After fastening the little chain on Xie Wuwei, Jiang Tan seemed somewhat reassured, and stopped piling barrier after barrier around his bedchamber after all, wrapping the place up like a turtle shell was far too suspicious.
But with an extra person now in Jiang Tan’s bedchamber, how to hide him was a problem especially since Xie Wuwei’s identity was special and he couldn’t be discovered.
Of course, these were all Jiang Tan’s worries. Xie Wuwei couldn’t care less. He just curled up in his chair, hugging a plate of pastries and munching away, and when the pastries were gone, he moved on to the fruit.
When he finished, he announced to the mirror, “Eating only pastries is too dry. I want a proper meal.”
Jiang Tan sat at his desk behind the folding screen, reviewing documents.
The screen had been newly brought in probably because Jiang Tan couldn’t stand the sight of Xie Wuwei eating and drinking.
Jiang Tan frowned at the paper in his hand. It clearly recorded the food consumed in his quarters the previous day: four boxes of lotus blossom pastries alone, not to mention all the assorted snacks and fresh fruit.
Normally it was just Jiang Tan living here there was no way he’d need that many pastries… Anyone paying the slightest attention would notice something was off.
Aside from Jiang Tan suddenly developing a huge appetite and eating two and a half people’s worth by himself, the only other possibility was that he was hiding someone in his rooms.
For the first time in his life, Jiang Tan hated how meticulously these accounts were kept.
He rose, walked around the screen, and looked at the person happily eating away. “You can cook, can’t you?”
Xie Wuwei nodded.
“I’ll have someone deliver some ingredients. You can make your own meals.”
Consuming raw ingredients was far less conspicuous than consuming pastries and fruit hide what could be hidden. It was just that his senior brother probably wouldn’t be so easily fooled.
Xie Wuwei blinked, accepting the arrangement gladly, and immediately looked up with a delighted smile. “Wonderful! I’ve been wanting to cook for you for ages.”
Saying this, he raised his hand and reached for Jiang Tan’s.
The Taiyi Sect cooks’ skills were mediocre at best their pastries were decent, but their cooking wasn’t as good as his.
Xie Wuwei lounged back in his chair, gazing at the table, chairs, screen, pastries, and Jiang Tan before him, feeling that life here was going a little too smoothly. Something wasn’t right.
Did Jiang Tan really have no other plans? Was fastening a little chain on him really the end of it?
Was Sect Master Jiang truly such a paragon of virtue never kicking people when they were down, never taking advantage of the vulnerable, never twisting the knife? An enemy fallen into his hands, and he had no ideas at all?
Jiang Tan’s face was expressionless as he rejected him cleanly and crisply, stepping back half a pace to keep his distance, his expression clearly showing lingering fear. “No need.”
“Have I made you hate me?” Xie Wuwei tilted his head, his pitch-black eyes fixed on Jiang Tan. The more Jiang Tan resisted, the more energized he became.
Getting under Jiang Tan’s skin? Easy as anything.
Jiang Tan stared at that familiar face and frowned, thinking: Xie Wuwei’s mind really does seem to be broken. Perhaps he lost part of his soul when he was revived, and it changed his temperament.
“Just make your own portion,” Jiang Tan said.
But Xie Wuwei didn’t leave as he’d hoped. Instead, he lowered his eyes and said softly, “You’re the only person I know. Don’t hate me.”
The moment those words left his mouth, the mirror tucked in Xie Wuwei’s robes couldn’t take it. It suddenly decided that not understanding human speech, as before, had been a blessing. The sheltered, worldly-inexperienced mirror thus came to know the curse of knowledge.
For the first time, a look of panic appeared on Jiang Tan’s face and somehow, he forgot to refuse.
Without caring what he’d actually said, Xie Wuwei had succeeded in souring Jiang Tan’s mood, and he left feeling quite pleased with himself.
Boiling the frog in warm water, eh, Sect Master Jiang? Once you’ve completely let your guard down, I’ll find a chance to undo the secret technique and run.
The mirror spoke up in a low voice, “Doing things this way, aren’t you afraid Jiang Tan will get angry and turn on you outright?”
“Not afraid. This guy responds to softness, not hardness. He’d never turn on me over something like this he’ll just quietly suffer on his own.” Xie Wuwei smiled brilliantly, clearly very satisfied with his own acting.
Feeling delightfully wicked, Xie Wuwei sauntered off.
Of course, he couldn’t be all that wicked his way of tormenting someone was to force them to eat food he’d cooked.
He probably genuinely loved cooking…
Over the past two days, Cen Liantai had noticed his junior brother acting stranger and stranger.
First he kept running back to his quarters at every opportunity, and now he even went back specifically to eat his meals, when before he’d always eaten with Cen Liantai in the side hall.
Seriously, who exactly is in your sleeping quarters?
Having lost his dining companion, Cen Liantai was baffled, and asked tentatively, “Junior Brother, has something been weighing on your mind lately?”
Jiang Tan raised his eyes. “No.”
Cen Liantai didn’t press further. Resting his chin on his hand, he thought it over there hadn’t been any sudden upheavals or major events recently…
He suddenly froze. He’d almost failed to register it Xie Wuwei had died recently, after all.
Hesitation flickered in Cen Liantai’s eyes. It was common knowledge that his junior brother and Xie Wuwei had been at each other’s throats; even if they’d had some friendship in their youth, it must have faded long ago.
It shouldn’t be because of Xie Wuwei… Besides, what did Xie Wuwei’s death have to do with his junior brother running back to his quarters all day?
Cen Liantai successfully talked himself out of it. His junior brother had probably just gotten tired of the same old food and wanted a change of flavor.
Meanwhile, Xie Wuwei hummed a little tune as he tossed the wok.
Jiang Tan’s reaction had been completely unexpected he was actually coming back every day to eat his cooking.
Bizarre. Truly bizarre.
Probably because the food at the Taiyi Sect was just that terrible…
In any case, Xie Wuwei was delighted that his cooking skills had received recognition.
He no longer had that eerie, ghostly aura about him. Perhaps anyone connected with good food just naturally seemed harmless.
His eyes were still unfocused, his long black hair tied back, and he wore a ruffled apron, looking down at the dishes he’d made with great satisfaction.
My skills really are excellent. Even if it’s just to fool him, Jiang Tan must be secretly delighted. Look how haggard the Taiyi Sect’s food has made him, his face looks like a corpse that hasn’t been buried.
Still humming, Xie Wuwei carried the food out and set it on the table, then turned back to the kitchen to ladle out the soup.
He stepped into the kitchen, but stopped at the doorway and let out a deep sigh.
How could anyone enjoy ruining another person’s good mood while cooking?
Then he extended his right hand and made a grasping motion at the empty air before him. The air suddenly warped and twisted.
A figure gradually materialized. He clearly hadn’t expected to be discovered his expression flashed with shock before he steadied himself and drew his sword, thrusting it at Xie Wuwei.
Xie Wuwei tilted his head and smiled, dodging aside, then kicked the man clean out of the kitchen.
Fighting absolutely must not happen in the kitchen. There’s good food in here if things get broken, what will I eat?
The man had some skill too after taking Xie Wuwei’s kick, he staggered back several steps, clutched his stomach, and steadied himself, shouting at Xie Wuwei: “Who are you?”
Xie Wuwei ignored him. After a few rounds of close combat, he found an opening and cast a spell on the man, then stepped back, shook out his wrist, and crooked his index finger. The man immediately collapsed like a puppet. Down he went, but his mouth was still going: “Sorcerer! What devilry is this!”
Only his tongue and eyes could move, and his words came out garbled and unclear. His eyes rolled around once before fixing on Xie Wuwei.
Xie Wuwei picked up the sword the man had dropped and casually gave him a stab. Sure enough, it got quiet only a few whimpers remained.
The Mirror was a little puzzled. “You’re not going to hold back? What if he’s from the Taiyi Sect?”
“He doesn’t even know who I am. Even if he is one, he’s nobody important. Besides…” Xie Wuwei turned and looked at the pot in the kitchen. “He poisoned the soup.”
The Taiyi Sect really was a mess. He hadn’t been here long and he’d already run into this kind of thing twice. A shame about the soup that had been simmering so long pot and all, it could just be tossed out.
Xie Wuwei sat in the courtyard, swinging his legs, drinking Jiang Tan’s tea, eating Jiang Tan’s fruit, and eyeing the man on the ground. This fellow had some real ability if Xie Wuwei hadn’t used a few little tricks just now, subduing him would have taken more effort.
The man was well-informed, too. Jiang Tan had only just changed where he took his meals, and this guy knew immediately. Looks like the Taiyi Sect had a mole. Jiang Tan would have his hands full again.
Good. When Jiang Tan suffered, Xie Wuwei was happy. He popped a grape into his mouth.
Just then, Jiang Tan walked up outside the courtyard. He suddenly frowned and looked up at the sky, then hurried inside at double pace.
Looking down, he saw a man lying on the ground, bloodied, face frozen in panic, motionless.
Looking up, he saw Xie Wuwei sitting off to one side, the picture of innocence.
“What happened?”
“He tried to poison you,” Xie Wuwei said calmly. “Poisoned the soup. No soup for lunch.”
“You’ve worked hard. I’ll have someone send over more food later.” Jiang Tan had successfully been led astray by Xie Wuwei his first reaction was, of all things, to worry about what to eat for lunch.
Having said that, Jiang Tan looked down at the man on the ground, frowning. “I think I’ve seen you before.”
“Hmph! The world thinks Sect Master Jiang is some upright, honorable man, but behind closed doors he secretly consorts with sorcerers. Bah!”
Xie Wuwei, insulted yet again, was rather displeased. Fine to curse him, but did he have to drag Jiang Tan into it too? What was the point of cursing only him? And besides using a few unconventional techniques made him a sorcerer? So pure-blooded sword cultivators were the only clean and legitimate ones, huh?
If Jiang Tan weren’t watching, he’d have gone over and given the man another stab already. Xie Wuwei pursed his lips in dissatisfaction and looked down at the lace trim on his apron.
Jiang Tan’s gaze shifted. He gave the man on the ground a brisk, decisive kick, hauled him up by the collar, looked at Xie Wuwei, and said, “You’re not a sorcerer.”
Xie Wuwei found that utterly bizarre. So Jiang Tan actually had moments where he’d speak up for him.
It all felt somehow awkward. He shifted position, propped his chin on his hand, and watched Jiang Tan drag the man away. Then he stood up and took off his apron.
Time to eat.
He wasn’t waiting for Jiang Tan, that was for sure.
In the side chamber, Jiang Tan was rolling up his sleeves those wide, elaborate robes were hardly convenient for an interrogation. “What was your relationship with Wang Shi, who died a few days ago?”
Wang Shi was the disciple whose death had cost Jiang Tan’s eldest senior brother his life the one found with poison in his residence.
The man slumped on the ground frowned. “What Wang Shi? Never heard of him.”
“You’re not one of the Taiyi Sect.”
“So what if I am? So what if I’m not?”
Jiang Tan ignored him. He bent down and stared at a small, unnatural bulge on the side of the man’s face. “You deliberately altered your appearance just to sneak in and poison me.”
“Don’t get smug. If that freak hadn’t interfered, I’d have succeeded long ago.”
Jiang Tan straightened up and ground his heel into the man’s fingers. “Still running your mouth,” he said flatly.
The man grimaced in pain but kept talking. Cursed by Xie Wuwei’s spell, his jaw couldn’t move only his tongue could and the words still came out in that garbled, gurgling mumble. “I get it now. That creature like some evil spirit you raised it yourself. You should be thankful that”
Before he could finish, as if he had touched some unspeakable taboo, the rest of his words dissolved into an eerie crackling sound. Then suddenly his eyes rolled back, his whole body convulsed, his head arched backward, his spine emitting brittle cracks as if on the verge of shattering, and his entire body bent uncontrollably into a horrifying bow.
Poison? Suicide? Jiang Tan immediately crouched down to check his pulse.
But there was no pulse.
He was dead.