Chapter 120.5 (1/2)
Chapter 120: Extra—Intrusion (Part One)
Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
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The story began the night three days ago.
That evening, Young Master Qin returned from a social full of alcohol and fatigue. Just as he was about to retreat, he suddenly heard the sound of someone hitting a door.
Again and again, a person was slamming on the main doors of the Qin estate.
The servant watching over the courtyard mumbled in response, crawling up as he went to examine the situation with a lantern. Just as he was about to ask whom it was, the one knocking on the door seemed to have suddenly gone mad, madly banging on the door.
And it was truly banging. The bolt creaked. It seemed as if ten claws of iron were scratching the planks unstoppably.
The commotion was too loud. Soon, the courtyard was filled with roused servants. Holding lamps, lanterns, and clubs, the crowd of people stared at one another. Finally, robed only in an outer coat and gripping a sword in his hand, the owner of the estate finally arrived.
Young Master Qin unsheathed his sword with a sharp 'clang' as he shouted, ”Who is it?!”
At once, the scratching outside the door became louder.
One of the servants was curled up in a corner, leaning against a broom. Young Master Qin pointed to him, ”Climb up and look outside.”
The servant didn't dare disobey. Dark faced, he slowly inched up as he turned his head around with much difficulty to look at Young Master Qin, only in exchange for impatient urging.
In the end, he put two trembling hands on the roof tiles and peeked. With only one glance, he plummeted head-first onto the ground.
Young Master Qin, ”He said that the one knocking the door was a monster in burial robes. Messy-haired and covered in blood. It wasn't a living person.”
At this point, Wei WuXian and Lan w.a.n.gJi exchanged a look with each other.
While Lan SiZhui asked, ”Young Master Qin, is there no description with greater detail?”
Young Master Qin was not of the cultivation world. He only found the right people by chance. He knew that these were cultivators, but not their ident.i.ties and names. Nonetheless, Lan w.a.n.gJi had an ethereal demeanor, Wei WuXian seemed nothing short of confident, and despite still being young, Lan SiZhui was quite graceful around the corners. Thus, he didn't dare treat them badly, ”No. That servant's a coward. He pa.s.sed out with just one glance, and I only managed to wake him up after pinching his central acupoint* for ages. You think you can expect him to see it clearly?”
*TN: The central acupoint is on one's face, at the portion between the end of the nose and the tip of the mouth. In traditional Chinese medicine, it's often stimulated in emergencies (such as when a person falls into a coma).
Wei WuXian, ”Could I ask something?”
Young Master Qin, ”Go ahead.”
Wei WuXian, ”Young Master Qin, did you only order your servant to look and not look outside yourself?”
”That's right.”
”What a pity.”
”What's there to pity?”
Wei WuXian, ”According to your words, the one who paid a visit to your door was a fierce corpse. When fierce corpses drop by, they're usually there for a particular person. If you looked, perhaps you'd find that it was an old friend of yours.”
Young Master Qin, ”And perhaps I'm the rare case. Besides, even if it came from someone, it wouldn't necessarily be me, would it?”
Wei WuXian nodded with a smile, ”You're right.”
Young Master Qin continued, ”That thing went on until daybreak. When I went out to look in the morning, the doors were already in shambles.”
Wei WuXian and Lan w.a.n.gJi strolled before the main doors.
Lan SiZhui followed them, probing with care. The doors of the Qin estate was covered in hundreds of savage scratch marks, five a group, as long as a few feet and as short as a few inches. Indeed, it was in shambles.
Although it was undoubtedly the marks of human hands, it didn't seem like something the fingernails of a live person could make no matter what.
Young Master Qin, ”In any case, as you are of the cultivational world, Young Masters, do you have a way to exorcise this being?”
Wei WuXian, however, responded, ”There's no need.”
Lan SiZhui was surprised, but he didn't say anything. Young Master Qin also found it strange, asking, ”There's no need?”
Wei WuXian stated, ”There's no need. The so-called 'house' adopts the task of shelter the moment it's built, the moment it's owned by someone. The doors to a house form a natural barrier. They not only obstruct the human, but also the inhuman. Because you're the owner of this house, as long as you don't say or do anything to invite creatures of darkness inside, there would be no way for them to invade. According to the remaining evil energy on the doors, it's not some rare, bloodthirsty creature either. A door's enough to fend it off.”
Young Master Qin was still doubtful, ”It's really so easy?”
Lan w.a.n.gJi, ”Yes.”
Wei WuXian stepped on the threshold, ”Really. And in reality, the threshold is a barrier as well. The living dead are lifeless in both blood and breath. They can only move by means of hopping. Unless the walking corpse had shocking leg muscles and could jump a meter high, or else, even if the doors are wide open, it wouldn't be able to hop in.”
Young Master Qin was still worried, ”Isn't there anything else I'd need to purchase? Like talismans for defense or swords for exorcism? I'd be more than happy to offer great reward. Money isn't an issue.”
Lan w.a.n.gJi, ”Invest in a new door bolt.”
”…”
Seeing Young Master Qin's face of disbelief, implying that he thought the whole suggestion was to shoo him away, Wei WuXian responded, ”It's your choice. You can decide for yourself, Young Master Qin. If anything else happens, you're welcome to come to us again.”
After leaving the Qin estate, Wei WuXian and Lan w.a.n.gJi walked side by side for a while, wandering around as they conversed casually.
Right now, the two were already half retired. If there was nothing important, they'd roam around aimlessly, from only a few days to almost an entire month. When Wei WuXian heard of Lan w.a.n.gJi's reputation for being wherever the chaos was, he didn't think it'd be too hard, but right now as he tried it in person alongside Lan w.a.n.gJi, he discovered that it was truly a test of one's resolution. It wasn't difficult. In fact, it was too easy. When he went on night-hunts in the past, he always liked to choose strange, adventurous locations, so naturally his trips were full of thrill and surprise. However, Lan w.a.n.gJi wasn't picky. He did anything he deemed that he ought to do, and so he'd often come across some night-hunt targets that were unchallenging to Wei WuXian. This case of the fierce corpse, for example, was really not too interesting compared to the things Wei WuXian had hunted in the past. Most others would likely also deem it unworthy for him.
However, because he was together with Lan w.a.n.gJi, even if the incident itself wasn't so engaging, having each other as company made it quite a relaxing process.
Lan SiZhui followed them in silence, holding Lil' Apple's rein. After some thought, he still couldn't help but asked, ”HanGuang-Jun, Senior Wei, is it really alright to leave Young Master Qin's house like that?”
Lan w.a.n.gJi, ”It is.”
Wei WuXian grinned, ”Do you really think I was spouting nonsense and making up lies, SiZhui?”
Lan SiZhui hurried, ”Of course not! Ahem, that was not what I meant. What I wanted to say was that even though house doors do carry the power to fend things off, those doors were almost about to break. Would it really be fine, without giving him even a single talisman?”
Wei WuXian, ”Naturally so.”
Lan SiZhui, ”Oh…”
Wei WuXian, ”Of course it wouldn't be fine.”
Lan SiZhui, ”Huh? Then why?”
Wei WuXian, ”Because Young Master Qin was lying.”
Lan w.a.n.gJi nodded lightly. Lan SiZhui, however, seemed somewhat surprised, ”How could you tell, Senior Wei?”
Wei WuXian, ”I only met Young Master Qin once, so I can't say for sure, but his personality is…”
Lan w.a.n.gJi, ”Stubborn and cold.”
Wei WuXian agreed, ”Pretty much. Anyhow, he's definitely not easily-scared. That night's situation was strange, but it wasn't so strange that it could scare someone out of their wits, according to his description. Would it be so difficult for him to climb up to the roof and look outside?”
Lan SiZhui realized, ”But he insisted that he did not take a single look…”
Wei WuXian, ”Right? If someone comes slamming on your door at night, everyone has some curiousness in them and you've also got some guts, so what'd be normal is to take a sneak peek. Wouldn't it be strange if you insisted that you didn't look?”
Lan w.a.n.gJi, ”Agreed, entirely.”
Wei WuXian, ”Great minds think alike!”
After he finished, he grinned before touching his chin, ”And even though the scratch marks left by the corpse on the doors looked quite frightening, they weren't at all heavy with evil energy. It definitely didn't come to kill for revenge—this I know for sure. We'd have to wait and see to find out what's really the case.”
Lan SiZhui, ”If so, Senior Wei, why not summon the corpse and ask it directly?”
”I refuse.”
”Huh?”
Wei WuXian responded without hesitation, ”You know how much blood it takes to draw a Spirit-Attraction Flag? I have a weak const.i.tution.”
Lan SiZhui really thought he was too lazy to let out blood, ”Senior Wei, you can use my blood.”
Yet, Wei WuXian burst out with a laugh. He spoke, ”SiZhui, to be honest, this isn't the problem. This time, we came here for you to gain more experience, didn't we?”