Chapter 33 Grasses—Part One

The Shudong area was abundant in rivers and valleys. With towering peaks and a rough terrain,

only faint breezes passed the area, causing the majority of places to be enveloped in mist.

Walking straight toward where the left hand pointed, the two of them came upon quite a small

village.

A few rails of fencing encircled thatched houses made from mud. A brood of colorful chicks

scuttered in and out of the yards, pecking on the ground for rice. A large, bright-feathered rooster

stood single-legged on a roof. With a twitching comb, it looked downward loftily, its neck

turning left and right. It was fortunate that nobody had any dogs. It was likely that these villagers

could only get their hands on a few chunks of meat a year, much less have any leftover bones to

feed the dogs.

In front of the village, there was a fork road, leading to three different directions. Of these, two

were rather bare. Covered with a great deal of footprints, it was clear that they were often walked

upon. Yet, the last one have been overrun with weeds. A square sign made from a piece of rock

was positioned slantingly at this road. Subject to age and weathering, the sign was split down the

middle with a large crack. Even from within the crack, withered weeds peeked out.

Two large characters, which appeared to be the place that the road led to, had been carved onto

the sign. One could manage to tell that the bottom character was the character for "city".

However, the top character was complex in both form and brushstrokes. The crack just so

happened to have run through it, causing a few broken bits of rock to lay scattered on the ground.

Wei WuXian bent down and pushed the weeds aside. Even after staring at it for a long time, he

still couldn't figure out what the character was.

Coincidentally, the direction that the left arm pointed at was indeed this path.

Wei WuXian, "Why don't we ask the villagers?"

Lan WangJi nodded. Of course, Wei WuXian didn't expect him to ask. With a large grin over his

face, Wei WuXian walked toward the villager women who were feeding the chicken.

Among the group women, some were old and some were young. Noticing the approach of an

unfamiliar man, all of them looked nervous, as if they wanted to throw their dustpans away and

flee back inside. Only after Wei WuXian exchanged a few words with them, a cheerful smile on

his face, did they finally begin to calm down and respond shyly. As Wei WuXian pointed at the sign and asked a question, their expressions changed at once.

They paused for a moment, and unwillingly started to converse with him. During the chat, they

didn't dare to look at Lan WangJi, who stood by the sign, at all. With the corners of his lips still

curved upward, Wei WuXian listened intently. Eventually, it seemed as if the topic had switched,

and the women's expressions calmed again. They gradually relaxed and started to smile timidly

at him.

Lan WangJi stared at them from afar. He waited for a while, but Wei WuXian still didn't seem

like he intended to return. Slowly looking to the ground, Lan WangJi kicked a small chunk of

rock that was by his feet.

He stepped on it for a long time, rolling the innocent rock over again and again. As he looked up

again, he saw Wei WuXian take something from his sleeves and hand it to the woman who spoke

the most.

Lan WangJi stood still, a blank look on his face. When he really couldn't control himself

anymore, ready to approach them, Wei WuXian finally sauntered over.

He stood back beside Lan WangJi, "HanGuang-Jun, you should've went. There were even

rabbits in the yard!"

Lan WangJi didn't react to his teasing comment and responded with feigned indifference, "What

have they answered?"

Wei WuXian, "This path leads to Yi City. The first character on the sign is 'yi'."

Lan WangJi, "Yi as in chivalry?"

Wei WuXian, "Yes and no."

Lan WangJi, "And why is that?"

Wei WuXian, "The character is correct, but not the meaning. It's not yi as in chivalry, but yi as

in a coffin home."

They stepped over the bundles of weeds and went on the path, quickly passing the sign. Wei

WuXian continued, "The girls said that, ever since a long time ago, most of the people in that

city have died early, either having short lives or meeting accidental deaths, so there were a lot of

coffin homes for temporarily holding the corpses. Also, their specialty is in making coffins, paper money, and other sorts of burial goods. Everyone was skilled at no matter it be making

coffins or paper mannequins, which is why it became known by such a name."

Aside from wilted weeds and pieces of rocks, on the path, there were also cracks and ditches that

were difficult to notice. Lan WangJi kept his eyes on wherever Wei WuXian stepped, while Wei

WuXian talked as he walked, "They said that the people here rarely go to Yi City. The people

inside don't leave, either, for reasons other than the export of goods. In the past few years,

almost nobody could be seen leaving. Nobody has walked on this path for years. Sure explains

why it's so hard to walk over."

Lan WangJi, "And?"

Wei WuXian, "And what?"

Lan WangJi, "What did you give them?"

Wei WuXian, "Oh. You mean that? It's rouge."

When they were in Qinghe, he bought a small compact of rouge from the charlatan that told him

information about the Xinglu Ridge, and had always kept it with him. Wei WuXian, "You have

to show people your thanks when you're asking them things, right? I wanted to give them

money, but they were too scared and didn't dare to take it. It seemed like that they really liked

the scent of the rouge. They had probably never used such a thing before, so I gave it to them."

With a pause, he added, "HanGuang-Jun, why are you looking at me like this? I know that the

rouge's quality really isn't that great. But I'm not like how I used to be, when I always had a ton

of flowers and jewelry on me to give the girls. I really don't have anything else to give them. At

least it's better than nothing."

As if a displeasing memory had bubbled up, Lan WangJi's brows twitched, and he slowly turned

his head away.

Walking along the rough path, the weeds gradually became fewer, climbing back toward the

sides, and the road also widened. Yet, the fog grew denser.

As the left hand formed a fist, a city gate lay in ruins at the end of the long path.

The tower in front of the city had missing paint and a broken roof. With one corner chipped off,

it looked unusually dilapidated. The walls of the city were covered in graffiti done by some

unknown person, while the red color of the doors had almost faded white, every single one of its doornails rusty and black. The pair of doors was left unlatched, almost as if somebody had just

opened a slit and slipped inside.

Even before entering, one could feel that this must be haunted with ghosts and demons running

wild.

As Wei WuXian walked down the path, he examined the surroundings carefully. At the city

gates, he commented, "The feng shui is horrible."

Lan WangJi nodded without hurry, "Barren mountains and turbulent rivers."

Yi City was surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides. The cliffs tilted toward the center in an

extreme manner, appearing both menacing and constricting, almost as if it would collapse any

moment. Bound by these dark, massive peaks and enveloped in the ghostly white fog, it appeared

even monstrous than monsters. Even simply standing here would make one feel anxious and

suffocated, along with a strong sense of being threatened.

Ever since the ancient times, there had been the saying that "the greatness of a person brings

glory to their birthplace". The opposite saying was also present. In some places, because of the

terrain or location, the feng shui would be exceptionally awful. Surrounded by a natural gust of

sinister energy, it was easy for anyone who lived there to die early or be generally unlucky. If all

of their ancestors dwelled there, then they'd be even more unfortunate. Also, irregularities such

as living corpses or the return of souls. It was clear that Yi City was such a place.

Places like this were usually in secluded locations that weren't under the control of any

cultivational sect. Of course, even if they were, sects wouldn't want to help either. Such

situations really were annoying, even more annoying than the Waterborne Abyss. The

Waterborne Abyss could be chased away. However, feng shui was difficult to change. If nobody

wailed in front of their doors, the sects turned a blind eye and pretended that they didn't know.

For the city's residents, the easiest solution was to leave the place. But, if someone's family had

been living at a secluded place for generations, it'd be almost impossible for them to make the

decision to leave where they grew up. Even if five or six out of ten people would have short

lives, maybe they would be the remaining three or four. It didn't seem too unbearable.

The two halted before the city gates and exchanged a look.

Squeak. Supported by hinges on the verge of snapping, the two city doors, although being unable

to align properly, slowly opened. Before their eyes, there was neither bustling streets nor violent corpses. There was only an all-

enveloping shade of white.

The fog was even a few times denser than the fog outside the city, allowing them to only see a

long, straight street ahead of them. On the sides, there stood no passers, but only brooding

houses.

The two of them naturally walked a few steps nearer to each other, and entered the city together.

It was still daytime, but no sound could be heard in the city. Aside from the lack of human

voices, not a single note of caws or barks could be heard either. It was more than peculiar.

Then again, since this was the place where the left arm pointed, it'd be stranger if it weren't

peculiar.

They walked down the street for a while. The farther they went, the thicker the fog, as if evil

energy permeated the air. At first, they could still manage to see anything within ten steps'

distance. And then it became impossible to make out any figure more than five steps away. In the

end, they couldn't even see their hands in front of them. The more Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi

walked, the closer to each other they shifted. They could only manage to see each other's face if

they walked shoulder-to-shoulder. A thought suddenly popped into Wei WuXian's mind, If

someone took advantage of this fog and snuck between us, a third person to our group of two,

it'd be hard to say whether or not we'll notice.

Suddenly, his foot stepped on something. He looked down, but couldn't tell what it was. Wei

WuXian grasped Lan WangJi's hand firmly so that he didn't go off on his own, bent down, and

squinted. A head with a pair of glaring eyes ripped through the fog, jumping into his sight.

The head had the face of a man with thick brows, large eyes, and two smudges of rouge that

stood out acutely.

When Wei WuXian stepped on the head, he almost sent it flying, so he knew how heavy it

weighed. Being so light, this definitely wasn't a human head. He picked it up and squeezed it. A

large part of the man's face sunk in. Some of the rouge was also smudged.

It was a head made from paper.

The paper head was skillfully crafted. Although the makeup was overly dramatic, the features

were rather delicate. Yi City's specialty was burial goods, so of course the technique of crafting

paper mannequins was decent. Among the paper mannequins, there were substitute mannequins, which the people believed that, if burned for the deceased, would suffer in hell in place of them;

there were also maidservants and beautiful girls, which would attentively care for the deceased in

the nether world. Of course, these were really only made for the living to feel some relief. This

paper head was probably a "Nether Brawler".

Like its name, a "Nether Brawler" was a fighter, said to be able to protect the deceased from the

bullying of other ghosts or tricky Judges; the paper money that the juniors burned wouldn't be

stolen away by other souls either. The paper head definitely had a large, sturdy body also made

of paper to go with it. Someone had probably pulled the head off and thrown it onto the streets.

The strands of hair on the paper head were jet-black and quite glossy. Wei WuXian touched it.

The hair was firmly attached to the scalp, as if the head really grew the hair. He thought to

himself, It really was crafted skillfully. Did they take real, human hair and glue it on?

Suddenly, a thin shadow swept past him.

The shadow was extremely bizarre. It ran past, brushing against his shoulder, and instantly

disappeared into the thick fog. Bichen unsheathed on its own, chasing after the figure, but

quickly returned to its sheath.

The thing that slipped by him ran too quickly—a human definitely couldn't have reached that

speed!

Lan WangJi, "Pay attention. Be careful."

Although it only brushed past, it was difficult to say that the next time it came, it wouldn't do

something else.

Wei WuXian straightened up, "Did you hear that?"

Lan WangJi, "Footsteps and a bamboo pole."

He was correct. During the moment, aside from hurried footsteps, they heard another strange

noise. The ta-ta sounded rather clear, as if someone was quickly tapping a bamboo pole on the

ground. Wei WuXian didn't know why the noise was present.

In front of them, from within the fog, came another series of footsteps.

This time, the footsteps were light, slower, and greater in number. It seemed as if a group of

people were carefully approaching, but not saying anything. Wei WuXian fished out a Gloom-burning Talisman and tossed it forward. If anything surrounded by resentful energy was in front

of them, it would burn up, and the fire would probably somewhat light up the area.

The people in front also noticed that something had been tossed at them. They immediately

attacked.

A multitude of differently-colored sword glares rushed over. Bichen unsheathed calmly and

drifted in front of Wei WuXian, fending off all of the glares. On the other side, the people

fumbled in confusion. Hearing the shouts, Lan WangJi immediately sheathed Bichen. Wei

WuXian called out, "Jin Ling? SiZhui!"

As he expected, he hadn't heard wrong. Jin Ling's voice sounded through the white fog, "Why's

it you again?!"

Wei WuXian, "Well, actually, I want to know why it's you again!"

Lan SiZhui tried to contain himself, but his voice sounded delighted, "Young Master Mo, you

are also here? Then is HanGuang-Jun here as well?"

Hearing that Lan WangJi might also be here, Jin Ling shut his mouth immediately, as if he had

been silenced again. He was probably scared that he'd be punished again. Lan JingYi also

shouted, "He definitely is! The glare before was from Bichen, right? It was Bichen, right?!"

Wei WuXian, "Yep. He's here, right beside me. You should come over."

As soon as the boys knew that the ones in front of them were friend instead of foe, they

immediately let out a few sighs of relief and scurried over. Aside from Jin Ling and some of the

Lan Sect's juniors, there were also seven or eight boys wearing clothes of different sects, who

still acted hesitant. They were probably also disciples from distinguished backgrounds. Wei

WuXian asked, "Why are all of you here? With such an attack, it's lucky that I have HanGuang-

Jun by my side. What if you hurt ordinary people?"

Jin Ling retorted, "There isn't any ordinary people here—there isn't any people here at all!"

Lan SiZhui nodded, "It is daylight, but there is fog everywhere. And there is not a single shop

open."

Wei WuXian, "This won't matter for now. How did you guys run into each other? Don't tell me

that you arranged to night-hunt together." Jin Ling saw everyone as an eyesore and wanted to

fight with everyone. And, since he already had an unpleasant interaction with the Lan Sect's disciples, how would it be possible that they wanted to night-hunt together? Lan SiZhui

obediently explained, "That would be a long story. We were originally…"

Suddenly, a series of clucks and taps, the unusually ear-piercing noise of a bamboo pole

knocking on the ground, came from within the dense fog.

The juniors' faces changed at once, "It's here again!"

Reference to the words and word meaning

1. Coffin home: A coffin home refers to a building where "a temporary coffin depository where the

coffins containing the cadavers of recently deceased people are temporarily stored while

awaiting transport to the place of burial."

2. Judges: In Chinese folklore, when someone dies, they go to the underworld to be recorded by a

judge. There are a lot of different versions, and this really isn't that important.