The story began the night three days ago.
That evening, Young Master Qin returned from a social full of alcohol and fatigue. Just as he was about to retreat, he suddenly heard the sound of someone hitting a door.
Again and again, a person was slamming on the main doors of the Qin estate.
The servant watching over the courtyard mumbled in response, crawling up as he went to examine the situation with a lantern. Just as he was about to ask whom it was, the one knocking on the door seemed to have suddenly gone mad, madly banging on the door.
And it was truly banging. The bolt creaked. It seemed as if ten claws of iron were scratching the planks unstoppably.
The commotion was too loud. Soon, the courtyard was filled with roused servants. Holding lamps, lanterns, and clubs, the crowd of people stared at one another. Finally, robed only in an outer coat and gripping a sword in his hand, the owner of the estate finally arrived.
Young Master Qin unsheathed his sword with a sharp 'clang' as he shouted, "Who is it?!"
At once, the scratching outside the door became louder.
One of the servants was curled up in a corner, leaning against a broom. Young Master Qin pointed to him, "Climb up and look outside."
The servant didn't dare disobey. Dark faced, he slowly inched up as he turned his head around with much difficulty to look at Young Master Qin, only in exchange for impatient urging.
In the end, he put two trembling hands on the roof tiles and peeked. With only one glance, he plummeted head-first onto the ground.
Young Master Qin, "He said that the one knocking the door was a monster in burial robes. Messy-haired and covered in blood. It wasn't a living person."
At this point, Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi exchanged a look with each other.
While Lan SiZhui asked, "Young Master Qin, is there no description with greater detail?"
Young Master Qin was not of the cultivation world. He only found the right people by chance. He knew that these were cultivators, but not their identities and names. Nonetheless, Lan WangJi had an ethereal demeanor, Wei WuXian seemed nothing short of confident, and despite still being young, Lan SiZhui was quite graceful around the corners. Thus, he didn't dare treat them badly, "No. That servant's a coward. He passed out with just one glance, and I only managed to wake him up after pinching his central acupoint* for ages. You think you can expect him to see it clearly?"
*TN: The central acupoint is on one's face, at the portion between the end of the nose and the tip of the mouth. In traditional Chinese medicine, it's often stimulated in emergencies (such as when a person falls into a coma).
Wei WuXian, "Could I ask something?"
Young Master Qin, "Go ahead."
Wei WuXian, "Young Master Qin, did you only order your servant to look and not look outside yourself?"
"That's right."
"What a pity."
"What's there to pity?"
Wei WuXian, "According to your words, the one who paid a visit to your door was a fierce corpse. When fierce corpses drop by, they're usually there for a particular person. If you looked, perhaps you'd find that it was an old friend of yours."
Young Master Qin, "And perhaps I'm the rare case. Besides, even if it came from someone, it wouldn't necessarily be me, would it?"
Wei WuXian nodded with a smile, "You're right."
