Wei WuXian raised his wrist. Sure enough, one of the cuts on his right hand had healed. It looked like that he had scored a lucky hit—the sacrificial contract had already deemed the death of Mo ZiYuan as his doing.

"Oh it's because he was the one who invented the flag." said Nie Huaisang.

Madam Mo was well aware of her son’s foibles, but she wasn’t willing to admit that Mo ZiYuan caused his own death. Due to impatience and rage, she grabbed a teacup and threw it in the direction of Wei WuXian’s head, “If you didn’t frame him in front of so many people yesterday, would he go out in the middle of the night? It’s all your fault, you son of a bitch!”

"She is the bitch." exclaimed Jiang Cheng.

Wei WuXian saw it coming, and dodged to the side. Madam Mo turned to Lan SiZhui and screeched, “And you! You bunch of useless fools! You cultivate and ward off evil spirits, but you can’t even protect him! A-Yuan is still a child!”

All the Lans glared at the woman in the screen especially Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji.

"Look at his son. He isn't a kid anymore." exclaimed Jiang Cheng in anger.

The boys were still young. They hadn’t been outside much and were too inexperienced to find anything wrong with the area, which was why they felt sorry for not detecting an evil being as fierce as this one. Nonetheless, after Madam Mo’s senseless scolding, they all looked blue in the face. After all, they grew up in a prominent family, so nobody dared to treat them like this. The GusuLan Clan was extremely strict to its disciples, forbidding violence against the powerless every man, not even allowing disrespect. Therefore, even if they felt displeased, they had to keep everything down with dark expressions.

The temperature turned cold within the room as the glares of the Lans intensified.

Even Madam Yu and the Jiangs were mad.

"How dare she talked to my grandson like that." Madam Yu muttered in anger.

However, Wei WuXian couldn’t stand it any longer, and thought, it has been so many years, but the Lan Clan’s values are still the same. What’s the use their so-called “self-restraint”? Watch me do this the right way!

"Go Wei-daijiu, show her her place." cheered Jin Ling.

"Lets see what she will do." said Zizhen.

He spat loudly and spoke, “Who do you think you’re taking out your anger on? Did you really see them as your servants? They traveled far and wide to come here and exorcise evil spirits for you without taking a penny. Do they owe you anything? How old is your son? He should be at least seventeen, and so, how is he still a ‘child’? How young of a child does he have to be to not understand basic human language? Did they or did they not repeatedly instruct him to not touch anything in the formation and not approach the West Courtyard? Your son sneaked outside at night on his own. Is it my fault? Or is it his?”

"He's right." said Nie Huaisang.

The Lans finally stopped glaring and look at Wei Wuxian saying thank you.

"Thank you for defending them, Wei-gongzi." Lan Xichen said.

"It's nothing Zewu-jun, my nephew was also there. It's right for her to know her place." Wei Wuxian said.

Lan JingYi and the others let out a breath of air, faces not so dark anymore. Madam Mo was both extremely mournful and resentful, and all she could think about was the word “death.” Not her own death so that she could be with her son, but the deaths of everyone in the world, especially the ones in front of her right now.

"Wei-daijiu is the best." exclaimed Jingyi.

"Is she crazy?" asked Wen Qing.

"Maybe she is." replied Jingyi.

She had a habit of ordering her husband to do everything, and so she knocked him, “Call everyone! Call everyone inside!”

Even so, her husband was in a trance. Possibly because of the trauma from his only child passing away, he went as far as to backhandedly push her. It caught Madam Mo by surprise, and she fell onto the ground.

"Can't she see that her husband is mourning his son's death." said MianMian in disbelief.

In the past, Madam Mo didn’t even need to push him. If she just raised her voice, he would comply immediately. How could he dare to strike back today?

The servants were all scared out of their wits from her expression. A-Ding helped her up while quivering. Madam Mo clutched her chest and spoke in a trembling voice, “You… You… You, get out of here as well!”

"She shouldn't treat her husband like that especially in the time like this." said Jiang Yanli.

"She should understand him that he was loss because of their son." said Wen Qing.

Her husband seemed like he didn’t hear anything. A-Ding gave a few looks to A-Tong, and A-Tong hurriedly helped his master to walk outside. The East Hall was in chaos. As Wei WuXian saw that the family had finally silenced, he intended to examine the corpse again. However, before he took another look at it, another high-pitched scream pierced through the air. It was from the courtyard.

The people in the hall all rushed outside. On the ground of the East Courtyard, there were two twitching bodies. The first was that of A-Tong’s, still alive, collapsed on the ground. The other fallen body was wrinkled and withered, as if the blood and the flesh had been emptied dry. The left arm was already gone, but no blood came out of the wound. The condition of the corpse was the same as Mo ZiYuan’s.

A lot of younger disciples shouted seeing the body.

"Why is he looking like that?" asked Zizhen.

"Because he was sucked dry." Jingyi answered sarcastically.

Madam Mo brushed off A-Ding’s supporting hand a second ago, but as she saw the corpse on the ground, her eyes widened, and she was finally out of energy to throw another fit. As she fainted, Wei WuXian happened to be next to her, and gave her a hand, passing her to A-Ding, who came running. He looked at his right hand to see that another one of the cuts was also gone.

It was merely a few seconds before they walked over the threshold of the hall, not even past the East Courtyard yet, and saw Madam Mo’s husband die distressingly. Lan SiZhui, Lan JingYi, and the others also grew pale in the face. Lan SiZhui was the first to calm down and asked A-Tong, who lay on the ground, “Did you see what it was?”

"Why did you send junior disciples there." asked Jiang Cheng to the Lans.

"We don't know." answered Lan Qiren.

"Next time, you are not allowed to go on a place like that again." said Lan Xichen.

"But, a-die it was exciting." said Jingyi receiving a glare from his mother.

A-Tong was almost scared to death, unable to open his mouth. Even after a few moments of asking, A-Tong still couldn’t answer, and only shook his head repeatedly. Lan SiZhui was burning with anxiety. He asked another disciple to take him back inside, and turned to Lan JingYi, “Did you send the signal?”

Lan JingYi answered, “I did, but if there are no seniors who can assist us in the area, it would take at least an hour for our people to come here. What should we do now? We don’t even know what it was.”

"Just leave from there." yelled a cultivator.

"Yeah right, just leave and save yourselves." another cultivator agreed.

The Jiangs and the Lans looked at them in disbelief.

Of course, it would be impossible for them to leave. If the disciples of a clan only cared about their own well-being when facing evil spirits, it would not only be bringing disgrace upon the clan, they themselves would also be ashamed to face others. The frightened people of the Mo family couldn’t go either, because it was likely that the evil being was among them, so nothing would be gained from going away. Lan SiZhui gritted his teeth, “Wait here, for the reinforcements!”

"Why are you thinking like that? Just leave." yelled Jin Guangshan.

"And what? Leave them to fend off themselves to the evil being?" Jingyi asked mocking him.

"We're not like you." he added.

Now that the signal for help had been sent, other cultivators would come to aid them within a short period of time. To prevent things from getting out of hand, Wei WuXian should withdraw and keep away from the situation. If the persons who came happened to know him or fought with him before, it would be hard to say what was going to happen next.

"He's leaving." exclaimed a random disciple.

"Of course he will save himself." said Jin Zixun.

However, with the curse, he couldn’t leave Mo Village anytime soon. In addition, the being that was attracted here had taken the lives of two people within such a short amount of time, which meant that it must have been extremely vicious. If Wei WuXian left now, when the helpers came, the streets of Mo Village might be packed with corpses who lost their left arms, including a few disciples of blood relations to the GusuLan Clan as well.

The Lans are getting worried about their disciples in the future.

"You shouldn't let the juniors go there without their seniors." said Jiang Cheng cursing the Lans.

"Just leave, problem solved." said Wen Rouhan.

"It won't solve anything." said Lan Qiren.

After pondering for a moment, Wei WuXian told himself, finish it quickly.

"Please keep the juniors safe." muttered a lot of disciples.

"Of course he won't leave." said Jiang Cheng.

The boys on the side were all young and inexperienced. However, although they all looked nervous, they strictly stuck to their positions and protected the Mo family’s house, fixing talismans onto the walls. The servant named A-Tong was already carried into the hall. Lan SiZhui felt his pulse with his left hand and supported Madame Mo’s back with his right. He couldn’t save both of them at once, and was in a terrible fix when A-Tong crawled up from the ground.

"Why bother saving her when she insulted you?" Jin Ling asked in disbelief.

"We can't just let them die you know." Jingyi answered.

A-Ding exclaimed, “A-Tong, you’re awake!”

Before her face had the time to light up, A-Tong raised his left hand and clutched his own neck.

"Da-ge!" shouted Huaisang and hide behind his brother.

"Why is he clutching his own neck?" cultivators asked in disbelief.

Seeing this, Lan SiZhui tapped on a few of his acupoints for three times. Wei WuXian knew that, although they looked gentle, the people from the Lan clan had arm strength that were the opposite of gentle. With a force like this, it would be hard for anyone to move. However, A-Tong seemed like he didn’t feel anything, and his left hand’s grip tightened, his expressions looking more painful and twisted. Lan JingYi proceeded to grab his left hand, but it was like breaking off a chunk of iron, having no effect at all. After a moment, a crack came from his neck, and A-Tong’s head drooped down. His neck was already broken.

He actually strangled himself in front everyone’s eyes!

Everyone was shocked seeing how the servant broke his own neck.

"Is that true?" asked a random disciple.

"True what?" asked Jin Zixuan after getting out of shock.

"The Lans' strength?" asked the disciple.

Lans didn't say anything and everyone look at their arms which is covered by their sleeves, not visible at all.

Seeing the situation, A-Ding’s voice wavered, “… A ghost! There’s an invisible ghost here. It made A-Tong strangle himself!”

Her tone was sharp and her voice was shrill, making everyone’s blood run cold, and so they believed it effortlessly. Wei WuXian’s judgement happened to be the opposite—it wasn’t a ferocious ghost.

"If not, then what?" asked Meng Yao.

"You'll know it." replied Sizhui with indifferent tone.

He had examined the talismans that the boys chose; all of them were spirit-fending ones, and the East Hall was literally covered with them. If it really was a ferocious ghost, then, as it went into the East Hall, the talismans would have incinerated green flames. Yet, nothing was happening right now.

It was not the group of kids’ fault for reacting too slow, but the creature was indeed cruel. The cultivation world had a strict definition for the category of “ferocious ghosts”—they had to kill at least one person a month and continue the behaviour for at least three months. The criterion was set by Wei WuXian himself, and it was probably still being used. He was the best at dealing with this kind. To him, killing one person in seven days would be considered as a ferocious ghost who killed frequently. This thing killed three people at once, and within such a short period of time. It would be hard for even a capable cultivator to think of a solution immediately, let alone these juniors who had just started their careers.

"This is getting more dangerous." said Jiang Yanli.

"What should they do?" asked Nie Huaisang still hiding behind his brother.

As he was thinking, the candlelight flickered. A sinister wind passed, and all of the lanterns and candles in the courtyard and the East Hall died out.

The moment the lights were extinguished, screams came from everywhere. Everyone pushed and pulled, wanting to escape as fast as they could, stumbling and falling in the process. Lan JingYi shouted, “Stay where you are and don’t run! I’m gonna catch whoever runs!”

"At the time like that, you still have to threatened them." Jin Ling said in disbelief.

"I have reasons." said Jingyi.

He wasn’t merely saying this to alarm the people. In fact, evil beings loved to cause trouble in the dark and make profits in times of trouble. The worse the crying and chaos, the more likely it was to unknowingly attract danger. At times like this, being isolated or becoming nervous was extremely unsafe. However, everyone was frightened to death, so how could they still have ears for words like this? After a while, the East Hall grew quiet, with only a few light breaths and faint sobs. It was likely that only a few people were left.

"See." Jingyi said, wriggling his brows at his friends.

Amidst the dark, a fire lit up suddenly. Lan SiZhui ignited a Flame Talisman.

The fire from the Flame Talisman would not be extinguished by sinister winds. He used the talisman to light up the candle again, and the rest of the boys went to comfort the others. Under the light, Wei WuXian casually looked at his wrists. Another cut had healed.

"His revenge is almost fulfilled." MianMian exclaimed.

"That's good then." said Jiang Cheng thinking that his brother will be finally out of the curse.

After looking, he suddenly realized that there was something wrong about the number of cuts.

Originally, he had two cuts on each of his wrists. One healed when Mo ZiYuan died, and another healed when Mo ZiYuan’s father died. The death of the servant, A-Tong, healed one more of the cuts. Adding it up, only three cuts should have healed, with the last cut being the deepest and most hate-filled one.

But, right now, no cuts remained on his wrists.

"How?" asked Lan Qiren.

"Maybe the one who is part of the revenge is dead." said Wen Rouhan.

Wei WuXian knew that Madame Mo was definitely one of Mo XuanYu’s targets of vengeance. The longest and deepest cut was probably saved for her. Yet, it had disappeared.

"This is so thrilling." said a random cultivator.

"Is she dead?" asked a younger disciple.

Did Mo XuanYu suddenly reach a point of epiphany and let go of his hate? That’d be impossible. His soul had already been sacrificed as the price for summoning Wei WuXian. Only the death of Madame Mo could heal the wound.

His gaze slowly moved towards the pale-faced Madame Mo, who recently woke up and was surrounded by everyone.

Unless, she was already dead.

"I don't feel good about this." said Zizhen.

"Stay away from her already." shouted Jin Ling, worrying about his friends' safety.

Wei WuXian was sure that something was already possessing Madame Mo’s body. If the being wasn’t a spirit, then what was it?

Suddenly, A-Ding cried, “Hand… His hand! A-Tong’s hand!”

Lan SiZhui moved the Flame Talisman to above A-Tong’s body. Sure enough, his left hand had disappeared as well.

"Oh My God!" some cultivators shouted.

"What is really happening?" asked Wei Wuxian.

"Get out of there now." Jiang Cheng shouted, getting worried.

Left hand!

With lightning speed, Wei WuXian’s mind became clear, with the being that was wrecking havoc and the missing left arms finally completing the puzzle. He promptly bursted out laughing. Lan JingYi snapped, “You idiot! How can you still laugh in a situation like this?” But, after a second thought, he knew that he was an idiot anyways, so what’s the use of haggling over him?

"Copy the rules two more times." said Lan Wangji, looking at Jingyi.

"You're still thinking about rules when they are already in danger." Jiang Cheng said in anger.

"Just how resentful that left hand is?" Nie Huaisang asked.

Wei WuXian tugged at his sleeve, “No, no!”

Lan JingYi was annoyed, pulling his sleeve back, “What ‘no’? You’re not an idiot? Stop fooling around! Nobody has the time to pay attention to you.”

"Just go straight to the point, Wei Wuxian. The kid was already in distress." said Jiang Cheng.

"You're just worried about your son." said Wei Wuxian, laughing at him.

Wei WuXian pointed at the corpses of Mo ZiYuan’s father and A-Tong, which lay on the ground, and spoke, “These are not them.”

Lan SiZhui stopped the fuming Lan JingYi and asked, “What do you mean by ‘these are not them’?”

Wei WuXian stated solemnly, “This is not Mo ZiYuan’s dad, and this is not A-Tong either.”

"How did that happened?" asked Zizhen.

"Just listen. Wei-daijiu is going to explain it." Jingyi said.

With his makeup-covered face, the more solemn he looked, the more he seemed like an actual lunatic. Yet, surrounded by the dim candlelight, his words sent chills up everyone’s backs. Lan SiZhui stared for a second, and asked in spite of himself, “Why?”

Wei WuXian exclaimed proudly, “Their hands. None of them were lefthanded. I’m sure of this, because they’d always hit me with their right hands.”

"That's true. I also remember now that he hit Wei Wuxian using his right hand." said Nie Mingjue.

Lan JingYi spat, running out of patience, “What are you being proud for? Look at how complacent you are!”

However, Lan SiZhui broke into a sweat. Thinking back, A-Tong had used his left hand to strangle himself, and Madame Mo’s husband also used his left hand to push his wife.

But, during the day, when Mo XuanYu was causing trouble in the East Hall, the two were rushing to get him out of there, both using their right hands. It was impossible for them to suddenly turn left-handed before they died.

"That make sense." said a cultivator.

"But why does the hand suddenly appeared there?" asked Huaisang.

Although he didn’t know why, in order to figure out what the creature was, they had to think in the direction of “left hands.” After Lan SiZhui realized this, he felt surprised and looked at Wei WuXian. He couldn’t help but to think, suddenly saying this… It doesn’t seem like a coincidence.

Wei WuXian only smiled. He knew that the hint was too deliberate, but he couldn’t have helped it. The good thing was that Lan SiZhui didn’t think too much about it either, and thought, anyways, if Young Master Mo was willing to remind me of it, he probably didn’t mean any harm.

His eyes moved away from him, passing A-Ding, who fainted from crying too much, and landed on Madame Mo.

"This Lan kid is intelligent." commented a cultivator.

"Of course he is." Jingyi agrees.

"I think that woman is already possessed by the left hand." said Jiang Cheng.

His gaze traveled from her face down to her hands. Her arms were hanging down and were mostly hidden inside her sleeves, with only half of the fingers showing. Her right hand had fair, thin fingers, undoubtedly those of a woman who lived comfortably and never worked.

However, the fingers on her left hand were much longer than the ones on her right. They were also thicker. The knuckles were bent, full of power.

The hand isn’t that of a woman’s—it was a man’s hand!

I wonder who is that hand belonged to." Nie Mingjue said.

"Take a guess." the juniors said at the same time.

Lan SiZhui commanded, “Take hold of her!”

"Now it is exciting." yelled Jin Ling and Zizhen.