The Shudong area was abundant in rivers and valleys. With towering peaks and a rough terrain, only faint breezes passed the area, causing the majority of places to be enveloped in mist.

"Now, we're back to that timeline." said a random cultivator.

"Can't it just showed us those beautiful scenes?" asked a female cultivator.

"Or else, we're going to lose our sense because of your screams." said a man next to him making her glare at him.

"It is my first time hearing about this place." said Nie Huaisang.

"That place seems exciting for a night hunt." said Wei Wuxian.

"Yeah, it will be fun. Lets go there then." said Jiang Cheng.

"Do you guys go on the dangerous place for a night hunt?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"For new experience ang knowledge." answered Wei Wuxian.

Walking straight toward where the left hand pointed, the two of them came upon quite a small village.

A few rails of fencing encircled thatched houses made from mud. A brood of colorful chicks scuttered in and out of the yards, pecking on the ground for rice. A large, bright-feathered rooster stood single-legged on a roof. With a twitching comb, it looked downward loftily, its neck turning left and right. It was fortunate that nobody had any dogs. It was likely that these villagers could only get their hands on a few chunks of meat a year, much less have any leftover bones to feed the dogs.

"I would've run from there if there is one." said Wei Wuxian.

"Luck is with you, then." said Jiang Cheng.

"Which didn't happen for a lot of times." he added.

In front of the village, there was a fork road, leading to three different directions. Of these, two were rather bare. Covered with a great deal of footprints, it was clear that they were often walked upon. Yet, the last one have been overrun with weeds. A square sign made from a piece of rock was positioned slantingly at this road. Subject to age and weathering, the sign was split down the middle with a large crack. Even from within the crack, withered weeds peeked out.

"This is it guys, we're going to have an earful of a scoldings." said Jingyi.

"Why?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Nothing." answered Jin Ling.

Two large characters, which appeared to be the place that the road led to, had been carved onto the sign. One could manage to tell that the bottom character was the character for “city”. However, the top character was complex in both form and brushstrokes. The crack just so happened to have run through it, causing a few broken bits of rock to lay scattered on the ground. Wei WuXian bent down and pushed the weeds aside. Even after staring at it for a long time, he still couldn’t figure out what the character was.

Coincidentally, the direction that the left arm pointed at was indeed this path.

"We will find out another mystery." said a random cultivator.

"What is it this time?" asked his friend.

"I don't have a good feeling about this place." said Wei Wuxian while looking at the juniors.

Wei WuXian, “Why don’t we ask the villagers?”

Lan WangJi nodded. Of course, Wei WuXian didn’t expect him to ask. With a large grin over his face, Wei WuXian walked toward the villager women who were feeding the chicken.

Among the group women, some were old and some were young. Noticing the approach of an unfamiliar man, all of them looked nervous, as if they wanted to throw their dustpans away and flee back inside. Only after Wei WuXian exchanged a few words with them, a cheerful smile on his face, did they finally begin to calm down and respond shyly.

"Umm.." muttered Wei Wuxian.

"Wei Ying." said Lan Wangji, gripping the man's waist tightly.

"He can't live without flirting." said Jin Zixuan.

"Tell me about it." said Jiang Cheng.

As Wei WuXian pointed at the sign and asked a question, their expressions changed at once. They paused for a moment, and unwillingly started to converse with him. During the chat, they didn’t dare to look at Lan WangJi, who stood by the sign, at all. With the corners of his lips still curved upward, Wei WuXian listened intently. Eventually, it seemed as if the topic had switched, and the women’s expressions calmed again. They gradually relaxed and started to smile timidly at him.

"A-niang, you should change your behaviour towards women." said Sizhui.

"Which is kinda impossible for him." said Jiang Cheng.

Lan WangJi stared at them from afar. He waited for a while, but Wei WuXian still didn’t seem like he intended to return. Slowly looking to the ground, Lan WangJi kicked a small chunk of rock that was by his feet.

"Why kick an innocent rock?" asked MianMian in amusement.

"My didi is getting jealous." said Lan Xichen with a tease.

He stepped on it for a long time, rolling the innocent rock over again and again. As he looked up again, he saw Wei WuXian take something from his sleeves and hand it to the woman who spoke the most.

Lan WangJi stood still, a blank look on his face. When he really couldn’t control himself anymore, ready to approach them, Wei WuXian finally sauntered over.

"Just how may jars of vinegar he drank?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"You can't measure it." answered Jiang Cheng.

"You look adorable, Lan Zhan." said Wei Wuxian.

He stood back beside Lan WangJi, “HanGuang-Jun, you should’ve went. There were even rabbits in the yard!”

"You still have guts to tease him?" asked a random cultivator in disbelief.

"He is Wei Wuxian. His life will never be complete if he won't tease someone." said Jiang Cheng.

Lan WangJi didn’t react to his teasing comment and responded with feigned indifference, “What have they answered?”

Wei WuXian, “This path leads to Yi City. The first character on the sign is ‘yi’.”

Lan WangJi, “Yi as in chivalry?”

Wei WuXian, “Yes and no.”

Lan WangJi, “And why is that?”

Wei WuXian, “The character is correct, but not the meaning. It’s not yi as in chivalry, but yi as in a coffin home.”

"Huh? A coffin home?" asked a younger disciple.

"Who would name such place like that?" asked another one.

"Well, maybe because the people there are making coffins that's why it is called coffin home." said Wei Wuxian.

They stepped over the bundles of weeds and went on the path, quickly passing the sign. Wei WuXian continued, “The girls said that, ever since a long time ago, most of the people in that city have died early, either having short lives or meeting accidental deaths, so there were a lot of coffin homes for temporarily holding the corpses. Also, their specialty is in making coffins, paper money, and other sorts of burial goods. Everyone was skilled at no matter it be making coffins or paper mannequins, which is why it became known by such a name.”

Aside from wilted weeds and pieces of rocks, on the path, there were also cracks and ditches that were difficult to notice. Lan WangJi kept his eyes on wherever Wei WuXian stepped, while Wei WuXian talked as he walked, “They said that the people here rarely go to Yi City. The people inside don’t leave, either, for reasons other than the export of goods. In the past few years, almost nobody could be seen leaving. Nobody has walked on this path for years. Sure explains why it’s so hard to walk over.”

"So no one lives there anymore?" asked a random cultivator.

"Maybe they're all gone." answered his friends

"My didi has priorities." said Lan Xichen.

"He's worried you might trip and fall down." Nie Huaisang added.

"Can you please focus on the important things." said Nie Mingjue.

"I also have my priorities, da-ge." Nie Huaisang said.

Lan WangJi, “And?”

Wei WuXian, “And what?”

Lan WangJi, “What did you give them?”

Wei WuXian, “Oh. You mean that? It’s rouge.”

"What about that?" asked a random cultivator.

"Is he that jealous?" asked another cultivator.

When they were in Qinghe, he bought a small compact of rouge from the charlatan that told him information about the Xinglu Ridge, and had always kept it with him. Wei WuXian, “You have to show people your thanks when you’re asking them things, right? I wanted to give them money, but they were too scared and didn’t dare to take it. It seemed like that they really liked the scent of the rouge. They had probably never used such a thing before, so I gave it to them.”

With a pause, he added, “HanGuang-Jun, why are you looking at me like this? I know that the rouge’s quality really isn’t that great. But I’m not like how I used to be, when I always had a ton of flowers and jewelry on me to give the girls. I really don’t have anything else to give them. At least it’s better than nothing.”

"You could've have say thank you." muttered Lan Wangji.

"Oh Lan Zhan, you don't have to be jealous. It's just a rogue." said Wei Wuxian.

"But you mentioned the past." said Jiang Cheng with a laugh.

"You made him more jealous." Nie Huaisang added making Lan Wangji huffed.

As if a displeasing memory had bubbled up, Lan WangJi’s brows twitched, and he slowly turned his head away.

"Lan Zhan." called Wei Wuxian.

"He's really jealous, Wei-xiong." said Nie Huaisang making Wei Wuxian pout.

"From then on, you should watch your actions." said Jiang Cheng.

Walking along the rough path, the weeds gradually became fewer, climbing back toward the sides, and the road also widened. Yet, the fog grew denser.

As the left hand formed a fist, a city gate lay in ruins at the end of the long path.

The tower in front of the city had missing paint and a broken roof. With one corner chipped off, it looked unusually dilapidated. The walls of the city were covered in graffiti done by some unknown person, while the red color of the doors had almost faded white, every single one of its doornails rusty and black. The pair of doors was left unlatched, almost as if somebody had just opened a slit and slipped inside.

"The place looks creepy." said Nie Huaisang.

"Don't say that. Out of all the places I've been night hun with, that's the most memorable one." said Jingyi.

"What? You came there?" asked Jiang Cheng making the three juniors glared at Jingyi.

"If jiujiu won't kill you then I might be the one to do that. Can't you keep that mouth of yours shut even just for a while?" asked Jin Ling in a whisper.

Even before entering, one could feel that this must be haunted with ghosts and demons running wild.

As Wei WuXian walked down the path, he examined the surroundings carefully. At the city gates, he commented, “The feng shui is horrible.”

Lan WangJi nodded without hurry, “Barren mountains and turbulent rivers.”

"I can say that this place is dangerous." said I younger disciple.

"The more dangerous the place is, the more fun it is to night hunt." said Wei Wuxian.

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

Yi City was surrounded by steep cliffs on all sides. The cliffs tilted toward the center in an extreme manner, appearing both menacing and constricting, almost as if it would collapse any moment. Bound by these dark, massive peaks and enveloped in the ghostly white fog, it appeared even monstrous than monsters. Even simply standing here would make one feel anxious and suffocated, along with a strong sense of being threatened.

"Yeah, it's really creepy and haunted." said Nie Huaisang.

Jingyi wants to defend the pace but Jin Ling instantly covered his mouth.

"Say something and I'll cut off your tongue." he said.

"Why are covering his mouth?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"It's nothing, jiujiu." said Jin Ling but Jiang Cheng just frowned at him making him release Jingyi's mouth.

Ever since the ancient times, there had been the saying that “the greatness of a person brings glory to their birthplace”. The opposite saying was also present. In some places, because of the terrain or location, the feng shui would be exceptionally awful. Surrounded by a natural gust of sinister energy, it was easy for anyone who lived there to die early or be generally unlucky. If all of their ancestors dwelled there, then they’d be even more unfortunate. Also, irregularities such as living corpses or the return of souls. It was clear that Yi City was such a place.

Places like this were usually in secluded locations that weren’t under the control of any cultivational sect. Of course, even if they were, sects wouldn’t want to help either. Such situations really were annoying, even more annoying than the Waterborne Abyss. The Waterborne Abyss could be chased away. However, feng shui was difficult to change. If nobody wailed in front of their doors, the sects turned a blind eye and pretended that they didn’t know.

"Why would a sect do that? Sect is founded to help other people who are in need." said Lan Xichen.

"Gusu Lan Sect is very far from that place. Other smaller sect can't help maybe because they're not strong enough to defend the place." said Wei Wuxian.

For the city’s residents, the easiest solution was to leave the place. But, if someone’s family had been living at a secluded place for generations, it’d be almost impossible for them to make the decision to leave where they grew up. Even if five or six out of ten people would have short lives, maybe they would be the remaining three or four. It didn’t seem too unbearable.

"When they that it's dangerous then why don't they leave. It's just easy." said a random cultivator.

"You can say that because you're not in their situation. They cannot leave the place because this is where they grew up and if they leave, where will they go? It's not easy to get used to an unfamiliar place." said Wei Wuxian.

"Don't comment without thinking or understanding everything." he added.

The two halted before the city gates and exchanged a look.

Squeak. Supported by hinges on the verge of snapping, the two city doors, although being unable to align properly, slowly opened.

Before their eyes, there was neither bustling streets nor violent corpses. There was only an all-enveloping shade of white.

"The f*ck! Just by the look of it, it is not something you could say safe." said Jin Zixuan.

"I want to go there." said Wei Wuxian.

"You're the only one who wants to go there. Can't you say how dangerous it is?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"I can drag my brother with me." said Wei Wuxian.

The fog was even a few times denser than the fog outside the city, allowing them to only see a long, straight street ahead of them. On the sides, there stood no passers, but only brooding houses.

The two of them naturally walked a few steps nearer to each other, and entered the city together.

"You two should stay together. Don't let the other out of your sight. That's the only way you will know thay you're safe." said Lan Xichen.

"The place really looked abandoned." said Nie Huaisang while hiding half of his face behind his fan.

It was still daytime, but no sound could be heard in the city. Aside from the lack of human voices, not a single note of caws or barks could be heard either. It was more than peculiar.

Then again, since this was the place where the left arm pointed, it’d be stranger if it weren’t peculiar.

"Couldn't agree more." said Wei Wuxian.

"Maybe this time it would be more dangerous." he added.

They walked down the street for a while. The farther they went, the thicker the fog, as if evil energy permeated the air. At first, they could still manage to see anything within ten steps’ distance. And then it became impossible to make out any figure more than five steps away. In the end, they couldn’t even see their hands in front of them. The more Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi walked, the closer to each other they shifted. They could only manage to see each other’s face if they walked shoulder-to-shoulder. A thought suddenly popped into Wei WuXian’s mind, If someone took advantage of this fog and snuck between us, a third person to our group of two, it’d be hard to say whether or not we’ll notice.

"Be careful, a-xian." said Jiang Yanli.

"Nothing bad will happen, shijie." said Wei Wuxian.

"We are not aure about that." said Jiang Cheng.

"Oh ChengCheng is worried about me. Don't worry my shidi, your shixiong will be careful from now on." Wei Wuxian said dramatically making Jiang Cheng frown at him with a light scowl in his face.

Suddenly, his foot stepped on something. He looked down, but couldn’t tell what it was. Wei WuXian grasped Lan WangJi’s hand firmly so that he didn’t go off on his own, bent down, and squinted. A head with a pair of glaring eyes ripped through the fog, jumping into his sight.

"AAAHHHHH!" screamed the cultivators.

"What is the head doing there?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"The f*ck! It scares the hell out of me." said Jin Zixuan making Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian laugh at him.

"I didn't expect that at all." said MianMian while trying to calm his beating heart.

The head had the face of a man with thick brows, large eyes, and two smudges of rouge that stood out acutely.

When Wei WuXian stepped on the head, he almost sent it flying, so he knew how heavy it weighed. Being so light, this definitely wasn’t a human head. He picked it up and squeezed it. A large part of the man’s face sunk in. Some of the rouge was also smudged.

It was a head made from paper.

"A paper head? I screamed that loud just because of a paper head?" asked Jin Zixuan in disbelief.

"Proof that your a weakling. Even Jiang Cheng didn't flinch at the sight of it." said Wei Wuxian.

"I'm used to it. Being prank for a lot of times already." said Jiang Cheng making Wei Wuxian pout at him.

The paper head was skillfully crafted. Although the makeup was overly dramatic, the features were rather delicate. Yi City’s specialty was burial goods, so of course the technique of crafting paper mannequins was decent. Among the paper mannequins, there were substitute mannequins, which the people believed that, if burned for the deceased, would suffer in hell in place of them; there were also maidservants and beautiful girls, which would attentively care for the deceased in the nether world. Of course, these were really only made for the living to feel some relief. This paper head was probably a “Nether Brawler”.

Like its name, a “Nether Brawler” was a fighter, said to be able to protect the deceased from the bullying of other ghosts or tricky Judges; the paper money that the juniors burned wouldn’t be stolen away by other souls either. The paper head definitely had a large, sturdy body also made of paper to go with it. Someone had probably pulled the head off and thrown it onto the streets.

"What? They believe in that?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Of course they did. They are common people." said Jiang Cheng.

"Even a sect believe in the kind of things." he added.

The strands of hair on the paper head were jet-black and quite glossy. Wei WuXian touched it. The hair was firmly attached to the scalp, as if the head really grew the hair. He thought to himself, It really was crafted skillfully. Did they take real, human hair and glue it on?

"What?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"Why would they do that? That's horrible." he added.

"Please tell me that it's not a real hair or else I'm going to vomit here." said Nie Huaisang who is looking pale.

"Of course not, who would give their for such things?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"Good then." said Nie Huaisang while fanning himself.

Suddenly, a thin shadow swept past him.

The shadow was extremely bizarre. It ran past, brushing against his shoulder, and instantly disappeared into the thick fog. Bichen unsheathed on its own, chasing after the figure, but quickly returned to its sheath.

The thing that slipped by him ran too quickly—a human definitely couldn’t have reached that speed!

"Lady a-qing!" exclaimed the juniors.

"We're going to see him again." said Jingyi.

"Who?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"You'll know later, a-niang." he answered.

"Oh someone is having a crush." teased Wei Wuxian.

"No, I don't." said Jingyi while glaring at his uncle.

Wei Wuxian just laughed at him.

Lan WangJi, “Pay attention. Be careful.”

Although it only brushed past, it was difficult to say that the next time it came, it wouldn’t do something else.

Wei WuXian straightened up, “Did you hear that?”

Lan WangJi, “Footsteps and a bamboo pole.”

"Who could it be?" asked Xiao Xingchen.

"A great friend." said the juniors.

"So you are there?" asked Jiang Cheng making Jingyi and Jin Ling sweat in their seats.

He was correct. During the moment, aside from hurried footsteps, they heard another strange noise. The ta-ta sounded rather clear, as if someone was quickly tapping a bamboo pole on the ground. Wei WuXian didn’t know why the noise was present.

In front of them, from within the fog, came another series of footsteps.

"We're doomed." mumbled Jin Ling.

Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian gave the juniors a look making them shiver.

"Who could it be? Will it be a friend or a foe?" asked Nie Huaisang.