Chapter 5 (1/2)
Rude and Unreasonable 4
Although the several youths were also greenhorns and each and every one had a nervous expression, they still strictly stepped into position to defend the Mo residence. Inside and out of the main room they continued to stick sealing talismans.
The servant Ah’Tong was carried into the hall. With his left hand Lan Sizhui (1) grasped his wrist and took his pulse and with his right hand he cut Madame Mo’s vest. He was providing treatment to both sides at the same time under pressure. Suddenly Ah’Tong got up from the ground.
“Ah” Ah’Ding cried out: “Ah’Tong, you’re awake!”
She didn’t even have time for her face to light up. Right away she saw Ah’Tong lift up his left hand and grab his own neck.
Upon seeing this, Lan Sizhui hit several acupuncture points in succession.
Wei Wuxian knew that although the people of this family appeared refined, the strength of their arms wasn’t the least bit refined. This method of hitting would cause anyone to be immediately unable to move. Ah’Tong had no reaction. His left hand clenched tighter and tighter and his face displayed an even more painful expression.
Lan Jingyi moved over to force open his left hand. Unexpectedly it resembled trying to break open a lump of iron. The hand would not move an inch.
In just another moment there was a “Crack”. Ah’Tong’s head dangled down askew and his hand loosened.
However, his neck was already broken.
Under a mult.i.tude of eyes, he had broken his own neck!
Upon seeing this situation, Ah’Ding’s voice trembled as she said: “…ghost! There’s an invisible ghost and he made Ah’Tong strangle himself!”
Her mournful voice tapered away. Onlookers blood ran cold as they listened, and suddenly they believed.
In Wei Wuxian’s judgement it was quite the opposite. It was not the fault of some malicious spirit.
He had watched these youths place their talismans. All were of the spirit expelling type. The entire east hall at been wrapped up tight. If indeed a malicious spirit had entered the hall the charm would have immediately burned up with a green flame. Nothing like that had happened.
It wasn’t that this group of children had responded slowly, it was that the one involved was very savage.
For the Xuanmen, a malicious spirit or “ligui” had a strict definition. At least one person killed each month for a period of three months would be cla.s.sified as a ligui.
This standard was set by Wei Wuxian and was probably still the one still in use.
Most who dealt with this sort of thing, in his opinion, would consider seven days to kill one person as the work of being haunted by a ligui.
This thing who had actually continually killed three people, moreover in such a short period of time, even a famed holy man would not be able to immediately come up with countermeasure, much less this group of green youngsters.
And just like that as if reacting to his thoughts, a flame flashed and flashed again, as a cold wind rushed in.
All across the courtyard and east hall, lanterns and candles simultaneously extinguished.
The light having been instantly put out resulted in the screeching of voices here and there. Men and women jostled as they attempted to flee.
Lan Jingyi shouted: “Stand your ground, do not aimlessly run around! Grab whomever is running about!”
This wasn’t alarmist talk. It was in the nature of evil spirits to take advantage of the chaos around them. The greater the panic and commotion, the more likely disaster would strike without knowledge.
The time spent disordered and separated was extremely dangerous.
Each and every one was frightened out of their senses. In a short period of time the east hall became still and quiet aside from small sobbing breaths.
Perhaps already several people had gone.
In the darkness, suddenly a flame brightly shone. It was Lan Sizhui igniting a talisman.
The flame of the fire talisman was not of the type that could be blown out by the evil spirit. Using this flame he relit the other candles once again, the remaining youths comforted the others in the hall.
In the light, Wei Wuxian casually looked at his wrist. Once again another wound had healed.
It was with this look that he suddenly noticed that the number of scars was wrong.
Originally his left and right wrists each had two scars respectively.
Mo Ziyuan’s death healed one. Mo Ziyuan’s father’s death another.. And the family servant Ah’Tong’s death yet another.
By this measure, there should have been three healed scars, leaving only the last. The one with the traces of the deepest wounds of hatred.
But now his wrist was empty, there were no wounds remaining.
Wei Wuxian believed that the target of Mo Xuanyu’s vengeance was a.s.suredly Madame Mo.
The longest and deepest wound was kept for her.
But it had unexpectedly vanished.
Had Mo Xuanyu suddenly abandoned his grudge? That was impossible.
He had used his soul as an offering to call Wei Wuxian out.
His wound would not heal unless Madame Mo died.
His gaze s.h.i.+fted slowly, moving to land before long on the people crowded together. Among them with a deathly pale face, having recently awoken, was Madame Mo.
Unless she was already dead.
Wei Wuxian was certain, something had already attached itself to Madame Mo.
If inside her was not her own soul, then what was it?
Suddenly Ah’Ding cried out: “Hand…hand, Ah’Tong’s left hand!”
Lan Sizhui moved the fire talisman closer to Ah’Tong’s corpse.
Sure enough, his left hand had disappeared.
The left hand!
With a sparking of electric light, before Wei Wuxian’s eyes he saw slice by slice light up and fade away slowly traveling up the arm.
Suddenly a puff of laughter escaped him.
Lan Jingyi: “This fool, laughing at this kind of time!” On second thought, since he’s a fool, what was there to bother about?
Wei Wuxian grabbed his sleeve and shook his head saying: “Not, not!”
Lan Jingyi jerked his sleeve back: “Not what? Not a fool? Don’t cause trouble! n.o.body has time to deal with you.”
Wei Wuxian pointed to Mo father’s and Ah’Tong’s corpses and said: “Those aren’t them.”
Lan Sizhui curbed the anger of Lan Jingyi, asking: “You say ‘Those aren’t them’, what do you mean?”
Wei Wuxian solemnly said: “This is not Mo Ziyuan’s father and that is not Ah’Tong.”
With his face full of makeup and his solemn att.i.tude, it really gave the feeling that this guy was ill.
But hearing these words in the faint candlelight was unexpectedly creepy.
Blankly, Lan Sizhui involuntarily asked: “For what reason?”
Wei Wuxian proudly responded: “Ah, they are not left handed, they always used their right hands to hit me, that is how I know.”
At the end of his patience Lan Jingyi spat out: “What are you so proud about! Being so pleased with yourself!”
Lan Sizhui broke out into a cold sweat.
Thinking back, Ah’Tong throttled himself with his left hand.
Madame Mo’s husband had also shoved her with his left hand.
However, during the day, when Mo Xuanyu had caused a commotion in the east hall, those two men had used their right hands when trying to catch him.
It was unlikely that those two men would suddenly become left handed before dying.
Although the reason was unknown, it seemed that if you wished to narrow what was haunting the east hall, it would be best to start with this ‘left hand’.
Thinking this through, Lan Sizhui felt slightly surprised and glancing at Wei Wuxian could not help but to think: ‘Suddenly saying something like this, really … it can’t be a coincidence.’
Laughing shamelessly, Wei Wuxian knew the hint was a little difficult, but he hadn’t any other choice.
Fortunately, Lan Sizhui did not pursue the issue, thinking: ‘Anyway, since this young master Mo seems to be trying to a.s.sist me, he most likely doesn’t harbor any malicious intentions.’
Putting the matter aside, his vision swept past the weeping Ah’Ding and fell onto Madame Mo.
His line of sight moved from her face and arrived down at her hands.
Arms hanging flat, mostly covered by her sleeves, only half a finger length exposed.
Fingers of the right hand, snow white, slender, exactly as a woman of leisure should be. No signs of any kind of manual labor.
However, the fingers of her left hand as compared to her right seemed a littler longer and thicker.
The knuckle joints evoked a feeling of strength.
This was no longer a woman’s hand — this was clearly a man’s hand!
Lan Sizhui shouted: “Hold her down!”
Several youths then turned to grasp Madame Mo. Lan Sizhui called out “Forgive my offense”, and slapped the talisman in his hand down. Madame Mo’s left hand, twisting at an inconceivable angle, reversed itself and grasped at his throat.
A living person could not twist his arm in this fas.h.i.+on unless it was broken.
In an extremely rapid movement, in a moment she had caught at his throat.
At this time, Lan Jingyi cried out “Ah” and threw himself at Lan Sizhui’s front to help him block the grasp.
Meeting a flash of fire, from the hand that gripped Lan Jingyi’s shoulder emerged cl.u.s.ters of green flames and immediately the five fingers let go.
Lan Sizhui escaped the attack. Just as he was about to thank Lan Jingyi for the rescue, seeing the latter’s uniform already partially burned to ashes and cutting a sorry figure, the other looked back and angrily scolded: “Why are you kicking me, you lunatic, are you trying to kill me?!”
Wei Wuxian scurried away: “I didn’t kick you!”
As stated, he had kicked him.
Inside the coat of the Lan family uniform and embroidered in the same color thread were dense and numerous spells for the purpose of protecting the body of the wearer.
However, encountering such a powerful attack, after one use it becomes useless.
In a moment of desperation, he could only kick Lan Jingyi in order to use his body to protect the neck of Lan Sizhui.
While Lan Jingyi was still complaining, Madame Mo fell to the ground, the flesh on her face entirely sucked away leaving only a layer of leathery skin clinging close to a skeletal head.
The man’s arm that did not belong to her fell off, fingers unexpectedly still flexing freely, as if exercising the muscles and bones, the veins and arteries could clearly be seen pulsing.
This was precisely the evil thing that had been called by the Zhao Yin flag.
To become a divided and dismembered corpse, was a standard tragic death. It was slightly more decent than Wei Wuxian’s cause of death, but not by much.