Chapter 50: 狡童第十 5

He kicked his own saber flying and stormed out of the Training Ground. Jin Guangyao called after him, 'Huaisang! Huaisang!' He was about to chase when Nie Mingjue said coldly, 'Stay where you are.'

Jin Guangyao stopped, turned around. Nie Mingjue gave him a look and, holding back his temper, said, 'You actually have the nerve to show up.'

Jin Guangyao said quietly, 'I came to apologize.'

Wei Wuxian thought, 'That nerve — thicker than mine, honestly.'

Nie Mingjue said, 'You think you know what you did wrong?'

Jin Guangyao was about to speak when the disciples who'd gone for the medicine came back. 'Sect Leader, Lianfang-zun, the Second Young Master's locked the door. He won't let anyone in.'

Nie Mingjue said, 'We'll see how long he can keep it locked. Insolent brat!'

Jin Guangyao said pleasantly to the disciple, 'Thank you for the trouble. Give the medicine to me — I'll take it to him in a bit.'

He took the medicine bottle, and once the others had dispersed, Nie Mingjue said, 'What exactly are you here for?'

Jin Guangyao said, 'Have you forgotten, dage? Today's the day for the guqin.'

Nie Mingjue said flatly, 'There's nothing to discuss about Xue Yang. You don't need to curry favor with me. It won't work at all.'

Jin Guangyao said, 'First of all, I'm not currying favor with you. And second — if it won't work, then why would you be afraid of me trying?'

Nie Mingjue said nothing.

Jin Guangyao said, 'Dage, lately you've been pushing Huaisang harder and harder. Is it because of the saber spirit...?' He paused. 'Does Huaisang still not know about the saber spirit?'

Nie Mingjue said, 'Why should he be told so soon?'

Jin Guangyao sighed. 'Huaisang's been spoiled. But he can't spend his whole life being the idle Second Young Master of Qinghe. One day he'll understand that you mean well by him, dage. Just like I came to understand, later, that you meant well by me.'

Wei Wuxian thought, 'I'm impressed, truly. I couldn't get those words out in two lifetimes, and Jin Guangyao pitches the tone perfectly — not a false note. Downright moving, even.'

Nie Mingjue said, 'When he really understands — you bring me Xue Yang's head.'

To his surprise, Jin Guangyao said at once, 'Done.'

Nie Mingjue looked at him. Jin Guangyao looked straight back and said it again. 'Done. Just give me one last chance, dage. Within two months, I'll bring you Xue Yang's head myself.'

Nie Mingjue said, 'And if you can't?'

Jin Guangyao's voice was firm. 'If I can't, do with me as you please, dage!'

Wei Wuxian found himself a little impressed with Jin Guangyao.

Every single time, he'd be scared half to death by Nie Mingjue — yet in the end he could always use some winding, twisting tactic or turn of phrase to get Nie Mingjue to give him one more chance. That night, Jin Guangyao calmly played the Purifying Mind Tone in the Impure Realm again, as though nothing had happened.

He swore his oath with utter conviction. And yet Nie Mingjue never made it to those two months at all.

One day, Qinghe Nie Sect held a martial arts assembly. Nie Mingjue was passing a guest hall when he suddenly heard someone speaking in a low voice inside — it sounded like Jin Guangyao. And a moment later, another familiar voice answered.

Lan Xichen said, 'Since dage swore brotherhood with you back then, that's his acknowledgment of you.'

Jin Guangyao said miserably, 'But, erge — didn't you hear how his oath was worded? Every line pointed at me. "Condemned by all, torn apart by Five-Horse Dissection" — that was clearly a warning to me. I... I've never heard an oath of brotherhood worded like that...'

Lan Xichen said gently, 'What he said was "if you should harbor treachery." Do you? If you don't, then why dwell on it?'

Jin Guangyao said, 'I don't. But dage has already decided that I do. What am I supposed to do about that?'

Lan Xichen said, 'He's always valued your talent. He hopes you'll walk the right path.'

Jin Guangyao said, 'It's not that I don't know right from wrong — it's just that sometimes I truly can't help it. There's no easy side for me to stand on now. I have to watch everyone's face. The others, fine — but how have I ever wronged dage? You heard him yourself, erge. The way he cursed at me last time?'

Lan Xichen sighed. 'He was only angry in the moment, speaking without thinking. Dage isn't the man he used to be. Whatever you do, don't provoke him again. Lately he's been suffering badly from the saber spirit's torment, and on top of that Huaisang quarreled with him in a temper — they still haven't made up.'

Jin Guangyao choked out, 'If he can say such a thing in a moment of anger, then what does he really think of me the rest of the time? Just because I couldn't choose where I was born, because my mother couldn't choose her own fate — must I be trampled like this my whole life? If so, what's the difference between dage and all the people who look down on me? No matter what I do, in the end one sentence is all it takes to brand me the Whore's Son again.'

Jin Guangyao was in here pouring out his grievances to Lan Xichen now — when only last night he'd been all gentle warmth, playing the guqin and talking heart-to-heart with Nie Mingjue. The instant Nie Mingjue heard him stirring up trouble behind his back, he flew into a rage and kicked the door in. The furious flames in his mind burned straight through his innards, and a thunderous roar exploded by his ear: 'You insolent cur — how dare you!'

The moment Jin Guangyao saw him come through the door, he was scared out of his wits and ducked behind Lan Xichen. Lan Xichen was caught between the two of them, and before he could get a word out Nie Mingjue had already drawn his saber and swung. Lan Xichen drew his sword and blocked once. 'Run!' Jin Guangyao bolted out the door. Nie Mingjue threw Lan Xichen off. 'Don't get in my way!' He gave chase, rounded a long corridor — and suddenly saw Jin Guangyao strolling leisurely toward him. He brought the saber down, and in an instant blood sprayed everywhere. But Jin Guangyao had clearly been scrambling to flee for his life — how could he possibly be ambling back this calmly?!

After the strike, Nie Mingjue staggered forward a stretch, lurching out into the open square, and lifted his head, gasping. Wei Wuxian could hear the pounding of his heart in his own ears.

Jin Guangyao!

All across the square, in every direction, the people coming and going — every one of them wore Jin Guangyao's face!

Nie Mingjue had succumbed to the saber's qi deviation!

His mind had gone, and all that was left in it was kill, kill, kill, kill Jin Guangyao. He cut down everyone he saw, and screams went up all around. Suddenly Wei Wuxian heard an anguished cry: 'Dage!'

Hearing that voice, Nie Mingjue jolted, and grew a little clearer. He turned to look — and at last, blurrily, picked out one different face from the field of Jin Guangyaos.

Nie Huaisang clutched the arm Nie Mingjue had wounded, dragged one leg, and struggled toward him. Seeing his brother suddenly go still, he cried out through his tears, overjoyed, 'Dage! Dage! It's me — put the saber down, it's me!'

But before Nie Huaisang could reach him, Nie Mingjue collapsed.

Just before he fell, Nie Mingjue's eyes finally cleared, and he saw the real Jin Guangyao.

Jin Guangyao stood at the far end of the corridor, not a single fleck of blood on him. He gazed over at the scene, and two streams of tears spilled from his eyes.

But the Golden Star Snowwave blooming at his breast seemed to be smiling in his place.

Suddenly Wei Wuxian heard a voice calling him from far off. The voice was cool and low. The first call was faint, distant, half dream and half real. The second came through clearer, sharper — and beneath it you could just catch a barely perceptible note of urgency.

By the third call, he heard it crystal clear.

'Wei Ying!'

At the sound, Wei Wuxian wrenched himself out!

He was still a thin little Paper Effigy, pasted to the iron helm that sealed Nie Mingjue's head. The iron plate covering Nie Mingjue's eyes had had its cords loosened by him, exposing one bloodshot eye glaring wide with rage.

There wasn't much time left — he had to get back into his own body at once!

Paper Effigy Wei shook out his sleeves and flew off, like a butterfly beating its wings. But the instant he shot out past the curtain, he saw a figure standing in the dim corner of the chamber. Jin Guangyao smiled faintly, and without a word drew a soft sword from his waist — none other than his famous Hensheng Sword.

Back when Jin Guangyao was undercover at Wen Ruohan's side, he often kept this soft sword hidden at his waist or coiled around his wrist, using it at all the critical moments. The Hensheng Sword's blade looked soft to the extreme, its sword-intent lingering and tender, but it was in truth viciously sharp and would not let a soul rest. Once its blade coiled around something, Jin Guangyao would channel his eerie spiritual power and the sword — that seeming pool of spring water — would shear it into segment after segment. Many famous swords had been ruined into heaps of scrap iron this way. Now its blade was like a venomous snake glittering with silver scales, biting close after the paper figure. One moment's carelessness and those fangs would sink in!

Paper Effigy Wei flailed his sleeves, dodging left and right, weaving nimbly — but it wasn't his own body, after all. After a few dodges he was very nearly caught by the Hensheng Sword's tip. Any longer like this and he'd be run clean through!

Suddenly he glimpsed, on the wooden rack against the wall to one side, a long sword lying quietly. No one had touched or wiped it down in years, and the blade and everything around it were thick with dust.

It was none other than his old sword from years past — Whatever!

Paper Effigy Wei swooped into the rack and stamped down hard on Whatever's hilt. With a ringing clang, it answered the call — the blade sprang from its scabbard!

Whatever flew free of its sheath and tangled with the Hensheng Sword's cold, sinister flashes. Seeing this, a look of shock crossed Jin Guangyao's face and vanished in a blink. He composed himself at once and turned his right wrist a few nimble turns — the Hensheng Sword wound itself like a twist of dough around Whatever's white, ramrod-straight blade — then he let go, leaving the two swords to fight on their own, while his left hand flung a talisman flying toward Wei Wuxian. The talisman burst into raging flames in midair. Wei Wuxian felt the searing heat surge into his face, and while the two swords clashed into a dazzling blur of light, he beat his paper sleeves furiously and shot out of the chamber!

Time was almost up. Wei Wuxian could no longer spare any thought for disguise. He flew all the way back to the guest quarters — and just as Lan Wangji opened the door, he flung himself with all his strength and landed square on Lan Wangji's face.

Paper Effigy Wei clung tight to half of Lan Wangji's face, seeming to tremble and tremble. Lan Wangji, with both his eyes blocked by those two wide sleeves, let him shake on his face for a moment before lightly plucking him off.

A moment later, the return was successful. Wei Wuxian instantly drew a deep breath, tipped his head back, opened his eyes, and shot to his feet. But his body hadn't adjusted yet — a wave of dizziness pitched him forward, and Lan Wangji caught him at once. Then Wei Wuxian abruptly jerked his head up and cracked the top of his head against Lan Wangji's chin — a dull thunk, and both of them grunted. With one hand rubbing the crown of his own head and the other touching Lan Wangji's chin, Wei Wuxian said, 'Aiya! Sorry. Lan Zhan, are you okay?'

After two pats from him, Lan Wangji gently brushed his hand aside and shook his head. Wei Wuxian tugged at him. 'Let's go!'

Lan Wangji didn't ask anything more — he got up and went with him first, and only then said, 'Where to.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'Fangfei Hall! The bronze mirror in Fangfei Hall is the entrance to a hidden chamber. His wife stumbled onto some secret of his and he dragged her in — she should still be inside! And Chifeng-zun's head is in there too!'

Jin Guangyao would surely reinforce the seal on Nie Mingjue's head right away and move it elsewhere. But he could move a head — he couldn't move his wife, Qin Su! She was, after all, the wife of the master of Jinlin Pavilion, and she'd attended the banquet not long ago. If a living person of such distinguished standing suddenly vanished, no one could fail to be suspicious. They had to seize this moment and charge in, cut through the tangle in one stroke, give Jin Guangyao not the slightest time to spin a lie or silence a mouth!

The two of them came on like an avalanche, kicking aside anyone in the way. Jin Guangyao had trained the disciples he'd posted around Fangfei Hall to be sharply alert: the moment anyone intruded, even if they couldn't stop them they would cry out loudly to warn the master inside. But right now this cleverness backfired on its own cleverness. The bigger the racket of their alarms, the worse the situation looked for Jin Guangyao — because today countless cultivation clans were gathered here, and the alarm calls, besides warning Jin Guangyao inside to be on guard, would also draw them all over!

The first to arrive was Jin Ling, his sword already drawn and gripped in hand. He said warily, 'What are you two doing here?'

As he spoke, Lan Wangji had already mounted the three jade-cloud steps and drawn Bichen Sword. Jin Ling said warily, 'This is my Little Uncle's bedchamber — haven't you got the wrong place? No — you broke in. What are you trying to do?'

The clan leaders and cultivators gathered at Jinlin Pavilion came hurrying over one after another, each exclaiming, 'What's going on?' 'Why all the commotion over here?' 'This is Fangfei Hall — is it really all right for us to be coming over...' 'I just heard alarm calls going up...'

Some uneasy, some frowning in silence. There was no sound at all from inside the bedchamber. Wei Wuxian rapped casually at the door. 'Sect Leader Jin? Chief Cultivator Jin?'

Jin Ling snapped furiously, 'What exactly are you trying to do? You've drawn everyone over here! This is my Little Uncle's bedchamber — bedchamber, you understand? Didn't I tell you not to—'

Lan Xichen came up. Lan Wangji looked toward him, and their eyes met. Lan Xichen's expression first froze, then turned complicated in an instant, as though he still couldn't believe it. It seemed he'd already understood.

Nie Mingjue's head was right here, inside Fangfei Hall.

Just then, a voice came, carrying a smile: 'What's all this? Was my hospitality during the day so lacking that everyone wants to hold a night banquet here at my place?'

Jin Guangyao came strolling out unhurriedly from behind the crowd. Wei Wuxian said, 'Lianfang-zun, you've come at just the right time. Any later and you wouldn't have gotten to see what's in the hidden chamber of your Fangfei Hall.'

Jin Guangyao blinked. 'Hidden chamber?'

The crowd was all suspicion, no one sure what was really going on. Jin Guangyao looked faintly bewildered. 'What's the matter? A hidden chamber's hardly remarkable. As long as one has a few prized treasures, what household doesn't keep a vault or two?'

Lan Wangji was about to speak, but Lan Xichen spoke first.

He said, 'A-Yao, would you open the door and let us through? I'd like to have a look at the chamber.'

Jin Guangyao seemed to find this very strange, and a little awkward. 'Erge, since it's called a treasure vault, the things stored inside are naturally meant to be kept hidden. Asking me to open it just like that, this...'

In so short a time, there was no way Jin Guangyao could have spirited Qin Su off to another place without anyone knowing. A Teleportation Talisman could only transport the one casting it, and given Qin Su's current state, she absolutely did not have the spiritual power — nor the will — to use one. So at this very moment, Qin Su had to still be inside.

Either alive or dead. And whether dead or alive, for Jin Guangyao it would be fatal.

Jin Guangyao struggled to the last, still this composed, deflecting this way and that. But the more he demurred, the firmer Lan Xichen's tone grew: 'Open it.'

Jin Guangyao gazed at him steadily, then suddenly broke into a brilliant smile. 'Well, since erge says so, I'll just have to open it and show everyone.'

He stood before the door, waved a hand, and the bedchamber swung wide open. From within the crowd, someone said coldly, 'They say the Gusu Lan Sect prizes propriety above all. From the looks of it, that's just talk too. Forcing one's way into a household master's bedchamber — that's some fine propriety indeed.'

Earlier, out in the square, Wei Wuxian had heard the disciples of the Jin Family greet this man with great deference, calling him 'Sect Leader Su.' It was Su She, head of the Moling Su Clan, who had been riding high these past few years. Su She was dressed all in white, with long narrow eyes, fine brows, and thin lips — handsome enough, and with a certain arrogance to him. As for looks and bearing, you could call them good. A pity that good as he was, he was good in a way that never quite stood out.

Jin Guangyao said, 'Never mind, never mind — there's nothing in there I can't show.'

He pitched his tone just right, making it seem he was a very even-tempered man, yet you could also catch a sliver of perfectly measured embarrassment in it. Jin Ling, trailing behind him, was indignant on his Little Uncle's behalf at having his door broken down out of nowhere, and shot Wei Wuxian several fierce glares.

Jin Guangyao went on, 'You want to see the treasure vault, is that it?'

He laid his hand on the bronze mirror, drew an invisible incantation on its surface, and led the way in through the mirror. Right behind him, Wei Wuxian entered the hidden chamber once more, and saw the curtain covered in incantations over the curio shelf, and saw that iron dissection table.

And he saw Qin Su, too.

Qin Su stood with her back to them, beside the iron table. Lan Xichen was faintly startled. 'Why is Madam Jin here?'

Jin Guangyao said, 'Everything we have, we share. A-Su often comes in to look around.'

Seeing Qin Su, Wei Wuxian gave a slight start. 'Jin Guangyao didn't move her, and didn't kill her either? Isn't he afraid of what Qin Su might say?'

Uneasy, he circled around to Qin Su's side and studied her profile carefully. Qin Su was still alive — and alive and well, with nothing abnormal about her at all. Though her face was utterly blank, Wei Wuxian could be certain she'd been struck by no foul sorcery and no strange poison. Her mind was clear.

But the clearer her mind, the more bizarre it was. He'd seen with his own eyes just how violently Qin Su had reacted, how she'd resisted Jin Guangyao — so how could Jin Guangyao have reached an agreement with her and sealed her mouth in such a short time?

A bad premonition rose in Wei Wuxian's heart; he suddenly felt this wasn't going as smoothly as he'd imagined. He walked up to the curio shelf and in one motion swept the curtain aside.

Behind the curtain there was no helm — and certainly no head — only a single dagger.

The dagger gave off a chilling glint and a surging killing aura. Lan Xichen had been staring at that curtain himself, only never quite resolving to lift it. Seeing that it wasn't what he'd imagined, he seemed to let out a breath of relief. 'What is this?'

'This?' Jin Guangyao walked over, took the dagger in hand and turned it over admiringly. 'It's a curious thing. This dagger was an assassin's weapon — it's killed countless people, sharp beyond compare. Look at the blade, look closely, and you'll find the figure inside it isn't your own. Sometimes it's a man, sometimes a woman, sometimes an old person. Every one of those figures is the soul of someone who died by the assassin's hand. Its yin energy is very heavy, so I added a curtain to seal it away.'

Lan Xichen frowned. 'Could this be...'

Jin Guangyao said calmly, 'That's right. One of Wen Ruohan's things.'

Jin Guangyao truly was clever. He'd long anticipated that one day someone might discover this hidden chamber, so besides Nie Mingjue's head, he'd placed plenty of other treasures here — swords, Exorcism Talismans, fragments of ancient steles, spiritual instruments, no shortage of rare items. Looking at it, this chamber really did seem nothing more than an ordinary treasure vault. And the dagger was, as he said, heavy with yin energy, a rare thing. Many cultivation clans had a fondness for collecting weapons of that sort — all the more so when it was the spoils taken from the slain head of the Qishan Wen Sect.

Everything looked perfectly normal.

Qin Su stood at Jin Guangyao's side, watching him turn the dagger over in his hand to admire it — and suddenly she reached out and snatched it away!

Her features, along with her whole face, began to twist and quiver faintly. The expression meant nothing to others, but to Wei Wuxian, who had spied on her quarrel with Jin Guangyao just before, it was perfectly legible.

Agony, fury, humiliation!

Jin Guangyao's smile froze. 'A-Su?'

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian both lunged to wrench the dagger away — but Qin Su's form flashed, and the blade had already buried itself to the hilt in her belly.

Jin Guangyao cried out in anguish, 'A-Su!'

He flung himself forward and caught Qin Su's collapsing body. Lan Xichen instantly took out medicine to try to save her. But this dagger was sharp to the extreme, and its Malevolent Qi and yin energy were so heavy that in a single instant Qin Su was dead!

Not one of those present had foreseen such a sudden turn, and all of them were struck dumb with shock. Jin Guangyao called his wife's name several times in grief, one hand cradling her face, his eyes wide, tears falling steadily onto her cheeks. Lan Xichen said, 'A-Yao, Madam Jin... please bear the grief.'

Jin Guangyao looked up. 'Erge, what is this all about? Why would A-Su suddenly kill herself? And why have you all suddenly gathered before Fangfei Hall, demanding I open the treasure vault? Is there something you haven't told me?'

Jiang Cheng, who had arrived later, said coldly, 'Zewu-jun, please explain plainly. The rest of us are completely in the dark.'

The others all chimed in, and Lan Xichen had no choice but to say, 'Some time ago, several disciples of my Gusu Lan Sect were on a Night Hunt and passed through Mo Family Village, where they were attacked by a severed left hand. This left hand carried extremely heavy Malevolent Qi and killing aura. Wangji, guided by it, traced the matter all the way along. But once we'd gathered all the bodies that had been torn apart by Five-Horse Dissection, we discovered that this Malevolent Corpse was... dage.'

Inside and outside the treasure vault, an uproar broke out!

Jin Guangyao was utterly stunned. 'Dage? But wasn't dage buried? You and I saw it with our own eyes!'

Nie Huaisang, doubting his own ears, babbled incoherently, 'Dage? Xichen-ge? You mean my dage? Who's also your dage???'

Lan Xichen gave a heavy nod. Nie Huaisang's eyes rolled white, and with a thud he toppled over backward. A ring of people scrambled, calling out, 'Sect Leader Nie! Sect Leader Nie!' 'Fetch a healer, quick!' Jin Guangyao still had tears in his eyes, yet it looked as if his eyes had gone red with rage. His five fingers clenched into a fist, and he said in grief and fury, 'Five-Horse Dissection... Five-Horse Dissection! What manner of person would dare commit such a monstrous, depraved act?!'

Lan Xichen shook his head. 'I don't know. By the time we reached the step of finding the head, the trail went cold.'

Jin Guangyao blinked, then suddenly caught on. 'The trail went cold... so you came looking here, at my place?'

Lan Xichen was silent. Jin Guangyao seemed unable to believe it, and asked again, 'Just now, when you all wanted me to open the treasure vault — you suspected... that dage's head was here, at my place?'

Lan Xichen's face wore an even more guilt-stricken look.

Jin Guangyao lowered his head, holding Qin Su's body. After a long moment he said, '...So be it. I won't dwell on it. But erge — how did Hanguang-jun come to know there was a treasure vault in my bedchamber? And how could he conclude that dage's head was in my hidden chamber? Jinlin Pavilion is guarded tight. If this really were my doing, would I let dage's head be discovered so easily?'

Listening to his challenge, Lan Xichen actually found himself unable to answer. And it wasn't only Lan Xichen — Wei Wuxian couldn't answer either. Who could have imagined that in this brief span of time Jin Guangyao could not only move the head, but also — by some method, with some words no one knew — induce Qin Su to take her own life in front of everyone and seal her mouth!

As his thoughts raced, Jin Guangyao sighed. 'Xuanyu, did you say this to my erge? Telling a lie that falls apart the moment it's pulled at — what's the use of that?'

One clan leader said, puzzled, 'Lianfang-zun, who are you talking about?'

Someone said coldly, 'Who? The one standing right there beside Hanguang-jun.'

Everyone's eyes turned that way at once. The one who'd just spoken was Su She. He said, 'Who this person is, those who aren't of the Lanling Jin Sect may not know. His name is Mo Xuanyu — a disowned disciple under the Lanling Jin Sect. Back then he was expelled for improper conduct, for harassing Lianfang-zun. And by recent rumor, somehow this one caught Hanguang-jun's eye, and now follows at his side, coming and going right beside him. Why Hanguang-jun, who's always been renowned for his refinement and rectitude, would keep such a person at his side — that truly baffles the mind.'

Hearing him speak, Jin Ling's expression turned very ugly. Amid the crowd's murmuring, Jin Guangyao set down Qin Su's body and rose slowly, his hand on the Hensheng Sword's hilt. He took a step closer to him. 'I won't bring up the past. But I ask you to tell the truth: did you have any hand in A-Su's inexplicable suicide?'

When Jin Guangyao lied, he truly did so with a perfectly clear conscience and full force! Hearing it, the others naturally assumed Mo Xuanyu, bearing a grudge against Lianfang-zun, had spoken to slander him and had also tampered with Madam Jin to drive her to her death. Even Wei Wuxian, for the moment, couldn't think of a rebuttal. What was he supposed to say? Say how he'd just seen Nie Mingjue's head? Say how he'd snuck into the hidden chamber? Bring up the man Qin Su had seen, now dead and unable to bear witness? Bring up that strange letter, which would likely be dismissed as pure fabrication out of thin air? Any such defense would only dig him deeper! He was racing to think of a countermeasure when the Hensheng Sword was already out of its sheath. Lan Wangji stepped in front of him, and the Bichen Sword caught the blow.

Seeing this, the other cultivators drew their swords. Two blades darted in from one side. Wei Wuxian had no weapon in hand and couldn't parry. He glanced back — and Whatever happened to be lying right there on the wooden rack. He grabbed it at once and drew the blade from its scabbard!

Jin Guangyao's gaze sharpened, and he blurted, 'The Yiling Patriarch!'

All at once, every blade of the Lanling Jin Sect swung around to point at him. Jin Ling's among them!

His identity suddenly exposed, Wei Wuxian watched the turmoil on Jin Ling's face, still in a daze before Shihua's point, when Jin Guangyao spoke again. 'I had no idea the Yiling Patriarch had returned to the world and graced us with his presence. Forgive me for failing to welcome you.'

Wei Wuxian was thoroughly bewildered, with no idea where he'd slipped up. Nie Huaisang, woozy, said, 'Third Lord? What did you just call him? Isn't this person Mo Xuanyu?'

Jin Guangyao leveled the Hensheng Sword at Wei Wuxian. 'Huaisang, A-Ling, both of you come over here. Everyone be very careful — he's drawn his sword. He is absolutely the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Wuxian!'

Because the name of Wei Wuxian's sword was simply too hard to say aloud, others, when referring to it, generally fell back on 'that sword,' 'his sword,' and the like. And the moment the four words 'the Yiling Patriarch' were spoken, it was more spine-chilling than hearing that Chifeng-zun had been torn apart by Five-Horse Dissection. Even those who'd had no intention of drawing a blade found themselves unsheathing their swords, ringing this end of the chamber in a tight circle. Wei Wuxian swept his gaze over the flash of blades on every side, betraying nothing. Nie Huaisang said, 'You mean whoever can draw this sword is the Yiling Patriarch? Third Lord, erge, Hanguang-jun — I think maybe there's some misunderstanding between you both?'

Jin Guangyao said, 'There's no misunderstanding. He must be Wei Wuxian.'

Jin Ling suddenly cried out, 'Wait! Little Uncle, wait! Jiu jiu — Jiu jiu, didn't you lash him once with Purple Thunder back on Dafan Mountain? His soul wasn't drawn out — so he can't have undergone a Soul Offering, right? He isn't necessarily Wei Wuxian, is he?!'

Jiang Cheng's face was very ugly. He said nothing, his hand pressed to his sword hilt, as though weighing what exactly to do. Jin Guangyao said, 'Dafan Mountain? That's right — now that you mention it, A-Ling, I recall what appeared on Dafan Mountain back then too. Wasn't it also he who summoned forth Wen Clan?'

Jin Ling, having failed to prove his point and been rebutted instead, went ashen. Jin Guangyao continued, 'There's something you don't all know. Back when Xuanyu was still at Jinlin Pavilion, he once read a manuscript of the Yiling Patriarch's here at my place. That manuscript recorded a kind of dark art — Soul Offering — which uses one's own soul and body as the price to summon a vengeful ghost or evil spirit to take revenge in one's stead. Even if Sect Leader Jiang lashed him with Purple Thunder another hundred times, it would prove nothing. Because the one casting it offered up his body willingly, it doesn't count as a soul-seizing at all!'

It was a perfectly plausible account. After being driven off Jinlin Pavilion, Mo Xuanyu, harboring resentment, remembered the dark art he'd once read of, and out of a wish for revenge invited a vengeful ghost to descend and summoned the Yiling Patriarch. Everything Wei Wuxian had done was to avenge Mo Xuanyu. Which meant Nie Mingjue's being torn apart by Five-Horse Dissection must also have been Wei Wuxian's doing. In short, whenever the truth of any matter was unclear, the likeliest explanation was always some scheme of the Yiling Patriarch's!

But there were still those half-believing: 'Since this Soul Offering art can't be verified, then surely Lianfang-zun's lone judgment alone can't settle the matter?'

Jin Guangyao said, 'The Soul Offering can't be verified, true. But whether or not he's the Yiling Patriarch — that can be verified. Ever since the Yiling Patriarch was torn to dust at the top of the Wasteland Cemetery by the vengeful ghosts under his own command, his sword was taken into the keeping of my Lanling Jin Sect. But before long, the sword sealed itself.'

Wei Wuxian gave a start. 'Sealed itself?'

An ominous premonition rose in his heart. Jin Guangyao said, 'What sealing a sword means, I trust I needn't explain at length. This sword has a spirit, and it refused to let anyone but Wei Wuxian use it, so it sealed itself shut. No one but the Yiling Patriarch himself could draw it. And just now, this "Mo Xuanyu," right in front of you all, drew that sword — one that had lain sealed in dust for thirteen years!'

Before his voice had even faded, dozens of sword-flashes stabbed toward Wei Wuxian all at once.

Lan Wangji blocked every one of them. Bichen Sword shook several people back, opening a clear path. Lan Xichen said, 'Wangji!'

Several clan leaders, knocked staggering by Bichen Sword's cold force, said furiously, 'Hanguang-jun! You—'

Wei Wuxian didn't waste a single word. He pressed his right hand on the window lattice, flipped his body lightly out, and the instant his feet touched ground he ran. As he ran, his thoughts flashed like lightning: 'The moment Jin Guangyao saw that strange Paper Effigy, and then saw Whatever drawn, he must have guessed my identity right then — and immediately spun a whole pack of lies, induced Qin Su to kill herself, then deliberately drove me right next to the rack where Whatever lay, to bait me into drawing the sword and exposing myself. Terrifying, terrifying, terrifying — I never imagined he could react this fast and lie this smoothly!'

Just then someone caught up at his side — it was Lan Wangji, chasing after him without a word. Wei Wuxian had always had a wretched reputation; this wasn't the first time he'd faced a situation like this. His mindset this life was different from his last, and he could meet it now with considerable calm. Run first, talk later — strike back when there was a chance, and don't force it when there wasn't. Staying behind would accomplish nothing but taking a few hundred extra sword cuts, and crying injustice would be a joke. Everyone was convinced he would one day return to take revenge, madly wiping out clan after clan in a bloodbath; not a soul would listen to his defense — all the more so with a Jin Guangyao standing right there fanning the flames. Lan Wangji, though, was utterly different from him. He didn't even need to explain — there would naturally be people to explain for him, saying Hanguang-jun had been deceived by the Yiling Patriarch. Wei Wuxian said, 'Hanguang-jun, you don't need to come after me!'

Lan Wangji looked straight ahead and didn't answer, and the two of them left the cries of 'kill him!' behind them. Amid the frantic rush, Wei Wuxian said again, 'You really mean to go with me? Think it over — once you walk out this door, your reputation is finished!'

By now the two of them had charged down off Jinlin Pavilion. Lan Wangji abruptly seized one of his wrists and seemed about to speak, when suddenly a white figure flashed before them — Jin Ling, blocking their way.

Seeing it was Jin Ling, Wei Wuxian relaxed. The two of them were about to dodge sideways and rush past, but Jin Ling cut across again, blocking their path once more. 'You're Wei Ying?!'

His face was in utter turmoil, eyes gone red — there was fury in it, hatred in it, doubt in it, bewilderment in it, unease in it. He demanded again, 'Are you really Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian?!'

Seeing him like this, the pain in his voice far outweighing the hatred, Wei Wuxian's heart trembled. But the others catching up behind was only a matter of an instant — he could spare him no more thought. Gritting his teeth, he went around him a third time. Then suddenly a chill spread through his gut. Looking down, he saw Jin Ling already withdrawing the snow-white blade, now stained red.

He hadn't expected that Jin Ling would actually run him through.

The thought in Wei Wuxian's mind was: 'Of all the people to take after, he takes after his uncle — even stabs a knife into the same spot.'

What came after, he couldn't quite remember. He only felt himself striking out wildly, everything around him in chaos and clamor, terribly loud, terribly jolting, the unbroken sound of blade against blade and bursts of spiritual power. He didn't know how long passed before, blearily, Wei Wuxian opened his eyes. Lan Wangji was riding Bichen Sword, and he lay against Lan Wangji's back, half of that snow-white cheek spattered with blood.

Actually, the wound in his belly didn't hurt all that much — but it was, after all, a hole in his body. At first he'd held out a stretch as though it were nothing, but this body had probably never taken a wound to a vital spot, and once the wound bled without stopping he got dizzy — and that was no longer something he could control.

Wei Wuxian called out, '...Lan Zhan.'

Lan Wangji's breathing wasn't as steady as usual — slightly hurried, no doubt from fighting again and again with Wei Wuxian on his back and being on the move too long. But his tone, when he answered, was as steady as ever, still that single word: 'Mn.'

After his 'Mn,' he added, 'I'm here.'

Hearing those two words, a feeling rose in Wei Wuxian's heart that he'd never felt before. Like something bittersweet, a faint ache in his chest, and yet a kind of warmth.

He still remembered back at Jiangling, how Lan Wangji had come all that long way to lend his support, and how he himself hadn't appreciated it at all — all those quarrels, how unpleasant it had gotten.

But what he'd never expected was that, when everyone else feared him and flattered him, Lan Wangji rebuked him to his face. And when everyone else spurned him and despised him, Lan Wangji stood at his side.

Suddenly Wei Wuxian said, 'Ah, I remember now.'

Lan Wangji said, 'Remember what.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'I remember now, Lan Zhan. Just like this. I... really did carry you on my back once.'