Midnight

What do you mean?

What do you mean, "the two of you just checked out"?

Make yourself clear, did we check out of one room or two?

Wu Xingxue was filled with questions, yet he couldn't conveniently ask a single one. If he did, the innkeeper wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully tonight—

Imagine this, if an ordinary person had just seen two guests off, only to welcome two identical-looking people who then asked all sorts of questions about the former guests, acting as if they knew nothing. Isn't that more and more terrifying the more you think about it?

If the innkeeper later mistook them for ghosts or monsters and invited a few Immortal Sects to come besiege and capture them, the commotion would be far too great.

High Immortal Tianxiu had said that this was an illusion, but the scenery was real. Wu Xingxue didn't know what effect a huge commotion would have on this place, but based on common sense, it probably wouldn't be anything good. It was safer to be low-key.

So he forcefully suppressed his questions, his face calm and composed, hiding everything perfectly. It was as if he had indeed just left this inn a short while ago.

The innkeeper stared at them with a "what's wrong with you two" expression, then asked dryly, "What, have you two changed your minds and decided to stay another night?"

'No need,' Wu Xingxue thought. 'Let me think of an excuse to leave.'

In the end, he didn't find an excuse. Instead, Xiao Fuxuan replied to the innkeeper, "If you please."

Wu Xingxue: "?"

'Hold on.'

Lord Tianxiu did not hold on.

The innkeeper's voice rose even higher. "You... The two of you really want to stay another night?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "Yes."

Wu Xingxue turned his head, staring gloomily at a certain High Immortal.

Xiao Fuxuan glanced at him for a moment, then looked back at the innkeeper. His thin lips barely moved as he said in a low voice, "We'll talk upstairs."

...

Fine.

Wu Xingxue deigned to give a nod.

'This is the bad thing about not having memories, from time to time I have to be the obedient one.'

How could the great Demon Lord be an obedient, rule-abiding person? And yet, he had been so well-behaved on this journey that to an uninformed observer, he could probably be called a humble gentleman, cultured and gentle.

If the people from Zhaoye City heard these descriptions, they would probably be scared to death.

Xiao Fuxuan's reply was brief and neat, but the innkeeper acted very strangely, looking unwilling and reluctant. It was as if a guest staying another night was not to his liking.

His expression successfully drew the attention of a certain Demon Lord.

Wu Xingxue narrowed his eyes, observing him.

He saw the innkeeper flick the abacus beads twice with a clatter, then pick up the grey-blue register from the counter, lick his finger to flip through the thin, sand-yellow pages, and lift his brush.

His movements, as well as his tone of voice, were all sluggish. Though he was a middle-aged man with black hair, he exuded a heavy, somber air, completely different from that chubby shop boy.

The innkeeper dipped his brush in ink, then finally looked up and asked, "Will you two be staying in the same room as before?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "Yes."

Hearing that "yes," the Great Demon Lord finally lost the mood to observe the innkeeper.

Wu Xingxue turned his head to stare at Xiao Fuxuan again. Taking advantage of the angle where the innkeeper couldn't see clearly, he mouthed the question: One room???

He saw Xiao Fuxuan shoot a light glance at him, a glance sufficient to read his lips and understand the question. But he waited for a good while and never got a "we'll talk upstairs" from Xiao Fuxuan.

It was as if... he'd tacitly agreed.

Wu Xingxue fell silent in this stillness. A moment later, he pressed his lips together and withdrew his gaze.

The innkeeper picked a key from a large ring of bronze keys and handed it to the chubby shop boy. The boy took it and led the two "returning" guests to the second floor.

He stammered, his face red as he lowered his voice, "Um, not many people come to our inn, and you two only checked out a little over an hour ago, so... so the room hasn't been cleaned yet."

As he spoke, he glanced quickly at the counter downstairs, as if afraid the innkeeper would hear about his slacking.

"If you two aren't in a hurry, could you wait a moment? I'll sweep and tidy up, then go get a fresh pot of hot tea—" The little fatty stopped at the doorway. Before he could finish, he felt a chill on his hand, and the key held between his fingertips disappeared.

He was familiar with this ice-like touch. When that dapper, gentlemanly guest had touched him, it felt just like this, enough to make him shiver.

The little fatty looked at Wu Xingxue in confusion, only to see that the key was indeed in his hand.

The next moment, the guest had already unlocked the door and entered on his own.

'Hmm, I can tell, they're in quite a hurry.'

The little fatty thought.

Of course, Wu Xingxue didn't know what the shop boy was idly thinking. He was just distracted for a long time by that phrase "one room," wanting to see what this uncleaned bedroom actually looked like.

As the Great Demon Lord pushed open the door, he thought, 'If it's as unsightly as that bed of Sang Yu's...'

'...I'll slaughter this nosy shop boy.'

The little fatty had no idea he had just taken a stroll through the gates of hell. He pulled the cloth from his shoulder and trotted into the room, but just as he was about to start cleaning, he froze. "Huh?"

The guest room's bed was neat, the wooden chair was tucked under the table, and the teacups on the table were still inverted on the tea tray. Someone had clearly stayed here, yet it looked as if it hadn't been touched at all.

"You two are..." The little fatty blinked, looking at the two guests in bewilderment. For one, he had never met guests who cleaned up after themselves, let alone to this extent.

'Did they not actually stay here? Then what was the point of occupying a room?'

Wu Xingxue was also extremely surprised, but his face remained impassive. His gaze swept over every corner of the room before he turned to the little fatty and said, "No need to clean. You can go about your business."

The little fatty couldn't have been happier. "Aye!" he answered, then ran off with the cloth over his shoulder.

As soon as the irrelevant person left, Wu Xingxue immediately looked at Xiao Fuxuan.

'You've got some nerve, High Immortal Tianxiu.'

Wu Xingxue stared at him and said, "Did you do that on purpose?"

Xiao Fuxuan touched the door with his sword, and the door swung shut instantly, blocking the mountain wind of the night. He walked to the table and lowered his head to adjust the candle's wick.

The lamplight brightened instantly. Whether it was an illusion or something else, the room seemed to have warmed up considerably.

He pulled his hand back from the lamp, then finally raised his eyes to Wu Xingxue. "On purpose about what?"

'Deliberately staying silent when the innkeeper said 'one room,' deliberately causing a misunderstanding.'

But Wu Xingxue couldn't say this out loud.

Because the so-called "misunderstanding" would naturally dissipate once they entered the room. The innkeeper and shop boy had seen plenty; they neither knew them nor cared.

The only use for that little misunderstanding was probably to tease the Wu Xingxue who would be misunderstood.

And yet the person who had done such a thing stood by the table holding a longsword, still wearing that same cold and detached expression.

The bean-sized flame on the table flickered.

Wu Xingxue was suddenly a little curious. If, during the Tribulation Period back then, High Immortal Tianxiu had really been in his Quebuluo, what kind of expression would he have worn? Would it still be like this...

But the moment this thought emerged, the Great Demon Lord swept it away.

He averted his head under the candlelight and blinked lightly. When he turned back, he no longer mentioned any "misunderstanding," but instead mumbled a silent "forget it," then asked Xiao Fuxuan, "Why did you suddenly change your mind and decide to stay the night here?"

After asking, he realized something. With a soft "ah," he looked at Xiao Fuxuan and said, "It seems... the High Immortal has remembered which time this was?"

'Right, it's not like every time you came to Fallen Flower Mountain Market... um, you stayed at this inn.'

The Demon Lord thought.

Sure enough, he heard Xiao Fuxuan give a "yes," then say after a moment of silence, "That was the last time I came to Fallen Flower Mountain Market."

Wu Xingxue paused. "The last time?"

Xiao Fuxuan nodded. "The next time I heard of it, it was the news that it had been completely burned down by a mountain fire."

Wu Xingxue thought that this must be it. They had been pulled into this illusion, perhaps because Fallen Flower Mountain Market held a secret on this particular day.

He asked again, "Did anything abnormal or special happen that day?"

Xiao Fuxuan said calmly, "No."

Wu Xingxue was a little surprised. "No?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "No."

Indeed, nothing abnormal had happened that day. He had just once again run into the Spirit King at Fallen Flower Mountain Market, and once again they had changed their appearances and walked through the market together.

That day, the Spirit King had just finished handling a Heavenly Edict and had consumed a great deal of immortal qi, exuding an air of weary laziness. When the mountain wind blew at night, he actually felt a bit cold, so they had entered this inn.

The inn's innkeeper was sluggish and not at all attentive, and the shop boy was also clumsy and very careless.

He remembered that the night was late and the dew was heavy. There was a brazier in the room, and he had floated lanterns in every corner, like little stars, making the entire room warm.

The Spirit King soon grew sleepy. Propping his head up, he nodded off, and before long, he curled up and fell asleep, slowly circulating his immortal qi in his deep slumber.

And he, as always, felt no sleepiness at all. He sat leaning against the window with one leg propped up, glancing from time to time at the person curled up on the bed, just in case their circulation was not smooth and something went wrong midway.

That night was uneventful. If he hadn't entered this inn once more, he wouldn't have even remembered that day.

But thinking back now, the complete lack of abnormality was the greatest abnormality of all.

Xiao Fuxuan was lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly furrowed his brow slightly and said, "My memories of that night must have been altered."

Wu Xingxue was stunned. "Who?"

Only after asking did he realize he had said something unnecessary—the Dream Bell was hanging right at his waist, yet he was still asking Xiao Fuxuan who had tampered with his memories.

But High Immortal Tianxiu was, after all, a figure in the Immortal Capital on par with an Immortal Leader. To alter his memories, even for someone on good terms or even very close to him, should have been extremely difficult to achieve.

...

What exactly happened that day that led him to alter Xiao Fuxuan's memories?

Or rather, what had appeared in this inn that day, and what had it caused, that resulted in the later Fallen Flower Mountain Market becoming a stretch of scorched earth?

These few questions lingered in Wu Xingxue's mind, tangling themselves around him even later in his dreams, like withered vines or giant snakes slithering up, exuding a rotten, damp, and gloomy scent.

At the hour of Yin, in the middle of the night, Wu Xingxue's eyes suddenly flew open.

The moment he awoke, a faint, gloomy, and damp scent still lingered before his nose, like an aftertaste from his dream that hadn't dispersed.

The room was pitch-black, making the surroundings seem even more silent, with only his own breathing and the barely audible breath of another person.

He was sleeping curled on his side, facing the wall. The other sound of breathing was behind him.

He moved his lips and called out lowly, "Xiao Fuxuan," about to ask why the other had suddenly extinguished the candle. But the next instant, he realized something was wrong!

That wasn't Xiao Fuxuan.

Because the breathing was too close, as if... that thing was lying prostrate by the bed, silently watching his back in the dead silence.

Wu Xingxue flipped over and came face to face with a pair of unblinking, deathly-white eyes.