"What do you mean? Of course I will return to Yunmeng Jiang Sect." said Wei Wuxian after hearing what the juniors have said.

"Lets just watch." said Sizhui as the screen started again.

Only a few days passed, and Wei WuXian realized that he might have made a wrong choice.

"So you didn't returned to me." said Jiang Cheng, looking at the screen.

The Jiangs was a sad by the news.

The donkey that he conveniently picked up was too hard to please.

Although it was only a donkey, it would exclusively eat fresh, young grass with dewdrops still hanging off them. If the tip of the grass had a streak of yellow, it wouldn’t eat it. Passing a farm, Wei WuXian stole some wheat straws to feed it, but after chewing them, it spit it out with a ptoo, even louder than that of its human counterparts. If it didn’t eat highquality food, it wouldn’t budge, and it’d lose its temper and kick around. For multiple times, Wei WuXian was almost kicked by it. Aside from that, it’s brays also sounded extremely horrible to the ear.

It was useless, no matter as a mount or a pet!

"Who told you to get that donkey in the first place?" asked Jin Zixuan finding Wei Wuxian thoughts hilarious.

"That's why I said that the donkey has a resemblance to Jiang Cheng." said Wei Wuxian.

"Wei Wuxian!" yelled Jiang Cheng, ready to smack his brother when he realized that his son is still sitting on his lap.

Everyone laugh at their interaction especially seeing the reaction of the Young Master Jiang.

Wei WuXian couldn’t help but to think of his sword. The sword was probably collected by the leader of a prominent clan and would have hanged on a wall as a trophy that they could show other people.

Wei Wuxian held his sword firmly thinking that there will never be a time where he is going to give up his sword for such demonic path. Also, he have to be with his brother when he become a Sect Leader one day.

After pushing and pulling along for a few blocks, the road reached a vast farmland of some village. Under the scorching sun, there was a large pagoda tree and thick, green grass underneath it. Beside the tree, there was an old well, with a barrel and a dipper on the side, placed there by the farmers for any passersby to quench their thirst. The donkey ran over there and nothing could make it leave. Wei WuXian hopped down and slapped its honoured buttocks, “You’re definitely destined for wealth, even harder to please than me.”

The donkey spat at him.

"I am starting to like that donkey." said Nie Huaisang.

"Hey at least give some respect to the animal." said a random cultivator.

"What did I even do?" asked Wei Wuxian.

The cultivators only give him a look.

While they fooled around aimlessly, a group of people approached from within the fields.

The people carried handmade bamboo baskets, and wore cotton clothes and straw sandals, emitting the rustic airs of rural villagers. In the group, there was a young girl with a round face that could be considered delicate. Possibly because of walking for too long under the sun, they also wanted to come over to rest by the shade and have some water. However, seeing that there was a wild donkey tied to the tree and a lunatic with heavy makeup and dishevelled hair, they were reluctant to go over.

"What do you think Wei Wuxian will do?" asked Jiang Cheng to his friend, Nie Huaisang.

The latter just smile looking at their friend, meaningfully.

"What's the matter?" ask Wei Wuxian.

"Nothing Wei-xiong, nothing." answered Nie Huaisang hiding his smile behind his fan.

Wei WuXian had always thought of himself as one who was courteous towards women, so he moved over, emptying some space, and went to struggle with the donkey. After realizing that he was harmless, the people were finally at ease to come over. All of them were drenched in sweat and had ruddy cheeks; some were fanning themselves and some fetching water. The girl sat by the well and smiled at Wei WuXian, as if she knew that he purposely moved away.

"Courteous?" I don't think so." said Jiang Cheng making everyone agree with him.

"Hey! I'm really courteous, you know." exclaimed Wei Wuxian but his friends only laughed at him.

The juniors especially Sizhui was worried for his father's reaction.

One of the people held a compass in his hand. He looked into the distance, and then lowered his head questioningly, “We’re already at the foot of Dafan Mountain, so why hasn’t the pointer started moving yet?”

The designs and pointer on the compass looked strange, indicating that it wasn’t a normal compass. It wasn’t one that showed the North, South, East, and West, but one that showed the directions malicious creatures, also known as a “Compass of Evil.” Wei WuXian realized that this was probably a poor cultivation clan from the countryside. Aside from highbrow, affluent clans, there were also smaller clans like this, who closed their doors and cultivated on their own. Wei WuXian thought that they might have left their village to either find a clan whom they were distant relatives to, or to go night-hunting.

"Compass of Evil?" What's that?" asked Su She.

"As you can see it's a compass." said Jingyi sarcastically.

"You!" exclaimed Su She.

"He what?" asked Jiang Cheng.

Before he refute, all the Jiangs was glaring at him especially Madam Yu.

"It looks like we have great inventions in the future for easy hunt." said Jin Zixuan.

"The inventor might be very genius to make something like that." said Nie Mingjue.

"Genius indeed." said Lan Xichen.

The middle-aged man leading the group called for people to take a drink and replied, “Your compass might be broken; I’ll get you a new one later. Dafan Mountain is less than ten miles ahead of us, which means that we cannot rest for too long. We have struggled through the whole journey, and if we relax now and fall behind, with other people beating us to it, it wouldn’t have been worth it.”

"They are fighting for the prey." said a random cultivator.

"So that their clan will be recognize by the cultivation world." said another disciple, having an idea to have his own sect.

As expected, it was a night-hunt. A lot of refined cultivation clans called travelling to places and exorcising evil beings “hunting.” Because of how these creatures often appear at night, it was also called “night-hunting.” There were countless cultivation clans, but only a few were distinguished. Without the contributions from its ancestors, if an average clan wanted to become famous and receive respect in the cultivation world, it would have to show its abilities. Only if a clan captured a fierce monster or a terrorizing being, could it have then been treated seriously.

"Now I want to have my own sect." said a random cultivator.

"Good luck then." said his friend.

This was originally Wei WuXian’s specialty area. However, during the days of travelling, he destroyed a few graves, but only found small ghosts. He happened to need a ghost soldier to do evil for him, and decided to go to Rice Mountain to try his luck. If he found a good one, he’d capture it and put it to use.

"Only those who are not in their right mind will destroy a grave." said Sect Leader Yao.

"Maybe he became lunatic as well." said Jin Zixun.

"Who are you calling lunatic?" asked Sizhui, anger is visible in his voice.

"Who else other than that bast-" he didn't get to finish what he is saying when Jingyi spoke.

"You are not allowed to call my Wei-dajiu any names." said Jingyi giving him a death glare.

After the group of people finished resting, they prepared to move on. Before they left, the round-faced girl took a small, partly-ripened apple out of her basket and handed it to him, “Here you go.”

"Why is it suddenly turns cold here?" asked Wei Wuxian.

It's true. The place turns cold because of Lan Wangji glare towards the screen.

"Why is he glaring like that?" Jiang Cheng asked his son silently.

"You will know it later on, Wanyin." Lan Xichen said with a smile when he heard the question.

"I am not asking you." Jiang Cheng said with a frown.

Wei WuXian extended his hand to receive it, grinning broadly, but the donkey also opened its mouth and bit at it. Wei WuXian quickly took the apple away. Seeing that the donkey craved the apple so much, he thought of a good idea. He gathered a long stick and a fishing thread, hanged the apple on one end, and dangled it in front of the donkey. The donkey smelled the apple’s refreshing scent from in front of him and wanted to eat it, chasing the apple which was always a centimeter away from him. Its speed was faster than the best horses Wei WuXian had ever seen, leaving only dust behind it.

"God! That was so embarrassing." exclaimed Wei Wuxian trying to hide his face.

The cultivators was laughing seeing his antics.

"I should've known you will do something like that." said Jiang Cheng.

Without stopping, Wei WuXian arrived at Dafan Shan before dark. Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, he finally realized that the “fan” wasn’t the one he thought it was. It got its name because, looking from far away, the mountain looked like a kind, chubby buddha. There was a small town below the mountain, named Buddha’s Feet.

The number of cultivators who gathered here were far more than what he had expected. Everything was a jumble, with people from different sects and clans walking down the streets, all in uniforms of different colours, almost blinding to the eye. For some reason, all of them wore distressed expressions. Nobody bothered to laugh at him even though they saw his strange appearance.

"The prey they are hunting must be really dangerous or else why would they be looking like that." said Nie Mingjue.

"Everything is dangerous when it comes to night hunt, da-ge." exclaimed Nie Huaisang. His brother only shook his head knowing that his younger brother is so innocent.

In the center of the long street, a group of cultivators gathered, talking in serious tones. It seemed as if their opinions differed greatly. Even from afar, Wei WuXian could hear them talking. In the beginning, everything was fine, but they suddenly became agitated.

“… I think that there are no soul-consuming beasts or spirits in the area at all. It’s clear that none of the Compasses of Evil showed anything.”

“If there isn’t, then how did the seven people lose their souls? They couldn’t have all attained the same disease, could they? I, for one, haven’t heard of this disease at all!”

"Why do something like that exist in the future?" asked a random cultivator.

"Looks like our future is a bit complicated." said another random cultivator.

"It's fun though." said Zizhen.

“Even if the Compass of Evil is not showing anything, does it mean that there’s nothing in the area? It can only point out an approximate direction, without any specifics, so it shouldn’t be fully trusted. Maybe there’s something here that can interfere with the pointer’s direction.”

“Do you remember who created the Compass of Evil? I’ve never heard of anything that can interfere with its pointer’s direction.”

"Even though the creator of such thing is powerful, there will be really a time where it won't accordingly." said Wei Wuxian.

The juniors just looked at him.

"What? It's true you know." he exclaimed.

“What do you mean? Are you implying anything with that tone of yours? Of course, I know that Wei Ying created the Compass of Evil. But, it’s not as if his creations are flawless. Aren’t we allowed the option of doubt, at least?”

"Wei Ying? Me?" asked Wei Wuxian and the juniors nodded.

"I created that? Jiang Cheng I made that! I succeed!" he exclaimed, jumping on his seat.

"What does he mean he succeeded?" asked Jin Zixuan to Jiang Yanli.

"I don't know. A-xian didn't tell me anything about that." answered Jiang Yanli.

Everyone looked at Jiang Cheng but only received a glare and an eye roll.

“I never said that you can’t doubt it, much less his creations are flawless, so why accuse me?”

And so, their argument had turned to another direction. Wei WuXian passed them on his donkey, giggling and laughing. He didn’t expect that, after so many years had passed, he was still alive in the cultivators’ conversations. This was the so-called “much ado about Wei.” If there was ever a poll to find out whose popularity was the most lasting in the cultivation world, the winner would be no other than Wei WuXian.

"And you're proud of it." said Jiang Cheng sarcastically.

"Maybe because he is a demonic cultivator." said Jin Zixun.

The juniors gave him a death glare.

To be honest, the cultivator wasn’t wrong. The Compasses of Evil in use today was the first version that he made, and were, indeed, not specific enough. He was in the middle of making improvements when his “den” was destroyed, so he had to put everyone through the inconvenience of using the imprecise version one.

"They killed me yet they use my invention. What a hypocrite." said Wei Wuxian.

Anyways, creatures that ate blood and flesh were usually low in level, such as walking corpses. Only the more refined high-level monsters or ghosts were capable of eating and digesting souls. This one ate seven at once—no wonder so many clans had gathered here. Since the prey was by no means a trivial matter, it was inevitable for the Compasses of Evil to make mistakes.

"What do you think is the creature that consumes the soul?" asked Nie Mingjue to his friend, Lan Xichen.

"Maybe something we will never expect." Lan Xichen answered.

Wei WuXian reined in the rope and hopped off the donkey’s back, holding the apple, which had been ahead of it for the whole journey, in front of its mouth, “One bite. One bite only… Hmph, are you trying to eat my whole hand with that bite of yours?”

He ate a few bites from the other side of the apple, and stuffed it back into the donkey’s mouth, pondering upon how he came down to the point of sharing an apple with a donkey, when, suddenly, someone bumped into his back. He turned around to see a girl. Although she bumped into him, she didn’t acknowledge him at all. Her eyes were dull and she had a smile on her face, staring into the distance without blinking.

"What happened to her?" asked Nie Huaisang.

"Is she possessed or what?" asked Jiang Cheng.

"She looks weird." said Wei Wuxian.

"First time I heard you call a girl 'weird'." said Jiang Cheng.

Wei WuXian followed her gaze, and saw the dense mountaintop of Dafan Mountain.

All of a sudden, the girl started dancing in front of him without saying anything.

The dance was wild, with her arms flinging about savagely. Wei WuXian was watching the performance with keen pleasure when a woman ran over, lifting her dress slightly. She embraced the girl and cried, “A-Yan, let’s go back, let’s go back!”

The Jins was watching intently receiving a disgust look from other cultivators.

Lan Wangji was glaring at the girl.

"That was nice." said Jin Zixun.

"Pervert." said Jingyi.

A-Yan brushed her off with force, her smile still unfaded, creating a terrifying sort of affection, and continued to dance. The woman had to chase her down the street, sobbing while running. A street vendor on the side spoke, “How awful. A-Yan from Blacksmith Zheng’s family has escaped again.”

“It must be horrible for her mom. A-Yan, A-Yan’s husband, and her husband… All of them were…”

"What happened to her and her family? Why is it horrible?" asked MianMian.

"It may be related to the soul-consuming beast." said Jiang Yanli, unsure of her observation.

Wei WuXian wandered around, piecing together the strange event that happened here from picking up on different people’s conversations.

"He can piece the event together just from the information he got?" asked a random disciple.

"Of course. Wei-daijiu is a genius." exclaimed Jingyi.

"My nephew is really my fan." said Wei Wuxian.

On Dafan Mountain, there was a burial ground. Most of the ancestors of the townspeople from Buddha’s Feet were buried here and, sometimes, unidentifiable corpses would also receive a spot and a wooden plaque here. A few months ago, in a dark and stormy night, the wind and the rain caused a piece of land on Dafan Mountain to slide and collapse, which happened to be the burial ground. Many older graves were destroyed, and a few coffins were exposed to the air and struck by lightning, causing both the corpses and the coffins to be charred black.

The townspeople of Buddha’s Feet were extremely uneasy. After a few rounds of prayers, they rebuilt the burial ground again, assuming that everything would be just fine. However, ever since then, people in the town started to lose their souls.

"That's horrible." said a female disciple.

"What might be the reason that they lose their souls?" questioned a rouge cultivator, Song Lan.

"Maybe because of the prayer." said Nie Huaisang.

"How could a prayer make them lose their souls?" asked Su She in a mocking tone, receiving a glare from Nie Mingjue.

The first one was a sluggard. He was a poor wretch, loafing about and doing no work at all. Because he loved to hike on the mountain and catch birds, he happened to be stuck in the mountain during the night of the landslide. He was frightened to death, but, luckily, he was safe. The peculiar thing was that, after a few days, he suddenly married someone. His wedding was quite large, and he said that he wanted to be charitable from now on and settle down.

On the night of the wedding, he was completely drunken, having never woken up ever since he lay on the bed. The bride didn’t receive an answer as she called him. Only when she pushed him over did she realize that the groom had dreary eyes and a cold body. Aside from being able to breathe, he was no different from a dead person. After a few days of lying on the bed, not eating or drinking anything, he was finally buried. Unfortunately, the bride had become a widow shortly after she married.

"That's kinda sad for the new bride." said MianMian.

"Why did he die though?" asked Wen Qing.

"A-cheng, A-xian please don't drink alcohol too much." said Jiang Yanli.

"But a-jie, clearly that man didn't die because of drunkenness." said Jiang Cheng.

"Shijie, we only drink few and rarely got drunk. Jiang Cheng is right, that man didn't die because of drunkenness." exclaimed Wei Wuxian.

Their sister just looked at them and they sulked knowing that when their sister said something they have to follow it.

The second one was A-Yan, from Blacksmith Zheng’s family. The young girl had just received an engagement when her future husband was killed by a wolf on the second day, while he was hunting in the mountains. After she got the news, she also became like the sluggard. Luckily, after some time, her soul-losing disease was cured on its own. However, after this, she went crazy, cheerfully dancing to other people when she was outside.

"The man didn't get to be married to his lover." said Nie Huaisang feeling bad for the couple.

"Maybe she became like that because of the loss of his lover." said Jiang