Wei WuXian replied, “Huh, so there’s an evil being that eats humans there?”

"So it was just an evil being?" asked Jin Zixun.

"That's easy." said Wen Chao.

"Are you sure?" asked Zizhen.

"Of course it is." answered Wen Chao.

"Coming from someone like you." mocked Jingyi.

Having heard of at least thousands of legends like this and killed at least hundreds of them with his own hands, he found it somewhat boring. The charlatan continued, his voice rising and falling, “That’s right! It is said that, in the ridge’s forest, there is a ‘man-eating castle’ with monsters that feed on the humans living inside it. The monsters will devour anyone who ventures inside it without leaving a single crumb behind. No corpses could be found—there wasn’t a single exception! It’s scary, isn’t it?”

"Then how does the charlatan know about it when everyone who goes there never returns?' asked Wei Wuxian.

"Maybe it's just an exaggerated rumour." said Jin Zixuan.

"I don't think so." said Jiang Cheng.

No wonder that Jin Ling also came here. Unable to suppress the soulconsuming goddess at Dafan Mountain, he definitely came for the monster in the Xinglu Ridge again. Wei WuXian exclaimed, “Scary indeed! But, if nothing was left behind, and no corpses could be found, how can it be known that they were eaten?”

After a pause, the charlatan answered, “Of course someone saw it.”

"What?" asked Wei Wuxian in confusion.

"Didn't he just said than no one ever escaped it." said Nie Huaisang.

"I'm getting confused." said MianMian.

Wei WuXian expressed his admiration, “But, before this, didn’t you say that anyone who ventures inside it would be devoured without any crumbs being left behind, no exception? Then, who on Earth could have started this legend? How powerful would they have to be, having lived to tell the tale after seeing this kind of scene?”

“…” The charlatan, “That’s how the legend goes. How would I know?”

"So it's just a legend? It's not real?" asked Wei Wuxian while looking at the juniors.

"We don't know about this." answered Jingyi.

Wei WuXian, “Then, do you know how many people were eaten in the Xinglu Ridge? When were they eaten? Their ages? Their gender? What their names were? Where they lived?”

The charlatan, “I don’t know.”

Wei WuXian, “Qinghe’s know-it-all? Huh?”

The charlatan picked up his basket in a fury, “The legends didn’t have this kind of information!”

"It's just a rumour." said Su She.

"I have a bad feeling about this." said Jiang Yanli.

"I don't think it's just a rumour." said Wei Wuxian.

Wei WuXian laughed, “No, no, don’t go yet. Let me ask you something else. Is the Xinglu Ridge a part of the Qinghe region? Isn’t Qinghe the Nie Sect’s area? If there really are monsters roaming around Xinglu Ridge, why are they ignoring it?”

"Yeah, why does our sect didn't do anything about it?" asked Nie Huaisang and looked at his brother.

"Da-ge, are you okay?" asked Nie Huaisang as his brother is acting strange like he is nervous while looking at the scene.

To his surprise, this time, the charlatan didn’t answer “I don’t know” again. Instead, a smudge of disdain appeared on his face, “The Nie Sect? If it were the Nie Sect from back then, it definitely wouldn’t be ignored. Before the second day of the legend’s appearance, the Nie Sect would have raided where the monsters roamed at once, in the most resolute way possible. But, isn’t the sect leader of the Nie Sect now, heh, that ‘head shaker’?”

"What does he mean by that?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"My brother isn't a 'head shaker'. Why do they call him like that?" asked Nie Huaisang in confusion.

Nie Mingjue gave his brother a look.

The leader of the QingheNie Sect used to be ChiFeng-Zun, Nie MingJue. After his father, the last sect leader, was outraged to death by the leader of the QishanWen Sect, Wen RuoHan, he took over the Nie Sect before he even reached twenty, doing everything in a direct, forceful fashion. He was also sworn brothers with ZeWu-Jun, Lan XiChen, and LianFang-Zun, Jin GuangYao. After the Sunshot Campaign, the Nie Sect was quite powerful with him in the lead, its influence almost reaching that of the LanlingJin Sect’s. But, after a qi deviation, he died in front of the public’s eyes, and so, the next person in line for the sect leader position must have been his younger brother, Nie HuaiSang. Wei WuXian inquired, “Why is he called the ‘head shaker’?”

"What?!" exclaimed Nie Huaisang in disbelief.

"I become a Sect Leader?" he asked.

"My da-ge died." he said in low voice.

"Da-ge!" he cried, running back to his previous seat and hugged his brother tightly.

"What are you crying for? Isn't that good that you've become a Sect Leader?" Nie Mingjue asked but his younger just keep on crying so loud.

The Nies were so shock to even utter anything.

Lan Xichen was kinda sad for losing a friend in the future while a certain someone is secretly smirking.

The charlatan, “Don’t you know the story behind it? No matter what other people ask Sect Leader Nie, if he doesn’t know it, he won’t say anything; if he does know it, he’s too scared to say anything. If you ask too harshly and force him, he’d shake his head again and again, saying as he cries, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know, I really don’t know!’ He’d then beg the other to let him go. Isn’t it obvious why he’s called the ‘head shaker’?”

Everyone laughed hearing it but suddenly shit up feeling Nie Mingjue's glare.

"That's because I don't know how to lead. I am not born for that." said Nie Huaisang.

In the past, Wei WuXian and Nie HuaiSang studied together, so there were a few things he could comment about this person. Nie HuaiSang wasn’t an unkind person. It wasn’t that he was not clever, but that his heart was set somewhere else and used his smarts on other areas, such as painting on fans, searching for birds, skipping classes, and catching fish. Because his talent in terms of cultivation really was poor, he formed his core around eight or nine years later than the other disciples of the same generation as him. When he lived, Nie MingJue was often exasperated by the fact that his brother didn’t meet his expectations, so he disciplined him strictly. Despite this, he still didn’t improve much. Now, without his older brother protecting and supervising him, under his lead, the QingheNie Sect declined day by day. After he grew up, especially after he became the sect leader, he was often troubled by all kinds of affairs unfamiliar to him and looked for helpers everywhere, mainly his brother’s two sworn brothers. One day he’d go to Jinling Tower to complain to Jin GuangYao, and the next day he’d go to the Cloud Recesses to whine to Lan XiChen. With the two leaders of the Jin and Lan Sects supporting him, he still barely managed to settle on the sect leader position. Nowadays, whenever people mentioned Nie HuaiSang, although they didn’t say anything on the surface, the same phrase was written on their faces—good-for-nothing.

"Thank you for helping my brother, Xichen, Meng Yao." said Nie Mingjue.

"It's nothing." said Lan Xichen while smiling same with Meng Yao.

"Why don't you go to Jiang Sect? You and Jiang Cheng are best of friends." said Wei Wuxian.

"It's because a-niang also have a lot of problem in the Sect that's why he can't offer a hand to help." said Jingyi.

Remembering the things that happened in the past, he couldn’t help but to sigh at it.

After Wei WuXian finished asking about the Xinglu Ridge, he still helped the charlatan’s business by buying two compacts of rouge. He tucked them into his clothes and walked back to Lan WangJi. The latter still didn’t appear to have any intention of asking for the pouch back. In silence, they walked toward the direction that the charlatan pointed at together.

"You already owned his money." commented Nie Huaisang.

"I'm his husband after all." said Wei Wuxian.

"That pouch is really familiar. Where have I seen that?" MianMian asked herself.

There was a large cedarwood forest on the Xinglu Ridge, with a wide trail amid the shade of the trees. After a while of walking, they didn’t meet anything out of the usual. Regardless, in the beginning, they didn’t hold high hopes anyway, and only came here just in case. If a frightening legend of any area was true, then there would definitely be detailed information. At Dafan Mountain, where the soul-consuming goddess haunted, it was easy to find out where the victims lived and what their names were—even the nickname of A-Yan’s fiance. But, if the charlatan was unsure of the names and details of the victims, it was most likely a case of exaggerated hearsay.

After a bit less than an hour, they finally met a setback. From ahead came seven or eight figures, staggering toward them. Their eyes were white and they wore ragged clothing, appearing as if even a light breeze would be enough to blow them over. With their extremely slow speed, it was easy to see that they were a group of walking corpses of the lowest level possible.

"This-" muttered Nie Mingjue still hoping that it is not he thought it is.

"That was just an easy opponent. I can kill then in any second." boosted Wen Chao.

"No one asked." said Sizhui.

Not only were these types of corpses bullied among their peers, if they met a slightly strong human, one could kick over a row of them; if they met a slightly fast child, they would soon be outran by a few blocks. Even if the victim was extraordinarily unlucky and had a few gulps of yang energy sucked out of them, they wouldn’t die from it anyway. Aside from how awful the corpses looked and smelled, they weren’t threatening at all. And thus, if they appeared during a night-hunt, most of the elders simply ignored them and left them for the juniors. This followed the same logic as hunting tigers and panthers instead of rats.

"Ohh but why is there a corpse there?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"It may be some kind of trap." said Wei Wuxian.

"I think so too." agreed Jiang Cheng.

Seeing them walk over, Wei WuXian knew that something was going to go wrong, and ducked back behind Lan WangJi again. As he had expected, when these walking corpses wobbled to about twenty meters ahead of them, as they saw Wei WuXian, they were so terrified that they immediately turned around to retreat, their speed two or three times faster than when they came over. Wei WuXian rubbed his temples, turned around, and spoke in a fearful voice, “Wow, HanGuang-Jun, you’re so cool! They were so scared when they saw you that they ran away at once! Haha.”

Lan WangJi was speechless.

Everyone was laughing at Wei Wuxian's statement.

"They're scared because you're the Yiling Patriarch." said Zizhen with visible admiration on his face.

Wei WuXian pushed him while laughing, “Let’s go, let’s go. Let’s get off this ridge. I don’t think that there are any other monsters. The people here are so gossipy that a few useless walking corpses became ruthless monsters in their mouths. Things like the ‘man-eating castle’ must have been fabricated as well. Such a waste of efforts, don’t you think?”

Lan WangJi only started walking after a few more pushes from him. Before Wei WuXian caught up, a series of wild barks suddenly came from far away in the cedarwood forest.

"Why is there a dog again?" asked Wei Wuxian and run into Jiang Yanli's side.

"Don't worry a-xian, your shijie is here." said Jiang Yanli.

"You must calm down. Don't let your fear took over you. Why don't you think of beautiful memories you have to ease it?" Jiang Cheng suggested when he saw that his brother was trembling.

"Your husband was there with you, okay. He won't let you near the dog." said Jiang Yanli.

Wei Wuxian just nodded while trying to calm himself.

Wei WuXian’s face changed instantly. He shifted behind Lan WangJi in lightning speed and squatted into a ball, arms hugging the other’s waist.

Lan WangJi, “… It is still far away. What are you hiding for?”

Wei WuXian, “I-I-I-I-I-I-I’m gonna hide first then see. Where is it? Where is it?!”

"Wei Ying." lan Wangji called worriedly.

"I'm here Lan Zhan." said Wei Wuxian and walked to his husband who hugged him immediately.

Lan WangJi listened intently for a moment, and responded, “It is Jin Ling’s black-haired spiritual dog.”

Hearing Jin Ling’s name, Wei WuXian stood up at once, but squatted back down after hearing a few more barks. Lan WangJi continued, “If a spiritual dog is barking in such a way, something must have happened.”

"I'm sorry, I make you worried." said Jin Ling.

"Hey! It's okay besides your my nephew." said Wei Wuxian.

"No need to say sorry." he added with a smile.

Wei WuXian groaned a few times, then stood up with effort, his legs still trembling, “Th-th-th-th-th-th-then let’s go and see!”

Lan WangJi didn’t move at all. Wei WuXian cried, “HanGuang-Jun, why don’t you move? Move! If you don’t move, what do I do?!”

After a moment of silence, Lan WangJi replied, “First… let go.”

"Lan Zhan." whined Wei Wuxian.

"Will protect Wei Ying." said Lan Wangji.

Jin Ling was looking down because he triggered his uncle's trauma but still willing to look for him.

The two pushed and staggered. Although they followed the barks of the dog, they only circled two times around the cedarwood forest. The spiritual dog’s barks also appeared sometimes near, sometimes far. Having listened to a long while of barking, Wei WuXian finally grew somewhat used to it, at least ceasing to stammer as he spoke, “There’s a maze array here?”

"Just what is that place?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"Interesting." commented Wen Rouhan.

"Why would someone made an effort to put some maze array there?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"It might be an important place." said Qingheng-jun.

This maze array was definitely created by a person. A while ago, he said that the legends of the ridge were all hearsay, but, now, things were getting interesting.

After about fifteen minutes of barking, the black-haired spiritual dog still wasn’t tired out. The two followed the sound after they found the method to exit the maze array. Not long afterward, the silhouettes of creepy, stone castles appeared amid the cedarwood forest.

"Whatever the charlatan says earlier was real." said Nie Huaisang.

"What kind of mysteries are we going to find?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"It doesn't give me a good feeling at all." said Nue Huaisang.

The castles were made of greyish-white stones, its surface covered in green vines and fallen leaves. Every one of them was made into strange semi-spheres, appearing as if a few large bowls were turned over on the ground.

Who would have known that there really were such stone castles inside the Xinglu Ridge? It seemed that the legends didn’t appear out of thin air after all. However, it’d be hard to say whether or not this was a “man-eating castle”, and what beings were inside of it.

"You guys must be careful especially you a-xian." said Jiang Yanli.

"Hey, why don't night hunt here next time." Wei Wuxia  said suggestively to Jiang Cheng and other Jiang disciples.

"Yeah sure." said Jiang Cheng.

"I don't think so." said Nie Mingjue.

Jin Ling’s black-haired spiritual dog was outside of the cluster of stone castles. It ran around them, sometimes grunting in a low voice and sometimes barking wildly. Seeing that Lan WangJi approached, it backed off slightly out of fear, but, instead of running away, it barked even louder at them. It then looked toward the stone castles, its front paws restlessly digging into the ground. Wei WuXian hid behind Lan WangJi and spoke in a pained voice, “Why is it still not going away…? Where’s its owner? Why is its owner gone?!”

"A-ling." Sizhui said worriedly.

"I'm here." said Jin Ling with a red face.

Jingyi and Zizhen snickered watching them.

"You should bring a senior with you, a-ling. You're not sure of what you are going to face." said Jiang Yanli.

"Why is no one with you?" asked Jin Zixuan.

Jin Ling gave Jiang Cheng a look in which the just raised his brow at him.

From upon hearing the barks until now, they hadn’t heard anything coming from Jin Ling at all, not even cries for help. This black-haired spiritual dog must have been brought here by him, and it must have been the one who broke the maze array as well. Yet, it seemed as if a living person just disappeared like that.

Lan WangJi spoke, “Let us go inside to see.”

Wei WuXian, “How? There’s no door.”

"Is that necessary?" asked Nue Huaisang.

"Of course, in order to find something then you must explore." said Jiang Cheng.

"I'm curious of what is inside of that castle." he added.

The Nies are having an uneasy feeling which are noticed by Qingheng-jun, Wen Rouhan, and Yu Ziyuan.

"Is something the matter, Sect Leader Nie?" asked Madam Yu.

"Nothing." Nie Mingjue replied.

There really wasn’t a door. The grey-white stones were stuck tightly together, without any space for doors or windows. The dog yelped as it leaped. It seemed as if it wanted to bite the corner of Lan WangJi’s robes, but didn’t dare to, so it went around him to bite Wei WuXian’s clothes instead, tugging him in a certain direction.

Wei WuXian’s soul almost flew out of him. He extended his arms toward Lan WangJi, “Lan Zhan… Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan… Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan,  Lan Zhan!!!”

"Aaaahhhh." shouted Wei Wuxian.

"I'm going to kill that dog." muttered Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling heard it.

"Jiang Cheng!" shouted Wei Wuxian who jumped suddenly on Jiang Cheng's lap.

"Aiyaa Wei-daijiu, you're sharing my seat." said Jingyi who is also sitting on Jiang Cheng's lap.

"Let me remind the two of you that I'm not that big enough." said Jiang Cheng.

"No, a-niang's lap only belongs to me." said Jingyi.

"I am his brother." said Wei Wuxian.

"You both are suffocating me." shouted Jiang Cheng.