12 Aggression (9)
Being dismembered was a classic example of a distressing death. It was only somewhat more dignified than the way Wei WuXian died. Unlike the situation of being crushed to powder, the limbs and parts of the corpse would be tainted with some of the resentment of the person who died, and it would want to reunite with the other parts and die with a whole corpse. Therefore, it would come up with strategies to find the other parts of the body. If it found it, it might be satisfied and rest in peace, or it might stir up more trouble. If it couldn't find it, the body part would have to put up with the second best option.
What would the second best option be? It would have to make do with the bodies of living humans.
It was like this left hand—eat the left hand of a living person, and replace it. After draining all of the person's blood and energy, it would abandon the body and find another container for parasitism, until it finally collected all of the other parts of its corpse.
As soon as the arm had possessed a person, they would die immediately. But, before all of the flesh had been eaten, they would still be able to walk around, under its control, as if the person was still alive. After it was attracted, the first container that it found was Mo ZiYuan. The second one was Mo ZiYuan's father. When Madame Mo told her husband to go away, he acted out of the norm and pushed her. Wei WuXian originally thought that it was because he was grieving his son's death and also tired of his wife's arrogance. Now that he thought about it again, it wasn't what a father who had just lost his son should look like. It wasn't the indifference from feeling hopeless. It was a deadly tranquility—the tranquility coming from an already-deceased person.
The third container was A-Tong, and the fourth one was Madame Mo. During the chaos from when the lights suddenly went out, the ghost hand had transferred onto her body. When Madame Mo died, the last cut on Wei WuXian's wrists also disappeared.
The boys from the Lan clan saw that, although talismans didn't work, clothing did, and all took off their coats to cover the left hand. The layers of clothing looked like a white cocoon. After a second, the ball of white clothes ignited with a whoosh, creating a green, abnormal inferno. Although it would take care of the moment, after a while, when the uniforms were completely burnt, the hand would emerge from within the ashes. While nobody was looking, Wei WuXian ran towards the West Courtyard.
The ten-or-so walking corpses that were subdued by the boys stood silently in the courtyard, sealed by the incantations drawn on the ground. Wei WuXian kicked one of the symbols, destroying the entire formation. He clapped twice. Suddenly, with a jolt, the whites of the walking corpses' eyes all turned upward, as if they were woken up by a bolt of thunder.
Wei WuXian spoke, "Wake up. It's time to work!"
He usually didn't need complex incantations to control these corpse puppets—a straightforward command would do as well. The walking corpses in front of him moved a few quivering steps. But, as they approached Wei WuXian, their legs grew weak and they collapsed onto the ground, as if they were real humans.
Wei WuXian found it both funny and annoying. He clapped his hands again, this time lighter. However, these walking corpses were probably born in Mo Village and died here as well, not having experienced life fully. They instinctively followed the summoner's commands, but were also horrified at the summoner, lying on the ground and afraid to get up.
The crueler the being was, the better Wei WuXian could control it. These walking corpses hadn't been trained by him and couldn't withstand direct manipulations from him. He didn't have any materials on him, which meant that he couldn't immediately make tools to ease the walking corpses. He couldn't even muddle and assemble bits and pieces. The soaring green flames in the East Courtyard gradually grew dimmer. Suddenly, Wei WuXian found a solution.
Why would he need to come outside and find a dead person with strong resentment and a cruel personality?
There were not only one, but multiple corpses in the East Hall!
He ran back to the East Courtyard. As Lan SiZhui's first solution failed, he found a second one. The disciples pulled out their swords and stuck them into the ground, making a sword fence. The ghost hand crashed into the fence, and they spent all their energy compressing their hilts so that it didn't break out, paying no attention to who was entering and leaving. Wei WuXian strode into the East Hall and grabbed Madame Mo and Mo ZiYuan's corpses, one on each hand, and spoke in a low voice, "Wake up!"
In a split second, Madame Mo and Mo ZiYuan's eye whites turned up, and started making the shrill and powerful shrieks that ferocious ghosts made after they came back to life.
Amidst the shrieks, another corpse trembled and crawled up, making the lowest and faintest shriek. It was Madame Mo's husband.
The shrieks were loud enough and the resentment was strong enough. Wei WuXian smiled, feeling quite satisfied, "Do you recognize the hand outside?"
He commanded, "Tear it apart."
The three members of the Mo family whipped out like three clouds of black wind.
The left arm fractured one of the swords, and was about to break out, when three cruel corpses without left arms came at it.
Aside from being unable to defy Wei WuXian's command, the family also loathed the creature that killed them, and let out their anger on the ghost hand. The main attacker was undoubtedly Madame Mo. Because female corpses were often especially fierce after they were modified, her hair was loose and her eyes were bloodshot. With nails that multiplied in length, foam gathering at the corners of her mouth, and shrieks that were enough to uplift the ceiling, she looked extremely insane. Behind her followed Mo ZiYuan, who cooperated with her and used both his teeth and his hands. His father was at the end, covering for the gaps between the attacks of the other two corpses. The struggling boys were stricken dumb with amazement.
