Disclosed Regrets

Dafan Mountain III - The Present (6)

Revised 14/05/23

I don't think you'll ever find such a simultaneous update again, haha

And oh my word! It's been exactly two years today since I started this fic!

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Following Wei Wuxian's endeavours in the forest, with a slight fade into darkness, the next scene rolled along. Wei Wuxian had continued his travels throughout the forest and his journey was eventually halted by the appearance of an old man.

The old man was seated on a thick tree branch that had fallen and rotted with time, and he was murmuring to himself incoherently. As Wei Wuxian drew closer, the words became more and more vivid until he could pick out every whimper the man made. "Ow, ow... It hurts! It hurts! Ow..."

"Where does it hurt?" he asked kindly, slightly bending down until he was at eye level with the stranger.

"Here, the head," said the man as he pointed to his head, turning to Wei Wuxian. "My head."

Wei Wuxian double took as he absorbed the sight: a large section of the man's head had been cleanly destroyed, leaving only a massive hole in the wake that was leaking pools of blood profusely.

"Ah, disgusting, disgusting!" exclaimed Nie Huaisang, quickly snapping his fan open and hiding his face behind it. "A warning would have been nice!"

"I'm sure you've seen worse," Lan Jingyi murmured spitefully, covering his face with the hem of his blue robes. "But, really, Senior Wei, how can you calmly look at that without even feeling somewhat nauseous?"

"You're right, I think I'm gonna be sick—" The person's words supposedly rang true, for the loud sound of retching echoed throughout the cave. Many exclaims of outrage followed.

Wei Wuxian looked at the man with something akin to pity. 'A ghost! Seems like he was killed by a blow to the head. He's dressed in burial robes both excellent in material and craftsmanship, which means that he's already been buried properly. He's not the lost soul of a living human.'

A frown crept up his face as he walked away from the scene, the man's cries now inaudible. 'But there's no way for a ghost like this to appear on Buddha Mountain..'

Not even moments later, Wei Wuxian found himself face to face with the group of rogue cultivators from earlier.

"I swear these rogue cultivators are everywhere," said a Jiang disciple, idly leaning their face against a palm. "How many times has Wei Wuxian run into a group of them now? Three times? Four?"

"I'm sure they're just lost," said another. "The forest seems so big now that I'm watching Wei Wuxian venture around it. Just where is the exit?"

"Are the Jin sect's people still around the area?" said one of the rogue cultivators with an exhausted sigh. They were leaning against a tree with their legs bent in half and were idly picking up sticks from the ground, throwing them into tall patches of grass. "Hopefully we don't run into them again..."

"I heard they left for the Goddess Temple with the Young Masters from the Lan Sect," said another. This one had their arms crossed to their chest and their face was contorted into an expression of deep concentration.

"Then, should we also...?"

His curiosity piqued, Wei Wuxian leapt off Lil' Apple's back and grabbed hold of the reins. He wandered over to them, lowering himself into a brief polite bow. "The Goddess Temple?"

The girl, who had been silent for a while, glanced at Wei Wuxian thoughtfully before exchanging looks with her two male companions. "It's a cave-temple on this mountain," she said, pointing to a certain place in the distance. "Over there."