Chapter 6 Pride—Part One
Important Note : From now on, the GusuLan Clan will be referred to as the GusuLan Sect. I, the translator, accidentally misinterpreted the definition of sect as the definition of clan. For clarification, a sect is a cultivation organization that may or may not be related by blood, while a clan is a cultivation family that is related by blood. This means that GusuLan is a sect, with the Lan clan as its leader. This is what Wei WuXian meant when he talked about the uniforms of the incoming disciples—only those who are members of the clan are allowed to wear cloud patterns, except for ordinary sect members. Once again, I apologize for this misunderstanding ヽ(；´Д｀)
Only a few days passed, and Wei WuXian realized that he might have made the wrong choice.
The donkey he had picked up so easily was too hard to please.
Although it was only a donkey, it would only eat fresh, young grass that was still dewy. If the tips of the grass had yellow streaks, it wouldn’t eat it. While passing by a field, Wei WuXian stole some wheat straw to feed it, but after chewing it, it spat it out with a “poto” sound , even louder than a human’s. If it didn’t eat high-quality food, it wouldn’t move, and it would lose its temper and kick around. Several times, Wei WuXian was almost kicked by it. Furthermore, its braying sound was also very ear-piercing.
It’s useless, no matter as a mount or a pet!
Wei WuXian couldn’t help but think about the sword. It was most likely collected by the leader of a prominent clan and would be hung on the wall as a trophy that they could show off to others.
After pushing and pulling for a few blocks, the road reached a vast farmland in a village. Beneath the blazing sun, a large pagoda tree stood, and lush green grass lay beneath it. Beside the tree stood an old well, with a barrel and a ladle beside it, placed by the farmers to quench the thirst of anyone passing by. The donkey ran towards it, and nothing could stop it from leaving. Wei WuXian jumped down and patted its venerable butt, “You must be destined for riches, even harder to please than I am.”
The donkey spat at him.
As they were playing aimlessly, a group of people approached from within the fields.
The men carried handmade bamboo baskets, wore cotton clothes and straw sandals, exuding the rustic aura of villagers. Among them was a young, round-faced girl who could be described as fragile. Perhaps having walked too long under the scorching sun, they also wanted to stop for a break in the shade and a drink of water. However, seeing a wild donkey tied to a tree and a madman with heavy makeup and disheveled hair, they were reluctant to stop.
Wei WuXian had always considered himself polite to women, so he shifted, cleared some space, and went to fight the donkey. After realizing that he was harmless, the people finally felt relieved to approach. They were all drenched in sweat and their cheeks were red; some were fanning themselves and some were fetching water. The girl sat by the well and smiled at Wei WuXian, as if she knew that Wei WuXian had deliberately shifted.
One of the men held a compass in his hand. He gazed into the distance, then lowered his head questioningly, “We’re already at the foot of Mount Dafan, so why hasn’t the compass started moving?”
The design and pointer on the compass were strange, indicating that it was no ordinary compass. It wasn’t a compass that pointed north, south, east, and west, but rather a compass that pointed to the directions of evil beings, also known as the ” Evil Compass .” Wei WuXian realized that this was probably a poor cultivating clan from the countryside. Besides the highly cultured and wealthy clans, there were also small clans like this, who closed their doors and cultivated alone. Wei WuXian thought that they might have left their village to seek out distant relatives, or to hunt at night.
The middle-aged man leading the group called the men over for drinks and replied, “Your compasses are probably broken; I’ll buy you new ones later. Dafan Mountain is less than ten miles ahead of us, which means we can’t rest for too long. We’ve been working hard all this way, and if we relax now and fall behind while others get ahead, it won’t be worth it.”
As expected, it was a night hunt. Many high-ranking cultivation clans called traveling to various places and exorcising evil creatures “hunting.” Because these creatures often appeared at night, these hunts were also called “night hunts.” There were many cultivation clans, but only a few were prominent. Without the contributions of their ancestors, if an ordinary clan wanted to become famous and respected in the cultivation world, they had to demonstrate their abilities. Only by capturing a ferocious monster or a terrifying creature could they be taken seriously.
Originally, this was Wei WuXian’s special area. However, during his travels, he destroyed several tombs, but only found small ghosts. He happened to need a ghost soldier to commit crimes, and decided to go to Rice Mountain to try his luck. If he found a good ghost soldier, he would capture it and use it.
After the group had rested, they prepared to continue their journey. Before they left, the round-faced girl took a small, half-ripe apple from her basket and handed it to the man, “Here.”
Wei WuXian reached out to take it, grinning widely, but the donkey also opened its mouth and bit down. Wei WuXian immediately took the apple. Seeing the donkey eagerly wanting the apple, he thought of a good idea. He gathered a long stick and fishing line, strung an apple on one end, and dangled it in front of the donkey. The donkey smelled the refreshing aroma of the apple from in front of it and wanted to eat it, chasing after the apple that was always a centimeter away. Its speed was faster than the best horses Wei WuXian had ever seen, leaving only dust in its wake.
Without stopping, Wei WuXian arrived at Dafan Mountain before dark. Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, he finally realized that the “fan” was not what he had imagined. It was named so because, when seen from afar, the mountain resembled a benevolent and plump Buddha statue. There was a small town at the base of the mountain, called Buddha’s Foot.
The number of cultivators gathered there was far greater than he had expected. Everything was in disarray, with people from various sects and clans walking the streets, all dressed in colorful uniforms that were almost dazzling. For some reason, they all wore sad expressions. No one bothered to laugh at him, even though they saw his strange appearance.
In the middle of a long street, a group of cultivators gathered, conversing in serious tones. It seemed like their opinions differed greatly. Even from a distance, Wei WuXian could hear them talking. Initially, everything was fine, but they suddenly became restless.
“… I don’t think there are any soul-eating beasts or spirits in this area at all. There’s certainly no Evil Compass showing anything.”
“If there wasn’t one, then how could those seven people have lost their souls? They couldn’t all have the same disease, could they? I’ve never even heard of this disease!”
“Even though the Evil Compass doesn’t show anything, does that mean there’s nothing in this area? It can only show an approximate direction, without any details, so it can’t be completely trusted. Perhaps there’s something here that could interfere with its direction.”
“Do you remember who created the Compass of Evil? I’ve never heard of anything that could interfere with its direction.”
“What do you mean? Are you implying something with that tone of yours? Of course, I know Wei Ying created the Compass of Evil. But even his creation wasn’t perfect. Shouldn’t we at least be given the option to doubt?”
“I never said that you can’t doubt him, especially since his creation is perfect, so why accuse me?”
And so, their discussion shifted. Wei WuXian rode past them on his donkey, giggling and laughing. He hadn’t expected that, after so many years, he would still be alive in the conversations of cultivators. This was what was called “talking about Wei.” If there were a poll to determine who had the most enduring popularity in the cultivation world, the winner would be none other than Wei WuXian.
To be honest, the cultivator wasn’t wrong. The Evil Compass he was currently using was the first version he had created, and admittedly, it lacked specificity. He was in the middle of repairs when his “lair” was destroyed, so he had to trouble everyone by using this less precise version.
After all, flesh-and-blood-eating creatures are usually low-level, like walking corpses. Only higher-level, more refined monsters or ghosts are capable of consuming and digesting souls. This creature ate seven souls at once—no wonder so many clans gathered here. Since the prey was no small feat, it was natural for the Evil Compass to make a mistake.
Wei WuXian pulled the rope and jumped off the donkey, holding the apple that had been in front of him the entire journey to his mouth. “One bite. Just one bite… Hmph, are you trying to eat my entire hand with that bite?”
He took a few bites from the other side of the apple, then put it back in the donkey’s mouth, contemplating how he had come to share the apple with the donkey, when suddenly, someone bumped into his back. He turned and saw a girl. Although she had bumped into him, she didn’t notice at all. Her eyes were glazed over and she smiled, staring off into the distance without blinking.
Wei WuXian followed his gaze, and saw the dense peaks of Dafan Mountain.
Suddenly the girl started dancing in front of him without saying anything.
Her dancing was wild, her arms flailing wildly. Wei WuXian was watching the performance with rapt attention when a woman ran over, lifting her dress slightly. She hugged the girl and called out, “A-Yan, let’s go home, let’s go home!”
A-Yan forcefully brushed her away, his smile still unfading, giving off a kind of terrifying affection, and then continued dancing. The woman was forced to chase him down the street, sobbing as she ran. A street vendor beside her said, “How terrifying. A-Yan from the Zheng Blacksmith family has run away again.”
“It must have been terrible for his mother. A-Yan, A-Yan’s husband, and her husband… Everyone…”
Wei WuXian wandered around, piecing together the strange events that had occurred there by listening to the conversations of different people.
On Dafan Mountain, there is a burial ground. Most of the ancestors of the townspeople from Buddha’s Footprints are buried here, and occasionally, unidentified remains are also given burial places and wooden plaques here. Several months ago, on a dark and stormy night, wind and rain caused a landslide and collapse on Dafan Mountain, which happened to be the burial ground. Many old tombs were destroyed, and several coffins were struck by lightning, leaving both the bodies and coffins charred black.
The townspeople of Buddha’s Foot were deeply troubled. After several prayers, they rebuilt the burial ground, believing that everything would be all right. However, from that point on, the townspeople began to lose their spirits.
The first was a lazy man. He was a poor man who lazed around and didn’t work at all. Because he enjoyed climbing mountains and catching birds, he got trapped on the mountain the night a landslide occurred. He was scared to death, but fortunately, he survived. The strange thing was, a few days later, he suddenly married someone. It was quite a grand wedding, and he said that he wanted to do charity from now on and settle down.
On their wedding night, he was so drunk he never woke up afterward, lying in bed. The bride didn’t respond to his calls. Only after pushing him did she realize his eyes were glazed and his body was cold. Other than still breathing, he was no different from a dead man. After several days lying in bed, without eating or drinking anything, he was finally buried. Unfortunately, the bride became a widow shortly after their wedding.
The second was A-Yan, from the Zheng Blacksmith family. The young woman had just accepted her engagement when her husband-to-be was killed by wolves on the second day, while hunting in the mountains. After receiving the news, she became like a sloth. Fortunately, after some time, her terminal mental illness cured itself. However, after that, she became insane, dancing merrily in front of others when she was outside.
The third is A-Yan’s father, Blacksmith Zheng. So far, seven people have experienced the same thing.
Wei WuXian considered the situation, and concluded that it was most likely a soul-eating spirit, not a soul-eating beast.
Although only one word distinguished the two, they were completely different creatures. A spirit was a ghost, while a beast was a monster. It seemed to him that a landslide had most likely destroyed an ancient tomb, and, with the lightning ripping through the coffin, the resting spirit had been released. If he looked at the type of coffin and the presence of a seal on it, he could tell if this was the case. However, the townspeople of Buddha’s Feet had buried the charred coffin elsewhere and laid the bodies to rest, meaning there wouldn’t be much evidence left.
To climb the mountain, one had to climb a path that began in the town. Wei WuXian sat on his donkey and rode slowly up the hill. After a while, several people came down with gloomy expressions.
Some of them had scars on their faces, and they all spoke at the same time. As the sky darkened, they all jumped when they saw a figure who looked like a hanged ghost approaching them. After cursing, they quickly walked around him. Wei WuXian glanced over and thought, could they be frustrated because the donkey was a strong prey? He didn’t think much of it and patted the donkey’s butt, making it run faster up the mountain.
By chance, he missed the group’s whining, which happened shortly after.
“I’ve never seen anyone like this!”
“Does the leader of such a large clan need to fight over a soul-eating spirit with us? He probably killed countless soul-eating spirits when he was young.”
“What can we do? He’s the sect leader. Whichever clan you choose to offend, you shouldn’t have offended the Jiang clan, and whoever you choose to offend, you shouldn’t have offended Jiang Cheng. Let’s pack up, leave, and feel sorry for ourselves!”
Translator’s Notes
Compass of Evil : The literal translation is “Compass of Evil Winds”.
Rice Mountain : The “fan” in “Dafan Mountain” means “related to Buddhism,” but it also sounds similar to “rice,” so Wei WuXian mistakenly thinks it means “large rice mountain.”
Wei Ying : This is Wei WuXian’s birth name. In ancient China, people usually didn’t address others by their birth names, unless they were the same age and close acquaintances. It was considered impolite to simply call an elder by their birth name. A common name, or “zi,” is another name given to the person by their parents, which others can freely use. In this case, by calling Wei WuXian by his birth name, the speaker shows his indifference towards him.