Sect Leader Jiangâs words were eternally tainted with mockery. But this time, whom he mocked was no one but himself.
Suddenly, he said, âIâm sorry.â
Wei WuXian hesitated, â⌠You donât need to say sorry.â
At this point, it was impossible to figure out who should apologize to whom.
Wei WuXian continued, âTake it as my repayment to the Jiang Sect.â
Jiang Cheng looked up. He looked at him with teary, bloodshot eyes, and a
hoarse voice, â⌠Repayment to my father, my mother, my sister?â
Wei WuXian pressed his temples, âForget it. Itâs all in the past now. Letâs not mention it again.â
It wasnât something he liked to reminisce about. He didnât want to be reminded again and again of what it felt like when his core was cut out or what price he had to pay. If this were exposed in the past, heâd most likely laugh and comfort Jiang Cheng, âItâs not that big of a deal anyways. Look at me all these years. Without the core, I still managed to come through, didnât I? Beating everyone I wanted to beat, killing everyone I wanted to kill.â But now, he indeed didnât have the strength left to put up such a confident, nonchalant pretense.
From the bottom of his heart, he knew he wasnât so indifferent about it after all.
Was it really that easy to move on from such a thing?
Of course not.
In truth, when Wei WuXian was seventeen or eighteen, his pride wasnât much lower than Jiang Chengâs. He once had strong spiritual powers, more talented than others. No matter how much he fooled around, staying up all night pulling pranks on others, he was still far ahead of his classmates who worked so hard.
But every time he tossed and turned as he lay awake at night, knowing heâd never reach the stars using proper means, knowing heâd never wield his sword with the excellence that was supposed to bring astonishment to so many eyes, he wondered if Jiang FengMiang hadnât take him back to Lotus Pier, perhaps he wouldnât cross paths with cultivation his whole life. Then he would have never known that such a magnificent path existed in this world. Heâd only be a head beggar who roamed the streets, fleeing at first sight of a dog, or maybe looking after cows and stealing other peopleâs crops in the countryside, playing his flute to pass his time. He wouldnât have known to cultivate, and he definitely wouldnât have had the chance to form a core. With such thoughts, heâd felt much better.
Take it as repayment, or take it as redemption. Take it as heâd never received the golden core to begin with.
After explaining things to himself like this again and again, it was as though he was truly as confident and as nonchalant as he made it seem like on the surface, and along the way he could even praise himself for such a state of mind, whether he was lying or not.
But that was in his past life.
Wei WuXian, âUh, I think itâs best if you⌠also stop keeping it on your mind. I know youâll definitely always keep it on your mind, but, how should I say itâŚâ He clenched Lan WangJiâs hand, saying to Jiang Cheng, âRight now, I do really think⌠itâs all in the past. Itâs been too long. Thereâs no need to struggle with it any longer.â
Jiang Cheng wiped his face roughly, drying his tears. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
At this point, still enveloped in Lan XiChenâs robe, Nie HuaiSang gradually woke up. Moaning lightly, he managed to crawl up, still bleary-eyed, âWhere am I?â
Yet, the instant he got up, he saw Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi sitting together so tightly on the same sitting mat. The YiLing Patriarch was basically sitting on HanGuang-Junâs lap. He immediately let out a wail, as if he was about to faint again. At the same time, a series of strange sounds came from behind the Guanyin Temple, as though something was being spurt out. A moment later, the cultivators whoâd been digging began to wail too.
The expressions of everyone in the temple changed. Immediately, a somewhat pungent odor drifted outside. As Lan XiChen covered his face with his sleeves, some worry could be seen in his eyes. Soon, two figures staggered outside.
Su She was holding Jin GuangYao up. The two looked pale, while the wails from behind the palace continued. Su She, âSect Leader, how do you feel?!â
Cold sweat seeped from Jin GuangYaoâs forehead, âFine. Thank you for back then.â
His left hand dangled, unable to be lifted. His entire arm trembled, as though he was suffering extreme pain. With his right hand he took a bottle of pills from his lapels. He wanted to open it, but it was difficult with just one hand. Seeing this, Su She immediately took over the bottle and tipped a pill into his palm. Jin GuangYao lowered his head, gulping it down with a frown. His brows relaxed immediately.
Lan XiChen hesitated for a moment before asking, âWhat happened?â
Jin GuangYao paused in surprise. Blood finally seemed to have rose to his cheeks as he managed a smile, âAn accident.â
He took out some medicinal powder and sprinkled it over his hand. An area of red had appeared from the back of his left hand to his wrist. With observation, it could be seen that the skin seemed like cooked meat. The skin was completely ruined. Jin GuangYao tore off a part of his white sleeves, his fingers trembling slightly, âMinShan, wrap it tight around my wrist.â
Su She, âItâs poisonous?â
Jin GuangYao, âThe poison is still flowing upwards. Itâs not a big deal. The poison can be ejected with some rest.â
Right after Su She treated his wound, Jin GuangYao wanted to return behind the palace to inspect. Su She hurried, âSect Leader, let me go!â
The pungent smell dissipated gradually. Wei WuXian and Lan WangJi got up as well. A tall mountain of dirt could be seen beside a deep ditch. Quite a delicate coffin lay at one side, atop it a pitch-black box. Both of the two had been opened already, and thin, white smoke continued to rise from within. The odor came from the white smoke, which meant it must be some sort of fatal poison. Corpses that belonged to the cultivators whoâd been digging so earnestly lay scattered all around the coffin. Right now, they had been burned alive. Even their uniforms and robes and had been corroded to black fragments. It was obvious just how poisonous the white smoke was.
Leading the way, he used his sword energy to repel the remaining smoke. The tip of his blade flicked across the black box. The iron chest fell to the ground. It was empty.
Jin GuangYao finally couldnât hold himself back any longer. He stumbled towards the edge of the coffin. The blood that had returned to his face immediately faded again. It could be seen just by his expression that the coffin was empty as well.
Lan XiChen approached. After he saw the horror that had become of the palace, he was shocked, âWhat in the world did you bury here? How could this be??â
Nie HuaiSang only had a glance before he collapsed to the ground, retching. Jin GuangYaoâs lips trembled. He couldnât say anything. A streak of lightning exploded, reflecting against the pale white of his face. His expression was terrifying indeed, sending chills down Nie HuaiSangâs spine. He didnât even dare vomit too loudly, covering his mouth behind Lan XiChenâs back, shivering whether out of fear or the cold. Lan XiChen turned around and said a few words of comfort to him, while Jin GuangYao didnât even have the strength to upkeep his kind, gentle front.
Wei WuXian, âZeWu-Jun, now youâre doing wrong to Sect Leader Jin here. He wasnât the one who buried the things here at all. Even if he buried something in the beginning, it should be long since someone switched them with something else.â
Su She pointed at him with his sword, his voice cold, âWei WuXian! Is this a trick of yours?!â
Wei WuXian, âIâm not trying to brag, but if I were the one who pulled a trick on you, an arm might not be all thatâs wounded on your sect leader. Sect Leader Jin, do you still remember the letter Qin Su brought you, back on Koi Tower?â
Jin GuangYaoâs eyes slowly moved towards him.
Wei WuXian, âThe one who told Qin Su the good things you did was Madam Qinâs previous maid, BiCao. But when BiCao suddenly decided to expose everything, did you really believe nobody was pushing things forward from behind? And Maiden SiSi, the one you locked up. Who saved her? Who was the one that told her to go to the YunmengJiang Sect with BiCao and expose your secrets in front of everyone? If they could find out every single one of those hidden secrets of yours, Sect Leader Jin, whatâs so hard about coming here beforehand and switching what you wanted to dig up with poisonous smoke to give you when you came?â
Suddenly, a monk spoke, âSect Leader, there are signs of displacement in the dirt here. Somebodyâs dug in from the other side before!â
As expected, someone was here first. Jin GuangYao turned around, slamming his fist on the empty coffin. Nobody could see his expression, but all could see his trembling shoulders.
Wei WuXian grinned, âSect Leader Jin, have you ever thought that perhaps tonight youâre a mantis, yet thereâs an oriole* behind you? The one whoâs been watching you might be hiding in the dark this exact moment, observing your every move. No, maybe, itâs not a personâŚâ
TN: The full saying is âthe mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behindâ.
The storm muffled the thunder. As he heard the words ânot a personâ, for a split second, something that could be described as fear flashed across Jin GuangYaoâs face.
Su She sneered, âWei WuXian, stop with the empty intimidationâŚâ
Jin GuangYao raised his right hand to stop him. The fear on his face went as soon as it came. All of his emotions were quickly under control. He spoke, âDonât waste your energy on arguing. Treat the injury on your body. After I remove the poison, gather the rest of the people at once and prepare to depart.â
Su She, âSect Leader, what about the thing thatâs been dug out?â
Jin GuangYaoâs lips were a bit pale, âIf itâs been dug out already, itâs definitely be impossible to take back. We shouldnât stay here for long.â
Su She, âYes!â
Back when Su She fought with Fairy, heâd been wounded in many places by its claws. His clothes were ripped both at his arms and his chest, and at his chest especially, the wounds dug deep into his flesh. Blood seeped through the white robes. If the wounds werenât treated properly, he might not be able to face whatever emergency situations that happened, as time went on. Jin GuangYao took out a pouch of medicine from his lapels and passed it to him.
Su She received it with both hands, âYes.â
Indeed, he stopped talking to Wei WuXian as he turned around and took off his clothes to treat his wounds. Jin GuangYao still couldnât move the hand burned by the poisonous smoke. He could only sit on the ground and concentrate on expelling the poison. The remaining cultivators held their swords as they walked back and forth inside Guanyin Temple, keeping guard. As he saw these glaring blades, Nie HuaiSangâs eyes went straight ahead. He had no guards beside him, so he didnât even dare let out a loud breath. Shrunken against the corner behind Lan XiChen, he let out quite a few sneezes.
Wei WuXian thought, To other people, Su Sheâs quite sarcastic, and to Lan Zhan, heâs even more resentful. But heâs sure quite respectful towards Jin GuangYao.
As he thought this, he couldnât help glancing at Lan WangJi, just in time to see a streak of ice flash before his eyes.
Voice cold, Lan WangJi spoke to Su She, âTurn around.â
Su She was looking down, applying medicine to the scratch marks at his chest, facing them sideways. As he heard Lan WangJiâs almost inviolable command, he involuntarily turned around. As he turned around, both Jiang Cheng and Jin Ling widened their eyes. The grin on Wei WuXianâs face disappeared as well.
He almost couldnât believe it, â⌠Itâs you!â
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