Under the obstructions of the gravedigger, the groups of walking corpses, and the thick fog, Lan WangJi still managed to successfully find the right hand of the corpse. Wei WuXian was more than pleased. He praised, “I expected no less from HanGuang-Jun! Now, we’re one step ahead of them again. What a pity that it’s not the head. I wanted to see what our dear friend looks like. Well, I guess it’d happen soon enough… Where’s Song Lan?”
After Xue Yang’s corpse disappeared, the circulation of the fog quickened. It seemed to have thinned and the surroundings became somewhat easier to see. Because of this, Wei WuXian suddenly noticed that Song Lan was gone. At where he had originally lay, only Wen Ning still squatted on the ground, staring at them blankly.
Lan WangJi put his hand back to Bichen, which he had already unsheathed. Wei WuXian stopped him, “It’s fine. There’s no need to be alarmed. Song Lan, or the fierce corpse back there, probably doesn’t have killing intentions anymore, or else Wen Ning would’ve alerted us. It’s likely that he regained consciousness and left on his own.”
He whistled lightly. Wen Ning stood up and proceeded to leave, his figure disappearing into the fog. The noises of chains dragging on the ground gradually faded into the distance. Lan WangJi didn’t say anything more. He calmly turned to Wei WuXian, “Let us go.”
Just as they were about to leave, suddenly, Wei WuXian stopped, “Wait.”
He saw something lying alone in the blood.
It was a severed left arm. Four of the fingers were closed tightly. The little finger was missing.
The fist of the arm was firmly clenched. Wei WuXian squatted down. Only by using most of his strength did he succeed in prying the fingers open one by one. After the fist had been opened, he found that it held a small piece of candy.
The piece of candy was tinted slightly black. It was definitely not edible anymore.
It had been clenched so tightly that it was almost crushed.
Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi returned to the coffin home together. The doors were open. As they had expected, Song Lan was standing beside the coffin that Xiao XingChen lay in, looking inside with his head hanging low.
All of the disciples unsheathed their swords. They huddled on the side, staring cautiously at the fierce corpse that had just attacked them. Seeing that Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi returned, they looked as if their lives had been saved, yet they were too scared to make any noise, afraid of alarming or infuriating Song Lan.
Wei WuXian walked into the coffin home and introduced to Lan WangJi, “This is Song Lan, Daozhang Song ZiChen.”
Standing by the coffin, Song Lan raised his head and turned to them. Lifting up the hem of his robes, Lan WangJi stepped over the high threshold in an elegant manner, then nodded.
Since Song Lan had regained his consciousness, his pupils returned as well. A pair of clear, black eyes stared back at them.
Amid the eyes that had originally been Xiao XingChen’s, a deep, indescribable sorrow brimmed.
Thus, there was no need to ask any questions. Wei WuXian knew already. During the period that Xue Yang made him into a fierce corpse and commanded him, he saw and remembered everything.
No matter how much more they inquired, how much more they talked, it’d only lay more emphasis on the pain and hopelessness.
After a moment of silence, Wei WuXian took out two Spirit-trapping Pouches of the same small size. He handed them to Song Lan, “Daozhang Xiao XingChen and Maiden A-Qing.”
Even though A-Qing was extremely scared of Xue Yang, a while ago, she still followed closely behind the one who killed her, refusing to let him dodge or escape until, finally, he was pierced through the heart by Bichen and got what he deserved. From a slap of the talisman, she had almost disappeared. Wei WuXian only brought back a few fragments by searching and piecing as hard as he could. However, now, it was also rather scattered, the same as Xiao XingChen.
Of the two lumps of weak souls, each was curled up in its Spirit-trapping Pouch. It was as if just a slight bump would cause them to dissipate within the pouch. With shaking hands, Song Lan took them over and rested them on top of his palm. He didn’t even dare to carry them by the strings, afraid that they’d sway too much.
Wei WuXian asked, “Daozhang Song, what do you intend on doing with Daozhang Xiao XingChen’s corpse?”
With one hand carefully cupping the two pouches, he pulled out Fuxue with his other hand and wrote two lines on the ground, “Incinerate the corpse. Look after the soul.”
Now that Xiao XingChen’s soul was so shattered, it definitely couldn’t return to its body, so incinerating the corpse wouldn’t be a bad idea. With the body gone and only a pure soul left, after being diligently looked after, maybe the day would come when it returned again.
Wei WuXian nodded, “What do you intend on doing afterwards?”
Song Lan wrote, “Roam this world with Shuanghua. Exorcise evil beings alongside XingChen.” After a pause, he continued, “When he wakes, say I’m sorry, it wasn’t your fault.”
This was what he couldn’t tell Xiao XingChen before he died.
The fog of Yi City was gradually melting away. One could already manage to see the roads and intersections. Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian led the group of disciples out of the deserted city. In front of the city gates, Song Lan parted with them.
He still wore the dark cultivation robes. Standing alone, he carried two swords, Shuanghua and Fuxue, he brought two souls, Xiao XingChen and A-Qing, and walked another path.
Not the one that led them to Yi City.
Lan SiZhui stared at his leaving figure, “‘Xiao XingChen, the bright moon, the gentle breeze; Song ZiChen, the distant snow, the bitter frost’… I wonder if the two of them would be able to meet each other again.”
Wei WuXian walked over the road covered in weeds. Suddenly, he saw a patch of grass and thought to himself, Back then, this was where Xiao XingChen and A-Qing took Xue Yang back.
Lan JingYi, “Now you should tell us what you really saw during Empathy, right? Why would the person be Xue Yang? Why did he pretend to be Xiao XingChen?”
“And, also, was that the Ghost General? Where did the Ghost General go? Why do we not see him anymore? Is he still in Yi City? Why did he appear so suddenly?”
Wei WuXian pretended as though he didn’t hear the second series of questions, “Well, this is a very complicated story…”
As they walked, after he finished telling the story, everyone was so depressed that nobody still remembered the Ghost General.
Lan JingYi was the first one to cry, “Why would something like this exist?!”
Jin Ling raged, “That Xue Yang is such a filthy scumbag! Death was letting him off too lightly! If Fairy were here, I would’ve made her chomp him to death!”
Wei WuXian was terrified. If Fairy had been here, before Xue Yang died, he himself would’ve been scared to death.
The boy who had complimented A-Qing through the door slit stomped his feet, “Maiden A-Qing, oh, Maiden A-Qing!”
Lan JingYi cried the loudest. He looked awful, but this time, nobody reminded him to keep his voice low, since Lan SiZhui’s eyes were red as well. It was fortunate that Lan WangJi didn’t silence him. Lan JingYi suggested through snot and tears, “We should go burn some paper money for Daozhang Xiao XingChen and Maiden A-Qing. There is a village in front of the road fork over there, right? Let us buy some things and pray for them.”