Chapter 78: Night Run

These people had been sure they were about to die at the Yiling Patriarch's hands, then become his walking corpses. Every one of them was terrified. But Wei Wuxian had no interest in lingering with them. After reading the notice, he tossed them to the ground and left, hands clasped behind his back.

He didn't recall the yin spirits. The ones writhing in pain kept writhing. The ones groaning kept groaning. None of them could get up.

No one knew how long passed. Then suddenly a streak of blue sword-light swept past, and everyone felt their backs lighten. Someone cried out, "I can move!"

A few struggled to their feet first. They saw that streak of blue sword-light fly back and slide into someone's sheath.

The person was an exceptionally young, elegant man. White robes, Blue Clan Forehead Band, face cold and solemn, his features carrying a trace of suppressed worry. He walked very fast, yet showed no sign of urgency at all. Even his sleeves didn't flutter.

The cultivator who'd broken both legs endured the pain and said, "Han... Hanguang-jun!"

Lan Wangji walked to his side, crouched down, pressed his legs, assessed the injury — not too serious — and stood up without speaking. The cultivator said again, "Hanguang-jun, you're late. Wei Wuxian just left!"

Many people knew that these past few days the Gusu Lan Sect's Hanguang-jun had been tracking Wei Wuxian everywhere, probably to settle scores and demand repayment for the dozens of Gusu Lan lives lost. They hurried to add, "Yeah, he left less than half an hour ago!"

Lan Wangji said, "What did he do. Where did he go."

The crowd rushed to complain: "He didn't even ask who was right or wrong. He beat us half to death. Nearly killed every one of us on the spot!"

Lan Wangji's fingers, hidden beneath his wide snow-white sleeves, twitched slightly — as if wanting to clench into a fist — but quickly relaxed.

That cultivator quickly added, "But he made his intentions clear. He's headed to Evernight Heaven City now, to the Oath-taking Assembly to settle scores with the four great clans!"

After the fall of the Qishan Wen Sect, the main palace complex of Evernight Heaven City had become a gorgeous, hollow ruin.

In front of Inferno Flame Hall, perched at the highest point of Evernight Heaven City, there was an enormous plaza. Once, three flagpoles had stood at the very front of the plaza, soaring skyward. Now, two of them had snapped. The remaining one flew an Inferno Flame Flag that had been torn to shreds and splattered with blood.

That night, the plaza was packed with formation after formation of clans, big and small. Every clan's banner rippled in the night wind. Before the broken flagpole stood a temporary altar. The heads of each clan stood at the head of their own formation. Jin Guangyao delivered each of them a cup of wine in turn. Once they'd all received their cups, the clan leaders raised them high and poured them onto the ground.

As the wine soaked into the earth, Jin Guangshan said solemnly, "No matter the clan, no matter the name. This cup — to the fallen heroes of our sects."

Nie Mingjue said, "May their noble spirits endure."

Lan Xichen said, "May they find The Rest."

Jiang Cheng, meanwhile, wore a dark expression. He emptied his cup without a word.

Next, Jin Guangyao stepped out from the Lanling Jin Sect's formation, holding up a black square iron box with both hands. Jin Guangshan took the box in one hand, raised it high, and shouted, "The ashes of the Wen Sect remnants are here!"

He channeled spiritual energy and shattered the iron box with his bare hand. The black box broke into pieces. Countless specks of white ash scattered into the cold night wind.

The Bone-Crushing and Ash-Scattering Ritual!

A roar of cheers and applause erupted from the crowd. Jin Guangshan raised both hands, signaling for silence, for him to speak. As the cheering gradually died down, he called out again, "Tonight, the ones who've been scattered to ash are two of the leaders among the Wen Dog remnants. And tomorrow! It will be every last Wen Dog remaining — and the Yiling Patriarch, Wei Ying!"

Suddenly, a low laugh cut off his impassioned speech.

That low laugh came at the worst possible moment — abrupt, jarring. Everyone immediately turned toward where the sound had come from.

Inferno Flame Hall was a grand palace with twelve roof ridges. At the end of each ridge sat eight divine beasts. But now, the crowd noticed — one of the ridges had nine. And that low laugh had come from over there!

The extra ridge beast shifted slightly. The next moment, a boot and a corner of black cloth dropped down from the eaves, swaying gently.

Every hand pressed down on a sword hilt. Jiang Cheng's pupils contracted. The veins on the back of his hand bulged. Jin Guangshan, half-furious, half-terrified, said, "Wei Ying! How dare you show your face here!"

The voice that spoke was indeed Wei Wuxian's — and it sounded strange: "Why wouldn't I dare show my face here? Do you lot even add up to three thousand? Don't forget, back in the Sun-Striking Campaign, I took on five thousand alone, let alone three thousand. And me being here — isn't that exactly what you wanted? Saves you the trouble of hunting me down tomorrow to scatter my ashes."

Qinghe Nie Sect had also lost several disciples to the berserk Wen Clan. Nie Mingjue said coldly, "Arrogant brat."

Wei Wuxian said, "Haven't I always been this arrogant? Jin-zongzhu — does slapping your own face feel good? Who was it that said, as long as the Wen siblings went to Jinlin Pavilion to apologize, the whole thing would be considered settled? And who was it, just now, shouting that tomorrow he'd scatter me and the rest of the Wen remnants to ash?"

Jin Guangshan said, "One thing at a time! The Qiongqi Ambush — you slaughtered over a hundred of my Lanling Jin Sect disciples. That's one thing. You let Wen Clan run amok at Jinlin Pavilion — that's another—"

Wei Wuxian said, "Then may I ask Jin-zongzhu — the Qiongqi Ambush. Who was being ambushed? Who was being killed? Who was the mastermind? Who was the one who walked into the trap? In the end — who came at me first?!"

The disciples standing in the formations, hidden in the sea of people, felt safe. They plucked up their courage and shouted from the crowd, "Even if Jin Zixun plotted to ambush you first, you still shouldn't have been so ruthless — shouldn't have taken so many lives!"

"Oh." Wei Wuxian analyzed for him: "So when he wants to kill me, he can go all out, no holds barred, and if I die, that's just my bad luck. But when I defend myself, I have to be careful — can't hurt this one, can't hurt that one, can't even break a single hair on his head? In other words — you can gang up on me, but I can't fight back. Is that it?"

Yao Sect Leader called out, "Fight back? Those hundred-plus people and the thirty-some at Jinlin Pavilion were innocent. Why drag them into your counterattack?!"

Wei Wuxian said, 'The fifty-plus Wen Clan Master cultivators on Wasteland Cemetery were innocent too, why did you have to implicate them?'

Another person spat, "What great kindness did the Wen Dogs ever do you? Standing up for that trash like this."

"I don't think there's any great kindness at all. He just thinks he's some hero fighting the whole world. Thinks he's doing some righteous deed. Thinks the guy defying the whole cultivation world is so damn impressive!"

At those words, Wei Wuxian fell silent.

The crowd below took his silence for backing down. "In the end — wasn't it you who cast that vicious, underhanded curse on Jin Zixun first?!"

Wei Wuxian said, "Excuse me — what evidence do you have that I cast the curse?"

The person who'd asked was left speechless. He choked, then said, "Then what evidence do you have that you didn't?"

Wei Wuxian laughed. "Then let me ask again — why not you? You don't have evidence proving you didn't cast the curse either, do you?"

That person, shocked and furious: "Me? How could I possibly be like you? Stop twisting right and wrong, stop making a mess of this! You're the most suspicious one. You think we don't know? You and Jin Zixun had a grudge over a year ago!"

Wei Wuxian said, coldly, "Now who's the one twisting things? Right — if I'd wanted to kill him, I'd have done it over a year ago. No need to wait until now. Someone like him — I'd forget him in three days, let alone a year."

Yao Sect Leader was stunned. "...Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian. Today I've really seen it all. I've never in my life met a scoundrel as unreasonable as you. Kill a man, then insult him with your words. Heap abuse on top of it. Don't you have a shred of sympathy? A shred of guilt?"

A wave of cursing. Wei Wuxian took it all in calmly.

Only anger could suppress the other emotions in his chest.

A cultivator standing near the front of a formation said, heartbroken: "Wei Ying, you've disappointed me so much. I used to admire you, used to look up to you. I even said you were, at the very least, a founding patriarch of a school — a real figure. Thinking about it now makes me sick. From this moment on, you and I cannot stand under the same sky!"

Wei Wuxian froze for a beat. Then he burst out laughing, wild and sharp: "Hahahahaha—"

He laughed so hard he could barely breathe. "You admired me? You said you admired me — so why didn't I ever see you when you were admiring me? But the second everyone in the world turns on me, you jump out waving your flag and shouting?"

Wei Wuxian laughed until tears gathered at the corners of his eyes. "Your admiration is dirt cheap. You say from now on you can't stand under the same sky as me — great. Your so-called enmity, your so-called irreconcilable hatred — does it affect me in any way? Your admiration and your hatred are both so utterly insignificant — how dare you wave them around like they mean something?"

Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, his throat suddenly seized. A wave of dull, sudden pain bloomed in his chest.

He looked down. A feathered arrow was planted squarely in his chest, the arrowhead buried between two ribs.

He looked toward where the arrow had come from. The one who'd shot it was a delicate, fair-featured young cultivator, standing in one of the smaller clans' formations. He still held his stance, bowstring trembling.

Wei Wuxian could tell — that arrow had originally been aimed straight at his heart. But the archer's skill was poor; the arrow's force had weakened mid-flight, so it had dropped below the heart and lodged between his ribs.

The people beside the archer stared at their fellow disciple who'd done something so reckless — shocked, even terrified. Wei Wuxian raised his head, a murderous look on his face. He reached back, yanked the arrow out, and hurled it back with all his strength. A scream — and that young cultivator who'd sniped at him was struck in the chest by the very arrow he'd thrown back with his bare hand!

Another young man beside him threw himself on the body, wailing, "Brother! Brother!"

That clan's formation instantly fell apart. The clan leader pointed a trembling hand at Wei Wuxian. "You... you... you vicious monster!"

Wei Wuxian pressed Whatever against the wound on his chest, temporarily stanching the blood. He said, flatly, "What's 'vicious'? He had the guts to sneak-shoot me with that arrow. He should've figured out what would happen if he missed. You've all been calling me a demon, a heretic — you can't seriously expect me to be magnanimous and not hold it against him."

Jin Guangshan shouted, "Form up! Form up! He cannot leave this place alive tonight!"

At the order, the standoff finally broke. Several disciples mounted swords and took up bows, sweeping toward the great hall above.

They finally struck first!

Wei Wuxian laughed coldly. He drew Chenqing from his waist, raised it to his lips. As the flute let out a piercing shriek, from beneath the plaza floor of Evernight Heaven City — one pale, ghastly arm after another broke through the ground!

Corpses broke through the white stone pavement, crawling out from the deep earth. Those who had just taken off on their swords were immediately dragged down by them. Wei Wuxian stood on the ridge of the Inferno Flame Hall, playing his Bamboo Flute horizontally, his eyes shining coldly in the night. Looking down, the various clans' robes were like multicolored boiling water, churning endlessly, sometimes scattering, sometimes gathering. Except for the Yunmeng Jiang Clan's formation which was unharmed, the other families were in great chaos, each clan leader busy protecting their own disciples, momentarily unable to attack Wei Wuxian.

Just then, a clear, cold note of a qin disrupted Chenqing's melody.

Wei Wuxian lowered Chenqing and looked back. A man sat on another ridge, a qin laid out before him. His snow-white robes stood out sharply against the night.

Wei Wuxian said coldly: 'Ah, Lan Zhan.'

After the greeting, he raised the flute to his lips again: 'You should've known long ago — Purifying Mind Tone doesn't work on me!'

Lan Wangji flipped his qin to his back and drew Bichen Sword instead, charging straight at Chenqing, trying to sever the ghost flute that was birthing that demonic melody. Wei Wuxian spun aside and laughed out loud: 'Good, good, good! I knew it — one day we'd have to go at each other for real like this. You've never liked me anyway. Come on!'

Hearing this, Lan Wangji's movements paused. 'Wei Ying!'

Though it came out as a shout, anyone still sane could hear that Lan Wangji's voice was trembling. But Wei Wuxian had lost all judgment by now. Half-mad, half-delirious, every bit of malice magnified to infinity — he felt like the whole world hated him, and he hated everyone back. Whoever came at him, he wasn't afraid. Whoever it was, it didn't matter. Same as always.

Suddenly, amid the slaughter, Wei Wuxian heard a faint voice.

It was calling: 'A-Xian!'

The voice hit him like a basin of cold water, dousing the raging evil fire in his heart clean through.

Jiang Anli?

When did she get to the Oath-taking Assembly?!

Wei Wuxian's soul nearly flew out of his body. He couldn't be bothered fighting Lan Wangji anymore. He lowered Chenqing: 'Shijie?!'

Jiang Cheng heard it too. His face went white as bone in an instant. 'Jie? Jie! Where are you? Where are you?'

Wei Wuxian leapt down from the ridge of Inferno Flame Hall, screaming at the top of his lungs along with Jiang Cheng: 'Shijie? Shijie? Where are you? Where are you? I can't see you!'

He didn't care about the blades and sword-light bearing down on him. He fought through the chaos, palm-striking and punching as he ran. Then he spotted Jiang Anli's white figure swallowed up behind the crowd. Wei Wuxian shoved people aside with everything he had, struggling forward. There were still too many people between them — too much distance. Neither Wei Wuxian nor Jiang Cheng could break through in time. Worse — at that exact moment, both of them suddenly noticed a Malevolent Corpse shambling to its feet behind Jiang Anli.

The corpse's body was half-rotted, dragging a rusted long sword in its hand, shuffling toward Jiang Anli.

Seeing this liver-splitting sight, Wei Wuxian roared: 'Get away! Get away from her! Don't touch her!'

Jiang Cheng bellowed too: 'Make it stop!'

He hurled Triple Toxin. Purple sword-light flew at the corpse — but halfway there, other cultivators' sword-light interfered and knocked it off course. The more Wei Wuxian's mind spiraled, the worse his control got. The Malevolent Corpse ignored his command and instead raised its long sword, slashing down at Jiang Anli!

Wei Wuxian went berserk, screaming as he ran: 'Stop! Stop! Stop, damn it!'

Everyone was busy fighting the corpses tangled around them. Nobody had any attention left for whether someone else was about to die. The Malevolent Corpse's sword came down and sliced open Jiang Anli's back!

Jiang Anli collapsed to the ground.

The corpse stood behind her, raising its sword again. Just then, a flash of sword-light sliced off half its body!

Lan Wangji landed on the plaza, catching Bichen Sword as it flew back to his hand. Only then did Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng break through — they didn't even have time to thank him. Jiang Cheng scooped Jiang Anli up first. Lan Wangji cut Wei Wuxian off, grabbed him by the collar, hauled him up to eye level, and snapped: 'Wei Ying! Stop driving the corpses!'

Wei Wuxian couldn't be bothered with anything else right now. He couldn't even see Lan Wangji's face — couldn't see the burst blood vessels in his eyes, couldn't see his reddened rims. He just had to know if Jiang Anli was okay. With bloodshot eyes, he shoved Lan Wangji aside and threw himself to the ground. Lan Wangji stumbled, steadied himself, and watched him. Before he could take another step, someone screamed for help in the distance. He pulled his gaze away and flew off to rescue them.

Jiang Anli's back was soaked in blood. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. Jiang Cheng's trembling hand pulled back from checking her pulse. He exhaled — then suddenly drove a fist into Wei Wuxian's face: 'What the hell! Didn't you say you could control them? Didn't you say it wasn't a problem?!'

Wei Wuxian sat sprawled on the ground, dazed: '...I don't know.'

He said, in despair: '...I can't control them. I can't control them...'

Then Jiang Anli moved. Jiang Cheng held her tight, babbling: 'Jie! It's okay! It's okay, how are you? It's fine, just a slash, it's fine, I'll get you out of here right now...'

He started to lift her, but Jiang Anli suddenly said: '...A-Xian.'

Wei Wuxian shuddered. 'Shijie, I... I'm here.'

Jiang Anli slowly opened those dark eyes. Wei Wuxian's heart lurched with panic.

Jiang Anli forced the words out: '...A-Xian. Earlier... why did you run so fast... I didn't even get to look at you once, or say a word to you...'

Wei Wuxian's heart pounded harder and harder as he listened.

He still couldn't bring himself to face Jiang Anli's face — especially now, when it was streaked with dust and blood, just like Jin Zixuan's had been.

He was even more afraid of what she was about to say next.

Jiang Anli said: 'I... came to tell you...'

Tell him what?

It's okay?

I don't blame you?

Nothing happened?

I'm not mad you killed Jin Zixuan?

Impossible.

But she couldn't say the opposite either.

So she didn't know what there was left to say to Wei Wuxian, here, now.

But something in her heart told her she had to come see this little brother one last time.

She sighed. 'A-Xian, you... stop first. Don't... don't...'

Wei Wuxian said quickly: 'Okay. I'll stop.'

He picked up Chenqing, brought it to his lips, and played with his head bowed. It took everything he had to steady his mind. This time, the Malevolent Corpses finally stopped ignoring his commands. One by one, they let out strange gurgling sounds from their throats — almost like complaints — and slowly sank down.

Lan Wangji paused for a beat, looked over from a distance, then turned back to his sword, rescuing fellow disciples and strangers alike who were still fighting.

Suddenly, Jiang Anli's eyes flew open. From somewhere, her hands exploded with strength — she shoved Wei Wuxian away!

The shove sent Wei Wuxian crashing to the ground again. When he raised his head, he saw a gleaming long sword had pierced straight through her throat.

The young man holding the sword was the same cultivator who'd been sobbing over the archer's body moments ago. He was still wailing, tears blurring his vision: 'Wei the villain! This sword is for my brother!'

Wei Wuxian sat on the filthy ground, staring in disbelief at Jiang Anli — her head tilted to the side, blood gushing from her throat.

Just now he'd been waiting for her to speak, as if she were about to pass her final judgment on him.

Jiang Cheng was frozen too, still holding his sister's body, completely unable to process what had happened.

After a long moment, Wei Wuxian let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Lan Wangji thrust his sword forward and whipped his head around.

Only then did the young man realize he'd killed the wrong person. He yanked the sword out — a spray of blood came with it — and stumbled backward in panic, babbling: '...No, not me, I didn't... I was trying to kill Wei Wuxian, I was avenging my brother... she threw herself in front of him!'

Wei Wuxian flashed in front of him in an instant and clamped his hands around his neck. Yao Sect Leader swung his sword and shouted: 'You monster — let him go!'

Lan Wangji didn't care about composure or propriety anymore.

He shoved person after person aside, running toward Wei Wuxian. But before he'd covered half the distance, Wei Wuxian — in front of everyone — crushed the young man's throat with his bare hands.

A white-haired clan leader roared: 'You! You — you killed Jiang Fengmian and his wife back then, and now you've killed your own shijie. You brought this on yourself, and you dare take it out on others! No repentance, just more killing. Wei Wuxian — you are beyond redemption!'

But no amount of cursing or scolding could reach Wei Wuxian anymore.

As if possessed by another soul, he reached out with both hands, drew two things from his sleeves, and fitted them together in front of everyone.

The two halves — one on top, one below — clicked into one, letting out a sinister, ringing screech.

Wei Wuxian held it in his palm and raised it high.

The Yin Tiger Talisman!