Chapter 33 - Grasses

A/N: Sorry sorry sorry again for the crazy long hiatus !! Work and personal life caught up to me </3 However, I am alive and resurrected (Mo Xuanyu-sacrificial-ritual-style) and determined to finish this work to the end! Thank you everyone who is still interested enough to read.

Judging by the majority of comments, most of you would rather see all the chapters from the Yi City Arc, so here is the first one :)

The Shudong area was abundant in rivers and valleys. With towering peaks and a rough terrain, only faint breezes passed the area, causing the majority of places to be enveloped in mist.

When the audience finally settled down after their few minutes of gossiping, they saw on the board a pretty, yet undoubtedly creepy landscape on the board. At the sight of the heavy white mist, all the juniors who had been there at Yi City shivered as one. That place would haunt their nightmares for the rest of their lives, that was sure.

Walking straight toward where the left hand pointed, the two of them came upon quite a small village. A few rails of fencing encircled thatched houses made from mud. A brood of colorful chicks scuttered in and out of the yards, pecking on the ground for rice. A large, bright-feathered rooster stood single-legged on a roof. With a twitching comb, it looked downward loftily, its neck turning left and right. It was fortunate that nobody had any dogs. It was likely that these villagers could only get their hands on a few chunks of meat a year, much less have any leftover bones to feed the dogs.

"That's not a village. There are, like, three houses." said a Jin junior disciple critically.

"Yeah, so?" Jin Ling retorted. He wasn't sure why he had gotten annoyed over that - considerably because he had though precisely the same thing when he'd first seen the village. It might have been because that Jin disciple was interrupting the story, or because Jin Ling just hated all the junior Jin disciples in general.

In front of the village, there was a fork road, leading to three different directions. Of these, two were rather bare. Covered with a great deal of footprints, it was clear that they were often walked upon. Yet, the last one had been overrun with weeds. A square sign made from a piece of rock was positioned slantingly at this road. Subject to age and weathering, the sign was split down the middle with a large crack.

The audience gazed from the left paths, well-trodden and normal, to the path on the right, which looked like the most suspicious path they'd ever seen.

"Please... don't go down that path." groaned Guo Wanxin, staring at the old, cracked stone sign.

"Of course they're going to. Who's going to stop them? Why would those two not pick the most dodgy and ominous path? They live for the drama, honestly." a woman from the Meishan Yu Sect scoffed.

Jiang Cheng glanced at her sideways. He had been thinking the exact same thing, but the women from his mother's sect still unnerved him. They reminded him too clearly of his mother.

Even from within the crack, withered weeds peeked out. Two large characters, which appeared to be the place that the road led to, had been carved onto the sign. One could manage to tell that the bottom character was the character for "city". However, the top character was complex in both form and brushstrokes. The crack just so happened to have run through it, causing a few broken bits of rock to lay scattered on the ground. Wei WuXian bent down and pushed the weeds aside. Even after staring at it for a long time, he still couldn't figure out what the character was.

The cultivators squinted, but couldn't make the word out either. An aura of foreboding settled upon them. This place couldn't be a good one. Half of them braced themselves for some terrifying scares and the other other eagerly anticipated the fighting and blood that was sure to come.

Coincidentally, the direction that the left arm pointed at was indeed this path.

"Noooo.... but what did we expect?" a rogue cultivator sighed, shaking his head.

Wei WuXian, "Why don't we ask the villagers?" Lan WangJi nodded. Of course, Wei WuXian didn't expect him to ask. With a large grin over his face, Wei WuXian walked toward the villager women who were feeding the chicken.

"...stop grinning like that, you're married." Jiang Cheng muttered darkly.

Several of the cultivators lightened up, laughing at the Wei Wuxian Charming Flirting Face TM. Wei Wuxian scratched his neck awkwardly, nestling closer to his husband. Why had he done that right in front of Lan Zhan?

Among the group women, some were old and some were young. Noticing the approach of an unfamiliar man, all of them looked nervous, as if they wanted to throw their dustpans away and flee back inside. Only after Wei WuXian exchanged a few words with them, a cheerful smile on his face, did they finally begin to calm down and respond shyly.

Jiang Cheng rolled his eyes. That flirt! Mianmian also smiled reminicently, remembering a conversation long ago with some "Yuandao". Those words of his were always too smooth!

Lan Wangji's face remained stoic and unchanged as he watched this upsetting scene again. Wei Wuxian poked at him, worriedly petting his husband's hair. "Lan Zhannn~ Don't go drinking vinegar again, you know I only dare charm my beloved husband now, don't you, Lan er-gege-" Before he finished his sentence, he was tugged forwards in a tight, possessive embrace, face smushed against his husband's chest.

As Wei WuXian pointed at the sign and asked a question, their expressions changed at once. They paused for a moment, and unwillingly started to converse with him. During the chat, they didn't dare to look at Lan WangJi, who stood by the sign, at all.

Lan Sizhui frowned. "Wait, we didn't see those women by the sign when we came through, otherwise they would've warned us of the city's bad reputation..."

The other juniors who'd been there nodded. "Wasn't there just some hunter sitting there, who encouraged us to go down that dodgy path?" Zizhen pondered.

Nie Huaisang fluttered his fan, eyes carefully glued to the screen. He could feel Wei-xiong's eyes burning holes into the side of his head. Surely Wei-xiong understood by now it was all necessary, he'd done it all to bring down that snake, Jin Guangyao? He knew he went a bit far by endangering those junior kids, but he needed Jin Guangyao's crimes to be as heinous as possible... besides, it all turned out fine, right?

Sweat beaded down his temple... would the omniscient pictures reveal it was him who was disguised as the hunter? He needed to come up with a believable explanation as quickly as possible...

With the corners of his lips still curved upward, Wei WuXian listened intently. Eventually, it seemed as if the topic had switched, and the women's expressions calmed again. They gradually relaxed and started to smile timidly at him. Lan WangJi stared at them from afar.

"Awww... Wei Wuxian! Why are you forcing that man who is clearly infatuated with you to watch you flirt with some ladies? Stop being cruel to him!" scolded some women from a sect he didn't recognise. It seemed to be an all-female sect, though - the scariest type of sect.

Wei Wuxian glanced up at his Lan Zhan through his eyelashes. "Lan Zhan... I'm sorry, I definitely wasn't doing it on purpose!" He pouted. "I know it looks so silly but... I really didn't have any idea that you liked me!"

Lan Xichen refrained from giving a deep sigh and violating several of his sect rules by making a snide remark to Wei gong-zi. But how in the world could he have no idea about Wangji's feelings for him???

He waited for a while, but Wei WuXian still didn't seem like he intended to return. Slowly looking to the ground, Lan WangJi kicked a small chunk of rock that was by his feet. He stepped on it for a long time, rolling the innocent rock over again and again. As he looked up again, he saw Wei WuXian take something from his sleeves and hand it to the woman who spoke the most. Lan WangJi stood still, a blank look on his face.

Watching from Lan Wangji's point of view pulled the heartstrings of many of the cultivators there.

"Aaaaaa!!! Hanguang Jun looks so sad... this is not okay!" shouted one, tears filling her eyes.

"Yeah, Wei Wuxian, how could you do this to your husband?"

Even the cultivators who had at the start not wished to get too invested in the complicated mess between the Yiling Laozu and Hanguang Zun found themselves indignant on Lan Wangji's behalf. It felt so wrong to see such a flawless person so vulnerable. Even if his face was blank, his actions clearly showed his hurt.

Wei Wuxian was busy smothering his husband with guilty and regretful kisses, looking incredibly distressed. Lan Wangji refrained from smirking ("No smirking "was a rule) and instead pulled his silly, ridiculous husband to rest in the crook of his neck, muffling his apologies.

"There is no need for apologies between us." he reminded Wei Ying, who was now blushing.

When he really couldn't control himself anymore, ready to approach them, Wei WuXian finally sauntered over. He stood back beside Lan WangJi, "HanGuang-Jun, you should've went. There were even rabbits in the yard!"

Lan WangJi didn't react to his teasing comment and responded with feigned indifference, "What have they answered?"

The room was filled with sighs. "He's really clueless isn't he? We call him the Yiling Laozu, evil master-mind behind demonic cultivation, but he can't recognise jealousy if it smacked him in the face."

Lan Xichen, once again, wanted to console his younger brother, who had fallen in love with such a clueless person.

Wei WuXian, "This path leads to Yi City. The first character on the sign is 'yi'."

Lan WangJi, "Yi as in chivalry?"

Wei WuXian, "Yes and no."

Lan WangJi, "And why is that?" Wei WuXian, "The character is correct, but not the meaning. It's not yi as in chivalry, but yi as in a coffin home."

"...Who names a city "Coffin Home City"?" frowned a Jin disciple.

"Yeah, and then who would want to live in a place called that?" added his friend.

"When you are born into certain circumstances, sometimes there is nothing you can do. Not everyone can choose the path their life takes." Sizhui said gently.

The Jin disciples looked at each other, mystified, slowly understanding what the Lan junior meant as a perspective different to the privileged life they led on Carp Tower presented itself in their minds.

Lan Wangji looked proud of his adopted-son, and Wei Wuxian cheered, "Yeah, Sizhui, tell them!"

They stepped over the bundles of weeds and went on the path, quickly passing the sign. Wei WuXian continued, "The girls said that, ever since a long time ago, most of the people in that city have died early, either having short lives or meeting accidental deaths, so there were a lot of coffin homes for temporarily holding the corpses. Also, their specialty is in making coffins, paper money, and other sorts of burial goods, which is why it became known by such a name." Lan WangJi kept his eyes on wherever Wei WuXian stepped, while Wei WuXian talked as he walked, "They said that the people here rarely go to Yi City. The people inside don't leave, either, for reasons other than the export of goods. In the past few years, almost nobody could be seen leaving. Nobody has walked on this path for years. Sure explains why it's so hard to walk over."

Lan WangJi, "And?"

Wei WuXian, "And what?"

Lan WangJi, "What did you give them?"

The room filled with laughter again. It was clear that Lan Wangji's mind was not on whatever Wei Wuxian was talking about. First, he was watching to make sure Wei Wuxian wouldn't trip, and now he was asking about those girls he'd been flirting with. This show was definitely showing them a more human side to the untouchable Hanguang Jun!

Wei WuXian, "Oh. You mean that? It's rouge."

When they were in Qinghe, he bought a small compact of rouge from the charlatan that told him information about the Xinglu Ridge, and had always kept it with him.

Wei WuXian, "You have to show people your thanks when you're asking them things, right? I wanted to give them money, but they were too scared and didn't dare to take it. It seemed like that they really liked the scent of the rouge. They had probably never used such a thing before, so I gave it to them." With a pause, he added, "HanGuang-Jun, why are you looking at me like this? I know that the rouge's quality really isn't that great. But I'm not like how I used to be, when I always had a ton of flowers and jewelry on me to give the girls. I really don't have anything else to give them. At least it's better than nothing."

As if a displeasing memory had bubbled up, Lan WangJi's brows twitched, and he slowly turned his head away.

"..." Everyone was thinking the same thought - Poor Hanguang Jun!

Lan Xichen winced again. As if Wangji needed, or wanted a reminder of Wei gongzi's frivolous past flirting life. Wei gong-zi should consider himself lucky that Wangji was such a stubborn man, who would never be swayed after setting his heart on someone.

It was also disheartening to most of the male cultivators there to be reminded that the Yiling Laozu had always been and would always be a hundred times better at charming ladies than they would ever be.

On the other hand, it made the juniors idolise their Senior Wei a lot more. Another reason they wished they could be like him! Amongst them, there wasn't really any Wei Wuxian style flirters... what would they do when it was eventually time to find partners?

Walking along the rough path, the weeds gradually became fewer, climbing back toward the sides, and the road also widened. Yet, the fog grew denser. As the left hand formed a fist, a city gate lay in ruins at the end of the long path. The tower in front of the city had missing paint and a broken roof. With one corner chipped off, it looked unusually dilapidated. The walls of the city were covered in graffiti done by some unknown person, while the red color of the doors had almost faded white, every single one of its doornails rusty and black. The pair of doors was left unlatched, almost as if somebody had just opened a slit and slipped inside. Even before entering, one could feel that this must be haunted with ghosts and demons running wild.

"Uh...." Every cultivator there looked deeply uncomfortable, a feeling enhanced by the eerie music echoing through the room.

"That's the creepiest place I've ever seen." whispered the young child of two rogue cultivators.

"You haven't seen anything, kid." another cultivator said loftily. "Nightless City-"

"Shut your mouth!" The father of the child said angrily. "Don't speak to A-Lu like that, or about such dark things."

Another cultivator nearby added nonchalantly "Nightless City wasn't as creepy as this place. At least there was no fog to hide the violence, you could see what you were getting into."

"Not that it makes much difference in the end, if you can see the evil or not!" snapped yet another cultivator. "Nightless City was a hundred times worse-"

"It can't have been that bad, if so many scum rats like you managed to escape and gossip about it afterwards..." muttered Jingyi, effectively shutting the cultivators up.

As Wei WuXian walked down the path, he examined the surroundings carefully. At the city gates, he commented, "The feng shui is horrible."

Lan WangJi nodded without hurry, "Barren mountains and turbulent rivers." Yi City was surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides. The cliffs tilted toward the center in an extreme manner, appearing both menacing and constricting, almost as if it would collapse any moment. Bound by these dark, massive peaks and enveloped in the ghostly white fog, it appeared even monstrous than monsters. Even simply standing here would make one feel anxious and suffocated, along with a strong sense of being threatened.

The same Jin disciple scoffed again, apparently having forgotten what Sizhui had explained to him. "Why bother building a city and living in a place where you'd be cursed to have a short life? Just move to a better city, aiya!"

"Not everyone's a privileged, spoiled, Jin brat like you!" raged a disciple from a small sect. Jin Ling pursed his lips. He knew the insulting words applied to him too, but it was more important that his stuck up Jin cousins got the telling off they deserved, so he didn't argue.

Places like this were usually in secluded locations that weren't under the control of any cultivational sect. Of course, even if they were, sects wouldn't want to help either.

Such situations really were annoying, even more annoying than the Waterborne Abyss. The Waterborne Abyss could be chased away. However, feng shui was difficult to change. If nobody wailed in front of their doors, the sects turned a blind eye and pretended that they didn't know.

Major and smaller clan leaders blanched alike. It was rare that anyone directly called them out like this. What Wei Wuxian's thoughts dictated were completely true, but most of the sects and clans had a silent agreement to not call each other out, since they all participated in the same cowardly behaviour.

But of course, the Yiling Laozu wasn't affiliated with any sect or clan, and just reported the truth of the matter. Now that they were forced to acknowledge it, it made many of the sect leaders feel ashamed. After all, the point of their existence was to eradicate evil, protect the weak- and thus earn a higher status in society.

Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen, representing one of the last truly honourable cultivation sects and clans left, frowned upon hearing Wei Wuxian's words. This city was allowed to fester for 11 years and no one did anything?

For the city's residents, the easiest solution was to leave the place. But, if someone's family had been living at a secluded place for generations, it'd be almost impossible for them to make the decision to leave where they grew up. Even if five or six out of ten people would have short lives, maybe they would be the remaining three or four. It didn't seem too unbearable.

"Oh... that's really sad, if you think about it..." Zizhen sighed.

The Jin disciples were speechless. Such a despairing life, with no prospects, nothing except a morbid hope that they would be able to escape the curse of a terrible life... what a horrifying existence! They collectively decided to be a bit more grateful for their pampered lives.

The two halted before the city gates and exchanged a look. Squeak. Supported by hinges on the verge of snapping, the two city doors, although being unable to align properly, slowly opened.

Before their eyes, there was neither bustling streets nor violent corpses. There was only an all-enveloping shade of white. The fog was even a few times denser than the fog outside the city, allowing them to only see a long, straight street ahead of them. On the sides, there stood no passers, but only brooding houses. The two of them naturally walked a few steps nearer to each other, and entered the city together.

"I can't handle suspense.. or jump scares.." squeaked a young disciple from a minor sect.

"Hahaha you're such a baby! It's okay, I can, so just close your eyes and I'll tell you what happens." laughed his Jiang disciple friend.

Meanwhile, the subtle way Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji shifted closer together on the foggy street did not go unnoticed by the ever-vigilant band of Wei Wuxian x Hanguang Jun fans. They giggled behind their hands and cooed at how pretty the two of them looked.

"I just know this is going to be an iconic love story!" squealed one.

"They're both so perfect for one another..." her friend sighed. "I didn't believe in soulmates until I saw them together... and how their romance is still strong after 13 years!"

Lan Xichen gave an approving nod. If only he could sidle over to their group and gossip with them. The heavens knew that he'd suffered in lonely silence watching those two for long enough...

It was still daytime, but no sound could be heard in the city. Aside from the lack of human voices, not a single note of caws or barks could be heard either. It was more than peculiar. Then again, since this was the place where the left arm pointed, it'd be stranger if it weren't peculiar.

"...He's so weird..." said a cultivator. "It's not just peculiar, it's an entire haunted, empty village! He doesn't seem unnerved at all..."

"That's because he's Senior Wei." replied Jingyi snippily. "Nothing is scary to him!" Then he amended, "Except for dogs, haha."

Wei Wuxian pouted. "I'd rather take 16 Xue Yangs over one dog..." he muttered, causing everyone around him to send him an incredulous, but concerned side-eye.

They walked down the street for a while. The farther they went, the thicker the fog, as if evil energy permeated the air. At first, they could still manage to see anything within ten steps' distance. And then it became impossible to make out any figure more than five steps away. In the end, they couldn't even see their hands in front of them.

The cultivators shivered. Even though they knew the moving pictures couldn't hurt them, it felt like there was something hidden in the fog, watching them, waiting to pounce

The more Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi walked, the closer to each other they shifted. They could only manage to see each other's face if they walked shoulder-to-shoulder. A thought suddenly popped into Wei WuXian's mind, If someone took advantage of this fog and snuck between us, a third person to our group of two, it'd be hard to say whether or not we'll notice.

"S-senior Wei..." a junior stuttered, alarmed by this thought, "wasn't Xue Yang there...Aaa! Be careful Senior Wei, Hanguang Jun!"

Wei Wuxian wished he could ruffle the youngster's hair. The mini-cultivators were so adorable!

Actually, a third person  did end up sneaking up on them in the fog... Another point in favour of Senior Wei being psychic... Jin Ling thought.

Suddenly, his foot stepped on something. He looked down, but couldn't tell what it was. Wei WuXian grasped Lan WangJi's hand firmly so that he didn't go off on his own, bent down, and squinted. A head with a pair of glaring eyes ripped through the fog, jumping into his sight.

The squeals of delight at the hand-holding morphed into squeals of fright.

"Aaa they're so cute... but this place is so scary!" wailed one of the fan-club.

The head had the face of a man with thick brows, large eyes, and two smudges of rouge that stood out acutely. When Wei WuXian stepped on the head, he almost sent it flying, so he knew how heavy it weighed. Being so light, this definitely wasn't a human head. He picked it up and squeezed it. A large part of the man's face sunk in. Some of the rouge was also smudged. It was a head made from paper.

"...oh."

"He could've said that earlier..."

"My heart actually seized up, ouch..."

The paper head was skillfully crafted. Although the makeup was overly dramatic, the features were rather delicate. Yi City's specialty was burial goods, so of course the technique of crafting paper mannequins was decent. Among the paper mannequins, there were substitute mannequins, which the people believed that, if burned for the deceased, would suffer in hell in place of them; there were also maidservants and beautiful girls, which would attentively care for the deceased in the nether world. Of course, these were really only made for the living to feel some relief.

Most of the cultivators from wealthier or bigger sects had never heard of these practices before - they were common among the ordinary citizens. It made them wonder how Wei Wuxian knew so much about common people practices.

Among the cultivators in the room who were from poorer backgrounds, respect for Wei Wuxian - as a decent person, not as an overlord of evil - was growing steadily.

This paper head was probably a "Nether Brawler". Like its name, a "Nether Brawler" was a fighter, said to be able to protect the deceased from the bullying of other ghosts or tricky Judges. The paper head definitely had a large, sturdy body also made of paper to go with it. Someone had probably pulled the head off and thrown it onto the streets.

Jingyi humphed. "Who would even do such a pointless thing?"

"Why are you afraid at such a pointless thing, Jingyi?" mocked Jin Ling, "I heard you scream at the paper head... we've all experienced this in person before and you're still scared! Embarrassing."

"Who's embarrassing?" raged Jingyi, "You're embarrassing!

The strands of hair on the paper head were jet-black and quite glossy. Wei WuXian touched it. The hair was firmly attached to the scalp, as if the head really grew the hair. He thought to himself, It really was crafted skilfully. Did they take real human hair and glue it on?

The cultivators rolled their eyes. "Is this really the time to be admiring the hair on paper heads?" But of course, Wei Wuxian would be Wei Wuxian.

Suddenly, a thin shadow swept past him. The shadow was extremely bizarre. It ran past, brushing against his shoulder, and instantly disappeared into the thick fog. Bichen unsheathed on its own, chasing after the figure, but quickly returned to its sheath. The thing that slipped by him ran too quickly—a human definitely couldn't have reached that speed!

The crowd gasped as one.

"What was that?"

"It doesn't seem like it's got any malicious intent..." an older cultivator in green robes said. "It could've done a lot worse than brush Wei Wuxian on the shoulder while's he's crouched down ogling a paper head..."

"Hey! I hadn't seen such a pretty paper head in a while, no need to judge!" Wei Wuxian sniffed. "But your judgment is sound, uh.. Mister Green Robes."

Lan WangJi, "Pay attention. Be careful."

Although it only brushed past, it was difficult to say that the next time it came, it wouldn't do something else. Wei WuXian straightened up, "Did you hear that?"

Lan WangJi, "Footsteps and a bamboo pole."

Zizhen wailed "Miss Qing! Miss Qing.... A-Qing..." His father slapped the side of his head. "Who's A-Qing? Your girl crush? Shut up!"

Jin Ling and Jingyi snickered, while Sizhui's lips twitched.

He was correct. During the moment, aside from hurried footsteps, they heard another strange noise. The ta-ta sounded rather clear, as if someone was quickly tapping a bamboo pole on the ground. Wei WuXian didn't know why the noise was present. In front of them, from within the fog, came another series of footsteps. This time, the footsteps were light, slower, and greater in number. It seemed as if a group of people were carefully approaching, but not saying anything.

"Oh, here come the fierce corpses!!" The phrase was whispered around the room, most people getting ready for some action - and hopefully some fancy moves from Hanguang Jun.

Mister Green Robes snorted. "Quietest fierce corpses I've ever heard. Where are the growls and screeches?"

"Uhm... stealth fierce corpses?! Even worse!" his younger disciple yelped.

Wei WuXian fished out a Gloom-burning Talisman and tossed it forward. If anything surrounded by resentful energy was in front of them, it would burn up, and the fire would probably somewhat light up the area. The people in front also noticed that something had been tossed at them. They immediately attacked. A multitude of differently-colored sword glares rushed over.

"AAA the corpses have swords?!"

"You idiot, they aren't corpses-"

"Oh!" a Lan junior said happily. "It's us!"

Bichen unsheathed calmly and drifted in front of Wei WuXian, fending off all of the glares. On the other side, the people fumbled in confusion. Hearing the shouts, Lan WangJi immediately sheathed Bichen. Wei WuXian called out, "Jin Ling? SiZhui!"

Jin Ling felt a bit pleased to hear that Senior Wei called his name out even before Sizhui, his own son (basically).

Meanwhile the other cultivators were faintly disappointed at this anticlimactic outcome, but still interested enough as to why so many juniors were there without supervision.

"That could've been bad... imagine if Hanguang Jun had attacked them, assuming they were fierce corpses, without knowing they were just some kids!" a middle-aged cultivator gasped.

"That's why he's Hanguang Jun... he wouldn't act that rashly. Unlike you, Xiuying!"

"You-"

As he expected, he hadn't heard wrong. Jin Ling's voice sounded through the white fog, "Why's it you again?!"

Wei WuXian, "Well, actually, I want to know why it's you again!"

The audience chuckled at the silly antics. Wei Wuxian suddenly had a sense of déjà vu... Hadn't he and Jin Zixuan had a similar exchange, back then during the Phoenix Mountain hunt? He smiled slightly, reminiscing...Jin Ling really did inherit some of Jin Zixuan's traits.

Lan SiZhui tried to contain himself, but his voice sounded delighted, "Young Master Mo, you are also here? Then is HanGuang-Jun here as well?"

Wei Wuxian immediately snapped out of his wandering thoughts. "Aww, at least my A-Yuan is happy to see me! What a cute, filial child! Come here..."

Sizhui blushed happily and said "Okay!" His face fell tragically when he realised he couldn't move.

Hearing that Lan WangJi might also be here, Jin Ling shut his mouth immediately, as if he had been silenced again. He was probably scared that he'd be punished again.

"Ha! Who's afraid now!" Jingyi stuck his tongue out at Jin Ling. Jin Ling opened his mouth furiously, then realised he was still scared of being punished by Hanguang Jun, who had turned to look at the two of them, with the silencing spell again, and shut his mouth with a "hmph!".

Lan JingYi also shouted, "He definitely is! The glare before was from Bichen, right? It was Bichen, right?!"

Wei WuXian, "Yep. He's here, right beside me. You should come over."

As soon as the boys knew that the ones in front of them were friend instead of foe, they immediately let out a few sighs of relief and scurried over.

It was easy to see how afraid those children had been, and how happy they were to find an adult who could protect them. The sight made the hearts of many parent cultivators soften, and they felt grudging gratitude towards the Yiling Laozu. With him and his powerful reputation, those children were as safe as could be. But why had those boys been left alone in such a dangerous and creepy place in the first place?

Aside from Jin Ling and some of the Lan Sect's juniors, there were also seven or eight boys wearing clothes of different sects, who still acted hesitant. They were probably also disciples from distinguished backgrounds.

"Hey look it's meee~" giggled one of the junior disciples.

"Yeah, and there's me! Wait crap, don't look, I'm doing something weird with my hands."

"Wow, I look pretty good from that angle, don't you think, shixiong?"

"Stop being so narcisstic." sniffed his friend, trying to conceal his jealousy at missing out on such an exciting adventure - with the legendary Yiling Laozu, of all people, as a mentor!

The brighter cultivators were suspicious though. It couldn't be a coincidence that so many prominent junior disciples were together in an empty town that had clearly been forgotten for many years.

Wei WuXian asked, "Why are all of you here? With such an attack, it's lucky that I have HanGuang-Jun by my side. What if you hurt ordinary people?"

Jin Ling retorted, "There isn't any ordinary people here—there isn't any people here at all!"

Lan SiZhui nodded, "It is daylight, but there is fog everywhere. And there is not a single shop open."

The audience marvelled at how easily the Scary Yiling Laozu chatted with the junior disciples. He'd only met the Lans and Jin Ling a few days ago, and already they seemed to have an easy familiarity.

Lan Wangji looked upon his foster son with deep fondness. He never questioned whether Wei Ying and Sizhui would get along - he knew that if they were ever reunited, their bond would be unbreakable - but it had warmed his heart to see Sizhui already so attached to him. Then again, following his Wei Ying's reappearance in the world, everything warmed his heart. Even when they were being actively attacked, he had felt like he had been in a perpetually good mood.

Looking over to the beautiful, extraordinary man sitting beside him, he was struck with wonder. After everything, all the suffering they had been through, they had come out alive, and together. His life was a series of miracles upon miracles.

Wei WuXian, "This won't matter for now. How did you guys run into each other? Don't tell me that you arranged to night-hunt together." Jin Ling saw everyone as an eyesore and wanted to fight with everyone. And, since he already had an unpleasant interaction with the Lan Sect's disciples, how would it be possible that they wanted to night-hunt together?

Jin Ling looked affronted. While it was true to some degree, he wasn't that obnoxious. He didn't want to fight with everyone...Jut the annoying ones, like Jingyi.

Meanwhile, everyone else laughed at Wei Wuxian's evaluation, and at Jin Ling's expression.

Jin Ling crossed his arms sulkily. "I had no idea that behind your polite words you were thinking such impolite things, Wei Wuxian!"

Wei Wuxian just laughed. "You should be glad it's just my thoughts that got unluckily revealed to everyone. I'd bet your thoughts aren't very polite either, Jin Ling!"

Lan SiZhui obediently explained, "That would be a long story. We were originally..." Suddenly, a series of clucks and taps, the unusually ear-piercing noise of a bamboo pole knocking on the ground, came from within the dense fog. The juniors' faces changed at once, "It's here again!"

As the screen faded to black on that dramatic note, Nie Huaisang fanned himself to cool off the stress-induced perspiration. Thank god Lan Sizhui got cut off... he was about to reveal the whole dead cat conspiracy that might trace back to him if other cultivators decided to investigate after this!