Jiang Cheng took over the talisman and examined it closely, “Only a few brushstrokes were added, and the entire function of the talisman was reversed? Was this a human deed?”
Lan WangJi, “Four brushstrokes were added. It was drawn using human blood. All of the residential talismans in the supervision office have been altered. The strokes were those of the same person.”
Jiang Cheng, “Then who could this person possibly be? Amongst all of the renowned cultivators, I haven’t heard of any who can do such a thing.
Immediately after, he continued, “But no matter who they are, it’s fine as long as their objective is the same as ours—to kill all of the Wen-dogs!”
The two went up North according to the information. Everywhere they went, they heard talk of strange corpses appearing there. All of the corpses were cultivators of the Wen Sect, dressed in sun robes. All of them were high in both rank and cultivation. In spite of so, all of them died in gruesome yet diverse ways, and all of them had been left in the public where many could see.
Jiang Cheng, “Do you think that these people were killed by that person as well?”
Lan WangJi, “The dark energy is quite heavy. They should have been done by the same person.”
Jiang Cheng snorted, “Dark? In this world, could there be anything darker than the Wen-dogs?!”
The had been chasing until late into the fourth night. The two had finally caught sight of Wen ZhuLiu in the courier station of a remote mountainous city.
The courier station was two stories tall. A stable was right next to the building. When Lan WangJi and Jiang Cheng arrived, they happened to see a tall shadow rush inside and lock the doors behind him. Afraid of Wen ZhuLiu’s ‘Core-Melting Hand’ technique, the two decided not to alert the enemy and flipped onto the roof instead of entering through the door. Jiang Cheng forced back the towering hatred within him. Clenching his teeth, he stared without a blink down through a slit between the roof tiles.
Wen ZhuLiu seemed to have been travelling. In his arms was another figure. As though dragging his legs, he walked to the second floor and placed the person beside the table. He then ran to all of the windows and closed the curtains so that not even a breeze could pass through. He finally returned to the table and lit up the oil lamp.
The faint light illuminated his face. It was still pale, still cold, but two dense smears of black were under his eyes. The other person by the table was covered entirely. Even their face was hidden in a cape. As though inside of a fragile cocoon, the person shivered within the cape, panting as he suddenly exclaimed, “Don’t light the lamp! What if he finds us?!”
Lan WangJi looked up, exchanging a look with Jiang Cheng. Both of them had the same confused look.
This person had to be Wen Chao. But how did Wen Chao’s voice become like this? So thin and so sharp, it didn’t seem to be Wen Chao at all?
Head down, Wen ZhuLiu searched through the belongings within his sleeves, “Is it that if we don’t light the lamp, he won’t be able to find us?”
Wen Chao panted, “W-We’ve run so far, for so long. H-He shouldn’t b-be able to catch us, right?”
Wen ZhuLiu appeared to be indifferent, “Perhaps.”
Wen Chao fumed, “What do you mean perhaps?! If we haven’t outrun him why did you stop?!”
Wen ZhuLiu, “You need ointment. Or else you’ll be dead for certain.”
As he spoke, he took off Wen Chao’s cape. Both of the two on the roof were shocked.
Under the cape, it wasn’t Wen Chao’s arrogant, greasily handsome face, but rather a bald head enwrapped in bandages!
Wen ZhuLiu peeled off the bandages layer by layer, revealing the skin of the bald man. On the face, scars and burn marks scattered without order, making him look as if he’d been cooked. Ugly, hideous, they couldn’t see at all the shadow of whom he used to be!
Wen ZhuLiu took out the bottle of medicine. He first fed him a couple of round pills before he took out some ointment and applied it to the burn marks on his head and his face. Wen Chao whimpered in pain, though Wen ZhuLiu stopped him, “Don’t cry. Or else the tears would make the wounds fester and worsen the pain.”
Wen Chao could only hold back his tears, unable to even cry. By the flickering light of the fire, a bald man covered in burn marks contorted his face, strange, muffled noises coming out of his mouth. The flame was on the verge of dying, a dim yellow. The sight was beyond frightening.
Suddenly, Wen Chao shrieked, “The flute! The flute! Is it the flute?! I heard him play the flute again!”
Wen ZhuLiu, “No! It was the wind.”
However, Wen Chao was so scared that he had fallen to the ground, wailing. Wen ZhuLiu picked him up again. It seemed that something had happened to Wen Chao’s legs and he couldn’t walk on his own.
After Wen ZhuLiu finished applying the ointment, he took out a few buns from his lapel and put one in his hand, “Eat. We’ll continue after you finish.”
With shaking hands, Wen Chao cupped it in his hands and took a bite out of it. Seeing this, Jiang Cheng remembered what a plight he and Wei WuXian were in the day when they fled. The didn’t even have any food. Such a situation was karma indeed!
Heart filled with joy, the corners of his curled lifted and he broke into mad but soundless laughter.
Suddenly, Wen Chao looked as if he had bitten something that caused him react with such a petrified expression. He threw the bun away and screamed, “I’m not eating meat! I’m not! I’m not! I’m not eating meat!”
Wen ZhuLiu passed him another one, “This one isn’t meat.”
Wen Chao, “I’m not eating it! Take it away! Get lost! I want to find my dad. When can we get back to my dad?!”
Wen ZhuLiu, “At this speed, two more days.”
His words were quite honest, neither emphasized nor faked. However, the honesty created much torment on Wen Chao’s part, “Two days? Two days?! Do you see how I am right now? If I wait for two more days, how would I be then?! You useless thing!”
Wen ZhuLiu suddenly stood up. Wen Chao flinched from fear. He thought that he wanted to flee alone and was immediately scared. All of the guards died in front of him one by one. Wen ZhuLiu was both his strongest and his last support. He quickly changed his words, “No no no, Wen ZhuLiu, Brother Wen! Don’t go, don’t leave me behind. If you can take me back to my dad, I’ll let him promote you to the highest level guest cultivator! No no no, you saved me, so you’re my brother—I’ll let him recognize you into the main clan! From now on you’ll be my elder brother!”
Wen ZhuLiu stared in the direction of the stairs, “There’s no need.”
Not only had he heard, both Lan WangJi and Jiang Cheng heard as well. Footsteps, one after another, came from the stairs of the courier station.
Somebody was walking up the stairs, one step at a time.
All of the excess blood had drained from Wen Chao’s burnt face. Trembling, he moved his hands out of the cape and covered his face with them, as though he was so scared that he wanted to cover his eyes to protect himself, pretending that nothing was happening. The pair of palms, on the other hand, was bare, without a single finger on it!
Tap, tap, tap.
The person slowly walked upstairs. He was covered in black. With a slender physique, he had a flute at his waist, hands behind his back.