Chapter 121 - Extra—Intrusion (Part Two) (1/2)
Chapter 121: Extra—Intrusion (Part Two)Translated by K of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Hearing this, the two exchanged a glance. Lan SiZhui perked up.
Wei WuXian, “I’m all ears to your story.”
After some thought, Young Master Qin began slowly, “It’s not really much of a story. I’m not too familiar with him either. When I was young, I grew up at my grandmother’s house in a rural village. He was one of the servants of my grandmother’s household. As we were of similar age, we grew up playing with each other.”
Wei WuXian, “That’s called a childhood friend—how come you say you’re not familiar with him?”
Young Master Qin, “Because as we grew up, we drifted apart.”
Wei WuXian, “Take some time to think. Have you ever offended this servant in any way?”
Young Master Qin, “There has been one instance, though I’m not too sure how serious it was either.”
Lan WangJi, “Go on.”
Young Master Qin, “The servant has always served my grandmother by her side. Because he was quick while working and was about the same age as me, my grandmother took quite a liking to him, often praising him for being clever. As a result of this, he also grew somewhat proud, always following the juniors of our clan with no regard to the difference between master and servant. Later, my grandmother even let him go to school with us.
“One day, the teacher left us a difficult problem. Amid the discussion, someone came up with a first answer. Just as the class was expressing their approval, the servant suddenly spoke up and said that it was wrong.”
Young Master Qin, “At that time, that servant had only been going to school for a few months, yet we’ve been schooling for a couple of years. It was needless to say who was right. Immediately, someone proved him wrong. Yet he was extremely stubborn, insisting that the previous person answered wrong to show us his way of solving it. In the end, the entire class felt annoyed by him, and together chased him away.”
At this point, Lan SiZhui couldn’t help but spoke, “Young Master Qin, even if he annoyed you, he never did anything too extreme… Why drive him out?”
Wei WuXian, “Young Master Qin, from this it sounds like your whole gang of juniors offended him. Do you hold a unique position in this? Or else he wouldn’t have only sought after you, but rather visit everyone part of the group.”
Young Master Qin, “Back then, I was the first to tell him to leave. It was only a casual remark at first, yet who knew everyone had long since been fed up with him, and the situation broke out. Surprisingly, he had quite a temper. He went back, telling my grandmother that he wouldn’t come again, and he really never came back.”
Wei WuXian, “I’ll ask you two more questions. You must answer in truth, Young Master Qin.”
Young Master Qin, “Go ahead.”
“My first question.” Wei WuXian’s eyes shone brightly, “You said that ‘someone came up with a first answer’. Does this ‘someone’ happen to be you?”
After a pause, Young Master Qin replied, “Is this important?”
Wei WuXian, “Then, my second question—regarding the solution to that problem, in the end, who was right and who was wrong?”
Young Master Qin had on an unpleasant expression. He flipped his sleeves, his voice cold, “The incident happened years before now. Please excuse my inability to recall every single detail. But in all honesty, who has never acted on impulse when they were young, doing inexplicable things, meeting inexplicable people. Please don’t tangle yourselves in such an incident. Right now, all I want is to deal with this matter as soon as possible.”
Wei WuXian grinned, “Yes. I understand, I understand.”
Lan WangJi, “When was his passing?”
Young Master Qin, “About two years ago, I think.”
Wei WuXian, “Two years? That’s not too bad, not an old corpse but not fresh either. How did he die? Suicide?”
“No. I heard he ran around drunken in the middle of the night before accidentally falling to his death.”
“If it’s not suicide, the situation isn’t so bad after all. Young Master Qin, is there anything else?”
“No.”
“Then please go back for now. Later, talismans will be taken to your residence. If you happen to recall anything else, please notify us as soon as possible.”
After they returned to the cottage, Lan SiZhui shut the door and let out a breath of relief, “Young Master Qin… He is truly… truly…”
Lan WangJi suddenly spoke up, “Two years.”
Wei WuXian, “Yes. Two years is a bit strange.”
Lan SiZhui, “Strange?”
Wei WuXian pulled a blank talisman from his sleeve, “If a creature full of hatred is seeking revenge, it’d usually begin its haunting the night of the seventh day after its death. Those that take a little longer sometimes begin within a year. Since it had already turned into a fierce corpse, why would it take two years to visit?”
Lan SiZhui guessed, “Could it be that he could not find Young Master Qin’s new address within the two years?”
He imagined the corpse knocking door after door at night, peeking inside to see if Young Master Qin was inside. Coldness slithered up his back.
Wei WuXian, however, dismissed the guess, “No. The corpse used to be friends with Young Master Qin. It wouldn’t be hard to find him through his scent. And if it were like you said, it would’ve very likely made a few mistakes on its journey, so there shouldn’t be only a single incident of a fierce corpse slamming on somebody’s door. Lan Zhan, you’ve read more files than I have and you remember things better. In the two years, have you seen similar accounts?”
He entered the study as Lan WangJi answered, “I have not.”
Wei WuXian, “Exactly… I can’t find the cinnabar, Lan Zhan.” He took out a brush, “I used it just last night! Did either of you see the cinnabar?”
Lan WangJi went inside as well and found the cinnabar for him. Wei WuXian dipped the tip of his brush inside the dainty little cup before he poured himself some tea and sat down at the desk. With tea in his left hand and the brush in his right, he scrawled across the talisman paper without even looking, talking to Lan WangJi, “If you don’t remember, it definitely didn’t happen. And so, there should be another reason as to why it didn’t do anything to Young Master Qin in the two years. Alright, I’m finished.”
He peeled off the talisman still wet with cinnabar from the desk and gave it to Lan SiZhui, “Go bring this to him.”
Lan SiZhui accepted it and scrutinized every angle, despite not being able to understand a single thing. Having never seen on any book such wild, unrestrained runes, he couldn’t help but asked, “Senior Wei… This… Is not just a random scribble, is it?”
Wei WuXian, “Of course it is.”
“…”
“I never use my eyes when I’m drawing talismans.”
“…”
Wei WuXian grinned, “Don’t worry. It’ll definitely work. Speaking of it, SiZhui, you don’t like Young Master Qin all that much, do you?”