Chapter 79: Crimson Heart

The Bloodbath of Nightless City — that storied, bloody battle in which the Yiling Patriarch Wei Wuxian, by his own single hand, was said to have slaughtered the three thousand cultivators present at the Oath-Taking Assembly that night.

Some accounts put the number above five thousand. Whether three thousand or five, one thing did not change: that night, amid the ruins of Nightless City, Wei Wuxian turned the ground into a hell smeared red with blood.

And this killer, set upon by all at once, somehow withdrew whole and unscathed, returning to the Burial Mounds. No one ever knew how he managed it.

The clans were left grievously weakened by that battle, and so, after nearly three months spent recovering their strength and laying their plans, the four great clans at last succeeded in besieging the demon's lair of the Burial Mounds, handing the word 'massacre' back to the remnants of the Qishan Wen Sect and to the Yiling Patriarch in his madness.

Wei Wuxian looked at these cultivators gathered before the Demon-Subduing Cave. Their expressions were cut from the very same cloth as those of the cultivators who, on the night of the Oath-Taking Assembly, had poured wine to the ground and sworn to grind him and the Wen remnants to dust and scatter the ashes. Some were the survivors of that night; some were the descendants of those men; and most, more numerous still, were 'righteous souls' who held the same conviction.

Yi Weichun, the middle-aged cultivator who claimed Wei Wuxian had severed his leg and forced him to fit a wooden prosthesis in its place, said, 'A blood debt of three thousand lives — ten thousand deaths could not redeem it!'

Wei Wuxian cut him off. 'Three thousand? It's true that more than three thousand cultivators turned up at Nightless City that night, but among them were the heads of several great families, and the finest names and elites of every clan. With men like those present, could I really have wiped out all three thousand? Either you think far too much of me, or far too little of them.'

He was merely stating a fact, plainly, yet the cultivator felt slighted and insulted, and burst out in fury, 'You think this is some matter for us to debate? Can a blood debt be haggled over?'

Wei Wuxian said, 'I'm not haggling over such a thing. I simply won't let my crimes be doubled at will on the strength of someone's mouth alone. What I did not do, I won't bear on my shoulders.'

Someone said, 'Did not do? What is there that you did not do?'

Wei Wuxian said, 'The Sect Leader Nie torn apart by five horses — that I did not do. Madam Jin's suicide at Koi Tower — I did not drive her to it. And these Walking Corpse and Fierce Corpse you've met all the way up the mountain — those, too, are not under my control.'

Su She said with a laugh, 'Yiling Patriarch, I'd only ever heard you were arrogant — I never guessed you'd be so modest. If it weren't you, I truly can't imagine who else in this world could command so many of these corpses and drive us into such a wretched state.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'There's nothing hard to imagine about it. With the Stygian Tiger Seal, anyone could do it.'

Su She said, 'Isn't the Stygian Tiger Seal your own treasure?'

Wei Wuxian said, 'That depends on who has grown so unwilling to let go of it. Take Wen Ning — certain clans were frightened to death of the Ghost General, shouting for his death aloud, while in secret they quietly hid him away for more than ten years. Strange, isn't it — who was it, back then, who swore he'd already been ground to dust and his ashes scattered?'

Despite themselves, every gaze turned toward the disciples of the Lanling Jin Clan present. After all, the one who had taken full charge of the matter back then, who had vowed with such certainty that the two leaders of the Wen remnants had been burned, and who had led the scattering of ashes at Nightless City, was the head of the Lanling Jin Clan. Su She said at once, 'There's no need for you to sow discord.'

At that very moment, from within the woods came again a rustling and an eerie, guttural croaking.

Lan Qiren said, 'Everyone, take care! A fresh wave of Fierce Corpse is coming!'

At his words half the crowd turned to meet them, while the other half kept their sword tips warily fixed on that 'rabble' before the Demon-Subduing Cave. Wei Wuxian said, 'I told you — these corpses are none of them under my control. Rather than spend your time watching me, you'd do better to watch them.'

There were no few renowned cultivators present, along with several clan heads and elders, and dealing with a pack of Fierce Corpse was, naturally, no great trouble. Sword light and the sound of zithers flew up together, and scarcely anyone had attention to spare for Wei Wuxian's side. Jiang Cheng lashed three corpses to powder with a single stroke of his whip and turned to bark at Jin Ling, 'Jin Ling! Do you still want your legs or not!'

The meaning was that if Jin Ling didn't come over he'd break those legs the moment they got home, but Jin Ling had heard such threats countless times and not once seen them carried out, so he merely shot Jiang Cheng a glance and still didn't move. Jiang Cheng swore, twisted his wrist, and turned Zidian about, meaning to coil it round Jin Ling and haul him back by force. Who would have thought — the violet light coursing along Zidian's length suddenly dimmed, and in a moment it went out.

The long whip swiftly shrank back into a silver ring and slid onto his forefinger, and Jiang Cheng froze on the spot. He had never met with such a thing, Zidian withdrawing of its own accord, and he was still staring at his own palm when, all at once, two drops of blood fell into it.

Jiang Cheng raised his hand and wiped, and his hand came away crimson. Jin Ling cried out, 'Jiujiu!'

From the crowd locked in the melee with the corpses came one startled cry after another. Looking out, one saw that nine in ten of them had let their sword light fade, and nearly half wore, dangling blankly down their faces, two crimson trails — nosebleeds. And some bled freely from both nose and mouth!

A sword cultivator cried out in panic, 'What's happening?!'

'My Spiritual Power is gone!'

'Shixiong, lend a hand! Something's gone wrong over here!'

Bichen left its sheath and cut down the two corpses chasing the cultivator who'd called for help. But the cries for help grew more and more numerous, rising and falling on every side, and the crowd drew gradually tighter and tighter, falling back toward the Demon-Subduing Cave.

These cultivators who had climbed the Burial Mounds ready for a great slaughter had, in this sudden instant, all lost their Spiritual Power. Not only did sword light fade and the Paper Talisman fail; even the zither and flute music of the Gusu Lan Clan and Moling Su Clan disciples sank to mere mortal sound, stripped of all power to drive back the demonic.

The situation had turned in a heartbeat!

Lan Wangji took the ancient zither from his back, and the strings rang out to shake the heavens. Yet however refined, however peerless his Barrier-Breaking Melody, in the end it was the strength of one man alone. Wen Ning leapt down from the Demon-Subduing Cave to help him drive off the Fierce Corpse, and at the same time silently endured the slashing and stabbing, the fists and kicks of these cultivators. Mercifully he felt no pain, and so was unaffected. Amid all the rout and chaos, the upended men and toppled horses, Lan Sizhui suddenly rushed forward shouting, 'Everyone, come here, come inside the Demon-Subduing Cave! On the ground inside this cave there's a great array — some parts of it are missing, but if it's mended it should work, and could hold them off for a while!'

A cultivator who had killed himself half-mad heard this and made to rush in, but Su She hastily cried aloud, 'Do not go in! This must be a scheme to catch a turtle in a jar! There's surely some even deadlier trap waiting for us inside!'

At his shout the crowd came sharply to their senses again, wavering and unresolved, until Wei Wuxian flung out more than sixty Goddess Scattering Flowers Talisman with a sweep of his hand and said, 'Die out here, you die; die in there, you die — either way it's death. Go in, and at least you buy a little time. Why are you so eager to have everyone die together — what exactly do you mean by it?'

His words made good sense, yet because they were his, the crowd was the less willing to go in, and hesitated on, struggling bitterly with the corpses. Those who had lost their Spiritual Power could still hold out a while longer by force, but Nie Huaisang could wait no longer. Everyone knew him for a timid, fearful creature, ill-favored in talent and lazy besides, who would not cultivate properly; this sudden upheaval had thrown him into flustered disarray, and only the desperate efforts of a few close guards had kept him from harm. Seeing the swarm of corpses gather thicker and thicker, with no end in sight, he hurriedly said, 'Are you going in or not? If you won't, then I'm going first — excuse me, move, move, move, everyone hurry inside!'

The words were scarcely out before Nie Huaisang, neat and decisive, led a band of Qinghe Nie Sect disciples charging into the Demon-Subduing Cave — truly frantic as a homeless dog, panicked as a fish slipped through the net. The others were struck dumb with astonishment at his candor. At this point Ouyang Zizhen also cried out, 'A-die, stop killing! Trust me, go in! We just came out of that cave — there's no trap inside!'

The other youths called out too, 'That's right, there really is a great array on the ground in there!'

Jin Ling said, 'Jiujiu, come in!'

Jiang Cheng thrust out Sandu, stripped now of its sword light, and snarled viciously, 'You shut your mouth!'

No sooner had he cursed than blood ran again from his nose and mouth, and Jin Ling rushed down the steps, seized hold of him, and hauled him bodily toward the Demon-Subduing Cave. Jiang Cheng, his Spiritual Power wholly spent and worn out from half a day's fighting, was dragged in just like that, and the Jiang cultivators hurried in after their master. Just then Nie Huaisang's voice, buzzing with delight, came drifting from the empty Demon-Subduing Cave: 'Everyone hurry in! It's huge in here! Will some senior come in and help mend this array on the ground? I can't do it — I don't know how to mend it!'

Hearing that last line, two words rose in every heart: 'Useless!'

Lan Wangji, his fingers never leaving the strings, raised his head and called, 'Shufu!'

Lan Qiren had had no wish at first to enter the Demon-Subduing Cave; he would rather have fought on alone to the last moment. But he was not alone now — there were the many Lan cultivators, and the Jin cultivators placed under his command, and the brunt of the fighting was not even his to bear. He would not throw away these disciples' lives; while there was a thread of survival, that thread must be seized. Without looking at Lan Wangji, he raised his sword and shouted, 'Go in — carefully!'

With that, all four great clans — the Lanling Jin Clan, the Gusu Lan Clan, the Qinghe Nie Sect, the Yunmeng Jiang Clan — had entered the cave. With these leading the way, the rest at once resolved to resist no longer. Even if some flood-beast or monster truly did wait within the Demon-Subduing Cave, there were four tall men up front to bear the weight of it, and they crowded in in a swarm. In the end only that band from the Moling Su Clan had yet to stir. Wei Wuxian said, 'Eh, Sect Leader Su, won't you go in? Very well, then stay outside. But hasn't everyone lost their Spiritual Power? Staying out here — isn't that simply throwing your life away? Your courage is commendable.'

Su She swept him a glance, the gloom between his brows twitching without cease, and led his disciples into the cave as well.

The Demon-Subduing Cave took in those thousand-odd souls with ease. The panting, the hurried whispers, the frightened murmurs of a thousand people echoed without end through the vast main chamber. Lan Qiren, the moment he entered, went straight to Nie Huaisang's side and, under his eager, expectant gaze, examined the broken portions of the array on the ground. The array was indeed ancient; he cut open his palm and mended it with his blood. Wen Ning kept watch at the top of the steps, hurling away the nearest corpses. The instant the array was made whole, those Walking Corpse seemed all to be barred behind an invisible screen, unable for the moment to break through.

Wei Wuxian waited until Lan Wangji had put away his zither, and only then did he walk slowly into the Demon-Subduing Cave at his side. The cultivators, who had just begun to breathe a little easier, saw these two — one in black, one in white — descend the steps together, and a thousand-odd hearts were instantly hoisted up again.

No one had foreseen such an end. They had come to besiege the Yiling Patriarch, and now they were as good as besieged themselves, forced to take cover in the Yiling Patriarch's own main chamber merely to eke out one more moment's breath. His mending of the array on the ground done, Lan Qiren stood before the crowd, blocking the way of the two men, chest out and head high, all but spreading his arms to bar them — wearing every air of an old man ready to throw away his life and perish together with Wei Wuxian should he dare to break the array.

Lan Wangji said, '...Shufu.'

The disappointment in Lan Qiren's heart had not yet passed, and for the moment he still did not wish to look at this favored disciple he had taught from childhood; he looked only at Wei Wuxian, and said coldly, 'What is it you mean to do.'

Wei Wuxian sat down on the steps and said, 'Nothing in particular. Since we've all come in anyway, we might as well talk...'

Yi Weichun barked, 'We have nothing to talk about with you!'

Wei Wuxian said, 'How could there be nothing? I don't believe you have no wish to know how you all so suddenly lost your Spiritual Power. Heaven knows, this Wei has no such great power — to strike every one of you down without a soul noticing.'

Yi Weichun had just spat in scorn when Nie Huaisang said, 'That's right — I think what he says makes a great deal of sense.'

The crowd glared at him.

Wei Wuxian went on, 'I'd guess that before you came to lay siege, you surely had no time to gather and share a meal first — so it shouldn't be that you were poisoned.'

Lan Sizhui said, 'It certainly isn't poison. I've never heard of any poison that could make a person's Spiritual Power suddenly collapse — otherwise such a poison would long since have been sought by countless cultivators at great price, and word of it would have spread far and wide in storms of blood and wind.'

Among the cultivators come this time were no few physicians, and they took hold of several of the afflicted and examined them a while, the afflicted pressing them in low, urgent voices, 'Well? Well? Is this collapse of Spiritual Power temporary, or permanent?!'

That question at once drew the attention of many, who had no leisure left to keep wary watch on Wei Wuxian. After all, if the Spiritual Power had collapsed utterly, never to return, then a man was as good as a cripple — a fate truly more terrible and more agonizing than dying here. The physicians conferred a while, and at last said, 'Everyone's Soul Pearl is safe and unharmed — there's no need to worry! It should be temporary.'

Hearing that it was temporary, Jiang Cheng let out a quiet, secret breath of relief, took the handkerchief Jin Ling handed him and wiped the blood from his face, then said, 'Temporary? How long is temporary? When will it come back?'

A physician said, '...I'm afraid... at least two hours...'

Jiang Cheng's face went fearsomely dark. 'Two hours?!'

The crowd lifted their heads one after another to gaze at the swarm of Fierce Corpse pressed thick and impenetrable around the Demon-Subduing Cave, their number no fewer than the living who had come this time. Every one of them stared fixedly into the cave's interior, where heads jostled and the living breath of yang surged, none willing to retreat so much as half a step, milling and writhing shoulder to shoulder outside as though they might break in at any instant. A thick stench of rot assailed the nose.

At least two hours before the Spiritual Power could return? This broken, makeshift-mended array on the ground, abandoned for years — there was no telling whether it could hold for two hours at all!

And what was more, the Yiling Patriarch shared this same space with them at this very moment. Though for some reason he had not yet made his move — perhaps, cat to mouse, he meant to play with them and frighten them his fill before crushing them — no one dared guarantee that this Wei Wuxian wouldn't suddenly explode into violence.

Their eyes gathered back onto Wei Wuxian. He said, 'I told you, there's no need to watch me. Within this Demon-Subduing Cave now, only two groups still have their Spiritual Power. Me and Hanguang-jun, one group; this batch of children dragged up the mountain a few days ago, the other. The rest of you — I'd not be overstating it to say you couldn't truss a chicken. If I meant to do something to you, could this batch of children hold me back?'

Su She gave a cold snort. 'Spare us the prattle — kill if you mean to kill. If anyone here so much as cries out, he's no hero, and don't you go expecting any man to wag his tail and beg you for mercy.'

At his words, no few in the crowd began to nurse their own private misgivings. Of these several thousand, those who truly bore a grudge against Wei Wuxian numbered perhaps twenty or so; all the rest had thrown themselves in without a second thought the moment they heard of the siege — righteous passers-by, you might say, come along to denounce him out of a sense of duty. These were folk who only wished to drift along with the main current behind the leaders; to cut down one or two of Wei Wuxian's running-dog corpses would be a fine bit of renown to boast of afterward. But if they were truly made to pay a price, then few indeed would be willing to wade into such muddy water.

Wei Wuxian looked at him and said, 'Forgive me, allow me to ask — who are you?'

He had called Su She by name only moments ago, outside the cave, and now to ask this was plainly deliberate. The blue veins at Su She's temple bulged faintly, and he was about to speak when Lan Jingyi cried out loudly, 'And then? It's not poison — and then what?'

Wei Wuxian forgot Su She at once and said, 'And then — a man does not simply lose his Spiritual Power all at once; there must be some channel, some occasion for it. Before or during your climb up the Burial Mounds, you must all have come into contact with some one thing, or all done some one thing. This batch of children was seized a few days ago, so they fall outside the timing; and Hanguang-jun and I did not come up the mountain by the same road as you, so we fall outside the path. Will anyone care to think it over — what exactly was it you all did?'

In the dead silence, one man said blankly, 'What did we do? When we climbed the Burial Mounds — did we all drink water? Ah, I can't recall, I really don't know.'

Who, at a time like this, would still be so tactless as to respond eagerly to Wei Wuxian — do as he says, think as he says? Only that 'knows-nothing-to-any-question' Nie Huaisang. Someone couldn't help but say, 'No one drank any water on the way up at all! Who would dare drink the water on this mountain of corpses?'

Nie Huaisang guessed wildly again, 'Then it was that we all breathed in the mountain mist?'

If there were something uncanny about the mist in this black forest, that would at least make sense. At once someone chimed in, 'It's possible!' But Jin Ling said immediately, 'It's not possible. The mist is thicker at the summit, yet we were tied up at the summit for two whole days — and wasn't our Spiritual Power still with us then?'

Su She seemed truly unable to listen any longer, and said, 'Isn't that enough? You gentlemen have actually fallen to debating with him — led by the nose by the enemy. Is that any fun? He...'

All at once his face changed and his words broke off short. Wei Wuxian said, 'Go on. Why don't you go on?'

The Moling Su Clan disciples rose one after another. 'Sect Leader!' 'Sect Leader, what's the matter?!'

Su She shook off the disciples who came to support him, raised his arm, pointed first at Wei Wuxian, then aimed it straight at Lan Wangji. The disciple nearest him said in fury, 'Wei Wuxian, what foul sorcery have you worked now?!'

Lan Sizhui said, 'This is no sorcery! This is... this is...'

Seated to one side, Lan Wangji pressed the five fingers of his right hand down upon the seven strings, stilling their trembling. That clamorous, hot-tempered band of disciples fell silent in an instant, like so many ducks seized by the throat, their din cut off all at once.

In their hearts, every Lan present said quietly: this is the Silencing Spell of the Gusu Lan Clan...