Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi Vol. 5


 
 
 Table of Contents
 
 Color Gallery
 Title Page
 Copyrights and Credits
 Table of Contents Page
 Chapter 21: Hensheng: To Hate Life
 Chapter 22: Hidden Edge
 Chapter 23: Wangxian: Forgetting Envy
 Extra 1: Family Banquet
 Extra 2: The Incense Burner
 Extra 3: Villainous Friends
 Extra 4: Gate Crasher
 Extra 5: The Iron Hook
 Extra 6: Lotus Seeds
 Extra 7: Yunmeng
 Extra 8: From Dawn till Dusk
 - FIN -
 Author Note
 Appendix: Characters
 Appendix: Locations
 Appendix: Name Guide
 Appendix: Pronunciation Guide
 Glossary: Genres
 Glossary: Terminology
 Footnotes
 About the Author
 Other works by MXTX
 Back Cover
 Newsletter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chapter 21:Hensheng: To Hate Life
 
 — Part 1 —
 
 WEI WUXIAN RAN DIRECTLY to the city’s Guanyin Temple with Wen Ning in tow. He and Lan Wangji had scouted a path earlier in the day, intending to examine it more closely at night to crack the magic array. That would allow them to determine exactly what the array was keeping sealed away and whether it would help them face Jin Guangyao. But he’d just had to sleep all the way until xu time, and when he woke, that had happened. 
 Their plans were a bust, and Wei Wuxian was sorely agitated. What better time than the present to cause some trouble for that sneak, Jin Guangyao?
 All was tranquil in the deep of the night. Every household had extinguished its lights, and the doors of the Guanyin Temple were shut. From his spot outside the tall walls of the enclosure, Wei Wuxian could see it was pitch black inside the courtyard. He started to climb the wall, then halted abruptly.
 Something’s not right, he thought.
 Wen Ning stopped in his tracks as well. “A barrier has been set,” he murmured.
 Wei Wuxian gestured, and the two dropped silently back to the ground. They left through the front gates and headed to a nook behind the Guanyin Temple. It was there that they cautiously scaled the enclosure wall. After they had hidden themselves behind a beast statue on one of the roof’s ridges, they peered into the courtyard once more.
 And were struck dumb by what they saw.
 Lights shone bright inside the temple. The complex was filled with standing figures. Half the crowd were monks and the other half cultivators wearing the Sparks Amidst Snow uniform. The two groups were milling together, all wielding bows and swords. They seemed to be guarding something. They were clearly ready for battle and would occasionally exchange hushed words as they remained on standby. 
 A special concealment barrier had been set up around the temple. From the outside, it looked like all was still, dark, and silent. None of the lights or voices within could be seen or heard.
 What shocked Wei Wuxian wasn’t the barrier, though, and it wasn’t the cultivators or fake monks. It was the white-clad man standing in the center of the courtyard.
 It was Lan Xichen.
 He was not bound or restrained in any way. Even his xiao Liebing and his sword were still fastened at his waist as he stood calmly among the crowd. The monks and cultivators also treated him with the utmost respect, some going as far as to respond to his statements with docile murmurs.
 After observing them for a while, Wei Wuxian whispered to Wen Ning, “Hurry back to the inn and bring Hanguang-jun here as quickly as possible!”
 Wen Ning nodded. The next second, he was gone. 
 Wei Wuxian hadn’t spotted Jin Guangyao. He didn’t know whether the man was here too, nor whether he had the Yin Tiger Tally in his clutches. After contemplating the situation briefly, he bit his finger, planning to entice a few minor minions into helping him summon some more powerfully sinister creatures. 
 But just as he was about to stick his bleeding finger into his spirit-trapping pouch, the sound of a dog barking came from the end of the long street outside the temple.
 Wei Wuxian was promptly scared out of his wits. He nearly ruptured his internal organs trying to repress the urge to leap straight into the clouds. Instead, he latched on to the beast statue near the top of the wall, shuddering in terror as he listened to the barking come closer and closer.
 Save me, Lan Zhan, save me! he chanted to himself unconsciously.
 Chanting the name seemed to help him muster some courage. With one last shiver, he forced himself to calm down, praying desperately that the dog was a stray without a master and that it would quickly go the hell away. 
 Alas, the lord of heaven was in an uncooperative mood. A young man’s bright, clear voice could be heard amidst the barking. 
 “Shut up, Fairy!” the young man scolded. “Are you trying to wake everyone on this street in the middle of the night?!”
 It was Jin Ling!
 Lan Xichen’s expression stiffened. Most of the cultivators from the Jin Clan of Lanling recognized the voice of their little young master, and they exchanged looks before nocking arrows to their bows all the same. 
 It wasn’t long before the boy and dog arrived at the front entrance of the Guanyin Temple. 
 “Shh! Shh! Keep barking and I’ll turn you into stew!” Jin Ling quickly hissed. “…Where are you taking me?”
 Wei Wuxian’s heart was so full of a myriad of fears that he was scared it would hurtle out of his body.
 Jin Ling, you unlucky little thing. Get outta here!
 Of course, Jin Ling just had to stop outside the temple. Fairy kept howling. It sounded like it was circling around, pawing at the dirt and wall.
 “Are you taking me here?” Jin Ling wondered.
 After a brief silence, he actually knocked on the door.
 “Is anyone there?”
 Inside the courtyard, every Jin cultivator was holding their breath. Their attention and their arrows were both aimed at the front gates, though they did