Estranged Chapter 110

Published at 25th of April 2022 03:26:40 PM

Hongluo Town was small, so it did not have a magistrate. However, it saw a lot of traffic, as there were roads leading away from the town in each direction. It was administered by Shangzhou directly, and had a group of officials called town supervisors ruling over Hongluo. These people also had men and horses under them.

After the first hanged man was discovered, the town supervisors ordered the head constable to visit and inspect the scene to catch suspects. However, six days had passed, eight people had died, and eight corpses were lying neatly at the side yard of the yamen, but the case still had not been solved.

Yamen: government office

Unfounded rumors had started to appear because of this. Moreover, the wind and the snow had not stopped for several days, and everyone had been tired of this place, as they had nothing to do. People got even more afraid for this reason, and so, many absurd and horrifying tales had started to spread.

Some people said that a widow had been assaulted and killed by bandits in the town, and she was exacting her revenge now after turning into a malicious ghost. Some thought that foreigners from beyond the Great Wall had come over covertly to create a disturbance, while others said that these people had offended a cultivator, so the cultivator in question had killed them.

“I’ve heard another version of this story. Many years ago, there was that head of the Li household, who hadn’t had children for a while, so he adopted a boy. When the boy was four or five years old, the wife of the head of the Li household got pregnant, and they started to treat the boy coldly. Even the servants bullied him, and in the end, he was tortured to death. Rumors have it that the day of his death was also dark, and was accompanied by a raging snowstorm. So, many people say that he has turned into a ghost and has come back here to take revenge. Not only is he going to kill that head of the household, but he also wants to massacre the entire population of Hongluo Town.”

Their neighbor’s gossip was filled with lively descriptions, but only the girl was completely absorbed in the story, and was shivering from terror.

Neither Yun Weisi nor Old He, who had seen a lot in his life, thought that these rumors were believable in the slightest. But they were still listening patiently out of politeness.

Although there was a brazier in the room, the snow was slipping in through a window crack, and the wind was howling. Someone had not closed their door tightly, so the draft was especially loud and made people feel restless.

Changming was sitting at the edge of the table, and slowly eating his noodles, as if nothing could distract him.

The black dog was sitting near him, wagging its tail. Its eyes were half-closed, and it seemed to have almost fallen asleep.

The man had not even finished talking by the time Changming had eaten all his noodles. Yun Weisi was not interested in listening to him anymore, so he stood up to leave with Changming first. The dog quivered, woke up and gave Yun Weisi a ferocious stare. It swiftly jumped down from the table, sank its teeth into the hem of Changming’s robes, and was also dragged away.

Old He could not endure it any longer either. He served the guest a cup of tea and came up with an excuse to send the guest back to his room.

This time, Old He had spent a lot of money booking rooms, so he was given the best ones of the guest house. The guest who had visited them actually did not stay in the adjoining room, but in the room of the nearest yard. They were separated by a small yard. The man had been bored to death after these two days, so when he heard that a new caravan had arrived, he immediately came over to chat with them.

Old He’s daughter and their guards were staying in the main rooms, while Changming and Yun Weisi were given rooms in the backyard.

Old He had met the two of them by chance. It was only because he was used to valuing harmony as if it were a treasure, and preferred to make a friend instead of an enemy, that he had decided to invite them to accompany him. Now, Old He was rejoicing tremendously at his good fortune. Not only had they saved his daughter’s life, but they had even helped resolve an obstacle in his journey in a beneficial way. Now, they had arrived at this town that was rumored to be haunted, but Old He felt a bit more comfortable while thinking of Yun Weisi and his other companion.

He patted his daughter, asking her to go to bed quickly. At the same time, he was silently praying that the sky would brighten tomorrow, and they would be able to leave this lively yet odd town without delay.

The weather was chilly, so the half-eaten soup had soon cooled down.

Changming put the bowl aside with regret, but looked at it several times afterwards.

Yun Weisi had never seen him that interested in the things of the secular world.

The Jiufang Changming from his distant memories was almost akin to a flawless statue of a god standing aloof and remote on a sacred altar.

Yun Weisi had looked up to him with deep respect and admiration. Later, he had spent a lot of time with Jiufang Changming, and slowly realized that his shizun was not a deity, but a human. As with any other living creature, Jiufang Changming had his shortcomings. However, he still looked like an immortal, and shut his doors to cultivate all the time, forcing Yun Weisi to train harder as well. He only preached about life and discussed the Dao.

In Yun Weisi’s memory, it was the first time he had seen Jiufang Changming so attached to the mundane—even though this attachment only lasted for a short period of time, and was simply caused by hunger.

While Jiufang Changming was looking at the bowl, Yun Weisi was looking at him.

The dog gave a snort and wanted to bark furiously, but refrained from doing that. In the end, it only whimpered quietly, jumped up onto a couch, found some warm blankets by instinct, and buried itself inside.

Jiufang Changming noticed that Yun Weisi was looking at him, so he raised his head and smiled.

“Why are you looking at me, shixiong?”

Yun Weisi shook his head and turned to look at the sword that Changming had brought with him.

“What is it?”

Changming recounted what had happened between him and Sun Wuxia on the floor below to Yun Weisi.

Yun Weisi took the sword and pulled it, using some strength.

Unexpectedly, the sword did not leave its sheath.

Yun Weisi and Changming looked at each other with surprise.

Yun Weisi tried once again, imbuing it with spiritual power. This spiritual power would have been enough to split a small hill.

But the scabbard was tightly fused with the handle of the sword, and not a cun of the blade showed from the sheath.

“What is the sword’s name?”

“Sun Wuxia refused to tell me.”

Changming grabbed the hilt and pulled on it lightly. The cutting edge of the sword burst into white rays of light, and the sword hummed clearly and continuously. Even the dog extended its head from under the quilt to look at this.

“Seems like you were fated to obtain this sword. Take it,” Yun Weisi said.

Changming was thinking the same. He folded the fingers on his right hand into a seal, recited a formula silently, and the sword moved according to his will, as if it was alive. It flew around the room once and stopped before Changming, as though displaying itself to its new owner.

“Since you’re only willing to have me as your owner, there’s no need to think too deeply about your name. From this day on, you shall be called the Changming Sword. My name will not disgrace you. When the day comes, the entire world will know of you.”

His intonation was grave, as if he was only telling a fundamental truth. Only Yun Weisi could see a shadow of the strongest person of the future world in his solemn audacity.

As soon as Changming raised his hand slightly, the sword disappeared, as it had been hidden away.

It really looked like this sword was created especially for him, and a nobody like Sun Wuxia would never get to yield it.

Yun Weisi thought that the sword might have belonged to the person inside the carriage, and this person could have been connected with them in some way.

“Shixiong.”

Changming interrupted his train of thought.

At first, Yun Weisi had felt that this word, shixiong, sounded a bit inappropriate after all, but with time, his unease had vanished like smoke.

“You can sleep on the bed, and I’ll take the floor. I received the Changming Sword tonight, and I’ve gained insight on certain questions I’ve had, so I’m going to cultivate through meditation.”

“There’s no need. Meditate on the bed, I’m not going to sleep either.”

Yun Weisi untangled a lock of Changming’s hair, which had gotten snagged with the bed curtain. The white tips of Changming’s hair entered his line of sight naturally, so Yun Weisi remembered the wound Changming had received before, and his expression darkened.

“Shixiong, could it be that there are some important matters that I’ve forgotten after receiving my injury, but you haven’t told me about them?”

This question stunned Yun Weisi.

“Why are you asking this?”

Chapter end