"Are you sure this is plausible?"
At the break of dawn, there were three women lowering their voices to a hush. They stood outside the door of the dormitory, grouping in a clump. If one were to closely inspect them, they'd realize that those three women appeared especially like Shen Qingqiu, Wei Wuxian, and Xie Lian!
"Don't worry about it." Xie Lian smiled. "I have a friend who specializes in switching their gender back and forth. This pill should last us for about three days."
"Three days..." Shen Qingqiu felt sick. He didn't want to become a girl!
Wei Wuxian happily cheered, "This is very cool." He twirled around in his readymade dress. It was a fabric of both black and red, with the sash dragging down to his ankles. After eating the pill that Xie Lian had given him, his entire body changed and appeared to belong to a woman. His adam's apple smoothed out to be the same creamy throat as pretty girls.
They decided to transform into "female" cultivators in order to lure out the culprit in Mo Clan. Whenever dual cultivating, the culprit would want to find a "female" human cauldron instead of a male. Besides, changing their gender doesn't weigh down their cultivation.
Xie Lian had changed into a flimsy white robe for female cultivators. His bandages wrapped around his neck, arms, and ankles were still very eye catching, but somehow managed to blend in with the white fabric. With his bamboo hat set on top of his head and the white veil covering majority of his face, he appeared like a mysterious heavenly being.
Shen Qingqiu wore female robes as well, unwilling to be left behind. He still accessorized himself with that fan of his, then took off his crown to let his bangs drop captivatingly.
"Nice nice, Shen-xiong." Wei Wuxian egged him on.
"Shut up." Shen Qingqiu huffed responsively. A thin layer of rouge was applied onto his cheeks, making him appear like a shy maiden. He was originally pale, so after turning into a female, he still regained that sense of beauty.
Wei Wuxian laughed. Then, he directed his sight towards Xie Lian. For some odd reason, he felt like he shouldn't be so near the latter... It felt like he was directly standing near heaven.
"Xie-xiong is so pretty." He still praised.
Xie Lian looked back and smiled underneath that veil. "Thank you. Wei-xiong fits quite well in a dress."
Wei Wuxian stiffened. His eyes had a layer of mist glossed over. "Really?" He was almost about to cry from the praise. "Thank you!" For some odd reason, he really wanted to kowtow to this heavenly "female" being.
Suddenly, the doors opened.
Out came the three husbands, who couldn't even stop themselves from looking surprised. Their throats felt strangely dry and stiff, as if they were thirsting for a week consecutively.
"Shizun..." Luo Binghe sniffed pitifully. "You shouldn't seduce me like this."
"Idiot." Shen Qingqiu huffed. "This is for the case to attract the culprit."
Abruptly, Luo Binghe's pleasant expression darkened to appear practically identical as an abyss. "Don't worry, Shizun. I won't let any pervert lay their dirty paws on you."
"Hey!" Shen Qingqiu frowned. "I can protect myself."
They then turned to look at the two other couple, who were too busy talking amongst themselves to even care. Wei Wuxian kept constantly brushing shoulders with his husband, who froze on the spot. It was possible to even mistake Lan Zhan as a sculpture thanks to how realistic his pause was. Xie Lian conversed shyly with Hua Cheng, but it seemed like the latter didn't care about the changes.
"No matter what Gege looks like, I'll forever treasure you." Hua Cheng had spoken iridescently. His arm curled around Xie Lian's waist, protectively bringing him closer to his chest.
Xie Lian giggled at the gentle touch.
After messing around, the three pair of husband and wife nodded then set off to the Mo Clan. The adventure lasted for quite long. Around nighttime did they arrive at the Main Street. Instead of being rowdy or busy and attracting many passerby's, there was practically nobody on the street. In other words, the Main Street was fervently deserted.
"It's like an oasis." Wei Wuxian offered up his opinion. He examined the street, which had lanterns hanging from a thread of metal, which was tied around spare pillars. The lanterns were all lit with light, but carried a dusty smell to them.
The street was covered in dust. Surely, nobody has swept or occupied the ground for a long time.
"The Mo Clan is up ahead. I see their pavilion." Luo Binghe pointed out. Looking ahead, the cultivators were able to catch a glimpse of the Mo Clan's quarters. It was a small gate, with two disciples standing guard. Behind the small gate was a small pavilion, which carried on a pathway of pebble stone. The surroundings was smothered in dust, as if nobody had dared to step out for a while.
As they walked closer to the Mo Clan gate, they noticed the scarce exhaustion on the two guarding disciples. They wore orange robes, which made them stick out from amongst the gate. In their hands were a spear.
"W-Who are you?" The two disciples stood guard, wary of their surroundings. The bottom of the spear tapped on the ground twice as a warning.
Shen Qingqiu stepped forwards, bringing the letter as evidence. "We're fellow cultivators coming over to investigate the recent mystery cases of your... martial sisters."
"Oh..." one of the two disciples understood. "You're here to investigate the demonic cases."
"We haven't figured out if it's indeed the activities of a demon." Luo Binghe scowled. His red demonic mark on the forehead was hidden thanks to excessive powder used by his lover.
The two disciples standing guard stiffened. They wore a complicated gaze in their eyes. "If it's not a demon, then what could it be? There's nobody else that is so cruel like them. All demons are bad guys. All demons deserve to die."
Before he could get out of control, Shen Qingqiu circled an arm around Luo Binghe's arm. "All right. Let's calm down."
Wei Wuxian stood out to engage in the conversation. "Are we allowed in? We would like to investigate the corpses of the deceased." Because of Lan Zhan's special guqin playing, they might be able to summon the spirit of the deceased. That way, their work would become much simpler.
"Of course." The two disciples let way, pushing open the gate doors with a croak. "We'll lead to our Clan Leader. He'll bring you to the deceased."
Beyond the gate doors was the small pavilion and a pathway of pebbles. The path led to a big courtyard, which in the centre was a big house. The big house had the penmanship words of "Mo Clan Leader" across its top billboard, which made the cultivators presume the place as the quarters of the leader. Outside had a statue of spears. Presumably enough, the Clan's chosen weapon was probably the spear.
"Inside is our Clan Leader." The two disciples bowed. "We'll send you to just here."
"Thank you." Xie Lian thanked them with a bow back before the two disciples left to go guard the gates once again. Turning to look at the house, the three pair of couples frowned.
"Is it safe for us to presume that the culprit is amongst the Clan?" Luo Binghe lowered his voice to a whisper. "That is a valuable conjecture." Shen Qingqiu sighed.
It was hard to believe that a demon could sneak inside the gates, rape many female disciples, kill them, then get away with it. Perhaps, there was a demon amongst the Mo Clan. There were many possible theories not set in stone yet, but that had only raised the three couples' caution higher.
"We won't learn anything without going inside." Wei Wuxian smiled. His smile was as bewitching even as a woman. Beside him, Lan Zhan's lips curved upwards for a second before falling back down.
"Let's go in?" Hua Cheng nudged Xie Lian gently. The latter nodded concisely.
Shen Qingqiu extended out a hand, then knocked on the door.
"Come in." A low croak bellowed out from inside the house.
Shen Qingqiu gently pushed open the doors, while the rest stepped inside with him. Inside of the house was a large room organized of bookshelves containing medicine bottles, pills, and manuals for cultivation. However, labelled on the surface were a bunch of talismans trying to protect them from any robbers.
In the centre of the room was a throne, with a sickly old man sitting atop. In front of him was a table. Plates of fruits and vegetables sat on the surface.
Plucking a ripe purple grape from its vine, the sickly old man plopped it in his mouth with a loud crunch. After chewing and swallowing it down his pale throat, the old man welcomed them with a heart wrenching smile. "Welcome to the Mo Clan, fellow cultivators and daoists. I will assume that you've gotten the letter I've sent out for help, right?"
"Yes," Lan Zhan nodded with a cold face.
Wei Wuxian added onto his hubby's words. "We read that your Clan has an outbreak in murder cases among your female disciples. If possible, we should be able to assist in finding the culprit."
The old man sitting on the throne stopped smiling. "Ohh, please do help find them. Those demons will pay for hurting my disciples..."
Luo Binghe resisted the urge to claw the old man to death. What was with the Mo Clan's assumptions?
Beside him, Shen Qingqiu rested a hand on his back. The gentle touch allowed Luo Binghe to calm down.
"I haven't introduced myself, have I?" The old man chuckled. "I am the Clan Leader of Mo Clan. My name is Mo Shifeng. Allow me to thank you for helping."
"No need for thanks." Xie Lian smiled. His smile was gentle and heartwarming. "We're just doing what we should be doing."
Mo Shifeng relaxed. His old body could barely hold on for much longer. "That's great. That's really great." He explained how he'd been the elder leader of the Mo Clan for quite long. Throughout those years, he'd been looking after his disciples and helped train them. The Clan didn't mess with any other people. Nobody had any bad relationship with other cultivators.
They simply had no ill intent. They were just a minor Clan, there wasn't much importance to them in the cultivation world.
However, one day, one of their female disciples didn't arrive on time to the lesson.
Heading to their dormitory, the rest of the disciples were astonished to find her dead body skinned of her entire cultivation process. They managed to conclude that the female disciple had been used as a human cauldron before her last breath. Just thinking about it made the Mo Clan tingle in ensuing fear.
Nobody wanted to be stripped away of their hard work then die brutally. However, more and more female disciples were found dead in their rooms.
Unwilling to have any of their disciples killed again, Mo Shifeng wrote letters to several other Clans and Sects, seeking for help. Contrary to their expectations, the culprit was too strong. They attacked the sent out cultivators and guests, used them as a human cauldron, then killed them. Since then, the Mo Clan hasn't been a safe place.
"In the letter, you've described that the corpses contain demonic energy?" Shen Qingqiu asked.
Mo Shifeng stiffened in fright. He then nodded. "Yes. We suspect that the culprit is that of a demon. How horrible... to kill so many people in our territory."
"Hmm... it doesn't have to exactly be a demon." Wei Wuxian shrugged. "It could be a ghost, demonic cultivator, fierce corpse with their conscious intact, or more."
Mo Shifeng's eyes were red from strain. He blubbered, "It has to be a demon!"
"How so?" Luo Binghe asked coldly.
Mo Shifeng awkwardly laughed. "Our Clan has always honoured the presence of righteous cultivators, whom the demons despise. The demons must've heard about us and wanted to destroy us wholly!"
"Like I said," Wei Wuxian sighed. "It seriously doesn't have to be a demon. A demonic cultivator is also possible."
"But our history against demons is much more bold than demonic cultivators." Mo Shifeng rambled on and on. "We worship righteous cultivators and despise the demons. Our lessons are all about how demons are fickle and the worst. The demons must've heard about us insulting them. They must really hate us to be so despicable... Demonic cultivators aren't the same. They are simply cultivators that went off to the dark side. However, demons were born in the dark. They aren't the same."
"Enough." Shen Qingqiu snapped his fan shut. "We get it. Demons and your Clan are enemies."
"Yes yes." Having made that point clear, Mo Shifeng could relax a little.
Shen Qingqiu brushed his hair with a finger. "Then should we start with examining the corpses?"
"Wait." Mo Shifeng cut in. "These fellow cultivators must be exhausted from the long trip, right? I'll get you somewhere to stay for the night."
"Thank you." Xie Lian clasped his hands and bowed.
Mo Shifeng led the three couples to a courtyard of six rooms, intending to separate them. However, before they could be led inside, Wei Wuxian quickly spoke up. "Actually, it's three rooms, not six."
Mo Shifeng was confused. "No, shouldn't it be six?"
Wei Wuxian shook his head. "Three."
Mo Shifeng, "..." He got it now.
Those three women had husbands.
Author's Little Theatre:
Mo Shifeng: Three? No, shouldn't it be six?
Wei Wuxian: No, it's three.
Shen Qingqiu: Why does this sound so familiar to me?