Rain ran down along the edge of the eaves, forming an intermittent curtain of water, which was battered diagonal by the cold wind, scattering like bursting flowers and broken jade.
Xiangzhou was located in the southwest. Its winters were cold and dry, but when it rained, it became damp and chilly, the coldness seeping to the very bone.
Everyone gathered around the bonfire. There was plenty of firewood, and the fierce flames drove away the bleak chill of the rainy night.
“The Demon-Slaying Assembly summoned by your Aunt Chai?”
Li Lingsu’s expression became odd at once. He pressed on, “Demon-Slaying Assembly? Slaying whom? Did something happen in the Chai family?”
Xu Qi’an stirred the fire and suddenly understood why the Heaven Sect wanted to bring the Holy Son and Holy Maiden back.
Li Miaozhen’s acts of chivalry and justice might not have been mistakes in the Heaven Sect’s eyes. Her true mistake lay in her swelling sense of righteousness, in being trapped by her emotions.
Similarly, Li Lingsu’s real mistake was not that he slept around. If the Holy Son could be heartless after the deed, the Heaven Sect might not care about his affairs at all.
His fault was in developing feelings for every woman to whom he devoted himself.
As soon as it was something involving the Chai family, this fellow could not sit still.
“Brother, you’re not from Zhangzhou?”
Feng Xiu asked in mild surprise.
Xiangzhou was an administrative region under Zhangzhou. By directly pointing out that they were not from Zhangzhou, it implied that this so-called “Demon-Slaying Assembly” was no longer confined to Xiangzhou, but had become widely known throughout the whole of Zhangzhou.
Xu Qi’an drew a corresponding conclusion, then heard Li Lingsu reply with a smile:
“Our destination is Yongzhou. We are merely passing through Xiangzhou, so we don’t know much about local affairs.”
Feng Xiu nodded in realisation, covertly casting several glances at Li Lingsu’s matchlessly handsome face, then said:
“Something huge happened to the Chai family over half a month ago. The head of the family, Chai Jianyuan, was murdered in his mansion. The killer was his adopted son, Chai Xian. After killing his adoptive father, to whom he owed so much, this man went berserk, slaughtered dozens throughout the household, and fought his way out. Since then, he vanished without a trace.”
“Chai Xian…”
Li Lingsu muttered the name, seemingly not unfamiliar with the man.
Xu Qi’an added a piece of firewood and smiled, “From what Miss says, this Chai Xian is still in Zhangzhou and hasn’t left?”
This man is very sharp… Feng Xiu was a little surprised, and softly answered:
“You are right. After Chai Xian committed murder, not only did he not flee Zhangzhou, he even claimed he was being framed, that someone had set him up. He declared he would get to the bottom of the matter and clear his name.”
“But afterwards, murders started happening all over Zhangzhou, most seriously in Xiangzhou. Some people even witnessed him killing and refining corpses. At first the victims were all jianghu people, later even commoners fell victim to his violence, so the authorities in Xiangzhou began to intervene.”
“Aunt Chai took the opportunity to hold a ‘Demon-Slaying Assembly,’ rallying jianghu folk from all over Zhangzhou to gather in Xiangzhou and join forces with the authorities to crusade against Chai Xian.”
Wang Jun, dressed in black martial attire, snorted coldly, “Demonic heretics who harm the people deserve death at the hands of all.”
The scholar Lyu Wei remained silent, quietly edging closer to the group.
Xu Qi’an took down his waterskin, drank a mouthful, then topped up the little white fox’s bowl. It stuck out its dainty pink tongue and lapped silently.
The little white fox was poised and elegant, its fur glossy and spotless. Being such a small and exquisite creature, it was especially capable of stirring a woman’s heart.
Feng Xiu stared fixedly, delighted, “What a beautiful little fox. May I hold it?”
The little white fox lifted its head and was about to say, No way!
But Mu Nanzhi beat it to it, scooping the fox up and covering its mouth in the process. “No,” she said coolly.
Feng Xiu was full of disappointment.
Seeing that the girl he fancied was rebuffed, Wang Jun in martial black snorted, “It’s just a fox, what’s so special? Sister Feng, once the rain stops tomorrow, I’ll go catch one for you in the mountains.”
Feng Xiu shook her head, “Never mind, no need to trouble yourself.”
She simply found the little white fox adorable and fancied a cuddle, but really had neither the energy nor interest to keep one herself.
As she spoke, she subconsciously glanced at Li Lingsu, just in time to catch his gaze. This elegant, handsome man actually threw her a wink.
Feng Xiu quickly looked away, flustered, her heart fluttering and her cheeks burning red.
Sigh, my damned charm… Li Lingsu sighed, as if he were a peerless expert lonely at the top.
Then he heard Xu Qian’s voice transmitting secretly, “Is that Aunt Chai your lover?”
How do you know… Li Lingsu was struck dumb, nearly blurting out a response.
“I don’t recall saying so.” He replied in kind.
“When you heard about the murder in the Chai family, you were surprised but not worried. That shows you’re certain your lover is unharmed. So I guessed it’s this Aunt Chai who issued the rally.” Xu Qi’an said.
“Senior, your perception is extraordinary!” Li Lingsu replied by voice transmission.
“What do you make of this case?” Xu Qi’an queried.
Li Lingsu fell into recollection, and said wistfully:
“I once travelled through Zhangzhou with Junior Sister Miaozhen and happened to befriend people from the Chai family. Leading them at the time was a woman with a melancholy akin to lilac blossoms, a figure to stir pity.
“Zhangzhou is criss-crossed with rivers and streams. We met on a riverboat, in early spring, under drizzling apricot blossoms. She wore a water-blue dress and held an oil-paper umbrella, standing at the edge of the boat, watching the rain.
“She had lost her husband not long before and was downcast. I invited her to drink, hoping wine could wash away her woes, but at first she paid me no heed, was cold, even rebuffed me with harsh words when she grew annoyed.”
Widowed…widowed? How are you any different from that damn Cao Cao?1 Xu Qi’an was startled.
“Later she said, there was a place in Zhangzhou called Qianjue Gorge, home to a pair of strange beasts who were never apart. Near their lair grew a rare flower called ‘White Head.’ If you could obtain that flower, you could be with your beloved for life, growing old together.
“If I could fetch the flower, she would drink with me.”
At this, Xu Qi’an nodded slowly, “You got the flower, and won the beauty’s heart?”
The Holy Son shook his head,
“There really was a pair of exotic beasts in the gorge, wild and untameable, blood of the gods and demons in their veins. Never mind fifth rank, even fourth rank experts could not withstand them. Nor was there any such flower near their lair, she’d made it up.
“But I went anyway, fought those two beasts, and took one of their tail feathers, escaping badly wounded. I found her and gave her the tail feather, then left.”
You just left? That’s not how I imagined it… Xu Qi’an frowned and asked by voice, “And after that?”
Li Lingsu chuckled softly and responded,
“She chased after me in tears, demanding why I had done all that, why, knowing full well there was no miraculous flower, knowing she was lying, I would still risk life and limb?
“I said: Beautiful lady, loving you is the unchanging faith of my life; entering your heart is the longing of my dreams. This feeling from the depths of my heart will not change even if rivers alter their course or mountains crumble.
“Even for your little joke, I was willing to risk my life. Sadly, my lady, I cannot win your heart, so I must leave for far-off places.
“She flung herself into my arms…”
My my, does the Heaven Sect still accept disciples? I want to go for a few years of further study… Xu Qi’an’s cold voice interrupted, “Enough, get to the point.”
Li Lingsu reluctantly ended the tale and replied by transmission:
“I met Chai Xian several times. He was innately kind and honest, not at all like one who would commit parricide and murder. There may be more to this than meets the eye…”
He hesitated to continue.
Xu Qi’an, whose mind was full of parricidal thoughts, said, “Just say it.”
“I want to go to the Chai family to see her and learn more about the case,” Li Lingsu probed carefully.
From Xu Qian, he felt both gentleness and aloofness, not the type to meddle in others’ affairs, so he was unsure of his reaction.
Xu Qi’an nodded, “No more than three days.”
He actually agreed… Li Lingsu was delighted.
…
The night deepened, and the rain drizzled steadily.
Some sat cross-legged, others lay on their sides, resting in the chill of the night.
The campfire grew dim, the fiery-red charcoal releasing heat, trying its best to to dispel the cold.
In the silent darkness, the faint firelight twisted the shadows. In the southern corner, the board of the old coffin silently, slowly lifted in the gloom.
A blue-black hand reached out from the coffin, its fingernails pitch-black, gripping the coffin’s edge.
Clang!
After a few seconds of silence, the coffin lid suddenly flew up, crashing heavily to the ground with a loud bang.
A figure sat bolt upright from within the coffin, his knees seemingly unable to bend.
The great commotion startled everyone sheltering in the deserted temple for the night. Wang Jun, the man in black clothes, and Feng Xiu, dressed in neat short attire, were the first to awaken, instinctively reaching for their weapons.
Sching!
Sabre and sword were unsheathed at the same time.
Mu Nanzhi, having travelled for days and utterly exhausted, woke up from the noise, rubbed her eyes, and looked around.
She saw Wang Jun and Feng Xiu gripping their weapons, standing with their backs to the others and facing the coffin; in that sinister coffin, a figure stood upright inside, hidden in the darkness with only its vague outline visible.
The two sides seemed locked in a standoff.
At that moment, the figure lightly leapt out of the coffin. His jumping posture was very strange, his knees apparently unable to bend, launching straight as a board.
The firelight illuminated the figure: white pupils, blue-black and rotting flesh, sparse hair, tattered clothes, and waves of corpse stench filling the air.
This was no living person at all, but clearly a corpse, a corpse that could move.
Mu Nanzhi’s pupils dulled slightly and her expression froze. After a few seconds, she let out a piercing scream.
“AHH…”
The little white fox also released a childish girl’s scream, standing upright, both forepaws clinging to Xu Qi’an’s calf and trembling violently.
The screams seemed to provoke the thing. It emitted a chilling hiss from its mouth, sprang with its hind legs, and lunged at the group.
The scholar, Lyu Wei, screamed and fled to a corner in terror.
“It’s a Blood Corpse!”
Wang Jun, in black, growled, slashing his sabre to split the Blood Corpse in half.
“A Blood Corpse is a kind of evil being that survives by devouring the vital blood of living people. Above the Blood Corpse is the Iron Corpse, whose defence is equivalent to the sixth rank Bronze Skin and Iron Bones. Back then, the ancestor of the Chai family became invincible in Xiangzhou by relying on thirteen Iron Corpses,” Li Lingsu explained with a voice transmission.
The Blood Corpse clapped its two hands together, clamping Wang Jun’s sabre. Wang Jun tried to pull it back a few times, but could not get it free.
The strength of this Blood Corpse far exceeded his imagination.
Feng Xiu shouted, took two swift steps, and kicked the Blood Corpse squarely in the chest. Bang! Dust burst into the air.
The Blood Corpse’s body curled up like a shrimp, but its feet were rooted firmly, having not budged an inch.
The next second, it straightened abruptly, sending Feng Xiu flying, then swung its arm sideways and knocked Wang Jun away.
The two inexperienced young men and women were flung in different directions, groaning in pain.
Wang Jun was struck on the arm by the Blood Corpse, fracturing the bone in his upper arm. He gritted his teeth against the pain, started circulating his qi to ease it, picked up his sabre, and was about to continue fighting when, suddenly, his legs gave way and his dantian felt as if twisted by a blade.
“Ah…”
On the other side, Feng Xiu seemed to be suffering from a similar affliction, her face pale in pain, her energy drained.
I’ve been poisoned… Wang Jun’s mind tightened as he instantly realised his predicament.
“Brother Wang, Miss Feng, as expected of masters from renowned sects, having been poisoned by my Soft Tendon Powder, only now has it actually taken effect,” the scholar Lyu Wei stepped out of the shadows at the edge of the campfire, smiling cheerfully.
His face was handsome, but all the former gentleness had vanished. In the firelight, he even looked somewhat ferocious.
“It’s you?!”
Feng Xiu exclaimed in shock, completely unprepared for this turn of events.
“So you’re the one raising corpses. No wonder you stopped me from hacking at the coffin earlier, was it because you hadn’t had the chance to poison us yet?”
Wang Jun, bracing himself with his sabre, stood up shakily, his face ashen.
Lyu Wei nodded, “That’s right. My Blood Corpse has yet to reach perfection. Though I could kill you two, you might escape, and it wouldn’t be able to keep up.”
“Why are you doing this?”
Feng Xiu’s cultivation was not as good as Wang Jun’s, and she could no longer stand.
Lyu Wei was about to answer when suddenly, the azure-robed man still sitting by the campfire, unable to move, spoke instead:
“Naturally, it’s to sacrifice you to the Blood Corpse and increase his cultivation.”
Lyu Wei scrutinised him for a moment, confirming he was just an ordinary man and posed no threat, then smiled, “Exactly.”
Xu Qi’an continued, “So, you disguised yourself as a scholar and hovered around here to trick passing travellers? Judging by all the leftover ashes from previous campfires, you must have harmed quite a few.”
Feng Xiu and Wang Jun’s faces instantly turned ugly; they had been duped like all the other passers-by.
With a smile, Lyu Wei again scrutinised the azure-robed man.
“This road sees people killed time and again. Doesn’t the government do anything?” Li Lingsu poked the fire and asked.
“These days are not as they once were. Chai Xian is killing everywhere to refine corpses, causing chaos all over the city. Loose cultivators like me are just feeding on his scraps, and in the end, we’ll just pin all the blame on him.”
Lyu Wei’s eyes grew gloomy, signalling he did not want to waste any more words. “Let’s start with you ordinary folks as an appetiser.”
He controlled the Blood Corpse to walk towards Li Lingsu.
Why am I the first to die? Is it merely because I’m too handsome?
Li Lingsu felt somewhat aggrieved.
“The vital blood of ordinary people isn’t of much use, but over time, every little helps. You look healthy; your qi and blood are thriving for an ordinary person.”
While Lyu Wei spoke, the Blood Corpse bounced in front of Li Lingsu, opening its foul-smelling mouth and lunging at the Holy Son.
Li Lingsu shook his head, sidestepped, got up in passing, and removed the jade hairpin from his hair, tossing it lightly.
The jade hairpin shot out like lightning, piercing through half the face of the Blood Corpse, and the tip skewered a black, ugly Gu insect. It seemed to be endowed with life, twirling back to land before Li Lingsu.
The Blood Corpse staggered two steps forward, then collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
“What?!”
Lyu Wei’s eyes nearly popped from their sockets. After years of painstaking ritual, a Blood Corpse stronger than the Refining Qi stage had still been so easily destroyed.
Shock, bewilderment, and disbelief struck him first, then fear and anxiety; cold sweat broke out all over.
Clearly, he had encountered a true expert.
Perhaps in the very next moment, he would end up like the Blood Corpse, turned utterly into a corpse himself.
Feng Xiu and Wang Jun survived against the odds, both astonished, delighted, and bewildered. However, compared to Wang Jun, who was simply overjoyed to have escaped death, the beautiful Miss Feng gazed at Li Lingsu in a daze.
So he was that powerful…
Xu Qi’an beckoned, drew over the jade hairpin, stared at the Gu insect on its tip, and shook his head, saying,
“A mutated corpse Gu, not authentic enough.”
As he spoke, Lyu Wei’s expression went through a series of changes. In the end, he steeled himself and dashed out of the ruined temple at great speed, trying to escape.
“Whoosh!”
The jade hairpin whistled through the air, pierced scholar Lyu Wei’s chest, and brought forth a gush of bright red blood as he collapsed to the ground.
Having witnessed Lyu Wei slain like a weed, Feng Xiu and Wang Jun took a deep breath, pressed down the turbulent emotions within, and said, with utmost respect,
“Thank you, seniors, for saving our lives.”
Xu Qi’an tossed a piece of wood onto the fire and sighed, “Has Xiangzhou become this chaotic already?”
Feng Xiu pursed her lips. “When I was in sect grounds, I only heard rumours that Chai Xian was causing trouble in Xiangzhou and the other counties, stirring up unrest everywhere. Now it seems that some of the cases were actually caused by people like Lyu Wei, who took advantage of the chaos with unwholesome motives.
“It was Brother Wang and I who trusted the wrong person. Had it not been for you both being here today, we might not have survived.”
She thanked them again for saving her life, but most of the time, her enchanting eyes were fixed on Li Lingsu, convinced that this handsome man was the core of their little team.
Li Lingsu nodded lightly. “Deal with the blood corpse, then continue resting. We’ll hit the road tomorrow.”
Mu Nanzhi watched as Wang Jun dragged away the blood corpse, then nervously turned her head and glared at Xu Qi’an.
“Did you know from the start there was a- a ghost in the coffin?”
Xu Qi’an shook his head.
“No, but there was definitely something off about a coffin in a ruined temple. Travellers often stay here, even the tables have been chopped up for firewood, yet the coffin alone remained untouched. Such an obvious flaw was immediately apparent.”
As for the later incident with the scholar secretly tossing knockout smoke into the campfire, that could hardly fool an expert in poisons like him.
Mu Nanzhi snorted, hugged Baiji, and lay down, turning her back to Xu Qi’an, her waist and hips outlined in a most alluring fashion.
“Is uncomfortable, don’t hug me while you sleep~…”
The little white fox began to struggle.
Xu Qi’an lay on his side and put his arm around Mu Nanzhi’s slender waist.
Her delicate body stiffened for a moment, but she did not resist or speak.
…
The next morning.
Mu Nanzhi awoke to find herself curled up in Xu Qi’an’s arms. Having been frightened last night, she had instinctively snuggled up to him in her sleep, seeking a sense of security.
She felt like an unmarried maiden, her cheeks slightly red, yet she forced herself to act as if nothing had happened.
Before long, everyone woke up one after another. Xu Qi’an boiled a pot of water, gave everyone a bowl of hot water and a cold bun, then used the remaining hot water to wash up and clean their teeth.
They set out together on the road. Along the way, Xu Qi’an asked,
“What delicacies are Xiangzhou known for?”
Li Lingsu thought about it and said, “The cured meat is nice. Once we enter the city, I’ll take you to try some, senior.”
Xu Qi’an glanced at Mu Nanzhi and saw that she was quite tempted, so he smiled and said, “Alright.”
Feng Xiu and Wang Jun followed behind rather nervously, not daring to speak up. They merely exchanged a surprised glance when they heard Li Lingsu’s respectful address for the man in azure.
He called him ‘senior’ and acted very respectfully… Feng Xiu’s round eyes widened slightly. Had she been mistaken, is the man in azure actually the real leader?
Before noon, the group arrived at Xiangzhou city. The walls were thirty feet high, passers-by were sparse and plainly dressed, and rarely did one see anyone in fine clothes on spirited horses.
Xiangzhou was not prosperous, even less so than borderland Leizhou.
After entering the city, Feng Xiu and Wang Jun took their leave.
Li Lingsu led the way. Xu Qi’an led the little mare, clopping along behind. Half an hour later, they stopped outside a grand estate.
A lacquered red gate held a plaque reading “Chai Manor”.
A sturdy, youthful gatekeeper came up and cupped his hands. “Sirs, Which sect are you from?”
Li Lingsu replied, “No sect or school.”
“And an invitation?”
“No,” Li Lingsu shook his head.
The gatekeeper frowned and was about to speak, when the handsome young man said,
“I am an old acquaintance of Chai Xing’er. Please pass on the message that Li Lingsu wishes to call.”
Cao Cao had affairs with many women, especially married women ↩
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