Wu Xin: The Monster Killer

Chapter 65 The Night Was Intense

Zhang Xianzong, dressed in civilian clothes, embraced Yue Qiluo and galloped along the dirt road outside Wenxian County towards the desolate area. The horse was a military horse, powerful and intelligent, and had been with him for a long time, but at this moment it was running unsteadily, as if it was preparing to kick up and throw the two people off its back.

Yue Qiluo knew the reason: animals often have more acute senses than humans, and Zhang Xianzong had already been turned into a walking corpse, neither human nor ghost. The army was terrified.

Even with the night breeze blowing, the stench lingered. Zhang Xianzong hadn't been lucky; if it had been winter, he wouldn't have been discovered so quickly. The weather grew hotter each day; he could conceal everything except the smell. Rumors seemed to erupt instantly—when Ding Datou acted as a living dead, it had already aroused suspicion among his officers; that suspicion, now fully manifested, was directed at him.

From the moment he seized military power, he became a thorn in the side of certain old fogies. Why should the troops left behind by Ding Datou all belong to him? Even if he were alive, he was in danger of being murdered; now that he was dead, his sworn enemies would not tolerate him. The army fell apart in an atmosphere of terror and madness, and he became a monster in everyone's eyes.

The Ding residence was burned to the ground, the wooden beams and frames crackling and collapsing in the flames—they wanted to burn him and Yue Qiluo to death. But no matter how powerful Yue Qiluo was, she couldn't conjure soldiers from beans, nor could she withstand hundreds or thousands of troops at the same time.

So they had to escape.

Zhang Xianzong held Yue Qiluo in his arms with one hand and gripped the reins tightly with the other. His fingers were sticky and oozing pus, and the flesh and blood of his palms rubbed against the rough reins. His fingertips had been worn down to the bone. He sped through the warm spring night, struggling to survive while rotting away.

Finally, on a boundless wasteland, Zhang Xianzong reined in his horse.

He dismounted and then reached out to help Yue Qiluo down. The sky was a vast expanse of black velvet, both expansive and soft. The silvery moonlight shone on a tree in the wilderness, beneath which Yue Qiluo sat, her bangs swept back in a mess, revealing her jade-like forehead.

Zhang Xianzong didn't approach her, but sat on a small hill not far away, downwind, so as not to bother her with the smell. Listening to her soft breathing, he suddenly couldn't help but speak: "Qiluo..."

With his back to Yue Qiluo, he asked the endless darkness before him, "If I hadn't died, if I had always been good to you, would you... would you have felt even a little bit of love for me?"

Yue Qiluo looked up at his back, then looked away and gave a clear and heavy cold laugh—What kind of thing are you to talk to me about love?

Her smile was cold, and so was her heart. She straightened up and walked behind Zhang Xianzong. Bending down, she patted him on the head and said, "Let's continue our journey while it's still dark."

Zhang Xianzong now resembles a ghost, and sunlight makes him feel very uncomfortable.

Lord Gu's command post moved from village to village every day, advancing along with the front lines. At this moment, he was only forty li (approximately 20 kilometers) from Wen County. The army within Wen County was in complete disarray, contacting him to surrender. Surrender was, of course, acceptable; Lord Gu confidently gave the enemy time, leaving their decision to fight or surrender entirely to them. He would accept surrender or fight.

Yueya followed the army, and wherever they went, she continued to perform her old tasks. If she didn't prepare three meals a day, she felt empty inside, as if she had lost her status and position. Wuxin had already changed into new shoes, and Yueya was preparing to make a pair for Lord Gu as well. Lord Gu's large feet wore out shoes very quickly; no matter how sturdy and high-quality the leather shoes were, they would eventually become two flat, long, smelly fish. Therefore, Yueya had an idea: to add several layers to the upper and sole of the shoes, specifically to deal with Lord Gu's file-like heels and teeth-like toes.

Crescent Moon strained herself to the bone, sewing shoe soles every day until she was gritting her teeth in frustration. That night, when the oil lamp was lit in the room, Lord Gu and Wuxin sat on the kang playing cards. She didn't join in, but instead viciously poked the shoe soles with a large steel needle, pulling the thread with a hissing sound: "The time it takes to make one shoe for Lord Gu is enough for me to make a pair for Wuxin."

The unintentional injury had long since healed, and he happily clutched a handful of cards, saying, "What a waste of your energy! You're busy all day, and you don't even know how to rest at night. If you don't do it for him, does that mean he'll go barefoot?"

Lord Gu smacked him on the head with a playing card: "You heartless wretch! What? Your wife makes shoes for me, and you're not happy about it?"

Crescent Moon's hands ached from exhaustion, and guessing she'd probably have to move again tomorrow, she climbed onto the kang (heated brick bed), opened her bundle, and wrapped needle and thread around the soles of her shoes before putting them inside. The bundle contained nothing substantial, just a few pieces of clothing and two small purses. Tucked inside the purses were yellow talismans, once worn by Master Gu and Wuxin, which neither of them wore anymore; she'd rolled them up with her clothes. After tying the bundle and putting it back in its place, she got off the kang, put on her shoes, and went out into the courtyard.

Two young guards stood outside the courtyard, looking around suspiciously. Crescent Moon saw them and felt perfectly safe. In the corner of the courtyard, a small, stinking outhouse was enclosed by a fence and broken bricks. She went inside, unzipped her pants, squatted down, and covered her nose, intending to urinate. However, just as the sluice gate opened, she suddenly felt like she was being watched. The outhouse was drafty, and she whirled around, but saw nothing amiss.

Clutching a small piece of toilet paper, she squatted over the kang (a heated brick bed) to steady herself, a chill still running down her spine. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of a dark shadow flash by. She immediately peered through a crack, but still found nothing.

Remembering the guards outside, she mustered her courage and muttered, "Shameless bastard, a despicable creature with sores on its head and pus oozing from its feet, aren't you afraid of going blind? Go home and see your mother!"

After fastening her trousers and stepping out of the outhouse, Yueya noticed a commotion among the guards outside. She rushed over to see what was happening and found two stray cats fighting, leaping and bounding across the wall. The guards, fearing they would disturb the peace of the inn, were frantically chasing them away. Yueya breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she had actually scolded the stray cats.

When she returned to her room, Lord Gu and Wuxin's card game was still going on. She stood on the floor and rubbed her lower abdomen, feeling a chill run through her body, as if she hadn't urinated completely and wanted to go to the outhouse again. Turning around and taking a step towards the door, she remembered the faint sounds coming from the outhouse and felt a little uneasy.

"Wuxin," she said, "why don't you come out with me? The cats outside are making a lot of noise and it's kind of scary. I'm a little frightened."

Wuxin was engrossed in examining his cards, and only looked away from them after hearing her words. He glanced up at Yueya and saw that she was faintly shrouded in a layer of shimmering black aura.

Without making a sound, he put down the playing cards, stretched his legs off the kang (a heated brick bed), and said, "The howling of wild cats in heat is quite awful. I'll go out and take a look first. You can go out after I've chased all the cats away."

Crescent Moon agreed, but her lower abdomen was uncomfortable, and she couldn't tell whether she needed to urinate or not. After Wuxin left, wearing a light jacket, Master Gu chuckled and flipped over his playing cards. Seeing this, Crescent Moon's attention was temporarily diverted: "You were peeking, weren't you?"

Lord Gu raised a finger to shush her: "Don't make a sound, I just want to take a look."

Wuxin had always thought his surroundings were quite clean, but he never expected that Yueya would accidentally go out in the dark and be entangled by a few scattered souls. Scattered souls are ignorant and do not usually bother people, so there must be a reason for their entanglement.

After entering the courtyard, he pretended to hit the cat, then bent down and picked up a thick wooden stick from the ground near the wall. He walked out nonchalantly, noticing that the flow of spirits had taken a direction. Someone nearby had controlled them; they had become hidden weapons.

Wuxin suddenly remembered the infighting in Wen County, and the missing Yue Qiluo and Zhang Xianzong. If they were unaware of his whereabouts, so be it; but since he was aware of their movements, he couldn't let them go so easily. Because the one who shot and wounded Zhang Xianzong was Yueya, and now that they had nothing, they would likely be even more vicious.

Springtime is the season when cats are at their most active. Unintentionally, he separated many couples of stray cats along the way. It looked like he was hitting cats, but he was actually following the direction of the flow of souls. Suddenly, he heard a "rip" sound beside him. He stopped and looked down, only to find that his clothes had been torn by a clump of low bushes.

He bent over in the darkness, struggling to pull the hem of his garment from the tip of a bush. After chasing a group of wild cats for a few more steps, he suddenly noticed that the light of his soul was gradually becoming faint and sparse, and the clue he had just followed had inexplicably ended.

He stopped, momentarily confused, and turned around, stick in hand. Before he could even set foot back, a dark figure suddenly lunged out from the side, crashing into him with lightning speed and pinning him to the ground. Before he could resist, the figure had already twisted his hands behind his back with immense strength, nearly breaking his joints.

He immediately froze, straining to turn and look at the newcomer. Under the bright moonlight, he saw a horrifying face—the eye sockets and nostrils were rotting, a mixture of black and red; one eyeball bulged out of its socket, while the other was covered in white mold. A foul stench emanated from his seven orifices; his Adam's apple revealed a gaping hole of white bone. It was Zhang Xianzong!

A pair of dirty embroidered shoes covered in dust and mud slowly approached, their eyes fixed upwards on Yue Qiluo's.

Yue Qiluo looked like a dirty rag doll, but her expression was calm. Standing alone under the night sky, she nodded to Wuxin, and her lips suddenly twitched, a mixture of emotions, neither smiling nor crying, a bittersweet feeling that made her both laugh and cry.

"Zhang Xianzong," she uttered, her voice monotonous yet sweet, like a glass of water sweetened with sugar and ice: "Cut off his limbs! Otherwise, he's very good at running away, and no one will be able to catch him!"

Zhang Xianzong immediately freed one hand and drew a military knife from his waist. Wuxin didn't struggle, only asking, "Why are you arresting me?"

Yue Qiluo replied, "No one wants to capture you; I only want Yueya's life."

Before Zhang Xianzong could raise his machete, Wuxin interjected, "Don't chop! Let's make a deal!" He then turned sharply to Zhang Xianzong, shouting, "This concerns you!"

Yue Qiluo raised her hand, stopping Zhang Xianzong's movements: "What deal?"

Wuxin's eyes were shrouded in shadow, and an idea quickly took shape in her mind. Why kill Yueya? Because Yueya killed Zhang Xianzong. Why turn Zhang Xianzong into a walking corpse, and not abandon him even after he had become a rotting body? Because for Yue Qiluo, Zhang Xianzong was different and very important.

His dark eyes darted around in the shadows, and he said without thinking, "Spare Yueya's life, and I will find a way to protect Zhang Xianzong's health!"

Yue Qiluo smiled and said, "I have as many bodies as I want."

Wu Xin stopped talking and let her think about it herself. She did have countless ways to settle Zhang Xianzong's soul, but Zhang Xianzong's body was unique. If the body were replaced, would he still be completely himself?

Moreover, manipulating other people's bodies is not easy; his soul is naturally only suited to his body.

Wu Xin remained silent, and Zhang Xianzong also kept quiet. After a long silence, Yue Qiluo finally spoke again, asking, "What's your plan?"

Wuxin's face was half-buried in the mud: "I'll take you to Qingyun Mountain."

Yue Qiluo looked at him with suspicion: "Qingyun Mountain?"

Wu Xin lowered his voice: "There is a secret cave in Qingyun Mountain that can preserve a corpse from decay."

Yue Qiluo nodded slightly: "All I know is that there have been rumors about monsters in Qingyun Mountain recently."

Wu Xin replied, "They're not monsters, they're walking corpses. The bodies inside the cave don't decay, and the souls don't dissipate. If they're suddenly disturbed by the army, you know what the consequences will be."

Yue Qiluo looked down at him thoughtfully, trying to merge him with Zhang Xianzong, but she couldn't.

It's not that I don't want to, but that I'm simply unable to.

(End of this chapter)