Everyone agreed, “Sure, sure!”
As they talked, they arrived at the village. Lan JingYi and Lan SiZhui impatiently scurried inside and carried out a few random incense sticks, candles, and paper money. Walking over to the side, they built something that resembled a stove using bricks and rocks. The boys then squatted around it and started to burn paper money, muttering as they fanned the fire. Wei WuXian wasn’t in a great mood either. On the way here, he didn’t even tell many jokes. Seeing this, though, he finally couldn’t bear it any longer. He turned to Lan WangJi, “HanGuang-Jun, look at what they’re doing right in front of other people’s doors. You’re not even stopping them.”
Lan WangJi replied in an indifferent tone, “You can stop them.”
Wei WuXian, “Fine. I’ll discipline them for you.”
And he went over, “Am I seeing things? All of you are disciples of prominent sects. Your parents and relatives must’ve taught you that dead people can’t receive paper money, right? Why would dead people want money? They can’t receive those. And, you’re in front of somebody’s doors. If you burn them here…”
Lan JingYi waved at him, “Shoo, shoo. You are blocking the wind. It will not be able to burn anymore. And, it is not like you have died, so how do you know that dead people do not receive paper money?”
With a face covered in tears and ashes, another boy turned to him and agreed, “That’s right. How do you know? What if they can actually receive them?”
Wei WuXian murmured, “How do I know?”
Of course he knew!
During the ten-or-so years when he had been dead, he hadn’t even received one single piece of paper money!
Lan JingYi stabbed another knife into his heart, “Even if you could not receive them, it was probably because nobody burned them for you.”
Wei WuXian asked himself in silence, How come? Was I really that much of a failure? Was there not a single person who burned paper money for me? Was it really because nobody burned them that I didn’t receive any?
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was impossible. He turned around and whispered to Lan WangJi, “HanGuang-Jun, have you burnt paper money for me? At least you’ve burnt paper money for me, right?”
Lan WangJi glanced at him. He looked down, dusting away the ashes that stuck to the bottom of his sleeve, then stared quietly into the distance, giving not a single word in reply.
Looking at his calm face, Wei WuXian thought to himself, Really?
Had he really not burnt anything?!
Suddenly, a villager walked over with a bow on his back. He seemed rather annoyed, “Why are you burning these here? It’s in front of my house. How ominous!”
These boys hadn’t done anything like this before and didn’t know that it was ominous to burn paper money in front of someone’s house. All of them apologized. Lan SiZhui hurried to wipe his face, “Is that your house over there?”
The villager, “Hey, brat, look at what you’re saying. My family’s been here for three generations. How can it possibly be anything but my house?”
Hearing his tone, Jin Ling grew unhappy at once and was about to stand up, “How dare you talk to us like this?”
Wei WuXian pressed his head and held him down again. Lan SiZhui continued, “I understand now. Sorry, I did not mean anything else with the question I asked. It was just that, the last time we passed this house, we saw another hunter, which was why we were confused.”
The villager was puzzled, “Another hunter? What do you mean another hunter?”
He made a “three” with his fingers, “This house was passed straight down through the three generations. There’s only me, no other brothers! My dad passed away long ago and I haven’t even married much less had a child. Where on Earth would there be another hunter?”
Lan JingYi, “There really was!”
He stood up as well, “He wore a lot of clothes and had a big cap on, sitting right in your yard repairing his bow and arrows, as though he was going to hunt soon. When we arrived, we even asked him for the directions. He was the one who pointed us to Yi City!”
The villager spat, “Nonsense! You really saw him in my yard? Nobody like him exists in my household! Even ghosts could beat up humans in a place like Yi City. He directed you there? More like he wanted to kill you! The thing you saw was definitely a ghost!”
He spat a couple of times, venting out his anger, then shook his head and turned around to leave. The boys were left staring at one another. Lan JingYi was still protesting, “But he really was sitting in this yard. I remember really clearly that…”
Wei WuXian said a few things to Lan WangJi. He then turned around, “You understand now? Somebody led you to Yi City. The hunter who directed you there wasn’t a villager here at all. He was disguised by someone with ill intentions.”
Jin Ling, “Was it that somebody had been leading us here ever since the corpses of the cats? Was the fake hunter the one who did all those things?”
Wei WuXian, “Most likely so.”
Lan SiZhui wondered, “Why did he spend so much effort leading us to Yi City?”
Wei WuXian, “We still don’t know. But, after this, please be careful. If you run into such strange things again, don’t go tracking them down alone. First contact your sects and work together with a large group of people. If not for how HanGuang-Jun also happened to be at Yi City, you might’ve even died.”
Imagining what would’ve happened if they were stuck in Yi City, a lot of the disciples felt their hair standing up. No matter if they ended up surrounded by groups of corpses or facing the living demon Xue Yang, the situation would’ve been absolutely terrifying.
Walking with the disciples, after a while, when the sky had almost darkened, Lan WangJi and Wei WuXian finally arrived at the city where the dog and donkey had been placed.
The city was not only brightly lit, but also filled with the chatter of people. The disciples all exclaimed that this finally seemed like a place where humans lived.
Wei WuXian extended his arms toward the donkey and shouted, “Lil’ Apple!”
Lil’ Apple brayed as though it was mad. Immediately, Wei WuXian heard the barks of a dog. He darted behind Lan WangJi at once. Fairy had also rushed over. The dog and the donkey stood on opposite sides and snarled at each other.
Lan WangJi, “Leash it. It is time to eat.”
Dragging Wei WuXian, who was almost glued to his back, he walked toward the second floor, following the tea servant. Jin Ling and the rest wanted to follow, yet Lan WangJi turned around and gave them an obscure glance. Lan SiZhui immediately told the others, “The elders’ and the juniors’ rooms should be separated. We can stay on the first floor.”
Lan WangJi nodded and continued to walk up, his face as detached as always. Jin Ling stood on the stairs hesitantly, unsure of whether to go up or down. Wei WuXian turned around and grinned, “The adults and the children should be separated. It’s best if you don’t see some of the things that happen.”
Jin Ling’s lips twitched, “Who’d want to see that!”
Lan WangJi told a servant to prepare one table downstairs for the group of disciples and a private room upstairs for Wei WuXian and him. The two sat across from each other.