Chapter 85: Loyal Heart

Wei Wuxian took a deep breath at the gates of Lotus Pavilion, trying to settle himself. But once he was inside, he wasn't as moved as he'd thought he'd be.

Maybe because too much had been rebuilt. The Training Ground had doubled in size, one new building after another, eaves and corners stacked high and low, more imposing than before, more glorious. But compared to the Lotus Pavilion in his memory, it was almost unrecognizable.

Wei Wuxian felt hollow. The old houses — he didn't know if they were hidden behind the new ones or torn down.

They were just too old, after all.

On the Training Ground, disciples from every clan formed up again, sat cross-legged, kept recovering, restoring their spiritual energy. They'd been through hell for almost a full day and night — everyone was wrecked, needed a breather. Jiang Cheng led the clan leaders and important figures into the main hall, Trial Sword Hall, to discuss today's events. Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji followed him in. A few people thought that wasn't quite right, but nobody could say anything.

They'd barely stepped into the inner hall, hadn't even sat down, when a man who looked like a guest retainer came up. 'Sect Leader.'

He leaned in and whispered something to Jiang Cheng. Jiang Cheng frowned. 'Not now. Whatever it is can wait — can't you see what's going on?'

The retainer said, 'I told them that, but the two women said... they came specifically for today's matter.'

Jiang Cheng said, 'What's their background? Which sect's Female Cultivator?'

The retainer said, 'No family, and not cultivators either. I can confirm — they're ordinary women with no spiritual power. Both arrived today. They brought a batch of expensive medicinal herbs, but wouldn't say which clan leader sent them. Only said they had something important to tell the Sect Leader. What they said sounded serious, and I was afraid of being rude, so I put them up in the guest quarters. The herbs haven't gone into storage yet. We checked — no suspicious curses on them.'

Not anyone the Yunmeng Jiang Clan head had ever met, refusing to give their names, and two ordinary women with no cultivation and no family background. But they had brought expensive medicinal herbs, so the retainer handling them absolutely didn't dare slight them. Even setting aside the gift, the strangeness alone couldn't be ignored. Jiang Cheng said, 'Everyone, please sit wherever you like. Forgive me for stepping away — I'll be right back.'

Everyone murmured, 'Sect Leader Jiang, you're too kind.'

But Jiang Cheng didn't come right back. He was gone a long time. Leaving guests unattended was already rude, and right now things were urgent — everyone was waiting to discuss serious matters. After close to an hour, Jiang Cheng still hadn't appeared. A lot of people were getting restless or annoyed. Just then, Jiang Cheng finally came back. He'd left looking normal; now his face was cold and hard, his steps quick. And he'd brought two people — two women, presumably the visitors. Everyone had figured that even if they were ordinary women, anyone who could show up with heavy gifts must be somebody. Instead, these two women were past their prime. The fine lines at the corners of their eyes and mouths showed their age. One was meek and trembling, eyes downcast. The other carried the dust of the road, and her face had been slashed five or six times — old scars, hideous to look at. People were disgusted, disappointed, started wondering why Jiang Cheng had dragged two women like this into Trial Sword Hall, and why he'd seated them right in the center of the room.

Jiang Cheng's face was dark. He told the two women, who sat down trembling, 'Talk here.'

Yao Sect Leader said, 'Sect Leader Jiang, what's this?'

Jiang Cheng said, 'This matter is too horrifying to take lightly. I didn't dare act rashly — I questioned them carefully, so it took some time. Please be quiet, everyone, and listen to what these two have to say.' He turned around. 'Which of you goes first?'

The two women looked at each other. The one covered in road dust had more nerve. She stood up. 'I'll go first.'

She gave a casual bow. 'What I have to say is about something that happened about eleven years ago.'

From Jiang Cheng's tone, everyone knew this woman was about to say something that mattered. They all wondered what had happened eleven years ago. The woman said, 'My name's Sisi. I used to be in the flesh trade — did alright for a while, back in the day. Found a rich merchant I thought I'd marry. Turns out the merchant's wife was a piece of work. Hired a bunch of men with knives to carve up my face. And that's how I ended up like this.'

This woman had no shame and no roundabout way of talking. Some of the female cultivators covered their mouths with their sleeves; some of the male cultivators kept frowning. Sisi said, 'After my face got carved up, life wasn't the same. Nobody would look at me, let alone pay for me. The old house kicked me out. I can't do anything else, but I couldn't find work anywhere, so I teamed up with some older sisters. Their clients don't ask for much — whatever work they had, they'd bring me along. I'd cover my face and get by.'

By this point some people couldn't take it anymore. The contempt in their eyes was naked. Some couldn't figure out why Jiang Cheng was making everyone listen to this woman talk about filthy things in public. The clan leaders held their composure, waiting for her to continue. Sure enough, she got to the point. Sisi said, 'One day, the sisters on our street all got a job at once. They booked over twenty of us. Sent carriages to pick us up and take us somewhere. My old sisters had already agreed on the pay — they were over the moon on the carriage. But I thought something was off. To put it bluntly, we were all either past our prime or looked like me. Paying that much money, and paying upfront? Where in the world do you get a deal like that? And the people who came for us were sneaky as hell — showed up, threw us straight into the carriages, didn't let anyone else know. Nothing about it smelled right.'

The others had thought the same thing. The contempt had been replaced by curiosity. Sisi said, 'The carriage arrived, and they took us straight into a compound. None of us had ever seen a house that tall, that big, that golden. We were all blinded. None of us dared breathe. There was a young man leaning against the door playing with a dagger. When he saw us, he let us in. He shut the door. Inside the huge room, there were only two people. On a big bed, buried in brocade quilts, was a man. Looked thirty, forty. Sounded like he was half-dead from illness. When he saw people come in, only his eyeballs could still move.'

'Ah!'

Someone in Trial Sword Hall suddenly cried out in sudden realization: 'Eleven years ago?! This is... this is...!!!'

Sisi said, 'Someone had told us beforehand what to do — take turns using every trick we had on the man in the bed, don't stop for a second. I figured he must be some kind of stud. Turns out he was a sickly ghost. How could a man like that take it? He'd have been dead before we even got started. Who the hell dies that desperate for it? And they had so much money — they could've hired young pretty ones. Why us, old and ugly? I was still thinking about this while I climbed on top of him, when suddenly I heard a young man laugh. I jumped. That's when I noticed there was a curtain by the bed — and someone sitting behind it!'

Everyone's hearts were pulled tight by her words. Sisi went on, 'Then I realized this person had been sitting behind the curtain the whole time. The moment he laughed, the man on the bed suddenly struggled, shoved me off, and rolled onto the floor. The person behind the curtain laughed harder, laughing as he spoke. He said, Father, I found you the women you love most. Lots of them. Are you happy?'

Even though the words came out of Sisi's mouth, everyone felt their hair stand on end. A smiling face floated up in their minds.

Jin Guangyao!

And the half-dead man on the bed had to be Jin Guangshan!

Jin Guangshan's Death had always been an open secret among the sects. Jin Guangshan was so promiscuous in his life that it bordered on indecency, leaving behind affairs and bastards everywhere. His cause of death was related to this as well. The esteemed leader of the Lanling Jin Sect, even when his body was weakening, insisted on seeking pleasure with women, and finally died of a heart attack during sex. It was hardly a dignified way to go. Madam Jin, after losing her only son and daughter-in-law, had already been depressed for several years. She thought her husband was still fooling around before his death and ultimately lost his life because of it, and she was so angry that she fell ill and passed away not long after. The Lanling Jin Sect tried to cover up and subdue the rumors everywhere, but the other sects had long known the truth. On the surface, they expressed grief and lament, but in reality, they all thought he deserved it and that this was the fitting way for him to die. Who would have thought that today, they would hear an even more disgusting and ugly truth? Gasps of shock rose and fell in the Trial Sword Hall.

Sisi said, 'The middle-aged man tried to shout, tried to struggle, but he had no strength left in his body. The young man who'd let us in opened the door again, giggling as he dragged the sick man back onto the bed, took a rope, stepped on his head, and tied him up tight. Then he told us, Keep going. Even if he dies, don't stop. Who'd ever seen anything like that? We were scared half to death, but we didn't dare disobey, so we kept going. Around the eleventh or twelfth one, one of my sisters suddenly screamed — said he really was dead. I went up and looked. Sure enough, no breath left. But the person behind the curtain said, Didn't you hear me? Don't stop, even if he's dead!'

Ouyang Clan Master couldn't hold back. 'Whatever Jin Guangshan was, he was that man's biological father. If this is true... this is too... too...'

Sisi said, 'The moment I saw that man was dead, I knew we were done for. We'd never get out alive. Sure enough — after it was over, all twenty-some of my old sisters were killed. Not one left.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'Then why were you the only one spared?'

Sisi said, 'I don't know! I begged and begged — said I didn't want the money, said I'd never tell anyone. But they really didn't kill me. They took me to a house and locked me up. Eleven years. Just recently, someone happened to rescue me, and I got out.'

Wei Wuxian said, 'Who rescued you?'

Sisi said, 'I don't know. I never met my rescuer face to face. But that benefactor heard what happened to me and decided they wouldn't let this sanctimonious, immoral bastard keep deceiving everyone. Even if he's got his hand over everything now, they were going to expose everything he'd done. Get justice for the people he hurt. Let my twenty-some poor sisters rest easy underground.'