THE YILING MATRIARCH

Chapter 37 : The Headless Cultivator

A/N: Sorry for the long wait!!! I've said this time and time again, but juggling college and work is a pain. Plus this chapter didn't want to write itself and was shorter than I hoped. Hope you enjoy!

Unbeknownst to Meifeng as she paced furiously back and forth outside, the eyes of the Lan disciples watched dutifully, having followed the young lady to make sure she was alright after running away post Yuan's explanation.

The boy had been blushing the entire time speaking of the meaning of the Lan sect's headband, but it was no match for the red glow that burned her face so much they were initially afraid for her. However, watching her now, some were wondering if she was happy because of the Lan sect headband's meaning; all had seen how close she and their Senior were together and all had grown to like her anyway, so they wouldn't have been against seeing her more around Gusu.

Their musings, as well as Meifeng's panic, was cut off suddenly when a strange rustling came from the tree line beyond.

It wasn't different from any normal rustling, but the aura coming their way was dangerously familiar to the limbs they had found thus far... but hadn't they been safely stored away in the spirit pouch!? Meifeng had to guess their unknown friend had managed to put himself together after all and grace them with his presence... whoever he may be.

Standing at its full height, Meifeng had to imagine their guest to be at least above six feet tall if his head was attached, which was a standing few men lived up to. The body also appeared physically fit, which could only have been grafted from years of dedication and hard fighting; the person's precise movements cemented this idea as he appeared to be fighting an invisible enemy.

Well, it was either that or whoever the man was had quite the temper when he was alive, watching in safety as clenched fists broke the side of a tree with ease. Even without a head, Meifeng did not want to take any chances gaining the creature's attention.

"Quickly, put out the fires and scatter! Since he doesn't have a head, he cannot see or hear us, but make sure he doesn't sense any human life!"

The young men did as she told them to, kicking dirt on their fire and giving the looming figure a wide berth in fear of the strange monster that walked up to their campsite. Had the detached limbs they had collected somehow draw on each other through the dark energy to create an aggressive ghoul?

Meifeng meanwhile was testing the body's responsive actions by throwing a rock at it, carefully studying as it stomped where the stone had come from while unknowingly passing her completely. Relaying the information how to avoid its detection, the group now watched as the headless figure wandered aimlessly in the clearing as if searching for something it wanted....

Like its head.

Which made sense in all honesty to her, making it a possibility that he'll take one wherever he could find off another person's neck. If it happened to fit, he'd use it until finding his original head or throw it aside if it didn't match.

Not noticing she was speaking aloud, the frightened figures of the Lan disciples stood frozen in place at her words. "Don't be afraid! Although that headless corpse's cultivation is high, he has to rely on walking around blindly since he doesn't have a head to see or hear us. You boys simply need to walk slowly around him so you don't catch his attention."

This, however, didn't seem to calm them down much. Instead, their worried whispers caught her ears sharply, so Wei Meifeng was left with no other choice than to pull out her wildcard that would surely put the Junior Lan disciples at ease and quell the headless corpe's anger. She hadn't wanted to use it so soon, but there was nothing else she could do. So, inhaling a large breath of wind, she did it.

"Hanguang-Jun! Hanguang-Jun! Are you back yet? Come save me!"

And what do you know, Meifeng didn't have to wait more than two minutes for the familiar sound of Wangji's melodious strings and of a flute to ring true in her ears; it was both her Lan Wangji and the elder Jade brother, Lan Xichen, coming to their rescue looking as pristine as ever. Seeing the dead body still flailing about aggressively, the brothers wasted no time jumping into action, though it was the movements that had both Xichem and her attention.

The corpse's fighting style and natural body posture revealed that it was none other than the former Nie clan leader, Nie Mingjie, Lan Xichen's sworn brother. However, if this was true, had his death by Qi deviation hold a deadly secret that was taken to his grave?

If this was true, who could've done such an act to one of the strongest Cultivators in the world?