The Founder of Diabolism - Chapter 55

Chapter 55 Courage— Part Five

‘Warning: this chapter may cause discomfort to certain people, especially those who are eating.

After a pause, Wei WuXian added, “But even if it was hibernating, it didn't need to sleep for four-hundred-years, did it? You said that the Xuanwu of Slaughter eats live humans—just how many has it eaten?"

Lan Wangji, "The book records that back then, whenever it appeared, the number of humans consumed ranged from hundreds to entire villages and cities. From the handful of times when it rampaged, it consumed at least five thousand alive.”

Wei WuXian, "Oh, so it overate."

The beast seemed to enjoy taking the entire person into its shell, perhaps fond of hoarding humans to savor them slowly. It was possible that four hundred years ago it hoarded too much food into its shell at once, and even now it hadn’t digested everything.

Lan Wangji didn't acknowledge him. Wei WuXian continued. "Speaking of eating, have you practiced inedia? Those like us can probably last three to four days without eating or drinking. But if after a few days, nobody comes to save us, our energy, strength, and spiritual power will probably start to drop.”

It wouldn’t be so bad if Wen Chao and his people chose to stand by and ignore them after they had fled. If they waited for three to four days, the assistance of other sects could potentially arrive in time. What they were afraid of was that not only would the Wen Sect’s people not provide them with assistance, but instead add to the fire. The Yunmengjiang Sect and the GusuLan Sect would be the only ’other sects’. If the Wen Sect hindered them, the time of ‘three to four days’ might have to double.

Wei WuXian took back the branch and sketched out a map on the ground, linking a few places together, "From Dusk-Creek Mountain to Cusu is a bit shorter than from Dusk-Creek Mountain toYunmeng. It's probably your sect's people who will come first. Let’s just be patient. Even if they don’t come, the most that we’ll have to wait is one or two days before Jiang Cheng arrives at Lotus Pier. Jiang Cheng is quite clever. The Wen Sect’s people won’t stop him. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Lan Wangji’s eyes were downcast. He seemed worn out as he whispered, "They will not come."

Wei WuXian, ”Hm?”

Lan Wangji, "The Cloud Recesses has been burnt down already."

Wei WuXian probed, ”... Is everyone still there? Your father, your brother?"

He had thought that even if the leader of the Lan Sect, Lan Wangji's father, was heavily injured, Lan QiRen and Lan XiChen would probably still be there to take control of the situation. Yet. Lan Wangji’s voice was monotone, "Father is almost gone. Brother is missing."

The branch that Wei WuXian was scribbling on the ground with froze.

When they were going up the mountain, the disciple said that the Lan Sect’s leader was heavily injured, but he never thought that the injuries were so heavy that the leader was 'almost gone’. Maybe Lan Wangji himself just found out about it in the past few days, receiving news that his father was dying.

Although the Lan Sect's leader was practicing secluded meditation most of the time, minding nothing out of his own world, he was still Lan Wangji's father. And, combined with the fact that Lan XiChen had gone missing, it was only natural that today Lan Wangji was especially gloomy and easily-angered, Wei WuXian immediately felt a sense of awkwardness and didn't know what to say.

Yet, as he turned around amid the muddle,

Wei WuXian felt his entire body become paralyzed.

The glow of the firelight reflected against Lan Wangji's face as though he was made of warm jade. It illuminated, with utmost clarity, the tearstreaks that ran down his cheek, as well.

Wei WuXian was shocked speechless, thinking to himself. Oh no!

With people like Lan Wangji, throughout their entire lives, there would probably only be a handful of instances when they’d cry. And, this time, he just so happened to have come upon one of those instances. He was someone who just couldn't look at other people cry. He couldn’t stand the tears of women. Whenever he saw them cry, he'd want to go over and joke around so that he could make them laugh. The tears of men, though, were what he really couldn’t stand. He had always felt that coming upon an instance when a man who was usually strong happen to cry was even scarier than accidentally seeing a chaste girl bathe.

The thing was that he couldn’t even comfort him.

Under the blows of his residence being burned down, his sect being persecuted, his father dying, his brother going missing and he, himself, being injured, any sort of comfort would be pale and powerless.

Wei WuXian didn't know what to do, so he turned his head the other way. A while later, he spoke, "Um, Lan Zhan."

Lan Wangji responded with coldness. "Shut up.”

Wei WuXian shut up.

The fire cracked.

Lan Wangji spoke quietly, "Wei Ying, you really are an awful person."

Wei WuXian, "Oh...”

He thought to himself, With so many things that have happened to him. Lan Zhan's mood is at its worst right now. but there's still me Poshing around his sight. So that's why he's so angry. He didn't have the energy to hit me because his leg is hurt, so he could only bite me... I guess I should leave him some peace and quiet.

He held it in for a while, then added, "It’s not that I want to annoy you... I just wanted to ask if you’re cold or not. The clothes have dried. You can have the undergarments. I’ll keep the robe.”

The undergarments were what he wore next to his body. It never would’ve been suitable for Lan Wangji to wear. However, his robe was already hideously dirty. All of the GusuLan Sect’s people loved to be clean. Giving such an item of clothing to Lan Wangji seemed to be a bit offensive. Lan Wangji didn’t say anything.

He didn’t look at him either, so Wei WuXian tossed the white, dried-out undergarment toward him. He donned the robe himself and left in silence.

The two waited for an entire three days.

There was no sun or moon within the cave. They only knew that it had been three days because of the creepy sleep pattern of the Lan Sect’s people—sleeping and waking involuntarily when the times came. Thus, it was be possible to calculate the time from how many times Lan Wangji had slept.

With the past three days of conserving energy, the injury on Lan Wangji’s leg didn't worsen and was slowly healing. He was able to sit in the lotus position to meditate soon afterward.

Within these days, Wei WuXian hadn’t been flashing before his sight. After Lan Wangji returned to a calm state of mind and adjusted his mood, he was the poker-faced Lan Zhan once more, and so Wei WuXian finally returned as though nothing had happened, pretending with a thick face that he had seen and heard nothing on that night. With much discretion, he didn’t tease him anymore either. The two’s interaction were lukewarm, though peaceful.

During the time, the two had scouted around the pool a couple of times. The Xuanwu of Slaughter had already dragged all of the corpses into its shell. The large, black shell floated in the water like a huge, impenetrable warship. In the beginning, heavy chewing noises often came from within. Later on, though, the noises ceased, replaced by what sounded like it was asleep and snoring. The snores were like roars of thunder.

The two had thought about sneaking underwater while the beast was asleep to find the hole where they could escape. However, they could only roam underwater for thirty minutes before their movements were noticed by the beast. And, although they had searched a few times, they couldn’t find the hole that Jiang Cheng had mentioned. Wei WuXian suspected that it might be covered up by a part of the beast’s body. Though he wanted to lure it out of the water again, the beast seemed as though it became tired after the big ruckus and didn't want to move anymore.

They gathered all of the arrows, bows, and iron rods that lay scattered on the shore and took them back to count. There were over a hundred arrows, around thirty bows, and a little over ten iron rods.

This was already the fourth day.

Lan Wangji picked up a bow with his left hand, attentively examining the material. His right hand strummed across the bowstring. It somehow managed to create the sonorous clang of metal.

This was a weapon used by the cultivational world to hunt down beasts and demons. The material used for the bows and arrows were nothing of the norm. Lan Wangji broke off all of the bowstrings from the bows and tied them from top to bottom into a long chord. With both hands he stretched the chords taut and immediately flicked his wrists. The chord shot out as though it was lightning. A flash of white light flared across and a rock ten feet away was smashed into pieces.

Lan Wangji retrieved the chord. The bowstring broke with a sharp cry through the air.

Wei WuXian. "Chord Assassination?"

Chord Assassination was one of the techniques unique to the GusuLan Sect. it was created by and passed down from the granddaughter of the sect's founder, Lan An-the third sect leader, Lan Yi. Lan Yi was also the only female sect leader of the Lan Sect. cultivating with the guqin. Her guqin had seven strings that could be joined and dismantled within moments. The seven strings were arranged from the most slender to the thickest. One moment she’d be playing noble melodies over them with her soft, fair fingers, and one moment later they’d be able to cut through flesh and bone as though cutting through mud, transformed into lethal weapons within her hands.

Lan Yi created Chord Assassination originally to assassinate dissidents, which was why she was often criticized. The GusuLan Sect was also quite ambivalent on its comments of such a sect leader. Undeniably, though. Chord Assassination was one of the most powerful, most versatile fighting techniques of the GusuLan Sect.

Lan Wangji, "Breach through within."

The turtle shell was as solid as a fortress. Its surface was extremely hard, seemingly impossible to penetrate. But the more that this was true, the weaker the parts that it hid within its shell could turn out to be. Wei WuXian had also thought of this throughout the past few days. He knew what Lan Wangji meant.

What he knew with greater clarity was their current situation. After three days of rest, their physical conditions had just reached their peak. If they waited any longer, however, it’d begin to decline. And, the fourth day had already passed, and help still hadn't come.

Instead of waiting for their death, it’d be much better to put up one last fight with all that they had. If the two could kill the Xuanwu of Slaughter together, they’d be able to escape from the hole under the pool.

Wei WuXian, "I agree as well. We should attack from the inside. But from what I’ve heard of your sect's Chord Assassination technique, it wouldn’t be the most useful it can be if it's inside the cramped environment inside the shell. And your leg injury still hasn’t healed yet. It probably wouldn't be as put to good use as usual, would it?"

This was the truth, and Lan Wangji understood. Both of them understood that forcing themselves to do things that they weren’t able to do would be useless except for dragging others down.

Wei WuXian, "Listen to me."

A small half of the Xuanwu’s shell was still above the surface of the water.

Its head, its tail, and all four of its limbs had shrunken inside. There was a large hole in the front, and five smaller holes lined up all around. It looked like an island or a small mountain, its body black and uneven, covered in moss and even long, dark green algae that hung down.

Without making a noise, carrying on his back a bundle of arrows and iron rods, Wei WuXian dove into the area before the head-hole of the Xuanwu of Slaughter as though he was a thin, silver fish.

The smaller half of the hole was submerged in the water of the pool, so Wei WuXian swum over along the flow of the water. After he passed through the hole, he flipped into the inside of the shell. Wei WuXian landed on both feet with a thud, as if he stepped into a thick layer of rotten mud mixed with water.

The stench was so overwhelming that he almost cursed.

The stench was rancid though sickeningly saccharine. It reminded Wei WuXian of a fat dead rat that he had seen beside one of Yunmeng’s lakes. He pinched his nose. What a hell of a place... Good thing that i didn't let Lan Zhan come in here. With such dislike towards even the water used to wash clothes, wouldn't he start throwing up the second he smelled this? Even if he didn't, he'd definitely pass out.

Gentle snores came from the Xuanwu of Slaughter. Wei WuXian walked while holding his breath, his feet sinking in deeper and deeper. After three steps, the sludge-like substance had already risen past his knees. Within the mud and the water, there seemed to be a few lumps as well. Wei WuXian bent down slightly and felt around. His hand suddenly came into contact with something fuzzy.

It seemed to be human hair.

Wei WuXian took his hand away. He knew that this was probably one of the people dragged inside by the Xuanwu of Slaughter. Feeling around some more, he found a boot. The half of a leg within the boot had already rotted to a point of being half-flesh and halfbone.

It seemed that the beast didn't take to cleanliness at all. The leftovers that it either didn’t finish or couldn't finish leaked out from between its fangs and into its shell. The more it ate, the more there were. Throughout the hundreds of years, it had piled into a thick layer. And. as of the moment, Wei WuXian was standing right amid the corpse sludge composed of broken limbs.

After crawling around for the past few days, he was already so grimy that it was painful to look at. Wei WuXian didn't care at all that he'd become even filthier. He carelessly wiped his hands on his trousers and continued to walk.

The snores of the beast sounded louder and louder. The waves of air became heavier, and the corpse sludge under his feet became thicker. Finally, his hand came into contact with the beast's rough skin. He felt around as he slowly walked forward, along the skin. As he had expected, scales covered the head and the neck, but beneath that was a thick, uneven surface. The deeper he went, the thinner and more delicate the skin became.

At this point, the sludge had already risen to Wei WuXian’s waist. Most of the corpses here hadn’t been finished yet, the bodies left remaining in larger pieces. It shouldn’t be called a corpse sludge anymore, but rather a corpse mound. Wei WuXian reached behind his back, preparing to take out the arrows and the rods, but suddenly found that the bundle of rods seemed to be stuck to something and couldn’t be removed.

He clenched the handles of the rods and finally pulled it out, using all of his strength. At the same time, the front of the rods took out something with it from within the mound, letting out a soft clang.

Wei WuXian froze at once.

A few moments had passed, and no noise came from around him. The beast hadn’t lashed out either. He finally let out a breath of relief. The rods seemed to be stuck to something, fudging from the sound that it made, it's also made of iron? And it's quite long. Let's see if it can be useful. I'm short of something to use as weapon. It'd be great if it’s a high level spiritual sword!

He reached out and felt for the object. Its shape was long, though it was dull and covered in rust.

The second that he grabbed it, shrill screams sounded within Wei WuXian’s ears.

It was as if hundreds of thousands of people were wailing their lungs out in desperation right into his ears. Immediately, cold air travelled up his arm through his entire body. With a shiver, Wei WuXian pulled his hand away, What is this? Its energy of resentment is so strong!

Suddenly, his surroundings lit up. A light, orange glow casted out Wei WuXian’s shadow, illuminating a pitch-black sword made of iron in front of him. Slantedly, the sword pierced through where the heart of his shadow was.

This was the inside the shell of the Xuanwu of Slaughter—how could there be any light?

Wei WuXian spun around. As he had thought, a large pair of golden eyes was inches away from him.

He had just realized that the thundering snores had disappeared, while the orange glow was coming right out of the pair of Xuanwu eyes!

The Xuanwu of Slaughter flashed its crisscrossed fangs, an arrangement of black and yellow, and roared through its open mouth.

Wei WuXian was standing just between its fangs. Attacked face-front by the waves of the roar, his ears felt as though they were about to explode and even his entire body began to hurt. Watching as it it lunged toward him, Wei WuXian stuffed the bundle of iron rods into its mouth. Both the timing and position was just right. Not a second over or an inch under, it locked into the upper and lower jaws of the beast!

While the beast was unable to close its mouth, Wei WuXian stabbed an entire bundle of arrows into the most delicate part of its skin. Although the arrows were thin, Wei WuXian had tied five into one bundle and stuck it so deep into the beast's flesh so that even the feather fletching had sunk in. It was as though they were a poisoned needle. Under the extreme pain, the Xuanwu forced its mouth shut so much that all of the iron rods between its fangs curved. The half-a-dozen straight rods were immediately pressed into the shape of a hook by its intense bite. Wei WuXian stuck a few more bundles of arrows into its soft skin. Ever since it was born, the beast had never been at so great of a disadvantage. It was mad with pain. Its snake-like body writhed as hard as it could within its shell and its head smashed around as well, causing the mound of corpses to churn with the force of a landslide. Wei WuXian was almost entirely submerged in the rancid limbs. The Xuanwu of Slaughter widened its eyes, magnifying the hideous yellow. Mouth opening, it seemed as though it wanted to swallow everything up.

The corpse mound slid toward its mouth at the speed of a flood. Wei WuXian was struggling, swimming against the current, when he suddenly grabbed onto an iron sword. His heart sank. The piercing wails sounded within his ears again.

Wei WuXian’s body was already sucked into the mouth of the Xuanwu. Seeing that the beast was about to close its mouth, sword in hand, Wei WuXian used the same technique again and stuck it between the jaws of the beast.

The internal organs of hundred-year-old beasts like this one were usually capable of erosion. If one were to be swallowed, they’d melt into a wisp of smoke in an instant!

Wei WuXian grabbed firmly onto the sword. Like a pick, he was fixed to its mouth, unable to go either way. The Xuanwu of Slaughter slammed around for a while. It couldn’t swallow the pick no matter what, unable to close its mouth, but it didn’t want to loosen its mouth either. It finally shot out of its shell!

It was afraid of how Wei WuXian stung it while it was within its shell. As though it wanted to escape, it tried as hard as it could to squeeze its body out, so hard that the delicate flesh that had been hidden under its armor was revealed as well. And Lan Wangji had already positioned the chord before the hole of its head. He had been waiting since long ago. As soon as the Xuanwu rushed outside, he pulled the chord tight and strummed across it. The bowstring vibrated and cut into its flesh!

The beast could neither go in nor come out. suppressed by the two's attacks. It was a deformed beast and not truly divine. It never had much intelligence to begin with. Under the pain, it had gone completely insane, waving its head and its tail as it rampaged within the dark water. It tumbled inside a large whirlpool, stirring up crashing waves. But, no matter what it did, one of the two stuck firmly to its mouth so that it couldn't eat anything while the other used a chord to strangle its thin vital region, cutting into it inch by inch. As the cut deepened, its bleeding also worsened!

Lan Wangji pulled tightly on the chord, refusing to loosen up for even a split second.

He held for six hours.

Six hours later was when the Xuanwu of Slaughter finally ceased to move.

The vital region of the beast had almost been parted with the rest of its body due to Lan Wangji’s chord. Having overexerted his strength, his own palms were also covered in blood and gashes. The titan of a shell floated above the water. The pool had already been dyed a purple shade of red visible to the naked eye. The odor of blood was so thick that it could be mistaken for a pond from purgatory.

With a plop. Lan Wangji leaped into water and swam toward its head. The Xuanwu's eyes were wide open. Its pupils had already dimmed, yet its mouth still bit down tightly.

Lan Wangji, "Wei Ying!”

No sound came from within the beast’s mouth.

Lan Wangji reached out at once, grabbing the two rows of fangs and forcing them apart. Swimming in water without anything that he could use to support himself, he could only open them after straining for quite a while. Inside, he saw a black iron sword stuck within the mouth of the beast. Both the tip and the handle had pierced deep into its flesh. The blade had already been forced into a curvature.