhaled more of it too and already seemed unsteady on his feet. Wei Wuxian said: 'This man must be rescued.'

Jin Ling said: 'How do you plan to rescue him? We can't go out right now; the air is filled with Corpse Poison Powder — you get poisoned just by approaching.'

After pondering a moment, Wei Wuxian left the window and walked into the inner hall. The group of youths' gazes followed him involuntarily. They saw paper figures of varying appearances standing quietly between two large funeral wreaths. Wei Wuxian slowly passed before them and stopped in front of a pair of female paper figures.

Each paper figure was differently formed, and this pair seemed to have been specially made as twin sisters — their makeup, clothing, and facial features all cast from the same mold. Brows curved, faces beaming with smiles. One could almost hear their trilling, giggling laughter. They wore double coiled hairstyles, red-bead earrings, gold bracelets on their wrists, and embroidered shoes on their feet — thoroughly the maidservants of a wealthy household.

Wei Wuxian said: 'These two will do.'

He casually brushed his finger against the drawn sword of one youth, making a light cut on his thumb, then turned and dotted on them two pairs of eyes — four eyeballs.

Thereupon he stepped back, smiled faintly, and intoned: 'Coy glances half-veiled, red lips parting in laughter. Whether good or evil, I question not — with eye-dotting I summon you forth.'

A yin wind from no one knew where abruptly flooded the entire shop. The young cultivators instinctively tightened their grips on their swords.

Suddenly, that pair of twin-sister paper figures shuddered violently all over.

In the next instant, a true trilling, giggling laughter drifted out from their bright-red painted lips!

The Eye-Dotting Summoning technique!

As if they had seen or heard something extraordinarily funny, this pair of paper figures laughed so hard they swayed wildly like blossoms. At the same time, the eyeballs dotted with living human blood rolled madly in their sockets. The scene was at once exquisitely charming and utterly macabre. Wei Wuxian stood before them, nodded lightly, and bowed his head in salute.

Returning the courtesy, this pair of paper figures inclined their bodies toward him, returning an even deeper bow.

Wei Wuxian pointed outside and said: 'Bring the living person in — apart from that, wipe them all out. Leave none.'

Sharp, high-pitched laughter issued from the paper figures' mouths. A gust of yin wind struck, and the main door was violently flung open from both sides!

The two paper figures swept out side by side, rushing into the Walking Corpses' encirclement. It was hard to imagine that mere fakes made of paper could possess such ferocious destructive power. Treading in their exquisite embroidered shoes, they waved their gossamer-light sleeves: one sweep cut off a Walking Corpse's arm, another sweep lopped off half a head — the paper sleeves seeming to transform into razor-sharp blades. That bewitching laughter echoed the whole length of the long street, stirring the heart and chilling the bones.

Before long, over a dozen Walking Corpses had all been hacked into unassemblable chunks by this pair of paper figures, rolling across the ground!

The two paper handmaidens, having won a complete victory, obeyed the order and dragged inside that escapee who was already spent. Then they bounded out again; the main door swung shut on its own. Positioned left and right, they stood guard outside like guardian lions before a manor, and fell silent.

The several young cultivators inside were already struck dumb.

They had only ever heard descriptions of crooked paths in books and from their elders. At the time they merely couldn't understand: 'Since they're already crooked, why do so many still want to learn them? Why did the Yiling Patriarch have so many imitators?' Only now, seeing with their own eyes, did they realize that crooked paths possessed their own allure and wonder. What's more, this was merely the tip of the iceberg — the 'Eye-Dotting Summoning' technique. Thus, after most of the youths recovered from the shock, their faces showed no trace of rejection; instead they were brimming with barely concealed excitement, feeling they had greatly broadened their horizons and would have new stories to share with their senior and junior sect siblings when they returned. Only Jin Ling's expression was extremely grim.

Lan Sizhui moved over to help Wei Wuxian support the person, but Wei Wuxian said: 'No one come near — be careful of the Corpse Poison Powder. It's possible that skin contact alone could poison you.'

When the person had been hauled in by the paper figures, he was already drained of strength, half-unconscious. Now he was a bit more lucid. He coughed a few times, and as if worried about coughing out Corpse Poison Powder and infecting others, covered his mouth and asked in a low voice: 'Who are you people?'

This voice was utterly exhausted. He asked not because he didn't recognize the people inside, but rather because he couldn't see anything.

This person's eyes were wrapped in a thick layer of white bandages. He must be blind.

And moreover a very good-looking blind man: a straight, elegant nose bridge, thin lips suffused with a faint pink, almost handsome. His features seemed very young, somewhere between a boy and a young man — one couldn't help but sigh. Wei Wuxian thought to himself: Why have I encountered so many blind people lately? Heard of, seen. Living, dead.

Suddenly, Jin Ling said: 'Oi, we still don't know what identity this guy has, whether he's friend or foe. Why did we recklessly save him? What if he's a villain — haven't we just brought a snake inside?'

His point was fair, but saying it so bluntly in front of the person made it rather awkward. That man, surprisingly, didn't get angry, nor did he seem worried about being thrown out. He smiled slightly, revealing a pair of small tiger teeth, and said: 'This young master speaks very rightly. I'd better leave.'

Jin Ling hadn't expected this reaction and was briefly taken aback, not knowing what to say, and gave a casual snort. Lan Sizhui hurriedly smoothed things over: 'But this person might not be a villain after all. No matter how you put it, to see someone in mortal danger and not save them goes against the precepts of our generation.'

Jin Ling insisted stubbornly: 'Fine. You're the good ones. Don't blame me later if someone gets hurt.'

Lan Jingyi bristled: 'You —' Before the words were out, his tongue tied itself in knots.

Because he had seen the sword leaning by the table at the man's side. The black cloth wrapped around the sword had slipped halfway off, exposing the blade.

The forging of this sword was extremely masterful. The scabbard was bronze, carved with openwork frost-flower patterns. Through the openwork, the blade shone like silver stars, glittering with snowflake-like brilliance — a beauty pure as ice and brilliantly radiant.

Lan Jingyi's eyes widened; something seemed about to burst from his lips. Wei Wuxian, though he didn't know what he was going to cry out, realized that since this man had used black cloth to cover the sword, he clearly didn't want it seen. Instinctively reluctant to startle the snake, he clapped a hand over Lan Jingyi's mouth, placed a finger before his lips, and signaled the other youths, whose faces also showed surprise, to keep silent as well.

Jin Ling mouthed two words at him, then reached out and wrote two characters on the dusty tabletop:

'Shuanghua'.

...Shuanghua sword?

Wei Wuxian mouthed silently: Xiao Xingchen's — Shuanghua sword?

Jin Ling and the others all nodded in affirmation.

Although these youths had never met Xiao Xingchen in person, 'Shuanghua' was a renowned rare sword — not only powerful in Spiritual Power, but also uniquely beautiful in form, having been depicted in countless editions of the Catalog of Immortal Swords, unforgettable once seen. Wei Wuxian mused: If his sword is Shuanghua, and he himself is blind...

One youth also thought of this and couldn't help but reach out to touch the bandages wrapped around the man's eyes, wanting to remove them and see whether the eyes were still there. Yet the moment his hand touched that bandage, a look of extreme pain appeared on the man's face, and he imperceptibly drew back, seeming very afraid of being touched near his eyes.

That youth, realizing he had lost his composure, hastily withdrew his hand and said: 'Sorry, sorry... I didn't mean it.'

The man raised his left hand, which was clad in a thin black glove, wanting to shield his eyes but afraid to touch them — the lightest contact was probably unbearably painful. A thin layer of sweat already covered his forehead. He forced out: 'It's nothing...'

Yet his voice trembled faintly.

This behavior almost confirmed that this person was Xiao Xingchen, who had gone missing after the Massacre of the Liyang Chang Sect.

Xiao Xingchen still didn't know his identity had been exposed. He endured the bout of pain, groped about for his Shuanghua sword. Wei Wuxian, quick of eye and hand, pulled the slipped black cloth back up. He found Shuanghua, nodded, and said: 'Thank you for the rescue. I'll take my leave now.'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Don't leave just yet. You're poisoned by corpse poison.'

Xiao Xingchen asked: 'Is it very serious?'

Wei Wuxian said: 'Very serious.'

Xiao Xingchen said: 'If it's very serious, why ever stay? Anyway, there's no cure. Better to kill a few more Walking Corpses before the corpse transformation takes hold.'

Hearing him set life and death aside, the youths inside felt their blood surge. Lan Jingyi couldn't help blurting out: 'Who says there's no cure? You stay! He can heal you!'

Wei Wuxian: 'Me? Sorry, are you talking about me?' He truly couldn't bring himself to tell the truth: this Xiao Xingchen had already inhaled far too much Corpse Poison Powder — his face faintly showed a blackish-red hue, too deeply poisoned; the glutinous rice porridge was probably useless now.

Xiao Xingchen said: 'I've already slain not a few Walking Corpses in this city. They've been following me, and in a moment more will come in an endless stream. If I stay, sooner or later you'll all be overrun by the corpse horde.'

Wei Wuxian asked: 'Does Your Excellency know why this Yi City has become like this?'

Xiao Xingchen shook his head and said, “I don’t know. I am just a wandering cultivator... wandering here, learning of strange phenomena in this place, so I entered the city for a Night Hunt. The number and strength of the living corpses and Walking Corpses in the city are beyond what you have yet encountered. Some are swift and impossible to guard against. After some are slain, their bodies erupt with Corpse Poison Powder; touching it will poison you, but if you don’t slay them, they will lunge and bite, and the result is still poisoning. Truly difficult to deal with. From your voices, I hear many young masters among you? I advise you all to leave as soon as possible.”

As soon as his words fell, from outside the main door came the ghastly giggling of the paper twin sisters. This time, the laughter was sharper than ever before.