The sky had been darkening, and so had Xue Yang’s expression. He tapped his fingers irritatedly on the table.

"I'm getting scared for what will happen next." said Nie Huaisang.

When dusk fell completely, he kicked the table and cursed. Standing up, he half-kneeled in front of Xiao XingChen’s corpse, checking over the array and incantations that he had painted. After repeated examinations, he felt that there was nothing wrong. However, after frowning for a moment, he still wiped away all of them and redrew the entire thing.

This time, Xue Yang directly sat on the ground, staring patiently at Xiao XingChen. He waited for another while. A-Qing’s legs had already went through three stages of numbness. Now, they both itched and hurt, as though thousands of ants were nibbling on them. Her eyes had been swollen as well from crying. Her sight was a bit blurry.

After another two hours, Xue Yang finally discovered that the situation had gotten out of control.

"What happened?" asked MianMian.

"Nothing really, it's just that he really died." said Wei Wuxian.

"Then?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"He can't turn him into a fierce corpse." answered Wei Wuxian.

He put his hand onto Xiao XingChen’s forehead, closing his eyes for detection. A moment later, his eyes flew open.

Wei WuXian knew. What he could still detect was probably just a few strands of a fragmented soul.

And, a soul that was broken in such a way that it could never be used to create a fierce corpse.

"Oh, so that's the reason why he asked for Wei-xiong's help to mend it." said Nie Huaisang.

"But a broken sould can never be mend." said Wei Wuxian.

"Really?" asked Xue Yang.

"You could only wait for the soul to be complete again on his own which takes a lot of time." said Wei Wuxian.

It seemed that Xue Yang had never expected something like this to happen. On his face, which constantly grinned, an emptiness appeared for the first time.

The Xue Yang who is with them is having the same expression.

"You can change yourself to be able to get close to them. I know that they will try to understand you." said Wei Wuxian.

"That's impossible." he murmured.

Without thinking, although it was too late, he pressed his hands against the wound on Xiao XingChen’s neck. However, all of the blood had already drained away. Xiao XingChen’s face was whiter than paper. Large areas of dark-red blood dried up on his neck. Covering the wound now would do nothing.

Xiao XingChen had died. He had died completely.

Even his soul had shattered.

The child in Xue Yang’s story who cried because he couldn’t eat pastries was too different from the present him. It was almost impossible to link the two together. Yet, in the current moment, Wei WuXian could finally catch a few traces of that ignorant, confused child on Xue Yang’s face.

"It breaks my heart seeing him like that." said Jiang Yanli.

"Life must be so cruel to him." she added.

"He choose that kind of life. He must pay the consequences of his actions." said Jin Zixuan.

"But he's just a boy." said Jiang Yanli.

In an instant, red veins climbed over Xue Yang’s eyes. He stood up suddenly. Squeezing both of his hands into fists, he rampaged around the coffin home. He kicked and thrashed, noisily destroying the house that he had just cleaned a few seconds ago.

At this point, his expression, the sounds that he made were closer to the word “insane” than all of his past attitudes added together.

After he smashed everything the house, he calmed down again. He squatted where he had been and called out in a small voice, “Xiao XingChen.”

"It must have been so hard for him to accept that the man really died." said MianMian.

"That's because Xiao Xingchen is the only person who show kindness to him." said Wei Wuxian.

"But he took advantage of it." said Song Lan.

He continued, “If you don’t get up, I’ll make your dear friend Song Lan murder people.

“I’ll kill off everyone in the entire Yi City and make them into living corpses. You’ve been living here for such a long time. Is it really okay for you not to care?

“I’ll strangle that little blind A-Qing and leave her corpse in the fields for wild dogs to gobble her up.”

A-Qing shivered soundlessly.

"Well, he really did." said Jiang Cheng.

"You won't do such thing again." said Xiao Xingchen while looking at Xue Yang.

Xue Yang just rolled his eyes and scoffed.

"Is it still possible that you can change yourself?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Why would I? This is me, I wouldn't change myself just for some strangers." said Xue Yang.

Having received no reply, Xue Yang suddenly shouted out of rage, “Xiao XingChen!”

He yanked at Xiao XingChen’s collars, even though it did nothing, and shook it a couple of times as he stared at the lifeless face in his hands.

Suddenly, pulling Xiao XingChen’s arm, he lifted him onto his back.

"What is he going to do?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"Don't ask. We don't know either." said Su She.

"I am not asking you." said Nie Huaisang.

Xue Yang carried the corpse toward the door. As if he had lost his mind, he ranted in a whisper, “Spirit-trapping Pouch, Spirit-trapping Pouch. Right, a Spirit-trapping Pouch. I need a Spirit-trapping Pouch, a Spirit-trapping Pouch, a Spirit-trapping Pouch…”

"I don't know what to feel for him." said Wei Wuxian.

"Then don't feel anything. He is not related to you by the way." said Jiang Cheng.

"Still, its such a pity that they ended up like that. They are even younger than us." said Wei Wuxian.

"We don't even know what happened to us yet. What if it is way more worse than them?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"Our relationship is more stronger that nothing can destroy it." said Wei Wuxian with a smile.

"Don't forget, we are seemed to be enemies in the future." said Jiang Cheng making Wei Wuxian shut his mouth.

Only after he was far away did A-Qing dare to move slightly.

Unable to balance herself, she tumbled to the ground, and only crawled up again after writhing for a while. She managed to walk a few more steps forward. As her muscles stretched, she walked faster and faster and faster, and started to run.

After she ran so far that Yi City was far behind her, she finally let out the cries that she buried within herself, “Daozhang! Daozhang! Aaah, Daozhang!…”

"Poor maiden, she just lost the most important person to her." said MianMian.

"We will look for her." said Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan nodded his head.

The scenario suddenly changed and turned to somewhere else.

At this point, A-Qing had probably already been on the run for a couple of days. She was walking in an unfamiliar town, holding a bamboo pole and pretending to be blind again. She asked whoever came toward her, “Excuse me, are there any big sects around here?”

“Excuse me, are there any really powerful people around the area? Powerful people who cultivate.”

"Is she asking for people to take revenge for her?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"Maybe, but there's no cultivator who goes in such places." said Wei Wuxian.

"Except me and Jiang Cheng when we are bored." he added with a laugh.

"More like when you are bored, you only dragged me everywhere." said Jiang Cheng with a scoff.

Wei WuXian thought to himself, She’s searching for people who can help her seek revenge for Xiao XingChen.

Unfortunately, nobody took her questions seriously. They’d often walk away after just a few half-hearted sentences. A-Qing wasn’t discouraged, either. She tirelessly asked, even if she had been shooed away all those times. Seeing that she couldn’t get any answers here, she left and went on a smaller path.

She had been walking and asking for an entire day. Exhausted, she dragged her heavy legs toward a brook. She cupped her hands and drank a few sips of the water, soothing her dry throat. Through the water, she saw a wooden hairpin in her hair, and reached for it.

"Is that pin given by Xiao Xingchen?" asked a random cultivator.

"No, maiden A-Qing already have that even before he meet Xiao Xingchen." said Nie Huaisang.

"I don't have a good feeling about this." said MianMian and a lot of people nodded their heads in agreement.

Looking at the hairpin, A-Qing puckered her lips, wanting to cry again. Her stomach growled, and she took a small, white money pouch out of her lapel. This was the one she stole from Xiao XingChen. She then dug out a small candy from within it, and licked it carefully. After the tip of her tongue tasted the sweetness, she put the candy back again.

This was the last piece of candy Xiao XingChen gave her.

"I'm crying." said a female cultivator.

"I can give her a lot when we meet again." Xiao Xingchen said with a small smile.

Xue Yang looked at him expectantly, thinking that maybe if they have a close relationship he will also give Xue Yang some.

Shaking that kind of thoughts out of his head, he glare at Xiao Xingchen.

A-Qing looked down and packed the pouch away again. With a glance, she suddenly found that another person’s shadow appeared within the reflection of the water.

Standing in the reflection, Xue Yang was smiling at her.

"Damn, he's there." said Nie Huaisang.

"This is the reason why I am having a bad feeling." said MianMian.

"What will happen?" asked a younger disciple.

"She will be dead." said Wen Rouhan.

With a startled scream, A-Qing immediately scrambled away.

Ever since sometime, Xue Yang had been standing behind her. With Shuanghua in his hand, he opened his arms and made the gesture of a hug. He spoke happily, “A-Qing, why are you running away? We haven’t seen each other in such a long time. Don’t you miss me?”

"He is saying that like he didn't do anything wrong." said Jin Zixuan.

"Who would hug him?" asked a random cultivator.

"Me! Only if he won't have any plans to kill me." said a female cultivator.

"You want a hug?" asked Xue Yang.

"But I don't hug strangers." he added.

A-Qing shrieked, “Help me!”

Yet, this was already an obscure mountain path. Nobody would come to help her.

Xue Yang raised a brow, “I just happened to have ran into you when you were asking around in the city after I finished my business in Yueyang. What a wonderful turn of fate. Speaking of it, your acting is superb. You even fooled me for such a long time. Well done.”

"Is this after he killed Chang Ping?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"Who's that?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"What?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"Proof that Wei Wuxian has a short-term memory." said Jiang Cheng making Wei Wuxian pout at him.

"But really, who is he?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Find it out yourself." said Jin Zixuan.

A-Qing knew that there was no chance of escaping death this time. After the shock, thinking to herself that she’d die anyway, why couldn’t die after cursing all she wanted? Becoming bolder again, she jumped up and spat, “You animal! Thankless wretch! Lower than low bastard! Your parents must’ve made love in a pigpen for a son of a bitch like you to happen! You’re just a germ who grew up eating shit!”

"She is even more better in cursing than me." said Jiang Cheng.

"Are you feeling threatened." asked Wei Wuxian.

"Why would I?" asked Jiang Cheng.

Having used to roam the marketplaces, she had heard more than a great deal of curses and arguments. She spat out whatever profanities that came to her mind. Xue Yang only grinned and listened, “You’re quite good at this, aren’t you? Why haven’t I heard you act so rude in front of Xiao XingChen? You got more coming?”

A-Qing continued, “Fuck you shameless filth! And you still dare to mention Daozhang and hold Daozhang’s sword! Do you deserve to hold it? You’re dirtying his belonging!”

Xue Yang held up Shuanghua with his left hand, “Oh, you mean this? It’s mine now. Did you think your daozhang is any cleaner? After this, he’ll also be my…”

"No, you won't do anything to Xingchen." said Song Lan.

Xue Yang just raised his brows at him.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Please, at least try to be good at one another for us to not make a mistake the same in our future." said Xiao Xingchen.

A-Qing, “You piece of shit! Dream on! You don’t deserve to call Daozhang unclean. You’re just a pool of spittle! Daozhang must be the unluckiest man in the world to have met you! You’re the only one who’s dirty! It’s only a disgusting pool of spittle like you!”

Xue Yang’s expression finally darkened.

"Damn, he looked so scary." said Nie Huaisang.

"Maybe because he hated the words 'disgusting' that's why he seemed scary." said Wei Wuxian.

"Yeah, Xiao Xingchen is really unlucky to meet a man like him." said Su She.

"Oh you shut up. Do you even know me? I can kill you in any second." said Xue Yang.

"Do it. I've been waiting for that to happen." said Jingyi.

Having been on the edge for such a long time, now that the moment had finally arrived, A-Qing felt strangely relieved.

Xue Yang spoke in a cold tone, “Since you like pretending to be blind so much, why don’t you become truly blind?”

With a wave of his hand, some sort of powder came at her face and went into her eyes. Immediately, everything she could see became a bloody red, then turned into darkness.

Stung by the scorching pain on her eyes, A-Qing let out a blood-curdling screech. Xue Yang’s voice came again, “You’re too talkative. You won’t need your tongue anymore, either.”

"Is he really that cruel?" asked Jin Zixuan.

"See. I can do that to you too." said Xue Yang while looking at Su She who only just scoffed.

"And to answer your question, I am not that cruel only if you won't cross the line." he said to Jin Zixuan.

"She kinda deserve it though. A maiden like her cursing nonstop is unacceptable." he added.

The crisp rings of the silver bell sounded as though they were right beside Wei WuXian, yet he was still immersed in A-Qing’s emotions, unable to come back to his senses. His head spun as well.

Lan JingYi waved a hand in front of him, “There is not reaction? What if he lost his marbles?!”

Jin Ling, “I said already that Empathy is very dangerous!”

"Oh we're back at the current timeline, no more memories to watch." said Nie Huaisang with a sigh of relief.

"We won't feel sad anymore." he added while leaning to his brother.

"It's not the end yet." said Zizhen.

"I mean for now." said Nie Huaisang.

Lan JingYi, “Well it was because your head was up in the clouds and did not ring the bell in time.”

Jin Ling’s face froze, “I…”

"My nephews are so worried about me." said Wei Wuxian dramatically making Jingyi and Jin ling cringed at him.

Luckily, Wei WuXian had finally came to. He stood up against the coffin. A-Qing, having already left his body, leaned on the coffin as well. The boys swarmed around him as though they were a litter of piglets and all talk at the same time, “He’s up, he’s up!”

“Whew, he hasn’t lost his marbles.”

“Hasn’t he lost his marbles to begin with?”

“Don’t talk nonsense!”

Jin Zixuan, Nie Huaisang, and Jiang Cheng was laughing loudly while Wei Wuxian was pouting.

"Did they forgot that we just came from a sad and tragic life of Xiao Xingchen and the others?" asked a random cultivator.

"No, they just can't waste a moment to laugh at one another." said MianMian.

With loud chatters surrounding his ears, Wei WuXian spoke up, “Don’t be so loud. My head feels awful.”

They quieted at once. Wei WuXian looked down, reached into the coffin, and slightly opened Xiao XingChen’s collars. As he had expected, at his neck, there was a thin yet fatal wound.

Wei WuXian sighed in silence and turned to A-Qing, “Thanks for all the trouble.”

"Now what will happen next?" asked MianMian.

"They will serve justice, I guess." said Jiang Yanli.

"My death?" asked Xue Yang.

"More likely." said Jiang Cheng.

The reason why A-Qing’s ghost was blind but she wasn’t as slow or careful as other blind people was that she only became truly blind the moment before she died. Before, she had always been such a fast, lively maiden.

In these years, she hid alone within the fog of Yi City, stealthily going against Xue Yang by scaring away the humans who had entered the city and warning them, directing them outside. Just how much courage and dedication did she have to be able to do this?

"She just don't want others to be in danger." said Lan Xichen.

"A clever maiden indeed." said Wen Rouhan.

Beside the edge of the coffin, A-Qing put her palms together and saluted Wei WuXian for a couple of times. Then, using her bamboo pole as a sword, she made the “kill, kill, kill” gestures that she had always played around with.

Wei WuXian replied, “Don’t worry.” He turned to the disciples, “Stay here, all of you. The walking corpses in the city won’t be able to come here. I’ll be back soon.”

"What are you going to do?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"You already know." said Wei Wuxian.

Jiang Cheng just scoff and gave Xue Yang a look.

Lan JingYi couldn’t help but asked, “Just what did you see during Empathy?”

Wei WuXian, “It’s too long of a story. I’ll tell you later.”

Jin Ling, “Can’t you sum it up? Don’t leave us at a cliffhanger!”

Wei WuXian, “In summary: Xue Yang must die.”

"Are you going to kill me? Then why do you want me to change when in the end you're just going to kill me?" Xue Yang asked.

"The Xue Yang in the future must die because of what he did, but the current you didn't do anything yet." said Wei Wuxian.

"So you must change so that you won't die." he added and Xue Yang laughed bitterly.

Amid the dense fog that stretched as far as the eye could see, the knocks of A-Qing’s pole led the way for him. The two moved rapidly and immediately returned to where the fight happened.

Lan WangJi and Xue Yang had already went outside. The sword glares of Bichen and Jiangzai clashed—the fight was at a critical moment. Bichen was calm and unhurried, gaining the upper hand, while Jiangzai lashed out as though it was a rabid dog, somehow managing to keep up. However, within the dreadful white fog, Lan WangJi had difficulties with vision, yet since Xue Yang had lived so many years in the city like A-Qing, he was able to know where he was even if he closed his eyes. Thus, the fight was in a deadlock. Notes of the guqin sometimes thundered through the fog, preventing the groups of walking corpses that wanted to approach. Just as Wei WuXian was about to take out his flute, two black figures slammed in front of him as if they were two iron pagodas. Wen Ning was pressing Song Lan onto the ground. Both corpses held each other’s necks with their hands, their knuckles cracking loudly.

"I nearly forgot that Song Lan was also there." said Wei Wuxian.

"That's nothing new." said Jiang Cheng.

"What do you mean?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Well, you tend to forget things." said Jiang Cheng.

"Their fight in unbelievable. If they are not fierce corpse then might have been crushed already." said Jin Zixuan.

"That's the reason why it's so nice to watch their fight." said Jin Ling.

Wei WuXian commanded, “Hold him down!”

He bent down and quickly found the ends of the two nails that went through Song Lan’s head. He felt relieved at once. The nails were a lot thinner than the ones inside Wen Ning’s head and the material used was different as well. It shouldn’t be too difficult to bring Song Lan back to consciousness. He immediately pinched the two ends and started to slowly pull the nails out. Feeling strange objects stirring within his head, Song Lan widened his eyes and growled in a low voice. Wen Ning only prevented him from breaking loose after he exerted more strength on him. When the nails had been pulled out, at once, as though he was a puppet whose strings had been cut off, he collapsed on the ground and ceased to move.

"I will be back to normal?" asked Song Lan.

"Yeah, but still a fierce corpse that has no master." said Wei Wuxian.

"It's still good." said Song Lan with a small smile.

Suddenly, a furious roar came from where the other two fought, “Give it back!”

"Now what?" asked MianMian.

"Take a guess." said Jingyi.

"We are nearing the end of this arc, I'm getting tired of all the sitting." said Jin Ling.

"Then stand up. Or you can also dance to entertain us." said Jingyi.

"Shut up." Jin ling said angrily while his friends laughed at him.