For some reason, Song Lan’s face was extremely pale. He stared at the door of the coffin home, as if he would rush inside if he could, but was too scared to do so. The aloof look that he had was completely gone. Wei WuXian guessed, Maybe he’s nervous since they haven’t seen each other for so long?
Just as he made up his mind and was about to go in, a lackadaisical figure strolled inside before he could.
As he saw who the figure was, Song Lan’s face instantly went from pale to ashen!
A series of laughter came from the coffin home. A-Qing snorted, “The annoying one is back.”
Song Lan, “Who is he? Why is he here?”
A-Qing whined, “He’s a bastard. He never told us his name, so who knows who he is? He was saved by Daozhang. Now he sticks to Daozhang all the time. He’s such a pain!”
Song Lan’s face switched between being surprised and exasperated. After a moment, he spoke, “Be quiet!”
A-Qing was scared by his expression and obeyed. The two of them silently approached the coffin home, one standing beside the window and the other hiding beneath it. In the coffin home, Xiao XingChen asked, “Whose turn is it today?”
The instant he heard the voice, Song Lan’s hands trembled so much that A-Qing could clearly see it.
Xue Yang, “What if, from now on, we don’t take turns anymore? Let’s change it up.”
Xiao XingChen, “You only spoke up because it’s your turn today, didn’t you? How do you want to change it?”
Xue Yang, “Here. There are two sticks. If you pick the longer one, you don’t have to go; if you pick the shorter one, then you’ll have to go. What do you think?”
After a moment of silence, Xue Yang laughed, “Yours is short. I win. You’re going!”
Xiao XingChen said with reluctance, “Alright. I’ll go.”
He sounded as though he finally stood up and started walking toward the door. Wei WuXian cheered, Great. Come outside, quick. It’s best if Song Lan grabs him and runs as soon as he’s out.
However, before he walked very far, Xue Yang spoke up, “Come back. I’ll go.”
Xiao XingChen, “Why are you willing to go, now?”
Xue Yang stood up as well, “Are you an idiot? I tricked you. I picked the shorter one. It’s just that I’ve been hiding the longest stick behind me, so whichever one you pick, I can take out a longer one. I’m just exploiting the fact that you can’t see.”
He laughed at Xiao XingChen some more and sauntered out, holding a basket in his hand. A-Qing looked up at Song Lan, whose entire body was shaking. She didn’t understand why he was so angry. Song Lan gestured for her to be quiet. Only after the two walked some distance away did Song Lan start asking A-Qing about the details, “This man, when did Xing… when did the daozhang save him?”
His tone was solemn. A-Qing understood that the situation was no joke, and she answered him seriously as well, “It’s been a long time, a couple of years.”
Song Lan, “The daozhang never found out who he is?”
A-Qing, “No.”
Song Lan, “What has he done during his stay with the daozhang?”
A-Qing, “Joke around, bully me, scare me, and… Oh, he also night-hunts with Daozhang!”
Song Lan frowned, thinking that Xue Yang probably wouldn’t be so nice, “Night-hunt? Night-hunt what things? Do you know?”
A-Qing didn’t dare to be careless. After some thought, she replied, “They used to often night-hunt walking corpses, sometime in the past. Now it’s usually ghosts, animals that behave weirdly, and so on.”
As he inquired into the matter, Song Lan also felt that something was strange, but he couldn’t find any clues. He continued, “Is the daozhang close with him?”
Although she didn’t want to admit it, A-Qing still confessed, “I think that Daozhang is really unhappy when he’s alone… He’s finally got someone who cultivates as well… So, I think he sorta likes listening to the bastard tell jokes.”
Song Lan’s face was clouded with both rage and devastation. Amid the confusion, only one thing was for certain:
He definitely couldn’t tell Xiao XingChen about this!
He cautioned, “Don’t tell the daozhang anything unnecessary.”
As soon as he finished, he went toward the direction that Xue Yang left in. A-Qing asked, “Daozhang, are you going to beat up that bastard?”
Song Lan was already far away from her. Wei WuXian thought, Way more than beat him up. He’s going chop Xue Yang into pieces!
Xue Yang went outside holding the vegetable basket. A-Qing knew which path he’d use if he was going to buy vegetables. Taking a shortcut, she sprinted through a part of a forest, her heart beating faster than ever. After chasing for a while, she finally saw Xue Yang’s figure forward of her. He held a basket in one hand, which was filled with cabbages, carrots, steamed buns, and other food. He walked as he yawned lazily. He had probably finished shopping.
A-Qing had always been good at hiding and eavesdropping. She snuck into a bush beside the forest, moving along with him. Suddenly, Song Lan’s cold voice came from in front of her, “Xue Yang.”
As if someone had poured a bucket of freezing water over his face, or if someone had slapped him awake from a deep sleep, Xue Yang’s expression became scary at once.
Song Lan came out from behind a tree. His sword had already been unsheathed. He held it in his hand, with the tip pointing to the ground.
Xue Yang pretended to be surprised, “Oh, isn’t this Daozhang Song? What a rare guest. You here to get a free meal?”
Song Lan lunged with his sword. Xue Yang immediately shook Jiangzai out of his sleeves, blocked the attack, and backed a few steps. He put the basket under a tree, “You damn cultivator. For once I actually wanted to shop for food, and here you fucking are, spoiling my mood!”
In a fury, Song Lan’s attacks were aiming for fatality. He shouted in a low voice, “Just what in the world are you scheming?! Why have you spent so long near Xiao XingChen?!”
Xue Yang laughed, “And I was wondering why Daozhang Song still had business with me. So you want to ask me about this.”
Song Lan raged, “Tell me! Why would a scum like you be so nice as to help him night-hunt?!”
The wind of the sword brushed against his face. A cut appeared on Xue Yang’s cheek, but he wasn’t surprised at all, “How does Daozhang Song understand me so much?”
One of the two fought with skills learned from a proper sect, while the other fought with experience from committing crimes. It was obvious that Song Lan was more skilled than Xue Yang. His pierced through Xue Yang’s arm, “Tell me!”
If not for how the matter was so alarming that Song Lan must know what was going on, the sword might have pierced through the neck instead of the arm. Although Xue Yang was injured, his expression didn’t change at all, “You really wanna hear it? I’m afraid that you might go mad. Some things shouldn’t be made known.”
Song Lan’s voice was colder than ever, “Xue Yang, my patience is running out!”
With a clang, Xue Yang blocked an attack that was aimed at his eyes. He replied, “Fine, if you’re so keen on hearing it. Do you know what that bestest friend of yours did? He killed a lot of walking corpses. He exercised for the greater good, without asking for anything in return. It’s quite touching, really. Although he dug his eyes out for you and became blind, the good thing was that Shuanghua can point out corpse energy for him. What’s even better? I discovered that if you cut off the tongues of people under corpse poisoning and made it so that they couldn’t speak, Shuanghua couldn’t tell apart living and dead corpses either, so…”