Jiang Tan hesitated a moment, then walked over.
Xie Wuwei pushed the bowl of noodles toward him.
The Mirror seemed rather speechless, silently grumbling in Xie Wuwei’s mind, “Aren’t you two on bad terms? Why are you cooking for him the moment you wake up?”
The corner of Xie Wuwei’s mouth curled up, and he said to the Mirror, “Don’t you find it amusing? Jiang Tan hates me so much, but now that he sees me knowing nothing, it’s like punching cotton, all that force with nowhere to land. How frustrating must that be?”
“That actually makes sense. But what if he just draws his sword and tries to cut you down?” the Mirror asked the crucial question.
“Then I’ll stop acting, obviously.”
Xie Wuwei’s gaze shifted to Jiang Tan. Truthfully, he was vaguely anticipating his reaction.
“Anticipating” perhaps wasn’t quite the right word, he was waiting for a predictable, familiar outcome.
Like a sword drawn against him.
But Jiang Tan simply sat down at the table and picked up the chopsticks resting there.
The clear broth noodles on the table still gave off a faint steam, and the few sprigs of fresh spirit herb floating in the broth looked oddly familiar.
“You made this?” Jiang Tan asked.
Xie Wuwei nodded.
Now it was Jiang Tan’s turn to be surprised. He had eaten Xie Wuwei’s cooking before though that was many years ago.
He vaguely felt that the scene before him was absurd to the point of being eerie. Even with amnesia, Xie Wuwei shouldn’t have suddenly turned so domestic and virtuous.
Even if he dreamed up a scene like this, he’d wake up and mutter, what kind of nightmare was that?
Jiang Tan lifted a single noodle with his chopsticks and examined it. Well-versed in medicine and pharmacology, he could naturally tell that nothing had been added to this bowl no drugs, no poison. It was genuinely a fragrant, steaming-hot bowl of good noodles.
“You don’t know who I am, so why cook for me?”
“Figured I might as well.” Obviously it’s to lure you into letting your guard down so I can make my escape.
Jiang Tan froze for a moment, then laughed softly. “Do you even remember who you are?”
Since he was already faking amnesia, Xie Wuwei figured he might as well go big, so he shook his head.
“What about your sect? Do you remember that?”
Xie Wuwei shook his head while mentally ranting: If I’ve forgotten even who I am but somehow still remember my sect, that would be filial piety worthy of moving heaven and earth. My master would probably cry from being so touched.
Having gotten the answer he wanted, Jiang Tan lowered his head and took a bite of the noodles. It really was a good bowl of noodles—the strands were chewy and smooth, and the broth was delicious.
Xie Wuwei didn’t want to look at Jiang Tan, so he gazed melancholically into the distance, sighing about how hard life was.
The two of them finished the meal in complete silence. After Jiang Tan left, Xie Wuwei didn’t move either he just sat there, letting his mind go blank. Only when Jiang Tan was dressed and ready to go out did he slowly rise and stand beside him.
Jiang Tan was currently his best painkiller, so he had to stick close. If he got too far away, the pain would kill him.
Jiang Tan’s footsteps halted, and he sidestepped away from Xie Wuwei. “What are you doing?”
“Following you.”
“Why?”
That was a hard question to explain. Xie Wuwei said, “I just want to follow you. You’re the only person I know here.”
“You can’t go out.” Jiang Tan frowned, and as if startled, took a step back, watching Xie Wuwei with great wariness.
“Then don’t leave. At least don’t go far.”
Jiang Tan was stunned for a moment. “I’m only going to the front hall.” He wondered if his tone had been too harsh just now.
Xie Wuwei nodded, then turned back with visible relief, found a comfortable spot, and curled up there.
Don’t think I actually enjoy being around you. If I weren’t forced into this, I wouldn’t want to be here at all.
Jiang Tan stood where he was, questioning his very existence. Xie Wuwei had lost his memory, and somehow turned into this… clingy person?
Afraid there might be some trick to it, he double-checked the barrier around the sleeping quarters before leaving.
Thus the two of them reached a strangely perfect agreement each terrified the other might sneak away.
In the front hall of the Taiyi Sect, white smoke curled up from a Boshan censer. The windows were open, a gentle breeze drifting in, and Jiang Tan flipped through documents absentmindedly.
Had Xie Wuwei really lost his memory?
It was hard to believe.
But then how to explain Xie Wuwei’s odd behavior? If he hadn’t lost his memory, what was he trying to accomplish?
Had his brain been damaged during the resurrection, or was he deliberately putting on an act to deceive everyone?
Jiang Tan set down the documents and looked at Cen Liantai, who was watering the flowers nearby. “Senior brother, any news from the Tianyan Palace?”
“None. I sent someone over with Xie Wuwei’s belongings, but we didn’t even see his master, Qi Su.”
“That’s normal. Why would Qi Su ever meet with anyone from the Taiyi Sect?”
Cen Liantai kept watering the flowers. “How long is Qi Su planning to hide, anyway? His own disciple died and he shows no reaction whatsoever. Speaking of which, how exactly did Xie Wuwei die? Was it really suicide?”
Jiang Tan looked up at that. “It doesn’t seem like it.”
Cen Liantai put down the watering can and came closer. “Why not?”
“There were signs of a struggle. Aside from the fatal wound, Xie Wuwei had several bruises from impacts on his body, but there were no traces of a second person at the scene.” Jiang Tan hesitated. “It’s as if he was fighting himself.”
Cen Liantai blinked. Fighting himself that’s just suicide, isn’t it? Then another thought struck him. “Could someone have controlled Xie Wuwei and made him kill himself? But who could possibly control him?”
“These are all just guesses. The truth, I’m afraid, only Xie Wuwei himself knows.” Jiang Tan lowered his head and turned a page.
And of course, Xie Wuwei had lost his memory.
Whether the memory loss was real or fake, he probably would never reveal the truth.
After finishing up the sect’s affairs, Jiang Tan selected a few documents and tucked them into his sleeve. “I have some other matters to attend to. I’ll be going.”
Cen Liantai sat alone in the front hall, puzzled. His junior brother had been acting strange these past few days. Not showing his face for a while was one thing, but he’d never been in such a hurry to rush back before.
Could it be that he’d actually taken his advice and was resting more? But why was his junior brother being so obedient this time?
Cen Liantai rose and looked out the window in the direction Jiang Tan had gone. Thankfully he understood his junior brother’s temperament, or he might have suspected the man was hiding someone in his sleeping quarters.
Ha, what an overactive imagination.
In the sleeping quarters, Xie Wuwei locked in tight behind the barrier was comfortably curled up in a chair eating pastries.
Jiang Tan’s cooks couldn’t cook a proper meal to save their lives, but their pastries were genuinely delicious. Better eat as much as he could while he could once Jiang Tan came to his senses, there might not be any left.
“What exactly is your grudge with Jiang Tan?” The Mirror couldn’t shake the feeling that something about the relationship between these two was off. They didn’t seem like ordinary enemies.
Hearing this, Xie Wuwei stuffed the pastry in his hand into his mouth. “He and I were already deep in conflict before I defected all sorts of messy grudges from the past, plus he suspected his master’s death was connected to my master. Anyway, it’s all extremely complicated, and I was caught up in it too. Everything after that became one big tangled mess like how he intercepted my letters, which left me without medicine and nearly killed me.”
He propped his head in his hands and sighed. “Though maybe dying back then would have been a good thing… Anyway, after I ran away, Jiang Tan hated me even more. These past four years, not only did I have to deal with that pack of lunatics and the master they serve, I also had to watch out for Jiang Tan.”
“Then you’d better stop eating and hurry up and find a way to break the curse and escape,” said the Mirror.
Xie Wuwei leaned back in his chair and spread his hands. “I’ve looked. Found nothing. Right now all I can do is work on lowering Jiang Tan’s guard, take it slow. After all, I’m still in his grasp.”
True to form for someone who had died once already, Xie Wuwei took everything in stride, happily munching his way through the pastries and then the fruit.
When Jiang Tan returned to his chambers, he found Xie Wuwei sitting in the courtyard, fiddling with the plants and basking in the sun. Perhaps people become kinder once they’re well fed and watered at any rate, Xie Wuwei seemed to be in a good mood.
“Come here,” Jiang Tan said.
Xie Wuwei turned around and reluctantly walked inside. How much free time did Jiang Tan have on his hands, anyway, to be loitering around his courtyard all day? Didn’t he have anything else to do?
Inside, Xie Wuwei sat down in a chair, separated from Jiang Tan by nothing more than a small chess table.
“Is there anything you remember?” Jiang Tan asked.
Xie Wuwei tilted his head, his long black hair falling to cover half his face. Having died once, his complexion was unnaturally pale, his pitch-black pupils unfocused, and a blood-red scar ran across his neck. Combined with that face of his, he always gave off an eerie, otherworldly, inhuman impression.
He shook his head, the corner of his mouth curling into a fleeting smile. Bracing one hand on the table, he leaned forward and asked blankly, “What should I remember?”
“I know how to read fortunes. Want me to cast a hexagram for you? I can read your palm too, you know.” As he spoke, he made a move to grab Jiang Tan’s hand.
Of course, he knew Jiang Tan would dodge.
Sure enough, Jiang Tan’s sword sheath was immediately pressed against Xie Wuwei’s chest. “Sit properly,” he said.
Seeing Jiang Tan uncomfortable made Xie Wuwei happy. He reined himself in and leaned back against the chair.
Jiang Tan put the sword away and continued. “Who do you think I am?”
“You’re the one who woke me up,” Xie Wuwei said, spouting nonsense.
The conversation fell into silence. The two of them seemed to have great difficulty communicating, despite both being full of questions.
“What do you like to eat?” Xie Wuwei asked, resting his chin in his hand with a bright, harmless smile.
“Why do you ask?” Jiang Tan’s tone was no longer as cold as before.
“I could cook it for you,” Xie Wuwei said, winking at him.
The two carried on a conversation with zero informational content. Xie Wuwei fully displayed his overfamiliar warmth and doting, wifely attentiveness, successfully scaring Jiang Tan into keeping his distance.
It would have been better to just have a fight. This was somehow even more terrifying than a haunting.
Jiang Tan tilted his head away to catch his breath, composed himself, then turned and pushed over a thin chain. “Put this on.”
Xie Wuwei took it. At first glance, the chain was quite pretty, with faint red incantations flowing and shimmering across its surface.
Seeing Xie Wuwei about to put it around his neck, Jiang Tan couldn’t help but speak up. “Wear it on your wrist.”
“Oh.” Xie Wuwei took the chain off from around his head, wound it around his wrist a few times, and put it on.
He knew exactly what this thing was for, so he felt no pressure putting it on. The red chains came as a matching pair, one for each of them. The two chains were linked to each other, and once worn, they could be used to track the other person’s location.
It was basically the cultivation-world version of a child’s GPS watch, though his one seemed a little different, its function probably wasn’t quite so gentle and simple. Xie Wuwei raised his wrist and examined the chain carefully.
Besides, he was already trapped by Jiang Tan’s curse arts anyway, so this little chain hardly mattered to him.
Xie Wuwei was getting into his act now. He held up his wrist looking absolutely delighted, as if he’d just received some wonderful gift, and tilted his head to ask Jiang Tan, “Does it look good?”
“It looks good.” Given Jiang Tan’s personality, he found it hard to leave someone so completely unguarded hanging, so with great difficulty he forced out those two words.
“Thank you for the gift,” Xie Wuwei said with a smile, thoroughly pleased with his own acting.
Jiang Tan’s eyes twitched. He was starting to think Xie Wuwei really had gone mad.