The Stalk of Grass - Part Eight is the fortieth chapter of Mo Dao Zu Shi.
Synopsis []
Although petrified, A-Qing remains silent. Xiao Xingchen sheathes his sword, wondering why there are no living people left in the village. Xue Yang comments that he is relieved that Shuanghua points out corpse energy, or it would have been difficult to break through.
After they leave to search for survivors, A-Qing examines the corpses. She notices that they are the villagers who mocked the sight of a limping man and two blind people not long ago. To her relief, all the corpses have white eyes and liver mortis spots.
Wei Wuxian, however, realizes that they are all Living Corpses, not Walking Corpses, with traces of Corpse Toxin along their bodies. To prevent them from talking, someone had cut out all of their tongues, so that the villagers could only howl like Fierce Corpses. Thus, the blind Xiao Xingchen could not discern the difference.
Although A-Qing knows little about cultivation, her intuition tells her that Xue Yang is not just helping Xiao Xingchen, and she remains suspicious.
One winter evening, A-Qing pesters Xiao Xingchen into telling her a story. Xiao Xingchen eventually complies, telling her about an immortal cultivator who reached enlightenment. Although Baoshan Sanren brought many disciples back to her mountain, she did not let them leave, because she could not understand the world below.
Only three left. The first to leave, Yanling Daoren, was an outstanding disciple who earned praise and admiration for his skills and commitment to righteousness. But suddenly and mysteriously, he became a wicked villain, and died under a thousand swords.
The second was an outstanding cultivator and beautiful woman, Cangse Sanren. She married a servant, and the two of them died during a night-hunt.
A-Qing is appalled, and declares that she is not listening anymore. Xiao Xingchen reiterates that he does not really know how to tell stories.
A-Qing inquires about his night-hunting adventures, and Xue Yang takes the opportunity to ask if he always night-hunted alone. Xiao Xingchen replies that he had a "very good friend" who is a "sincere man of noble nature."
Xue Yang asks why his very good friend has not found him, and Xiao Xingchen falls silent before saying that he does not know.
Xue Yang then offers to tell a story about an impoverished, orphaned child who enjoyed sweets. One day, a man asked a child to deliver a letter for him, promising that if he did, he would give the boy a plate of pastries.
The delighted child set off to deliver the letter, only to be beaten by the burly recipient of the apparently humiliating letter. The burly man dragged the child back to the pastry shop, but the writer was long gone.
In tears, the child begged for his pastries, only to be beaten by the waiters and chased away. Coincidentally, he ran into the very man who asked him to deliver the letter.
Xue Yang stops the story, claiming that the child was given 'just a few more slaps and kicks" then. A-Qing identifies the child as Xue Yang, and indignantly declares that she would have beaten the man up.
After tucking A-Qing into her coffin, Xiao Xingchen asks what happened afterwards. Xue Yang declines to say, and Xiao Xingchen advises that he not dwell on the memories, as his life is decent now. However, Xue Yang says that since A-Qing keeps eating his candies, he feels reminded of those impoverished days.
Xiao Xingchen leaves to night-hunt alone, and the next morning, both A-Qing and Xue Yang awaken to a piece of candy left beside their pillows.
As time passes, A-Qing and Xue Yang reach a truce, as he quickly prevents vendors from taking advantage of their blindness by selling Xiao Xingchen and A-Qing rotten vegetables.
One day, A-Qing plays a game on the streets, only to be caught by a man in black. Song Lan advises her to play on the side, where it is safer if she cannot see. After hearing the man ask for a blind cultivator, A-Qing questions him.
After Song Lan answers correctly, she agrees to take him to Xiao Xingchen. However, Song Lan freezes when he sees Xue Yang in the coffin home with Xiao Xingchen. A-Qing explains that he was saved by Xiao Xingchen, is an annoying bastard, yet sticks to Xiao Xingchen all the time.
They watch while Xue Yang pranks Xiao Xingchen to determine who will go to the market today. Xue Yang immediately confesses that he lied when he claimed he pulled the longer stick, and sets off for the market.
Song Lan learns from A-Qing that Xue Yang has been living with them for a few years, that they used to night-hunt Walking Corpses but now just focus on creatures, and that Xiao Xingchen likes his jokes. He sets off to confront him, and A-Qing surreptitiously follows.
After intercepting Xue Yang on his way back from the market, Song Lan draws his sword and demands to know what he is scheming.
Although Song Lan initially has the upper hand, he loses his composure once Xue Yang reveals that he tricked Xiao Xingchen into killing living people via Corpse Poisoning. Xue Yang reminds Song Lan that Xiao Xingchen became blind for him, and that he told Xiao Xingchen to stay away from him in the aftermath.
Xue Yang tosses Corpse Toxin upon Song Lan, then uses Jiangzai to remove his tongue. Suddenly, Xiao Xingchen arrives and, drawn to corpse energy, Shuanghua pieces through Song Lan's heart.
In his dying moments, Song Lan does not dare pass his sword to Xiao Xingchen, knowing that his friend likely could not bear to know that he killed him. Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang leave, and A-Qing emerges from hiding. She kneels beside Song Lan's body and promises to save Xiao Xingchen and cut Xue Yang into pieces so that he can never enter reincarnation again.
That night, A-Qing pretends that she is crying because a village girl called her ugly. She requests that Xiao Xingchen take her shopping that night, but Xue Yang notes that everything will be closed. They agree to go in the morning, and Xue Yang departs for the market before them.
Once he is gone, A-Qing immediately asks if Xiao Xingchen knows someone named Xue Yang.[1]
Characters []
in order of appearance:
- A-Qing
- Wei Wuxian
- Xiao Xingchen
- Xue Yang
- Lan Jingyi (mentioned)
- Baoshan Sanren (mentioned)
- Yanling Daoren (mentioned)
- Cangse Sanren (mentioned)
- Wei Changze (mentioned)
- Chang Ci'an (mentioned)
- Song Lan
Events []
- Death of Song Lan in Yi City
- Massacre of Baixue Temple (mentioned)
Locations[]
- Yi City
- Baixue Temple (mentioned)
Creatures[]
Cultivation Abilities[]
Cultivation Tools []
- Shuanghua
- Corpse Toxin
- Fuxue
- Horsetail Whisk
- Jiangzai
References[]
- ↑ Novel, Chapter 40