“You’re back?” the dark circles under the jeweler’s eyes had already become more pronounced in the day that Wu Lingtian hadn’t seen him. His blurry eyes drifted over to Fan Yi. “And with another friend this time.”
Wu Lingtian bowed his head. “Sir, I was wondering if we could have another look at your daughter? I would like a second opinion from my friend.”
The jeweler’s expression pinched. He lowered his gaze with pursed lips and slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid I cannot do that.”
“Has something happened?” Wu Lingtian asked worriedly.
“She…last night she became unresponsive…” the jeweler whispered.
The room fell silent.
“My apologies,” Wu Lingtian said.
The jeweler shook his head. “No, no, it isn’t your fault. She had been like this for a while. I knew she would pass soon, anyway. However, if you would like to see her body, we’re still waiting on the undertaker.”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “It would be much appreciated.”
The jeweler brought Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi to the room. The stench of a freshly deceased person was already taking over. The man couldn’t make it past the door and left quickly after letting Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi in. The two men stepped towards the corpse and Fan Yi pulled down the white cloth to reveal the girl’s face.
Fan Yi pushed the cloth aside and pressed two fingers against the girl’s wrist. He closed his eyes and sent a stream of spiritual energy to search through her body. The longer he lingered, the darker his expression became. He drew back and looked at Wu Lingtian.
“No hun?” Wu Lingtian asked.
“No po,” Fan Yi corrected. He frowned at the body. “Both are gone.”
“…Both? How could that be?” Wu Lingtian stepped forward to check as well. When he opened his eyes again, his gaze lingered on the girl’s pale face. “This…”
“It can’t be the doing of a monster,” Fan Yi concluded. “If the monsters wanted to eat the entire soul, they would have done so since the beginning. Eating the hun and then letting the person suffer before snatching away the po too is unheard of. Not to mention, most creatures vie after the hun. What can the po do?”
Wu Lingtian tucked the arm back under the cloth and covered the girl’s face again. He looked to Fan Yi. “Then, it’s a human deed. Could it be the same person during the Zhuixing Conference?”
“Could it?” Fan Yi echoed the question. He glanced at the dead body. “If so, then they have been working hard for a long time. I would like to hope it’s the same person though.”
He turned and smiled at Wu Lingtian. “If we’re dealing with two rising devils, that would be a problem.”
Wu Lingtian lowered his gaze. “If that’s the case, then I should quickly send a message to Frost Cliff Pavilion for back up.”
Fan Yi nodded. “That’s a good plan.”
The two men left the jeweler’s home after a few more words of condolence. They traveled back to the inn so that Wu Lingtian could compose a proper letter. Once the words were chosen and the letter was tucked into the envelope, Wu Lingtian went to summon a messenger bird. The whistle rang out loud and clear however even after ten minutes, nothing showed up.
Fan Yi raised a brow. “What’s happening? Aren’t Frost Cliff Pavilion’s birds stationed every twenty miles? It should be here by now.”
“…I’ll try again,” Wu Lingtian mumbled. He whistled the pattern again and the two men waited. The result, however, was exactly the same.
Fan Yi patted Wu Lingtian’s shoulder, “Let’s go to the entrance of the town.”
Wu Lingtian tucked the letter away and followed Fan Yi.
However, when they arrived, the two men were met with the worst outcome.
“We’re stuck here,” Fan Yi murmured, his hand resting against the invisible barrier. He glanced around cautiously before turning back to Wu Lingtian, his voice entering his mind. “You could get out before, right?”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “I was able to teleport to where the disciples were.”
“But now, we can’t even summon a messenger bird,” Fan Yi’s brows furrowed. He walked away from the entrance naturally. “It seems we attracted that person’s attention.”
“Then, what should we do?”
“Let’s continue to act as if we hadn’t noticed. They’ll reveal their cards sooner or later. If they trapped us, that means they’re going to try and get rid of us,” Fan Yi reasoned. “We just have to be very careful.”
Wu Lingtian lowered his gaze as the two of them continued on to the next house. Fan Yi glanced over his shoulder and slowed his pace so that he could walk beside Wu Lingtian. The younger man pursed his lips, but before he could say anything, Fan Yi spoke first.
“I’m glad you called for me,” Fan Yi said. “If it was just yourself, even with the Rui Sword, you might not be able to handle it. I’d rather have us both suffer than have to find out you went missing and died somewhere.”
Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi. “…How’d you know what I wanted to say?”
“If you didn’t blame yourself, would you really be Wu Lingtian?” Fan Yi gave an exasperated sigh as he aggressively rubbed Wu Lingtian’s head. “You did a good job reaching out for help.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Wu Lingtian attempted to smooth back down his hair. “Thank you, Sect Leader.”
“Vliis bjo,” Mjc Tl rmboofv.
Pa kjr atf olgra alwf Qe Olcualjc tjv ab gfjmt bea ab rbwfbcf obg tfiq, sfa atlr kjr atf rlaejalbc atfs ijcvfv lc, rb bo mbegrf atf sbecufg wjc kbeiv offi uelias. Po Mjc Tl vlvc’a mifjg la eq cbk, tf kjr regf Qe Olcualjc kbeiv ugbk wbgf gfiemajca ab gfjmt bea obg tfiq lc atf oeaegf.
“At any rate, let’s just try to figure out the mystery before anything tries to kill us,” Fan Yi said. He looked back down at the paper and frowned slightly. “We’ll have to see if these four more houses give us any more information.”
Wu Lingtian expressed his agreement.
The first house they went to was again met with an aggressive parent. While the daughter tried to keep her father down, it didn’t stop his mouth from running through the list of obscene words that he knew. Wu Lingtian took it with a straight face and, afterwards, simply bowed and thanked them for their time.
Thankfully, the second house wielded a bit more results.
“Anything strange?” the old man frowned at the wording. Well, of course, the entire situation was strange. After another moment, he looked up at them, “I do remember that my grandson’s eyes had turned a different color.”
“A different color?” Wu Lingtian raised a brow.
“Mn! Something…like an off-white,” the old man said. “It’s that type of milkiness you see in blind people’s eyes?”
“Did you know whether he still retained his sight or not?”
“I’m not sure, however, his eyes still did respond to movement, so I would think they still worked alright.”
Wu Lingtian nodded. “Did you ever see that he was affected by bells?”
“Bells?”
“Yes. The type on children’s toys?”
The old man frowned and slowly nodded. “I do recall…something. It was a very small reaction though—I wouldn’t be able to tell you if it was because of the bells or not. But I do remember it because he hadn’t moved in a long time, but when the children outside ran by, he twitched a bit obviously.”
“Was that all?”
“That’s all, Daozhang.”
Wu Lingtian bowed his head. “Thank you, Sir.”
“No worries,” the old man sighed. “It’s just nice to see someone willing to help. I know everyone here is a bit hostile, but it means a lot.”
Wu Lingtian smiled. “We’re only doing what cultivators should be doing.”
“Of course, of course!” the old man laughed. He seemed a bit absentminded before pulling himself back together. “How many houses do you have left?”
“About two more,” Fan Yi tilted the list towards the old man.
The old man looked over and nodded while muttering that he remembered these families. However, when he got to the end, he showed a peculiar expression. “Hm?…Isn’t there one more family?”
“We’ve already visited the head of the village’s family, but they rejected us,” Wu Lingtian explained.
“No, no. There should be one more family,” the old man stroked his beard. “Mm…if I recall, it should be the family on the edge of town. Ah, what was their name…? Well, at any rate, I do recall that there was one more family. They lost their son and their daughter. I remember them being quite pitiful, since it was just one elderly woman left.”
“I see. Then, we’ll go visit her as well,” Wu Lingtian assured the old man.
“Oh, please do. I haven’t seen her in…goodness, has it been two months? It must have been,” the old man mumbled to himself. He shook his head and smiled at Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi. “Ah, my apologies, I’m quite used to talk to myself. I shouldn’t keep you two gentlemen any longer.”
“Thank you again,” Wu Lingtian stepped back from the door and left only after the old man closed the door.
“Another one, huh?” Fan Yi raised a brow at the list. He glanced at Wu Lingtian and lowered his voice, “Should we really trust? He seemed like he was a bit…old.”
“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Wu Lingtian said. “The worst that could happen is that there isn’t even anyone that lives there.”
“That’s true,” Fan Yi said. He tucked the list away. “But it seems that the bell is a bit of an issue.”
“And now the eyes too,” Wu Lingtian murmured. “Were the eyes of the victims at Zhuixing Conference also milky?”
“Were they? I’m not sure. I wasn’t allowed too close, so I can’t remember,” Fan Yi shrugged. “I’m sure we can ask Frost Cliff Pavilion once we get out of here.”
Wu Lingtian nodded, though he continued to seem distracted.
When they arrived at the next two houses, the responses were as aggressive as they were before. This time, Wu Lingtian was almost hit in the face by a bucket of feces.
Fan Yi’s brows furrowed as he looked at the mess that was made on their front steps. He glared at the man who was still huffing in anger and his wife who was profusely apologizing.
“Sect Leader, they’re normal civilians,” Wu Lingtian whispered when he felt the pressure in the air tense. He turned back to the couple and lowered his head. “Apologies for disturbing you.”
“Yeah, you best get! I don’t want to see you shitty cultivators around here anymore!”
“Dear! Please, Daozhang, I apologize for my husband’s behavior!” the woman said awkwardly.
Wu Lingtian shook his head and quickly took Fan Yi away.
The black-robed man scoffed and shook his head. “Cultivator or not, everyone in this world are as unreasonable as a pack of wolves.”
Wu Lingtian straightened out his robes. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“They tried to throw poop at you,” Fan Yi frowned at the younger man.
“I’ve had worse.”
“Like what? What’s worse than someone else’s fecal matter?”
Wu Lingtian thought for a moment. “Dog blood is very difficult to get out of clothing.”
“…Who threw blood at you!?”
“I probably deserved it.”
Fan Yi stared at Wu Lingtian incredulously. The younger man met Fan Yi’s gaze. “At least they didn’t stab me. Physical injuries are more of a bother.”
Fan Yi took a deep breath and shook his head. “A-Tian.”
“Yes?”
“Are you really not angry?”
“I’m angry, but it’s understandable why they’re also upset at us,” Wu Lingtian said. “Besides, it’s not like they actually hit me. Sect Leader pulled me away just in time.”
Fan Yi scoffed. “And if I hadn’t pulled you away?”
“If you hadn’t…maybe I would have glared at them,” Wu Lingtian said. He sighed and shook his head. “Today’s the day I’ve been insulted and yelled at most. My heart’s already numb.”
Fan Yi gave a silent agreement. It was rare to see such a venerated immortal be treated like dog shit. While it was funny, Fan Yi’s heart ached slightly for Wu Lingtian.
“Here.”
Wu Lingtian looked at the candy that Fan Yi held in his hand and smiled. “Each of us needed a piece of candy today.”
“I know, right? We really have to get out of here,” Fan Yi grumbled.
Wu Lingtian silently agreed.
After going to the last house on the list, Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi headed to the house at the edge of town, like the old man had suggested.
Just like the funeral home, the path that led to this house was relatively empty and hadn’t been cleaned in a long time. However, there was actually a house that came into their view. It was falling apart a bit, but was still livable. At most, it would seem like the owners of the house didn’t take very good care of it.
The closer they approached, however, the more obvious the air of death around it was. It clung to the tiles of the roof and curled in through the gaps of the boarded windows.
The two men slowed to a stop and stared at the building in front of them.
“Does someone actually live here?” Fan Yi asked skeptically.
“Only one way to find out,” Wu Lingtian mumbled.
He stepped forward and knocked lightly against the door. Before he could get his second knock in though, the door had already swung open with a light creak. Wu Lingtian looked over his shoulder at Fan Yi before poking his head in.
“Hello?”
In response to Wu Lingtian’s greeting, a softer “hello?” echoed back to them. Wu Lingtian glanced back at Fan Yi, but they didn’t move further into the house.
“Hello, we’re cultivators,” he said. “We’re here to investigate the strange happenings of the town as of late. We were wondering if you could answer a few questions about your deceased loved ones?”
Instead of the usual thrashing and yelling they would receive, Wu Lingtian’s introduction was met with silence.
“Could you come into the inner room?” the fragile voice eventually asked.
Wu Lingtian took a careful step in. Fan Yi followed quickly.
As they made their way through the small house, Fan Yi noticed that the windows that would normally allow sunlight in were boarded up. The table, which should be used regularly, was coated in a fine layer of dust. The tea set that sat on top had its cups turned upside down, as if it had been a long time since anyone had touched it. From the floors, to the chairs, to the ceilings, everything made it seem as if it had been several weeks since it had been cleaned.
Fan Yi reached out and tugged the back of Wu Lingtian’s shirt. His voice rang out clearly in Wu Lingtian’s mind. “Let’s be careful.”
Wu Lingtian nodded subtly in agreement.
They stopped at the door where they felt the voice had come from. Wu Lingtian lifted a hand and knocked again. “May we come in?”
“Yes.”
Although they were closer, the voice didn’t sound any louder. The only difference Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi could note was the apparent raspy quality to the person’s voice. Like everything else in the house, perhaps this person also hadn’t used their voice in a long time.
Wu Lingtian pushed the door open. It creaked and groaned, as if exerting a lot of pressure. When it finally settled, it revealed one person sitting on the bed, hidden in the shadows.
A soft laugh that sounded more like a croak, met their ears. “Here I had thought that I had been forgotten about a long time ago.”
Wu Lingtian narrowed his eyes into the darkness. “Who are you?”
“Me? My surname is Li. You can call me Grannie Li,” the elderly figure coughed lightly. A long, exhaustive sigh followed. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve felt the breath of another person. Could you come closer, my dear?”
Neither Fan Yi nor Wu Lingtian moved from their spots.
“I heard that you lost both your granddaughter and your grandson?” Wu Lingtian asked. “Is that true?”
“Yes, oh, yes,” the old woman’s tone shifted to mournful. “My dearest granddaughter. Oh, the poor thing. She was so pretty, so trusting. Of course, she would get hurt in the end.”
“Do you remember anything about them?”
“Anything about them?” the grandma echoed. “I remember much about them. Oh, I miss my granddaughter.”
“What I mean is, Grannie Li, do you remember anything about them before they died?”
“Died?”
“…Yes,” Wu Lingtian glanced at Fan Yi. “You do know your grandchildren are no longer here, right?”
“Nonsense!” Grannie Li exclaimed. “Why, I just saw my grandson yesterday!”
“You did?” Fan Yi’s brows furrowed.
“Yes, yes. He was as spirited as ever! As for his sister…oh, his poor sister,” the grandma sighed. “Oh, she fell for that wicked woman’s trap.”
“What wicked woman?”
“Th—oh, no. Oh, no I shouldn’t say,” the elderly woman shook her head. The shadows casted by the whisps of hair on her head swayed along with her movements. “I can’t! I’ll get in trouble.”
“Get in trouble with who?” Wu Lingtian asked softly.
“Wh…who?”
Wu Lingtian and Fan Yi exchanged glances again. After another moment, Wu Lingtian stepped closer. “Grannie, do you mind if I light a candle?”
“Oh, no, go ahead,” the elderly woman said amicable. “I would like to see some light. As you can see, the windows are boarded up.”
Wu Lingtian spared a smile, though the uneasy feeling began to crawl up his back again. He pulled out a match and lit one of the candles nearest the elderly woman. He put the flame of the match out an turned around.
His eyes were immediately met with a pair of milky white ones.
The elderly woman let out a high-pitched gasp. Her entire body was thrown backwards and she pressed herself against the wall. “It’s you! I-it’s you! You’re the one who killed my granddaughter!”
A/N: in horror movies/games, the things i want to see the least are little girls and grandmas…something always goes horribly wrong when you see a little girl or a grandma.
I love this story so much. But yes… nothing more sinister than a small child or a granny, you absolutely KNOW the bad is about to happen
aaaaaaaa thank you! i’m glad you’re enjoying it 😀
no but fr like. the tiny child and granny trope is just. Far too effective–
A granny in the dark or little girls singing quietly – even when we knew we lived across a lake from a girl scout camp, we still got chills when they did their campfire thing 😂