Xiao Xingchen joins Wei Wuxian and Jin Ling, only to reveal himself as Xue Yang in disguise. He summons zombie Song Lan and Wei Wuxian summons Wen Ning to counter-attack. Xue Yang poisons Jin Ling and attempts to force Wei Wuxian to fix a shattered soul for him. Lan Wangji attacks and drives off Xue Yang, after rescuing hostagesLan Sizhui, Lan Jingyi and newcomer Ouyang Zizhen. They find a mortuary that has glutinous rice and Wei Wuxian cooks up a near-inedible batch of congee to cure the corpse poisoning in the juniors. He also notices a ghostly girl outside and asks the Juniors to observe. Ouyang Zizhen notices that she'd be way pretty if she were cleaned up (and, you know, not dead and misisng a tongue). Wei Wuxian lets her into the mortuary and she heads straight for one of the coffins. Inside is the body of the actual Xiao Xingchen, and we enter a flashback on how they both met, and met up with Xue Yang.
Lan Sizhui remembers the taste of Wei Wuxian's cooking when he was a kid.