The instant Yin Wuchen died, the demonic qi vanished. The heavens returned to clear blue, and if not for the broken walls and ruins scattered across the ground, it might have seemed that nothing had happened at all.
Honglu had killed and drunk blood to its heart’s content, and with no powerful enemy still surrounding it, its killing intent faded and the saber’s own intent gradually grew languid.
Qian Xuelang sheathed the saber and turned around. Not far away stood an elderly man in ornate robes with a solemn face. Presumably, the shout of “Wait!” just now had come from him.
The two had never met, but with cultivation like this, there could not be a second person in the city.
Qian Xuelang gave a calm nod by way of greeting. “Cui Xuanchan.”
“With cultivation like yours, yet such an unfamiliar young face, and carrying such a formidable demon-slaying divine edge…” Cui Xuanchan was nearly three hundred years old and had descendants of his own, so he usually appeared in the form of an elderly man because it felt more natural. Stroking his long beard, he looked nostalgic. “Ai… Ever since the Demon-Extermination War sixty years ago, the great forgemaster sealed his furnace and withdrew from the world. I wonder whether he has been well lately?”
“Great forgemaster” was both Wei Wenfeng’s status and the honorific by which others addressed him.
Wei Wenfeng’s attainments in forging were extraordinary. Famous forgemasters were rare to begin with in the cultivation world, and placing “great” before the title meant acknowledging him as the foremost master of that path.
“He has never mentioned you to me,” Qian Xuelang said.
That lofty attitude was truly familiar.
Cui Xuanchan did not bother taking offense at a junior and merely sighed. “The great forgemaster’s standards have always been higher than the sky. Other than Immortal Lord He, how many people could possibly remain in his thoughts? It is only that the Demon-Extermination War was so terrible. Very few of us survived. I miss the people from those years, so I asked.”
Qian Xuelang had been in a poor mood, but hearing this lifted his spirits a little. “He is well.”
Cui Xuanchan studied him for a moment before slowly saying, “Then I presume you are Immortal Lord He’s distinguished disciple?”
“Yes.” Qian Xuelang looked slightly surprised. “Recognizing Honglu is one thing. How did you know who I am?”
Seeing his surprise, Cui Xuanchan smiled with satisfaction. “I may look old, but my eyes have not gone dim. A demon-slaying divine edge this powerful had no reputation during the war, so it must have been forged afterward. Among forgemasters, only the great forgemaster who sealed his furnace could possess this level of skill. And with cultivation like yours, I have somehow never heard your name, which shows you care little for fame. For the great forgemaster to make an exception for you as well, you could only be from Immortal Lord He’s line.”
Qian Xuelang was silent for a moment. He was a man without emotion, not a man without understanding. For someone of Cui Xuanchan’s status to lower himself this much was nothing more than nostalgia for old friends of years long past.
He had no wish to become further entangled in a distant memory that did not belong to him and asked, “Why did you tell me to wait just now?”
So unsociable. Even worse than Immortal Lord He. Back then, Immortal Lord He at least knew how to humor me with a few idle words.
Cui Xuanchan felt a faint ache in his heart. Since the Demon-Extermination War, old friends had withered away and confidants no longer remained. Having guarded Dongxun City for all these years, he inevitably felt lonely. Now that he had finally encountered someone connected to the past, a trace of childishness emerged from the old man.
He slowly walked to Yin Wuchen’s corpse and deliberately asked, “Do you know what this thing was?”
Qian Xuelang said coldly, “He was still human when we captured him. By the time I killed him, he was not.”
“That answer is certainly direct, and I cannot say it is wrong, but it is not detailed enough.” This was a serious matter. Though Cui Xuanchan had wanted to tease him, his expression still turned grave. “More precisely, he was a demon thrall, and an incomplete one at that.”
Qian Xuelang frowned. “A demon thrall?”
Just then, a great clamor sounded outside, drawing nearer and nearer. Shouts mingled with the clash of weapons and the neighs and roars of spirit beasts.
Cui Xuanchan immediately deflated. He rolled his eyes, losing every trace of solemn dignity. “Enough noise to kill a man. If someone truly capable had come, what use would all this shouting be? How did I manage to father such an idiot? Could it be that Heaven itself grew jealous of my unmatched wisdom and martial brilliance?”
Very soon the secluded Quiet Mountain Cloud Residence was packed with Cui Clan people and horses. The disciples bowed one after another to Cui Xuanchan. “City Lord!”
Cui Xuanchan gave them a smile that was not a smile. “Wonderful. The finest talents of my Cui Clan, every one of you.”
The disciples parted to either side like a receding tide. From the middle strode a middle-aged man with a hooked nose and hawk-sharp eyes. He resembled Cui Xuanchan somewhat, though the gloom between his brows was much heavier. “Father, what happened?”
Cui Xuanchan said coolly, “Nothing anymore. Now we only have to wait for your own father to die, otherwise all these disciples will have come for nothing and will not get to wail at my funeral or send me off. You may as well go find a basin now, tear the white half off your clothes, carry the mourning banner, smash the funeral basin, and complete the whole set so your filial devotion is properly fulfilled.”
The middle-aged man was angry, anxious, and shocked all at once. “Father! What kind of thing is that to say?”
“So you know it is not something a person should have to say!” Cui Xuanchan erupted in fury. “You bastard! I ordered you to lock the city down. What are you doing bringing the disciples here to me? Do I need this sort of filial piety from you? If this blood-drinking demon thrall had not already died, then today either you would be smashing the funeral basin for me, or I would be a white-haired father sending off his black-haired son! At least you had enough sense not to bring my precious grandson along!”
At that exact moment, Cui Jingchun rushed in from behind and shouted, “Grandfather!”
Everyone fell silent as cicadas in winter. “…”
Cui Xuanchan’s expression froze. He stared at the middle-aged man, who was now pouring cold sweat, took two deep breaths, then turned back toward Qian Xuelang. His voice slowly drifted out, while his eyes went vacant as though his soul had floated off somewhere. “No wonder Immortal Lord He cultivated the Emotionless Dao. Truly farsighted. If I had known, I should have cultivated the Emotionless Dao too. Then I would not have this whole nest of little karmic debts clinging to me inside and outside the house.”
Qian Xuelang glanced at him. “With your temperament, you could not cultivate it. The way you are now is quite good.”
Oh. Cui Xuanchan thought with great satisfaction, He is a young man after all. His mouth is sweeter than Immortal Lord He’s.
“Impudent! Who are you to dare speak like that?”
The explosive shout came from the middle-aged man who had just been scolded. Clearly, the father was secretly delighted, but the son did not share his opinion.
Cui Jingchun hurriedly said, “Father, this is the Senior I told you about!”
Ren Yijue stepped out from behind him and came to Qian Xuelang’s side. In a low voice, he asked, “Jade Beauty, how are you?”
Qian Xuelang shook his head lightly, indicating that he was fine.
The middle-aged man paused, visibly startled, and his manner softened somewhat. “So it is… Even so, although Your Excellency saved my son’s life, you ought to show some respect. Do you know…”
Before he could finish, Cui Xuanchan interrupted. He looked the two of them over together with great interest, then asked Qian Xuelang, “Your name is Jade Beauty?”
Qian Xuelang was silent for a moment. “…Qian Xuelang.”
“Hmm?” Cui Xuanchan rubbed his beard between his fingers, looking remarkably like one of those old charlatan mystics who cheated people beneath an overpass. “Then why does he call you Jade Beauty? Is he your Dao companion? Eh, strange. Can people who cultivate the Emotionless Dao have Dao companions? Would that not ruin your cultivation?”
It had only ever been an offhand form of address. Now that a powerful senior was earnestly questioning it, Ren Yijue looked awkward and faintly embarrassed.
The middle-aged man had only just been accusing Qian Xuelang of lacking manners. He had not expected his own father to start prying into other people’s affairs in the next breath, and for a moment he stared speechlessly, at a complete loss.
After a long while, the only warning he managed to squeeze out was, “Father!”
Cui Xuanchan found him noisy and shoved his face aside. “What are you shouting for? I am right here, and my soul has not gone missing. If you are truly that idle, go feed the horses. You are a grown man. Stop circling around me crying ‘Father’ all day. Cui Chongyong, you have been alive for quite a few years now, so stop pretending to be young. Your old father is well past the age when everything you do looks adorable. At this point, you only make me want to vomit.”
Cui Chongyong’s face cycled from green to white.
Only Qian Xuelang remained completely expressionless. “He is not my Dao companion.”