Chapter Text
The countryside road stretched out, winding through the fields of golden rice paddies swaying gently in the gentle breeze. The sun was hung high in the cloudless sky. A few feather-like clouds could only be seen on the distant horizon.
It was mid-summer in July. Some of the rice fields had been harvested, leaving only the golden stems cut neatly on the bottom, while some others were currently being harvested. The peasants were seen either taking a break at the small huts spread around the rice fields, or walking across the paddies embankment.
At this time, their attention was diverted to a singular point at the main road. Under the blinding light of summer afternoon, a group of people wearing similarly blinding white robes were seen walking from the other end of the village. What was even more eye-catching was the groups of gentlemen all had a similarly dazzling appearance to match.
These peasants rarely ever visited a big city. Some of them had never even seen a typical noble young master in the mortal world, much less seen the Young Masters from Cultivation Clans. Their eyes couldn't help but stare at this group unabashedly looking with both admiration and wonder.
After the group passed by their corner, a farmer suddenly spoke up, "That...those people, are they Immortal Cultivators?"
Another farmer whose field was near his responded, "They should be."
Another one suddenly said, "But, I have seen ones walking in the City, they don't look this...this amazing?"
The peasants were lacking in vocabulary, they could only describe the breathtaking appearance as "amazing".
"Are they from what you call Major Sect or something, maybe?"
"Oh, it is possible. Then, they're here today..." The first farmer had his words dragged out in the end.
His other companion had a knowing look similar to him. "It must be to take care of 'that thing'..."
They sighed and later murmured, as if in praying, "I hope those Immortals can really kill that 'Demon'!"
The farmers soon went back to their previous activities, either having their lunch or fanning their sweats.
One of them, however, walked out from the paddy fields instead, back to the direction of the Village.
"Esteemed Cultivators, Sir, I can never thank you enough that GusuLan is willing to send help to our poor Village!" A middle-aged man bowed his body deeply and greeted the group of GusuLan disciples in front of him.
The leader of the group, a young man in his early twenties who had a romantic smile on his face, helped him up, and replied, "No need, let's first explain the case carefully one more time before thanking us."
The Village Head nodded seriously and invited the group of Cultivators inside his abode.
"The case in our Village is like this," He started.
Their Village was a coastal village. There was a big river on the side and when you walked a dozen miles ahead, you would be greeted with the boundless sea. The peasants in this era had faith in various Gods, and worshipped various Deities. In this Village's case, they also had one Deity they had been worshipping for years, the River God.
Their worship had begun from hundreds of years ago. The first Generation of the Village Head was walking on the river bank, and it was said that he saw the appearance of a Fish leaping through the Dragon Gate and turning into a Dragon. From then on, to commemorate the birth of a Dragon, the Village Head advocated to the other villagers to worship the River God.
For hundreds of years, their Village had been worshipping the River God for a good harvest and prosperity. Their village had also been peaceful for so long. It was not until around half a century ago, however. The River God they had been worshipping started to show its real face. The offering it asked began to change to human offerings. Since then, every year, the village has been sacrificing a virgin maiden at the River God festival.
At this point, one of the disciples interjected, "Wait a minute, if the sacrifice had been done every year, since half a century ago, didn't that mean 50 young maidens had been sacrificed?"
The Village Head admitted, "Indeed, there were 51 young maidens sacrificed to the voracious River God already."
Wei Wuxian raised his brows. "51 maidens?"
"Before the start of the sacrificial offering, the River God had given an example by taking a young maiden by itself. Therefore, that first year of its sudden change of temperament, 2 maidens were being sacrificed." the Village Head explained.
Wei Wuxian hummed in response. He then raised another question, "It's been 50 years already, but why did you only call for help from the Cultivation Sect this year?"
Before the Village Head replied, someone suddenly came to interrupt him, "Why, isn't that because this year the candidate for sacrificial maiden is from the Xiao Family! Of course, anyone can be sacrificed but not from the Xiao Family, Hahahahahahah!"
The person coming inside was a man in his early thirties with a disheveled appearance and bloodshot eyes. He looked at the GusuLan disciples inside and rushed toward them, grabbing one of the young teenagers tightly on the sleeve and demanding in a mad-like state, "Immortal! You are all Immortal, right? You must be very strong! You can kill that Demon! I know! When you kill that Demon then you can take my DaYa back to me, right?!"
The disciple being grabbed was startled, and the Village Head immediately called out, "Someone! Someone come here quickly! Who let this lunatic come inside? Drag him out now!"
While shouting out to call the servants, the Village Head was also trying to drag the man by himself. But the man was unexpectedly strong and his grip on the disciple's robes was surprisingly powerful. No matter how he was pulled away, he didn't budge.
The young disciple who was grabbed was at a loss. His other companions were also similarly bewildered.
Unexpectedly, someone suddenly crouched down at the same level as the manic man. His eyes glinted with interest and he looked at the man directly, "Brother, who is DaYa? Why don't you tell us? If we know nothing about DaYa, how are we supposed to bring her back?"
The manic man didn't expect someone to suddenly approach him this close. He looked at the other man and his grip on the young disciple loosened slightly. He was in a daze for a moment, before replying, "DaYa is...my DaYa...my beautiful DaYa..."
The man, Wei Wuxian, was about to ask some more but at this time the servants had already come and dragged the lunatic outside.
There was a slight disturbance and the Village Head apologized profusely.
Wei Wuxian asked him, "Who is that man? Who are the Xiao Family he said?"
The Village Head answered, "That man is a widowed, from our village. As for the Xiao Family, it is also from our village." The expression on the Village Head's face was noticeably prouder when admitting the Xiao Family was from their village. "The family is a branch of the Noble Xiao Family in the city. The third son of their family even became a Jinshi a few years ago. Today, he has become a Scholar at Hanlin Academy in the royal capital."
Wei Wuxian nodded. He asked again, "Oh, then who is DaYa?"
While he already had a conjecture in his heart, he still wanted to hear what the Village Head would give as the answer.
"DaYa was...the previous maiden being sacrificed. She was, that lunatic's daughter, and his only family after his wife died in childbirth." The Village Head sighed, with some guilt creeping on his expression.
He continued, "When she was sacrificed, she was only 12 years old..."
"12 years old!" The disciples gasped in shock, and looked at each other in astonishment.
While they know that women were considered maidens and ready to get married at the age of 14, but 12 years old was just...it wasn't supposed to be called a young maiden. She could only be called a "little lady".
The Village Head finally said, "Replying to what the esteemed Cultivator asked earlier, why have we only called for help this year, it is because our Village itself is a small one. There aren't many populations here. In the early years, there weren't any problems with the sacrifice, but in the past decade, it has become even more difficult. Every year, a virgin maiden must be prepared...however, the existence of daughters in the families couldn't catch up with the demand. Several years ago, we tried to buy a daughter from a nearby village for the sacrifice, but as a result, there was a flood afterward, the River God became angry and refused the sacrifice."
The disciples were rather horrified hearing the Village Head talk about buying a daughter. They send a look at Wei Wuxian secretly, but the senior didn't seem surprised at all. He just glanced at them and raised his brows.
These young masters didn't know. A lot of families sold their daughters for only several taels of silver. The money would then be used for their son to get married. This was an era where women were treated cheaper than the Cattle who helped them plow their fields. This was why most disciples didn't bat their eyes when Wen Chao asked the servant girl MianMian to be bled back then.
In the end, the disciples could only murmur, "You know this will be a problem, why don't you think to find help long ago?"
The Village Head was embarrassed. He said, "Isn't this because asking for help from Cultivators is not cheap? Our Sect is far from any Cultivation Sect, but it can be said to still be under the scope. So, rogue Cultivators never come to this side. In the past decade, the climate has been up and down, after the flood I told you before, the River God started to exact punishment on us by giving us years of drought. Our life is already in a pinch, we really can't spare any more offering to pay Cultivators to take care of our problem. But we can no longer go like this, so we have to grit our teeth and finally ask for help this year."
Wei Wuxian curled his lip.
Aside from the reason that the River God's punishment had become even more severe, the biggest reason should be the mentioned "Xiao Family". As the Village Head said, the existence of daughters in the family became scarcer. Last year, even a 12-year-old child was sacrificed as a result. And this year, it inevitably became the daughter of the Xiao Family.
Inevitable meant, the Xiao Daughter should be a proper maiden and suitable for the sacrifice even from last year. But who made her come from the respectable Xiao Family? So the 12-year-old DaYa could only be sacrificed. But this year, they could no longer shirk away and finally decided to call for Cultivators. In conclusion, if the Xiao Family had a daughter decades ago, then they would have called for Cultivators since long ago.
Women were indeed oppressed. But there was also another law of nature, those with higher status oppress the lower ones. So women who were born noble couldn't be oppressed by these lowly peasants.
The disciples didn't understand this truth and believed what the Village Head said about being pressured by the situation.
They asked, half inquiring and half grumbling, "You said you are afraid of inviting Cultivators for the high payments, but now you are inviting us from GusuLan. Aren't you afraid you can't afford the payment?"
The Village Head said as if it was a matter of fact, "Isn't that because when I went to the city I tried to ask people here and there, and they told me that GusuLan has recently held a wedding. There were some small families invited. I heard they said the newly married spouse is shockingly good-looking. Some of their wives even said when their man got back home they couldn't sleep for several nights thinking about the Beauty. They said that the Madam is so powerful, that it is unknown if he is a man or a woman. The Madam is said to need Yin Qi from evil creatures to stay as a woman. So I think, GusuLan may be...may be interested to this Evil River God without too high of a payment, for their Madam..."
The disciples whipped their heads to look at a certain young man, peeking at him, as if asking, 'Wei-Gongzi, why haven't I heard that you can become a woman? Is that why our Zewu-Jun married you?'
Wei Wuxian, "..."
Just what kind of rumors had been spread about him outside?
He thought the ones told by Jiang Cheng were already outrageous, but it turned out there were more ridiculous ones.
After listening to the case explanation from the Village Head, the group of GusuLan disciples finally excused themselves and started to arrange their nighthunt.
Wei Wuxian walked leisurely, his hand was throwing a boiled peanut he had just peeled to his mouth. There was another handful of peanuts left in his palm, taken from the Village Head's home. The peanut seemed to be boiled with salt last night and had become cold right now.
The cold juice from the water with the salty nuts was indeed the perfect snack for peasants in the summer. Wei Wuxian couldn't stop munching the peanuts again and again. Even the Village Head had his jaw dropped when he saw the handsome and bright Immortal in white actually grab a few handfuls of the boiled peanuts and put them into his obviously high-quality silk sleeve unceremoniously.
"What do you think?" He suddenly asked, after swallowing the last bit of peanuts in his hand.
The disciples were walking around him, their minds were full of thought. Upon hearing Wei Wuxian's question, they finally started talking,
"I think this River God actually is an evil entity from the start. It was probably hibernating before, hence the peaceful era, but it woke up and finally started to crave blood."
Another disciple said, "That makes sense. A lot of Gods and Deities worshipped by these people are usually just Yao or Demon."
"Or perhaps it is a wild God? They started to become Evil after granting the Villagers' wishes?"
They eventually turned to Wei Wuxian, "Wei-Gongzi, what do you think?"
"Hmm?" Wei Wuxian replied offhandedly. He was in the middle of taking out another handful of peanuts from his sleeve, cracked the skin directly with his teeth, and ate the nuts inside. Another second, however, he immediately spit them out to the side of the road. "Bahh! Bahh! I got the rotten ones!"
The GusuLan disciples, "..."
What should we do...this Senior doesn't seem too reliable?
Wei Wuxian noticed their gaze and he grinned instead.
"What are you looking at me for? Hm? Why? Are you regretting going to nighthunt with me? Do you want to go with your Hanguang-Jun instead? Hahaha! Too bad, your Hanguang-Jun has gone to nighthunt himself. You can only make do with me now."
He laughed heartily and continued to stroll in leisure.
These days after the marriage, Wei Wuxian went back to help arrange the Library Pavilion and restore the damaged book. However, Lan Wangji had gone to nighthunting for weeks and there was still no sight of him in the Sect. It was so boring that Wei Wuxian stopped doing his work in the Library and did it in the Hanshi instead.
Yesterday, Lan Xichen told him that he would go to Qinghe today. Jin Guangyao had invited him and Nie Mingjue to meet up and asked for help for the upcoming large-scale hunt in Baifeng Mountain. Lianfang-Zun was indeed tactful, knowing that Lan Xichen wouldn't come to Jinlintai at least for a while, he used the excuse to visit Qinghe instead.
The 3 Sworn Brothers didn't break their relationship in public. They still maintained cordiality in private as well. However, right now instead of a sibling relationship like Lan Xichen originally had intended to form earlier, it had become a true politic-like alliance. The bond between them was no longer camaraderie but simply Sect's interest.
"Wei-Gongzi, do you want to come with me? I remember that Huaisang and you seemed to be quite close during your study here." Lan Xichen had asked him last night.
Wei Wuxian thought he was so bored without Lan Wangji accompanying him in the Library, and now Lan Xichen was about to go on a trip, he might as well follow him. Besides, he did rarely come to Qinghe. It could be considered a vacation.
However, on second thought, Lan Xichen went there to discuss the upcoming hunts with the other 2 representatives of Major Sects. Even if he tagged along, Lan Xichen would still be too busy to be bothered. Besides, these past months Lan Xichen had only been lingering with him in the sect. Unlike Lan Wangji who could be satisfied with reading a book and meditating in his Jingshi, Lan Xichen was obviously a more socialized person. He would need to interact with his circle of friends.
Therefore, Wei Wuxian wisely refused.
He asked instead, "Is there any nighthunting case that hasn't been taken care of in the sect? Let me bring a few disciples to go."
Lan Xichen thought for a while, checking the reports from GusuLan cultivators, and finally said, "There is a case that has just arrived. About a River God causing chaos to the village folks. It is not that far from Gusu." He glanced at Wei Wuxian. "Do you want to go?"
Wei Wuxian agreed. "That's it. I'll go and take a few disciples with me tomorrow morning then."
Lan Xichen seemed to hesitate for a while, but in the end, he simply acquiesced. "Then I will tell them to get prepared. The location is in the northern part of Gusu, it is in the same direction as Qinghe. Tomorrow we can go together at the same time."
In this case, in the morning today, Lan Xichen took Wei Wuxian and the disciples to the village where the nighthunt would be. After dropping Wei Wuxian there, he proceeded to go to Qinghe. Leaving the disciples to be supervised under Wei Wuxian.
Some of these disciples had met Wei Wuxian when they were assigned to arrange the library, while some of them had only met him face to face for the first time. However, even the disciples who had met him, they still weren't familiar with Wei Wuxian yet. It's natural for them to feel worried.
Wei Wuxian peeled off another peanut, and said, "Let's walk around the village some more."
Wherever they walked, their group would have a curious and awed stare from the rural residents. After walking for a while, they thought they were just running around to get tired. Just when they wanted to raise a question to Wei Wuxian, suddenly a man who looked like he was in his 30s, and dressed in better clothing than other villagers, approached them.
"Esteemed Cultivators. Let me introduce myself, my name is Xiao Ming. I am the eldest son of the Xiao Family from this village. May I invite esteemed Cultivators to our humble family's house?" the man invited them politely.
Wei Wuxian smiled, about to rub his hands habitually to his robe, but paused. He took out a neat handkerchief from his chest instead and wiped his hand from the peanut juices. He replied to the man, "Of course, we will be glad to visit the Xiao Family house."
The man smiled in response and ushered them.
The courtyard owned by the Xiao Family was indeed very much eye-catching. Compared to the simple housing of other villagers, it was totally different both in size and appearance. Some courtyard in the small city wasn't even this good.
As they walked through the front gate, they saw an old lady basking under the sun in the side garden while being waited by several maids.
Xiao Ming stopped and greeted her, "Grandmother. The sun is too hot in midday, why don't you come inside first?"
The old lady turned her head. She smiled warmly. "It is A-Ming. Don't worry, it is alright, I am under the tree now, it is cool here."
When she noticed the group of GusuLan Cultivators following her grandson, she greeted them kindly, "Did you bring a guest? It is hot today, Grandma has prepared some Sour Plum Soup, let the maids bring them outside for you to chill from the heat."
Her voice was very soft and nice. The smiling lines at the corner of her eyes told them that the Grandma must have been a very kind lady. Even Wei Wuxian couldn't help but take a second look at her, before smiling back in the direction of the old lady.
He walked to the front, following Xiao Ming, and asked "Is that your Grandma?"
Xiao Ming nodded. "Yes. She is my direct Grandma. My Father and his other siblings are born by her. My Grandfather has only married her as his wife." He smiled softly at the end.
"Ohhh..." the disciples were rather amazed to hear this.
While monogamy was more common within the Cultivation Clans, but in mortal worlds, it was more common for a man to marry 1 wife and 3 concubines. Especially for people with better status like the Xiao Family. The Grandfather must have been a very affectionate person to only marry one wife.
Wei Wuxian also smiled. He glanced back at the old lady and said, "She does look like a lovely lady even at her age. Your Grandpa must have treated her very well."
Xiao Ming laughed. "That is right. Grandma is already 65 years old this year. But she is still as healthy as ever. Some of our relatives even secretly joked she is like a Queen Dowager who may live healthily until a hundred years old."
One of the disciples thought out loud, "65 years old? Then, she is from the generation when the River God started to become Evil."
"Indeed she is." Xiao Ming sighed. "Actually, the first maiden who was taken as a warning by the River God back then was my Grandma's boudoir friend. They grew up together almost like close sisters. That day when she was taken by the River God, Grandma cried so hard and fell sick afterward. It was only a couple of years later that she gradually got better and she could finally smile again after she married my Grandpa."
Hearing the love story of the Xiao predecessor, Wei Wuxian was still smiling and responded, "That maiden should be a very pretty lady herself."
Xiao Ming, "Indeed. She was known as twin flowers with my Grandma back then. Here, we have arrived inside. Please do have a seat, esteemed Cultivators. I will come and call my father."
They were invited inside, and soon some maids came out from the residence, bringing another refreshment, with more exquisite confectionaries presented.
Looking at Wei Wuxian who once again had no scruples to devour the refreshment, the disciples thought Wei Wuxian should have brought them here on purpose, to eat more snacks.
To reason why the Xiao Family invited the GusuLan disciples to their courtyard was obvious, hoping that the Cultivators would really help them to resolve the River God. Some cultivators sometimes would just leave the case aside when they couldn't take care of it. The Xiao Family was afraid that if these Cultivators couldn't solve the River God, they would also leave without notice. Then, wouldn't that mean their precious daughter would be sacrificed in this case?
By inviting these Cultivators, they hoped to give a good impression. So that at least when they couldn't solve it themselves, they would then pass the case to other Cultivators who might be capable. They even brought their daughter to come out to express their sincere hope for the help.
Looking at the beautiful young lady whose cheeks were as tender as peach as if they could release water when squeezed, Wei Wuxian smiled brightly at her.
"Young lady does not need to worry. You look so lovely and must have been genuinely kind to your peers. The young lady has a lot of blessings." He said with a reassuring smile.
The Xiao Young Lady blushed madly and had to run back inside the courtyard while covering her face.
The disciples, "..."
They automatically gave Wei Wuxian a side-eye.
It was just a few hours since your husband left you, and you've already started to flirt outside.
Even a resentful couple would at least take several years for an infidelity to happen. How many weeks have you just married to our Zewu-Jun?!
Wei Wuxian ignored them and continued to focus back on the other Xiao Family members.
The head of the Xiao Family, Xiao Junqi, also shared another piece of information.
"Lan-Gongzi, in my opinion, that River God is not what it said in the legend at all." He said.
Wei Wuxian didn't correct him upon being referred to as Lan-Gongzi.
He was intrigued and continued to ask, "Oh? How do you say so? The Village Head told us the River God should be a Koi who leaped through the Dragon Gate and successfully transformed into a Dragon."
Xiao Junqi, "That is what is being told to us. However, Gongzi, you must have also heard that our Village had a flood disaster several years ago due to the River God's punishment, right?"
Wei Wuxian nodded. "Yes, and what of it?"
"I saw it." Xiao Junqi said with a grievous tone, "Back then when the flood happened, I happened to see the clouds above the river, and I saw it."
The other disciples were tensed. "What did you see?"
"It was a snake." Xiao Junqi gritted his teeth with hatred. "That River God is no Dragon at all! It is a snake demon all along! We've been deceived to worship a bloodthirsty demon for hundreds of years and even sacrificed 51 maidens for such a demon using the identity of a River God!"
"Snake demon?!" The disciples exclaimed in shock.
They looked at each other and suddenly understood. No wonder, it's no wonder that it could cause a flood to the Village. For many years, there were a lot of flood disasters related to snake demons. Take, for example, the legendary white snake demon who flooded a temple to take her husband.
In this way, aside from being entertained, they gained new information during their visit to the Xiao Family.
When they finally visited the problematic river, it was dusk already.
The disciples all had a solemn expression on their faces.
They took out the newly distributed Evil Compass that Wei Wuxian had made and started to find the direction of the Snake Demon.
However, they looked at the compass in puzzlement. "How is this possible?"
One disciple frowned. "There isn't any sign of demonic entities nearby."
They had tried to use this Compass before and knew it indeed worked as it intended. So they had no choice but to look at Wei Wuxian for help. "Wei-Gongzi? Does this Compass only work for Evil entities but not working with Beast such as Snake Demon?"
Wei Wuxian shook his head. "It doesn't detect the type of entities. What it detects is resentful energy from the entities itself."
The disciples thought, in that case, a Demonic Beast should have resentful energy in their body. Then, it should be detected by the Compass. But how did they find no trace at all?
They tried to track along the river line, back and forth, even trying the different sides of the embankment, but still gained no result.
They looked at Wei Wuxian once again and asked, "Can this compass be obstructed by a barrier? For example, the Snake Demon should have been hiding below the river, so there is a water barrier between us."
Wei Wuxian was not angry by their doubts about his Compass and thought their idea was actually quite useful. "Water or earth shouldn't obstruct resentful energy from being detected. Though, speaking about obstruction, now I have an idea to improve this Compass, in case some other barrier made by formation hinders its detection."
The disciples wondered, "Then, could this Snake Demon hide below under some kind of formation?"
"I don't know." Wei Wuxian smiled.
The disciples directed their gaze back at him. This senior of theirs still didn't look serious at all. He crossed his hand on his chest and walked leisurely following the disciples who ran around.
They finally couldn't bear it and asked, "Wei-Gongzi, you don't look worried at all. Do you already know something? On how to resolve the River God?"
"Hmmm?" Wei Wuxian replied, still offhandedly. He looked up to the already darkened sky. "Oh. It's evening already."
He suddenly turned his head to look in the direction of the village. His eyes glinted in anticipation. He shushed the other disciples, "Hussh, quiet down you all. A lady is coming."
The disciples, "..."
You dare to have a rendezvous with a young lady in the dark of night!!
Zewu-Jun!!! Come back already!! Your newly married husband is going to elope with a rich lady!!