Mo Dao Zu Shi(Wei Ying's POV)

8. Dafan Mountain

A/N:
I am sorry for not updating. I had my college entrance test. It was over now and I got a good result as well. Hope I can get into my dream college. And also I tried changing the writing style a bit.

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Wei Wuxian arrived at Dafan Mountain before dark as he had anticipated. Upon arriving at the foot of the mountain, he realized that the word 'fan' in Dafan did not mean rice but Buddha. The mountain took its name from the fact that it resembled a Buddha when viewed from a distance.

Wei Wuxian was surprised to see so many cultivators present. There were numerous cultivators from various sects, and the place was crowded. All of them wore different colored uniforms that identified their respective sects.

Although some saw Wei Wuxian's face with its strange makeup, nobody commented on it. Wei Wuxian was not bothered by their opinions.

All the cultivators appeared to be concerned as they discussed matters among themselves. Not too far away, a group of them were talking about something. Wei Wuxian could hear their conversation clearly, thanks to his exceptional hearing.

"None of the compasses of evil showed any signs. I think there are no soul-consuming spirits or beasts in this area."

"If that's the case, then how did seven people lose their souls? It's not like they all contracted the same disease. I had never heard of a disease like that until now."

"Even if the compass of evil doesn't show anything, it doesn't mean there is nothing in the area. Perhaps something powerful can interfere with the pointer's direction."

"Do you know who created the compass of evil? I've never heard of anything that can interfere with the pointer's direction."

"What do you mean? Of course, I know Wei Ying created it. But it's not as if his inventions are flawless. Are you saying we can't question it?"

"I never said you can't question it, much less that his creations are flawless. Why are you accusing me?"

As they argued, Wei Wuxian couldn't help but giggle. 'Even after so many years have passed, I am still part of people's conversations. I can't believe that even after I died, I am still the topic of discussion among these people,' he thought to himself as he passed by the cultivators on his donkey.

'Well, they are not wrong. The compass I made was the first version, and it is indeed not specific enough. I was in the middle of making improvements when my den was destroyed. So I had to leave it at that.'

His thoughts soon drifted back to the creature on Dafan Mountain. Usually, the creatures that eat blood and flesh are low-level whereas the creatures that consume and digest souls are high-level. Digesting one soul is already difficult enough and this creature consumed seven souls at once.

Wei Wuxian understood that this prey was by no means a small matter.

He hopped off the donkey's back and held the apple in front of it. "One bite. Only one bite... Are you trying to eat my whole hand with that bite of yours?"

'How did I get to the point of sharing an apple with a donkey?' he pondered as he ate a few bites from the other side of the apple. Then he stuffed it back into the donkey's mouth. Suddenly someone bumped into him. Wei Wuxian turned around to see a girl. She didn't acknowledge him. Her eyes were dull and she had a wide smile on her face as she stared at a distance.

Wei Wuxian followed her gaze and saw the top of the Dafan mountain.

When he turned back to look at her, he was stunned to see her dancing all of a sudden.

She kept dancing, flinging her arms wildly. Wei Wuxian didn't know what to do as he kept watching her dance. Suddenly, a middle-aged woman ran over and tried to drag the young girl away but the girl pushed her off.

"A-Yan let's go back. Let's go back." The woman forcefully dragged her away while sobbing. Wei Wuxian didn't understand what was going on as he kept looking at the way they went.

"How awful! A-Yan from blacksmith Zheng's family escaped again."

"It must be hard for her mother. A-Yan, A-Yan's husband and her husband... They all..."

Wei Wuxian heard the people speaking as he walked around. Picking up information from different people and trying to piece it together.

There is a burial ground in the Dafan Mountain. Many of the ancestors of the townspeople were buried there. A few months ago, on a stormy night, the rain caused a landslide, destroying the old graves. A few coffins were exposed. This made the townspeople uneasy. After a few prayers, they rebuild the burial grounds. They thought everything would be fine but since then, the townspeople started to lose their souls.

The first person was a young man who was stuck in the mountain because of the landslide but he was safe. The odd thing is that he got married after a few days. He had a grand marriage but on the wedding night, he was completely drunk and slept. He never woke up again. Except that he was breathing, there was no sign of him being alive. He didn't eat or drink for days. He was buried by the townspeople later and the bride became a widow.

The second is A-Yan. The girl who danced in front of Wei Wuxian. Her future husband was killed by a wolf on the second day of their engagement while he went hunting. After she got the news, she also became like the first man. She didn't eat or drink or even react to anything except breathing. But somehow, she became normal. However, she had gone crazy and danced to others like she had just a few minutes ago.

The third one is A-Yan's father.

Just like this, it has happened to a total of seven people until now.

'It doesn't look like a trivial matter. Considering all the things that happened till now, it might be a soul-consuming spirit rather than a soul-consuming beast.' Wei Wuxian's mind was filled with thoughts as he thought about the possibilities of what sort of evil being was causing this trouble.

'Maybe when the lightning hit the coffin, a spirit might have escaped from it. I can't even take a look at the coffin that was destroyed since the townspeople already buried it. So even if I go there now, there won't be much evidence.'

He kept thinking as he rode on his donkey up the hill slowly.

After a while, Wei Wuxian saw a few cultivators coming down the mountain with a frustrated look. While passing by them, he heard their whines.

"Must the leader of the big clan like that need to fight with us, lowly cultivators over a soul-consuming spirit? He must have killed a lot of those when he was young."

"What can we do? He is a sect leader. No matter which sect you choose to offend, you shouldn't offend the YunmengJiang sect. No matter who you choose to offend, you shouldn't offend Jiang Cheng. Let's just pack and leave quickly."

'It seems Jiang Cheng didn't change even after all these years. Still so easily angered.' Wei Wuxian sighed and shook his head as he thought.
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