Chapter Text
Bai Lian breathed out another heavy sigh.
Another sigh slipped from his lips. Bai Lian tilted his head up for who knew how many times as well. But still, there's nothing to be seen up there. Not a single ray of sunlight pierced through the depths of the gorge. The only source of light would be those floating fluorescent glows.
How was he supposed to escape?
Another sigh slipped from his lips.
He sat down and leaned on the nearby stone. His mind wandered back to the old hometown where he grew up. How many years had it been since the last time he came back?
He could not even remember the last time he celebrated the New Year with his family. His younger sister—that troublesome girl—how old was she now? Fifteen, perhaps? Old enough to be married…Or had she married already?
Bai Lian recalled the young men in his village who had not yet married and were eligible to marry his sister.
'Ah… but what if she had taken a liking to someone from another village?'
He frowned slightly.
That wouldn't do.
His younger sister was spoiled and squeamish. She could barely lift a pot of rice, and would cry when a needle pricked her fingers during embroidery lessons. If she were married far from home, what would she do if her in-laws found fault with her?
'...Girls are really worrying.'
Thinking of it, his parents had long wished for a daughter. Even before his birth, they had prepared a name meant for a gentle girl. As a result, a brutish baby boy was born.
Fortunately, a few years later, their prayer was heard, and his younger sister was finally born into this world. Her birth was something that was anticipated by everyone in the household. Bai Lian wished her to be eternally happy and continue to meet people who loved her as much as her family did.
...As much as he, the older brother, had cherished her.
A sudden noise echoed from another corner of the abyss.
His thoughts snapped back.
'There are people!'
Bai Lian was about to leap out from behind the stone he was currently leaning against, but the moment he caught sight of the approaching figure, his entire body froze. When his sight fell onto the person walking in the front with a leisurely gait, he felt like he had been thrown into an ice cave.
'Why! Why is it him? Why must it be him that I encounter!?'
Bai Lian quickly lowered his presence as faintly as he could. He wished to be swallowed by the Earth if possible. Anything at all, Anything but being discovered by that person!
'It's him, it's him...! He's coming! Any DaluoJinxian above, please save this unworthy one!'
Even if that person was wearing a bright red robe and was currently plastering a smile on his face, but Bai Lian would never mistake him for anyone else. Bai Lian had seen him once before—during the final days of the Sunshot Campaign. That single encounter had carved itself into his memory.
Back then, almost every Cultivator who wasn't injured was dragged to join the last siege of Nightless City.
The reputation of Wei Wuxian on the battlefield had been spread far and wide during the past year of never-ending battles. It's impossible for Bai Lian not to know about him. However, that day was the first time he ever took a glimpse at the said man.
The memory surged forth—
Remembering what happened that day in Nightless City, the deepest primal instinct was forced to awaken from within.
The earth-shattering roars of countless evil entities sent dread to the depths of one's soul.
The night sky was heavy and suffocating.
The piercing sound of the Dizi lingered in the wind.
A figure clad in black, pale-faced, expression cold as death.
Bai Lian felt his entire body shaking from extreme fear. He tried his best to suppress the foreboding sentiment slowly creeping out, engulfing him from the depths of his soul. However, the vision in his eyes started to dart around uncontrollably, causing the scene in front of him to sway between dark and light.
"Oh?" a voice rang out, light and teasing. "A handsome young brother, hiding here?"
Following the playful greeting, a head popped out from behind the stone, revealing the face of the red-robed young man, Wei Wuxian, with a tilted smile on his lips.
"AIIIHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
A shriek tore through the abyss.
"Save me! Save me! Buddha! DaoZu!!"
Someone was howling desperately.
"No—no—please, let me go! Don’t come closer!"
Someone was pitifully pleading for mercy.
"...Uhh..uuu...huhuhuuuu...King Yama... Houtu NiangNiang...Your Majesty YuHuang...Anyone! Save me..."
His cries dissolved into pitiful sobs.
The red-robed young man hopped onto the top of the stone and sat cross-legged. He didn't interrupt any howls or cries from Bai Lian at all. Instead, he simply watched him with interest as Bai Lian called out every top figure from Heaven to Hell.
Only after a long while did he finally speak.
"How rude. Screaming the moment you see my face. As if I were some monster."
Bai Lian didn't dare to look at him at all and continued to curl up on the ground.
"...Though I suppose," Wei Wuxian added with a light chuckle. "It's a monster calling others a monster."
Bai Lian froze.
By then, Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji had caught up.
"Wei-Gongzi! What happened just now? That sound, what...is that...?"
Their words faltered as they took in the scene before them.
The two were once again taken aback—having only just recovered from the earlier, heart-stopping leap of Wei Wuxian. In the blink of an eye, their sweetheart had yet again rushed somewhere, without telling anything. Right after his disappearance, they heard the ear-piercing howls.
Bai Lian recognized the two and whimpered, "Zewu-Jun, Hanguang-Jun."
Lan Xichen's words halted as he saw what was in front of Wei Wuxian. He did not respond immediately; instead, his brows drew together slightly as he turned to look at Wei Wuxian, who sat perched atop the stone. Lan Wangji never said anything from beginning to end and was also glancing quietly at Wei Wuxian.
"Oh, he's greeting you. He said, Zewu-Jun, Hanguang-Jun." Wei Wuxian explained from the side.
Lan Xichen glanced back at Bai Lian before looking at Wei Wuxian again, hesitating to say, "This mummy..."
Wei Wuxian smiled faintly. "Judging from his robes, he should be one of the Cultivators sent earlier to explore the way."
Mummy?
The moment this word was uttered, it was as if an illusion had been broken.
'Ahh...That's right...I'm dead already...'
The desiccated corpse before Wei Wuxian let out a hoarse hoh… hohh from deep within its throat. Its skin was coarse and shriveled like aged bark; its cheeks hollow, its eye sockets sunken—lit only by two faint, flickering points of eerie light. The fingernails had grown long and dark, curving like claws.
Wei Wuxian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “A different kind of walking corpse… Is this appearance the result of the environment?”
He jumped down from the stone and began circling it at a leisurely pace. "Handsome brother, why don't you stand up and let me have a look at you closely?"
Lan Xichen stepped forward with a gentle smile. “Is there a difference? Let me assist you in examining it.”
At once, Bai Lian shrank further into himself, clinging tightly to the ground, his body curling in resistance. He seemed utterly incapable of rising.
From the side, Lan Wangji frowned. "He cannot move?"
"Oh?" As if realizing something, Wei Wuxian laughed helplessly. "My bad, it's my fault. He shouldn't be able to move, it seems."
Bai Lian heard his words and was finally thoroughly awakened from his illusion.
He should have realized it.
He should have understood.
Why had he been so terrified of this red-robed young man?
The terror that he felt earlier wasn't merely the trauma coming from his memory of seeing Wei Wuxian on the battlefield.
His desperation earlier wasn't because he was frightened by Wei Wuxian's past actions.
It's because he, Bai Lian, feared Wei Wuxian from his deepest instinct...as a resentful entity.
As a resentful entity, he trembled before something greater. After his death, he seemed to have been naturally transforming into a Walking Corpse, a resentful entity. Still, he's one who wasn't powerful enough to stand up in front of Wei Wuxian properly, much less bear his command.
Now that all of those illusions were ripped off, Bai Lian had to accept the reality that he was the monster, and Wei Wuxian was the human.
How laughable.
A monster, calling another a monster.
Wei Wuxian turned around and looked at Lan Wangji, "Lan Zhan, why don't you ask him with Inquiry? I'll go over there."
Bai Lian growled another hohh hohh sound from his throat.
Lan Wangji glanced at Wei Wuxian, "What did he say?"
"Hm?" Wei Wuxian waved a hand. "Oh, he agrees to talk with Hanguang-Jun. Then I’ll leave the questioning to you, Lan Zhan. And Zewu-Jun, since you offered, I’ll trouble you to help with the inspection." Wei Wuxian grinned.
"As for me…" He turned lightly, already moving away. "…I’ll go have a look around first."
Lan Xichen paused, but then nodded, "...Very well."
The last strum of the Zither reverberated in the enclosed space under the deep cliff.
"I understand." Lan Wangji put aside WangjiQin and glanced at the approaching figure.
From the darkness, Wei Wuxian's figure slowly emerged under the light, walking at a relaxed pace to the previous spot. "How is it?" he asked, noting that the Inquiry had concluded.
"He was among the most recent group of cultivators sent here."
"As expected." Wei Wuxian nodded.
The two of them fell silent and waited until Lan Xichen finished playing Rest with Liebing.
"Wei-Gongzi is correct." Lan Xichen lowered his Xiao and returned it to his waist. "It is not just the appearance of the Walking Corpse that is unusual. Even its transformation was somewhat odd."
"In what way?" Wei Wuxian asked.
"From the previous Inquiry, there is no specific desire enough to incite the transformation of a Walking Corpse." Lan Wangji replied.
After a brief pause, he added, "His strongest desire...was likely to see his younger sister live a peaceful and happy life."
Wei Wuxian commented, "That's quite an ordinary hope."
"Indeed." Lan Xichen agreed. "It is inevitable for people to have a wish that their loved ones will live more comfortably. But such a desire should not be enough to incite deeper sentiment, usually. Otherwise, how many people who wished for wealth would rise as a Walking Corpse upon death?"
Lan Xichen chuckled in the end, finding it funny as he imagined Walking Corpses rose in great numbers, and when they were asked what their regret was,
these hordes of walking corpses, all lamenting the same grievance:
"I want to be rich!"
The laughter slipped out before he could stop it.
The moment he allowed a chuckle to slip out, he was startled.
Unknowingly, he had already been influenced—enough to make a joke so lightly about death itself.
As if death were no longer a looming dread, hidden deep inside even Cultivators' hearts.
Next, as he removed the gloves he had worn while examining the corpse, another realization followed. It's already a foregone conclusion.
Lan Xichen laughed wryly in his heart.
If it were him in the past, why would he bother to examine the Walking Corpse in detail?
A Cultivator's job is to resolve grievances and exorcise evils. So what if the appearance of the evil entities looked peculiar? As long as the resentment was dispelled, the rest was irrelevant.
The procedure he would have followed before was entirely different from today. Unconsciously, even his approach to night hunts had been influenced by Wei Wuxian. Having a spouse who walked in the path of a GuiDao, he was brought to learn and empathize more with the target of his night hunt. It's no longer a simple exorcism, but a thorough investigation.
Forget it.
He truly ought to prepare himself to serve as a corpse examiner.
Most likely, in the future, he would be dragged into becoming a Ghost Cognoscente as well.
Lan Xichen brushed aside the thoughts crowding his mind and began to relay the results of his inspection to Wei Wuxian.
"Hmm..." Wei Wuxian cast a glance at the surrounding valley, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Interesting."
From Lan Wangji's Inquiry, the handsome brother named Bai Lian did not know how he had died. Having separated from his group, he knew nothing of how his companions had met their ends either. Lan Xichen’s examination of the corpse revealed poisoning as the cause of death.
The question then became, who poisoned him?
Wei Wuxian's expression turned solemn. "It seems we're not alone down here..."
His voice dropped to a whisper. "...Look into the darkness, can you see some light over there? What is that? Are those...humans' eyes? Or are they...something else?"
His breath hitched, and he looked around vigilantly. "Not good! Maybe we've been surrounded! What should we do?"
Lan Xichen, "..."
Lan Wangji, "..."
Wei Wuxian glanced at their blank expressions, and the trace of tension on his face vanished at once.
With a sigh of disappointment, he lamented, “How boring. You two should at least look a little frightened. Aiyoo… we should have brought a few disciples along to liven things up…” His tone was filled with regret.
Going into a night hunt with two of the most powerful Cultivators in this era, proved to be quite difficult for Wei Wuxian. There was simply no way to frighten them for amusement. If a few young disciples had been present, even a passing gust of wind might have been enough to make them cry out in terror!
Lan Xichen laughed helplessly. "Wei-Gongzi..." He seized his waist and gave a slight squeeze. "Enough playing around. What did you discover just now?"
"Not much. I saw our brother Bai's companions there."
"Have they risen as walking corpses?" Lan Wangji caught his observations.
Wei Wuxian shook his head. "None of them."
"Not a single one?" Lan Xichen was surprised.
He had originally assumed that this cliff might resemble the Burial Mounds—a place where resentful energy gathered, giving rise to malevolent entities.
"How about their remains? Was it similar to fellow Cultivator Bai over here?"
"No. Their bodies are decomposing at a normal rate, as it should be."
This Cliff in Kunlun Mountain was freezing cold. People who died here had their corpses preserved quite well. Their appearance remained close to the one they had before death.
"They died similarly from poisoning." Wei Wuxian added.
Lan Wangji’s brows knit faintly as his gaze swept across the shadowed depths of the valley’s long gully. "I have not sensed any presence of people or other things." He said.
"Neither have I." Wei Wuxian affirmed.
Lan Xichen nodded as well. If even Wei Wuxian hadn't sensed any "thing" at all, then there should really be nothing here. But then, how to explain the death of Bai Lian and his other companions?
"Even so..." Wei Wuxian murmured, "This place itself feels unnerving to me."
Lan Wangji asked, "How?"
"It reminds me of the feelings I have whenever I dive and remain underwater...Hm?"
OooooNngg!
The three fell silent, exchanging glances. From another part of the gorge, a long, piercing howl rang out. It seemed both distant and near, reverberating through the stone passages of the valley.
Lan Wangji spoke quietly, "The unidentified howls that the travelers heard."
Wei Wuxian turned around and suddenly pounced into Lan Xichen's arms. "Huan-Ge! That scared me!" He smothered his face into the crook of Lan Xichen's neck and clung his hands to his front collars.
Lan Xichen, "..."
Lan Wangji’s hand tightened at his side as he averted his gaze. “Let’s go and see.” Without another word, he turned and headed toward the source of the sound.
He walked so fast that in just a few breaths, he had been swallowed in the darkness ahead.
"Wait! Lan Zhan! That's cheating! Don't go ahead of me! I want to see it first!"
In an instant, Wei Wuxian, who was supposedly trembling in fright in Lan Xichen's arms, had pried himself away and dashed forward, following Lan Wangji.
He, too, soon was swallowed in the darkness at the bottom of the valley.
The only one left behind was the speechless Lan Xichen, along with Brother Bai.
Lan Xichen was just about to follow when his gaze fell upon Brother Bai, and he paused. After a moment’s thought, he took out a spirit pouch and carefully stored Bai Lian’s corpse within. Better to keep it for now—just in case they did not pass this way again later.
A few hours had passed since the three intruders descended into the depths of the mysterious canyon.
By now, dusk had fallen. The last traces of sunlight had faded beyond the horizon, and a dense mist clung to the cliffside, veiling the bottom of the ravine in shadow.
Amidst the darkness, a faint bluish glow suddenly flickered to life. Wei Wuxian caught sight of the approaching light and slowed his steps. As it drew nearer, the glow grew brighter until at last, a figure emerged from the drifting mist.
"Zewu-Jun!" Wei Wuxian lit up and bounced toward the person.
Lan Xichen held Shuoyue in his hand, its blade casting a soft glimmer in the dark. Upon seeing Wei Wuxian, he infused more spiritual energy into the sword, and the soft glow from the blade turned brighter. "Wei-Gongzi."
He steadied the man who had once again thrown himself against him. Wei Wuxian clung to his free arm, pressing his head against his shoulder. "Good, it's you that I met!"
Lan Xichen huffed lightly and nagged at him, "You and Wangji, why do you have to rush ahead in such a place? Look, we have become separated now."
Wei Wuxian pouted and hid his face in his upper arm. "I couldn't help it. I was just curious."
"Where is Wangji?"
"Hm? I don't know. When I ran after him, he had disappeared. I couldn't find him. Why did he run off so suddenly anyway?" His lips curved in a dissatisfied pout.
Lan Xichen's hand holding the sword clenched a little.
He glanced at the person beside him and asked quietly, "So, Wangji is not nearby?"
"Yes!" Wei Wuxian lifted his head and turned to face him as he spoke ambiguously, "Now that he isn't here anymore to bother us, Zewu-Jun, let's do something more exciting..."
"...Bother us?" Lan Xichen smiled and looked at him meaningfully.
Wei Wuxian pouted, his voice tinged with complaint, "Isn't he? Why did you agree with him tagging along with us, anyway? I asked you to go with me, just the two of us. Why did he have to go along? With him dangling around as a third party, we can't do anything freely."
Lan Xichen's eyes flickered slightly. "...Um."
Wei Wuxian continued to grumble, "Now it's great, if it weren't for him running off suddenly like that, pretending to be brave and causing trouble, would we be in this situation? Serve him right. Now he gets separated from us."
"...Well, you have a point." The corner of Lan Xichen's lips twitched.
"Forget it. Zewu-Jun, I said I didn't sense anything before, but actually, I sensed something not quite right around here." Wei Wuxian dragged his arm to walk in some direction.
"What did you sense?" Lan Xichen asked him quietly.
"Huh? I can't describe the feeling. But I think if I get closer, I might know what it is."
The two of them walked on for quite some distance. The path twisted and turned without end—if one had a poor sense of direction, they would not even be able to tell north from east. Even those who were usually adept would soon lose their bearings within such a dark, mist-laden gorge.
"It's here!" Wei Wuxian exclaimed and once again dashed forward.
He turned around and said, "Zewu-Jun, here, come I-, ughh—!!"
Wei Wuxian lowered his gaze in a daze, staring blankly at his own chest.
The bluish glare from Shuoyue was still glowing softly from the tip of the sword. It illuminated the dark patch slowly wetting his red outer robe from the center where the tip of the sword was embedded in his left chest. A rustic scent soon spread out in the air.
Wei Wuxian looked up with a disbelieving stare on his face. "Zew, Zewu-Jun? You...ughh...why?"
Lan Xichen stood quietly, a dozen feet away.
His right hand formed a sword seal, controlling Shuoyue to puncture deeper. Wei Wuxian fell to his knees. His face had turned deathly pale, blood slipping from the corner of his lips.
"Who are you!? You're not Lan Xichen!"
A strange smile slowly spread across the other’s face—cold, devoid of warmth.
"How amusing. Wei Wuxian, who do you think you are to complain about my younger brother? It seems you have grown arrogant, relying on my past indulgence."
"What...are you saying...?" Wei Wuxian clutched at his chest, his gaze unfocused.
The Lan Xichen opposite laughed lightly. "I have only tolerated you this far because of Wangji's affection toward you. If it weren't for his fancy, do you think I would let you do however you want? Who do you think you are, forcing your way into our brotherhood?"
Wei Wuxian’s mind reeled, his voice faltering. "Zewu-Jun, you..."
Taking advantage of Wei Wuxian's shocked state, Lan Xichen changed the sword seal in his hand, and Shuoyue rotated in a flash,
—splitting Wei Wuxian's figure in half!
It's already outlandish for someone with no sword at all to counter those with the sword.
And it's even more impossible to avoid the attack of a Spiritual Sword once it's locked into your body.
No matter how strong or agile Wei Wuxian was, he couldn't stop the movement of Shuoyue.
Until the very moment his body was torn apart—his limbs falling in separate directions—he still could not comprehend what had happened.
His eyes remained wide open, filled with grievance and bewilderment, as though he could not understand why the person before him had suddenly turned and struck him down without mercy.
Lan Xichen summoned Shuoyue back and looked on faintly.
He said, "Nice try. But next, try better."
The scene under the deep cliff was still quiet.
There was no one replying to Lan Xichen's words.
It's as if Lan Xichen were speaking by himself.
Nevertheless, Lan Xichen stood calmly and continued to speak, "Do you know what kind of person Wei Wuxian is?"
He poured more spiritual energy into Shuoyue, and the blade flared with light, illuminating the surrounding area for dozens of feet.
His face was still emotionless as he spoke, "Wei Wuxian is someone who carries himself like an unrestrained Jianghu Shaoxia. Someone who will chew the grass on his lips and sit crossing his legs. When he flirts, he will do it with a smile. When complaining, he will do it casually or do it in a teasing manner. And if he is truly displeased, he does not pout like a spoiled young mistress; he frowns, and his expression turns cold."
The corpse of 'Wei Wuxian' twitched slightly.
Lan Xichen continued, unhurried, "There are other things. Wei-Gongzi would never regard Wangji as a bother. On the contrary, he would be delighted at every opportunity to be by Wangji’s side—how could he possibly dislike his presence? More importantly, he would never accuse Wangji of feigning bravery or causing trouble. We are all well aware of each other’s abilities. What Wangji does, he would do as well. That is the kind of understanding they share."
His gaze remained steady as he added in the end, "Not to mention...in this world, Wangji is, perhaps, someone he adores the most in his heart. It is impossible for Wei-Gongzi to speak ill of him."
There was a strange laughing sound from 'Wei Wuxian' on the ground.
"Huh...so that's how it is...eheheheheeh...my bad...my bad..."
The split corpse of 'Wei Wuxian' started to squirm and began to join each other again.
"...Speaking of which, as expected of you Zewu-Jun, no mercy at all even toward his 'spouse'...without hesitation, a stab right through the heart..."
Shuoyue still hovered in midair, while Lan Xichen’s hand remained poised in a sword seal.
"I will have no mercy on those who meant harm to me." Lan Xichen said with a gentle smile. "Especially when it is not Wei-Gongzi at all."
He paused, then added mildly, "There is also one more thing that you inferred incorrectly. Let me tell you, Wei-Gongzi never shies away or holds himself back from doing whatever he wants to me, even in Wangji's presence. If he saw Wangji looking uncomfortable, he would do more brazen things to me instead, simply to tease him further."
Lan Xichen chuckled, as if finally realizing it now. "Yes, he is that impossible, a 10,000-year-old wood that cannot be carved. I have to be the one stopping him from going too far and being tactful not to stir Wangji's jealousy further..."
The 'Wei Wuxian' on the ground rose with an unnatural motion.
It laughed strangely, "...ehehehehehehehh...how pitiful...Lan Xichen, Lan Xichen...poor thing. Recognizing an impostor due to the lack of love his husband displays for someone else....ehehehehehehheeheh..."
Lan Xichen's lip curled in a slight smile. "What can I say? After all, I am the Thief who intruded halfway and stole someone else's beloved person..."
His left hand suddenly moved to form another seal.
"Wha-, Huh? Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!"
The creature shrieked as a talisman affixed to its lower back suddenly flared, resonating with the seal in Lan Xichen’s hand.
It's a talisman Lan Xichen had slipped onto it when the creature acted coy and hugged his arm all over before.
"My apologies. I have learned how to be sneaky from Wei-Gongzi." Lan Xichen grinned and soon slapped another set of talismans to reinforce the first set.
"How dare you!! How dare you!!!!!" It screeched an inhuman speech, and the appearance of 'Wei Wuxian' that it used before was distorted into something else, completely showing its real nature.
It struggled violently, but the runes from the talisman had glowed brightly in red, binding the creature even tighter.
"Oh, pardon me, I neglected to mention, those talismans are from Wei-Gongzi. I believe he used blood instead of cinnabar." Lan Xichen politely apologized once again.
As the creature heard that the seal contained the blood of that Damn Human whom it avoided at all costs, it howled even more in injustice.
"Foolish human!!! Do you know who I am? Remove this filthy blood from my body at once! I can grant you immortality—I can grant you eternal life!"
Lan Xichen’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He gave no comeback and instead pressed his lips into a thin line and clasped his hands, finishing the seal.
The creature stared at him in disbelief before letting out a final, shrill scream.
"Ahhhh—! Curse you, foolish human!!!!! Ahahahhahahah but it's too late, too late, hahahahhhhhhhhhhh....."
Its voice dissolved into manic laughter as it was sealed away within a pouch.
Lan Xichen’s brows drew together faintly.
Before he could consider the creature’s identity—or the meaning behind its words—the ground beneath his feet, the surrounding cliff walls, and even the air above suddenly lit up, one after another, with countless glowing arrays.
"Wha-!!"
The rest of his words were wiped out.