One day, Constant Ping, the head of the Constant family from Liyang, went night hunting with several family members. After more than half a month, he suddenly received devastating news while on the journey and hurried back home. After the initial grief, they only discovered that someone had maliciously broken their family's protective array, allowing a group of vicious evil spirits to enter. Beyond this, they were completely in the dark.

Originally, the tragedy of a small family would have been known to only a few. However, the circumstances at the time were special. The Shooting Sun Campaign had long ended, and the Burial Mounds siege had just concluded. The situation was barely stable on the surface. When this incident suddenly broke out, it immediately caused an uproar among the hundred schools of thought in the mystical world. There were even sensationalists who spread rumors that it was revenge from the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian, who had returned to the world. However, there was never any evidence, and the hunt for the culprit led nowhere. Xiao Xingchen, of course, would not stand idly by. He immediately took on the responsibility of seeking the truth for Constant Ping. A month later, he finally uncovered the identity of the murderer who had annihilated the family.

The murderer's name was Xue Yang.

This Xue Yang was even younger than Xiao Xingchen, undoubtedly a mere youth. However, his malevolence was not at all tempered by his young age. From the age of fifteen, he had been a notorious hooligan, infamous throughout the Kuizhou region. With a beaming smile but vicious methods and a cruel personality, everyone in Kuizhou paled at the mention of Xue Yang. In his youth, he had been a street urchin and seemed to have had some grievances with Constant Ping's father, which he had harbored for several years. Out of revenge and some other reasons, he was driven to commit this atrocity.

After Xiao Xingchen uncovered the truth, he crossed three provinces to capture Xue Yang, who was still freely and gleefully engaging in gang fights. Taking advantage of a grand discussion event hosted by the Lanling Jin Clan at their celestial abode, Jinlintai, where various major clans gathered to debate and seek knowledge, Xiao Xingchen brought Xue Yang before the public, clarified the whole situation, and demanded severe punishment.

He listed the evidence meticulously, and the vast majority of the clans had no objections. Only one family strongly opposed - the Lanling Jin Clan.

Wei Wuxian said, "To oppose under such circumstances is truly defying public opinion. Could it be that this Xue Yang is a favorite of Jin Guangshan?"

Lan Wangji replied, "Guest cultivator."

Wei Wuxian exclaimed, "He's a guest cultivator? Wasn't the Lanling Jin Clan already one of the four great clans back then? Why would they invite a small-time hooligan as a guest cultivator?"

Lan Wangji said, "This is the second connection."

He gazed into Wei Wuxian's eyes and slowly said, "Because of the Yin Tiger Seal."

Wei Wuxian's heart suddenly leaped into his throat.

The three words "Yin Tiger Seal" were far from unfamiliar to him. On the contrary, no one knew them better than he did.

Among all the magical artifacts he had forged in his previous life, this was the most terrifying, and simultaneously, the one everyone most desired to possess.

The Tiger Seal was used for issuing commands. As its name suggests, whoever possessed this Tiger Seal could command corpses, ghosts, and vicious spirits to do their bidding.

When Wei Wuxian initially created it, he hadn't thought too much about it. Controlling corpse puppets and evil spirits with his spiritual power alone could be exhausting. He recalled once seeing a rare piece of iron essence in the belly of a demonic beast, so he took it and forged it into a Tiger Seal.

However, after the Tiger Seal was forged, Wei Wuxian used it only once before realizing that something was terribly wrong.

The power of the Yin Tiger Seal was far greater and more terrifying than he had initially anticipated. He had intended to use it as an auxiliary tool, but its power showed signs of overshadowing even him, its creator. Moreover, this object did not recognize a single master. In other words, as long as someone obtained it, regardless of who they were, whether good or evil, friend or foe, it would serve whoever possessed it.

The disaster had already been created, and Wei Wuxian had considered destroying it. However, the Tiger Seal was not easy to forge, nor was it easy to destroy, requiring immense energy and time. Moreover, by then he had already vaguely sensed that his own situation was precarious, and that sooner or later everyone would seek to execute him. The Yin Tiger Seal had tremendous deterrent power, and with this artifact, others would not dare to move against him lightly. So he temporarily kept it, only splitting the Tiger Seal in two, allowing it to exert its full power only when the halves were combined, and he resolved never to use it lightly.

He had only used it twice in total, and each time rivers of blood flowed. The first time was during the Shooting Sun Campaign. After the second use, he finally made up his mind and completely destroyed half of the seal. Before he could finish destroying the other half, the great siege of the Burial Mounds began. What happened after that was beyond his control.

Wei Wuxian was confident in speaking about the things he had created. He dared to assert that even if the half of the Yin Tiger Seal that remained was seized by a clan, enshrined, and worshipped daily with high-grade incense, it would still be nothing more than a piece of scrap metal. Yet Lan Wangji told him something astonishing: this Xue Yang seemed to be able to reconstruct the other half of the Yin Tiger Seal!

Xue Yang, though extremely young, was very intelligent and also quite an unorthodox and sinister character. The Lanling Jin Clan discovered that he could actually reconstruct the other half of the Tiger Seal based on the remaining half. Although the reconstructed replica couldn't be used for long and its power was not as great as the original, it could still cause terrifying consequences.

Wei Wuxian understood: "The Lanling Jin Clan wants to keep Xue Yang to continue reconstructing the Yin Tiger Seal for them, so they must protect him."

Perhaps when Xue Yang annihilated the Constant family, it wasn't entirely to avenge the bullying he suffered as a poor youth. It's possible he was experimenting, testing the power of the Yin Tiger Seal he was reconstructing on an entire family of living people!

No wonder rumors had connected the massacre to him. Wei Wuxian could almost imagine how those cultivators must have been gnashing their teeth: "This Wei Wuxian! If he hadn't created such a thing, the world wouldn't have suffered so many calamities!!!"

Returning to the main story, back at Jinlintai.

Although the Lanling Jin Clan was determined to shield Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen was unyielding. As the two sides reached an impasse, they finally alarmed Nie Mingjue, the Chifeng-zun, who had not participated in this grand discussion event. He flew in from elsewhere to intervene at Jinlintai.

Although Nie Mingjue was Jin Guangshan's junior, he was a stern man who tolerated no wrongdoing and showed no leniency. After a harsh rebuke, Jin Guangshan was left embarrassed and speechless. The hot-tempered Nie Mingjue drew his sword on the spot, intending to execute Xue Yang. When his sworn brother, Jin Guangyao, the Lianfang-zun, stepped forward to mediate, he was ordered to get lost and scolded viciously, forcing him to hide behind Lan Xichen. In the end, the Lanling Jin Clan had no choice but to yield.

After Xiao Xingchen brought Xue Yang to Jinlintai, he remained fearless throughout. Even with Nie Mingjue's sword at his throat, he kept smiling. Before being dragged away, he said to Xiao Xingchen with great familiarity: "Daoist Master, don't forget about me. Let's see how things unfold."

Hearing this, Wei Wuxian knew that this "let's see" would undoubtedly cost Xiao Xingchen an incredibly painful price.

The Lanling Jin Clan, true to their reputation as the most thick-skinned of the great clans, had agreed to deal with Xue Yang in front of the hundred clans at Jinlintai. However, as soon as Nie Mingjue was out of sight, they quickly imprisoned Xue Yang in the dungeon, changing his sentence to life imprisonment without release. When Nie Mingjue learned of this, he was furious and pressured them again, but the Lanling Jin Clan hemmed and hawed, refusing to hand over Xue Yang. Other clans watched the drama unfold, but before long, Nie Mingjue unexpectedly died from qi deviation.

He had cultivated faster than any previous clan leader of the Qinghe Nie Sect, and he died younger than any of them too.

With the most formidable opponent gone, the Lanling Jin Clan became increasingly brazen and began to hatch even more crooked schemes. Jin Guangshan started to find ways to release Xue Yang from prison, to continue reconstructing the Yin Tiger Seal and explore its mysteries.

But such actions were undoubtedly dishonorable. To release a murderer who had annihilated an entire family from the dungeon required a legitimate reason.

So, they turned their attention to Constant Ping.

Through threats, inducements, and constant harassment, the Lanling Jin Clan finally succeeded in making Constant Ping retract his previous accusations. He publicly announced: The annihilation of the Constant family had nothing to do with Xue Yang.

When Xiao Xingchen heard the news and came to inquire, Constant Ping told him helplessly: "What else can I do? If I don't go along with this, the rest of my family will have no way to survive. Thank you, Daoist Master, but... please don't help me anymore. If you continue to help me now, you'll only be harming me. I don't want the Constant family of Liyang to end here."

And so, the act of releasing the tiger back to the mountain came to an end.

Wei Wuxian remained silent.

If he were Constant Ping, regardless of how the Lanling Jin Clan, as the number one sect, might try to cover up the sky with one hand, no matter what glorious future they might promise him, he would never utter a word of compromise. On the contrary, he would personally infiltrate the dungeon at night, flay Xue Yang alive into a puddle of minced meat, then summon him back to flay him again and again, until he regretted being born into this world.

But not everyone has his personality of preferring mutual destruction. The Constant family still had a few surviving members, and Constant Ping was still young, unmarried and childless, just starting on the path of cultivation. Whether threatened with the lives of his surviving family members or with his future and cultivation, he had to consider carefully.

After all, he wasn't Constant Ping himself, and couldn't substitute his righteous indignation, let alone replace him in living in fear and enduring these physical and mental torments.

And after Xue Yang was released, he indeed unleashed his revenge once again. This time, however, he didn't target Xiao Xingchen directly.

Xiao Xingchen had left his mountain alone, without any relatives, but he had befriended someone after coming down the mountain, named Song Lan. This Song Lan was also a renowned Daoist figure at the time, known for his proud and aloof character, and had a good reputation. Both of them wanted to establish their own sects, valuing like-minded companions over blood ties. They could be called close friends with shared ambitions. People of the time praised them: "Xiao Xingchen, bright as the moon and fresh as the breeze; Song Zichen, proud as snow and cold as frost."

Xue Yang chose to strike here, using his old tactics. He completely annihilated the White Snow Temple where Song Lan had grown up and studied, and secretly poisoned Song Lan, blinding both his eyes.

This time, having gained experience from his previous massacre, he acted swiftly and cleanly, leaving no clues behind. Although everyone knew it must have been his doing, what could be done without evidence? Moreover, with Jin Guangshan's deliberate protection, and the Chifeng-zun, who had the might of thunder in his anger, having passed away, no one could do anything about him.

Hearing this, Wei Wuxian suddenly found something strange: although Lan Wangji appeared indifferent and unwilling to interfere, based on Wei Wuxian's past understanding of him, his hatred for evil was no less than that of Nie Huaisang's elder brother. In the past, when the Lanling Jin Clan behaved inappropriately, Lan Wangji never hesitated to speak frankly, and even now, he rarely attended their discussion conferences, showing no support. If two such heinous massacres had occurred in succession back then, it would have certainly been the talk of the town, and Lan Wangji would never have stood idly by. Why didn't he do anything about this Xue Yang?

Just as he was about to ask, he remembered the discipline whip marks on Lan Wangji's body.

One lash from a discipline whip was already life-threatening. If Lan Wangji had committed some great error and received so many lashes, he must have been confined and not allowed to leave for several years. Perhaps during the years when these events occurred, he was being punished or recovering from his injuries. No wonder he only said he had "heard some rumors."

Wei Wuxian inexplicably cared a great deal about those scars, but it wasn't appropriate to ask directly. So he temporarily suppressed his curiosity and asked, "So what happened to this Daoist Master Xiao Xingchen afterwards?"

The aftermath, of course, could only be a tragic conclusion. When Xiao Xingchen initially left his master and the mountain, he had sworn never to return. He took his oaths very seriously, but with Song Lan blinded and severely injured, he broke his own vow and carried Song Lan back to the Baoshan Sanren, requesting his master to heal his friend.

Baoshan Sanren, considering their master-disciple relationship, agreed to his request. Xiao Xingchen then left the mountain and disappeared without a trace.

A year later, Song Lan also left the mountain. People were amazed that even his eyes, which had been completely blinded, had regained sight. But in fact, it wasn't that Baoshan Sanren's medical skills were miraculous, but rather that Xiao Xingchen... had gouged out his own eyes and given them to Song Lan, who had suffered because of him.

Song Lan initially wanted to seek revenge against Xue Yang, but by this time, Jin Guangshan had passed away, and Jin Guangyao had taken over the Lanling Jin Clan and been elevated to the position of Chief Cultivator. To demonstrate a new era with new approaches, as soon as he took office, he dealt with Xue Yang, no longer mentioning the reconstruction of the Yin Tiger Seal, and took various remedial and pacifying measures to salvage their reputation and suppress rumors. Song Lan went in search of his former friend's whereabouts, and at first, there were still reports of where he had gone, but later, there was no news at all. Moreover, since the Constant family of Liyang was just an obscure small clan, many of these events gradually faded into dust.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

After hearing this long story, Wei Wuxian softly exhaled, feeling a sense of regret and pity: "To end up in such a state because of something that originally had nothing to do with him, it's truly... If Xiao Xingchen had been born a few years earlier, or if I had died a few years later, things wouldn't have turned out this way. If I had been alive, how could I have ignored such a matter? How could I not have befriended such a person!"

Then he laughed wryly, secretly mocking himself: "Me? How could I have helped? If I had still been alive at that time, perhaps there would have been no need to investigate the Constant family massacre, it would have been directly attributed to me. If this Daoist Master Xiao Xingchen had met me on the road, and I had tried to strike up a conversation and invite him for a drink, he might have whipped me with his fly whisk, haha."

They had already walked past the Constant residence and were approaching a cemetery not far away. Wei Wuxian saw the dark red character "常" (Constant) on the memorial arch and asked, "So why did Constant Ping die later? Who executed the remaining members of his family?"

Before Lan Wangji could answer, in the faint blue twilight, a series of "bang bang bang" sounds like someone knocking on a door echoed.

The sound was very similar to knocking on a door, but it wasn't exactly that. The force was violent and urgent, without a moment's pause. It was muffled, as if there was a layer of something in between.

Both of their expressions tensed simultaneously.

The more than fifty members of the Constant family of Liyang were now lying in their coffins, banging on their coffin lids from the inside. Just like on the night they were frightened to death, they were frantically knocking on the door, but would never wait for someone to open it.

This was the coffin-knocking sound from the Constant family cemetery that the tavern worker had mentioned!

But that worker had said that the haunting had stopped ten years ago, so why did it start again just as they arrived?

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji simultaneously concealed their auras and moved stealthily.

Leaning against the support pillar of the memorial arch, they both saw a hole appear in the center of the cemetery, amidst a cluster of tombstones.

It was a very deep hole, with mounds of freshly dug earth piled beside it. Faint sounds were coming from within the hole.

Someone was grave robbing.

The two of them silently held their breath, waiting for the person in the hole to come out on their own.

In less than half an incense stick's time, two figures lightly leaped out of the excavated grave.

Thanks to Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji's keen eyesight, they could make out that these were two people. Because these two were like conjoined twins, one carrying the other on their back, tightly connected, and both dressed in black, it was extremely difficult to distinguish between them.

The person who had leaped out stood with their back to them, tall and lanky. The person on their back had their head and limbs drooping lifelessly. But this was to be expected; since they had been dug out of a grave, it must be a dead person, and being lifeless was normal.

Just as they were thinking this, the grave robber suddenly turned their head and saw them.

This person's face was shrouded in a dense black mist, making it completely impossible to see their features and appearance!

Wei Wuxian knew that they must have used some strange spell to conceal their face. Lan Wangji had already summoned Bichen and darted into the cemetery, engaging with the intruder. The grave robber reacted extremely quickly, seeing Bichen's blue sword light approaching, they formed a sword seal and also summoned a streak of sword light. However, this sword light, like their face, was entwined with rolling black mist, making it impossible to discern its color or aura. The grave robber, carrying a corpse on their back, fought in an odd posture. After the two sword lights clashed several times, Lan Wangji recalled Bichen, gripping it in his hand, his face rapidly covered with a layer of frost.

Wei Wuxian knew why his expression had suddenly become so severe. Because from that brief exchange, even he, an outsider, could clearly see that this grave robber was very familiar with Lan Wangji's sword techniques!

Lan Wangji, without uttering a word, thrust Bichen with even more force, his sword intent like an avalanche. The grave robber retreated repeatedly, seemingly aware that carrying a dead body made them no match for Lan Wangji, and that continuing to fight would certainly lead to capture. Suddenly, they pulled out a deep blue talisman from their waist.

A teleportation talisman!

This type of talisman could transport a person thousands of miles away in an instant, but it also consumed a large amount of spiritual energy. The user would need a long time to recover their energy, and those without sufficient spiritual power weren't even qualified to use it. So although it was a top-tier treasure, very few people used it. Seeing that they were about to escape, Wei Wuxian urgently clapped his hands twice, knelt on one knee, and slammed his fist into the ground.

The force of this punch penetrated through layers of soil, reaching deep into the earth, breaking through the thick coffin lid, giving the trapped souls an almost maddening stimulation. With a cracking sound, four bloody arms shot up from the ground, suddenly grabbing the grave robber's left and right legs!

The grave robber was unfazed, channeling spiritual energy to their feet, shaking off the four corpse hands. Wei Wuxian pulled out his bamboo flute, and a sharp, piercing melody tore through the descending night. Two heads emerged from the grave, their entire bodies following, crawling up the grave robber's legs like snakes, wrapping around their body and biting down on their neck and arms.

The grave robber scoffed disdainfully, as if saying "cheap tricks," and sent spiritual energy throughout their body. However, this time, after releasing the spiritual energy, they suddenly realized they had been tricked.

They had also shaken off the corpse they were carrying on their back!

Wei Wuxian slapped the tombstone, laughing wildly. Lan Wangji caught the limp corpse with one hand, while thrusting Bichen forward with the other. Seeing that the thing they had just dug up had been snatched away, and knowing they couldn't win against Lan Wangji in single combat, let alone with another person causing mischief, the grave robber dared not linger. They slammed the teleportation talisman to the ground, and with a thunderous boom, billowing blue flames shot skyward, their figure disappearing within the fire.

Wei Wuxian had known that the grave robber held a teleportation talisman, and even if caught, they could find a chance to escape. Leaving behind the corpse they had dug up was already a clue, so he didn't feel it was a loss. He walked over to Lan Wangji and said, "Let's see who they dug up."

As he looked, he was slightly shocked. The corpse's head was already broken. And what was exposed through the broken parts wasn't blood, flesh, or brains, but clumps of slightly blackened cotton.

Wei Wuxian yanked off the corpse's head, holding up the finely crafted fake human head, and said, "What's this all about? A fake corpse made of cotton and rags buried in the Constant family cemetery?"

Lan Wangji, having held the corpse earlier and gauged its weight, knew something was amiss and said, "Not entirely fake."

Wei Wuxian felt all over the corpse and found that its limbs were all limp, only the chest and abdomen had a solid feel. Tearing open the clothes, sure enough, the torso was real, while all other parts were fake.

The cotton-stuffed head and limbs were meant to "deceive" this torso, making it believe it was still attached to its owner's body. Judging by the skin color and the broken left shoulder, this must be the torso of the "good brother" they were looking for. The grave robber had come to dig it up.

Wei Wuxian stood up and said, "It seems the person hiding the corpse has noticed that we're investigating this matter and came to move the torso, fearing we might dig it up. Better late than never, we happened to run into them, haha. However," his tone changed, "how is it that the misty-faced grave robber is so familiar with your family's sword techniques?"

Clearly, Lan Wangji was also pondering this, the frosty look on his face still hadn't faded. Wei Wuxian said, "This person's cultivation is quite high, high enough to support the use of a teleportation talisman. They used spells on both their face and sword. Using a spell on the face is understandable, afraid of being recognized. But usually, an unknown cultivator has no need to use a spell to conceal their sword — unless their sword has some reputation in the cultivation world, or is very famous, recognizable to many people by its sword light, which would give them away as soon as it's drawn, so they have to conceal it."

Wei Wuxian tentatively asked, "Hanguang-jun, after crossing swords with them, do you think it might be someone you know very well?"

He didn't feel comfortable saying anything more specific. Such as, Lan Xichen. Or Lan Qiren.

Lan Wangji firmly said, "No."

Wei Wuxian had great confidence in Lan Wangji's answer. He believed Lan Wangji wasn't the type to cover up facts or be afraid to face the truth. If he said no, then it definitely wasn't. He also didn't like lying; in Wei Wuxian's view, Lan Wangji would rather cast a silencing spell on himself than lie. So Wei Wuxian immediately ruled out these two people and said, "Then it's even more complicated."

Lan Wangji placed the torso into another double-layered evil-suppressing Qiankun bag, securing it carefully. The two of them circled the area a few times, then leisurely made their way back to the street of taverns.

That young worker had indeed kept his word. Seven or eight out of ten other taverns on the street had closed, but their sign was still hanging, and the lights were on. The worker was scooping rice from a large bowl at the entrance. Seeing them, he said happily, "You're back! How was it? Our place keeps its promises, right? Did you two see anything?"

Wei Wuxian responded with a few smiling words and sat down with Lan Wangji in the same spot as earlier that day.

The table by his feet was piled with wine jars. He said, "Right, where were we before? We were interrupted by that sudden grave digger. I still don't know how Constant Ping died."

Lan Wangji continued to narrate to him in extremely concise terms.

Several years after Xue Yang, Xiao Xingchen, Song Lan, and others had gone their separate ways — some missing, some dead — one day, Constant Ping and his remaining family members all died in one night by lingchi (death by a thousand cuts). Moreover, Constant Ping's eyes had been gouged out.

This time, no one could figure out who the killer was, as all involved parties had vanished without a trace. However, one thing was certain.

The sword used for the lingchi, based on the examination of the wounds, was Xiao Xingchen's sword — Shuanghua.

Wei Wuxian paused with a bowl of wine at his lips, startled by this development: "Killed by Xiao Xingchen's sword? Was he the one who did it?"

Lan Wangji said, "Xiao Xingchen's disappearance is still inconclusive."

Wei Wuxian asked, "If they couldn't find him alive, did they try summoning his soul?"

Lan Wangji replied, "They tried. No results."

No results meant either he wasn't dead, or his soul had completely scattered. As an expert in this field, Wei Wuxian felt compelled to comment: "Soul summoning, you can't be too absolute about it. It requires the right time, place, and person, and sometimes mistakes can happen. I guess many people think it was Xiao Xingchen's revenge? Hanguang-jun, what do you think?"

Lan Wangji slowly shook his head and said, "Without knowing the full picture, I won't comment."

Wei Wuxian greatly admired this attitude and principle, smiling as he took a sip of wine. Then he heard Lan Wangji ask, "What do you think?"

Wei Wuxian said, "Lingchi is a form of torture, inherently implying 'punishment.' And gouging out the eyes is hard not to associate with Xiao Xingchen, who also lost his eyes. So it's understandable that people guess it was Xiao Xingchen taking revenge, but," he considered his words carefully, "I think, from the beginning, Xiao Xingchen didn't get involved in this matter expecting gratitude from Constant Ping. I..."

He hadn't decided how to continue "I," when the waiter eagerly brought over two plates of peanuts. Wei Wuxian was interrupted, conveniently not needing to continue. He looked up at Lan Wangji and smiled, "Hanguang-jun, why are you looking at me like that? I'm not doing anything. I don't know the full picture either, so I won't comment. You're right, before understanding all the inside stories and the ins and outs, no one should make arbitrary judgments. I only asked for five jars, but you bought me five more. I'm afraid I can't finish them alone. How about it, will you drink with me? This isn't the Cloud Recesses, it's not forbidden, right?"

He was prepared to be flatly refused, but to his surprise, Lan Wangji said, "Drink."

Wei Wuxian clicked his tongue, "Hanguang-jun, you've really changed. In the past, if I drank even a small jar in front of you, you'd get furious, wanting to throw me over the wall and hit me. Now you're even hiding Emperor's Smile in your room, drinking in secret."

Lan Wangji adjusted his collar and said softly, "Emperor's Smile, I haven't touched a single jar."

Wei Wuxian said, "If you're not drinking it, why are you hiding it? Saving it for me? Alright, alright, if you say you haven't touched it, I believe you. I won't mention it anymore, let's begin. I really want to see how many cups it takes to knock out a Gusu Lan Sect disciple who never touches alcohol."

He poured a bowl for Lan Wangji, who took it without hesitation and downed it. Wei Wuxian was inexplicably excited, staring at his face, waiting to see when it would turn red. However, after staring for quite a while, Lan Wangji's complexion and expression didn't change at all, his light-colored eyes calmly gazing back at him — completely unchanged!

Wei Wuxian felt greatly disappointed and was about to encourage him to drink another jar when suddenly, Lan Wangji frowned slightly, gently rubbing his brow. After a moment, he supported his forehead with one hand and closed his eyes.

...Asleep?

...He fell asleep!

Generally, after drinking so much alcohol, one should first get drunk, then fall asleep. How could Lan Wangji skip the drunk step and go straight to sleep?!

The "drunk" part was exactly what he wanted to see!

Wei Wuxian waved his hand in front of the sleeping Lan Wangji, who maintained a serious and upright expression even in slumber, and clapped near his ear. No response.

Apparently, he was a one-bowl knockout.

Wei Wuxian hadn't anticipated this situation. He patted his leg, pondered for a moment, then draped Lan Wangji's right arm over his neck and dragged him out of the small tavern.

He had become extremely adept at handling Lan Wangji's belongings, so he took out the money pouch, found an inn, and asked for two rooms. He carried Lan Wangji into one of them, removed his boots, covered him with a blanket, and then went out under the cover of night.

Reaching a desolate area, Wei Wuxian pulled out the bamboo flute from his waist, brought it to his lips, and played a melody. Then, he quietly waited.

During these days, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji had been together constantly, leaving no time for him to be alone. Thus, he hadn't been able to summon Wen Ning. Apart from his partially concealed identity, there were other reasons.

Wen Ning had killed members of the Gusu Lan Sect. Even though Lan Wangji treated him well, Wei Wuxian couldn't just summon Wen Ning in front of him. Or rather, precisely because Lan Wangji treated him so well, Wei Wuxian didn't have the face to summon Wen Ning in his presence. As thick-skinned as he was, this wasn't something he could be brazen about.

Coming back to his senses, he heard that eerie "clink-clank" sound.

Wen Ning's head-lowered silhouette appeared in the shadow of the city wall ahead.

He was dressed all in black, blending into the surrounding darkness. Only his pupil-less eyes were startlingly, grotesquely white.

Wei Wuxian clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked a circle around him.

Wen Ning moved slightly, as if wanting to turn in sync with his steps. Wei Wuxian said, "Stand still."

He obediently stood still. His delicate face seemed even more melancholic.

Wei Wuxian said, "Hand."

Wen Ning extended his right hand. Wei Wuxian grabbed his wrist and lifted it, carefully examining the iron ring and chain locked around his wrist.

This was no ordinary chain. When Wen Ning went berserk, he became extremely violent, capable of twisting steel into pulp with his bare hands. He wouldn't simply allow it to drag on his body like this. It must be a set of chains specially forged to restrain Wen Ning.

Crush his bones and scatter the ashes?

When some clans were going to great lengths to reconstruct even fragments of the Yin Tiger Seal, they certainly coveted the Ghost General as well. How could they bear to crush his bones and scatter his ashes?

Wei Wuxian let out a cold laugh, stood beside Wen Ning, pondered for a moment, then began to slowly press his hands through Wen Ning's hair.

Whoever had kept and chained Wen Ning certainly couldn't allow him to think for himself. To make him obey others' commands, they would have had to destroy Wen Ning's consciousness, surely planting something in his head. Sure enough, after pressing three times, Wei Wuxian felt a small, hard point at an acupoint on the right side of his head. He placed his other hand on the symmetrical spot on the left side of Wen Ning's head and felt a similar small, hard object, seemingly the end of a needle or something similar.

Wei Wuxian pinched the ends of the needles on both sides simultaneously and slowly began to work them out, extracting two long black nails from Wen Ning's skull.

These two black nails were about an inch long, as thick as the red cord used to hang jade pendants, and had been deeply embedded in Wen Ning's skull. The moment the nails left his skull, Wen Ning's features trembled slightly, and something like black blood vessels crept across the whites of his eyes, as if he were in great pain.

Even though he was already dead, he could still feel something like "pain".

The two nails were inscribed with intricate, complex patterns, undoubtedly of extraordinary origin. Whoever made them had some skill; it would take quite some time for Wen Ning to recover. Wei Wuxian put them away and looked down at the chains on Wen Ning's wrists and ankles, thinking that it wouldn't do to have them clanking about all the time. He needed to find a spiritual sword to cut them off.

The first sword he thought of was, naturally, Lan Wangji's Bichen. Although using a Lan family sword to help Wen Ning break his chains seemed somewhat inappropriate, it was the most easily accessible spiritual sword for him. He couldn't let Wen Ning continue dragging around such a burden.

Wei Wuxian thought to himself: "I'll do this. I'll go back to the inn now. If Lan Zhan is awake, I won't borrow it. If Lan Zhan is still asleep, I'll borrow Bichen for a bit."

Having made up his mind, he turned to leave. But as he turned, he found Lan Wangji standing right behind him.