the Untamed : Without you, my soul

Suspicious deaths

After trying once again to convince me to accompany him to the Jinlintai summit, without success, my brother had left with our clan's delegation.

I stayed in YunShen Buzhi with Uncle. In Brother's absence, I continued to avoid him. Just as I did with some elders whom I had not spoken to since I came out of "retirement" four years ago!

Uncle had told me that holding a grudge was punishable by our rules... I am still waiting for the punishment.

The elders, like Uncle, had realized that they could no longer force me to do as they pleased. If I stayed within the clan, it was because I had decided to do so and not because of attachment or duty! I could leave the clan at any time if I wanted to.

Of course, out of respect for my brother, I wouldn't do that; but Uncle didn't know that. I am not sure if Brother told him that I was talking to him again!

Uncle had asked me to teach my variation of the "murder rope" to some of my disciples. I refused! He then sent Brother, to whom I gave the same answer. A little later, I told him that I was actually teaching it to someone in the clan without revealing the identity.

I don't know if he understood that the person in question was my 10 year old son, SiZhui.

I had been teaching him to play Qin for 6 months, as well as his language. He was also secretly training with me in swordplay. I gave him different books to understand the concept of the "killing rope". He should already learn to master it in its initial configuration. Once he had mastered it and learned the intricacies of the Qin, I could teach him how to combine the two to make it an even more formidable weapon than it was originally. It would take time, but he was young!

Brother's absence lasted 7 days. When he returned, he was accompanied by HuaiSang. I hadn't seen the head of the Nie clan for three or four years, I think! Brother sent for me.

When I arrived in his workroom, he and HuaiSang were standing looking at a map. I knocked on the front door. Brother beckoned me to join them. I greeted them and they did the same. Brother rolled up the map and invited us to sit down.

"Wangji, HuaiSang has a small problem. It seems that mysterious murders are taking place near Qingue. You can imagine that the reason I'm talking to you and not to the authorities is that these murders are of a spiritual nature."

"What kind? "I asked.

"Lan Wangji, I thought you had taken a vow of silence! "HuaiSang exclaimed.

"Let's say my brother doesn't talk much, HuaiSang.

"Well, we thought at first, a fierce corpse. So, on the advice of "third brother" I sent a spiritual investigator from the "Impure Domain", but his investigation was unsuccessful. He did not find any missing bodies or desecrated graves. However, we did find traces of demonic culture. So I called my envoy back and thought that the summit was an opportunity to ask for help from "second brother". Han Guang-Jun, you have been close to the Patriarch of Yiling, so you are familiar with the demonic culture. I would like you to accompany me to Qinghe and solve this case. Because I really don't know how to do it! "

HuaiSang was pleading. For the past few years, I had heard his nickname of Mr. "I don't know". The fact that they had found traces of demonic cultivation, was enough for me, to give me a reason to go there.

"Wangji?" asked Brother.

"I'll go."

We went down to Caiyi where a cart was waiting for us.

Traveling with HuaiSang was an experience I had to remember not to repeat. I made him uncomfortable. It is true that I spoke very little. He tried several times to start a conversation, but I was content to meditate, with Bichen prominently displayed on my lap. Fortunately, the trip lasted only three days.