Chapter 6 - Arrogance

Only a few days passed, and Wei WuXian realized that he might have made a wrong choice. The donkey that he conveniently picked up was too hard to please. Although it was only a donkey, it would exclusively eat fresh, young grass with dewdrops still hanging off them. If it didn't eat high quality food, it wouldn't budge, and it'd lose its temper and kick around. For multiple times, Wei WuXian was almost kicked by it. It was useless, no matter as a mount or a pet!

Watching the Yiling Patriarch moan and sulk around as he was abused by a donkey, most of the audience could only stare in disbelief bordering on amusement. The ones who knew of Wei Wuxian's donkey, Lil Apple (i.e the Lan members and Jin Ling) laughed the hardest.

"You defend that horrible thing all the time and you call it sweet and misunderstood, but here you are being kicked by it!! At least you know it's useless, haha!" Jin Ling laughed in Wei Wuxian's face.

Wei Wuxian indignantly turned and pointed at Jin Ling. "What did you call my Lil Apple? So what if we had a bit of a rocky start when we first met? And you, Jiang Cheng, are you ever going to teach your kid some manners?"

Jin Ling and Jiang Cheng both went purple,

"Why don't you try reaching that brat, Wei Wuxian, since he seems to like you more than his actual uncle!"

"That's because I'm his uncle too, right Jin Ling?"

Jin Ling still looked too embarrassed to speak, and Jiang Cheng opened his mouth to retort back. Then he closed his mouth as he realised... even if Wei Wuxian wasn't biologically Jin Ling's uncle, his current body, Mo Xuanyu, definitely was. He closed his eyes momentarily to calm himself down, luckily missing Wei Wuxian's triumphant smirk.

Wei WuXian couldn't help but to think of his sword. The sword was probably collected by the leader of a prominent clan and would have hanged on a wall as a trophy that they could show other people.

"He really has a big ego, that Wei Wuxian!"

"Well... wasn't his sword in that Jin Guangyao's treasure vault?"

"Was it?? Then where do you think it is now?"

Both cultivators squinted at Wei Wuxian who refrained from sticking his tongue out at them.

"Why do you think he doesn't use his sword, if he knows how useful it is?"

"He's not even wearing it right now..."

Another cultivator turned around and said, rolling his eyes, "Obviously, it's because he thinks he's so powerful with his demonic cultivation that he doesn't need a sword. My father told me that's what he said back then, too."

They all gave incredulously mocking laughs.

Wei Wuxian, feigning temporary deafness, watched his drawing self pushing and pulling his donkey across farmland and eventually to an old well beside a large pagoda tree.

A group of people approached from within the fields. The people seemed to be rural villagers. In the group, there was a young girl with a round face that could be considered delicate. They also wanted to come over to rest by the shade and have some water, however, seeing that there was a wild donkey tied to the tree and a lunatic with heavy makeup and dishevelled hair, they were reluctant to go over. Wei WuXian had always thought of himself as one who was courteous towards women, so he moved over, emptying some space, and went to struggle with the donkey.

"Oh, that's right, wasn't Wei Wuxian known for flirting endlessly with women?" someone whispered. Unfortunately, Wei Wuxian, Lan Zhan and most notable cultivators had exceedingly good hearing and could hear every whisper of gossip.

Wei Wuxian glanced somewhat anxiously at Lan Zhan, afraid he'd take the gossip to heart, but, as usual, Lan Zhan had his blank poker face on.

The whispered gossip continued.

"Yeah, but then why is he...you know... with Hanguang Jun?"

"What?! He's.. with Hanguang Jun??" The cultivator sounded comically shocked.

Suddenly, Lan Zhan ostentatiously grabbed Wei Wuxian's hand and slowly interlaced their fingers. Wei Wuxian leaned closer against him, scrutinising Lan Zhan's face. Could he detect the tiniest of smirks?

Meanwhile, both cultivators choked themselves into silence.

After realizing that he was harmless, the people were finally at ease to come over. The girl sat by the well and smiled at Wei WuXian, as if she knew that he purposely moved away.

Lan Zhan gripped Wei Wuxian's hand even tighter.

One of the people held a compass in his hand. He looked into the distance, and then lowered his head questioningly, "We're already at the foot of Dafan Mountain, so why hasn't the pointer started moving yet?"

Everyone looked at the compass.

The designs and pointer on the compass looked strange, indicating that it wasn't a normal compass. It wasn't one that showed the North, South, East, and West, but one that showed the directions malicious creatures... it was a Compass of Evil!

Wei WuXian realized that this was probably a poor cultivation clan from the countryside. The middle-aged man leading the group called for people to take a drink and replied, "Your compass might be broken; I'll get you a new one later. Dafan Mountain is less than ten miles ahead of us, which means that we cannot rest for too long. We have struggled through the whole journey, and if we relax now and fall behind, with other people beating us to it, it wouldn't have been worth it." As expected, it was a night-hunt.

A few of the cultivators from the scene on the board were in fact present in the room, and at this point had suddenly recognised themselves in what they had thought was a strangely familiar scene. They racked their brains to this time so many months ago, straining to remember if they'd said or done anything embarrassing.

Without the contributions from its ancestors, if an average clan wanted to become famous and receive respect in the cultivation world, it would have to show its abilities. Only if a clan captured a fierce monster or a terrorizing being, could it have then been treated seriously. This was originally Wei WuXian's specialty area.

"Really? I thought his specialty area was controlling corpses." a random cultivator said absent-mindedly.

"I said originally. Though yes, I can still capture plenty of monsters, I'll make sure to invite you along one day, eh?"

However, during the days of travelling, he destroyed a few graves, but only found small ghosts. He happened to need a ghost soldier to do evil for him, and decided to go to Rice Mountain to try his luck. If he found a good one, he'd capture it and put it to use.

Sect Leader Yao, who had actually remained so quiet up until now that many had forgotten about him, found his opportunity to regain his face.

"I knew it! Your thoughts betray you, Wei Wuxian! Without Wen Ning to do your evil bidding, you go around digging up graves? And where is this Rice mountain you are thinking about?"

Ignoring the last question, Wei Wuxian answered sardonically. "What's wrong with digging up graves? How else would I find spirits for my Spirit Locking bag?"

Meanwhile, one of the cultivators was moving his Compass of Evil around.

"So weird... why doesn't the pointer move at all when we are moving towards Dafan Mountain?"

Wei Wuxian looked over discreetly, his curiosity ensnared.

His friend replied, "Maybe your compass is broken...find a new one next time."

"Impossible! Don't you know who made my compass?"

"What do you mean? Of course I know! It was made by Wei Wuxian! His crafts are not all perfect."

Wei Wuxian spluttered a bit on his water, opening his mouth to speak.

Meanwhile, the cultivators were still arguing.

"I know that! But I take this compass everywhere with me, and it has never been wrong-"

"His creations are unqualified! Why do you trust him so sincerely? Is Wei Wuxian your dad?"

"He is my idol!!"

Wei Wuxian closed his mouth, a bit flattered but also annoyed. Rolling his eyes, he fanned his face then got up to leave.

The dramatic irony in the scene was very entertaining. Both cultivators from the scene were hiding their faces behind their hands, not having known that the lunatic they were talking loudly near was actually Wei Wuxian, listening to them gossip about him. What was more, now the whole cultivation world had seen them too! It would be funny if it weren't so mortifying.

Wei WuXian left on his donkey, giggling and laughing. He didn't expect that, after so many years had passed, he was still alive in the cultivators' conversations. This was the so-called "much ado about Wei." If there was ever a poll to find out whose popularity was the most lasting in the cultivation world, the winner would be no other than Wei WuXian.

Lan Zhan gave a half smile seeing his husband giggling. He was glad that Wei Wuxian was still able to laugh after the traumatic events from his previous life. He had no doubt Wei Wuxian was right anyway, whether for good things or bad things, Wei Wuxian had always been widely discussed and talked about. Or maybe Lan Zhan had just always paid the most attention to gossip about Wei Wuxian.

To be honest, the cultivator wasn't wrong. The Compasses of Evil in use today was the first version that he made, and were, indeed, not specific enough. He was in the middle of making improvements when his "den" was destroyed, so he had to put everyone through the inconvenience of using the imprecise version one.

"That was your first version?? You can't just randomly make up gadgets like that on your first try!!"

"Obviously, I can, and seeing how much my Compass got copied and reproduced everywhere, you all seem to think it works! I really need to get around to making a refined version..."

A young disciple from the Ouyang sect spoke up. "Senior Wei, you could make a lot of money selling your refined version, since your first version got stolen and spread around without you getting any money or credit!!"

Wei Wuxian gave him a confused look. "So what? My compasses are meant to help people. Besides, I have plenty of money already, hahahaha! Hanguang Jun's money!"

After the group of people finished resting, they prepared to move on. Before they left, the round-faced girl took a small, partly-ripened apple out of her basket and handed it to him, "Here you go."

Wei WuXian extended his hand to receive it, grinning broadly, but the donkey also opened its mouth and bit at it. Wei WuXian quickly took the apple away. Seeing that the donkey craved the apple so much, he thought of a good idea. He gathered a long stick and a fishing thread, hung the apple on one end, and dangled it in front of the donkey. Its speed was faster than the best horses Wei WuXian had ever seen, leaving only dust behind it.

"I can see where the name Lil Apple came from now..." Sizhui murmured. It was a pretty ingenious device, but then of course, Wei Wuxian was the inventor of countless different oddities. He really deserved much more credit for his inventions, rather than constantly mocked and criticised. Really, if people used their brains more, they would realise how intelligent and generous Senior Wei really was!!

Without stopping, Wei WuXian arrived at Dafan Shan before dark. Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, he finally realized that the "fan" wasn't the one he thought it was. It got its name because, looking from far away, the mountain looked like a kind, chubby buddha.

Suddenly Sect Leader Yao understood why Wei Wuxian had called Dafan Mountain 'Rice mountain'. He had thought the 'fan' in 'dafan' was the character that meant meal or rice! What a child-like thing to assume! Indeed, the main message a lot of cultivators had gotten so far from the moving pictures was that Wei Wuxian was really like a large, overgrown child. If they didn't know better (remembering all the people he killed), they would have found him quite cute...

Wei WuXian reined in the rope and hopped off the donkey's back, holding the apple, which had been ahead of it for the whole journey, in front of its mouth, "One bite. One bite only... Hmph, are you trying to eat my whole hand with that bite of yours?" He ate a few bites from the other side of the apple, and stuffed it back into the donkey's mouth, pondering upon how he came down to the point of sharing an apple with a donkey.

Wei Wuxian sighed. "There, that was my lowest point..."

Suddenly, someone bumped into his back. He turned around to see a girl. Her eyes were dull and she had a smile on her face, staring into the distance without blinking. All of a sudden, the girl started dancing in front of him without saying anything. The dance was wild, with her arms flinging about savagely.

"How awful. A-Yan from Blacksmith Zheng's family has escaped again."

"It must be horrible for her mom. A-Yan, A-Yan's husband, and her husband... All of them were..."

Wei WuXian wandered around, piecing together the strange event that happened here from picking up on different people's conversations...

The scene changed...

(skip the next large chunk if you feel like it, but if you've forgotten the story you can read it again now...)

A few months ago, in a dark and stormy night, the wind and the rain caused a piece of land on Dafan Mountain to slide and collapse, which happened to be the burial ground. Many older graves were destroyed, and a few coffins were exposed to the air and struck by lightning, causing both the corpses and the coffins to be charred black. However, ever since then, people in the town started to lose their souls. The first one was a sluggard. He was a poor wretch, loafing about and doing no work at all. Because he loved to hike on the mountain and catch birds, he happened to be stuck in the mountain during the night of the landslide. He was frightened to death, but, luckily, he was safe. The peculiar thing was that, after a few days, he suddenly married someone. His wedding was quite large, and he said that he wanted to be charitable from now on and settle down. On the night of the wedding, he was completely drunken, having never woken up ever since he lay on the bed. The bride didn't receive an answer as she called him. Only when she pushed him over did she realise that the groom had dreary eyes and a cold body. Aside from being able to breathe, he was no different from a dead person. After a few days of lying on the bed, not eating or drinking anything, he was finally buried. Unfortunately, the bride had become a widow shortly after she married. The second one was A-Yan, from Blacksmith Zheng's family. The young girl had just received an engagement when her future husband was killed by a wolf on the second day, while he was hunting in the mountains. After she got the news, she also became like the sluggard. Luckily, after some time, her soul-losing disease was cured on its own. However, after this, she went crazy, cheerfully dancing to other people when she was outside. The third one was A-Yan's father, Blacksmith Zheng. Until now, this had happened to seven people.

Most were bewildered. Some could sense there was meant to be a connection between these seven people, but they couldn't figure out what. How did the girl's soul-losing disease get cured on its own? It was a thrilling mystery, and they were sure Wei Wuxian knew the answers. Luckily though, the board seemed to be deliberately being vague and skipped straight to Wei Wuxian riding up the hill, as if to give them more time to ponder.

Wei WuXian sat on his donkey and rode up the hill slowly. After a while, a few people walked down with ominous expressions on their faces. Some of them had scars on their faces, and they were talking all at once. With the darkening sky, they all jumped as they saw a person who looked like a hanged ghost approaching them.

Wei Wuxian laughed in glee. He suddenly remembered telling himself he should paint himself as a hanged ghost more often to go around pranking people. Too bad that since most cultivators were here, they would probably recognise him. He guessed he could still scare some random townsfolk, but their spirits weren't as toughened and he didn't want them fainting from fear or anything.

Coincidentally, he missed the group's whining, which happened shortly after he was out of earshot.

"I haven't seen anyone like this!"

"Would the leader of a big clan like that need to fight over a soulconsuming spirit with us? He probably killed tons of them when he was young."

"What can we do? He's a sect leader. No matter which clan you choose to offend, you shouldn't offend the Jiang clan, and no matter which person you choose to offend, you shouldn't offend Jiang Cheng. Let's just pack up, leave, and feel sorry for ourselves!"

"Hahahaha, so they're talking about you, Jiang Cheng!"

The cultivators who recognised themselves from the scene went bone pale in terror. They hadn't meant for their impolite remarks to actually reach the Jiang sect leader's ears. They were definitely doomed now...

Surprisingly though, Jiang Cheng didn't look angry (especially surprising considering Jiang Cheng was angry 99% of the time - he was basically born with a permanent scowl on his face). He looked a mixture of pleased and even a bit - sad? But He had hitched his frown back on within seconds for anyone to be sure.