CH 33.2

At that moment, even Fang Chu looked at Wu Xingxue with a dubious expression, not understanding this statement. 

But very soon they both understood—

Because Wu Xingxue didn’t just straight-up kill Sang Yu; he used Sang Yu’s own coffin nails carved with incantations to drive him into the wall, nail by nail.  

And then, he really did follow up on all the names Sang Yu had reported. Through the thick of Zhaoye City’s deep night, he killed them one by one.  

Each one, he’d ask just one thing: “Any more?” Anyone else it’s spread to?” 

There was an ever-present cold mist in the dream, shrouding all of Zhaoye City, as though it never dispersed all year. Wu Xingxue was in fact unable to distinctly sense his actual frame of mind in the dream. 

When he left the last person’s manor, there was a faint light in the sky piercing through the cold fog. He lifted his head to look and half-narrowed his eyes. 

He handed that sword back to Fang Chu: “What time is it?” 

Fang Chu had followed him the entire night. The moment the sword was handed over, his pupils contracted slightly, subconsciously feeling a slight fear.

“About 6 in the morning.” Fang Chu hoarsely answered. Upon taking back the sword, he lowered his head to insert it into its sheath. 

A brocade sachet at his waist jingled. Inside were special things gotten from each of the devils killed over the course of the night. 

Wu Xingxue took Fang Chu back to the first place they’d gone, Sang Yu’s manor, and stood in front of the nailed-down Sang Yu. Fang Chu untied his sachet and poured out those things, each one extremely recognizable. 

Sang Yu’s eyeballs darted back and forth. As he looked them over one by one, his nailed hands and feet trembled.  

Many people had once said, of Zhaoye City’s denizens, the one who looked least like a devil was the City Lord himself. It wasn’t until now that he discovered, when the other party really got down to it, his means of torture were indeed worthy of the title “Devil Lord.”

But this would be the last thing he’d discover in this life.  

Dozens of coffin nails fell to the floor in an endless clinking. Dead, Sang Yu also slammed heavily onto the floor, issuing a thump and splattering a few drops of blood.

Wu Xingxue lowered his eyes to look at him. After a beat, he tilted his head to say to Fang Chu, “Time to go back.” 

When they returned to No Sparrow’s Landing, Ning Huaishan had just happened to return from his errands.  

He was just getting on his calamity period, not too cold quite yet, just rubbing his hands and stamping his feet. He asked Fang Chu, “How are you and city lord just getting back, what were you out doing?”

Glancing at Wu Xingxue, Fang Chu shook his head over and over, saying, “Nothing, don’t ask.”  

Ning Huaishan let out an “Oh.” While hopping around to warm up, he followed Wu Xingxue into a chamber.  

“City Lord, I’m gonna have to shut myself in for a few more days,” Ning Huaishan said nasally. 

Xingxue removed his gauzy outer robe. Lifting it up to look it over, he let out an “Mm,” without lifting his head. “I know, Fang Chu told me.”

The bloodstains at the hems of his outer robe had already dried up and could actually be removed through a little clothing-cleaning method without any leftover stains at all. But Wu Xingxue still handed the robe to Fang Chu and said: “Burn it.’ 

Fang Chu and Ning Huaishan weren’t the least bit surprised. After all, their city lord’s pickiness wasn’t just a recent phenomenon, especially when it came to things like bloodstains. 

Sometimes they even suspected that Wu Xingxue couldn’t stand the sight of blood. 

But more often, they felt this line of thought was downright foolish. If he really couldn’t stand the sight of blood, then he wouldn’t just kill people like that. 

Fang Chu went out to the blood pool with the outer robe. Flicking a bit of fire between his fingertips, he burned the bloodstained robe. Just in case, he also wiped down the drops of blood on his sheath before going to another side chamber to pick out a clean robe.

He first picked out one just like the first, pale gray and gauzy. 

Carrying the robe, he walked all the way into the chamber before hastily going back out.

Wu Xingxue turned his head to ask him: “What is it?”

Fang Chu sputtered out: “City Lord wait a moment please, I chose wrong.” 

When Fang Chu returned to the side chamber, Ning Huaishan also followed him in. Folding his arms, he said: “Why’re you dawdling picking out an outer robe?”

Fang Chu shot him a look: “You don’t understand shit.” 

Ning Huaishan retorted: “What don’t I understand, as if I never chose the City Lord’s clothing before?”

Fang Chu picked out a fox fur overcoat from the many articles of clothing.

Ning Huaishan was visibly perplexed: “What’re you doing? Are you stupid? The robe city lord just had you burn was thin as a cicada’s wing, and now you’re picking out a fox fur overcoat, are you trying to overheat city lord to death…? If you’re asking for a death wish, do it on your own, I’m out, you give it to City Lord yourself.”

Fang Chu: “……”

“You.” Fang Chu started but stopped. At the end of his patience, he picked him up like a little chick and dragged him over: “No, if I die, we die together, don’t even think about getting away.” 

After a moment’s hesitation, he still told Ning Huaishan about the incident that night. The two of them had always been terrified of Wu Xingxue; they’d never be crazy enough to go after City Lord “secret method,” and presumably wouldn’t touch his bottom line and provoke his anger.  

Ning Huaishan finished listening and let out a silent shiver, whispering: “So Sang Yu seriously said that City Lord wasn’t stained with any of Tianxiu’s immortal energy?”

Fang Chu nodded: “Right, if he crossed past his calamity period, there ought to have been some.”  

Ning Huaishan finally understood why Fang Chu had replaced the thin clothing with fox fur: “So, City Lord’s still cold right now.”

Moreover, he must have still been suffering the somber chill.

But he followed it up with confusion: “If city lord was really cold, then why had he still been wearing light clothing? To put down Sang Yu and the others?”

Fang Chu shook his head to say: “Can’t be. If it were really for putting Sang Yu down, then he would have put it on while leaving. But he’d already been wearing it.” 

Ning Huaishan puzzled it out: “In his own manor, why would he force himself to wear such light clothing…? Whose eyes were he willing himself for?” 

Just as Fang Chu was thinking he had no idea, he came up with a sudden clever idea.

Grasping Ning Huaishan, he said: “Could it be… the Tianxiu Immortal?” 

Ning Huaishan was also struck by this answer. After a long pause, he said: “So then maybe… if the Tianxiu Immortal was really here, and it wasn’t like Sang Yu and the others had guessed, then he really couldn’t have shown weakness, or else…” 

But he swiftly grew even more confused: “No wayyy, for the Tianxiu Immortal to have come to No Sparrow’s Landing, if it wasn’t like Sang Yu and them guessed, then there would have been a clash between immortal and devil, right? Wouldn’t the clash have injured one of them and wrecked half of our No Sparrow’s Landing? Would it be in this intact state right now?”

The more Fang Chu thought, the more stumped he became as well. 

They no longer continued their whisperings and began to ponder. All of a sudden, they felt something was off. 

They weren’t alone… Someone else’s aura was present…

In alarm, Ning Huaishan and Fang Chu turned around to see Wu Xingxue reclining in the doorway, his deep, ink-black eyes having been calmly watching them for who knew how long.

The past night he’d killed scores of people, costing him a significant amount of internal energy. He only relaxed down after he’d returned to No Sparrow’s Landing. 

Due to his weakened internal energy, certain things that were originally concealed now revealed themselves a little…  

This was the reason Fang Chu and Ning Huaishan were able to sense a whiff of an aura that didn’t belong to their City Lord.

They gaped for a beat, finally realizing that what was slowly revealing itself on Wu Xingxue’s body was… Tianxiu’s immortal energy.

It was also at that moment that Fang Chu had a sudden revelation: perhaps the nerve that Sang Yu and the others had struck was no such to obtain “a secret method,” but rather, to spread the news that “Tianxiu Immortal came over to No Sparrow’s Landing.”  

The instant this revelation crossed his mind, the Wu Xingxue who’d previously been leaning against the door had already flashed before them. 

Fang Chu blurted out in terror: “City Lord I won’t talk!”

The hand Wu Xingxue lifted paused.

Fang Chu tugged on Ning Huaishan, promptly saying: “The thing about the calamity period, we won’t let a word of it get out!” 

But Wu Xingxue’s hand still came down.

Before dosing their eyes, they faintly heard the sound of a bell. 

*** 

Wu Xingxue woke up to the damp sound of rain outside the horse carriage, along with another light jolt of the carriage passing through a prohibition.  

The last scene he’d seen in the dream was his fingers hooked around the dream bell, set toward Ning Huaishan and Fang Chu. The last statement lingering at his ears was Fang Chu’s exclamation: “The thing about the calamity period, we won’t let a word of it get out!”  

Amidst that echo, he opened his eyes to see Xiao Fuxuan’s side face cast in the dusky lantern light. 

It wasn’t a filth-warding lantern, nor was it harsh to the eyes, just flickered a few times with the carriage’s slight movement. The warm yellow light fell upon the other party’s browbone and high, straight nose bridge, down to the line of his lips. 

Wu Xingxue hadn’t yet recovered from his daze, and peered out through his cracked eyes awhile when he suddenly pursed his lips. 

Xiao Fuxuan seemed to sense it somewhat, and turned his eyes to look over at that very moment. 

After a moment’s silence, he suddenly recalled that “Tianxiu Immortal” was mentioned by so many people’s lips in his dream. After returning to his senses, he hastily withdrew his line of sight from the spot below Xiao Fuxuan’s nose. 

“City Lord’s awake?”

“City Lord.”

Ning Huaishan and Fang Chu’s voices sounded, nearly continuing off from the dream’s lingering sound. 

Wu Xingxue was startled for a moment, until he recalled that they were currently in a horse carriage headed for Luohua Terrace.  

Xiao Fuxuan’s line of sight remained on his body, as he could see from the side of his eye. He straightened himself up, then carelessly picked out something to ask the three people across from him: “Still not there yet?”  

Who would have guessed that before Ning Huaishan and Fang Chu could open their mouths, Xiao Fuxuan’s light voice have already replied, “We’ve arrived.” 

Wu Xingxue was at a loss, “We’ve arrived?”

It wasn’t until now that he realized that after that light jolt from his half-dreaming half-awake state, the carriage no longer made any movement, as though they had indeed arrived.  

Wu Xingxue straightened his posture in bewilderment, his gaze still on the table before him: “How come no one woke me up?”

The Tianxiu Immortal’s deep voice supplemented: “Those two didn’t dare to.”

Wu Xingxue: “……”

Just ask and you’ll answer. 

Normally he’d go half the day without words, yet now he supplied sentence after sentence.

Xiao Fuxuan had made two whole statements. Were he to keep his eyes fixed on those three people across him, it’d truly be unreasonable. Hence, he…  

He lowered his head to glance at his own body. When he’d first gone to sleep, he’d still only been wearing simple clothes and clasping a handwarmer. Now that he opened his eyes, he was inexplicably covered in a thick woolen blanket.

The moment he straightened up, the blanket slipped down a little, and the chill slipped in through the crack. Wu Xingxue subconsciously grasped the blanket and drew it back up: “This blanket…”

This time Ning Huaishan and Fang Chu still wanted to speak but hesitated, and it was Yi Wusheng who answered quickest: “Before, it could be seen… that the joints of young master’s fingers were going blue, likely because you’re a bit cold.”  

Wu Xingxue thought to himself, way more than just a bit.

Just as he was about to nod to Yi Wusheng and thank him, he heard the other party continuing, “So immortal conferred a blanket upon you.” 

Wu Xingxue: “……”

He finally had to look at Xiao Fuxuan.  

Of all goddamn times, it so happened that Ning Huaishan chose now to run his mouth, “City Lord, You might not remember it. We devils have a special condition, and every so often we’ll get a sort of—” 

Perhaps he wanted to say something like “resentful spirit backlash,” but the moment he mouthed “resentful” he glanced to Xiao Fuxuan and silently swallowed it back: “A sort of situation…” 

Fang Chu also supplemented to the side: “Every so often it’ll bring an unbearable chill to our bodies. The more powerful the person, the harder it is to bear, uhh…” 

Hindered by the presence of an immortal, they couldn’t be too transparent with their words. But they were also afraid of Wu Xingxue not remembering anything and running into a situation he couldn’t bear. The two of them were so anxious they were nearly pulling their hair out.  

Wu Xingxue snuggled into the blanket, staring wooden-facedly at them and thinking to himself: Stop talking, I so happen to know this one, stop with your monkey business and get the hell out of the carriage. 

As those two idiots stood up to dismount, they kept gesticulating: “Anyways, it’s just that sometimes there’ll be an, umm—” 

After they “umm”ed a few times, the Tianxiu Immortal’s deep voice resounded, helping them finish their sentence: “Calamity period.”  

Wu Xingxue’s eyelashes trembled. He nearly covered his face with the blanket in his hands.