Arrogance

Over there, Lan Sizhui and the others, having found nothing in the old graves, had already moved to the Goddess Shrine to search for clues.

On Mount Dafan, besides the ancestral graves of Buddha’s Foot Town’s generations, there was also a Goddess Shrine. The shrine did not enshrine Buddha or Guanyin, but a ‘Dancing Goddess’.

Centuries ago, a hunter from Buddha’s Foot Town ventured deep into the mountains and discovered a wondrous stone inside a cave, nearly ten feet tall, formed by nature yet remarkably like a human figure, with full limbs and a dancing pose. Even more miraculous, the stone’s head bore faintly discernible features — it was a smiling woman.

The townspeople of Buddha’s Foot Town found this extraordinary. They believed it was a spirit stone gathering the essence of heaven and earth, and spontaneously wove many legends around it. Some said a immortal lord secretly loved the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden and, out of lovesick longing, carved a statue in her likeness, but the enraged Profound Maiden prevented its completion; others said the Jade Emperor had a beloved daughter who died young, and his yearning for her condensed into this statue. The tales were endless and breathtaking. The legends they invented convinced even themselves, so someone turned the cave into a shrine, the stone platform into a sacred dais, enshrined the statue as the ‘Dancing Heavenly Maiden,’ and for years offered incense and worship.

The inside of the cave was spacious, like a two-courtyard temple, with the Heavenly Maiden statue standing at the center. At first glance, it indeed looked very human, even its waist could be called graceful. Upon closer inspection, it was crude, but for a natural formation to resemble a person to this degree was enough to make people gasp in wonder.

Lan Jingyi raised and lowered the Evil-Detecting Compass, but its needle still did not stir. On the offering table lay scattered, half-burned candles and a thick layer of incense ash; the fruit offerings in the dishes gave off a rotten sweetness. Every member of the Gusu Lan clan had some degree of a cleanliness fetish, so he fanned the air before his nose and said, ‘The locals say this Goddess Shrine grants wishes very well, so why is it so dilapidated? No one even sends someone to clean it.’

Lan Sizhui said, ‘Already seven people have lost their souls in a row, and the rumor is that the lightning struck open a malevolent spirit in Buddha’s Foot Town’s ancestral graves, so who dares come up the mountain anymore? The incense offerings are cut off, and naturally no one comes to clean either.’

A disdainful voice sounded from outside the cave: ‘A broken rock, made into a god by who knows who, and placed here to receive incense and worship!’

Jin Ling entered with his hands behind his back. The Silencing Spell’s effect had never lasted long; his mouth was now free. Yet as soon as it opened, no good words came out. He eyed the goddess statue and snorted: ‘These country villagers, too lazy to strive when trouble comes, just burn incense and pray to gods and ghosts all day. In this world millions of people exist, the gods and buddhas can barely look after themselves — how could they possibly mind all of them? Much less a nameless, unranked wild god. If it were really that effective, then I’ll make a wish right now: let the thing on Mount Dafan that devours souls appear before me this instant — can it do that?’

Behind him followed a crowd of cultivators from minor families, who immediately echoed him with loud laughter and jeers. The once silent shrine suddenly grew noisy and cramped from the influx. Lan Sizhui shook his head inwardly, and as he turned, his gaze inadvertently swept over the goddess statue’s face — faintly discernible features, a face that seemed to smile with mercy.

Yet, he felt this smiling face held an indescribable familiarity, as if he had seen it somewhere before.

Where, exactly, had he seen it?

Lan Sizhui felt this was surely something important. He drew closer to the altar involuntarily, wanting to examine the goddess’ face more closely. Just then, someone suddenly bumped into him.

A cultivator who had been standing behind him collapsed without a sound. Everyone else was greatly alarmed and instantly on guard. Jin Ling asked warily, ‘What happened to him?’

Lan Sizhui, sword in hand, bent down to inspect. The cultivator’s breathing was normal, as if he had merely fallen asleep, but no amount of shaking or calling could wake him. He rose and said, ‘It looks like he…’

Before he could finish, the originally dim cave suddenly brightened, flooding with red light like a waterfall of blood pouring down the walls. The incense and candles on the altar and in the cave’s corners all began to spontaneously ignite.

With a series of clangs, people in the cave drew swords or brandished talismans. At that moment, someone rushed in from outside the shrine: carrying a gourd of medicinal wine, he splashed it all over the stone goddess. The cave instantly filled with a pungent, choking reek of alcohol. He then traced a talisman in the air, flung it onto the statue, and instantly the altar blazed fiercely, lighting the cave as bright as day.

Wei Wuxian, having used every last item from the qiankun pouch he’d scavenged, threw the pouch aside and shouted, ‘Everyone out! Watch out for the soul-devouring goddess in there!’

Someone cried out in alarm: ‘The goddess’ posture has changed!’

Just moments ago this statue had clearly raised both arms, one pointing straight to the heavens, one foot lifted in a graceful pose. Now, amidst the red-yellow flames, it had lowered its limbs. Absolutely true, no trick of the eye!

The next moment, the statue lifted a foot — and stepped out of the flames!

Wei Wuxian yelled, ‘Run, run, run! Stop hacking — it’s useless!’

Most cultivators ignored him. The soul-devouring monster they’d searched so long for had finally appeared — who would let it go? Yet despite all the slashing and stabbing with spiritual swords, talismans, and various treasures thrown, they failed to halt the statue by a single step. Nearly ten feet tall, it moved like a giant, radiating oppressive might. It caught two cultivators and raised them to its face; its stone mouth seemed to open and close — then the swords in their hands clattered to the ground, their heads drooped, and clearly their souls had been sucked away, too.

All attacks proved utterly futile. Only then did the others finally heed Wei Wuxian’s words and stampede out, scattering for their lives. With so many people in chaos, the more anxious Wei Wuxian grew, the more he couldn’t find Jin Ling. He rode his donkey, dashing and searching, until he galloped into a bamboo grove. Turning back, he came upon the Lan juniors who had caught up behind him, and Wei Wuxian called out, ‘Children!’

Lan Jingyi said, ‘Who are you calling children! You know which family we belong to? Think you can play senior just because you washed your face?!’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘Alright, alright. Big brothers. Send up a signal, call that… that Hanguang-jun of yours up here!’

The juniors nodded rapidly, scrambling as they ran. A moment later, Lan Sizhui said, ‘The signal fireworks… we used them all that night at Mo Village.’

Wei Wuxian was stunned: ‘You didn’t replenish them afterwards?!’

The signal fireworks were used maybe once in eight hundred years. Lan Sizhui said ruefully, ‘We forgot.’

Wei Wuxian threatened, ‘How could you forget this? If Hanguang-jun finds out, you’ll be in for it!’

Lan Jingyi’s face turned ashen: ‘We’re done for. Hanguang-jun is going to punish us to death this time…’

Wei Wuxian: ‘Punish. They deserve it! If you don’t punish, you won’t learn.’

Lan Sizhui: ‘Mo-gongzi, Mo-gongzi! How did you know that it’s not a Soul-Devouring Fiend or a Soul-Devouring Beast absorbing souls, but that goddess statue?’

Wei Wuxian kept running, scanning for Jin Ling: ‘How did I know? I saw it.’

Lan Jingyi caught up, coming up on his left and right, sandwiching him as they ran: ‘Saw what? We saw plenty too.’

‘You saw, then what? What was near the ancient graves?’

‘What could there be? Dead souls.’

‘Exactly, there were dead souls. So it definitely isn’t a Soul-Devouring Beast or Soul-Devouring Fiend. That’s obvious — if it were either of those, with so many dead souls drifting there, would it not eat them? It wouldn’t.’

This time more than one person asked: ‘Why?’

‘Ah, you Gusu Lan clan…’ Wei Wuxian could not hold back: ‘Teach less of those long-winded, stinking, and utterly useless lessons on immortal clan etiquette and genealogical histories of cultivation families that you have to memorize — can’t you teach more practical things? What’s so hard to understand? Dead souls are much easier to absorb than living ones. A living person’s body is a barrier; to eat a living soul, you must break through that barrier. It’s like…’ He glanced at the flower donkey, panting and rolling its eyes as it ran, ‘like having one apple placed in front of you, and another apple locked inside a box: which would you choose to eat? The one in front of you, of course. This thing only eats living souls, and it has a way to get them — very picky, and very formidable.’

Lan Jingyi gasped, ‘Is that how it is? That makes a lot of sense! Wait — you really aren’t crazy after all!’

Lan Sizhui explained as he ran, ‘We all thought the mountain collapse and thunder splitting the coffin caused the soul-loss, so naturally we assumed it was a Soul-Devouring Fiend.’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘Wrong.’

‘What’s wrong?’

‘The order is wrong, the causality is wrong. Let me ask you: between the mountain collapse and the soul-devouring incidents, which came first, which came second? Which is the cause, which is the effect?’

Lan Sizhui answered without hesitation: ‘The mountain collapse came first, the soul-devouring after. The former is cause, the latter effect.’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘Completely wrong. The soul-devouring came first, the mountain collapse after. Soul-devouring is the cause, the mountain collapse the effect! The night of the mountain collapse, a sudden storm came, thunder and lightning struck a coffin — remember that. The first person to lose his soul, that lazy bum, was trapped on the mountain that night. A few days later he got married.’

Lan Jingyi said, ‘What’s wrong with that?’

‘Wrong in every way! A shiftless pauper — where did he get the money for a big wedding?’

The youths were speechless. No wonder, since the Gusu Lan clan was a family that never needed to worry about poverty or wealth. Wei Wuxian continued: ‘Did you look at all the dead souls drifting on Mount Dafan? There was an old man who died from a blow to the head, dressed in a burial robe of excellent make and material. Wearing such lavish burial clothes, his coffin surely wasn’t empty — it must have contained several burial goods to weigh it down. The coffin split by that thunderbolt was likely his, and the people who later gathered the bones didn’t find any burial goods; the lazy bum must have taken them all. That explains his sudden wealth. That bum suddenly struck it rich and married right after the night of the mountain collapse; something unusual must have happened that night. It was pouring rain, so he took shelter on the mountain. Where on Mount Dafan could one take shelter? The Goddess Shrine. And when an ordinary person goes into a shrine, there’s one thing they inevitably do.’

Lan Sizhui said, ‘Make a wish?’

‘Exactly. Something like wishing for good luck, great fortune, or the money to marry. The goddess granted it: she sent down thunder, split open the grave, let him see the treasure inside the coffin. And when his wish was fulfilled, as the price, the goddess descended on his wedding night and sucked away his soul!’

Lan Jingyi: ‘You’re just guessing, right?’

Wei Wuxian: ‘I’m guessing. But if you follow this guess, everything can be explained.’

Lan Sizhui: ‘How do you explain Miss Ayan?’

Wei Wuxian: ‘Good question. Before coming up the mountain, you must have asked around. Ayan was newly engaged around that time. For any young girl who has just become engaged, she will inevitably have certain wishes.’

Lan Jingyi said, bewildered, ‘What wish?’

Wei Wuxian said, ‘Nothing more than, “I hope my husband will love and cherish me all his life, and only love me alone,” that kind of thing.’

The youths were stunned: ‘Can that kind of wish really be granted…’

Wei Wuxian spread his hands: ‘Simple. Just end her husband’s “lifetime” right away, and then it could be counted as “he loved only one person for his whole life,” couldn’t it?’

Lan Jingyi suddenly saw the light and exclaimed excitedly: ‘Oh, oh! So… so after Miss Ayan got engaged, her husband was killed by a wild beast the next day, because very likely the previous day she went to the Goddess Shrine to make a wish!’

Wei Wuxian struck while the iron was hot: ‘Whether it was a wild beast or something else that killed him is hard to say. Ayan also had another peculiarity: why, among all the victims, was she the only one whose soul came back? What made her different? The difference was, one of her family members lost his soul. Or, to put it another way, a family member replaced her! Blacksmith Zheng is Ayan’s father — a father who doted on his daughter. Seeing his daughter lose her soul, with medicine and treatment useless, helpless, what else could he do?’

This time Lan Sizhui caught on swiftly: ‘—He could only place his final hope in heaven. So he also went to the Goddess Shrine and made a wish — the wish was, “I hope my daughter Ayan’s soul is recovered!”’

Wei Wuxian praised, ‘That is why Ayan alone got her soul back, and also why the third victim, Blacksmith Zheng, lost his. And although Ayan’s soul was returned, it inevitably suffered damage. After her soul returned, she involuntarily began to imitate the goddess statue’s dance, even its smile.’

The common thread among these soul-loss victims was that they had most likely made a wish before the goddess statue. The price for a wish come true was their soul.

This stone goddess statue was originally just an ordinary rock that happened to look like a person. Through centuries of puzzling worship, it acquired spiritual power. But its greed knew no bounds; with a single deviant thought, it resolved to speed its power’s growth by devouring souls. The souls absorbed through the exchange of wishes were equivalent to souls offered voluntarily by the wish-maker — a fair transaction, seeking benevolence and obtaining it, seemingly reasonable and in accordance with the Way. That was why the Evil-Detecting Compass’ needle did not stir, why the Spirit-Summoning Flag summoned nothing, why swords and talismans were all useless. Because the thing on Mount Dafan wasn’t a demon or monster at all — it was a god! A wild god, nurtured by centuries of incense and worship. To deal with it using tools meant for slaying fiends and beasts is like trying to quench fire with fire!

Lan Jingyi cried loudly, ‘Wait! But just now in the shrine, someone else had his soul sucked away — we didn’t hear him make any wish!’

Wei Wuxian’s heart lurched. He halted his steps: ‘Someone had his soul sucked in the shrine? Tell me exactly what just happened, word for word.’

Lan Sizhui quickly and clearly recounted it. When he came to Jin Ling’s line, ‘If it’s really that effective, then I’ll make a wish right now: let the thing on Mount Dafan that devours souls appear before me this instant — can it do that?’ Wei Wuxian said, ‘Isn’t that a wish? That’s exactly a wish!’

The others echoed Jin Ling, so they were tacitly considered to have made the same wish. And the soul-devouring goddess was right there before them at that moment, so the wish had already been granted. Next, it was time to collect the price!

Suddenly, the flower donkey stopped and bolted in the opposite direction. Wei Wuxian, caught off guard, was thrown off again. He desperately clung to the rope, but heard from the bushes ahead a series of crunching, slurping sounds. An immensely tall figure crouched in the undergrowth, its enormous head moving over the abdomen of a person on the ground. Hearing the noise, it raised its head sharply and met their gaze.

This soul-devouring goddess had originally been facially indistinct, with only vague eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. But after inhaling the souls of several cultivators in one breath, she had now developed clear features: the face of a smiling woman. Blood dripped from her lips, and clamped in her jaws was a torn-off arm that she was chewing eagerly.

Everyone immediately turned tail and fled the opposite way, following the flower donkey.

Lan Sizhui said, despairing, ‘This isn’t right! The Yiling Patriarch said that high-order ones eat souls, only low-order ones eat flesh!’

Wei Wuxian said helplessly, ‘Why do you blindly worship him? He half-assed a bunch of his own stuff! Rules aren’t carved in stone. Just think of her as a baby: with no teeth she could only drink watery gruel, but once grown, of course she wants to sink her teeth into meat. Now that her power has surged, naturally she wants to taste something fresh!’

The soul-devouring goddess rose from the ground, towering like a horse, flailing her limbs in wild dancing, seeming utterly delighted. Suddenly, an arrow came whistling, struck her forehead, and the point exited through the back of her head.

Hearing the bowstring, Wei Wuxian looked towards the sound. Jin Ling stood on a nearby high slope, already nocking a second arrow. He drew the bow to full draw and let fly another skull-piercing shot. The force was so strong that the soul-devouring goddess staggered back a few steps.

Lan Sizhui shouted, ‘Jin-gongzi! Shoot your signal!’

Jin Ling paid no heed, intent on taking down this monster. With a grim face, he nocked three arrows at once. Having been shot in the head twice, the soul-devouring goddess was not angered; still smiling brightly, she advanced on Jin Ling. Though she moved in a dance, her speed was terrifying, closing half the distance in an instant. Several cultivators dashed out to tangle with her, slowing her steps. Jin Ling fired arrow after arrow, never pausing. He seemed determined to empty his quiver first, then fight her hand-to-hand. His hands were steady and his aim true — but all the immortal-clan weapons were useless against her!

Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji were both waiting in Buddha’s Foot Town for news; who knew when they’d sense something amiss and come up. To put out a fire you need water. If the immortal-clan weapons won’t work, then it’s time for some crooked ghost tricks!

Wei Wuxian drew Lan Sizhui’s sword from his waist, cut off a section of thin bamboo, swiftly fashioned a flute, and brought it to his lips. He took a deep breath. The sharp flute note shot out like a whistling arrow, ripping through the night sky and piercing the clouds.

Only at the last resort would he have done this. But now, whatever it summoned, he didn’t care — as long as it was full of enough malice and ferocity to tear this soul-devouring goddess to pieces!

Lan Sizhui was utterly stunned, but Lan Jingyi covered his ears and said, ‘At a time like this, you’re still playing the flute! It sounds awful!’

In the fray, three or four of the cultivators had already had their souls sucked away. Jin Ling drew his sword, now less than two zhang from the soul-devouring goddess. His heart pounded wildly, blood rushing to his head: ‘If this sword fails to cut off her head, I’ll die here — so be it!’

Just then, from the forests of Mount Dafan, rose a clinking, clanking sound.

Clink, clank, clink, clank. Sometimes fast, sometimes slow. It paused, then resumed. Echoing through the silent woods. Like iron chains striking together, or dragging along the ground. Growing closer, louder.

For some reason, this sound carried an intensely unsettling menace. Even the soul-devouring goddess stopped dancing, raising her arms and staring blankly into the dark depths from which it came.

Wei Wuxian put away the flute and watched intently in that direction.

Though the ominous feeling in his heart grew heavier, since it had answered his summons, it was at least something that would listen to him.

The sound stopped abruptly. A figure emerged from the darkness.

The moment they saw that figure, that face, the expressions on several cultivators twisted in horror.

Even when facing the stone goddess who might steal their souls at any moment, these people had not shrunk back, nor shown fear. Yet now, the voices that cried out were filled with unconcealable terror.

‘… “Ghost General,” it’s the Ghost General — it’s Wen Ning!’

The title “Ghost General,” like that of the Yiling Patriarch, was infamous throughout the world; everyone knew it. Usually the two appeared together.

This term referred to only one being. It was none other than the Yiling Patriarch Wei Ying’s foremost lieutenant — the Fierce Corpse that aided and abetted evil, stirred up trouble, served as a claw of the tiger, defied heaven and earth, and should have long ago been ground to dust: Wen Ning!