Leaving Laohuai Village behind, Xu Xianqing crossed paths with a panicked Si Nian along the road. Xianqing was so lost in thought she didn’t even offer a greeting.
Once clear of the village, she made a beeline for Wugen Village and caught Zhao Xing just as he stepped out after buying provisions.
“Xianqing? What are you doing here? Did you finish your task?” Zhao Xing called out, walking over. Only when he got closer did the moonlight reveal the grim expression on her face.
He frowned, his voice laced with concern. “Xianqing, what’s wrong?”
“Senior Brother Zhao,” she asked directly, “when the Ye family fell, how did you manage to escape with your life?”
Zhao Xing’s expression instantly soured. He didn’t answer right away.
Seeing his reaction, Xu Xianqing realized she had stepped out of line. She quickly apologized, “I’m sorry, Senior Brother. I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious as to why you’d come all this way looking for me.”
“It’s fine. I know what you meant.” He handed over a portion of the food and water before explaining, “Something happened to Miss Ye’s grave, and no one in the family was willing to guard it. I… I volunteered for the task. That was the only reason I survived.”
Volunteered? Xu Xianqing murmured internally. If he had volunteered for guard duty, it clashed with her theory. Zhao Xing’s sudden arrival wasn’t part of Miss Ye’s grand design after all.
Xu Xianqing breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It made sense; as brilliant as Miss Ye was, even she couldn’t possibly have orchestrated so many events from beyond the grave.
“What do you plan to do now, Senior Brother?” she asked.
The two walked beneath the moonlight, clutching their rations…a scene hauntingly reminiscent of their days back in Pingkou Alley, though they had been far more destitute back then.
Unlike Xianqing, who lacked a spiritual root and was forever barred from joining a formal sect, Zhao Xing had a natural talent for cultivation and was a trained alchemist. If he could align himself with a good sect, a bright future still awaited him.
“I… I don’t know,” Zhao Xing confessed, falling silent.
To him, the Ye family had felt like home…the only true place of belonging he had found after leaving Pingkou Alley. But now, it was gone.
A sudden thought struck him, and his composure wavered, his tone laced with chaotic emotion. “The attack on the Ye family wasn’t simple. By the time I rushed back, everyone was dead. But there was an elder fighting the Patriarch… when that elder finally died, his body emitted a very strange aura.”
Xu Xianqing had a strong hunch: it must have been demonic qi.
However, since neither of them had ever encountered demonic qi before, she kept her mouth shut to avoid raising his suspicions.
Zhao Xing scratched his head in frustration. “Aside from me, someone else in the family must have escaped. But I have no idea where to even start looking, or who to look for.”
“Do you want to avenge the Ye family, Senior Brother?” Xu Xianqing looked at him in surprise.
Zhao Xing had only been a low-ranking disciple in the family. In large prominent clans, only those sharing the family name held any real status. If the former Patriarch hadn’t assigned him to work in the medicine hall early on, Zhao Xing would have been nothing more than a errand boy.
Even at the medicine hall, his life hadn’t been easy. He was constantly crushed under the weight of superiors…almost all of whom were Ye family members, whether from the main line or branch families. Foreign-named disciples simply had no voice.
Yet despite all that, Zhao Xing held genuine affection for the family.
He nodded firmly. “I might not be very capable or educated, but I know what it means to repay a debt of gratitude. The Patriarch treated me well, and the family never wronged me. They gave me food, shelter, and taught me a craft. I was too cowardly to die alongside them, but… if the opportunity ever comes, I will avenge them.”
Xu Xianqing didn’t share his attachment to the Ye family, but she did feel deeply for Miss Ye.
“If Miss Ye were still alive, she’d definitely seek revenge for them,” Xu Xianqing murmured softly.
Zhao Xing accepted this without hesitation. “Without a doubt.”
Xu Xianqing let out a soft sigh, shifting the subject. “Did you see the old Taoist priest in Wugen Village? Did he say anything to you?”
“No. I only saw his acolyte. It was as if he already knew I was coming…he had the food and water prepared and waiting for me.” Zhao Xing’s brow furrowed slightly as he studied Xianqing. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she had changed drastically since stepping out on this trip.
“Are you close with that priest?” he asked.
“Not at all.” After eating a few bites to regain her strength, Xu Xianqing split the remaining rations in two and handed half back to Zhao Xing. “I need to return to Laohuai Village.”
“I’m coming with you,” Zhao Xing said, taking the food and stepping up beside her.
Xu Xianqing shook her head.
“Senior Brother, could I trouble you to track down the group of grave robbers who stole the body earlier?” Xianqing’s brow creased in concern. “Something feels deeply wrong about all this. That tomb is bizarre, Laohuai Village isn’t on any map, and Wugen Village is oozing with strangeness. I need to get to the bottom of what’s happening here.”
Zhao Xing agreed. “Alright. I’ll go find those grave robbers.”
As Xu Xianqing turned and departed, Zhao Xing watched her receding figure, whispering in confusion, “She really has changed a lot…”
When Xu Xianqing returned to Laohuai Village, the night was illuminated by flickering torches. The villagers were wandering the paths, calling out for Wan’er, while Si Nian searched in a state of growing desperation.
Spotting Xianqing entering from the edge of the village, Si Nian rushed over and grabbed her. “Have you seen Wan’er? Have you seen her?!”
“Si Nian… to be honest with you, do you really think you’ll be able to find her?”
Xianqing’s words struck Si Nian like a physical blow. The frantic look on her face froze instantly. Her pupils slowly turned a milky white, and when she spoke again, her voice sounded unnaturally distorted…like a guttural rasp squeezed from the depths of her throat.
“What is that supposed to mean?! What do you know?! You saw my wife, didn’t you?!”
Si Niang’s terrifying transformation confirmed everything Xu Xianqing had suspected.
Quietly, Xianqing tightened her grip on the dagger hidden at her waist. “I did see her. Outside the village.”
“Where is she?!”
Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the terrifying aura vanished. Si Nian reverted back to the helpless, gentle farm woman from before, clutching Xianqing’s arm in desperation.
Xianqing repeated herself softly.
Si Niang shook her head frantically. “No… that’s impossible. Why would she go outside the village?”
“It’s true. I saw someone take her away with my own eyes.” Xianqing’s hands were already secretly poised over her Nine-Heavens Thunder Talismans and Five-Element Puppets, bracing herself in case Si Niang suddenly turned into a malevolent spirit and attacked.
Instead, the strength drained out of Si Niang all at once, her shoulders slumping in defeat.
“I should have known…” Si Niang muttered endlessly to herself. “I should have known long ago…”
Xu Xianqing realized that Si Nian was fully aware of the village’s sinister nature…and of how different she herself was from living, breathing humans.
“I… I can’t leave this place,” Si Niang said, suddenly snapping her head up. She stared at Xianqing as if looking at her absolute last lifeline. “Can you help me? Can you bring Wan’er back to me?”
Xu Xianqing didn’t give an immediate answer. Instead, she looked into the woman’s pale eyes and countered with a question of her own:
“Will you tell me the secret of Laohuai Village first?”