Human Faces Part 1

Upon entering the Forbidden Land, Wu Xingxue was about to speak when he was choked by the acrid smell of smoke and fire that rushed to his face. He coughed until a faint blush appeared on his neck and the side of his face.

The next moment, someone stood in front of him, shielding him from the gust of smoky wind, allowing him to stop coughing and recover.

Wu Xingxue looked up, and sure enough, it was Xiao Fuxuan.

High Immortal Tianxiu also carried the scent of smoke, likely from having stayed in this Forbidden Land for a while. When the wind swept past his robes, it was also choking.

But Wu Xingxue didn't make a sound.

He just narrowed his eyes slightly, suppressing the urge to cough until his eyes grew hot and couldn't help but turn red.

"The wind and smoke here are thick, and the killing intent is heavy. You shouldn't have—" Xiao Fuxuan glanced at the area behind him, then turned back, his words trailing off.

Wu Xingxue was watched by him, a little confused. "What's wrong?"

Xiao Fuxuan lowered his gaze. "...It's nothing."

Wu Xingxue: "?"

Wu Xingxue: "I shouldn't have what?"

Xiao Fuxuan: "Nothing."

The Demon Lord was a little baffled. But he guessed that High Immortal Tianxiu was most likely going to say, "You shouldn't have come at this time," so he couldn't help but start making excuses. "It's not that I wanted to barge in. You weren't at the inn, so you didn't see. That innkeeper was so hospitable, what a grand spectacle."

Xiao Fuxuan looked over. "What spectacle?"

The Demon Lord thought for a moment and began to spin a tall tale. "He brought a Corpse Person that had been soaked for who knows how long and, in the middle of the night instead of sleeping, squatted by my bed. I woke up startled in the night, turned my head, and saw that thing. It was truly... I was scared out of my wits."

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

High Immortal Tianxiu's expression became a little hard to describe. He moved his lips and, prompted by the Demon Lord's look, spoke somewhat reluctantly, offering a lead. "And then?"

The Demon Lord was very satisfied and continued, "And then a small conflict arose, which attracted the people from the Feng Clan. They came up and tossed a handful of paper ash at me, saying it was a Demon-Detecting Talisman, some messy thing or another, and got it all over me—"

His words carried a hint of complaint. He lowered his head to dust off his clothes, and indeed, some residual paper ash fluttered off.

He got a little ash on his fingertip and held it out. "Look."

High Immortal Tianxiu peered at his finger, and after a long moment, hummed in acknowledgment, indicating he had seen it.

The Demon Lord hadn't suffered so much as a scratch, so it was naturally impossible for him to have suffered any hardship in the matter. Xiao Fuxuan obviously knew this too, but he couldn't withstand those eyes looking at him.

He was silent for a moment, then still asked, "Did they make a move?"

Wu Xingxue said, "They moved their swords a little."

Xiao Fuxuan: "..."

At this point, the Demon Lord probably knew he had gone a bit too far and quickly changed the subject. "Fortunately, it wasn't a big commotion. After hearing a few words of my explanation, they stopped shouting about fighting and killing and changed their minds to help me find you."

Hearing this, Xiao Fuxuan's gaze flickered.

A moment later, he asked, "How long were you looking?"

Perhaps because the smoky wind of the Forbidden Land carried a searing heat, his voice sounded less cold, actually revealing a hint of gentleness.

Wu Xingxue was stunned to hear it, and his heart stirred.

It was strange. That trace of groundless longing he had previously suppressed had resurfaced again, nonsensically, even though the person he had been searching for all night was now standing right in front of him.

"Hm?" Wu Xingxue responded softly, saying, "Not too long, really. It's just that the entrance to this Forbidden Land is truly inconspicuous. The innkeeper seemed to be under a gag order and couldn't utter a single useful word for the longest time. And the Feng Clan members' skills are also very limited. I asked them to open a way for me, but they hesitated for half a day and couldn't manage it, wasting time for no reason—"

As he spoke, he suddenly fell silent.

Because when he looked up, he saw that Xiao Fuxuan was still watching him.

Just as Wu Xingxue was about to ask "What's wrong?" he saw Xiao Fuxuan suddenly raise his hand, the crook of his finger lightly touching the corner of his eye.

Wu Xingxue was instantly rendered speechless.

He was nearing his Tribulation Period, his whole body as cold as an ice sculpture. When the other's finger approached, that touch of warmth was so distinct that for a long time afterward, the corner of his eye remained warm.

Perhaps it was because the sensation of that moment was too similar that he recalled some fragmented images again. It seemed that the closer he got to Fallen Flower Terrace, the more frequently he remembered the past.

In that fleeting, blurry image, he saw the "Mian" character seal on Xiao Fuxuan's nearby neck light up from the bottom, like a pulsing golden fire.

He narrowed his eyes in the bright light, and then someone lightly touched the corner of his eye.

He saw Xiao Fuxuan rubbing the crook of his finger and say in a low voice, "It's wet."

...

Wu Xingxue's eyelashes trembled.

He subconsciously touched the corner of his eye, feeling the residual warmth from Xiao Fuxuan's finger, and instantly became even quieter, like a snow leopard cat whose fur had been smoothed down.

He struggled subtly for a moment and asked, "Was that the Feng Clan's paper ash on my eye just now?"

Xiao Fuxuan let out a low, questioning sound, then spoke after a moment, "No."

No?

Then why did you...

Wu Xingxue looked at him.

After another long while, Xiao Fuxuan's warm, deep voice sounded through the smoke and wind. "The disguise there faded. I was fixing it."

Wu Xingxue's gaze shifted.

The smoke and wind behind Xiao Fuxuan dispersed a little, and as his gaze shifted, he saw a hundred li of scorched earth.

Wu Xingxue furrowed his brow and asked, "Why is this place all scorched earth?"

Xiao Fuxuan turned his head to look. "...I don't know. It was like this when I arrived."

The smell of burning was really strong. Wu Xingxue was puzzled and mumbled, "Is that so?"

Xiao Fuxuan said without looking away, "Yes."

Wu Xingxue didn't doubt him and asked again, "By the way, how did you get to this Forbidden Land?"

Xiao Fuxuan said, "In the middle of the night, I heard a voice."

Wu Xingxue asked strangely, "What voice?"

Xiao Fuxuan said, "...Your voice."

Wu Xingxue: "?"

"My voice?" Wu Xingxue found it even stranger. "Where did it come from? What did it say?"

Xiao Fuxuan replied, "In the courtyard. It didn't say anything else, just called my name."

It was late at night. Although that "Xiao Fuxuan" was very soft, it was also extremely clear. There was no way he could have misheard.

At first, he thought it was the person curled up on the couch calling him because they were too cold, and he even bent down to check their temperature. But then he heard it again.

He then thought it was the statue in the brocade pouch at his waist.

It wasn't until he heard the third call that he recognized the voice was coming from the direction of the courtyard.

Normally, with the real Wu Xingxue lying on the couch, he would never have been distracted by a mere voice and would have just swept a gust of sword wind over.

But this was within the illusion of Fallen Flower Mountain Market, so he hesitated. Because the Mountain Market didn't just contain the present Wu Xingxue; perhaps the Wu Xingxue of the past was here as well.

He couldn't rashly draw his sword.

So he went to the window, opened a crack, and looked in the direction the voice came from. It was completely dark, and he couldn't see any figures.

Since it wasn't far, Xiao Fuxuan didn't let his Spirit Essence leave his body, instead releasing only a wisp of Spiritual Sense from his fingertip to probe the courtyard.

The voice came from a corner of the courtyard wall. The moment his wisp of Spiritual Sense touched the corner, he felt a gale rise up from the ground, engulfing him completely.

By the time he clove through the gale with a chop of his hand, he was already standing here.

"That's really strange," Wu Xingxue said. "There were clearly two people in the room, why did it only pull you in? Don't tell me this Forbidden Land can recognize people?"

Even if it did recognize people, it should have recognized him, not Xiao Fuxuan, right?