Sharing the same senses as A-Qing, Wei WuXian also felt the pins and needles pricking his scalp. Despite this, the young maiden bravely searched her way forward in a calm, ordinary manner. When the tip of the sword was half an inch away from her stomach, Xue Yang took it away and put it backbinto his sleeve. Exchanging it with two pieces of candy, he gave one to AQing and tossed the other one into his own mouth.

"God! That's scared me." said MianMian.

"I really thought he would really kill him." said Nie Huaisang.

"He really did though." said Meng Yao.

He asked, “A-Qing, where’s that daozhang of yours gone to in the middle of the night?”

A-Qing licked and munched on the candy, “I think he went hunting.”

Xue Yang tittered, “Hunting? More like night-hunting.”

A-Qing, “Oh really? The two are pretty much the same. What’s the difference? It’s just helping other people fight ghosts and beasts without receiving any money.”

"Is she testing him?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"Maybe, that's clever of her." said Wei Wuxian.

Wei WuXian was truly amazed by how clever she was.

It wasn’t that A-Qing couldn’t remember what Xiao XingChen said to her. In fact, she remembered it better than anyone. She said “night-hunt” wrong on purpose. Since Xue Yang corrected her, in a way, he confirmed that he was also a cultivator. Xue Yang’s test failed and was instead tested by her. The maiden was only so young, yet she already had such tactics.

"Can we keep her? I want her to be my sister." Nie Huaisang said to his brother.

"I'm not fond of maiden." said Nie Mingjue.

"No wonder you're single." he mumbled which didn't escape Nie Mingjue's ears making him glare at him.

Although Xue Yang looked scornful, his voice sounded confused, “He’s blind already. How can he night-hunt?”

"Are you discriminating me?" asked Xiao Xingchen.

"Maybe." said Xue Yang with a scoffed making Song Lan glare at him.

A-Qing raged, “You’re at it again. What’s wrong with being blind? Even if Daozhang’s blind, he’s still really cool. His sword’s like whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. One word: fast.” As she was prancing around, Xue Yang suddenly asked, “You can’t see, so how do you know his sword is fast?”

The opponent was quick, but her defense was quicker. A-Qing replied in an outraged voice, “It’s fast because I say so. Daozhang’s sword must be fast! It’s true that I can’t see, but can’t I listen? Just what are you trying to say? Do you discriminate against blind people like us?” She behaved exactly like a naive girl who was bragging about the person she admired. It sounded as natural as can be.

"If that was me, I would have cower already." said a female cultivator.

"She's brave for a young maiden." said Lan Xichen.

Xue Yang was watching the screen with a keen interest while smiling creepily at the girl.

"I hope you're not planning to do something that will harm her." said Wei Wuxian.

Now that she passed all three of his tests, Xue Yang’s expression finally relaxed. It was likely that he finally believed that A-Qing was indeed blind.

"I don't think so." said Xue Yang.

"A little maiden can never fool me." he added with a smile.

However, A-Qing, on the other hand, grew extremely wary toward Xue Yang. The next day, Xiao XingChen found some wood, straw, and tiles for repairing the roof. As soon as he came inside, A-Qing secretly dragged him out again, whispering on about how this person was suspicious and that he definitely wasn’t a good person, judging from him hiding secrets even though they were both cultivators. Unfortunately, she thought that the broken little finger was a trivial matter, so she didn’t mention the most fatal characteristic. Xiao XingChen went about comforting her, “You’ve already eaten his candy, so you should stop chasing him away. Of course he’ll go after his wounds have healed. Nobody would be willing to stay with us inside this coffin home.”

"I don't think he will leave." said Nie Huaisang.

"She should've have tell him everything." said Song Lan.

"Lets just hope that nothing bad happened to them except the fact that they both died." said Wei Wuxian.

This was indeed the truth. There was only a single bed inside such a shack. It was lucky for them that there was no wind or rain, or else the roof would’ve created a great problem. Nobody would want to live here. Just as A-Qing was about to continue her complaint of Xue Yang, the certain someone’s voice came from behind them, “Are you talking about me?”

"Yes, they're talking about you." said Xue Yang.

"Are you not afraid to be punished now that you seemed to be supporting your future self's action?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"What is there to be afraid of? It's clear that in the future either I escaped or died in their hands." said Xue Yang.

To A-Qing’s surprise, he got off the bed again. However, she wasn’t afraid of being found out at all, “We’re talking about you? Don’t flatter yourself!” Picking up her bamboo pole, she went inside, sneaked behind the window, and continued to eavesdrop.

Outside of the coffin home, Xiao XingChen turned to Xue Yang, “Your wounds haven’t healed yet, and you’re walking around already. Are you sure you’ll fine?”

Xue Yang, “It’ll heal faster if I walk around. And it’s not that both of my legs are broken or anything. I’m used to injuries like these. I grew up beaten by others.”

"I'll beat them a thousand times more than how they beat me." said Xue Yang in a dark tone.

"Who?" asked Xiao Xingchen.

"Who do you think? We're not friends for me to tell you." he said.

"Yeah, we're enemies." said Xiao Xingchen.

Xiao XingChen seemed as though he didn’t know what to say in response, whether he should comfort him or take it as a joke. After a pause, he replied, “Oh…”

Xue Yang continued, “Daozhang, are the things that you brought here gonna be for repairing the roof?”

Xiao XingChen, “Yes. I’ll most likely stay here for a temporary while. The broken roof won’t be beneficial to A-Qing or to your injuries.”

"So they decided to stay there?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"He is kinda changing." said MianMian.

"It's just an act." said Jiang Cheng.

"What if he really changed?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"Then we will find out." said Wei Wuxian.

Xue Yang, “Should I help?”

Xiao XingChen thanked him, “I’ll be fine.”

Xue Yang, “Daozhang, do you know how to do it?”

Xiao XingChen laughed and shook his head, “I’m sorry, but I really haven’t tried to do such a thing before.”

"Maybe Xiao Xingchen get to changed him until he found out the truth." said Wei Wuxian.

"I hope so too." said Nie Huaisang while Xue Yang rolled his eyes.

And so, the two of them started to repair the roof together. One of them worked, the other one gave directions. Xue Yang was quite eloquent with words and was especially good at making witty remarks. His humor was accompanied by a presumptuous tone common to street markets. In the past, Xiao XingChen most likely had very rare contact with this type of people. Easily amused, he’d start laughing after just a few sentences. Hearing how cheerful their conversations were, A-Qing moved her lips in silence. After careful scrutiny, it seemed to have sounded like “let me kill you damn thing”.

Wei WuXian felt the same as A-Qing.

"You easily trusted a person." said Song Lan.

"And that's a mistake." he added.

"In the future you wanted to kill me yet why are trying to change me in this timeline?" asked Xue Yang.

"Because I want to know the real reason why you become like that. And you didn't do anything yet." answered Wei Wuxian.

Xue Yang’s severe injuries that had almost taken his life were partly due to Xiao XingChen. The two had a relationship of absolute hatred. In his heart, he was probably hoping for Xiao XingChen to die in the most gruesome way possible, yet he could still converse with him in such a lighthearted manner. If the one hiding behind the window right now was Wei WuXian himself, he would’ve killed Xue Yang regardless of the consequences to avoid later trouble. However, it wasn’t his own body. And, even if A-Qing wanted to, she wasn’t capable of killing him.

After about a month, under Xiao XingChen’s meticulous care, Xue Yang’s wounds had mostly healed. Aside from how he limped slightly when he walked, nothing else posed any inconvenience. Despite this, he still hadn’t mentioned anything about leaving. He continued to live in this crammed coffin home with the two others. Wei WuXian had no idea what he was scheming of.

"What could be the reason why he stayed with them?" asked MianMian.

"As a lot people said, 'always keep your enemies close'. Maybe that's the reason why he didn't left." said Nie Huaisang.

"Or he is just waiting for a perfect time to take his revenge." said Jin Zixuan.

"That could be the reason." said Nie Mingjue.

Today, after putting A-Qing to sleep, Xiao XingChen was about to leave and night-hunt again when Xue Yang’s voice suddenly came, “Daozhang, why don’t you take me with you tonight?”

His throat injury should’ve healed already as well. However, he purposely avoided using his original voice and disguised it in another tone. Xiao XingChen laughed, “Of course not. If you talk, I start laughing, and if I laugh, my sword won’t be steady anymore.”

Xue Yang replied in a piteous way, “Then I won’t talk. I’ll carry your sword and help you. Please don’t give me the cold shoulder.”

"Why do you want to come?" asked Song Lan.

"How would I know?" asked Xue Yang.

"Maybe he is really changing himself." said MianMian.

"Or he is planning something." said Wei Wuxian.

He had always been a master at behaving as though he was a spoiled child. When talking to people older than him, he sounded like a younger brother. And, since Xiao XingChen had probably cared for his shidi and shimei when he was a disciple of BaoShan SanRen, he naturally saw Xue Yang as junior to him. Xue Yang was a cultivator as well, so Xiao XingChen gladly agreed to the request. Wei WuXian thought, Xue Yang definitely won’t be so nice that he wants to help Xiao XingChen night-hunt. If A-Qing doesn’t go, she’ll miss something important for sure.

"I agree. I wish that lady A-Qing will wake up and follow them." said Wei Wuxian.

"But, it could be dangerous if she followed. What if Xue Yang will caught him?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"Worried about the maiden?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Oh shut up. What I said could possibly happen and the outcome will be her death." said Jiang Cheng with an eye roll.

A-Qing was indeed clever. She also figured that Xue Yang probably didn’t have good intentions. After the two left, she jumped out of the coffin and followed them from afar. The distance between them was a bit too far, since she was scared that she’d be discovered, and she ended up losing sight of them. Luckily, when Xiao XingChen was washing the vegetables earlier, he mentioned that a small village nearby was plagued by walking corpses and told the two of them to refrain from running around. A-Qing could still remember the place. Rushing over, she arrived soon afterward. She slipped into a dog hole on the bottom of the village’s fence, hid behind one of the houses, and sneakily peeked out.

"How could she be that clever?" asked Jin Zixun.

"She is even more braver than you." said Jingyi.

"Did you just compare to a maiden?" asked Jin Zixun in disbelief.

"I'm right though." said Jingyi.

"I pray for her safety." said MianMian.

Wei WuXian wasn’t sure if A-Qing understood what was happening, but he felt a sudden chill within his heart.

With his hands folded in front of him, Xue Yang stood on the side of the road, smiling with his head tilted. Xiao XingChen stood on the opposite side. Calmly unsheathing his sword, Shuanghua flashed its silver sword glare before it pierced through a villager’s heart.

The villager was still alive.

"What?" asked Xiao Xingchen in disbelief.

"That's so immoral!" exclaimed Song Lan while glaring at Xue Yang who is smiling while looking at the screen.

"Doesn't he knew that it was alive?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"I can never do that." Xiao Xingchen said in a low voice.

"Is that the reason why he wants to go with him?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"That's way more immoral than the Nies." said Wei Wuxian.

"It is also part of demonic cultivation and much worse." said Qingheng-jun.

Everyone was bad-mouthing Xue Yang who just only smiled.

If she were another girl of the same age, she would’ve started screaming immediately. However, since A-Qing had feigned being blind for so many years, a lot of people had put down their guard in front of her, believing that she couldn’t see. She was used to seeing the more sickening sides of people, which had hardened her heart. She somehow managed to not make a sound.

Even so, Wei WuXian could feel the numbing stiffness that travelled upward from the bottom of her legs. Standing amid numerous villagers’ corpses that lay scattered on the ground, Xiao XingChen sheathed his sword and spoke in a solemn voice, “How can it be that there isn’t a single living person inside this village? That all of them are walking corpses?”

"How can he not know?" asked Nie Huaisang.

Xiao Xingchen was getting pale at the moment.

"All of them are still alive." he murmured.

"I'm the one who ended their lives." he added.

Xue Yang smiled, but the voice that came out of his mouth sounded extremely confused, even somewhat pained, “Yeah. Good thing that your sword points at corpse energy on its own. Or else, with just the two of us, it would’ve been very difficult to break through.”

"I can't believe you will say that. Are you taking me for a fool?" Xiao Xingchen asked Xue Yang.

Xue Yang just scoffed at him.

"I shouldn't have trusted you." he said with a sigh. Sadness was evident in his voice.

Xiao XingChen, “Let’s examine the village again. If there really isn’t anyone left, then let’s burn these corpses as soon as possible.”

After they walked side-by-side into the distance, some strength finally returned to A-Qing’s legs. She sneaked out from behind the house to where the piles of corpses were and glanced around on the ground. Wei WuXian’s viewpoint oscillated as well.

All of these villagers were killed by sharp, clean pierces through the heart, done by Xiao XingChen’s sword. Suddenly, Wei WuXian saw a few familiar faces.

A few pieces of memory ago, the three of them went outside one day and came upon a few men who had too much free time on their hands, playing dice at a the crossroad of a village. As the three passed the village, the men glanced up and saw a blind man, a blind girl, and a boy who limped, they all laughed and pointed. A-Qing spat at them and brandished her bamboo pole; Xiao XingChen walked passed calmly, as if he didn’t hear anything; Xue Yang even smiled, although his eyes held no trace of any amusement.

"Did he that only for revenge?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"But why me? He could do that on his own." said Xiao Xingchen.

"Just how cruel is he?" asked Jin Zixun.

"I can't believe that such thing happened to me." said Xiao Xingchen.

"I'm the one who's going to kill him." said Jiang Cheng but Wei Wuxian shook his head.

"I believe that we can still change him." he said and Jiang Cheng glared at him.

A-Qing flipped over quite a few corpses. Opening their eyelids, she saw that all of them had white eyes. Livor mortis had already climbed over some of their faces. She let out a sigh of relief, but Wei WuXian’s heart sunk even lower.

Although they looked a lot like walking corpses, these people were indeed living.

Except that they were under corpse poisoning.

"So they could still be saved if he didn't kill them." said Nie Huaisang.

"Only if I knew." said Xiao Xingchen.

"Do not blame yourself. It didn't happened yet." said Song Lan.

"But it's still me." said Xiao Xingchen with guilt in his voice.

Near the mouths and noses of a few corpses, Wei WuXian could also see leftover traces of a reddish-purple powder. Of course, the ones who’d been under poisoning for a long time were beyond hope since they had already become walking corpses. However, among them, there were still a few who hadn’t been poisoned for long. They’d start to develop traits of corpses that had transformed, such as emitting corpse energy, but they would still be conscious and be able to speak, which meant that they would still be living. If they were helped, they could still be saved like Lan JingYi and the others. One should truly be careful not to accidentally kill them, since it’d be the same as killing a live human.

Xiao Xingchen lowered his head more.

"It is a sin. My master would be so disappointed in me." he said.

"She's right. It is a mistake to go down the mountain. Life are more cruel." he added.

"Please, stop blaming yourself. We can change it and we will never let such thing happen again." said Sizhui.

They should’ve been able to talk, to say who they were, to shout for help. However, the awful thing was that somebody had cut all of their tongues off before this. The corners of all of the corpse’s lips seeped blood, either still warm or already dried.

"Just how cruel are you?" asked Xiao Xingchen.

"What makes you do that?" he added.

"Ask yourself. Aren't we enemies? Of course, I will make your life miserable. What did you expect?" asked Xue Yang in a childish voice.

"Stop! That's not you. You can change yourself. It's still not too late. We can help, we are here for you." said Wei Wuxian.

"Senior Wei, do you even know me?" asked Xue Yang.

"You don't have a say in my life." he added.

Although Xiao XingChen couldn’t see, Shuanghua could point out the directions of corpse energy. Because these villagers lost their tongues, they could only make strange howls that was extremely similar to those of walking corpses. Thus, he didn’t doubt at all that the villagers he killed had already died.

It was a maniatic way to kill others without dirtying his own hand, a merciless way to instead dirty the hand that fed him.

Xiao Xingchen could only close his eyes. Xue Yang was smiling at him.

"Wait for your death. It will be more cruel." said Song Lan.

"I am waiting." said Xue Yang.

A-Qing, however, didn’t understand how this worked. She only knew of the rough process, having heard them sometimes being mentioned by Xiao XingChen. She murmured, “Is the bastard really helping Daozhang?”

"No, he's not!" exclaimed Song Lan with a glare.

"Do not believe him, please." said MianMian.

"They have to stay away from him. Or else, it will be more cruel." said Nie Huaisang.

Wei WuXian cautioned in silence, Please don’t believe Xue Yang just like this!

Luckily, A-Qing’s intuition was rather sharp. Although her knowledge didn’t allow her to find anything suspicious, her vigilance toward Xue Yang was already deeply rooted in her intuition. She instinctively hated him and refused to settle. And so, whenever Xue Yang went out night-hunting with Xiao XingChen, she’d secretly follow them. Even when they were in the same house, she didn’t lower her guard.

"Good girl." said Song Lan.

"At least she's clever enough to not trust the man. If I saw her, I will really take good care of her and never let any harm comes to her." he added.