During the tug-of-war, Wei WuXian had already checked over the Phantom Attraction Flag in his hands. The motifs were drawn correctly and the incantations were complete. There wasn’t any errors, so nothing would go wrong while using them. However, the person who drew on the flag was lacking in experience, so it would only attract evil being and moving corpses from within five li*. That should be enough, though. There shouldn’t be any malicious creatures in a place as small as the Mo Village.
Lan SiZhui smiled at him, “Young Master Mo, the sky is growing dark, and we are going to start capturing the walking corpses soon. It will be dangerous at night time, so it would be best for you to return to your room.”
Wei WuXian looked him over. He was fair and refined, with a dignified appearance and smiling faintly. Wei WuXian silently approved of him. The flag formation was set in an organized way, and his mannerisms were also respectful, making him a disciple with astonishing potential. He didn’t know that, at a conservative clan such as the Lan clan, who on Earth brought up such a junior.
Lan SiZhui spoke again, “This flag…” Before he finished, Wei WuXian threw the Phantom Attraction Flag onto the ground and humphed, “It’s just a flag, so what’s the big deal? I can draw way better than this!”
He sprinted off the moment he threw the flag away. The boys who stood on the roof to watch the bustle almost fell off from the laughter, after hearing his ridiculous words. Lan JingYi also chuckled from anger and picked up the Phantom Attraction Flag, “What a maniac!”
Wei WuXian continued to roam around, doing nothing, and finally moved back to the small courtyard that belonged to Mo XuanYu.
He ignored the broken bolt and the mess on the ground, picked a relatively clean spot, and sat in the lotus position again.
However, before daylight came, he was pulled out of meditation by some noise from the outside.
A series of chaotic footsteps quickly approached, along with cries and screams. Wei WuXian heard a few phrases being repeated, “… Barge in and drag him out!” “Notify the officers!” “What do you mean ‘notify the officers’? Beat him to death!”
He opened his eyes to see that a few servants had already came in.
The whole courtyard was set alight with fire. Someone cried out, “Drag the insane murderer to the Main Hall and make him pay for it with his life!”
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Lotus position: a cross-legged position for meditation purposes
*Altered corpse: a corpse that had become alive, usually due to human interference
*The “A” prefix can also be used to refer to someone you’re close to. A-Yuan refers to Mo ZiYuan.
*one li is 500 meters or 1/3 of a mile.
GDC Chapter 4: Aggression—Part Two13 min read
Aggression—Part Two
Wei WuXian’s first thought was that something went wrong with the flag formation that the boys set up.
His inventions needed to be used extremely carefully, or else disasters could happen. This was also why he went to check if there was anything wrong with the motifs that were drawn.
As a few pairs of big hands came to drag him outside, Wei WuXian straightened his body and allowed them to do so without difficulty, so that he wouldn’t have to walk by himself. The East Hall was bustling with people, almost more crowded than when the villagers of Mo Village gathered here. All of the servants and relatives were present. Some were still in their undergarments and didn’t yet have the time to brush their hair, but everyone looked terrified. Madam Mo was collapsed in her seat, as if she just woke up from a swoon. The streaks of tears could be seen on her cheeks, and tears still lingered in her eyes. But, as Wei WuXian was dragged inside, her sorrowful gaze immediately became hateful.
A human-shaped object lay on the ground, with its body covered by a white cloth and only the head being revealed. Lan SiZhui and the other boys wore heavy expressions, bending down to check the situation and talking in soft voices. The conversation leaked into Wei WuXian’s ears.
“… Less than three minutes have passed since the body was discovered?”
“After subduing the walking corpse, we hurried from the West Courtyard to the East Courtyard, and found the corpse by the hallway.”
The human-shaped thing was, apparently, Mo ZiYuan. Wei WuXian took one glance at it, and couldn’t help but to look again.
The corpse looked like Mo ZiYuan in some ways, but unlike him in other ways. Although the features were clearly that of his petty cousin’s, the cheekbones were deeply sunken, eyes bulging, and skin wrinkled. Compared to the youthful Mo ZiYuan before this, it was as if he aged twenty years. It also seemed like his blood and flesh were sucked out of him, turning him into a skeleton with only a thin layer of skin on the outside. If, before this, Mo ZiYuan was just ugly, now, his corpse was both old and ugly.
As Wei WuXian was scrutinizing the corpse, Madam Mo suddenly rushed towards him, with a gleaming dagger in her hand. Being light on his feet, Lan SiZhui quickly knocked the dagger off. Before he had a chance to talk, Madam Mo shrieked at him, “My son died a tragic death, so I am only avenging him! What are you stopping me for?”
Wei WuXian hid behind Lan SiZhui’s back again, and spoke while squatting, “How does your son’s tragic death concern me?”
During the day, Lan SiZhui saw Wei WuXian make a scene in the East Hall, and, afterwards, he also heard a lot of exaggerated rumours from other people. He felt extremely sympathetic to the invalid, and couldn’t help but to take his side, “Madam Mo, seeing from your son’s condition, his flesh and essence have been drawn out of him, which means that he was killed by evil beings, not him.”
Madam Mo’s chest heaved, “You know nothing! The lunatic’s father was a cultivator. He must have learned a lot of demonic spells from him!”
Lan SiZhui turned around to look at the seemingly dull-witted Wei WuXian, and spoke again, “Uhm, Madam, there is a lack of evidence, so…”
“The evidence is on my son!” Madam Mo pointed at the corpse on the ground, “Look for yourselves! A-Yuan’s remains already told me who murdered him!”
Not needing other people to do it, Wei WuXian lifted the white cloth by himself, from the head down to the feet. There was something missing on Mo ZiYuan’s dead body.
His left arm, severed from below his shoulder, had disappeared!
Madam Mo spoke, “Do you see this? Everyone who were here heard what the lunatic said, right? He said that, if A-Yuan touched his belongings again, he would cut off his hand!”
After the burst of emotion, she covered her face and sobbed, “… My poor A-Yuan… Although he didn’t do anything to him at all, he was not only framed, but also killed as well… The lunatic is out of his mind…”
Out of his mind!
It had been a few years since he last heard the phrase being used to describe him, so it was quite cordial. Wei WuXian pointed at himself, but no words came to him. He didn’t know if he was the ill one or if it was Madam Mo.
When he was younger, he talked quite a lot about exterminating entire families and clans, killing millions of people, creating rivers of blood, and other cruel actions. But, most of the time, they were empty words. If he could actually do the things that he said, he would have long been dominating the cultivation world. Madam Mo’s true intention wasn’t to avenge for him, but to find someone to let out her resentment on.