The Sly Youth

As if doused with a bucket of cold water, the smile at the corner of Wei Wuxian's lips froze.

This tall figure stood below the dead tree, facing this direction directly. If it had a head upon its neck, it would now be quietly gazing at Wei Wuxian.

On the side of the campfire, the Lan juniors also saw this shadow, each one's hair standing on end, eyes wide, about to draw their swords. Wei Wuxian pressed his index finger to his lips and softly 'shushed.'

He signaled 'no' with his eyes and shook his head. Seeing this, Lan Sizhui silently pressed back the sword that Lan Jingyi had half-drawn from its sheath.

The headless figure reached out, placed a hand on the tree trunk beside it, and stroked for a while, as if pondering something, or as if confirming what this thing was.

It took a small step forward, and Wei Wuxian could clearly see most of its body.

The clothing on this headless figure was a burial shroud, slightly tattered. It was exactly the one worn by the torso they had dug up from the Chang Family Cemetery.

And at the foot of the headless figure scattered a pile of fragments. One could barely make out that they were several torn Evil-Sealing Qiankun Pouches.

Wei Wuxian thought, 'Careless, to have let Good Brother piece itself together on its own!'

By Wei Wuxian's reckoning, after he and Lan Wangji entered Yi City, startling events had followed one after another, and for over two days they had not played Rest together. In the days of roaming here, the two had done their utmost to remedy the situation and only barely suppressed it. However, the corpse's limbs had now all been gathered, greatly strengthening their mutual attraction. Perhaps they sensed each other's resentment and longed too much to join together; taking advantage of Lan Wangji's absence on night patrol, they impatiently rolled to one side, broke out of the Evil-Sealing Qiankun Pouch that bound them, and automatically assembled into a corpse.

It was only a pity that this corpse was still missing one part. And, the most important part.

The headless figure put its hand to its neck, feeling the neatly cut, crimson wound on its throat. After feeling for a while and never finding what should be there, as if enraged by this fact, it suddenly struck out with a palm, smashing it against the nearby tree!

The trunk split with a crack. Wei Wuxian thought, 'Quite the temper.'

Lan Jingyi held his sword crosswise in front of him and said in a trembling voice, 'Wh-what sort of monster is this!'

Wei Wuxian said, 'One can tell at a glance that your basic studies were poorly done. What is a yao? What is a guai? This is clearly a corpse, belonging to the ghost category—how could it be a yao or guai?'

Lan Sizhui said in a low voice, 'Elder, you… speaking so loudly, aren't you afraid he'll discover you?'

Wei Wuxian said, 'It's fine. I suddenly realized just now that it actually doesn't matter how loudly we speak, because he has no head, no eyes, no ears—that is to say, he can neither see nor hear. If you don't believe it, you can try shouting as well.'

Lan Jingyi said curiously, 'Really? I'll give it a try.'

After saying this, he indeed immediately shouted twice. No sooner had he shouted than the headless figure abruptly turned around and walked toward the Lan juniors.

The youths were scared out of their wits, and Lan Jingyi cried out miserably, 'Didn't you say it would be fine?!'

Wei Wuxian cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, 'Really it's fine, look! I'm speaking this loudly and he hasn't come over, has he? But on your side, it's not a matter of loudness—it's that there's firelight! Heat! Many living people, and all of them male! Strong yang energy! He can't see and can't hear, but he can walk toward the place that feels lively to him. Hurry up and put out the fire, scatter, scatter!'

Lan Sizhui waved his hand, a gust of wind extinguishing the flames, and the crowd of youths scattered with a roar in the abandoned garden.

Indeed, once the campfire was extinguished and the people scattered, this headless figure lost its direction.

It stood still in place for a while, and just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, it suddenly started moving again, and walking unerringly toward one of the youths!

Lan Jingyi cried out miserably again, 'Didn't you say that once the fire was out and we scattered it would be fine?!'

Wei Wuxian had no time to answer him and said to that youth, 'Don't move rashly!'

He picked up a pebble by his foot, flicked his wrist, and threw it toward the headless figure. The stone struck it in the center of the back, and the headless figure immediately stopped, turned around, and after weighing the matter, seemed to find this side more suspicious, changing direction to walk toward Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian moved two steps very, very slowly, just brushing past the heavy-footed headless figure, and said, 'I told you to scatter, not to run about wildly. Don't run too fast. This headless ghost has a high cultivation; if your movements are too quick, the slight breeze you raise at your side will also be sensed by him.'

Lan Sizhui said, 'He seems to be looking for something… Is he looking for his… head?'

Wei Wuxian said, 'That's right, he's searching for his head. There are so many heads here, and not knowing which is his, he'll pull heads off everyone's neck and put them on his own to see if they fit. If one fits, he'll use it for a while; if not, he'll throw it away. So, walk slowly, hide slowly, and absolutely don't let him catch you.'

Imagining the sight of their own heads being twisted off by this headless fierce corpse and placed bloodily on its neck, the youths felt a chill, and all raised their hands to protect their heads and necks, beginning to 'flee' slowly around the garden. The group seemed to be playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek with this headless ghost; whoever was caught would have to hand over their head. Whenever the headless figure caught a trace of some youth, Wei Wuxian would throw a pebble, diverting its attention and luring it toward himself.

Wei Wuxian clasped his hands behind his back, moving slowly as he observed the headless corpse's movements, thinking, 'This Good Brother's posture is a bit strange? It keeps loosely clenching its fist and swinging its arm, this motion…'

As he was pondering, Lan Jingyi could bear it no longer and said, 'Are we just going to keep walking like this? Until when!'

Wei Wuxian thought for a moment and said, 'Of course not.'

After saying this, he shouted loudly, 'Hanguang-jun! Hanguang-jun! Hanguang-jun, have you returned! Help!'

Seeing this, the others also shouted along with him. Since this fierce corpse had no head and couldn't hear, each shout was more high-pitched than the last, each more plaintive than the last. In a moment, out of the night, suddenly there arose a plaintive, choked sound of a xiao, followed immediately by a clear, crisp string note from a qin.

Hearing this xiao and qin, the juniors were overjoyed to the point of tears: 'Wuwuwu Hanguang-jun! Zewu-jun!'

Two tall, slender figures appeared before the ruined garden gate of the flower nursery, both equally erect and jade-like, equally like frost and snow in color, one carrying a xiao, one bearing a qin on his back, walking side by side. At the sight of the headless figure, both were slightly taken aback.

Lan Xichen's expression was especially pronounced, almost one could say shocked. Cleaving Ice fell silent, but Bichen had already left its sheath. The headless figure sensed an extremely powerful, bone-chilling sword glare coming at it, raised its arm, and swung again. Wei Wuxian thought, 'That motion again!'

The headless figure was also extremely agile and nimble; with a leap, it brushed aside the sharp edge of Bichen sweeping past, and with a backhand grab, actually seized Bichen's hilt!

He lifted Bichen in his hand and raised it high, as if wanting to examine the thing in his grasp, but alas, he had no eyes. Seeing that this headless creature had actually caught Hanguang-jun's Bichen barehanded, the juniors' faces all went white, but Lan Wangji's expression did not change. He brought out his guqin, lowered his head, and plucked a string with a hooked finger; the string sound seemed to transform into an invisible sharp arrow, whistling and spinning as it shot toward that fierce corpse. The headless figure swung the sword and cleaved, shattering that string sound. Lan Wangji swept across, all seven strings trembling in unison, singing a soaring, piercing melody, while Wei Wuxian drew his bamboo dizi and harmonized with an exceptionally sharp flute note, and in an instant it seemed as if a forest of blades and rain of swords descended from the sky!

The headless fierce corpse held the sword and retaliated again, but at this moment, Lan Xichen had already recovered his senses, brought Cleaving Ice to his lips, and with knitted brows began to play. Whether it was an illusion or not, once that graceful, serene xiao melody emerged, the headless fierce corpse's movements instantly froze. It stood still for a moment as if listening, then turned as if wanting to look at the player. But headless and eyeless, it could see nothing at all, and with the qin and dizi still aggressively attacking together, three notes sounding at once, it finally seemed to lose its strength, its form swaying, and collapsed.

To be precise, it did not fall, but fell apart. Hands as hands, legs as legs, body as body, scattered brokenly on the ground piled with dead leaves.

Lan Wangji flipped his hand and put away his qin, summoned his sword back into the scabbard, and walked together with Wei Wuxian to the severed limbs, looking down at them for a moment, then took out five brand-new Evil-Sealing Qiankun Pouches. The group of juniors, still unsettled, gathered around, first saluting Zewu-jun. Before they could start chattering and clamoring, Lan Wangji said, 'Rest.'

Lan Jingyi said blankly, 'Ah? But Hanguang-jun, the hai hour hasn't arrived yet?'

Lan Sizhui tugged at him and said respectfully, 'Yes.' Asking no more, he led the rest of the juniors to find another spot in the flower nursery, re-lit a fire, and went to rest.

Only three people remained beside the pile of corpse parts. Wei Wuxian nodded to Lan Xichen in greeting, crouched down, and was about to seal the corpse back into the pouches. Just as he was halfway stuffing the left hand into a Qiankun pouch, Lan Xichen said, 'Please wait a moment.'

Earlier, Wei Wuxian had known from his expression that something was amiss, and sure enough, Lan Xichen's face was pale as he repeated, 'Please… wait a moment, let me examine this corpse.'

Wei Wuxian halted his motion and said, 'Does Zewu-jun know this person's identity?'

Lan Xichen had not yet replied, as if uncertain, but Lan Wangji slowly nodded.

Wei Wuxian said, 'Alright, I too know who it is.'

He lowered his voice and said, 'Chifeng-zun, right?'

Earlier, during the 'hide-and-seek', this headless corpse had been constantly repeating one motion: loosely clenching a fist, swinging the arm, slashing horizontally and chopping vertically. It looked very much like wielding some kind of weapon.

At the mention of weapons, Wei Wuxian thought of the sword. But he himself was a swordsman, and had crossed blades with many renowned swordsmen in the past, yet he had never seen any master use a sword like that. The sword is the 'gentleman of all weapons'; those who wield a sword always observe a certain decorum or grace. Even an assassin's sword, for all its ruthlessness and venom, still must possess a certain agility. In swordsmanship, movements such as 'thrusting' and 'picking' are frequent, while 'chopping' and 'paring' are rarer. And looking at the way that headless figure wielded the sword, it was far too heavy, with an excessive air of slaughter and brutality, slashing horizontally and chopping vertically, wholly inelegant, completely lacking in style.

But, if what he held was not a sword, but a blade—and a very heavy, murderously sharp blade at that—then it would all make perfect sense.

A blade and a sword are utterly different in both temperament and technique. The weapon this headless figure habitually used in life ought to have been a blade. Blade techniques are fierce and sharp, pursuing only power and momentum, not elegance. While searching for his head, he was also searching for his weapon. That was why he kept repeating the motion of swinging a blade, and even grabbed Bichen with a backhand, using the sword as if it were his own saber.

Furthermore, this corpse had no special marks such as birthmarks, and had been chopped into scattered pieces, making it impossible to identify. Not only could Nie Huaisang not recognize it in the Saber Hall, even Wei Wuxian couldn't guarantee that if his own leg were cut off and thrown about, he could recognize whose leg it was. Only when the limbs and torso were temporarily fused by resentment just now, assembling a corpse that could move, did Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji recognize its shape.

Wei Wuxian said, 'Zewu-jun, Hanguang-jun has told you of the things we've seen along the way, hasn't he? Mo Village, the Gravedigger, Yi City, and so on.'

Lan Xichen inclined his head. Wei Wuxian said, 'Then Hanguang-jun should also have told you that the mist-faced man who seized the corpse at the Chang Family Cemetery knows the swordsmanship of the Gusu Lan Clan inside out. There are only two possibilities: one, he is a member of the Lan family, having practiced the Gusu Lan swordsmanship since childhood; two, he is not a Lan, but he is extremely familiar with your family's swordsmanship, either frequently sparring with Lan family members, or exceptionally brilliant, such that once he sees it, he can remember every move and sword path.'

Lan Xichen remained silent, and Wei Wuxian continued, 'He seized the corpse precisely because he did not want anyone to discover that Chifeng-zun had been dismembered. Once Chifeng-zun's corpse is fully reassembled, the situation will turn against him. This is someone who knows the secrets of the Qinghe Nie Sect's Saber Hall, someone who might be very close to the Gusu Lan Clan, someone with a rather… deep connection to Chifeng-zun.'

Who such a person most likely is, there's no need to say it outright—everyone knows in their heart.

Although Lan Xichen's expression was solemn, upon hearing this he immediately said, 'He would not do this.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'Zewu-jun?'

Lan Xichen said, 'Your investigation of the dismemberment case and the encounter with the Gravedigger all happened this month. And throughout this month, he has been practically all the time burning the midnight oil in conversation with me. Just a few days ago, we were still jointly planning the Lanling Jin Sect's Hundred Clans Discussion Conference for next month. He simply could not have been in two places at once; the Gravedigger cannot possibly be him.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'What if a Teleportation Talisman was used?'

Lan Xichen shook his head, his tone gentle but resolute: 'Using a Teleportation Talisman requires the cultivation of the Teleportation Technique, which is exceedingly difficult to master, and he has never shown any sign of cultivating it. Moreover, performing this technique consumes vast amounts of Spiritual Power, yet not long ago we went on a night hunt together, and he performed excellently. I am certain he absolutely has not used a Teleportation Talisman.'

Lan Wangji said, 'He need not go in person.'

Lan Xichen still slowly shook his head. Wei Wuxian said, 'Clan Leader Lan, you know in your heart who the prime suspect is. You merely refuse to admit it.'

The campfire's glow cast shifting lights and shadows across the three faces. In the desolate, ruined flower nursery, all was silence.

After a long silence, Lan Xichen said, 'I understand that for certain reasons, the world has many misunderstandings about him. But… I only trust what I have seen with my own eyes over all these years. I believe he is not that sort of person.'

It was not difficult to understand why Lan Xichen would defend this person. Truth be told, even Wei Wuxian himself did not have a bad impression of the one they suspected. Perhaps due to his background, he treated others with great humility and amiability, the sort of person who would offend no one and put everyone at ease. What's more, Zewu-jun had been on close terms with him for many years.

During those days when Nie Mingjue was alive, the Qinghe Nie Sect under his leadership was at the height of its power, its influence directly rivaling that of the Lanling Jin Clan. To whom did the death of Nie Mingjue bring the most benefit?

A qi deviation and frenzy leading to death in broad public view—seemingly an unassailable, irremediable tragedy. But is the truth truly that simple?