Wei Wu Xian’s first thought was, was it possible that there had been a problem with the youth’s flags?
The things that he had made, only needed a bit of carelessness to bring disaster. Which is why earlier he had specially confirmed that the Zhao Yin flag had no errors.
Therefore, when several pairs of large hands grabbed him to carry him out, Wei Wu Xian relaxed and allowed them to tow him along, also, it was convenient to avoid having to walk.
Dragged to the East hall, he saw everything was very still. People were unexpectedly unlike how they had been during the day. The Mo Clan Villagers were subdued. Only a few gathered at this time and they were all only family servants and relatives. There were some who were still dressing and others with uncombed hair. Each and everyone had terrified expressions.
Madame Mo was present. She was frozen still and looked as if she had just woken from a dead faint. Tear stains could faintly be seen on her cheeks her eyes were full of tears.
However when Wei Wu Xian arrived from being dragged in, the teardrops in her eyes promptly changed into the cold light of bitter hatred.
Lying on the ground was a single human shaped object. The body was covered with a plain white cloth and the only thing exposed was the head.
Lan Si Zhui was with a few of the youths. Their faces held serious looks. As they leaned over to look carefully at the body, they softly spoke among themselves.
The sound of a voice entered the ears of Wei Wu Xian:
“…found in less time than the burning of a stick of incense?” (1)
“A moment ago while we were dealing with the Zous.h.i.+, we pa.s.sed through the West courtyard towards the East courtyard. The body was immediately found on the porch.”
The figure was Mo Zi Yuan.
Wei Wu Xian swept one glance across but could not help a second look with both eyes.
This corpse did resemble Mo Zi Yuan, but yet again did not resemble Mo Zi Yuan.
Although the facial features were clearly the appearance of his cheap cousin, with the deep hollows in his cheeks, eyes bulging out of the sockets, and wrinkled skin, it was more as if the youthful Mo Zi Yuan had aged 20 years.
Also, it seemed as if the flesh had been sucked dry, into a skeleton covered with a very thin layer of skin.
If originally Mo Zi Yuan was merely ugly, now his body had become old and ugly.
As Wei Wu Xian was carefully examining the body, to the side of him Madame Mo abruptly dashed over.
In her hand, a cold light flashed; unexpectedly she was grasping a dagger.
Sharp eyed, Lan Si Zhui used quick hands to deflect the dagger. Before he could open his mouth, Madame Mo immediately screamed at him: “My child has brutally murdered, I must avenge him! Why would you obstruct me?”
Wei Wu Xian dodged behind Lan Si Zhui. Crouching there he said: “I had nothing to do with your son’s death.”
During the day, Lan Si Zhui had seen the treatment towards this man during the East Hall disturbance. Afterwards again from other people’s mouths he had heard a lot pertaining to this Mo b.a.s.t.a.r.d and had heard additional details and rumors. Towards this infamous sick man he felt a great deal of sympathy. He could not help but to say: “Madame Mo, the condition of your son’s body, the flesh essence qi was entirely exhausted, this was clearly the attack of an evil spirit.You must not blame him.”
Madame Mo’s chest heaved up and down: “What do you know! This madman’s father was a cultivator, he also certainly must have learned a lot of sorcery!”
Lan Si Zhui glanced over, seeing Wei Wu Xian’s foolish appearance, said: “This… nevertheless Madame also lacks evidence …”
“The evidence is my son’s body!” Madame Mo pointed to the body on the floor: “You see for yourself! Ah’Yuan’s body has already told me who the culprit is!”
Not waiting for the a.s.sistance of others, Wei Wu Xian scrambled over and lifted the white cloth showing the body below from head to foot.
Mo Zi Yuan’s body was lacking something.
His left arm, from the shoulder down, was missing!
Madame Mo said: “See? Just today, didn’t you also hear? This lunatic said something.
He said that if Ah’Yuan touched his things again, he would cut his arm off!”
Emotional, she covered her face and choked out: “…But my poor Ah’Yuan didn’t even touch anything belonging to this lunatic. Not only was he framed, even more his life was ended by this madman…”
Madman!
He hadn’t heard this evaluation about himself for many years, how nostalgic.
Speechless, Wei Wu Xian pointed to himself.
He didn’t know who was truly sick in the head, himself or Madame Mo. To demand the extermination of a family line with the fallen corpses of millions bleeding rivers and so on. Those kinds of fierce words had been said more than a few times, but for the most part it was just talk.
If what he had said had truly been accomplished, he already would have conquered hundreds of sects.
Madame Mo was not trying to avenge her son, she was simply looking for a target for her resentment.
Wei Wu Xian not wanting to further entangle himself with her, after a little thought, stretched his hand to Mo Zi Yuan’s breast, searched, and fished out something.
Unfolded to see, unexpectedly was a Zhao Yin flag.
In an instant his mind lit bright as snow showing the hidden way out: ‘One’s sin, cannot be escaped!’
Lan Si Zhui, seeing the thing that had been pulled out of Mo Zi Yuan’s breast, understood what had happened.
Connecting today’s farce, the consequences were not difficult to predict. Mo Zi Yuan during the day met with Mo Xuan Yu and having gone mad with rage from losing face, his mind filled with hate, intended to find a way to get even. Mo Xuan Yu disappearing outside in the confusion could not be found. Mo Zi Yuan thinking to avail himself of the cover of the night returned once again to perform his underhanded tricks.
Waiting until midnight, he secretly went out, and pa.s.sing the West courtyard he saw the Zhao Yin flags.
Although he had received repeated reminders not to go over, he must not go out at night, he cannot go to the West courtyard, and even more he cannot move the black flags; Mo Zi Yuan thought that it was just intimidation. He felt that they were afraid of the rare weapons being stolen and simply didn’t realize that these Zhao Yin flags had an ominous effect. In the case that they were placed on the body, the whole person at once would become a living target.
He had become accustomed to coming around with dirty hands stealing and robbing from his lunatic cousin. Being addicted to charms and seals and having seen this kind of thing at once his heart itched. It was difficult to endure; he simply must take one. Taking advantage that the owners of the flag were inside subduing the Zous.h.i.+, he quietly walked away with one.
The layout altogether used six Zhao Yin flags, five of which were based in the West courtyard. The Lan family youths were inside acting as bait, but they carried an unknown number of Xianmen tools on them for protection.
As for Mo Zi Yuan, although he only had walked away with one, he did not carry on his body an form of self protection tools. Like choosing a soft persimmon, evil spirits would naturally be attracted to the latter.
If it was only Zous.h.i.+, it would have been fine. Biting just a few mouthfuls, in a short time he might possibly have been rescued.
Unfortunately, this Zhao Yin flag called something more frightening than a Zous.h.i.+.
It was this unknown evil spirit that killed Mo Zi Yuan and took away his arm!
Wei Wu Xian raised his wrist, and sure enough the scars on the left hand were healed.
Apparently, the summoning contract had used the death of Mo Zi Yuan as an accepted contribution.
After all, in a lucky stroke, the Zhao Yin flag had been originally created by Wei Wu Xian.
Madame Mo was well aware of her son’s foibles, but in no case was she willing to admit that the death of Mo Zi Yuan was his own fault. Simultaneously anxious and ashamed, and with the intention of a furious attack, she grabbed and raised a cup of tea to throw against Wei Wu Xian’s face: “If it wasn’t for you making a scene and framing him in front of so many people, would he have been out at midnight? This is entirely this b.a.s.t.a.r.ds fault!”
Wei Wu Xian, already taking precaution, dodged sideways to hide.
Madame Mo once again clashed against Lan Si Zhui and screamed out: “And you! This group of useless people! What cultivators, what immortal eliminators of evil, you can’t even protect a child! Ah’Yuan was only a teenager!”
These youths were still young, didn’t have much life experience, and were not yet aware that this place was abnormal. Furthermore they didn’t expect that there would be this kind of savage evil spirit. They originally felt that perhaps it had been their own oversight and had felt remorseful. However as Madame Mo indiscriminately cursed them, their complexions turned bad. After all they were all born of good families, never had anyone dared to treat them this way.
Gu Su Lan clan family teachings were extremely strict. It was taboo to strike out at ordinary people. Even being disrespectful was out of the question. Therefore although they were unhappy, they were forced to suppress their feelings..
Wei Wu Xian however, could not continue watching, thinking to himself: ‘After so many years, Lan family unexpectedly still has so much moral integrity, to demand such self restraint, he himself could not do the same. I should watch out!’
He let out a spitting noise “Pei” and cried out: “Who do you think you are, do you really think other people are your servants? A distant household came over to expel devils and rid you of evils for free. Owe you? Your precious child? This year he must be seventeen and you still call him a child? Does this child not understand speech? Yesterday wasn’t he warned over and over, again and again that he must not under any circ.u.mstances approach the West courtyard? Your son goes out at midnight to screw around and you blame me? There’s no blame for him?”
Lan Jing Yi let out a breath, his complexion at long last no longer looked so stifled.
Madame Mo overwhelmed with grief and resentment, with her whole heart could only think the word ‘Die’.
Not for her to die with her son, but for everyone in the world to die, especially the people in front of her.
This matter she pushed onto her husband: “Send the them out! Send everyone out!”
Her husband was frozen. It was uncertain whether or not the shock of his only son’s death was too much, he unexpectedly backhanded her.
Madame Mo fell to the ground, startled, and stayed there.
In the past Madame Mo did not need to push him to make her demands, so long as her voice was raised, he right away followed her commands, unexpectedly now he dared to hit back!
All the servants were frightened by the look on her face, Ah’Ding quivered and trembled as she attempted to help her stand up, Madame Mo hand to her chest, voice trembling: “You…you… you also get out of here!”
Her husband was as if he had become deaf. Ah’Ding to Ah’Tong made several meaningful glances. Ah’Tong hurriedly supported his master to walk out. The East hall inside and out was in extreme disorder.
Wei Wu Xian seeing that the household was at last peaceful, prepared to continue to look over the corpse, however before he could start, again there was a resounding scream from the courtyard.
The people inside the hall rushed out.
Only to see on the ground of the East courtyard two individuals twitching.
Ah’Tong was sitting on the ground, alive but paralyzed.
Another was fallen on the ground, flesh and blood seemingly drained empty, wrinkled dry, left arm gone, and no blood flowing from the wound.
The corpse and Mo Zi Yuan were exactly the same.
Madame Mo shook off the supporting arm of Ah’Ding, saw the corpse that had fallen to the ground straight ahead, and in the end again with no more strength to react, fainted dead away.
Wei Wu Xian fortunately standing in the vicinity, used his hand to support her body, and delivered her to Ah’Ding. Once more he looked at his right hand, the scars had vanished.
Only having just left the threshold of the East hall, Madame Mo’s husband had been killed on the spot in an instant.
Lan Si Zhui and Lan Jing Yi’s complexions both turned pale.
Lan Si Zhui, the fastest to calm down, asked the paralyzed Ah’Tong: “Did you see what happened?”
Ah’Tong, frightened half to death, tongue frozen, could not speak but could only repeatedly shake his head.
Lan Si Zhui, burning with anxiety, brought everyone back into the room, and towards Lan Jing Yi said: “Did you send out the signal?”
Lan Jing Yi replied: “The signal was sent, but if there are no seniors nearby to come give support, the quickest would take an hour to arrive.
What do we do now? We don’t know what kind of thing it is.”
It would be impossible to leave. If the family juniors met spirits but only considered escape then not only would their clan lose face, they themselves would be too ashamed to go out in public.
The frightened Mo family couldn’t follow as the evil spirit simply would right away mix itself among them.
Lan Si Zhui grit his teeth: “We will guard and wait for help to come!”
The distress call had already been issued, soon there would be others arriving to provide support.
To avoid more trouble, Wei Wu Xian ought to retreat.
If the people who come don’t notice it would be good, if they just come and it’s someone who has worked or fought with him, then it would not be easy to deal with.
With the curse he carried, however at present he couldn’t leave the Mo Clan Village.
Moreover this thing was something that had killed two people in a short time in a brutal unusual way. If Wei Wu Xian were to leave now, once the support people arrived, perhaps the entire Mo Clan Village would be full of dead bodies filling the streets missing their left arms, furthermore, there would possibly be among them a few of the Gu Su Lan youths.
Thinking for a moment, Wei Wu Xian said to himself: ‘We need a quick fix.’
(1) Around five minutes.
Translators note:
Ahh. This writer (or is it Chinese in general?) uses so many short phrases and commas. If it’s translated literally the result starts looking really choppy. I tried to smooth them out and add periods and things but I still ended up with a lot of list like sentences.
