Black Lotus

17

At this moment, the unconscious Jin Ling suddenly sat up.

In front of the two, he clumsily stood up with closed eyes. Wei WuXian wanted to see what he was going to do, so he didn't do anything as Jin Ling slowly walked around him, took one stride, and stepped back into the wall where he stood just a while ago. He placed his arms flat beside his body. Even the position was the same as before.

Wei WuXian pulled him out of the wall again, feeling that the situation was both hilarious and strange. As he was about to tell Lan WangJi that it was best not to stay here for long, he suddenly quivered out of fright, hearing a few barks that came from afar. Ever since they went in, the black-haired spiritual dog behaved itself, wagging its tail as it sat before the entrance. It waited for them to bring back its master in an anxious yet pathetic way, without barking anymore. However, right now, its barks were fiercer than ever.

Lan WangJi spoke, "Something is wrong outside of the castle."

As he reached out to help Jin Ling, Wei WuXian beat him to it and carried Jin Ling up on his back, "Let's go out and see!"

The two quickly went back the same way they came. Bending down to exit, they saw the spiritual dog face them with its back, growling with the bottom of its throat at a certain direction. Although Wei WuXian managed to come over, he really couldn't bear this type of sound, and involuntarily took a few steps backward. When the dog turned around and saw that he had Jin Ling on his back, it instantly dashed over, causing Wei WuXian to scream. Lan WangJi shifted in front of him just as he was about to throw Jin Ling down.

The spiritual dog immediately stopped, its tail between its legs again. The reason why it didn't stick its tongue out was that it held something inside its mouth. Lan WangJi went forth, bent down, took out a scrap of cloth from between its teeth, and handed it over to Wei WuXian. It seemed like it was part of a piece of clothing. Before this, there must have been someone either roaming or spying around the area, and they must have appeared suspicious, or else the dog's barks wouldn't have been teeming with hostility. Wei WuXian declared, "They haven't gone far yet. Let's go after them!"
Yet, Lan WangJi responded, "That is not necessary. I know who they are."

Wei WuXian, "I also know. It must have been the same group of people who spread rumors of the Xinglu Ridge, let out the walking corpses, set up the maze array, and built the stone castles. And those sabers. But, if we don't catch them now, it'd be a bother to find them later."

Lan WangJi, "I will go after them. What about you and Jin Ling?"

Wei WuXian, "I'll take him down the Xinglu Ridge and settle down somewhere in Qinghe, around where we met that charlatan. Let's meet up there."

The pace of the conversation was extremely fast. Lan WangJi only paused for a moment, and Wei WuXian added, "Go. Any later and the person would have run away. I'll be back!"

Hearing the 'I'll be back', Lan WangJi took one deep look at him and walked off without any more words. The spiritual dog wanted to throw itself over again. Wei WuXian immediately shouted, "W-w-w-wait! Take the dog away! Take it!!!"

Lan WangJi had to come back again. He looked down at the black-haired spiritual dog. Too scared to put up any resistance, it yapped as it trailed behind Lan WangJi, turning around to look at Jin Ling once in awhile. Wei WuXian wiped a few drops of sweat from his forehead. After he looked at the group of white castles once more, he picked up Jin Ling again and went down the Xinglu Ridge.

At the moment, it was already near dusk. With a boy on his back and both of them covered in dirt, they received a lot of attention from passersby. Wei WuXian went back to the street where Jin Ling used the dog to chase him and found an inn. Using the money he fished out of Lan WangJi, he bought two new outfits and got a room. He first took off Jin Ling's sect robe, which had been crumpled after it was buried in dirt, then pulled off his boots. Suddenly, his movements came to a halt.