Wei WuXian, “I’ve already said that I can’t do anything about it.”
Xue Yang, “Don’t be so eager to refuse me. If you don’t know what to do about it, the both of us can discuss the matter together.” Before he finished his sentence, he lunged once more. Wei WuXian dodged and dodged again, surrounded by ragged strips of paper that covered the ground. He thought to himself, The little delinquent has some good moves. Watching Xue Yang’s attacks become greater in both speed and lethality, Wei WuXian couldn’t help but exclaim, “Are you really taking advantage of my body’s low spiritual power?”
Xue Yang, “That’s right!”
Wei WuXian had finally met someone more shameless than him. He returned the smile, “It’d be better for one to upset a hero than to upset a rogue, which is you, in this case. I’m not dealing with you any longer. Let’s have someone else.”
Xue Yang grinned, “Who else? That HanGuang-Jun? I got more than three hundred walking corpses to gang up on him. He…”
Before he finished his sentence, a white-robed figure descended from the sky. Bichen’s icy blue glare swept at him.
Chapter 38 Grasses—Part Six
Surrounded by an ambience of frost and ice, Lan WangJi stood in front of Wei WuXian. Xue Yang fended the attack by casting out Shuanghua. The two swords collided, then flew back to their respective owners. Wei WuXian commented, “Isn’t this called ‘to come in time is better than to come early’?”
Lan WangJi, “Yes.”
As their exchange finished, they turned back to fighting with Xue Yang. A few moments ago, Wei WuXian was chased around by Xue Yang, but now, Xue Yang was driven around by Lan WangJi. In reaction to the adverse situation, with a roll of his eyes and a grin on his face, he tossed Shuanghua to his left hand. His right hand shifted inside his sleeve. Wei WuXian was concerned that he might hurl poisonous powder or hidden knives from the qiankun sleeves. However, he simply pulled out another sword, and seamlessly adjusted to a double-sworded style of attack.
The glare of the sword that he pulled from his sleeve was grim and dark. As it was wielded, it almost seemed to emit a black aura, creating a stark contrast with Shuanghua’s silver radiance. Using both swords equally well, Xue Yang’s hands kept in perfect time with each other. He gained the upper hand at once. Lan WangJi questioned, “Jiangzai?”
Xue Yang, “Hmm? HanGuang-Jun, you know of this sword? What an honor.”
“Jiangzai” was Xue Yang’s own sword. As its name and as its owner, it was a foreboding sword that brought with it bloodshed. Wei WuXian interrupted, “The name matches you perfectly.”
Lan WangJi, “Step back. You are not needed here.”
Thus, Wei WuXian humbly listened to the suggestion and stepped back. When he got to the door, he looked outside. Expressionless, Wen Ning was gripping Song Lan by the neck. He lifted him into the air and slammed him onto the wall, creating a large man-shaped dent. Similarly expressionless, Song Lan grabbed Wen Ning’s wrists. With a backflip, he threw him onto the ground. Both corpses fought expressionlessly, ceaselessly smashing and banging. Since neither of them felt pain or feared injury, unless they were cut into pieces, they would continue to fight even if they lost a limb or two. Wei WuXian muttered under his breath, “I don’t think I’m needed here, either.”
Suddenly, he saw that Lan JingYi, inside a dimly-lit shop, was frantically waving to him. He beamed, Aha. I’ll definitely be needed there.
Just as he left, Bichen’s sword glare brightened tenfold. With a brief slip of the hand, Shuanghua flew out of Xue Yang’s grip. Lan WangJi conveniently caught the sword. Seeing that Shuanghua was in someone else’s hands, Xue Yang had Jiangzai slash directly at the left arm that Lan WangJi used to grab the sword. As the attack was dodged, a chilling rage flashed within Xue Yang’s eyes. He demanded coldly, “Give me the sword back.”
Lan WangJi, “You do not deserve this sword.”
Xue Yang made a bitter sound of laughter.
On the other hand, Wei WuXian walked over to the disciples. Surrounded by the boys, he inquired, “Everyone alright?”
“Yes!”
“We all listened to you and held our breaths.”
Wei WuXian, “Good. If anyone doesn’t listen to me, I’ll feed him congee again.”
The few boys who had encountered the taste pretended as if they were vomiting. Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps came from all around them. Shadows had already begun to emerge from the end of the street. Lan WangJi heard the sound as well. With a wave of his sleeve, he took out his guqin, Wangji.
The body of the guqin was horizontally slammed onto the table. Lan WangJi tossed Bichen to his left hand and continued to fight with Xue Yang, his attacks remaining strong. At the same time, without even turning his head, he raised his right hand and strummed across the strings.
The chord was loud and clear. It resonated all the way to the end of the street. What came back was the strange yet familiar noises of the corpses’ heads bursting. Lan WangJi continued to fight Xue Yang with one hand and play the guqin with the other. He’d glance across the scene as if it was only a simple matter, then nonchalantly curve his fingers to strum again. Working with both of his hands, he somehow still seemed calm and unhurried.
Jin Ling blurted out in spite of himself, “He’s so good!”
He had seen Jiang Cheng and Jin GuangYao go on night-hunts and kill beasts, which made him think that his two uncles were the two most powerful cultivators in the entire world. Toward Lan WangJi, though, he had always felt more fear than respect, especially toward his technique of silencing others and his cold temper. However, at the present moment, he couldn’t help but admire Lan WangJi’s abilities. Lan JingYi approved, “Well, obviously. Of course HanGuang-Jun is good. He just never likes to show it off. He is very low-key, right?”
The “right?” was directed at Wei WuXian, who replied in confusion, “Are you asking me? Why are you asking me?”
Lan JingYi was on the verge of being angered, “So you think that HanGuang-Jun is not good?!”
Wei WuXian touched his chin, “Hmm. He’s good. Of course. He’s really good. He’s the best.” As he talked, he couldn’t help but break into a smile.
The dangerously terrifying night was finally about to pass—dawn was almost here. However, this wasn’t the best of news. If daylight came, the fog would also become thicker. Then, they’d again be unable to do a thing!
If there were only Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi, it wouldn’t be as difficult. But with so many living humans around, if they end up surrounded by a large group of walking corpses, escape would be close to impossible. As Wei WuXian urgently tried to think of a solution, the crisp tip-taps of the bamboo pole sounded once more.
The ghost of the blind-eyed, tongue-less girl came again!
Without any hesitation, Wei WuXian ordered, “Go!”
Lan JingYi, “Where to?”
Wei WuXian, “Follow the sounds of the bamboo pole.”
Jin Ling was somewhat surprised, “You want us to follow a ghost? Who knows where she’ll take us to!”
Wei WuXian, “That’s precisely what you’re going to do. The sound has been following you guys ever since you came, correct? You were trying to go into the city, but she was leading you toward the city gates, where you ran into us. She was chasing you out—she was trying to save you!”